Down To The Wire
With all the drama and excitement of the Premiership it would be easy to forget about the final weekend of the Championship, which is also going down to the wire. I can’t think of any season where there has been so much to play for in both leagues going into the last couple of games and certainly not into the last one.
Tomorrow any one of 5 sides could still be relegated to league one, and only West Brom are definitely promoted, and they may not go up as Champions.
In one of the many ironies that get thrown up on these occasions, Sheffield United may end up helping their local rivals Sheffield Wednesday if they beat Southampton, who currently occupy the final relegation spot. I’m sure sme of the die hard Blades fans would happily see their side lose if it meant the Owls went down.
Speaking as an impartial Pompey fan, I would of course be gutted to see the Scum (as they are affectionately known down south) sent down to League 1. Especially as it may well happen in the same season that Pompey go on and win the FA Cup. Sweet indeed, when you think a few years a go, Pompey almost got relegated to the third tier themselves and Southampton were a mid table Premiership side. Its funny how quickly things can change, as teams such as Leicester, Leeds, Charlton et al will testify.
In truth, I think Leicester are actually the team most likely to go down - at this stage of the season you want a team who has nothing to play for at either end. Unfortunately for the Foxes they are away to Stoke, who need to win to be sure of making automatic promotion and to be in with shout of going up as Champions. Not really a game you want when you need a result. Coventry and Wednesday, like Southampton have mid table sides and Blackpool who are the other team in the mix will face Watford, who are in a dreadful run of form and could well miss the play-offs having been runaway leaders at one point.
Having said all that, tension will play a major part and history has shown that final days have more than one twist and turn, with the form book being upset. Whatever happens its sure to make compelling viewing.