The League of 4

[Stranded]

Wigan deservedly 1 up at HT. Never a penalty mind. Norwich look beat up and awful.

[leon]

Wigan deservedly 1 up at HT. Never a penalty mind. Norwich look beat up and awful.

Norwich look utterly piss poor

[Silver Fox]

I was pretty pleased that Norwich let us have a point Wednesday, but hoped they’d pick it up today, very poor although a pretty bad penalty decision is what’s put 5hem behind

[tidus_mi2]

Late goal Norwich strike again

[LUX]

Phew. Was worried there.

This race is not over yet.

[Snowflake Royal]

Well gaining 2 points on them is better than none or losing ground, but a little frustrating.

[Royal_jimmy]

All in all a good round of fixtures for us. Not only is there 1 game less to negotiate but we've gained 2 points on Rotherham, Wigan and Millwall who all had tough games.

Next week is tough. Bristol city are battling for a playoff place and I'd take a point there. Wigan are away to Leeds which I expect them to lose. It's a shame Sheff Utd didn't win yesterday as it'd have put more pressure on Leeds for the last few weeks so in a way it makes that a less challenging game.

Millwall have a winnable home game v Brentford. If Brentford play like they did yesterday then I think Millwall will prevail. We can afford this one to go against us more than the others.

Rotherham travel to Swansea. Swansea can't go up or drop so there is worry they'll be on the beach. But going to Swansea and winning is tough. Their 4-0 loss to QPR could be a blessing and think they should beat Rotherham. Possibly by a single goal.

If that happens then 3 points from West Brom (H), Boro (A) and Birmingham (H) without any heavy losses will do it.

We're not safe yet but I think we're a good result away from it. I think we'll scrape 4-5 more points and be safe before the final day.

[Hound]

Yes interesting round of games. None of the strugglers lost, and there were tough games in there

Didn’t think a lot of that Wigan pen decision, but tbf they were a bit unlucky with the offside goal

[Stranded]

All in all a good round of fixtures for us. Not only is there 1 game less to negotiate but we've gained 2 points on Rotherham, Wigan and Millwall who all had tough games.

Next week is tough. Bristol city are battling for a playoff place and I'd take a point there. Wigan are away to Leeds which I expect them to lose. It's a shame Sheff Utd didn't win yesterday as it'd have put more pressure on Leeds for the last few weeks so in a way it makes that a less challenging game.

Millwall have a winnable home game v Brentford. If Brentford play like they did yesterday then I think Millwall will prevail. We can afford this one to go against us more than the others.

Rotherham travel to Swansea. Swansea can't go up or drop so there is worry they'll be on the beach. But going to Swansea and winning is tough. Their 4-0 loss to QPR could be a blessing and think they should beat Rotherham. Possibly by a single goal.

If that happens then 3 points from West Brom (H), Boro (A) and Birmingham (H) without any heavy losses will do it.

We're not safe yet but I think we're a good result away from it. I think we'll scrape 4-5 more points and be safe before the final day.

Swansea are currently the worst team in the league away from home but the best at home - they are Jekyll and Hyde outfit at the moment. It is a bonus for us that Rotherham have to travel. Their point (should have been a win) at Stoke will give them confidence but this will be a very tough game for them.

Sheff Utd's draw takes no pressure of Leeds as the gap is 3 points and Sheff Utd have a better GD. Leeds cannot afford any slip ups and I don't think we will see one on Friday.

Millwall V Brentford hard to call - London derby but would expect a Millwall win there.

I think Friday will see:

Reading LOSE
Wigan LOSE
Millwall WIN
Rotherham DRAW

Leaving us 3 clear with 3 to play. As mentioned many times, Rotherham and us play the same 3 teams in our last 3 games, which is an interesting* quirk.

[From Despair To Where?]

A recap

Birmingham 47 pts
Rotherham (a)
Wigan (h)
Reading (a)

Reading 45pts
West Brom (h)
Middlesbrough (a)
Birmingham (h)

Wigan 45pts
Preston (h)
Birmingham (a)
Millwall (h)

Millwall 43pts
Villa (a)
Stoke (h)
Bristol City(h)
Wigan (a)


Rotherham 40pts
Birmingham (h)
West Brom (a)
Middlesbrough (h)

[Sutekh]

Remaining games...

22 April

Aston Villa v Millwall
Reading v WBA
Rotherham v Birmingham
Wigan v Preston

27 April

Birmingham v Wigan
Middlesbrough v Reading
Millwall v Stoke
WBA v Rotherham

30 April

Millwall v Bristol City

5 May

Reading v Birmingham
Rotherham v Middlesbrough
Wigan v Millwall


Well that was a day and a half of results. Leeds are bottling it again so thanks very much to that Wigan only needed 10 men to collect 3 points.

Swansea though overcame Rotherham despite their best endeavours to make things as scary as possible.

At least Millwall kept themselves in with a chance after a disappointing draw with Brentford.

All this means that there is now a 5 point gap between Reading and the business end of the relegation zone and as long as Reading don’t get hammered in their last 3 games then the goal difference means Rotherham will need to win 2 of their remaining 3 games to overhaul Reading presuming Reading lose all 3 of their games.

The other team now flirting with relegation is Millwall and they have 2 very awkward away games. However they still have 2 home games and should be able to beat the underperforming Stoke which may well be all they need to do.

Expect Wigan can easily get the points they need from their easier run in

And you just know Rotherham are going to win games don’t you.....

[Hound]

Reckon Rotherham might be done. Sounds like they’ve played well last few games but still dropped points. Ball doesn’t really seem to be running for them

Millwall definitely an interesting one. Not beating that Brentford side when down to ten is a terrible result.

[Needle]

A recap

Rotherham 40pts
Birmingham (h)
West Brom (a)
Middlesbrough (h)

They're not winning two of those.

It's over.

[Platypuss]

10man Wigan would never win at Leeds.

[Snowball]

Odds

Rotherham 1/16

33/1 Reading

40/1 Millwall. (Despite the fact that Millwall play Wigan in last game)

60/1 Wigan

QPR 500-1

I just don't understand these odds!

[Snowball]

Sure Rotherham are odds on, but why are two clubs below Reading at bigger odds?

[Woodcote Royal]

A recap

Rotherham 40pts
Birmingham (h)
West Brom (a)
Middlesbrough (h)

They're not winning two of those.

It's over.

Agreed.

If they somehow stay up it won't be at our expense. We won't lose our 3 remaining games and they won't win all theirs. The end.

[Lower West]

Odds

Rotherham 1/16

33/1 Reading

40/1 Millwall. (Despite the fact that Millwall play Wigan in last game)

60/1 Wigan

QPR 500-1

I just don't understand these odds!

Bookies have already taken money on Reading during the course of the season. Running a book is all about making an overall profit.

[Snowflake Royal]

So any combination of us gaining and Rovrum dropping 5 points sees us safe, 4 as long as there's no big Rovrum wins or 'ding defeats.

We could really do with at least a draw in the next one, because I don't fancy it going to the last game.

[Zip]

10man Wigan would never win at Leeds.

Exactly. It’s definitely not over.