THE BATTLE TO STAY IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP
ONLY once in the past seven years has a team been relegated from the Championship with more than 43 points.
According to Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl, the current campaign will demand significantly higher standards.
“I think it could be 50 this season,” said the German. “Maybe some years ago it was 45 but when I see the race at the moment that could not be enough.”
For Rohl and his men, the prospect of attaining 50 points was once a pipe dream, as was any prospect of a genuine relegation scrap.
Along with QPR, the Owls had spent the entire season hopelessly adrift in the bottom three, yet the pair’s recent revival has proved the catalyst for a sprawling relegation tussle that until recently involved half the Championship.
Even now, nine sides could realistically go down – with eight of them separated by just five points. As for the other one… well, let’s start there as we assess the runners and riders in the tightest field for years…
DEAD AND BURIED
Only one name here. Rotherham started badly, got worse and are now plumbing similar depths to the historically awful 2016-17 campaign.
Back then, the Millers finished with just 23 points and shipped 98 goals – both Championship-era records that could yet be eclipsed by Leam Richardson’s side.
In fairness, the 44-year-old never stood a chance. By the time he arrived in December, the squad was a mess, left both under-manned and under-equipped by predecessor Matt Taylor’s misguided attempts to build a budget Barcelona.
Having ended a six-year cycle of promotion and relegation by staying up last season, Rotherham are now right back to square one and whilst last week’s 0-0 draw with ten-man Huddersfield ended a run of nine straight defeats, nobody can see where a win is coming from.
Even for misery-hardened Millers fans, the remainder of this season would be best watched from behind the sofa.
UP AGAINST IT
Sheffield Wednesday’s recent resurgence should not disguise that they are the overwhelming favourites to join Rotherham in League One next season.
Last summer’s appointment of Xisco Munoz was an unmitigated disaster, as were many of the signings made under the Spaniard’s guidance. Rohl has spent months rebuilding the Owls’ shattered confidence, whilst also implementing a style of play that actually creates chances.
Had the season started upon his arrival in October, the Owls would be 13th now. But it didn’t, and the fact remains that they have not spent a single minute outside the bottom three since the opening day of the season.
