Whilst we’re only less than a third of the way through the season, clear divides are beginning to open up in the Championship table. Divisions between the promotion chasers, the mid table finishers and the candidates to be relegated are already starting to form.
Today we will be looking at the latter.
Sheffield Wednesday
The team currently bottom of the Championship is unsurprisingly Sheffield Wednesday. Given their well-documented ownership issues, it would be understandable if after 10 games the Owls were on 0 points with no chance of survival.
But, to their credit, they have 6 points to their name, only 3 behind 20th place Oxford United and 21st place Sheffield United. Plus, they have a game in hand on their local rivals.
Whilst survival is not impossible, it is definitely unlikely. Wednesday have conceded the most goals in the league (22), leading them to having the worst goal difference in the league (-13).
Not to mention their squad is very thin, with goalkeeper Joe Lumley coming in on an emergency weeklong loan. Taking all of this into account, do I think that Sheffield Wednesday will be relegated?
Yes. But what a story it would be if they could pull it off.
Blackburn Rovers
The team who currently occupy the 23rd place in the table is former Premier League champions Blackburn Rovers. Another club with terrible owners, Blackburn’s team was absolutely decimated during the summer transfer window, with many of them going to former manager John Eustace’s Derby County.
They have very poor Infront of goal so far this season, scoring just 8 league goals, with only Sheffield United finding the net fewer times. Their top goal scorer is Todd Cantwell with 3 goals and Yuki Ohashi is the only other player to score more than once.
As decent of a manager as Valerien Ismael is, with everything going against him, there is only so much that he can do. The club has been declining for a while now, with even attendances becoming a problem.
Despite Norwich City currently occupying the final relegation place, I think they will survive. Similarly, I think 21st place Sheffield United will be well clear of any danger.
Oxford United
Last season, many expected Oxford to be relegated from the second tier, given the fact that they hadn’t played there since 1999 and the fact that they had to win the playoffs to get there. But they survived.
Going into this season, many expected the same. This time the doubters may be proven right.
The U’s find themselves in 20th place, one point above the relegation zone with a game in hand. The most worrying part is that many of the teams around them such as Norwich and Sheffield United are expected to kick on.
At least their goal difference is far better than the teams below them and is even better than 12th place Birmingham City.
Derby County
I was fairly excited by Derby County going into this season. Not because they had the best squad or had spent the most money, but because of John Eustace.
Two seasons ago he had Birmingham City in 6th place, before Wayne Rooney came in and they were relegated. Elsewhere that season, Blackburn Rovers stayed up on the final day of the campaign.
Only for Eustace to get them into a playoff chase before leaving for Derby County. With that in mind, coupled with how many of his Rovers players Eustace brought with him, I thought Derby would defy expectations.
But so far, that hasn’t been the case. They currently find themselves 18th in the Championship which is only because they picked up a crucial 3 points against Norwich yesterday.
This means that they have played 1 game more than many of the teams around them. Prior to this win, they’d only won 1 game all season.
They need to start turning draws into wins. Only Southampton have recorded more draws than the Rams this season.
Furthermore, their defence definitely needs improvement with only both Sheffield sides conceding more goals than they have. If you want anyone to get you out of this predicament, it is definitely John Eustace so they will be hoping that he can turn things around sooner rather than later.
It is very tough to call who will be relegated this early in the season, but I think it is difficult to look past Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn at this stage. As to who takes the final place, I think it is between Oxford and Derby but there is still a long way to go.
