Ken, I think Wigan (very impressive form of late) are all but safe now after their win last night but Birmingham could be dragged down if they aren't careful especially with the bottom clubs now pulling off some credible results.
The Blues play the Terriers at home tonight and they really need to win to keep some breathing space from the pack below them but of course the Terriers also desperately need a win to avoid being sucked down. Meanwhile Stoke are looking vulnerable. A win for Boro tomorrow would be a huge boost to survival especially as I suspect one of Barnsley and Luton may survive if not both if they continue battling!
I wouldn't be surprised to see Hull, Stoke and Huddersfield all dropping at this rate. Bottom club Luton are only two points off 4th bottom Hull and three points off 5th bottom Stoke. Luton's GD may kill them ultimately but as things stand Luton are 6th in the Form table over the last 6 games and Barnsley 7th (both earning 10 points). If they continue that form they would likely survive. Boro are 11th in the same Form table (7 points) while Hull are firmly anchored at the bottom (1 point).
(my bold)
That could all be turned on its head very shortly: the Latics have just announced that they've gone into administration:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53247333
!!!!!
That was a shock but far worse for their fans.
Initially I thought that they maybe done it now thinking that with their form and the accumulated 50 points they could see it through but if its a 12 point deduction that would leave them on 38 points, rock bottom, four points from 4th bottom and likely 5 points from safety.
The terrible thing is they will not be the only Club in financial trouble. It seems unfair if they get hit with a points deduction considering the irregularities of other clubs who have been awaiting a decision for quite some time plus others who appear to have got away with it.
I never wanted to hear the news from Wigan. I feel for their fans. They are top of the form table and still could be relageted.
Again, it is good to have Steve Gibson as an owner. This is what I meant that we should be stronger next season compared to many of our rivals in the Champioship.
This could help Boro to stay up. But I would have preferred it to come by playing better football.
Up the Boro!
It looks like Wigan’s points deduction will only be applied this season if they finish outside of the bottom three, which of course it very much looks like they will. That essentially means they need to finish 13points clear of third-bottom.
Otherwise, they are relegated anyway and the deduction applies next season.
My understanding then is that the 12 points will only be looked at and possibly docked at the end of this season and the final 2019/20 Championship table is completed.
If Wigan are relegated by natural means i.e. say they lose all their remaining games and find themselves in the bottom three in any case then the punishment will be that they start next season in League One with minus 12 points.
If they do finish outside of the bottom three this season then the deduction will be applied to this season which may mean them surviving if they collect enough points (presumably thirteen more points than the third bottom side) to avoid the bottom three. Even with a 12 point deduction, based on current form they just may do it. My guess is that Paul Cook and the Players will either have a siege mentality and fight to the death or they may be pig sick with the fiasco the new owners have created and say stuff it.
Mr. Traore is the big problem for Wolves at the moment.
He is the gift that keeps on delivering, two matches ago they started him, let the other team waste energy and two players marking him (always in the dangerous position) never gave him the ball, until 20 mins to go, then, bang, lovely move, great cross 1-0 and goodbye.
The next match, brought on with 20 to go, same story, same move, same score.
Wolves have played 50 matches this season. that is some stat. And have plenty more to play. they anticipate losing Traore to one of the giants, but live in hope, if they can only stop the press praising him so much.
I'm predicting a draw tomorrow night, two away wins in a row seems too much to ask.
Life has just been made a little easier for those of us scraping for survival in the Champ following Wigan's situation.
Looking forward to watching the match, one of the benefits of covid.
I think that Wigan are quite capable of winning 5 of their remaining 6 matches.Their next match at Brentford I think they’ll probably lose, but their remaining matches are QPR home, Barnsley away, Hull home, Charlton away, and Fulham home the last match by which time Fulham will have established a playoff place but Leeds and West Brom will have already been promoted. I reckon Barnsley will finish bottom, Luton will be safe on 52 points, both Stoke and Hull relegated with 50 points, and Boro safe on 51 points assuming they draw tomorrow, thus defeat tomorrow is unthinkable. Of course Sheffield Wed are still vulnerable if they suffer the 8 point deduction yet to be decided. I don’t think we should look at how other clubs are performing, difficult I know, but just concentrate on how Boro perform as its in their own hands really.
Hull have the most porous defence in the division and have leaked 33 goals in their 14 games since New Year's Day. So what could go wrong for us in there?
Huddersfield won easily at Birmingham yesterday. That was bad for us but also for Birmingham. Already before yesterday, I was thinking if they can be dragged to the relagation dog fight. I think RR talked about it, too.
So today's match have even more subtance than before - if that was possible. A win would be great but a draw is the minimum we must fight for.
Up the Boro!
Today's game could be significant ,if we win it puts us five points ahead of the drop which means with six games left ,Hull have to turn around a two game deficit , goal diff could be significant ,if we win and then get a draw somewhere , games remaining start being just as important as points.
what a huge match this is now, win and we are 5 points and 3 teams above the drop, lose and it's 1 point and 1 team
what a huge match this is now, win and we are 5 points and 3 teams above the drop, lose and it's 1 point and 1 team
Perhaps we should downgrade the game to a relegation four-pointer rather than the regulation six-pointer...
btw I've moved some of the posts that were exploring the issue of Wigan going into administration to a new thread Are clubs facing the threat of administration as it's something that will exist beyond just the Hull preview - plus substantive posts that are not related to the Hull preview shouldn't necessarily be posted on this thread - to which I'm the most guilty on this occasion 🙂
Just to continue the house-keeping, I also decided to create a MFC Live Streaming Issues thread in order to raise issues over the streaming service so that they can easily found if anyone wants to check if they've had a similar problem in the coming weeks.
I've moved the posts that solely address the issue KP had with regard to having £117 deducted from his bank account for next season to the thread he has created MFC Payment System for Streaming Facilities - since my initial reply included a quote from KP's post, I left his original on this thread as it also covered the Hull game.
Both of these threads exists in a new sub-forum under Middlesbrough FC entitled MFC Live Streaming Service
Well, another must not lose match and ideally a must win. For me, the key is that we must must not lose otherwise we are well and truly in the mire.
I have decided that I won’t watch(even though I may have gone to the original game having family in Hull) on the basis that I watched Swansea and we lost, didnt watch Stoke and we won! I am not normally superstitious but needs must right now.........
Suspect NW will stick to the same starting 11 on the basis of it it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and on that basis My foam handed prediction is a 3 2 win for Boro but the realist in me says 2 2!
UTB
I think if Boro score first they should win but I wouldn't fancy having to come from two goals down like Birmingham did. Hoppefully Neil Warnock has been working on the defence to cut out the errors that could have let Stoke get a couple if they'd been any good at shooting.
About an hour to team news and possibly only two changes to contemplate in terms of Coulson for Johnson and Wing for McNair - though not heard any fitness news.
Fletcher surprisingly on the bench. Coulson comes in. No other changes.
Team
Team News...
Perhaps Warnock has opted for the pace and width of Spence-Roberts on the right and Johnson-Coulson on the left with the lethal Britt in the middle to punish the Hull defence 😉
Perhaps Warnock has opted for the pace and width of Spence-Roberts on the right and Johnson-Coulson on the left with the lethal Britt in the middle to punish the Hull defence 😉
Let’s hope so! Typical Boro will see the Hull defence being as tight as a proverbial...........
It appears that Hull have been exposed down the flanks a few times this season and are considered vulnerable. I guess that Coulson can both attack and defend plus he offers more pace out wide.
My concern is that I think Fletcher is better in the box than Britt with set pieces directed at him which again Hull have been very vulnerable from in conceding lots of goals that way. That said the Tigers defence is a shambles and maybe the thinking is keep it on the ground and literally run rings round them?
Well good start!! Should have been a red though.
that was a definite red card - stings even more now after that equaliser
I don’t need to tell George Friend if he’d jumped he could have headed the free kick away.
Not a lot of quality in that first half and we don't seem as well organised as we did against Stoke.
Britt has been largely ineffective on his own. Not entirely convinced that we can see this out to a draw let alone a win which we really could do with given the other results earlier in the week. CoB 😎
Why there wasn’t a Red Card....
To avoid the "double jeopardy" situation whereby teams were previously punished with both a penalty and a dismissal for so-called "last-man" fouls in the box, it's now one or the other. If it's outside the box, it's a free kick and a red card.
With a penalty you still have the goal-scoring opportunity.
Scrappy game and low on quality apart from the two goals. Hull back into it and looking as though either team could win, although Boro are nervy at the back.
Britt isolated upfront and getting little support, looking somewhat lost without Fletcher. Roberts the more active of the two wide men, but does try and do too much at times, Coulson not really getting into the game.
I would like to see Fletch on for Coulson early in the second half. We cannot afford to lose this one.
@grovehillwallah that is only when there is a genuine attempt to play the ball though. I don't think that fell into that category.
Where a player commits an offence against an opponent within their own penalty area which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offending player is cautioned if the offence was an attempt to play the ball; in all other circumstances (e.g. holding, pulling, pushing, no possibility to play the ball etc.) the offending player must be sent off.