* SPOOFSNOBS: Race for Relegation Heats Up

After an amazing sequence of results this past weekend, a total of 7 teams are now jockeying for position in what is turning out to be one of the closest ever races for the 3rd and final qualification place for the English Championship.  

For months now, the number of places has effectively been cut to two with Derby County rooted at the foot of the table – their place in next season’s Championship is all but secured.  

Similarly, after their convincing 3-0 defeat to Manchester United, Fulham also seem destined for a place in English football’s second tier.  

This leaves 7 teams locked in a heated battle for the one remaining qualifying place with Reading, Bolton, Birmingham City, Sunderland, Wigan, Newcastle and Middlesbrough all separated by a mere 4 points and each team desperate to secure a place among England’s mediocre.

League Cup winners Tottenham Hotspur, while only seven points ahead of the 3^rd qualification place, are thought to be focusing on their European campaign and club insiders have secretly admitted their squad is too thick to launch a realistic bid for relegation – this season at least. 

At present, much of the momentum appears to be with Newcastle United, who dramatically escaped a tricky encounter against Blackburn Rovers with 0 points after a last gasp defensive collapse allowed Matt Derbyshire to secure a late winner for Rovers.  

“It was looking a bit hairy there for a while. Michael was presented with a number of opportunities you would expect him to score,” said a relieved Kevin Keegan. 

“I’m really pleased with the application and determination of the players. When you look at the way we threw that game away against Blackburn today… well, it shows character.” 

                                                           

“It was a set play. That’s something the lads have worked on in training. When you throw everyone forward for a corner at the end of the game you risk scoring a goal but you also leave yourselves very open at the back. That’s how you successfully concede. It doesn’t take a genius to work that one out.” 

Keegan’s team has seemingly come from nowhere to make themselves realistic contenders for Championship qualification.  “We don’t want to go thinking too far ahead of ourselves but we know what we want to achieve here. We want to be playing in the Coca-Cola Championship. I want it, the players want it and, most importantly, the fans want it. Playing against the likes of Barnsley and Hull City, playing midweek games at Turf Moor, Selhurst Park and The Walkers Crisp Stadium, it’s those special nights the fans crave. The fans up here have been made to wait for a very long time for this opportunity. They deserve it.” 

Middlesbrough also did their Championship ambitions no harm by conceding an added time winner to Reading. “A team like Reading make it very difficult not to score against them,” said Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate. “They had been on a fantastic run of 8 straight defeats, but I think what our players have shown today is that on their day they can lower their game and be as poor as anyone in the division.” 

                                                     

“I had been getting a bit worried about us for the past few games but this result has put us right back in it. We are only 4 points off that final Championship place and the competition is tight, but I have every lack of confidence in my players. I know we can lose.”

Reading manager Steve Coppell was philosophical in the wake of his team’s unexpected victory. “There’s no need to start hitting the panic button yet. We were doing superbly ever since the 6-4 defeat to Tottenham. Today was a setback, nothing more.” 

“We now have a huge game against Derby next weekend. Very few teams play them at home and lose, but that has to be our focus.” 

Saturday saw Derby inflict a rare away point on Roy Keane’s Sunderland. Wigan were also desperately unlucky to come away from Manchester City with as much as a draw.  

The real shock of the day came at St. Andrews, where Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish was left tearing his hair out at Mikael Forssell’s careful finishing. A defeat would have seen them ease into the Championship places just ahead of Reading and a resurgent Bolton. 

Back at the start of January, Championship football seemed at best a remote possibility to Gary Megson’s team. It was thought that a striker of Anelka’s class had too many goals in him for Bolton to ever successfully achieve relegation.  

Two months on and with Anelka now at Chelsea, Megson has shrewdly picked up Grzegorz Rasiak, a proven Premiership flop, to blunt Bolton’s potentially effective attack. 

“Grzegorz is a terrific signing for us. He is one for our future in the Championship really, provided we can get him on a permanent deal, but we saw today against Liverpool that there is already no understanding between him and the other players, especially Diouffy,” enthused the Bolton Manager.

Indeed, many Bolton insiders are excited by what they see as the budding of a fruitless partnership between anti-social wide man, Diouf, and disoriented Pole, Rasiak. Fans have already affectionately labeled the pair “Spit and Polish”.

                                                     

The real hero of Bolton’s impressive 3-1 reverse against a previously shaky Liverpool, however, was goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. In the 12^th minute, the Finn pulled off a truly miraculous diving header to divert a tame Steven Gerrard shot into his own net.

“Jussi is one of the few players I’ve seen who is capable of something like that. If we do win the final qualification position, I think we will look back at that own goal as one of the real key moments,” Megson later added.

Each team now has 10 games to play, and with 20 fixtures to be contested exclusively between the 7 teams vying for the final Championship place, this race is sure to see many more twists and turns before this season reaches its exciting climax.

Soccersnobs.

Who do you think will win this race for the Championship? Please feel free to leave comments below…