Ipswich Town’s Harry Clarke struggles to get his selfie on after the 3-2 win over Bristol City. Photo: Joe Toth/Rex/Shutterstock
SECOND GAS SERIES
For every TNT or Sky Sports cheerleader who would have you believe that the Premier League is undoubtedly the best league in the world, there are plenty of fans who argue that it’s not even the best in England. And while Football Daily stands firmly in the latter camp, today is probably not the time to promote the Isthmian League Premier Division as the best of its kind in the world, even on false grounds our local team plays there. Entry to nearby home games only costs around a tenner, you can drink beer in the stands and no one cares who wins.
Much further up the football food chain, the Championship is once again making a very strong case to be a much more interesting competition, if not “better”, than the supposedly superior league. because, if only because of its unpredictability mind-stone. . After all, in what other league in the world could a team like Sheffield Wednesday go on a promising streak of five wins from six games without moving a single place up the table?
After the Olives’ latest win over Plymouth Argyle last night, their manager Danny Röhl could hardly be happier. “When you see now, this is the first time that we are not some points behind the line, it is only the goal difference now,” said the German while cutting the hair of the boy band who believes his 34 years. “It’s huge, huge! Today, I take this victory and we will go forward and we will go again.”
Although Wednesday could remain second from bottom, the bottom half of the Championship is so compressed that no relegation or late promotion to the next games can be ruled out. And while Rotherham’s relegation to the bottom side is now a mere formality, there are only four points between the nine teams directly above them. England’s second tier is so unpredictable, with their team in a relatively high 10th place, albeit five wins in a row, long-suffering Sunderland fans wouldn’t dare look down.
The story continues
The Mackems’ latest defeat came at league leaders Leicester, who Jamie Vardy had to thank for snapping a worrying three-game run. The Foxes remain clear at the top of a table where three of the top four places are occupied by teams relegated from the top flight last season, as well as poor church mice Ipswich who have come up from League One. In any other season with 78 points to their name and only 10 games to go, Ciaran McKenna’s Tractor Boys would surely get automatic promotion but in this particularly bonkers season, Championship safety is the only guarantee they currently have cast iron.
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Join Simon Burnton at 8pm GMT for red-hot updates on Manchester City 4-0 Copenhagen (agg: 7-1) in their last-16 Grand Cup, while Taha Hashim will be on hand for Real Madrid 3-0 Leipzig ( agg: 4-0).
STATEMENT OF THE DAY
“Nobody said ‘no’ to being club captain, it was only for certain games… but they didn’t want to say it themselves, other people came up to me and said it. It was disappointing. It’s a different generation, it’s Gen Z. It’s a small thing and it shows a lack of ambition” – Ole Gunnar Solskjær on attracting the Manchester United armband during his time at the club.
DAILY FOOTBALL LETTERS
And this is from Big Website most of the poppermost (as some say at the top of the pop) in the tempting destiny charts. Germany will probably go and win now, not…
Re: Monday snow joke article – oh, how quickly people forget the USA v Costa Rica in March 2013, a game that was almost stopped in the 56th minute due to snow at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado Usually sunny. But to be honest, I’m not sure how much merit I place in claims of advantage due to environmental conditions. After all, the announcements at Colorado Rapids games, for example, greatly emphasize the fact that teams will be playing at high altitude (it’s about a mile above sea level). Anyone who has ever followed the Rapids knows that this advantage is rarely reflected in actual results” – Sarah Rothwell.
If Nottingham Forest fans decide to leave a game at the City Ground early as a result of a dirty refereeing decision – do you think the seats will go ‘Clattety, Clatt, Clatt, Clattety, Clatt?’” – John De la Cruz.
Interesting and in many ways predictable to see that Manchester United, under the new regime, have decided to shake things up radically by moving their scattergun recruitment efforts from the pitch to the boardroom, with the expectation of delivery same, probably? Ashworth, Berrada, Freedman, who is he/she? And how many of them will already be on a gardening holiday by the time you finish reading this sentence” – Jeremy Boyce.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. The winner of our lucky letter today is … Jeremy Boyce .
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