Darmstadt up against Bayern this weekend 

Given there are 3 teams that can still drop, you can take a fair guess.

Will do update tomorrow when I'm being paid for it 

#bundeswatch

Here is the Form Ladder since the Relegation Race begun!

"Timing our run" is the official word

Apparently that's what Werder did too, because I promise anyone whom cares to look back that they were well entrenched in the Relegation Race when I picked them!

Palermo's first win since February 5th means they are still not down  !!!



Surely this weekend will put them out of their misery

#danishsuperligawatch

https://www.fourfourtwo.com.au/news/aminis-agf-boost-survival-hopes-460234

6 weeks ago 


Now

Good of Villa to give Forest 3 points, 

Then beat Birmingham

Then give Blackburn 3 points

WE ARE STAYING UP SING WE ARE STAYING UP!


As for Holtby FC, no comment...

 
SURVIVAL SUNDAY 1

With Nottingham Forest's fight against relegation from the Championship going down to the wire, we take a look at what could happen to the Reds on the final day of the season if they win, lose or draw against Ipswich Town at the City Ground.

What's the current state of play?

Forest are one of three teams who could suffer a heartbreaking relegation to League One on the final day of the season, with Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City the other two teams battling to beat the drop.
The Reds are currently only outside the relegation zone on goal difference, in 21^st place.
Level on 48 points with Blackburn, who are currently in the final relegation place, Forest's goal difference is -13 and Rovers' is -14.
Birmingham are two points above both teams, on 50 points.

Who is playing who on the last day of the season?

Forest face Ipswich Town at the City Ground on Sunday,
Blackburn and Birmingham both face away matches, Rovers playing Brentford at Griffin Park and the Blues travelling to Ashton Gate to play Bristol City.

What happens if Forest win?

Three points will see Forest to safety if Birmingham fail to beat Bristol City.Victory for the Reds would put them above Birmingham if the Blues lose or draw.
But if Harry Redknapp's side win, it will come down to Forest and Blackburn.In that situation, Forest will be safe if they win and Blackburn lose or draw.
If both Forest and Blackburn win, it could go two ways.The Reds would be safe by virtue of their superior goal difference if they equal Rovers' margin of victory, but if Blackburn win by two or more goals than Forest then Mark Warburton's men would be relegated to League One.If Forest and Blackburn finish the season with wins that put them level on points and goal difference, it will come down to goals scored – and the Reds currently hold the advantage on that score, having netted 59 goals compared to Blackburn's 50.

What happens if Forest draw?

If the Reds earn a point against Ipswich, it will not be enough to lift them above Birmingham even if the Blues lose their final match, so they would be relying on Blackburn failing to beat Brentford to stay in the Championship.

What happens if Forest lose?

If the Reds suffer defeat to Ipswich, they will need Blackburn to endure the same fate – and by an equal or greater margin – at Brentford in order to survive.

#bundeswatch

Fixtures for this upcoming weekend:
- 1. FC Koln hosting pv4's Werder
- Eintracht hosting bigpoppa's Wolfsburg
- sokorny's FC Leckie hosting Bayer
- TYST/milan's Hamburglars hosting Mainz 05. This is a huge game, with both teams + bigp's Wolfs all on level points. 

EFL asks Wagner to explain changes

Huddersfield Town have been asked by the English Football League to explain his decision to make ten changes for Saturday’s match against relegation threatened Birmingham City.

Bermuda striker Nahki Wells was one of the players left out from the previous match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, although he did come on as a substitute at the start of the second half as Birmingham won 2-0 to climb out of the relegation zone before their final match this weekend. Manager David Wagner made the changes after Huddersfield secured their spot in the promotion playoffs with a 1-0 win over Wolves last week.

The win for Birmingham was only their third in 24 league games, despite being reduced to ten men midway through the first half. Goals by Jonathan Grounds and a Craig Gardner penalty secured their win.

An EFL statement yesterday read: “We have today written to Huddersfield Town to request their observations in relation to team selection during their recent Sky Bet Championship match with Birmingham City.

“As per our regulations, the EFL Executive will refer the matter to the board if it is deemed appropriate to do so. It should be noted, however, that the result of Saturday’s game will stand in all circumstances and any potential action would be taken against Huddersfield Town directly.”

Huddersfield cannot finish lower than fifth in the table, although victory on Saturday would have kept them on course for a third-place finish. The defeat left them below Reading and Sheffield Wednesday with one match remaining.

Wagner defended his team selection after the match, saying it was part of his rotation policy.

“At Wolves I made five changes and everyone knows my rotation policy is part of my idea in a busy Championship,” he said. “Changes were necessary with our thoughts to the playoffs as no one knows what will happen over the next month. It is unfair talking about my starting eleven because I wanted fresh players.

“At the moment we are not getting consistent results but we have been able to stay in the top six and progress to the playoffs for the first time in 45 years.”

Birmingham’s win put them two points clear of 22nd-placed Blackburn Rovers, with the relegation fight going down to the final day of the season. Wigan Athletic and Rotherham United are already relegated, with Birmingham, Nottingham Forest and Blackburn all battling to avoid the drop. Birmingham have 50 points while Forest and Blackburn have 48.

Tony Mowbray, manager of Blackburn Rovers, criticised Wagner’s decision to play a weakened Huddersfield Town team as the victory for Birmingham means that Blackburn, former Premier League champions, must now beat Brentford in their final match on Sunday.

“I think the manager at Huddersfield has seen it as job done, we’ve made the playoffs, and he’s been able to pick a team for a game which doesn’t really matter,” Mowbray told Sky Sports. “What matters is trying to win the playoffs. I understand his reasoning but the bigger picture is the integrity of the league.”

http://mobile.royalgazette.com/soccer/article/20170503/efl-asks-wagner-to-explain-changes&template=mobileart

Cheating Bluenose    - oops, I just ate my own poop...s

Nottingham Forest legend Garry Birtles is the latest person to publicly share his gripe with David Wagner’s team selection at Birmingham City on Saturday.

Blues, in what may be Harry Redknapp’s only game in charge at St Andrew’s, beat Huddersfield thanks to goals from Jonathan Grounds and Craig Gardner and strengthened their chances of remaining in the Championship with one match to play.What annoyed many in the camps of survival rivals Forest and Blackburn Rovers, though, was the fact that Terriers boss Wagner made ten changes to his side, after deciding to rest his stronger side following their securing of a play-off spot.In his column in the Nottingham Post , Birtles, who won the European Cup twice with the club, wrote...

For Huddersfield to have made 10 changes in a league match is totally and utterly out of order.

To make that many changes is not on. How many managers would do that?

I can’t think of any other time that’s been done.

I can understand teams making lots of changes in cup games, but not in the league, not when there is so much at stake and it affects other teams.

For me, it’s just very, very narrow-minded.

Someone else could go down as a result of Huddersfield doing that.

The Football League have said they will look at it, but they’re not going to dock points. If they do anything, they will probably just fine Huddersfield.
That will be of little consolation to either Nottingham Forest or Blackburn Rovers, if it is one of those two who ends up going down.

Survival Sunday 2

Birmingham "the Yo Yo"[edit]

Birmingham City have been promoted and relegated to and from the top division more times than any other English club, with 12 promotions and 12 relegations.^[2]

Birmingham's longest period in one division has been 18 years in the First Division, from 1921 to 1939. Their next longest was 10 years, also in the First Division, between 1955 and 1965.

Elected to Division Two in 1892, Birmingham were promoted to Division One in 1894 and relegated in 1896. Their next promotion came in 1901, and was followed immediately by relegation in 1902 and a third promotion in 1903. This time they lasted five years in the First Division, before relegation in 1908.

The following seventy years (which included breaks for the two world wars) were comparatively stable, with only three relegations and four promotions. After their seventh relegation, in 1979, they were promoted at the first attempt; the same happened in 1984 and 1985, but after their ninth relegation, in 1986, they spent 16 years out of the top flight.

During these 16 seasons Birmingham had two separate spells in the Third Division: from 1989 to 1992 (three seasons), and from 1994 to 1995 (one season).

They were promoted to the Premier League for the first time in 2002. Their first spell in this league lasted four years, but in the four years from 2006 to 2009 they were relegated twice and promoted twice.

In 2011 they were relegated again, and this was the eighth time since 1979 that this had happened to Birmingham. Six of these relegations were between the top two divisions, and two were between the second and third. They have remained in the Championship since.

 

Ultimately the fault lies with the Rovers or others. If they'd played better during the season they wouldn't be reliant on the results of others.

I read somewhere that everyone in the Huddersfield team for that game had played more than 10 games during the season ... so not sure it as bad as being made out, especially if he had made 5 changes for Wolves (so if he brought those 5 back in that is 5 changes straight up)

:D

Survival Sunday 3

Blackburn Rovers to be backed by sell-out away following at Brentford on the final day

ROVERS will be backed by a sell-out away following of 1,600 at Brentford on the final day of the season.

Rovers fans have snapped up the remaining tickets on sale for the Griffin Park clash on Sunday where their Championship fate will be decided.

They set up the final day decider after Saturday’s 1-0 win over Aston Villa courtesy of Danny Graham’s second half strike.

And in the days following that win, the fans have come out in their numbers to purchase the remaining tickets and ensure Rovers will be backed by a full allocation of travelling fans.

Those that didn’t manage to get a ticket for the game will be able to watch the game on Sky Sports, after they selected the game as one of two live Championship offerings on the final day.

As well as Rovers’ clash with Brentford, Sky cameras will also be at the City Ground where Nottingham Forest host Ipswich Town.

The game will be Brentford’s fifth televised game of the season - with Dean Smith’s side having won twice, drawn once and lost once in their four previous games in front of the television cameras.

Rovers meanwhile have won one, drawn one, and lost two of their four airings on television this season - the last being the 2-1 FA Cup fourth round defeat to Manchester United in February.

Chris Sutton: Blackburn are in freefall

Former Blackburn Rovers striker Chris Sutton insists there’s no more hope for Blackburn.Rovers are fighting for survival against relegation rivals Birmingham and Nottingham Forest in the Championship, and face Brentford away this weekend.

Sutton, who was on the panel for BBC Radio 5 Live Wednesday Night Club, said:

“It isn’t a surprise what’s going on at Blackburn - if it’s not this season, it will be next season.
“There’s a better chance of them going down to League Two than there is of them bouncing straight back up.
“The club is in a complete mess and it is solely down to [owners] the Venky’s.”

This clip is from 5 Live Sport on Tuesday 03 May 2017.

Simultaneous Kickoffs for the last game of the Season

How Football SHOULD be

looks like 3 channels available to cover the Title and Relegation Battles

Chances are have cameras at all 5 and swap as needs be

 

#uaeproleaguewatch

Mark Milligan's Bani Yas have been relegated!

https://www.fourfourtwo.com.au/news/milligans-uae-relegation-confirmed-460474

'Sleeping giants' sleepwalking to relegation?

Who will go down?

Rovers ahead! Nottingham move into the drop zone

Flicking between the two but it's awesome to hear the emotion and frustration of the Forest crowd knowing that Rovers have gone 2 up early.

Forest get a pen.

Equal point, equal GD with Rovers.

Forest ahead on more goals scored.