League One football next season at Ashton Gate |
Cardiff only needed a point to become the 46th club to win a place in the Premier League and they duly got it win a 0-0 home draw against Charlton. Having said that, they didn't even need that as the four of the five clubs directly behind them all lost with only Brighton winning a point.
Of great concern to us is that Hull, Watford and Crystal Palace were beaten by Wolves, Millwall and Ipswich respectively. That lifted two of them above us while bringing Wolves, who are just outside the bottom three, within three points of us.
Bolton had the most difficult game at Leicester although their recent record has been poor. Leicester's win has seen them go back into the top six with a point more than both Bolton and one of their East Midlands neighbours Nottingham Forest.
It's no surprise that the big budget clubs are all up there. All but Palace in that top eight now will have budgets way ahead most of the rest of us and I'd suggest, with the inclusion of last season's other two relegated clubs, Blackburn and Wolves, you will see the eight highest wage bills.
But the owners of Cardiff told us before the season started that the change to red would bring them the luck needed and it has been obvious for some time that Premier League football was on its way to the Welsh capital.
And just a few miles east on the M4, and across the Severn Bridge, it will be League One football for Bristol City. Four years ago I recall Wade Elliott getting a crucial second goal against them to take us into the play offs. On Tuesday he scored the goal that condemned them to relegation after six years in the Championship.
They dropped into the bottom three on the Saturday before Christmas and they haven't been out since. One point in the last six games ended any hopes of a rescue act but there is a real battle on to avoid being in those two other relegation places.
Barnsley, who conceded a stoppage time equaliser against Derby, and Huddersfield are the two clubs currently occupying them, but I'm not sure how far you go up the league before you consider a club is safe.
We certainly aren't with 54 points but I reckon if you add a couple more on, the couple we'd have got had the flag gone up for offside at Ewood, then you would probably suggest safety had been reached. That's Ipswich right now but everyone below them could start next season in League One.
A lot of clubs will be able to point to one poor decision that's proved costly, as I've done highlighting that goal at Ewood, but it proves to show just how close things are when one goal scored or not scored, conceded or not conceded, can make such a difference. Had we had 54 points at this stage last season we'd have already been 14 points clear of the drop.
I'm not even going to hazard a guess who might go down, but at the other end of the table it looks odds on that Hull will return to the top flight. They need a maximum of four points from their last three games to be sure.
The results and stats along with the weekend fixtures are below.
The Results | |
Tuesday 9th April | |
Barnsley 1 Derby County 1 | Leeds United 1 Burnley 0 |
Blackburn Rovers 1 Huddersfield Town 0 | Leicester City 3 Bolton Wanderers 2 |
Blackpool 0 Sheffield Wednesday 0 | Middlesbrough 1 Nottingham Forest 0 |
Bristol City 0 Birmingham City 1 | Millwall 1 Watford 0 |
Cardiff City 0 Charlton Athletic 0 | Peterborough United 0 Brighton & Hove Albion 0 |
Ipswich Town 3 Crystal Palace 0 | Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Hull City 0 |
The Stats | |
Biggest Win | Ipswich Town 3-0 v Crystal Palace (home) |
Total Goals Scored | 16 (12 home - 4 away) |
Player Scoring Most Goals |
2 - Frank Nouble (Ipswich Town) |
Highest Attendance | 26,338 - Cardiff City v Charlton Athletic |
Lowest Attendance | 9,007 - Barnsley v Derby County |
Total Yellow Cards | 41 |
Total Red Cards | 0 |
Most Cards in a Game | Ipswich Town v Crystal Palace (7Y) Ref: Simon Hooper |
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
29 | Glenn Murray (Crystal Palace) - includes 7 penalties |
26 | Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn Rovers) - includes 4 penalties, 2 with Huddersfield Town |
25 | Charlie Austin (Burnley) - includes 4 penalties |
20 | Matej Vydra (Watford) - includes 2 penalties |
19 | Chris Wood (Leicester City) - includes 1 penalty, 11 with Millwall |
18 | Tom Ince (Blackpool) - includes 3 penalties |
16 | Troy Deeney (Watford) - includes 2 penalties |
15 | Luciano Becchio (Leeds United) - includes 4 penalties |
14 | Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Wolverhampton Wanderers) - includes 3 penalties David Nugent (Leicester City) - includes 1 penalty |
13 | Steven Davies (Bristol City) - includes 2 penalties Dwight Gayle (Peterborough United) Marlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 3 penalties |
12 | Jamie Ward (Derby County) - includes 4 penalties |
11 | Craig Davies (Bolton Wanderers) - includes 2 penalties, 8 with Barnsley Johnnie Jackson (Charlton Athletic Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough) Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton & Hove Albion) - includes 2 penalties |
Hat Tricks | |
Date | Player & Game |
01/09/12 | 3: Pete Whittingham - CARDIFF CITY v Wolverhampton Wanderers |
15/09/12 | 3: Charlie Austin - BURNLEY v Peterborough United |
22/09/12 | 3: Glenn Murray - CRYSTAL PALACE v Cardiff City |
22/09/12 | 4: Craig Davies - Birmingham City v BARNSLEY |
23/09/12 | 3: David Nugent - LEICESTER CITY v Hull City |
29/09/12 | 3: Emile Sinclair - Hull City v PETERBOROUGH UNITED |
02/10/12 | 3: Charlie Austin - BURNLEY v Sheffield Wednesday |
23/10/12 | 3: Marlon King - Millwall v BIRMINGHAM CITY |
06/11/12 | 3: Glenn Murray - CRYSTAL PALACE v Ipswich Town |
17/11/12 | 3: Jordan Rhodes - Peterborough United v BLACKBURN ROVERS |
12/01/13 | 3: Chris Wood - Bristol City v LEICESTER CITY |
19/02/13 | 3: Radoslaw Majewski - NOTTINGHAM FOREST v Huddersfield Town |
02/03/13 | 3: Dwight Gayle - Blackburn Rovers v PETERBOROUGH UNITED |
02/03/13 | 3: Leonardo Ulloa - BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION v Huddersfield Town |
05/03/13 | 3: Kevin Phillips - CRYSTAL PALACE v Hull City |
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) | |||||||||
Club | Y | R | Y | R | Club | Y | R | Y | R |
League | Total | League | Total | ||||||
Barnsley | 62 | 3 | 71 | 4 | Huddersfield Town | 88 | 5 | 97 | 5 |
Birmingham City | 63 | 3 | 67 | 3 | Hull City | 57 | 1 | 60 | 2 |
Blackburn Rovers | 71 | 0 | 85 | 0 | Ipswich Town | 52 | 2 | 55 | 2 |
Blackpool | 55 | 3 | 57 | 3 | Leeds United | 68 | 3 | 78 | 3 |
Bolton Wanderers | 79 | 4 | 82 | 4 | Leicester City | 47 | 2 | 51 | 2 |
Brighton & Hove Albion | 63 | 3 | 68 | 3 | Middlesbrough | 54 | 1 | 64 | 1 |
Bristol City | 50 | 0 | 53 | 0 | Millwall | 78 | 3 | 93 | 3 |
Burnley | 83 | 3 | 91 | 4 | Nottingham Forest | 77 | 5 | 77 | 6 |
Cardiff City | 72 | 2 | 75 | 2 | Peterborough United | 53 | 1 | 56 | 1 |
Charlton Athletic | 59 | 2 | 60 | 3 | Sheffield Wednesday | 92 | 2 | 98 | 2 |
Crystal Palace | 57 | 2 | 68 | 2 | Watford | 71 | 5 | 74 | 5 |
Derby County | 55 | 2 | 56 | 2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 57 | 3 | 61 | 3 |
Highest and Lowest Attendances | |||
Highest | Lowest | ||
Att | Fixture | Att | Fixture |
33,010 | Derby County v Nottingham Forest (19/01) | 5,435 | Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/09) |
29,697 | Sheffield Wednesday v Barnsley (30/03) | 5,633 | Peterborough United v Blackpool (01/12) |
28,707 | Nottingham Forest v Derby County (30/09) | 5,997 | Peterborough Utd v Blackburn Rovers (17/11) |
28,595 | Wolverhampton W v Ipswich Town (29/12) | 6,050 | Peterborough Utd v Charlton Athletic (05/03) |
28,582 | Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds United (19/10) | 6,188 | Peterborough United v Millwall (21/08) |
28,499 | Brighton & HA v Crystal Palace (17/03) | 6,214 | Peterborough United v Hull City (19/01) |
28,493 | Brighton & HA v Leicester City (06/04) | 6,348 | Peterborough Utd v Huddersfield Town(23/10) |
28,229 | Middlesbrough v Sheffield Wednesday (09/11) | 6,600 | Peterborough Utd v Bolton Wand (23/12) |
28,124 | Nottingham Forest v Brighton & Hove A (30/03) | 6,612 | Peterborough Utd v Middlesbrough (08/12) |
28,043 | Brighton & HA v Charlton Athletic (02/04) | 6,648 | Peterborough Utd v Burnley (02/02) |
The Next Fixtures | |
Friday 19th April | |
Hull City v Bristol City | |
Saturday 20th April | |
Birmingham City v Leeds United | Derby County v Peterborough United |
Bolton Wanderers v Middlesbrough | Huddersfield Town v Millwall (12:30) |
Brighton & Hove Albion v Blackpool | Nottingham Forest v Barnsley |
Burnley v Cardiff City (12:45) | Sheffield Wednesday v Ipswich Town |
Charlton Athletic v Wolverhampton Wanderers | Watford v Blackburn Rovers |
Crystal Palace v Leicester City |