Does no one want to go up with Cardiff?

Last updated : 18 April 2013 By Tony Scholes
 
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