Nottingham Forest’s points deduction and an EFL round-up – Football Weekly

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Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly, an EFL pod for you.

But we'll begin with the four-point deduction for Nottingham Forest Pod, which is because they were in the EFL, so aren't allowed to lose as much money.

We'll ask if that's fair, if the punishment is fair, or if clubs should just stick to the rules that they signed up for.

We'll also talk about the regulator, which appears to be here.

All the right people seem to be welcoming it.

What difference will it make?

And then to the football, could Leicester miss out after all that?

Leeds absolutely flying, Ipswich hitting six at the weekend.

It is tight as it is at the bottom of the championship.

In gate crashing news, could Lincoln race into the playoffs in League One?

They cannot stop scoring.

While there'll be absolutely no mention of the relegation scrap in League One, if we don't talk about it is it really happening in league two do we want an afc wimbledon mk don's playoff there's your questions and that's today's guardian football weekly

on the panel today from not the top 20 podcast george ellick welcome thank you very much max uh hello jonathan faduba good morning max and good morning sanny ridravadula hello sanny how are you hello yes i'm doing very well thank you Right, before we get to the football, the much more exciting business of football finance and administration.

It's still quite relevant, as I said in the intro, because Forests are a club that A, they might be playing in the Football League next year, and part of their punishment is related to the fact they were in the EFL and, as a result, weren't allowed to lose as much money as, say, Everton were or other Premier League clubs.

Everton, probably a poor example because they lost more than they were allowed as well.

But they've been docked four points.

That puts them into the relegation zone.

One point behind Luton Town.

The Premier League said it follows an admission by the club that it had breached the relevant PSR threshold of £61 million by £34.5 million.

The threshold was lower than the £105 as the club spent two seasons of the assessment period in the championship.

The Commission found that the club had demonstrated exceptional cooperation in its dealings with the Premier League throughout the process.

Kira Maguire saying their penalty was three points for the breach, three points for the amount of breach, but they got two points back for mitigation and cooperation.

So their cooperation is worth more than a draw, but not as much as a win.

Nottingham Forest made an incredibly long statement saying we were extremely dismayed by the tone and content of the Premier League submissions before the Commission.

That the Premier League sought a sanction of eight points as a starting point was utterly disproportionate when compared to the nine points that their own rules prescribe for insolvency.

We believe that the high levels of cooperation the club has shown during this process and which are confirmed and recorded in the Commission's decision were not reciprocated by the Premier League.

They also said that under the current rules, it would make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for newly promoted clubs without parachute payments to compete, thus undermining the integrity and competitiveness of the Premier League.

And then they go on to say that they tried to sell Brennan Johnson as quickly as they could and they sold him a couple of months too late and that would have made a difference.

Many have pointed out, George, that they were the rules, they signed up to the rules and they broke the rules and lots of clubs haven't broken the rules.

What are your thoughts on how this has transpired?

It's just frustrating, I think, as a football fan when

consistently within any league, you know, we've seen it in the EFL, we've seen it in the Premier League,

when

matters such as this that impact the fans

are played out rather than being on a football pitch, they're played out in executive boardrooms with negotiations over how many points should be docked with the Premier League pushing for a number.

From the outside looking in, I'm not going to pretend that I am a football governance expert, but it feels like finger-in-the-air stuff when trying to pull out how many points is a fair and just punishment for offences that

realistically, we don't necessarily understand.

Like, it seems fair to me that with Forrest having been in the EFL and therefore the revenue available to them being lower than in the Premier League for a period of this time it only seems fair that that is factored into the decision but at the end of the day you know it it does seem to cheapen the product somewhat but I don't know what the answer is because if you know as you say a club is aware of the rules within which they have to um abide by they're aware of the framework within which they have to operate and they break those rules then what is a fair way to punish them I don't think you can do it purely financially because we know with the wealth of some owners within football, the financial sanctions imposed probably wouldn't go that far to actually dissuading cubs from doing it in the future.

So, therefore, you know, a competitive punishment is probably the way to do it.

But we're sitting here in the middle of March.

We've already seen Everton have a points deduction that was reversed in part, which went then sent them flying down the table, then back up the table again.

We now see Nottingham Forest going back down the table again.

There seems to be some confusion as to whether or not Everton might have another deduction at some point.

You know, the season ends in two months, and you've got Luton Town, who, you know, whilst the news around these deductions is massive for them, and in terms of their chance of staying up, must be pretty frustrating not actually knowing if these,

you know, pre-appeal, if these deductions, what kind of impact they're going to have on their season.

So it's a bit of a mess, and it feels quite pertinent that this news comes out at a time where co-currently we're hearing that finally we might have an independent regulator enforced into football by government, which

I think most people, unless they're thinking with their own personal greed,

can probably agree is necessary and a good thing.

Yeah, we'll get to regulation in just a second.

Jonathan, do you think Nottingham Forest have a point, or there is a point that the amount you're allowed to lose is

not as much if you were in the EFL.

I guess the idea is they don't want managed clubs in the championship gambling to get in the the Premier League.

But I mean, if that's what they want, then it doesn't seem to be working because lots of clubs in the championship gamble.

Yeah, gambling is part of parcel of being in a championship, to be honest.

I think almost every single team in the league makes losses.

So there is that element of, you know, going over what you would expect to be an acceptable amount of losses to be able to try and get into the Premier League.

And that's part of the game, really, in the championship.

And, you know, if you look at the losses of every single club, there's a staggering amount of losses every club loses per week, mostly on wages.

So I think it's a difficult balance because you don't want to kind of hamper clubs' ability to challenge.

And I kind of understand Forrest's argument in that sense, in terms of their club statement.

I mean, they've made a lot of sort of song and dance about a wider concern for all aspirant clubs in the land and sort of, you know,

the idea that it's going to lead to the stagnation of our national game and things like this in their statement, which is very sort of high-handed and very

I like the fact they're thinking of everyone in the football league.

They're Robin Hood, aren't they?

It's perfect.

Very caring, very caring approach.

But I'm not entirely sure if it's, you know, well, we'll take them on face value, but, you know, it's a very caring approach, let's say.

But I think that's the balance that's having to be put in place at the moment.

You know, if you look at the Premier League as well, you look at the Champions League, you look at UEFA, there's this sense of like trying to put cost controls.

Should a club be allowed to spend more than a certain percentage of its revenue?

Or

should all clubs be capped at their ability to generate revenue?

And the problem with that is, obviously, certain clubs can generate more revenue than others.

And so the wider debate is, is that fair or is it, should we allow clubs to basically come, you know, these owners who have more money to come in and invest however much they want.

And I think that is a really difficult question to answer

when you look at do you want competitiveness or do you want to have a kind of model that might entrench the bigger clubs revenue generating ability.

So I think that's a different debate.

In terms of the Forest debate, I suppose we don't really know exactly what's going to happen.

And that relates to what George just said.

Like Forrest were given two points back.

It was supposed to be originally minus six, and they've been given two for mitigation.

You imagine on an appeal, I mean, Everton obviously was successful on an appeal.

You imagine on the appeal, Forrest might get a few more points back, potentially.

So, I think that is the worrying part, and I think that's the part that is going to be potentially fixed.

Maybe the Premier League and also the EFL need to set clear kind of points deductions, and you get this for this and you get this for this.

And I think that's the lack of clarity at the moment is part of the

real problem I feel that clubs are having around what they can and can't get away with.

But one thing I did enjoy in the hearing is the reference to Fred N.

Johnson as player, a aka player that moved from Nottingham Forest to Tottenham for 47.5 million on this date, which was not exactly hiding

his identity.

Who could it possibly be?

You sort of need a system where it's all done in June and July.

And obviously,

that probably just doesn't work with when the financial year ends and when all this stuff happens.

And it just goes right, you know,

this is the starting point.

This is how the season's going to end.

These are the points you're going to be deducted if you are before everyone kicks a ball.

Sonny, can I move you on to the regulator?

Because

I think that is, you know, it's interlinked.

And I don't know how much football administration you can talk about and have a chance of winning the FSA podcast of the year again.

I don't know.

I mean, obviously, the price of football is an excellent podcast, and you should listen to that.

But so, look, the UK government will establish an independent footballer regulator when the football governance bill is introduced in Parliament today.

This is from the BBC.

It'll grant powers to a standalone body independent of both government and football authorities.

We'll have powers revolving around three core objectives.

Improving financial sustainability of clubs, ensuring financial resilience across the leagues, safeguarding English football's heritage.

The FSA said they warmly welcome the tabling of the government's bill.

The regulator must be given power to impose a financial settlement in the interest of the sustainability of the game as a whole.

It's far too important to be left to the squabbling between the vested interests of the richest club owners.

Meanwhile, campaign group Fair Game said at first glance it looks like the bill has missed the target and they failed to get the assurances that the regulator will have the power to intervene.

So

I think we all agree, Tanny, it is a good idea.

Do we know if it's good enough yet?

Or will the proof be in

down the road when it actually has to do something?

Well first off what I would say is I have very much skin in the game here.

As a Berry fan, it was the demise of my team that kind of led to this whole situation in the first place as far as a fan-led review.

And then, what, three years later, we finally got this

potential bill now coming through.

Yeah, I mean, you're right.

It'll be the proof is in the pudding, really, because

we can't see how it...

how it's going to work.

But having read and thought through as well, how could it have worked?

So I always think back to what happened to Berry.

If this regulation had been in, would it have stopped Berry?

And the short answer probably is, yeah, because, I mean, if you go back a couple of years earlier, there's basically David Conn at the Guardian writing every other, you know, every long read he did was like, has anybody noticed the finances at Berry are a mess and there's all these crazy loans out on with massive interests.

And you'd read them and you'd go, oh yeah.

And at the time, we were doing okay.

And eventually, even though the wages weren't getting paid, got promoted into league one and so at that point you kind of know things are going very very badly but you feel like well the football's still happening and it will all kind of work itself out and we'll be okay and it didn't so way earlier the likes of david conn raising this a

regulator could have stepped in and done something whether they could have you know taken the club out of those owners hands, which is part of the rules potentially and a licensing system, and all the rest, you then get into the whole legal situation, don't you?

In lawyers, and you know, if Man City have a Mr.

Burns-style array of highly paid lawyers here, there, and everywhere, you know, how is it going to work out in practice?

But, I mean, fundamentally, obviously, I've got a massive bias here, but this has to be a good thing.

If the whole point of English football, if you want to have this exceptionalism about our game, it's the pyramid, isn't it?

It's the thing that makes it better than everything else.

And for too long now,

there are certain clubs in the Premier League that haven't really given any thought towards the lower leagues, even though the entire sporting

integrity of the whole competition is built on that system of meritocracy.

And if we lose any more clubs and we've got a host of them currently in dire straits, then we really are going to struggle.

And what's the point of it?

Yeah, I mean, I can echo what Sanny says, where, you know, I may not have skin in the game in terms of losing my club, but certainly having covered the EFL for the last decade or so um

you know we've seen the way that

a you know certain owners get hold of a football club who never should have been there in the first place and the introduction clearly seems to suggest that there will be much more stringent um you know owners suitability tests um and the possibility of owners being struck off if they fail those tests which has to be a good thing the issue i think that we have and you know i understand there may be some concerns at the moment that you know that the the proposals haven't gone far enough but i think we're going to see now what the premier league think of of this.

You know, it's easy for us to sit here as football fans and say the independent regulator is great.

You know, we don't know who the regulator is going to be, we don't know the setup of that yet, and that's going to be important, especially when you look at some independent regulators in other society, well, in other industries, and they look pretty toothless from the outside and don't necessarily look.

You know, there's been an example this week with Ofcom where there's been quite a big case of

Ofcom taking action or taking a stand against a broadcaster, but actually not really doing anything.

So, yeah, I think we'll see what happens there.

And then, with the Premier League's reaction is going to be interesting because I can guarantee the Premier League, who are the people with all the power, the people with all the money, they're not going to be happy about this.

And we've seen in the last couple of weeks that the Premier League are meant to have come up with a deal in terms of the redistribution of wealth back into the EFL and some kind of package, financial package, which hasn't come to pass as of yet, presumably because there has been pushback within the Premier League.

And so, their reaction to this, and we've already seen in a brief Premier League statement, that they are concerned about

the effects of these that may not be foreseen.

I can guarantee you that the Premier League will not want to give away power to an independent regulator.

So let's see what happens with that.

It's one of who the regulator will be.

It'll be Sheikh Mansoor,

Simon Jordan.

Who could it be?

All these state governors.

And Nasser al-Khalifi will be in there somehow.

He'll be running it.

Do you have any strong thoughts on the regulator, Jonathan, before we move on?

Not necessarily strong thoughts, but I sort of echo the concerns.

I think the big issue is who is going to be behind it and who's going to, like you just mentioned there.

And I think that's the

main issue.

I think that you can have these things with good intentions, but really, in terms of who actually is making those decisions and how they adjudicate is the key thing.

I think no matter what anyone thinks about it, I think it's going to be a huge battle.

The Premier League aren't going to really accept this, and I think they're going to fight it tooth and nail and do as much as they can to avoid any kind of cost controls around them or regulation around them because they want the ability to grow the game and have that element of control over you know their league and ultimately

although it's in the FL pod they kind of they they dominate English football and and they they kind of set the rules to a certain extent which is you know probably not quite fair really for the rest of the pyramid but kind of is is how it is and I think that's going to be a major issue and I don't see

I think this is going to be quite a long-running battle to be honest I don't see everyone coming away with with this regulator shaking hands and being happy and i think it plays into the wider concerns around the the game at the moment with the super league hanging over hanging over football um and and and clubs kind of looking towards that side of things so i do i think it's like a plaster at the moment on a wound but but i don't think it's going to do huge amount at this moment in time i think there's going to be a lot more to come uh to really resolve it and and and have a more longer lasting fix no no no football fan goes into this wanting to be an expert on finances you want to watch our football team, right?

There was a funny moment at the end of the Luton Nottingham Forest game where the Luton fans were all singing, points deduction, it's coming for you.

And they, of course, know it had a 30-point deduction that took him into non-league.

Well, I think what we've got to remember is, right,

if you had 30 kids in reception, right, you wouldn't just say, all right, kids, here's a load of sweets, look after yourselves, you'll sort yourselves out, you'll all be fine.

They're all selfish.

They're all selfish little shits.

They'll just want to keep it all for themselves.

And that is what's happened in football.

We cannot trust these clubs to run themselves without any oversight.

However, it looks, it's got to be something.

Because at the moment, we've seen it every single year.

What is it?

125% of the turnover of championship clubs is spent on wages.

Like, they cannot be trusted.

That's what we've established here.

I know that from my own team.

And they're just going to have to take the medicine.

However, it's going to look.

They have to do something because otherwise, we are going to we are approaching an existential crisis unless you just want a super super league or just the top clubs and we'll all just watch it on TV and we'll not bother about anyone else and we'll all be happily ever after.

Thank you, Sanny.

Well put.

And right, we'll talk about the dream of the championship clubs to get into the promised land of the selfish shits in the Premier League in just a second in part two.

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Barry's here too.

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Remarkable, a brand name and an adjective, man.

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Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Some breaking news in the championship.

We rarely get breaking news, it normally happens after the pod has finished.

George, but what have you just told us in the break?

And it doesn't get much bigger than this.

Gary Rowatt is going back to Birmingham City as interim.

The report seems to suggest interim head coach/slash consultant, which is quite a weird job title.

But when you consider that Tony Mowbray is their current manager and he is currently unwell and therefore unable to kind of take or do all the day-to-day running in the football club as you'd expect.

It kind of makes a bit of sense.

And it makes sense for Birmingham.

You know, he's someone who Gary Rowitt's style may not always please fans.

It is very structured, out of possession, not particularly expansive, but it gets results.

And when you consider where Birmingham were when famously, when

Gary Rowart lost, left the club, when you consider where Millwall were when Gary Rowitt left the club earlier this season, he's someone who can immediately

improve a team out of possession, improve their defensive record, and therefore get a tune out of a group of players.

My only kind of slight concern would be that if you were to take two managers with polar opposite philosophies on the game within the championship, I would say Gary Rowart and Tony Mowbray are probably exactly that.

If they're expected to work together in terms of a game model, then I'm not entirely sure what that would look like because Mowbray is all about breathing freedom into his players and allowing them to express themselves.

Whereas I think Gary Rowart will tell players to express themselves as much as they like when they're not on the football pitch, but when they're on there, they just stand their ground and hold firm.

So, um, you know, the reality is that Rawat's arrival will probably increase Birmingham's chances of survival, and that's all they can do at this stage.

Yeah, um,

if the breaking news was Gary Rowatt going back to one of his former clubs in an emergency, God, I wish it was us, frankly.

Um, anyway, we'll get to we'll get to that.

Before we go back to the relegation uh fight in the championship, let's talk about the top of it because it's totally fascinating, isn't it?

Leeds on 82 from 38 games now, top of the league.

I mean, it's ridiculous that anyone that isn't Leicester City are top of the league.

Even if Leicester do have a game in hand, they're on the same points.

Their goal difference is one worse.

Ipswich, just a point behind and have played 38.

Lot of Leeds fans just sending me gifts of Daniel Farker, basically.

And Jay says Leeds have overcome a 17-point gap to Leicester in just 65 days.

Has Has there ever been a team to make up ground quicker than that?

I mean, it is, Jonathan, it is extraordinary, isn't it?

Yeah, they're on an amazing run, to be honest.

I mean, the only game they've lost in this calendar year so far was in the FA Cup.

I think they've drawn one game or two games in that time.

Apart from that, every other result has been a win.

They're flying.

I mean, the thing with Leeds is I think they've just got a really good squad.

I mean, they've somehow kept Nanto, for example, who is a class player.

I think Somerville has has been one of their best players this season as well.

Fantastic player from their youth.

Well, has emerged from their youth team, obviously played in their youth system for a while and came through there.

And just other players who are doing really well.

So I think

that Daniel Farker seems to have implemented a good style.

He's obviously been there before and he's got results at that level.

And I guess it's just since he's gone there.

Their home record is incredible as well.

And they had a bit of a wobble at the start of the season in that sense, but

since he's basically implemented his style there, they seem to be winning almost every single home game.

And so they're a big club historically.

Anyway, the fans

keep saying that every week, the away fans and

excellent content they're providing.

They travel in numbers and they support their team massively.

And I just think that

that momentum as well has helped them, together with the fact that they've got some really good players.

I mean, even Dan James, for example, has seemed to sort of go up another level

from the sort of difficult spell he had at Fulham and obviously Manchester United and the history he's had.

He seems to be flying.

So just everything seems to be coming out well for them at the moment.

And even the forwards they have, they've got a good array of options to choose from, Rutter.

And I just think they've got so many players who are sort of above championship level that

that momentum has just propelled them.

But it is a really tough race.

You've got Leicester who looked good obviously against Chelsea and gave them a good game in the cup of the weekend just gone.

And you've even got teams like Commentary Art doing too badly and they're now in the FA Cup semi-final.

So it's a competitive league at the top of Ipswich are flying.

And I think that

Lee's just have that little bit of nouse about them managerially.

I think also in terms of the players, that

you struggle to see them now.

They've got this head of steam.

I think they could really go all the way.

It just feels impossible, Sunny, that Leicester might not make it.

I sort of seem to remember how often do we do an EFL pod?

Like, we did one and they were just

so far away, we'd give them the title.

And then the next one, you were like, okay, but still, they're miles clear, it's fine.

And now, Sunny, they're not even top.

Yeah, it's funny, isn't it?

That yeah, there was that period where it just does feel

they were just having a really fun time.

I think part of this, though, is it's kind of down to how good leads have been.

You know, when you've won every game bar one in the league and then Leicester have a bit of a wobble, it's going to really come to bite you.

But, you know, last time we talked about, you know, there was...

things that hadn't quite gone Leicester's way.

There was a little bit of discontent from the fans on playing style.

And

it's hard because actually they are, they're they're still good they're still really good and they've still got really good players and someone like Jamie Vardy he's still having a great time he's still finding the time to get riled up by away fans or or or riling them up whichever way around it is still scoring and still celebrating in front of them having a great time so I don't think Leicester have been that bad I think it's just that leads have just done so well and Leicester have just shown they're a bit more human.

I mean, I think it will be those two to go up.

And

I kind of hesitate to say that, especially given how Ipswich demolished Sheffield Wednesday last weekend and have kind of come through their own wobble.

But those two clearly have the strongest squads,

you know, the ex-Premier League players as well.

And I think when it really comes down to the finest margins, Leicester will be there.

But honestly, I actually think Leeds will win the league.

And I don't think that's a controversial thing to say.

George, do you follow with that?

Do you think Ipswich will be the one of these three that misses that?

They look so good.

I mean, Amari Hutchinson, who I knew nothing about and was thinking, oh, this looks like a good young prospect.

prospect.

Presume he's on loan from Chelsea.

He is on loan from Chelsea, like every, I presume every player.

It's just safer to presume they're on loan from Chelsea, but he was brilliant in that 6-0 win.

But do you think Ipswich are the

one of these three that might miss out?

Not necessarily.

I think, you know, probably on balance, they're the most likely to finish third because they're currently third.

And if you look at the form that the leads are in, and with Leicester with a game in hand as well.

But I wouldn't rule them out by any stretch.

You know, they've shown over the course of the season now that they are

absolutely on merit.

Yes, you know, leads in Leicester might have individuals with more star quality, but I would personally say that in Kieran McKenna, Ipswich Town have a head coach or a manager who of the three is the most likely to end up managing a top club.

And it wouldn't surprise me at all if he's Manchester United manager at some point in the next two or three seasons, given his history at the club before that.

They have been so impressive.

Yes, injuries have kind of derailed them at certain points, but you know, I thought, you know, when George Hurst got injured earlier in the campaign, that was when they had their little wobble before keefer moore came in and could provide that physical presence up front but connor chaplin came out for the game against wednesday who's been such a key player for them over the last two seasons and hutchinson who's mainly played um off off uh off the right hand side came in and played 10 and got two goals and got an assist and showed that you know they do have that strength in depth so They've absolutely got it within them to finish first or second.

Because at the moment, the title race, you know, it's been discussed, will it be Leeds?

Will it be Leicester?

But Ipswich, just one point behind Leeds, haven't played the same amount of games.

Like they are fully fully in this with the possibility of finishing first or second.

Um, with Leicester, it all just feels a little bit strange at the moment.

Like, there's been some discontent amongst the fan base with Enzo Mareska about the style of play.

I think maybe there was just a massive amount of complacency around the whole club.

Like, there was an interview with Mareska before the Leeds game where he was asked about it being a massive game, and he said it's a massive game for Leeds, it's just another game for us.

Well,

you know, that didn't age particularly well with Leeds winning the game, and then suddenly now they're top of the league and it's Leicester who are trying to chase them down.

But it's been an amazing run from Leeds, like to do what they've done, to make up 17 points from the 1st of January.

And, you know, if this was a horse race, which it's not, but if this was a horse race and you would see the amount, how quickly Leeds have gained ground on Leicester, you know, you'd expect them to go on the wing by half the track from here.

But I have a feeling it might not be as simple as that.

No.

And obviously Leicester will be the horse that went out way too early.

Yeah, he flew out in front.

Yeah, you idiot.

Stop it.

Jockie's exhausted.

Totally.

So below them, Southampton got no because these three are doing so well.

Southampton do have two games in hand on

Leeds and Ipswich.

And they are, what, nine,

nine off.

And they've still got to play Leicester and Ipswich as well.

So they could, I mean, if they went on a run, they could, you know, they could still be in the mix, right?

There's still quite a lot of football.

Sort of

not quite a quarter of the season to go there's got quite a lot left isn't there um but if we presume they are in the playoffs and maybe westbrom are there too

then it is a bun fight for sixth place does anybody have any sort of strong feelings on who out of you could probably go down to

preston preston yeah could you i don't know norwich hold coventry preston where's your where's your where's the money smart money i i think at this stage norwich are the team who are performing best and this would be one of the weirdest weirdest promotions in EFL history, where just a few weeks ago, you had Norwich fans on the brink of protest around David Wagner's management of the club.

And it's pretty rare that when things go that far, like it's a bit of a cliche in football, how when things get that toxic, there's no way back.

But we never see because they're always sacked.

Whereas I think David Wagner's proving here that maybe there is a way back because they're in an incredible runner-form and Dross Sargent's return to the side has triggered a massive improvement from them.

And Gabrielle Sara, a central midfield player, they probably got the best player outside of the three relegated clubs from last season.

And they've forced their way into sixth and are currently playing the best of all of those teams, I would say.

I mean, Hull still have a massive amount of respect, and they

will fancy their chances.

And Coventry, as we saw with the FA Cup result,

you do wonder if an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United may be a little bit of a distraction in terms of their attempts to get into the top six.

But they have the quality to do it, and Preston's certainly in it as well.

So

Norwich looked the most likely to me right now just because of how well they're playing.

But it wouldn't be a huge shock to see any of those four graph six.

At the bottom, Jonathan, Rotherham,

safe to say they're down there on 20 points, but above them,

and it's stayed as pretty much as tight as it was the last time we talked about this.

Sheffield Wednesday have 38 points.

They've gone an amazing run.

They've lost a couple since.

So Sheffield Wednesday on 38, Huddersfield on 39, Birmingham on 39, QPR 40, Stoke 41, Plymouth 41, Blackburn 42, Millwall

still in danger, I will say, with my fingers crossed, on 43.

It's just

totally fascinating, Jarvan.

Yeah, I mean, obviously,

it's looking very a lot of the leagues are quite tight, actually.

I mean, even if you look into League Two as well, and I mean, even if you go down to the National League, there's a lot of sort of top and bottom battles that are really, really tense at the moment.

I guess that speaks to the competitiveness of of each league to a certain extent there's either really good teams or sort of not so good teams in this sense i mean hardersfield i think that they might be worried in terms of their their form with sort of four games without a win now and and they're not you know obviously they're at the weekend uh they got a draw against rotherham but they probably would have felt that they and rotherham are the team that you kind of need to be beating if you if you're going to escape it there's not too many you know other teams that you know they've got coventry next of course who've just done so well in the cup um so you kind of worry about them a little bit i think qpr they're kind of of, you know, since Marty Silfense went in there, you know,

he's done quite a good job since he's gone in there in terms of settling things down.

And, you know, he obviously I know from his time in Sweden and you know, he did quite a good job at Hammerby

to earn the role at QPR.

And, you know, they've got a few talents, Sinclair Armstrong and players like that.

Obviously, the weekend, the Sunderland, they kind of peppered them and just didn't quite get the result, didn't quite get the win that they probably would have wanted and ended up with a draw.

So, you know, they're still in it despite kind of slightly improving.

I don't really, I can't call who's going to go down, to be honest, but there's a lot of teams that are kind of scrambling at the moment.

And I mean, that adds to the fun and that makes it exciting, but it's hard.

It's impossible almost to predict who would go down at this moment in time.

On Chef Year Wednesday, there's an extra factor here that, you know, I don't think it's been taken into account.

When they win a game at home, they'll play Boney M Daddy Cool, which works perfectly with Danny, Danny Rawl.

And they all start singing it.

It does.

It really is such a feel-good tune.

I think it's that extra little percentage boost that all the fans get, that extra happiness that's more than just the happy fist bumps.

You know, I go there as a neutral and I'm like, got a spring in my step at the end.

You know,

those are those extra marginal gains you need.

You know, how many managers have a chant that works perfectly with such an upbeat song that they can play in the PA after a win?

That could be the thing that that keeps them off a good point all i'm trying to think of now is upbeat songs and efl football managers which i've just not quite quick enough to go come on i need one for steve evans and i don't have one um

george looking at the bottom there i mean it's i don't know if it's it seems totally impossible to call i mean what you want from a neutral is just it to be this tight you want you know, 10 different teams to be in the relegation zone on the final day at any one time.

Which could happen considering how tight it is.

I mean, the only bit I would add to this, and apologies to Blackburn Rovers fans for bringing this up, is that when you look at all of the teams and their runnings, Blackburn's is the hardest by miles.

Blackburn's running from here is Ipswich at home, Sunderland away, Southampton at home, Bristol City away, Leeds away, Sheffield Wednesday at home, Coventry at home, Leicester away.

So they've still got to play all four of the current top four, plus Coventry.

Um, and even that Wednesday game, not easy given how uh, you know, what they've done in this game.

That's a just rare to Blackburn fans, a nightmare.

Yeah, apologies.

I actually sent it to a friend of mine who's a Blackburn fan.

He replied, saying, Oh, I didn't see that.

Um, so it's uh, it's a um, yeah, and when you consider they've won one game in their last 17, when you consider that Blackburn fans not particularly enamoured with John Eustace's um style of play that he's tried to implement, and it always felt weird to go from Jondale Thomason,

probably the most expansive manager we've seen in the championship over the last couple of seasons,

really end-to-end games, to Eustace, who is a pragmatist, a defensive first manager.

It always felt a bit clunky, and it's looking like you're on the pitch.

So, I'd be concerned for them, and also a word for Argyle as well, because under Stephen Schumacher, Plymouth Argyle's home form was so important to their championship-winning campaign in League One last season, was so important to their good start this season.

But they've lost four games to nil at home in a row.

Ian Foster, their new head coach, coming under some serious pressure.

And that's kind of the story at the moment in the championship.

Where if you basically take every team from Bristol City down, and you know, we saw Watford Park Company with Venera and Ishmael last week.

Every fan base seems to want their manager sacked.

And this is, you know, we've spoken about it before, Max, on the, on this show, where

the culture of just blaming the manager and, you know, the butt coy stopping with the managers, just going so far.

Like, can they all be bad?

Can every single manager in the championship be underperforming?

Or is it just a case that because it's so open, because it's so congested, because the looming threat of relegation is so large, the finger just points at the managers.

Realistically, if QPR and Sheffield Wednesday hadn't improved from their early season form and three teams were already relegated, as looked like it was going to be the case back in October, then all these managers would probably be sitting a bit more comfortable in their jobs.

Has there been any more fallout to the sort of Dean Austin

WhatsApp gate?

Vindication, wasn't it?

I mean, what?

Because they sacked Ishmael and then, you know,

yeah, he said, he said they're rubbish.

They're beaten.

He said very well was on borrowed time.

He was sacked.

Very funny.

Evans is a place on earth from producer Joel.

Very good.

That would work, wouldn't it?

At Stevenage, you know, full-time.

Steve Evans fist pumping with Belinda Carlyle banging out in the background.

Be perfect, wouldn't it?

Well, it's funny.

Since I complained about Steve Evans' fist bump and his trousers might be falling down, they've only won with two in 10.

So I've actually a kiss of death there.

Okay,

maybe he's he's just got a belt.

Who knows?

Just on George's point, I think one manager who isn't the clubs don't, the fans don't seem to want out at the moment, obviously, is Luke Williams, who've got a fantastic result in the derby for Swansea at the weekend.

Did an amazing job in Knox County.

Fans loved him there as well.

And I think that was one of the highlights of the weekend.

I think, George, you might agree with me.

Luke Williams doing shots with the fans post-match.

Yeah, he was having baby Guinnesses in the bars in Swansea, even calling Cardiff Cardiff the not very nice name that you often call your rivals as well at the bar.

And there's also 12 dirty kickoffs.

They must have been having shots at about four in the afternoon, which is all right for some.

So is a baby Guinness just a tiny Guinness?

No, that would be

Kalua

and Baileys.

Don't pretend you don't know Max.

The soccer AM Max, we'll let you know in a bit.

I was saying, so the last time.

Well, I haven't had a shot for a long time.

But I mean, like a tiny Guinness actually sounds quite pleasant, but a Kalua and a Bailey's.

Yeah, I have seen that.

I can't remember.

I remember there was a drink called A Brain Hemorrhage that had a Bailey's floating in something that looked like a brain.

That's an insight into your late 90s for you.

Oh, God, a terrible thing.

Anyway, that'll do for part two.

Part three, we'll do leagues one and two.

Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Let's look at the title race in League One to begin with.

Ian says, after your parsimonious praise for Pompey in the last EFL episode, can we now get some love for the club that ended Saturday with a total of 15 players injured, yet still top of League One, please?

I presume not all 15 in the same game.

Yeah, so Portsmouth top 83 points from 39.

Derby, 78 from 39.

Bolton, 74 from 39.

Top two go up automatically.

Peterbrough 71 and Barnesley 71 from 38.

Um, so uh, Sandy, do you want to praise Portsmouth?

Yeah, they did okay, uh, against Peterborough.

Uh, that's I could say that, or I could say the truth, which is that Peterborough actually kind of bossed it a bit and were unlucky to come away with a defeat.

Cassini Yengi, their Australian international, uh, coming up Trumps for Pompey.

Um, yeah, they have done really well, though, and you know, the home form in general has been been really good.

I know they took, what, 4,000, wasn't it, to Peterborough?

And Darren Ferguson complained that they'd been given too many tickets.

But, yeah, they've got that feel-good factor around them.

I know we've said that the quality at the top of the table this year isn't quite there.

Derby and Bolton had a very interesting contest between them, Derby kind of winning it completely against the runner-play.

So, yeah, it's there to be won.

And I think, yeah, Pompey maybe have that.

I don't know.

It's hard for me to say they've got that extra bit of quality because actually, I think between these two, they're all a bit much of a muchness.

But yeah, Pompey, I haven't been quite grudging it with this praise.

Yeah, Pompey, you're okay.

Yeah, I'm not sure that's what Ian wanted from his.

Sorry.

Sorry, that's okay.

I like the idea of Darren Ferguson saying the problem is the opposition have too many fans and that should not be allowed.

Do you agree with Senny there, Jonathan?

We've said it before that the top of League One is not as good.

I mean, they're good enough to beat Cambridge.

Everyone is.

I know that.

But like, the quality isn't quite there this year.

And actually, next year, League One will be be quite a different prospect.

Potentially, I mean, I still think there's some pretty good teams in there.

It could be because I watch a lot of lower league football, and so going to Bolton recently and watching them against Wickham and just the quality of the game in terms of some of the players.

Like, for someone who watches a lot of non-league, I guess, watching League One football at

formerly known as the stadium, formerly known as the Reebok Arena, was like, you know, having a nice schoolmate state.

But I know obviously they thrashed Oxford 5-0 last week as well, which is, you know,

George.

yeah.

It's okay.

I'm over it.

But, you know, that speaks to the sort of, I mean, there's a big gap, isn't there, where between them

and Portsmouth are the top.

So I think that that league's not as it's starting to sort of, teams are starting to kind of find their place.

And I think, you know, look, it looks like Portsmouth are going to

probably go up, I think.

It's fair, might be fair to say.

But, no, I think Bolton have got some quite good players.

They play some quite nice football.

They seem to have this knack of kind of not getting results that they maybe should get.

For example, that Derby game, you know, they kind of dominated the game, but didn't get a result.

So

I wouldn't say it's not competitive, but I think that it's more clear in terms of who might go up.

I don't know how you feel about the playoffs, George, with Oxford, but I suppose it's that play-off battle that's kind of maybe where things could be interesting towards the end of the season.

I think Portsmouth have got a really solid team, and I'd be fairly surprised.

And also, the job Maccino has done.

I think he's quite a sort of safe-handed manager.

So I would tick them to go up, really.

Portsmouth will probably go up, maybe with Derby, and then Bolton, Peterborough Barnesley in the playoffs.

And then you've got sort of one other play-off spot for your guys, Oxford, who are not on a great run.

Lincoln, who are absolutely flying.

I mean, Tombow says, what are they on at Lincoln and where can I get some?

They've scored 16 in their last three games, 5-0, 6-0, which I watched, 5-1.

Their manager, Michael Scubal, is quite interesting, isn't he, George?

Very sort of modern-day path, PE teacher, England futsal, England set up, becoming a head coach.

And briefly, caretaker manager at Leeds last season after Jesse Marsh's departure.

Yeah, it's amazing what Lincoln are doing.

Like, I would firstly just quickly say that I don't, I wouldn't be, I think Pompey will now go up after beating Peter Brown, and unbelievable credit to them for doing so.

Like, I've been one of those people that's maybe doubted their staying power, but they're making me look like a fool.

But I would say that probably with Pompey and Derby still to play each other on the 2nd of April, like Bolton and Peter Brown, Barnesley still have a shot of chasing down that second spot.

But in terms of Lincoln,

it's one of those managerial appointments that's just worked so well.

You know, Skabala came in, probably a little bit of a risk to bring him in,

but his footsore background, he's clearly an incredibly highly regarded coach.

Like speaking to people

who saw his work in the academy at Leeds, said that his team is always set up very effectively.

It wasn't an immediate impact.

He came in at Lincoln.

Initially, they struggled a little bit, and it seemed like he was really drilling them defensively to start with and giving them the foundation from which to perform.

The arrival of Joe Taylor on loan from Luton, who scored I think 11 goals in the first half of the season for a poor Colchester side, has been the catalyst for a massive improvement going forward.

And you've got a smattering of players recruited from the League of Ireland who are also providing the platform for him to perform in.

And that's an area and a league where I think the secret's kind of out now.

But if you look over the last five or six seasons at players who have been plucked from both the League of Ireland and the Northern Irish Top League as well, and how quickly players can be picked up for minimal outlay and be sold on for a massive profit in the EFL.

It's a pretty obvious area where

Smart Club has been recruiting well, and Lincoln have done that incredibly.

But yeah, in the last couple of weeks, they seem to have like solved football.

I've never seen anything like it, where they go out in games, they just prevent the opposition from creating any notable chances and just consistently create chances themselves.

And I personally think it's not a great league one this season.

And that's why when you see a team who suddenly hit a high level of performance, they're able to go on the kind of run that we've seen from Lincoln.

And right now, you know, the playoffs seemed a pipe dream three weeks ago.

And suddenly they're right on the cusp of it now.

Whether they can maintain this form, we'll have to see.

But I would argue it looks pretty sustainable given the underlying numbers suggest that, you know, the defensive record as it is, I think it's three goals conceded in eight

could continue.

And if Taylor continues scoring goals like he is at at the moment, scored a hat-trick last weekend, then who's to say they won't get into the playoffs?

And if they do get there, given how well they're performing, I can guarantee you no team will want to play them.

I mean, they look like they had a thousand points when we played them.

We couldn't get the ball, we were just nowhere.

It was literally nowhere near.

It was like we just, it was just not, it was not, there was no point.

And like, every time they attacked, they scored.

Oh, God, it was absolute agony.

Um, um,

looking at the bottom, I mean, let's talk about Redding.

I think it's a, you know,

I don't know what the latest is on this takeover.

We've seen heard about Wickham potentially buying their training ground.

John Granville's long throws as a Wickham fan, I don't know what to think in regards to our purchase of Reading's training ground.

Are we the white knights coming in to rescue their club?

Or are we allowing someone to asset strip the life out of them until they are no more?

I don't know, Jonathan, what you think about

like whether Wickham are evil and if it's grubby to buy the training ground or whether actually

might help because my first instinct was this is grim you shouldn't do it, but but I think it

and i don't know if they are going to do it now but like i i don't know what i don't know what you think uh wouldn't say it's evil necessarily i think it's it's capitalism at work um

there's there's a market for it and i guess they're in that market for it i suppose ethically is it i don't know morally and ethically you can can argue about it i i mean i guess a bit of a sticking point is the the the reported uh rumors that they weren't gonna allow them to to tra they were gonna allow them to buy the stadium but not actually buy the training ground sorry but not actually actually train there, which I think is probably a bit of a stumbling block potentially.

So sorry, said that again.

Reading we're going to sell it, but not let Wiccan.

Not allow Wiccan to train there.

So

there's an issue.

It's basically broken down because in their due diligence they found out that only Reading can actually use the training ground.

So it's collapsed.

Yeah, some sort of covenant on the ground.

That does seem like a detail.

It does seem like a detail.

It's a classic thing to pop up in due diligence.

Oh, we can't use it.

Fine.

Yeah, we're not not going to buy it.

Yeah,

a little bit of the small print saying, you know, I'm buying this car, but oh, there's a clause B34 saying I can't actually drive this car.

But this is

kind of football tribalism at its peak here, where you've got a Reading fan base who understandably don't believe a single word that comes out of Dai Young's mouth.

And not that we hear him say too much, but the level of trust in their owner is so low.

And so naturally, as soon as they heard that this amazing new training ground that was built very recently was being sold off, immediately the perception was asset stripping.

And you saw a really emotional response and a really negative response to Wickham Wanderers and the club, basically accusing them of helping kill their club.

But then you've got Wickham Wanderers who are like, hold on, in our mind here, we are A,

giving you vital funds and cash needed to run your club whilst according to the statement yesterday actually helping them with immediate cash flow issues as well.

Wickham sold their training ground a decade ago in order to help fund the immediate future of their club when they were in a time of need.

It's not a rare thing to do.

And so, to their mind, they were doing something kind of almost philanthropic, obviously for their own benefit as well.

And they're being accused of something else.

And there was even Reading protests outside the training ground.

And then, when the deal collapsed yesterday, we saw Reading fans celebrating, and we saw Reading fans say, you know, telling Wickham where to go when as a neutral watching this and as someone who you know regardless of whether I'm an Oxford fan and Reading fans think that means there's any rivalry like my priority as a

football fan is that Reading survive this and get a new ownership group in it as soon as possible to ensure the long-term preservation of the football club like my initial reaction was like well if they needed help with immediate cash flow issues what does this do like does this have an existential impact in the short term on the club the good news is that local journalists and you know this has to come with a pinch of salt and And you know, Ruben Selez, the Reading manager, was asked about this, and he said, Effectively, I don't believe it, I'll believe it when I see it.

But there does seem to be some movement in terms of

conversations with potentially interested parties, and that has to be a good thing.

But there was also some talk at the back end of last week that the training complex being off the table in terms of negotiations, and therefore the cost of an acquisition being lower actually maybe helped the potential sale of the club.

So

it's fast moving.

I'm pretty happy that the Wickham-Reading stuff is put to bed now because it was all quite ugly from both sides.

And I think maybe a rivalry was born between two clubs who desperately want a rival, so that's not the worst thing.

Um, but let's just hope that in the next coming hours, days, there's there's more good news about the potential sale because this sees happen fast.

Yeah, I am, I like the idea of them both using the training ground, a bit like the, you know, it'd be like the Finsby Leisure Centre or just like any goals, right?

Where, you know, the Reading players have got it till 10, but Wickham are are on at 10, you know, and so they're just like, they're all standing at the gate, and you're just going, come on, next goal wins, and then you're going, oh, can we play on?

And then do they get a goal each?

So they get one half of the pitch each.

Oh, right.

They just play half the pitch.

Oh, you know, half the pitch is not good enough, is it?

Anyway, look, Reading on the pitch.

Well, they beat Cambridge 4-0.

So I don't know if that is...

a marker of anything.

And actually, I know I'm obviously bars and I talk about Cambridge too much on this pod, but

George, come back to you because you were saying on your pod, the hiring of Gary Monk now seems quite odd.

Yeah, I mean,

I was saying this before you lost back to that game by an aggregate of 10-0.

It's really not great, is it?

It's just not good

when you put it like that.

Yeah, it's just not the best.

I kind of think, like, when you look at what Birmingham have done today, seemingly brought in Gary Raut, someone who knows the club, who has got a record of improving teams quickly

at the level, like it makes sense.

When you look at Gary Monk, someone who, you know, for a time was the bright young thing of English football management at Swansea, it's easy to kind of forget that now because a lot has kind of gone since then.

Who did a pretty good job at Leeds in difficult circumstances for a time?

But he hasn't managed for four years.

He's never managed in League One.

He's never worked with players of the standards that he's currently working with at League One level.

So, in terms of looking for kind of horses for courses where you know, Cambridge probably need three or four wins in order to save their season and to stay up,

you haven't gone and recruited somebody who's ever done this before.

You're not recruiting somebody who's ever done this job before.

You've maybe kind of been blinded a little bit by the fact you've been able to acquire a manager who's managed a fair bit in the Premier League and done so quite well.

And the immediate signs are that whatever he's communicating to the playing staff isn't working because the performances have been absolutely horrific.

So, and what do you do?

Because he's on a long-term contract now.

So,

I mean, you just hope other teams are bad.

Like, Carlisle are probably down there, 23 points.

Portvale, 33 from 37.

Fleetwood, 34 from 39.

Cheltenham, 35 from 37.

Cambridge and Burton, 39 from 38.

Reading, 42 from 39.

And Shrewsbury, 44 from 39.

Sonny, it looked like you were poised to come in.

Well, I've kept this

under my hat for quite a while.

I share an agent with Darren Moore.

So Darren Moore's agent is my agent.

And so I've always kind of been reticent to come in.

Did you get an interview for the Port Vale job?

Yeah, he's got me a five-year deal as well.

So i've always kind of like tried to think

how do i feel about this and where have i got a conflicts of interest but he's coming to port vale and it's not gone well at all has it he he's not won a game that's right george isn't it and i wonder what yeah what how do we what what's gone wrong there i couldn't quite get put my finger on exactly why things are going wrong and it's kind of one that's almost going under the radar a bit because of other teams struggling like cambridge taking a lot of heat there but yeah very similar situation for port vale but equally it wouldn't take much at all to turn it around Only six points from safety.

Jonathan, let's go to League Two then.

Mansfield, 72 from 38.

Stockport have 68 from 37.

They drew last night.

Wrexham, 67 from 38.

MK Don 67 from 39.

And Crew, 64 from 38.

You know, I know you spend most of the time watching non-league, so the heady heights of League Two, this golden quality at the top of League Two.

But

who are your three?

Well, it's the promised land, isn't it, League Two?

That's where every club wants to be

at this level.

It is.

Well, Madswood are doing really well this season.

I think they naturally look good.

I mean, Stockport are just such a well-run club, so I feel I always have an inkling that they're just going to do well, just on the fact that they're well-run, that they do things in the sort of right way, and are quite an upwardly mobile club.

Wrexham, tough result against Trammere at the weekend.

The Trammir are in really good form under Nigel Atkins.

I think they won three of the last four games.

And obviously, Wrexham just having a little bit of a wobble, which makes you wonder.

I think MK Dons,

they, for me, have one of the best young managers in the EFL,

Mike Williamson, who did an incredible job at Gateshead.

And I think he's sort of gone in there and just, you know, they're

not as necessarily flying, but he's sort of turned their form around.

They've got some really good players who are doing quite well.

And they're sort of just put a lot of wins.

They beat Crew at the weekend, 3-1.

you know, and beat beat up the South City as well.

I think they also beat Mansfield recently

2-1 away, which is a a massive result for them.

So I think

they're a team I wouldn't

bet back against if they could sneak into automatic promotion.

But even in the playoffs, I think they'd be quite dangerous.

Wimbledon obviously had a tough result against Newport at the weekend.

And

when you look at the playoffs, there's teams that can kind of sneak in there now.

And that race is kind of opening up a little bit.

I think if you were, yeah, if you were asking myself, I think Mansfield and Stockport, I think, will be fine.

Wrexham,

you just think with everything around them that they'll go up.

But I really think MK Dons are a team to keep an eye on and watch out for.

Mansfield are so fun, aren't they?

They're having a great time.

And what's good about them is they've got enough striking options to rotate a bit.

So Lucas Aitkens has come in of late,

the experienced head, and has done really well hitting the ground running.

35 years old, he is now, and he beat Bradford 5-1.

And I think Mansfield are going to win the league just because they've got that

extra depth.

But yeah, it's an interesting point which Jonathan raises about Stockport being well run and how you can feel like it can push them on.

And it is a really, you know, talks about Sheffield Wednesday's feel-good atmosphere.

You go

to Stockport County and it is that, and they're actually going to expand the stadium to 18,000.

So, or they're planning to.

So, yeah, I think they're doing really well.

I think they'll go up as well.

Below them, that mix is great.

I mean, Gillingham, who were 10th, I did have a really decent run.

Nigel Atkins, since he was made permanent manager at Tranmere, has just got them doing something else.

And they've got a lot of

wins against the top sides.

Like they beat Wrexham, and before that, they beat Mansfield as well.

And the way League Two works, you can get that seventh spot.

They're not too far away if they can just keep up that momentum.

We've seen Knotts County go the opposite way.

They're down in 17th now, having been up in the upper up around the playoffs for quite a long time this season.

So I think, actually, although there's a lot of teams kind of close together, it does make it quite exciting.

And it's quite difficult, therefore, to call.

I mean, yeah, the MK Dons, AFC, Wimbledon, play-off final to end all finals, that would be good, wouldn't it?

But any of those teams all the way down could make it.

But I would also give a shout out to Crew who continue to bring in young players and do a really good job there.

And also Barrow under Pete Wilde.

Barrow have an extra element that they actually train in Manchester.

And it means they can bring in

maybe a slightly higher caliber of player, given that they're not having to go all the way to Cumbria every day.

And if you look at the squad, they've got a few quality players in there that you think, oh, what?

A bit surprised that Cole Stockton and Dominic Telford and Jamie Proxer are all there up front.

So, yeah, there's lots of teams in the mix.

It's quite hard to call when it comes to the playoffs.

And I think there's a little bit of running to do.

And finally, George, as we've spent too much time on football administration at the top, the bottom of league two sees Sutton with Rude Steve Morrison on 30 points from 39, Forest Green, 33 from 38, and Colchester 33, but they have played 36.

So it would take something for Forrest Green or Sutton to get out of this.

Well, they're kind of doing it, I would say.

Like when you consider the Forest Green are now level on points with Colchester and went on a good run themselves under Steve Cottrell, but the big issue for Forest Green is that they had the perfect opportunity on Saturday to really kind of relegate Sutton, a home game against Sutton, and Sutton are really struggling for form.

Forrest Green buoyant, and they totally messed it up.

They lost the game 1-0.

They've invited Sutton back into the back into the mix and suddenly there are two relegation spots open again.

Colchester have shot themselves in the foot a little bit with their pitch basically being unplayable for two weeks, which means that postponements have meant that they now have a really nasty backlog of fixtures and they played their game on Saturday and their pitch was an absolute mess and they got a draw.

The feeling still is that Colchester are probably playing, well probably the best team of the three, but we're getting so late in the day now that they need to start picking up points or they're going to be in trouble.

So it wouldn't be a huge surprise to me if one of Forest Green or Sutton did manage to wrestle their way out of it.

But apologies, I'm going to do to Forest Green fans what I did to Blackburn fans, where Forest Green's fixtures from here on

in are so tough.

And when you're kind of looking at where the points are going to come from, Cottra's going to do an amazing job because they've still got to play Stockport

at home on Good Friday.

They then go to Crewe on Easter Monday.

They then host MK Dons on the 6th, then go to Mansfield on the 9th, then go to Wrexham on the 13th.

That is a hellish run, where, again, they're playing all the top teams in League Two before games against Morecambe and Knotts County to finish.

But,

yeah, that would, in my mind, mean that Forest Green are going to have to perform incredibly well in order to ensure they're still playing EFL football next season.

So many fans at the bottom of the table just staring at fixture lists, going, Where will the next point coming from?

I know exactly how you feel.

And

not from Barnsley away.

That's how I feel.

Can I give a quick shout, Max, to one of it

briefly?

Just briefly to mention as well, just dropping into non-league, Chesterfield will be back in League Two.

All they need is a draw.

They go to Halifax on Wednesday, but Tuesday night, Barnett need to get a win.

Otherwise, they're at home to Eastleigh.

Chesterfield on 92 points.

So they're already going to be promoted in March.

So they'll be back in the EFL.

And welcome back to the Spy Rights.

All right, that'll do for today then.

Thanks, Jonathan.

Thank you, Max.

Cheers, Sonny.

Cheers.

Cheers, George.

Thanks, Max.

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