Baggies looking good, but it’s still tight
Although it is only the second tier in English football, the Championship is a fiercely competitive league, and this season is no exception.
At the turn of the year, Leeds United and West Brom were both nine points clear at the top of the Championship and appeared to be running away in the race for automatic promotion to the Premier League. But life is not that straightforward in the Championship.
Six weeks later, although the two clubs are still the front-runners, the comfort zone has been reduced considerably, especially for Leeds.
The chasing pack has closed in and the next two months will not be quite the breeze Leeds may have yearned for.
Both teams suffered a poor run in January, with West Brom going seven games without a win. But the Baggies seem to have regained momentum and after the midweek away win over Reading, they are now six points clear of Leeds in second place.
After their defeat of the Royals, a relieved West Brom manager Slaven Bilic commented “this is a difficult league” and no one would dispute that.
He added: “You have to be good tactically, you have to be good technically and you have to be good individually.”
No wonder some Championship managers look in such a fragile state.
Unlike West Brom, Leeds have not enjoyed a significant bounce back and are hanging on to their second spot on goal difference over Fulham.
Under Scott Parker’s management the Cottagers are looking for a swift return to the top flight and could become Leeds’s biggest rivals for automatic promotion.
Only a disputed goal in a draw at Millwall prevented Fulham from moving into second place this week.
In fact only three points separate Leeds from seventh-placed Bristol City, who they incidentally host today in what will be a tense game.
The three other teams after Fulham in the chasing pack are Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Preston North End, all of whom have a valid eye on automatic promotion.
Leeds will be particularly concerned at the current situation.
In recent seasons they have acquired an unwanted reputation for getting in a very promising position, only to fall in the final stretch.
That was why, in their midweek game against Brentford, they were greeted at Griffin Park with chants of “Leeds you are falling apart again”.
For a while that looked to be the case on Tuesday night as Brentford took the lead courtesy of an awful mistake by former Real Madrid goalie Kiko Casilla whose poor form is a cause for concern.
But Marcelo Bielsa’s team recovered well, equalising before halftime and ending up the stronger side in a 1-1 draw.
It was an important point, keeping Leeds two points ahead of the Bees.
The Yorkshire club were helped by the shock 1-0 home defeat of Nottingham Forest to lowly Charlton.
Forest, who had been looking strong lately, will need to regroup quickly for a massive match at West Brom today.
Down at the bottom, Barnsley and Luton appear to be in deep trouble, but the third relegation place will be quite a scrap among half-a-dozen teams.
In League One, an equally interesting situation is building up at the top.
Currently leading the way are Rotherham and Peterborough, but there are four “big” clubs lurking, all having played in the Premier League and desperate to get out of the third-tier.
Despite having to play their home games at Birmingham City’s ground, Coventry City are in a very promising third place, with three games in hand of Peterborough with only one point separating them.
Arguably the biggest club in League One are Sunderland, who continue to attract crowds of more than 30,000 at the Stadium of Light.
After an underwhelming first half to the season the Black Cats are finally having a decent run under Phil Parkinson. They have just enjoyed two successive victories and have now only suffered one defeat in their last 12 games.
Just one point and one place behind Sunderland are Portsmouth, who were relegated from the Premier League in 2010.
Pompey have been in decent form lately and like Sunderland, are desperate to get back into the Championship.
One place behind Portsmouth are Ipswich, who after a decent start to the season have stuttered and now the play-offs look their best bet.
The relegation situation at the bottom of League One is already almost decided thanks primarily to the fact that both Bolton and Bury began the season with minus 12 points owing to financial mismanagement.
Bury sadly dropped out of the league right at the start, but Bolton have persevered bravely.
The Trotters are now on 11 points thanks to five wins and are within five points of Sol Campbell’s struggling Southend United, with two games in hand. However, it would still be a miracle if they escape relegation.
In League Two, Swindon are leading the pack at the moment but it’s going to be quite a scrap with Crewe Alexandra, Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle all in the running. Down at the bottom Stevenage seem to be just about stuffed, while it looks to be a battle among the “Three Ms” — Macclesfield, Morecambe and Mansfield — as to who joins them In the drop into the National League.
The Premier League might be sewn up, but there’s plenty of drama in store for fans in the lower divisions.
And a word of comfort for supporters of clubs that are not doing so well.
At least a relegation battle offers the prospect of excitement, although admittedly it’s not great for the blood pressure.