EFL Playoffs
I thought I'd start a thread as an ongoing discussion of the playoffs, as I assume some of us are watching. Oxford v Blackpool at Le tricorne shortly.
I'll start off with a question - who do you want to win each division's playoffs? For me, I can pretty much rank them:
Championship:
1. Brentford - it would be interesting to see them up in the PL, and they have been knocking on the door.
2. Barnsley - again, would be an interesting promotion.
3. Swansea - pretty ambivalent about this club.
4. Bournemouth - thought they came across terribly against us, especially at their place.
L1:
1. Lincoln - got robbed by the Peterborough Corinthians. Great club, and have not been in the second tier for ages.
2. Blackpool - pretty much 1b. A club I find hard to dislike, and their fans have been through so much.
3. Oxford - I don't hate them as much as some, but certainly not my pick for promotion, especially going the other way.
4. Sunderland - tin pot club belongs in tin pot division.
L2:
1. Forest Green - would be fun to see them in third tier, and of course we would (probably) play them.
2. Morecambe - despite Derek Adams, it would be a fantastic achievement.
3. Newport - I could definitely live with any of the first three.
4. Tranmere - I don't hate them, but find it hard to warm to them.
Comments
I want to play Sunderland and Oxford again...so Lincoln or Blackpool to go up for me.
Who would not want to beat Morecambe and Adams and I quite like the Forest Green ethos so either of them. I would prefer Brentford or Barnsley to go up to have a go at the big six...I suspect neither would last long but Brentford might make a fist of staying up.
I’ve had enough of Sunderland, so hopefully they’ll go up.
Barnsley because they're just so brilliant in what they do from top to bottom - Valerien Ismael is a superb manager - Blackpool because of what they've been through over the last however many years, and FGR as they're another excellently run, sustainable (in more than one sense) club.
Not that fussed if Sunderland go up, but it would be nice to play them again and have that as an away day.
Bournemouth are possibly the biggest bunch of big time Charlies in the Championship, though, and I went right off Tranmere after they tried to pull a fast one with their strange proposal that would just so have happened to keep them up last season... And the grief we took - and still take - from some of their fans for 'voting to relegate them'.
Instant karma in the Oxford game. Their player (the one who fluked the cross-goal against us in the final) gets away with an awful challenge with no card. Blackpool score from the resulting free-kick.
Exactly as @ReturnToSenda says as Blackpool go two up.
2-0 Blackpool. With their defensive record, Oxford are already up against it.
Oxford don't seem to have grasped the concept of that thing you're supposed to do to stop the other team scoring. Moore (5) looked like he was stuck on slow-mo for the second goal, regardless of the deflection.
If they don't go up after another bite...are Oxford officially 'bottlers'?
I will settle for utter humiliation for the Headington name changers and their deluded flock.
If Blackpool had a bit more composure in the final third they’d be out of sight.
3-0 Blackpool.
Surely Karl Robinson will soon be free to be linked with Preston and Blackburn?
At least Oxford will be spared the heartbreak of losing at Wembley again
1 away goal for each side of the stadium
I guess horseshoes aren't lucky after all!
Lovely scenes.
Look Mum we bottled it twice
Living in Oxford I can report that Grenoble Road is flooded this evening. Flooded with salty tears.
Ouch that's a tonking for Oxford!
Great stuff, always helps having such a close away game.
Probably would pick Lincoln to come up, as Blackpool and Sunderland are aways I've almost meant to do, but never got round to.
A quick (not at all gloating) skim through their Yellows Forum reveals a lot of Oxford fans saying they're not upset at losing to Blackpool as they're a good team, unlike Wycombe, who were apparently dreadful in the play off final last year.
Absolute thunderbolt from Newport v FGR. 1-0.
Well they can be upset twice more next season and then wave us off again to the championship.
They are right though - I was hiding behind my couch in embarrassment when we squeaked by Fleetwood 4-1 away and 6-3 on aggregate. To only score a measly 8 goals and concede a whopping 4 (including a fluke cross and two pens, one of which was bogus) across the three games is just terrible.
To watch that final only to see Anthony Stewart pick up the little Oxford players and put them carefully one by one in each pocket...I almost died of shame. Such a terrible, terrible performance.
(Note to Oxford: defending is allowed, and flukes aside, we could have gone another three hours that night without conceding).
Football so much better with fans. To be honest, I've really struggled to watch and engage with BCD football.
Tranmere could be an interesting pair of games next season if they go up.
We will get a very hostile reception from their fans who strangely blame us for their relegation. Even if we had voted to continue the 2019/20 season, the motion to decide on PPG still would have passed with a huge majority.
I thought a Tranmere supporter working the checkouts at Lidl Bicester was going to genuinely punch me in the face when he found out who I supported!
Weird. I’ve always liked Tranmere.
Not to mention the homophobic abuse of Rocky incident (a similar alleged incidence occurred when they played FGR earlier this season, though it was a player involved rather than a fan).
Their owners seemed to lead the pile-on much in the way posh did, they wanted some odd formula that would use PPG unless it was tight and then it'd go to an algorithm based on recent seasons, totally artificial and unworkable and designed post-fact to keep them up.
Keep forgettin that in the champ we were seen as out of our depth but back in L1 if we lose its cos we are awful rubbish, if we win its cos we cheated.
Poxford moaning about the play offs still is almost as funny as last night's result. They fluked their goal and we battered them and Fleetwood after being catapulted out of the stratosphere from 8th with a game in hand to the playoffs that start at 6th.
I know I'm getting on and my eyesight isn't what it was, but the kit clash between Lincoln and Sunderland tonight is awful. Red shirts and black shorts vs navy shirts and red shorts.
You’re not alone. Absolute madness.