The Laughing Bluebird
New member
The following is from this morning's Western Mail:
THE Championship relegation fight was blown wide open on the weekend and once again Ninian Park is not a place for the faint-hearted. Just when Cardiff City looked to be on their way to safety, Lennie Lawrence's side have been dragged back into trouble.
The Bluebirds moved seven points clear of the drop zone after their home victory over Brighton on February 12. But with 12 fixtures left to play, that cushion has been whittled down to three.
Back-to-back defeats against Millwall and Sunderland combined with teams around them picking up points has proved an unhappy cocktail for Lawrence. And with a tricky run-in to the 2004-05 campaign, anyone of a nervous disposition ought to keep away from City matches.
They have to travel to fellow relegation candidates Coventry, Plymouth and Gillingham while two of the top three - Ipswich and Wigan - are due at Ninian Park.
Rotherham - 14 points adrift of safety - are down and out which means there are two relegation spots for two unfortunate teams.
And City, who have lost three of their last four league matches, are one of a number of clubs who could end up occupying one of those places. But former Rotherham chief and Bluebirds striker Ronnie Moore reckons his old club will beat the drop. He thinks Gillingham and either Coventry or Brighton will join Rotherham in League One next season.
"There are six or seven clubs who could go down and I think the relegation battle will go down to the wire," he told the Western Mail. "Cardiff have got enough quality players and I think they will be all right. They will survive.
"It's going to be tight and it's going to be difficult but Cardiff will get out of it. Lennie (Lawrence) is a brilliant manager. He knows what he's doing. Cardiff sold Robert Earnshaw and haven't replaced him. That's probably why they're struggling. They don't have a natural goalscorer.
"If you look at the successful sides in the Championship, they've all got two good lads up front. Wigan are top and they've got the best two in the division in Nathan Ellington and Jason Roberts. The quality of defending in the division is very ordinary, even at the top clubs. It's all about the strikers."
Moore - somewhat surprisingly - tips Brighton to fall back even though wins over Sunderland and Millwall have given them a 10-point cushion over third-bottom Gillingham.
"Rotherham are down. I don't think Gillingham will stay up and I think the third relegation spot is between Coventry and Brighton," added Moore, who left Millmoor at the end of January by mutual consent after nearly eight years at the Yorkshire club. "Brighton have won their last two matches but they've fluked it. They've had that little bit of luck.
"When I was at Rotherham I felt Brighton was the worst side we played against this season even though they beat us 1-0.
"As for Coventry, they're not a good side. They've got a lot of old players who've had their day.
"They've brought in a new manager in Micky Adams and he's a good manager. But a manager can only work with what he's got. He's only got ordinary players at Coventry and he doesn't have a natural goalscorer.
"There's not much quality there and it's not Micky's fault. They had a great win at Reading a couple of weeks ago. If they didn't get that then they would be in serious trouble. Micky needs to freshen things up at Coventry but that's difficult when the club hasn't got any money."
According to Moore, who won two promotions at Millmoor and kept the Yorkshire minnows in what is now the Championship for three years, Forest - under new chief Gary Megson - can do "a Houdini" and climb out of the bottom three.
"Mego knows what it's all about and he's got a quality side there. They've under-achieved all season. He's got rid of their two best players (Andy Reid and Michael Dawson) but he's brought in a few work-horses and that will give them a lift. Forest have got games in hand but they need wins, not draws. But they've got the ability to get out of trouble.
"I don't see Leicester as relegation material even though I don't know much about their manager (Craig Levein). They're more than capable of winning their home games and I don't think they will go down.
"Plymouth have won their last two and they badly needed that. If they didn't have that good start to the season they would be down there with Rotherham.
"They're an old side and their manager, Bobby Williamson, has been under pressure the last few weeks because results haven't been great. Don't rule them out of going down.
"Gillingham had a great win on Saturday and Stan Ternent is a good manager. He knows only one way to play and that's to go at the opposition and see if they make mistakes. They've got a work ethic there but I don't think they're good enough to stay up. They can't win three on the trot. But Stan won't give up and their next game at Rotherham is a big one. If Gillingham win that then one or two other managers will have itchy backsides!"
THE Championship relegation fight was blown wide open on the weekend and once again Ninian Park is not a place for the faint-hearted. Just when Cardiff City looked to be on their way to safety, Lennie Lawrence's side have been dragged back into trouble.
The Bluebirds moved seven points clear of the drop zone after their home victory over Brighton on February 12. But with 12 fixtures left to play, that cushion has been whittled down to three.
Back-to-back defeats against Millwall and Sunderland combined with teams around them picking up points has proved an unhappy cocktail for Lawrence. And with a tricky run-in to the 2004-05 campaign, anyone of a nervous disposition ought to keep away from City matches.
They have to travel to fellow relegation candidates Coventry, Plymouth and Gillingham while two of the top three - Ipswich and Wigan - are due at Ninian Park.
Rotherham - 14 points adrift of safety - are down and out which means there are two relegation spots for two unfortunate teams.
And City, who have lost three of their last four league matches, are one of a number of clubs who could end up occupying one of those places. But former Rotherham chief and Bluebirds striker Ronnie Moore reckons his old club will beat the drop. He thinks Gillingham and either Coventry or Brighton will join Rotherham in League One next season.
"There are six or seven clubs who could go down and I think the relegation battle will go down to the wire," he told the Western Mail. "Cardiff have got enough quality players and I think they will be all right. They will survive.
"It's going to be tight and it's going to be difficult but Cardiff will get out of it. Lennie (Lawrence) is a brilliant manager. He knows what he's doing. Cardiff sold Robert Earnshaw and haven't replaced him. That's probably why they're struggling. They don't have a natural goalscorer.
"If you look at the successful sides in the Championship, they've all got two good lads up front. Wigan are top and they've got the best two in the division in Nathan Ellington and Jason Roberts. The quality of defending in the division is very ordinary, even at the top clubs. It's all about the strikers."
Moore - somewhat surprisingly - tips Brighton to fall back even though wins over Sunderland and Millwall have given them a 10-point cushion over third-bottom Gillingham.
"Rotherham are down. I don't think Gillingham will stay up and I think the third relegation spot is between Coventry and Brighton," added Moore, who left Millmoor at the end of January by mutual consent after nearly eight years at the Yorkshire club. "Brighton have won their last two matches but they've fluked it. They've had that little bit of luck.
"When I was at Rotherham I felt Brighton was the worst side we played against this season even though they beat us 1-0.
"As for Coventry, they're not a good side. They've got a lot of old players who've had their day.
"They've brought in a new manager in Micky Adams and he's a good manager. But a manager can only work with what he's got. He's only got ordinary players at Coventry and he doesn't have a natural goalscorer.
"There's not much quality there and it's not Micky's fault. They had a great win at Reading a couple of weeks ago. If they didn't get that then they would be in serious trouble. Micky needs to freshen things up at Coventry but that's difficult when the club hasn't got any money."
According to Moore, who won two promotions at Millmoor and kept the Yorkshire minnows in what is now the Championship for three years, Forest - under new chief Gary Megson - can do "a Houdini" and climb out of the bottom three.
"Mego knows what it's all about and he's got a quality side there. They've under-achieved all season. He's got rid of their two best players (Andy Reid and Michael Dawson) but he's brought in a few work-horses and that will give them a lift. Forest have got games in hand but they need wins, not draws. But they've got the ability to get out of trouble.
"I don't see Leicester as relegation material even though I don't know much about their manager (Craig Levein). They're more than capable of winning their home games and I don't think they will go down.
"Plymouth have won their last two and they badly needed that. If they didn't have that good start to the season they would be down there with Rotherham.
"They're an old side and their manager, Bobby Williamson, has been under pressure the last few weeks because results haven't been great. Don't rule them out of going down.
"Gillingham had a great win on Saturday and Stan Ternent is a good manager. He knows only one way to play and that's to go at the opposition and see if they make mistakes. They've got a work ethic there but I don't think they're good enough to stay up. They can't win three on the trot. But Stan won't give up and their next game at Rotherham is a big one. If Gillingham win that then one or two other managers will have itchy backsides!"
