Bris Vegas

I don’t buy the idea that keeping Rotherham up is against the realms of reality. There have been equally small clubs who have escaped relegation on a small budget in the Championship - Burton, Blackpool, Luton and likely Oxford this season. Warne has done very well to match expectations at the clubs he has worked at. But will he exceed expectations here and push us to top six against parachute payment clubs? I unfortunately can’t see it. That said I’m content to have him in charge until a sure-fire better option comes along.

Every time it seems Warne is on the brink (maybe not with Clowes, but certainly with a large majority on here), we have pulled off a decent win. The Coventry away win came off the back of a run of one win in 8, and that awful defeat at Stoke. Many thought we wouldn’t win away at all this season. And then the Pompey win came off the back of a six game winless run (including home defeats to Swansea and Sheff Wed), and Pompey were within a couple of points of us. It feels like this Sunderland game is another pivotal moment. It wouldn’t surprise me if we rallied to a 1-0 win.

We missed the boat with Mowbray going back to West Brom. I think Clowes deserves some credit for sticking with Warne. Only two teams in the bottom 10 haven’t changed manager this season and that is Derby and Pompey.

It does feel when we open up we actually look worse off, less organized and more likely to concede. Warne can only play a structured game. But he needs better quality to do it. How many times last season were we competitve, not really any better than the opposition but won through individual quality? It’s the same this season. Yet we lack that quality to put teams away.

Could be quite a bit riding on that Stoke home game come the end of the season at this rate, for both teams. I maintain we will be fine. I’ve seen three worse teams this year by quite some distance.

We’re a better side than the current league table suggests (one point above the drop zone). We aren’t pretty, but we are competitive and create chances. We should be 8-10 points better off. Get one goal here and we will go on to win it.

Can’t knock Collins. He has played a key role in our journey and every one who has contributed to the journey should be applauded. You need players like Collins to help push you to the next level, then you replace them with better players to help push to the next level. Look at somebody like Brentford, who are midtable in the PL. They replaced their League One promotion side with better players, and then replaced their Championship promotion side with better players, then replaced those that helped them survive in the PL with better players. All part of the journey and even those who played at Championship level will be fondly remembered as they wouldn’t be where they are now without them.

They have a period of four home games in six where they face Palace, Wolves, Brighton and Bournemouth. If they pick up less than 3 points from that run they could be serious contenders. That said, they do seem to be playing better under their new manager and the fact they battered Swansea in the FA Cup isn’t a good look for Championship sides. Burnley and Sheff Utd just won’t compete next season. They’d be relegation certs. Boro and West Brom too. As much as I dislike Leeds, they and Sunderland are naturally big clubs who could spend heavily and make a go of it. But the gap is so big now. For instance, this is Palace’s 12th consecutive PL season. I just can’t see any promoted club being able to overhaul them. And if you can’t overhaul Palace or say Wolves or Brentford, who can you overhaul?

I doubt there is any prize money in Saudi Arabia, so his appearances, or lack of, probably hasn’t made much of a difference. He was signed to boost the reputation of the league and get eyeballs from Brazil. It has probably worked. I think there are worse signings, financially. Leeds signing Seth Johnson was arguably worse considering Leeds went into administration shortly after.

Damn, our last chance of silverware has gone for this season.

4-4 sudden death

Is there a reason why we are 2/1 odds to win tonight? Thought we would at least be favorites to go through.

As a human, I hope Fury is OK and doesn’t fall off the rails like his last retirement. He has openly admitted that boxing is the only thing that keeps him going. I’m pretty sure the news will devastate boxing fans who still crave the fight with AJ. But what would be more devastating is his six or so kids growing up without a Dad.

Slot, with the same set of players, are performing better. Klopp built a fantastic team and culture at Liverpool, but I’d argue he wasn’t the best coach and that is why they didn’t win more.

I think I can honestly say I’m more confident with Warne in charge of beating lower league teams away from home than any other Derby manager in the past 15 years.