Paullow

I'd like Shrewsbury and Coventry to go up. Shrewsbury may have finished 3rd and were well clear of the rest, but they are actually the least favourites to come through the PO's. In terms of budget and stature they are really a bottom 6 side, so may well revert back to there next season if they don't go up. Wasn't long since they were in the 4th tier and Hurst has done a great job there. Scunthorpe going up wouldn't be bad either as I think Charlton will be right up there with Barnsley and Sunderland next season and those 2 would be the most likely to prevent them having a top 2 finish.

They really should have stayed up given the resources and teams of Bolton, Burton and Barnsley and 43 points would have been enough. They'll probably win the league next season and very likely win promotion, but even if they do, they are at least a year away from just getting back to where they are now.

You'd like to think we won't be worrying about the likes of them next season. We'll know far more by mid August, but for now, I'd say 17th is still very much the aim for next season and like this season, anything above that is a bonus. Man for man, I'd consider WBA and Stoke to have at least similar squads in terms of quality and without Rafa, with this current squad we'd be a lot further down the table IMO. There's only so long the likes of Dummett, Diame, Perez etc can play at the top of their game as in reality, they are pretty average. There needs to be a lot of investment in this team and if not, I doubt Rafa would hang around and would even go to the likes of Leicester and even West Ham where he would be working with better players and certainly in Leicester's case, a lot bigger budget. With that in mind, it's good to see the likes of Cardiff, Huddersfield, Brighton, Swansea etc remain in the division as worst come to the worst, we'd have a better chance of staying up and even if we do have a happy enough summer, it should be act as a bit of insurance if things don't go expected even with a content Rafa.

I genuinely think Barnsley would be more of a threat than Bolton next season with their takeover. Burton staying up would have obviously been better, but this is IMO the 2nd best option.

So Burton definitely down now. But 1 Forest goal would save BARNSLEY now.

Why? I'd prefer sides with smaller budgets in the top flight in case the worst happens (Rafa) and we're back to simply aiming for 17th. Wolves (definitely), Fulham and Villa would likely have bigger (or similar at worst) budgets next season, so I'd rather have a league with the likes of Brighton, Huddersfield, Swansea, Cardiff, Derby (via the playoffs) than some of those being replaced by Southampton, Fulham and Villa.

Probably better news for us if Cardiff come up.

Fantastic. A few mins later would have been better mind.

1-2 now anyway.

Sunderland want that to be a draw. Means nothing if they don't win. True, but the raining and pour thing was a redundant statement and if Sunderland to nick, that will be the best results possible for them.

Sunderland want that to be a draw.

Plus Bolton couldn't pick up more than a point in their 3 games.

As it stands, assuming you mean they lose Fulham, Barnsley or Birmingham would have to lose all 4 of their remaining matches. They need more from those last 2 games.

Could really do with Barnsley hanging on vs Bolton. Draw is worst result there.

Ok

Whatever happens they are playing better these past 4 or 5 games and they likely will still drop, but looking more a case of them running out of matches.

Think I'd prefer Southampton to win (or at least draw) to really shake things up down at the bottom. Even if we lost every match I'd still be very confident that not all of Southampton, Palace, Huddersfield and Swansea would get to 38 points. We are at the point now where you can sort of pick and choose who you want to got down and, although least likely, I'd love Palace to drop. Ah well, that's gotta be a huge nail in their coffin now.

Yes!

Burton losing isn't too relevant, but all the other 4 losing is shite, especially Barnsley against an Ipswich side like Norwich with nothing to play for.

Reckon they will stay up. Still odds on to drop, but they've definitely picked up these last few games. If there were 6 games left I'd be more confident, but hopefully they will run out of games.

It's not often you'll see us as short as 21/10 to beat Arsenal.

Why don't you just chuck £50 or something on them to stay up at 9/1 and pocket £500 if the worst happens, because that's surely the end goal, rather than betting on them to win most weeks?

I see as soon as Lewis had got back to fitness, Woodman has been benched. He'll more than likely not get another minute of football for the rest of the season so may as well be back training with us.

You would think that after 2 successful loans in League One (Coventry, Blackburn) and 2 unsuccessful loans in the Championship (Barnsley, Bolton) that his level was around third tier, but he was played out wide a lot at Bolton and was in struggling sides both times. I'd like him to have one final season on loan next year to a Championship team, ideally one that's not just based upon surviving, and then assess where he is and where he is likely to end up. Blackburn may be a good option as with the likes of Dack, Mulgrew, Bennett and Graham they do have some decent players and I think they could be a bit like Sheff U next year and push towards the top half. Hope the lad has a good career, even if it is not here.