View From The Town End: Relegation Roundtable (Part Two)

We’ve already kicked off our two-part Town End feature looking at the rest of the relegation fight, when we talked to writers from Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, Millwall and Reading. Now we move on to part two - the clubs that are currently in the bottom three itself: Rotherham United, Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town.

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Why are you in a relegation fight in the first place?

We have drawn too many games from winning positions and don’t have the budget to strengthen as strongly as other clubs.

What do you make of your own chances of staying up?

We have a decent enough chance of staying if our home form remains as strong as it has all season. Our run-in looks tough, but we can compete against the best opposition in this league.

If you go down, will you come straight back up?

If we go down then we will lose the likes of Ajayi, Vaulks and Rodak for sure, but we have a good all-round squad for a top-six push in League One, including a couple of bright youth prospects, and our position would strengthen further if we keep Warne.

Pick the bottom three

Ipswich, Bolton, Millwall.

Richard Wilson is on Twitter here.

Why are you in a relegation fight in the first place?

Mainly due to the fact that, off the field, we’re an absolute mess. Ever since we avoided administration at the eleventh hour last September, our form has been abysmal. Having only won four times since avoiding administration, we’re firmly in 23rd place and deservedly so.

We can’t seem to score, we can’t keep a clean sheet and it really looks as if League One beckons. At the moment, that’s the last thing Wanderers fans care about.

What do you make of your own chances of avoiding relegation?

Nil. We would have to win every game left to even stand a chance of remaining in the Championship. Most fans are more concerned about off-field matters, with the hope that a consortium can take over before April 3. Otherwise, liquidation is a possibility.

If you go down, will you come straight back up?

It’s unclear at this moment, far too many things remain up in the air. Should we be taken over and the club is afforded a full fresh start (new players, new manager, new staff), then who knows. We’re certainly less equipped to come straight back up than we were the last time.

Pick the bottom three

Ipswich, Bolton, Rotherham.

Eddie Skelly writes for our SB Nation sister site Lion of Vienna Suite.

Why are you in a relegation fight?

Years of off-field mismanagement by our owner Marcus Evans, well-disguised for a time by Mick McCarthy, were exposed when the Yorkshireman (rightly) departed last summer. The owner’s ‘plan’ post-McCarthy was poorly conceived, and his replacement, Paul Hurst, was permitted far too much scope to rip things up and disrupt what was a fairly stable squad. When Hurst was relieved of his duties in late October, Town (in my opinion) were all but relegated even then.

What do you make of your own chances of avoiding relegation?

We’re in miracle territory now, especially after that defeat to Reading in early March. The curse of the football fan is to hope even in impossible circumstances, but even the most hopeful of Town fan must surely accept our fate now.

Recent results have stabilised, but there are too many draws (six out of seven of our last few games have ended 1-1) meaning we’ve never really been in survival contention. Had Hurst’s replacement Paul Lambert been appointed instead last summer, I doubt we’d have been in relegation danger, sadly.

If you go down, will you come straight back up?

The way we’re playing under Lambert now, along with him rebuilding the club’s relationship with the fans/community, is giving us more confidence for next season. No one is expecting a guaranteed immediate return though. If we can end the season with a few wins and give more minutes to our impressive young prospects, that confidence will grow further.

However, that off-field mismanagement I mentioned is never too far away at ITFC. It’s a big summer for our owner (again), and if Lambert gets a sniff that things aren’t as they should be, he’ll soon be off. If that were to happen there’s a real possibility of a lengthy spell in the third tier (our first time at that level in over 60 years!).

Pick the bottom three

22. Rotherham, 23. Ipswich, 24. Bolton.

You can find Richard’s video content on the excellent Blue Monday Podcast here, and on Twitter himself here.