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Cardiff City

EFL Championship 2024/25: Thoughts on Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle relegated with Wrexham ready to chase their PL dream after a 3-0 win over Charlton in League One

by Sports Benches April 26, 2025

Don’t know what to say about Cardiff to begin with but a 0-0 draw v West Brom not enough unfortunately to stay in the 2nd tier a bit longer as League One awaits to try and get back there starting August.

Even if they did win then it would still be a long shot anyway when it’s not just about winning another one but they better need a superior goal difference than others, which is something they don’t have much like Plymouth Argyle despite their 2-1 win last night against Preston North End.

It remains to be seen which head coach Cardiff want going forward as Aaron Ramsey should’ve been there or even bringing Neil Warnock back for a short spell & got rid of Omer Riza sooner as time will tell about their owner Vincent Tan.

Bummer for Plymouth also who did the best they can in the thick of it right from mid-season following another change of head coach in Milon Musric when Wayne Rooney didn’t do well yet again as next game v Leeds might not be for the survival to escape the bottom three but at least they can do any favours for Burnley.

For now, which last team between 22nd and 23rd will stay or go?

Hull City would have to go I’m afraid since they also had some issues both on and off field all along this season so no surprise there if they have to start all over again with mid-table side Portsmouth next up.

Luton, meanwhile, will do enough to earn another year in the 2nd tier since the next match v West Brom ain’t that hard where they have no permanent coach for the minute and Luton has got a astute young manager they prized away mid-season from Wycombe Matt Bloomfield.

And great to hear Wrexham going one step further just outside the biggest stage of English Football from the PL. Their 3-0 win v Charlton Athletic now enough to join Birmingham City as the next promoted League 1 side to play in the Championship next season. Even if it’s a runner-up finish, they’re all here for the journey with the help of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney – both Alpine minority shareholders too and Rob’s wife Kaitlin is currently playing Morgan on ABC’s High Potential as they’re back for fun crime-solving Season 2 this Fall following a breakout first season in the network’s record books.

Other than that, going to be an exciting Play-Off knockout race from here with Stockport, Wycombe, Charlton and either one of Leyton Orient or Reading with the final round to spare.

They all play some good attacking football but as long as Leyton don’t lose to Huddersfield, they could have their own Wrexham-like journey in front of the queue ahead of any other 2-3 teams as mentioned in this Play-Offs fight. If not, could see Stockport v Charlton instead.

April 26, 2025 0 comment

2024-25 EFL Championship Round 44 of 46: Leeds United and Burnley now back in the PL with the top prize still up for grabs

by Sports Benches April 22, 2025

Going to be a Super Bowl race to the finish line as if it’s the big final being decided today with Leeds & Burnley now back in the PL for the 2025-26 season.

Now time will tell with their own managers in Daniel Farke (Leeds) and Scott Parker (Burnley) later this year since they were unable to make any meaningful impact so far the top level of English Soccer.

But still, it’s a season that is a lot closer than ever before from four teams down to three by mid-season and then two lately and now only one will win it all for the Championship trophy by Saturday, May 3.

All of the final round’s matches will play at the same time of 9.30pm AEST, so better be prepared for that one unless one of the Top 2 loses the next crucial game.

For Burnley, glad they will be able to keep their star assets including James Trafford and Maxime Esteve + hopefully star player of the day Josh Brownhill following their 2-1 win over Sheffield United when Tom Cannon scored the equaliser midway in the first half- a rival that they could no longer see as a threat for now unless Blades win the Play-Offs.

All Burnley can hope now is for them to not just win the last two games but also see Leeds lose either to outside Play-Off contender Bristol City and/or even survival candidate Plymouth Argyle.

Plymouth won too earlier this morning over Coventry 3-1 and looks like they’re not losing hope just yet, although not so much for Cardiff City even with another change of manager but too little, too late sadly.

Also, look out for Derby v Luton where Derby are just hanging on the slightest of margins in a race to beat the drop as well.

But at the end of the day, Leeds would have to be the one to beat considering they’ve been scoring goals quite a lot, including today’s match of their own following a whopping 6-0 win over Stoke City.

So up to Bristol and Plymouth to help Burnley out while Burnley would need to go all in even though they should not down their tools just yet v QPR and Millwall.

Because their previous games against these two sides weren’t the best unfortunately with one draw and loss but Scott Parker would love nothing more than a 100-point season and a Championship trophy that he hasn’t touched one before – at least as head coach other than as a player back in 2000 with Charlton Athletic.

It would mean the world to JJ Watt also so he can beat the 49ers in the disguise of Leeds as a Burnley investor but in the Championship, having had a decorated career as a defensive end in the NFL with the Houston Texans & Arizona Cardinals.

April 22, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports Football

EFL Championship Round 43 of 46: Burnley rebound v Watford 2-1 courtesy of a late Josh Brownhill strike but Leeds still holds the cards after a 1-0 win v Oxford

by Sports Benches April 18, 2025

Looks like the Championship race is getting closer and closer with only three games to go but probably assume Sheffield United to be the outsider now away from the Top 2 bubble with just Leeds v Burnley despite their win over the relegation threatened Cardiff City 2-0.

Wonder if Cardiff is going to give Neil Warnock a ring in a bid to save themselves from dropping to League One (3rd tier) before it’s too late? They may have a history of promoting first-time coaches as managers but nowhere near as anything great unfortunately.

The Blades do have Burnley next up on Easter Monday, again it’s up to Burnley who do need to shuffle their No.9 a bit more off the back of their poor start at the same time v Watford – only for them to bounce back with a 2-1 win at full-time.

Yes, Zian Flemming helps being the No.10 into a No.9 but sure the team dynamic play would hopefully be enough to get past one bit of difficulty as long as Josh Brownhill continues doing deep just behind Flemming or Foster – if Scott Parker is more than brave enough to put the South African back to play with the pain up front.

If that’s not enough to maybe at least win the Championship title, Leeds kept on winning as of late with credit to their one and only first-half goal by Manor Solomon + Oxford’s toothless fight to collect goals in attack. The current leaders have three good games including Stoke, Bristol City and Plymouth Argyle much like Burnley’s last two in QPR & Millwall after Blades.

So if Leeds draw or even lose one of the next three and Burnley win all next three, it would be amazing to see Scott Parker collect all three Championship to PL promotion honours from being Play-Off winners, 2nd place (runner-up) but no 1st place trophy though…for the time being.

Yes, would revisit Scott Parker’s PL plans later on since his record isn’t great and so does the Leeds coach Daniel Farke too when he was managing Norwich in the past but it’s all about crossing the line first ahead of everyone. So up to the players to help Scott get past that winning points edge and not both lose or draw either way.

Their players are crucial to this with PL quality price tags including keeper James Trafford despite his early 1st half mistake against Watford when he should be the one as the best shot blocker but he probably needs to calm down a bit having saw JJ Watt unable to get back on the field after James lost the season-ending bet there.

If anything was to go JJ Watt’s way, then he could probably be the one to finally taste Super Bowl victory unlike his NFL career but in the Championship over San Fran 49ers-owned Leeds – up to Scott and the Burnley players to gift that trophy for him to celebrate as an minority investor.

April 18, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports Football

2024/25 EFL Championship Soccer: West Brom & Cardiff City settled for 0-0 draw after a frustrating afternoon at The Hawthorns

by Sports Benches October 26, 2024

Both sides may have not been able to get away with it when it comes to scoring goals where shots were flying everywhere that could’ve been 1-0, 1-1 or even 2-1, especially when West Brom played on the home front at The Hawthorns v Cardiff City. However, at least West Brom and Cardiff settled the score though without a goal following a frustrating and scrappy 0-0 draw at full-time. Cardiff is currently sitting just above the bottom three relegation zone in 20th while West Brom remains within the Top 6 Play-Off places at 5th in the English Championship with 12 weeks in out of a long 46 round season.

First of all, West Brom thought they could’ve done any better when a few shots on goal didn’t quite go towards the net while some have gone outside the crossbar – even though they had 2nd half possession. What could’ve possibly have been if it wasn’t for those three goalkeeper saves by Jak Alnwick from Cardiff? But again, despite yet another draw – West Brom need to re-start winning somewhere as still plenty of time, and their next match will be against Luton on Friday night UK/Saturday morning AEDT.

And as said for Cardiff, yes, they could’ve also done any better had they spent more time when it comes to those conversions within the final attacking third box. Despite not having much ball in the 2nd half, how good was these three saves by the keeper Jak Alnwick? He was the man who at least frustrated the West Brom attack all afternoon that gave the interim coach Omer Riza something to be content about after recording his yet another undefeated match under his watch. Time will tell if Riza will get the permanent job but lots of first-time managers start there without huge success, so up to Cardiff if they want this to keep on going or hire someone else who may be young but with a bit more experience.

Elsewhere, Sunderland still on a roll currently five points clear in 1st place following a 2-0 win today v Oxford United while Burnley unable to get away with another win thanks to a 0-0 draw v Queens Park Rangers as a few other top teams are circling around them for that 2nd placed automatic Premier League spot – such as Sheffield United (3rd) who def. Stoke 2-0 and Leeds United (4th) who still have a few games in hand despite an also 0-0 draw yesterday v Bristol City.

October 26, 2024 0 comment