We’re looking for someone to write a general Championship blog, much like the Premier League blog we have here. It’s very much unpaid, but if you want to blog about the Championship for a good size audience, then this is the place to do it.

If interested, please read our blogger’s guidelines here and then send en electronic mail to daryl[at]theoffside[dot]com

Or if you’d prefer to blog about one of the many fine Championship teams, we might be able to set you up with that too.

Hull moved into the final of the Play-Offs after a 6 v 1 demolition of Watford. Aided admittedly by the referee in the first leg, Hull showed they deserved the spot after they came from a goal down in the home leg to win 4 v 1 and book their date with Bristol City who won 2 v 1 at Ashton Gate to complete a double over Palace after they achieved the same result in the first leg at Selhurst Park.

Who will win the Play-Offs?
( polls)

Barring a turn of events that wouldn’t fool even the most gullible, West Brom are up. Stoke, level on points with the Baggies have a vastly inferior goal difference so need to better West Brom’s result if they are to snatch the Championship away from them. Hull are the only team who can spoil the two-team party. With a better goal difference than the Potters, Hull lie three points behind and must rely on Tony Pullis’ team to lose at home to Leicester while also beating Ipswich away themselves.

Bristol City are safe in the play-offs but could finish anywhere from fourth to sixth. No-one will want to be finishing sixth as they’ll play Stoke or Hull in the play-offs, so City still have some work to do.

Watford and Crystal Palace currently the last two play-off places but both could be displaced by Wolves, Ipswich or Sheff Utd who face Plymouth at home, Ipswich at home and Southampton away respectively.

Prediction: West Brom to win the title, Stoke to go up in second. Hull and Bristol to go into the play-offs as third and fourth placed respectively. And the shocker: Crystal Palace and Wolves to push Watford out of the playoffs after Watford only manage a draw at Blackpool, Wolves beat Plymouth 3 v 0 and Crystal Palace defeat Burnley.

Relegation worries

At the bottom Blackpool, Coventry, Sheff Wed, Leicester and Southampton could all fill the final relegation spot. The Saints have by far and away the worst goal difference, followed by Coventry. Leicester have possibly the hardest match as they travel to Stoke but Blackpool must also take on Watford at home, Coventry visit Charlton, and Southampton host Sheff Utd. Sheff Wed have waht appears to be the easiest with Norwich the visitors to Hillsborough.

Prediction: Southampton to follow Scunthorpe and Colchester through the trap-door to League One.

The Matches in Full:

Sunday, 04 May 2008 at 2pm BST

Blackpool v Watford
Bristol City v Preston
Cardiff v Barnsley
Charlton v Coventry
Crystal Palace v Burnley
Ipswich v Hull
QPR v West Brom
Scunthorpe v Colchester
Sheff Wed v Norwich
Southampton v Sheff Utd
Stoke v Leicester
Wolverhampton v Plymouth

Scunthorpe’s 2 v 0 loss away at Crystal Palace over the weekend confirmed their relegation from the Championship; joining Colchester as the teams confirmed for the drop this season. That just leaves one place in the trap-door to League One, so who will fill it?

Sheff Wednesday currently sit in 22nd place, level on points with Leicester, but having played one game less; that match is at home to Plymouth on Monday night. A win for the Owls would take them up to 18th place; above Blackpool, Southampton and Coventry who are all still scrapping away to avoid the drop.

Blackpool have not won in eight matches and have what can only be described as a bloody tough run-in with fixtures at home to Sheffield Wednesday and Watford, and away to Plymouth. Southampton, who have the worst goal-difference of any of the teams battling relegation, still have to play West Brom away and meet Burnley and Sheffield United at home. The Saints have won one in their last five matches.

Coventry, who have not won away in the league since a 4 v 2 win at West Brom in early December, will be worried that two of their remaining three matches are away from home. They may fancy their chances at relegated Colchester but finish their season at home to promotion chasing Wolves and away on their last day to Charlton.

Leicester’s yo-yo form continues and they need to find some continuity if they are to avoid the drop as they travel to Barnsley and table-topping Stoke as well as meeting Sheffield Wednesday at home. Alongside the pre-mentioned fixtures against Leicester and Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday also travel to Blackpool and face Norwich at Hillsborough on the last day of the season. The Owls aren’t losing at least; drawing their last six matches. That and the match in hand may help them stay up.

Barnsley and Norwich are also still in there but seem to have enough of a gap between themselves and the relegation zone to feel a little safe. But who do you think will go down?

Photo courtesy of Scunthorpe United FC

Second play third in the big match of this weekend as Stoke travel to Watford. Both have been in a mixed run of form with the Potters managing a defeat, draw and a victory in their last three matches while the Hornets haven’t lost in five but also haven’t won.

Bristol v Plymouth

If results go right for them Fellow automatic promotion hopefuls Bristol City could move four points clear at the top as they host Plymouth, with the Robins looking for their first to turn their recent run of three draws into a victory and the Pilgrims looking for a goalie.

Burnley v Wolverhampton Wanderers

Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers meet at Turf Moor knowing that a win for the Clarets would push them into the play-off places and a victory for Wolves would take them within touching distance.

Coventry v Sheffield Wednesday

Twentieth play twenty-first as Coventry face Sheff Wednesday in a match both desperately need to win. The Owls have won their last two whilst the Sky Blues are looking for revenge after losing 2 v 1 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. Sheffield have recently signed Portsmouth winger Franck Songo’o on a month’s loan.

Hull v Southampton

Hull, looking to consolidate their place in the top six, face an in-form Southampton side who have drawn four and won one of their last five matches. The Saints have recently signed former England international Michael Ricketts on loan whilst the Tigers have top-scorer Dean Windass back in contention after missing the last seven games having been forced to have surgery on a troublesome knee complaint.

Crystal Palace v Barnsley

FA Cup giant-killers Barnsley travel to Selhurst Park hoping to ease their relegation fears. The Tykes are only five points from the relegation zone and they face a Palace side still in contention for the play-offs; the Eagles sit just two points off sixth.

Ipswich v Charlton

Ipswich, another side still in the hunt for promotion, host Charlton, a team looking for some consistency as they seek to defend their place in fifth. The Addicks have lost the last two games whilst Tractor Boys look to bounce back after their 4 v 1 thumping at Barnsley in mid-week.

QPR v Scunthorpe

Second-from-bottom Scunthorpe travel south to face mid-table QPR. The Iron sit four points off safety while the R’s couldn’t be much more central; they find themselves eight points off the play-offs and seven points off the relegation spots.

Sheffield Utd v Norwich

Neither Sheff Utd nor Norwich are yet safe in the Championship with United sitting six points and Norwich, five points, from twenty-second spot. The Blades have won their last two games whilst the Canaries have not won in four and this week saw Neil Doncaster, Nowich Chief Executive, saying there would be ‘major surgery’ on the squad in the summer.

West Bromwich Albion v Leicester City

West Brom in fourth face Leicester who recently dropped into the relegation spaces after a 1 v 0 defeat at Southampton. Whilst the Baggies could go top if they win their games-in-hand they need to ensure they get points on the board in order to not lose touch with those around them. The Foxes need to remember how to score a goal having not scored in three games despite largely matching their opponents in each match and often having more chances on goal than those teams. Leicester are still without Captain Steve Clemence and midfielder Jamie Clapham.

Blackpool v Preston North End

The Lancaster derby sees two teams sitting only a point apart face one another in match that could ease either sides relegation fears. The Seasiders could move into the top half with a victory whilst the Lillywhites look to build on their wins against Charlton and Wolves. Preston have Liam Chilvers and Craig Beattie ruled out after recent injuries.

Photos from Barnsley FC and West Brom FC

I think Calum Davenport can lay claim to quite possibly the worst loan spell EVER this past week, by turning out for Watford for a grand total of 40 minutes before breaking his neck.

Yes, you read correctly, BREAKING HIS NECK. The West Ham defender was drafted in to provide cover for Danny Shittu, currently on duty with Nigeria at the African Cup of Nations. After Hornets teammate Darius Henderson fell on top of him 40 minutes into the first half of Saturday’s match with Charlton, he went off with a fractured neck bone.

Watford skipped Aidy Boothroyd had this to say: “Calum heard a crack in his neck and he lost the sensation in his fingers.” YIKES.

From the BBC: “The injury has triggered an immediate end to the 25 year old’s loan spell and he will return to the Hammers.”

Which pretty much seals the worst-loan-spell-ever Award for Mr. Davenport.

Let’s hope he has a speedy recovery.

As you all know by now, due to the magnificent coverage so far on this site, the African Cup of Nations is in full swing in Ghana.

So far the host nation was saved by a Sulley Muntari thunderbolt in the opener, Morocco hammered Namibia 5-1, and the Ivory Coast ran out 1-0 winners over a less than impressive Nigeria side.

Much has been made of the exodus of African players plying their trade in England, but most of this attention has been focused on Africa heavy EPL squads like Chelsea and Portsmouth. There are, however, a fair amount of players in the lower leagues of old blighty who made the journey to Ghana to wear their nations colors proudly. Here they are:

Nigeria

Sefi Olofinjana, Wolves
The tall midfielder has made 25 starts so far this season for the Molineaux club, and went the distance for the Super Eagles in the 1-0 loss to the Ivory Coast.

Danny Shittu, Watford
The massive defender also went a full 90 in the loss to Ivory Coast, and will be expected to up his performance if the Super Eagles want to escape the group stages.

Morocco

Youssef Safri, Southampton
The ex-Coventry and Norwich midfielder adds depth and European experience to the Atlas Lions lineup, and went 90 minutes in their 5-1 romp over Namibia.
The massive Watford defender also went a full 90 in the loss to Ivory Coast, and will be expected to up his performance if the Super Eagles want to escape the group stages.

In addition to the three players from the CCC, a number of players also can be found on pitches in the lower leagues:

Angola: Rui Marques, Leeds United

Benin: Romauld Boco, Accrington Stanley

Ghana: Junior Agogo, Nottingham Forest

In terms of the play itself I was impressed by Ghana in the opening match, despite the fact that the pitch had longer grass then the Serengeti, the Black Stars were still able to ping the ball around with relative ease and hit the woodwork three times before breaking through.

Morocco also did well to pound minnows Namibia, and it could have been much worse than 5-1.

Egypt has also just finished up a 4-2 rout of tourney favorites Cameroon, which was certainly unexpected.

Personally, I am going with Senegal to sneak a tournament victory, the golden generation that took out France and went to the quarterfinals in the 2002 WC mixing with the new blood just in time to take the cup!

Senegal stuns France in Match 1 of 2002 Copa Mundial

Top Ten

1. Kevin Phillips, WBA-16
2. Michael Mifsud, Coventry-15
3. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Plymouth/Wolves- 13
4. James Beattie, Sheffield Utd- 13
5. Andy Gray, Burnley- 13
6. Clinton Morrison, Crystal Palace- 12
7. Ricardo Fuller, Stoke- 12
8. Martin Paterson, Scunthorpe- 11
9. Marlon King, Watford- 11
10. Pablo Counago, Ipswich- 10

For me the most impressive name on the list is Ricardo Fuller of Stoke City; the fact that he is banging them is basically why the Potters are currently laughing in 4th position.

Kevin Phillips isn’t too much of a surprise, although he is certainly on the wrong side of his prime, so that he leads the list is a bit of a nice surprise for Baggies fans.

The other names are more or less usual suspects, but Michael Mifsud’s legendary performances in the Sky Blues cup run certainly deserve special mention. Enjoy these crackers from the Maltese marauder as the Sky Blues demolished Man Utd:

The pick of the bunch in terms of results surely has to be Colchester’s shock 2-1 result over Charlton. The U’s currently lie in the relegation places and a win over 5th placed Charlton will certainly boost spirits around Layer Road.

Tuesday’s Other Results:

Blackpool 3 Burnley 0
Bristol City 2 Coventry 1
Cardiff 1 Plymouth 0
Palace 1 Norwich 1
Ipsqich 2 West Brom 0
QPR 3 Leicester 1
Scunthorpe 2 Barnsley 2
Wednesday 2 PNE 1
Watford 3 Southampton 0
Hull 1 Stoke 1
Wolves 0 Sheff Utd 0

Also- as many of you know at this point, Motherwell skipper and former Wednesday player Phil O’Donnell passed away during their match with Dundee United on December 29th. A model professional and a wonderful family man, he will be sorely missed by the footballing world.

Rest in Peace Phil

(O’Donnell scoring in the 1991 Scottish Cup Final for Motherwell)