Lowest points total in many years to get 6th, so not surprising. Everyone below 4th is very average at best, and even Sunderland had an atrocious end to the season. Unless Sheff Utd lose their nerve in the final (which can certainly happen) the playoffs are theirs for the taking. It'll be interesting to see if Sunderland can start playing properly again now that they have a reason to. Coventry only finished the season one point ahead of Bristol City, but if they beat Sunderland over two legs then they'll go into the final with the wind in their sails and anything can happen in a one off game.

A very good signing for what we paid, and I think if not for injury he would have gotten into double figures.

If they hire an experienced manager with some level of past success then you can understand the decision. It's ruthless but if they're doing it out of an ambition to give themselves a better chance of getting in the playoffs next season then fair enough. How many other Championship managerial posts would Cleverley get?

Same as usual, top half or mid table. There will be teams worse run and worse assembled than us, as there has been the vast majority of our seasons at this level, and we still have enough in the first eleven to get enough points to be comfortable. With that said, if we sell a lot of the players whose contracts are due to run out in 2027 and our replacement strategy is frees, cheapos, loans and youth players then we could be in for a rough time.

The only thing I want to hear from them is that they are actively looking to sell the club or have agreed a sale.

That's why we need new owners, rather than talking about players who should stay or leave. We're in purgatory until Venky's are gone.

People say Hyam needs an experienced player beside him like that's acceptable for a 29 year old. If he needs someone to hold his hand at this point then he's not that good.

Interesting to see a lot of people tipping Luton to win the division. I don't remember having a strong opinion about them either way at the start of the season, but as a parachute club I would never have expected them to go down. I'd have assumed they'd be around the playoffs at the very least. I don't think anyone would have anticipated City's struggles either. You'd have thought they'd have the squad depth to cope with a couple of key players being injured, but seemingly not. With that said, I expect they'll be back in business next season.

I imagine he'll have plenty of interest from many Championship teams. Derby may appeal if he had a strong bond with Eustace and enjoyed working under him. If Eustace gets backing in the summer then there's no reason he can't do with Derby what he did here and at Birmingham. I suspect it'll come down to a combination of club reputation/prospects and money. I don't expect a parachute club will necessarily come in for him (not guaranteeing first team football, anyway) so the offers aren't likely to be too far apart.

An interesting group of teams in the League 1 playoffs this season. Stockport, Charlton, Wycombe and Leyton Orient. Charlton were last in the Championship in the 19/20 season. Stockport have spent much of the last decade in the National League, and only came up from League Two last season. They've had some pretty hefty financial support, losing £7m in their League 2 season - but seem to have gone under the radar a bit. Outshined by the Wrexham story. Wycombe have the most recent Championship tenure of the playoff teams, having been in the division in the 2020/21 season. Leyton Orient just about pipped Reading to 6th. They've spent much of their time in the last decade either in League 2 or the National League. Of the three relegated clubs from last season's Championship, only Birmingham bounced back. Granted they spent a silly amount of money to do so, but if that expenditure is on players that can be utilised in the Championship as well then it may be seen as a sound investment over time. Huddersfield finished 10th and lost their last 6 games. Ouch. Rotherham even worse, finishing 13th. It used to be practically a guarantee that Rotherham would come straight back up after being relegated to League 1, but looks like that's no longer the case. Bolton were in contention for the playoffs but then lost 4 and drew 2 of their last six games, and that was that. They finished 8th, 10 points off 6th spot. Wigan finished 15th. Our once great rivals Shrewsbury finished bottom and will be playing in League 2 next season. It ends a decade-long stay in League 1 for them. The season they competed with us was pretty much a total one-off. From 2015 to present, excluding the 17/18 season, they never finished higher than 12th and were more frequently in the 17th - 20th range.

I started off the season with a pessimistic mindset, concerned by what was yet another frustrating summer window and lack of investment from the owners. We were going into another season having lost our primary gpalscorer (Armstrong > BBD > Szmodics) and this time there did not appear to be a player who was going to step out of the shadows to take that task on their shoulders. Our purchases in that position were two cheap unknowns. Ultimately, none of our players got into double figures with goals or assists. Ohashi proved to be a good signing and if he hadn't spent time out with injury would likely have gotten past the 9 he ultimately accrued. Gueye had a very hit and miss season, but his personality helped transform him into a cult hero of sorts. Scoring wasn't our strong suit this season. We only scored 53, compared to 60 last season. However, defensively we massively improved - conceding 48 compared to 74 last season. John Eustace's philosophy of building from the back provided the foundations of our success for the first half of the season, ensuring that our lack of firepower up top was often mitigated by having a solid backline. We weren't always a joy to watch, but the results were there for all to see. What Eustace was doing was working. Then, January. As always, things went sour. Eustace left for a Derby side deep in relegation trouble, despite Rovers being 5th. It was an almost unfathomable move - it is unprecedented for a manager to move from a team in the playoffs to a team in the relegation zone mid-season. This is just life under Venky's, though. The only unprecedented incidents are going to be negative and embarrassing ones. The players initially reacted with defiance, winning our first two games under interim manager David Lowe and arresting what had been a poor run of form leading up to Eustace's surprise departure. A resounding defeat by Swansea in Lowe's last game in charge was an ominous sign of things to come, though. Valerin Ismael was hired amidst the backdrop of renewed protest against the Ewood hierarchy. The new manager desperately needed to get some momentum going, but instead initial performances under him were absolutely dire. Rovers bombed out of the playoff places, down to 12th at one point, and 7 winless games made it look like all hope was lost. An unexpected second half fightback against Sheffield Wednesday, going from 2-0 down to 2-2, sparked an unlikely revival which saw Rovers win multiple matches on the bounce. The teams above us faltered at the finish line, leaving us with the possibility of sneaking back into the playoffs on the final day of the season. A win would have done it, but it was a bridge too far, and a 1-1 draw left us in the all-too-familiar position of 7th. On the outside looking in, as has always been the case under the current owners. A combination of John Eustace's practicality and the division being weaker than many predicted meant that we were never in danger of getting sucked into a relegation battle, despite nerves jangling slightly during our initial downturn in form under Ismael. It's another season where top six was eminently attainable, but ultimately seized by clubs who are no better equipped than us. They just have the good fortune of not being saddled with the Venky curse. Eustace built the foundations for us to succeed this season. Venky's took a sledgehammer to those and it cost us a playoff position yet again. I continue to look forward to the day they leave.

With moderately ambitious owners I absolutely believe we would have gotten into the playoffs at least 2 or 3 times since we were promoted back from L1 - even if the budget was essentially the same. In our earlier Championship years I even think top two was possible with the squad we had available - Rhodes, Marshall, Cairney, Duffy, Robbo, and so on. Venky's are just an albatross around the club's neck which always drags us down regardless of the manager or team available.

Have to admit I didn't expect Preston and Burnley to both help us out. Fact is Bristol City left it wide open for Millwall, Rovers and Boro, but none of us could do what was needed. Our failure ultimately wasn't today, but that awful run after Ismael first took charge. I would guess Millwall and Boro had similar runs which they'll look back on with regret as well. Unlike them, however, we were 5th and at one point had healthy breathing space. Only the annual Rovers post-Christmas collapse could take us out of contention, and so it did. Only 68 points needed for 6th this season. Averages suggest that will be a one off in terms of low points required to sneak into the playoffs. We didn't even need to do brilliantly in the second half of the season - below average would probably have been enough. But we blew it, as we do every year when it looks like we might actually break into the top six. Maybe it really is a curse. I said it in another thread, but at this point it almost feels like a game that's coded purposefully to never allow us into the top six, even when the odds are in our favour.

I possibly used the wrong word, but I basically meant amount of years in the division in the last 20 years without getting into top six (regardless of whether those seasons are consecutive or broken up).

Yeah but I'm talking Derby 2008 levels of embarrassment. It'd be the same if we went up, for the record. Sheff Utd/Sunderland may make it above 11 points as I imagine they'd spend big. Coventry or Bristol City though? Could be a proper bloodbath.