Boss Kieran McKenna has reflected on the fine margins in most Championship games, the Blues having won 3-2 against Bristol City on Tuesday, Leif Davis having netted an 89th-minute winner with Town having been behind twice in a topsy-turvy Portman Road classic.

It was the seventh time the Blues had battled to victory after the opposition had been in front this season and they have rescued 28 points from losing positions. The last time they came back to win having been behind twice was the 1999/00 play-off semi-final second leg against Bolton Wanderers.

The Blues have now scored 21 goals in the final minutes of matches, more than anyone else in the Championship and have consistently finished more strongly than their opposition, the two matches against Leicester and the recent home game with West Brom other examples.

Following Tuesday’s game, McKenna was asked about the Robins with manager Liam Manning, a one-time Blues academy midfielder and coach, coming under pressure from some of his club’s fans after four defeats on the bounce and in 14th in the division.

“I just think the Championship is so tight, it's so relentlessly competitive and the margins between winning and losing are so small,” the Blues boss said.

“The margins between Bristol getting a win or a draw in that game are so small. I watched the game against Cardiff [which they lost 1-0 at home last Saturday], the margins between getting a win or a draw in that game are so small.

“Apart from probably the top, top sides and, to be honest, we've done an incredible job of the consistency we've shown. But, apart from that, almost every team in the Championship is going to have periods where they win more and when they lose more and sometimes there's a very thin margin between it.

“We've won six games in a row but before that we didn't win too many, we were drawing a lot of games, but weren’t doing that many things differently.

“The competitiveness of this division is so high, so strong, that for me it's really important for our football club that we don't react too much to a short spell of results and we focus on our plan, our pathway and where we want to get to and how we want to get there. That's what we try and do, and every football club can do it how they want to do it.”

He added: “I thought they were a good team in October [when Town beat the Robins, then managed by Nigel Pearson, at Ashton Gate] as well.

“They’ve got good players, a good young profile of player, an athletic squad, they run right up there with anyone in the league and the system they played against us in October was actually quite similar in terms of a double pivot and how they defended.

“I think the things they’re doing really well they showed in the first half; they're very well-organised in all phases of the game but especially from a defensive point of view against a possession-based team, I think their organisation, compactness and distances are excellent.

“They cover the pitch really well together and they make it really, really hard for you to play through them or to get to the areas that good teams want to get to.

“They did a really good job of that and showed the threat that they can have and it's clear for me to see the work they've been doing and the direction they want to go in, and we're glad to have got the win and they're certainly a club we respect and a manager I've got a lot of respect for.”

Meanwhile, Championship leaders Leicester City could be facing a points deduction, but not until next season.

The Foxes are expected to exceed EFL Financial Fair Play [FFP] limits but, having been a Premier League side last season, have successfully argued that EFL rule 2.9, which would require them to submit a business plan to demonstrate how they planned to comply with FFP rules, shouldn’t apply to them.

As a result, any punishment for rule breaches won’t be enforced before next season, when they may well be back in the top flight.

Leicester are currently three points ahead of the Blues in second spot.

Photo: TWTD

Cheshire_Blue added 13:31 - Mar 7 A points deduction for Leicester next season is a nonsense. It is this season when they will gain an advantage by breaking the rules and if they are found to have broken the rules the deduction should be in the season the advantage is gained. There is an argument for breaking the rules just to get back into the Premier League. Aren't parachute payments enough for teams that have failed at Premier League level ?

22

ArnieM added 13:41 - Mar 7 Spot on Chesire Blue ...
1

Saxonblue74 added 13:51 - Mar 7 Absolutely correct ChesireBlue.
1

Europablue added 14:03 - Mar 7 The advantage is over three seasons, so the advantage is gained over three seasons. You can never apply the deduction fairly. The key thing is that breachers get an appropriate punishment so that it stops teams from doing the same in future. However you look at it, there needs to be some joined-up thinking between the Premier League and the Football League, because Leicester seem to have exploited a loophole, which isn't cheating, but it is not within the spirit of the rules.

5

pennblue added 14:33 - Mar 7 If I am an investor and I have invested in a football club, kept within FFP, and another team gets promoted that have breached those terms, I'll be getting my Lawyers on the case. I would assume if this happens, we will be doing the same.
3

Edmundo added 19:49 - Mar 7 Parachute payment should be withdrawn. Either a fine or, if they're relegated again within a certain timeframe, they lose parachute payments. A massive cheat needs to be hit with a massive stick.
0

bobble added 20:38 - Mar 7 the football leagues are like the capitalist society in general, only the wealthy are protected..............there should be no parachute payments as they discriminate against all the other clubs in the division and make the playing field unlevel and undermine the whole concept of a promotion/ relegation system, and any team found benefiting from cheating to give them an advantage over other teams should be dealt with so those other teams do not lose from the cheating that has happened.....why is it so hard to apply fairness in anything where money has a corrupting influence ?

2

Secondhalf added 08:58 - Mar 8 Yes Bobble, we come to accept that backhanders and undue influence are the norm. It is rampant in most sports and society generally. Greed.
0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls