Ipswich Town's Harry Clarke struggles to take his selfie after the 3-2 win over Bristol City. Photo: Joe Toth/Rex/Shutterstock
SECOND LEVEL CHEERS
For every TNT or Sky Sports cheerleader who would have you believe that the Premier League is hands down the best league in the world, there are plenty of fans who insist it isn't even the best in England. And while Football Daily is firmly in the latter camp, today is probably not the time to defend the Isthmian League Premier Division as the best of its kind in the world, even on the false grounds that our local team plays in it. Admission to local home games only costs a tenner, you can drink beer in the stands and no one really cares who wins.
Much further up the football food chain, the Championship once again makes a compelling case for being a much more intriguing, if not 'better', competition than the supposedly superior competition above it, if only because of its inherent, crazy unpredictability. . In what other league in the world could a seemingly doomed team like Sheffield Wednesday pull off an improbable run of five wins from six games without moving up one place in the table?
After the Owls' latest win over Plymouth Argyle last night, their manager Danny Röhl could hardly be more pleased. "If you see it now, it is the first time that we are not behind the line with any points. It is only about the goal difference," said the German with the boy band haircut that betrays his 34 years. "It's huge, huge! Today I take this win and we move on and we go again."
While Wednesday may remain second from bottom, the bottom half of the Championship is so compressed that neither relegation nor a late rise towards the play-offs can be completely ruled out. And while Rotherham's relegation is now just a formality, the nine teams directly above them are separated by just four points. So unpredictable is the English second tier that with their team in the relatively lofty position of tenth place, albeit after a run of five consecutive defeats, long-suffering Sunderland fans dare not look up rather than look down.
The story continues
The Mackems' latest defeat came at the hands of league leaders Leicester, who had Jamie Vardy to thank for arresting a worrying three-match losing streak. The Foxes remain clear at the top of a table in which three of the top four places are occupied by teams relegated from the top flight last season, as well as the relatively impoverished Ipswich church mice who emerged from League One. In any other season with 78 points to their name and just ten games to go, Ciaran McKenna's Tractor Boys would almost certainly be assured of automatic promotion, but in this particularly crazy season, Championship safety is their only current rock-solid guarantee.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Simon Burnton at 8pm GMT for red-hot updates on Manchester City 4-0 Copenhagen (agg: 7-1) in their Big Cup last 16 second leg, while Taha Hashim will be on hand for Real Madrid 3-0 Leipzig ( total: 4-0).
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"No one said 'no' to being captain of the club, it was only for certain matches... but they didn't want to say it themselves, they let other people come to me and say it. It was disappointing. It's a different generation, it's Gen Z. It's petty and shows a lack of ambition" - Ole Gunnar Solskjær on the allure of the Manchester United armband during his time at the club.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
And the top of the poppermost (some say top of the pops) in the tempting lottery lists is this one from Big Website. Germany will probably win now, won't they... on penalties... against us" - Noble Franciscus.
Re: Monday's snow joke section - oh how quickly people forget USA USA USA vs Costa Rica in March 2013, a match that was almost stopped in the 56th minute due to snow conditions at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in usually sunny Colorado. But to be honest, I'm not sure how much weight I place on claims of benefit due to environmental conditions. For example, the announcements at Colorado Rapids games make a lot of mention of the fact that teams will be playing at high altitude (about a mile above sea level). Anyone who has ever followed the Rapids knows that this advantage is rarely reflected in actual results" - Sarah Rothwell.
If Nottingham Forest fans decide to leave a match at the City Ground early due to a dodgy referee decision, do you think the chairs will read: 'Clattety, Clatt, Clatt, Clattety, Clatt?'" - John De la Cruz.
Fascinating and in many ways predictable to see that Manchester United under the new regime have decided to radically shake things up by taking their recruitment efforts from the pitch to the boardroom, with presumably the same expectation of outcome? Ashworth, Berrada, Freedman, who's next? And how many of them will already be on garden leave by the time you finish reading this sentence" - Jeremy Boyce.
Send letters to [email protected]. Today's winner of our precious letter of the day is... Jeremy Boyce.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
Max Rushden and the team discuss Harry Kane doing what Harry Kane does best to keep Bayern's Grand Cup hopes alive with a 3-0 home win against Lazio.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Paul Gascoigne has described himself as a "sad drunk" and said he lives in his agent's spare room, as he revealed the extent of his battle with alcohol addiction on the High Performance podcast. "I don't go out and drink, I drink indoors. If I want to make it a bad day, [all I need to do is] go to the pub. "If I want it to be a good day, I grab my fly rod and go fishing," he said. Gascoigne also said he recently attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
Arsenal have been criticized for failing to stop a pro-Palestine demonstration after Jewish fans said they felt intimidated into walking out before the Women's Super League match against Tottenham last Sunday.
Southampton's Championship meeting with Preston, which was due to start at 7.45pm UK time tonight, has been delayed due to the outbreak of a major fire in a building next to St Mary's Stadium.
Lawyers for Australia and Chelsea forward Sam Kerr will try to have a criminal charge of racially aggravated harassment dismissed at a British court hearing in April.
Sheffield Wednesday will not follow through on their interest in defender Nico Schulz following an outcry from a fan group. The free agent appeared in court last month accused of assaulting his former partner three times in 2020 and was ordered to donate more than £128,000 to five charities over a three-month period to end the case.
Carlo Ancelotti had reason to raise his eyebrows even higher than usual after news emerged that a Spanish prosecutor is seeking a prison sentence of four years and nine months for the Madrid boss, who is accused of collecting €1 million in image rights taxes have avoided.
In other Madrid-related news, Jude Bellingham has been handed a two-match ban for getting into the middle of the referee's grilling after the official time expired some 0.0003 seconds before his headed 'winner' in the 2-2 draw against Valencia.
Kylian Mbappe even broke the net with one of his two goals for PSG in the 2-1 win over Real Sociedad, sending the renowned European bottlers into the Big Cup quarter-finals 4-1 on aggregate.
Regrets, Jordan Henderson probably has a few, but leaving Liverpool isn't one of them. "I think it was the right moment for me as a player, but also for them as a team," he said, before adding that he was "shocked" when he heard Jurgen Klopp was leaving and said he would have a "fairytale" Anfield -end will. the cuddly German.
And Liverpool received a huge boost when Henderson's old friend Mo Salah trotted onto the training pitch after a two-week absence with a hamstring injury.
A ROM OF ONE OWNER
It's approaching that time of year when some EFL clubs head out for warm-weather training during the international fortnight, leaving fans cold and bored in England. Unless you're a lucky Hull fan. You see, Tigers chief prosecutor Acun Ilicali wants to take 100 fans to his home country of Turkey so they can experience his "beautiful country" for themselves. "I am very excited to welcome more City supporters to my beautiful country Türkiye," he cheered. "Since arriving in Hull the support has been incredible. I feel at ease when I am in your company and that is why I want to thank you and give you the opportunity to experience my home country!" Fans will join Liam Rosenior and his players on a flight to Antalya on Monday, March 18, where temperatures will be 20 degrees Celsius. Okay, how do we get in?
DO YOU WANT MORE?
Have you ever wondered which players in the Premier League exceed their personal xG? Ben McAleer of Who Scored has the answer.
No team in the top flight wins games by comparable margins and with the consistency of Arsenal. Nick Ames assesses the Gunners' title revival as their confidence grows.
Authorities in Germany are building Euro 2024 with a collaborative approach thanks to their world-renowned efficiency. Right? Wrong, writes Jonathan Liew.
Which European Cup winners took the shortest time to be relegated? Meet this week's Knowledge.
And heavy snow has hampered MLS matches lately, but adjusting the calendar is a bad idea, writes Ryan Baldi.
MEMORY LONG
Keeping with the winter theme, here's the late Jimmy Greaves preparing for a training session (or should that be a snowball fight) at White Hart Lane, way back in 1966.
