EFL Play-off Contenders – Don Goodman’s Verdict
Here at BoyleSports, we caught up with Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman who gives us the lowdown on Derby and Coventry’s promotion pushes
Ahead of another action-packed weekend of EFL action, we spoke with former football league player and Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman and he had plenty to say!
Goodman discusses Derby’s playoff hopes, the boards decision to stick by Paul Warne and his prediction for their game against Leyton Orient.
Don also gives his perspective on whether Coventry can mount another promotion challenge in the Championship this season.
Derby’s Play-Off Hopes
I just think they’ve (Derby County) given Portsmouth and Bolton too big of a head start. If they were on their tails and sat in third now, then we might be having a more serious debate.
At this moment in time, Portsmouth and Bolton are better than Derby and, yet, Derby are the ones that are trying to chase. So it’s hard for me to see them gatecrashing the top two. Do I think they could win the playoffs if they finish in the top six? Yes, absolutely.
But there will be plenty of others like Peterborough and Stevenage, it’s incredible they’re doing so well, Barnsley are just behind Derby and Oxford are a bit of an unknown quantity now (under Des Buckingham).
We’ll wait and see what the coming weeks bring. I think the first thing for Derby and Paul Warne to do is cement their top-six spot and keep winning. If they keep closing the gap (on the top two), then you never know because pressure does strange things to football teams.
But can they win the play-offs? Absolutely.
Derby Board Deserve Credit
It’s a difficult one, isn’t it? Because if you’re Derby County in League One, then you have to be near the top. It’s as simple as that. They weren’t doing that and the performances weren’t great.They were losing games that they really shouldn’t and when you get fan unrest, then the pressure really builds on the hierarchy of any football club, at whatever level that may be.
Credit to the board, they were patient and have been rewarded with four wins and clean sheets in a row. I think Derby are well and truly back on track.
Leyton Orient vs Derby Prediction
I would expect Derby to win.
They have played nine games away from home and won five. Derby have won more games away than Leyton Orient have won at home.
Derby County 2-0 Leyton Orient
Can Coventry Challenge For Promotion?
I would say that the cream has risen to the top of the Championship. You look at Leicester, Ipswich, Leeds, Southampton, West Brom, Hull, Blackburn, Sunderland, Watford and Middlesbrough – those are good teams and Norwich have had a morale boost.
I can’t see any team breaking into that. But if there is one team that can do it, that team is Coventry. I look at the squad and I look at the performances ahead of results and they’ve played well and they really haven’t had the results they deserve. That is because they are missing massive chances, time after time.
Only three teams have missed more big chances than Coventry. They’ve scored 24 goals from an XG of 29.5, so they should have five or six more goals than they do have and that’s really crucial.
They’re eight points of a play-off spot and they really should be a lot closer. I’m not saying that they’re going to bridge that gap and make a charge, because that would be stupid of me.
But if I had to pick a team from those in the bottom half to make a charge, I would say Coventry would be that team.
Is Mark Robin a Potential Victim of Success?
I would have said no, but Tony Mowbray was sacked by Sunderland. You can’t be that complacent.
It would be madness (if he was under pressure). The man (Robins) deserves a statue outside of the stadium! He’s brought them up from League Two, they’ve played games at Northampton and St. Andrew’s, he’s got them into the Championship and they were a penalty kick away from the Premier League.
It would be even crazier than Sunderland sacking Mowbray. He (Robins) has a lot of credit in the bank and I can’t imagine, and I hope I’m right, that his job is under any sort of pressure.
I think Robins and Coventry will start taking chances and start climbing up the table.
Guardiola Would Struggle with Sheffield United
He (Gustavo Hamer) had to make the move financially. As the money he is on now, compared to at Coventry, will change his life. So, on a personal level no.
On a footballing level, yes. Sheffield United were always going to be one of the handful of teams scrapping at the bottom of the table and battling relegation. Hamer was one of the only few players they were able to spend any money on.
They lost (Iliman) Ndiaye, who was their best player and they lost Sander Berge. Without the money to replace them, it was very easy to predict that they would be where they currently are in the table. Unless Chris Wilder gets eight or 10 new players (in January), where they are is where they will finish. It doesn’t really matter where they finish.
I feel a little bit sorry for Paul Heckingbottom. He’s tried to manage in the Premier League with his hands tied behind his back and nobody can do that. Not even Pep Guardiola. In terms of Gus Hamer, on a personal level, he’ll have no regrets about setting his family up. On a football level, he probably does regret joining Sheffield United.
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