As we all head down the final straight and into the last three weeks of the season, it must be something of a moot point as to how many clubs actually, even now, have nothing to play for.
Clearly, both Norwich and Ipswich do. And after Sunday's Portman Road no-show, the Canaries can bolt basic pride on to the three points they still need to be back at, er, somewhere next season...And that's the point.
Other than the two relegated sides exiting the division, the only team that looks certain of their future next season is Burnley. Otherwise, everything is still to play for.
Okay, it will still take a freak set of results for 12th placed Sheffield United on 60 points to finish with 69 and sixth spot in the bag, but it's possible.
After all, this season has seen more freak results litter the Championship than most seasons I can remember – Watford 0, Barnsley 3 being just the latest – while down at the other end, QPR will think they are pretty much safe on 55 points and a half-decent goal difference; Preston North End sat on 54 points – just six points above Leicester – will still like to rack up one more point, just to make sure.
It is, by any measure, an extraordinary situation to be in so late in the season; there is barely a game without 'six points' riding on it.
What does any of this prove? Is this likely to be repeated next season?
Yes, would be my humble opinion. For as the years go by, one thing becomes more and more obvious – Championship teams become more consistent in their inconsistency.
That behind the throw-away line that 'Any one team can beat any other in this league..' there is a darker and more worrying truth emerging.
Because the first sign of a Premier League player is a player that – in the Championship – delivers eight of ten performances week in, week out.
Because, in every likelihood, that same player will deliver seven out
of ten performances week in, week out in the top flight.
Get a dozen or so players together that, collectively and individually, can be nine out of ten one week and four out of ten the next and you have a typical Championship player and, indeed, a typical Championship
club.
The tighter this league becomes, the more consistent become those inconsistencies. And that's a sure and certain sign that the quality is on the wane... And there's the worry as we all buckle up for one last time.
www.norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com In-depth Norwich City news & views – all day every day
The full article contains 458 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
