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Not wishing to fly in the face of certainty the Footymad panel have assigned one of the relegation berths to the care of Oxford, leaving three more to dispose of.
Until Joe Kinnear (pictured) jumped ship at Oxford to join Luton, the Hatters were viewed in almost the same light as Oxford ie relegation certainties. Three wins on the spin following the arrival of Kinnear as team boss has lifted the gloom that had descended on Kenilworth Road and has given Luton fans hope that the dreaded drop could be avoided afterall.
Swansea defeated Rotherham on the last day of last season to clinch the Third Division title, their stay in Division Two however has been neither as successful or as happy as that of the Millers.
The Swans weren’t prolific goalscorers last season and this term the goals have become even scarcer with the result that they have struggled to win games. With the club up for sale it seems unlikely that manager John Hollins will have the funds available to bring in new players and so the Swans will have to soldier on with the players currently at their disposal.
For most of last year Bristol Rovers appeared to be heading for promotion to Division One only to fade away by the season’s end. The sale of leading scorers Jason Roberts and Jamie Cureton plus the give away transfer of Bobby Zamora to Brighton left a huge hole in the forward line that Rovers have been unable to fill.
Their appalling home form sees them as the only league team in England without a victory on home soil and this after twelve attempts. It is this dire home form that is responsible for their position in the bottom four and the removal of Ian Holloway from the manager’s chair.
A point clear of the drop zone are Port Vale, a side who seem to have been perennial strugglers in recent times. Despite his best efforts manager Brian Horton has not yet been able to arrest the steady decline in Vale’s fortunes following their relegation from Division One at the end of last season. In fact a second successive relegation is very much on the cards at the moment.
Another side to find themselves in fear of relegation for a second successive year are Swindon, who finished bottom of Division One last year. Currently five points ahead of Bristol Rovers Swindon have played three games more leaving them in a parlous position.
Their purchase of Gary Alexander from West Ham in the close season has not been a success up to press and has led to a severe shortage of goals. Indeed they share with Swansea the distinction of having the most goal shy attack in the division.
Most of the teams above Swindon appear to be safe although if the Footymad panel were forced to suggest a team that might become embroiled in the fight to avoid the drop they would go for Cambridge Utd.
They are in a relatively safe position because of the goals netted by the up and coming Tom Youngs and if anything happened to him they could find themselves dragged into trouble.
Still that is unlikely to happen and the Fooymad prediction for the teams who will fill the relegation spots is as follows:-
20th Bristol Rovers- will just escape the drop
21st Luton Town- (R)
22nd Port Vale- (R)
23rd Swansea C- (R)
24th Oxford Utd- (R)
