Birmingham City’s Championship status will be decided on the final day of the season – again.
All seemed well a few weeks ago at St Andrew’s, as Birmingham City appeared to be on the verge of securing their Championship status under Garry Monk. Unfortunately, things do not come quite as easily as that in this division and, with one game remaining, the Blues will be forced to battle it out for survival once again.
In both 2014 and 2017 the club were in a similar position, and in those instances they managed to stay up by the skin of their teeth. In the present day, if you look at the table, it appears as if the numbers are certainly in their favour heading into the final day.
But given the nature of this league, it would not be at all surprising to see the club slip into the third tier given just how unpredictable things have been over the course of the season.
Due to their goal difference, the Blues would likely have to lose their last game with Burton/Bolton and Barnsley winning theirs in order to go down. While that sounds unlikely, the fact that three of the four teams involved will be playing teams battling for promotion could actually work against them.
Derby County and Preston North End will take on Barnsley and Burton respectively, and there is a chance the pressure of making it into that top six could work against them. Plus, Birmingham will not exactly have the easiest of games to contend with, as they will be hosting in-form Fulham who are attempting to secure automatic promotion back to the Premier League.
It is not impossible to contemplate Birmingham slipping through the trap door, much like they did when they suffered relegation from the top flight back in 2011. If they do, you have to question where the future of Monk would lie after an initially promising start to his tenure.
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