The 'Winging' Formula

Over the last few seasons in the Championship I've seen how a good winger or two can really help a promotion push. Most people are under the impression that strikers are the key to promotion and where is some cases they are right, most of the time it's all about the service into them.

Routledge helps QPR out

Promoted 2010/11 Season:


Queens Park Rangers - Although Taarabt had a very free role, alot of his goals came from cutting in off the wing. The aquisition of Wayne Routledge on loan in January also gave QPR a massive boost towards the finish line and scored some vital goals.

Norwich - One of those cases where strikers (and a lot of late goals!) actually got them promoted. Grant Holt, Simeon Jackson and Chris Martin all had great seasons up front. Wes Hoolahan had a great season from midfield though.

Sinclair the key for Swans.

Swansea - As much as I want to be bitter about it, Sinclair and Dyer were insanely good last season. Swansea struggled for goals in 2009/10 but by taking Sinclair onboard they managed to get the goals to take them up. It's no surprise they've continued their form into the Premier League by keeping hold of Sinclair and Dyer and also aquiring Wayne Routledge from Newcastle.

Special mention from 2010/11 has to go out to Jobi McAnuff (Reading) who in my opinion is the best winger in the Championship currently. His team-mate Jimmy Kebe also helped Reading to a playoff final which unfortunately they lost. *grumble*

Current Championship Season 2011/12

Lallana deserves all plaudits

Where do I begin? Southampton have Adam Lallana who like Taarabt has a bit of a free role. Lallana loves his crosses almost as much as a 17th Century vampire hunter and his build up play is exquisite. He also has the bonus of Rickie Lambert to aim for, who is surely related to the Green Giant from the sweetcorn adverts!

Burke lifts the Blues

Birmingham's surge in the league has been helped by the incredible form of Chris Burke. As all Cardiff fans will know, he can play on the left and he can play on the right..and sometime's he doesn't make Nikola Zigic look shite! Burke was a fan favourite at Cardiff and the passionate little Scot has certainly impressed at Birmingham, and I am happy for him!

McAnuff constantly impresses me.

Other Championship wingers

Matt Phillips (Blackpool) - tore Cardiff apart last week and despite not being part of Holloway's plans in the first half of the season, he could be key to their second half.

Jobi McAnuff (Reading) - Another former Cardiff man. When Reading play well, it's generally because of him. Has turned into a leader as well which is unusual for a winger, he does a very good Captain's job.

Robert Snodgrass (Leeds United) - Has impressed this season from the wing with 11 goals so far. I'm not a fan of his after he spat on Craig Bellamy last season.

The 'winging' feeling!

In summary, I'm not saying that you need a very good winger to win promotion but it's going to help your strikers if they have decent delivery from out wide and will massively help the team if they chip in a few goals too! Obviously for a winger it genereally helps if you have a big man to aim for in the middle but most teams need their wide men to be able to beat players as well.

Different Cardiff

Since packing up and moving out of Cardiff, travelling down south, and moving into university halls in Southampton, I haven't been able to watch my beloved Cardiff City. While at home I watched Cardiff City whenever they played at home, now I end up going to one or two games every three months, my last being Middlesbrough which we lost 3-2, typical! My reaction to this result however was strange. I accepted the fact that the better side had won and just brushed it off, as if the result meant nothing. Of course it did! We lost to a Championship promotion rival, we lost to a team who embarrassed us last season. Instead of moaning about the players performance or our manager not being able to change a game, I thought back to an exciting game which unfortunately didn't go our way. If Dave Jones were still in charge I probably would have reacted in the same manner as Pepe to a nudge in the back and gone completely mental! Under our previous regime I had no belief, no confidence in the team to grind out results. Now, I am fully behind the movement of 'In Malky we Trust!'

Being in exile is not easy as a football fan. It was a strange feeling as I left the game, even though we had lost, I was glad to have just watched my team play live and not the usual 37 seconds of highlights on the Football League Show or some dodgy internet stream on Radio Wales. It was nice to see how the team had progressed over the months I had been away. My last visit prior to this was the 2-0 win against Doncaster, which was hardly convincing. Now there seems to be chemistry within the team just like Jon Parkin's chemistry to pork pies, electrifying!

Mackay seems to have done a miracle job so far. There's a buzz when people talk about the club, people are excited by the position we are in, especially after what was left when Dave Jones departed. When Mackay entered the club, he had very little to work with. As he quotes "I was standing with David Kerslake, my assistant, and we had 10 people jogging round a park." And when people look at the squad now, they see Carling Cup Finalists (possibly winners!). Mackay has somehow guided us to Wembley for a 4th time in 5 seasons and the whole outlook of the club looks positive. What would Mackay be regarded as if he won us the Carling Cup and Promotion? Any big club with a manager nearing the end (Arsenal, Man Utd) would be silly not to look at Malky.