Sheffield Wire will be taking a four-week break for the Easter holidays – but while we’re away, the games go on.
With the season nearing its end, the coming weeks will be crucial for all our local teams to sustain themselves in their current leagues.
Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham are all at risk of relegation and will need to step up in order to dodge the danger zone.
But by the time we return, will they have done enough to keep their hopes alive?
Sheffield United: a foregone conclusion?
Current position: 20th in Premier League
Chance of staying up: Slim
It’s been a woeful season for the Blades.
The team sit bottom of the Premier League table, having lost 20 of their 28 fixtures and conceding over 50 goals.
That includes letting in at least five goals per match in their last three home fixtures – a record they won’t be keen on putting in the trophy cabinet.
In 2024, they have scored just four goals at Bramall Lane, meaning Brighton, Aston Villa and Arsenal have scored more than them at their home ground this year.
Before we return, the Blades will face Fulham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Brentford. There are points up for grabs, but it’s going to be an uphill struggle.
With Nottingham Forest having just been deducted four points for breaching financial rules, climbing out of the relegation zone is not impossible. They will need eight points and some poor results from their competition for that to happen.
But Chris Wilder has failed to improve his side since taking over from Paul Heckingbottom in December, and unfortunately it looks like a one-way ticket to the Championship is on the agenda.
Sheffield Wednesday: the comeback kings?
Current position: 23rd in the Championship
Chance of staying up: cautious optimism
What began as a Championship tragedy has evolved into a comeback campaign since Danny Rӧhl took the top job.
True, the push has been subdued by two bad fixtures against teams at the top of the league, most recently a 6-0 thrashing by Ipswich Town.
But the Owls are just one point away from safety in a league where not much separates 12th place from the relegation zone.
They have five fixtures before 15 April: Swansea, Middlesbrough, QPR, Norwich and Stoke. It’s a mixed bag, but the later games might just give them a route to safety.
Setbacks include losing both team captain Barry Bannan and key attacker Ian Poveda to injury on Saturday, both of which will have fans hoping will be quick recoveries.
If they pull it off, Wednesday will have achieved a stellar turnaround and Rӧhl will have rightfully deserved another season in the Championship.
Rotherham: the end is nigh
Current position: 24th in the Championship
Chance of staying up: improbable
It’s not impossible for the Millers to avoid relegation this season.
It’s also not impossible for pigs to fly, but you will need a fair wind and a lot of balloons.
Having gleaned just three wins this entire season, Rotherham will need to pull off at least another seven victories from their eight remaining games to stay up. And that’s assuming no one else picks up any points.
At the weekend, Rotherham picked up their first point in ten games with a goalless draw to a 10-man Huddersfield.
Over the next four weeks, they will face Preston, Millwall, Plymouth Argyle, West Brom and Swansea. Most of those are in the bottom half of the table, but that does not mean it will take anything less than a miracle for the Millers not to face the axe.
They came up from League One with Ipswich Town, who are now within touching distance of the top spot. While one is potentially about to return to the Premier League, the other is almost certainly returning to where they came from.
South Yorkshire: doomed for failure?
It’s clearly a rough time to be a fan of any South Yorkshire team, and the misery could be universal in a few weeks’ time.
On the plus side, it’s possible that this time next year we could see the return of the Sheffield derby if fixtures work in Wednesday’s favour and the Blades continue on their current trajectory.
It’s going to be an interesting four weeks that will determine the futures of all three clubs. By the time we see you next, fates could well be sealed.
