Listen to a new episode of the Sky Sports EFL Podcast every Monday throughout the season.
Monday 10 May 2021 17:27, UK
Jonathan Oakes is joined by David Prutton and David Stowell to look back at a dramatic final weekend in the Sky Bet EFL, as Derby stayed up at the expense of Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship - with Rotherham and Wycombe also being relegated.
In League One, Oxford pipped Portsmouth to the final play-off spot, and in League Two Cheltenham sealed the title, while Bolton and Cambridge joined them in winning promotion.
The panel also look ahead to what is sure to be a fascinating set of play-off fixtures throughout all three leagues.
All leagues and angles were covered in this week's show, but here were some of the major talking points...
It was drama until the last minute of the Sky Bet Championship season, as Derby secured survival thanks in part to a hectic 3-3 draw against Sheffield Wednesday, while Wayne Rooney said in the aftermath that the club need to sort themselves out on and off the pitch ahead of next season.
Prutton: "It's wonderful that they managed to stay in the second tier, but you wonder what position they'll find themselves in soon with the off-field issues, or if they'll begin next season in an even worse position. You only need to look at what happened to Wednesday this season with the points deduction.
"So it's a well done to Derby, but a cautious one because you still wonder what the future holds for them."
Rotherham finally succumbed to relegation from the Championship after a costly late draw at Cardiff. They led for the majority of that game, but Marlon Pack's late, late equaliser saw them go down. Eventually it seems the hectic schedule of the last few weeks got the better of them.
Stowell: "Paul Warne was saying in the end that he was exhausted from it all, and he was struggling to try and sleep at times because he was planning for the next game, or thinking about the last.
"But the players were running through brick walls for him, they always have and I think we will see them back in the Championship very soon."
The four sides set to compete in the Championship play-offs have been confirmed for a while, but now we know who will be playing each other. Bournemouth will meet Brentford, while Barnsley face Swansea. They are set to be two fascinating two-leg ties.
Prutton: "We all probably expected more from Bournemouth this season with the quality they have, but it's that quality that gives them every chance in these games.
"But the form of Brentford, and a special mention to what Ivan Toney has done, makes them such a tough proposition I think maybe they have the slightest of edges going into this."
Stowell: "It's a difficult one to call because of how tough Barnsley have been to beat, and let's not forget they didn't just scrape in - they finished above Bournemouth.
"It will be interesting to see how their defence plays against a side without a conventional striker. This tie is just a coin flip for me."
It will be another play-off campaign for Oxford, after last season's beaten finalists pipped Portsmouth to sixth on the final day of the season.
Stowell: "I was at Wembley last season when Oxford lost to Wycombe. They put up a real fight that day and did particularly well to get there in the first place.
"Karl Robinson says they aren't even supposed to be at this point in this stage of their development as a club, it hasn't been too long since they were competing in the Conference. It's another great job done just to get to the play-offs again."
Cheltenham took the League Two title on Saturday, and they were joined by Cambridge - who finally got over the line - and Bolton in winning promotion. The Trotters were 20th in the league on February 6, but a staggering second half of the season finished with a 4-1 thumping of Crawley and an immediate return to League One.
Stowell: "They missed the chance to go up last week, but it fuelled them. From the first couple of minutes against Crawley they put their foot on the pedal and there was no messing about from them.
Sometimes there are twists and turns on the final day of the season, and you thought before the game it might be a problem for Bolton. But they made sure it wasn't happening, and the celebrations followed."
