Championship

ROB EDWARDS walks across a pitch in Dunstable and is met by a boy wearing a Luton kit sobbing.The child has played for a Hatters youth team that has been knocked out of the nationwide Utilita Kids Cup by Watford.
Luton boss Rob Edwards is trying to steer the Hatters to promotion
A young Hatter is sobbing in front of Rob Edwards after losing to Watford
It illustrates how deep the bitter rivalry runs between the clubs and is doubly upsetting because these players have had their dreams of playing in a Wembley final dashed this year.
Luton boss Edwards knows a thing or two about being left disappointed by Watford — having incredibly been sacked by the club after just TEN Championship games earlier this season.
He sits the Under-11s team down into a circle before crouching down to speak to them.
He said: “They were devastated. I’d have felt the same at their age. All of us want to win and they were so desperate to but lost 1-0 to Watford in the quarter-finals. There were one or two of them in tears.
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“But I said, ‘I like that. You’re all desperate to win.’ I then asked, ‘Did you give everything and try your hardest?’ They had. That’s all you can do. You can never guarantee a win.
“I say the same to my lads — and the one thing you can guarantee from my team is we’ll give it our best.
“These young boys did that too and they’ll look back and be better for it. They’re not used to losing so it’s a new experience.”
Everything has been a new experience for Edwards, 40, in a whirlwind management career that is only into its second season.
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Rob Edwards consoles the young Hatters after their defeat to Watford
He led Forest Green Rovers to the League Two title and promotion last year before his ridiculously brief time at Vicarage Road.
Luton, though, turned to him after Nathan Jones quit for Southampton and today he welcomes the club that axed him to Kenilworth Road with the Hatters in far better shape than the Hornets.
His team sit comfortably fourth and even have second-placed Sheffield United within their sights.
Meanwhile stuttering Watford are five points adrift of the play-offs and on to their THIRD manager in Chris Wilder after sacking Edwards’ successor Slaven Bilic.
Asked to sum up his brief time at Vicarage Road, Edwards said: “It was a great opportunity for me and my assistant Richie Kyle. 
“There’s always a risk with any job you take but I wouldn’t change anything. We believed in ourselves and were frustrated with how it panned out.
“When Watford decided to part company with us, we were a point behind the play-offs. We’d only lost twice but, frustratingly, drew five of them.
“At that moment in time, we were trying to change the culture. It was a team that had become used to losing in the Premier League and we were picking up the pieces. 
Rob Edwards was trying to change a losing culture at Watford
Rob Edwards was liked by Watford fans but was sacked after just two defeats
“I felt it was all starting to come together but the club decided they wanted to go in another direction. That’s history now. 
“However I’m proud of what we did — but now even prouder to be at a brilliant club in Luton Town.”
Edwards did have to consider the ramifications of taking the Hatters job as a recent Watford boss and discussed it with the club at length during the interview process.
But his mind was firmly fixed on making the move after meeting the Luton owners.
He said: “What I saw was a group of honest people at a well-run club. I also saw a team of hard-working players who were used to winning and being at the right end of the table. They’re also more talented than people give them credit for.
“When we took over, we were 10th or 11th and had our first game against Middlesbrough. We were right in the mix so it was a team who were competing for something.
“It’s not something that happens often when you think about a manager coming in during the season. So it was a case of us just continuing the good work.”
Luton boss Rob Edwards caught up with our man Justin Allen on a freezing cold day in nearby Dunstable to chat about his whirlwind management career
Luton boss Rob Edwards has continued the good work from the Nathan Jones era
In his 18 league games in charge, he has won 11, drawn four and lost three.
Edwards has won promotion to the Premier League before. 
He was in a Blackpool team as a centre-half that won the 2010 play-off final against Cardiff under Ian Holloway.
And Edwards admits going up this season would be almost as big an achievement when you consider the size of the clubs.
He said: “It certainly will be in terms of how people perceive the clubs from outside.
“The difference would be: Blackpool were favourites to go down the year we went up — whereas, because of the great work of Nathan and the group last season in reaching the play-offs, expectations are higher.”
Ironically, the manager that left a lasting impression on Edwards was Watford legend Graham Taylor, who gave him his Premier League debut for Aston Villa against Middlesbrough when he was aged 20.
He said: “Graham was an incredible human being and manager. I know how strong his links are with Watford but I’ll be forever thankful to him for giving me that opportunity.
Rob Edwards and Luton star Jordan Clark with the Luton U11s team
“The things I took from him were his honesty. He could be quite brutal in his honesty but 20-plus years ago things were different in terms of how you would communicate and deal with people.
“But he was brave and wanted to play young players. He did that throughout his career so is someone I’ve a heck of a lot of respect and admiration for.
“There were a lot of coaches at Villa who got us to the point of reaching the first team such as Kevin MacDonald, Tony McAndrew and Gordon Cowans — but Graham was the man brave enough to put me in.
“I picked up a bad injury and wasn’t able to get back in at Villa. But had I not had that chance from Graham, I’d not be here managing Luton today!”
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Meanwhile, Watford made Wembley to face Sheffield United ahead of the Championship play-off final. How Edwards and the Hatters would love to be there.
*ROB EDWARDS was speaking at the Utilita Kids Cup tournament, which in partnership with the EFL, sees 12,000 under-11 boys and under-13 girls competing across the country in six-a-side games to play in a Wembley final.The girls’ showpiece, between AFC Wimbledon and Carlisle, will be held tomorrow ahead of the Papa John’s Trophy final while the boys are due to battle it out ahead of the EFL play-off finals for each relevant division. More

JAY BOTHROYD played for England at the age of 28 and looked set for bigger and better things.However, Bothroyd’s career quickly experienced a dramatic nosedive as he ended up playing in Thailand just three-and-a-half years later.
Jay Bothroyd made his England debut in 2010 despite playing in the ChampionshipCredit: Jamie McPhilimey – The Sun
But Jay Bothroyd ended up playing in Thailand just three-and-a-half years laterCredit: Getty
The now 40-year-old began with plenty of promise as he started out at Arsenal’s academy and won the FA Youth Cup in 2000.
However, the former striker never managed to break into the Gunners’ senior team and went on to have quite the nomadic career.
The Islington-born athlete played for the likes of Coventry, Blackburn, Charlton, Wolves, Stoke and Perugia, where he won the Intertoto Cup in 2003.
Bothroyd’s big break finally came when he moved to Cardiff back in 2008.
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The ex-centre-forward registered 20 goals across all competitions in the 2010/2011 season and won over then England manager Fabio Capello.
And so he became one of the very few Championship players to ever receive an international call-up.
Bothroyd picked up his one and only cap in an international friendly against rivals France as a substitute on November 17, 2010.
The forward joined in with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Peter Crouch as well as Rio Ferdinand and made his debut on the same night as Jordan Henderson.
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Bothroyd became the first ever Cardiff player to compete for England and almost stole the headlines as he nearly led the Three Lions to a major comeback while they were 2-0 down.
The one hit wonder almost scored on a night that saw Capello’s side ultimately lose 2-1.
But his debut led him to a move to newly-rich club Queens Park Rangers just a few months later but failed to stand out and was loaned out to Sheffield Wednesday before his release in 2013.
After six months as a free agent, Bothroyd went from England international to a Muangthong United player in Thailand.
The forward’s career was obviously at its twilight but he still managed to absolutely dominate the Thai league before continuing his stint in Asia for Japanese outfit Jubilo Iwata in 2015.
Bothroyd continued to shine bright for his new team and moved to Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo in 2017 where he retired four years later. More

CRISIS-CLUB Wigan will have only NINE senior players left in contract at the end of the season.And most of them — some on high wages — are not even in the side at the moment, or even likely to figure in the future.
Wigan face having just nine players on their books this summerCredit: Getty
The Championship strugglers were recently hit with a three-point deduction over the repeated non-payment of salaries.
And now the situation has become so bad players have revolted and refused to train after FOUR missed payments.
But things could soon get worse for Wigan, as just nine senior players will be tied down to contracts this summer.
Defenders Jason Kerr and Jack Whatmough are on longer deals but the duo have been troubled by injuries.
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Jordan Jones is on loan while Anthony Scully can go.
And Tom Pearce has been available for purchase for the last two windows.
Striker Josh Magennis does not start that often these days either.
Tom Naylor and Charlie Wyke — both signed on lucrative deals — remain.
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While Callum Lang is under lock and key and in Latics chiefs’ plans.
An astonishing 19 players are out of contract, including star men like ten-goal top scorer Will Keane and James McClean.
But that list also includes five who came in on loan.
It is a dire situation for Wigan boss Shaun Malone.
If he wants to keep any of the other free agents, then the wages on offer will be much lower. More

GARY ROWETT is embracing the endurance event that is the Championship and leading Millwall on an unlikely play-off push.Well, it’s unlikely from the outside looking in — but not to Rowett and a team building one step at a time.
Gary Rowett has helped change Milwall’s philosophy from looking down the table to looking up while retaining their famous grit
Ex-Burton, Stoke and Derby chief Rowett will run the London Marathon on April 23 with his daughter BetsyCredit: Getty
For him, success is literally a marathon, not a sprint as he’s doing it all while training for the TCS London Marathon next month.
Rowett is ninth in English League football’s longest-serving manager table, with 3½  years on the clock, so what has changed in that, er, long run?
He said: “The feel here is quite similar, the attitude, hard-working nature, underdog mentality and tough fighting spirit, all the things you’d expect.
“What we’ve tried to change is what we can now achieve.
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“There’ve been players, managers here who have done great things, FA Cup finals, been in the old Division One, it’s not for me to comment on that.
“But when I came in, there was a little bit of a ‘staying up is great’ feel. A lot of staff would say ‘five points off the bottom three now’ or ‘it’s eight points now’.
“But I wanted to change that. Stop looking down, look up. I felt like we could do it, take the club forward on and off the field.”
Millwall are sixth and making a serious push for the play-offs, not a late dash with ‘nothing to lose’.
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Far from accepting that puts more pressure on, Rowett sits up, lifts the smart glasses up his nose and is assertive in his response.
He said: “No. The trade-off is more confidence and belief. We’re not thinking, ‘How are we here?’
“Having finished eighth, 11th and ninth, it shows actually, we deserve to be there.”
Rowett had a three-year plan to turn the Lions into play-off contenders and sings the praises of owner John Berylson for helping him build the squad on a modest budget.
And as we sit in his ‘cosy’ training ground, it is clear Rowett still has the drive to keep going well beyond the end of this year — whatever happens.
Plans are approved for a much-needed state-of-the-art training ground nearby.
It will help not only with attracting first-team players, but also youngsters in an area bursting with talent often snapped up by Prem giants.
Rowett, 49, accepts he might not be at the club to see it, such is football, but very much hopes he is.
Asked if it is tough to keep that fire burning, Rowett said: “I’ve always gone into a job thinking long term.
“I wanted to build something here, take things as far as we can.
“Ultimately it’s a brilliant, brilliant club. At some point, perhaps I’ll feel I’ve done all I can but, at the moment, that’s right at the back of my mind.”
The underdog spirit is alive and well as Millwall are currently outgunning the might of Norwich, West Brom and Watford, all recently in the Prem.
Former Burton, Stoke and Derby boss Rowett said: “I’ve been at some of those teams with the pressure of parachute payments, the pressure is a lot more on those teams.
“Our only pressure is internal, to achieve something we haven’t for a few years.”
And despite a defeat by Huddersfield in their last outing, Millwall are ready to go again after the international break.
Rowett’s Lions are holding their own in sixth and keen for their supporters to keep them fired up for the final eight Championship matchesCredit: PA
Millwall fan and Sun journalist Paul Jiggins died last year and Rowett is doing the marathon in his honour, raising funds for the British Heart FoundationCredit: The Sun
Plenty of other fans have one eye on their progress, as what a great story it would be if the ‘unfashionable’ club made it to the glitz and glamour of the Prem.
With the likes of Zian Flemming, the gifted Dutch forward nicknamed the ­Bermondsey Bergkamp, and recent Wales call-up Tom Bradshaw, Millwall are a bit more than the blood-and-thunder team most peg them as.
Those two have netted 27 league goals between them and add the class to a team as well-organised as the graphs and charts on Rowett’s office pin board.
The boss accepts that ‘understanding’ the home crowd has been key to their recent success to ensure The Den is always a bloody terrifying place to go.
Rowett added: “People will put you in a box of what they think you are and can do.
“In some ways, it feels like the ‘most Millwall’ feel since I’ve been here. We’ve embraced that.
“That’s one of our strengths, why not use it?”
In the recent 2-1 win over Swansea they were played off the park in the first half — but the crowd did not boo. Instead, there was a ‘hush’ and ‘mumblings’ and even a smattering of applause.
Rowett said: “You could tell they wanted to boo, we’d been battered. But they stayed with us.”
He hopes that means there’s now an element of trust in a relationship between coaching team and crowd that has not always been totally singing from the same sheet.
Rowett added: “You can interact with the crowd — if someone makes a great tackle, the crowd go nuts.
“Most of the time at our place you don’t need to because that atmosphere is there. But they want front-foot and goalmouth action, commitment.
“After 3½ years, believe it or not, I’m starting to understand that more.
Gritty, with a real community spirit, something a lot of big clubs have lost. There’s a lot to embrace, tap into and be proud of.Gary Rowett
“We’re going to enjoy the last eight games. What a great position to be in, embrace it rather than be apprehensive.”
But with him being such a likeable guy and Millwall earning many admirers, is there a danger of losing that ‘no one likes us’ tag?
Rowett laughs, adding: “I don’t know about that!
“It’s easy to fall into that old rhetoric but there’s a lot here that a lot of clubs want.
“Gritty, with a real community spirit, something a lot of big clubs have lost. There’s a lot to embrace, tap into and be proud of.”
The community spirit is shown again as Rowett  is running the marathon to raise money for the British Heart Foundation, in memory of huge Millwall fan Paul Jiggins — a Sun journalist who passed away last year.
Rowett has had an ambition of breaking the four-hour barrier for the marathon.
But this year, on April 23, he’s parking that to run with his daughter, Betsy.
Something which is not easy for the competitive edge when Rowett once clocked an official time of four hours and ONE second, despite his own watch saying 3:59:59.
With a puff of the cheeks at the thought of that day’s 19-mile training run and chats about cramp and injury, he added: “What an amazing opportunity to run it with your daughter.
“To help her with those highs and lows, she’ll help me, too. I’m putting times to one side.”
Last year’s marathon saw the fixture list give him Blackburn away the day before. This year? A trip to Wigan.
He said: “Not ideal. But once you do get to the start, it’s incredible.
“Although getting passed by a ten-foot foam Newcy Brown Ale bottle isn’t good for your ego.”
Rowett’s playing career was ended aged 30 by a knee injury and something tells me that someone less driven than him would not be managing that pain and still be running.
He added: “I ran with my dad from the age of about ten, it brings happy memories.
“I enjoy that grind. It’s easy to sit on your backside.
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“A ten-miler in the rain, most people would think, ‘I don’t want this’. But it’s good for your soul, isn’t it? Just get out there and do it.”
That last line feels as though it could come straight out of a Rowett team talk. And with the finish line in sight, who would bet against Millwall with  The Den behind them?
Rowett, shown after the 2016 marathon, wants to break four hours but will put that to one side this time as he runs with his daughter for mutual supportCredit: Alamy More