Kevin Phillips’ Championship GW33 Predictions and Tips

FA Cup Quarter-Final Draw

I watched them on Sunday away at Oxford, and it was basically job done. He made a few changes, which I’m pleased he did because they’re clearly safe in the Premier League. It’s a great opportunity for them to have a good cup run. I’d have been disappointed if he’d put a really understrength side out. Delighted they got through. Would have liked a home tie, but whoever they play, Port Vale or Bristol City, it’s every opportunity of getting another result on the road. If they do, who knows how far they can go?

The Sunderland fans would have liked to have seen them play at home, but if you’re going to get to the final, you’ve got to do it the hard way. Then, you have to go away and win at places like Oxford, Bristol City or Port Vale. So, delighted they’re still in the hat, but they’ve got a great opportunity. And I’m sure, come the tie, they’ll go very strong again because they’ll see it as a great opportunity.

Wilson Isidor’s Future

It’s a tough one. Wilson started his career well at Sunderland, scored goals and then went on a barren spell. Now in the Premier League, he’s found it difficult to get a run in the team and score goals. Brobbey came in and cemented his place in the team, and rightly so, because he’s been excellent. So, from Wilson’s point of view, he has to keep fighting and scrapping to try to get back on that side. And if he feels that he’s not going to get the opportunity or get game time, then as any professional would like to do, is go and play football.

I think if Sunderland had the opportunity for him to go and play somewhere and was able to bring someone in in the summer, then I think they might look at that. But at the minute, he’s competing. When he comes on, he gives it everything. So only time will tell. Yes, there’s speculation he could have gone in the January window. I think someone inquired about him, but I think it was the right thing to do for Sunderland, keeping hold of him. And they’ll reassess it again in the summer.

Gary Rowett to Leicester

I mentioned it when the Blackburn job was up. If you wanted someone to come in who’s pragmatic, he’s got experience, knows how to keep teams in the Championship. I mentioned Gary Rowett, but it didn’t happen. But Leicester is a club that he played for, so he knows it very well. And again, Leicester, where they are in the league, haven’t been deducted points. I think it would be a safe option. Gary knows the football club. He kept Oxford in the league last season. He’s got Birmingham and Millwall playing at a better level than they probably should have been at the time. So he’s got the experience. So for me, it would be a safe pair of hands.

And the biggest thing, like I just said, they’ve got good players there. They’ve got Premier League players. They’ve got players that can play. So, it’s whether he can go and get the best out of them. So, I think he could, but he’d certainly go in there and shore up that defence and I would believe he’d keep them in the league.

Southampton’s Playoff Chances

I think they’re in really good form at the moment. They’ve certainly turned the corner. So, when you look at the next five fixtures, Charlton, QPR, Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich, then the Cup, and then they’ve got West Brom away, who are really struggling. As a manager, you sometimes break it down over the season in little leagues within the big league, and he’ll look at these next five games and set a points tally. If they can achieve that, then I see no reason why they can’t be in the playoff spots. And if they are, it would have been a remarkable turnaround. So I’m very confident that they can do that. They can keep everyone fit, of course.

Jack Stephens Return

Jack’s been there a long time. He’s an experienced player. A leader and he’s a good player and what you want as a manager is you want combinations, you want to strike up fluidity and consistency and if you can get them to play consistently, they know each other inside out so he’s a leader, he’s a great captain and no coincidence since he’s been back in the side, the team’s picked up so again, he’s going to be a real important player from now to the end of the season.

Lewis Koumas Impact

I’ve watched this kid grow up. I played with his dad, Jason, who was a phenomenal player. And his lad’s got the ability. He’s been on loan from Liverpool. He’s had a couple of loans before. So he’s got that experience of the Championship. So, he’s an important player. I think he’ll get better. Scored on his debut, didn’t he? I think he’s got one goal in three appearances. He would like to add to that tally. But he’s a good young player, an exciting talent.

I think the biggest thing is you don’t want to put too much pressure on him. Let everyone else do that. I’m sure the manager and the club won’t do that. But, he’s certainly a player that, if Hull want to consistently win football matches and stay in those playoff places, he’s certainly a player that can help them do that.

Haji Wright’s Hat-Trick

It was huge. I watched the game. Coventry performed very well. When you’re having a difficult and a bit of a rough time, not getting results you think you should get, it’s about your best player stepping up and performing, and they did that the other night. Haji is a good player, played down the middle, scores a hat-trick and, who knows come the end of the season how important them three goals will be, but it’s a huge result for Coventry and you could see it in the ground, it’s a big relief to get that win and, maybe that’ll kickstart that run now that hopefully we’ll see Coventry secure promotion in those top two. So, a massive moment in Coventry’s season.

Philippe Clement vs Daniel Farke

I think you’d probably have to say he has been their best manager since Farke. He’s a very, very good manager. He knows what he wants. I think he’s very clear in his messages to the players, and I think you can see that in their performances. He’s very pragmatic. When you watch his teams play, it does remind me a bit of Farke. High intensity, likes to play with those wingers who have got pace. And, every opportunity they can get, they get it to the wide boys and they perform, then they end up getting the end product.

So, they’re very similar. I think he’s done an excellent, excellent job. He’s still got a huge job in front of him with them sitting 17th in the league. We know it’s a tough place to go; the biggest thing is the players know their jobs. Whether you’re on the bench or you’re coming off the bench or you’re starting, the players know what they’re doing in and out of possession, which for a manager and fans is a big, big plus.

So, things are going really well at the moment. Can they get promoted? Like I say, they’re 17th in the league. They’d have to go on an unbelievable run to get into those playoffs, because time’s running out. But if they keep performing the way they are and other teams slip up, you never know. So, I’m sure they’ll take each game as it comes.

Kieran McKenna’s Rotation

He’d be right to do what he wants. He’s the manager of the football club. I don’t think you can question what he’s done at the football club and, we spoke about this last week about, from a manager’s perspective, when the cup comes round, you’ll get players that haven’t played football knocking on your door moaning about, I need minutes and it’s an opportunity to get players minutes that haven’t had minutes. And that is exactly what he did. Of course, it didn’t quite work out, but I think that helped them in the long run for their push for promotion because these players have got some game time.

So, they would like to have got a result. You’re damned if you do. You’re damned if you don’t, aren’t you? If you play a full-strength team and you get beat, then they’re going to moan, why did you not mix it up? So you can’t win as a manager. But I think the league is the priority for Ipswich; they need to bounce back. So, I think in the long run it might turn out to be the best decision.

Vipotnik the Best Striker in the League?

You would say so. 15 goals in 30 appearances, I think, something like that. He’s a scorer of all various types of goals, and he’s a huge threat. The biggest thing for Swansea is, if he finishes the season strong, can they keep hold of him? So, you would have to say, he’s top clear of Haji Wright at the minute, and he leads the line really well, six foot one. He’s very mobile, so I think he’s got a bit of everything.

So, yes, you’d have to say at the moment, he’s certainly the in-form striker in the league, scoring plenty of goals. I’m sure Haji Wright’s going to have something to say about that over the next few weeks. But he’s a good player, and he’s an important player for Swansea from now to the end of the season.

Michael O’Neill’s Dual Role

Potentially, it could cause issues. It’s a huge, huge occasion for Northern Ireland. They’ve got Italy. It’s massive for the country. I think he’s probably too experienced to let that affect him. If it had been a younger manager, then maybe so. I think he’s got enough experience, enough class about him to be able to deal with it.

Of course, they won’t have a game that weekend, so he can, once that game before that, the Italy game, he can switch on to Northern Ireland. And when that’s done, he can switch back on to Blackburn.

He’s got off to the perfect start. So no, I don’t really see it affecting him. I saw it as a strange decision. I think no one expected it, but clearly, at the moment, it looks like the right decision because it’s an excellent result over the weekend.