Millwall boss Gary Rowett on average points return normally required to reach Championship play-offs
Millwall manager Gary Rowett is not one for the “emotional rollercoaster” of tracking every twist and turn in the Championship promotion chase.
The Lions are fifth in the table after taking four points off Sheffield United and Burnley, second and first respectively, in back to back Den matches.
Millwall still had a slim chance of the play-offs last season heading into the final day, eventually finishing ninth on 69 points.
The Lions were eighth in 2019-20, Rowett taking over the managerial reins from Neil Harris that October, as they banked 68 points.
Millwall were 11th in the 2020-21 season (62 points) with the campaign disrupted by Covid and matches being played in stadiums not open to the public.
Rowett told the South London Press: “I look at the table, of course, but I don’t really look at that too much as a guide, other than that it feels good that we’re back in the top six. It doesn’t really mean an awful lot at this stage.
“The key for me is how many points do you normally need to get in the play-offs? You can look over the past 10 years and probably average it out. And then how far are we off that? And also how far are we off where we finished points-wise before? It’s about trying to improve season on season. There are a couple of little markers there that I try and use.
“It doesn’t mean you’re going to do it. You can be on track for that, but it is an easy way of monitoring it without having to look at the table every week going ‘ooh we’re now eighth, ooh we’re now fourth, ooh we’re not ninth’. That is the nature of this stage of the season – you’re going to be in, you’re going to be out and there isn’t going to be much in between.
“You can’t end up in that emotional rollercoaster of judging it on the top six alone.
“Anything from 72 to 74 points means you’d usually be very unfortunate not to get in the top six with that tally. But it could be more, someone got in with 75 and one got in with 69 – it’s not an absolute rule, more a gauge or guideline that you’re aiming for.”
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