The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Tuesday, March 31

Good morning everyone and welcome to your monthly EFL Championship Roundup, where hoddle headquarters takes a look at all things in the second tier of the English football pyramid. This has been a regular feature of the hoddle for years and one I hope I do not have to change to the “Premier League” roundup next year.

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Tottenham Hotspur aren’t the only club out there frantically searching for a new manager.

Bristol City have announced that Roy Hodgson – yes, ROY HODGSON – is taking over the club for the remainder of the season.

The Robins’ season started well enough but have collapsed in 2026. They have a 4-3-8 record since the turn of the year, and are winless in their last five games (honestly, I’d take that at this point).

They now sit 16th in the Championship, although are comfortably well above the drop zone (12 points clear). Stil, you never quite know in the Championship.

And I guess that’s why they brought ol’ Roy out of retirement. For him, this is nothing more than a short-term stint to see the club through the remainder of the season.

You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Bristol City for making a solid short-term hire who can steady the ship before looking for a permanent manager in the summer. This guy’s got some good credentials, too, even if he’s been out of the game a couple of years.

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Bristol City will probably sit comfortably if they can take care of business against Charlton this weekend.

Otherwise, it’s a pretty close race to the bottom.

Blackburn Rovers, West Brom, Portsmouth, Leicester City and Oxford United are all separated by just four points (with Wednesady a distant, distant 24th place).

Here are a couple relegation six-pointers I want to put on your radar in the coming weeks:

Portsmouth vs Oxford United (6 April)

Blackburn vs WBA (6 April)

Portsmouth vs Leicester City (18 April)

Blackburn vs Leicester City (2 May)

There are some other games out there with relegation permutations (and more!). All this is gearing up to a heck of a final month of football.

EFL Championship Top Six (39 MP unless otherwise specified):

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Coventry (80 Pts, +41 GD)

Middlesbrough (71 Pts, +22 GD)

Ipswich Town (69 Pts, +28 GD, 38 MP)

Millwall (69 Pts +9 GD)

Hull City (66 Pts, +5 GD)

Southampton (63 Pts, +15 GD)

Bottom Three:

22. Leicester City (39 Pts, -9 GD)

23. Oxford United (39 Pts, -15 GD)

24. Sheffield Wednesday (-6 Pts, -5 GD)

Fitzie’s track of the day: One Thing At A Time, by Courtney Barnett

And now for your links:

The Telegraph: “De Zerbi facing Tottenham fans’ backlash before he has even taken job”

The Guardian: “Igor Tudor has gone but Tottenham are still hollow, confused and in deep trouble”

The Athletic ($$): “Mauricio Pochettino insists he is open to staying on as USMNT coach after World Cup”

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