With the season coming to a close, some teams in the Football League already have nothing to really play for, languishing in the middle of the table, dreaming about being on a beach in Ibiza.
With that being said, here are five teams already mentally on holiday.
Honourable mention: Tottenham:
Tottenham Hotspur has got my honourable mention for this list, as even though they definitely have A LOT to play for this season, with their Premier League status at risk, they have recently played like the whole team is mentally somewhere else.
The North London side are yet to win a Premier League game in 2026, with many players already linked away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and they seem to be in second gear.
Obviously, they cannot make my top five, as they are meant to be in a relegation battle, but they had to get a mention due to the lack of fight they have shown so far.
5) Bristol City:
Bristol City have been in the Championship for 11 straight seasons and seem content to keep it that way.
After a promising campaign last season, finishing 6th, the Robins faithful were hoping their season could go one further than their last and finally get to the Premier League.
However, with nine games to go they are seven points behind Wrexham in 6th and show so no sign of a late surge up the table.
Bristol City have lost four of their last five games and seem destined for a mid-table finish.
4) Stoke City:
The Potters were known for being a well-established mid-table team in the Premier League a decade ago, but have found themselves a new identity as a mid-table Championship side instead!
They are in a very similar predicament to Bristol City where promotion hopes have faded.
Stoke are 10 points away from the drop zone with five teams below them in the relegation scrap.
3) Preston North End:
There are three things certain in life: death, taxes and Preston North End finishing mid-table in the Championship.
Preston are sitting 14th, 11 points adrift from relegation and eight points away from the playoffs.
Eight points is not the biggest of margins from potential promotion, but the Lilywhites have not won in their past six games and seemed to be content to languish in mid-table obscurity.
2) Accrington Stanley:
Who are they? A middle table team in League Two, 16 points away from relegation and 9 points away from promotion.
John Doolan’s men would not be this high on my list if they had not hit a horrid run of form, being without a win in their last four.
They have seemingly settled for a mid-table finish, but get a promotion place in my list at number two.
1) Gillingham:
The Gills are swimming to the middle of nowhere, stranded in the no man’s land, that is, mid-table.
They are 16 points above the relegation zone and 11 points below the playoffs.
Unless Gillingham have a Leicester-esque arc and go on a good run of games, then they have a place between 16th and 12th fully booked.
Even with the new eight-place promotion system, coming into the Championship, there would still be no hope for most of the teams on my list.
