Buzzin Championship Football

Although it’s more or less a case of ‘as you were’ going into today’s games (Southampton can’t be caught by West Ham and two of the bottom three can’t escape the gravitational pull of League 1) but with two games in the space of five days there could be some changes at both the top and the bottom.

Game of the day is Bristol City v Southampton: at first glance this looks like an uneven contest but a look at the form tables shows that this one could be far tighter than expected. Obviously both sides need to win this for different reasons: Southampton can increase their lead at the top, but but City – who have yet to lose at home to any of the top six – will be motivated by the prospect of being able to move out of the relegation zone if they win and other results go their way.

Whatever happens, 0-0 is unlikely: it’s significant that Nicky Maynard has started scoring for the hosts since Derek McInnes took over. Saints’ Rickie Lambert will be a stern test for the Robins defence but he might well have some extra motivation: he joined Southampton from Bristol Rovers in 2009.

There are a couple of other interesting games this weekend: Hull against Burnley features two sides apparently going in opposite directions. Nick Barmby’s first win as a manager last weekend pushed the Tigers into the playoff spots, while Eddie Howe’s side have now lost four consecutive games after Chris Burke’s late winner at St. Andrews bagged all the points for Birmingham City on Tuesday night.

However, this is another match where the outcome isn’t necessarily as cut and dried as might be expected. The Clarets have won their last two trips to Hull (including a 4-1 win when both teams were in the Premiership) and Hull’s home form has been inconsistent this season. There never seem to be many goals at the KC Stadium and although Burnley are struggling they’ve scored in all but two of their away games this season and could easily nick a point.

In the only game between teams in the bottom six, Doncaster entertain Watford at the Keepmoat in one of those games that looks terrible on paper but could actually be very competitive: in case you’re wondering how bad Donny’s home form is, they’ve only won 2 of their last 20 games at home and they’ve not scored more than one goal in a game since New Year’s Day. Watford’s away form is just as bad: three wins since January and an inability to score away from home – the Hornets have been shut out in three of their last four away games and current top scorer Marvin Sordell hasn’t scored in an away game since August.

Today’s final game on sees Derby travel to West Ham (5:20pm, Sky Sports 2): historically this has been a game that West Ham don’t usually lose, but with five draws in the last ten league meetings at Upton Park between these two it’s not one you can say that West Ham should win either. The Rams haven’t won an away game since their controversial win at Nottingham Forest in mid September and although they’re clearly a different team from last season their recent form indicates that early season optimism may gradually turn into mid table reality.

I’ll be back on Tuesday with to take a look at what happened this afternoon and to take a look at the midweek games – which include Middlesbrough v West Ham and Southampton v Hull.

The three newly appointed managers suffered different fates last weekend: Nigel Pearson and Nick Barmby both oversaw victories when their new sides shut the opposition out whereas Portsmouth’s new boss Michael Appleton looked on as Watford beat Pompey 2-0.

Blackpool had to come from behind twice at Middlesbrough; Scott McDonald scored both goals for the hosts but both of the Tangerines’ equalisers came within five minutes of Tony Mowbray’s side taking the lead.

However the most significant games last weekend were at the bottom of the table. On Saturday, Coventry’s defeat at home to West Ham combined with Doncaster’s reverse in the Yorkshire Derby at Oakwell mean that both sides are now in serious danger of coming adrift at the bottom. The situation worsened for the bottom two when two goals from Nicky Maynard helped Bristol City win at Millwall at The New Den: the Robins are now only two points away from safety.

Although there’s the usual danger of tonight’s games being overshadowed by the Champions League, they have implications for both ends of the table. Burnley – who lost at home to Leeds on Saturday – travel to Birmingham City and Cardiff hopefully won’t get stick in traffic when they make the often nightmarish weekday trip from South Wales to Coventry.

Birmingham’s game – rescheduled due to the demands of the Europa League -  is one of those they need to win if they’re going to challenge for promotion. The Bluea are unbeaten at St Andrew’s and three points would put them just outside the promotion places with two games still in hand. Burnley are confirming to a pattern away from Turf Moor – win one, lose one – in which case they may be in for their first win at Birmingham since April 2007.

Even though Coventry have not got the greatest home record at the Ricoh Arena, there’s a chance that the hosts might spring a surprise tonight: the Sky Blues have not lost four consecutive home games in the league for almost seven years. The only problem – and it’s a big one -  is that Cardiff have only lost two of the last ten meetings between the clubs in the Midlands.

I’ll be back with a preview of the weekend’s action on Friday, in the meantime have a good week.

Having finally finished the international ‘breaks’ for 2011, the league programme will not be interrupted until the FA Cup third round in January.Having finally finished the international ‘breaks’ for 2011, the league programme will not be interrupted until the FA Cup third round in January. In the space of a week, three managerial changes have been made, although it’s ‘as you were’ in the East Midlands.

At the start of the month I mentioned that Leicester City seem to be in the habit of making ‘vanity’ appointments with managerial appointments that seemed to be based increasing the perception of the Foxes as a big club rather than on the actual record of the appointee. So the reappointment of Nigel Pearson this week is a weird one: presumably Pearson thought he had a chance of getting Hull City back to the Premier Division when he left the King Power Stadium in the summer of 2010, but the grass at the KC Stadium can’t have been as green as he thought.

Judging on this season’s form, it’s a sideways move for Pearson. Leicester are two points behind Hull but neither side look currently capable of challenging for automatic promotion: the Tigers don’t score enough goals while the Foxes concede too many.

Pearson’s move to Leicester led to Nicky Barmby being appointed caretaker manager at Hull, but the other permanent appointment that was made recently shows more imagination. Portsmouth appointed former Preston and West Brom midfielder Michael Appleton as manager: to say that Appleton is driven is an understatement – having been forced to retire due to a botched operation on a knee injury at the age of 27, he’s spent most of the last decade building a coaching career and was at WBA at the same time as Bristol City manager Derek McInnes.

Pearson, Barmby and Appleton all have different challenges this weekend: on Saturday Hull travel to Derby, Watford play Portsmouth at Vicarage Road and Leicester entertain Crystal Palace on Sunday.

However, I’m looking at other games this weekend to provide the talking points. Leeds visit Burnley on Saturday lunchtime (BBC2, 12:45pm) having only lost twice in their last ten games at Turf Moor while the Clarets have lost both of their last two games by 3-1; before the season began I wondered about Eddie Howe would do over the course of a full season and if Burnley lose again he may find himself under a great deal of pressure.

The game of the week is Middlesbrough v Blackpool – although this is only the third time they’ve met in the league since 1987, this looks like a clash that could tell us a lot about the prospects of these sides over the next six months. Boro haven’t entertained any of the current top six teams at the Riverside, while Blackpool earned a point at Crystal Palace but were comprehensively beaten at West Ham last month. Even with Marvin Emnes and Kevin Phillips on the pitch this looks as if it could be a low scoring game with a point being the best the Tangerines can hope for.

There are a couple of other games that will have an impact at both ends of the table: it’s not hard to see why West Ham are favourites at Coventry as the Hammers have only lost once away from home this season while The Sky Blues have only won five of their last 20 Championship games at the Ricoh Arena. The Hammers have only conceded a ridiculous four goals away from home this season, so if they can shut down Lukas Jutkiewicz (who has scored six of Coventry’s 13 league goals this season) then the job’s half done.

Game of the day in South Yorkshire is Barnsley v Doncaster, which is a game that the visitors have had the upper hand in recently: Rovers have won three of the five league meetings at Oakwell this century, although having won at Ipswich a few weeks ago wasn’t a good sign as Donny have lost both of their subsequent away games following an away win.

The only other televised game this weekend is Millwall v Bristol City (Sky Sports 1, 1:15pm), which is an interesting choice of appetiser for Chelsea v Liverpool. The hosts are still formidable at home (only three defeats in their last twenty Championship games at The New Den) and Darius Henderson has taken over from Steve Morison as leading goalscorer but the Robins have clearly benefitted from a change in manager and are no longer the pushovers they were earlier in the season.

There are a couple of games next Tuesday night, but I’ll take a look at them at the beginning of next week as well as rounding up this weekend’s action.

Another busy week in the Championship: it’s fair to say that Southampton took advantage of some of the interesting results in midweek and now have a much bigger lead than QPR did this time last season. Of course, there’s no way of telling how significant that lead might be but having pointed out before the season began that back to back promotions to the Premier League are a rarity, it’s either boom or bust for the Saints.

It’ll be interesting to see if – unlike last season – any of the other promotion candidates can mount a credible challenge for the title. West Ham were heavily fancied to beat Bristol City on Tuesday night but failed to do so but along with Cardiff winning convincingly at Derby the real eyebrow raiser was Leeds’ worst home defeat for three decades – United were already a goal down to Blackpool when Tom Lees was sent off and former ‘pool goalkeeper Paul Rachubka was substituted at half time having been made the scapegoat for Leeds’ woes by their fans. A hat trick from Jonjo Shelvey and a brace from Lomana Lua Lua means that Blackpool are now within striking distance of the playoffs while Leeds drop back to tenth.

Five of the twelve games this weekend will have an impact on both ends of the table and although there’ll be no change in the bottom three, there has been some movement within that group. Despite being the only club in the competition without a home win, Bristol City will be hoping to continue their improvement under new boss Derek McInnes even though there’s no guarantee that they’ll beat Burnley.

On paper Coventry have the hardest task facing the clubs in the drop zone this weekend when Southampton travel to the Ricoh Arena, but the leaders have only won one of their last ten visits to Warwickshire and haven’t picked up maximum points on their travels since winning at Ipswich in mid August. The Sky Blues aren’t terrible at home – although this is their first game against a team in the current top six – but really need to start winning games if they’re to escape the bottom three.

The other game featuring two sides from the bottom six will see Steve Cotterill return to Fratton Park for the first time since he left Portsmouth and both clubs will be looking to avoid defeat. Goals could be at a premium on the South Coast and with Nottingham Forest apparently being unable to keep clean sheets on the road, their porous defence could prove a stumbling block to any chance of success in Hampshire.

There are two games between the top six on Saturday afternoon: rather than unneccesarily over complicate the situation at the top of the table, it’s entirely possible that West Ham could be out of the automatic promotion places on Saturday evening yet only Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough can overtake them. Palace travel down the M4 to Cardiff City, but although The Bluebirds haven’t lost at home to Palace since 2004 they’ve only won two of the six meetings between the clubs in South Wales since then. Middlesbrough entertain Watford on Saturday teatime in the only televised game this weekend (Sky Sports 2, 5:20pm) but although Boro haven’t lost at the Riverside since April they’ve only won twice at home this season and Watford will be encouraged by the points earned by Coventry and Portsmouth on Teeside this season.

If the Hammers want to remain in second spot they’ll need to do something in this weekend’s game of the week they’ve they’ve been unable to do since September 1954: win at Hull City. Admittedly these sides only met four times in the league over the last two decades and although Sam Allardyce’s side have only lost once on their travels this season, this game looks as if it’s going to be a tight, low scoring affair and it’s also worth remembering that West Ham have yet to record a victory away to a team in the current top six.

Finally this week, it’s difficult to remain detached about the Championship when we’re lucky to have a player like Billy Sharp of Doncaster Rovers playing in it. His two day old son died on Saturday but on Monday he rang Rovers’ manager Dean Saunders to ask if he could play against Middlesbrough during the week; Sharp opened the scoring after 14 minutes and revealed a t-shirt that simply said ‘That’s for you son.’

My wife and I went to France for a short holiday over half term: I bought a copy of the excellent Football League Paper to read on the plane and thought that I was up to date with what’d been happening in the Championship. A couple of days later and suddenly Sven-Goran Eriksson was no longer manager of Leicester City.

I scribbled a few thoughts into my notebook but a couple seemed fairly pertinent: since Nigel Pearson left Leicester in summer 2010, it’s best to describe both Sven and his predecessor (Paolo Sousa) as ‘vanity’ appointments. Despite having a reputation that appears to be built on sand, Sousa hasn’t been at any club long enough to make any kind of a positive impression as a manager and Eriksson hasn’t won anything with a club since the double with Lazio in 1999/2000.

Perhaps they both interviewed well, but my second thought was that Leicester City have a great deal in common with  a lot of other teams in the Championship. The Foxes have spent more seasons in the second tier of English football than they have at any other level and haven’t played in the Premier League for eight seasons. Leicester were this season’s ‘trendy’ pick to win the Championship and are thought of as a ‘big’ club in the Championship, even though these days that largely means having foreign owners, a flexible policy over stadium naming rights and being one of the clubs that Eriksson used to manage. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but Manchester City are currently top of the Premier League not half way down the Championship.

I’ve got nothing against ambition, but it has to be tempered with a dose of reality now and again. It’s all very well having superb facilities and no immediate local rivals to compete against, but a quick glance at Leicester’s honours list indicates that they’re very much a second tier club that has historically performed better with managers from the UK and Ireland.

Upon returning from France there was no time write a post last weekend, so it’s double helpings this week.

Unusually for a Tuesday night, there are three games that will have a direct impact on both ends of the table so we’ll start with Hull’s trip to Barnsley: the Tykes – who lost at home to Bristol City last weekend – have a dreadful record against the Tigers at Oakwell (only two wins in the last ten meetings) while Nigel Pearson’s side have only lost two of their last 20 away games and are are one of the best away teams in the Championship despite their lack of goals on the road. Having picked up three single goal wins away from the KC Stadium this season, another one wouldn’t come as a massive surprise.

Despite their away record being as good as Hull’s, Middlesbrough have fallen off the pace a little recently – one win in the last month is hardly promotion form – but they face a Doncaster side that have only won three home league games in the last calendar year. There hasn’t been a draw between these two clubs in South Yorkshire since the first time they ever met in the league, a goalless draw almost a century ago

Despite having picked up a vital win in South Yorkshire at the weekend, bottom of the table Bristol City will be underdogs when they travel to West Ham for a league game for the first time since January 1993, but although the Hammers home record isn’t bad they’ve not won three consecutive games in the league for almost three years. The Robins last won back to back away games in the Championship last season but have only won one of their last five games in the capital and have only ever won once at Upton Park.

I’ll be back on Friday, possibly with news about an appointment at Fratton Park but with a review of the midweek action and a preview of the weekend’s games.