It all started last Tuesday with Barnsley, Blackpool and Millwall suffering home defeats at the hands of Birmingham, West Ham and Middlesbrough respectively.
Move on two days and Leicester won the East Midlands derby at Derby County and then on Saturday there were five away wins in ten games with only Brighton and Coventry managing to secure home wins.
Well done to Coventry for whom Clive Platt scored a stoppage time winner against Barnsley. It's lifted them to third from bottom, ahead of bottom club Doncaster Rovers and Portsmouth.
Pompey had ten points deducted a week last Friday. They were still out of the bottom three, but that's not the case now. They now find themselves five points adrift of safety and that's due mainly to Nottingham Forest winning a couple of games.
Millwall have pulled themselves further away with their win at the Turf. They might still get sucked in to the relegation scrap but I can't see anyone any higher now being involved.
Up at the top it is a case of keep your eyes on Reading. Saturday's win at Middlesbrough was their fifth successive victory and they stand head and shoulders above the rest of the league in February, just about guaranteeing Brian McDermott the manager of the month award.
There has been no change at the top; it's the same top two and the same four clubs in the play offs as last week. It's tight now and Cardiff, who did so well in yesterday's Carling Cup Final, are ahead of Brighton and Middlesbrough only on goal difference.
We are now still just six points away from that top six. We've won just one of the last five league games, picking up only four points. We probably weren't surprised at the two away defeats, given they were against Southampton and Reading, but again our home form is seriously letting us down. Four points from games against Peterborough, Barnsley and Millwall is what you'd expect from a team struggling at the bottom and not one with play off aspirations. Those play off hopes seem to be fading away.
Still, we're away from home next week at Watford so that would suggest more chance of a win than if we were playing at home.
Last week's results are all below along with the stats, the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances and the next fixtures.
The Week's Results | |
Tuesday 21st February | |
Barnsley 1 Birmingham City 3 | Millwall 1 Middlesbrough 3 |
Blackpool 1 West Ham United 4 | |
Wednesday 22nd February | |
Hull City 0 Brighton & Hove Albion 0 | |
Thursday 23rd February | |
Derby County 0 Leicester City 1 | |
Saturday 25th February | |
Birmingham City 1 Nottingham Forest 2 | Doncaster Rovers 1 Peterborough United 1 |
Brighton & Hove Albion 3 Ipswich Town 0 | Middlesbrough 0 Reading 2 |
Bristol City 1 Blackpool 3 | Portsmouth 0 Leeds United 0 |
Burnley 1 Millwall 3 | Watford 0 Southampton 3 |
Coventry City 1 Barnsley 0 | West Ham United 0 Crystal Palace 0 |
The Week's Stats | |
Biggest Win | Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 v Ipswich Town (home) Southampton 3-0 v Watford (away) West Ham United 4-1 v Blackpool (away) |
Total Goals Scored | 36 (11 home - 25 away) |
Player Scoring Most Goals |
3 - Rickie Lambert (Southampton) |
Highest Attendance | 34,900 - West Ham United v Crystal Palace |
Lowest Attendance | 9,286 - Millwall v Middlesbrough |
Total Yellow Cards | 41 |
Total Red Cards | 1 |
Most Cards in a Game | Millwall v Middlebrough (7Y) Ref: James Linington |
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
19 | Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 7 penalties |
15 | Ross McCormack (Leeds United) |
13 | Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 2 penalties Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 2 penalties |
12 | Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town) David Nugent (Leicester City) |
11 |
Kevin Phillips (Blackpool) |
10 | Charlie Austin (Burnley) Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty Guly Do Prado (Southampton) Marvin Emnes (Middlesbrough) Matty Fryatt (Hull City) - includes 1 penalty Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middllesbrough) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Coventry City) Chris Wood (Bristol City) - (9 with Birmingham City) |
9 | Keith Andrews (Ipswich Town) Carlton Cole (West Ham United) Marlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 2 penalties Robert Koren (Hull City) Nicky Maynard (West Ham United) - (9 with Bristol City) Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough) Kenny Miller (Cardiff City) Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 3 penalties |
Hat Tricks | |
Date | Player & Game |
20/08/11 | 3: Lee Tomlin - PETERBOROUGH UNITED v Ipswich Town |
10/09/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Nottingham Forest |
11/09/11 | 3: Chris Wood - BIRMINGHAM CITY v Millwall |
12/10/11 | 3: Darius Henderson - Leicester City v MILLWALL |
02/11/11 | 3: Jonjo Shelvey - Leeds United v BLACKPOOL |
19/11/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Brighton & Hove Albion |
26/12/11 | 3: Matthew Phillips - Barnsley v BLACKPOOL |
31/12/11 | 3: Ricardo Vaz Te - BARNSLEY v Leeds United |
21/01/12 | 3: Darius Henderson - Barnsley v MILLWALL |
31/01/12 | 4: Nikola Zigic - Leeds United v BIRMINGHAM CITY |
26/02/12 | 3: Rickie Lambert - Watford v SOUTHAMPTON |
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) | |||||||||
Club | Y | R | Y | R | Club | Y | R | Y | R |
League | Total | League | Total | ||||||
Barnsley | 43 | 1 | 46 | 1 | Ipswich Town | 42 | 4 | 43 | 4 |
Birmingham City | 42 | 1 | 46 | 1 | Leeds United | 53 | 5 | 59 | 5 |
Blackpool | 42 | 1 | 45 | 2 | Leicester City | 47 | 7 | 55 | 7 |
Brighton and Hove Albion | 73 | 6 | 87 | 6 | Middlesbrough | 53 | 5 | 56 | 5 |
Bristol City | 58 | 4 | 60 | 4 | Millwall | 57 | 2 | 64 | 2 |
Burnley | 47 | 2 | 55 | 2 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 3 | 47 | 3 |
Cardiff City | 38 | 0 | 54 | 0 | Peterborough United | 38 | 2 | 41 | 2 |
Coventry City | 40 | 2 | 42 | 2 | Portsmouth | 52 | 4 | 59 | 4 |
Crystal Palace | 41 | 1 | 45 | 2 | Reading | 46 | 0 | 49 | 0 |
Derby County | 44 | 1 | 44 | 1 | Southampton | 42 | 4 | 45 | 4 |
Doncaster Rovers | 49 | 2 | 51 | 2 | Watford | 45 | 2 | 47 | 2 |
Hull City | 50 | 1 | 54 | 1 | West Ham United | 52 | 6 | 55 | 7 |
Highest and Lowest Attendances | |||
Highest | Lowest | ||
Att | Fixture | Att | Fixture |
34,936 | West Ham United v Coventry City (02/01) | 6,351 | Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) |
34,900 | West Ham United v Crystal Palace (25/02) | 7,004 | Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/02) |
34,749 | West Ham United v Barnsley (17/12) | 7,555 | Peterborough United v Portsmouth (28/01) |
33,465 | West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) | 7,650 | Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) |
33,010 | Derby County v Southampton (15/10) | 7,778 | Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) |
33,010 | Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) | 7,901 | Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09) |
32,875 | West Ham United v Southampton (14/02) | 7,928 | Peterborough United v Ipswich Town (20/08) |
32,150 | Southampton v West Ham United (18/10) | 8,062 | Peterborough United v Coventry City (17/12) |
31,812 | Southampton v Brighton & Hove Albion (19/11) | 8,319 | Doncaster Rovers v Blackpool (14/02) |
31,718 | West Ham United v Nottingham Forest (21/01) | 8,320 | Peterborough United v Barnsley (03/12) |
The Next Fixtures | |
Friday 2nd March | |
Blackpool v Hull City | |
Saturday 3rd March | |
Barnsley v Nottingham Forest | Leeds United v Southampton (17:20) |
Birmingham City v Derby County | Leicester City v Coventry City |
Crystal Palace v Peterborough United | Millwall v Reading |
Doncaster Rovers v Brighton & Hove Albion | Portsmouth v Middlesbrough |
Ipswich Town v Bristol City | Watford v Burnley |
Sunday 4th March | |
Cardiff City v West Ham United (12:45) |