Division One - Supposedly struggling Wolves in top six

Action from Watford v Ipswich

There is an unfamiliar look to the Wolves side right now with Ingimarsson, Butler and goalkeeper Oakes all having to settle for places on the bench whilst assistant manager John Ward has found himself relegated to reserve team duties.

But what about Brighton. When they took to the field as week ago yesterday they had just four points. They are still bottom of the league but this week they have collected seven points and are now only two points adrift of Sheffield Wednesday. Yesterday they beat struggling Derby at the Withdean Stadium 1-0 and Bobby Zamora DIDN’T score the goal.

Wednesday picked up a point at Gillingham, Chris Turner’s first point as manager but no such luck for new Stoke boss Tony Pulis. His side remain in the bottom three having lost their last seven games the latest being a 3-0 defeat at leaders Portsmouth. The last point they gained was in a 1-1 home draw against Palace on 5^th October when they were 14^th in the league.

Probably the best performance of the weekend came at high riding Watford where Ipswich came away with a 2-0 win in the only Sunday game. It was Joe Royle’s first win as boss and the goals came from Alun Armstrong and Jamie Clapham both scoring their first goals of the season.

Sadly Franchise picked up another three points but it was good to see another dreadful attendance with just 1,255 watching the game against Franchise. The Norwegians have had enough there now and have sold up but even worse is that Koppel has bought more of the club and strengthens his position there.

Jolean Lescott celebrates his goal for Wolves at Coventry

There were comfortable wins for both Norwich and Nottingham Forest and David Johnson was on the scoresheet again for Forest after a few games without a goal. The other ex-Claret to score in this division was Danny Sonner from the penalty spot in Walsall’s previously mentioned defeat at Franchise.

And then there was Grimsby trying to break the league’s scoring record again. This time though there were just six goals with Preston somewhat fortunately coming back for a point with two late goals.

That just leaves Reading who travelled all the way to Sheffield to find their game against Sheffield United off because of a waterlogged Bramall Lane. Their fans travelling by coach were held by the police at the same place as the Burnley coaches yesterday, but their journey was sadly in vain with Bootle referee George Cain calling it off after 2:10 p.m.

There are no midweek fixtures again this week below are the fixtures for next Saturday (3:00 p.m. kick off unless otherwise shown).

Saturday 16^th November

Bradford City v Sheffield United
Burnley v Norwich City
Crystal Palace v Grimsby Town
Ipswich Town v Coventry City
Leicester City v Rotherham United
Preston North End v Brighton and Hove Albion
Reading v Watford
Sheffield Wednesday v Portsmouth (5:35 p.m.)
Stoke City v Millwall
Walsall v Gillingham
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest

Leading Goalscorers (League only)

14: David Johnson (Nottm. Forest)
10: Alan Lee (Rotherham)
10: Paul McVeigh (Norwich)
9: Nathan Blake (Wolves)
9: David Connolly (Franchise)
9: Neil Shipperley (Franchise)
8: Darren Byfield (Rotherham)
8: Richard Cresswell (Preston)
8: Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace)
8: Svetoslav Todorov (Portsmouth)
7: Carl Asaba (Sheffield United)
7: Brian Deane (Leicester)
7: Ricardo Fuller (Preston)
7: Steve Kabba (Sheffield United including 6 for Grimsby and 1 for Crystal Palace)
6: Darren Ambrose (Ipswich)
6: Robbie Blake (Burnley)
6: Malcolm Christie (Derby)
6: Andy Cooke (Stoke City)
6: Jamie Cureton (Reading)
6: Paul Dickov (Leicester)
6: Jorge Leitao (Walsall)
6: Paul Merson (Portsmouth)
6: David Nielson (Norwich)
6: Vincent Pericard (Portsmouth)

The Clarets are now in 15^th place in the list of average attendances that sees seven clubs with averages above 20,000 and five below 10,000.