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In the Championship - A bad day
Not only that they lost David Nugent in the first half to injury, described by the manager as a bruised arse, but without doubt should have played virtually all the game against ten men after a shocking two footed challenge from John Welsh went unpunished.
Welsh did come off worst, he was stretchered off with a broken leg, but he should have gone with a red card which would have prevented substitute David Livermore from coming on. And guess who it was that wrapped up Hull's win with the second goal, you've got it, David Livermore.
That's taken Hull out of the bottom three, and they've been replaced by Luton who lost the big relegation battle at Elland Road. Somehow they survived until the second half despite Leeds dominating the game but it looked all over for them once Richard Cresswell had given the home side the lead. Luton though got a late reprieve with a penalty but I think Dean Morgan's spot kick will be recorded as one of the worst this season as he hit it without any power at all straight at the keeper.
That win would have taken Leeds off the bottom had Southend not won at Ipswich, but they went to Portman Road and did just that. Southend have recovered well from that recent run of three successive defeats and this result gives them a real chance of getting out of the relegation positions.
Ipswich did their best to help them, according to boss Jim Magilton who described his team's performance as woeful and suggested Southend didn't have to do anything to win the game.
Ipswich did their best to help them, according to boss Jim Magilton who described his team's performance as woeful and suggested Southend didn't have to do anything to win the game.
They were also helped by former Claret Alan Lee who got himself sent off for two yellow cards, the first for going down trying to win a penalty and the second for a Maradona style goal with his hand. There's some real justice in Lee getting caught, his antics cost us points at Portman Road last season so it is good to see him getting his comeuppance.
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Barnsley could have drawn level with us on points had they beaten RK Sunderland at Oakwell but it was always a tough ask against the form team in the division and once in front through Grant Leadbitter the Mackems proved good value for their win. That's nine wins from their last eleven games and they are getting closer and closer to the top.
Up at the top, it is Birmingham's turn again after they beat previous leaders Derby at St Andrew's on Friday. It wasn't fair though, Little Billy said so, and yet again he wasn't happy at them getting more preparation time. They lost to Rowan Vine's first goal for Brum and the home side fully deserved the win on that joke of a pitch.
The big West Midlands derby was played on Sunday lunchtime and this time Wolves beat West Brom having already suffered two 3-0 defeats against them this season. West Brom had most of the play, but missed chances, and when Wolves got one Jay Bothroyd took it. It's taken Wolves to fourth in the table but with no disrespect I find it difficult to believe they are a promotion chasing side.
Cardiff are still in there and won again, a third minute goal from Paul Parry was enough to see off Norwich at Ninian Park. Close it might look from the score but not according to Norwich boss Peter Grant who said it was the worst he'd seen from the Norwich side since he took over as manager. Can we expect an apology to the fans from Delia again?
Southampton have had a bad week. They lost at Preston and having gone 1-0 up at Stoke they lost again. It was Stoke's first home win in 2007 and no surprise to see that both goals were scored by players currently on loan at the Windy City. Charlton's Johnathan Fortune got the equaliser whilst Stoke's winner was netted by Lee Martin of Manchester United.
Tom Soares was the star of the show again for Crystal Palace. They are in some good form and the Legend thinks they can still make the play offs. Ten points behind with nine games to go I very much doubt it.
That leaves Colchester and Coventry who fought out a 0-0 draw at Layer Road. Geraint Williams is sick of teams going there and stopping them playing - what a shame and that run of home wins looks a while ago now, they've won just once in their last six games at home.
We've got a full midweek fixture list this week, another masterpiece of planning from the Football League that apart from sending us to Southend sees Colchester travel to Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich to Preston.
The big clash of the week though comes on Sunday as West Brom host Birmingham. Defeat for the Baggies could start to make it very difficult for them in chasing an automatic promotion place.
The Weekend Results | |
Friday 9th March | |
Birmingham 1 Derby 0 | . |
Saturday 10th March | |
Barnsley 0 RK Sunderland 2 | Ipswich 0 Southend 2 |
Cardiff 1 Norwich 0 | Leeds 1 Luton 0 |
Colchester 0 Coventry 0 | QPR 1 Sheffield Wed 1 |
Crystal Palace 2 Leicester 0 | Stoke 2 Southampton 1 |
Hull 2 Preston 0 | West Brom v RK Sunderland |
Sunday 11th March | |
Wolves 1 West Brom 0 | . |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Crystal Palace 2-0 v Leicester (home) |
Total goals scored | 17 |
Player scoring most goals | no player scored more than one goal |
Highest Attendance | 28,016 - Wolves v West Brom |
Lowest Attendance | 5,453 - Colchester v Coventry |
Total Yellow Cards | 37 |
Total Red Cards | 1 |
Most cards in a game | Ipswich v Southend (6Y 1R) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
21 | Michael Chopra (Cardiff) |
19 | Diomansy Kamara (West Brom) |
18 | Grzegorz Rasiak (Southampton) |
17 | Robert Earnshaw (Norwich) |
15 | Chris Iwelumo (Colchester) |
14 | Jamie Cureton (Colchester) Steve Howard (Derby) Gary McSheffrey (Birmingham) |
13 | Alan Lee (Ipswich) David Nugent (Preston) Rowan Vine (Birmingham) - 12 with Luton |
12 | Kenwyne Jones (Southampton) |
11 | Chris Brunt (Sheffield Wed) David Connolly (RK Sunderland) Freddy Eastwood (Southend) Kevin Phillips (West Brom) |
10 | Andy Gray (Burnley) Barry Hayles (Plymouth) Iain Hume (Leicester) |
9 | Nicklas Bendtner (Birmingham) Carlos Edwards (RK Sunderland) - 6 with Luton Steven MacLean (Sheffield Wed) Clinton Morrison (Crystal Palace) Marcus Tudgay (Sheffield Wed) |
Hat Tricks (league only) | |
26th Aug | 3 - Jamie Cureton - COLCHESTER v Derby |
12th Sep | 3 - Gifton Noel-Williams - BURNLEY v Barnsley |
14th Oct | 3 - Kevin Phillips - Ipswich v WEST BROM |
29th Oct | 3 - Alan Lee - IPSWICH v Luton |
28th Nov | 4 - Chris Iwelumo - COLCHESTER v Hull |
9th Dec | 3 - Gary McSheffrey - BIRMINGHAM v Preston |
27h Jan | 3 - Michael Chopra - CARDIFF v Leicester |
17th Feb | 3 - Andrew Surman - SOUTHAMPTON v Barnsley |
Disciplinary Record (all games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Barnsley | 66 | 5 | Luton | 52 | 6 |
| Birmingham | 60 | 6 | Norwich | 64 | 4 |
| Burnley | 62 | 7 | Plymouth | 77 | 4 |
| Cardiff | 54 | 8 | Preston | 57 | 4 |
| Colchester | 38 | 1 | QPR | 71 | 1 |
| Coventry | 72 | 1 | Sheffield Wed | 68 | 5 |
| Crystal Palace | 42 | 1 | Southampton | 47 | 1 |
| Derby | 80 | 3 | Southend | 61 | 4 |
| Hull | 71 | 3 | Stoke | 67 | 3 |
| Ipswich | 92 | 7 | RK Sunderland | 50 | 4 |
| Leeds | 80 | 3 | West Brom | 87 | 6 |
| Leicester | 68 | 3 | Wolves | 52 | 4 |
The Week's Fixtures | |
Tuesday 13th March | |
Coventry v Wolves | Preston v Ipswich |
Derby v QPR | Sheffield Wed v Colchester |
Leiester v Leeds | Southampton v Cardiff |
Luton v Hull | Southend v Burnley |
Norwich v Birmingham | RK Sunderland v Stoke |
Wednesday 14th March | |
Plymouth v Barnsley | West Brom v Crystal Palace |
Friday 16th March | |
Southampton v Colchester | . |
Saturday 17th March | |
Coventry v Barnsley | Plymouth v Crystal Palace |
Derby v Cardiff | Preston v Burnley |
Leicester v QPR | Sheffield Wed v Wolves |
Luton v Ipswich | Southend v Leeds |
Norwich v Stoke | RK Sunderland v Hull |
Sunday 18th March | |
West Brom v Birmingham | . |