In the Championship – All change at the top

Last updated : 24 November 2005 By Tony Scholes
Leroy Lita - first goal in nine games for Reading
It’s not that long since they had an eight point lead and although they haven’t lost since the first day of October, at Reading, four draws in the last six games have given the Royals the chance to climb above them.

The fourth of those draws came in what was expected to be a tough game at Wolves and it was a game in which Neil Warnock thought Sheffield United were the better side whilst Glenn Hoddle thought Wolves had been on top. In truth it was a scrappy game where neither goalkeeper had much to do and the 0-0 scoreline was just about right.

That result meant Reading had the chance to go top with a win at Ipswich and they made no mistake against a Town side that are currently in the bottom half of the table. The result was never in doubt once Steve Sidwell gave them the lead on the half hour and further goals from strikers Leroy Lita and Kevin Doyle in the second half wrapped it up for what was Reading’s fourth successive victory.

The second goal was something of a relief for Lita who had failed to score in his previous eight appearances and he wasn’t the only striker to get on the score sheet for the first time in a while. Preston’s Dave Nugent has had a difficult time with injuries and illness and wasn’t expected to play a part at QPR.

He was eventually named as a substitute, came on thirteen minutes into the second half and gave North End the lead with his first touch of the ball, turning in a right wing cross from close range. Full back Callum Davidson doubled the lead after an horrendous mistake at the back by the home side.

They are still without two of the players sent off at Burnley, although Ben May made his return as a substitute, but Millwall have had a couple of good results this week. They followed up their draw at Bramall Lane with a 1-0 home win against Norwich.

This was no ordinary home win for them either, it was their first home success of the season and came via a Marvin Elliott goal twenty minutes from the end. Norwich can feel hard done too though, they had one effort cleared off the line and then incredibly were refused a spot kick by referee Woolmer after Alan Dunne brought down Darren Huckerby.

Micky Adams - under pressure at Coventry
Millwall remain bottom but are just a win from climbing out of the bottom three with none of the six teams directly above them recording a win and Coventry have now joined them in the bottom three.

Things are not going to well for the Sky Blues and manager Micky Adams is under pressure after just a few months in the job. He’s aware that things are turning against him and said this week that he would not walk away. The latest defeat came at Crystal Palace where despite losing by two goals, the result flattered them.

It’s Hull’s place they took, the Legend’s team picked up their first point in five games at home to Southampton to climb out of the relegation places. Southampton took an early lead with a first ever goal for Kami Kosowski before Hull equalised right on half time through Nick Barmby.

That wasn’t the end of the half time entertainment, the players decided to have a free for all in the centre circle with most of the players involved. Crowds love them but officials always have to spoil it and referee Peter Walton brought it all to an end by waving yellow cards at the instigators Curtis Woodhouse and Matt Oakley before astonishingly sending off Nigel Quashie.

Burnley fans travelling over to Leeds were concerned with the fog, they needn’t have but it caused problems for spectators at Kenilworth Road as Luton beat Crewe 4-1. At least it spared the handful of Alex fans having to see too much of it in a performance that Dario G was far from happy with. He said it wasn’t good enough to keep them in League One, never mind the Championship.

The result took Luton back into the top six and brought to an end a run of four consecutive defeats, including that fantastic day we had down in someone’s back yard.

The fun continues at Stoke where manager Johan Boskamp isn’t speaking to his staff. He wasn’t even at the game this week although the club did say it was because of illness. As it happened he was better staying away as they provided Derby County with a rare win.

Joey Gudjonsson - scored both Leicester goals
The Icelandics took the lead with a goal from Guinea striker Sambegou Bangoura in the first half but Derby came back to win it in the second half. Tommy Smith got the equaliser, the striker’s his first goal of the season, and won it with a goal from Lewin Nyatanga and that was the 17 year-old’s first goal for the club. For those unfamiliar with his surname, he’s a Burton born Welshman.

Watford took the lead at Leicester but had to come from behind with only ten men following two Joey Gudjonsson goals, one from the penalty spot, and a red card for Clarke Carlisle. The equaliser came just five minutes from the end from former Norwich and West Ham central defender Malky Mackay.

Former Claret Alan Lee scored a rare goal for Cardiff but they couldn’t keep the lead and struggling Brighton earned themselves a point after an equaliser from Colin Kazim-Richards, and finally I am told nothing happened of note at Hillsborough as Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth picked up a point each in a 0-0 draw.

Today has been yet another transfer deadline day as the Football League brought an end to loan deals, meaning there will be no more transfer activity until the window opens in January. A few clubs have taken advantage of that today and brought in new players.

Elliott Ward joined Plymouth from West Ham earlier in the week and today Reading have taken Aaron Brown and Michael Dobson from Tamworth and Brentford respectively, Liverpool’s Zak Whitbread has signed for Millwall whilst Don Hutchison has left the Den for Coventry.

Former Wigan midfielder Jason Jarrett has moved from Norwich to Plymouth with Sunderland’s Carl Robinson moving in at Carrow Road. Daryl Murphy is another player taking a break from the Stadium of Light and he’s signed for Sheffield Wednesday whilst Blackburn goalkeeper Zak Jones has gone to Southampton.

So that’s that for loans and now we can concentrate on the weekend fixtures which are shown below, following the midweek stats.

The Midweek Results

Tuesday 22nd November

Cardiff 1 Brighton 1

Luton 4 Crewe 1

Crystal Palace 2 Coventry 0

Millwall 1 Norwich 0

Hull 1 Southampton 1

QPR 0 Preston 2

Ipswich 0 Reading 3

Sheffield Wed 0 Plymouth 0

Leeds 2 Burnley 0

Stoke 1 Derby 2

Leicester 2 Watford 2

Wolves 0 Sheffield Utd 0

The Midweek Stats

Biggest win

Luton 4-1 v Crewe (home)
Reading 3-0 v Ipswich (away)

Total goals scored

26

Player scoring most goals
2

Joey Gudjonsson (Leicester)
Rowan Vine (Luton)

Highest Attendance

24,240 - Wolves v Sheffield Utd

Lowest Attendance

7,474 - Luton v Crewe

Total Yellow Cards

31

Total Red Cards

3

Most cards in a game

Leicester v Watford (4Y 1R)
Leeds v Burnley (5Y)

The leading scorers (league only)

10

Ade Akinbiyi (Burnley)
Cameron Jerome (Cardiff)

9

Carl Cort (Wolves)
Marlon King (Watford)
Ashley Young (Watford)

8

Rob Hulse (Leeds)
Steven Kabba (Sheffield Utd)

7

David Healy (Leeds)
Steve Howard (Luton)
Clinton Morrison (Crystal Palace)

6

Dele Adebola (Coventry)
Dean Ashton (Norwich)
Mark de Vries (Leicester)
Kevin Doyle (Reading)
Inigo Idiakez (Derby)
Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace)
Leroy Lita (Reading)
Garreth O'Connor (Burnley)
Neil Shipperley (Sheffield Utd)

5

Sambegou Bangoura (Stoke)
Chris Brunt (Sheffield Wed)
Warren Feeney (Luton)
Dougie Freedman (Crystal Palace)
Phil Jagielka (Sheffield Utd)
Leon Knight (Brighton)
Jason Koumas (Cardiff)
Gary McSheffrey (Coventry)
Dean Morgan (Luton)
Dave Nugent (Preston)
Sam Parkin (Ipswich)

Disciplinary Record (all games)

Club

Y

R

Club

Y

R

Brighton

37

1

Millwall

43

8

Burnley

34

3

Norwich

32

2

Cardiff

37

0

Plymouth

33

0

Coventry

42

3

Preston

36

2

Crewe

19

1

QPR

45

5

Crystal Palace

36

0

Reading

22

0

Derby

37

3

Sheffield Utd

30

1

Hull

23

2

Sheffield Wed

25

1

Ipswich

29

3

Southampton

39

3

Leeds

32

1

Stoke

34

5

Leicester

37

1

Watford

35

2

Luton

24

3

Wolves

23

1

The Weekend Fixtures

Saturday 26th November

Brighton v Derby

Plymouth v Reading

Burnley v Crewe

Preston v Watford

Coventry v Norwich

QPR v Hull

Leicester v Sheffield Utd

Sheffield Wed v Stoke

Luton v Crystal Palace

Wolves v Southampton

Millwall v Leeds

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