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In the Championship – Marlon is not amused
It's been a hell of a drop, they were fifth after beating Leeds back in October, but they are now fifth from bottom after this sixth defeat, their worst run of results in over half a century.
They are on a bad run but Derby County are currently enjoying just the opposite and their victory over Leicester was their fifth in succession, and it's seen them climb above the Clarets into fourth place.
There was some good fortune about this one though, leading 1-0 with a Jonathan Stead goal they looked to have conceded a late penalty when goalkeeper Stephen Bywater clashed with Leicester's Richard Stearman. Somehow an eagle eyed assistant saw a handball and a free kick was given against Leicester as they put the loose ball into the net.
Manager Rob Kelly admitted to being bewildered by the decision. “I've watched again on the video and I can't figure out why the goal hasn't been given. They are telling us it is handball but the video doesn't show that.”
That was former Premiership referee Andy D'Urso and a current official from the top league was apparently dominating proceedings at Preston, so much so that the Deepdale PA announcer decided to say, “Welcome to the Uriah Rennie Show” as the teams came out for the second half.
Twice Preston asked for penalties for fouls on Sean St. Ledger, neither was given, and it was refreshing to hear his manager Paul Simpson admit that he'd gone down too easily. Preston made it too easy for Palace and the Legend, they only tested the goalkeeper once throughout the ninety minutes. The points dropped are the first they have dropped at home since the first two games of the season.
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It seems the two managers were more important than the game when Wolves and RK Sunderland met at Molineux. In charge of Wolves is Mick McCarthy who was in charge on Wearside when the club was just called Sunderland. Now he doesn't get on too well with Roy Keane, well he certainly didn't four years ago at the World Cup.
They seemed to dominate the headlines ahead of the game, yet they just shook hands, Arsene Wenger take note, and let the players get on with the game. Wolves led with a screamer from Jemal Johnson and after dominating the second half should have gone on and won it. But RK Sunderland grabbed an equaliser from Stephen Elliott which at least allowed for another handshake at the end.
Some of the strugglers picked up points with late goals. Barnsley stunned everyone by sacking Andy Ritchie, but they then allowed the academy manager Simon Davey to bring in four new players.
They looked all set to at least collect a point against Ipswich but one of those four signings, Grant McCann from Cheltenham, scored in stoppage time to give them all three points. I bet the Ipswich fans had a touch of déjà vu, losing 1-0 away with a McCann goal in stoppage time.
If Barnsley left it late then Hull definitely did at Norwich. The home side led with a Robert Earnshaw goal, and I'm still waiting for him to do himself a serious injury with that ridiculous goal celebration, but in the fourth minute of stoppage time, with the very last kick of the match, Michael Turner earned Hull a point.
It left home manager Peter Grant unhappy and he had a go at the supporters for not getting behind the team enough. Now when have we heard that at Carrow Road before? Come on Norwich fans. Where are you? Let's be havin' you? Grant though needs to be careful, this lot can turn nasty if you get on the wrong side of them, look at how they treated Nigel Worthington.
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They had been held up and it was the best way to get there on time. They got some stick from supporters on the trains but it didn't bother them and they ended QPR's recent unbeaten run with a 1-0 win. The goal was scored by Dele Adebola and it was his one hundredth league goal. That of course includes the one he got for us in a home defeat against Watford.
Leeds had the longest of journeys, all the way to Devon and they came back with all three points. Robbie Blake was again on the scoresheet, giving them an early lead, and Eddie Lewis won it for them after the home side had equalised.
Apparently it is supposedly difficult to get anything from a game at Plymouth, most managers say it, but the truth is they don't have a good home record and in eleven games this season only Norwich and Derby have gone home with nothing.
This was one game they should have won, they were better than Leeds, and manager Ian Holloway was far from happy with the result. “Good old Ollie is a laugher and a joker, well I don't feel like that today because I thought we had the beating of Leeds. We have created most of the chances on our own patch but lost.”
At Layer Road it was mainly a case of counting the players. Bottom club Southend faced Colchester who had won their previous six home games, and were doing well enough at 0-0 six minutes into the second half. Then referee Steve Bennett sent off Kevin Maher and five minutes later sent Mark Gower to keep him company.
Nine against eleven proved more difficult and Colchester went 2-0 up before they too had a reduction in numbers when Chris Barker saw red. It was all over though for Southend and the home side added a third.
Finally, Stoke continued their good run with a 1-0 win against West Brom, who according to manager Tony Mowbray turned in a totally unacceptable display in the first half. What a pity they didn't reserve that for a week earlier. Stoke's loan rangers, there were five of them in the side that are currently on temporary transfers, won it with a first half penalty converted by Danny Higginbotham.
It was against Paul Robinson and he contested it, maybe its just desserts for him, the last time he played in an away game he was sent off for a shocking challenge on Birmingham's Damian Johnson.
We've got a full programme in midweek as well as at weekend and all the fixtures are shown below.
The Weekend Results | |
Friday 24th November | |
Wolves 1 RK Sunderland 1 | . |
Saturday 25th November | |
Barnsley 1 Ipswich 0 | Preston 0 Crystal Palace 0 |
Burnley 1 Birmingham 2 | QPR 0 Coventry 1 |
Colchester 3 Southend 0 | Sheffield Wed 0 Cardiff 0 |
Derby 1 Leicester 0 | Southampton 2 Luton 1 |
Norwich 1 Hull 1 | Stoke 1 West Brom 0 |
Plymouth 1 Leeds 2 | . |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Colchester 3-0 v Southend (home) |
Total goals scored | 20 |
Player scoring most goals | no player scored more than one goal |
Highest Attendance | 28,315 - Derby v Leicester |
Lowest Attendance | 5,954- Colchester v Southend |
Total Yellow Cards | 38 |
Total Red Cards | 3 |
Most cards in a game | Colchester v Southend (4Y 3R) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
12 | Robert Earnshaw (Norwich) |
11 | Michael Chopra (Cardiff) Grzegorz Rasiak (Southampton) |
9 | Jamie Cureton (Colchester) Andy Gray (Burnley) |
8 | Diomansy Kamara (West Brom) Alan Lee (Ipswich) Rowan Vine (Luton) |
7 | Steve Howard (Derby) Iain Hume (Leicester) |
6 | Patrick Agyemang (Preston) Nicklas Bendtner (Birmingham) Dexter Blackstock (QPR) Freddy Eastwood (Southend) Barry Hayles (Plymouth) Gary McSheffrey (Birmingham) Jon Parkin (Hull) Marcus Tudgay (Sheffield Wed) |
5 | Robbie Blake (Leeds) Jay Bothroyd (Wolves) Chris Brunt (Sheffield Wed) DJ Campbell (Birmingham) Leon Clarke (Wolves) Carlos Edwards (Luton) Stephen Elliott (RK Sunderland) David Healy (Leeds) Brian Howard (Barnsley) Chris Iwelumo (Colchester) Stern John (Coventry) Arturo Lupoli (Derby) Kevin Phillips (West Brom) Mark Richards (Barnsley) Martin Rowlands (QPR) Riccardo Scimeca (Cardiff) Jimmy Smith (QPR) Simon Whaley (Preston) |
Hat Tricks (league only) | |
26th Aug | Jamie Cureton - COLCHESTER v Derby |
12th Sep | Gifton Noel-Williams - BURNLEY v Barnsley |
14th Oct | Kevin Phillips - Ipswich v WEST BROM |
29th Oct | Alan Lee - IPSWICH v Luton |
Disciplinary Record (all games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Barnsley | 29 | 3 | Luton | 19 | 3 |
| Birmingham | 37 | 4 | Norwich | 32 | 3 |
| Burnley | 31 | 6 | Plymouth | 36 | 1 |
| Cardiff | 29 | 4 | Preston | 33 | 2 |
| Colchester | 23 | 1 | QPR | 38 | 0 |
| Coventry | 35 | 1 | Sheffield Wed | 31 | 4 |
| Crystal Palace | 25 | 0 | Southampton | 28 | 0 |
| Derby | 44 | 2 | Southend | 32 | 2 |
| Hull | 37 | 2 | Stoke | 33 | 2 |
| Ipswich | 58 | 2 | RK Sunderland | 32 | 3 |
| Leeds | 44 | 1 | West Brom | 47 | 2 |
| Leicester | 36 | 2 | Wolves | 27 | 2 |
This Week's Fixtures | |
Tuesday 28th November | |
Barnsley v Southend | Preston v Coventry |
Burnley v Leeds | QPR v RK Sunderland |
Colchester v Hull | Sheffield Wed v West Brom |
Norwich v Leicester | Stoke v Cardiff |
Plymouth v Luton | Wolves v Crystal Palace |
Wednesday 29th November | |
Derby v Ipswich | Southampton v Birmingham |
Saturday 2nd December | |
Birmingham v Plymouth | Leeds v Barnsley |
Cardiff v Colchester | Leicester v Sheffield Wed |
Coventry v Stoke | Luton v Preston |
Crystal Palace v QPR | Southend v Wolves |
Hull v Southampton | RK Sunderland v Norwich |
Ipswich v Burnley | West Brom v Derby |