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In the Championship – No 100% records
Georges Santos, a recent target for the Clarets, had to be moved out of the defence and was substituted at half time whilst it would be an understatement to suggest that Arthur Gnohere didn’t have a good game.
A day later and probably the biggest surprise came at the Priestfield where relegation favourites beat Leeds 2-1 with goals from their two new strikers Darren Byfield and Iwan Roberts.
It was a night that saw record gate receipts for the Gills and manager Andy Hessenthaler was probably just as amazed by the scoreline and said, “A few years ago who would have thought Leeds would be coming here in a League game – and Gillingham winning”.
Last year’s FA Cup finalists Millwall are still without a goal and went down 2-0 at home to Wigan and that result, with goals from Lee McCulloch and Jason Roberts was enough to see the JJB outfit from the concrete jungle go top.
Millwall had drawn 0-0 at Plymouth on Saturday but Argyle finally got their season moving with a 2-0 win at Brighton in a clash of two of the promoted clubs. Brighton are firm favourites for the bottom spot and that’s exactly where they are now after this result.
It was a night when Flood Warden Andy Hall took centre stage. The first goal was described as controversial, the second a somewhat dubious penalty that also saw Dan Harding sent off. Seagulls boss Mark McGhee refused to blame Hall for the result, instead blaming himself.
Coventry had the biggest win on the opening day and went ahead at Cardiff. They were full value for their half time lead but the game was turned round with two goals in seven minutes from Robert Earnshaw and former York player Lee Bullock.
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And on the other side Glen Little was replaced on 34 minutes with, yes you have guessed it, a hamstring injury. Manager Steve Coppell said after the game that Glen would miss ten games but physio Jon Fearn has since described it as a ‘Grade Two’ biceps femoris that should sideline him for two to three weeks.
As for the match Teddy Sheringham got his first goal for West Ham to win the game for them with less than ten minutes left.
Sunderland are trialling giant Sedan striker Julien Poueys as Mick McCarthy looks to strengthen his attacking options. Poueys’ presence must have had some effect as goals from Carl Robinson, Marcus Stewart and Stephen Elliott saw them to a comfortable 31 win against Dario G’s Crewe.
If you wanted goals then South Yorkshire was definitely the place not to be. Apart from our 0-0 draw at Millmoor there was another identical scoreline just down the road at Bramall Lane as Sheffield United were held by Stoke.
Last night and Derby joined Brighton in the played two, lost two group when Leicester picked up an away win at Pride Park. Marcus Tudgay had equalised for Derby during the second half but one of legend Peter Taylor’s inspired Premiership signings Trevor Benjamin clinched a 2-1 win for the Foxes with a goal in the last quarter of an hour.
Forest picked up their second 1-1 draw of the week, this time scoring first at home against Ipswich. But the Tractor Boys came back in the second half with an equaliser from Darren Bent.
And now to Preston who had a tough game at Wolves. Their fans were excited by the fact that a signing would be announced fifteen minutes before kick off. Names were being thrown into the hat (including that of Robbie Blake who just happened to be at Rotherham), but it was a sensation when it was revealed that Richard Cresswell had signed an extension to his current deal.
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Wolves came storming back in the last period of the game and two goals in three minutes from Leon Clarke and Kenny Miller rescued a point for the home side. For Clarke it was a first goal in a first even start in the first team. And Miller’s goal was the pick of the midweek goals with an unstoppable strike.
The Weary Whinger accepted that Paul Armstrong’s decision to send off Etuhu was correct but did point out that his player had a stud marks on his neck for which the Wolves player was only booked even though WW admitted it was unintentional.
He said that Etuhu’s retaliation was only mild (both hands into the face of Kenny Miller) and then made reference to 20,000 home supporters having an influence. Probably just a bit worse than Fuller’s at the Turf last season.
Fuller missed the match, he’s gone off to America for more surgery that he hopes will allow him to pass a medical and get himself out of Deepdale.
Finally, there has been some transfer activity this week. Leeds have splashed out £200,000 on Southampton full back Stephen Crainey, Tony Dinning has moved from Wigan to Ipswich and Watford have signed West Brom defender James Chambers.
Norwegian defender Jon-Olav Hjelde has rejoined Forest from Busan Icons after just a month with the Korean outfit and Millwall have completed the signing of Canadian defender Adrian Serioux.
Things as always are somewhat controversial at the Den and Chairman Paphitis, he who defended his own fans last year, was complaining about them as they turned on him during the 2-0 home defeat against Wigan because of lack of spending. Paphitis is standing down at the end of the season after which he will be back in women’s underwear.
It’s back to the matches now and a full programme over the weekend kicking off with Cardiff v Plymouth on Friday in front of the Sky cameras.
The midweek results | |
Monday 9th August | |
Watford 3 QPR 0 | . |
Tuesday 10th August | |
Brighton 0 Plymouth 2 | Rotherham 0 Burnley 0 |
Cardiff 2 Coventry 1 | Sheffield United 0 Stoke 0 |
Gillingham 2 Leeds 1 | Sunderland 3 Crewe 1 |
Millwall 0 Wigan 2 | West Ham 1 Reading 0 |
Wednesday 11th August | |
Derby 1 Leicester 2 | Wolves 2 Preston 2 |
Nottm Forest 1 Ipswich 1 | . |
The midweek stats | |
Biggest win | Watford 3-0 v QPR 0 |
Total goals scored | 27 |
Player scoring most goals | no player scored more than one |
Highest Attendance | 26,650 - Derby v Leicester |
Lowest Attendance | 6,243 - Rotherham v Burnley |
Total Yellow Cards | 32 |
Total Red Cards | 2 |
Most cards in a game | 5 Brighton v Plymouth |
The leading scorers | |
2 | David Healy (Preston) |
2 | Lee McCulloch (Wigan) |
2 | Kenny Miller (Wolves) |
2 | Danny Webber (Watford) |
This week's fixtures | |
Friday 13th August | |
Cardiff v Plymouth | . |
Saturday 14th August | |
Brighton v Coventry | Rotherham v Stoke |
Derby v Ipswich | Sheffield United v Reading |
Gillingham v Preston | Sunderland v QPR |
Millwall v Leicester | Watford v Burnley |
Nottm Forest v Crewe | Wolves v Leeds |
Sunday 15th August | |
West Ham v Wigan (13:00) | . |