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Oh sorry, I forgot, the two Cardiff big names didn't score again, probably because they didn't play again. Dave Jones seemed almost reluctant to discuss the situation, but the players his chairman brought in, the two former Leeds strikers, are both still waiting to make their debuts. Maybe next week at Norwich.
Coventry's lead at the top is due to their name, they lead only on alphabetical order from Ipswich who themselves picked up a 1-0 win at the weekend. For them it was a home win against Palace with a goal from Jonathan Walters.
The talking point in this game was Andy D'Urso's decision to yellow card Palace keeper Julian Speroni rather than send him off. The Argentinian had almost reached the corner flag when he dived to divert an Alan Lee cross for a corner. Goal scoring opportunity? Not for me, I think D'Urso got this one right.
If he did, then I'm sure Anthony Taylor didn't get everything right. He spent most of the afternoon at the Crisp Bowl waving his yellow card around. No fewer than eleven names went into his book and I don't think anyone's heard from him since, he's so much report writing to do. How many of them were justified is anyone's guess but the penalty he gave Watford at the end, thankfully a meaningless one, looked a very strange decision.
His wasn't the only disappointing performance as Leicester won 4-1. Boothroyd said he was ashamed of his team. As for the other side, Martin Allen was probably still fighting to hold on to his new job despite the big win.
If Boothroyd was ashamed then Wolves' boss Mick McCarthy described his team's performance against Blackpool as 'Bobbins'. They trailed to a Gary Taylor-Fletcher goal but came back to win it with two from new signing Freddy Eastwood. The first was a good finish by the former Southend striker, the second came from a close range header after Paul Rachubka had failed to hold on to a shot.
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Two sides won at home, both won 3-2, and both had a recent Burnley player in the centre of their defence. Southampton trailed to Stoke as Ricardo Fuller turned in front of Wayne Thomas to hit a shot in the bottom corner, but the home side came back to lead 3-1 before winning it 3-2.
Burley spoke of the influence of Thomas after the game. He said there was a need to be stronger at the back and highlighted the central defensive partnership of Thomas and Powell. Burley also had to field questions about Kenwyne Jones who had refused to play. To his credit Burley refused to condemn the striker, but I bet he wishes he could afford to turn offers down and let him rot in the reserves.
Stephen Foster lined up for Barnsley at home to Plymouth. It is something of a multi-national side that Simon Davey has put together. There were seven foreign imports in the side alongside Nyatanga, Kozluk and Odejayi. Istvan Ferenczi (Hungary), Dominik Werlink (Germany) and Brian Howard (Winchester) had Barnsley three goals up after an hour against what Ian Holloway described as a poor Plymouth side.
The Pilgrims did fight back, and within eight minutes of Barnsley's third had reduced the deficit to 3-2. Dennis Souza (Brazil) was at fault with both of them but Barnsley hung on. Howard's goal, which proved to be the winner, means he's the early leading scorer in the league with four goals, although three of them have come from the penalty spot.
Whilst discussing goals we have to feature the games at Hull and Bristol City. Hull beat Norwich 2-1 and the first two goals were goals of quality. Dean Windass (38) gave Hull the lead with a good finish from outside the box, but he was outdone by Dion Dublin (who is a whole three weeks younger). He scored with a superb volley from twenty yards. Windass proved to be the winner the winner, playing a part for the clinching goal scored by Richard Garcia.
Martin Paterson scored again for Scunthorpe, but no one will remember his goal at Ashton Gate. He equalised a minute before half time but the home side were back in front again before the interval and with no further goals in the second half it gave Bristol City their first win since winning promotion. Their goals were, alongside Dublin's, the goals of the day in the Championship. Both of them were superb finishes by Lee Trundle, his first goals at this level.
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A good finish by Andy Reid started it off before Iwelumo twice scored good goals. It does nothing for Wednesday who are now left as the only club without a point and are rooted to the bottom of the league just below QPR and Preston.
Rivals Sheffield United recorded their first win, a deserved one against West Brom. It was fitting that James Beattie scored the goal, the Baggies were never able to deal with him and the Blades deserved their win.
That leaves us with a visit to Deepdale. The ground looks strange right now with the old pavilion stand down in preparation for the building of the new health centre, but never mind the ground, they need to be taking a look at the pitch.
It is played three, won none, scored none, and Simpson is under pressure. His big summer signing Karl Hawley hasn't fired yet and the fans are not happy with the way things are going. The feeling around the ground is that they would like a change of manager, added to them wanting a change of chairman. Things can change quickly, they play leaders Coventry this weekend in front of the television cameras. They won there last season 4-0.
This week many of the Championship clubs are in Carling Cup action before a full fixture list next weekend. That will see both us and QPR back in league action. We travel to the wonderful surroundings of Layer Road, but I'm sure we'll all spare a thought as QPR take on Southampton at Loftus Road, it will be a difficult day for them.
The Weekend Results | |
Saturday 25th August | |
Barnsley 3 Plymouth 2 | Leicester 4 Watford 1 |
Bristol City 2 Scunthorpe 1 | Preston 0 Colchester 3 |
Burnley v QPR - Postponed | Sheffield Utd 1 West Brom 0 |
Cardiff 0 Coventry 1 | Southampton 3 Stoke 2 |
Charlton 3 Sheffield Wed 2 | Wolves 2 Blackpool 1 |
Hull 2 Norwich 1 | . |
Sunday 26th August | |
Ipswich 1 Crystal Palace 0 | . |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Leicester 4-1 v Watford (home) |
Total goals scored | 35 |
Player scoring most goals | Freddy Eastwood (Wolves) |
Highest Attendance | 24,294 - Wolves v Blackpool |
Lowest Attendance | 9,240 - Barnsley v Plymouth |
Total Yellow Cards | 44 |
Total Red Cards | 0 |
Most cards in a game | Leicester v Watford (11Y) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
4 | Brian Howard (Barnsley) |
3 | Freddy Eastwood (Wolves) Alan Lee (Ipswich) James Scowcroft (Crystal Palace) |
2 | James Beattie (Sheffield Utd) DJ Campbell (Leicester) Jamie Cureton (Norwich) Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Plymouth) Ricardo Fuller (Stoke) Chris Iwelumo (Charlton) Marlon King (Watford) Leon McKenzie (Coventry) Clinton Morrison (Crystal Palace) Scott Murray (Bristol City) Jon Parkin (Stoke) Martin Paterson (Scunthorpe) Kevin Phillips (West Brom) Andy Reid (Charlton) Teddy Sheringham (Colchester) Lee Trundle (Bristol City) Dean Windass (Hull) |
Hat Tricks (league only) | |
11th Aug | 3 - James Scowcroft - Southampton v CRYSTAL PALACE |
Disciplinary Record (all games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Barnsley | 5 | 1 | Norwich | 7 | 0 |
| Blackpool | 3 | 0 | Plymouth | 4 | 0 |
| Bristol City | 4 | 0 | Preston | 10 | 0 |
| Burnley | 4 | 0 | QPR | 7 | 0 |
| Cardiff | 5 | 0 | Scunthorpe | 7 | 0 |
| Charlton | 4 | 0 | Sheffield Utd | 3 | 0 |
| Colchester | 3 | 1 | Sheffield Wed | 8 | 0 |
| Coventry | 4 | 0 | Southampton | 5 | 0 |
| Crystal Palace | 4 | 0 | Stoke | 11 | 0 |
| Hull | 8 | 1 | Watford | 9 | 0 |
| Ipswich | 6 | 1 | West Brom | 2 | 0 |
| Leicester | 9 | 0 | Wolves | 7 | 0 |
The Week's Fixtures | |
Saturday 1st September | |
Blackpool v Hull | QPR v Southampton |
Colchester v Burnley | Scunthorpe v Sheffield Utd |
Coventry v Preston | Sheffield Wed v Bristol City |
Crystal Palace v Charlton | Stoke v Wolves |
Norwich v Cardiff | Watford v Ipswich |
Plymouth v Leicester | West Brom v Barnsley |