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In the Championship - Southend off the bottom
By the end of the game he would have been delighted to have played on it as they came from one behind to beat the side currently in second place. They even scored the Birmingham goal for them with Peter Clarke turning it into his own net.
Bruce said he didn't really want to talk to the media after that performance, he wanted to go home, have a cup of team and go to bed. He'd worse to come though, the day after they sold Matthew Upson and that looks to have led to a spat between manager and MD Mrs Peschisolido.
The win was only just enough to see Southend off the bottom, they now have a goal difference that is one better than Leeds who themselves won at Hull where the Humberside club had a record attendance at the KC.
No tantrums this time from anyone on the touchline, although he's since been whinging that other managers won't talk to him. I wonder why? One of his recent signings Alan Thompson was the difference. He set up Matt Heath for the first goal and then got the winner himself with a left foot free kick from outside the box that curled round the wall and into the corner.
For Hull, they remain just outside the bottom three. They introduced Michael Bridges against his former club but close observers believe this level is now beyond him following his injuries over the past few years.
They've been joined in the relegation positions by QPR who swapped places with Barnsley after going down 2-0 at Oakwell. That's two wins in two games for the Yorkshire club who in this game scored in the last minute of each half through Mark Richards and Brian Howard.
Up at the top end of the league, my pre-season favourites West Brom are now moving towards the top. They are scoring goals with some ease, and the win over Plymouth was their fifth in succession in league and cup.
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That sounds familiar to Burnley fans who were at the Ricoh and it left Pilgrims' boss Ian Holloway fuming. He said: “If they weren't penalties I may as well pack in. Thorpe has got to look at himself, to be perfectly honest. My players were incensed, I'm certainly more than that.
“I know he doesn't deliberately do it, but I am absolutely incensed by the things I've seen this season, the inconsistency of interpretation of rules. I'm sick and fed up of seeing it.”
Another club closing in at the top is Southampton and as well as their win this week they were also celebrating the news that Gareth Bale has committed to the club long term. Long term apparently is until the end of the season.
They beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 with both goals coming from Kenwyne Jones. He's made a habit of scoring against Wednesday, a club he played for on loan a couple of seasons ago where he scored seven times in seven games.
It is Preston looking over their shoulders as they suffered their fourth defeat in six away games. Colchester has become something of a tough place to go and they fell to a goal from substitute Garry Richards who headed in from a corner just five minutes after coming on. This was the home side's first game following the sale of star man Greg Halford who has moved onwards and upwards into the Premiership with Reading.
One of the midweek games was brought forward to weekend when Cardiff beat Leicester courtesy of a hat trick from Michael Chopra. I hadn't realised that Chopra, who incidentally has played for Newcastle, was the best striker in the division. I still wouldn't have known had Chopra not told me via a television interview. It really is a surprise if he is so good that Newcastle let him go. He really did used to play for them you know.
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So were RK Sunderland who were held at home to Crystal Palace. I wondered long and hard as to why they weren't able to win this one at the Stadium of Light. Perhaps it is because new captain Dean Whitehead isn't very good when it comes to organising a pre-match quiz.
Coventry got themselves three points, beating Luton at home with a Leon McKenzie goal. I am surprised to see Mike Newell still with Luton, he seems to have an appalling relationship with his chairman, they don't speak apparently, and they keep selling his players. Only one point keeps them out of the bottom three now.
Finally to Norwich v Wolves where the away side collected all three points and ended the game with nine men. Norwich should have won it, they had the chances, but the only player who scores goals for them is out injured.
The referee was our old friend Nigel Miller, and he's infuriated Wolves even further with his interpretation of the first red card. He sent off Gary Breen for a professional foul which carries a one match ban, but the Molineux club were shocked when they received the report to see he had stated it was for serious foul play which would then give the player a three match ban.
If it is three then he'll miss the game against us, I suspect someone with some sense somewhere will get that changed and question the referee long and hard.
Back to league action this weekend which starts at Cardiff when they entertain Barnsley. Will the league's top scorer Chopra score another hat trick? He once played for Barnsley, but for some reason he doesn't mention that, probably too busy talking about Newcastle.
The fixtures and midweek stats are below:
The Midweek Results | |
Saturday 27th January | |
Cardiff 3 Leicester 2 | . |
Tuesday 30th January | |
Barnsley 2 QPR 0 | Hull 1 Leeds 2 |
Birmingham 1 Southend 3 | Norwich 0 Wolves 1 |
Colchester 1 Preston 0 | Stoke 0 Ipswich 0 |
Coventry 1 Luton 0 | RK Sunderland 0 Crystal Palace 0 |
Derby 1 Burnley 0 | . |
Wednesday 31st January | |
Southampton 2 Sheffield Wed 1 | West Brom 2 Plymouth 1 |
The Midweek Stats | |
Biggest win | Southend 3-1 v Birmingham (away) |
Total goals scored | 24 |
Player scoring most goals | 3 - Michael Chopra (Cardiff) |
Highest Attendance | 26,958 - RK Sunderland v Crystal Palace |
Lowest Attendance | 5,085 - Colchester v Preston |
Total Yellow Cards | 34 |
Total Red Cards | 3 |
Most cards in a game | Derby v Burnley (6Y 1R) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
17 | Robert Earnshaw (Norwich) Grzegorz Rasiak (Southampton) |
16 | Michael Chopra (Cardiff) Diomansy Kamara (West Brom) |
15 | Chris Iwelumo (Colchester) |
13 | Jamie Cureton (Colchester) Gary McSheffrey (Birmingham) |
12 | Steve Howard (Derby) Rowan Vine (Birmingham) - all 12 goals with Luton |
11 | Alan Lee (Ipswich) |
10 | Andy Gray (Burnley) Barry Hayles (Plymouth) David Nugent (Preston) Kevin Phillips (West Brom) |
9 | Chris Brunt (Sheffield Wed) Kenwyne Jones (Southampton) |
8 | Nicklas Bendtner (Birmingham) Freddy Eastwood (Southend) Brian Howard (Barnsley) Iain Hume (Leicester) |
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 |
Disciplinary Record (all games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Barnsley | 49 | 4 | Luton | 40 | 4 |
| Birmingham | 55 | 5 | Norwich | 52 | 4 |
| Burnley | 54 | 7 | Plymouth | 66 | 3 |
| Cardiff | 44 | 5 | Preston | 49 | 3 |
| Colchester | 32 | 1 | QPR | 55 | 1 |
| Coventry | 62 | 1 | Sheffield Wed | 57 | 4 |
| Crystal Palace | 35 | 0 | Southampton | 39 | 1 |
| Derby | 66 | 2 | Southend | 47 | 3 |
| Hull | 60 | 3 | Stoke | 50 | 2 |
| Ipswich | 81 | 4 | RK Sunderland | 43 | 4 |
| Leeds | 68 | 3 | West Brom | 75 | 3 |
| Leicester | 59 | 3 | Wolves | 45 | 4 |
The Week's Fixtures | |
Friday 2nd February | |
Cardiff v Barnsley | . |
Saturday 3rd February | |
Colchester v Birmingham | Sheffield Wed v Preston |
Crystal Palace v Ipswich | Southampton v Derby |
Hull v West Brom | Stoke v Southend |
Leicester v Luton | RK Sunderland v Coventry |
Norwich v Leeds | Wolves v Plymouth |
QPR v Burnley | . |