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In the Championship – V but not for Victory
Ipswich have now returned him to their former manager George Burley after deciding not to appeal but Long Ball Joe was not happy and said, “I'm not condoning what he did but I do have some sympathy for him. He didn't get any protection from the officials all game.”
The draw took Palace four points clear of Preston in fifth place after the Lilywhites fell to defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, just their second defeat since September. Apparently it was due to the absence of Dave Nugent although I'm not too sure how much help he would have been during the spells of bad defending.
Goals from Deon Burton and Burton O'Brien were enough to give the Owls a much needed three points to take them away from the bottom three although their safety is far from guaranteed.
We'll be back to the bottom of the league but now up to the top where the pressure is certainly getting to Neil Warnock who took exception to being snubbed by yet another manager, this time Norwich City's Nigel Worthington.
Warnock does seem to be losing it and it is difficult to work out just who will play in any given game for Sheffield United right now. It's been suggested that all the names go in a hat and are drawn out at 2:30 and there would certainly be as much logic in that as some of their recent team selections.
This time it was the tried and trusted front two of Shipperley and Webber with Akinbiyi and Dyer on the bench. Heaven knows where Kabba, Deane and Horsfield were. They did go in front with a superb goal finished by Stretch Junior but by half time some bad defending (it really serves you right for only buying strikers) had seen them fall behind.
They couldn't pull it back and as Delia smiled, her manager turned his back on Warnock who responded with a V sign and a string of expletives that were hardly suitable viewing for Sunday morning's Championship programme. He was disgusted, he told the reporter, but I bet there were a good few managers watching their television sets on Sunday with smiles on their faces.
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Even the television reporter claimed that the referee changed in the second half, after a Gary McSheffrey goal had given the home side a half time lead, and pointed to that penalty at the end which was converted by David Healy.
That result opened up a chance for Watford to take third place last night and they did just that with an emphatic 3-1 win at Southampton. Darius Henderson got a couple for Boothroyd's upward looking Hornets and even the Saints consolation goal from Peter Madsen five minutes from the end should have been ruled out for offside.
It's all to play for now and anyone of Sheffield United, Watford or Leeds could take second spot behind Reading who were held to a 1-1 home draw against Wolves. They should have won it and went in front when Bobby Convey converted after excellent work from John Oster. It was a goal very similar to the one Tony Grant scored for us against Rotherham last season. Kenny Miller grabbed a second half equaliser for Wolves, a point that has taken them within one point of Preston who are in that last play off place.
Down at the bottom, the three clubs in the relegation places collected just one point between them. That was Brighton and it couldn't have been more fortunate when they looked all set for a defeat at QPR.
They trailed to an early goal from Gareth Ainsworth and even though they played virtually the whole of the second half against ten men, after Kevin Gallen was sent off, they hardly threatened to get back into the game.
In the end QPR did it for them with a crazy own goal from Marcus Bignot with ten minutes to go. They remain next to bottom but the point did take them closer to Millwall who fell to their tenth home defeat of the season against Leicester.
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For Millwall, life is just that bit more difficult with Sheffield Wednesday winning, they are now five points behind the Yorkshire club and nine points behind the next club Derby.
I think for certain we are now saying goodbye to Dario G and Crewe and Dario has said as much. “It is looking very difficult for us,” he said. “We will now have to go to Preston or Palace and win.” Their latest defeat at Hull took the Humberside club above us by one point and they now reckon they are within touching distance of safety.
Steve Howard netted a winner for Luton at home to Derby and it was celebration time at Kenilworth Road with the news that Mike Newell had signed a deal until 2010. Unfortunately, and despite the club announcing it, Newell said it was not he case.
And finally Cameron Jerome coped with playing with lesser players this week and those lesser players had to watch him miss two sitters. He did play a part in the only goal though from Steven Thompson, his first goal for Cardiff since the two he got against us on his debut.
Leeds play Palace tonight in a rearranged game and this week it is our turn to get the weekend fixtures underway when we entertain Norwich in front of the Sky cameras. I bet the armchair fans can't wait for that one.
The Weekend Results | |
Saturday 18th March | |
Coventry 1 Leeds 1 | Plymouth 0 Cardiff 1 |
Crystal Palace 2 Ipswich 2 | QPR 1 Brighton 1 |
Hull 1 Crewe 0 | Reading 1 Wolves 1 |
Luton 1 Derby 0 | Sheffield Wed 2 Preston 0 |
Millwall 0 Leicester 1 | Stoke 1 Burnley 0 |
Norwich 2 Sheffield Utd 1 | . |
Monday 20th March | |
Southampton 1 Watford 3 | . |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Watford 3-1 v Southampton (away) |
Total goals scored | 24 |
Player scoring most goals | 2 - Darius Henderson (Watford) |
Highest Attendance | 26,643 - Coventry v Luton |
Lowest Attendance | 9,163 - Luton v Derby |
Total Yellow Cards | 36 |
Total Red Cards | 2 |
Most cards in a game | Plymouth v Cardiff (6Y) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
18 | Marlon King (Watford) |
16 | Cameron Jerome (Cardiff) |
15 | Ade Akinbiyi (Sheffield Utd) - 12 with Burnley Dave Kitson (Reading) |
14 | Kevin Doyle (Reading) |
13 | Steve Howard (Luton) Gary McSheffrey (Coventry) |
12 | Darius Henderson (Watford) Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace) Ashley Young (Watford) |
11 | Robbie Blake (Leeds) Rob Hulse (Leeds) Jason Koumas (Cardiff) Leroy Lita (Reading) Clinton Morrison (Crystal Palace) |
10 | Dele Adebola (Coventry) Dean Ashton (Norwich) Carl Cort (Wolves) Paul Gallagher (Stoke) David Healy (Leeds) Dave Nugent (Preston) |
9 | Inigo Idiakez (Derby) Steven Kabba (Sheffield Utd) Kenny Miller (Wolves) Neil Shipperley (Sheffield Utd) Steve Sidwell (Reading) |
8 | Sammy Bangoura (Stoke) Joey Gudjonsson (Leicester) Matthew Spring (Watford) Rowan Vine (Luton) Danny Webber (Sheffield Utd) Paul Wotton (Plymouth) |
Disciplinary Record (all games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Brighton | 69 | 4 | Millwall | 86 | 14 |
| Burnley | 69 | 5 | Norwich | 63 | 2 |
| Cardiff | 66 | 2 | Plymouth | 55 | 1 |
| Coventry | 84 | 4 | Preston | 71 | 2 |
| Crewe | 31 | 2 | QPR | 72 | 7 |
| Crystal Palace | 73 | 3 | Reading | 42 | 0 |
| Derby | 59 | 5 | Sheffield Utd | 58 | 2 |
| Hull | 48 | 3 | Sheffield Wed | 49 | 1 |
| Ipswich | 54 | 6 | Southampton | 58 | 4 |
| Leeds | 64 | 2 | Stoke | 68 | 7 |
| Leicester | 72 | 5 | Watford | 55 | 5 |
| Luton | 49 | 5 | Wolves | 52 | 1 |
The Week's Fixtures | |
Tuesday 21st March | |
Leeds v Crystal Palace | . |
Friday 24th March | |
Burnley v Norwich | . |
Saturday 25th March | |
Brighton v Luton | Leicester v Reading |
Cardiff v QPR | Preston v Plymouth |
Crewe v Coventry | Sheffield Utd v Southampton |
Derby v Crystal Palace | Watford v Millwall |
Ipswich v Hull | Wolves v Sheffield Wed |
Leeds v Stoke | . |