Leicester go top for the first time

Last updated : 22 October 2012 By Tony Scholes
Warnock the fool

It's further proof of how difficult it is to determine who is going to do well in this division. It's only a few weeks ago that Leicester boss Nigel Pearson looked as though he could be the first Championship manager to lose his job.

Now, they are very much the form team with that draw on Saturday bringing to an end a run of five successive wins.

Having a good run can bring its own problems. Crystal Palace started the season with three defeats but since have won six and drawn two. That's attracted the attentions of Bolton who have now been given permission to speak to Dougie Freedman about their vacant manager's position.

Freedman confirmed last Friday that he was half way to building Palace as he wants it and whatever happened he would see it through. That suggests Bolton are wasting their time, but this is football and what people say and do are often two different things altogether.

On the topic of managers moving on or losing their jobs, it's all very different at Ipswich where Paul Jewell will continue in charge. It's not the players, the owner or the board who have decided but Jewell himself.

He knows things can't continue as they are. They are next to bottom in the league and surely he won't be at Portman Road much longer. I hope they don't sack him before we appoint our new man, I'd hate to think we'd show interest now in Jewell who, incidentally, was once favourite for the Burnley job.

Ipswich are in the bottom three with Peterborough and Sheffield Wednesday, the latter getting a point on Friday night in the Yorkshire derby against Leeds at Hillsborough.

Everything that needs to be said about that game has been said. Referee Eddie Ilderton missed the clearest penalty you are ever likely to see for handball. It was, overall, a very decent game, but there will only ever be one talking point, the assault on Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland.

It's good news today to see the culprit sent to prison. Now they need to identify all those who encroached and take some action against them. And someone needs to shut Neil Warnock up too. He said all the right things after the game before then making a complete fool of himself by suggesting Kirkland had gone down too easily.

I don't particularly like Dave Jones. He's one of those managers who never seems to see the game other than believing his own team is always head and shoulders better than the opposition. But not under any circumstances should he have had to put up with that chanting.

Still, the Championship all passed fairly quietly with most of the news over the weekend focusing on which Premier League players didn't wear Kick It Out shirts. I'd say well done to Jason Roberts initially. Without his stance I don't think I'd have even been aware that it was this week.

Well done to the caretakers. Bolton won, Terry Pashley engineered our win and Eric Black didn't win. Almost perfect.

The results from the weekend, the stats, the leading goalscorers, with Charlie extending his lead, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances and the midweek fixtures can all be found below.

The Results
Friday 19th October
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Leeds United 1  
Saturday 20th October
Birmingham City 1 Leicester City 1 Derby County 1 Blackburn Rovers 1
Bolton Wanderers 3 Bristol City 2 Huddersfield Town 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Middlesbrough 1 Hull City 2 Ipswich Town 1
Burnley 1 Blackpool 1 Nottingham Forest 3 Cardiff City 1
Charlton Athletic 0 Barnsley 1 Watford 1 Peterborough United 0
Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 2  

 

The Stats
Biggest Win Nottingham Forest 3-1 v Cardiff City (home)
Total Goals Scored 30 (17 home - 13 away)
Player Scoring Most Goals
2
Steven Davies (Bristol City)
Nick Proschwitz (Hull City)
Highest Attendance 28,582 - Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds United
Lowest Attendance 12,925 - Burnley v Blackpool
Total Yellow Cards 50
Total Red Cards 3
Most Cards in a Game Crystal Palace v Millwall (10Y 1R) Ref: Phil Dowd

 

Leading Goalscorers (League Only)
13 Charlie Austin (Burnley) - includes 1 penalty
8 Luciano Becchio (Leeds United) - includes 3 penalties
7 Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty
Glenn Murray (Crystal Palace) - includes 3 penalties
6 Chris Eagles (Bolton Wanderers)
Tom Ince (Blackpool)
Darius Henderson (Millwall)
Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton & Hove Albion) - includes 1 penalty
Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn Rovers) - 2 with Huddersfield Town
Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 2 penalties
5 Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Wolverhampton Wanderers) - includes 1 penalty
Jermaine Johnson (Sheffield Wednesday)
David Nugent (Leicester City)
Matej Vydra (Watford) - includes 1 penalty
4 Sam Baldock (Bristol City)
Kevin Davies (Bolton Wanderers)
Steven Davies (Bristol City) - includes 1 penalty
Heidar Helguson (Cardiff City)
Nuno Gomes (Blackburn Rovers)
Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middlesbrough)
Jay Simpson (Hull City)
Liam Trotter (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty
Jamie Ward (Derby County) - includes 1 penalty
Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)

 

Hat Tricks
 Date Player & Game
01/09/12 3: Pete Whittingham - CARDIFF CITY v Wolverhampton Wanderers
15/09/12 3: Charlie Austin - BURNLEY v Peterborough United
22/09/12 3: Glenn Murray - CRYSTAL PALACE v Cardiff City
22/09/12 4: Craig Davies - Birmingham City v BARNSLEY
23/09/12 3: David Nugent - LEICESTER CITY v Hull City
29/09/12 3: Emile Sinclair - Hull City v PETERBOROUGH UNITED
02/10/12 3: Charlie Austin - BURNLEY v Sheffield Wednesday

 

Disciplinary Record (League and Cup)
Club Y R Y R Club Y R Y R
  League   Total   League  Total 
Barnsley 14 1 17 2 Huddersfield Town 20 1 21 1
Birmingham City 12 2 14 2 Hull City 9 0 9 1
Blackburn Rovers 14 0 14 0 Ipswich Town 16 0 16 0
Blackpool 11 0 11 0 Leeds United 23 0 28 0
Bolton Wanderers 24 0 26 0 Leicester City 12 0 12 0
Brighton & Hove Albion 16 0 17 0 Middlesbrough 17 0 19 0
Bristol City 17 0 19 0 Millwall 23 1 25 1
Burnley 17 0 23 0 Nottingham Forest 25 3 25 3
Cardiff City 17 0 19 0 Peterborough United 22 0 24 0
Charlton Athletic 15 0 15 0 Sheffield Wednesday 23 1 26 1
Crystal Palace 17 1 21 1 Watford 22 2 23 2
Derby County 9 0 10 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 13 0 15 0

 

Highest and Lowest Attendances
Highest Lowest
Att Fixture Att Fixture
28,707 Nottingham Forest v Derby County (30/09) 5,435 Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/09)
28,582 Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds United (19/10) 6,188 Peterborough United v Millwall (21/08)
27,437 Derby County v Sheffield Wednesday (18/08) 8,088 Barnsley v Bristol City (01/09)
26,598 Sheffield Wed v Bolton Wanderers (22/09) 8,319 Barnsley v Peterborough United (02/10)
26,594 Brighton & HA v Sheffield Weds (14/09) 8,571 Barnsley v Ipswich Town (29/09)
26,293 Brighton & HA v Middlesbrough (20/10) 9,280 Peterborough Utd v Wolves (22/09)
26,185 Charlton Athletic v Barnsley (20/10) 9,295 Millwall v Cardiff City (18/09)
26,121 Brighton & HA v Birmingham City (29/09) 9,576 Millwall v Middlesbrough (01/09)
25,518 Brighton & Hove Albion v Cardiff City (21/08) 10,116 Millwall v Bolton Wanderers (06/10)
25,379 Sheffield Wed v Birmingham City (21/08) 10,432 Peterborough United v Leeds United (25/08)

 

The Next Fixtures
Tuesday 23rd October
Barnsley v Crystal Palace Leicester City v Brighton & Hove Albion
Blackpool v Nottingham Forest (20:00) Middlesbrough v Hull City
Bristol City v Burnley Millwall v Birmingham City
Cardiff City v Watford Peterborough United v Huddersfield Town
Ipswich Town v Derby County Wolverhampton Wanderers v Bolton Wanderers
Leeds United v Charlton Athletic  
Wednesday 24th October
Blackburn Rovers v Sheffield Wednesday