|
Eddie Howe, with victories over Portsmouth and Burton for Burnley, was the only one of the four prior to Saturday who had enjoyed a win with Freedman joining him after a James Vaughan gave Palace a 1-0 win against Middlesbrough.
Along with Scunthorpe, a side now capable of only picking up points against Burnley, Brown's Preston in particular and also Adams' Sheffield United look to be in some trouble.
Preston are now ten points from safety having won only two points from the last seven games. On Saturday they faced Bristol City at home, a team that had failed to score in five games, but managed to lose it 4-0 with an horrendous defensive display.
Meanwhile, Sheffield United took a 3-0 beating at Ipswich before losing their discipline and ending the game with nine men. I can understand Brown's appointment at Preston, but he's taken over a side that's seriously struggled all season. The appointment of Adams remains a baffling one for me.
Those three - Sheffield United, Scunthorpe and Preston - really have a fight on now. Of the three I would suspect only Sheffield United have a realistic chance of staying up.
And whilst the Blades struggle their former manager Neil Warnock sits on a seven point lead at the top of the league after a win against Reading on Friday that was against the odds. Their lead was extended because the next two clubs, Norwich and Swansea, were both beaten and that's left Little Billy's Nottingham Forest in second place.
You wouldn't bet against Forest going up with QPR but it is so tight with only three points separating the clubs between second and sixth in the league.
Then there's a four point drop before the next group of clubs. We are six points now from the play offs but looking back, our return in the first 29 games of the season has only been bettered once since we won promotion in 2000. That was in the 2001/02 season when we had 51 points but suffered a very poor second half of the season.
The week's results and stats are below along with the leading goalscorers and each club's disciplinary record. They are followed by next weekend's fixtures.
The Weekend Results | |
Friday 4th February | |
Reading 0 QPR 1 | . |
Saturday 5th February | |
Burnley 2 Norwich 1 | Millwall 1 Doncaster 0 |
Crystal Palace 1 Middlesbrough 0 | Nottingham Forest 1 Watford 0 |
Ipswich 3 Sheffield United 0 | Portsmouth 1 Derby 1 |
Leeds 1 Coventry 0 | Preston 0 Bristol City 4 |
Leicester 4 Barnsley 1 | Scunthorpe 1 Hull 5 |
Sunday 6th February | |
Swansea 0 Cardiff 1 | . |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Bristol City 4-0 v Preston (away) |
Total goals scored | 29 (15 home - 14 away) |
Player scoring most goals | 3 - Matt Fryatt (Hull) |
Highest Attendance | 27,033 - Leeds v Coventry |
Lowest Attendance | 6,835 - Scunthorpe v Hull |
Total Yellow Cards | 35 |
Total Red Cards | 3 |
Most cards in a game | Ipswich v Sheffield United (3Y 2R) - David Phillips |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
15 | Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff) Danny Graham (Watford) - includes 1 penalty |
14 | Adel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 5 penalties |
13 | Luciano Becchio (Leeds) Kriss Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penalties |
12 | Andy King (Leicester) Billy Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 4 penalties |
11 | Grant Holt (Norwich) Shane Long (Reading) - includes 4 penalties Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 2 penalties Steve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty Scott Sinclair (Swansea) - includes 3 penalties |
10 | Chris Iwelumo (Burnley) Davide Somma (Leeds) Marvin Sordell (Watford) |
9 | Max Gradel (Leeds) - includes 1 penalty Jamie Mackie (QPR) Brett Pitman (Bristol City) - includes 3 penalties |
Hat Tricks (league only) | |
11th Sep | 3 - Chris Iwelumo - BURNLEY v Preston |
14th Sep | 3 - James Coppinger - DONCASTER v Norwich |
14th Sep | 3 - James Vaughan - CRYSTAL PALACE v Portsmouth |
28th Sep | 3 - Jon Parkin - Leeds v PRESTON |
30th Oct | 3 - Jonny Howson - Scunthorpe v LEEDS |
13th Nov | 3 - Luciano Becchio - LEEDS v Bristol City |
27th Nov | 3 - Grant Holt - NORWICH v Leeds |
28th Dec | 3 - Wes Hoolahan - NORWICH v Sheffield United |
1st Jan | 3 - Jason Puncheon - MILLWALL v Crystal Palace |
5th Feb | 3 - Matt Fryatt - Scunthorpe v HULL |
Disciplinary Record (all domestic games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Barnsley | 44 | 2 | Middlesbrough | 42 | 1 |
| Bristol City | 43 | 2 | Millwall | 44 | 4 |
| Burnley | 55 | 4 | Norwich | 51 | 3 |
| Cardiff | 39 | 1 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 0 |
| Coventry | 47 | 3 | Portsmouth | 53 | 5 |
| Crystal Palace | 52 | 5 | Preston | 63 | 5 |
| Derby | 53 | 2 | QPR | 48 | 5 |
| Doncaster | 36 | 3 | Reading | 47 | 3 |
| Hull | 58 | 2 | Scunthorpe | 31 | 2 |
| Ipswich | 46 | 4 | Sheffield United | 47 | 7 |
| Leeds | 61 | 2 | Swansea | 50 | 2 |
| Leicester | 35 | 2 | Watford | 31 | 0 |
The Next Fixtures | |
Saturday 12th February | |
Barnsley v Ipswich | Hull v Preston |
Bristol City v Leeds | Middlesbrough v Swansea |
Cardiff v Scunthorpe | Norwich v Reading |
Coventry v Crystal Palace | Sheffield United v Millwall |
Derby v Leicester (17:20) | Watford v Burnley |
Doncaster v Portsmouth | . |
Sunday 13th February | |
QPR v Nottingham Forest (13:15) | . |