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There was only one point separating the four teams in second to fifth places after the Christmas games but it was Swansea and Norwich that got the New Year off to the best of starts as QPR, as well as Cardiff, lost and Leeds scraped a point with a late goal against Middlesbrough.
Reading's defeat at Swansea saw them drop out of the play off positions with Watford taking their place after a comfortable win against Portsmouth and such is the league that Doncaster, now in the bottom half, are only three points behind Watford with a game in hand.
At the other end of the table it is very much a case of as you were with all three clubs in the relegation positions on the wrong end of results. Preston, under David Unsworth, went down 2-1 at home to Derby but both Scunthorpe and Crystal Palace were on the wrong end of 3-0 scorelines.
For Palace boss George Burley it proved to be the final straw and he was dismissed immediately after their defeat at Millwall with former Palace striker Dougie Freedman put in temporary charge. Palace have become the eighth Championship club to change manager this season.
Tomorrow sees another full fixture list, well almost. There are eleven games with the Cardiff v Leeds game, which should be a nice friendly affair, being played on Tuesday evening.
Those fixtures are shown below along with the results and stats from the weekend and the leading goalscorers and disciplinary records of each club.
The New Year's Day Results | |
Saturday 1st January | |
Bristol City 3 Cardiff 0 | Millwall 3 Crystal Palace 0 |
Burnley 4 Sheffield United 2 | Norwich 1 QPR 0 |
Coventry 1 Ipswich 1 | Nottingham Forest 2 Barnsley 2 |
Doncaster 3 Scunthorpe 0 | Preston 1 Derby 2 |
Hull 0 Leicester 1 | Swansea 1 Reading 0 |
Leeds 1 Middlesbrough 1 | Watford 3 Portsmouth 0 |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Bristol City 3-0 v Cardiff (home) |
Total goals scored | 32 (23 home - 9 away) |
Player scoring most goals | 3 - Jason Puncheon (Millwall) |
Highest Attendance | 30,452 - Leeds v Middlesbrough |
Lowest Attendance | 9,447 - Doncaster v Scunthorpe |
Total Yellow Cards | 36 |
Total Red Cards | 5 |
Most cards in a game | Doncaster v Scunthorpe (5Y 1R) - Paul Tierney |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
13 | Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff) Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penalties Danny Graham (Watford) - includes 1 penalty |
12 | Luciano Becchio (Leeds) |
11 | Adel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 4 penalties |
10 | Chris Iwelumo (Burnley) Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 2 penalties |
9 | Grant Holt (Norwich) Andy King (Leicester) Jamie Mackie (QPR) Steve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty |
8 | Max Gradel (Leeds) - includes 1 penalty Adam Hammill (Barnsley) James Hayter (Doncaster) Wes Hoolahan (Norwich) - includes 4 penalties Shane Long (Reading) - includes 4 penalties Billy Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 3 penalties Scott Sinclair (Swansea) Marvin Sordell (Watford) |
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 |
Disciplinary Record (all domestic games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Barnsley | 37 | 0 | Middlesbrough | 36 | 1 |
| Bristol City | 37 | 1 | Millwall | 38 | 3 |
| Burnley | 40 | 4 | Norwich | 36 | 3 |
| Cardiff | 30 | 1 | Nottingham Forest | 30 | 0 |
| Coventry | 43 | 3 | Portsmouth | 40 | 4 |
| Crystal Palace | 40 | 5 | Preston | 52 | 5 |
| Derby | 42 | 1 | QPR | 39 | 4 |
| Doncaster | 28 | 2 | Reading | 41 | 3 |
| Hull | 45 | 2 | Scunthorpe | 26 | 1 |
| Ipswich | 36 | 3 | Sheffield United | 35 | 5 |
| Leeds | 50 | 2 | Swansea | 47 | 2 |
| Leicester | 29 | 2 | Watford | 26 | 0 |
The New Year Bank Holiday Fixtures | |
Monday 3rd January | |
Barnsley v Coventry | Portsmouth v Hull |
Crystal Palace v Preston | QPR v Bristol City |
Derby v Millwall | Reading v Burnley |
Ipswich v Nottingham Forest | Scunthorpe v Watford |
Leicester v Swansea | Sheffield United v Doncaster |
Middlesbrough v Norwich | . |
Tuesday 4th January | |
Cardiff v Leeds (19:45) | . |