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Championship Round-up

Sheffield United finally ended their shocking run of defeats as they twice came from behind to get a point at South Yorkshire rivals Barnsley. Two Henderson penalties were enough to send a meagre away following home reasonably pleased after Anderson De Silva and Daniel Bogdanovic had both put Barnsley in the lead at Oakwell. Never one to make excuses Kevin Blackwell quipped after the game: ‘We've got that many injuries I've lost track of their names,’ after seeing Ian Bennett suffer a broken thumb and Matt Kilgallon limp off with an ankle problem. Presumably you still remember Benno and Killa’s nicknames though, Blackie?

There was a fair amount of shock around the Championship last night when it was revealed Peterborough have parted company with boss Darren Ferguson. Posh remain bottom of the league after their 3-1 defeat to Newcastle at the weekend but after being touted as one of the brightest young managers in the country it’s surprising to see Fergie Jnr given the chop so soon. I for one won’t be sad to see him go after his smugness after our 1-1 draw at London Road but it will be interesting to see who Posh bring in with Steve Coppell and Peter Taylor believed to be amongst the early favourites. Their weekend conquerors Newcastle, meanwhile, remain top of the league; two points clear of nearest rivals West Brom. However, the pressing issue in the North-East is of course the renaming of the ground as ‘sportsdirect.com@St James’ Park’ which prompted some amusing banners at the weekend. My favourite was probably the one that said ‘NOT WANTED @ ST JAMES’ PARK’; you’ve gotta love the Geordies’ sense of humour haven’t you! The Supporters’ Trust is launching the 'Yes We Can' Campaign which aims to raise funds to lead a fans buy out at St James' Park. Fan ownership? It’ll never work...





Nottingham Forest have launched an interesting initiative this week that will soon see home and away fans able to sit next to each other at the City Ground. The initiative is being trialled at Forest's home game with Doncaster Rovers on 28 November where supporters of both clubs will be able to buy family tickets in the T block of the Brian Clough Stand. Fulham have had a ‘neutral’ stand for a while now but I can’t really see the idea catching on. The great thing about away games is being together as a minority singing your hearts out in support of your team and giving and taking the inevitable stick. I know football is going the way of becoming a sport where you can’t stand up, sing, shout or dare to breathe in case you offend someone but personally I hope this sort of thing doesn’t catch on.

It seems crazy that there’s no Championship football for two weeks with yet ANOTHER international break; I’m sure it was a point brought up recently that most Championship clubs don’t lose many players during the break so why can’t we just carry on as normal? Anyway when action does return in a fortnight Derby travel to Swansea on the Friday night hoping they will have a few players back after their recent injury crisis. The Swans of course will be looking to push on after their 3-2 win in the thrilling South Wales derby on Saturday lunchtime. West Brom can go top of the league for a couple of days at least as they host playoff chasing Bristol City, with Newcastle travelling to Deepdale on the Monday night. Pick of the weekend for me would be Boro vs. Forest as Gordon Strachan continues to look for his first win at the Riverside against a Forest side who haven’t lost since September.


Enjoy the international break!

Creg,