DE.

Friday's game between Rotherham and Ipswich was called off only a couple of hours beforehand, despite Rotherham insisting they were confident the game would go ahead in the early afternoon. The river near Rotherham's ground burst its banks soon after, however, which left officials with little option but to cancel the game. Preston had a good chance to end their recent poor form of four games without a win, facing managerless Millwall at home. For whatever reason Millwall had felt it appropriate to sack their manager just as the international break was coming to an end, suddenly leaving them somewhat rudderless a few days before an upcoming fixture. Nonetheless, fortunately for Millwall it was indeed only Preston, who did not capitalise on their opponent's lack of stability. An even game ended 1-1, stretching Preston's winless steak to five games. They still remain fourth, but are now within three points of falling out of the playoff spots entirely. For Milwall it's a third draw in five matches, and they remain stuck in the middle of the table, 14th. Rovers came out on top in a game with little quality at Ewood Park, edging a 1-0 win against Cardiff. Neither side played well, but it was Rovers who snuck the all important first goal, and this was enough to earn us all three points. It's Rovers' second win in succession, and lifts us to 15th in the table. Also welcome was a second clean sheet in a row, as we slowly go about repairing our damaged goal difference. Cardiff meanwhile register a second defeat in three matches, and one point in nine has seen them fall to 11th in the table. Coventry's four game unbeaten streak came to an end at Ashton Gate, as Bristol City handed the Sky Blues a narrow 1-0 defeat. The result sees Coventry fall to 16th, largely due to their inability to win games. Just three victories in twelve makes for disappointing reading if you are a Coventry fan. Only three defeats on the other hand makes for good reading, so it's not all bad news. Six draws, however, ultimately don't do much to help the cause. Bristol City continue their erratic form, having won two and lost three of their last five games. They move up to 8th, just a point outside the playoff places. QPR failed to respond to the 4-0 hammering inflicted on them by Rovers last time out, and instead fell to their fourth defeat in a row, this time away to Huddersfield. Darren Moore will be pleased to pick up his first three points as Huddersfield boss, ending an overall five game winless streak with three vital points. Huddersfield move up to 18th - aided by the fact that they had drawn three of their previous four games. QPR remain in 22nd, four points behind Plymouth in 21st. They now share the worst defensive record in the league (-22) with Rotherham (23rd), Norwich (10th) and Southampton (5th). What a strange division. Speaking of Southampton, as noted, they're now up to 5th with a 2-1 away victory against a Hull side whose good form has rapidly deteriorated with a series of bad results. They will be especially disappointed to have thrown the match away in the 95th minute. Just two points from the last twelve available has seen the Tigers plunge from the playoff spots into 12th position. Southampton, on the other hand, have gained ten points from the last twelve available, and despite sharing the worst defensive record in the division with three other clubs, find themselves in 5th because... it's the Championship. What else needs to be said. Crazy league. Boro are certainly one of those teams who encapsulate the bizarreness of the Championship. They're currently recreating a carbon copy of last season's antics, just without the change of manager. Despite a horrific start to the season, a 1-0 home win today against Birmingham City marks their fifth win in a row, and three matches without conceding. They surge up to 13th, having only just lifted themselves from the foot of the table one month ago. Wayne Rooney made his debut as Birmingham manager today, but the excitement from himself and the boardroom evidently did not filter down to the players, who put in a lacklustre performance with little intent. Post-match Rooney proceeded to criticise the team's efforts and said that defensive players - some of whom are in their mid-30s - need to learn to play out from the back. Good luck with that one. Playing with no fear sounds like playing with no brain, either, but let's see how it all plays out. Not a good start regardless and Birmingham fall back out of the playoffs into 7th. As noted previously, Norwich have the joint-weakest defensive record in the division, and they continued to leak goals in earnest - beaten 3-2 at Carrow Road by former boss Daniel Farke's Leeds in an entertaining match. Norwich were two goals ahead at the break, but their inability to keep the ball out of their own net meant that by the time the final whistle was blown they were leaving the pitch with nothing. Shane Duffy with another own goal to add to the collection. Norwich sit in 10th, their horrible goals conceded column balanced out by a still excellent goals scored tally, with 23 still the highest amount outside of the top two teams. A fourth win in five games for Leeds leapfrogs them above Preston into 3rd place, six points behind Ipswich - although Ipswich have a game in hand due to Friday's postponement. Stoke ended a run of three home defeats with a 2-1 victory over stuttering Sunderland at the Bet365. Having lost three of the four prior games, three points was much needed for a Stoke team who had started nervously glancing over their shoulders at the relegation zone. The result lifts them to 20th, with a five point buffer between themselves and QPR in 22nd. It was a second defeat in a row for Sunderland, and a third in five matches, but as the other two results were wins they cling onto 6th spot for the time being. Swansea's unbeaten run of five matches - with four wins on the spin - came to an end against a Leicester side who, on current evidence, are far too good for this division. Leicester's 3-1 win at the Swansea.com stadium makes them the first side in the history of the second tier to win their first six away games of the season. They've also won eleven of their first twelve matches. Swansea did take the lead in this one, but were ultimately overpowered by Leicester's quality. Leicester remain top of the division, already 11 points ahead of Leeds in 3rd. They move five points ahead of Ipswich in second - as previously noted, Ipswich's match against Rotherham was postponed. Watford knew they were in huge trouble if they couldn't get something from a match against the league's whipping boys, Sheffield Wednesday. They did manage to scrape a 1-0 victory, but would probably have wanted it to be a bit more convincing. Nonetheless, three points is three points and ends a five game winless run which had seen Watford pick up just two points from fifteen. They are now 19th, with a five point cushion between themselves and QPR. Sheffield Wednesday meanwhile are a bit like the anti-Leicester, on recent evidence far too poor to belong in this division. They have still only managed five goals in their first twelve games, having not scored at all in their last five matches. I suppose as a minor positive they don't have the worst defence in the division at this point in time, but they are also the only team in the division who are yet to win a match, so... yeah, most likely we can chalk off one relegation place, even at this early stage. You have to think it would take something very special to turn around the situation at Wednesday, particularly with the owner currently refusing to put any more money into the club. West Brom seemed to be starting to get themselves going, but two wins has been followed by an away loss to Birmingham and a home draw to today's opponent's, lowly Plymouth. The result doesn't do much for the Baggies, keeping them in 9th, but they are still only a couple of points outside of sixth spot. Plymouth's two points from their last twelve has seem them freefall from the relative safety of mid-table to 21st. They won't be panicking just yet though, as they remain four points clear of woeful QPR, and even if Rotherham win their game in hand Plymouth would still be two points ahead of them. Still, they face Sheffield Wednesday at home on Wednesday and will be fully expecting to be able to pick up three points from that fixture.

Grinding out wins with clean sheets was exactly what I've been asking for, so well done to JDT and the team for adapting to the situation and getting things back under control, especially with significant injury problems limiting selection choices (although from a GK perspective this has probably been to our benefit).

From what I recall the fans had turned on him, which at most normal clubs is usually the beginning of the end. They've had a fairly inconsistent start to the season but by no means a disaster, especially at this early stage. I suppose time will tell if it works out for them. Wouldn't surprise me if Eustace ends up there. He hasn't got much experience but his short stint at Birmingham, with similarly limited resources, was pretty impressive.

It may have been a combination of both, but I don't recall Henderson getting booed before his switch to SA and his recent endorsement of their WC 2034 bid. I would assume those are bigger factors than his on-field performance. I don't really remember an England crowd often booing a player for a poor performance when substituted in recent times (the last decade or so, anyway), although truthfully I don't follow the national side closely enough to know for sure. Goes without saying I'm exempting Maguire from the above, although maybe it's just that sentiment spreading to other players. Who knows.

Sometimes it's better to say nothing. The obvious argument to his saying there's no logic to booing Henderson is to say there's no logic to prioritising a football game over expressing an opinion over human rights atrocities and those who support it. That's not to get into a deeper argument as to our country's own complicity in that and many other human rights abuses, but nonetheless, it suggests a warped view when a football match is given precedent over what the booing represented.

My thoughts are with you mate. Really sad news. Take care of yourself.

Didn't we postpone most, if not all, of our L1 games during international breaks because we had a fair few players off on international duty?

Based on the summer transfer thread I wouldn't believe much 'ITK' stuff posted on here tbh. If Unleaded said it then fair enough, otherwise I'm inclined to assume it was guesswork or mischief making. Brereton's confidence was down because he wasn't playing well at the time. He wasn't the only one. The Chile call up and adventure gave him a big boost in confidence and motivation, which gave us the purple patches we saw from him. I doubt the reaction of a handful of fans at the ground had any significant impact on him. In the absence of Brereton (or anybody credible) coming out and saying otherwise, I don't think there's much more to it than that. I could be wrong, but I don't think there's any real evidence to support the narrative that Rovers' fans made him cry and wrecked his confidence.

I think captains/leaders make themselves known on the pitch whether they have the armband or not. Sammie certainly isn't shy about letting his team mates know what he's thinking!

I think it's all based on that one match where his substitution was greeted with ironic cheers, after he'd had a particularly poor game. There was then a report that came out claiming he was seen crying on the bench - which was a total fabrication. Unfortunately when it comes to misinformation being spread people tend to remember the first thing they read, as opposed to the future fact-checking proving it to be nonsense.

Paul Cook another one who struggled without his long-time assistant. Now managing in the National League.

Just have to hope he comes through the international break unscathed, and his inclusion in the national team spurs him on to continue his excellent form for us thus far.

Venky's valuation was purely based on Brereton's goal return across the two previous seasons. I imagine other clubs were a bit more detailed in their approach and saw the significant flaws in his game alongside the goals being scored, hence never submitting a bid close to Venky's valuation. There doesn't even seem to have been much of a bidding war for him as a free agent, I only really remember Villareal being seriously linked. I have to admit I thought there'd be more interest. Maybe there was and it just wasn't reported. But Villareal seemed to be a done deal from the later months of last year.

Seems from the statement put out that the Americans want more 'entertaining' football for their new 'brand'. Good luck with that. Easy to say they want "no fear" football from a position of 6th having only lost three matches so far this season and with the joint second best defensive record in the league. They might not be feeling so fearless if they end up plunging down the table, entertainingly losing on a regular basis. I suppose we'll see. It's a big gamble.

The time to sell him was the summer before his contract expired. If he wasn't going to sign a new one then move him on for a reasonable fee (even if it's a slight loss in the end) and use that money to strengthen the team as a whole, ensuring that the goals are more evenly spread out across the team, as opposed to the single focal point for goals that we'd had in Arma and BBD. The only way I'd accept him not being sold in this instance would be if he was steadfast against moving to any of the teams who put in an offer, as at this point we'd have our hands tied, but from what we know it was just that Venky's wouldn't budge from whatever the asking price was - reportedly £15m - £20m. As far as I'm aware he never got the chance to say whether he'd enter talks with another team or not, as no bid was deemed acceptable. I think part of playing the transfer game well is both ensuring sales are done at an opportune time, and also understanding whether a player is just hitting purple patches or genuinely very good. If it's the former then you need to sell at the peak, or close enough to, if it's the latter then you might wait longer. Not saying this is easy at all, but it's what separates clubs that do this well and clubs that don't. You also obviously need to have a proper structure in place in terms of budget, reinvestment and a scouting and recruitment team ready to deliver the moment an important player is sold. Goes without saying we didn't have any of that either.

That works on the assumption that if he wasn't on the pitch nobody else would have scored instead, which is impossible to know. Granted it's unlikely given the paucity of genuinely potent attacking options we've had over the past couple of seasons, but still, the fact remains that a three goal return from November 5th to May 1st is very poor. Even if we assume that his absence means nobody else scores and so we lose every one of the points his goals gained us, we still don't get relegated, albeit we finish much lower in the division. Just a couple of goals from January onwards, however, would have seen us sneak a playoff place (again working on the assumption that the games otherwise remain exactly the same). I think any attacking player with such a meagre return over a sustained period of time would hold their hands up and say it isn't good enough, regardless of what had happened beforehand. Losing a player who scores upwards of 10 goals per season is obviously a blow, but we shouldn't have needed to spend £7m for that. Some time back I looked through the list of scorers higher than BBD and I think every one of them either cost significantly less or was bought when the team in question were in the PL, so not directly comparable. If we'd been given anything close to a decent transfer budget by Venky's I think his goals could have been replaced, albeit with a bit more spread out across the team - which isn't a bad thing - but losing him for nothing and then having the budget slashed to basically nothing was always going to make things difficult. I don't discount the contribution BBD made for us in terms of his goals, but neither am I surprised he's struggling at a higher level. I didn't buy the idea of him downing tools in the second half of last season, I just think he's a confidence player who really struggles when it's not happening for him.

It was a stupid deal from the beginning. Overpriced and unnecessary for a club in our position. I'd go as far as to say complete madness from all involved at Rovers end. We obviously should have taken whatever we could get for him at the end, even if it ended up being a small loss, but our owners decided otherwise. The money probably would have ended up in a black hole anyway, so as far as the club is concerned it's probably irrelevent in the end. As far as bursts of goals, he only scored five after November 5th, with two of those coming in the final game of the season when we had all but thrown our playoff chances away. No assists after Jan 1 either, so wasn't even contributing in that way. There was a suggestion he had downed tools, knowing he was leaving, but I just don't think he was good enough to be consistent for an entire season. That's why he was plying his trade with us rather than at a higher level, as Villareal are seemingly finding out now.

I wonder if the recent wave of bad publicity has caused the VAR teams to be more cautious in terms of stepping in. It obviously shouldn't, as the point of VAR is to consistently apply the laws of the game in whatever manner has been decreed as necessary.

Not sure £8m would have been a profit when factoring in signing on fee, agent fee, bonuses and such... likely closer to break even or a loss. At best a very small profit. Realistically we needed his value to be at least a few million higher than we paid for him, but oh well. We got two decent 4 month spells out of him, not that it got us anywhere in the end, and he disappeared completely when it mattered at the end of last season.

Yes, would much rather see opposition fans and managers crying about how "awful" we are after smashing them, than getting empty platitudes after valiantly losing.

As I said, most of the shots were no-hopers so it didn't matter yesterday, but our goals conceded column shows it has mattered against better teams. Even Rotherham, who are worse than QPR this season, put a couple past us. It was fantastic to keep a clean sheet yesterday and there's nothing to complain about as far as the result or overall performance is concerned. Just a minor concern.

The only thing that concerned me yesterday was the amount of shots QPR had at our goal - 21. Now obviously QPR weren't very good and quite a few of those shots were no-hopers anyway, but we need to try and reduce the amount of shots teams have at our goal, as we've seen better teams have been punishing us for that.

Only Watford on the opening day have put four past QPR, and Leeds only managed one in QPR's last match, so we shouldn't sell ourselves short. It was an impressive display of goalscoring today and exactly what we needed to boost morale at a time when it could have started dropping after repeated defeats.

Friday night's result saw Birmingham continue to bounce back from their recent poor run of form, as they beat WBA 3-1 at home to record their second win in a row. Albion had been on a decent little run having not lost in four and won their last two, but this match was a bump back down to Earth - even moreso after today's results as they fall from 5th all the way down to 11th. Birmingham meanwhile creep back into the playoffs in 6th spot, having improved their goals scored and maintaining a fairly solid defence. Sunderland's recent good form counted for little as they found themselves heavily beaten 4-0 at the Stadium of Light in the Teeside derby. Old Tone watched on as his boyhood club ran rampant, recording their largest ever win against Sunderland. The game was goalless at half time, but a sending off for a second bookable offence (dissention) for Dan Neil gave Boro the impetus to push on in the second half, and did they ever take the initiative. Post-Match Mowbray suggested that 'gesticulating' at the ref should not result in a booking/sending off. Nonetheless, the result doesn't do Sunderland too much immediate harm as they remain in 4th place, although the result has put a bit of a dent in their goal difference - which still stands at a decent +8. Boro fans must feel like they're watching a rerun of last season, as their team storms up the table after a dismal start to the season. It was Boro's fourth win in a row and they now haven't lost in five matches, with their last defeat being to the mighty Rovers. They are now 16th. Watford's run of defeats came to an end as they battled for a point away to Cardiff, with the match ending one a piece in an evenly contested contest. Despite this Watford are still without a win in five, and have only taken three points from two matches this season. They are now 20th. Cardiff sit in 8th, having picked up two points from the last six available. Draw specialists Coventry once again found themselves sharing the points, this time at home with a 1-1 draw against Norwich. It's their sixth draw of the season and the highest amount of draws in the division. They'll likely take this point gratefully though, as it was an 88th minute own goal that saved them from a narrow defeat. Coventry remain in 13th and Norwich in 7th. Preston's nightmare run of form continued in earnest as Ipswich handed them a 4-2 defeat at Portman Road. It means Preston have now conceded eleven goals in their last three matches, decimating their goal dfference and leaving them on -2. The fact they somehow still remain in third, with a single point from the last twelve available, is a testament to how inconsistent the teams in this league not called Leciester or Ipswich have been and continue to be. Ipswich are now eight points clear of Preston in third, are the top scorers in the division with 25 goals and have won nine of their first eleven matches. It's a start to the season no Ipswich fan would have dreamed possible, but that's the Championship. As teams like Luton and Brentford have shown in recent years, a sensible plan, a good manager and reasonable owners is all you need to have a good shot at going up. Most clubs in the division fail on at least one of these, and often all three, making the division wide open every season. Leeds secured their second win in a row with a 2-1 victory over Bristol City at Elland Road. It's their third win in four matches and lifts them to 5th in the table, just a point behind Preston in 3rd. One imagines Leeds will ultimately be the team that is likely to really put pressure on Ipswich, although there's a hefty gap of nine points between the two sides at present. As Rovers fans know all too well though, a gap like that can vanish surprisingly quickly when the team hits a sticky patch. Despite a win last time out, this result means Bristol City have lost three of their last four matches and slip to 14th in the table. Leicester picked up their tenth win in eleven matches, with a 2-0 home win against Stoke City team who rarely troubled them. The result keeps Leicester top of the division, two points ahead of second placed Ipswich and ten ahead of third placed Preston. It was a sixth win in a row for Leicester, who look set to bounce back to the PL with ease at the first time of asking. For Stoke it's now three defeats in four, and they sink to 21st, two points clear of QPR in 22nd. Despite being 2-1 ahead, Hull were unable to secure maximum points at the Den, having to settle for a 2-2 draw against Millwall. Hull's recent poor form, with only a single win in their last five matches, has them falling further down to 9th in the league. Millwall's form remains erratic, and they sit in 15th. Despite taking an early lead, Plymouth ultimately fell to a 3-1 home defeat against a resurgent Swansea City side. It was the Swans fourth win in a row, and they haven't been defeated in five matches. Their good form has pushed them from the depths of the league into a secure 12th place. Four points from the last fifteen available has seen Plymouth drop to 18th in the standings. Rovers broke out of their recent slump in style as we hammered QPR 4-0 at Loftus Road. The stats make for dismal reading if you're a Rangers fan, and I'm not just talking about this match. One win in twenty home games. Failure to score in 50% of games so far this season. Since Ainsworth took over they've failed to score in 11 out of 25 games and from those 25 games have a goal difference of -28, with just 18 scored and 46 conceded. Basically, QPR are in major trouble and have to be considered massive candidates for the drop unless something changes very quickly. Rovers, so often hospitable to those on horrendous runs of form, were merciless today and piled on the misery in emphatic fashion. It ends a run of four straight defeats for Rovers, lifting us to 17th in the table. A clean sheet also helps our goal difference, taking us from -8 to -4. QPR meanwhile remain second worst attackers in the division with just eight goals scored, and have only collected two points from the last eighteen available. Sheffield Wednesday's winless start to the season continued as they drew 0-0 with former boss Darren Moore's Huddersfield at Hillsborough. The result underscores Wednesday's inability to put the ball in the net, as they have still only managed five goals this season and remain the least potent attacking force in the Championship. This result takes them to three points for the season overall, seven behind Stoke in 21st. Huddersfield were similarly toothless up front today, not managing a single shot on target. Moore remains winless since his appointment, with Huddersield having drawn four of their last five matches, losing the other. The result leaves them in 19th. Southampton will be hugely disappointed to have been held to a 1-1 draw at St. Mary's by a Rotherham side who picked up their first away point of the season. Despite dominating the match with 22 shots, 10 on target, the Saints were unable to make the pressure count and will be left to rue the chances they missed. Rotherham meanwhile will be thankful to have escaped with a point. The draw leaves Southampton in 10th position, a point behind Birmingham in 6th, whilst Rotherham remain in 23rd with the worst defence in the division and a solitary win to their name after eleven matches.

No complaints from me. Fantastic result and a clean sheet.