The international break was made to feel even more laborious as the decision to appoint Nigel Pearson as Sven-Goran Eriksson’s permanent replacement at Leicester City seemed to take forever. Understandably Hull didn’t want to lose their manager on the cheap, especially to the club he left before joining the Tigers in the summer of 2010. Eventually though, it did happen, and Pearson made a superb start in his new role with a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon. Two excellent strikes from Paul Gallagher, who Pearson brought to the club in his first spell in charge, made for an ideal start to his second stint in the East Midlands.
The manner of the win is an encouraging one and some of that could be down to the well discussed notion of ‘New Manager Syndrome.’ Although it’s too early to declare Pearson the saviour that will lead the Foxes to The Premier League, his management style is very different to that of Eriksson’s, perhaps part of the reason he was given the job. He builds his teams around a philosophy of keeping things tight at the back and a notable change to a much more rigid 4-4-2 was evident against a Palace side – who play much of their football on the counter attack, especially away from Selhurst Park – and it paid dividends.
Some Leicester fans have voiced their disappointment at a move away from the cavalier style of Sven’s teams, towards a manager who oversaw the club’s promotion from League One by grinding out results in a much less aesthetically pleasing fashion. The point remains that Pearson guided the club back from the third tier at the first attempt. The 48-year-old has a great record in the Championship, only leaving Leicester the first time because he felt his position had become untenable as Paolo Sousa sat in the stands at the play-off semi-final game against Cardiff City.
He may not be the most exciting appointment amid rumours of a return of Martin O’Neill, or a high profile name such as Rafa Benitez or Mark Hughes, but Pearson knows how to manage at this level. Under his management Jack Hobbs became one of the most promising young centre backs around but was marginalised under Sven’s regime and followed Pearson to Hull after several big names were brought in. I for one can’t wait to see how Matt Mills develops under his stewardship; his partnership with Sol Bamba at the centre of defence will be the cornerstone to any potential play-off challenge this season.
The tools are there for Leicester to be in and around the promotion places in May. Pearson has got a more talented squad at his disposal than that of 2008 and after just one win City now sit just two points off sixth place. He will be under no illusions that the brief for the season remains the same, despite a somewhat slow start, particularly after losing three of the last four games before the former manager’s return. But as everyone knows, the Championship is one of the most unpredictable leagues around, if the new man can get the best out of the expensive acquisitions who the club brought in to chase the dream of Premier League football there is no reason that it couldn’t be a reality in a few months’ time. For now though, I’ll settle for watching Paul Gallagher’s goals on repeat….
Written by Jim Knight, We Are Going Up’s Leicester City blogger
Over the last few weeks, Huddersfield Town fans have endured media and press reports linking manager Lee Clark with the managerial vacancy at Leicester City. Thankfully, nothing came of it and Clark remains at The Galpharm. However stories are now emerging linking Scottish international striker Jordan Rhodes with a move away from the club. While on one hand it is nice to have other clubs covet Town players and the manager as it shows they are doing something right, it isn’t half annoying!
Lee Clark has recently said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph that he had talks with Leicester City, but opted to stay at Huddersfield as he has unfinished business. He also said that he owed a lot to club owner Dean Hoyle, who could easily have got rid of him after a second failed promotion attempt. Currently, Clark has overseen a phenomenal unbeaten run of forty two regular league games, equalling the great Nottingham Forest side of the late seventies under the legendary Brian Clough. In fact, Clark has delivered a better run, as he has 24 wins and 18 draws, while Forest got 21 wins and 21 draws.
Unbeaten run aside though, it is surprising he was apparently Leicester City’s first choice as Sven’s replacement. He has only been a manager for three years, having been appointed at The Galpharm in December 2008. He has failed to win promotion in his two full seasons in charge and his only real achievement so far is that unbeaten run. Impressive though the run is, does that mean he should be favourite for a club pushing for promotion to the Premier League? Don’t get me wrong, I am a massive Clark fan and hope he stays for years to come, but it did surprise me just how much he was linked with The Foxes.
He definitely made the right decision in terms of his career though. Had he had gone to Leicester and failed to get them promoted, he would undoubtedly have been shown the door, and that could have had a huge detrimental effect on his fledgling managerial career. There is no guarantee that Hoyle will dispense with him if Town don’t achieve promotion.
There is no surprise Jordan Rhodes is being linked with a January move after his recent form and Town fans everywhere will be praying he does not leave. He has recently become a full Scottish international, making his debut as a substitute in their away game to Cyprus last week. He has also become the Under-21′s joint all-time top scorer this season, netting six times.
The big worry about the stories linking Rhodes with a move surround the fee. Certain reports have said he has a release clause in his contract of just £2million. Town have refuted those claims, with Lee Clark telling the Daily Record that amount wouldn’t even buy Rhodes’ socks! It is easy to agree with Clark on that one, Rhodes has to be worth a lot more than that fee, especially if he scores the goals to fire Town into the Championship. Ironically, perhaps both manager and player’s futures at Huddersfield depend on the goals Rhodes scores between now and the end of the season.
Written by James Bartaby, We Are Going Up’s Huddersfield Town blogger
Imagine: You have a good job. You enjoy it and perform admirably. But then you fall out with the boss, and despite still doing well, you feel you have to leave.
You get a new job, do well again and enjoy it, but nonetheless feel a bit disappointed that the disagreements with the boss meant you’d left the last one. It niggles. The new job is fine but it’s not quite the same, it’s not quite home.
Then your old company is taken over, a new boss comes in and decides he wants you back. Your old job on double the money. What would you do?
You would do exactly what Nigel Pearson has done this week. You might kid yourself and say you would stick with your new employer, it’s not about the money, you are loyal to those you work for, but you would still go. You know you would.
While Pearson’s immediate future remains in doubt as Leicester City stall over paying appropriate compensation to take their former manager back to the King Power Stadium, it seems almost implausible that he could ever return to East Yorkshire should those talks in the Midlands fail. I fully expect he will be installed at the King Power Stadium within the next few days.
Some Leicester fans on Twitter and in the forums have taken great pleasure in goading the Tigers supporters over Pearson’s choice. I’m not sure why.
Having seen a former England manager spend millions of pounds on their team and “fail” to such an extent that he lost his job, you might think most of them would be sufficiently embarrassed about the need to crawl back to their former boss that they would keep their mouths shut and wait until their fortunes improve.
In another 18 months or two years they will be the ones mocked when Pearson ditches them for a richer club in a higher division. It will happen.
Still, there’s nothing as fickle as football fans, as Hull City supporters have also shown this week.
A fortnight ago the Tigers were unbeaten in nine games, sitting pretty in the play-offs and dreaming of a promotion push under Pearson.
The volley of abuse aimed at him – indirectly – on Twitter and other forums in the past few days has been a little embarrassing. This was the guy who arguably saved City from a quite likely relegation -which would have been half of a double relegation – and turned the side around completely to such a degree they became potential play-off hopefuls. What did he get for it? Idiots on phone-ins calling for his head after two defeats in three months.
He inherited a squad overloaded with over-paid underachievers, unwilling and unable to put in the performances on the pitch or make the decisions off it that were needed to help the club at a time of dire financial burden.
He leaves a squad loaded with young, hungry players, full of desire to make careers for themselves at the top level, prepared to bust a gut on the field and work as a unit to climb the table. And he did all that with a bit of nous, some decent contacts and not a lot of money.
I’m sorry to see him go, but I’ll lose no sleep. It’ll be more concerning if he returns in January with his multi-million pound kitty and attempts to pilfer away the likes of James Chester, Matty Fryatt and Leroy Rosenior. We can only hope they have a greater degree of true loyalty – although such hopes will no doubt again be dashed. Money talks, simple as that. Any football fan who thinks loyalty counts for more than money is a fool.
Where City go from here remains to be seen. There are plenty of options; some good, some bad, some ugly. Sorry, no more Iain Dowie jokes!
Hull could do a lot worse than Dave Jones, an admirable man both in football terms and in life generally. Steve McClaren, derided up and down the country, may do very well at a club he used to play for and in a city where his in-laws live. However the suggestion from owners the Allams that they want a younger man in charge seems to rule out those two experienced heads.
Warren Joyce combined with veteran player Nick Barmby may create an ideal coaching combo, given how many current Hull players trained under the club’s former manager at Manchester United’s Carrington training complex. Joyce seems to be the favourite and might be a good way of persuading the former United youngsters to stick it out at the KC. The problem is whether he would leave a cushy job at one of the biggest clubs in the world to return to Hull – where it took more than a decade for him to receive the praise he deserved for saving the club from dropping into non-league football.
Time will tell. Until then we should simply say thank you and good luck to Nigel Pearson. I’m grateful for what he did for Hull City and that’s pretty much it. No man is bigger than the club. Peter Taylor wasn’t, Phil Brown wasn’t and Nigel Pearson isn’t.
The king is dead, long live the (soon-to-be-appointed) king.
Written by Marcus Dysch, We Are Going Up’s Hull City blogger
The revolving door of managers at The King Power Stadium keeps on turning, with Sven Goran-Eriksson the latest boss failing to live up to expectations. The decision raised a few eyebrows amongst those in the media, Leicester may be in a rather disappointing 13th position but are still only two points off the play off places and just five off the automatic spots. The decision certainly took me by surprise, I felt although the defeat against Millwall was nothing short of an embarrassment, that Sven would get at least another five or six games to prove he was the man for the job, clearly the powers that be did not share that opinion.
Although my initial reaction was that the decision was wrong, there is a degree of logic making the managerial change so early into the season. Although anything can happen in this division, the longer Sven had to impart his wisdom upon the players, the longer they would be moulded into his style and consequently, the more difficult that would be to change. As I eluded to in my previous blog, the group of players that have been brought in are still fairly new and if a new manager does come in then he will have time to work with them and ensure there is still a good chance of a successful campaign.
There are several big name managers being touted for the job, the parallels between Mark Hughes and replacing Sven at a club with Thai owners are a little eerie but it is a Leicester legend that is the name on many people’s lips. The word legend is overused in football, but Martin O’Neill is held in such high regard by City fans I think it’s warranted when referring to him. I’d love him to make a return, he was in charge when I first started following the Foxes and the memory of him leading the club to Worthington Cup success in 2000 is still the best day of my life to date.
I wholeheartedly believe he would lead the Foxes into the Premier League if he had the chance to work with the talented squad that has already been assembled. That said, there is a pang of doubt that I just can’t shake, it would be such a shame if he was to taint the great memories that the fans have got from his first tenure in charge.
The bookmakers seem convinced, he’s been slashed from 3/1 into 2/5 for the job, but bookies have been wrong before, William Hill stopped taking bets on Roy Keane returning to Forest a few weeks back as they were convinced it was a sure thing. Above all, I just want to see the club in good hands, whether the next foolhardy candidate to step up can provide that, it remains to be seen, one things for sure, life as a Leicester fan is never dull.
Written by Jim Knight, We Are Going Up podcast member and Leicester City blogger
Yes, you read that right – Millwall have indeed won a game! It wasn’t your quintessential scruffy 1-0 smash and grab either, far from it. The result was well and truly deserved, and the performance was sublime – Millwall hadn’t won away all season, and hadn’t tasted victory since beating Nottingham Forest 2-0 at the Den on August 13th.
It is The Lions’ second win of the season, coincidently they have both come against former two England managers!
A hard fought point away to Middlesbrough and a point at home to Brighton were decent results against high flying opposition after the international break. A corner had seemingly been turned. If only slightly.After these matches it was a trip to big spending Leicester City on Saturday with even the most optimistic Lions fan struggling to see points to be gained, the eventual outcome was even harder to fathom. Prior to kick-off hearing the announcer name the Leicester starting eleven, most Lions fans questioned if their side would even get a point, but money cannot buy you everything!
A Darius Henderson hat-trick (I’m not making this up) was the icing on the cake in what was a perfect performance, the big target man got his first from the spot, and his second came just before halftime.
The second was crucial, going in at the break only one goal up would have been great, doubling the lead was deserved and needed. Leicester would have come out stronger in the second period had they been trailing by the one goal, and maybe pegged Millwall back. The second was an insurance.
A 2-0 lead isn’t a safe scoreline by any means, so when Liam Feeney’s 68th minute corner was headed in by Henderson to make it three and complete his treble, the game was safe.
To a man, Millwall performed like their nickname. Solid in defence, creative in midfield and clinical up front.
Compare that to the lacklustre performance from Sven’s men, and you would have thought the two teams were in the opposite situation.Leicester did assert pressure and press at 2-0 down, but the Millwall defence was impenetrable. £35,000-a-week man, Jermaine Beckford was subbed off at half time after, like he was for Leeds, non-existent against Millwall. Lloyd Dyer came on in his place and made more of an impact, but it wasn’ the Foxes’ day.
If Kenny Jackett is reading this (big fan! Keep it up!) signing Brian Howard on a permanent basis is key. He has calmness in abundance and is very creative on the ball, his experience is something the midfield have lacked this season. Against Leicester he won the penalty and dictated the direction of Millwall’s attack, he would certainly be a great addition to the squad.
Performance aside, the surprise of the day was the forgotten man, Jack Smith. All Millwall fans know how good the defender is, and barring the injuries he has had, should be a first team regular. After today’s performance, I think that will be the case. A right-back by trade and even an auxiliary centre-back, Smith found himself at left-back but played admirably. This has been somewhat of a problem position for Kenny Jackett this season, playing Tony Craig, Jordan Stewart and most recently Scott Barron in the position. In all honesty none have impressed, until today.
Smith was coolness personified on the ball all afternoon, bringing it out from the back with composure. Solid in defence and showed purpose to get forward, he was arguably Millwall’s best full back who did his chances the world of good in what was a vintage performance. He plays so nonchalantly and I feel he is underrated.
Nothing was going to get past Millwall at the King Power stadium, it was the day of the underdog.
The win was long overdue and it was a performance to be proud of.
Leicester have the money, but that can’t buy team spirit and togetherness. A side of individuals or a crafted team? I know which I’d prefer!
In KJ we trust!
Written by Jay Taylor, We Are Going Up’s Millwall blogger
On a recent podcast I was asked: “8th position in the league, surely you’re not happy with that?”; While many teams in The Championship would be delighted with this start to the season, it is a sign of the times that the media, fans of other clubs and even certain Leicester fans feel we should be disappointed. The vast number of high profile acquisitions over the summer made it hard to argue against the bookmakers making Leicester favourites for promotion but the squad struggled initially. Not to a Nottingham Forest level but disappointing results against Reading and particularly Bristol City brought out the doubters in the early going. The Birmingham City result on Sunday didn’t help either, but it was one of those days, we weren’t at the races and got put to the sword by a good team.
An important fact to remember at this juncture is that many of the new players had barely any time to play together; it’s not surprising that we lacked cohesion, that defensively we looked a little bit suspect or were caught out from set pieces at the beginning of the season. Things have been looking up in recent weeks though, important wins against high flying teams like Southampton, Brighton and Derby at home have all served to demonstrate the progress that Sven has made over the last couple of months. Defensively we look a lot more solid and before Sunday we had kept four consecutive clean sheets, the quality is there, and over time it should tell.
I spoke with several Leicester fans who thought supporters should be disappointed with 0-0 draws away at Cardiff and Middlesbrough. Why? They are two top teams, both in with a chance of at least a play-off spot and I would take a draw in either of those games away from home. In a league as unpredictable as The Championship is, a little consistency can be the difference between missing out on the play-offs or staving off relegation when others around you are faltering. As much as I’m wasting my breathe (or words in this case) by saying it, it’s way too early to get disheartened with our league position especially when there are promising signs on the horizon.
The fact remains that we’ve beaten several “form teams” when the opportunities have been presented to us. The promise of aesthetically pleasing football is coming through on the pitch and nothing is won until the final ten games of the season, not the first. Having watched a large proportion of the games live this season I’m confident, we may not be battering everyone 5-0 each week but who realistically thought we would?
I’ve come to realise that the doubters will be present at any football club, but the new found wealth at The King Power Stadium has accelerated the rate at which they’ve cast judgement on Leicester City this season. But with a few high profile victories under our belts it’s great to give them a reason to be somewhat muted for a while, even if the murmurs begin after the Birmingham result.
I honestly believe we’ll go up this season; the strength in depth is there to ensure that injuries shouldn’t blight a promotion push enough to de-rail it. After seeing how we play against impressive outfits like Southampton I genuinely think we’ve got what it takes to win the crunch games against those who will be challenging for the automatic and play-off places. The management are doing a fantastic job and we need to let them get on with that, but the point remains, is it too early to dream? Come back to me at Christmas.
Written by Jim Knight - We Are Going Up! Podcast member and Leicester City Blogger
After Peterborough United’s 7-1 demolition job over Ipswich Town on Saturday, it is only fitting that this week’s top ten takes a look at some other big victories in Football League history.
Football is all about putting the ball into the opposition’s net and the vast majority of league fixtures will be settled by a couple of goals at the most. Sometimes there are dull, drab affairs with little goalmouth action, however occasionally there are matches which go against the norm.
Defences go walkabout while attacking sides run riot, having the sort of goal-gluttinous day they can only dream about. One goal quickly turns to two, two to three, three to four…..you get the picture. As one team bangs them in, the other looks on in bemusement and suffers complete embarassment. Such games go down in folklore – for the winning team anyway. Here’s ten memorable games from the Football League where one of the sides involved went goal-crazy:
10: Portsmouth 6 Leicester City 1 2010
Seven games into last season, both Portsmouth and Leicester found themselves nestled at the wrong end of the Championship table. Pompey, under new boss Steve Cotterill, were attempting to rebuild after Premier League relegation months before, amid financial woes which saw Cotterill working with a small, depleted squad. Leicester, having finished in the play-off spots the season before also had a new man in charge, Paolo Sousa, but the Portugese only picked up five points from his first seven matches and it was about to get worse for The Foxes.
Having beaten Pompey in the Carling Cup a few days previously, Leicester stayed on the South Coast ahead of this Friday night fixture, which got off to a bad start as centre-back Michael Morrison handled the ball in the box ten minutes in, Liam Lawrence converting the resulting penalty. Lawrence added a second twelve minutes before the break and as the teams headed off at half-time with the score 2-0, few could have predicted what would happen during the next 45 minutes.
Thirteen minutes into the second half David Nugent’s finish from a tight angle made it 3-0 then the striker turned provider for Dave Kitson, as he set up the former Reading man who netted with a chipped effort. Down to ten men after Migel Vitor rugby-tackled Nugent during the first period, Leicester’s defending went array follwoing Steve Howard’s consolation goal for 4-1. Kitson grabbed his second after the Foxes failed to clear a corner and then Michael Brown went on a sauntering run from midfield before slotting home from an acute angle to make the score 6-1. Leicester were humbled and Sousa was axed not long after with former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson arriving to steer the East Midlanders to mid-table safety come the end of the season.
9: Burnley 2 Sheffield Wednesday 7 2003
This game involved a side already relegated from Division One. Neutrals looking at the scoreline would’ve thought that team were Burnley, instead it was Sheffield Wednesday, doomed to the drop, who would sign off their campaign in the second tier with a thumping victory at Turf Moor.
Paul McLaren opened the scoring for the visitors with a long-range effort which Burnley goalkeeper Nic Michopoulous failed to save. Two minutes later Ashley Westwood added a second with a close-range tap-in from the brilliantly named Brian Barry-Murphy’s left-wing cross. It got worse for the hosts as Ian Moore was sent off on 21 minutes for a cynical challenge on Barry-Murphy.
Defender Richard Wood made it 3-0 to Wednesday, his first senior goal coming as he volleyed home Grant Holt’s header. Burnley manager Stan Ternent hauled off Michopoulous, replacing him with sub-goalie Marlon Beresford. The Clarets pulled one back through a Robbie Blake penalty but the substitution failed to stem the flow of goals. A minute after the break, Richard Evans beat Beresford with a cross-cum-shot from 35 yards before Blake pegged The Owls back again with a left-footed drive.
Chris Turner’s side quickly restored their three goal advantage as Steven Haslam scored from Alan Quinn’s free-kick and within seven minutes they had another. Burnley’s French defender Artur Gnohere put Grant Holt’s cross past his own goalkeeper before Wednesday set the seal on their performance as Quinn hit an excellent 30-yard drive past Beresford for an unexpected 7-2 away win.
8: Oldham Athletic 1 Cardiff City 7 2002
In the 2001/02 season both Oldham Athletic and Cardiff City were gunning for promotion from Division Two and the sides met at Boundary Park in March 2002, where Cardiff sent out a real statement of intent, leaving their hosts stunned.
It was a nightmare return to the Latics for veteran Scottish goalkeeper Andy Goram. He played for the club between 1981 and 1987 and was brought in by boss Mick Wadsworth to resolve a goalkeeping crisis, which he could not solve as he shipped seven goals. Scott Young put the Bluebirds ahead early on before Leo Fortune-West and Peter Thorne gave them a 3-0 lead after just 23 minutes.
Andy Campbell made it four half an hour in before Oldham’s Matty Appleby was sent off making his side’s day even worse. Fortune-West hit the fifth and his second of the afternoon just before half-time and after the break striker Campbell completed his hat-trick, netting in the 64th and 73rd minutes. Stuart Balmer pulled a goal back for Oldham, a mere consolation sixteen minutes from the end which did little to hide the total embarassment his side suffered.
7: Nottingham Forest 7 Swindon Town 1 2006
After Nottingham Forest suffered relegation into League One in 2005 they struggled to adapt to life in the third tier under manager Gary Megson. A series of humbling defeats at the likes of Yeovil and Oldham saw Megson leave by mutual consent in February with the team 13th in the table, four points off relegation. Assistant manager Frank Barlow and coach Ian McParland jointly took charge until the end of the season and resided over an fantastic run which nearly saw the Reds reach the playoffs as they won 8, drew 4 and lost 1 of the pair’s 13 games in charge. The highlight came during their second match in the dugout as the Reds ran riot against Swindon Town.
Nicky Southall bagged a hat-trick as the Reds stuck seven past their visitors at the City Ground, Southall opening the scoring just three minutes in with a half-volley which flew into the top corner. Wes Morgan and Ian Breckin nodded home corners to make the score 3-0 before the half-hour mark. After the break Swindon continued to ship goals as Forest’s passing football and the pace of Nathan Tyson down the left stretched them, Southall heading home his second goal before rifling home from close-range to complete his hat-trick. Morgan scored his second from another corner before Jerel Ifil received his marching orders for Swindon.
Football League journeyman Trevor Benjamin netted a consolation for The Robins, but Forest finished off the rout as Jack Lester’s deflected effort looped into the net to complete a memorable afternoon’s football for the Reds.
6: Preston North End 6 Cardiff City 0 2009
Two teams hoping to secure Championship play-off spots met at Deepdale in April 2009 and while the result may not have instantly affected Cardiff’s chances of a top-six finish, come the end of the season they would go on to rue their heavy defeat.
Neil Mellor opened the scoring on 17 minutes as his strike deflected into the net off Cardiff defender Roger Johnson then made it two on 41 as he got the final touch to another deflected effort, this time from captain Paul McKenna. Billy Jones then conceded a penalty, offering the Bluebirds a chance to get back into the game, but Ross McCormack saw his spot-kick superbly saved by Andy Lonergan.
In the second half Jon Parkin made it 3-0 as he raced onto Mellor’s pass and slotted a composed finish beyond the on-rushing Stuart Taylor and Mellor contributed to Preston’s fourth as his cross was headed into his own net by Mark Kennedy. Mellor was soon replaced but the goals kept coming as sub Chris Brown headed a fifth with fifteen minutes to go and Lee Williamson completed the scoring, making it a 6-0 thrashing four minutes from the end.
On the final day of the season Preston beat QPR 2-1 while Cardiff lost 1-0 against Sheffield Wednesday leaving the two sides level on points and a goal difference each of +12. By virtue of goals scored it was Preston who occupied the final play-off place having scored 66 goals to Cardiff’s 65 – an agonising near miss from Dave Jones’ men courtesy of that 6-0 defeat.
5: Millwall 1 Watford 6 2010
Newly-promoted Millwall went into this Championship encounter against Watford proudly defending a ten month unbeaten record at home. Ironic then that their defenders went missing as the Hornets racked up an unexpected five-goal win at the New Den in September last year.
John Eustace bundled home Don Cowie’s corner after seven minutes to give Watford the lead, which Jordon Mutch extended six minutes later, lashing the ball into the back of David Forde’s net after seeing his first effort blocked. Marvin Sordell’s left-footed effort rolled over the line two minutes into first-half stoppage time leaving Millwall 3-0 down at the break.
Nine minutes after the restart another Cowie corner was not dealt with by the Lions and Adrian Mariappa took advantage, heading Watford into a four goal lead. Liam Trotter reduced it to three two minutes later but that was as good as it got for the hosts, Danny Graham rifling a powerful finish into the top corner to restore the four goal cushion for Malky Mackay’s side. They got a sixth in added time as Martin Taylor directed a header low into the bottom corner to compound Millwall’s misery.
4: Peterborough United 7 Ipswich Town 1 2011
Darren Ferguson returned to London Road midway through last season and steered them to promotion via the League One play-offs. He’s done it before in 2009 but as was well-publicised, he left the club a few games into the Championship season which saw Posh relegated amid a host of managerial changes. You sense the club has learned from that experience, Ferguson too from his unsuccessful time as Preston boss and all parties are better for it now. At the weekend they hosted Paul Jewell’s Ipswich Town and blew them away with a performance which has made the rest of the league sit up and take notice. The loss of 35-goal man Craig Mackail-Smith to Brighton left some fearing whether Posh would have the firepower to compete in the second tier but with Paul Taylor, Lee Tomlin, and Grant McCann finding the net they have goals in the team. It was the visitors who went in front though as midfielder Keith Andrews slammed a 25-yard effort in off the post. Paul Taylor levelled with a fine volley from the edge of the area and Tomlin made it 2-1, chesting down a lofted ball forward, skillfully turning away from his marker and hitting an excellent shot into the far top corner. Taylor then pounced on a loose ball and sprinted away from the Ipswich defenders before slotting a composed finish past goalkeeper David Stockdale. Soon it was 4-1 as Tomlin grabbed his second, running onto McCann’s superb through ball and cooly rolling the ball through the ‘keeper’s legs.
Ipswich winger Lee Martin then saw red for a rash challenge on Mark Little and the controversial decisions continued as, 71 seconds after the break, Town subsitute Tommy Smith was sent off for bringing down Tomlin in the D, outside the penalty area. Despite that, the referee gave a penalty which McCann stepped up and scored with applom. Ten minutes after the break it was six as Lee Frecklington’s low cross was converted, via a deflection, by McCann for his second. In injury time the impressive Tomlin completed his hat-trick, following up on his cleared effort to make it 7-1, leaving Ipswich boss Paul Jewell reflecting on what he called an ‘embarassing’ defeat.
3: Hartlepool United 1 Plymouth Argyle 8 1994
This Third Division clash in May 1994 saw a relegated side host a promoted one and the gulf in class was easy to see, Plymouth Argyle thrashing United as they looked forward to a place in the third tier. Dwight Marshall set the visitors on their way with a 29th minute strike and Steve McCall added a second ten minutes later. Richard Landon and Paul Dalton made it 4-0 at half-time and there was no let-up after the break as Landon hit number 5. Steve Castle added yet another goal before Hartlepool midfielder Nicky Peverell grabbed a consolation effort with 20 minutes remaining. Landon completed his hat-trick on 77 minutes to restore Argyle’s six goal advantage and midfielder Paul Dalton completed the scoring with a minute to go, as the Devon side racked up a remarkable 8-1 away win.
2: Crewe Alexandra 8 Cheltenham Town 1 2010
One of the stand-out performances in the Football League last year came at the Alexandra Stadium as Crewe Alexandra decimated visitors Cheltenham, hitting eight goals as they chased a play-off place.
Clayton Donaldson opened the scoring for the hosts four minutes in, slotting home from Shaun Miller’s pass. The latter then added the second as he tapped in from Danny Shelley’s pass before Shelley laid on the third for Donaldson. Joel Grant made it four just before half-time and Cheltenham pulled one back after the break, Wesley Thomas with a close-range finish. Alexandra midfielder Ashley Westwood scored his side’s fifth as he converted Matt Tootle’s cross and Donaldson completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Steve Elliott handled in the area. Grant scored his second with a tap in and got his own treble with two minutes remaining as he netted Crewe’s second penalty of the match, awarded following a trip on Donaldson in the area. It would be a long trip home south for the travelling Cheltenham fans.
1: Norwich City 1 Colchester United 7 2009
As Norwich City began life in the third tier for the first time in half a century, no one could have predicted their opening day result at home to Colchester United as the visitors secured a memorable 7-1 victory in front of a stunned Carrow Road.
Kevin Lisbie gave the U’s the lead after ten minutes, Clive Platt netted twice, David Fox netted from a free-kick and Lisbie found the net again as Norwich were 5-0 down within 38 minutes. Cody McDonald netted for the Canaries after the break but David Perkins’ volley and Scott Vernon’s close-range finish made it 7-1 to the visitors – a fantastic performance from Paul Lambert’s side inflicting Norwich’s heaviest home defeat in their 109 year history.
Norwich sacked manager Bryan Gunn within a week of the thrashing and turned to the man who masterminded it, Lambert being appointed the new boss at Carrow Road. He galvanised the team and led them to promotion as Champions, before embarking on a memorable season the following campaign as the Canaries finished 2nd in the Championship to secure Premier League football for the first time since 2005.
Written by Steven Toplis, We Are Going Up blogger
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As a Leicester City fan over the last 15 years or so, I’ve been party to some great successes following my club. The last gasp goal by Steve Claridge against Palace, the glory days under Martin O’Neill and particularly The Worthington Cup win against Tranmere in 2000 are all highlights. More recently though, the club has moved in a distinctly different direction. The takeover by Thai based consortium Asian Football Investments in 2010 and the subsequent arrival of Sven Goran Eriksson brought about a tangible sense of hope, almost expectation, amongst fans that I for one, have never previously experienced. Under Martin O’Neill we were plucky underdogs, a relatively small squad assembled on a comparatively tight budget battling resiliently against England’s elite. Now though, the resources available are much more expansive and thus, the pressure is ratcheted up another notch, it’s a situation that I have struggled to come to terms with thus far.
Last season’s acquisitions often fell into two distinct categories; the big names (and wages) of players like Yakubu and Ricardo joined highly rated loanee prospects such as Kyle Naughton, Patrick van Aanholt and Ben Mee to form a squad which always seemed to lack a little cohesion. This time around though, something around the newly christened King Power Stadium appears to have changed. Amid the inevitable paper talk of Owen Hargreaves and Emile Heskey’s imminent arrivals are a crop of players which seemingly hand-picked to forge a promotion challenge and attempt to get out of what is, in reality, a difficult league to escape. The likes of Sean St Ledger, Neil Danns and David Nugent have all been brought in to bolster the Championship experience within the squad and ensure there are no surprises in what to expect from the next 46 games.
The move away from an over reliance on loan players in the run up to this season is somewhat of a double edged sword, on the plus side, you do not have the instability and lack of consistency that is borne from having a back four made up entirely of loan signings. That said, the class of players like Naughton and Miguel Vitor did, at times, delighted the on-looking support even if they knew it was only ever going to be a temporary arrangement. Naughton in particular oozed class and even chipped in with some sublime finishes during a fantastic spell in the Midlands. In hindsight, this tendency to beg and borrow players from big name clubs was a result of Eriksson not having a pre-season with which to shape his squad and the ability to use his extensive contacts at clubs like Manchester City to gain the services of some of their expansive youth set-up. I for one, was concerned that it might continue that way this time around.
On the whole though, this season is shaping up to be a lot different, there is a reluctance to go down the well-trodden route of a big marquee signing, instead opting for a solid group of individuals who have proven records at this level and will be able to cope with the rigours of England’s second tier. The reported initial fee of around £4.5million for Matthew Mills who arrived from Reading in early July did set alarm bells ringing for me personally, as the fee could rise to a new club record, a scary prospect considering we are no longer operating in the top division. In reality though, he is one of the best defenders outside the Premier League and players of his calibre don’t come cheap. I still feel we paid a little over the odds for him but in the days of astronomical transfer fees, a club who others know have the resources to pay such sums must accept that they lose some bargaining power in any potential deals. Sven has also brought in an disproportionate amount of midfielders, even as I have been writing this blog, two more arrivals in the form of Michael Ball and Gelson Fernandes have been added to what is a well packed midfield. Perhaps the Swede thinks he can convince the new owners to turn the King Power Stadium into a giant table football arena.
Pre-season has been encouraging, playing top level opposition such as Bursaspor and Valencia will no doubt have a positive impact upon the squad. Add to that the spectacle of a visit from Real Madrid and there is a real buzz around the club. Without doubt there is an air of expectation, but the reluctance of Eriksson to follow the Harlem Globetrotter route of transfer policy and instead opting for proven records and experience is an encouraging sign. It’s difficult for me as a fan to make an honest assessment of our chances without the rose tinted spectacles playing a part. Of course I think we’ll do well, but then I always do, regardless of circumstance. I just hope that this year the weight of expectation is met with the performances and results to match. One thing is for certain; all the tools are in place for a return to The Premier League to become a reality but are still 23 other teams who will do everything in their power to stop us.
Written by Jim Knight - We Are Going Up! Podcast member and Leicester City Blogger
The international break was made to feel even more laborious as the decision to appoint Nigel Pearson as Sven-Goran Eriksson’s permanent replacement at Leicester City seemed to take forever. Understandably Hull didn’t want to lose their manager on the cheap, especially to the club he left before joining the Tigers in the summer of 2010. Eventually though, it did happen, and Pearson made a superb start in his new role with a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon. Two excellent strikes from Paul Gallagher, who Pearson brought to the club in his first spell in charge, made for an ideal start to his second stint in the East Midlands.
