It'd been a fun week at Leeds. It looks as though the takeover is all but done but then, wait, Ken Bates is remaining as chairman until the end of the season and then becoming president. No wonder Leeds fans are sceptical about what's happening.
What happened on Saturday, however, is they ended a run of seven games without a win by beating Crystal Palace who hadn't lost in 14 games. It was hardly the home banker but they won through with goals from Luciano Becchio and Paul Green.
If that result was a surprise then Middlesbrough's home defeat to Bristol City was the shock, the result that had many tearing up their losing coupons on Saturday night. Middlesbrough's only home defeat had come against Leicester in September and Bristol City, struggling at the bottom, were without a win since mid-September and the draw against Blackpool the previous week had ended a run of seven straight defeats.
As the fog descended on the Riverside it all went wrong for Middlesbrough. At 1-1 they thought they'd scored again only for the assistant referee not to be able to see through the fog as it crossed the line.
Manager Tony Mowbray was disappointed but said: "Things just didn't go to plan, but you can't over analyse it. We are still in the top six and there are still plenty of games to play."
Joining them in the top six are Millwall. When they played us on the last Saturday in September their late goal from Darius Henderson rescued them a point and ensured they didn't suffer a fourth successive defeat.
That was the start of a run of eleven games, six won and one drawn, that have seen them surge up the table. They were 21st in the table both before and after that game at Burnley. They are now sixth and have displaced Blackburn in the play off positions having beaten them at Ewood Park on Saturday. They won it with two good strikes from outside the box through Chris Wood and James Henry.
It's left Blackburn in ninth place but the other two North West clubs, Blackpool and Bolton, are both below us. Blackpool, whose players are just about getting used to having to train again, got a third successive draw at home to Watford and Bolton also drew, their point coming at Brighton.
It was a somewhat fortunate point too. Brighton missed a penalty and hit the woodwork three times and then saw David Ngog rescue a point with a goal deep into stoppage time. Bolton boss Dougie Freedman described Brighton's performance as wonderful but said his players dug in. Maybe Mr Freedman isn't yet aware that he's taken over a squad where all the dirty work has been done and they are ready for a return to the Premier League. That should augur well for the future.
There's another full programme this midweek with eleven games tomorrow and an interesting encounter at Ewood Park on Wednesday. Those fixtures can be found below the results and usual stats after the weekend fixtures.
The Results Saturday 24th November Barnsley 1 Cardiff City 2 Hull City 0 Burnley 1 Blackburn Rovers 0 Millwall 2 Ipswich Town 1 Peterborough United 1 Blackpool 2 Watford 2 Leeds United 2 Crystal Palace 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 1 Bolton Wanderers 1 Middlesbrough 1 Bristol City 3 Charlton Athletic 1 Huddersfield Town 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0 Leicester City 2 Derby County 3 Birmingham City 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Nottingham Forest 2The Stats Biggest Win Bristol City 3-1 v Middlesbrough (away)Leicester City 6-0 v Ipswich Town (home)Millwall 2-0 v Blackburn Rovers (away) Total Goals Scored 13 (20 home - 20 away) Player Scoring Most Goals 2 - Conor Sammon (Derby County) Highest Attendance 26,455 - Brighton & Hove Albion v Bolton Wanderers Lowest Attendance 8,227 - Barnsley v Cardiff City Total Yellow Cards 37 Total Red Cards 2 Most Cards in a Game Barnsley v Cardiff City (5Y 1R) Ref: Dean Whitestone
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) 17 Charlie Austin (Burnley) - includes 2 penalties 15 Glenn Murray (Crystal Palace) - includes 6 penalties 11 Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn Rovers) - 2 with Huddersfield Town 10 Tom Ince (Blackpool) - includes 2 penaltiesMarlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 3 penalties 9 Luciano Becchio (Leeds United) - includes 3 penaltiesCraig Mackail-Smith (Brighton & Hove Albion) - includes 2 penaltiesDavid Nugent (Leicester City) - includes 1 penalty 8 Sone Aluko (Hull City)Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penaltySteven Davies (Bristol City) - includes 2 penaltiesChris Wood (Millwall) 7 Darius Henderson (Millwall)Matej Vydra (Watford) - includes 1 penaltyPete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 3 penalties 6 Chris Eagles (Bolton Wanderers)Heidar Helguson (Cardiff City)Theo Robinson (Derby County) - includes 1 penaltyBakary Sako (Wolverhampton Wanderers)Liam Trotter (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty
Hat Tricks Date Player & Game 01/09/12 3: Pete Whittingham - CARDIFF CITY v Wolverhampton Wanderers 15/09/12 3: Charlie Austin - BURNLEY v Peterborough United 22/09/12 3: Glenn Murray - CRYSTAL PALACE v Cardiff City 22/09/12 4: Craig Davies - Birmingham City v BARNSLEY 23/09/12 3: David Nugent - LEICESTER CITY v Hull City 29/09/12 3: Emile Sinclair - Hull City v PETERBOROUGH UNITED 02/10/12 3: Charlie Austin - BURNLEY v Sheffield Wednesday 23/10/12 3: Marlon King - Millwall v BIRMINGHAM CITY 06/11/12 3: Glenn Murray - CRYSTAL PALACE v Ipswich Town 17/11/12 3: Jordan Rhodes - Peterborough United v BLACKBURN ROVERS
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) Club Y R Y R Club Y R Y R League Total League Total Barnsley 24 1 27 2 Huddersfield Town 32 3 33 3 Birmingham City 20 2 22 2 Hull City 13 0 13 1 Blackburn Rovers 20 0 20 0 Ipswich Town 25 0 25 0 Blackpool 22 0 22 0 Leeds United 35 2 40 2 Bolton Wanderers 36 1 38 1 Leicester City 19 1 19 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 23 0 24 0 Middlesbrough 25 0 28 0 Bristol City 25 0 27 0 Millwall 35 1 37 1 Burnley 32 1 38 1 Nottingham Forest 30 3 30 3 Cardiff City 28 1 30 1 Peterborough United 32 0 33 0 Charlton Athletic 27 0 27 0 Sheffield Wednesday 31 1 34 1 Crystal Palace 24 1 28 1 Watford 35 4 36 4 Derby County 18 1 19 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 18 1 20 1
Highest and Lowest Attendances Highest Lowest Att Fixture Att Fixture 28,707 Nottingham Forest v Derby County (30/09) 5,435 Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/09) 28,582 Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds United (19/10) 5,997 Peterborough United v Blackburn Rovers (17/11) 28,229 Middlesbrough v Sheffield Wednesday (09/11) 6,188 Peterborough United v Millwall (21/08) 27,437 Derby County v Sheffield Wednesday (18/08) 6,348 Peterborough Utd v Huddersfield Town(23/10) 26,598 Sheffield Wed v Bolton Wanderers (22/09) 8,088 Barnsley v Bristol City (01/09) 26,594 Brighton & HA v Sheffield Weds (14/09) 8,195 Barnsley v Crystal Palace (23/10) 26,455 Brighton & Hove Albion v Bolton Wand (24/11) 8,227 Barnsley v Cardiff City (24/11) 26,402 Brighton & Hove Albion v Leeds United (02/11) 8,319 Barnsley v Peterborough United (02/10) 26,293 Brighton & HA v Middlesbrough (20/10) 8,427 Peterborough Utd v Derby County (29/10) 26,185 Charlton Athletic v Barnsley (20/10) 8,571 Barnsley v Ipswich Town (29/09)
The Next Fixtures Tuesday 27th November Barnsley v Burnley Ipswich Town v Nottingham Forest Blackpool v Birmingham City (20:00) Leeds United v Leicester City Brighton & Hove Albion v Bristol City Middlesbrough v Huddersfield Town Charlton Athletic v Peterborough United Sheffield Wednesday v Watford Derby County v Cardiff City Wolverhampton Wanderers v Millwall Hull v Crystal Palace Wednesday 28th November Blackburn Rovers v Bolton Wanderers
Source: Clarets Mad
Source: FOOTYMAD
