Gaps Close At Top And Bottom

28 November 2011 18:43
Bristol City, one of the three clubs in the relegation positions, beat league leaders Southampton on Saturday and that has really tightened things up at both ends of the Championship.

It was another weekend of late goals but the whole weekend of football has been overshadowed by the sad death of Welsh team manager Gary Speed at the age of 42. There is little I can say about him given that I didn't know him and never saw him play a game live but just reading and listening to the tributes over this past couple of days has given a real insight.

Speed was very close to playing against Burnley. In December 2008 we travelled to Bramall Lane for a league game against Sheffield United and in the preview I wrote: "The big question mark for Kevin Blackwell is Gary Speed. He missed last week's game at Ipswich with a back injury and he faces a late fitness test."

He'd played in the previous home game against Wolves but that proved to be the last game in an illustrious career before. The back injury brought it to an end and he became part of the coaching team at Bramall Lane before replacing manager Blackwell in August 2010 and leaving just a few months later to take over from John Toshack as Wales boss.

He's brought about an upturn in fortunes for Wales in his short time in charge and there was a lot of confidence that there could be a bright future under his management. Those hopes ended yesterday with the sad news of his death.

I can do no more than join so many others in sending my condolences to his wife Louise, his sons Tommy and Eddie, his parents and his friends and family at this sad time and hope they can find the strength to come to terms with the events of yesterday.

Ahead of tomorrow night's game at Turf Moor the club will observe a minute's applause for Speed with the Burnley team including a former Sheffield United team mate in Keith Treacy as well as Sam Vokes, a member of the current Welsh squad.

That fixture is shown below, along with the remainder of the midweek fixtures along with the stats from last week's games.

The Week's Results Tuesday 22nd November Birmingham City 2 Burnley 1 Coventry City 1 Cardiff City 1 Saturday 26th November Blackpool 2 Birmingham City 2 Hull City 2 Burnley 3 Brighton & Hove Albion 2 Coventry City 1 Ipswich Town 2 Reading 3 Bristol City 2 Southampton 0 Leeds United 1 Barnsley 2 Cardiff City 1 Nottingham Forest 0 Peterborough United 1 Middlesbrough 1 Crystal Palace 0 Millwall 0 Portsmouth 1 Leicester City 1 Doncaster Rovers 0 Watford 0 West Ham United 3 Derby County 1

 

The Week's Stats Biggest Win

Bristol City 2-0 v Southampton (home)West Ham United 3-1 v Derby County (home)

Total Goals Scored 36 (20 home - 16 away)

Player Scoring Most Goals

2

David Edgar (Burnley)Matty Fryatt (Hull City) Highest Attendance 27,864 - West Ham United v Derby County Lowest Attendance 7,650 - Doncaster Rovers v Watford Total Yellow Cards 38 Total Red Cards 1 Most Cards in a Game Leeds United v Barnsley (6Y 1R) Ref: Geoff Salisbury

 

Leading Goalscorers (League Only) 12 Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 5 penalties 10 Ross McCormack (Leeds United) 8 Charlie Austin (Burnley)Matty Fryatt (Hull City)Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 1 penaltyGrant McCann (Peterborough United) - includes 2 penaltiesChris Wood (Birmingham City) 7 Marvin Emnes (Middlesbrough)Lukas Jutkiewicz (Coventry City) - includes 1 penaltyNicky Maynard (Bristol City)Kevin Phillips (Blackpool)Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 2 penalties 6 Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town)Carlton Cole (West Ham United)Guly Do Prado (Southampton)David Nugent (Leicester City)Jonjo Shelvey (Blackpool) - includes 1 penaltyPaul Taylor (Peterborough United)

 

Hat Tricks  Date Player & Game 20/08/11 3: Lee Tomlin - PETERBOROUGH UNITED v Ipswich Town 10/09/11 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Nottingham Forest 11/09/11 3: Chris Wood - BIRMINGHAM CITY v Millwall 12/10/11 3: Darius Henderson - Leicester City v MILLWALL 02/11/11 3: Jonjo Shelvey - Leeds United v BLACKPOOL 19/11/11 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Brighton & Hove Albion

 

Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) Club Y R Y R Club Y R Y R   League   Total   League  Total  Barnsley 29 1 30 1 Ipswich Town 19 3 19 3 Birmingham City 24 0 24 0 Leeds United 31 5 35 5 Blackpool 26 0 27 1 Leicester City 28 3 32 3 Brighton and Hove Albion 43 2 49 2 Middlesbrough 28 2 29 2 Bristol City 27 0 28 0 Millwall 29 0 32 0 Burnley 23 1 31 1 Nottingham Forest 25 1 28 1 Cardiff City 21 0 29 0 Peterborough United 24 2 26 2 Coventry City 21 2 22 2 Portsmouth 31 2 34 2 Crystal Palace 22 0 24 0 Reading 23 0 25 0 Derby County 26 1 26 1 Southampton 22 2 23 2 Doncaster Rovers 28 0 28 0 Watford 24 0 25 0 Hull City 32 0 32 0 West Ham United 27 1 27 2

 

Highest and Lowest Attendances Highest Lowest Att Fixture Att Fixture 33,465 West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) 6,351 Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) 33,010 Derby County v Southampton (15/10) 7,650 Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) 32,150 Southampton v West Ham United (18/10) 7,778 Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) 31,812 Southampton v Brighton & Hove Albion (19/11) 7,901 Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09) 31,448 West Ham United v Blackpool (15/10) 7,928 Peterborough United v Ipswich Town (20/08) 30,410 West Ham United v Leicester City (29/10) 8,426 Doncaster Rovers v Coventry City (29/10) 30,391 Derby County v Hull City (19/11) 8,500 Peterborough Utd v Doncaster Rovers (01/10) 29,895 West Ham Utd v Peterborough Utd (24/09) 8,685 Peterborough United v Hull City (10/09) 28,252 West Ham United v Leeds United (21/08) 8,900 Barnsley v Bristol City (29/10) 27,980 West Ham United v Bristol City (01/11) 9,362 Doncaster Rovers v Crystal Palace (24/09)

 

The Next Fixtures Tuesday 29th November Burnley v Ipswich Town Nottingham Forest v Leeds United Derby County v Brighton & Hove Albion Reading v Peterborough United (20:00) Leicester City v Blackpool Southampton v Hull City Middlesbrough v West Ham Unied Watford v Bristol City Millwall v Doncaster Rovers  

Source: FOOTYMAD