Mowbray goes and Burnley go two points clear

22 October 2013 15:43
While a Scott Arfield goal for Burnley was moving us two points clear at the top of the table, the news wasn't quite so good for Middlesbrough who yesterday decided to part with manager Tony Mowbray.

It's difficult to determine exactly what's happened at the Riverside. As we welcomed in 2013 they were in third place in the Championship and just a point behind Hull who were one place above them.

At the time I backed them to go up. They were a team in form and I really thought they would go on to claim one of the top two places and reclaim the Premier League place they lost in 2009.

What's happened since is incredible. In the remaining games of the season they won only 12 points, seven less than Bristol City and Millwall who were the second worst, and have added only another 12 points this season despite Mowbray suggesting it was his best squad to date just ahead of the season. So 24 points in 2013, a period that has seen Burnley win 57, and it has cost Mowbray his job.

As the half time scores came through at Portman Road last Saturday, and hearing they were 3-0 down at Barnsley, we wondered just how much longer their manager would last. The answer was just over two days.

When the season kicked off the Championship's longest serving manager was Nigel Clough. He went leaving Mowbray in pole position. Maybe Charlton's Chris Powell, appointed on 14th January 2011 and now the longest serving, needs to be watching over his shoulder although I do have to report that his side did him proud at the weekend. Well done Charlton and Simon Church, their goalscorer.

Middlesbrough did come back with two Albert Adomah goals at Barnsley so the defeat was only 3-2, but even in the form they've been in it was still the shock result of the day or maybe that was Millwall's draw against QPR.

Our visitors this coming Saturday had conceded only two goals all season but Millwall managed to double that and even stole a late equaliser when 'Arry wasn't watching after a ball thrown from the home crowd had hit him in the face. Maybe he should have had his car window closed to avoid such an incident.

QPR have 27 points, but with a game in hand on us. Behind us in the play off places are Leicester, Nottingham Forest, Blackpool and Reading. Reading had dropped out two weeks ago but came back because of Watford losing at home to Derby.

Down at the bottom there is little change. Sheffield Wednesday still haven't won; Yeovil have still only scored one home goal and Barnsley at least moved into the highest relegation place after the win against Middlesbrough.

I recall last season there was constantly a discussion on how far we were away from the play offs and how far we were from the bottom three. By the end of the season we were seven points away from both.

It's worth pointing out that we are seven points away from sixth place again this season but our lead over 22nd place Barnsley is now 21 points.

The results and stats from the weekend are below along with the leading goalscorers, each club's red and yellow card count, the highest and lowest attendances and the next fixtures.

The Results Saturday 19th October BARNSLEY 3 MIDDLESBROUGH 2 MILLWALL 2 QPR 2 BLACKBURN 0 CHARLTON 1 NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1 BOURNEMOUTH 1 BLACKPOOL 1 WIGAN 0 READING 4 DONCASTER 1 BOLTON 1 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 1 WATFORD 2 DERBY 3 IPSWICH 0 BURNLEY 1 YEOVIL 0 BRIGHTON 0 LEICESTER 2 HUDDERSFIELD 1   Sunday 20th October LEEDS 4 BIRMINGHAM 1  

 

The Stats Biggest Win LEEDS 4-0 v BIRMINGHAM (home) Total Goals Scored 34 (20 home - 14 away) Player Scoring Most Goals 2 - ALBERT ADOMAH (MIDDLESBROUGH) v BARNSLEYCHRIS O'GRADY (BARNSLEY) v MIDDLESBROUGHMATT SMITH (LEEDS) v BIRMINGHAM Highest Attendance 28,070 - NOTTINGHAM v BOURNEMOUTH Lowest Attendance 6,873 - YEOVIL v BRIGHTON Total Yellow Cards 31 Total Red Cards 3 Most Cards in a Game YEOVIL v BRIGHTON (7Y) Ref: GARY SUTTON

 

Leading Goalscorers (League Only) 9 JORDAN RHODES (BLACKBURN) - includes 2 penaltiesJAMES VAUGHAN (HUDDERSFIELD) - including 1 penalty 8 SAM VOKES (BURNLEY) - includes 1 penalty 7 LEWIS GRABBAN (BOURNEMOUTH) - includes 1 penaltyDANNY INGS (BURNLEY)CHRIS O'GRADY (BARNSLEY) - includes 1 penalty 6 CHARLIE AUSTIN (QPR) - includes 3 penatliesCRAIG BRYSON (DERBY)TROY DEENEY (WATFORD) - includes 2 penaltiesDAVID NUGENT (LEICESTER) - includes 5 penalties 5 TOM INCE (BLACKPOOL) - including 2 penaltiesHENRI LANSBURY (NOTTINGHAM FOREST) - includes 1 penaltyADAM LE FONDRE (READING) - includes 1 penaltyJESSE LINGARD (BIRMINGHAM)ROSS McCORMACK (LEEDS)DAVID McGOLDRICK (IPSWICH)LEWIS McGUGAN (WATFORD) - includes 1 penaltyANDY REID (NOTTINGHAM FOREST)JOHNNY RUSSELL (DERBY) - includes 1 penalty 4 ALBERT ADOMAH (MIDDLESBROUGH)DANNY GUTHRIE (READING)DARIUS HENDERSON (NOTTINGHAM FOREST)CHRIS MARTIN (DERBY)BRETT PITMAN (BOURNEMOUTH) - includes 3 penaltiesLEO ULLOA (BRIGHTON)

 

Hat Tricks  Date Player & Game 10/08/13 3: TROY DEENEY - WATFORD v BOURNEMOUTH (home) 24/08/13 3: JAMES VAUGHAN - HUDDERSFIELD v BOURNEMOUTH (home) 14/09/13 3: CRAIG BRYSON - DERBY v MILLWALL (away) 21/09/13 4: JESSE LINGARD - BIRMINGHAM v SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (home)

 

Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) Club Y R Y R Club Y R Y R   League   Total   League  Total  BARNSLEY 14 2 14 2 IPSWICH 15 0 16 0 BIRMINGHAM 22 0 29 0 LEEDS 14 1 17 1 BLACKBURN 23 2 25 3 LEICESTER 13 1 14 1 BLACKPOOL 22 2 23 2 MIDDLESBROUGH 14 2 14 2 BOLTON 24 1 24 1 MILLWALL 17 2 18 2 BOURNEMOUTH 20 2 22 2 NOTTINGHAM FOREST 30 1 36 1 BRIGHTON 24 2 25 2 QPR 14 0 15 0 BURNLEY 16 1 20 1 READING 20 1 24 1 CHARLTON 12 1 15 1 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 21 1 21 2 DERBY 26 2 30 2 WATFORD 24 0 29 0 DONCASTER 20 1 21 1 WIGAN 10 2 14 2 HUDDERSFIELD 15 1 19 1 YEOVIL 19 1 26 1

 

Highest and Lowest Attendances Highest Lowest Att Fixture Att Fixture 33,432 LEEDS v BRIGHTON (03/08) 6,476 YEOVIL v LEICESTER (01/10) 28,276 NOTTINGHAM FOREST v DERBY (28/09) 6,769 DONCASTER v BOURNEMOUTH (31/08) 28,070 NOTT'M FOREST v BOURNEMOUTH (19/10) 6,873 YEOVIL v BRIGHTON (19/10) 27,755 BRIGHTON v NOTTM FOREST (05/10) 7,047 YEOVIL v DERBY (24/08) 26,804 BRIGHTON v MILLWALL (31/08) 7,305 YEOVIL v READING (31/08) 26,465 LEEDS v BURNLEY (21/09) 7,574 BOURNEMOUTH v BARNSLEY (17/09) 26,319 BRIGHTON v BOLTON (21/09) 7,836 DONCASTER v BURNLEY (01/10) 26,238 BRIGHTON v DERBY (10/08) 8,415 MILLWALL v BLACKPOOL (17/09) 26,204 DERBY v LEEDS (05/10) 8,707 DONCASTER v BLACKBURN (16/08) 26,007 BRIGHTON v BURNLEY (24/08) 8,717 YEOVIL v BIRMINGHAM (10/08)

 

The Next Fixtures Friday 25th October MIDDLESBROUGH v DONCASTER   Saturday 26th October BARNSLEY v SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY HUDDERSFIELD v LEEDS (12:30) BLACKPOOL v BLACKBURN LEICESTER v BOURNEMOUTH BOLTON v IPSWICH READING v MILLWALL BURNLEY v QPR YEOVIL v NOTTINGHAM FOREST DERBY v BIRMINGHAM   Sunday 27th October CHARLTON v WIGAN   Monday 28th October BRIGHTON v WATFORD  

Source: Clarets Mad

Source: FOOTYMAD