Source: FOOTYMAD
New managers still looking for first win
Four Championship clubs appointed new managers during January and whilst Dougie Freedman got his first win as Crystal Palace boss on Saturday both Phil Brown (Preston) and Micky Adams (Sheffield United) still await their first three pointer. Eddie Howe, with victories over Portsmouth and Burton for Burnley, was the only one of the four prior to Saturday who had enjoyed a win with Freedman joining him after a James Vaughan gave Palace a 1-0 win against Middlesbrough.Along with Scunthorpe, a side now capable of only picking up points against Burnley, Brown's Preston in particular and also Adams' Sheffield United look to be in some trouble.Preston are now ten points from safety having won only two points from the last seven games. On Saturday they faced Bristol City at home, a team that had failed to score in five games, but managed to lose it 4-0 with an horrendous defensive display.Meanwhile, Sheffield United took a 3-0 beating at Ipswich before losing their discipline and ending the game with nine men. I can understand Brown's appointment at Preston, but he's taken over a side that's seriously struggled all season. The appointment of Adams remains a baffling one for me.Those three - Sheffield United, Scunthorpe and Preston - really have a fight on now. Of the three I would suspect only Sheffield United have a realistic chance of staying up.And whilst the Blades struggle their former manager Neil Warnock sits on a seven point lead at the top of the league after a win against Reading on Friday that was against the odds. Their lead was extended because the next two clubs, Norwich and Swansea, were both beaten and that's left Little Billy's Nottingham Forest in second place.You wouldn't bet against Forest going up with QPR but it is so tight with only three points separating the clubs between second and sixth in the league.Then there's a four point drop before the next group of clubs. We are six points now from the play offs but looking back, our return in the first 29 games of the season has only been bettered once since we won promotion in 2000. That was in the 2001/02 season when we had 51 points but suffered a very poor second half of the season.The week's results and stats are below along with the leading goalscorers and each club's disciplinary record. They are followed by next weekend's fixtures.The Weekend ResultsFriday 4th FebruaryReading 0 QPR 1.Saturday 5th FebruaryBurnley 2 Norwich 1Millwall 1 Doncaster 0Crystal Palace 1 Middlesbrough 0Nottingham Forest 1 Watford 0Ipswich 3 Sheffield United 0Portsmouth 1 Derby 1Leeds 1 Coventry 0Preston 0 Bristol City 4Leicester 4 Barnsley 1Scunthorpe 1 Hull 5Sunday 6th FebruarySwansea 0 Cardiff 1.The Weekend StatsBiggest winBristol City 4-0 v Preston (away)Hull 5-1 v Scunthorpe (away)Total goals scored29 (15 home - 14 away)Player scoring most goals3 - Matt Fryatt (Hull)Highest Attendance27,033 - Leeds v CoventryLowest Attendance6,835 - Scunthorpe v HullTotal Yellow Cards35Total Red Cards3Most cards in a gameIpswich v Sheffield United (3Y 2R) - David PhillipsReading v QPR (4Y 1R) - Russell BoothThe leading scorers (league only)15Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff)Danny Graham (Watford) - includes 1 penalty14Adel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 5 penalties13Luciano Becchio (Leeds)Kriss Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penalties12Andy King (Leicester)Billy Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 4 penalties11Grant Holt (Norwich)Shane Long (Reading) - includes 4 penaltiesLewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 2 penaltiesSteve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penaltyScott Sinclair (Swansea) - includes 3 penalties10Chris Iwelumo (Burnley)Davide Somma (Leeds)Marvin Sordell (Watford)9Max Gradel (Leeds) - includes 1 penaltyJamie Mackie (QPR)Brett Pitman (Bristol City) - includes 3 penaltiesHat Tricks (league only)11th Sep3 - Chris Iwelumo - BURNLEY v Preston14th Sep3 - James Coppinger - DONCASTER v Norwich14th Sep3 - James Vaughan - CRYSTAL PALACE v Portsmouth28th Sep3 - Jon Parkin - Leeds v PRESTON30th Oct3 - Jonny Howson - Scunthorpe v LEEDS13th Nov3 - Luciano Becchio - LEEDS v Bristol City27th Nov3 - Grant Holt - NORWICH v Leeds28th Dec3 - Wes Hoolahan - NORWICH v Sheffield United1st Jan3 - Jason Puncheon - MILLWALL v Crystal Palace5th Feb3 - Matt Fryatt - Scunthorpe v HULLDisciplinary Record (all domestic games)ClubYRClubYRBarnsley442Middlesbrough421Bristol City432Millwall444Burnley554Norwich513Cardiff391Nottingham Forest420Coventry473Portsmouth535Crystal Palace525Preston635Derby532QPR485Doncaster363Reading473Hull582Scunthorpe312Ipswich464Sheffield United477Leeds612Swansea502Leicester352Watford310The Next FixturesSaturday 12th FebruaryBarnsley v IpswichHull v PrestonBristol City v LeedsMiddlesbrough v SwanseaCardiff v ScunthorpeNorwich v ReadingCoventry v Crystal PalaceSheffield United v MillwallDerby v Leicester (17:20)Watford v BurnleyDoncaster v Portsmouth.Sunday 13th FebruaryQPR v Nottingham Forest (13:15).
