To reach the last Saturday in September without a managerial sacking in the division is probably rare. Only Greg Abbott (Carlisle) and Paolo Di Canio (Sunln) had lost their jobs, but just hours after Derby had lost their derby at Forest the club confirmed that the Championship's longest serving manager was no more, they had sacked Nigel Clough.
Apparently it is news that has divided opinion in Derby but I have to say I didn't see it coming. I was expecting David Flitcroft at now bottom Barnsley, or perhaps Dougie Freedman to be the first. I have to admit that the Clough news was one I wasn't expecting.
I don't think he's a manager I'd be too impressed with. He's from the Nigel Pearson and Martin Jol school of putting glass eyes to sleep, and there are some who consider the young man would never have got that job had his surname been anything but Clough.
Even so, it's a shock, and the even bigger shock was the suggestion that Tony Pulis, someone far removed from the style of football Derby play, had been at their game and was the likely replacement.
That proved to be wide of the mark. Derby have asked QPR for permission to speak to their coach Steve McClaren and it has been reported that the coffee cups and umbrellas have already arrived in the Pride Park club shop.
By all accounts they hadn't played too badly at Forest and deserved better than a one goal defeat, but the result has left them in that mid-table group, just below half way on eleven points and that, apparently, isn't good enough for their owners who want to take the club to the next level.
The next level might be where Bolton and Sheffield Wednesday currently find themselves. Neither have a win and both sit in the bottom three just above Barnsley on goal difference.
Wednesday were beaten 1-0 at home by Doncaster but had, according to reports, been the better side. Bolton however, following some comedic goalkeeping by Adam Bogdan were rescued with a late equaliser, and that after the ball had previously gone out with Yeovil rightly expecting a goal kick.
I can't say I'm remotely surprised to see two of them down there but Bolton remains a shock and I keep thinking they'll soon pull out, just as Millwall have now done with three successive wins. They beat Leeds easily enough on Saturday where Brian McDermott is now under some pressure.
Up at the other end and yes, QPR did keep another clean sheet to remain top, three points above us, and Leicester stay right behind us on goal difference after scoring from the penalty spot for the fifth time already this season.
Watford, Forest, Reading and Blackpool remain a couple of points behind us but then, behind them there's a five point gap.
Blackpool had drawn at Huddersfield on the Friday night where there was further clear evidence that the home manager Mark Robins was not forcing Martin Paterson to play out wide. The former Burnley striker was again in the substitute role, and wasn't used as scorer James Vaughan and Jon Stead continue to be preferred up front.
One disappointing result on Saturday came at Bournemouth. Marc Pugh had said ahead of the game that he was going to go all out to get a win against Blackburn to get one over on his old schoolmates who supported their opponents.
It didn't work out for him as his team conceded another three goals. They sit in the top half of the table, the only team in that top half with a negative goal difference, and only bottom club Barnsley have conceded more league goals this season. I don't think that will surprise many Burnley fans who will recall that we'd conceded 22 goals from the first ten games last season before Eddie Howe returned home to Bournemouth.
The results and stats, the leading goalscorers, each club's red and yellow card count, the highest and lowest attendances and the midweek fixtures can all be found below.
The Results Friday 27th September HUDDERSFIELD 1 BLACKPOOL 1 Saturday 28th September BOLTON 1 YEOVIL 1 NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1 DERBY 0 BOURNEMOUTH 1 BLACKBURN 3 QPR 2 MIDDLESBROUGH 0 BURNLEY 3 CHARLTON 0 READING 2 BIRMINGHAM 0 IPSWICH 2 BRIGHTON 0 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 0 DONCASTER 1 LEICESTER 2 BARNSLEY 1 WATFORD 1 WIGAN 0 MILLWALL 2 LEEDS 0The Stats Biggest Win BURNLEY 3-0 v CHARLTON (home) Total Goals Scored 25 (18 home - 7 away) Player Scoring Most Goals 2 - DANNY GUTHRIE (READING) v BIRMINGHAMDAVID MCGOLDRICK (IPSWICH) v BRIGHTONDAVID NUGENT (LEICESTER) v BARNSLEYJORDAN RHODES (BLACKBURN) v BOURNEMOUTHSAM VOKES (BURNLEY) v CHARLTON Highest Attendance 28,276 - NOTTINGHAM FOREST v DERBY Lowest Attendance 9,441 - BOURNEMOUTH v BLACKBURN Total Yellow Cards 41 Total Red Cards 3 Most Cards in a Game BOURNEMOUTH v BLACKBURN (6Y 1R) Ref: ROB LEWISNOTTINGHAM FOREST v DERBY (6Y 1R) Ref: SIMON HOOPER
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) 8 JORDAN RHODES (BLACKBURN) - includes 2 penaltiesJAMES VAUGHAN (HUDDERSFIELD) - including 1 penalty 6 TROY DEENEY (WATFORD) - includes 2 penaltiesDANNY INGS (BURNLEY)SAM VOKES (BURNLEY) 5 LEWIS GRABBAN (BOURNEMOUTH)DAVID MCGOLDRICK (IPSWICH)DAVID NUGENT (LEICESTER) - includes 4 penalties 4 CRAIG BRYSON (DERBY)TOM INCE (BLACKPOOL) - including 1 penaltyADAM LE FONDRE (READING) - includes 1 penaltyJESSE LINGARD (BIRMINGHAM)LEWIS McGUGAN (WATFORD) - includes 1 penaltyCHRIS O'GRADY (BARNSLEY) - includes 1 penaltyANDY REID (NOTTINGHAM FOREST)JOHNNY RUSSELL (DERBY) - includes 1 penaltyLEO ULLOA (BRIGHTON) 3 CHARLIE AUSTIN (QPR) - includes 2 penaltiesALEX BAPTISTE (BOLTON)DANNY GUTHRIE (READING)DARIUS HENDERSON (NOTTINGHAM FOREST)YANN KERMOGANT (CHARLTON) -includes 1 penaltyFEDERICO MACHEDA (DONCASTER)SHAUN MALONEY (WIGAN) - includes 1 penaltyCHRIS MARTIN (DERBY)ROSS McCORMACK (LEEDS)BRETT PITMAN (BOURNEMOUTH) - includes 2 penalties
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 9 2 9 2 IPSWICH 9 0 10 0 BIRMINGHAM 20 0 27 0 LEEDS 10 1 13 1 BLACKBURN 15 1 17 2 LEICESTER 10 1 11 1 BLACKPOOL 19 2 20 2 MIDDLESBROUGH 14 2 14 2 BOLTON 20 1 20 1 MILLWALL 13 1 14 1 BOURNEMOUTH 15 1 17 1 NOTTINGHAM FOREST 20 0 26 0 BRIGHTON 17 2 18 2 QPR 14 0 15 0 BURNLEY 15 1 19 1 READING 14 1 18 1 CHARLTON 12 1 15 1 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 15 0 15 1 DERBY 20 2 24 2 WATFORD 17 0 22 0 DONCASTER 17 1 18 1 WIGAN 7 1 11 1 HUDDERSFIELD 11 0 15 0 YEOVIL 13 1 20 1
Highest and Lowest Attendances Highest Lowest Att Fixture Att Fixture 33,432 LEEDS v BRIGHTON (03/08) 6,769 DONCASTER v BOURNEMOUTH (31/08) 28,276 NOTTINGHAM FOREST v DERBY (28/09) 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) 8,415 MILLWALL v BLACKPOOL (17/09) 26,238 BRIGHTON v DERBY (10/08) 8,707 DONCASTER v BLACKBURN (16/08) 26,007 BRIGHTON v BURNLEY (24/08) 8,717 YEOVIL v BIRMINGHAM (10/08) 25,535 NOTTM FOREST v HUDDERSFIELD (03/08) 9,002 DONCASTER v BLACKPOOL (03/08) 23,766 LEEDS v SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (17/08) 9,097 BOURNEMOUTH v WIGAN (17/08) 23,514 DERBY v BURNLEY (31/08) 9,108 YEOVIL v QPR (21/09)
The Next Fixtures Tuesday 1st October BARNSLEY v READING DERBY v IPSWICH BIRMINGHAM v MILLWALL DONCASTER v BURNLEY BLACKBURN v WATFORD LEEDS v BOURNEMOUTH BLACKPOOL v BOLTON MIDDLESBROUGH v HUDDERSFIELD BRIGHTON v SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY YEOVIL v LEICESTER CHARLTON v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Source: Clarets Mad
Source: FOOTYMAD
