Brighton started the weekend at the top and they are still there despite losing at home to Birmingham. They are there because none of the teams that could pass them were able to win themselves.
Huddersfield and Blackburn were the two within two points but Huddersfield, at home against bottom club Peterborough, were beaten, giving Posh their first points of the season and down at Charlton, and despite taking the lead, managerless Blackburn were held to a 1-1 draw.
Blackburn are the first Championship club to make a change of manager this season. Some, particularly those who support the club, would suggest they've been without manager for almost two years, but anyone with any common sense can see what a wonderful job Steven Kean has done there.
I can't see them getting anyone better to be honest and shabby Shebby and his crew might just regret this big decision. Shabby for Manager! That one sounds good to me. Meanwhile Eric Black, once linked with the Burnley job, is in caretaker charge.
Hats off to Peterborough. They looked an awful side at Burnley defensively but they kept Huddersfield to one goal and at the other end Emile SInclair, an unused substitute at the Turf, grabbed a hat trick.
On the subject of scoring goals; Charlie Austin is now the league's leading goalscorer. Although I can't be certain, I think Chris Iwelumo held top spot at one point two seasons ago and I'm sure Ade Akinbiyi was in pole position at a time in the 2005/06 season before his sale to Sheffield United.
Charlie has been fantastic and you wonder just where we might be without his goals. With them we are 16th with nine points. With a decent referee on Saturday we would have been in the top half of the table. Having said that, most clubs get poor decisions against them at one point or another so spare a thought for poor Bolton.
In every single game this season that they haven't won it is because of poor refereeing decisions. That's what their manager says. It comes as no surprise. Remember the day he suggested the referee was to blame for all five we conceded in the Premier League at West Ham, causing laughter on Goals on Sunday ?
Now, poor decisions are costing them because had referees been fair they would be on course for a return to the Premier League (with no reference to a High Street bank due to their being no payment for Championship managers).
Tonight and tomorrow sees a full fixture list with Burnley again at home, this time against Sheffield Wednesday. If we perform as we did in the first half on Saturday and if the referee does OK, we could move further up the table.
The results and stats from the weekend games are below along with the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances and the midweek fixtures.
The Results Saturday 29th September Barnsley 1 Ipswich Town 1 Charlton Athletic 1 Blackburn Rovers 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Birmingham City 1 Huddersfield Town 2 Watford 3 Bolton Wanderers 0 Crystal Palace 1 Hull City 1 Peterborough United 3 Bristol City 2 Leeds United 3 Middlesbrough 1 Leicester City 2 Burnley 2 Millwall 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0 Cardiff City 3 Blackpool 0 Sunday 30th September Nottingham Forest 0 Derby County 1The Stats Biggest Win Cardiff City 3-0 v Blackpool (home) Total Goals Scored 32 (14 home - 18 away) Player Scoring Most Goals 3 - Emile Sinclair (Peterborough United) Highest Attendance 28,707 - Nottingham Forest v Derby County Lowest Attendance 8,571 - Barnsley v Ipswich Town Total Yellow Cards 39 Total Red Cards 1 Most Cards in a Game Burnley v Millwall (8Y) Ref: Craig Pawson
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) 8 Charlie Austin (Burnley) - includes 1 penalty 7 Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty 6 Luciano Becchio (Leeds United) - includes 1 penaltyTom Ince (Blackpool)Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton & Hove Albion) - includes 1 penaltyGlenn Murray (Crystal Palace) - includes 3 penaltiesPete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 2 penalties 5 Jermaine Johnson (Sheffield Wednesday)Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn Rovers) - 2 with Huddersfield Town 4 Sam Baldock (Bristol City)Chris Eagles (Bolton Wanderers)Nuno Gomes (Blackburn Rovers)David Nugent (Leicester City)Matej Vydra (Watford)Jamie Ward (Derby County) - includes 1 penalty 3 Ashley Barnes (Brighton & Hove Albion)Kagiso Dikgacoi (Crystal Palace)Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Wolverhampton Wanderers) - includes 1 penaltyAbdoulaye Faye (Hull City)Marlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 2 penaltiesJay Simpson (Hull City)Martyn Woolford (Bristol City)
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
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) Club Y R Y R Club Y R Y R League Total League Total Barnsley 11 1 14 2 Huddersfield Town 15 1 16 1 Birmingham City 7 0 9 0 Hull City 6 0 6 1 Blackburn Rovers 13 0 13 0 Ipswich Town 11 0 11 0 Blackpool 9 0 9 0 Leeds United 16 0 21 0 Bolton Wanderers 18 0 20 0 Leicester City 9 0 9 0 Brighton & Hove Albion 11 0 12 0 Middlesbrough 13 0 15 0 Bristol City 11 0 13 0 Millwall 16 1 18 1 Burnley 12 0 18 0 Nottingham Forest 22 2 22 2 Cardiff City 13 0 15 0 Peterborough United 17 0 19 0 Charlton Athletic 9 0 9 0 Sheffield Wednesday 19 1 22 1 Crystal Palace 12 0 16 0 Watford 14 0 15 0 Derby County 7 0 8 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 9 0 11 0
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) 27,437 Derby County v Sheffield Wednesday (18/08) 6,188 Peterborough United v Millwall (21/08) 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) 8,571 Barnsley v Ipswich Town (29/09) 26,121 Brighton & HA v Birmingham City (29/09) 9,280 Peterborough Utd v Wolves (22/09) 25,518 Brighton & Hove Albion v Cardiff City (21/08) 9,295 Millwall v Cardiff City (18/09) 25,379 Sheffield Wed v Birmingham City (21/08) 9,576 Millwall v Middlesbrough (01/09) 25,230 Sheffield Wed v Huddersfield Town (19/09) 10,432 Peterborough United v Leeds United (25/08) 24,752 Sheffield Wednesday v Millwall (25/08) 10,979 Burnley v Peterborough United (15/09) 24,594 Brighton & Hove Albion v Barnsley (25/08) 11,010 Millwall v Blackpool (18/08)
The Next Fixtures Tuesday 2nd October Barnsley v Peterborough United Cardiff City v Birmingham City Bolton Wanderers v Leeds United (20:00) Charlton Athletic v Watford Brighton & Hove Albion v Ipswich Town Huddersfield Town v Leicester City Bristol City v Millwall Hull City v Blackpool Burnley v Sheffield Wednesday Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace Wednesday 3rd October Middlesbrough v Derby County Nottingham Forest v Blackburn Rovers
Source: FOOTYMAD
