Source: FOOTYMAD
Bottom four losing ground
There has been a discussion on the message board this week. It centred on Andy Lochhead scoring four goals for Burnley in a 6-1 win against Manchester United on Boxing Day 1963. Ricoh Arena - could it host League One football in 2012? That was an incredible day. A total of 66 goals were scored in ten first division games. Liverpool matched us by hitting six but we were eclipsed by Blackburn, who won 8-2 at West Ham, and Fulham who slammed Ipswich 10-1 at Craven Cottage. There was nothing quite like that in the Championship this year on Boxing Day where our 3-0 win against Doncaster, alongside Readings similar win against Brighton, were the biggest wins of the day. It was a day when only 23 goals were scored. Our win so us move up to 9th in the table, our highest placing this season, and significantly we remain three points behind Reading. It's significant because Reading's place is our next target. Their win lifted them into the top six and the play off positions, ousting Leeds who dropped out after defeat at Derby. It's tightened up somewhat at the top. Southampton won again which was no surprise given they were playing at home. However, the West Ham stumble continues. It's just one win in four now and the draw at Barnsley allowed Middlesbrough to draw level with them on points. Middlesbrough have lost only three games this season. That's less than any other team and I think they could end the season in one of those top two positions but as we go into the last games of 2011 they remain in third place, sharing the play off places with Cardiff, Hull and Reading. Down at the bottom we can now say with some certainty that the current bottom four will remain the bottom four going into 2012. There is a five point gap now between them and the next club Millwall. The alarm bells will definitely be ringing at these clubs. Three of them have already changed manager this season. Bristol City got off to a flyer under Derek McInnes but they've won just two points in five games now and are only out of the bottom three on goal difference. Then it's Nottingham Forest. Again there were some good results when Steve Cotterill came in but it has become something of a disaster since. They have picked up just one point in their last six games, and that against Bristol City. More concerning is that they've failed to score a single goal in those games. Ironically they'd scored three in the game before this run, the only time they've scored three in a game all season. Doncaster are Doncaster. They'll continue to bring in names on short term deals but I think it will all end in tears for them despite their suggestions that it is the way forward for a lot of clubs. Finally, poor Coventry are marooned at the bottom although they did beat Bristol City on Monday, their first win in twelve games. That's top and bottom sorted. For weeks we seemed to be about the same distance from both. Then came the run of four defeats as we hovered ever closer to the bottom. With one game to go this year we are now 12 points from the bottom three and 11 points from an automatic promotion place. With our next three league games against teams currently above us we have a fantastic chance of getting even closer to those top places. The Boxing Day results, stats, leading scorers, each club's disciplinary records, the highest and lowest attendances are all below with the weekend fixtures. Boxing Day Results Monday 26th December Barnsley 1 Blackpool 3 Middlesbrough 1 Hull City 0 Birmingham City 1 West Ham United 1 Millwall 1 Portsmouth 0 Burnley 3 Doncaster Rovers 0 Nottingham Forest 0 Peterborough United 1 Coventry City 1 Bristol City 0 Reading 3 Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Derby County 1 Leeds United 0 Southampton 2 Crystal Palace 0 Leicester City 1 Ipswich Town 1 Watford 1 Cardiff City 1 Boxing Day Stats Biggest Win Burnley 3-0 v Doncaster Rovers (home)Reading 3-0 v Brighton & Hove Albion (home) Total Goals Scored 23 (16 home - 7 away) Player Scoring Most Goals 3 - Matthew Phillips (Blackpool) Highest Attendance 33,010 - Derby County v Leeds United Lowest Attendance 11,002 - Millwall v Portsmouth Total Yellow Cards 35 Total Red Cards 0 Most Cards in a Game Birmingham City v West Ham United (4Y) Ref: Darren DeadmanBurnley v Doncaster Rovers (4Y) Ref: David WebbMiddlesbrough v Hull City (4Y) Ref: Neil SwarbrickReading v Brighton & Hove Albion (4Y) Ref: Simon HooperSouthampton v Crystal Palace (4Y) Ref: Geoff Salisbury Leading Goalscorers (League Only) 15 Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 5 penalties 10 Ross McCormack (Leeds United) 9 Keith Andrews (Ipswich Town)Guly Do Prado (Southampton)Matty Fryatt (Hull City) - includes 1 penaltyDarius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 1 penaltyBilly Sharp (Doncaster Rovers) - includes 1 penaltyChris Wood (Birmingham City) 8 Charlie Austin (Burnley)Carlton Cole (West Ham United)Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penaltyLukas Jutkiewicz (Coventry City) - includes 1 penaltyGrant McCann (Peterborough United) - includes 2 penaltiesRobert Snodgrass (Leeds United) - includes 1 penalty 7 Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town)Marvin Emnes (Middlesbrough)Robert Koren (Hull City)Nicky Maynard (Bristol City)David Nugent (Leicester City)Kevin Phillips (Blackpool)Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 1 penaltyRicardo Vaz Te (Barnsley)Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 2 penalties 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 26/12/11 3: Matthew Phillips - Barnsley v BLACKPOOL Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) Club Y R Y R Club Y R Y R League Total League Total Barnsley 31 1 32 1 Ipswich Town 27 3 27 3 Birmingham City 30 1 30 1 Leeds United 35 5 39 5 Blackpool 33 0 34 1 Leicester City 32 4 36 4 Brighton and Hove Albion 56 4 62 4 Middlesbrough 39 2 40 2 Bristol City 33 0 34 0 Millwall 37 0 39 0 Burnley 31 1 39 1 Nottingham Forest 34 2 37 2 Cardiff City 28 0 38 0 Peterborough United 28 2 30 2 Coventry City 26 2 27 2 Portsmouth 35 2 38 2 Crystal Palace 33 0 35 0 Reading 33 0 35 0 Derby County 33 1 33 1 Southampton 29 2 30 2 Doncaster Rovers 36 0 36 0 Watford 30 0 31 0 Hull City 40 1 40 1 West Ham United 36 3 36 4 Highest and Lowest Attendances Highest Lowest Att Fixture Att Fixture 34,749 West Ham United v Barnsley (17/12) 6,351 Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) 33,465 West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) 7,650 Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) 33,010 Derby County v Southampton (15/10) 7,778 Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) 33,010 Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) 7,901 Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09) 32,150 Southampton v West Ham United (18/10) 7,928 Peterborough United v Ipswich Town (20/08) 31,812 Southampton v Brighton & Hove Albion (19/11) 8,062 Peterborough United v Coventry City (17/12) 31,524 Southampton v Crystal Palace (26/12) 8,320 Peterborough United v Barnsley (03/12) 31,448 West Ham United v Blackpool (15/10) 8,426 Doncaster Rovers v Coventry City (29/10) 30,410 West Ham United v Leicester City (29/10) 8,500 Peterborough Utd v Doncaster Rovers (01/10) 30,391 Derby County v Hull City (19/11) 8,685 Peterborough United v Hull City (10/09) The Next Fixtures Friday 30th December Southampton v Bristol City Saturday 31st December Barnsley v Leeds United (13:00) Middlesbrough v Peterborough United Birmingham City v Blackpool Millwall v Crystal Palace (13:00) Burnley v Hull City Nottingham Forest v Cardiff City Coventry City v Brighton & Hove Albion Reading v Ipswich Town Derby County v West Ham United (13:00) Watford v Doncaster Rovers (13:00) Leicester City v Portsmouth (12:15)