Source: FOOTYMAD
A good Christmas for Burnley, Coventry, Derby and Reading
Burnley, Coventry, Derby and Reading have enjoyed a perfect six point Christmas whilst Brighton, Doncaster, Hull, Leeds and Nottingham Forest have had the worst festive season possible with two defeats each. Martin Paterson scored in both our Christmas wins Maybe I shouldn't have written Coventry off. I suggested their days in the Championship were numbered as they went into Christmas six points adrift at the bottom of the league. Incredibly they are not even bottom going into the New Year after wins against Bristol City and Brighton. They've jumped above Doncaster on goal difference after the South Yorkshire club suffered their second reverse of the week at Watford. Bristol City's shock win at Southampton on Friday night ensured they'd be out of the relegation positions and they are now three points clear after Nottingham Forest again failed to get any points and again failed to score a goal. On 19th November, Marcus Tudgay scored in stoppage time for Forest to complete a 3-2 win against Ipswich. They'd been in the relegation positions under Steve McClaren but by then they'd risen to 17th in the table under new manager Steve Cotterill and were two points and four places ahead of us. Eight teams at that time had scored either the same number of goals or less. Since, they've played seven with just one point and not a solitary goal to excite the Forest fans. They are now the league's lowest scorers and are entrenched in the bottom three and now with a fixture to come against Ipswich, that last team they scored against. That's the bottom positions sorted, but what about the top of the league where none of the top three were able to record a win. Southampton gave themselves an advantage over the weekend by playing Friday night but it didn't do them much good as they went down to a 1-0 home defeat against Bristol City. The last team to take three points from St. Mary's prior to that was Brentford in December 2010. Their only other home defeat in 2011 was in the FA Cup against Manchester United. That result gave both West Ham and Middlesbrough the opportunity to draw level but neither took it. West Ham were 2-0 down at Derby in ten minutes and eventually lost 2-1 whilst Middlesbrough were held at home by Peterborough when Tommy Rowe headed in a late equaliser for the visitors. Middlesbrough's draw did take them into the top two whilst West Ham are in the play off positions going into 2012 and they've not been that low since the beginning of October. Cardiff, Reading and Hull remain the other three clubs in the play off places and there is a three point gap below that with Burnley now in 7th place. Those four clubs with two wins this week have all enjoyed two home games. Can any of them continue those runs? Reading are currently in the best run having won their last 4 games whilst Brighton have lost their last four. The best unbeaten run at the moment is Watford's nine games whilst Nottingham Forest have now, hardly surprisingly without a goal, gone seven without a win. The last results and stats of 2011 are below along with the leading scorers, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances and the first fixtures of 2012. The Week's Results Friday 30th December Southampton 0 Bristol City 1 Saturday 31st December Barnsley 4 Leeds United 1 Middlesbrough 1 Peterborough United 1 Birmingham City 3 Blackpool 0 Millwall 0 Crystal Palace 1 Burnley 1 Hull City 0 Nottingham Forest 0 Cardiff City 1 Coventry City 2 Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Reading 1 Ipswich Town 0 Derby County 2 West Ham United 1 Watford 4 Doncaster Rovers 1 Leicester City 1 Portsmouth 1 The Week's Stats Biggest Win Barnsley 4-1 v Leeds United (home)Watford 4-1 v Doncaster Rovers (home)Birmingham City 3-0 v Blackpool (home) Total Goals Scored 27 (19 home - 8 away) Player Scoring Most Goals 3 - Ricardo Vaz Te (Barnsley) Highest Attendance 30,328 - Southampton v Bristol City Lowest Attendance 11,654 - Watford v Doncaster Rovers Total Yellow Cards 42 Total Red Cards 2 Most Cards in a Game Southampton v Bristol City (7Y) Ref: Darren Deadman Leading Goalscorers (League Only) 15 Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 5 penalties 10 Ross McCormack (Leeds United)Billy Sharp (Doncaster Rovers) - includes 1 penaltyRicardo Vaz Te (Barnsley) 9 Keith Andrews (Ipswich Town)Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penaltyGuly Do Prado (Southampton)Matty Fryatt (Hull City) - includes 1 penaltyDarius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 1 penaltyLukas Jutkiewicz (Coventry City) - includes 1 penaltyChris Wood (Birmingham City) 8 Charlie Austin (Burnley)Carlton Cole (West Ham United)Grant McCann (Peterborough United) - includes 2 penaltiesDavid Nugent (Leicester City)Robert Snodgrass (Leeds United) - includes 1 penaltyMarvin Sordell (Watford) - includes 2 penalties 7 Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town)Marvin Emnes (Middlesbrough)Robert Koren (Hull City)Nicky Maynard (Bristol City)Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough)Kenny Miller (Cardiff City)Kevin Phillips (Blackpool)Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 1 penaltyPete 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 31/12/11 3: Ricardo Vaz Te - BARNSLEY v Leeds United 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 28 3 28 3 Birmingham City 30 1 30 1 Leeds United 38 5 42 5 Blackpool 34 1 35 2 Leicester City 33 4 37 4 Brighton and Hove Albion 58 4 64 4 Middlesbrough 40 2 41 2 Bristol City 38 0 39 0 Millwall 39 0 41 0 Burnley 32 1 40 1 Nottingham Forest 36 2 39 2 Cardiff City 30 0 40 0 Peterborough United 30 2 32 2 Coventry City 28 2 29 2 Portsmouth 39 2 42 2 Crystal Palace 34 0 36 0 Reading 33 0 35 0 Derby County 33 1 33 1 Southampton 31 2 32 2 Doncaster Rovers 39 1 39 1 Watford 31 0 32 0 Hull City 41 1 41 1 West Ham United 41 3 41 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 Monday 2nd January Blackpool v Middlesbrough Ipswich Town v Nottingham Forest Brighton & Hove Albion v Southampton Leeds United v Burnley Cardiff City v Reading Peterborough United v Birmingham City Crystal Palace v Leicester City (13:00) Portsmouth v Watford Doncaster Rovers v Barnsley West Ham United v Coventry Hull City v Derby County Tuesday 3rd January Bristol City v Millwall (19:45)