The Sky Bet Championship didn’t disappoint over the busy festive period. There were goals and games galore with upsets ringing all across the table. Does the division have a new favourite in Brighton for the title? Are Rotherham doomed to face the drop? How is Chelsea Legend Gianfranco Zola settling in at Birmingham City?
Plus, if that wasn’t enough, the Transfer window is open once more, so we’ll discuss the rumours and done deals so far. There’s plenty to run through on this week’s Sky Bet Championship round-up.
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#1 Transfers – Major Done deals and rumours
It’s January and that means, it’s ‘transfer window’ time! Here’s a run-down of the latest done deals and a few rumours to tickle the transfer taste buds:
Done deal!
Tiago Ilori – From Liverpool to Reading - £3.71m. The Portuguese Centre back has signed for in-form Reading and will almost certainly slot straight into Jaap Stam’s first team.
Done Deal!
David Nugent – From Middlesbrough to Derby County - £2.5m. The 31 Year-Old English forward has signed a 2-and-a-half-year deal with Derby and has already played under McClaren when he represented England back in 2007, where he scored while gaining his only England cap against Andorra.
Done Deals!
Milan Djuric and Jens Hegeler from Cesena and Hertha Berlin (respectively) to Bristol City – Undisclosed.
The Robins’ form has been diabolical recently, so boss Lee Johnson is obviously keen to get fresh blood into the club and attempt to revive their hopes of survival in the Sky Bet Championship.
Djuric, a 26-year-old striker and Hegeler a 28-year-old midfielder have been acquired to bolster the squad and add goal threat and guile to the team.
#2 Zola’s first month – Oh dear!
It’s fair to say there was a certain amount of shock when Gary Rowett was removed from his position as Birmingham City manager in the middle of last month.
However, the speed with which the Blues board got Gianfranco Zola in (under 6 hours from sacking to hiring), suggested that this was already a done deal before the previous manager was relieved of his duties.
So how has the new man done so far?
Well, when Rowett was sacked, the team were lying 8th in the table and had won 3 of the previous 5 games. Fast forward 5 games (including one FA cup tie played last weekend) and the Blues are still looking for that first win under the Italian, having lost 3 and drawn 2. They now lie 13th. Not the ideal start to the Italian’s tenure with the Midland’s club.
So what’s next for the Blues?
Their next 3 league games all look winnable on paper. A home game against struggling Nottingham Forest, then away fixtures at relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers and out-of-form Norwich City offer some chance to rekindle hopes of a playoff place.
Zola believes a victory is all that’s needed to kick-start their campaign:
“I am now more optimistic. The players are now starting to understand more what we are trying to do.
"A win would be massive. You can do good things on the pitch but you need to win. Without confidence, you can't do anything."
How long will the fans have to wait for their first victory under the Chelsea Legend?
#3 Newcastle lose ground in their fight for the title
Ask any Newcastle fan back on the 20th November where they would finish in the league and even the most pessimistic Geordie would have said they would be champions.
With 8 consecutive League wins and being 5 points clear, it would have been difficult to disagree with them.
However, the current league and form tables paint a not-so-happy picture. The Magpies now lie in 2nd place, after losing 4 of their last 8 matches, 2 points off the pace having played a game more than current leaders Brighton.
So what’s happened to them?
Their last 2 losses have come against playoff hopefuls Sheffield Wednesday and perhaps more shockingly, against relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers.
It may be coincidence, but both those losses have come as Jonjo Shelvey started serving his 5 match ban for racial abuse.
His ban relates to an incident that occurred during September’s match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, in which an independent review panel suggested there was ‘clear and compelling’ evidence that Shelvey had used racially abusive language toward Moroccan midfielder Romain Saiss.
Shelvey has been at the heart of Benitez’s midfield since the start of the campaign and is surely a big loss for the Magpies.
So what can they do to turn this form around?
Rafa Benitez believes that he doesn’t need to change anything and now is not the time to panic:
"I don't think we need to rectify anything, we need to try and do the same things.
"We will encourage the players to play with the same confidence, intensity, ability and same spirit."
Will they pick up their form and challenge for the top once again?
#4 Reading’s almost perfect Christmas
All the talk so far in this season’s Championship roundup’s have been about Huddersfield, Brighton and Newcastle United and their domination of the league.
Little wonder then that Reading have quietly gone about their business, winning games and steadily climbing the table without anyone really noticing.
Jaap Stam’s team have only lost 2 games in their last 10 amassing 24 points from a possible 30 and lie 3rd in the league, 6 points behind Newcastle with a game in hand.
Their last 3 games have resulted in 3 wins. So why then, was this not a perfect Christmas?
The reason is that Reading’s match on 30th December with Fulham was called off; abandoned due to fog!
Stam seemed to think it was the right decision:
"When you look at how things were in the first half, it's the right decision. But, when we came out again after half-time, the weather had cleared up a bit.
"But, it's hard for the referee to know what will happen with the weather and I understand he has to make that call before both sides take the pitch again, so it's the right decision."
Will they be able to keep amassing points and challenge for an automatic promotion place?
#5 Stat-Attack - Bristol City in free-fall
Current Bristol City boss, Lee Johnson surely has the unfortunate honour of being favourite as the next Championship manager to be sacked?
In the last 10 matches, his team have won only once and have lost the other nine. They have the worst form in the league and are lying just 3 points above the relegation zone.
However, in the last 10 minutes of their previous 4 games they have conceded 5 goals from drawing or winning positions. Have they not let those late goals in, they would be 6 points better off, having drawn 3 and won 1.
The Terriers have, in fact, lost their previous 4 games in the last 10 minutes from either winning or drawing positions If not for those goals it would have seen them jump up to 14th in the league and Johnson knows the team need to turn it around and fast.
“It hurts; it's disappointing but we'll endeavour to get it right.
“This league is relentless, it doesn't feel sorry for anybody and we have to maintain confidence and aggression in our play.”
Their next 2 games see them have an opportunity to try to pick up some points.
First, they are at home against Neil Warnock’s Cardiff City, then they travel to fellow strugglers, Nottingham Forest. Both teams lying 19th and 20th respectively in the league.
Will they be able to stop the rot?
