Note that Leeds are also the only team so far to have beaten Ipswich in 2nd, so they clearly have something about them. Just a consistency issue, although they've won four of their last five and are rapidly climbing the table. Leicester will go up comfortably, but if Ipswich's form starts to tail off it'll be Leeds who are snapping at their heels.

Thanks again, to be honest it's mainly just summarising/analysing the data and stats from the BBC pages for the league table, the games themselves and every so often digging back through the actual team pages to see results through the last month or two. Nothing too strenuous - every so often I need to head outside of the BBC to wikipedia or google, but the majority is all on the BBC somewhere. Sadly no, but in theory it would be possible to train an AI to do something like this. You'd just need to feed the results in based on specific team names (that match with the names given on the BBC web pages) and then set some rules for how to summarise the data. For example, check and confirm recent form, goals scored in the last five matches, goal difference, and so on. It would probably be a little less spontaneous and personal, but you could definitely build something like that.

This week's round of Championship fixtures spanned from Saturday to Monday, so let's see how the competition's teams fared. After celebrating Huddersfield's first win under his stewardship last Saturday, Darren Moore has now watched his side ship four goals in two consecutive matches, as they went down 4-1 to Leeds at Elland Road. This Yorkshire derby was a one-sided affair with all of Leeds' goals coming in the first half. Huddersfield's consolation goal in the 70th minute did little beyond slightly ease their battered goal difference, which has nosedived to -13, placing them alongside the bottom three teams in terms of being in double negative figures. The lowest GD above 21st is -3. Leeds bounced back from a loss in midweek, but remain a whopping 14 points behind top of the table Leicester and 9 points behind second placed Ipswich - which could become 12 points if Ipswich win their game in hand. Nonetheless, outside of the top two, Leeds have the best GD in the division with +9. Southampton's upturn in form continued at the expense of Wayne Rooney's Birmingham City™ as the Saints recorded a 3-1 home win to lift them into 4th place in the league. It should be noted however that Birmingham had a blatant penalty turned down and one of Southampton's goals was offside - so they can feel genuinely aggrieved by sub-standard officiating. Or what would more accurately be described as just another day at the office for Championship officials. Despite Leeds and Southampton both having rocky starts, both now sit in the top four, with Ipswich being the only team standing between the relegated clubs and Championship dominance. Rovers' old boy Adam Armstrong netted Southampton's third, which was his eighth goal in fourteen matches. Arma may not be PL standard, but this league evidently suits him perfectly. Despite now being six games unbeaten and sitting in 4th place, Southampton still have the fourth worst defensive record in the division. As far as Birmingham are concerned, it's a third defeat in a row and drops them to 14th in the table. Rooney's arrival has thus far heralded a string of defeats and a goal difference of -5, with six goals conceded and one scored. Rovers' did not extend their run of victories to four, as a desperately poor performance at Ewood allowed Swansea to depart with a 1-0 victory. It was, worryingly, a fourth defeat at home for Rovers in what has been an extremely inconsistent season thus far. Despite not playing well after the first twenty minutes or so, Rovers had chances to score but did not take them. The Swans were slightly more clinical and thus walked away with all three points. Swansea had lost their previous two matches prior to this, so they will be happy to have gotten back on track. The result leaves Rovers in 12th, whilst Swansea jump up to 13th, snapping at our heels. Cardiff's fine home form continued in earnest as they beat Bristol City 2-0 at the Cardiff City Stadium. It's now five wins in seven home matches for the Welsh side, who are making their home ground a genuine fortress. It was a second win in a row for the Bluebirds after a poor run of form, and moves them back into the playoff spots in 6th. The result would have big consequences for Nigel Pearson, who found himself removed from his position within twenty-four hours of this match. He leaves with Bristol City in 15th place, having won five, drawn one and lost six this season. They have an okay defensive record but have struggled with scoring, with only the bottom four clubs netting less often, and Millwall level with fifteen goals. Based on what I read on the Bristol City forums, their fans are appalled by the decision to sack Pearson, feeling he had done a lot of good at the club and been operating with his hands tied, as the club sold their best players and failed to bring in adequate replacements (sound familiar?). It remains to be seen who will take the manager's chair, and whether they'll receive more backing than Pearson got this summer. Preston's horrendous slump in form continued as they were beaten 1-0 by Hull at the MKM Stadium. Preston have now failed to win in seven matches and finally drop out of the playoff spots, plummeting down to 9th place. Just to note Preston have picked up three points from a possible twenty-one. A good thing for them that they had a bafflingly strong start to the season, or they'd be fighting it out at the bottom right now. It was a second win in a row for Hull who, despite a recent drop in form, have only lost three times in fourteen matches. Five draws, however, means that they sit in 7th, just outside the playoff positions on goal difference. Ipswich extended their unbeaten run to 11 games in all competitions as they beat fellow newly-promoted side Plymouth Argyle 3-2 at Portman Road. Plymouth finished above Ipswich last season, but the teams have had contrasting fortunes this season, with Ipswich riding high in 2nd place, whilst Plymouth struggle at the other end of the table in 19th. George Hirst bagged his third goal of the season, for anyone interested. It was a fourth win in a row for Ipswich and keeps them five points behind Leicester in 1st, although they have a game in hand on the leaders. They are nine points clear of Leeds in 3rd. Alongside Leicester, Ipswich are the competition's top scorers with 29 goals to their name, averaging more than two goals a game at present. For Plymouth it was a third loss in five matches, but they still remain six points clear of the drop zone. Middlesbrough's fine run of form came to an end as they were beaten 2-0 by Stoke City at the Riverside. Six wins in a row had catapulted Boro from the depths of the division into genuine playoff contention, but it had to end at some point, and Alex Neil's Stoke side were the ones to finally inflict defeat upon an increasingly injury-ravaged Boro side. The Potters have kickstarted their own revival after a dismal start to the season, and this was a third win in a row for them - the first time they've won three in a row in nearly two years. It lifts them into 11th place, just a point behind Boro in 10th position. QPR gave a spirited performance at Loftus Road against league leaders Leicester, which suggested their players had not yet given up on Championship survival. The game was tied at one each before Harry Winks broke down QPR's resistance in the 80th minute and consigned them to a sixth defeat in a row. This was apparently the tipping point for QPR's owners, as they dismissed Gareth Ainsworth the next day. Ainsworth departs with the club having only won two out of fourteen matches this season, losing ten and boasting the worst goal difference in the division with -16. QPR have since appointed relative unknown Spanish manager Martí Cifuentes, a 41 year old whose recent career has seen him touring Scandinavia with jobs in Norway, Denmark and Sweden. It's a risky move for a side that are in desperate trouble, but he realistically can't do much worse than Ainsworth. QPR are still only six points adrift of Huddersfield in 21st, which is not an insurmountable amount of points by any means. Leicester remain top having lost one match and won the other thirteen. They are joint top-scorers alongside Ipswich and have the best defensive record in the division by far, with a meagre eight goals conceded in fourteen matches. Sunderland ended a run of three successive defeats with a 3-1 victory at the Stadium of Light against a Norwich side who are in absolute freefall. Norwich had gone 1-0 up with a goal that should have been ruled as offside in the build up, but Sunderland came back to comfortably earn a victory and all three points, moving them back up to 8th position. It's been a brutal couple of weeks for managers in the Championship, and one has to wonder if David Wagner is next to get the boot. This defeat is the fourth in five matches for Norwich, with the other being a draw. Stretching further back, Norwich have lost six of their last eight games, one of which was a 6-2 humiliation against Plymouth. Norwich have the joint-worst defensive record in the division, conceding 27 goals alongside Huddersfield. This is even worse than the hapless bottom three. Norwich's only saving grace has been their goals scored, with 25 still being the second highest in the division (Leicester and Ipswich sharing joint-first), but this counts for nothing when matches are regularly being lost. Norwich fall to 17th in the table and it seems inevitable that Wagner will be removed from his post if this continues for much longer. Watford and Millwall shared the points with a 2-2 draw at Vicarage Road. The game had a nice symmetry with two early goals for each side in the 7th and 12th minute followed by two late goals for each side in the 85th and 92nd minute. Millwall remain without a manager and also without a win in four games, picking up three points from the last twelve available. They are in 18th place and remain eight points clear of Rotherham in 22nd, which might be why the board have not rushed into making an appointment. None of the bottom three will be giving them cause for concern, if staying in the division is the objective, and the inconsistency of the rest of the division means Millwall are still only six points away from the playoff positions, so a good run of form under a new boss could easily ignite a playoff push. Watford would have wanted to win this one to record a third victory on the bounce, but have to settle for a point which extends their unbeaten streak to four games. They reside in 16th place. Sunday's match saw two of the worst teams in the division go head-to-head. Sheffield Wednesday, who were yet to win a match, faced Rotherham, who have nearly played a full season's worth of away matches without winning. Smart money would have been on a draw, but alas, Rotherham once again failed to show up on the road and gifted Wednesday their first win of the season - a comfortable 2-0 win. These were also the first two goals the Owls had scored in six matches. Rotherham's lack of fight against the division's worst team - in turmoil on and off the pitch - was shocking to see. The Owls new boss Danny Rohl will be delighted with his team's performance, regardless, and grateful for his first three points, having lost his first two matches in charge. Bucko got on as a sub on 73 minutes, whilst Rotherham new boy Ayala did not get on at all. Wednesday remain at the foot of the table, but three points moves them to within two points of QPR in 23rd, although they are still eight points adrift of Huddersfield in 21st. Rotherham remain in 22nd on 9 points, but do have a game in hand owing to the postponed match against Ipswich last week. Should they take three points from their postponed fixture they would be within two points of Huddersfield, although their absolute inability to win away from home will make it extremely difficult for them to avoid dropping back into League 1. Whether this result marks a turnaround for Wednesday remains to be seen, as victory against a Rotherham side who turn to dust away from home does not necessarily prove much. That aside, there are some major problems beyond the pitch which may derail Wednesday's season regardless of the good work Danny Rohl and his team may achieve. Speaking of which... Special mention has to go to Wednesday's off-the-field drama, as chairman Dejphon Chansiri quickly squashed the positivity of a first league win by declaring on the Tuesday that the fans would have to foot a £2m bill to HMRC or risk the club being sanctioned. He belittled the same fans he was asking money from, which seems counterproductive. How he was able to afford to sack one management team and hire another, yet remains unable to pay an HMRC bill, is as of yet unexplained. One can only imagine what the new management team at the club makes of this - but then, they would surely have known about the turmoil at the club, punctuated by a increasingly impenetrable divide between the owner and the supporters, before taking their roles. For now it seems the brief ray of light from Sunday's result has once again been snuffed out by the ever-present black clouds circling around Hillsborough, as the club stares down the barrel of an unpaid HMRC bill, missed wages, and the host of consequences that would likely follow from these failures. The weekend's final match took place on Monday as Coventry's downward spiral continued, as they were defeated 2-0 at home by West Brom. It's a third defeat in a row for a Coventry team who have only won three matches all season. Adding to Coventry's concern will be the fact they've scored no goals in these three defeats, and have actually only scored twice in five matches. The Sky Blues drop to 20th in the table as a result. No such problems for WBA, though, who recorded their third win in five matches and who have overall gained ten points from the last fifteen available. The Baggies also boast the second best defensive record in the division, with their fourteen goals conceded second only to Leicester. The overall goal difference is also joint-fourth best in the division, alongside Sunderland with +8. So yeah, things are going well for WBA right now and they occupy 5th spot in the division.

An unexpected decision. They've been erratic this season but not to the point where you'd anticipate the manager being removed at the end of October. Had a quick look on their forum and the fans seem enraged by this decision.

As noted, Rotherham can't win away, and so it goes... 2-0 down without a shot on goal against the worst team in the league. Unless they have a major turnaround in the second half the alarms should be sounding there.

I do wonder why they even bothered giving him the Leicester match. Nobody would have expected them to win that one anyway, so why not get rid after losing midweek? Oh well, either way it was coming. Today's match will be interesting. Sheffield Wednesday, who can't win at all, versus Rotherham, who can't win away from home.

Maybe we signed him up to a 4 year deal because we knew it'd take at least a year for him to be fit enough to contribute.

Yep, we haven't played well but a half decent striker and we, at the very least, get a draw out of today's game. Terrible performance overall though. Another home defeat. Hull, Sunderland and Swansea have all turned us over at Ewood now, which is really disappointing. Leicester I can accept, even though the scoreline was unnecessary.

We've seen it under numerous managers over the past decade plus - the common denominator, Venky's. Their low standards seep through the entire club like a poison. JDT's ambition has already been undermined this season by Waggott proclaiming we're a development squad who will be happy to simply stay in the division, alongside the owners tearing apart our recruitment plans by slashing the transfer budget. Lack of true ambition from the top unfortunately leads to performances like this.

We're a mid-table team with a lot of average players who sometimes play well and sometimes don't. Probably not much more to it than that. With numerous injuries and continued budget cuts affecting our ability to bring in any proven, decent players this is really the best we can hope for. JDT is doing his best pushing that boulder uphill, and at times we look good, but there's always a weakness somewhere because of how vulnerable our recruitment has left us in almost every area of the pitch.

Surprised Ayala hadn't found any Championship club willing to take him on until now, as at 32, soon to be 33, he still has a season or two left in him at this level. Picky, injury record catching up with him or unreasonable demands? In regards to Ipswich, they've weirdly been given a 'moneybags' label from the media, which is bizarre as they've spent less than we did during the one window we bought Gallagher (or Brereton), and nobody was calling us a moneybags club. Their wage bill is also in the lower third, I believe. Would be interested to know what % they are paying of Brandon Williams salary, as otherwise I believe their wage structure is limited to around 12 or 13k pw. One look at their squad will tell you this isn't a team rolling in money. A lot of journeyman players and youngsters there, but they've been organised in a way that makes them far better than the sum of their parts. Basically the same thing McCarthy did for them a decade ago, but with slightly more transfer funds and a different way of playing.

Let’s see what happened in the latest round of midweek Championship matches. Darren Moore picked up his first win as Huddersfield boss at the weekend, but it was back down to Earth with a bump as his team were thrashed 4-0 at home by Cardiff. Huddersfield found themselves two goals down after twelve minutes, and failed to recover from this poor start. The Bluebirds had hit a poor spell of form as of late, having lost two of their last three matches – this was quite a way to get over a disappointing run of results. The result lifts Cardiff to 7th, only out of the playoff spots on GD, whilst defeat for Huddersfield leaves them teetering on the edge of the relegation zone in 21st. Managerless Millwall had been able to take a point from Preston, but the mighty Rovers offered them no mercy and earned a 2-1 away victory in a scrappy match at the Den. Rovers had the worst possible start, with a defensive horror show gifting Millwall an opening goal within three minutes. Undeterred, however – at the one ground where going behind doesn’t seem to bother us – Rovers clawed themselves back into the game thanks to Bialkowski refusing to allow Wahlstedt to take sole spotlight in the blooper reel. The game was won thanks to an incredible effort from Callum Brittain, curling a beautiful shot into the top corner from just inside the box. Quite a way to score your first goal in four years, and some way to open his account for us. It’s a third win on the spin for a revived Rovers, and pushes us up to 11th in the table. Millwall fall to 16th, in desperate need of a boost from whoever comes in next, as it’s now no wins in three. Another team dropping down the table at rapid pace are Norwich. Despite starting the season well, their form recently has been terrible and a 2-1 home defeat against Middlesbrough only added to a growing sense of frustration in Norfolk. David Wagner is unable to get his team to stop leaking goals, and another two shipped in this match leaves Norwich as joint-worst in the division for goals conceded alongside QPR and Southampton. It’s now three defeats in four for the Canaries and a drop to 14th in the table. Boro, on the other hand, can’t stop winning. Momentum is a helluva drug and six wins in a row for Michael Carrick’s team propels them to the giddy heights of 9th, now only outside the playoffs on goal difference – which would have been unthinkable only a month ago. Swansea’s run of victories came to a halt at the weekend, and they were beaten again by Watford, losing 1-0 at the Swansea.com stadium. A tight game was decided by an 82nd minute winner, and keeps Watford’s recent momentum going strong. It’s a second win in a row for them and a return of seven points from the last nine has helped push them up to 15th in the standings. A second defeat in a row for Swansea, however, drops them to 19th. Leicester continued their stroll through the Championship with a 1-0 win over a determined but misfiring Sunderland side. Leicester have amassed 36 points faster than any other side in the past twenty years of Championship football, and will already be preparing for next season’s seemingly inevitable Premier League return. Twelve wins from thirteen games, having only conceded seven, suggests that this is a team vastly superior to the rest. Although nobody would have expected Sunderland to win this one, it was nonetheless a third defeat on the trot for them and drops them to 10th spot. Leicester are already fourteen points clear of Leeds in 3rd, and five ahead of their only real challengers – newly promoted Ipswich Town. QPR’s nightmare season showed no signs of changing as they lost their eighth match in a row, beaten 2-0 by WBA at the Hawthorns. Worse still, they had a player sent off for arguing about a penalty decision. Former Rovers’ target Cedric Kipre picked up a ‘serious’ knee injury in what was otherwise a routine victory for West Brom. The result leaves Albion sitting in 6th spot, having won three of their last five matches, whilst QPR drop to 23rd due to Rotherham claiming a vital home win against Coventry. Somehow QPR are still only six points from safety, so as of yet all hope is not lost, but there needs to be a huge turnaround there. One imagines Ainsworth would need to depart for any serious change in fortunes, as it seems obvious at this point whatever he’s attempting is not working. Still, we’ll always have that video with the tribal guy chanting and dancing as QPR’s players look on in bemusement. His tenure will have been worth it for that alone... as a neutral fan, anyway. Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham™ continued to have the opposite of a new manager bounce, as they went down 2-0 at home to Hull City. The Tigers had been on a dismal run lately, with two points from a possible twelve, but have Birmingham to thank for ending that run. Always nice to come up against a team who have recently unreasonably sacked a solid manager in favour of a big name who has no track record of managerial success. Anyhow, three points for Hull pulls them up to 8th, just outside the playoffs on goal difference. Birmingham were in the playoffs before binning their manager, but so far Rooney’s revolution has seen them collapse to 12th place with no goals scored in his first two matches. Reports from St. Andrews suggest the atmosphere is already turning toxic, with a section of fans unhappy with both the sacking of Eustace and the hiring of Rooney, feeling neither of these decisions were in the best interests of the club. The good news is that the owners have ‘no fear’, so I’m sure they won’t be worried. Probably not going to hear many “Rooooneh” chants from Birmingham fans any time soon, though. Ipswich continue to make this Championship lark seem like a breeze, as they picked up yet another win, this time away at Bristol City. A single goal was all Ipswich needed, but it could have been more as they thoroughly deserved their three points. For any Football Manager connoisseurs out there, Ipswich remind me of when you select an average team, apply a tactic you know breaks the game engine and watch as the magic happens. All you can say is well done Kieran McKenna, what a job he has done there. The concern for Ipswich fans will be whether any struggling Premier League clubs will have taken notice of Ipswich’s meteoric rise under McKenna’s stewardship and decide to test his loyalty. Anyhow, Ipswich remain in 2nd place, a ridiculous nine points clear of 3rd. Bristol City drop to 13th, alternating between WLWL at present as they continue to be one of the division’s most inconsistent teams. Plymouth eased their relegation concerns with a comfortable 3-0 win over a frankly pathetic Sheffield Wednesday side. At this point Wednesday might as well forfeit the remaining games of the season, as it’s obvious they are done. No goals in six matches, five scored in thirteen matches, zero victories, ten defeats... it’s over. The only question is whether they end this season on the lowest historical points total. Certainly seems like it’s possible at this moment in time. It was a much needed win for Plymouth after just two points from their last twelve, and helps them move up to 17th place. Wednesday remain bottom and you might as well already stick an ‘R’ next to their name. I would say thanks for trying, but I’m not sure they are. The form table suggested another tough night for Preston as they faced Southampton at Dumpdale, but despite Northend not winning in five matches, and Southampton winning three of their last four, it was Preston who nearly came away with all three points – coming from behind to lead the game 2-1. Then they threw two points away with a 96th minute own goal. Lol. Unlucky. Preston stay in 4th, and Southampton in 5th. The Saints would have been 9th had it not been for their equaliser at the death, which shows how incredibly compact the division is. Just three points separate all teams from third to eleventh, and even Huddersfield in 21st position are only six points off sixth spot. Barmy. Two goals conceded by Southampton means they remain joint-worst defence in the division alongside Norwich and QPR. Rotherham picked up just their second win of the season with a 2-0 home win over Coventry. A second defeat on the spin for Coventry underscores the fact they have only won three out of thirteen matches this season, and need to be careful, as they could find themselves fighting it out with Rotherham for a relegation place if they don’t get themselves sorted out. They fall to 20th place in the table, as Rotherham jump above QPR into 22nd – five points behind Huddersfield in 21st. Rotherham are unable to win away from home, so they will see home matches as absolutely vital to any hopes of survival. Finally Leeds lost ground on Ipswich in 2nd as they were beaten away at Stoke. An own goal condemned Leeds to a first defeat in four games, having won their last three matches. For Stoke it was a much needed win, having found themselves dangerously close to the bottom three lately. Stoke climb to 17th, whilst Leeds stay in 3rd.

The RTG forum certainly makes ours look pretty chilled in comparison 🙂 I think Dack is injured again now, so out for a few weeks. His body type was never what you'd call 'athletic', but his technical ability, positional sense and general on-pitch intelligence made up for that pre-injury. Tough to tell nowadays as he barely gets a run of games before injury strikes again. Seems like it's going to be an unfortunate end to his career.

Managed to get a sneaky mention of the bus in there again though 😎

Thought we were generally solid defensively, and it was only a ridiculous individual error that caused us to concede tonight. We may not be playing pretty football so much now, but we're robust defensively and winning matches, and that'll do me.

This thread on TM's latest presser certainly brings back memories, half of the comments could have been copied and pasted from here a couple of years ago: https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/tony-mowbray-press-conference.1618302/ A couple of defeats and suddenly TM is out of favour. Although he apparently blamed storm babet for getting beaten by Stoke at the weekend, and not starting with any strikers, which obviously didn't go down particularly well. https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/dack.1618237/ Dack not the most popular person in that part of the world either.

Ask Sky, I don't know. Personally not interested in the PL these days, so I'll just keep chugging away with the Championship. I could do with someone doing a similar PL review to be honest, as it's the only way I'd consider keeping up with the general goings on.

Agreed, that is strange as it has all the makings of a typical Sky match - two teams with 'name value' based on recent PL tenure, and the return of a former boss in Farke adding some extra flavour. Must have been something to do with just not being able to get the schedule to work with that match, for whatever reason.

Cheers TS. It helps me keep up with what's going on in the division, and hopefully it's useful for other people in the same way.

Friday's game between Rotherham and Ipswich was called off only a couple of hours beforehand, despite Rotherham insisting they were confident the game would go ahead in the early afternoon. The river near Rotherham's ground burst its banks soon after, however, which left officials with little option but to cancel the game. Preston had a good chance to end their recent poor form of four games without a win, facing managerless Millwall at home. For whatever reason Millwall had felt it appropriate to sack their manager just as the international break was coming to an end, suddenly leaving them somewhat rudderless a few days before an upcoming fixture. Nonetheless, fortunately for Millwall it was indeed only Preston, who did not capitalise on their opponent's lack of stability. An even game ended 1-1, stretching Preston's winless steak to five games. They still remain fourth, but are now within three points of falling out of the playoff spots entirely. For Milwall it's a third draw in five matches, and they remain stuck in the middle of the table, 14th. Rovers came out on top in a game with little quality at Ewood Park, edging a 1-0 win against Cardiff. Neither side played well, but it was Rovers who snuck the all important first goal, and this was enough to earn us all three points. It's Rovers' second win in succession, and lifts us to 15th in the table. Also welcome was a second clean sheet in a row, as we slowly go about repairing our damaged goal difference. Cardiff meanwhile register a second defeat in three matches, and one point in nine has seen them fall to 11th in the table. Coventry's four game unbeaten streak came to an end at Ashton Gate, as Bristol City handed the Sky Blues a narrow 1-0 defeat. The result sees Coventry fall to 16th, largely due to their inability to win games. Just three victories in twelve makes for disappointing reading if you are a Coventry fan. Only three defeats on the other hand makes for good reading, so it's not all bad news. Six draws, however, ultimately don't do much to help the cause. Bristol City continue their erratic form, having won two and lost three of their last five games. They move up to 8th, just a point outside the playoff places. QPR failed to respond to the 4-0 hammering inflicted on them by Rovers last time out, and instead fell to their fourth defeat in a row, this time away to Huddersfield. Darren Moore will be pleased to pick up his first three points as Huddersfield boss, ending an overall five game winless streak with three vital points. Huddersfield move up to 18th - aided by the fact that they had drawn three of their previous four games. QPR remain in 22nd, four points behind Plymouth in 21st. They now share the worst defensive record in the league (-22) with Rotherham (23rd), Norwich (10th) and Southampton (5th). What a strange division. Speaking of Southampton, as noted, they're now up to 5th with a 2-1 away victory against a Hull side whose good form has rapidly deteriorated with a series of bad results. They will be especially disappointed to have thrown the match away in the 95th minute. Just two points from the last twelve available has seen the Tigers plunge from the playoff spots into 12th position. Southampton, on the other hand, have gained ten points from the last twelve available, and despite sharing the worst defensive record in the division with three other clubs, find themselves in 5th because... it's the Championship. What else needs to be said. Crazy league. Boro are certainly one of those teams who encapsulate the bizarreness of the Championship. They're currently recreating a carbon copy of last season's antics, just without the change of manager. Despite a horrific start to the season, a 1-0 home win today against Birmingham City marks their fifth win in a row, and three matches without conceding. They surge up to 13th, having only just lifted themselves from the foot of the table one month ago. Wayne Rooney made his debut as Birmingham manager today, but the excitement from himself and the boardroom evidently did not filter down to the players, who put in a lacklustre performance with little intent. Post-match Rooney proceeded to criticise the team's efforts and said that defensive players - some of whom are in their mid-30s - need to learn to play out from the back. Good luck with that one. Playing with no fear sounds like playing with no brain, either, but let's see how it all plays out. Not a good start regardless and Birmingham fall back out of the playoffs into 7th. As noted previously, Norwich have the joint-weakest defensive record in the division, and they continued to leak goals in earnest - beaten 3-2 at Carrow Road by former boss Daniel Farke's Leeds in an entertaining match. Norwich were two goals ahead at the break, but their inability to keep the ball out of their own net meant that by the time the final whistle was blown they were leaving the pitch with nothing. Shane Duffy with another own goal to add to the collection. Norwich sit in 10th, their horrible goals conceded column balanced out by a still excellent goals scored tally, with 23 still the highest amount outside of the top two teams. A fourth win in five games for Leeds leapfrogs them above Preston into 3rd place, six points behind Ipswich - although Ipswich have a game in hand due to Friday's postponement. Stoke ended a run of three home defeats with a 2-1 victory over stuttering Sunderland at the Bet365. Having lost three of the four prior games, three points was much needed for a Stoke team who had started nervously glancing over their shoulders at the relegation zone. The result lifts them to 20th, with a five point buffer between themselves and QPR in 22nd. It was a second defeat in a row for Sunderland, and a third in five matches, but as the other two results were wins they cling onto 6th spot for the time being. Swansea's unbeaten run of five matches - with four wins on the spin - came to an end against a Leicester side who, on current evidence, are far too good for this division. Leicester's 3-1 win at the Swansea.com stadium makes them the first side in the history of the second tier to win their first six away games of the season. They've also won eleven of their first twelve matches. Swansea did take the lead in this one, but were ultimately overpowered by Leicester's quality. Leicester remain top of the division, already 11 points ahead of Leeds in 3rd. They move five points ahead of Ipswich in second - as previously noted, Ipswich's match against Rotherham was postponed. Watford knew they were in huge trouble if they couldn't get something from a match against the league's whipping boys, Sheffield Wednesday. They did manage to scrape a 1-0 victory, but would probably have wanted it to be a bit more convincing. Nonetheless, three points is three points and ends a five game winless run which had seen Watford pick up just two points from fifteen. They are now 19th, with a five point cushion between themselves and QPR. Sheffield Wednesday meanwhile are a bit like the anti-Leicester, on recent evidence far too poor to belong in this division. They have still only managed five goals in their first twelve games, having not scored at all in their last five matches. I suppose as a minor positive they don't have the worst defence in the division at this point in time, but they are also the only team in the division who are yet to win a match, so... yeah, most likely we can chalk off one relegation place, even at this early stage. You have to think it would take something very special to turn around the situation at Wednesday, particularly with the owner currently refusing to put any more money into the club. West Brom seemed to be starting to get themselves going, but two wins has been followed by an away loss to Birmingham and a home draw to today's opponent's, lowly Plymouth. The result doesn't do much for the Baggies, keeping them in 9th, but they are still only a couple of points outside of sixth spot. Plymouth's two points from their last twelve has seem them freefall from the relative safety of mid-table to 21st. They won't be panicking just yet though, as they remain four points clear of woeful QPR, and even if Rotherham win their game in hand Plymouth would still be two points ahead of them. Still, they face Sheffield Wednesday at home on Wednesday and will be fully expecting to be able to pick up three points from that fixture.

Grinding out wins with clean sheets was exactly what I've been asking for, so well done to JDT and the team for adapting to the situation and getting things back under control, especially with significant injury problems limiting selection choices (although from a GK perspective this has probably been to our benefit).

From what I recall the fans had turned on him, which at most normal clubs is usually the beginning of the end. They've had a fairly inconsistent start to the season but by no means a disaster, especially at this early stage. I suppose time will tell if it works out for them. Wouldn't surprise me if Eustace ends up there. He hasn't got much experience but his short stint at Birmingham, with similarly limited resources, was pretty impressive.

It may have been a combination of both, but I don't recall Henderson getting booed before his switch to SA and his recent endorsement of their WC 2034 bid. I would assume those are bigger factors than his on-field performance. I don't really remember an England crowd often booing a player for a poor performance when substituted in recent times (the last decade or so, anyway), although truthfully I don't follow the national side closely enough to know for sure. Goes without saying I'm exempting Maguire from the above, although maybe it's just that sentiment spreading to other players. Who knows.

Sometimes it's better to say nothing. The obvious argument to his saying there's no logic to booing Henderson is to say there's no logic to prioritising a football game over expressing an opinion over human rights atrocities and those who support it. That's not to get into a deeper argument as to our country's own complicity in that and many other human rights abuses, but nonetheless, it suggests a warped view when a football match is given precedent over what the booing represented.

My thoughts are with you mate. Really sad news. Take care of yourself.