The Championship - Week 15 review / Week 16 preview

By Andrew Iddon

Week 15 - With 15 games of the season gone, Ipswich finally picked up their first league win of the season at home to Derby. A goal from David Wright was enough to finally end the victory drought that has hit the Suffolk club since the summer. Tamas Priskin had a glorious chance to seal the points for the Tractor Boys, but fluffed his lines when clean through on goal. Roy Keane’s men hung on despite the added tension brought on by the Hungarian striker’s miss and the relief at the final whistle could be felt all around Portman Road. The Rams have now lost their last three games and have taken just two points on the road all season.

Gordon Strachan’s tenure as manager of Middlesbrough got off to an unexpectedly poor start as they went down to struggling Plymouth at the Riverside. Replacing the sacked Gareth Southgate, who also lost his first game in charge to Reading three years ago, Strachan would have been forgiven for thinking he had a home banker to start his reign with. The Pilgrims clearly had not read the script and won thanks to a Jamie Mackie strike shortly after the hour mark. Boro could have levelled but Adam Johnson missed from the penalty spot. Watford had put four past Sheffield Wednesday in their last match and travelled to a West Brom side who have struggled for goals in recent weeks. The tables were swiftly turned, with the Baggies smashing five past the Hornets. Among the scorers was Luke Moore, who struck only his fourth goal since joining the club in the summer of 2008 and recent signing Simon Cox who grabbed his first Championship goal since joining from Swindon. Reading, another of Cox’s former sides picked up a rare win when they travelled to Coventry. Goals from former Watford players Gregorz Rasiak; his first after just 28 seconds and Jobi McAnuff gave the Royals a win, relieving some of the mounting pressure on ex-Hornets and current Reading boss Brendan Rodgers.

Free-scoring QPR hosted in-form Leicester City on Friday night and it was the Foxes who came away with the points. Matty Fryatt was the hero for Nigel Pearson’s boys, grabbing a double after Adel Taarabt had given Rangers the lead. The win moved Leicester in to the top two overnight and they sit third after West Brom’s win and Newcastle’s victory at Sheffield United on Monday. The Magpies, now with Chris Hughton in permanent charge, won thanks to a Chris Morgan own goal and heroics from Steve Harper in goal. There were three 1-1 draws over the weekend, including Nottingham Forest rescuing a late point at Cardiff thanks to Lewis McGugan’s strike. Jay Bothroyd had given the Bluebirds the lead earlier on. The other draws came in the games between Bristol City- Sheffield Wednesday, and Preston - Crystal Palace, whilst Doncaster and Blackpool played out a 3-3 tie. There were away wins for Barnsley and Swansea at Peterborough and Scunthorpe respectively, whilst the rearranged game between QPR and Crystal Palace ended with a goal apiece on Tuesday.

Week 15 results
Friday October 30, 2009
QPR 1-2 Leicester City

Saturday October 31, 2009
Bristol City 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Coventry 1-3 Reading
Doncaster 3-3 Blackpool
Ipswich 1-0 Derby
Middlesbrough 0-1 Plymouth
Peterborough 1-2 Barnsley
Preston 1-1 Crystal Palace
Scunthorpe 0-2 Swansea
West Brom 5-0 Watford

Sunday November 1, 2009
Cardiff 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Monday November 2, 2009
Sheffield United 0-1 Newcastle

Tuesday November 3, 2009
QPR 1-1 Crystal Palace

Week 16 - Two underperforming sides meet at Madejski Stadium as Reading host Ipswich. Both teams have struggled for wins this season, with Ipswich only claiming their first victory in their last outing. The Royals were victorious in their last game too, the win at Coventry their third of the season. All three victories have come on the road, with Brendan Rodgers’ side winless at home since January when Steve Coppell occupied the managerial hotseat in Berkshire. The visiting Tractor Boys have not won away from home since last season so there is little in the form book to suggest an obvious winner. Both Rodgers and his counterpart Roy Keane have faced pressure from supporters over their futures in their respective jobs but it is unlikely either club will part with their managers in the near future. Reading are not a club that make hasty decisions, with Coppell spending six years as boss and leaving of his own accord, and predecessor Alan Pardew leaving when offered the West Ham job. Keane has faced much criticism but is a belligerent and determined character who will not relinquish control easily. Failure to win on Saturday will no doubt see the knives come back out, but with the maiden victory under their belts, expect a more-confident Ipswich to start winning regularly soon. Another manager facing mounting pressure is Sheffield United boss Kevin Blackwell. The former Leeds boss offered to resign in May after the Blades lost the play off final to Burnley but was persuaded to stay on at Bramall Lane. The current season has not gone to plan with just four wins achieved so far, and no win for seven games. The defeat at home to Newcastle on Monday was their fourth on the spin, and they have also lost their last four away games. They travel to South Yorkshire neighbours Barnsley who recovered after two straight defeats to win at Peterborough on Saturday. That win had the curious aside of being over Darren Ferguson, days after Tykes boss Mark Robins had seen his side lose to Darren’s father Sir Alex and his Manchester United team.

One of the fiercest derbies of the season is the lunch time kick off on Saturday. Cardiff make the short trip to Swansea’s Liberty Stadium as the two Welsh sides in the Championship meet. The two teams enjoyed contrasting starts to the season, with the Bluebirds rocketing to the summit of the league scoring goals aplenty, whilst the Swans won just one of their first eight matches and struggled to find the net. Both are now in good form, with each having won four of their last seven games, yet are still worlds apart on the goalscoring front. Cardiff are the top scorers in the division having scored 20 more goals than Swansea, who are the lowest scorers out of all 24 Championship teams. In the Swans’ favour is the fact that only Newcastle have conceded less goals than Paulo Sousa’s team and the home side will believe they have the defensive ability to prevent their high-flying visitors from scoring. Cardiff will be without top scorer Michael Chopra who has reached the yellow card limit and so serves a one-match ban. They will also be without Stephen McPhail who is injured.

Week 16 Fixtures
Friday November 6, 2009
Derby vs. Coventry - 19:45

Saturday November 7, 2009
Blackpool vs. Scunthorpe - 15:00
Crystal Palace vs. Middlesbrough - 15:00
Leicester vs. West Brom - 15:00
Newcastle vs. Peterborough - 15:00
Nottingham Forest vs. Bristol City - 15:00
Plymouth vs. Doncaster - 15:00
Reading vs. Ipswich - 15:00
Sheffield Wednesday vs. QPR - 15:00
Swansea vs. Cardiff - 12:45
Watford vs. Preston - 15:00

Monday November 9, 2009
Barnsley vs. Sheffield United - 19:45

The Championship 2009/10

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