Category: Championship League

• Middlesbrough apprehended alleged spy last week

• Saints may claim that the offender was an intern

Middlesbrough have been approached by fellow Championship clubs who harbour suspicions that their pre-match training sessions may also have been spied on by Southampton.

The English Football League has charged the south-coast club with misconduct after a member of Tonda Eckert’s backroom was allegedly caught breaching regulations by filming and making audio recordings of one of Kim Hellberg’s final practice sessions before his Middlesbrough side faced Eckert’s Southampton in Saturday’s playoff semi-final first leg at the Riverside Stadium. As Hellberg prepares his players for Tuesday’s second leg at St Mary’s Stadium with the score goalless, Championship rivals are understood to be examining any available CCTV training-ground footage from recent weeks.

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Hull City and Millwall played football for about 95 minutes, and then the referee blew his whistle and they stopped

1 min: From kick-off a long ball leads to a long throw, which leads to a corner, which is headed away.

1 min: Peeeep! Millwall get the game started “in their cream strip with navy and mint v-neck”, we’re told.

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• League to convene disciplinary panel at ‘earliest opportunity’

• Furious Boro want playoff opponents to be punished severely

Southampton have been charged with misconduct by the English Football League and will face an independent disciplinary commission set to be convened “at the earliest opportunity”.

Middlesbrough remain furious after catching a man they maintain belongs to Tonda Eckert’s backroom staff allegedly spying on a vital training session before Saturday’s Championship playoff semi-final first leg against Southampton at the Riverside Stadium.

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• Individual seen in bushes was confronted on Thursday

• Echoes of Marcelo Bielsa’s 2019 ‘spygate’ affair

Middlesbrough believe they caught a Southampton analyst hiding in the bushes and allegedly recording their training session on Thursday morning, in a remarkable repeat of the 2019 Marcelo Bielsa “spygate” affair.

Boro have reported the incident to the English Football League as spying on opposition training is in breach of their regulations. The EFL is investigating the alleged misconduct and have requested Southampton’s observations regarding the matter.

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• The 35-year-old, brother of Will Still, lasts three months

• Watford sack 11th head coach since end of 2020-21 season

Watford have sacked head coach Ed Still, just three months into a two-and-a-half year contract, following the Championship club’s dismal end to the season. Still was Watford’s 11th permanent head coach since the end of the 2020-21 season.

Still, 35, was appointed in February following the resignation of Javi Gracia and his sacking comes at the end of the Championship season in which Watford lost six of their final seven games. The Hornets finished 16th, 10 points above the relegation zone.

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Gloves will be off in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-offs as all three clubs hope to join Coventry in the top-flight

If Ipswich do not achieve promotion this month the image may be permanently seared into Jack Clarke’s retinas. He had slalomed through Southampton’s defence in the final act of a dizzying cameo on Tuesday night and, from an angle on the left, unleashed a near-flawless drive across Daniel Peretz. Replays barely do justice to the home No 1’s left-handed save but the key detail is that he somehow got a touch on the ball and glanced it millimetres wide, with Clarke preparing to wheel off towards the visiting fans. It was 2-2 in the 94th minute and Ipswich would have been home and dry with a win but for the merest snick off the edges of Peretz’s goalkeeping apparel.

It means the gloves will be off on Saturday lunchtime at Portman Road, the Den and far beyond. The league’s finale is poised deliciously and, even if the Championship winners, Coventry, are long gone, nobody is going quietly in the wait for second. Will Ipswich, experienced in such scenarios under Kieran McKenna, use quality and muscle memory to preserve second spot? Could Alex Neil’s relentless Millwall offer up the story of the season by returning to the big time after 36 years away? Or will Kim Hellberg and Middlesbrough, seemingly a top-flight team in waiting for much of the campaign before falling away, orchestrate one last twist?

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Coventry celebrated their Championship title with a 3-1 victory that leaves Wrexham’s playoff ambitions in the balance.

The Sky Blues were in party mood after Frank Lampard’s side had wrapped up the title on Tuesday and before the trophy presentation after the final whistle. Brandon Thomas-Asante volleyed the hosts ahead after 19 minutes at the CBS Arena, but Ollie Rathbone replied quickly for sixth-placed Wrexham.

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• Boro thrash Watford 5-1, West Brom 0-0 Ipswich

• Charlton’s 2-1 win and Baggies’ point relegates Oxford

Middlesbrough’s hopes of winning automatic promotion remain alive after they thrashed Watford 5-1 at the Riverside. With second-placed Ipswich drawing 0-0 at West Brom, Boro moved to within a point of the top-two positions with one game to play – although Ipswich still have a game in hand.

Boro’s 5-1 victory was their joint-biggest win of the season and came thanks to doubles from Morgan Whittaker and Tommy Conway plus a goal from David Strelec. Watford’s goal came at the start of the second half from James Abankwah, but while the visitors were a match for their opponents for most of the first period, they were comprehensively outplayed after the break.

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Millwall moved back into the Championship’s automatic promotion position places but could only snatch a late 1-1 draw at already relegated Leicester.

Substitute Macaulay Langstaff’s first goal since February cancelled out a Foxes opener from Harry Souttar, who was playing his first game since rupturing an achilles 16 months ago. It moved Alex Neil’s visitors up to second, a point ahead of Ipswich who have two games in hand.

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• Stalwart served Lancashire club from 1970 until 2004

• As caretaker, helped saved Rovers from relegation in 1997

Tributes have been paid to “Mr Blackburn Rovers” Tony Parkes after his death at the age of 76. The former player and coach was one of the longest-serving employees in the club’s history, with his association beginning with his £5,000 move from Buxton in 1970 and concluding in 2004.

“Blackburn Rovers are devastated to learn of the passing of Tony Parkes. A true club legend, often referred to as ‘Mr Blackburn Rovers’,” said a club statement. “Everyone at Blackburn Rovers sends their deepest heartfelt condolences to Tony’s daughter Natalie and all his family and friends at this incredibly sad time.”

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• Canaries coach compares 22-year-old to young Erling Haaland

• Australian’s red-hot form is boost for Tony Popovic before World Cup

Australian striker Mo Touré has earned comparisons to a young Erling Haaland, after he bounced back from a missed penalty to continue his sizzling goalscoring run with a ninth goal in just 10 games since joining English Championship side Norwich.

Touré’s fourth goal of the week, following a second hat-trick of his short Norwich career on the weekend, was a rocket that went in off the underside of the bar and set up a 2-1 win over Derby County.

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Ten years on from lifting the Premier League trophy, Leicester have been relegated to League One after a 2-2 draw with Hull confirmed back-to-back relegations for the club.

The result leaves the Foxes, who were deducted six points in February for a financial rules breach, seven points adrift of fourth-bottom Blackburn with just two games to play and destined for the third tier for the first time since the 2008-09 season.

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• Sky Blues are champions after 5-1 rout of Portsmouth

• Millwall leapfrog Ipswich; Southampton fluff lines

Ephron Mason-Clark scored a brace as Coventry clinched the Championship title with a convincing 5-1 victory over Portsmouth.

Haji Wright opened the scoring before Mason-Clark pounced on an error from Nicolas Schmid just 90 seconds after the break, which was compounded by Regan Poole’s own goal three minutes later.

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Jack Clarke fired home an 87th-minute penalty to save a point for Ipswich in a pulsating 2-2 draw with their promotion rivals. Jarred Gillett awarded the spot-kick when he adjudged Adilson Malanda had tugged the substitute George Hirst in the box.

Middlesbrough, who are on a seven-match winless run, went ahead through David Strelec only for Kasey McAteer to equalise five minutes later. The visitors took the lead through Tommy Conway but Clarke’s spot-kick meant a point apiece.

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