Championship League News
The Preston forward Milutin Osmajic has been charged by the Football Association after an allegation of racist abuse.
The incident took place during Preston’s Championship match against Burnley on 15 February, where Osmajic was alleged to have made a racist comment towards the Clarets midfielder Hannibal Mejbri.
Continue reading...Daniel Farke blamed himself after his Leeds side were forced to battle back from two down to salvage a 2-2 draw against QPR. Farke considered starting with the defensive midfielder Ilia Gruev but instead opted for a more attacking approach, which backfired as goals from Koki Saito and Steve Cook put Rangers, who had lost their previous four matches, into a surprise lead.
Morgan Fox’s own goal gave the visitors a much-needed boost before the interval and Jayden Bogle equalised soon after the restart. QPR ended the match with 10 men after Saito was sent off in stoppage time for a studs-up challenge on Dan James.
Continue reading...Manager opens up on losing his baby son, how close he came to quitting and the Premier League promotion push
After victory at Middlesbrough in October, Bristol City’s players headed towards the pocket of the Riverside Stadium housing their supporters. As the away fans sang on loop the name of their head coach, Liam Manning, the squad unravelled a giant red and white banner displaying the words “Fly High Theo” in block capitals. Manning, on leave after the death of his baby son eight days earlier, was watching from a rural cottage 300 miles south, on a much-needed getaway. “I sent a long message to the lads about it afterwards … yeah, lump in the throat,” he says. “The celebrations epitomised everything. It was above football.”
It is not the only heavy moment in a raw and moving conversation but the one thing Manning stresses, as he discusses the hardest episode of his life in an interview for the first time, is that this is not a sob story. He takes huge pride in sharing Theo’s name.
Continue reading...Leeds moved back to the Sky Bet Championship summit after defeating Millwall 2-0. Jake Cooper’s own goal gave Leeds the advantage only three minutes into the game before Ao Tanaka wrapped up three points with a thumping finish in the 85th minute.
Victory means Leeds sit two points clear of automatic promotion rivals Sheffield United and four points clear of third-placed Burnley after both teams drew their respective games on Tuesday night.
Continue reading...Mark Sykes struck a last-minute equaliser to snatch Bristol City a 1-1 draw at Championship promotion-chasers Sheffield United.
The point was enough to lift the Blades back to the top of the table, but they were denied a seventh win in eight matches by Sykes’ last-gasp effort after Tyrese Campbell had given them a second-half lead.
Continue reading...Colby Bishop fired a second-half winner as Portsmouth beat the Championship leaders, Leeds, 1-0 at Fratton Park.
After their promotion rivals Sheffield United, Burnley and Sunderland won on Saturday, Leeds’s 17-match unbeaten league run stretching back to November ended through a combination of poor finishing and impressive goalkeeping from Nicolas Schmid.
Continue reading...Burnley and Sheffield United had a contrasting day but both came up with victories to put pressure on the Championship leaders, Leeds, who visit Portsmouth at lunchtime on Sunday.
Sheffield United were made to work for their victory over Preston at Bramall Lane, with Tyrese Campbell scoring the only goal 11 minutes after half-time. Campbell had a huge chance within the first 90 seconds when Harrison Burrows’ low cross fell to Campbell at the far post but he somehow missed the target, albeit from a tight angle. Moments later, Ryan Porteous nearly turned Ben Brereton Díaz’s cross into his own net before Gustavo Hamer had a go from distance but his curling shot sailed harmlessly over the bar.
Continue reading...Burnley’s run of Championship clean sheets finally came to an end on Tuesday night, but they kept the heat on in the promotion race with a 2-1 win at Cardiff.
Yousef Salech’s firm header in the 42nd minute was the first goal the Clarets had conceded in 1,132 minutes of league action, a run of 12 consecutive clean sheets broken. But by the time Salech scored it, early goals from Josh Brownhill and Maxime Estève had already put Scott Parker’s side in charge, and the win puts them two points behind second-placed Sheffield United.
Continue reading...Norfolk Holdings has completed its majority takeover of Norwich City, with Delia Smith and her husband, Michael Wynn Jones, no longer part of the club’s board.
It was announced in August that Norfolk Holdings, led by the Milwaukee Brewers owner, Mark Attanasio, was set to increase its shareholding to around 85%, which would result in Smith and Wynn Jones stepping down as directors and becoming honorary life presidents.
Continue reading...Leeds’ title charge was checked as they were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by West Brom. Junior Firpo headed the home side into an early lead but Darnell Furlong equalised with a looping header before the break.
The point still extended Leeds’ unbeaten league run to 17 matches as they head towards a Premier League return. Though the West Brom’s manager, Tony Mowbray, later questioned their ability to stay there.
Continue reading...Eliezer Mayenda tormented Sheffield Wednesday once again as his controversial double helped Sunderland boost their Championship automatic promotion hopes with a 2-1 victory at Hillsborough.
The Spaniard scored two goals during the Black Cats’ 4-0 win over Wednesday in August and he grabbed both, including a highly contentious opener after what appeared to be a handball, on Friday night to help his side move within five points of second-placed Sheffield United with a return to winning ways after successive league defeats.
Continue reading...The night Leeds United’s season swung decisively, or just another evening in the most unpredictable league in football? Only in May will we know that answer for sure, but the scale of the celebrations from those associated with Leeds here perhaps told you everything you need to know.
The popular song aimed in Leeds’ direction when things are going wrong is to decry that Daniel Farke’s side are falling apart. But here, when it mattered most, this team showed that they are anything but one that capitulates in the crucial moments.
Continue reading...Leeds scored three goals in the last 20 minutes to stun Sheffield United and move five points clear at the top
9 min: Off the line by Gruev! Meslier is looking vulnerable on set-pieces. He paws Peck’s corner back towards his own goal – he thought he was fouled, the referee disagreed – and Gruev did brilliantly to stoop forward and head the ball off the line.
8 min A long throw from the left is spilled by Meslier, who is very relieved to dive on the loose ball before any Sheffield United player can get to it.
Continue reading...Leeds, Sheffield United and Burnley are all vying for Premier League returns but fans will ask if it’s really worth it
Tibetan Buddhist monks will spend months working in cold conditions, icing their fingers, enduring significant discomfort, to create gorgeously detailed sculptures out of yak’s butter. And then they will destroy the sculptures, leaving them out in the sun to melt.
For anybody connected with a Championship club, the sentiment will be familiar. At some level, most clubs exist to feed those higher up the pyramid. So why would a fan emotionally invest in a young star, even a local one, knowing he is unlikely to hang around for more than two or three years? And if a team are promoted, at least half the side will probably have to be upgraded to offer even a chance of survival. When the gulf between divisions is so vast, everything is fleeting, team-building an act of permanent evolution. What monks do to convey the understanding that life is transient and that the artefact is far less important than the act of creation, Daniel Farke and Chris Wilder are doing because football’s economics demand it.
Continue reading...Rubén Sellés wants Hull’s ambition to keep rising after an impressive 1-0 win at promotion-chasing Sunderland boosted his side’s fight for Championship survival.
The Black Cats goalkeeper Anthony Patterson fumbled Joe Gelhardt’s corner into his own net in the 18th minute and Sunderland were frustrated by an impressive display from the Tigers, earning Sellés’s side a fourth win from their past five away matches. “This was a fantastic job and we had to show character, be good defensively,” said Sellés. “If we keep defending as we do, especially away from home, then we will do well.”
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