Category: Championship League

• Leicester breached PSR rules for period ending 2023-24

• Club outside the relegation zone on goal difference

Leicester City have been deducted six points after being found in breach of the Premier League’s financial rules. The punishment, determined by an independent disciplinary commission, leaves them outside the Championship relegation zone on goal difference.

A hearing took place in November after Leicester were alleged to have breached profitability and sustainability regulations for the three-season period ending with 2023-24. There were also two further charges against the club for failing to cooperate and failing to submit their financial accounts on time.

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• Watford hold Hull, Blackburn sink Sheffield Wednesday

• Sheffield United fight back to beat Oxford 3-1

Charlie Daniels praised Watford’s players for the way they secured a point and pushed for more in the goalless draw at the promotion-chasing Hull just days after Javi Gracia’s abrupt exit.

The Spaniard ended his second spell at Vicarage Road on Sunday, having called for talks with the owner, Gino Pozzo, the previous day after overseeing a 2-0 home defeat against Swansea.

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• Middlesbrough edge Norwich, Hull win at Blackburn

• Ipswich grab late draw, Charlton add to Leicester woes

Stuttering Coventry’s grip at the top of the Championship loosened further as QPR came from behind to beat them 2-1 at Loftus Road. Josh Eccles gave the Sky Blues an early lead but the home side responded in the second half with Richard Kone’s equaliser and Nicolas Madsen’s winner.

Frank Lampard admitted his stuttering team’s confidence has taken a hit after the defeat left Coventry clinging on to top spot. Middlesbrough are now level on points with them after four consecutive wins and Coventry now only five points clear of third-placed Hull, who have a game in hand.

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The Leicester City chair plays down talk of another relegation but knows the mood among fans is fraught

Leicester City are hurting but Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha, looking towards the pitch at the King Power Stadium, insists he shares supporters’ frustrations. He acknowledges the warm glow of their extraordinary Premier League title win almost a decade ago has long faded. He watches every game, which sometimes means tuning in from Thailand in the early hours. An 8pm kick-off in England is a 3am start in Bangkok.

“I want to see the real passion of the players and the performance,” the chair says. “When it is not there, I can’t sleep, so it’s love and pain. Leicester is like my son. So I have to do it right. Of course, a son can be naughty, a son can fail the exam, a pain in your head. The son can be top of the class, graduate, have a bad girlfriend or good wife, you never know. So I feel the same, but the love is there. The responsibility is there. The first thing for me is to identify the problem and fix it.”

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• Departure was ‘difficult decision’, says Foxes’ owner

• Andy King will take interim charge for Charlton match

Leicester City have sacked Martí Cifuentes after dropping to 14th in the Championship. Leicester held crunch boardroom talks on Sunday before deciding to relieve the manager from his position.

Leicester slumped to a humiliating home defeat against struggling Oxford United on Saturday and have won one of their past five matches.

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Portsmouth climbed out of the Championship relegation zone after Ebou Adams marked his home debut with a 77th-minute equaliser to secure a 1-1 draw with their fierce rivals Southampton.

Saints were on course for a first league win at Fratton Park in 50 years following Léo Scienza’s 57th-minute opener. But the visitors were denied south-coast bragging rights when the Pompey midfielder Adams – a January signing from Derby – headed in following an Adrian Segecic corner, to spark wild celebrations.

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• Boro close gap on Coventry with 4-0 win at Riverside

• Leicester 1-2 Oxford, Sheffield United 3-1 Ipswich

Kim Hellberg insisted there is more to come from Middlesbrough after they ruthlessly brushed aside Preston 4-0 to close to within three points of leaders Coventry.

Alan Browne scored against the club where he made more than 400 appearances between 2014 and 2024, before Tommy Conway and Morgan Whittaker capitalised on defensive lapses to put Boro three up at half-time. Preston were down to 10 men just after the break when Jordan Storey saw red for hauling down Conway, who completed the scoring as Middlesbrough claimed a fourth successive league win.

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Cristian Romero’s flying header earned Spurs a point, Antoine Semenyo scored again for City and Bayern Munich were stunned by Augsburg

Kevin and Alex Iwobi come into the Fulham XI. Brighton bring in Olivier Boscagli, Carlos Baleba and Yasin Ayari. It’s not clear who will start at right-back for them, possibly Pascal Gross.

Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Cuenca, Robinson; Iwobi, Berge; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Kevin; Jimenez.

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• Coventry 2-1 Millwall, Ipswich 2-0 Bristol City

• Osmajic sent off as Preston beaten at home by Hull

Haji Wright scored the winner for the second time in three days as the league leaders Coventry beat Millwall 2-1 at the CBS Arena. Wright scored an 85th-minute goal against Leicester on Saturday and notched his 10th goal of the season as Coventry made it back-to-back victories.

The on-loan Crystal Palace winger Romain Esse opened his account for Coventry against his former club before Mihailo Ivanovic scored a brilliant equaliser just before the half-hour.

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• Leaders bounce back after trailing at half-time

• Ipswich 3-0 Blackburn; Preston 0-1 Derby

Frank Lampard hailed Coventry’s win against Leicester as “massive” after Haji Wright’s first goal since early October secured a 2-1 victory. Jordan James had opened the scoring for the visitors before Ellis Simms equalised shortly after half-time. Wright came off the bench to grab an 85th-minute winner as Coventry claimed a much-needed three points after a run of two victories in eight.

“It was a massive win because it was a tough match,” said Lampard. “They’re a quality team, you can’t get fooled by their league position because if they turn up and play well they give you problems. They gave us problems in the first half which makes us happier that we had half-time, dealt tactically with the problems and the feeling of the game and owned it in the second half.

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The world of soccer throws up no shortage of questions. In today’s column, we endeavor to answer three of them

As damaging as Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup defeat to Barcelona was for Xabi Alonso’s credibility as Real Madrid manager, the scenes after the game ultimately finished him off. The sight of Kylian Mbappé overriding Alonso, insisting his teammates leave the pitch as the manager requested in vain that they give Barça a guard of honour, summed up an untenable situation.

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• 34-year-old led Minnesota United to MLS semi-finals

• Ramsay appointed head coach after sacking of Ryan Mason

West Brom have named the former Manchester United assistant Eric Ramsay as their new head coach after the 34-year-old guided Minnesota United to the semi-finals of the Major League Soccer play-offs.

Ramsay, 34, took charge of Minnesota in February 2024, his first senior managerial role, after working alongside Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford. He has also worked as an assistant coach for Wales and had spells with Swansea, Shrewsbury and Chelsea, though his playing experience extends only to a short spell with Welshpool Town and international futsal for Wales.

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• Mason was appointed in June on three-year contract

• West Brom 18th in the Championship after latest loss

West Brom have sacked Ryan Mason as their head coach after a stoppage-time defeat at Leicester on Monday left the club 18th in the Championship. It was the team’s 10th away defeat in a row and ended the 34-year-old’s tenure after seven months.

Mason was appointed on a three-year deal after holding a variety of roles at Tottenham, including interim manager and assistant to Ange Postecoglou. West Brom said two members of Mason’s staff, Nigel Gibbs and Sam Pooley, had also left.

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• Match at MKM Stadium called off due to safety concerns

• Visitors insist they ‘were ready and willing to play’

Watford have criticised the decision to call off their Championship match at Hull 18 minutes before kick-off on Sunday – and have claimed they did not agree to the postponement.

The referee, Anthony Backhouse, called the game off due to safety concerns over areas surrounding the pitch while the players were already warming up. The MKM Stadium clash was one of three second-tier fixtures to fall by the wayside due to frozen pitches, while 14 games across Leagues One and Two were also postponed.

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• Ducksch double edges Birmingham to 3-2 home victory

• Middlesbrough up to second after Southampton win

Marvin Ducksch scored twice as Birmingham ended their seven-game winless streak with a 3-2 victory over Championship leaders Coventry.

The former Germany international grabbed a goal in each half as fortunes ebbed and flowed in a derby fixture that delivered drama from the first whistle until stoppage time when visiting defender Bobby Thomas was dismissed. Birmingham led three times but were pegged back twice by Frank Lampard’s side, who have now won just twice in their last eight outings.

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