Category: Championship League

• Blackburn and Stoke battle to hard-fought points on road
• Plymouth claim 2-2 draw in first game since Rooney exit

Danny Batth’s last-minute equaliser clinched Blackburn a 1-1 draw at Elland Road and denied Leeds a 10th straight home win.

Pascal Struijk’s late penalty appeared to have snatched Leeds all three points in their push to extend their lead at the top of the Championship before Batth struck. Leeds poured forward in pursuit of a winner during 10 minutes of added time but John Eustace’s playoff-chasing visitors held firm for a deserved point. Daniel Farke’s side had taken maximum points from their previous three festive fixtures, but they failed to spark against Rovers.

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• Robins was sacked by Coventry in November
• He takes over from Narcís Pelach with club 18th

Mark Robins has been appointed as Stoke’s manager on a three-and-a-half-year contract. The 55-year-old was sacked in November by Coventry and will watch Stoke’s game at Burnley on Wednesday from the stands before being in the dugout for the first time at home to Plymouth on Saturday.

Robins spent just over seven and a half years at Coventry and oversaw two promotions to reach the Championship. His team lost the 2022-23 Championship playoff final on penalties to Luton and were beaten in a shootout by Manchester United in last season’s FA Cup semi-finals.

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• Former England forward took over in May
• Plymouth are bottom of Championship after 23 games

Wayne Rooney and Plymouth Argyle have “mutually agreed to part ways with immediate effect”, the club have announced. The 39-year-old was appointed in May and leaves with the club sat bottom of the Championship, four points from safety after 23 games. They most recently lost 2-0 to fellow strugglers Oxford and 4-0 to Coventry.

In a statement on the Plymouth website, Rooney said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the board of Plymouth, in particular Simon Hallett and Neil Dewsnip who I shared great relationships with.

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• Scot replaces Neil Harris on ‘long-term contract’ at Den
• Neil has managed Norwich, Preston, Sunderland, Stoke

Millwall have appointed Alex Neil as their new head coach. The 43-year-old Scot replaces Neil Harris, who stepped down from the role earlier this month. Neil had been out of work since being sacked by Stoke last December, having previously managed Hamilton, Norwich, Preston and Sunderland.

Millwall, who were led by caretaker manager David Livermore in their last three fixtures, sit 13th in the Championship table following Sunday’s goalless draw at Coventry. Neil will take charge of the team for the first time when Oxford visit the Den on New Year’s Day.

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• Cannon fires Stoke past Sunderland for rare win
• Burnley extend unbeaten run with Middlesbrough draw

Leeds will head into 2025 top of the Championship after a hard-fought 1-0 win at Derby. Sheffield United had briefly returned to the summit following their lunchtime kick-off against West Brom, which ended 1-1 at Bramall Lane.

However, Leeds closed out the year in pole position in the race for automatic promotion after Brenden Aaronson’s solitary second-half strike secured them an eighth win in their last 10 matches.

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• Pelach only won three of 18 Championship matches
• Stoke looking for third head coach of the season

Stoke have sacked Narcís Pelach after only 19 games as head coach, the Championship club have announced.

Pelach, who was appointed in September at the age of 36 after replacing Steven Schumacher, won just three of the 18 league games for which he was in charge and departs after a 2-0 Boxing Day defeat at home against Leeds which left Stoke sitting in 19th place in the table, three points clear of the relegation zone.

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• Coventry win 4-0 in duel between ex-England teammates
• Leeds victory edges them past Sheffield United at summit

Coventry inflicted a 4-0 thrashing on Plymouth, heaping the pressure on Wayne Rooney after his first managerial meeting against his former England teammate Frank Lampard ended in embarrassment.

All of Coventry’s goals came before the break at the CBS Arena to seal a result which leaves Plymouth bottom of the Championship. The hosts raced into the lead after five minutes, when Tatsuhiro Sakamoto was allowed a free header from Ben Sheaf’s cross. Coventry doubled their advantage in the 20th minute after a fine move that saw Ephron Mason-Clark lay the ball off for Josh Eccles to fire home from outside the area.

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Sheffield United lead a north-facing battle to go up while Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney are in the trenches

Chris Wilder could not contain the excitement in his voice. “It feels imminent,” said Sheffield United’s manager. “It’s getting pretty close.”

Wilder was referring to his club’s protracted takeover by American consortium, COH Sports. At long last that particular saga has reached a conclusion, with the two key investors, Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, joining United’s board as co-chairmen after the buyout of Prince Abdullah bin Mosa’ad’s United World Group was confirmed on Monday.

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• Corberán says decision was ‘the hardest of my life’
• Spaniard played for Valencia’s youth and B teams

Valencia have confirmed the appointment of Carlos Corberán as their head coach on a contract to 2027 after paying his release clause of about £3m to West Bromwich Albion. The Spanish club made an approach on Tuesday after sacking Rubén Baraja.

West Brom said Corberán was departing “with the club’s gratitude and best wishes” after just over two years in charge and that Chris Brunt, Damià Abella and Boaz Myhill would oversee the first team while a replacement is sought.

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• Buyout of Prince Abdullah’s United World Group finalised
• Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy become co-chairmen

The takeover of the Championship leaders Sheffield United by COH Sports has been completed. Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy have joined the board as co-chairmen with immediate effect after the buyout of Prince Abdullah bin Mosa’ad’s United World Group was finalised.

The takeover includes ownership of Sheffield United Women, SUFC Hotel Ltd and all real estate. “We are honoured and humbled to become the new owners of this historic football club,” Rosen and Eltoukhy told the club website. “We are excited to embark on this journey and our work begins today to deliver long-term success for Sheffield United over a sustained period of time.

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• Kieffer Moore double gives Blades 2-0 win over Cardiff
• Plymouth draw six-goal thriller with Middlesbrough

Leaders Sheffield United extended their unbeaten Championship run to 11 games with a comfortable 2-0 win at Cardiff, on a day when all of the division’s top four sides recorded victories.

Former Bluebird Kieffer Moore struck twice in the second half to ensure the Blades maintained a three-point advantage at the top. Moore has made a habit of scoring at the Cardiff City Stadium having previously netted for the hosts, Wales and Ipswich last season, and was on target again.

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Luton left it late to seal a 2-1 comeback win over Derby in the Championship.

Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu’s volley deflected off teammate Tom Holmes for an 89th-minute leveller before Carlton Morris grabbed an added-time winner for the hosts.

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• Josh Brownhill fires second-half winner for Clarets
• Vakoun Bayo doubles up as Watford beat West Brom

Burnley recovered from the shock of conceding a goal after just 64 seconds to reclaim third place in the Championship by beating Norwich with a 2-1 comeback victory at Carrow Road, while Watford won by the same score at home to West Brom.

The Norwich defender José Cordoba headed home his first goal in English football to give his side a dream start, but the visitors hit back in impressive fashion after the break to take home maximum points. The substitute Zian Flemming’s brilliant long-range strike levelled it for the Clarets midway through the second period and another emphatic finish from Josh Brownhill settled the issued eight minutes later.

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• Sunderland overturn two-goal deficit at Swansea
• Sheffield United on top after 2-0 win over Plymouth

Sunderland overturned a two-goal deficit to win a 3-2 thriller at Swansea and climb to third place in the Championship. Swansea established a healthy lead inside 17 minutes as Zan Vipotnik volleyed home and Liam Cullen dispatched a fabulous free-kick, but Sunderland levelled through Dan Ballard and Dan Neil – whose previous goals both came in a 2-1 victory against West Brom over 12 months ago. Jobe Bellingham then claimed the winner with his third of the season.

The win moved Sunderland to within two points of second-placed Leeds who were held to a 1-1 draw at Preston. Brad Potts put Preston ahead in the 23rd minute but an unfortunate own goal from substitute Jack Whatmough in injury time saved Leeds a point.

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• Gnonto also on target in 3-1 win against Middlesbrough
• Sunderland grab late equaliser to peg back Bristol City

Dan James marked his 100th Leeds appearance with a crucial goal as his side beat Middlesbrough 3-1 at Elland Road to regain top spot in the Championship.

James fired home in the second half after Max Wöber’s own goal had cancelled out Wilfried Gnonto’s opener. Brenden Aaronson added Leeds’s third in added time.

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