Category: Championship League

The Premier League-bound Clarets and their manager have no shortage of motivation heading into next season

If the opening night was anything to go by, it looked as if Burnley’s return to the Premier League at the first time of asking was inevitable. It was Scott Parker’s first game in charge, a tricky trip to Luton, who had dropped down with the Clarets. One team had enjoyed a summer of continuity whereas everything had changed at Turf Moor but it was Burnley who left with a dominant 4-1 victory.

That warm night at Kenilworth Road was not indicative of what was to come. By the end of the month, three of the goalscorers had left – 12 first-team players departed in total in August – forcing Parker to almost reset after the campaign had started, but it helped mould his squad into his vision for a promotion push. It would not be done with the flair and style with which Vincent Kompany et al accrued 101 points and 87 goals to win the title two years ago but, with the potential to reach a century, the result could be the same.

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• Canaries missed out on playoff spot in Championship
• A 3-1 defeat at Millwall marks Thorup’s final match

Jack Wilshere will take charge of Norwich’s final two games of the season after the Canaries parted company with Johannes Hoff Thorup.

Norwich have slipped to 14th in the Championship after winning only twice in 14 matches, with their 3-1 Easter Monday defeat at Millwall being their fourth loss in five games. Thorup was appointed head coach on a three-year deal last May and the Dane leaves alongside his assistant Glen Riddersholm.

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• Hull beat Preston 2-1 as four of bottom five win
• Millwall bolster playoff hopes as Coventry and Boro falter

West Brom have announced the departure of Tony Mowbray after the club’s play-off hopes were all-but ended by a 3-1 Championship defeat at home to relegation-threatened Derby.

The visitors twice punished the Baggies from set-pieces when Ebou Adams and Jerry Yates struck from corners in the first half. Adam Armstrong’s goal halved the deficit and made for a nervy final 20 minutes until Nathaniel Mendez-Laing sealed maximum points for Derby, two minutes from time.

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Leeds United’s long march out of the wilderness is over. The last lap of an often gruelling and sometimes downright painful journey into the Premier League proved joyous and unexpectedly straightforward, the only frustration being a slight delay to the start of the formal celebrations.

It was occasioned by the need to wait for the final score from Turf Moor, where Burnley beat Sheffield United to join Leeds in the top tier while consigning Chris Wilder’s side to the playoffs.

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Leeds United all but confirmed their return the top flight, while four of the Championship’s bottom five sides won on a day Morecambe’s exit from the Football League was confirmed

• Read Louise Taylor’s match report from Elland Road

Cardiff City: The Welsh side are second from bottom of the Championship table and host Oxford United thisd afternoon. Following Saturday’s dismissal of Omer Riza, Aaron Ramsey has been given the job of keeping Cardiff up with just three games of the season remaining.

The 34-year-old midfielder has not played for Cardiff since suffering the latest in a long litany of hamstring injuries in March.

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• Aaron Ramsey takes over for last three games of season
• Bluebirds currently languishing 23rd in Championship

Aaron Ramsey has been given the task of trying to save Cardiff City from relegation after Omer Riza was sacked on Saturday. The Bluebirds parted company with their manager after a 2-0 defeat at Sheffield United on Good Friday left them 23rd in the Championship, one point from the last safe spot with three games left.

A statement from the Welsh club read: “Cardiff City can confirm that a decision has been taken to relieve Omer Riza of his duties as first team manager. Aaron Ramsey will lead the club for the remaining three games of the Championship season, beginning with Monday’s match at home to Oxford United.

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• Bristol City and Coventry tighten grip on playoff spots
• Plymouth stay bottom after injury-time Boro winner

Leeds are on the verge of promotion after Manor Solomon’s goal secured a 1-0 victory at Oxford. The win keeps Leeds top of the Championship and five points clear of third-placed Sheffield United with three games remaining.

Daniel Farke’s side scored the decisive goal in the first half with Jayden Bogle’s cross finished at the far post by the Tottenham loanee Solomon.

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Leeds and Burnley are trying to hold off Blades at the top and thrilling race for playoff spots must be whittled down

Ao Tanaka sat in the away dressing room and started crying. The Japan midfielder had just helped Leeds win a vital match at Middlesbrough this month but they were not tears of joy. “I asked Ao: ‘Why?’” said his manager, Daniel Farke. “He said: ‘I don’t know boss, I’m just so empty.’”

Given it is April and, with four games remaining, a gruelling, painfully tight, Championship promotion race is drawing towards a denouement, no one seemed too surprised. “It’s hard for all my players at the moment,” said Farke, whose team could, like Burnley, be promoted as early as Easter Monday. “We’re working for the most emotional club in the UK and the outside world is always nervous and panicking.”

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Frank Lampard watched on from the stands as his playoff-chasing Coventry side were held to a 1-1 draw at struggling Hull. Lampard served a one-match touchline ban at the MKM Stadium and was fined £2,000 after his sending off at the end of the defeat by Burnley earlier this month for an outburst at referee James Bell.

While Coventry largely dominated Hull and went ahead through a deflected strike from Matt Grimes, who earlier produced two goalline blocks to deny Kasey Palmer, substitute Abu Kamara equalised. Lampard’s side therefore stay sixth, moving three points clear of seventh-placed West Brom, and the manager may rue his team’s lack of a clinical edge as Hull goalkeeper Ivor Pandur made several important saves.

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• Defeat is blow for Blades as Leeds beat Preston
• Sunderland lose 1-0 at home to Swansea

Miron Muslic praised his Plymouth side for a remarkable late 2-1 Championship comeback victory over promotion-chasing Sheffield United.

Muhamed Tijani scored an 88th-minute winner after in-form Ryan Hardie – with nine goals in his last 11 games – cancelled out Jesurun Rak-Sakyi’s 44th minute opener. That boosted Plymouth’s survival hopes but dented the Blades’ automatic promotion ambitions as they slipped five points behind joint leaders Leeds – who deservedly beat Preston 2-1 – and Burnley with four games remaining.

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• Sky Blues snatch late victory over Portsmouth
• Bottom club Plymouth well beaten by Swansea

Coventry moved into the Championship play-off places after a dramatic 1-0 victory over visitors Portsmouth.

The game seemed destined for a frustrating stalemate from the Sky Blues’ perspective, but Jamie Paterson had other ideas.

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• Sheffield United third after home defeat by Millwall
• Sunderland seal playoff place with draw at Norwich

Burnley were knocked off the top of the Championship on goal difference after yet another goalless draw – their 12th of the season – against Derby.

On a night of more twists and turns, the third side in the automatic promotion chase, Sheffield United, slipped to third after a 1-0 home defeat against Millwall.

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• Leeds held by Luton; Sheffield United lose at Oxford
• Plymouth beat Norwich as relegation fight intensifies

Scott Parker said he was “immensely proud” after watching his Burnley side go top of the Championship with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Coventry on a day when their title rivals slipped up.

Haji Wright put the hosts in front after five minutes before Jaidon Anthony scored either side of half-time to make it 27 games unbeaten.

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With delays in paying players and an owner who has lost the faith of fans, the Championship club urgently need a plan

It is highly unlikely a statement including the phrase “impacted on the club’s immediate cashflow” can result in anything positive. Sheffield Wednesday announced their latest financial issues on Monday after failing to pay their players on time at the end of March, putting the Championship side under a dark cloud.

This is the latest cause for concern among Owls supporters who have become increasingly frustrated by the ownership of Dejphon Chansiri, and the longer the players are not remunerated the greater the risk of punishment. An English Football League charge could come next week if the players remain unpaid. A fine, transfer ban or points deduction would then be among the options open to the league, which is in dialogue with Wednesday, if the matter is not resolved quickly, which the club is confident it will be.

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• Chairman Dejphon Chansiri working to resolve issue
• Latest in a series of financial challenges for Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday have failed to pay their players their salaries for March on time due to “cashflow” problems.

The Owls say the delay in payment is only temporary and chairman Dejphon Chansiri is attempting to resolve the issue.

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