It’s difficult to argue too much with Newcastle’s recent decision to appoint Chris Hughton as their permanent manager. After all, Newcastle are two points clear at the top of the table, averaging two points per game and are undefeated at home.

Can Chris Hughton give The Toon what they want?

Yet if I was a Newcastle fan I would have deep concerns about the decision. When Middlesbrough finally took the plunge and ditched the clearly struggling Gareth Southgate, they did not mess about. They appointed Gordon Strachan, a man with genuine experience and a history of success. He has won Championships. He even took Southampton to an FA Cup Final.

Newcastle, meanwhile, appointed Chris Hughton, who has never taken sole charge of a team until this season. I’m not sure how much debate this caused in Geordieland, but whatever discussion it may have generated has surely been totally engulfed by the latest embarrassment to crawl out of a once proud club. When Newcastle take on Peterborough this weekend, you may have read, the two teams will no longer be running out into the historic cauldron of football known as St James’ Park. They’ll be running out into something called ’sportsdirect.com @ St James’ Park’.

Without a doubt, the stupidest, nonsensical and downright insulting renaming of a football ground in history.

But let’s get back to my point. The Championship is now beginning to settle down and while Newcastle still lead the pack, only an extremely blinkered fan would suggest they are certainties for promotion. By all accounts their victory against Sheffield United this week was rather fortunate, as was their draw with QPR and their narrow victory over lowly Doncaster.

At the moment, the quality that United have in the likes of Kevin Nolan, Jonas Gutierrez and Steven Taylor is seeing them through. They do have good options up front, but this season will only get tougher as Championship sides figure out ways to counteract their play.

While things are going well Hughton may be able to keep a steady hand on the tiller. But when they hit their inevitable sticky patch, does Hughton really have the nous, the personality or the experience to drag his team through it?

Last season, Birmingham City pretty much achieved promotion through an edge in quality and the bloody-mindedness of manager Alex McLeish. They were never particularly impressive, certainly never as effective as Wolves, but they grabbed the points when it mattered. As the winter months draw in, will Hughton be able to withstand the pressure of expectation?

True, Newcastle are top, but just six points separate 1st place from 10th position (in contrast, eight points separate first from fourth in the Premier League). It is a tiny gap that could easily be breached in a matter of weeks. Several clubs are beginning to find their stride as well. QPR have been looking like an awesome attacking force. Leicester City are incredibly difficult to beat and have genuine quality up front. Cardiff have enough firepower to defeat anybody. West Brom just put five past Watford. Even Swansea are improving at a frightening rate under Paulo Sousa after a difficult start.

Can you imagine how these teams would have felt if Newcastle had chosen Strachan or Alan Curbishley or if they’d managed to tempt someone like Claudio Ranieri? Appointing career number twos very rarely works – something Sunderland found with Ricky Sbragia. You have to be more than a good coach.

Cardiff fans know only too well that a quick start in this league can mean very little come the end of the season. Newcastle may regret their inability to appoint a stronger, proven manager – or even a talismanic figure like Alan Shearer – when next May comes around. If we’re honest the appointment of Hughton would have been unthinkable even six months ago, and that’s no disrespect to a man who is undoubtedly a good coach and a genuine football man.

These days, very little at sportsdirect.com @ St James’ Park surprises anyone anymore. Good luck to Chris Hughton – he’s going to need it.

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A Big game for both clubs.

Anybody could tell you that Ipswich Town’s 1-0 victory over fellow strugglers Derby on Saturday was a vital result. Defeat or another draw from the team and the alarm bells may of been ringing frantically at Portman Road, but 15 games into the 09/10 season and the Suffolk outfit have finally put a win on the board. Although they remain at the foot of the Championship table, fans danced in jubilation after the final whistle had gone at the weekend; and this hard fought one goal victory will lead them on to piecing together some decent form.

Ipswich’s poor season has surprised quite a lot of people this season. Many people backed Roy Keane to take the club on to the next level and bring success, but quite the opposite has occurred in Keano’s first full campaign in charge. The team has struggled both at the back and front this season, holding the second worst goal difference in the league with only Plymouth keeping them off the bottom spot by one goal. Counago, Walters, Priskin and Stead have accumulated seven goals between them this season and the players at the back have often lacked concentration when under pressure.

Keane certainly has had backing from the board and fans alike. Many other boards would have dismissed a manager who had failed to get a win in 14 games; particularly with the amount of financial backing Keane was given. But it appears that Ipswich are looking at the bigger picture and see this season as part of a jigsaw that will hopefully be completed with the club in the Premiership at some point. Fans have often said that they trust Keane and have kept a lot of optimism throughout the rough period. And why not, its obvious when looking at the clubs squad that they have a lot of quality, including a lot of players Keane knows well and who have a lot of Championship experience.

And I am sure the fans have no doubt that their next fixture away to Reading is just as important, if not more, than the Derby game. Reading are also flirting with the bottom of the table, but managed to beat Coventry convincingly 3-1 and although Coventry also have poor form, nothing should be taken away from their victory. The Madjeski stadium has seemed more like a ruin than a fortress this season, with only 1 goal scored by the club at home in the last 5 games there. Reading must also be aware that although Ipswich just picked up their first victory, they have only failed to score once away from home this season.

But after such a great victory on the road why wouldn’t Reading players feel that Saturday’s game is the perfect opportunity for them to give the home fans something to celebrate about? Over coming a team like Coventry by a comfortable margin will give them all the information they need to let them know that they can come out on top against the teams in a similar situation to themselves. They will look to the hungry Grezgorz Rasiak to fire them to victory on Saturday, as he appears to be one of the only players at the club who has a finishing touch. In their last home game the club had seventeen shots against Leicester and ended up losing 1-0; manager Brendan Rodgers has no doubt attempted to solve their goal shyness.

Ipswich fans will hope that their team will start to finally pick up form and a win at Reading would be the perfect way for the club to do this. Another draw will do nothing special for the club and they really need to beat the teams close to them so they can get away from the foot of the table as soon as possible. The next step for the club is to pick up their first away win of the season and if they can beat Reading on Saturday then it will also help them gain confidence which nobody can doubt the importance of. Jonathan Walters put in a good shift against Derby and Roy Keane will be hoping he can do a similar sort of job and also bag a goal or two when they face Reading. Keane has certainly moved quickly to bring his players back down to earth, criticising their overall performance against Derby.

I would encourage any football fan to keep an eye on this game, even though it could end up being a tense and tight affair it could so easily go the other way. Both teams have just recorded much needed victories and both will see each other as the ideal opponent to get their season back on track. Defeat could see Brendan Rodgers lose his job and despite Sir John Madjeski apparently backing him 16 wins without a win at home may prove too much for the Reading board. Ipswich can’t let a club like Reading get further away from them and they definitely need to string results together to get out of their situation at the bottom of the table. Many people would consider this a ‘6 pointer’, even in November and it will be interesting to see the aftermath of the game; a good result for either team can help kick start their season.

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Collymore: Out of touch?

Unless you only prefer to read the opinions of actual celebrated and well-recognised figures in football, you’ve probably come across Stan Collymore’s ludacris proposal to “make the Premiership better”. If you can’t be bothered to read through it (and I don’t blame you), Collymore basically thinks around 20-25 teams who he believes to have the most prestige should sit in the top tier of English football and keep it at that. Meaning no clubs gets promoted to the Premiership and the worst teams don’t get relegated to the Championship. Collymore cites that Newcastle and Leeds should be put in this league due to the fact that he believes them to be ‘too big’ for their current league.

As a Newcastle United supporter I’d be the first to admit we deserved to be relegated. We were shocking in the 08/09 season, the club didn’t perform well enough over 38 games and got what we deserved. I was praying on the last day we could get something from Aston Villa but there was no commitment from our players and the team suffered the consequences. This season we are attempting to “bounce back at the first time of asking” as the pundits always coin and in all honesty – I love the championship. Of course i’d prefer to be in the Premiership – that is every clubs ambition, but it has been a challenge and England’s supposed ‘lower leagues’ should be celebrated for their great support and the drama they bring themselves to the game. Newcastle’s most recent game at home against Doncaster was our biggest attendance of the season, in no small part due to over 3,000 travelling Doncaster fans who sang their hearts out for 90+ minutes. There is no way you can justify telling fans like that “sorry, you can’t have any major glory – your club isn’t considered successful enough”.

And even then, clubs in the championship this season are enjoying visiting St. James’ park and playing the club at their ground. Scunthorpe recently broke their home attendance record when Newcastle visited and the club who was promoted from league one last season celebrated long into the night after their famous 2-1 victory over the Geordies. Clubs are also enjoying the extra revenue they receive from having a club like Newcastle in the league, who have so far sold out every single league away game this season.

Leeds United were also relegated, not only from the Premiership, but also from the Championship. If the league had been in Collymore’s format, Leed’s wouldn’t have been relegated, but instead they would be struggling with a makeshift team because of the financial difficulties they faced. Collymore believes that fans want to watch games between Man United and Leeds or Newcastle and Sunderland every season, but would fans want to watch it with such a gulf in talent as Leeds experienced in their most recent Premiership season? It doesn’t matter what league it is in, I jump at the chance to watch derbies such as Nottingham Forrest V Derby, Ipswich V Norwich or Sheffield United V Sheffield Wednesday; they’re still big games even if they’re not being played in the top division.

This shows massive disrespect to the supposed “smaller clubs”. Look at Burnley for example. Burnley, a town in the north west, with a population of just over 70,000 got promoted through the championship play offs last season and have managed to pick up a famous 1-0 victory over the reigning champions Manchester United. You take away that excitement for the fans such as the playoff drama, going to Wembley, seeing world class players come to face your team, and what reason does it give you to support a team? Collymore has failed to grasp that for a lot of supporters in this country, that is what football is all about – hope and glory. I’m pretty sure Burnley fans, even if they lose a game, are loving every second of being considered one of England’s top 20 clubs.

It is great to see big derbies in the top league and famous teams play each other, but it isn’t like the Premiership is lacking in any of those sorts of games. There is a gap in the quality of football between the Premiership and the football league, but that doesn’t mean to say that the lower leagues should become redundant. The main thing I have taken from this Championship season is the excitement from the supporters. There are 24 teams in the Championship and every supporter of those clubs dreams of next season playing in the Premiership and that in itself is one of the spectacles of football. And then there are 48 league clubs below them who hold the same dream and a number of loyal supporters of non-league clubs who would give their left arm to see their team in the big time.

Maybe Mr. Collymore wasn’t given a history of his former employer Nottingham Forrest when he signed for them back in 1993. A certain Brian Clough took Forrest from being what could be considered a small English club to champions of Europe in what is one of the greatest stories in football. He had previously won the old division one title with rivals Derby, becoming manager of the club when they sat near the bottom of the second division. Fans can look on in envy at the times Forrest and Derby had, but it is a great envy because it lets you know that nothing is impossible. It’s true that there is a lot more money in football these days and times are different, but the beauty of football is that you can never predict what will happen.

If you read this Stan, I urge you to issue an apology to a number of supporters that are upset by your comments, in particular the supporters of Wigan, Hull, Reading, Bolton, Barnsley and Watford who are all apparently not worthy of your time. My club, Newcastle United, does not have a special right to be in the Premiership, we must earn it like every other club.

Also Stan, if this league was to include 25 teams, they would not play 50 games a season, it would be 48 games. Maybe you were “salivating” a bit too much at the thought of this and in your excitement forgot to proof read it or perform key stage 1 maths.

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Can Kevin Blackwell turn around United's fortunes?

It is probably against all the rules of a blog to direct the reader away in the first paragraph, but I think it’s worth it. Before you read this little ramble, have a listen to the BBC interview with Kevin Blackwell, conducted after Sheffield United’s 3-0 defeat at Blackpool a week ago last Saturday.

Fun, isn’t it? To my mind, that is an interview every bit as shocking and, let’s be honest, amusing as Kevin Keegan’s famous ‘I’d love it’ moment or Rafa Benitez’s accusations aimed at Manchester United last season. As it’s in the Championship, though, the media seemed to have largely ignored it.

To me, that sounds like a manager in meltdown. Poor Seth, the journalist, asks a pretty valid question: “Do you still feel the spirit is strong?” United, who came third last season and possessed an incredibly mean defence, had just lost 3-0 at Blackpool. Moreover, it followed a defeat at Scunthorpe, a last-gasp draw at home to winless Ipswich, a failure to defeat Doncaster and a loss at Swansea. After Saturday’s 4-3 home defeat to Cardiff, the Blades have failed to keep a clean sheet since September 12th and have conceded a rotten 21 goals in their last eight games. If anything, Seth was being kind in his phraseology.

Blackwell, however, did not see it that way at all. Seth’s question provoked a response so defensive and so visceral that you cannot help but assume the journalist had touched a very raw nerve indeed. Blackwell proceeds to spend three minutes desperately reaching for excuses. Injuries come high up the list, but excuses about injuries rarely wash – all clubs face the same problem.

Apart from injuries, though, Blackwell insists: “That’s life… It just happens… It’s just not happening for us… Things aren’t dropping for us at the moment.” Essentially, he seems to be suggesting that it’s just bad luck. But when even that doesn’t seem to convince anyone, he resorts to insulting the journalist who is calmly trying to do his job: “That’s a stupid question,” he retorts. “Come on, don’t be stupid,” he argues. “That’s rubbish, Seth,” he falters. But what has Seth said? Seth’s question is perfectly valid. It is Blackwell’s retorts that stink of refuse and panic.

Perhaps this is all a result of a bit of deja vu for the United manager. Back in 2006, he took Leeds all the way to a play-off final, one win away from the Premier League. That season he never spurned an opportunity to bemoan how little he had to spend on his team (usually just before spending over a million on Rob Hulse or Richard Cresswell) but clearly Leeds had better resources than most at that time. Following a transparent attempt to position Leeds as the underdogs against Watford in the final, Blackwell was tactically destroyed by Aidy Boothroyd as the Hornets won 3-0. Leeds’ descent the following season was rapid and they finished bottom.

I wonder if that season is now rattling around his brain once more. Only that injury time equaliser against Ipswich stops it from looking like a fully-fledged crisis.

Blackwell is keen to blame injuries, new players and a lack of fit midfielders. Yet this is a side that on Saturday included Matt Kilgallon, Chris Morgan, James Harper, Glen Little, Stephen Quinn, Kyle Walker and £3m-worth of Ched Evans. Henri Camara was only on the bench. Can a manager who can field those players in this league really be moaning about injuries?

Whichever way you look at it this is a dire run and the Blades’ defence, the rock on which their season was built last season, appears to be crumbling.  Blackwell’s outburst against an honest, local journalist after a poor result only serves to highlight the pressure the manager is feeling. Perhaps the Blades’ next game, at home to Newcastle on Monday, will galvanise the crowd and shake the team up. Blackwell will hope so, because many more defeats and goals conceded and he might find himself on nodding terms with Gareth Southgate in the dole queue.

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Southgate: Shown The Door

After winning 2-0 on Tuesday night, Gareth Southgate was relieved of his duties as manager hours after the game. Despite being quite a popular player for the club, Southgate could never quite get the same level of support in his time as manager; despite a number of hardships being put on him such as the sale of top striker Yakubu. It may come as a slightly surprise that the Boro board decided to sack Southgate moments after a win rather than Saturday where the club, at the time, suffered it’s 3rd straight home defeat at the hands of a Watford side currently struggling for form. It is most likely that Gibson and the Middlesbrough board had only fully committed to a change in leadership on the Monday.

An outsider to the championship may wonder how a manager who’s team sits 4th in the 2nd tier table can be sacked but Steve Gibson’s proclamation Wednesday afternoon certainly suggests that it has been building up for some time; and anyone who follows the club can relate to that. One of the most notable things in Gibson’s decision may well be the constant dip in attendance. Even though the club has been relegated and would expect smaller crowds, Boro’s home form has been woeful and left a lot of fans questioning the point in turning up to

You could feel some sympathy however for Southgate. Steve McLaren was a tough act the follow after all of his success. McLaren’s bid to gain success for the club cost the team, and despite selling a number of key players to balance the books on Southgate’s arrival, the club still suffered heavily from debt. Southgate, even recently in the championship, has been forced to field a number of players who have came through the clubs academy. Despite Boro having one of the strongest youth teams in the country, it was hardly surprising that they were relegated from the Premiership.

It can’t be denied however that Southgate had no resources. He could be accused of putting all his eggs into one basket when signing Alfonso Alves for what is believed to be almost £13 million. Alves turned out to be a poor piece of business, lacking the finishing touch that the likes of Yakubu and Viduka had brought before him and was largely lethargic in his Boro days. Many questioned the price tag before he had even signed. Alves abandoned ship just before the close of the summer 2009 transfer window; his lacklustre attitude may be better suited to the sweltering heat of the Middle East. He could happily retire early with the amount of money I imagine he is making out there.

After the clubs relegation, they opened the Championship campaign with a 0-0 home draw to Sheffield United and were booed off the pitch by the supporters. Many people criticized the fans for this, but it wasn’t just about the result; fans had already lost confidence in Southgate and a 0-0 draw all but justified this. Southgate never appeared to have a charismatic edge as a manager and sometimes seemed too accepting in defeat. Many within the game saw him as a bit of a push over and someone who could easily cave in.

I myself consider Steve Gibson one of the best Chairmen in the country, a patient man who doesn’t hit the panic button at the first time of asking. He is one of a dying breed in world football; an owner who was brought up in the local environment supporting his club. Boro fans will always have a gratitude of debt towards the man, as Gibson is one of the men that saved the club from Liquidation when they almost folded towards the end of the 20th century. His decision to let Southgate go was the correct call and I believe it has come at the right time. Gibson wants the club to bounce straight back the Premiership at the first time of asking, most likely to help the club balance the finances once again. He gave Southgate every possible opportunity, something most managers don’t get. The club is sitting in a great league position and the right appointment can help give the club an initial boost and help the club realise it’s ambition of promotion at the first time of asking.

The only problem is who will take the job? The objective is clearly to get the club promoted this season as another season in the Championship may result in the club needing to make more cut backs. Gordon Strachan’s name has once again been churned out by the bookies as a favourite – an ideal candidate for the club, but is Boro an ideal opportunity for Strachan? If any manager is tasked with getting promotion they are going to want resources to do so and Boro lack a lot of funding. Their young squad lacks experience and any high profile name manager will want to bring in tried and tested players. If it is to be Strachan then Gibson and the board would have to take a massive gamble, put whatever they’ve got left into the club and pray that he can get the job done.

Milan Mandaric has ruled out the fantastic Nigel Pearson, but you can never say never in football. I’m a big fan of Pearson and I’m not surprised that the Leicester chairman is so keen to keep hold of him. Kevin Keegan is the bookies 2nd favourite to take the job (maybe becoming a Toon heretic?) as well as Alan Curbishley being up there. However, these are two managers who would demand they’d be given resources; particularly after their most previous employers relieved them of purchasing duties.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Gibson takes his time with this appointment, as mentioned before he is a man with a lot of patience and likes to be 100% sure before his makes a big decision. Middlesbrough’s situation makes their next managerial appointment a difficult one to call, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up being an intriguing appointment. One of the best things about Steve Gibson as a chairman is that he has the right mix of being a fan and an owner, so whoever he and the board decide on is most likely to be someone the fans can put faith in.

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Ashley: no longer on the fans good side

Since his takeover of Newcastle United in 2007, Mike Ashley has had a turbulent tenure as owner of the Toon Army. Ever since I left the North East to attend university in Leeds, I get asked quite a lot what I think about Mike Ashley and why the fans have such a strong dislike towards him. I hope I can answer a few questions that I (and I imagine other Newcastle fans) get asked frequently and explain a few reasons why we’re so keen to see him leave.

1. The Kevin Keegan saga

When Kevin Keegan was awarded £2m this month just about all of my housemates, classmates, work mates and even 2 of my lecturers asked ‘you must hate “King Kev” now eh?’. Well, no. The wonderful George Caulkin can explain it in no better way. But to echo that statement (or if you can’t be bothered to read it) Kevin Keegan has done so much for the club and in my opinion has every right to have that money. He stood up for what he believed in, which is the same reason Alan Curbishley left West Ham weeks before Keegan left his post at Newcastle. He was brought into that club and signed into a contract under false promises; I’m pretty sure if all responsibility was taken away from your current job you wouldn’t best be pleased. There is no way Ashley, Llambas, Wise or anybody can defend signing a player to appease two agents and directing the manager to ‘go watch him on Youtube’. When I first started supporting Newcastle KK was in charge, so I can personally never thank him enough for getting a whole city excited and making me as enthusiastic about supporting the team as I am today.

2. Hiring Dennis Wise

This does relate somewhat to the first point, but it has it’s whole own story. What infuriates me most is Dennis Wise all of a sudden coming out on sky sports trying to seem like his was right all along and how innocent he feels. I don’t care if he ‘did what he was told’; he made a lot of bad decisions. Xisco and Ignachio Gonzalez being two names that spring to mind, Gonzalez being signed for what I feel is the equivalent of what is known as a bung in football; which is illegal. The way Gonzalez came to the club alone shows his lack of commitment and Wise’s neglect while in the director of football position.

3. “Hiring Alan Shearer is the best decision i’ve made since I bought the club”. Ok…and then…?

That was a rare quote from Ashley after Newcastle were relegated from the Premiership. I’m pretty sure the bookies weren’t taking bets on the next permanent Newcastle manager at that point, so it begs the question, why does Shearer not manage the club now? I take nothing away from Chris Hughton, I’ll admit that Hughton has done a great job at Newcastle and I respect him for the job he has done; I hope he keeps his job no matter what happens with the ownership of the club. A lot of people I know have said he should have the full time job, but I don’t think so. He’s made a good start, but what about when things take a turn for the worse and we start to lose a bit of form, is Hughton the sort of man who can fire up the players? I think Chris would be the first to admit he works best as an assistant manager and it is my belief that Alan Shearer would make a great manager and should of learnt his trade in the same manner as Kevin Keegan did. People also comment on the fact that Shearer didn’t manage to save us in the end. But he tried, he is a true professional that loves the club and the region; if Newcastle were 2-0 at half time this season I can guarantee you Shearer could get a message across to the players a lot better than Hughton could because he has the passion. Alan Shearer in charge of the team would inspire the city once more and get home attendances back up (even though the club still gets a higher average crowd than a lot of premier league clubs…Sunderland). Also just to note Joe F’in Kinnear’s comments at the start of the season, claiming he was offered the job on a full time basis. So when were you going to install Shearer exactly?

4. Not speaking to the fans

Freddie Sheppard and Sir John Hall were some what shady in their dealings, but at least they made some effort to speak to fans, you can barely get a word out of Ashley. Even when Newcastle fans do hear from Ashley they have to hear it from some outside source, mainly national newspapers rather than a local source or even the clubs own website. And then there’s the club’s bizarre relationship with sky sports who are shall we say slightly selective of what they claim and the fans they broadcast. Even after KK got sacked the club made no comment, proving how very wrong they were. The fans are in the dark about everything at the moment, which is a shame because they still show their faith week in, week out.

5. No structure

A football club is not a business in a normal economic sense. Mike Ashley brought in a number of old associates to help make up the hierarchy of Newcastle United and help run the club to make us have a structure a lot like the top 4 English teams. What he didn’t understand however is that Peter Kenyon was hired by Chelsea because he knows how a football club should work. It would have been fair of Ashley to stay out of matters and merely watch games if he had put in the right structure and hired people who know how a football club should be run. Instead he hired Chris Mort, who although had built a slight rapport with the fans in some respects, quit and returned to his expert field of business. He was replaced with Derek Llambas – who still lives in Essex. This is also a man who was apparently dared by Mike Ashley to streak across the St. James’ pitch and obliged. Oh an that was only in August when the club is supposed to being the process of getting sold (allegedly) and being described as ‘in turmoil’ from every news source on the face of the planet. Great job guys!

6. Lack of bodies

Newcastle played all of last season with one recognised left back at the club. That is a Premiership team with one left back. In the January transfer window all our dealings came in the last 3 or 4 days. At one point in this season we had about 13 players in our squad that had actually made a senior start in a league competition. I’m pretty sure that Chris Hughton has had a word in Ashley’s ear this season and told him that he needed the bodies and thankfully we’ve managed to get in three loan signings (Danny Simpson, Marlon Harewood and Zurab Kish…you know the one). We have managed to keep hold of quality players and Peter Lovenkrands has returned after he found out the hard way that nobody in the Premiership wants him. Oh and he got a 3 year contract, quite a lot for a championship club who are struggling with debts most would agree. And not forgetting our two Argentina internationals…

7. The sale of Newcastle United

You could say anything you wanted about the sale of Newcastle United Football Club and you’d probably have as much evidence as any other news outlet. I am sick of hearing phrases coined like ‘South African businessmen shown around St. James’ Park’. I know selling a club or major organisation can be a long process, but something tells me that Ashley is merely holding out for his ridiculous valuation of the club. I think it was several weeks ago the club issued a statement on their website that a bid had been received, yet they’ve said nothing since. All I have heard is rumours, and it makes me wonder why state that bid has been received to the public if you are not going to then say anything else within a month. The price tag of £100m is ridiculous and it doesn’t surprise me that all of these businesses most likely came in with lower offers. I always hope every day that I’ll be able to wake up to the headline ‘Newcastle sold to [insert name/multibillionaire sultan here]‘ but I just give up. It is a strange feeling when I return to Newcastle; when I grew up the people from the area actually knew what was really happening at the club.

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Over the last few seasons, the Championship has become one of the most unpredictable and competitive divisions in European football. After a fairly unsurprising start to the campaign, that reputation looked to be under threat but after a week in which the top three picked up just six points from a possible 18, un-normality has been resumed.

The top three places are still filled by the three relegated Premier League sides but the gap between second placed West Brom and eleventh placed Coventry is now just five points.

West Brom had enjoyed a fine start to the season and found themselves in top spot after a 5-0 win over Middlesbrough but successive defeats to Crystal Palace and Barnsley and a draw on Saturday with Preston, have put the skids on their campaign. Baggies boss Roberto Di Matteo thinks that supporters may have to be a little more realistic about their expectations.

“We had a bad week, which is a long time in football, but we are still OK.” said Di Matteo after the Preston match.

“Maybe the good start we had at the beginning of the season gave the public a different level of expectation.

“We know how hard it is to win.”

Three points clear at the top of the Championship league table are Newcastle United but like West Brom, they are currently experiencing a blip; two points the sum total of home matches with QPR and Bristol City. Off pitch instability will do nothing to aid the Magpies promotion challenge and fans will be hoping that reports about an impending takeover are proved to be correct.

At the other end of the table there was welcome relief for Plymouth boss Paul Sturrock, who had appeared to be on the verge of the sack, before two wins in a week provided a much needed shot in the arm for the Argyle faithful.

Momentum is crucial in any division and Sturrock believes that it played a part during his side’s see-saw 2-1 win against Scunthorpe.

“The thing about football is that winning becomes as much of a habit as losing.” he said.

“The win in the week has buoyed the boys. Before if they had got pegged back they would have let it affect them.

“Today they have gone straight up the other end and got a goal back, which turned out to be the winner.”

Plymouth now sit in 22^nd spot, two points behind Reading and three ahead of bottom of the table Ipswich, who are still awaiting their first victory of the season after a last gasp 2-1 defeat to Barnsley.

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Another busy week has seen West Bromwich Albion take over from Newcastle United at the top of the Championship table.

The Baggies have enjoyed a fine week, picking up six points and scoring eight goals in their two matches. In mid-week they battled back from a goal down to beat Doncaster Rovers 3-1, courtesy of a brace from Jonas Olsson and a stunning long range effort from Chris Woods. Then in a much anticipated top of the table clash with Middlesbrough, West Brom leaped into top gear, thrashing the hosts 5-0.

With Boro sitting in second, the game had been expected to be a tight affair but a first half brace from Chris Brunt triggered a Middlesbrough collapse, as the Baggies ran riot. Goals from Youssouf Mulumbu, Roman Bednar and Jerome Thomas compounded Boro’s misery and left manager Gareth Southgate with the unenviable task of picking up his players in time for next weekends trip to Coventry.

Former Championship leaders Newcastle United had a mixed week, losing top spot with a 2-1 defeat at Blackpool, before bouncing back on Saturday with a 3-1 victory over struggling Plymouth. The Magpies now sit second, a point behind West Brom but three points clear of Middlesbrough.

At the other end of the table Ipswich enjoyed a better week but are still without a first win of the season after picking up a point in each of their matches. In midweek they were held to a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest after Rob Earnshaw came off the bench to cancel out Grant Leadbitter’s opener. Then on Saturday there was more frustration for the Tractor Boys as Doncaster Rovers grabbed a late equaliser in a 3-3 thriller at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Ipswich now sit 23^rd in the table and are joined in the drop zone by Barnsley and Plymouth Argyle. Barnsley have a new man in charge and enjoyed a good week as well as increasing their Championship betting odds by picking up four points, while Plymouth may soon have a new boss themselves – Paul Sturrock coming under increasing pressure after another pointless week.

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I realize Crewe Alexandra isn’t a Championship football team any longer (they’re now in League Two), but Crewe has a rich history in English football and were recently in the Championship. Thanks to TheOriginalWinger, they uncovered this incredible video of what Gresty Road looked like in 1979.

In the 1979 BBC Great Railway Journeys of the World documentary, a shot over Gresty Road filmed from the roof of the adjacent Rail House moved Michael Palin to describe Crewe as “like those other railway towns, Swindon and Doncaster, possessed of a football team which is perpetually propping up the bottom of the Fourth Division.”

This is much-watch video if you can want to see how a football ground from the lower leagues looked in the late 1970s.

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In this weekend’s big clash, West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United each walked away with a share of the spoils as they maintained their unbeaten starts and continued to improve their Championship football odds.

After a quiet first period, the Baggies twice took the lead but twice found themselves pegged back by a persistent United side, who eventually managed to secure a draw courtesy of a late David Cotterill penalty. The point proved useful for both teams, as fellow pace setters Cardiff and Middlesbrough slumped to defeat.

For Cardiff it was a case of a bad day at the office, as they were caught off guard by an impressive Doncaster performance. Bluebird’s boss Dave Jones was left to reflect on a slow start.

“Do I feel happy? No I don’t.” Jones told the BBC.

“I don’t think we turned up in the first 20 minutes and you can’t afford to do that to any team at this level as we gave them a two-goal start.”

While Cardiff’s defeat may have been down to a slow start, Middlesbrough’s problems are altogether more concerning.

Gareth Southgate’s team had won three games in a row but having lost two of their best players in mid-week (Tuncay Sanli and Robert Huth), it was a significantly weaker side that took to the field against Bristol City. The Robins took full advantage of the situation and claimed a 2-1 victory, courtesy of two goals from the sort of long ball that big defender Robert Huth was so good at dealing with. With another couple of days till the close of the transfer window, Southgate will be desperate to ensure there are no more departures.

It was also a miserable weekend for Simon Davey, who left Barnsley by mutual consent following a 3-1 home defeat to Reading. It was a decision that many felt inevitable, following a largely difficult two and a half years in charge.

Davey had been asked by the club’s owner to make a “persuasive case” for him to stay, after avoiding relegation on the final day of last season. The 39 year old remained in charge over the summer but his stay of execution has proved predictably short lived.

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