Tales from not-the Top Flight

Another weekend of drama in the Skybet Championship and we already have managerial departures to talk about and no team in the league can go on an invincible run as Leeds were finally beaten away by Millwall. The game finished 1-0 with the London club scoring in the 73rd minute to send The Den into a frenzy while it would be a long old drive back to Yorkshire for Leeds fans but hey at least they took 25,000 away fans (approximately) to the game. I mean you don’t get a trophy for that but at least it means Leeds win something. In all seriousness, it has been a very impressive start to the season for a club that should be in the top flight but there are signs to suggest that this sleeping giant may finally wake up. New ownership, a new manager and new players, coupled with a surprisingly good season under Garry Monk last time around mean things are finally looking up for Leeds.

The story of the weekend though has to be the unceremonious sacking of good old Harry Redknapp. Despite the experienced boss saying at the start of the season, Brum would be ‘top 6 no problem’ there has in fact been many problems, summed up rather neatly this weekend at St Andrews with a pitiful 3-1 loss to Preston North End. This was the Blues’ sixth loss in a row and it cost Arry his job. The transfer dealings of City have been bizarre this summer. For example, Brentford playmaker Jota was on around £8,000 a week in West London. He wanted a move away and was offered £18,000 a week by Boro. Birmingham then offered the Spaniard a whopping £40,000 a week, silly money by Championship standards, so naturally, Jota went to the Midlands. This kind of lavish overspending is not sustainable in the second tier and while Redknapp clearly should’ve been given more time, this transfer policy is ludicrous.

Elsewhere the most entertaining game of the day was Boro’s 3-2 home win over QPR as the North East Club continue their march back to the Premier League, well at least I hope so. Aston Villa and perhaps crucially Steve Bruce live to fight another day as his side picked up an all-important 3-0 win over Barnsley. Hull and Sunderland shared the points with a 1-1 draw at Hull and as it stands it looks unlikely we will be seeing an immediate return to the top flight for these two.