Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
It’s time for another guest article now as Reading fan Oliver Walsh (who you can follow on Twitter here returns. After the positive feedback from his post last week, he has now been awarded a promotion and will now be giving us a ‘View From The Championship’ each week. So it’s over to you Oliver
As the Championship entered a period of midweek fixtures and season defining games at the top and bottom of the table, the weekend and midweek games provided fans with sky-high scorelines, shock results and last minute winners.
Brighton, Newcastle and Reading asserted their dominance at the top of the table with four points from six, with the season’s surprise package Huddersfield beating both QPR and Rotherham and climbing above the Royals into third place.
Little changed at the bottom of the table with Blackburn, Wigan and Rotherham still remaining in the relegation spots.
Team of the Week: Norwich
Norwich City picked up four vital points in their push for the playoffs with a brilliant 5-1 win over Nottingham Forest and a well fought 2-2 draw with leaders Newcastle.
Attacking midfielders Wes Hoolahan and former Spurs man Alex Pritchard shone in their weekend game, both scoring brilliant long shots and proving their quality on the ball.
In their draw with the League Leaders they went behind in the first minute but managed to fight back and go ahead in the 17th minute. However after that they tried to protect their lead and the visitors dominated the game and eventually got their just rewards with an equaliser in the 81st minute.
Losers of the Week: Aston Villa
Although there were five teams who didn’t pick up any points in either Gameweek, none stands out more than Steve Bruce’s Aston Villa.
The Villains are yet to pick up a win since the turn of the year and have lost six of their last seven games.
After bringing in new manager Bruce in October the fans were hopeful for a change in form under the experienced Englishman, however after a promising start their poor form continued and they have dropped to 16th in the table only 7 points above relegation, despite their excessive spending in both transfer windows.
Game of the Week: Derby 3-3 Bristol City
Saturday’s fixture between Derby and Bristol was one of the most perplexing in the whole season.
The Rams were awful form the start and were 2-0 down within 27 minutes leaving manager their Steve Mcclaren and fans flummoxed.
By half time Bristol were 3-0 up and cruising, when controversial signing Matty Taylor missed an open goal and the chance to go four goals up. That miss seemed to be the turning point as Derby fought their way back into the game and finished it 3-3 due to goals from Ince and Bent. A Game Of Two Halves.
Player of the Week: Vincent Sasso
Vincent Sasso inspired Sheffield Wednesday to two wins in a row, solidifying their place in the playoffs. After a solid performance in their 3-0 win over Birmingham, the Frenchman capped off his incredible week with two goals in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Blackburn.
Goal of the Week: Jonny Howson vs Nottingham Forest
Jonny Howson scored an incredulous volley from 25 yards out in Norwich’s 5-1 win over Forest. The sensational strike has already been dubbed the goal of the season, with exceptional technique Paul Scholes would’ve been proud of.
Thanks Oliver and I look forward to your next installment
If you would like to give a view from your club on a weekly basis then please get in touch – you can email me at – realfootballmanwordpress@gmail.com
