League Championship: Who will be coming up?
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Originally posted by dragg:sunderland have moved up to 2nd place.
I used to hate Sunderland.But now i like them cause of Keano 
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Full-Time:
Derby 3 Cardiff 1
Sunderland 2 Hull 0
Preston 2 Burnley 0
Sheffield Wed 2 Wolves 2
Norwich 1 Stoke 0
Plymouth 1 Crystal Palace 0
Coventry 4 Barnsley 1
Leicester 1 QPR 3
Luton 0 Ipswich 2
Southend 1 Leeds 1
Southampton 1 Colchester 2
But i think Derby and Birmingham may be too strong for them to catch up... Maybe a play-off place would be more possible.
But poor Leeds, from premier league leaders at one time not too long ago is now at the foot of the Championship table... and they look like they are heading for the League One very soon and playing teams like Leyton Orient or Cheltenham... -
Sunderland 2-0 Hull
Sunderland maintained their hopes of automatic promotion with a crucial victory against struggling Hull. The Black Cats took the lead after three minutes when Jonny Evans, on loan from Manchester United, headed in Dean Whitehead's whipped free-kick.
Sunderland exerted almost total domination, but had to wait until the last minute to seal the points. Boaz Myhill's attempted pass went straight to Stern John, who rounded the keeper and slotted home.
Sunderland manager Roy Keane:
"I've not even seen the table. I keep telling you that it doesn't matter where we are now - it's at the end of the season when it counts. "If we finish second in the table at the end of the season then we'll be delighted. But Preston won today and and we're still far from being in pole position.
"However, the players have been fantastic and I can't praise them highly enough. We'll enjoy the international break now and the players fully deserve their break."
Hull boss Phil Brown:
"I'm still very confident we'll survive. We showed plenty of endeavour, spirit and passion. "We just lacked quality in front of goal but if we keep playing like that then we'll be fine."
"Being a Sunderland fan it was a very strange day but Hull City pay my wages and all my family were in the away end with Hull scarves on. But I do think Sunderland have a great chance of going up automatically.
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Sunderland: Ward, Simpson, Nosworthy, Evans, Collins, Whitehead, Yorke, Liam Miller (Wallace 63), Murphy, Stokes (Leadbitter 64), Connolly (John 83).
Subs Not Used: Fulop, Tommy Miller.
Goals: Evans 3, John 90.
Hull: Myhill, Ricketts, Turner, Delaney, Dawson, Livermore (Barmby 54), Ashbee, Parlour, Forster (Marney 74), Windass, Elliott (Vaz Te 53).
Subs Not Used: Duke, Coles.
Booked: Delaney.
Att: 38,448
Ref: T Bates (Staffordshire).
Sunderland seems like one of the better supported clubs in the lower league... Playing against a team like Hull still get them more than 38 thousand fans in their stadium... Some EPL clubs don't even get this figure in their home matches... -
BRUM FACE POINTS HIT
BIRMINGHAM are facing the threat of a points deduction that could destroy their promotion challenge. Brum have been charged with failing to fulfil their home tie with Leeds on January 13 and must attend a Football League disciplinary commission on April 20.
The game was called off as the St Andrew's pitch was unplayable after it was relaid. And boss Steve Bruce reckons Albion are Brum's biggest threat. Bruce said: "I've said all along that West Brom would be the team to beat this season.
"They've plenty of players with Premiership experience and we haven't. -
The Coca-Cola Football League Championship Fixtures
Friday, 30 March 2007
Leeds v Preston
Saturday, 31 March 2007
Barnsley v Derby
Burnley v Luton
Cardiff v Sunderland
Colchester v Norwich
Crystal Palace v Sheff Wed
Hull v Southend
Ipswich v Plymouth
QPR v West Brom
Stoke v Leicester
Wolverhampton v Southampton
Sunday, 01 April 2007
Birmingham v Coventry -
Play-offs back at Wembley
The Football League have confirmed that this season's play-off finals will take place at Wembley. Brent Council granted Wembley a safety certificate after two successful ramp-up games, with the move allowing the stadium to play host to major events.
The Football Association confirmed earlier in the week that the FA Cup final would take place at Wembley and The Football League have now followed suit by confirming their end of season finals will be staged at the North London venue.
Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney said: "This is the news for which supporters of League clubs have been waiting. "Knowing their club could get to play at the new Wembley is sure to provide an extra edge to what is already shaping up to be a very exciting end-of-season run-in."
Wembley managing director Alex Horne added: "We are looking forward to welcoming back the Coca-Cola Football League play-offs at the end of May. "As the final hurdle in the season-long race for promotion, these are exciting and critical matches and we are delighted that they will be returning to Wembley this year."
The Millennium Stadium has proved a more than able deputy during Wembley's redevelopment and the Cardiff venue will play host to the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final between Bristol Rovers and Doncaster on Sunday.
Mawhinney added: "I would like to place on record the League's thanks to The Millennium Stadium and the people of Cardiff for providing such a wonderful home to our finals over these last seven seasons." -
i cannot believe this.
leeds beat preston 2 - 1.
this really is good news for sunderland. -
Healy's goal took Leeds off the bottom of the Championship
Leeds 2-1 Preston
David Healy scrambled a last-minute winner as Leeds moved off the bottom of the Championship table with victory against promotion-chasing Preston. The visitors took the lead after just five minutes, Brett Ormerod slotting home after Danny Pugh's through ball.
But Blake levelled after the interval, sliding in to finish from a tight angle after Richard Cresswell's cross. But after Preston's David Nugent missed a good chance, Healy stole in to head Eddie Lewis' cross past Andy Lornegan.
Leeds boss Dennis Wise:
"People expect so much of Healy because of what he's done for Northern Ireland. This is what happens when you score at international level. Give your thoughts on the match "Everyone expects you to do it week in, week out. Unfortunately with us he's hit crossbars, he's hit posts. "He's hit everything possible and it's not fallen for him at club level."
Preston boss Paul Simpson:
"Over the 90 minutes it would be fair to say we've come under an incredible amount of pressure, but we had the two clearest chances. "But our defending for the two goals was disgusting. I wouldn't expect to see that at centre of excellence games. "It was pathetic. We invited them on. We couldn't defend or finish."
Leeds: Ankergren, Richardson, Heath, Michalik, Gray, Blake (Rui Marques 90), Douglas, Kishishev, Lewis, Healy (Robbie Elliott 90), Cresswell.
Subs Not Used: Stack, Johnson, Moore.
Goals: Blake 51, Healy 90.
Preston: Lonergan, Wilson, St. Ledger, Chilvers, Pergl, Songo'o (Ricketts 60), Davidson (Agyemang 46), Sedgwick, Pugh, Nugent, Ormerod.
Subs Not Used: Henderson, Nowland, Soley.
Goals: Ormerod 5.
Att: 18,433
Ref: A Marriner (W Midlands). -
Coca-Cola Championship 31 March Results
Barnsley R 1
Derby 2
Burnley R 0
Luton 0
Cardiff R 0
Sunderland 1
Colchester R 3
Norwich 0
Crystal Palace R 1
Sheff Wed 2
Hull R 4
Southend 0
Ipswich R 3
Plymouth 0
QPR R 1
West Brom 2
Stoke R 4
Leicester 2
Wolverhampton R 0
Southampton 6 -
CHAMPIONSHIP
Cardiff 0-1 Sunderland
Sunderland moved into the Championship automatic promotion places after a late winner at play-off chasing Cardiff. Substitute Ross Wallace curled home a 72nd-minute free-kick, catching Neil Alexander off-guard as the Bluebirds keeper lined up his defensive wall.
Cardiff had created the better chances in the first half, with Steve Thompson and Joe Ledley both going close. But the second period belonged to the Black Cats, with Tobias Hysen shooting over before Wallace settled things.
Barnsley 1-2 Derby
An injury to Barnsley keeper David Lucas cast a shadow over a win that kept Derby top of the Championship. Derby took the lead after 11 minutes when Lucas parried a shot from Giles Barnes and David Jones followed in.
Lucas was then injured colliding with Barnes after 48 minutes, leaving Matt Oakley to find an empty net. He was stretchered off but regained consciousness en route to hospital, and even though Sam Togwell pulled a goal back late on, Derby held on to win. -
Leeds could still escape the drop... those teams above them are not good at all and with 6 matches to go... possible.
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Birmingham 3-0 Coventry
A first-half header from Radhi Jaidi and DJ Campbell's brace ensured Birmingham remain firmly on track for automatic promotion after a 3-0 victory over Coventry.
The brushing aside of a limp Sky Blues side moves the Blues back into the Coca-Cola Championship's top two, with a game in hand on leaders Derby. Iain Dowie has transformed Coventry's fortunes since his arrival two months ago, but this insipid display, bereft of creativity and imagination, was a far cry from the side who had gone unbeaten in their previous six games.
Birmingham boss Steve Bruce suffered a blow just before kick-off with the news that Andy Cole, who signed last week on loan from Portsmouth, had been prevented from making his debut by a hamstring injury. But the Blues made light of his absence, with Jaidi heading them in front on 13 minutes from Sebastian Larsson's outswinging corner.
And Campbell's introduction saw them put a gloss on the margin, with the former Brentford striker netting on 65 and 78 minutes, the first just three minutes after coming on.
Birmingham: Doyle, Kelly, Martin Taylor, Jaidi, Sadler, Larsson, Johnson, Clemence (Nafti 73), Vine, Bendtner (Muamba 82), Jerome (Campbell 62).
Subs Not Used: Maik Taylor, Danns.
Goals: Jaidi 13, Campbell 65, 78.
Coventry: Marshall, Virgo, Hawkins, Ward, Hall, Osbourne (Fadiga 64), Doyle, Hughes, Tabb (Kyle 64), Adebola, Mifsud.
Subs Not Used: Steele, Page, McKenzie.
Booked: Hughes, Doyle.
Att: 25,424.
Ref: T M Kettle (Rutland). -
The Coca-Cola Football League Championship Fixtures
Friday, 06 April 2007
Hull v Norwich, 10:00
Leicester v Derby, 9:45
Southend v Colchester, 7:30
Saturday, 07 April 2007
Birmingham v Burnley, 10:00
Cardiff v Sheff Wed, 10:00
Coventry v QPR, 10:00
Crystal Palace v Preston, 10:00
Ipswich v Barnsley, 10:00
Leeds v Plymouth, 10:00
Luton v Southampton, 10:00
Sunderland v Wolverhampton, 10:00
West Brom v Stoke, 10:00 -
The Coca-Cola Football League Championship Fixtures
Monday, 09 April 2007
Barnsley v Birmingham 10:00
Burnley v Cardiff 10:00
Colchester v Leeds 10:00
Derby v Coventry 10:00
Norwich v West Brom 10:00
Plymouth v Leicester 10:00
Preston v Southend 10:00
QPR v Luton 10:00
Sheff Wed v Ipswich 10:00
Southampton v Sunderland 12:15
Stoke v Crystal Palace 10:00
Wolverhampton v Hull 10:00 -
Leeds United's manager, Dennis Wise, has been fined £4,000 and given a suspended one-match ban by the Football Association for improper conduct. Wise denied the charge but his defence was unsuccessful when he appeared in person before a disciplinary panel.
The charge related to an incident at Elland Road on January 20 when Wise was sent off during his side's 3-2 defeat by West Bromwich Albion. The referee, Nigel Swarbrick, sent Wise to the stands after he had pushed Diomansy Kamara off the pitch. Wise later confirmed he was angry with the West Bromwich striker for the slow manner in which he left the field after being substituted.
Wise has since fallen foul of the FA for a second time, being charged with using abusive words and/or insulting behaviour towards a match official following his side's recent 1-1 draw at Southend United. -
The Coca-Cola Football League Championship Results
Friday, 06 April 2007
Hull 1 - 2 Norwich
Leicester 1 - 1 Derby
Southend 0 - 3 Colchester
Leicester 1-1 Derby
Derby missed the chance to move five points clear at the top of the Championship as substitute Matty Fryatt earned Leicester a hard-fought point. The Foxes had hardly threatened before Fryatt jinked past Dean Leaco ck and neatly stroked home on 68 minutes.
Craig Fagan earlier scored his first goal for Derby after slotting in Giles Barnes' precise through-ball. But Fagan missed a glorious chance to win the game late on when he hit his tame effort straight at Paul Henderson.
Derby manager Billy Davies:
"I am delighted with the point but angry because I think we should have won the game. "We stepped off the pace in the second half but although Leicester had lots of possession I didn't think they carried a threat until they scored. "We should have at least made sure the game petered out into a 1-0 win. "But I still feel we have taken a giant step towards the points target I have in my mind for promotion." -
The Coca-Cola Football League Championship Results
Saturday, 07 April 2007
Crystal Palace 3-0 Preston
Cardiff 1-2 Sheff Wed
Coventry 0-1 QPR
Ipswich 5-1 Barnsley
Leeds 2-1 Plymouth
Sunderland 2-1 Wolverhampton
Birmingham 0 - 1 Burnley
West Brom 1 - 3 Stoke
Luton 0 - 2 Southampton -
the fight for the 2 automatic promotion places are getting very tight.
sunderland are now back in second after birmingham lost.
leeds are out of the bottom three. -
The championship is just as exciting ! Relegation and Promotion race are very tight this year which makes it even more exciting. Birmingham shock 1-0 loss at home to Burnley sums it up ! Hopefully Derby and Sunderland will clinched the top 2 spots but Sunderland will be facing a tough game on monday against Southampton who scored 8 goals in 2 games without conceding and Sunderland is unbeaten throughout 2007 so far. That will have be the game of the day . Hopefully Sunderland to snatch a 1-0 victory at St's Mary .
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Sunderland 2-1 Wolves
Sunderland moved into second place and within a point of leaders Derby with a relatively comfortable win over Wolves. Daryl Murphy's opener came out of nothing as he beat two defenders before striking a sweet left-foot volley into the far corner.
Murphy then crossed for Ross Wallace to head in a second at the far post. Within two minutes Andy Keogh stooped to head one back from Michael McIndoe's cross, but the result was rarely in doubt as Wolves slipped to seventh.
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Sunderland manager Roy Keane:
"It was a good result for us and a good performance, plus the weather was nice! "Wolves had a right go at us as you would expect, and we had injured players coming back in, so that's another massive plus. "It's nice to have over 40,000 and the players certainly appreciate the support we've had. "The players keep giving me their all and since Christmas they've been superb. I feel very lucky to be working with them."
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy:
"It's never nice when you lose anywhere but remember who we were playing.
"Sunderland will take some stopping because Roy has brought in some very good players. "Jonny Evans looks a superb player and Nyron Nosworthy was outstanding, although I don't remember him ever wanting to play centre-back for me! "But I've enjoyed being back because I've got a lot of happy memories from the place. "It was always going to be the toughest task of the weekend for anyone of the top six to eight sides, but I thought we acquitted ourselves well."
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Sunderland: Ward, Simpson (Leadbitter 71), Nosworthy, Evans, Collins, Edwards, Whitehead, Liam Miller, Wallace (Connolly 82), Murphy, John (Elliott 72).
Subs Not Used: Fulop, Varga.
Booked: Nosworthy, Whitehead, Liam Miller.
Goals: Murphy 15, Wallace 63.
Wolverhampton: Murray (Budtz 72), Little, Breen, Neill Collins, Clapham, Kightly (Bothroyd 62), Olofinjana, Potter, McIndoe, Ward (Craig Davies 82), Keogh.
Subs Not Used: Craddock, McNamara.
Booked: Keogh.
Goals: Keogh 65.
Att: 40,748.
Ref: N Swarbrick (Lancashire). -
nabei, last time Leeds in premiership de. got alan smith, viduka they all.
now dropping to division 2.
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Leeds 2-1 Plymouth
Slovakia international Lubomir Michalik scored with a late header to hand Leeds a crucial victory over Plymouth and lift them out of the relegation zone. Peter Halmosi gave Plymouth the lead in the first half when he raced on to Sylvan Ebanks-Blake's ball and slipped his shot past Casper Ankergren.
David Healy levelled just before the break, pouncing on the loose ball inside the area. And Michalik scored the winner when he headed in Alan Thompson's free-kick.
Leeds assistant manager Gus Poyet:
"It's a great day. The last five games have been fantastic. I don't know how many months we've been there. We're feeling great and enjoying it but unfortunately you cannot enjoy it too much because there's another big game on Monday. "We're very happy today, but the job is far from done, we have to make sure we keep going.
"The players are very happy, they've been absolutely fantastic out there, when you win a game like this, again in the last few moments of the game and with the supporters and how they were today it's difficult to come down. "But fortunately we're going away today, staying together for the next two days and we'll make sure everybody calms down."
Plymouth manager Ian Holloway:
"I still can't believe how we've lost, but that's life. You've got to be able to win headers in your box. "But other than that I thought we were terrific. We were calculated, we were calm, we looked a composed side, we looked like we deserved to have a few more points on the board than the team we were playing against. "I came here not expecting to get one decision to be honest.
"You're going to have 35,000 people going absolutely ballistic, but what impressed me was that they didn't turn on their team. "Well done to the Leeds fans and I felt their players responded to them. That's two great results they've just had so they're still in there." -
Sunderland
Southampton v Sunderland - 09 April
Sunderland v QPR - 14 April
Colchester v Sunderland - 21 April
Sunderland v Burnley - 27 April
Luton v Sunderland - 06 May
Birmingham
Barnsley v Birmingham - 09 April
Birmingham v Southampton - 14 April
Wolverhampton v Birmingham - 22 April
Birmingham v Sheff Wed - 28 April
Preston v Birmingham - 06 May
Derby
Derby v Coventry - 09 April
Ipswich v Derby - 14 April
Derby v Luton - 20 April
Crystal Palace v Derby - 29 April
Derby v Leeds - 06 May -
The Coca-Cola Football League Championship Fixtures
Monday, 09 April 2007
Barnsley v Birmingham 10:00
Burnley v Cardiff 10:00
Colchester v Leeds 10:00
Derby v Coventry 10:00
Norwich v West Brom 10:00
Plymouth v Leicester 10:00
Preston v Southend 10:00
QPR v Luton 10:00
Sheff Wed v Ipswich 10:00
Southampton v Sunderland 12:15
Stoke v Crystal Palace 10:00
Wolverhampton v Hull 10:00 -
can you believe this?
sunderland are now top of the table!!!!