Championship talking points: Frank Lampard’s Coventry have a rare off-day as Kim’s Middlesbrough give Hull hell | Football News

Coventry’s rare off-day not costly in isolation – but it cannot become the norm

“It just wasn’t our day,” said Frank Lampard after his Coventry side fell to a surprise 3-0 defeat at Ipswich. It was a fair summary.

The scoreline at Portman Road was pretty emphatic, but the Sky Blues had more of the ball, more shots and only one fewer on target. They were just lacking a clinical edge, illustrated by an xG figure of just 0.67.

Fortunately for Lampard, his side could afford to have an off day. Even after their heaviest defeat of the season – albeit only their second – they still boast a seven-point lead over Middlesbrough and a vastly superior goal difference, which could come in handy later in the season.

That said, it drags their points-per-game average down to 2.26. Based on that, they are currently set to just miss out on breaking Reading’s Championship points record.

Granted, that will not be anywhere near Lampard’s thinking right now; an immediate return to winning ways has to be the priority.

With Preston, Bristol City, Southampton and Swansea up next, an off-day like this must not become the norm.
Dan Long

Kim’s Middlesbrough give Hull hell

There was an understandable feeling of betrayal on Teesside when Rob Edwards jumped ship and took over at Wolves after less than six months at Middlesbrough – but that has been forgotten about for the time being.

Edwards is still searching for a first goal at Molineux, let alone a first point, but his replacement Kim Hellberg could barely have made a better start.

Last weekend, in his first game, two goals in nine minutes saw them come from behind to beat Derby and earn a first win in three. That lifted Boro back into the automatic promotion places and, on Friday night, they recorded their biggest win of the season.

The goals against the Rams came late; astonishingly, away at Hull they were 4-0 up at the break.

Morgan Whittaker was instrumental in that victory, too, with one goal and one assist, taking his recent tally to four goals and one assist in the four games since Edwards left.

Coventry may be leading, but Middlesbrough and their new man are keeping pace as best they can.
Dan Long

Saints marching on as Eckert takes charge for first time as permanent boss

Southampton put out a press release late on Friday night to confirm Tonda Eckert had been given the head coach job on a permanent basis. Twenty-four hours later he was celebrating his first win as the official Saints boss.

It was the perfect response to last week’s first defeat for Eckert, which came away at Millwall, but the record is still excellent: five wins in six.

Eckert was always brought to the club to one day coach the first team, they’ve just had to accelerate that by a couple of years after a poor start to the season.

But what’s now ominous for the rest of the Championship is that Southampton look like they have finally got their act together on the pitch, and with a head coach signed up until 2027.

They were one of the sides expected to be up there at the start of the season, weighed down in the pocket by parachute money but it’s taken until December to find their grove; they’re now just three points outside the play-offs

The atmosphere at St Mary’s was strong again, and the team performed. They have goals across the pitch and look solid defensively. They have a nice balance of experience and youthful energy and finally seem to have built some bridges with the fanbase.

This was a strong performance against a very good Birmingham side – who dominated the ball for much of the second half. But even when the blues did get their goal back, Southampton went immediately up the other end of the pitch to restore their two-goal advantage.

It doesn’t feel they have many weaknesses – and what will please Southampton is that if they feel they do have any, January is just around the corner.

The rest of the Championship should be worried – because right now the Saints are definitely marching on.
Mark McAdam

Resilience and resoluteness on show as Millwall momentum builds

After the dust had settled following a mass brawl at full-time, one thing was clear – it was a massive win for Millwall.

Saturday’s visit to Ashton Gate had a real potential to derail the Lions following back-to-back wins. Bristol City had been steadily improving at home while Millwall had conceded seven goals across their last two away days.

For Alex Neil’s side to depart with three points and a clean sheet says much about their resilience and resoluteness. Captain Jake Cooper embodies all the best values of the club. He was inspirational once more as time and time again he made himself impossible to pass.

A first win outside London since September consolidates Millwall’s promotion challenge. Their inability to blow teams away may prevent them from mounting a serious top two push.

A mere 23 goals from their opening 19 league games – with a negative goal difference – is a demonstration of how hard fought every point is. In fact, they’ve only won two of their 10 league matches by more than the odd goal.

Three straight victories – all by a one goal margin – underlines Millwall’s ability to stay in the mix as momentum continues to build.
James Savundra

Burrell stars for QPR again

Rumarn Burrell was playing in Scottish League One just two seasons ago – now he is a Jamaica international and the star man for a QPR side on the very cusp of breaking into Sky Bet Championship play-off contention.

The 24-year-old took his tally to nine for the season on Saturday in the 3-1 win over West Brom.

For the first, he reacted in a flash to a loose pass and finished well. Before the ball had even hit the net, team-mate Richard Kone had his arms raised in celebration. For the second, he pounced from close-range after Joe Wildsmith had parried a low ball into the six-yard box from the left.

Only Carlton Morris, Joe Gelhardt and Brandon Thomas-Asante (all 10) have more goals than Burrell right now and he is just one goal away from surpassing the tally of Rangers’ top scorers from the past three seasons.

If Julien Stephan’s side are to trouble the top six, they will need him to continue in this vein.
Dan Long

Loan star James inspiring Foxes

They say never fall in love with a loan player – it might be too late for Leicester fans with Jordan James.

The 21-year-old midfielder is making his mark at the King Power Stadium on a temporary deal from Ligue 1 side Rennes and delivered when they needed it most on Saturday.

James laid on Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s opener in their 3-1 win at rivals Derby before poking in a goal of his own after timing a late run into the area.

It helped earn a much-needed victory after consecutive defeats to put Leicester’s play-off hopes back on track and ease the pressure on boss Marti Cifuentes.

There is little time for Leicester to dwell on whether this result can be the catalyst for a fresh start – they must prove it on Wednesday at promotion rivals Bristol City.
David Richardson