The Championship: What We Learnt This Weekend

After this weekend of Championship football, the key topics are: Blackpool’s chances of sinking to relegation, whether Danny Graham will start scoring for Middlesbrough, and can Yeovil beat the drop?

Blackpool - the relegation ‘plummeters’?

Barry Ferguson

After a 1-0 loss at home to Bournemouth, Blackpool’s extraordinary winless run continues. The Tangerines topped the table under Paul Ince back in September, and were one of the early pace-setters in the promotion race. Since then, much has changed at Bloomfield Road. Paul Ince had a stadium ban for violent conduct, they let go of their best player, Ince’s son, for nothing, they changed their manager to Barry Ferguson, who has never coached before, their fans are protesting against the owners, and they’ve not won for eighteen games.  Let’s face it, now is not a good time to be a Blackpool supporter.

And, with all four of the teams below them who played this weekend winning, relegation has become a serious possibility. The Tangerines are still six points above the drop zone, but they have played one game more than Yeovil and Barnsley, four more than Charlton, and momentum is currently in favour of those below.

At the moment, it is difficult to see Blackpool breaking out of their slump. In Barry Ferguson, they have arguably the least favourable manager in the league. Not only has he never managed before, he had never even coached professionally, prior to getting the job. And even in terms of footballing experience, he has not done anything which suggests he could become a great manager. He spent eleven years of his career at Rangers, yes he was captain, but he was captain of a team that was winning easily week in, week out. This has hardly prepared him for getting Blackpool out of this slump.

Otherwise, his career was littered with stories of binge drinking and hotel brawls. Blackpool are already a side having discipline problems – ten red cards already this season – and had previously been managed by Paul Ince, who had abused a match official. The team needed someone who can set an example, and command respect. If Barry Ferguson had discipline problems as a player himself, how will he give himself the authority to keep players in line?

Blackpool are a sinking ship at the moment, and their match at home to Millwall on Tuesday night could be vital. Something tells me that, for now at least, Barry will not continue the tradition of great Scottish managers called Ferguson.

Is Graham the goalscorer Boro need?

Danny Graham

Danny Graham is not commonly thought of as a natural goalscorer. He had one reasonably good season for Swansea in the Premier League, but after that, his career seems to have gone downhill. He has failed to score a single goal for Sunderland after an inflated transfer fee, he only netted once on loan at Hull, and had not scored in his spell back at Middlesbrough until yesterday. Many fans criticize Graham for a lack of goals, while others appreciate his work rate and commitment to the cause.

But it would be unwise to write Danny Graham off as a finisher. This is a player who has Premier League experience, and although the top flight was perhaps a bridge too far for him, he should be a good striker at Championship level. The last time Graham played regularly in the second tier, he scored thirty-eight goals in ninety-one games for Watford, which is not a bad record. He also scored a fair few in League One for Carlisle before that. Twenty-eight now, this should be the peak age for any striker. Graham is still contracted to Sunderland until summer 2016, but he is not particularly liked by the fans there, and as a product of the Middlesbrough youth academy, he may be more at home at the Riverside.

Since January, Middlesbrough’s problem has been scoring goals. This coincided with Lukas Jutkiewicz being bizarrely loaned out to Bolton, a team in the same league. Perhaps the reason Jutkiewicz has never quite succeeded at Middlesbrough was because, as a tall striker, he never had enough players running onto his flick-ons. Under Tony Mowbray, he often played as a loan striker, albeit with Adomah and Kamara cutting in from the wings. At Bolton, his partnership with a faster, more intelligent striker in Joe Mason seems to be working.

Both of Danny Graham’s finishes against Ipswich, although simple, involved clever movement and the pace to get ahead of the defender. The fact that Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has sent him back out on loan, suggests he is now surplus to requirements at Sunderland. If Middlesbrough can sign him on a permanent deal this summer, then next season, the partnership of Graham and Jutkiewicz could prove fruitful on Teesside.

Could Yeovil actually stay up?

Ishmael Miller

After a 2-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday this weekend, it might just happen. Yes, the team with the lowest budget in the Championship, with no experience at this level, and the team that many had written off, can still make the great escape.

A month ago the Glovers were six points off safety, and had lost three on the bounce. Although they had arguably been unfortunate to lose those games, they were in danger of getting cut adrift at the bottom. A five match unbeaten run later, and Yeovil are now just two points from safety, with a game in hand on most of the sides above them.

Ishmael Miller has been one of the Championship’s signings of the season from manager Gary Johnson. Though not the hardest worker, or not the biggest contributor to Yeovil’s build-up play, Miller has been clinical in his time at Huish Park. Otherwise, the Glovers have struggled for players who can score goals, particularly with midfielder Ed Upson leaving for Millwall in January. Miller has scored seven goals in thirteen games for Yeovil, which is a great record, and he has been a real coup for the West Country club, given the budget that Gary Johnson is working to.

All but one of Yeovil’s remaining home games are against midtable sides who will not have too much to play for, while the other is against relegation rivals Barnsley. It will still be a difficult job to stay up, and with the teams around them starting to pick up points, another sequence of defeats could be fatal. But with momentum now swinging in their favour, do not bet against Yeovil surprising everyone, and beating the drop.