The Sky-Bet Championship is starting to have a familiar look to it, week on week. The same teams look to be cementing their places at both the top and the bottom. Yet, in-between, there is a merry-go-round of failing form and clean-sheets.
Will the Geordies maintain their top flight ambitions? Are Rotherham doomed to League 1 already? Which ex-Man United star turned manager is tightening up a Championship side’s defence? All this and more in the Championship’s Match Day 17 review.
#1 Newcastle pull clear
Is anyone going to be able to stop the juggernaut that is Newcastle United winning the Sky-Bet Championship this season?
They have won each of their last 8 games in the league and now sit on 40 points, winning 13, drawing 1 and losing 3. Their nearest rivals Brighton, are 5 points behind them and it’s surely not too early to say that it looks like they will be in the Premier League next year.
The 2-0 away win against Leeds United this weekend - that ended their 3-match winning streak - was an impressive display that saw Dwight Gayle score a brace to bring his goal tally to 13 for the season.
Despite this show of dominance, the Newcastle manager still believes his team can improve:
"I have to say thanks to every player, we could see a performance today against a good team we saw the effort, the mentality was good and the understanding of the game was very good.
"The atmosphere we were talking about as intimidating but we controlled ourselves. We knew what they could do but the players applied themselves and it's a credit to them.
"Everything we tried to do we did well, set-pieces, control of the game and counter-attack. There is room for improvement but I can't complain because we did very well."
It’s hard to see them dropping points in their next 2 games either. This coming weekend, they are at home to Blackburn Rovers who are in the relegation zone and after a midweek EFL cup tie against Hull, travel to 18th placed Nottingham Forest.
#2 Are Rotherham doomed?
17 games in and only 7 points with just 1 win to their name. Is there any way back for Rotherham United?
It seems that a change of manager last month has done little to stop the rot at the Yorkshire club. Kenny Jackett replaced a failing Alan Stubbs as The Millers boss, but with just one point from his 3 games in charge, nothing has really changed at the New York Stadium.
Their last game, a 3-0 loss away at Derby County did nothing to suggest there was any chance of a resurgence and they now seem certainties to be playing League 1 football next season.
The game was a one-sided affair and could have been even worse for the Millers if Derby striker Tom Ince had been more clinical. Despite him scoring twice, he also won and missed 2 penalties for the Rams as they piled on the misery for the Yorkshire side and condemned them to their 12th loss of the season.
Jackett continued to lament their poor defence: "We are still struggling to find a defensive set-up that can keep us competitive.
"We started the game pretty well in the first 20 minutes, we had a lot of it, we had the ball and made inroads but then we gave two very poor goals away on the break when we were in good positions. The second half was similar, we were playing in and around our box and then gave away a very, very poor third goal away. The key moments took the game to them,” he added.
#3 Stat attack - Norwich on the slide
What’s happening to the Canaries? Things were going so well in the early part of the season. Top of the Championship after 12 games and losing only twice, the fans were talking of a quick return to the Premier league.
Unfortunately, since then their form has deserted them. Drawing only 1 of the last 5 games and losing 4 on the bounce has seen them drop from the top spot to clinging on to the last of the playoff places in 6th.
Their current form is the 4th worst in the league. The latest match against Ian Holloway’s QPR saw Martin Olssen sent off for handling the ball on the line with just 2 minutes of the game gone. Norwich City were then on the back foot for the rest of the match and they eventually went down 2-1. Alex Neil cut a frustrated figure:
"The fans will be frustrated and annoyed and I understand that. My job is to win games. All I can say is that I am working extremely hard to turn things around and so are the players. I thought they worked extremely hard and kept going until the last minute. We did better in the second half,” he stated.
"You're looking to stick to the task and not concede sloppy goals, and then as the game goes on maybe quieten the crowd. But once we conceded that goal it's difficult. The two goals we conceded in the first half made it too easy for QPR."
#4 Reading on form
With just one loss in their last 6 matches and having won the last 4, things appear to be on the up for Reading. The Royals’ latest match, a 3-0 victory against Burton Albion, saw yet another clean sheet (their 4th in a row) that takes them up to 3rd position in the league.
Reading were cruising before half time, when goals from Dominic Samuel and Danny Williams made it 2-0 at the break.
Burton Albion showed little in the way of an attacking threat until the second half when they wasted 2 chances, but the game was put to bed on 77 minutes with a John Brayford own goal.
Former Man United star turned Reading boss Jaap Stam was pleased with the result and performance: "It's good to win games and it's good to get points because there are a lot of games to be played in this league this season.
"Hopefully we can stay up there, but we're not aiming for that third or fourth spot yet. We're not focused on getting into a certain position in the table. I keep repeating myself: there's a long way to go. I told the players that you need to be sharp and aggressive because you want to finish the game off as quick as you can."
Their next 3 games will see how strong their promotion push is as Stam’s team will be up against fellow promotion hopefuls, Bristol City, Fulham and Sheffield Wednesday. Can they continue their good form and resolute defence?
#5 Bruce steadies Villa ship
Steve Bruce’s 6 League games in charge at Villa Park have yielded 3 wins and 3 draws so far. The latest being a 1-1 draw against second placed Brighton & Hove Albion.
It could have been far better had they managed to convert just one of the many chances that came their way in the second half.
It was Villa who took the lead against the run of play. A Nathan Baker header from a free-kick on 20 minutes had the away fans in raptures. However, a fierce Glenn Murray strike right on half time saw Brighton come back into the match.
Despite the draw, Bruce was still happy with the direction of the team: "I'm delighted with the performance and I'm a tad disappointed that we didn't see it through in terms of the second-half display. It was easily the best performance we've produced and it was more like it.
"The players have been much maligned but they showed exactly what they're capable of. But we can't get carried away with ourselves just because we've had a good six weeks. We have a lot of work to do."
Their next 4 games see them playing against high flyers and strugglers. Home to lowly Cardiff City, away at in-form Leeds, then back at home to relegation-threatened Wigan before a midweek clash with top 6 team Norwich.
On current form, Bruce shouldn’t fear anyone. They sit joint 14th in the table, now 6 points clear of the relegation zone and Villa fans will be looking upwards in the Championship rather than down.
