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Monday, February 20, 2012
No stranger to the limelight
Will Tidey
Welcome to The Trawler, your weekly submersion through the teeming waters of life in the Championship, League One and League Two. You might be surprised what you find down there.
Warnock back in the limelight
Neil Warnock's contract at Leeds had him down to begin coaching duties on Monday, but he just couldn't resist getting amongst it during Saturday's 3-2 win against Yorkshire rivals Doncaster Rovers.
With his team 1-0 down at half-time, Warnock left his position in the stands to address his new players in the changing room. Sure enough they reacted with a battling performance in the second half, and when Luciano Becchio won the game late on with a screamer, Warnock's name was back just where he likes it - in the headlines.
"I couldn't resist going down at half-time if I'm honest, I'm not a stand man," Warnock said after the game. "I thought the lads did well. We changed formation just after half-time and I thought it worked well.
"Credit to the players, a lot of teams might have given up. But at 2-0 down, it got the atmosphere going."
Caretaker manager Neil Redfearn wasn't about to step aside and let the 63-year-old take all the plaudits however. "He (Warnock) wanted us to play with more energy and press them higher up the pitch. It was good, common-sense advice but I'm taking the credit for the win today," he said.
Pompey as ugly as Haye and Chisora
The administrator looking into Portsmouth's finances has labelled their expenditure "crazy", and said the last few weeks at the club have been as ugly as the press conference scrap between boxers David Haye and Dereck Chisora.
"In simple terms, expenditure has exceeded income in a large way predominantly due to handing out unsustainable salaries to players on long-term contracts," said Trevor Birch.
Pompey have already been docked ten points for going into administration by the FA, and that penalty could be increased if they fail to come out of it.
Stevenage earn their Spurs
It was mixed weekend for the seven Football League clubs taking part in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Championship Leicester were the only representatives to book a place in the quarter-finals, courtesy of a 2-1 win away at Premier League Norwich, while Birmingham and Stevenage are still alive after draws against Chelsea and Tottenham respectively set up replays.
League One Stevenage arguably achieved the shock of the weekend, holding an in-form Spurs to a 0-0 draw with a tenacious performance at the Lamex Stadium, and setting up a lucrative return at White Hart Lane.
Meanwhile, Brighton conceded three own goals in a 6-1 rout against Liverpool at Anfield, Stoke saw off League Two high-fliers Crawley, and Everton and Bolton did for Blackpool and Millwall.
James draws a crowd
Hartlepool striker Luke James was apparently watched by no fewer than 27 scouts on Saturday, as the hype around the 17-year-old continues to grow.
"Luke is a target for the big teams," said his manager Neale Cooper, after Pool brushed aside Notts County 3-0 in League One. "... He just never stops running he must have three lungs."
Magpies sack Allen
If James was the good news story at Victoria Park, then the sacking of Notts County manager Martin Allen was the bad one.
Allen was handed his P45 shortly after his team's loss, despite having saved County from relegation to League Two last season and leading them to relative stability in this current campaign. Unsurprisingly, the decision wasn't universally accepted by Magpies fans, but the club maintain it was made in their best interests.
"Whilst we strive for stability and a sustained period of growth and expansion under a settled structure, we have to make sure that we have the right people in place at the foundations of this structure if it is to go from strength to strength in the future," said chairman Ray Trew in a statement.
Di Canio corner
It's been a great week for Paolo Di Canio and Swindon. The Robins beat League Two promotion rivals Crawley 3-0 last Tuesday, and followed it up with a hard-earned 2-1 win against relegation-threatened Hereford.
That result made it seven successive league wins for Swindon, a feat not achieved for 25 years at the club. But Di Canio, taking a break from commenting on the England job or the plight of Scottish football, remains focused on the bigger prize.
"It doesn't mean anything unless we win the league, but it means everything if we win the league though," Di Canio said. "Records are good to break but they have to be a part of the overall target."
No sympathy for Pompey
This week's "telling it like it is" award goes, not for the first time, to Barnsley manager Keith Hill, who refused to sympathise with Portsmouth's financial plight after his team beat them 2-0 at Oakwell.
"They've recruited players that I could not afford to recruit, and they are paying the type of wages that I could only dream about paying," Hill said. "So how can I have sympathy for any football club who is competitive against me in a league where I have got not the same rich rewards?
"They are spending money they haven't got, so why should I have sympathy. [Manager] Michael Appleton, yes, the players, yes, the supporters - but what they are doing, absolutely not whatsoever."
With ruthlessness like that, he'll go far.