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Monday, October 31, 2011
Foxes hunt Keegan
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.
Keegan for Leicester?
Kevin Keegan is being touted as a surprise candidate for a high-ranking position at Leicester City. Keegan was ultimately succeeded by Sven-Goran Eriksson as England manager in 2001, but their roles could be reversed following Eriksson's sacking early last week.
Some sources believe Keegan will be asked to form a dream team with Huddersfield manager Lee Clark - whom Keegan knows from his time managing Newcastle. The Daily Mail and The Sun are suggesting Clark would be given the manager's role, with ESPN analyst Keegan backing him up as a high-profile director of football.
Both men may have to deal with not being first choice. Thai owner Vichai Raksriaksorn apparently had Mark Hughes and Martin O'Neill at the top of his list but has now given up hope of luring either to the free-spending Championship club.
Keegan's last job in coaching ended in 2008, when he walked away from Newcastle after a fall-out with the club's owner Mike Ashley over transfer policy. He would be unlikely to suffer the same frustrations at Leicester, where Raksriaksorn's millions have thus far been made readily available in the pursuit of Premier League football.
Dizzy O'Dea
Leeds defender Darren O'Dea was apparently suffering a bout of dizziness when he gifted Cardiff their equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Elland Road. O'Dea, who's on loan from Celtic, declared himself fit after taking knock to the head against Birmingham on Wednesday night, but another bump during the first half sent his head spinning on Sunday afternoon.
"He had a lack of vision down one side and a bit of blurriness as well so he's got concussion," Leeds manager Simon Grayson said. "I think it probably did [prompt his mistake that led to the Leeds goal]. He got a little nudge - he knows he maybe should have cleared it and that was something that maybe contributed to it."
The Barcelona of the Championship?
Southampton maintained their 100% home record with a classy 3-0 win against Middlesbrough at St Mary's on Saturday. Nigel Adkins' Saints are three points clear at the top of the Championship, and playing the kind of stuff that wouldn't look out of place at Camp Nou.
"The third goal, we've got 25 passes before David Connolly, with the 26th contact of the ball, puts it in the back of the net," Adkins said. "So we're pleased about that."
Big Sam
This week's "telling it like it is" award goes to West Ham manager Sam Allardyce, who appears to be getting a little tired of criticism directed at his team's style of play.
"More perceptive bulls***. What were the club's away performances before I came? Lose, lose, lose, lose, lose, draw, lose, lose," Allardyce said on Friday. "I heard the fans last year when they kept losing - they weren't very happy. I don't know what playing the right way is. What I'm hearing is bulls***."
Big Sam's team duly beat Leicester 3-2 on Saturday, treating the Upton Park purists to exactly the kind of display they've come to expect in recent years - albeit with the Hammers on the winning side.
Rosler stung by Bees fans
There's no pleasing some fans. Brentford got their first home victory in seven attempts on Saturday, beating Chesterfield 2-1 at Griffin Park, but Bees manager Uwe Rosler was left fuming at a section of the crowd who simply put the win down to their opposition being rubbish.
"We won at home but some supporters, and I stress it's only a fraction, are chanting 'You are c**p'," former Germany international Rosler said. "I told my players to go and applaud the fans at the end, but half of them didn't want to because of what they had heard. It was only a small fraction of them, but for me it was a big negative, especially when my players had worked so hard and were winning the game."
BWP banging them in
Bradley Wright-Phillips leads the scoring charts in England's top divisions, with 12 from 15 games so far this season in League One. The son of former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright, and half-brother to QPR winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, Bradley bagged a brace in Charlton's 4-0 win at Hartlepool on Saturday - keeping the Addicks three points clear at the top.
Jordan's star turn
Fifteen-year-old Jordan Ibe became Wycombe's youngest scorer on Saturday, then picked up a booking for his over-zealous celebrations to his family in the stands. Ibe slalomed a couple of tackles then blasted a rocket into the top corner from 25 yards against Sheffield Wednesday. It was moment to savour, but it couldn't stop his side falling to a 2-1 home defeat against Gary Megson's impressive visitors.