Biggest talking points from the EFL Championship double Gameweek 13 and 14

While most of the EFL was halted due to the start of the FA Cup, the Championship continued as usual.

Sports News Blitz’s Charlie Gardner shares some of the biggest talking points from the double gameweek action from the second tier of English football.

Birmingham City 4-0 Millwall OR Portsmouth: A big deal or just a change in fortunes?

Birmingham City approached their fixture against Millwall ready for battle following a 4-0 thumping of a struggling Portsmouth side the weekend before, but who would have expected a repeat scoreline against a strong Millwall?

The result against Portsmouth was a good one, bringing confidence to a side that has taken its time to get started this season so far.

This result could easily be dismissed by sceptics as just a good result against a side that seem to have stagnated since their return to the second tier, kept away from the drop by a host of teams facing calamitous seasons.

Taking on Millwall at St. Andrew’s isn’t really the blessing you might think, either. Before this game, Millwall had failed to lose away from home yet this campaign, and so Brum would have had to make sure that they brought their A-game to this one.

Alex Neil is a solid Championship gaffer who has managed to bring the infamous London side up in the league table since his arrival in December last year.

A strong manager, he prides himself on his aggressive style of play that certainly fits Millwall.

Birmingham City absolutely stole the show against the Lions in this midweek fixture - a game that proved a fantastic advertisement of Chris Davies’ style of play at its best: quick and intuitive passing, fluid player movement, and some of the best goals you could find.

Lovely cross-field switches to a tidy low-driven finish, a stunning volley, a tidy pass across goal and a bit of tricky footwork to pass it into the net.

The goals seem to be flowing in a way that is well-worked and not down to chance at this stage, with each attacking player showing why Brady’s Blues have chosen them.

On another day, Millwall probably would have still lost that one.

What fans can take into account, though, is that, with only their first road loss of the season, it's fine, but some of the teams they’ve visited so far do look to be the ones struggling further down the table. 

Their next match takes on a Preston side that are similarly surprising this season, but one that hasn’t been without flaw.

I think this team will bounce back and give the fans an apology for such a heavy loss in the mid-week.

The Blues’ four-nil form might be in jeopardy, too, however, as they face an impressive Middlesbrough side that has been revitalised under former Luton boss Rob Edwards.

Undefeated at home, the Boro might be licking their lips at the sight of a Birmingham side who haven’t done much away from home thus far.

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Charlton Athletic 1-0 West Bromwich Albion: Leaving it ‘til late

Charlton Athletic somehow found themselves scoring another last-minute winner, as Sonny Carey’s powerful effort from range found its way in to break the Baggies’ hearts.

It’s hard to say that West Brom shouldn’t have won this one performance-wise, but a combination of poor decision-making up front and tidy goalkeeping from Charlton’s Kaminski made it hard for them to capitalise.

The visiting team also showed quality between the sticks when Josh Griffiths saved a first-half penalty in what would initially have seemed like an action that would bring at least a point back to the Hawthorns. 

The eventual late-winner will have felt like a dagger to the West Brom fans, who haven’t had much to celebrate in a relatively mediocre start to the season.

The departure of Carlos Corberán last year has left a hole in the club. They have struggled to reach the levels he had them at while he heads a struggling Valencia project over in Spain’s La Liga.

Nathan Jones, Charlton manager, was seen standing on the advertising hoardings celebrating with his players after Carey’s goal.

This sums up Jones as a person, in his outgoing and energetic ways that are often mocked for being slightly over the top. 

Jones has proven to be a fantastic fit at Charlton following his departure from an abysmal Southampton a couple of years ago, and it’s clear this club is a perfect fit for him.

Guiding the club to a dramatic return to the second tier has brought him endless adoration from fans at The Valley, and for now, it’s about riding that train for as long as possible.

Charlton once again have proved they can win when the run of play goes against them, and a game against an inconsistent Wrexham side could either prove to keep them up amongst the play-offs or upset the momentum - something that Wrexham proved they’re capable of in their 3-2 defeat of high-flyers Coventry the weekend before.

West Brom now head to a low-standing but solid Oxford United, and will look to bounce back in a game that really is quite hard to call.

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Coventry City 3-1 Sheffield United: Bouncing back, live in concert

After a Kieffer Moore hat-trick at the Racecourse resulted in an unexpected defeat to Wrexham, Frank Lampard certainly still has Coventry City flying in a win over a troubled Sheffield United.

Following the defeat on Saturday, November 1, Coventry City fans will have been happy to see their match against “Hollywood FC” was followed by a visit from a pitiful Sheffield United team. 

The biggest part of the story in this one actually occurred off the pitch here, with local band The Enemy smashing out a belting performance of their song “We’ll Live and Die in These Towns.”

The song, about Coventry, has become the club’s anthem over the years and can be heard sung before every match.

The footage of said performance is fantastic, and if you give it a watch, there’s no surprise why the CBS is such a hard place to go this year.

The fans sing along passionately, shaking the stands and drowning out any chants from the opposition.

Going back to football, all the credit here once again goes to Chelsea legend Frank Lampard for the unbelievable transformation that has occurred with Coventry this season. 

The Blades started the game strongly, even taking the lead through a well-timed finish from Sam McCallum, who refused to celebrate against his former club. 

Nerves may have kicked in here for Sky Blues fans when United seemed to pile on the pressure from there on, with a couple of tidy saves by keeper Michael Cooper managing to keep them leading at half time.

As was the case against Preston in the previous week, it wasn’t long before that lead was relinquished when winger Tatsuhiro Sakamoto pounced on a loose ball and slotted in at the near post. 

The lead was taken about ten minutes later when defender Bobby Thomas beat the keeper to the ball and headed home. Then an injury-time goal by lower-league product and Championship top goalscorer Brandon Thomas-Asante secured the goods.

Coventry now sit top of the league by four points with a +26 goal difference, over two times that of the second best in the league.

That’s all thanks to an outstanding attack, with two of the league’s top three scorers being Coventry players. Right back Van Ewijk also finds himself among the league’s top assisters, just highlighting how threatening Coventry can be.

On the Steel City side of things, there’s really nothing more that can be said.

They sacked Wilder in the summer and set themselves up for a different style of play in the transfer window, only to bring him back again. He complains that he doesn’t have the squad he wants, but the bulk of the squad were signings he made. 

A loss to Coventry isn’t bad on paper, but it can’t keep going wrong in the wider context.

A QPR with double the points of Wilder’s team will visit Bramall Lane in the next game, but honestly, there’s no confidence that they’ll win this one.

On a more positive note, it’s starting to seem a question of when, not if, regarding a long-awaited Premier League return for Coventry fans.

A clash against second-placed Stoke City comes up next for them, as they battle it out with a side managed by the club legend that they sacked to get Lampard in.

It could go either way, but it will definitely be the most watchable match in the Championship next week.

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Closing remarks

The Championship this year is fantastic. For a while, it’s been criticised for being the same old story with the promotion race, but with a top six that haven’t been in the Premier League for a long time, it feels like there’s going to be a lot of interesting and unexpected outcomes this year. 

The bottom end feels dire, almost the polar opposite of the thrillingly high levels of competition at the top end, as it is plagued with teams in crisis.

Next week, the EFL is back in full swing, and with that will come the full recap as usual.

Remember, they’re here, on Sports News Blitz, every week and make sure to check them out to get your fix on any details you might have missed.

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