EFL news: Managerial drama in the Championship as Rotherham and Peterborough pick up big wins

Although it was just the single round of action in the EFL this week and most of the news came from changes on the touchline, there was certainly no shortage of drama.

Here, Sports News Blitz writer Charlie Gardner returns with your full weekly EFL analysis.

League Two: Saddlers top

Honourable mentions in League Two this week go to Barnet, who managed to grab a point from an MK Dons side that seems to be slowing down, and fellow newcomers Oldham, who grabbed a tidy win against Harrogate Town despite going down to 10 players late on.

Scott Lindsey’s Crawley Town also managed to jump out of the bottom two this week thanks to a win over 10-man Fleetwood Town, whose fate was seemingly decided by Zech Medley earning his second yellow card in the 10th minute.

Elsewhere, a revived Cheltenham Town announced the signing of proven forward Hakeeb Adelakun, but an improved second half wasn’t enough to close the two-goal deficit provided by match winners Notts County, who once again seem to be applying pressure at the top end of the table.

Newport County 2-4 Walsall: Finally pushing on?

A clash between top and bottom is my selection this week after Walsall comfortably saw off a weak Newport County side.

The aptly-named Matt Sadler is reliving last season’s success with Walsall as the West Midlands side find themselves once again top of the league after a strong start.

Swindon Town’s failure to beat Cambridge United also proved beneficial, keeping them second on goal difference.

Newport are now rock-bottom by three points, in a season that just seems to have never got going.

When former Swansea City chairman Huw Jenkins got involved, it felt like the club would finally be able to make that long-needed step up into League One.

Unfortunately, the start they’ve had makes it seem as though the club’s escape from League Two might be going down rather than up.

The match displayed more of Newport’s weaknesses than Walsall’s strengths, with their poor backline performance comfortably bested by a far more determined visiting backline.

The stats back this up, with County being joint-bottom of the league (paired with Cheltenham Town) on goals conceded per match.

Walsall do have plenty to boast about regarding team stats too, with favourable rankings in attack and a squad list with a nice even spread of goals.

If you fancy using xG, they are outperforming it by a reasonable margin, scoring four more than expected.

The addition of veteran promotion-winning defender Aden Flint has also bolstered not just the backline but the dressing room.

Last year, seemingly all went wrong at Walsall once top-scorer Nathan Lowe was recalled to parent club Stoke City in January, but the previously-mentioned even spread of goals throughout the team might just ease any concerns of a repeat of last season’s catastrophic campaign.

The prospects for the season are unique to each club, to be fair.

Walsall are looking to redeem themselves from a post-January collapse while Newport are in a totally different crisis.

For some reason, I really do feel optimistic when it comes to Walsall, who I’d be looking to back against an inconsistent Colchester United.

I think in the long term, they might just find the grit to make it over the line this year.

Newport have a big chance to leapfrog an equally disappointing Shrewsbury Town next, where a win could see them finally escape the relegation spots.

I’m not entirely clued up on the Shropshire side this year, so it would be nice to predict a win for Newport, who hopefully get a chance to turn their season around.

League One: Big surprises!

League One had us spoilt for choice this week: Gary Bowyer returned to Valley Parade with Burton Albion to grab a pragmatic win over a poor Bradford side who can’t buy a win, Bolton Wanderers were the only team in the top six to win a match, and Huddersfield Town finally found their win against a rock-bottom Plymouth Argyle side who, in manager Tom Cleverley’s words, can be happy with their strong start in the widely disregarded Vertu Trophy.

But, out of everything, there are two big stories to address.

Peterborough United 5-0 Wimbledon: Posh pummel the Dons!

A running theme this season has been Peterborough’s disappointing start, which eventually convinced chairman Darragh MacAnthony to make a change away from club servant Darren Ferguson, appointing former Notts County and Swansea boss Luke Williams as manager in his place.

A modern, innovative manager, Williams was always going to be a good fit for the Posh from the start.

But I’d be surprised if anyone expected them to turn up so triumphantly against an extremely well-drilled side in AFC Wimbledon, especially in that fashion.

Notts County fans will tell you that Luke Williams is a class act, a modern and forward-thinking manager with an attractive style of football that has shown to be effective when it works.

The same goes for Johnnie Jackson over at Wimbledon, whose intense and solid setup has brought the Dons back to League One in a way that has kept them fighting against a range of opponents, despite many people predicting them as favourites for a bottom-placed finish in the league. 

The game, however, seemed to go against everything that Wimbledon pride themselves in as an outsmarted and outrun defence very quickly showed just how punishing and clinical a Luke Williams side can be.

While Dons fans can be confident that this is a one-off thanks to their side’s ability to (usually) remain in games, there’s certainly no doubt that this one was hard to take.

Jackson’s side always seem to find a way to stay in the game and make things difficult for their opponents, like in those wins against an incredibly well-set Lincoln City or Barnsley earlier in the season.

You could argue that the London team have had a deceptively easy start, though, with a couple of their wins coming against sides that have eventually filtered down to the lower end of the table: Blackpool, Wycombe, and Plymouth to mention a few.

Peterborough, on the other hand, do feel like they’ve picked a man just right for their club.

Everything about them feels modern: their youth-driven approach, building some of the EFL’s greatest talents, is a strong way for sustainable revenue, and having a manager with such a modern touch allows them to boast a system that players can inherit with ease whilst also becoming more valuable to clubs higher up in the leagues.

Their recruitment process has a fairly good track record too, so perhaps a change in management has been the secret to unlocking the best out of the squad they’ve already got.

Wimbledon are facing Stockport County next, who lost 3-0 to Luton Town this gameweek.

Unfortunately for Wimbledon, Stockport have managed to not lose two league games in a row since February 2024, so the odds are already stacked against them.

Next up for Peterborough is a trip to Nigel Clough’s Mansfield, a side who, like Wimbledon, pride themselves on their solidity and organisation.

I don’t think it will be as comfortable a win, but I controversially believe this side has a lot of talent in it that’s been kept quiet for far too long.

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Rotherham United 3-0 Lincoln City: …what?

Right… Are Rotherham actually good?

It seemed like an inevitability that the Millers would be in for another disappointing season given they had a very weak start.

Fast forward to Gameweek 15 and they’re now in 12th place, unbeaten in their last six league games having won four of them.

Lincoln City find themselves in a new turn of form also, with Michael Skubala’s Imps only holding one win in their last five. 

Lincoln started the season incredibly difficult to beat, with their goals conceded per match the joint second-best in the entire division.

So how on earth have they managed to concede three to Rotherham? It’s hard to give a decent answer.

One thing that can be assured is how good Rotherham’s attack is looking lately.

Their free-flowing passes against Lincoln seemed to cut right through one of the best defences in the league, with some well-worked team goals finding a way to outsmart the backline, including ‘keeper George Wickens.

This is something that seems to have been turned around in recent weeks, along with a notable improvement in performances at the back, particularly from their own man between the sticks, Cameron Dawson.

The reason this feels like such a confusing result, despite both teams’ recent form, is that it’s hard to identify as an outsider exactly what has changed at Rotherham.

A mid-table finish last year felt like such a disappointment for a side synonymous with yo-yo’ing back into the Championship, and now they finally seem to be transitioning into a top-half side again.

Less than a decade ago, Lincoln made a surprise return to the football league and fans would have bitten your hand off for a chance to be a ‘solid’ side in League One, but at this point, it feels like they need to take advantage of Skubala’s capabilities as a manager before it’s too late.

Lincoln City have spent six full seasons in League One now, with only one of those years in the playoffs.

My concerns are that Skubala is a modern manager who clearly knows how to make his teams strong and, as a result, there is likely going to be many a pesky Championship side willing to move him on at some point.

The question is: Will Lincoln be able to either keep him around or make the most out of him before that happens?

Rotherham United will go to the strangest away end in England next when they visit Luton Town, who also won by three against Stockport.

Both sides will be confident, but Luton’s squad starting to click spells danger for the rest of the league – I think they might win this one by quite a margin.

Lincoln’s next match is against Rotherham’s rivals Doncaster Rovers, who haven’t won a league match in over two months.

This is the perfect opportunity for Lincoln to show off their impressive home form and get a confidence-boosting win that might keep other promotion chasers looking over their shoulders.

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Championship: Managerial drama

The Championship section has almost written itself this week, with managers making up most of the gossip in a heated week that could prove to change the season for many a team.

Norwich City finally bit the bullet, sacking Liam Manning after a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City pushed them deeper into the relegation zone.

There are no surprises there – it had to happen at some point if the Canaries wanted a fighting chance at salvaging their season.

Meanwhile, Alan Sheehan has left Swansea City, with Luke Williams’ replacement unable to give the former League Cup winners a high finish this season.

Coventry City also came back to haunt former manager Mark Robins a year after his dismissal, with a fashionably late winner sending away fans into bedlam.

It seems like Frank Lampard’s Sky Blues would have to mess up astronomically to throw this one away.

Middlesbrough special: Thrown to the Wolves

No match discussion for the second-placed team as their week has been overshadowed by what appears to be a quick turnaround for former Luton manager Rob Edwards, who has been heavily rumoured to be the next Wolverhampton manager.

When Edwards’ predecessor Michael Carrick left, it felt like perfect timing.

Carrick had done a fantastic job of elevating the squad and putting together a real playoff-pushing core – the problem just came in executing it.

Edwards, on the other hand, gave Luton Town back-to-back relegations, but he also holds a CV that speaks for itself – he’s a serial winner, from the Forest Green days right through to that iconic Luton Town win against Coventry City.

The new gaffer immediately put his stamp on Middlesbrough, with a start to the campaign that felt like all woes with Carrick had been solved.

Then came Wolves.

Barring a miracle, Wolverhampton Wanderers will be a Championship side next season in a development that feels a couple of years in the making.

And since the sacking of Vítor Pereira, rumours have sprung up that Edwards would soon be on his way. 

Edwards refused to answer these claims but ultimately did not take training on Friday while also cutting any media appearances.

He likewise did not manage this week’s match against Birmingham City, but still there is no official announcement.

The former centre-back made over 100 appearances for Wolves, so it’s pretty easy to see why this decision was made so quickly, especially given that they are still a Premier League outfit.

On the club side, it’s fair enough to assume that Wolves are right to begin preparing for a season in the Championship in a way that they see fit.

It seems clear that the deal is done, potentially to be announced by the time this article releases, with the departure taken as fact as soon as reports came about.

It’s reasonable to expect that Middlesbrough will receive a sizable fee for their trouble, but can that really soften the kick in the teeth that is losing a manager who has so quickly brought in a realistic chance of reaching the Premier League?

With Coventry looking like inevitable champions, that second-place spot is what others will be fighting for this year.

Mark Robins, of course, has Stoke City flying, and the derailing of the Middlesbrough project will probably wind up closing the window of opportunity that had seemingly opened for them.

With a couple of league rivals now in the market for a manager, the next few weeks could be make or break, but ultimately it feels like they’ve been left high and dry.

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Closing remarks

It was a slightly bizarre format this week thanks to certain things becoming such bigger talking points than others, but the round-up still covered all the influential talking points of the EFL. 

Many teams are turning around for better or for worse, and both ends of the Championship have been shaken by switches at the wheel that could prove consequential.

The most interesting points over the next few weeks will be managerial appointments as the market changes. 

Eyes remain on sides like Walsall, who can’t afford to slip up, and Peterborough, who will look to ride that new manager bounce further up League One.

The biggest story of course is Edwards, where there probably won’t be anymore twists and turns, but for Middlesbrough the biggest decision in years could be here as they look at their options elsewhere.

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