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| Crisis time at Molineux |
One of them is becoming the laughing stock of English football, another was left the best squad in the Championship by its recently departed manager and the third is, according to the present incumbent, in crisis.
The club in crisis are Wolves. That's not the view of its supporters, although I'm sure they can't be happy at successive defeats at home to Peterborough and Ipswich before yesterday's loss at Crystal Palace.
No, they are the words of manager Ståle Solbakken. I know football fans don't want to hear a load of bull and excuses from a manager but they do want positive words and 'We are in crisis' is hardly positive no matter which way you dress it up. "I have the responsibility for the results and we are in crisis now, no doubt about that," he said. "We have to have the belief things will get better."
His players are backing him, publicly at least, but Solbakken must remain the most likely Championship manager to next depart his club. That is unless our friend Shebby Singh, whose name was chanted yesterday at Hillsborough, makes another of his big mistakes.
It appears Mrs Desai doesn't want to upset the apple cart with them being on such a good run so caretaker boss Gary Bowyer, who isn't interested in the job, will carry on. Shebby won't be happy; he'd promised an appointment by yesterday.
That promised appointment might well have been the Legend in his own Mind Peter Taylor. Meanwhile, there's still no news of Paul Agnew and Derek Shaw following their trip to Pune but Venky's did send their fans a New year message that sounded more like them being told to turn up and get behind the players and management."
They have dipped their toe in the transfer market today and completed the permanent signing of Josh King from Manchester United.
As for Bolton, nothing's changed there. The new manager is pointing fingers at the referee for defeats just as did the previous man, this time wanting to know why they weren't awarded a penalty for a foul of David Ngog.
They even speak the same words. Yesterday, after losing at Leeds, Dougie Freedman said: "It was disappointing not to come away with the three points, as our performance MERITED the win."
At either end of the league, Cardiff are now seven points clear of Hull at the top. They won at Birmingham as Hull were held to a 0-0 draw at Blackpool. Down at the bottom of the league, Peterborough pulled out of the relegation places, beating bottom club Barnsley 2-1 in a controversial game at London Road. Bristol City are next to bottom and Sheffield Wednesday now return to take Peterborough's place after losing to us.
There's a week off now while we all enjoy the magic of the cup. That takes us to Barnsley where David Flitcroft is currently in charge following the dismissal of Keith Hill over Christmas. Flitcroft is being assisted by former Claret Micky Mellon who himself lost his job at Fleetwood recently.
The New Year's Day results and stats are below with the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record (with Burnley still leading the way with yellow cards), the highest and lowest attendances and the next league fixtures.
| The Results | |
| Tuesday 1st January | |
| Birmingham City 0 Cardiff City 1 | Leeds United 1 Bolton Wanderers 0 |
| Blackburn Rovers 3 Nottingham Forest 0 | Leicester City 6 Huddersfield Town 1 |
| Blackpool 0 Hull City 0 | Millwall 2 Bristol City 1 |
| Crystal Palace 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 | Peterborough United 2 Barnsley 1 |
| Derby 3 Middlesbrough 1 | Sheffield Wednesday 0 Burnley 2 |
| Ipswich Town 0 Brighton & Hove Albion 3 | Watford 3 Charlton Athletic 4 |
| The Stats | |
| Biggest Win | Leicester City 6-1 v Huddersfield Town (home) |
| Total Goals Scored | 38 (23 home - 15 away) |
| Player Scoring Most Goals 2 |
Yann Kermogant (Charlton Athletic) Anthony Knockaert (Leicester City) Andre Moritz (Crystal Palace) Chris Wood (Leicester City) |
| Highest Attendance | 25,913 - Leicester City v Huddersfield Town |
| Lowest Attendance | 7,339 - Peterborough United v Barnsley |
| Total Yellow Cards | 42 |
| Total Red Cards | 0 |
| Most Cards in a Game | Peterborough United v Barnsley (7Y) Ref: Darren Drysdale |
| Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
| 22 | Glenn Murray (Crystal Palace) - includes 7 penalties |
| 20 | Charlie Austin (Burnley) - includes 3 penalties |
| 15 | Luciano Becchio (Leeds United) - includes 4 penalties Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn Rovers) - includes 1 penalty, 2 with Huddersfield Town |
| 13 | Tom Ince (Blackpool) - includes 3 penalties Chris Wood (Leicester City) - 11 with Millwall |
| 12 | Marlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 3 penalties David Nugent (Leicester City) - includes 1 penalty Matej Vydra (Watford) - includes 2 penalties |
| 11 | Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton & Hove Albion) - includes 2 penalties |
| 10 | DJ Campbell (Ipswich Town) Troy Deeney (Watford) |
| 9 | Sam Baldock (Bristol City) - includes 4 penalties Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Wolverhampton Wanderers) - includes 2 penalties Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough) Billy Sharp (Nottingham Forest) - includes 2 penalties |
| 8 | Sone Aluko (Hull City) Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty Steven Davies (Bristol City) - includes 2 penalties Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middlesbrough) Theo Robinson (Derby County) |
| Hat Tricks | |
| Date | Player & Game |
| 01/09/12 | 3: Pete Whittingham - CARDIFF CITY v Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 15/09/12 | 3: Charlie Austin - BURNLEY v Peterborough United |
| 22/09/12 | 3: Glenn Murray - CRYSTAL PALACE v Cardiff City |
| 22/09/12 | 4: Craig Davies - Birmingham City v BARNSLEY |
| 23/09/12 | 3: David Nugent - LEICESTER CITY v Hull City |
| 29/09/12 | 3: Emile Sinclair - Hull City v PETERBOROUGH UNITED |
| 02/10/12 | 3: Charlie Austin - BURNLEY v Sheffield Wednesday |
| 23/10/12 | 3: Marlon King - Millwall v BIRMINGHAM CITY |
| 06/11/12 | 3: Glenn Murray - CRYSTAL PALACE v Ipswich Town |
| 17/11/12 | 3: Jordan Rhodes - Peterborough United v BLACKBURN ROVERS |
| Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) | |||||||||
| Club | Y | R | Y | R | Club | Y | R | Y | R |
| League | Total | League | Total | ||||||
| Barnsley | 37 | 1 | 40 | 2 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 4 | 47 | 4 |
| Birmingham City | 37 | 3 | 39 | 3 | Hull City | 29 | 1 | 29 | 2 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 32 | 0 | 32 | 0 | Ipswich Town | 33 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| Blackpool | 36 | 0 | 36 | 0 | Leeds United | 45 | 2 | 50 | 2 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 48 | 1 | 50 | 1 | Leicester City | 29 | 1 | 29 | 1 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 32 | 1 | 33 | 1 | Middlesbrough | 34 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| Bristol City | 34 | 0 | 36 | 0 | Millwall | 47 | 2 | 49 | 2 |
| Burnley | 48 | 1 | 54 | 1 | Nottingham Forest | 44 | 4 | 44 | 4 |
| Cardiff City | 45 | 2 | 47 | 2 | Peterborough United | 42 | 1 | 43 | 1 |
| Charlton Athletic | 41 | 1 | 41 | 1 | Sheffield Wednesday | 46 | 1 | 49 | 1 |
| Crystal Palace | 38 | 2 | 42 | 2 | Watford | 47 | 4 | 48 | 4 |
| Derby County | 31 | 1 | 32 | 1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 26 | 1 | 28 | 1 |
| Highest and Lowest Attendances | |||
| Highest | Lowest | ||
| Att | Fixture | Att | Fixture |
| 28,707 | Nottingham Forest v Derby County (30/09) | 5,435 | Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/09) |
| 28,595 | Wolverhampton W v Ipswich Town (29/12) | 5,633 | Peterborough United v Blackpool (01/12) |
| 28,582 | Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds United (19/10) | 5,997 | Peterborough Utd v Blackburn Rovers (17/11) |
| 28,229 | Middlesbrough v Sheffield Wednesday (09/11) | 6,188 | Peterborough United v Millwall (21/08) |
| 27,437 | Derby County v Sheffield Wednesday (18/08) | 6,348 | Peterborough Utd v Huddersfield Town(23/10) |
| 26,727 | Brighton & Hove Albion v Watford (29/12) | 6,600 | Peterborough Utd v Bolton Wand (23/12) |
| 26,684 | Brighton & HA v Nottingham Forest (15/12) | 6,612 | Peterborough Utd v Middlesbrough (08/12) |
| 26,670 | Nottingham Forest v Leeds United (26/12) | 7,339 | Peterborough Utd v Bristol City (01/01) |
| 26,598 | Sheffield Wed v Bolton Wanderers (22/09) | 8,088 | Barnsley v Bristol City (01/09) |
| 26,594 | Brighton & HA v Sheffield Weds (14/09) | 8,195 | Barnsley v Crystal Palace (23/10) |
| The Next Fixtures | |
| Friday 11th January | |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers v Blackburn Rovers | |
| Saturday 12th January | |
| Barnsley v Leeds United | Charlton Athletic v Blackpool |
| Bolton Wanderers v Millwall | Huddersfield Town v Birmingham City |
| Brighton & Hove Albion v Derby County | Hull City v Sheffield Wednesday (17:20) |
| Bristol City v Leicester City | Middlesbrough v Watford |
| Burnley v Crystal Palace | Nottingham Forest v Peterborough United |
| Cardiff City v Ipswich Town | |