Several bosses are starting to feel the pressure in the second tier, with this trio in particular need of three points from the midweek fixtures.
It is still early days in the Championship, but after the midweek fixtures every team will have played 10 games and the table will be beginning to take some shape. With that in mind, there are some notable surprises in the early standings; even the most optimistic Huddersfield fan would not have foreseen the Terriers in the automatic promotion places nearing October, and big-spending Derby County were not expected to be scrapping for points near the bottom of the table.
The standout fixture from this midweek set of Championship fixtures takes place on Wednesday night as Newcastle host Norwich at St James’ Park. Both Rafael Benitez and Alex Neil are safe in their respective hot seats, but which managers will be sitting a little less comfortably ahead of this week’s matches and need a win to ease the pressure?
Nigel Pearson
This was supposed to be the year that Derby finally cracked it. After coming close with Steve McClaren and bizarrely dispensing with Paul Clement, the Rams turned to a proven promotion specialist who had won the division across the East Midlands with Leicester just three seasons previously and knows the lower tiers inside out.
With one of the more expensively assembled squads in the Championship at his disposal – including big-money summer signing Matej Vydra – Nigel Pearson was expected to hit the ground running with his new side. Nine games in, however, and the Rams find themselves in the bottom three and facing a crunch clash with fellow early strugglers Cardiff tomorrow evening.
Most concerning for County this season has been their profligacy in front of goal. Despite the addition of Vydra to an attacking lineup that also includes Manchester United loanee James Wilson, former England international Darren Bent and January signing Nick Blackman, Derby have scored just three times in the league this season. Vydra’s strike against Blackburn on Saturday was their first goal in front of their own fans all season, and even that wasn’t enough to claim the points; Derby promptly conceded twice in four minutes and lost 2-1.
Pearson told the BBC following the weekend’s defeat that his side played as if they were “paralysed by fear”, and admitted that it is his responsibility to turn things around. This is Derby’s worst start to a second tier season for 33 years, and fans are split on whether the manager or the players are to blame. Either way, the Rams need to find their shooting boots and work their way up the table sooner rather than later.
Slavisa Jokanovic
August must feel like a long time ago for Fulham and their manager. The Cottagers started the season in fine form with three straight wins in all competitions, including an excellent victory over title favourites Newcastle on the opening weekend.
Since then, however, the West London outfit have won just once – against struggling Blackburn – and drifted steadily down the table. They are currently without a win in four league matches, a run which culminated in Saturday’s thumping 4-0 reverse at home to Bristol City.
Goals have dried up for Jokanovic’s side as well; they have scored just once in four games in September, and that was a last-gasp leveller by Ryan Sessegnon at home to Burton. Fulham’s promising start suggested they may not miss Ross McCormack, but now the absence of the creative Scotsman is being keenly felt.
That said, Fulham remain just three points adrift of the play-offs and it is far from crisis time at Craven Cottage. The Championship is all about momentum, however; Fulham had it in August but have lost it in September, and the longer the winless run goes on the more fans will start to fear that a repeat of last season’s struggle is on the cards. A first league win at Nottingham Forest since 2000 is needed if Jokanovic is to arrest the slide and get the Londoners back on track.
Roberto Di Matteo
After last season’s horror show, life in the second tier was never going to be easy for Aston Villa. Fans were realistic and managed their expectations accordingly, but most would have expected a better return than one win from their opening nine league games.
Villa have become the Championship’s draw specialists; two thirds of their matches have ended with the points shared, including Saturday’s clash with Newcastle. There were positives to take from the match against the Magpies, particularly with regard to how they ended the game, but Di Matteo’s men were fortunate not to be out of sight before Aaron Tshibola’s late leveller.
This week sees the Italian take his side to Barnsley, who have started the season in fine form and carried on from where they left off having won promotion last season. The Oakwell crowd under the lights will be confident of an upset, and Villa fans are set to find out if their pampered players can cope with a hostile Tuesday night in South Yorkshire.
There should be too much talent in the Villa squad for the club to face another relegation fight, and if just a couple of their draws had been turned into wins there wouldn’t be so much pressure on Di Matteo. The fact is, though, that they weren’t, and for that reason the Italian could really do with three points to prove that his side can deal with testing away fixtures in the second tier. Villa haven’t won away since the opening day of last season, and a happy journey home is long overdue for their travelling faithful.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
