The Championship was back with a bang on the weekend. Preston look 'fantastic', a fit-again Chuba Akpom has Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough purring and Neil Critchley is again a No1 at QPR. All this and more from this season's resumption...
TEAM OF THE WEEK
It seems we can make a fair few comparisons when it comes to Preston North End and Blackburn Rovers. First there is the obvious geographical angle with the two clubs residing just over ten miles apart up in the North West. Second is their proximity in the league table, if we stopped the season now we would in fact get a Preston versus Blackburn play-off semi final. Finally is the lack of draws, yes I know we started the season bemoaning Preston's endless stream of nil-nil's, but North End have now gone eleven without a draw and Blackburn have remarkably still not ended a game all square this season.
Where we can't compare the two sides is in terms of competition in Saturday's early kick-off at Ewood Park, as Preston strolled to a dominant 4-1 win in snowy Lancashire. Preston looked in complete control with Ben Woodburn and Ched Evans putting them two ahead just after half time, Blackburn got a goal back through Bradley Dack but that only served to press Preston back into goal scoring action. It was a quick fire double as Evans got his second and Ben Whiteman put the game to bed within the space of three minutes.
Ryan Lowe's side now find themselves in the play-off spots and if we set aside that bizarre nil-nil ridden opening to the season, their form is looking fantastic. Seven wins in the last eleven games has the feel of promotion form, can Preston extend that run into the new year?
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Chris Wilder's failure at Middlesbrough still baffles me. Maybe I need to move on from 2019, but the managerial performance to get above Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds, Jack Grealish's Aston Villa and Frank Lampard's Derby was sensational.
I sat week after week expecting Boro to click and they didn't, even though some of the underlying numbers suggested they were about to. Wilder's Middlesbrough seemed to lack a clinical edge up front, despite bringing in Rodrigo Muniz and Marcus Forss to help as well as very encouraging looking chance creation data.
I wonder what Wilder thinks about the performance of Chuba Akpom since he was removed from the Middlesbrough dugout? Akpom scored twice under Wilder against his beloved Blades but was then out injured for the next six weeks. As fate would have it the striker returned as a second half sub in what turned out to be Wilder's last game in charge at Coventry and then scored in the next game against Birmingham for caretaker manager Leo Percovich.
I'm sure the upturn in form under new boss Michael Carrick is not solely down to the presence of a clinical striker, but Akpom's impact under Carrick certainly allows the possibility to be debated. In Carrick's six games in charge Akpom has racked up five goals and an assist, more pertinently perhaps Boro have racked up 13 points. When Boro went behind to Luton on Saturday of course it was Akpom who headed them level.
It's all in the past now but you have to wonder whether Carrick would even be at Boro right now if a fit and firing Akpom had not missed those six weeks in August and September.
TALKING POINT
Critchley Returns At QPR
Neil Critchley was announced as the new QPR boss on Sunday night after the Hoops' home defeat to Burnley. Critchley's hire brings to an end one of the most interweaving and controversial revolutions of the managerial merry-go-round even by the often absurd standards of the Championship.
The story began before the end of last season as QPR announced that Mark Warburton's contract would not be renewed and he would be leaving as manager. QPR's choice of replacement was Mick Beale, who made the leap from assistant to head honcho having worked with Stevie Gerrard at Rangers and Aston Villa. Somewhat surprisingly the existing Blackpool boss Neil Critchley made the opposite switch from first team boss at Bloomfield Road to replace Beale as Gerrard's assistant at Aston Villa.
It turned out to be a short-lived engagement for both Beale and Critchley. Firstly, Critchley's Villa stint was brought to a shuddering halt when Gerrard was fired in late October leaving the former Blackpool boss in the unemployment line. Secondly, Gerrard's replacement at Rangers, Gio Van Bronckhorst was also sacked and QPR boss Beale jumped ship to return to Glasgow. If you're somehow still keeping up you'll realise that Critchley ended up unemployed as the QPR job became available and for the second time in six months Mick Beale's replacement is Neil Critchley.
I'm sure there's some kind of lesson about loyalty in there somewhere, but we all understand competitive people doing what's best for themselves at the time even if it doesn't necessarily suit the interest of football fans. Critchley was excellent at Blackpool and should slide straight back into the Championship, QPR fans will be keeping an eye on matters in Glasgow though for more reasons than one!
LOANEE OF THE WEEK
Liam Delap (Stoke City on loan from Manchester City)
When the apple doesn't fall too far from the pitch, footballing father and son stories are often good fun. Growing up I remember Nigel Clough playing for his enigmatic father Brian at Nottingham Forest. Steve Bruce and his son Alex seem to have been joined at the hip through various different clubs and were still together this season at West Brom until Bruce the elder lost his job.
Steve Bruce's former Manchester United teammate Paul Ince seems to have been the only manager lately to get a tune out of his son Tom Ince, who's performing well currently at Reading. Stoke City also seems to be a hotbed for excellent father and son storylines, and this weekend saw the Potters start with Kevin Campbell's son Tyrese and Rory Delap's son Liam.
Delap is a bit of a legendary name in Stoke and, I suspect if you were to ask the general football populous who the defining on pitch personality during their excellent Premier League run was, it would be a very common answer. It always feels a little unfair on a footballer to remember them only for their ability to hurl in prodigious long throw-ins, but better to be loathed for what you are than loved for what you're not.
Rory Delap has been a coach at Stoke now since 2018 and one would assume was pivotal in the signing of his son Liam on loan from Manchester City. Delap junior was on target this weekend in the 2-2 draw with Cardiff and was hard done by not to earn his team a penalty due to an interesting refereeing call. Liam Delap has not quite hit the heights his goal machine reputation at age group level has suggested, if he gets anywhere close it won't just be throw ins that the Delap family is famous for.
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