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Team Focus: Rampant Watford Firing Towards Promotion

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Team Focus: Rampant Watford Firing Towards Promotion Sometimes managerial uncertainty does not translate on to the pitch. So much has been made of the turnover in Championship dugouts this season – Rotherham’s Steve Evans is the only manager in the bottom half of the table still in situ – that it is noteworthy that the team who has f...

Team Focus: Astute Symons Looking for More from Leaky Fulham

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Team Focus: Astute Symons Looking for More from Leaky Fulham How to explain Fulham. In the space of four days they went from being torn apart by Wolves to convincingly beating the leaders, Derby. Kit Symons, their likeable manager, seemed at a loss to explain their inconsistency in the aftermath of the 2-0 victory over the Rams at Craven Cottage on Saturday.S...

Team Focus: Post-January Squad Depth Leading Derby Towards Promotion

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Team Focus: Post-January Squad Depth Leading Derby Towards Promotion Darren Bent has had a curious career. His talent has never been doubted but the most frustrating thing about the 31-year-old is how easily he can flit from prolific to profligate. For each season like the 24 league goals he scored for Sunderland in 2009/10, there was a campaign like 2007/08 at Totte...

Team Focus: Dream Start Long Forgotten for Departing Pearce and Flailing Forest

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Team Focus: Dream Start Long Forgotten for Departing Pearce and Flailing Forest It had all started so well for Stuart Pearce and Nottingham Forest. Seven games in, they sat on top of the table with five wins and two draws. The club legend enjoyed a dream start to life as a manager at the City Ground, but then the honeymoon period came to an end with a goalless draw at Millwall,...

Team Focus: Little Faith in Millwall's Chances from Both Outside and Within

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Team Focus: Little Faith in Millwall's Chances from Both Outside and Within Twelve months ago last week Ian Holloway sat at a table in a lounge at The New Den after being unveiled as the Millwall manager and declared there is nowhere else I want to be [other] than here before subsequently promising that he would transform the relegation threatened side into promotion challe...

Team Focus: Brentford's Bold Approach Paying Dividends in the Championship

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Team Focus: Brentford's Bold Approach Paying Dividends in the Championship The Mark Warburton story is well told by now but no less enjoyable. To summarise: Warburton was working in a good job in the City but packed it all in to become a coach. When Uwe Rösler departed Brentford in League One for Wigan above them, a face pretty much unrecognisable outside of a pocket ...

Team Focus: Howe has the Chance to Make History with Free-scoring Bournemouth

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Team Focus: Howe has the Chance to Make History with Free-scoring Bournemouth Six years ago Bournemouth were 91st in the Football League, heading for a gloomy Christmas and a distinct possibility of falling into the Conference. Now they sit top of the Championship at the beginning of the festive spell. The past five leaders on December 25th have been promoted; this 124-year-o...

Team Focus: Ipswich Strike Partnership Leading the Promotion Charge

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Team Focus: Ipswich Strike Partnership Leading the Promotion Charge If money, as we are led to believe, is the key to success in football, Ipswich should be nowhere near the top. Bereft of a transfer kitty, Mick McCarthy relies on free acquisitions and loans while others around them spend big in pursuit of elevation.Yet the bandwagon continues to roll, a 4-1 win ove...

Team Focus: Off-field Antics Mask Tough Task Ahead for Mackay at Wigan

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Team Focus: Off-field Antics Mask Tough Task Ahead for Mackay at Wigan One could be forgiven for forgetting about the football when it comes to Wigan Athletic at the moment. From Dave Whelan's comments to Malky Mackay's return to management, the negative headlines have appeared endless. Putting the debate over the rights and wrongs of the pairs' statements to one side,...

Team Focus: Slade's Inconsistent Cardiff Could Begin to Test Tan's Patience

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Team Focus: Slade's Inconsistent Cardiff Could Begin to Test Tan's Patience Russell Slade is one of the most genial managers currently in employment, so when his tone turns to annoyance it is immediately noticeable. A month into his tenure as Cardiff City manager, to say he has had mixed results would be underselling the contrasts between their dreadful away form and impres...