The Football League Show – Saturday 9th January 2010

Presenters – Manish Bhasin and Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes
Pundits – Steve Claridge
Reporter – Mark Clemmit
All copyrights belong to the BBC and the Football League. This video has been uploaded purely for archive purposes.

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] evening despite the weather doing its best to wipe out the entire fixture list thankfully we’ve got some action to bring you from the football league and what we lacked in quantity is the quality that will impress you well with me to look at today’s five games is steve carriage and back to full fitness is lizzy who as always is looking after your emails and texts lizzy yeah were you one of the lucky ones who actually got to go to a football league match today and if so did anyone watching just wear their team shirt to the match this is your chance to show off your toughness to the nation don’t forget you can also get your questions in for steve whatever you’ve got to say get in touch you can text us on hw111 or send us an email to football league dot co dot uk okay here’s what’s coming up tonight derby had worked hard to get their game on against gun thought would nigel cluff’s men be rewarded with a vital win over their fellow strugglers as both look to move away from the drop zone but what does it mean to all those clubs who aren’t playing today to their groundsmen their directors and their players i’ve been finding out about the impact of the big freeze on a team like rotherham who haven’t kicked a ball since the 12th of december and with leeds game against wickham one of only two to survive in league one we ask the question how long can they keep hold of jermaine beckford first tonight two teams in real need of the points met at pride park derby hadn’t scored a goal in the last three games whilst gunthorpe had the league’s poorest defense commentary comes from tony gover derby ground staff have toiled for 36 hours to make sure pride park lives up to its name and is playable and inactivity elsewhere offers a window of opportunity for derby county and scunthorpe to improve their league positions both are dangerously close to the relegation places derby have robbie savage back in midfield after he missed the fa cup tie through suspension and nikki hunt makes his debut at right back after arriving on a month’s loan from bolton just two days ago skunkthorpe only two points above the bottom three make three changes they have striker gary hooper back after injury and about a flu he’s their top scorer with eight goals [Applause] made wide by hooper addison with the clearing header now moxie [Applause] we didn’t look and it’s a back pass which has put skunk in oh and by water has rescued them and saved the day [Applause] what a chance for scunthorpe after dean moxie had played a loose back pass and hooper back in the side today and top scorer was on it in a flash but he should surely have come the other side of bywater he went for the narrow angle and the goalkeeper was able to smother it no wonder he’s smiling nigel atkins who was of course the physio at skunthol before being made the manager in december of 2006 [Applause] and uh nigel club following in the footsteps of his famous father as a manager of derby county [Music] [Music] intercepted by moxie [Applause] flag stays down they’re in here and skunk take the lead and gary hooper makes amends for the one that he didn’t score earlier but derby would have to look at their defending there were hopeful glances across to the lines but on the far side but the flag wasn’t raised and having rescued them once by water couldn’t do it for a second time and the top scorer gary hooper puts away his second chance that was really good work [Applause] to flick it over the top of the defender all credit to martin wolford for his contribution [Applause] darby nell skunk one it could easily have been two well what’s short of moxie and there’s definite signs of hesitance and nervousness in that derby counter defense and now savage has given it away [Music] the referee delayed before he awarded that free kick just to see if there was an advantage but finally penalized o’connor here’s green savage gets there first this is nikki hunt [Music] just the two strikers to look for in the around the penalty spot here’s johnson hulse great opportunity for derby county to get back on level terms the left foot shot had no sting in it did it by lee johnson [Applause] lilly stopped it pushed it into the path of rob hulse who couldn’t put it into the net one win in the last seven games for nigel class derby county and trailing here at home to skunkthorpe well as a push spotted there referee was close to it anderson is penalized [Applause] was he the porsche did gary hooper trip three kickers given [Applause] headed up but not headed clear and by water had to get something on that it’s going to be a corner well the head of jake buxton knocks it up in the air and as it dropped down it was paul hayes who got to it first by water got himself in the way it’s just a corner [Applause] these are worrying times for derby county they’re not getting the ball clear and there’s another opportunity whipped in there by wolford which was straight up by water oh that’s been left to drop over the top thompson scored and it’s number two and the booze ring out around the pride park stadium at a really soft goal and that is gary thompson’s first goal of the season well the ball looked innocent enough until they left it and gary thompson has put it wide of steven by water he got a finger on it the goalkeeper but it went in off the inside of the post and as we move into the last moments of the first half here at pride park the visitors skunk lead by two goals to nil here’s commons lost possession savage here’s nicki hunt this is pearson commons does well to slip one still has it still has a great opportunity and it’s gone in and darby have got there one goal back and it’s the substitute chris commons the new danny became a father in midweek and the scottish international has given darby county a lifeline did well to slip away from two skunthorp defenders and beat a third and then there was a big deflection derby county had sold 28 000 tickets for this match and pleased to say that after their efforts to get it on over 28 000 of them have turned up albeit well wrapped up against the biting cold but warmed now by signs of a derby fight back now here’s nikki hunt can he deliver here oh he’s played it in and it’s there oh it’s off the line [Applause] commons tries to play it back in it was cleared off the goal line nikki hunt overlapping and it was on its way in until andrew right back healed it away [Applause] cooper on the hunt he’s got a lot to do on his own but supports now arriving and he’s pulled it back and he’s pulled it back too far but he’s measured and it’s a great third goal and it’s thompson again and it’s skunk leading now by three goals to one derby county committed to pushing players forward hit by the quick break and it was gary hooper’s strength in keeping possession which set up the chance for gary thompson to place that deliciously past stephen by water it’s derby one it’s skunthorpe three and surely that’s the three points for the visitors and only their second away league win of the season [Applause] here’s right to togwan this is hayes that was almost a hat-trick and it’s a fourth goal and he’s fourteen the substitute who’s got the fourth first gunpowder after gary thompson’s shot was blocked and it’s a real drubbing for derby county stunthorn 21st in the championship just above the bottom three places with a big win at pride park [Applause] on this frozen saturday gary thompson’s shot was blocked the rebound fell to the feet of jonathan forte sheffield-born boy and he’s put it past steven by water it’s derby county one it’s skunk up four and maybe derby county now regret their hard work in making sure this fixture went ahead we’re giving goals away you know we’re going uh even game in the first half we give two goals away they don’t and we find ourselves chasing the game and we come out and have a go for 25 30 minutes and that’s all you saw the reaction of the crowd that’s all they want to say and they want to see the honesty in the endeavor which we showed for not too much of the game not enough of the game and we cause some problems and then of course we’re going to get the third goal of end games it’s nice to come to a big stadium like this a big crowd and we’re trying to get the players to be the best they can be trying to be positive about everything they do and they’ve done that today it’s a good result for us yeah that’s gunthorpe’s first away win in 10 games they still looked a bit wobbly at the back but that was a thoroughly deserved win for them wasn’t it yeah i mean they they they dominated that game it could have been three up within 25 minutes um almost had the freedom of the park to play didn’t they when you let them knock the ball around they are a side who can can hurt you and you know undoubtedly they played very well today i mentioned going into that game that it was gunny’s defense that’s let them down this season it’s the worst in the league it’s that bad but it was derby’s back line yeah that looked more vulnerable than anything yes i mean let’s be awesome they were their own worst enemies at times weren’t they i think what you’ve got to say is you defend from the front you defend as a team so you don’t just look at your back four you look at it all over in the space that they recorded that’s great i mean that was brilliant playing the way they got the ball off just in time to keep cooper on the side was fantastic but you know miles addison here i mean chalk and cheese his performance at newcastle last time we managed to see him yeah was absolutely fantastic what he’s doing there in no man’s land i don’t know but they got punished as well you know when that when the opportunities arose scotland didn’t take a second invitation and they were worthy winners today and that that was that’s a concern for derby because when the home form starts to go i think that’s three on the trot now they’ve lost yeah that is a worry now let’s just take a look at nigel clough’s record at pride park he’s been in charge now for exactly a year there’s been a lot of changes behind the scenes a lot of turnaround and personnel but has there been sufficient progress under nigel clough i mean not 14 wins from 45. well i mean i think there are extenuating circumstances and he will he will certainly expect better than he saw today um possibly not but when you’ve got rid of something like 20 25 players and you’ve only brought in six or seven then obviously in in a way the odds are stacked against you but there’s still enough players there’s still enough quality there’s still enough good players there um to do better than they are the thing is as well they are getting players back fit so that that excuse now is is not really standing up so they would have this is why we’re getting the booze and this is why people are running out right their patience is running a little bit short because probably aren’t any the excuses that were were valid aren’t there anymore yeah tough times for rams fans at the minute now with newcastle’s game called off that meant west brom could move to within three points of the leaders if they overcame nottingham forest last night but forrest went into the game top of the form table whilst albion had lost just once in the last ten a real feast of football awaited those who braved the subzero temperatures here’s martin fisher matches off up and down the country the fixture is decimated but this one has beaten the big freeze a second and third in the championship go head-to-head albion boasts the best attacking record in the division forest the best defensive record something has to give with abdullah maite away at the africa cup of nations with the ivory coast west brom give a debut to gabriel tanash in defence the romanian international joined the club on loan this week from altsair scott carson returns in goal after completing a three-match suspension billy davis is able to call on guy moussie for the first time since november he’s missed the last seven matches with an ankle injury rob earnshaw the former albion man is the player to drop out dexter blackstock is the lone striker keeper lee camp is looking for his seventh clean sheet in a row [Applause] lovely ball for jerome thomas far side all through the center more such dorins with the and drive should be full of confidence graham doran’s the scottish international three goals in his last two outings but well wide of target gunter was looking for morgan instead of it straight to cox this is thomas danger here for nottingham forest thomas good challenge coming in by wes morgan shorey steps inside brunt cohen cutting in from that right hand side looking for black stock olsen across for albion backstop settling for the corner a chance here for nottingham forest their first corner of the game wilson morgan up from the back lucy in there as well good delivery and it’s in nottingham forest take the lead and it’s dexter blackstock with it such a soft goal who was picking him up plenty back there for albion in off the post from dexter blackstock and nottingham forest take the lead here blackstock was on target in forest last championship win against coventry and he’s back on the scoresheet again this evening what’s a west from which i’ll be made of thomas thomas camp will tell us he had it covered now being going for the instant response [Applause] morgan for gunter trying to work something far side with cohen [Applause] keeps on going and keeps going black stock attacking the near first and it’s called back for mayevsky excellent work down that right hand side by chris gunter the welsh international loves to get forward and when it’s pulled back to majeski needed to keep that on target there’s the reaction of billy davis anderson two in red to his right black stock and majeski anderson wins the free kick silverlands challenge referee prover well placed to give that black stock is in there anderson too but he might just go straight for gold with this [Applause] yes he does punched away from carson morgan trying to get on the end of things here going for the bender morgan trying to get on the end of things strong punch away from carson swept forward by mckenna another good clearance again by albeit moosie protected it well cohen gets the better of matic gunter takes over gunter’s cross oh what a goal double their advantage many will argue it’s been worth the wait again albion [Applause] we’re guilty of awful defending so slovenly gunther attacking the penalty area lifting it far post for majeski and the best goalkeepers in the world don’t keep those out it’s hit with real venom and clips the bar on its way into the back of the net and forest now enjoying the kind of lead that their territorial dominance merits look at this move his lovely football it’s chris cohen it’s three now [Applause] chris cohen with his first goal in nearly a year the man that scored the own goal when these sides met at the city ground makes it 3-0 and it’s another brilliant finish cohen’s drive beyond carson kisses the post on its way in and nottingham forest score three for the first time away from home this season come on says billy davis anderson gunter anderson again they’re running at west brom mitchell being ragged at times nottingham forest blackstock is this possessive [Applause] has managed to get free from morgan that’s a lovely ball there’s a go back roman bend to the sub with it lee camp’s run of consecutive clean sheets he’s finally broken full marks here to doran’s it’s a fabulous through ball just begging to be buried and bedner does his first goal since september bednar got his angles right [Applause] through the legs of lee camp and for those albion fans that left early they’ll have heard the cheers and we’ll wonder what all the fuss is about anderson pushed over by jerome thomas from behind and he’s very very lucky to get away with that the assistant referee near side must have had a clear view of that now did paul anderson have a case it got himself inside the box jerome thomas classes into and from behind nowhere near the ball that is a penalty now bedner’s goal has offered west bromwich in a lifeline another goal would make life very interesting it’s doran’s good ball in and it’s a good chance this a fine save by camp olsen with a header didn’t quite get enough on it baby but camp still needed to make the save [Applause] colin works it right for westwood shelby brunt back for curry current shots always sailing wide [Applause] play continues and miller is getting the better of wilson here [Applause] shouts for handball again nothing given but miller feels that there was a strong shout for a penalty there as he crossed this ball and it seemed to strike the arm maybe of wilson i’m not sure how much the center half knew about it [Applause] going for goal what a good save from lee camp ishmael miller taking out his frustration on the football there and really hammering it towards goal it’s dippy and camp ensures that it doesn’t dip in under his back [Applause] this uh keeps the run going and to come to a place like west brom you know this time of season when you know the weather’s not too good to roll our sleeves up and come here with the attitude we did you know i think uh you know it shows a lot of character that we’ve got in the team i think uh nothing for us to serve to win uh we we didn’t perform tonight um unfortunately um too many power players um had a bad night and uh they’re reflected on the whole team yeah it’s amazing what difference a year makes for billy davis and nottingham forest 12 months ago a point above the relegation zone now they’re what second place and looking very good well looking extremely good aren’t they especially when you consider the start they had they are the former side um i think there there are no doubt they’re a threat to everybody in this league and are they genuine title content oh absolutely what whatever team he puts out it seems like it’s it’s completely seamless they they seem to fit like a glove everybody seems to know their job they’ve got a way of playing away from home which is obvious i think he’s throwing the shackles off a little bit as well because you know they were very much they’ve got a lot of draws but that that that performance there has gone on another level and um it was as i say it was an absolutely marvelous marvelous show from them i know you think they can finish the season top of the championship because individually and collectively they’re equally as impressive well they’ve got i mean they have seem to have so many options defensively that you know as we said that’s the first goal they’ve conceded for a while going forward we know they’ve got five or six strikers all at this level who can who can hurt you and you know they’ve got boys from midfield who can who can score goals they’ve got anderson machovsky here what a volley this is this is a fantastic strike i mean you’ve got to say when they got the opportunity they were absolutely clinical and three really really good finishes that was probably the best of them individually this is a fantastic collective goal marvelous we’ve seen this time and time again lots and lots of movement always options on the ball and they work the space as you say really really really clinical she hasn’t got a lot to aim at there probably got a foot at the most and uh you know he takes that with a plum and they they look they looked at times they look very very good what’s happened to west brom i mean they’ve seriously gone off the boil haven’t they well i mean they had moments in that game periods in that game where where they had opportunities didn’t take them um you just get the feeling that there’s still a team that that possibly need to play well to win games of football and uh you know as as roberto de matteo said they probably didn’t play as well as they could and unfortunately that was the wrong team not to play well again another great home record are they against the top sides no i mean i think they’ve only uh out they’ve played six out of 11 and not one one of them no so that doesn’t all go well no well with the date at the high court pending over an unpaid debt it’s been a worrying week for cardiff city fans on the pitch so the bluebirds boast the top two scorers in the championship but while goals hadn’t been an issue winning games at home had been well today they welcomed a blackpool side who could move into a playoff spot with a win [Applause] it’s been a testing couple of weeks for cardiff defeat here to plymouth losing a four goal lead at peterborough the second winding up order of the season hanging over the blue birds but they at least survived the big freeze and made the perfect start mark hudson and the end of peter whittington’s cross the normally reliable paul rohrke though should maybe have done better illness to jade bothwood meant a first ever cardiff league start for josh mcginnis it all began so well for the teenage striker though injury kept his appearance to just 34 minutes the bluebirds had bossed the first half but had just the one goal to show for it blackpool’s in holloway said he was fuming at halftime and his fiery words paid dividends 28 seconds after the restart brett omrod fed charlie adam the midfielder scored his eighth league goal of the season to tie the scores adam matthews is a rising star for cardiff and should be on transfer window wanted lists he went close to restoring cardiff’s lead blackpool were more than matching their hosts as the game swung from end to end cardiff keeper david marshall denied ben burgess and paul rehobka 2 was at full stretch to keep at peter whittingham’s free kick all square between two playoff chasers blackpool with seven points in the last nine available away from home cardiff now three winless in the league you know last week we didn’t dig deep today they really did and they’ve come away with a hard end point and that point might do as the world are good but you know sometimes i don’t know what people want in the end you know football sort of finds its level um we got a point cardiff got a point but you know it’s definitely a game with two halves ours first one was all four second one was very good good footballing cliche for molly a good point for blackpool as well it’s funny ian always says he’s after players who can play his continental style uh it sounds quite ambitious lofty ambitions from him but it’s how it’s working and we saw that with the charlie adams goal oh they’ve been yet again i mean what can you say about them the plaudits they get are deserved i mean it’s fantastic play lovely interchange then as you say it’s a super finish that was 35 seconds into the second half that’s i mean they they look like a side to me uh cardiff you know had a fantastic first off probably didn’t get their just desserts by only leading by one goal but that clearly at this stage isn’t it enough for them and they look like they need a lift they look to me as if they need to just freshen things up a little bit dave dave jones you know they looked a little bit flat today i tell you what didn’t help is the fact that dave jones also admitted three or four of his players were throwing up in the dressing room before the game there’s a virus sweeping through the camp that obviously didn’t help yeah should have um turn that undersaw heating off i think possibly like that i mean it’s not ideal it’s the one time when you know you don’t want it to work but yeah no was an idea on it it did it was typified possibly in their second half performance there’s doubts of whether they can sign players in january because of what’s going on behind the scenes in this debt and the tax bill could this derail their playoff hopes if this does come to fruition and they can’t sign players well i mean it’s all tightened up a little bit because they’ve got they had themselves in a couple of positions this year where they could have gone top i mean they’ve fallen away slightly and things are tightening up behind them but i think i i think they do need to freshen things up i think they need just just to bring a little bit of reinforcements in just so everybody takes a little bit of a lift from it because as i said not just because the flu but they just looked a little bit flat and recently luck has certainly deserted them i mean cardiff josh mcginn is carried off a 19 year old has broken his leg it’s emerged this evening we certainly wish him the best of luck in his recovery now no doubt what the story’s been this week and for once the british obsession with weather was a fair one but what does all that mean to the players the managers and staff of clubs who are affected by it all mark clement donned his snowshoes to find out health and safety issues with the surrounding roads and paths is the official version given for the postponement of rotherham’s fifth consecutive game and third in succession here at the don valley stadium though truth be told it could just as easily have been their pitch [Music] can we have a little look jim can we have a little scrape down here at what we’ve got so we have got five six inches there yeah and then what kind of a state is this gonna be in oh that’s absolutely gross and solid frozen solid yeah yeah yeah so what what happens from here on i mean once this snow is gone the frost starts to come out are we talking about residual damage potentially are you going to have a lot of work to do once all these yeah i’m like to believe at the moment the snow is doing us a favor because it’s it’s acting as a blanket you know i mean with frost covers yeah you can put frost covers on your pitch but after three or four days the frost covers have got to come off anyway because you know you then you do get damaged but at the moment you know mother nature’s looking after our football pitch [Music] this level of football of course the revenue you take from tv rights etc is minimal so the vast proportion of your the highest proportion of your revenue comes through what you take on match day and we’ve now lost three games and that’s been very difficult as for rotherham’s players they haven’t kicked a ball in anger since december the 12th since in fact gary roberts scored that goal from the halfway line in the 4-2 win against bradford [Music] and of course their added frustration this week is that they haven’t even been able to get out and train i mean you just must be like sort of gagging let off some stuff yeah it’s like pre-season again in certain way because obviously you get two months off in the in the closed season but we’ve had i had a month and a half half off now so it’s virtually a time to get fit again concentrate your fitness and then when we finally get let go into a game everyone will be buzzing and ready to go you can’t allow this obviously to derail your promotion push no we’re third in the league at the moment and uh you know it’s these lads have been absolutely top notch first class and um you know we’ve got a lot of games to catch up on now obviously and hopefully that we can stay in that position there’s a bit of snow still looks like you as though you were a boy you know do you want a quick snowball well i’ll tell you what there’s been a couple of them i saw them go into the boot of the car and get a sledge out and they’ve been up on that hill there over there yeah they haven’t been down there this morning about two or three of them [Music] and even the manager ronnie moore has not made it on a couple of days i think so yeah but i think that’s more to oh more to do with the fact he’s moving home a minute as well you’ll have to ask him that but that’s the excuse he’s given us so far anyway yeah can i ask you another question you can will you hold that microphone in place i will mark good my hands are too cold that’s better now was it me or has clem stumble across his uh long-lost twin brother steve what do you reckon i mean similarities are uncanny aren’t they by the way our clem’s a guy on the right he’s he’s a lot thinner and better looking winter breaks 29 games off this weekend yeah it’s brought up this debate should there be a winter break in in the football league would you be a fan of it well the problem is you can’t ever ever say well the cold snap’s going to come at this this precise moment so you had you know we’ve just had a two well i have one in this elise spain germany yeah i mean but you you but what i’m saying is say you had a two week break and then we get this cold snap so in effect you’re probably going to take a month out there aren’t too many clubs who can survive that rather than unfortunately they’ve got new owners people who can you know can go through this period but there aren’t too many clubs you could have a month out at that level and be okay so i if you could guarantee the weather you’re getting the two weeks exactly which you can’t if you could guarantee it then yes i mean there’s nothing wrong with it but you can’t guarantee that all right okay well with one defeat in the last four games coventry had started to find a little bit of form lately but barnsley are on an even better run unbeaten in the last eight games before they game with the tykes did you know sky blue’s history has its origin in bikes [Applause] it was in 1883 that willie stanley an employee of singer’s bicycle company from singers fc who 15 years later changed their name to coventry city i can’t get any of these they joined the football league in 1919 but despite clary borton’s 173 goals in 228 games in the 1930s made little impact on the football world until former fulham player and pfa chairman jimmy hill was appointed as manager in 1961. in his six years at the club he reintroduced the sky blue kit and drove club anthem to the tune of the eaton boating song he also secured two promotions including to the old first division in 1967 but on the eve of coventry’s top flight debut hill stunned the club by announcing that he was moving into television and a job with the bbc good evening and welcome to match of the day and with swansea losing it home to everton and spurs drawing at coventry it seems most likely this season’s league champions are covered in tonight’s programme in the 1970s coventry were involved in their own european campaign despite beating bayern munich in the home leg they eventually lost 7-3 on aggregate in the second round of the fair’s cup they were also involved in one of the most memorable free kicks of all time [Applause] but arguably their most famous contribution to the 1970s was their chocolate brown away kit in the space of two years coventry are involved in two of the biggest shocks in fa cup history in 1987 they beat tottenham 3-2 in the final [Applause] but two years later lost to non-league sutton united in 2001 after years fighting to avoid the drop coventry were finally relegated from the premier league ending their 34-year stay in the top flight and in 2005 after 106 years at highfield road they relocated to the ricoh arena england’s first cashless stadium fresh snow overnight caught country’s ground staff by surprise but the match against barnsley went ahead after some last minute heroics it’s been an absolutely mammoth effort this morning and all week by the facilities team maintenance team volunteers stewards and it’s just you know it’s a real achievement for the rico arena and country city all pulled together to get this game on today it’s 87 years since the tikes last one in coventry but they’re in good form and began as if they meant business stephen foster’s header wasn’t far off covendre’s freddie eastwood began the season on the first team fringe he manages four goals in all of last season but he’s on fire right now and his fifth goal in his last five league games put the sky blues in front that goal came midway through the first half the second came just three minutes later sammy klingen’s volley day safe with shades of a certain palo de caneo goal for west ham against wimbledon fifteen thousand fans braved the freezing conditions to watch this one including 600 hardy souls from south yorkshire and those away fans were given something to cheer early in the second half adam hamill supplied john macan for his first goal since october balance will run a run of eight without defeating the league it looks as though they might savage this game to extend the run hamill going close but clinton morrison came on as a late sub for coventry and at the second time of asking made short of the points for his team with a goal in the second minute of stoppage time a third successive home win to chris coleman’s side you know they did all right balancing to be fair and on another day that we got something out of it but uh credited with our lads we dug it out you know we stuck at it dug it out and if you’re winning and you’re not playing well then that’s a good signing now we certainly didn’t play very well today but uh we had enough to get the three points yeah in fact he thought that was the worst they’ve played in six weeks and to beat barnsley who’ve been unbeaten in what eight games i mean it’s really turned around now forgot it’s a good sign i mean coverage i think that the last five or six games i think if i remember right it’s only for us that have beaten them and that was at forest so yeah he’s certainly turned their form around chris and uh i think it helps because i think they’re finally getting players fit i think he’s actually got options now in his squad you’ve got freddie eastwood who’s scoring him goals and it helps that you’ve got someone like ray ransom who’s an ex player who would no doubt have taken into consideration hold on a minute we’ve got a few players out here let’s just wait and see how we get on when we get those players back and they’re now bearing you know they’re getting their rewards for being for being makes a difference having a like an ex footballer as a chairman of course that’s what i’m saying carl baker this week as well he feels wanted exactly sammy klingen who’s you know he’s been away for two months by the way i mean he’s returned his returns coincided with their upturn in fortunes what a goal that is that’s brilliant that that is the kenny oscar wasn’t it that was that was a fantastic finish and now they’re in good form coventry uh as i say they they um they’ve had a hard time with this season but they’ve actually now started to put a run together and i don’t think anybody will there won’t be top of anyone’s wish list to be playing at this precise moment anything with car baker warming up in midfield as well who can score goals as he has them for stockport freddie eastwood they’ve got up front along with uh leon best clinton morrison once they all start cleaning it’s important that they had a goal threat and as i said with freddie eastwood finally at last he seems to have found his feet and uh yeah they’re burying the fruits five goals in six games looking good for freddie eastwood no that country fans will have been getting in touch so let’s hear what championship fans are saying on the emails and texts lizzy yeah thanks manisha i’m going to start with the fans who are tough enough to kind of wear very skimpy clothing today adam who’s a forest fan says i was stupid enough to throw my shirt on the pitch so i had to travel back to nottingham topless ross luke lewis and joel went topless after forrest scored there ago so presumably they were pretty cold as well and charlie from gloucester gloucestershire drove all the way to pride park in ice and snow to watch scunthorpe only wearing shorts shirts and wellies that is a hardcore skunthot fan now lots of fans complaining about booing at matches today particularly at cardiff and derby jay says i wish people would just get off cardiff’s back we didn’t lose and we’re still fourth keep the faith eli says how can cardiff fans boo the team look what dave jones has done david says derby attendances may be the second highest in the league but 80 percent of the fans are negative and another davis says i don’t understand why people pay money to see their team if it makes them miserable but lots of worried derby fans as well and lots of very proud scum thought fans as you might imagine becky says first half scunny were magic stowy says keep it up iron you’re doing the fans proud ben says scunthorpe who played out of their skins today uh now we’ve got a few thanks to ground stuff for getting their matches on d jacks who’s a coventry fan says i’d just like to say well done to all the players and staff who cleared the snow around the ground today adam says a late push for the playoffs stranger things have happened um lots of as you’d imagine very happy forest fans jack says i just want to give a big thank to the west brom ground staff and james says i’ve put a bet on forrest to win the champions league within five years finally quick questions for steve steve have you ever been booed says david by your own supporters so how did you deal with it yes i did the first game i um played for birmingham i i got booed i was actually coming home in the car with some of the other players and there was a a pole to see who was the worst player and um it got to the top three and i was slinking further and further down and said the worst player i’ve ever seen is undoubtedly and he made his debut today he said i’ve been watching them for 50 years so that was a tough start or something like that though oh you look look i mean it’s it’s got to be thick yes you have you i mean if when you’ve been in the game for a while then you do you do get to uh you get to a stage where you can deal with the ups and downs you’re thicker skin than most that’s true to say now manchester united one week wickham wanderers the next such as the life of leeds united these days but with news that fa cup hero jermaine beckford has asked for a transfer what does it all mean for the ellen road faithful well clem has been to find out [Music] last weekend’s win was leads first at old trafford since 1981. [Applause] [Music] tell me about last week’s win over manuel i i went on sailing for about three hours after it well fantastic what about how did you celebrate i mean oh celebrate i was drunk obviously in front of me television and i really really enjoyed it the best game was played all season brilliant unexpected no no we’re looking forward to it because we’ve been doing well we knew they were struggling but 48 hours later came the news that before the manchester united game jermaine beckford had handed in a transfer request he’s a good player i am a bit sick about the footsteps if he if he doesn’t want to play the leads i’d tell him you know what i mean just tell him he just scored the winning goal against united and he’s just put a transfer request in so i think it’s quite naughty they’re only going to get two two and a half million iraq and it’s worth about 10 million to get to the championship and then let him go if he wants to go no boost from you for him nice he’s doing his bit for me so while he still leads play not gonna do it [Applause] how far can he go um i think he’s a bit off the the premiership yet clem i’m not sure he’s ready for that i think he could make the the step up to the championship um but it’s uh it’s still working progress for him because he’s he’s come from non-league he’s done very very well at leeds and uh who’s to say he won’t still be here at the end of the season is it still alive yeah of course it is did you prepare for that then yeah i got it for christmas did you yeah can i borrow your beard for the dead place to wear on my head unfortunately i might be putting out there myself in a minute well they’ve done a magnificent job getting it on that’s the first thing gary that’s a fantastic job you know uh the groundsman and all the the volunteers have done a great job so looking forward to the game now now what kind of black cat did you run over norwich first game of 2010 leads today charlton next week yeah but they’re the games you want to be involved in you know um that’s why you know the players and everybody at the club worked so hard last year to gain promotion um to be involved in these types of games so no we’re looking forward to it gary wallace enthusiasm would have taken a knock just four minutes into the match young midfielder johnny houston struck a skidding shot from distance proving to be too hot to handle for wick and goalkeeper scott shearer halsen’s third goal of the season his first since november john paul pittman showed that struggle’s wicked were not just to ellen rowe to make up the numbers as he struck the woodwork [Applause] jermaine beckford did of course have his chance to shine but he spurred his opportunity under pressure from craig woodman while wickham hit the woodwork for the second time in the match as scott davis’s deflected corner rebounded off the inside of the post there was a slight similarity to beckford’s golden old trafford about the wickham equalizer a long punk found pittman who shot ghosted across casper anchorgren for his eighth goal of the campaign beckford almost stole the limelight again in the final minute he showed why there’s such interest in him by getting himself in a good position but his shot didn’t have enough on it to beat shearer so not quite the result simon grayson would have been hoping for after last week’s memorable fa cup win i suppose it was inevitable you beat manu last week that you get tested yourselves this yeah well that’s football isn’t it one week you’re really buzzing around that you’ve beaten one of the best teams in europe if not the world today everybody expected just to turn up and win the game but football doesn’t happen like that wickham were very good today and we were below power and i suppose over the course of the game we’re quite thankful to get at least a point out of it and if reports are to be believed you’re about to go to burnley on five times as much money so can you lend us a fiver you’ve got more money than me anywhere clem well on what’s happening anything no i’m playing united manager you can’t stop speculation these things happen in football but i’ve got a job to do and i’m fully committed to it jermaine beckford is a lady united player until somebody meets the valuation of him then we will then we will continue to pick him and do the best for the football club this intrepid duo were among those from devon who made the 630 mile round trip to east anglia let’s hope they didn’t walk it the players took 12 hours on friday on their coach and having got there they seemed to freeze early as the red hot grat halt headed in his 21st goal of the season after only nine minutes it took norwich until the 77th minute to double their advantage simon lapin provided the cross halt did well and the finish was simple for chris marty to tap in his 13th goal of the season with a name like chris martin he clearly likes to play in the cold exeter’s response was almost immediate liam circums shot was fumbled by fraser forster and the evergreen marcus stewart now 37 reacted the quickest [Applause] but any chance of a dramatic late combat was ended moments later wes houlihan slid the ball through to halt and he did the rest to take his tally to 22. and with the points in the back audi johnson a former nostalgia’s welfare striker who signed from stockport on friday was given his debut how about this for a piece of skill as he took on a number of the accident defenders before shooting just wide with new boys like him on the scene things are looking good for paul lambert and his team it’s hard to win football matches and uh we can’t play brilliant every single week but the way we’re performing at the moment and the level of consistency is really really high and we we’ve got a momentum going that um hopefully we’ll continue we’re certainly up against against a very very good team and all i can ask the team is you know is to go and uh and play with with your spirit and play their game and play to the maximum i think they did you know and win lose or draw walk off the pitch happy that you’ve given everything and i think that they think that our supporters think that so this is not an easy task for us coming to the likes of norwich city so i’m pleased not entirely convinced by paul tisdale’s hat to be honest with you but uh a great result for norwich 10 wins now from 12. what they’ve won the last night at carroll road paul lambert’s he’s hit the ground running there isn’t he he has and it’s the sort of club that you you know you’d like to go and play for you you’d want to sign for because you know they’re creating chances they’re playing well you know full of confidence and uh they’re on a really good run it’s a lovely combination they’ve got it seemed like it was a case of after the lord mayor’s show ellen road leads against wickham yeah obviously what happened against manchester united took all you know the headlines but wickham they they got on on an even keel and it was a good goal by john paul pittman it was an excellent goal and and let’s be honest this is about this for a ball i mean this is a fantastic ball from scott davis it’s uh it’s a nice take as well what you’ve got to say is i mean it’s there’s absolutely nothing wrong with their performance they’ve shown a lot of character a lot of guts they went a goal down after three minutes and could have easily folded but they didn’t they in fact came back from that okay at least possibly weren’t at their best but you do know more than play well and wiccan certainly did that it was always going to be interesting to see how the leeds fans responded to the transfer request handed in by jermaine beckford say you were simon grayson what would you do then regarding the striker well he’s wanting to go for a while hasn’t he he’s staying as far as i’m concerned even if he wants to go it doesn’t matter to me the club doesn’t doesn’t need money i mean four and a half million profit they’ve got the money from fabian death they’ve had two or three great cup cup fixtures they don’t need the money they might as well keep him their maximum they’re going to get probably is two million pounds that’s not gonna it’s not gonna make a huge difference to their budget keep him it’ll get you the goals they’ll get up then you can decide what to do you get the impression ken bates might have his say as well i wouldn’t upset ken yeah she knows away on holiday till the 20th yeah i wouldn’t upset him oh it’s okay he’ll text or email from monaco or somewhere talking of emails and texts let’s hear now from lizzie from ligue 1 fans lizzy no text from him yet manish but we have had lots about beckford as you would said sam says whatever happens he’s been amazing for us so i have a lot of respect for him unlike some fans smithy’s though says let him go now jay says let beckford go if he wants to get as much as possible and get someone else in and kieran says he’s good he’s been a good player for leeds but his first touch isn’t great and we could do without him well they go now wiccan fans delighted as you can imagine with the with the result against uh lee’s dale says credit to manager gary ward stephen says we might be going down but at least we’re starting to show some fight and lana says does this make us better than man united keep the faith wickham um now norwich and exeter good luck i’ve got to say good luck to the extra fans stuck on the a3 elliot says my dad drove the east devon grecians up to norwich today in the coach and now he’s stuck on the a3 because of the weather so i hope they get home okay a lot of nervousness fans though of course worried about paul lamb but john says 25 000 of us at cairo road today chanting paul lambert’s name here to stay please god daniel says norwich is uh he’s the norwich is yellow man what a great result for norah city today especially two goals from the flying brick grant holt now uh judge who’s a rochdale fan says apparently she wants me to say can the rochdale fans turn up tomorrow at scotland to clear the snow from the pitch not quite sure why you got to do it tomorrow but there you go if you’re a rochdale fan turn up and i’ve got to finish with this one from rachel who says uh bristol rovers beats stockport three sorry bristol rovers beat the stockport three nil it’s a snowman i’ve said this all wrong basically what she’s saying is there’s a snowman competition and bristol rovers beat stockport three nil sorry about that finally frank says i’m really kicking myself tonight after driving 250 miles to hartlepool game at charlton only to discover that the game had been called off embarrassingly two days previously the four of us are now stuck in london thanks for all those emails and i’m sorry if i didn’t read yours out okay lizzy thanks very much right to the league tables then and while there were no games in league two just a quick reminder of how the sides begin the new year uh rochdale top five points ahead of bournemouth who themselves has seven points clear of rotherham it’s tight though for the chasing pack just four points separate shrewsbury and morkemur down there in tenth place at the bottom it’s a huge task now for darlington to avoid slipping out of the league altogether 14 points a drift of safety and not helped having not played for almost a month now grimsby they’re a little closer but they’ve played two games more than their nearest rivals in lincoln well it’s as you were at the top of league one but leeds dropping points to wickham mean that norwich are just six points behind that point for gary roddick’s side keeps them in 23rd but now five points from safety to the championship forrest’s terrific run sees them up to second cardiff stay fourth after their draw with blackpool with the tangerines two points off the playoffs that good win for sconethorpe means they’re five points clear of the bottom three level on points now with derby that goodwin over barnsley sees coventry go up three places to 14th well the usual reminder you can watch the program back again via the red button right now but only for the next five hours on freeview it’s also on the iplayer all week not forgetting all the golds will be available on the bbc football website we’re back on thursday for carly cup highlights at 11 20 on bbc two that’s with the best of black burn v aston villa and we’re back with hopefully a few more games from the football league next saturday my thanks as always to steve and to lizzie we’ll see on thursday night from all of us good night [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you