Former Championship leaders Brighton lost their unbeaten record, while problems mount for Nottingham Forest
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? A looping header from the Japan midfielder Yuki Abe cemented Leicester City's reputation as the most predictably unpredictable side in the Championship and ended the unbeaten run of the league leaders at the start of the day, Brighton & Hove Albion. It was a limp end to the Seagulls's best run of results since the days of Supermac, Which? Magazine and The Curse of Frankenstein, but the win marks a slow-but-sure turnaround in Leicester's home form. The much-needed victory also relieved pressure on the Foxes's manager, Sven-Goran Erikkson. At least until the big-spending club's next home game.
? Of course, the first Championship manager to be sacked post-deadline day last year was Leicester's Paolo Sousa, on the 1 October. This year, the signs are that the Championship's unhappily trigger-happy chairmen may not wait until the end of September. This makes Leeds' 2-1 victory over Bristol City a welcome boost for United's Simon Grayson, but perhaps pushes Keith Millen closer to the Ashton Gate exit. Reading eased the pressure on Brian McDermott by winning for the first time in five games, but their 2-0 victory over Sean O'Driscoll's admirable-but-apparently-doomed Doncaster may well be the final nail in the coffin of the Rovers' manager. Burnley's Eddie Howe will not be sleeping easier after his side lost 2-1 at Peterborough.
? "Due to the nature of this fixture we do not advise young children to attend," West Ham promisingly warned fans ahead of their match at Millwall. And quite right too, as the east London rivals defused any tension among the crowd by serving up a turgid goalless draw at the Den. Promotion favourites West Ham remain unbeaten in the league since the opening day, but the sad highlight of the day was the substitute David Bentley missing an open goal late in the second-half. He had all the makings of such a terrific player. What has happened?
? Fans of Nottingham Forest might also want to look away now. Despite playing against 10 men for more than 88 minutes, Steve McClaren's side lost 2-1 to their east Midlands rivals Derby County. Andy Reid put Forest one-nil up from the penalty spot on two minutes after County's England U-21 goalkeeper Frank Fielding had been sent off for a challenge on Ishmael Miller, but goals from Jamie Ward and Jeff Hendrick saw the Rams secure victory and avenge their 5-2 beating at City Ground last year. It was a wretched result for Forest, for whom all is seemingly not well. "When I signed here I was told we were going to have a go, we were going to bring in players and build a squad that could compete for a place in the Premier League," complained Reid this week. "We haven't done that. If the manager was considering his future, he would have had every right to. I could not blame him." Currently occupying a spot in the bottom three, and without a win at home all season, unless results improve McClaren may not get the chance to jump.
? Charlton Athletic remain in charge at the top of League One. The Valiants' away record is played four, won four after a corker at Spotland was decided by a brace from Danny Hollands and a strike from the excellent Rhoys Wiggins. Rochdale will feel aggrieved, Chesterfield are next up for The Valiants.
? A late penalty save by the MK Dons goalkeeper David Martin might have denied Huddersfield victory but the 1-1 draw at Stadium mk stretched their unbeaten record to 34 games (although, without sounding churlish, how can an authentically pure unbeaten streak include an unsuccessful play-off campaign?). Lee Clark's men are on track to surpass the 49-game unbeaten record set by Arsenal's Invincibles in 2003-04 by the end of the calendar year, but will they (at last) go up? Charlton, Sheffield United and a revitalised Preston North End look certain to be gnawing at the Terriers right to the finish.
? When the prolific Adam Le Fondre left Rotherham after scoring 54 goals in 96 games, it seemed a safe bet that the Yorkshire side might struggle for goals. But Lewis Grabban, a shrewd close-season signing from Millwall, has stepped admirably into the breach to add free-scoring grist to the Millers. Grabban netted a brace in the League Two promotion hopeful's 3-3 draw with Torquay taking his tally to six goals in eight games.
? League Two game of the day? A toss-up between in-form Shrewsbury's 3-2 win at Port Vale or Gillingham's 6-1 demolition of a hapless-looking Hereford side at Edgar Street.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/football-league-blog/2011/sep/17/football-league-your-thoughts
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