The catalogue of mismanagement at City over the past 15 years is so extensive and so warped that even as a fan it sometimes feels impossible to keep trackIn October 1991 I went with my dad and cousin to Edgar Street, the rickety home of Hereford United, to watch them play Aldershot in the old fourth division. The match itself was a forgettable experience but afterwards we at least got the autograph of Greg “he’s got no hair, but we don’t care” Downs. The former Coventry City full-back and FA Cup winner, who would go on to become the Bulls’ player-manager, had been signed for Hereford by John Sillett, the architect of that most unexpected of triumphs for the Sky...
Derby County concede at last, Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday leave it late, cash in-hand for Yeovil Town and more drama in south Wales • When Neil Warnock took charge of Cardiff City in early October, it was never going to be dull. Last week there was Sol Bamba’s bizarre behaviour and subsequent red card, and this week another entirely different escapade, as Barnsley snatched victory with a 95th-minute winner in south Wales. There were six other goals, Sean Morrison’s opener inside three minutes before Ryan Williams dug deep down the back of the sofa for a winner after Cardiff had pulled level at 3-3. “It was an exciting game for the neutral – on how not to defend,” Warnock said....
I went to the first meeting between the clubs four years ago, and found it a deeply upsetting experience. I told myself then that I would never return to Stadium MKI’m not going on Saturday. I follow AFC Wimbledon everywhere, but not on Saturday. Not when they’re playing them, the enemy, the club that shouldn’t be. MK Dons.I went to our first ever meeting – the FA Cup tie in December 2012. There were more than 3,000 of us and we were there to make a point – that here we were, AFC Wimbledon, a club born out of a horrible decision made 10 years earlier and who belonged to the fans and would never be victim of the whims...
Brighton close the gap at the top of the Championship, Bolton are the big winners in League One and Morecambe wreck everyone’s accumulators with a shock against Plymouth• There was a tale of two streaks in the Championship, one of which came to an end and one that continues unabated. Newcastle United welcomed Blackburn Rovers to St James’ Park in expectation of a ninth straight league win but Charlie Mulgrew’s goal provided the shock of the day for a Rovers side who began the day in the bottom three. Somewhat less surprising was Norwich City’s fifth straight defeat. Bradley Johnson, who played over 150 games for the Canaries, scored Derby County’s goal in their 1-0 win and piled the pressure...
A rousing display from Grant McCann’s side showed the value of youth but Sunday’s chastening defeat may soon be the least of Bolton’s concernsBolton Wanderers may have already eclipsed last season’s miserly tally of 30 points but on this weekend’s evidence they have plenty of work to do if they are to return to the Championship at the first time of asking.Phil Parkinson, the Bolton manager, had warned his players about basking in their promising start but they did just that in a 1-0 defeat at Peterborough United on Sunday, a game they went into after five league wins on the bounce. Among supporters, there is anything but hubris. “The fact we are still here is the main thing,” said...