Argyle steal hearts, League One steeled for relegation battle + Huw Davies on the haves and have-lots
10 February 2025 | Weekend Notes brings you the biggest stories, stats and insights from the EFL weekend.
● BIG STORIES ● CHEAT SHEET ● 5IVELIGHTS ● THE VIEW FROM ● FORM BOOK ● FANTASY FOOTBALL ●
Anti-leak technology…
This week, I bought a plastic bottle of blue washing-up liquid that proudly wore the epigraph: Anti-Leak Technology. On closer investigation, the innovation turned out to be a sphincter-like opening that prevented even the most extraneous dribble. Capitalism, like 10-year-olds, has an answer to every obscure suffering. Big Detergent has reached its apogee.
In this instance, the drumbeat of progress strikes me cold. Sometimes life is better enjoyed through its perfect imperfections. I’m sure some managers would kill for anti-leak technology, but thankfully no such thing exists in the EFL, not even in the FA Cup, where leak and dribble collided, overspilling with joy and terror that could never be capped off with a fake plastic butt hole. No arsing around today – just a paean to the weekend, with 9pts up for grabs in a Big Stories obscure music references quiz (so some arsing around then…).
Welcome to Weekend Notes.
🚨 Big Stories
A selection of decisive moments from across the EFL.
Song For A Lively League One Relegation Battle:
🎼 Verse 1 — Mansfield 0-1 Northampton — Nolan’s In the Mood
On 6th January, Mansfield were four points off the play-offs while Northampton sat six clear of relegation and 11 behind the Stags. A staggering slide for Nigel Clough’s side has followed, losing five league games in a row for the second time this season, including three straight home defeats for the first time since December 2019. Northampton, meanwhile, had won just once in 13 away matches going into this. Yet Kevin Nolan’s team took their chance to claim a huge win through Cameron McGeehan, while Jordan Rhodes missed a hatful to earn the hosts a draw or better.
🎼 Verse 2 — Rotherham 1-2 Shrewsbury — The Ains of Being Pure at Heart
A victory here would’ve been Rotherham’s fourth straight win at home for the first time in three years, but it was Shrewsbury breaking hearts instead. Gareth Ainsworth’s side have now won back-to-back league games for the first time since early 2023. It was a 90 of few chances — just 12 shots total in the game — but at 1-1, you simply don’t get a better opportunity to take the lead than John Marquis’ 0.99 xGOT tap-in. It was enough to bring Shrews to within four points of safety.
🎼 Verse 3 — Bolton 4-3 Crawley — Diamonds on the Sole of Their Schu
A first home game and a first home win for Steven Schumacher. It took 50 minutes for the game to get going, but then it exploded: no goals in the first half, followed by seven in the second. Bolton’s comeback from a two-goal deficit was impressive. Josh Sheehan took the game by the scruff of the neck with one smart free-kick assist and one tidy equalising goal, and the winner on 99’ came after a Crawley red card. They’ll be feeling sorry for themselves, but leading 3-1 at the UniBol with Rushian Hepburn-Murphy causing chaos in the backline should worry teams just above the dotted line.
🎼 Chorus: League One’s relegation scrap shows no direction home. Before Friday, the bottom five teetered precariously – but it wasn’t only wins on the road for Cobblers and Shrews that upset the odds, because Cambridge snatched a point at Lincoln while Burton were seconds from beating Blackpool, having to settle for a draw instead. Even Crawley impressed in defeat. Now all eyes turn to Peterborough, feeling the heat ahead of their midweek trip to top-six Charlton.
👊 The Nathan Jonestown Mass Sucker punch — Charlton 2-0 Stevenage — Ah yes, Charlton. Walking tall in the play-offs, the Addicks have picked up a lovely habit, losing just once in 12 following this latest victory over Stevenage – no slouches themselves, having come into this with three wins on the spin. Two solid defences but only winner, as Charlton reduced Stevenage to just three shots all game. Matty Godden bagged a goal just before half-time and Luke Berry just after it, to put the game to bed. It was, as the hackneyed headline suggests, a Mass Sucker Punch to Stevenage’s outside shot at the play-offs. Charlton though, are going well, very well.
🐦⬛ Magpieces countying crows — Notts County 2-0 Morecambe — Stuart Maynard’s side ain’t Hanginaround. Morecambe managed to fend them off in the first half but quality told in the second, as two strikes in nine minutes settled things. That’s five wins from six and up to 2nd, with plenty to crow about – not least because Donny lost 5-2 to Chesterfield on Thursday night. Tracking Grant McCann’s side has been a rollercoaster. The tightness at the top of League Two is making every result massive (Crewe would’ve been 4th and one point off the automatics if they’d beaten Newport at home, as expected) and you can be sure the teams will continue to trade places:
🔵 Pomp Pulped or Pulping? — Sheffield United 2-1 Portsmouth — Portsmouth’s winless away run (D2 L9) continues, but their defeat at Sheffield United was anything but routine. John Mousinho’s side dominated the first half, should have scored three, yet went into the break level at 1-1. The Blades, packed with January signings, were the room-temp butter to Josh Murphy’s hot knife, but missed chances proved costly as Pompey – despite forcing United’s highest xG conceded all season (2.6) – were undone by a neat combo from subs Rhian Brewster and Jes Rak-Sakyi. It’s huge for the Blades, who capitalised on Sunderland’s slip; as for Pompey, if they keep up that level, they’ll surely prove themselves better than what lies beneath.
🦢 Swans’ Song? Roll With It — Bristol City 0-1 Swansea — After a horrible January replete with terrible form and losing their talisman, Swansea rolled with the punches to secure a huge win over Bristol City. Kyle Naughton, starting at centre-back, was largely untroubled as Bristol City responded to going a goal down by bringing on Sinclair Armstrong and hitting him long. It worked for Liam Manning last week when his side were down to 10 men; it did not work here, and smacked a bit of desperation. While Swansea take a massive step toward stability, Bristol City’s play-off hopes suffer a real but not terminal setback.
🟢 Like endless rain GREEN into a paper cup — Across the 4th Round universe, EFL clubs acquitted themselves pretty darn well. Millwall beat a much-changed Leeds early on Saturday, just as Leyton Orient were giving a rotated Manchester City side a real scare. The first shock came for Burnley, who beat top-flight Saints away, although it’s not the biggest upset: technically just three places separate the two clubs. The big shock, the real shock, came at Home Park.
❌ Leyton Orient 1-2 Man City — 🟩 Leeds 0-2 Millwall
❌ Coventry 1-4 Ipswich — 🟩 Preston 0-0 Wycombe [Preston win on pens]
❌ Wigan 1-2 Fulham — 🟩 Southampton 0-1 Burnley
❌ Birmingham 2-3 Newcastle — 🟩 Stoke 3-3 Cardiff [Cardiff win on pens]
❌ Blackburn 0-2 Wolves — 🟩 Argyle 1-0 Liverpool
A festival of FA Cup magic; call it Lolliverpoolooza. The team soaring highest in the pyramid were denied by the Championship’s bottom side, Plymouth Argyle. Ali said on the pod last week that Argyle have “main character energy” – well, they also have new energy, as January signings Maksym Talovierov and Nikola Katic provided steel to the backline. They left it all on the line, too, including a tooth. Not only that, but they deserved the win: of course Liverpool dominated the ball, but Argyle were efficient in possession and deservedly led from the spot. Conor Hazard made important stops late on, but it was a true team effort. With 99 minutes on the clock, the referee’s whistle sounded to signal the spectacle all EFL fans want to see: a wonderful and joyous cup upset.
📊 Monday Morning Cheat Sheet
From the WhatsApp group to the watercooler: stats to keep you ahead of the game.
🆕 Lease of Newport life — Following five consecutive defeats after Christmas, taking them to within 5 points of the drop, Newport County have since gone DWWW and are now almost effectively safe following a 3-0 win away to Crewe.
⁉️ When do we worry about Walsall? – The Saddlers have now lost their last three away matches and have as bad a record as any League Two side over the past four games. They remain 9 clear of 4th place, but their status as leader is ready to be challenged by the chasing pack.
⤵️ A mere 33 — Tranmere have lost their last nine away matches in the league under Nigel Adkins, their longest run since September 1978, conceding 33 goals on the road in that time – the worst in League Two.
🎭 Brad Pitt their wits — Bradford have won their 7th successive home league game, driving them up the table and into 4th place, ending a longstanding home hoodoo and putting them within a sniff of the automatic places.
🥣 Take Stock, pay attention — Following their 2-1 win over Barnsley, Stockport County have now won five consecutive league games for the first time this season, putting distance between themselves and 7th-placed Bolton (6pts) and making inroads towards the top two.
⚽ ‘Tis but a worth — Swindon’s Daniel Butterworth scored and assisted in the same match for the very first time in the EFL, a lovely staging post in a landmark season of 7 direct goal involvements, helping to put the WIN — P6 W4 D2 — in Swindon.
🌃 Saturday Night Sunlan Morning — It’s becoming a familiar tale, Sunderland clawing back a result after going behind – this time, going behind twice, to Watford. Yes, the Black Cats are unbeaten at home this season, but is it a good sign or a bad sign that they have won the most points from losing positions in the Championship?
🛁 Early Bath Alert — There have been a few of these lately, and Lincoln City’s Joe Gardner is the latest player to receive a red card in record time. He spent four substitute minutes on the pitch before receiving marching orders for a nasty tackle – the fastest dismissal this season in League One.
🛑 Change-Resistant Robins — Over the course of the season, in games kicking off at 3pm, Bristol City have a 32-point tally from a record of P17 W10 D2 L5. However, when the clock shows anything other than 3pm, it’s an astonishing return of just 10 points from 14 (W0 D10 L4).
🎇 A Rumarn Candle — Rumarn Burrell has helped Burton to light the fireworks under the chair of those above the relegation zone, scoring six goals across eight league appearances in 2025, which is the joint-most of any player in the top four tiers.
🎦 5ivelights
In no particular order, a collection of our favourite goals or clips from across the 72.
Not quite a winner as Watford’s Louza picks out the postage stamp (and he wasn’t that far away from scoring directly from kick-off).
Quick of mind, strong of leg, and off the mark on debut: Adam Armstrong with the improvised poacher’s delight.
Barrow brace for Kian Spence, kickstarted with a first-time blast.
From range and oriented towards goal: Donley forces incredible own goal in O’s vs Man City.
Is it a bed? Is it a plane? Neither – it’s Joel Cotterill’s jet-powered finish.
The View From…
Shortly after I write this and shortly before you read it, Wrexham’s squad will have appeared alongside Channing Tatum in a half-time ad during the Super Bowl, watched by hundreds of millions. On Saturday, Birmingham City treated Newcastle United in the FA Cup to a pre-match show featuring fireworks, local rapper Jaykae, and bursts of flame when the players entered the pitch.
It makes you wonder about most of League One’s other clubs, whose fans must feel as though they aren’t competing in a league with supposed equals, but watching this Super Bowl from the bleachers. The noise is inescapable. I mean, here I am, writing in Weekend Notes about two teams who didn’t even play a league fixture this weekend.
And it’s not just those two third-tier clubs who are spending to accumulate. Indeed, Wrexham are 3rd. In the past month, 2nd-placed Wycombe have broken their transfer record, twice, and 5th-placed Huddersfield have paid up to £5m on a pair of strikers. They can’t match the eleventy billion Birmingham spent last summer on Messrs Stansfield, Klarer, Willumsson et al but this is an arms race and, with a good wind, one or two nuclear weapons can be as devastatingly effective as 11. It’s the fallout on the division’s landscape that intrigues and sometimes worries me.
Should less well-resourced clubs try to compete? How can they? StoK’s Super Bowl ad buy, starring Wrexham AFC, will have cost the club’s stadium sponsor – and realistically the club’s owners – tens of millions of pounds, which is more than the annual revenue of the average League One club. It isn’t even Wrexham’s first Super Bowl ad: Tatum’s family-friendly body-popping follows last year’s cameo from Sir Anthony Hopkins, who is at least Welsh. Birmingham City’s owners don’t have that Hollywood pull but they do have riches beyond even Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds’ dreams: £3 billion is the conservative estimate for Knighthead’s latest plans to regenerate the city, including a new tunnel to a stadium that’ll be “the Wembley of the Midlands” (presumably not in the hope that it’ll finish years later than scheduled and three times over budget).
This isn’t intended as snark. Knighthead have harnessed the power of a footballing city and passion of a frustrated fanbase to reignite the atmosphere around St Andrew’s, while McElhenney and Reynolds have done incredible, long-lasting work for the Wrexham community plus Wales as a whole (and the Super Bowl ads are quite funny, to be fair). It’s simply a question of scale. Other club owners in the division are rich, but very few are this invested, literally or emotionally. And when other promotion contenders such as Huddersfield and Wycombe spend millions on January signings in an attempt to keep up with the big fish or go up in their slipstream, everyone else faces a decision: settle and wait, or risk it all.
American ownership, or majority board control, now accounts for more than 40% of clubs in English football’s top two tiers, as well as three of the four aforementioned big spenders in League One; Wycombe’s own American, Rob Couhig, sold up last year to Kazakh billionaire Mikheil Lomtadze. The broader problem isn’t the location of that power but the concentration of it, though that’s a separate discussion with its fun ‘just-asking’ debates about overseas league fixtures and such. No, the question here is if we’re seeing a pattern: a high-roller in the USA sees off-field potential in a club either flirting with Championship relegation or regretting having shagged it last night, and invests heavily for a double jump to the Premier League.
After their takeover by an American consortium, Ipswich Town recruited with designs on promotion followed by an immediate challenge for the Championship’s top six. Birmingham have openly stated that their aim is back-to-back promotions to take them into the Premier League “by 2026” (well, they can’t do it any earlier). Wrexham... well, who knows with Wrexham, because their shift to long-term squad-building seems to have immediately been shelved again. Meanwhile, once-perennial boing-boingers Rotherham and Peterborough have gone from being well-off to well off it this season – a coincidence, to be sure, but reflective of a changing scene.
I’m aware how all of this sounds, of course. How dare these Stateside bastards invest in underfunded English and Welsh communities and try to build long-term projects? It’s just that I feel for the fans of clubs who must now lower expectations at the start of each season. Play-off pushes become consolidation ahead of next year, and the year after that. Consolidation becomes “just survive and let’s see”.
There’s no conclusion to this View From League One, just as there's no end to the ambition we’ll see from new owners at this level. Owners gonna own. Haters gonna hate. The poorer half of League One can only hope these clubs shake it off, and next season brings a return to normality of sorts... at least until The Simpsons’ Rich Texan buys a newly relegated Argyle and the cycle begins again.
📕 The Form Book
Which sides are topping the four-game form guide and which sides are bottoming out?
Championship
🟩 Leeds | 10pts | W3 D1 | GD +11
🟩 Millwall | 10pts | W3 D1 | GD +3
🟩 Coventry | 9pts | W4 | GD +3
🟩 Sheffield Utd | 9pts | W4 | GD 0
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
🟥 Watford | 1pt | D1 L3 | GD -3
🟥 Derby | 0pts | 1pt | D1 L3 | GD -3
🟥 Portsmouth | 1pt | D1 L3 | GD -6
League One
🟩 Stockport | 12pts | W4 | GD +5
🟩 Charlton | 10pts | W3 D1 | GD +5
🟩 Birmingham | 10pts | W3 D1 | GD +3
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
🟥 Barnsley | 1pt | D1 L3 | GD -3
🟥 Huddersfield | 1pt | D1 L3 | GD -3
🟥 Exeter | 1pt | D1 L3 | GD -9
🟥 Mansfield | 0pts | L4 | GD -4
League Two
🟩 Swindon | 10pts | W3 D1 | GD +7
🟩 Newport | 10pts | W3 D1 | GD +5
🟩 Colchester | 10pts | W3 D1 | GD +4
🟩 Notts County | 10pts | W3 D1 | GD +4
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
🟥 Harrogate | 1pt | D1 L3 | -3
🟥 Tranmere | 1pt | D1 L3 | GD -6
🟥 Walsall| 1pt | D1 L3 | GD -6
🏆 Fantasy Football
Go head-to-head against team NTT20 in our EFL Fantasy Football league
Sam was on FF duty in a week when we finally made it over the 2,000 points mark. It was a solid haul with the second part of a double game week to come, featuring Charlton’s Josh Edwards as our 0.1%-or-less-player.
Annoying to miss the Demetriou memo! Man down – not ideal. But we’ve almost broken the top 100 in the NTT20 League, where the competition is hotting up. In first place overall, Mr Browne’s Boys are flying, but Atleticomar Bogle had top spot in GW27 with 79 points.