EFL on the Shelf – new managers, new league leaders, same festive drama...
30 December 2024 | Here's a "Festive Notes" covering the biggest stories, stats and insights from the Christmas double-header, plus a Miles Leaburn love letter.
● BIG STORIES ● CHEAT SHEET ● 5IVELIGHTS ● THE VIEW FROM ● FANTASY FOOTBALL ● WATCHING BRIEF ●
We are the soupmakers…
There was no ‘White Christmas’. Festive fog hung around like a surfeit of roast parsnips, a tinfoil sheen unbudging in fridge-cold temperatures. I always feel guilty about leftovers. It’s a contradictory guilt because I am an unreconstructed champion of the Christmas Dinner and its teeming variety of things boiled, roasted, mashed, sautéed, sweated, steamed, stewed and simmered. To avoid waste, you’ve gotta zhuzh up what remains.
Almost every EFL club has played twice since the last edition of Weekend Notes. It’s no exaggeration to say we’re left with a superabundance of stories, actions and consequences: sackings, appointments, departures, permutations and surprises aplenty. No need for us to chuck a load of Ras el hanout at the situation. We have all the spice we need in this deliciously surprising soup.
Today’s Big Stories were written by Ali Maxwell, Huw Davies and me. And let’s start with SIX (6!) managerial changes. Welcome to Festive Notes.
🚨 Big Stories
A selection of decisive moments from across the EFL
🎢 The Managerial Fun Fair — EFL clubs have crammed some big changes into a small festive package. First up, Alex Neil is set to be confirmed as the new Millwall manager – one of our parish, the former Norwich, Preston, Sunderland and Stoke boss signed a three-year deal before his new side drew 0-0 with Coventry yesterday.
The Elf on the Shelf caught up with Charlie Adam of Fleetwood after a poor run in League Two. He’s been replaced by former Barrow manager Pete Wild. On the naughty list, too, was Narcis Pelach. To ‘Get The Narcis’ is a bit of Cockney rhyming slang we’d be adding to our repertoire if the sack had come a little later. Including caretakers, Stoke have now had 12 managers in 6 years, and it all feels a bit Dazed and Confused: “That's what I love about these Stoke managers. I get older, their stints stay the same age.”
Elsewhere, it’s been six years since we saw Kevin Nolan in an EFL dugout but he got his Christmas wish, picking up the reins at Northampton following Jon Brady’s resignation. Bristol Rovers were in acute need of a head coach and have appointed former Brighton full-back and youth coach Íñigo Calderón, whose name brings with it new levels of acute accents, tildes and expectation. He lost his first game 3-0 to Stevenage. Touché.
Finally, Carlos Corberán has left West Bromwich Albion for Valencia after two years in charge. He’s done a great job under difficult circumstances and leaves a side tantalisingly close to a play-off place. The next appointment feels huge.
🎄 Top of the tree — Leeds (1st), Sheffield United (2nd), Burnley (3rd) Sunderland 4th — Blades lost their spot at the top of the tree with a Boxing Day defeat to Burnley. Perhaps bigger than the result, they lost centre-back Harry Souttar for the season with an Achilles injury. Their position remains solid after a 1-1 draw with WBA, but Wilder will be desperate for reinforcements from the new owners after fielding a bench of mostly development players.
Burnley’s victory was a significant one. Not because they became the first side to beat Sheffield United at home this season, nor because they became the first team to score against Michael Cooper at Bramall Lane, but simply because of the gap-closing consequences. They followed that up with another impressive result, a 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough, to make it 11 games undefeated.
But, above all, it was a Very Merry Leedsmas. For a team whose fans believe they struggle away from home, it certainly looked to us like two fierce performances and wins-to-nil at Stoke and Derby. Sunderland lose ground with a draw and a defeat — is this soon to become a three-horse race?
🍃 The lowest branch — Tranmere (19th), Harrogate (20th), Swindon (21st), Accrington (22nd), Carlisle (23rd), Morecambe (24th)
What did our League Two relegation scrappers get for Christmas? Mainly lumps of coal. The only festive wins for teams in the bottom six came in games between them: Carlisle (23rd) 0-1 Morecambe (24th) on Boxing Day, followed by Carlisle (24th) 2-1 Accrington (22nd). This is a reminder: you have to be really, really bad to get relegated from League Two. As if the somewhat farcical performances of these teams wasn’t enough, Tranmere and Accrington didn’t get to play their Boxing Day game due to fog.
🚣 Rowett back a second — Oxford 3-2 Cardiff, Oxford 2-0 Plymouth — Des Buckingham’s sacking stuck in the craw for many fans, but the return on the Gary Rowett investment has paid early dividends in two winnable but must-win games. Maybe Des would’ve won ‘em; either way, Rowett has, and Yellows have scored as many goals in his two games (5) as they had in the previous eight. It helped that Przemysław Płacheta burst into life with one of the most outstanding goals of the season, and it helped that Oxford faced a poor Argyle side a few days later, but few sides in the EFL could be considered bigger winners of the festive period.
🚌 Away for the holidays (and loving it) — Bolton 1-2 Barnsley, Peterborough 1-3 Barnsley; MK Dons 0-2 Notts County, Cheltenham 3-5 Notts County — Some 15 teams won back-to-back on Boxing Day and Betwixtmas Sunday, but a very special trio won both games on the road: Leeds, as mentioned, plus Barnsley and Notts County. This pair of paired wins were equally impressive and significant. Darrell Clarke’s Tykes kept pace with League One’s top six by sneaking like bandits past two (usually) strong home security systems, while in League Two, Stuart Maynard’s Magpies made it three consecutive wins with a ding-dong against Cheltenham and sit merrily on high in 2nd, having been way down in 11th just ten days ago.
🫠 Collapse or comeback? — Exeter 4-4 Crawley — At half-time on Sunday, Crawley Town had their necks above the dotted line of the League One relegation zone and, with a 4-1 lead, looked set for a happy ending to their ridiculously good 2024. Collapse or comeback? Let’s call it a bit of both. The match finished 4-4 and you only need to look at Exeter’s shotmap to see how preposterously it all ended – the final two goals came from a combined xG of 0.05.
📊 Monday Morning Cheat Sheet
From the WhatsApp group to the watercooler: stats to keep you ahead of the game.
🛑 Zeroes and wins — Burnley haven’t conceded more than a single goal in a single league match this season: 15 clean sheets, 9 goals conceded. They’ve let in fewer goals per game than Chelsea's Best Ever Premier League Defence did in 2004/05, and while the Championship record for fewest goals conceded is 29 (WBA in 2001/02), Burnley are on course to concede 17 or 18.
👔 League Two sexy for your shirt — Barring an ominously good Walsall side who are undefeated in 13 games, the fourth tier of English football is poised tighter than a fitted shirt. Six points separate 2nd from 12th. It’s not a Seeded Batch but a glistening croquembouche.
💤 A long year for Carlisle — Following a 2-1 victory over Accrington, Carlisle United won a home league game whilst scoring more than one goal for the first time since New Year’s Day 2024.
🧤 He’s a keeper — A list of every goalkeeper to have made seven or more saves in a Championship fixture this season:
Viktor Johansson x7
Thomas Kaminski x4
Jamie Cumming, Paul Nardi, Conor Hazard x2
🔘 Pressing on v Yorkshire — Preston won back-to-back games for the first time this season, and are undefeated against the four Yorkshire teams they have played in the past five games. The gap to the relegation zone has widened from five points to nine.
🎛️ Change the record — One hadn’t lost at home this season; the other hadn’t won away. Roll the tape. Cardiff put a poor Boxing Day display behind them to beat Watford 2-1 on the road, breaking records, hoodoos and voices in the away end.
⚽ Quarter of a Century — Harrogate centre-back Anthony O’Connor made 25 clearances in a single game as his side drew 1-1 with Fleetwood. To put that into perspective, the leading clearance-maker in the Championship is Ben Cabango of Swansea (140) – O’Connor made 18% of that total in 90 minutes.
🗓️ Not their first bit of Boxing Day history — On 26th December, Sheffield Wednesday became the first Championship side since 2021 to avoid defeat after being at least three goals down at half-time in an away game.
🤬 Argh-gyle — No win in 9 for Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle, who are rooted to the bottom of the table with 18 points. In their last 16 away games, their record is W0 D2 L14, with just 3 goals scored and 39 conceded.
🛏️ Take me to Bedfordshire — Luton Town need their home comforts: a 2-1 loss at Swansea took their run of consecutive away defeats this season to 9, and meant they ended the year with one league away win across the whole of 2024.
🔥 Running hot in the cold — The games have flown by, but here are some of the best individual performers in the EFL in December:
Ephron Mason-Clark — EMC has spangled in wintery Cov climes with 6 goal involvements in December (3 goals, 3 assists), and that’s despite missing yesterday’s match due to injury.
Finn Azaz — No player has been involved in more Championship goals this season than Middlesbrough’s Finn Azaz (8 goals, 9 assists), including four-goal contributions in December alone.
Rocco Vata — Now seeing regular game time, December brought 5 goal contributions from the 19-year-old Watford winger.
Millenic Alli — After scoring just once in the league from the start of August to the end of November, the Exeter man has scored four in December, including one stunning winner against Burton Albion.
Callum Marshall — Following a slowish start, Huddersfield’s loanee striker notched 3 goals plus an assist this month.
Omar Sowunmi — Securing important points for Bromley by scoring three games in a row? Breaking the deadlock each time? As a centre-back?! What a month it’s been for the man they keep forgetting to call Omar Show-Me.
🎦 5ivelights
In no particular order, a collection of our favourite goals or clips from across the 72.
You were only s’posed to blow the Ballon d’Ors off: Mullin mullers it Yeboah-style.
Płacheta picks out top bins with a left-foot laser beam.
It ends as it started — a wonderfully familiar last-last for Louie Barry before he departs Stockport for (EFL?) pastures new.
As. Soon. As. It. Left. His. Boot. Notts’ George Abbott hits a sumptuous one.
No need for a Little Chef when you’ve got a Big Cook — Andy brings up 100 EFL goals with a beast.
The View From…
Is Miles Leaburn here to save Charlton’s season?
In the ITV4 highlights for December 21st, one statistic from a commentator caught my ear. Well, more than one – it’s a show with an awful lot of stats (and a lot of awful stats) – but one in particular applied to Miles Leaburn. His strike in Charlton’s 5-0 win at Northampton was his fifth goal of the season… and his first league goal in 14 months.
It was a confusing statistic to fit a confusing time for Leaburn. While his long layoff following surgery on his hamstring was well-documented, sidelining the young forward from the end of November 2023 to the start of October 2024, his return was quite quiet.
Starting with his first game back, Leaburn has actually played in 17 of Charlton’s last 19 fixtures, starting 11. He scored in several cup games, but before that win at Northampton, he had played 543 league minutes – six 90s – without contributing a single goal nor assist. The comeback was gradual, as you’d expect after 10 months out. Meanwhile, Charlton’s season continued to meander, the possibility of a play-off place drifting further out of reach. They felt Leaburn’s absence, even with his presence.
As Nathan Jones’ side lumbered unconvincingly on, Leaburn slowly inched his way back not just to full fitness, but full confidence. That time was painful, for everyone, yet it was absolutely crucial. He turned 21 only last month. You cannot rush this recovery. Most of the fanbase showed understandable patience, though a few impatient online Addicks had seemingly decided he would never be the same again; the club clearly disagreed, and extended Leaburn’s contract in October. Then came the visit to Sixfields.
Northampton away: goal, assist, 5-0 win. Cambridge at home: goal, assist, 2-1 win. And now Wycombe at home: goal, goal, 2-1 win. Leaburn became the first Charlton player in nearly a decade to both score and assist in back-to-back league games, then topped it with a brace. After the drought came the flood – six goal contributions in three matches, taking Charlton from the bottom half to just outside the top six.
Both of his goals at the weekend were beautifully taken. First, Leaburn channelled Elastigirl / Mr Fantastic / Plastic Man (take your pick, comic book fans) by twisting himself around Joe Low to get his right foot to a cross and volley it home. Then, running onto a pass between two defenders, starting near a halfway line hand-painted onto a vegetable patch, he raced through on goal but left himself a tighter-than-ideal angle as the keeper came out to meet him. The only way was up. No matter – Leaburn looked up, slowed down and casually started an argument among purists about what constitutes a lob, a dink, a scoop or a chip.
More importantly, that gave Charlton a 2-0 lead over Wycombe, who hadn’t lost a league game since August. They have now, as Richard Kone’s goal proved insufficient. Charlton needed that boost in self-belief. They needed these three consecutive wins – their first hat-trick in all competitions since 2022. They needed Miles Leaburn.
The timing of his re-emergence is arguably inopportune for Nathan Jones et al, with the January transfer window upon us. They’ll hope that potential buyers may harbour just enough doubt about his injury to hold off for now, because for Charlton, Leaburn is not only an asset for this current campaign but he will be worth even more in the summer when he has surely proven again what we saw in 2022 and ’23: that he is a serious young talent. There’ll surely be bids, though, from a club hoping to get in at the ground level before his stalled stock soars once more.
Either way, it’s just good to have Miles Leaburn back. Properly back.
Here’s our 21 Under 21 segment on Leaburn from January 2023.
🏆 Fantasy Football
Go head-to-head against team NTT20 in our EFL Fantasy Football league
We’re two-thirds of the way through surely the world’s first-ever TRIPLE GAME-WEEK. It’s been stressful. It’s been exhilarating. It’s been #FEFL at its funky best. Team NTT20 was selected by Ali, who unsurprisingly deployed the Max Captain chip, which means the points bonus will be awarded automatically to whichever player ends up with the most (take a note, FPL).
At this stage, all of our players have between 7 and 15 points — not disastrous, not magnificent. Our club picks of Salford and Coventry look decent, with winnable away games to come.
With the caveat that there’s still another whole round of fixtures before the end of this Gameweek, we have new leaders at the top of the NTT20 League — all hail Mr Browne's Boys. Biancorossi top the gameweek as-it-stands table, but shoutout to Lees Legends, who captained Luke Garbutt of Salford – the joint-highest scorer of the gameweek so far, alongside Ciaron Brown. Class.
📺 Watching Brief
Upcoming live EFL games - 15.00 unless stated
Wednesday 1 January 2025
CH: Plymouth vs Bristol City (12.30pm), QPR vs Watford (12.30pm), Millwall vs Oxford (1pm), Burnley vs Stoke, Cardiff vs Coventry, Leeds vs Blackburn, Luton vs Norwich, Portsmouth vs Swansea, Sheff Wed vs Derby, West Brom vs Preston Hull vs Middlesbrough (5.30pm), Sunderland vs Sheff Utd (8pm)
L1: Barnsley vs Wrexham, Blackpool vs Shrewsbury, Bristol Rovers vs Leyton Orient, Burton vs Peterborough, Cambridge vs Reading, Crawley vs Charlton, Lincoln vs Rotherham, Mansfield vs Bolton, Northampton vs Stevenage, Stockport vs Birmingham, Wigan vs Huddersfield, Wycombe vs Exeter
L2: Accrington vs Grimsby, Barrow vs Bradford, Chesterfield vs MK Dons, Crewe vs Carlisle, Doncaster vs Fleetwood, Harrogate vs Salford, Morecambe vs Tranmere, Notts County vs Walsall, Port Vale vs Cheltenham, Swindon vs Colchester
Thursday 2 January 2025
L2: Gillingham vs Bromley (7.45pm), Newport vs AFC Wimbledon (7.45pm)
Saturday 4 January 2025
CH: Blackburn vs Burnley, Stoke vs Plymouth & Swansea vs West Brom
L1: Cambridge vs Bristol Rovers & Burton vs Northampton
L2: Cheltenham vs Walsall & Notts County vs Swindon
Sunday 5 January 2025
CH: Sunderland vs Portsmouth (3pm)
Great write up on Miles Leaburn.
This Charlton team has zero creativity, but a very resolute defence is being massively helped by the big man’s extra quality.
It’s inevitable that he leaves with there already being bids from the Champ & Bundesliga but we can enjoy him while we can.