Another set of surprising results in the Championship this week. Coventry got tonked 4-0 at Blackpool - so much for the pressure being off after the club was saved from Administration - then again, maybe they need the pressure. Cardiff managed a home win, Ipswich failed to win at home and Norwich and Preston both recorded away wins. That's my excuse for only managing three correct results.
The Big Bet went west too, although Bristol City, Reading and Palace all won, Ipswich and Wolves could both only muster draws. If only....
Richard Murray's Programme Notes
The Chairman's Annual Report summary included in Saturday's programme made sobering reading. As well as recording an understandable drop in turnover and a net loss of £9.9m (in spite of the Bent ransom), Murray had some interesting comments to make. He detailed the £18.6m player investment made last year and has commented that it often takes two years before a new squad of players are playing to their potential and getting the consistency of results that they deserve. Added to this the fact that the Directors have recently stumped up £9m to keep the club operating optimally, it really does look like there will be little new money available next week to bring in reinforcements.
Alan Pardew will need to show how good a motivater he is in the coming weeks if our promotion campaign is to stay on track. That will mean preparing to take some risks on blooding some of the fringe players because the side we put out on Saturday will lose more points than they gain between now and February.
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