THINGS WE LEARNED FROM THE RETURN OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP
1. IF Jack Butland doesn’t watch it, he’ll soon be an ex-england keeper.
It’s bad enough playing in the Championship if you have just come back from the World Cup.
But if you let in sloppy goals like Leeds’ second against Stoke yesterday, the dream move back to the Premier League might be a long time coming – and someone else can have a shot at challenging Jordan Pickford for the
Three Lions.
2. CAPTAINS are overrated.
Brentford raised a few eyebrows when boss Dean Smith decided play without one this season and have a cointossing rota instead.
But a 5-1 home thumping of Rotherham suggests that there is no shortage of leaders.
3. DARREN MOORE has got his work cut out to revive West Brom.
‘Big Dave’ (above) almost pulled off a miracle when he replaced Alan Pardew last term. The players responded to a man they respected – and who wasn’t Pardew, or Tony Pulis for that matter.
But a 46-game Championship campaign is different and Bolton’s
2-1 win at The
Hawthorns despite just 28 per cent possession was sobering stuff, even for the Albion mascot, dressed as a boiler
(right).
4. FRANK LAMPARD is a winner. Well, this week anyway.
The former Chelsea and England star (top) let his emotions overflow when his Derby side netted a late winner at Reading to kick off the season on Friday. “That’s the sort of thing I’m back in the game for,” he said. Lampard also admitted his side didn’t deserve their 2-1 success, so judgement must be reserved until at least Christmas over whether Lamps really is a shining light.
DON’T bandy words with Paul Clement.
Talking of Derby, former Rams striker turned Sky Sports opinion-giver Darren Bent had a pre-match pop at Clement, his old Pride Park boss and now in charge of Reading.
According to Bent, it was “inevitable” Clement would fail at Derby because he switched his philosophy and “didn’t like confrontation”. Clement’s response? “I sense some bitterness here, which is normal if a player does not play much,” he said. “It is never a difficult decision to leave out a player who is overweight and lazy.”
Ouch. IF you want to make a good impression at your new club, scoring the winner within seconds of coming off the bench in front of the travelling supporters should do it.
Nineteen-year-old Yan Dhanda had been dreaming of that moment ever since he was named among the
Swansea substitutes for their opening day trip to Sheffield
United.
It looked as though the youngster, released by Liverpool in the summer, would have little time to impress new boss Graham Potter (above) when he entered the pitch with just four minutes remaining.
However, with the score locked at 1-1, Dhanda netted the winner seconds later to give him a moment he will never forget.
“Yeah. It was a bit crazy,” he said. “It’s all a bit of a blur at the moment. I was imagining it all day, coming on and scoring, because I knew I wasn’t going to start and I knew I would be on the bench.
“So all day in the hotel room, I’ve imagined coming on and scoring, replaying it over and over again. When the chance came, I sprinted to get into the box – it fell to me, and that was it. It was like it had happened before. That’s what I was aiming for.
“It’s everyone’s dream to come on and score on their debut. For it to actually happen is just unbelievable.”
It looked like Potter’s first game in charge of relegated Swansea was going to end in defeat when George Baldock side-footed home on 62 minutes.
However, striker Oli Mcburnie had the visitors level 20 minutes from time when he fired home a lose ball, and Dhanda turned the game on its head when he blasted home from close range seconds after coming on.
With his dream of scoring having now come true, the sight of his close friend and former team-mate Trent Alexander-arnold at the World Cup with England has given Dhanda something else to have sleepless nights about.
He said: “I speak to Trent a lot. I spoke to him the other day, actually. He’s just gone back into training. We’re quite close, still.
“He’s flying. Everyone knows who he is now. I knew four or five years ago what a good player he was, and now everyone else has seen what he’s done.
“I hope I can follow him and do what he’s doing. To play for England is another dream, and to go to the World Cup, to play in the Champions League, win the Premier League. I want it all.
“I’m only young, but I want it all.” Potter said: “When Sheffield United scored it was a case of asking, ‘What’s the response going to be like?’ But I thought the players were brilliant with the way they responded.
“They have had their critics and had their knocks and been the subject of speculation.
“Sometimes you can feel sorry for yourself, so to turn a game around at a fantastic club like this says a lot about the p l a y ers here.
The substitutions helped turn the game around, but you need your subs to have an impact.
“Yan has a knack of popping up and scoring.
“It was a bit of a gamble but we felt we were in the ascendancy and we were encouraged by the chances being created.”