Former Peterborough United and Hull City striker and Final Score pundit Aaron McLean gives his five takeaways from across the Championship, League One and League Two after a dramatic day of EFL action.
Testing times for Lampard as Coventry’s lead evaporates
On 25 November, Coventry City won 4-2 at Middlesbrough to move 10 points clear at the top of the Championship, while the Sky Blues were 13 points ahead of third place on Boxing Day. Now their lead has disappeared after a 2-1 loss at QPR and the chasing pack are closing in as Frank Lampard’s side stutter badly.
McLean: “Losing at QPR is a massive blow. It will give everyone chasing Coventry belief that they can go and catch them and overtake them. I’d probably rather be one of those chasers than Coventry at this moment.
“It’s a tough, tough period for Frank Lampard. If he manages to do it, it will show what a good manager he is.
“This is the first time he’s been at a club that is top of the division. Now it’s how you cope when you’re the big club at the top of the tree.
“They’ve hit a rough patch but the good teams recover from that. That’s where you are judged. Everyone goes through them but it’s how you recover.
“At the moment they are really struggling and it is giving the others huge amounts of confidence.
“The problem Coventry have now is they are trying to find form when Middlesbrough and Hull are flying and Ipswich who have definitely improved from the start of the season.
“As the points gap decreases, the confidence starts to drain away because they’ve been in a comfort zone for such a long period of time.”
Hackney is Premier League player in-waiting
Middlesbrough’s push for promotion is being driven by midfield dynamo and captain Hayden Hackney. Only 23, the local lad scored the winner in the 1-0 victory over Norwich City to move the Teessiders level on points at the top.
McLean: “I’ve looked at Middlesbrough and thought they needed to keep hold of Hayden Hackney. I wouldn’t have been surprised if some team had come in during January and taken him.
“Whatever his price tag is now, it will be double if they go on and get promoted to the Premier League.
“He is an outstanding talent. He is the heartbeat of that Middlesbrough team. He is calm on the ball, he always seems like he has time and space, always looking forward to try to make something happen and pops up with important goals.
“He is the full package. Once he gets into the Premier League, he’ll go on and have an outstanding career.
“His performances are showing that he’s in the conversation to be the best player in the Championship. There are a lot of good ones, but he’s one of the stand-outs.
“You judge a player not just by their performances but how they influence the team. If Middlesbrough get promoted, it will be largely down to his performances and his leadership qualities.”
Baggies slide towards trouble continues
West Bromwich Albion are now only one place and two points above the Championship’s bottom three after a meek 3-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Portsmouth, leaving Eric Ramsay with one point from four games as head coach since he replaced Ryan Mason earlier this month.
McLean: “You look at West Brom and think they are too big to go down, but the performances they have put out week after week, they are definitely not.
“Their away form is as bad as I’ve ever seen in the Championship, so there is every chance they could find themselves falling out of the division.
“I don’t know if they realise they are in a relegation fight. I don’t think they’re playing like they are when I watch them. They’re playing like they’re comfortable and other sides like Portsmouth and Oxford are scrapping for their lives.
“Until they start doing that, they are going to continue to lose games.
“With Ryan Mason leaving, they would have hoped to get that new manager bounce and a bit of momentum. It just hasn’t played out like that and they look like a team that is going to get relegated.
“They have had bad luck in games, but you can’t be unlucky every single week. You have to create your own luck and I just don’t think they’re doing enough and today is a perfect example.”
Cup memories won’t keep Wigan up
A 1-0 home loss to Lincoln City leaves Wigan Athletic above League One’s relegation zone on goal difference only. There is a big FA Cup trip to Arsenal on the horizon for the 2013 winners but one victory in 10 league games is a pressing concern for manager Ryan Lowe.
McLean: “I’m not totally surprised because Wigan are not a club that can compete financially with some of them in the division and Ryan Lowe has probably struggled in that department, in being able to strengthen the squad.
“Their performances haven’t been great and like so many other teams, because they haven’t been able to perform consistently, they have slid down the table and all of a sudden, they’ve gone from being a team that could go either way and they’ve fallen towards relegation.
“It was always going to be tough against Lincoln – for me, the best team in the division – so they couldn’t really expect anything but their position is an accumulation of under-performing week after week and now they find themselves in trouble.
“If they start looking ahead to the Arsenal game, by the time they reach that, they’ll be in the bottom four so they need to be focused on their league campaign.
“The Arsenal game is irrelevant. They can focus on that when it comes. This isn’t the time.”
Harris has got Cambridge motoring
In League Two, Cambridge United are now 14 games unbeaten, with six consecutive victories. The 3-0 success at Oldham Athletic has taken them up to second, their highest position of the season as manager Neil Harris has got the U’s flying over the winter following relegation last season.
McLean: “Cambridge look like a different animal this season. They look like a team that can go toe-to-toe with anyone, home or away.
“They epitomise their manager. They’re strong, they’re physical, they run hard and they are getting performances and winning games.
“With the momentum they’ve got, they’ll believe that they can go all the way and get promoted.
“It’s only because Bromley have exceeded everyone’s expectations as to why Cambridge are not top of the table.
“The pre-season favourites were MK Dons, who are under-achieving in my eyes. They probably have the best manager, they’ve spent the most money and they’ve brought in Championship players like Callum Paterson and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing. But I think the expectation is getting the better of them.
“I can see Cambridge continuing that trajectory and they have the right man in charge to keep their feet on the ground.”
Aaron McLean was speaking to BBC Sport England’s Adam Lanigan
