By Leon Imber
County ‘Cocu-less’
A Derby County side managed by Liam Rosenior and Rams player Wayne Rooney travel to Ashton Gate this weekend to take on Bristol City.
Embed from Getty ImagesSitting at the foot of the table and with just one victory in the league so far this season, the plug was finally pulled on manager Phillip Cocu after 16 months as manager.
Their opponents this weekend currently occupy 5th spot in the standings and go into the game off the back of two consecutive victories against Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City.
I don’t think I’m alone in being excited to see the dynamic of Rooney playing whilst managing. Will he and Rosenior turn the Rams’ short term fortunes?
Harris returns to The Den
Neil Harris’ Cardiff City travel to East London as the Bluebirds’ boss faces his former side, Millwall.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Essex-born manager managed the Lions for four years, gaining promotion from League One to the Championship before his tenure came to an end at the expense of Gary Rowett, the man still in charge at The Den.
Harris’ side currently sit six places and four points below Millwall and will be hoping to capitalise on their opponents recent poor form on home soil. In usual circumstances, The Den is a very difficult place to go as an away side, so this could well be because of the lacking vociferous atmosphere it usually bares as a result of no supporters in the grounds.
Paul’s Pirates
Paul Tisdale has taken the reigns at Bristol Rovers.
His first match comes this weekend as they travel to The County Ground for a clash against fellow West Country side Swindon Town.
Their region is not the only thing they have in common. John Sheridan was announced as the new Swindon boss just over a week ago, and so it will be a match with both bosses in unfamiliar territory.
The Gas currently sit two places above their opponents in the standings, as the accumulation of 12 points from their opening 11 matches was not enough to see Ben Garner retain his job at the helm.
Embed from Getty ImagesWill Tisdale lead an upturn of results?
Brown in a purple patch
Jevani Brown has scored nine goals in his last five matches for Colchester United. Impressive.
Although he does not lead the goal scoring charts for the division, he is certainly the league’s most in-form player at the moment.
His side travel to Nottinghamshire for their match against Mansfield Town, the club that have recently employed Nigel Clough as manager and are seeing an instant improvement in results.
The home side will need to pull out all the stops to deny Brown this weekend.
Subs aplenty
Wednesday, November 18 saw a statement released by the EFL informing fans of Football League clubs that their sides will now be able to field five substitutes in every league match.
The matter is controversial and many fans believe it benefits only the bigger teams with bigger budgets in each division as their squads are generally more well rounded and of higher quality and quantity.
Regardless, the five substitutions rule is going ahead this weekend and it will certainly be interesting to see what impact that has on the game as we know it.
What is your opinion on the rule?
