Each week, Sky Sports experts review the Football League action on FL72. Check out Don Goodman's thoughts on the latest news...
Sunday 28 December 2014 11:05, UK
DON SAYS: Patrick Bamford is looking really sharp and playing with a real hunger. You always have motivation playing against a club you have played for before. He’s a talented lad and Middlesbrough are lucky to have him. If he goes back to Chelsea he is not going to make their first-team squad - not with the current situation - therefore he is at a club playing week-in, week-out at the top end of the Championship. He is one of the reasons Boro are genuine promotion contenders because they played against a Derby team we all think are going to be in the top two and Derby never got a look in. Boro absolutely dominated the game and thoroughly deserved their win.
DON SAYS: Sami Hyypia has barely been at the club any (great) length of time, but if you look at his record it is very worrying and concerning. Just three wins from 21 games is simply not good enough and it’s the kind of form that can’t go on otherwise they might be forced to take action. It doesn’t look like a happy camp to me at Brighton, there seems to be a lack of togetherness and that is a dangerous warning sign. What the club needs is unity. There was a banner in the crowd saying time is up but it’s a time for Brighton, the fans and staff to stick together. You can point to other examples, like Alan Pardew at Newcastle - he dealt with it with dignity and turned it around and you hope the same can happen at Brighton for Hyypia.
DON SAYS: We wondered what kind of an impact Financial Fair Play would have at Football League level but already there is evidence it is going to have an impact on these clubs - two of which are looking at play-off places - and then Leeds, who are too close to the bottom part of the table for comfort. If they are not allowed to do any dealings in January it could put enormous pressure on their resources.
DON SAYS: Demarai Gray is a very talented young man, I first noticed him a few weeks ago, he runs with the ball and commits defenders and now if he can add goals to his game then Birmingham are going to have a big job on their hands to keep hold of him. In all three of his goals against Reading on Saturday he showed the quick feet, imagination and calmness in front of goal that he’s got. To score a hat-trick at 18 is very special. It was absolutely amazing for him and for Birmingham, who have taken 14 points from the seven games that Gary Rowett has been in charge, which is certainly not relegation form.
DON SAYS: I can believe the 1-0 win over Crawley was his proudest moment because Bristol City were running away with the league not that long ago, then they lost a couple of games back-to-back and allowed the teams around them to close the gap. They are in a real dog fight now and it’s not the first time they have salvaged extra points with late goals, so there is clearly a lot of character running through the team. For him to say that is going to give those players a boost. It must have felt like a huge three points for them, if they had only drawn they would be second because Swindon won. Psychologically that might have had an impact but Luke Ayling came up trumps and Bristol remain top.
DON SAYS: The one thing we know about Wycombe is they are full of character because we saw them lose to a rival in Burton just four games ago but they have won three since. They went behind this weekend to a very good Southend side and managed to win 4-1 so things are going very well for them. In those three wins they have scored goals and not conceded many, so they are in perfect condition for a tough game against Luton.
