Leicester City are finding their form under Enzo Maresca, Jack Clarke is returning to his best at Sunderland and Russell Martin has Southampton fans split. All this and more from the latest round of the Championship...
TEAM OF THE ROUND
I'm still in the process of getting my head around Leicester City this season and if they're honest, probably most of the Foxes fans are too. Before the two games played so far this week I was fairly firmly in the camp that I hadn't really seen Leicester play well and that they were still a work in progress in terms of executing the ideas of new boss Enzo Maresca. It's not to say that I've totally changed my mind over the course of the past two games but the results are certainly leading me towards the idea that Leicester are starting to move through the gears.
Friday night saw a 4-1 win at Southampton, Leicester's biggest of the season and don't worry we'll get to the Saints later in the column. They followed that up with another away win in midweek over a Norwich side in very decent form so far this campaign.
In terms of what Leicester will actually become under Enzo Maresca I'm still torn. Results are excellent, performances are picking up and nobody can doubt the strength of their squad and likely budget. There's still the reasonable argument that the Foxes haven't blown anybody away yet and the games have been close, but if they round out this week with a win over Bristol City and a perfect nine points the doubting voices will get fewer and fewer.
PLAYER OF THE ROUND
On Friday 11th January 2019, I headed up to Elland Road to watch Leeds beat Derby 2-0 in what has become known as the infamous 'Spygate' game. During his pre-match interview Derby boss Frank Lampard had spoken out about Leeds spying on their training sessions and with the profile of their manager Marcelo Bielsa, the story became national and international news. I dare say that without 'Spygate' all anybody would've been talking about was the electric young Leeds winger Jack Clarke, who put on a bit of a masterclass that game and cemented himself as one of England's big new prospects.
If you'd told me that just over four and half years later Jack Clarke would still be playing in the Championship I wouldn't have believed you, but here we are. Clarke has taken a circuitous route via a big transfer to Spurs, loans to QPR and Stoke, and all the way down to League One with Sunderland.
The Black Cats obviously knew what they were getting, Clarke is looking back to his 2019 best and his two goals at Blackburn in midweek took him to five in the opening seven games of this Championship season. The links for Clarke to leave this summer were big, particularly with Premier League new boys Burnley. Sunderland held onto their brilliant wide man, but one would imagine January might be a long month when it comes to speculation and interest in Jack Clarke.
TALKING POINT OF THE ROUND
Saints Setback
Like all newly relegated former Premier League teams, Southampton are expected to be right up at the top of the Championship this season. As of today the Saints are 13th, they've just lost their third consecutive game and it's not been an easy start for newly installed boss Russell Martin.
The Saints boss completely splits opinion with fans, some find his style and philosophy noble and intriguing, others find it completely without substance with the evidence being a little bit conflicting. On the one hand Martin was quickly moved from player to manager at MK Dons, given a job at Swansea where they'd been in the play-offs the previous two seasons and now he's at a Southampton side who were in the Premier League for 11 straight years. On the other hand his league record reads 13th, 15th and 10th with a win rate of 37% over those three seasons and a reputation for his teams being a little bit soft centred defensively.
That soft centre is at the heart of the current criticisms and if you see the way Saints have been conceding goals this season then those reservations do seem well founded. To view this few an admittedly over simplistic binary, either Southampton's players aren't adequately following Martin's instructions or the instructions aren't fit for purpose in this current situation. The Saints boss 'talks a fantastic game' but talk will be cheap if what their fans and ownership have witnessed for the past three games doesn't change soon.
LOANEE OF THE ROUND
Omari Hutchinson (Ipswich Town on loan from Chelsea)
You'd imagine the ideal scenario for a loan player is to go to a club that's in winning form and to be gently dripped into the first team picture as part of the experience. Don't get me wrong, some players enjoyed pulling their loan club up by the collar, but they are few and far between. For Chelsea's young winger Omari Hutchinson, he finds himself at a club in winning form in Ipswich Town following their promotion from League One last season.
Ipswich have glued together a stunning romp home last season with a brilliant start this season and their EFL record is a mind boggling 19 wins in the past 22 games. That winning momentum has afforded manager Kieran McKenna the luxury of not having started Hutchinson in the Championship until round seven this past midweek. I say luxury but the circumstances weren't ideal as Hutchinson's first start came in the pouring rain, in place of key man Nathan Broadhead and without another star of Ipswich's winning run Leif Davis backing him up at fullback.
The good news for Hutchinson is that his manager McKenna has somewhat of a 'Midas touch' at the moment and this tricky looking opportunity turned into an excellent debut for the Chelsea loanee. He scored the only goal in a hard fought win over Southampton as well as topping the key pass and dribbling numbers whilst up against England full back Kyle Walker-Peters. There's every chance Hutchinson will be back on the bench for Ipswich at the weekend, but if and when he joins the action he'll do so with growing confidence following his exploits at Southampton.
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