All the latest news from Championship and League football, including why managing Middlesborough isn’t exactly a fairytale for Michael Carrick, Charlton’s impressive comeback, and why Matt Bloomfield’s got his work cut out.
Michael Carrick admitted he had not expected a ‘fairytale’ debut in his first game as a full-time manager after his Middlesbrough side lost 2-1 at Preston. Emil Riis cancelled out Chuba Akpom’s Boro opener before Jordan Storey scored a stoppage-time winner. Carrick said: ‘I knew it wasn’t going to be a fairytale or all straightforward – I would have been very naive if I’d thought that. I’m getting to know the players, they are getting to know me and the staff, and the direction we want to go in.’
Ben Garner believes his Charlton team played ‘against 12 men’ in their astonishing 4-4 draw at home to Ipswich. The score was 2-2 going into injury-time before the hosts fell 4-2 behind – only to fight back and earn a draw. Boss Garner, who was sent off at 2-0 down, slammed referee Josh Smith and said: ‘To do that against 12 men, which is what it was, makes me so proud of the players and fans.’
Steve Evans believes Colchester boss Matt Bloomfield has a ‘humongous’ task ahead of him. Bloomfield replaced Wayne Brown last month and his side are bottom of the Football League with two wins from 16 games, a point adrift of safety. ‘If I’ve got a lot of work to do, he’s got a humongous amount of work to do,’ said the Stevenage manager after his side’s 1-1 draw.
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