Championship News

The Latest Championship News, Views and general gossip.

• Wed, 11 Sep 2024 15:13:20 +0000: Victor Moses tells Simon Jordan he’s a legend in heartwarming interview after shock return with Luton - EFL Championship News, Features, Opinion - talkSPORT
  

  Victor Moses has hailed Simon Jordan for always believing in him following his surprise return to English football.

  The former Chelsea star signed for Championship outfit Luton Town on Tuesday, moving back to England after representing Spartak Moscow for the last three seasons.

  Getty

  Moses started his career with Crystal Palace, the club Jordan owned from 2000 to 2010.

  talkSPORT’s White and Jordan pundit was in situ at Selhurst Park throughout Moses’ entire time at the club.

  And even though the 2017 Premier League title left the club in 2010, he’s still grateful for Jordan’s role in his career.

  Speaking to Jordan’s co-host Jim White, Moses, now 33, said: “To be honest with you that’s my chairman, you know.

  “He’s a great man. I’ve always respected him. Everyone has at Palace. As a kid, he’s always looked after me as his own son.”

  Moses earned caps for the England at under 16, under 19 and under 21 level, before committing his international future to Nigeria, the country he was born in, back in 2011.

  But Jordan always believed he should have represented England, blaming the Three Lions coaching staff for not doing enough to keep Moses from playing elsewhere.

  “He’s always had a belief in me,” Moses recalls. “And I still remember him talking about me playing for England.

  “But I think I might have let him down to go play for Nigeria, to be honest!

  “But that’s life and that’s football. Anything can change and anything can happen any time.

  Getty

  

  “And, you know, he’s a great man and I’ve always loved him. He’s someone that has always encouraged me a lot from my Palace days up till now.”

  When asked by White if he really meant that about his beloved co-host, Moses said: “100 per cent. He’s a legend.”

  Moses signed left Championship Palace for then-Premier League outfit Wigan in 2010 for £2.5million after the Eagles went into administration.

  He then joined Chelsea in 2012, winning the Europa League with them in 2013 and 2019, the Premier League with them in 2017 and the FA Cup in 2018.

  After numerous loans, including with Liverpool and Stoke, Moses signed for Spartak Moscow in 2021 after spending the previous season on loan there.

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• Tue, 10 Sep 2024 09:48:02 +0000: Ex-Chelsea star Victor Moses returns to England with shock Championship move - EFL Championship News, Features, Opinion - talkSPORT
  

  Luton Town have announced the surprise signing of Victor Moses on a free transfer.

  The 33-year-old was a Premier League title winner with Chelsea in the 2016/17 season.

  

  The former Nigeria international has most recently been playing his football in Russia with Spartak Moscow, who he joined in 2021.

  Now he is back in English football after securing a move to the Championship club.

  Manager Rob Edwards said: “Victor is one we’ve been talking to for quite a while. He trained with us last week and played 60 minutes in a behind closed doors game, and we made a decision because we think he’s able to come in and help us.

  “He gives us more strength in depth and versatility, because he’s someone who can play both sides or as a number ten.

  “He’s played for so many different clubs in different ways and shapes, and under different managers, so he’s tactically aware. We think he’s someone who can provide some really good competition for us.

  “I don’t want to put too much pressure on him and expect too much too soon. He’s not going to come in and start the games straight away.

  “He’s got to get used to what we do and how we play, but he’s fit, he’s able to come in and affect it now, and he definitely makes the squad stronger.”

  Speaking to the club, Moses added: “I’m looking forward to it.

  “I had a few offers from Europe, but I said to my agent that I set my mind on staying over here, and here we are. I’m very pleased and honoured to be at this club and I just can’t wait to get going.

  “I spoke to Rob before I came, I spoke to the directors and they told me the plan and the history of the club, and I just want to be part of the success.

  2016 Getty Images

  “I want to come here and enjoy my football, work hard for the club and for the team, and get back to where we belong in the Premier League.”

  Moses’ extensive club career in English football after starting at Crystal Palace under Neil Warnock.

  He left Selhurst Park in 2010 to join then-Premier League Wigan, where he spent the next three seasons.

  Chelsea came calling and ended up playing 128 times for the club winning the Premier League, FA Cup and two Europa Leagues.

  Victor Moses’ career path

  Crystal Palace: 2007 – 2010 (69 apps, 11 goals)

  Wigan Athletic: 2010 – 2012 (80 apps, 9 goals)

  Chelsea: 2012 – 2021 (128 apps, 18 goals)

  Liverpool (loan): 2013-2014 (22 apps, 2 goals)

  Stoke City (loan): 2014-15 (23 apps, 4 goals)

  West Ham (loan): 2015-16 (26 apps, 2 goals)

  Fenerbahce (loan): 2018-2020 (23 apps, 5 goals)

  Inter Milan (loan): 2019-20 (20apps, 0 goals)

  Spartak Moscow: 2020-2024 (63 apps, 6 goals)

  He had several loan spells at the likes of Liverpool, Stoke, West Ham, Fenerbahce, Inter Milan and Spartak Moscow, before joining the Russian club permanently.

  Moses was also an Africa Cup of Nations winner with Nigeria in 2013.

  His former manager at Palace Warnock revealed the text he sent Moses just minutes after that win and how one piece of advice ended up being career changing.

  “We were playing Cardiff one night, chucking it down with rain,” he said. “I took him on the pitch and said ‘Victor, you’ve got so much going for you and yet you’re not going to make anything. Go out there and show me what you can do.’

  “We won 1-0 and he was man of the match. I went onto the pitch after and put my arm round him and said welcome to the real world.

  “A few years later he went onto Chelsea and to play for Nigeria – he played in the African Cup of Nations and won player of the tournament. After one game I text him and within four minutes I got a reply.

  “He text me saying: ‘I’ll never forget Cardiff’.

  Getty

  “That’s why I’m in the game, I’m getting goosebumps even now. He could have gone the other way and played non-league if not.”

  Now the 33-year-old will hope to fire Luton back into the Premier League following their relegation last season.

  Reacting to the news of his return to England, ex-Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan told talkSPORT: “I was just texting his agent. It’s time to come home, he’s been away for a long time. He wants to be near his family.

  “Very good kid and very good player. He was much underestimated.

  “I think it was Conte who converted him into a wingback and people saw a different dimension to him.

  “I saw him as a young boy who I put through Whitgift School and got into the Palace first team at 16/17.

  “What a talent. I’ll never forget him leaving Micah Richards on his a*** when we played him in the League Cup [August 2009].”

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• Mon, 02 Sep 2024 08:57:48 +0000: Alan Shearer was stuck on train with Sunderland fans for FOUR hours – but no one spotted him - EFL Championship News, Features, Opinion - talkSPORT
  

  Alan Shearer has revealed he was stuck on a train with Sunderland fans for four hours on Saturday – but he somehow went unnoticed.

  The boyhood Newcastle fan and club legend bagged four goals against their fierce rivals during his career, and it’s fair to say he’s not particularly liked on Wearside.

  GETTY

  So it’s no surprise he had a sudden surge of panic when he found out he had booked himself on a train with hundreds of Black Cats on their way back from a 3-1 win at Portsmouth.

  Recalling his hilarious trip up on The Rest Is Football podcast, the former striker said: “I was at a wedding in Italy and we came back on the flight on Saturday. We had to wait in the lounge for about four and a half hours before the flight back up to Newcastle.

  “We’d been sat there for three and a bit hours and it comes up on the board, flight to Newcastle cancelled. I was absolutely raging.

  “I go to guest services, then to gate 17 to make sure there were no options. There were two other flights that evening but no spaces.

  “By this time they’ve booked me on a flight today at 2:30pm. I’m thinking ‘no, I’ve got to get home as it’s my son’s birthday and Newcastle are playing’.

  “Me and our friends were scrambling to think what we were going to do. We look to get the train and they’re all fully booked. Then one becomes available at 7:30pm. 90 minutes to get from Heathrow to Kings Cross.

  “There was a lovely lady from LNER who said there were hardly any seats left, but said she’d do her very best.

  “Bless her she got us enough seats. She got us onto the carriages and said it’s going to be really busy as this is the only train on a Saturday night and said unfortunately there’s going to be a load of football fans.”

  And as a sea of fans in red and white surged towards the train, the penny dropped for Shearer.

  Laughing, he continued: “We’re in coach C and I think ‘oh my f***ing god… Sunderland played Portsmouth away’.

  Getty

  Getty

  “I’ve got my cap on and I’m wedged in the corner and on they come and it’s getting busier and busier. There’s not one seat spare.

  “The whole of the aisle is taken up with Sunderland fans and they’re all p*****. They have bottles of beer.
  

  “Within half an hour, I’m scared to lift my head up. They start signing the Newcastle songs. Then they start singing the Shearer songs. I can’t even sing the other songs. I had four hours, my neck is killing me. I couldn’t lift my neck up. I had my head down for four hours.

  @AlanShearer: “The #SAFC fans just sang and abused me for nearly 4 hours”
  
  Fair to say Alan had the journey back to Newcastle from hell pic.twitter.com/f00aJjzp7I

  — The Rest Is Football (@RestIsFootball) September 2, 2024

  “Half of them got off at Durham and half stayed to Newcastle. I was petrified to get off. There was not one person who recognised me. I didn’t move for almost four hours and I didn’t get recognised.

  “They sang and abused me for nearly four hours and they didn’t even know I was on the train. My friend said ‘Al, why don’t you walk through the middle of them and ask them if they want a drink?’

  “It was an absolute nightmare. So for all you Sunderland fans travelling back on Coach C. F*** you.”

  Sunderland are the only side in the English Football League to have won all four of their opening league games.

  The Black Cats currently sit top of the Championship after beating Cardiff, Sheffield Wednesday, Burnley and now, Pompey under new manager Regis Le Bris.

  And luckily for Shearer, his weekend improved drastically after his awkward train journey, as Newcastle beat Tottenham 2-1 the following day.

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• Thu, 29 Aug 2024 12:26:32 +0000: Why is Sheffield United vs Watford kicking off at 3pm this Sunday? Championship fixture handed unusual start time - EFL Championship News, Features, Opinion - talkSPORT
  

  Sheffield United welcome Watford to Bramall Lane this weekend and they will be kicking off at a very unusual time.

  Both teams will be aiming to keep up their unbeaten records so far in the Championship with the Blades winning one and drawing two of their games so far.

  Getty

  Tom Cleverley’s Hornets have won all three of their outings, and it looks like they could contend at the top of the second-tier table this season.

  It is set to be a tightly contested meeting between two top sides but fans will need to be aware of the game’s strange kick-off time.

  The action will get going at 3pm this Sunday afternoon and talkSPORT.com has taken a look at why…

  Why is Sheffield United vs Watford kicking off at 3pm on Sunday? 

  There is no confirmed reason why Sheffield United vs Watford is kicking off at 3pm on Sunday.

  But the change is likely to have been made solely for TV coverage.

  In July, the switch was made and announced by the clubs, with the action set to be broadcast live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports + this weekend.

  Championship fixtures are commonly switched to Sundays, but they would usually take the earlier 12:30pm kick-off slot instead of 3pm.

  Things are different for this game and that could potentially be due to the Old Firm.

  Sky Sports are broadcasting Celtic vs Rangers in the 12:30pm slot this Sunday and to avoid clashes, they may have decided to show Sheffield United vs Watford later.

  It means it’s a strange start time for the clubs and the game still clashes with multiple Premier League fixtures on the day.

  Getty

  If you wanted to watch the top-flight matches but also keep up to date with the Sheffield United vs Watford game, talkSPORT has you covered.

  The action from Bramall Lane will be exclusively live on talkSPORT 2.

  Commentary will come from Mark Wilson and former Liverpool Women’s striker Courtney Sweetman-Kirk.

  To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

  You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

• Wed, 28 Aug 2024 10:51:59 +0000: Burnley go viral for using Oasis to announce signing of Manchester United academy graduate - EFL Championship News, Features, Opinion - talkSPORT
  

  Burnley may not be in the Premier League any more, but their latest transfer announcement video is supersonic.

  The Clarets have earned a reputation for posting clever transfer clips when confirming the arrival of a new signing – and now, they have made the most of iconic English band Oasis reforming this week.

  Burnley FC

  X:@BurnleyOfficial

  The Championship club signed Hannibal Mejbri from Manchester United on a four-year deal on Wednesday.

  And whoever runs Burnley‘s social media accounts certainly deserves a bonus for coming up with an excellent Oasis pun to introduce their new midfielder.

  “Because Mejbri,” the Clarets wrote as the caption of the video, a pun of a line in the chorus of Oasis’s most famous tune, Wonderwall.

  After the initial introduction of the Gallagher brothers in the clip, Hannibal appears on a guitar.

  Then, Burnley switch the lyrics from ‘And after all, you’re my Wonderwall’ to ‘you’re my Hannibal’.

  Even with the Clarets’ reputation for creativity in this field, fans were in awe of their latest effort, with the X post already having 800,000 views at the time of writing.

  “This Mejbri just be the best transfer announcement of all time,” one said.

  Another wrote: “Elite! Well played admin.”

  But whilst football fans on social media absolutely lapped up the Oasis and football transfer crossover, we wonder what Noel and Liam will think.

  Hannibal played for Man United’s academy and made his first team debut in 2021.

  X:@BurnleyOfficial

  The 21-year-old made 13 appears for the Red Devils, scoring once in the 3-1 loss to Brighton in the Premier League last season.

  And it’s no secret that the Gallaghers have a strong hatred for Man United, given they’re die hard fans of their rivals, Manchester City.

  Some might say Burnley using their iconic song to announce the arrival of a man who represented their foes may have… mixed reviews from the pair.

  The Clarets spent an initial £5.4million on the midfielder, a deal that will rise to £9.4m. Man United also boast a buyback option and a 50 per cent sell-on clause.

  Manager Scott Parker will be hoping he shines bright as a supernova… sorry, couldn’t resist!

  Oasis, meanwhile, announced their first tour as a band since 2009 on Tuesday morning.

  Liam and Noel ended their long-standing feud and are now reforming for a UK and Ireland tour next year.

  In June, it was announced by Saudi boxing chief HE Turki Alalshikh that they have booked Liam to perform three Oasis classics as a special guest during the Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois ‘Riyadh Season Card’.

  This will take place on September 21 at Wembley – and fans will be wondering if Noel will now join.

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A Basic list of recent teams in the Championship

Barnsley
Birmingham
Blackpool
Bristol City
Brighton
Burnley
Cardiff City
Coventry City
Crystal Palace
Derby
Doncaster
Hull City
Ipswich Town
Leeds United
Leicester City
Middlesborough
Millwall
Nottingham Forest
Peterborough
Portsmouth
Reading
Southampton
Watford
West Ham

More Information on each Football Team will be duly added shortly, along with Daily Motion details on the latest Videos.