Things You Might've Missed In The EFL This Weekend - 20th Oct - 2nd Nov

Two weeks, one round-up. I was busy.

In the last fortnight a League Two side knocked the Premier League champions out of the cup at Highbury, a drone stopped play, a centre-back scored an overhead kick he can't remember, and 3 managers lost their jobs.

Onwards.

Arsenal Lose at Highbury

Arsenal lost at Highbury on Tuesday 27th October. 

Fleetwood Town, 18th in League Two and fresh off defeats at Cheltenham and Exeter the week before, hosted the Premier League champions in the 4th round of the Carabao Cup at their own Highbury Stadium. Arsenal turned up without Declan Rice, Gabriel or David Raya.

Fulham loanee Aaron Loupalo-Bi put Fleetwood ahead on 21 minutes. Mikel Arteta sent on Martin Ødegaard at half-time, and Viktor Gyökeres equalised on 50, his first goal of the season. Starboy Max Dowman was sent off on 85 for a kick out after a few Fleetwood players attempted to break his legs, Jay Lynch made a few big saves, and off we went to penalties.

Fleetwood scored all 5. Lynch saved from Bruno Guimarães. The decisive kick fell to Conor Haughey, a 19-year-old Northern Ireland Under-21 defender from Belfast, who admitted afterwards he hadn't practised a single penalty beforehand, fairs. 

It's the first time reigning Premier League champions have been knocked out of the League Cup by a fourth-tier side. The last fourth-tier club to knock Arsenal out of this competition at all was Bradford, on penalties, in 2012-13. Fleetwood's manager Matt Lawlor called it the biggest night in the club's history. Hard to argue.

Next up in the quarter-finals, in the week of 14 December: Everton, at Highbury. Obviously.

Someone Was Flying a Drone Over Highbury Before That Happened

About 2 minutes in, with Arsenal lining up a free kick, a drone appeared over the ground. Referee Michael Salisbury stopped play, and for about 5 minutes 22 professional footballers stood around kicking a ball about while everyone stared at the sky.

When it still wouldn't go away, Salisbury sent both teams into the dressing rooms. Police tracked down the operator, play was back on a couple of minutes later, and about 9 minutes had gone in total.

Whoever it was got a better view of the biggest night in Fleetwood's history than most of the people in the ground. Hope it was worth the knock on the door.

3 Goals Before the Pies Were Out

Richard Kone hadn't scored all season. Fitness, form, the lot. By the time half of Loftus Road had found their seats on Saturday 24th October, he had a hat-trick.

2nd minute: Kwame Poku to Paul Smyth to Kone, 1-0. 9th minute: Kealey Adamson wins it back, Poku crosses, Kone heads it in. 15th minute: Lawrence Vigouroux brings down Smyth, and Kone takes the penalty himself. 

And this wasn't against just anyone. Swansea had been top of the Championship until Middlesbrough won 5-1 at Bolton on the Friday night, and they turned up at QPR still sitting second. Adam Idah hit the bar after they fell behind, which, looking back, is about as close as they got.

Jimmy Dunne headed in a Harvey Vale corner in first-half stoppage time to make it 4-0, then added a fifth on 86 minutes, diverting in a Kone shot that was going nowhere. Even his misses are assists now.

QPR moved up to 8th. Swansea got a long, quiet drive back down the M4 to think about it.

Play Lincoln, Lose Your Job

Newly promoted Lincoln City have picked up a party trick this season, and it's not one Championship managers are going to enjoy.

On 12th September, Preston lost 1-0 at home to Lincoln, and Paul Heckingbottom was sacked that weekend.

On 24th October it was Burnley's turn at Sincil Bank, fresh from the 96th-minute heartbreak I mentioned last time. For a while it looked like they might buck the trend. Andreas Hountondji came off the bench and tapped in Lucas Pires' corner on 39 minutes.

Then it fell apart. Ben House poked in Andrei Coubis' long throw in the 3rd minute of first-half stoppage time. Mikkel Ladefoged curled one in on 49. Dom Jefferies hit one from outside the box on 57. Ladefoged headed in House's cross on 67. George Wickens even saved Marcus Edwards' penalty late on, just to make sure nobody got any ideas.

Nicky Hayen was sacked that evening. 12 Championship games, 1 league win (4-0 at Watford on 10th October), and a club that was in the Premier League last season sitting in the relegation zone. Burnley have since appointed Fabio Celestini.

For the record, Birmingham went to Sincil Bank the following Saturday, won 3-1, and Chris Davies is very much still employed. So it's 2 managers gone after playing Lincoln. Small sample size admittedly.

I'd still be checking the fixture list if I was a Championship manager.

5-0 Win Last Week, Sacked This Week

Here's 8 days in the life of a Sheffield Wednesday gaffer, in order.

Saturday 17th October: beat AFC Wimbledon 5-0 at Hillsborough.

Tuesday: lose 2-0 at Notts County.

Saturday: lose 2-0 at Doncaster, both goals inside the first 17 minutes, with the away end chanting for you to go. 

Sunday: Go.

It's not as if Wednesday were in freefall either. They were 8th in League One, 2 points off the play-offs, and Pedersen reckoned the side had gone 9 unbeaten before those 2 defeats. The club pointed to a lack of progress towards a recognisable style of play. Pedersen told Danish TV he didn't see it coming.

Which brings us to the picture that did the rounds online of the gaffer, apparently straight in the pub after the Doncaster game. If he didn't see it coming, the pint suggests he was at least preparing for the worst. Fair play.

11 on Target, Still Lost

Tuesday 20th October in League Two was a rough night for the statsmen.

Barnet went into their home game with Swindon unbeaten in the league. They had 72% of the ball, 22 shots and 11 on target. At one point Swindon keeper Connor Ripley made 5 saves in quick succession.

Swindon had 28% possession and won 3-1. Mitch Clark curled in his first goal for the club on the break, then captain Aaron Drinan scored twice in about 2 minutes. Kabongo Tshimanga pulled one back late on, and that was Barnet's unbeaten start gone.

Over at Sixfields, Northampton had 21 shots and 64% of the ball against Tranmere. Tranmere had 1 shot on target. Bobby Faulkner glanced it in from a Will Vaulks corner on 37 minutes, Owen Dale slashed wide with the goal open, and Tranmere went home with their first away win of the season.

No one remembers your possession stats eh. 

Shrewsbury Can't Keep 11 On the Pitch

Shrewsbury and red cards are becoming a bit of a thing.

Saturday 17th October: they beat Bristol Rovers 1-0 at home and finished with 9 men. Jay Turner-Cooke went on 80 minutes, and Isaac Fletcher, who'd only come on in the 84th, followed him in the 3rd minute of 9 added on.

They won 3-2 at Crawley on the Tuesday. Then came Rotherham away on 24th October, in the middle of Storm Boelo.

Paul Mullin scored twice in the opening 18 minutes and it looked done. Then Rotherham's Kian Spence was sent off on 21 for a late one on Will Gray, Josh Davison pulled one back, Josh Ruffels headed in around the hour, and Will Boyle turned one in on 67. 3-2 Shrewsbury. Tom Bradshaw headed in a free kick to make it 3-3.

Then, with a few minutes left, 18-year-old Burnley loanee Kian McMahon-Brown got scythed down, raised his hands to a Rotherham player's chest, and was sent off.

Plot twist: Shrewsbury appealed, and on 28 October the red was overturned. McMahon-Brown's 3-match ban was wiped and he was free to face Gillingham that Saturday. Gavin Cowan reckons his side are picking up points despite the officials, and it's hard to argue.

3 red cards in 2 Saturdays, 1 of which apparently should never have happened, and 7 points from those 3 games. Shrewsbury lost 2-1 to Gillingham, mind, but nobody got sent off. Progress.

"I've Actually Got No Idea What Happened"

Full disclosure: I'm a Town fan. This was going in regardless, and you'd have done exactly the same.

Saturday 31st October, West Yorkshire derby, League One leaders Huddersfield away at Bradford, West Yorkshire police quaking in their boots. 4 minutes in, centre-back Joe Low, a man who is paid to stop goals rather than score this kind, produced an acrobatic overhead kick to put Town ahead at Valley Parade.

Low told BBC Radio Leeds afterwards that he'd had to watch it back, and that his celebration probably said everything. In his own words: "I've actually got no idea what happened." Head coach Martin Drury admitted he'd never seen him do anything like it.

Derensili Sanches Fernandes and Joe Taylor added 2 more after the break, 2,755 travelling fans got the bragging rights, and Town stay top of League One.

Booed Off at Half Time

West Ham went down in May and were supposed to walk this league. For a while it looked like they might, with 9 Championship games unbeaten before Southampton won 3-2 at the London Stadium on 24th October.

A week later, West Brom came to town. Felix Horn Myhre scored on 20, Jarrod Bowen equalised on 29 with a shot that deflected in off Callum Styles, and at 1-1 the home crowd still booed them off at half-time. Jimmy-Jay Morgan put West Brom back in front on 48, and Styles, having helped Bowen's goal in at one end, scored at the other on 72.

The away end spent the afternoon reminding Nuno Espírito Santo of his Wolves days. Black Country rivalries never take a day off.

On Wednesday 4th November, Nuno was sacked: 13 Championship games, 8th place, 6 points off the top. The same day, Scott Parker was confirmed on a two-and-a-half-year deal, with former teammate Mark Noble as sporting director.

If anyone knows this division, it's Parker. He's taken Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley up from it, and his last job was Burnley, who went down alongside West Ham last season and have just appointed Celestini. The Championship managerial merry-go-round is officially spinning.

That's your lot for 20 October to 2 November. Seen something I haven't? Let me know.