The Sportsman Untitled - Championship Podcast

PLEASE NOTE: This show was recorded on 22.12.2025, before Gary Rowett left Oxford United on 23.12.2025.

January is on the horizon and money is available to spend. Squads need players - some more than others.

The Sportsman Untitled panel are on hand to work through every single Championship club and discuss what they all must do this January to improve or maintain their squad and status in the EFL Championship.

Whether it's squad depth, super strikers or brick wall defenders, Callum Fowler, Benjamin Bloom, Conor McGilligan and Simon Lillibury are here to chew the fat over the full division.

The Championship has hit its midway point and with that we're looking back at our pre-season predictions just to see how far wide of the mark, or how accurate we have been.

We're going to look at the biggest winners and losers so far this season, as well as the surprise package and everything in between. Buckle it as Simon Lillibury, Ben Bloom, Statman Dave and Conor McGilligan take us back to the start and look back at all the best and worst of the EFL Championship 2025/2026 so far...

Middlesbrough continued their fine form under new boss Kim Hellberg to keep pace with Coventry City in the bid for Championship dominance.

Boro made it four wins from four, whilst Cov beat Bristol City to keep the gap at the top 5 points.

Elsewhere, Ipswich couldn't capitalise on downing Coventry City last weekend as they fell 3-1 to a Leicester City performance we all knew they had in their locker, but have seldom shown this season.

Lee Trundle and Callum Fowler join Simon Lillibury to decipher the biggest news and stories from the Championship this past weekend and look ahead to the biggest games this weekend, as well as a deep-dive on Swansea City.

Ipswich Town humiliated Coventry City in a clash that could be a defining moment in the Championship title race. Millwall continued their fine form, making it three wins and a draw from their last five to go third - despite the ugly scenes at full time - just two points off Middlesbrough in second.

Middlesbrough hammered Hull City 4-1 on Friday night to start the weekend off, with Sheffield United stunning Stoke City with a 4-0 hammering at Bramhall Lane to move them clear of the relegation zone.

Blackburn Rovers however were left embarrassed once again with a second waterlogged pitch abandonment at home to Sheffield Wednesday.

Oxford United lost ground on their attempts to climb free of the relegation zone with a 2-0 loss away to Swansea, who leapfrogged The U's in the process.

Elsewhere Preston drew at home to Wrexham, who took the lead, before a late equaliser kept them above Stoke in fifth. And Norwich fumbled a lead twice away at Watford to leave with nothing from an entertaining affair in North London.

Southampton returned to winning ways, convincingly beating Birmingham City 3-1 to take them into 11th, making it 4 wins from 5 after a loss last time out and Leicester jumped up into 14th, with a 3-1 away win at Derby.

Ryan Mason is under more pressure as West Brom lost 3-1 away at QPR, leaving them down in 16th.

Another exhilarating weekend in The Championship kicked off with Oxford hosting Ipswich on Friday night, before a flurry of goals in Saturday's games, with Leicester vs Sheffield United the pick of the early kick-offs.

Conor McGilligan joins Ben Bloom alongside Simon Lillibury to mop up the weekend's biggest stories and reflect on the best results, as well as looking ahead to the weekend's biggest fixtures.

Birmingham face Watford tonight at 8pm, so be sure to check that out and Ipswich's long-awaited replay at Blackburn Rovers after the fixture was abandoned takes place on Tuesday.

No midweek games this week (besides Blackburn vs Ipswich), meaning a breather after a 3-game week for most players heading into the busy Christmas period.

After we had finished recording today's show, news broke Sheffield Wednesday received a further 6-point deduction. We reacted to this live in the studio and have stitched it at the start for you.

The Championship returned with a bang after a long international break. Preston vs Blackburn kicked off the weekend before three midday Saturday kick offs whet the appetite for what was to come at 3pm.

Simon Lillibury is joined by Ben Bloom and Gab Sutton to digest and dissect the weekend's action and look ahead to another busy mid-week.

In today's show the trio will take a look at who realistically could finish in second place as Coventry City's impressive run continues, with them now seven points clear of Middlesbrough.

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It's the final international break of the year and a time when most manager movements take place during the season. That's no different this year, with Middlesbrough, Norwich and Swansea all managerless heading into the second week of the break.

Middlesbrough, however, may be about to end their search, with reports of Hammarby boss Kim Hellberg tipped to take over at the Riverside, after allegedly snubbing Swansea City. Norwich remain without a head coach, but Jon Dahl Tomasson has been linked with the East Anglian club after being fired as Sweden boss last month.

Simon Lillibury is joined by Jonny from Boro Breakdown and the ever-optimistic Oli Mann of The Sheffield United Way to discuss all the latest Championship news, as well as the future for Chris Wilder at Sheffield United.

Norwich City have finally seen enough and fired Liam Manning after 15 EFL Championship games played, with just 2 wins from a squad more than capable of battling for the top six.

Ian Herbert joins Callum Fowler this week to chew the fat with Simon Lillibury after a rollercoaster weekend in the Championship, which sawe Blackbrun Rovers lose their 3-game winning run and managerless Middlesbrough beat the in-form Birmingham City, as well as Frank Lampard winning the top of the table clash, 1-0 away at Stoke City.

Southampton sack Will Still after 2 wins in 13 league games. Will Still becomes the second manager to be sacked in the Championship this season, with Liam Manning expected to be not far behind after his Norwich side slumped to their sixth defeat in a row at home to Hull City.

Simon Lillibury is joined by Gab Sutton and Conor McGilligan to review the weekend's EFL Championship action, iincluding Wrexham's sensational win over Coventry City on Friday night, succumbing the Sky Blues to their first league defeat of the season, with Kieffer Moore netting a hat-trick.

The panel take a deep-dive into Southampton and Norwich City to unearth exactly what is going on and whether now was the right time to make a call on Will Still after his move from French football to England, and whether the sacking of Will Still will propel Norwich City to make a decision on the future of Liam Manning.

Ralph Hassenhuttl has been linked with a return to Southampton, with Russell Martin also said to be a welcome addition by the players at St Mary's.

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Championship Review: The TRUTH about Birmingham City and Chris Davies

After a seismic three-game week in The Championship and some incredibly jaw-dropping results from midweek, the boys are back in town to review all the biggest talking points from The Championship over the weekend.

Joining us this week is Ben Bloom and Chris Goulding from the We Are Birmingham podcast to deep-dive into the Blues' season so far, look at the highs and lows and whether Chris Davies really is the best man to take the club forward and into the Premier League.

As always, we will look ahead to the biggest fixtures this weekend, with Coventry vs Wrexham forming our extra show on Thursday evening, so be sure to watch out for that.