I think Calum Davenport can lay claim to quite possibly the worst loan spell EVER this past week, by turning out for Watford for a grand total of 40 minutes before breaking his neck.

Yes, you read correctly, BREAKING HIS NECK. The West Ham defender was drafted in to provide cover for Danny Shittu, currently on duty with Nigeria at the African Cup of Nations. After Hornets teammate Darius Henderson fell on top of him 40 minutes into the first half of Saturday’s match with Charlton, he went off with a fractured neck bone.

Watford skipped Aidy Boothroyd had this to say: “Calum heard a crack in his neck and he lost the sensation in his fingers.” YIKES.

From the BBC: “The injury has triggered an immediate end to the 25 year old’s loan spell and he will return to the Hammers.”

Which pretty much seals the worst-loan-spell-ever Award for Mr. Davenport.

Let’s hope he has a speedy recovery.

The pick of the bunch in terms of results surely has to be Colchester’s shock 2-1 result over Charlton. The U’s currently lie in the relegation places and a win over 5th placed Charlton will certainly boost spirits around Layer Road.

Tuesday’s Other Results:

Blackpool 3 Burnley 0
Bristol City 2 Coventry 1
Cardiff 1 Plymouth 0
Palace 1 Norwich 1
Ipsqich 2 West Brom 0
QPR 3 Leicester 1
Scunthorpe 2 Barnsley 2
Wednesday 2 PNE 1
Watford 3 Southampton 0
Hull 1 Stoke 1
Wolves 0 Sheff Utd 0

Also- as many of you know at this point, Motherwell skipper and former Wednesday player Phil O’Donnell passed away during their match with Dundee United on December 29th. A model professional and a wonderful family man, he will be sorely missed by the footballing world.

Rest in Peace Phil

(O’Donnell scoring in the 1991 Scottish Cup Final for Motherwell)

Holloway to Foxes:

Ian Holloway made the move up to Leicester City, leaving behind a Plymouth squad currently in solid position at 8th place in the table (ahem, 12 places ahead of the Foxes). Not sure how I feel about this one. Holloway is quite hilarious, and Plymouth seemed like a good fit, away from the pressure and media glare of any of the big clubs. Can’t argue with the fact that he is probably in a much better place financially.

Coventry in Financial Woes

Ian Dowie led CCFC has hit some rough times in terms of finances, and talks to insolvency have haunted the corridors of the Ricoh Arena. They now have a ten day deadline for a takeover to go through before they go into administration and are docked 10 points, dropping them into the relegation zone.

Full Table (12-10-2007)

I think what surprises me the most about the table is not Bristol City hanging on in the playoff places, but the decline of QPR. Coping with Ray Jones’ death surely must be a tremendous burden, but with new ownership and managment, as well as the signing of Scott Sinclair, some sunshine did come to Loftus Road. Their slip to last in the table has darkened the sky however, but I will be rooting for the super hoops to lift themselves out.

Currently lying 9th in the Conference (Blue Square Premier or whatever), it is hard to predict exactly how this will turnout. See the MYFC website for more details, but basically the goal is the true democratic running of a football side. The 50,000 ‘owners’ will decide by vote on all aspects of the side including team selection, transfers, sponsorship, etc.

The opinions have been thick and fast, and widely varied, including Birmingham chairman David Sullivan generally slating the whole idea. The comments from the Ebbsfleet camp have been good, as expected, and I personally feel the idea can have some success.

With the extra cash injection in the January window, and a decent position currently to challenge for the playoffs, a debut in the Football League may not be that far off, and who knows, maybe the Championship isn’t out of range as well.

What do you think?

Charlton 3 Cardiff 0

Bluebirds get destroyed by Charlton, who move up to second in the table.

Ipswich 6 Bristol City 0

This would have gone down as surprise result of the weekend but for the one below, but who saw this coming? Ipswich was stunned by Norwich in the East Anglian derby a fortnight ago, and Bristol City has been flying high, playing some wonderful football. Well the Tractor Boys brought them right back down to earth in this one, as Jon Walters ran riot with a hat trick.

Highlights Here:

Hull City 3 Preston North End 0

Tremendous win for the Tigers as they make it two on the bounce and move three points out of the playoff places. Preston must be absolutley gutted as they really shouldn’t be losing three nil to a Hull side that isn’t miles ahead of them in terms of quality.

Plymouth 3 Norwich 0

Solid win for the Pilgrims as they move up to 7th spot in the table. No big surprise really, and I would love for Plymouth to move up to the Premiership, simply for the fact that we would get to hear Ian Holloway more often. Although they would probably like Sylvan Ebanks-Blake to stop breaking bottles over the doormans head at pubs.

Result of the Week:

Sheffield Wednesday 5 Southampton 0

Ouch.

Crystal Palace v QPR

The super hoops travel to Selhurst Park off the back of a stinging loss to Coventry on Tuesday. That aside, they have been in good form, lifting themselves out of the relegation zone, where there weekend opponents currently lie. I was at Selhurst Park recently, and it was like a Wednesday night trip to the Library during exam week. I would expect resurgent QPR to keep it that way, although they won’t be able to do much about Warnock’s big mouth, regardless of the result.

Prediction: QPR 2-0

Blackpool v Scunthorpe

Battle of the newly promoted sides, and each team as seen varying fortunes over the course of the season. I’ve only seen Blackpool versus Hull earlier this year, when they nicked a good win, but have struggled as of late. Scunthorpe has done well, despite their vaguely Communist crest, but I would pick the Tangerines to steal a draw at home.

Prediction: Draw 1-1

To be honest none of the other weekend games really stood out, but here is a full list of fixtures and the table for the weekend.

Leicester City lost a thrilling 4-3 contest to Chelsea on Halloween night in west London. A tremendously entertaining contest which saw a glut of goals and an inspiring performance by City keeper Martin Fulop. The Halloween frights were fast and furious for the Chelsea supporters, as only two late strikes from Sheva and Fat Frank Lampard stole the victory.

I thought the goal of the game was DJ Campbell’s looping header over a stranded Cudicini to pull the sides level at 2-2. I can’t help but chuckle everytime I read or see Campbell play. I remember watching him line up for non-league Yeading a few years ago in the FA Cup versus Newcastle. His profession at the time? Lorry driver. Brilliant. The distance he was at that point from the shining lights of Stamford Bridge, and John Terry’s 150k per week wages was astronomical, but there he was on a Wednesday night, peeling away in celebration as Cudicini pulled the ball out of the back of the net. Well done lad.

Obviously they have ambitions beyond staying in League One forever.

Current home, The City Ground has been in use since 1898, a behemoth of a League One ground — with its idyllic location not enough to save it from being replaced by yet another proposed “super stadium“.