It marked a weekend when the first sets of fans were allowed back into stadiums since lockdown came into effect in March, but with the government still fumbling the public message it is sadly very difficult to divert the narrative around Covid-19. Norwich, Blackpool, Shrewsbury and Carlisle were among 7 clubs to play host to 1,000 fans in EFL pilot events and here are a few talking points from the weekend in which fans began to walk back through the turnstiles....

1) Entering his 35^th year of management, Neil Warnock showed he can embrace very modern technology as well as any of his contemporaries in Middlesbrough’s 1-1 draw with Bournemouth. Managing from home during isolation from Covid-19, Warnock sent on 22 year old Marcus Browne, frustrated by limited appearances since joining in July last year, to duly score his first league goal for ‘Boro to cancel out Dominic Solanke’s opener. Bournemouth were denied by two moments of goalkeeping brilliance by Marcus Bettinelli but Warnock, who never had to leave the comfort of his sofa, will be pleased by his team’s performance, or at least should be, given assistant Kevin Blackwell’s verdict; “he hardly called throughout the game because the performance was there”.

 

2) Boasting a fierce fighting spirit and togetherness, it will be difficult to write off Wycombe so soon in their quest to remain in the Championship, but any delusions they may have had on the size of the task were stamped out emphatically by Blackburn Rovers. Adam Armstrong bagged a hat-trick while 18 year old Tyrhys Dolan, hinting at the folly of Preston’s decision not to hand the youngster a pro deal in the summer, pulled the strings behind him, rarely misplacing a pass. If that wasn’t enough young talent for Rovers to get excited by, there was time for 20 year old John Buckley to come off the bench to carve out 5 chances and grab an assist. Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth says his team will study the videos as they strive to get better, but the defence may be a good place to start, with centre-half pairing Darius Charles and Anthony Stewart ran-ragged throughout. The Chairboys will be without the former for the next few games after seeing red for a helplessly professional foul on Armstrong.

 

3) Last season’s beaten play-off finalists Oxford kept the most clean sheets in League One last season but after losing Rob Dickie to QPR Karl Robinson faces a challenge to rebuild that solidity. That task was made even harder by captain John Mousinho suffering a knee injury in their midweek League Cup defeat to Watford, meaning Robert Atkinson and Elliot Moore formed an inexperienced centre-half pairing vs Sunderland. They held out for 45 minutes, before Luke O’Nien drove home a ricocheted shot from Chris Maguire, who would have to settle for the unorthodox assist after creating chances throughout. Lyndon Gooch, last season’s joint top scorer, coming off the bench eager to prove a point, waltzed through late on to add an impressive second. Having bolstered the spine of the squad with Bailey Wright and Aiden O’Brien, as well as adding an experienced goalscorer in Danny Graham, this may be the season Sunderland begin to move back upwards.

 

4) If the financial restrictions caused by Covid-19 will push the majority of league clubs to look at more shorter team deals then Doncaster Rovers are very well prepared with Darren Moore at the helm. Having been the former manager of loans at West Brom, few will know the temporary market better than Moore, who has utilised his contacts to bring in goalkeeper Josef Bursik, a recent addition to England’s u-21 squad, and Taylor Richards, from Stoke and Brighton respectively. But at Charlton it was 19 year old Arsenal striker Tyreece John Jules who caught the eye, dancing through the home defence to score a sublime third. Prospective new owner Thomas Sandgaard joined the 1,000 fans inside the Valley to watch his potential new club but, with Lee Bowyer currently operating under transfer embargo, will be desperate to supply his manager with a few new defenders after witnessing makeshift centre-half Darren Prately kindly abandon possession for Madger Gomes to rifle in the first before Charlie Barker slid the ball into his own net for the second in a 1-3 defeat.

 

5) Morecambe provided the coupon-buster of the week on the opening day with a 0-2 victory at last season’s play-off semi finalists Cheltenham, but Cambridge brought the Shrimpers crashing back down to earth at the freshly named Mazuma stadium. 38 year old Wes Hoolahan volleyed in the opener and rolled back the years to orchestrate proceedings, linking up well with fellow new arrival Paul Mullin, who bagged two in a 0-5 rout on the north west coast. With goalkeeper Jake Turner, on loan from Newcastle, playing behind Kelvin Mellor, Nathaniel Knight-Percival, Harry Davis and Stephen Hendrie, manager Derek Adams fielded an entirely new back five for Morecambe and will be hoping they can gel quickly in order to avoid any future horror shows.

 

6) The act of taking the knee before matches to support the Black Lives Matter movement has been a notable introduction since domestic football returned post-lockdown, a stand against forms of discrimination. However it was easy to feel that QPR, before their game with Coventry on Friday, were fully justified in their decision to break with the fast-growing tradition. Without autonomy, the message loses power and that is what QPR’s Director of Football Les Ferdinand was getting at when he referred to the gesture as “diluted” and “little more than good PR”. As the only black Director of Football in a pyramid that possesses just 6 BAME managers among its 92 clubs, it is easy to agree with him when he says football should “be looking more inward” when trying to combat discrimination that has taken insidious forms as well as struggling to shake off the more lucid incidents that continue to blight it. Kick It Out reported a 42% increase in reports of discrimination, with a 53% rise in reports of racism, during the 19/20 season and it takes a large pinch of naivety to believe that taking the knee alone will have any discernible effect.