The new League One season is up and running. MIKE BACON takes a look at the stories making the headlines, some juicy, some not so!
Game of the day
Milton Keynes Dons versus Sheffield Wednesday
MK Dons suffered a surprise defeat at Cambridge United on opening weekend, while Sheffield Wednesday drew with Portsmouth at home. Both teams will be desperate for a first three points today.
Despite having 67% of possession at Cambridge, Liam Manning's MK Dons side failed to have one shot on target. All very unlike MK!
Only four players from last season took to the field for the Dons at the Abbey Stadium, there has been plenty of player movement this summer.
"It does take time to gel," Manning said after the game last weekend..... Now where have Ipswich fans heard that before?
'I will probably know most of the supporters,' says Tykes boss
Barnsley boss Michael Duff has joked that he'll know most of the travelling Cheltenham fans at Oakwell this afternoon.
The former Cheltenham boss' first home game in charge of Barnsley today is against his old club. Duff won three promotions as a player at the Robins between 1996 and 2004, returning as manager in 2018 to lead them to their first EFL title in 2020/21, before moving to Barnsley.
“I will have a load of family there and I will probably know most of the away supporters because it’s pretty much the same 200 or 300 who travel to every game."
More 'vocal' says Jimmy
Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink is looking for a bit more 'vocal' from his Burton side.
Hasselbaink was asked this week what was said at half-time, with the Brewers 0-3 down at Wycombe on opening day last Saturday.
“Normally, (at half-time) I’d rather not have to say anything, the team takes over. But we don’t have that kind of group yet,” said Hasselbaink.
“There are quite a lot of young boys and some new players. The older ones I’ve bought in, like Calum Butcher, Sam Hughes, would open their mouths and say something but they weren’t playing."
Burton entertain Bristol Rovers today.
Do you still see them as 'little Wycombe'?
Gareth Ainsworth has said he feels some people still see his Wanderers side as 'little Wycombe.'
Speaking ahead of today's clash with another Wanderers, Bolton, Ainsworth felt it best not to look at past records against clubs, as they don't matter, even though Wycombe have never lost to Bolton. They've met four times in all competitions.
"Club’s change quickly and Bolton’s team, personnel, ownership and everything else have changed," Ainsworth said, keeping a lid on expectation after that opening day win over Burton.
"A few years ago, we were the whipping boys in League Two and now, we have a way of performing and outperforming people’s expectations. I think people still look at us as ‘little Wycombe’.
Not sure we do, Gareth.
More subs please
Charlton Athletic boss Ben Garner says he would like to be able to name the same number of players on the bench as Premier League clubs.
League One clubs are allowed to name up to seven substitutes this season and make five substitutions, while the Premier League allow a total of nine substitutes to be named on the bench.
"If you’re going to have the five I’d rather have nine on the bench. You’ve got more options then," Garner, whose side entertain Derby today, said.
Quite so, Ben. Although some of us remember the days when teams had just one substitute.... and coped.
Hitting the mark
Three of League One's teams had attendances that beat every club in the Championship last weekend, except Sunderland.
The Black Cats attendance of 40.851 was the highest in the Championship, but next highest was Middlesbrough's 26,567.
In League One, Derby (31,053), Sheffield Wednesday (26,901) and Ipswich Town (26,688) all beat Boro's attendance figure and consequently would have seen them take second, third and fourth places in a Championship attendance table on opening day.
Clearly, everyone loves a League One game!
Nice, ice, Argyle
Two of the stars of the National Hockey League in North America are part of the investment group which has bought into Plymouth Argyle.
Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman and Ondrej Palat, a winger from the Czech Republic, are members of Argyle Green LLC, who are investing £4m into the club in exchange for a 20 per cent shareholding.
Hedman and Palat are leading figures in ice hockey, and were team-mates when the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.
Plymouth had better get their skates on then, they're at Fleetwood today!
And finally....
Shrewsbury Town boss Steve Cotterill believes League One is becoming harder to play in – with more big clubs now competing in the division.
“I do feel the league is getting bigger and bigger, and more difficult,” he said.
“If you think where you have got to be to finish in mid to top half, you have to be above some big clubs."
He's not wrong, to be fair.
Who's meeting who... today's fixtures
Barnsley v Cheltenham; Bolton v Wycombe; Burton v Bristol Rovers; Charlton v Derby; Exeter v Port Vale; Fleetwood v Plymouth; Forest Green Rovers v Ipswich Town; Milton Keynes v Sheffield Wednesday; Oxford United v Cambridge United; Peterborough v Morecambe; Portsmouth v Lincoln; Shrewsbury v Accrington Stanley.
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