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It’s tough in the Championship. A run of games without a win can see a team tumble down the table like a reluctant child on a playground slide. A few wins, however, can see a team catapult itself towards the glorious summit. Look at Blackpool, for example. Undefeated in 2012, with only two losses since the start of November, Ian Holloway’s men find themselves in the play-off positions, and after last night’s win at Sheffield Wednesday, in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Tom Hopkinson of The People thinks the secret behind Blackpool’s success is their potent strike force. “Ian Holloway made so many friends when he brought Blackpool up to the Premier League, and everyone enjoyed the entertaining nature in which they played the game. They have Matt Phillips at one end of his career and Kevin Phillips at the other end, they’re bouncing off each other very well. I’ve been very impressed with Matt, he was someone to keep an eye on when he was at Wycombe, and Ollie did well to pick him up. Kevin Phillips, what can you say? He’s 38 years old, he’s been there and done it and he’ll get you goals at every level.”

Kevin Phillips may be a goalscorer extraordinaire, but could he cut it as a manager? Ian Ridley of the Daily Express thinks so. “He’s been everywhere and seen lots of managers, it’s whether he’s got the hunger to do it after a long playing career, but he’s certainly got the footballing brain to do it. I have to say it would be a wonderful swansong to his career if Blackpool made it up [to the Premier League] again. It was a canny signing by Holloway, he knows the lower divisions brilliantly.”

Meanwhile, at the top of the Championship table, West Ham came from behind to beat local rivals Millwall at the weekend in a heated London derby, a win which Sam Allardyce called “the best win of my career”. “It was difficult to ascertain what he meant,” says John Cross of the Daily Mirror. “I think it was coming off the back of a very disappointing defeat against Ipswich, and also in the heat of a really fierce derby. Every supporter thinks their own derby is the hottest, but blimey, as a neutral speaking, there’s no love lost there. He wheeled and dealed in the window, and I think he’s come out stronger on the other side. They’ll still be inconsistent, but I think they’ll go up as champions.”

The panel also discusses Chris Hughton’s job at Birmingham, and rumours linking Roy Keane with a move to Millwall.

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