Administrators have begun an exclusive period of negotiation with American private equity company Arise Capital Partners. However, Arise's offer would not meet the EFL's requirement to repay creditors 25p in the pound, which would mean the Owls starting life back in League One with a significant handicap.
Port Vale pulled off a huge upset as they beat Premier League side Sunderland 1-0 in the FA Cup on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals. It's the first time in 72 years that the Stoke-on-Trent club have reached the last eight of the competition, and just the second time in their history they've reached this stage, as it was a famous victory.
Opening Tuesday's showdown sat just three points adrift of skyrocketing into the play-off places, Reading should also be excited by their extended success on home soil. Unbeaten in front of their own supporters since the start of December, Richardson's side have also gained a reputation for their lively outcomes at the Select Car Leasing Stadium. Including consecutive 2-2 stalemates against Exeter and Barnsley last month, the Royals have seen their last three home fixtures produce 13 goals at both ends of the pitch.
Caldwell, 43, has been in charge at Exeter City since 2022 but returns to the club where he spent six seasons as a player and 18 months in the dugout from April 2015. In his first spell, Caldwell could not prevent the Latics being relegated to League One but brought them back to the Championship as champions in 2016. He was, however, sacked in October of that year following a poor start to the season.
Our staff put a lot of effort into sending those reports but from now on there's no point. There's no acknowledgement of what we're saying, it's just ignored. We get a reply but the reply is always in agreement with what's happened. It's not good enough. We're not going to waste our time on it, we're going to focus on what we're doing for Cardiff city and try to give our supporters and players the protection they need.
Wigan Athletic have sacked manager Ryan Lowe after 11 months in charge following their 6-1 thrashing by Peterborough United on Saturday. The dismal defeat dropped the Latics into the relegation zone, with the club having won just once in their past 10 League One fixtures. They were 11th in the table when they beat Burton on 2 December, but are now 22nd, two points from safety, after 29 matches.
Port Vale have appointed former Northampton Town boss Jon Brady as their new manager on an 18-month contract. The 50-year-old Australian replaces Darren Moore, who was sacked on 28 December after a run of seven defeats in nine games left the League One side bottom of the table, 10 points adrift of safety. Brady, who resigned as Cobblers manager just over a year ago, has the task of trying to keep Vale, with just four wins from 23 games this season, in the third tier.
As a new year begins, the race to reach the Premier League is even by the Championship's usual standards absolutely wide open. Coventry remain the clear front-runners, but their blistering early form has slowed in recent weeks; Frank Lampard will seek to start the new year on a high against out-of-form Charlton today. Behind them, Middlesbrough (at Derby), Ipswich (at home to Oxford) and Hull City (at home to Stoke) will look to keep up the chase.
Extending on their EFL Trophy adventure last time out as they stormed their way to a stunning 7-2 romp away at Salford, Matt Hamshaw's side will be desperate to use that season-best performance as a platform to build on going forward. Knowing that they can find a route into the top-half of the League One standings in midweek, the Reds have not suffered a single defeat within 90 minutes from any of their previous 13 consecutive appearances across all competitions.
Although the former Swansea boss might have only arrived at London Road last month, the Posh are riding a major wave of momentum and suddenly find the mood in their camp at a red-hot high. Last seen over the weekend putting in another dominant display as they cruised their way to an empathic 3-0 victory at home against title dreamers Stockport, the Cambridgeshire-based outfit will be confident of collecting another heavyweight League One scalp.
Despite still scrapping it out in the relegation spots, the former Swansea boss has made an immediate impact since arriving at London Road. Making a real statement earlier in the month as they stormed their way to a 5-0 League One romp against AFC Wimbledon, Peterborough have now won all of their previous three consecutive appearances across all competitions by an aggregate score of 8-1.
The English Football League (EFL) allows clubs to postpone fixtures should they receive a sufficient number of call-ups. At least three of players have to be selected for their country's senior, under-21, under-20 or under-19 sides in order to request a postponement. International age group players only qualify if they have: Started at least 25% of their club's matches Featured in a club's previous five first-team matches
After a wait of two-and-a-half years one of the fiercest rivalries in English football returns on Thursday night as Exeter City host Plymouth Argyle. In a county far away from most other football clubs and more known for holidays and cream teas the Devon derby is a huge deal - Exeter's St James Park sold out weeks ago and the game is live on television.
A whopping two 3pm (BST) kick-offs in the Premier League has me questioning what's happened to this country. At least they are two games with plenty of intrigue. West Ham make a trip on the Overground from Stratford to Highbury and Islington (because all players live at the stadiums they play in) for Nuno Espirito Santo's second game in charge of the Hammers.
With four goals in his opening seven appearances, Jackson said his striker started the season with "a point to prove". "He was there week in, week out and I didn't feel the team functioned as well without him. So probably partly down to me playing him so much that he had a little bit of a drop off," Jackson told BBC Radio London.
