When you've had Roy Keane threatening to give you a World Cup Trophy enema, a few defeats aren't going to startle you too badly. Mick McCarthy told his players not to get het up about a run of bad form that had seen them relinquish their lead at the top of the Championship. To their credit, his players did indeed look relaxed at the start of Saturday's meeting with Coventry. So relaxed, in fact, they watched with zen-like calm as Coventry strolled through the Wolves defence to make it 1-0 and smiled encouragingly as Michael Mifsud nearly made it 2-0 with a rollicking counter-attack.
All this free love might have been good for the players' blood pressure, but no so good for their credibility and when they finally decided to play ugly, the game was turned round. Michael Kightly showed Chris Iwelumo how to put the ball into an empty(ish) net before Sylvan Ebanks-Blake scored a controversial winner. The striker's momentum had taken him off the pitch as he crossed for a Kightly shot which Kieran Westwood parried. Ebanks-Blake then popped back on to the pitch – in an offside position – and promptly scored.
"I've had it explained to me," said McCarthy. "He ran off the pitch and you're not offside if you fall off. You're not seeking to gain an advantage by staying off the pitch. So, if that's the rule, he's not offside. While the decision may have been technically correct – and unlike some goals this season it actually crossed the line – the rules should be looked at and Ebanks-Blake could have had the grace to look slightly more sheepish when he celebrated.
• To the Sheffield derby now, where someone thought it would be sensible to whip up the sense of brotherly love at the match by getting the Royal Marines to display streetfighting techniques at half-time – skills that were no doubt put to use round the lanes and alleys of Hillsborough after the game.
My colleague John Ashdown's match report tells the full story of a game that involved a couple of sendings off, a splendid hissy fit and a spot of (on-field) fighting. It was a hugely significant victory for Wednesday though. United - playing well on the pitch and well-organised off it – looked like they would be the dominant side in the city this season. Yesterday's result sneaks Wednesday into fifth place, one above the Blades, and gives them hope for the future.
* Wolves' victory looked even better after Birmingham drew at Burnley and Reading lost to Preston. Blues once again looked unconvincing as they snatched a point, and Burnley should have been awarded a late penalty. "We were much better in the second 45 minutes," said Alex McLeish. But that wasn't really saying much.
* If Reading miss out on promotion this season it will be down to sloppy defensive mistakes, rather than any deficiencies in their terrifying attacking prowess. Reading keeper Marcus Hahnemann was the main offender at the weekend. He has been campaigning for a new contract, although his case wasn't exactly strengthened by two errors that handed to victory to Preston.
• If you're going to stuff things up, you might as well do it in style and Southampton went to town as they missed two penalties – one when the game was 0-0 – in a 3-0 defeat to Watford. The missed spot-kicks were galling enough for Saints fans, but more worrying was their defenders' complete lack of concentration for Watford's goals.
• Quote of the week comes from Colin Calderwood, who is commendably upbeat for a man whose position in the league is distinctly subprime and last won a league game in August. "We'll get through this stage and will be better for it. We'll end up stronger." In Calderwood's defence, Forest did play some very nice football at the weekend but defeat to QPR means they're now five points from safety.
• There was a time when Neil Harris' goalscoring feats were outrageous enough that a villager on a remote Malaysian island once told me the Millwall striker was his favourite player – they did have satellite TV on the island, but still. Harris has never been quite the same after a fight with testicular cancer, but he was outstanding at the weekend, scoring two and setting up another in Millwall's 3-1 victory over Leeds. Harris is now just three goals off Teddy Sheringham's goalscoring record for the Lions.
• Millwall are now up to third in the table after Leicester and Oldham drew. The real beneficiaries of the weekend, though were Scunthorpe. Matthew Sparrow's last-minute goal gave them a 2-1 win over Cheltenham and a two-point lead at the top of League One.
• The result of the week was at the Don Valley Stadium, where Barnet were reduced to 10 men after half an hour but still found themselves 4-1 up with 20 minutes to go. Rotherham fought back to 4-3 and hit the bar towards the end of the game, but it was a fine sight to see Barnet go for the win rather than defend and hope for the best.
• Forget Chelsea's 5-0 over Boro: if it's swashbuckling football you want take a look at Shrewsbury Town. They beat Bournemouth 4-1 on Saturday to go with a 7-0 victory over Gillingham and a 4-0 win over Macclesfield earlier in the season.
