Gab Sutton's EFL Winners & Losers - September 27-28
Gab Sutton 
After another topsy-turvy EFL weekend, with surprise results for betting sites shaking up the Championship, League One and League Two..
Free Bets EFL expert Gab Sutton picks out his biggest winners and losers from the latest round of action.
Winners
Charlton
Charlton reaffirmed their Championship credentials with a 3-0 thumping of Blackburn.
Individually, there’s not an enormous amount of pedigree at this level based on the names, though some of them have played in the second tier before, yet collectively, they’ve been a real force.
Sonny Carey rammed home that point, quite literally, with a thunderous strike for the second goal, while James Bree’s movement and link-up play, before netting the third in stoppage time, was quite something.
Nathan Jones has created a siege mentality at the Valley, which is looking likely to see them at least beat the drop.
Plymouth
After starting the season with four straight defeats, Plymouth Argyle have shown signs of recovery with four wins in six, following a 4-0 thumping of Burton Albion on their own turf last time out.
Tom Cleverley’s side started slowly at the Pirelli but, from the first half’s midway point onwards, they were dominant with their brisk, fast-paced style.
Law McCabe was a class act in midfield for Argyle, Bradley Ibrahim brought the fun factor in the number 10 spot, while Lorent Tolaj was a constant danger with his potent running in behind.
This is a young team that’s had a high turnover of players this summer, so patience has been needed; they’re far from the finished article, but the hallmarks of a Cleverley team are firmly in place.
Grimsby
Scoring seven in a Football League fixture for the first time in 100 years, Grimsby’s record-testing afternoon was helped somewhat by opponents Cheltenham playing the last 40 minutes with nine men.
It was in that period that the Mariners scored five of their goals, after a two-minute pair of first-half screamers from Jamie Walker overturned an initial deficit.
Nonetheless, Town exposed the numerical disadvantage of their opponents expertly and, on the balance of chances, would likely have won comfortably even if the game had played out as 11v11.
Jayden Sweeney got forward superbly from left-back, joining Walker with a brace, Jaze Kabia was a constant pest once again and grabbed another goal, while Charles Vernam continued his sparkling early-season form with two direct goal involvements.
Helped by opposition stupidity? Very much so, but that’s not Grimsby’s fault – that’s 18 points from 10 games, now, for David Artell’s side.
Losers
Birmingham
After Lyndon Dykes’ late header gave Birmingham the high of victory over Swansea, it was back to a low for Chris Davies’ side, who have lost three of their last four Championship games.
They’d struggled to create first-half chances, in response to Brandon Thomas-Asante’s early opener, but the job of turning that around in the second half were made much more difficult by Jack Robinson’s dismissal just before the break, with Bright Osayi-Samuel giving them an uphill task with an own goal early in the second half, before Victor Torp added a third.
Birmingham’s dilemma is epitomised by the struggles of Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-Ho: both were outstanding in the League One title win, but have had some difficulty adapting to the physicality and tempo of the Championship.
Burton
It’s always difficult for Burton in League One. Even under the ownership of Nordic Football Group, in which there’s a bit more to spend, it’s still a bottom-four budget for the Brewers, who have little leeway when it comes to recruitment.
Quite understandably, the club left room in the squad to act at the end of the window, and accrue high-quality loans at minimal cost that could have made all the difference to their season.
Instead, the East Staffordshire outfit missed out on ones they were hoping for, and it’s left them two or three players short of where they’d like to be.
Toby Sibbick, for instance, is having to play in the middle of the back-three when the team is really missing a replacement for key defender Ryan Sweeney, who left for Mansfield.
Meanwhile, the club is yet to replace the profile of forwards Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Rumarn Burrell, who were so important in the second half of last season.
Their frustration continued with a 4-0 home defeat to Plymouth Argyle, so boss Gary Bowyer has to find a way for his side to stay in touch with the teams above them until January, when it’s crucial they find those missing pieces.
MK Dons
After Michael Flynn was sacked last week, Cheltenham had one game under the interim stewardship of Aaron Downes and Ashley Vincent, before club legend Steve Cotterill is set to return to the club early this week.
It didn’t go as hoped, with the initial promise of an early opener from Isaac Hutchinson scuppered by a two-minute double salvo from the opposition, Harry Pell’s rash challenge and red card just before the interval, then Lee Angol’s dismissal shortly after.
After a similarly poor showing against Oldham the week before, Cotterill has a huge job on his hands – but is best known for his front-footed man management style, and his ability to drill teams into shape like an army general.
The Robins need to find some organisation, and refamiliarize themselves with the intangibles, as quickly as possible to preserve their EFL status.
