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It’s much better to spend the night working out the various combinations that will get your team where you want them than it is on New Year’s Eve because it’s overrated.

What have Watford been drinking lately, and is it time to take Hull City seriously in the Championship?

In League One, surprise names appear at both ends of the table, while Huddersfield, a big dog, is a reality.

Hull City needs to be discussed. No, we actually do.

It’s time we took notice when four victories from a five-game unbeaten run come in handy, but when you factor in victories against Middlesbrough, Millwall, West Bromwich Albion, and Wrexham, it’s obvious.

Additionally, Joe Gelhardt, the Championship’s joint second-best scorer, may need to wait at least another fortnight before he can add to his 10 goals, while Mohamed Belloumi, a winger, has also been added to the list of casualties.

The Tigers have quietly slipped into fourth place, two points clear of the automatic promotion spots, under Sergej Jakirovic, a previously unknown boss.

After Monday’s victory at Middlesbrough, Jakirovic expressed his satisfaction that the team is playing well and that it will push this goal, but it won’t be simple because everyone is struggling with injuries.

He has won titles in his native Bosnia and Croatia, but his ability to sustain it with limited trading options in the January transfer window will put his skills to the test.

Also, before East Yorkshire fans get too excited, they might want to take a look at Thursday’s MKM Stadium opponent Stoke (15:00 GMT) before they get too excited.

The Potters are now in 10th place, four points off the top six, after falling behind in their previous seven outings, as they did at the end of November.

There is something about the Hornets and Javi Gracia that just works, despite the fact that it is not often the words “perfect fit” and “manager” and “Watford.”

Even though they only hired him four months after he had won the FA Cup final and had already held 12 appointments, he is now back on his feet as the Prince of, well, Vicarage Road.

Watford moved into the play-off places for the first time this season thanks to their dramatic late-game victory over Norwich on Monday, where they currently lead the Championship’s form guide with 14 points from an unbeaten six-game run.

“I adore Christmas working!” Never did I anticipate having the ability to say it. After Carrow Road won, Gracia described it as “extraordinary” to have three wins in a row.

It’s something to be proud of, the team, and the players who are also involved, “.

Although it is 17th vs. 12th in the context of a Championship season, which makes it seem like a big game (during the GMT period) and could be seen by those who aren’t directly involved, meh?

So why do we want to highlight something a little meh? Because it is a little meh and shouldn’t be, it is.

Sheffield United finished second in the table this year before falling in the play-off final, while Leicester, in the Premier League, had just lost to Liverpool and Manchester City in successive games.

Both were anticipated to be challenging this season, but they are not for a variety of reasons.

After six straight defeats to the season, the Blades realized Chris Wilder was the way to go, so they hired him back to take over as Ruben Selles.

Leicester have threatened to enter the promotion race despite the possibility of a points deduction, but sporadic defensive horror shows like a 4-1 hammering at QPR have prevented them.

Huddersfield Town have had nine managers since being dropped from the Premier League in 2019 to reclaim the position.

They come in all shapes and sizes: old people, club legends, Europeans, and now Lee Grant, a rookie in his first role as the top man.

The Terriers are a big dog in League One, with crowds of 18 000 and a squad that many people envy.

Three straight wins have given the impression that they may be about to end. It has been a stuttering season.

Last year, League One was home to two of the bottom four League Two players.

19 months ago, League Two’s leaders were a non-league team.

Some people lose out on opportunities, but no one respects reputation.

As Shrewsbury and Rovers of Bristol meet in Shropshire (15:00 GMT) with their heads just above the dreaded dotted line, they will not regret seeing the back of 2025 come to an end.

Rovers are currently the EFL’s worst performers after losing 30 league games. With their respective league standings in jeopardy, Shrewsbury lost 27 games, making them joint-second worst. Both of those losses resulted in relegation, so this might not be for the faint-hearted.

Bromley, in contrast, have embraced the EFL like a duck under Andy Woodman, who won 11th overall and is now leading the charge with a five-game winning streak.

They will want to extend that record to Newport, which is currently the only EFL team without defeat, at home (15:00 GMT).

Shrewsbury and Rovers of Bristol will be interested in helping the Ravens.

“They say that you can tell a lot about the character of a person by how people show up for them when they’ve gone.”

The funeral British boxer Anthony Yarde is telling BBC Sport about drew hundreds of people on to the streets of Hackney, London, and more than 1,000 also reportedly attended his wake.

They were paying their respects to James Cook, a former British and European super-middleweight champion, who died in June at the age of 66.

But they were remembering him as much more than a boxer or a coach.

To many, his most memorable fights were against the knives, guns and drugs in a notoriously violent area of the capital and his greatest successes were steering youngsters away from that path, particularly though his work at the Pedro Youth Club that was recognised with an MBE.

“When he was in the ring, he was fighting for people’s entertainment. Afterwards, when he was out of the ring, he was fighting another fight, it was to help people,” light-heavyweight Yarde said.

Among the well known names to pay tribute to Cook when he died was boxing promoter Frank Warren, who posted on social media that he was a “true gentleman of our sport”.

After about 25 amateur fights, losing only six, Cook turned professional. In 1990 he won the British super-middleweight title, followed by the European crown a year later. His final fight came in 1994, when he lost the British title to Cornelius Carr.

Cook never won a world title, but he fought among Britain’s elite, including Michael Watson, Nigel Benn, Herol Graham.

Yarde added Cook to his coaching team in 2020, saying he brought “a lot of love and warmth to any room” and held him up as a positive role model beyond boxing.

“The way he spoke about his wife, that’s love,” Yarde said.

“After the age of 12 years old, my dad wasn’t really in my life so, to see someone of that age talk about their wife the way they did, it was incredible.”

Cook’s understanding of people began long before boxing.

Raised by his grandparents in Jamaica until he joined his parents in London at the age of nine, his grandmother ran the household with warmth and discipline, instilling responsibility and kindness.

“She taught us manners and respect,” he wrote in his autobiography Guardian of the Streets, often reminding him money meant little compared with how you treated others.

It was this ethos than ran through his approach to youth work, most notably at the Pedro Club – a youth club in Hackney that he saved from closure in 2003.

The club had been part of Hackney since 1929, sitting between three major housing estates on what became known as “Murder Mile”.

To Cook, who had grown up on a tough council estate in London when he moved from Jamaica, closing it “didn’t make sense” as “there was nothing else for kids to do”.

He understood the pressures facing young people — absent role models, distorted ideas of success, the pull of street life.

His response was not lectures, but structure, honesty and consistency – delivered through the opportunity to play sport, make music and learn life skills and underpinned by the discipline and respect learned in his boxing.

He insisted on good manners – and language to match, once revealing he told anyone using bad language they would have to get in the ring with him.

His work was praised by police in an article in the Independent in 2007 for “helping us to cut down crime and making our streets safer” and that Cook was “doing a fantastic job with youngsters who are hardest to reach”.

Cook would often stand at the top of the stairs of the youth club – a towering presence at 6ft 2ins – watching the street, greeting people and calling out to anyone who lingered too long outside.

“He was like a king on his throne,” recalled Natasha Patterson. “Always there. Always watching over things.”

Patterson used to walk past the Pedro and Cook would shout that the club needed volunteers. At first she didn’t go in but eventually she listened.

She started small — helping in the kitchen, supporting youth activities — before Cook nudged her towards boxing coaching, even when she doubted herself.

Over time, she earned her badges, travelled the country alongside him delivering talks about the club, and became Pedro’s head boxing coach.

“He was the first man I ever met who truly believed in me,” she said. “He made me feel like I could do anything.”

Cook often had to put his own money into the club or fundraise and faced regular battles to save the club from closing down to keep alive his mission to keep kids off the street.

What set Cook apart was his authority without intimidation. Former cruiserweight world champion Johnny Nelson described it as his “superpower”.

“People respected him out of love, not fear,” Nelson said. “The young listened to him. The old listened to him.”

Cook was awarded an MBE in 2007 for services to youth justice, but he wore honours lightly. Patterson never saw flash cars or designer clothes.

“Just James in an Adidas tracksuit,” she said. “That was him.”

His wife Carmen saw first hand the balance he struck between boxing, community work and family.

“They say that you can tell a lot about the character of a person by how people show up for them when they’ve gone.”

The funeral British boxer Anthony Yarde is telling BBC Sport about drew hundreds of people on to the streets of Hackney, London, and more than 1,000 also reportedly attended his wake.

They were paying their respects to James Cook, a former British and European super-middleweight champion, who died in June at the age of 66.

But they were remembering him as much more than a boxer or a coach.

To many, his most memorable fights were against the knives, guns and drugs in a notoriously violent area of the capital and his greatest successes were steering youngsters away from that path, particularly though his work at the Pedro Youth Club that was recognised with an MBE.

“When he was in the ring, he was fighting for people’s entertainment. Afterwards, when he was out of the ring, he was fighting another fight, it was to help people,” light-heavyweight Yarde said.

Among the well known names to pay tribute to Cook when he died was boxing promoter Frank Warren, who posted on social media that he was a “true gentleman of our sport”.

After about 25 amateur fights, losing only six, Cook turned professional. In 1990 he won the British super-middleweight title, followed by the European crown a year later. His final fight came in 1994, when he lost the British title to Cornelius Carr.

Cook never won a world title, but he fought among Britain’s elite, including Michael Watson, Nigel Benn, Herol Graham.

Yarde added Cook to his coaching team in 2020, saying he brought “a lot of love and warmth to any room” and held him up as a positive role model beyond boxing.

“The way he spoke about his wife, that’s love,” Yarde said.

“After the age of 12 years old, my dad wasn’t really in my life so, to see someone of that age talk about their wife the way they did, it was incredible.”

Cook’s understanding of people began long before boxing.

Raised by his grandparents in Jamaica until he joined his parents in London at the age of nine, his grandmother ran the household with warmth and discipline, instilling responsibility and kindness.

“She taught us manners and respect,” he wrote in his autobiography Guardian of the Streets, often reminding him money meant little compared with how you treated others.

It was this ethos than ran through his approach to youth work, most notably at the Pedro Club – a youth club in Hackney that he saved from closure in 2003.

The club had been part of Hackney since 1929, sitting between three major housing estates on what became known as “Murder Mile”.

To Cook, who had grown up on a tough council estate in London when he moved from Jamaica, closing it “didn’t make sense” as “there was nothing else for kids to do”.

He understood the pressures facing young people — absent role models, distorted ideas of success, the pull of street life.

His response was not lectures, but structure, honesty and consistency – delivered through the opportunity to play sport, make music and learn life skills and underpinned by the discipline and respect learned in his boxing.

He insisted on good manners – and language to match, once revealing he told anyone using bad language they would have to get in the ring with him.

His work was praised by police in an article in the Independent in 2007 for “helping us to cut down crime and making our streets safer” and that Cook was “doing a fantastic job with youngsters who are hardest to reach”.

Cook would often stand at the top of the stairs of the youth club – a towering presence at 6ft 2ins – watching the street, greeting people and calling out to anyone who lingered too long outside.

“He was like a king on his throne,” recalled Natasha Patterson. “Always there. Always watching over things.”

Patterson used to walk past the Pedro and Cook would shout that the club needed volunteers. At first she didn’t go in but eventually she listened.

She started small — helping in the kitchen, supporting youth activities — before Cook nudged her towards boxing coaching, even when she doubted herself.

Over time, she earned her badges, travelled the country alongside him delivering talks about the club, and became Pedro’s head boxing coach.

“He was the first man I ever met who truly believed in me,” she said. “He made me feel like I could do anything.”

Cook often had to put his own money into the club or fundraise and faced regular battles to save the club from closing down to keep alive his mission to keep kids off the street.

What set Cook apart was his authority without intimidation. Former cruiserweight world champion Johnny Nelson described it as his “superpower”.

“People respected him out of love, not fear,” Nelson said. “The young listened to him. The old listened to him.”

Cook was awarded an MBE in 2007 for services to youth justice, but he wore honours lightly. Patterson never saw flash cars or designer clothes.

“Just James in an Adidas tracksuit,” she said. “That was him.”

His wife Carmen saw first hand the balance he struck between boxing, community work and family.

“They say that you can tell a lot about the character of a person by how people show up for them when they’ve gone.”

The funeral British boxer Anthony Yarde is telling BBC Sport about drew hundreds of people on to the streets of Hackney, London, and more than 1,000 also reportedly attended his wake.

They were paying their respects to James Cook, a former British and European super-middleweight champion, who died in June at the age of 66.

But they were remembering him as much more than a boxer or a coach.

To many, his most memorable fights were against the knives, guns and drugs in a notoriously violent area of the capital and his greatest successes were steering youngsters away from that path, particularly though his work at the Pedro Youth Club that was recognised with an MBE.

“When he was in the ring, he was fighting for people’s entertainment. Afterwards, when he was out of the ring, he was fighting another fight, it was to help people,” light-heavyweight Yarde said.

Among the well known names to pay tribute to Cook when he died was boxing promoter Frank Warren, who posted on social media that he was a “true gentleman of our sport”.

After about 25 amateur fights, losing only six, Cook turned professional. In 1990 he won the British super-middleweight title, followed by the European crown a year later. His final fight came in 1994, when he lost the British title to Cornelius Carr.

Cook never won a world title, but he fought among Britain’s elite, including Michael Watson, Nigel Benn, Herol Graham.

Yarde added Cook to his coaching team in 2020, saying he brought “a lot of love and warmth to any room” and held him up as a positive role model beyond boxing.

“The way he spoke about his wife, that’s love,” Yarde said.

“After the age of 12 years old, my dad wasn’t really in my life so, to see someone of that age talk about their wife the way they did, it was incredible.”

Cook’s understanding of people began long before boxing.

Raised by his grandparents in Jamaica until he joined his parents in London at the age of nine, his grandmother ran the household with warmth and discipline, instilling responsibility and kindness.

“She taught us manners and respect,” he wrote in his autobiography Guardian of the Streets, often reminding him money meant little compared with how you treated others.

It was this ethos than ran through his approach to youth work, most notably at the Pedro Club – a youth club in Hackney that he saved from closure in 2003.

The club had been part of Hackney since 1929, sitting between three major housing estates on what became known as “Murder Mile”.

To Cook, who had grown up on a tough council estate in London when he moved from Jamaica, closing it “didn’t make sense” as “there was nothing else for kids to do”.

He understood the pressures facing young people — absent role models, distorted ideas of success, the pull of street life.

His response was not lectures, but structure, honesty and consistency – delivered through the opportunity to play sport, make music and learn life skills and underpinned by the discipline and respect learned in his boxing.

He insisted on good manners – and language to match, once revealing he told anyone using bad language they would have to get in the ring with him.

His work was praised by police in an article in the Independent in 2007 for “helping us to cut down crime and making our streets safer” and that Cook was “doing a fantastic job with youngsters who are hardest to reach”.

Cook would often stand at the top of the stairs of the youth club – a towering presence at 6ft 2ins – watching the street, greeting people and calling out to anyone who lingered too long outside.

“He was like a king on his throne,” recalled Natasha Patterson. “Always there. Always watching over things.”

Patterson used to walk past the Pedro and Cook would shout that the club needed volunteers. At first she didn’t go in but eventually she listened.

She started small — helping in the kitchen, supporting youth activities — before Cook nudged her towards boxing coaching, even when she doubted herself.

Over time, she earned her badges, travelled the country alongside him delivering talks about the club, and became Pedro’s head boxing coach.

“He was the first man I ever met who truly believed in me,” she said. “He made me feel like I could do anything.”

Cook often had to put his own money into the club or fundraise and faced regular battles to save the club from closing down to keep alive his mission to keep kids off the street.

What set Cook apart was his authority without intimidation. Former cruiserweight world champion Johnny Nelson described it as his “superpower”.

“People respected him out of love, not fear,” Nelson said. “The young listened to him. The old listened to him.”

Cook was awarded an MBE in 2007 for services to youth justice, but he wore honours lightly. Patterson never saw flash cars or designer clothes.

“Just James in an Adidas tracksuit,” she said. “That was him.”

His wife Carmen saw first hand the balance he struck between boxing, community work and family.