Can Coventry stay top? Aaron McLean's EFL takeaways

This weekend's EFL action provided its usual mix of ecstasy and despair - not least at Hillsborough, where new Championship leaders Coventry thrashed troubled Sheffield Wednesday 5-0.

Former Peterborough, Hull and Bradford striker - and Final Score's EFL pundit - Aaron McLean sifts through some of the main talking points and gives his five takeaways from across the Championship, League One and League Two.

Narrowly defeated in the Championship play-offs last season, Coventry are currently unbeaten this term and have soared into top spot after rattling in 12 goals - and conceding none - in their past three games.

Could last year's play-off heartbreak actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Frank Lampard's Sky Blues?

McLean: They definitely look like they've learned from last season and improved and that was always going to be the biggest test. At the moment they've passed that test with flying colours.

It's not uncommon to see teams have a slight hangover and feel sorry for themselves, but Coventry haven't done that. I actually feel if they were to go on and get promotion this season it'd be better timing than last season - you can go up too early.

Frank Lampard got his message across last year in terms of the structure and the way he likes things done, but they now look a more complete team. Week in, week out they're just churning out great performances, not just getting wins.

Any team that's going to get promotion has to have standout goalscorers and Coventry have got Haji Wright, Ellis Simms - who you know is capable - and also Brandon Thomas-Asante, who got a couple against Sheffield Wednesday and has a great record.

They've got goals throughout their squad, with midfielders who will chip in. To score 27 at this stage of the season and be playing the way they're playing is incredible.

'A really dark day' for beleaguered Owls

Play was held up when Sheffield Wednesday fans staged a protest against owner Dejphon Chansiri

The flip side of another resounding triumph for the Sky Blues was another chastening day for Sheffield Wednesday, with a group of fans staging an on-field protest during the match against club owner Dejphon Chansiri.

Earlier in the week, the club failed to pay player and staff wages on schedule for a fifth time in seven months.

So where do Wednesday, second from bottom with one win all season, go from here?

McLean: It's a really dark day for Sheffield Wednesday, such a big club with such a rich history. To see them in this situation is sad and now your eyes are fixed on what the EFL are going to do.

As much as we don't condone fans protesting on the pitch and causing disruption to games, clearly the fanbase felt their words were falling on deaf ears and they had to take drastic action.

You've got to say, in the last couple of weeks the players have handled it brilliantly and got some really positive results, beating Portsmouth and getting draws against QPR and Birmingham - they certainly haven't downed tools.

But they were up against the most in-form team in the EFL at the moment and it coincided with the protest on the pitch, players not being paid again this month. When you put all that together, it's no surprise where they are in the league table.

Could surprise packet Stevenage be contenders?

Chem Campbell (L) put Stevenage ahead against Luton

Unfancied Stevenage are the new leaders of League One after recording their eighth win of the season as goals by Chem Campbell and Jordan Roberts secured a 2-0 success at home to Luton.

So could the Hertfordshire club, a point above previous leaders Bradford City with a game in hand, be genuine contenders for promotion to the second tier for the first time in their history?

McLean: Without a shadow of a doubt. I spoke to (manager) Alex Revell a couple of weeks ago and he won't get carried away, they've only played 10 games so far - but they've won eight of them.

Last season they finished 14th and I don't think anyone would have fancied Stevenage to be even in and around the play-offs, let alone sitting top of the division with a game in hand on most teams.

It's down to hard work and desire, that's what Alex's team show week in, week out and they very much epitomise what he was like as a player - all action, hard-working and squeezing the maximum out of his ability.

Stevenage don't have the biggest finances in comparison to some of the other clubs in League One but they do have an honest group of lads that will give everything, run and chase and fight for each other. That's what's getting them results.

Time runs out for Bruce at Blackpool

Bruce had been in charge at Blackpool for just over a year

At the other end of League One, Blackpool parted company with manager Steve Bruce in the wake of a 2-0 home defeat against AFC Wimbledon, a result that left them floundering in 23rd place.

Bruce's players were booed off the field following their seventh defeat in 11 games and the club confirmed his departure a few hours later.

McLean: I'd like to have seen them stick with Steve Bruce. I played under Brucie and got promoted with Hull and I know he is a very good manager. Unfortunately, time is something you rarely get in football if you're not getting results.

We all know that if you're not winning games as a manager, then your job's on the line. I don't know how much expectation there was at Blackpool this season, but I know they wouldn't have been expecting to be in this situation.

When they beat Huddersfield (in August) you thought 'right, this could be the turning point', but then they went and lost the next three out of four and they haven't been able to get any level of consistency.

Cotterill's second coming has instant impact

Cotterill was named as Michael Flynn's successor at Cheltenham earlier this week

Another seasoned manager, Steve Cotterill, is back in familiar surroundings following his reappointment for a second stint as Cheltenham boss, having guided the club from the Southern League to the EFL first time around.

The Robins responded with a 2-0 victory at home to Fleetwood, enough to lift them out of the League Two relegation zone. Will Cotterill's return prove exactly what Cheltenham need to retain EFL status?

McLean: I think it was a brilliant appointment for the club. Steve loves the game and the opportunity to go back somewhere that he was so successful and try to help the club out of the situation they're in was one he couldn't turn down.

He's got great memories at Cheltenham, he's one of the most honest and hard-working managers I've ever come across and to see him get an instant response doesn't surprise me at all.

He will back his players to the hilt and in return the players will want to give him their best - and that's clearly what we've seen already.

They find themselves out of the bottom two and hopefully that's the catalyst to go on and have a more successful season.