Forced out of Preston North End of England’s League One, Iain Hume could be getting the last laugh with Doncaster Rovers.
Informed via text message prior to the season that he didn’t figure in Preston’s plans, Hume was loaned to Doncaster and he’s helped them right to the summit of the league while PNE are stuck mid-table in 11th place.
Hume picked up an assist this past Saturday as Doncaster beat Scunthorpe United, 4-0. He then played the full 90 on Tuesday as Doncaster defeated Oldham Athletic, 1-0, to move into a tie for first place with Tranmere Rovers. Hume, however, was sent off in second-half stoppage time and will miss Saturday’s FA Cup match against the same Oldham team.
Up in the Premier League, Simeon Jackson has gotten used to sitting on the bench for Norwich City as playing time has greatly diminished for him since the start of the season.
Jackson got a rare run out on Saturday as an 89th-minute substitute at the end of Norwich's 1-1 draw with Everton. Norwich are in 13th place.
Down at the bottom of the Premier League, Junior Hoilett’s Queens Park Rangers have fired previous head coach Mark Hughes and brought on Harry Redknapp in the hopes of saving them from relegation.
Hoilett came on in the 73rd minute on Saturday as QPR lost, 3-1, to Manchester United as QPR are still without a win this season. However, they did snap a three-game losing streak thanks to Tuesday's 0-0 draw at Sunderland, though the 22-year-old was an unused substitute.
In the Championship, David Edgar has been coming off the bench more often than not for Burnley, but he got a rare start on Saturday as his side beat Hull City, 1-0. He then came on in the 81st minute on Tuesday as the Clarets tied Barnsley, 1-1. Burnley currently sit 14th in the 24-team league.
Back in League One, as Hume has been flying high with Doncaster, Marcus Haber and Stevenage have been slipping after a quick start to the season. Haber played 73 minutes on Saturday as Stevenage tied league leaders Tranmere Rovers, 1-1.
In the Netherlands, Atiba Hutchinson and PSV Eindhoven lost in both the Europa League during the week and lost for the first time in nine Eredivisie games on the weekend.
On Thursday, Hutchinson assisted the game’s opening goal but PSV couldn’t hang on and were knocked out of the Europa League with their 2-1 loss to Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. They followed that up with a 2-1 loss to surprise package Vitesse Arnhem on Sunday.
PSV still stand atop the Eredivisie table but by just two points over Twente and Vitesse.
Across the border in Germany, forward Olivier Occéan remains on just one goal this season, and his Eintracht Frankfurt team has won just once in their last five games.
Occéan came on in the 64th minute on Saturday as Frankfurt tied Schalke, 1-1. He then started but lasted just 45 minutes on Tuesday in Frankfurt’s 3-1 loss to Mainz. Frankfurt have slipped down to fourth place.
At the bottom of the Bundesliga, Marcel de Jong and Augsburg snapped a four-game losing streak but still have just one win in 13 league games this season. De Jong played 85 minutes on Sunday as Augsburg picked up just their seventh point of the season via a 1-1 draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach.
In the 2.Bundesliga, Kevin McKenna and FC Köln have found some form after a slow start and McKenna has complemented defensive duties with a couple of goals to help his club to back-to-back wins.
Last Friday, McKenna scored for the second straight game as Köln recorded a 3-1 win over Bochum to move into 10th place.
In Turkey, Milan Borjan and Sivasspor are up to eighth place in the Süper Lig as they’re unbeaten in three games. Borjan was in goal on Sunday as Sivasspor beat Kayserispor, 4-2, and are just six points back of first place in a very close league battle.
In Slovenia, Croatian-born midfielder Stefan Cebara saw action in two games in both league and cup action for Celje. Cebara played 79 minutes in Cup play last Wednesday as his team beat Dravinja, 1-0. He then played 65 minutes in the league as they beat Domzale, 2-1, in the 1. SNL. Celje are in fifth place out of 10 teams in Slovenia’s top flight.
