Nationwide Review: Foxes hail new era by taming and shaming the Lions

On the day the administrators in charge of Leicester City's affairs announced that the owners of the Walkers Stadium had accepted the bid by a consortium fronted by their former player Gary Lineker to take over the club, the team celebrated with a comfortable 4-1 Nationwide First Division home win over Millwall.

"I knew about it last night but I forgot to mention it to the players," manager Micky Adams admitted, but that was understandable. The pre-match hype had centred on the return of Dennis Wise, the midfielder still in litigation with Leicester for £2.3m compensation after his sacking by them for an alleged assault on defender Callum Davidson.

The jeers at Wise and the Millwall manager Mark McGhee, who quit Leicester to take over at Wolves in 1995, had barely died down when Steve Claridge, also late of Leicester, scored after just 18 seconds. That was the end of the good news for Wise and Millwall.

Second-placed Leicester dominated, James Scowcroft scored twice, Matt Elliott and Paul Dickov also netted, Wise was booked and Leicester could be out of administration in six weeks and back in the Premiership next August.

Below them, the chasing pack struggled. Nottingham Forest, third, lost 1-0 at Bradford City and in the Midlands derby at Molineux, Wolves lost 2-0 to Coventry. "It was the perfect smash and grab," the disgruntled Wolves manager, Dave Jones, said. "Coventry scored two cracking goals but I don't know what else they did."

Joe Royle's threat to bring in a reliable goalscorer was a wonderful motivational tool for Ipswich's under-performers and they beat Watford 4-2 at Portman Road. "It was too open for a manager but great for the crowd," Royle said and opposite number Ray Lewington seemed to agree. "On one occasion we had three against one in their half and didn't get a shot on goal. It was just bizarre."

But the soundest thrashing of the day was administered by Rotherham who humbled Burnley 6-2 in the front of their own fans at Turf Moor. John Mullin and Alan Lee (both former Clarets) and Darren Byfield all scored twice as the Millers moved up to eighth.

Chris Turner, the Sheffield Wednesday manager, responded to his side slipping to the bottom of the table by signing three players on loan, but it was Gillingham's well-travelled striker, Rod Wallace, who set the Kent side en route to a first-ever win at Hillsborough with a fifth-minute goal. Paul Smith added a second, it stayed 2-0. "It's beyond words," Turner said, but found some. "We totally dominated for 90 minutes and if we were at the top of the table we would have won by four or five goals."

And the Gills' plans to sign Paul Gascoigne? "The chairman has spoken to his people," player-manager Andy Hessenthaler revealed. "We'll hopefully hear by the middle of the week."

One place above the Owls, Brighton also lost 1-0 at Derby. Adam Hinshelwood, falling in a tussle with Lee Morris, was penalised for handball and Danny Higginbotham scored the hotly disputed penalty. A ludicrous decision, thought the Seagulls' manager, Steve Coppell. "I do not teach my defenders to dive headlong and handle the ball in the area, it's not something we work on too often."

A place above the relegation zone, Grimsby Town lost 2-0 at Preston while Walsall beat Wimbledon 2-0, their fourth successive home win.

In the Second Division, the leaders Wigan Athletic kept their grip with a 2-0 win at Oldham while Bristol City replaced Cardiff City in second place thanks to a 2-0 win at Ninian Park. Hartlepool, at the top of the Third, surprisingly lost 4-0 at Rochdale which let Rushden & Diamonds close the gap at the top to a point after their 1-0 win at Macclesfield.