LONDON, September 27, 2014 (AFP) – Darko Milanic endured a disappointing start to his reign as Leeds manager as the Championship team slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Brentford on Saturday.

Milanic got his first taste of English football at Griffin Park after being hired by eccentric Leeds owner Massimo Cellino to replace David Hockaday, who was sacked after only six matches in charge.

The 46-year-old Slovenian led Maribor to nine domestic trophies in five years in his homeland before switching to Sturm Graz.

The lure of taking over sleeping giants Leeds persuaded him to swap Graz for the English second tier and he has been charged with leading Leeds back into the Premier League after a 10-year absence.

But they fell behind when Brentford’s Spanish midfielder Jota struck on the stroke of half-time, finishing off a flowing five-man move with a crashing drive into the roof of the net.

Leeds’ only real effort of note came with five minutes remaining when Lewis Cook’s 25-yarder glanced a post.

And by then they were two goals behind after Alan McCormack struck in the 76th minute with a rasping low drive that deflected off Giuseppi Bellusci and past goalkeeper Marco Silvestri.

“I want to play offensive and we played with two strikers today but it’s not enough if you don’t have offensive thoughts,” Milanic said.

“We were not good enough in possession in the first half and were not dangerous.

“I have to know individual players in the division better and I need time.”

– Canaries take flight –

Two goals in a minute from Lewis Grabban and Josh Murphy ensured Norwich came from behind to beat Blackpool 3-1 at Bloomfield Road and move to the top of the table.

Blackpool took the lead through Nathan Delfouneso’s close-range finish on 46 minutes, but a Donervon Daniels’ own goal drew Norwich level before Grabban scored on 80 minutes and Murphy sealed the win 60 seconds later.

“There’s a long way to go but it is of course very nice to be top of the table,” Norwich manager Neil Adams said.

“There’s lots of good teams in this division and it’s a great sign that we’ve made a good start.”

That result knocked Nottingham Forest into second place after Brighton held on for a 0-0 draw at the City Ground.

Ryan Tunnicliffe scored his first goal for Blackburn as they fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with third placed Watford at Ewood Park.

Daryl Murphy and David McGoldrick netted a goal apiece in the opening six minutes as fourth placed Ipswich won 2-0 against Rotherham.

Chris Martin caused problems for former boss Dougie Freedman as Derby extended their unbeaten run to eight games with a 2-0 victory at Bolton.

Martin, a former Crystal Palace loanee when Freedman was in charge at Selhurst Park, missed a first half penalty but still got on the scoresheet twice as Bolton slumped back into the relegation zone.

“This job is proving more difficult than I ever thought it would be,” Freedman said.

“I have to take full responsibility. I tried to out-football Derby and I got it horribly wrong. But you cannot legislate for us playing football suicide.”

Fulham finally ended their miserable start to the season with a 2-1 victory against Birmingham at St Andrew’s.

Elsewhere, Cardiff beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 and Huddersfield were 2-1 winners against Millwall.

Bournemouth defeated Wigan 2-0 and Charlton drew 0-0 with Middlesbrough.