Football

[adrock1976]

Sheffield United 0-1 Aston Villa

Robert Snodgrass scored the only goal of the game right at the death. This makes a change from previous seasons when the Villa defence used to go to sleep in the last 10 minutes or so of the full time whistle.

Since bowing out of the FA Cup against Peterborough United at the beginning of the month, Villa have won their previous 3 matches and now currently occupy third place in the league.

The next 2 fixtures are both at home - Burton Albion on Saturday 02 February, and 'Arry Rednapp's* Dirty Bluenoses come visiting.

*PS I am unsure if Rednapp has made it this long, as I do not pay any attention whatsoever to what the Bluenoses get up to, with the exception when they play against the far mightier and far superior Aston Villa. Of note, I missed the reverse fixture back in October/November time as I was absent and did not get the proceedings of that match and subsequently forgot to do so.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Evo Stik First Division North

Kendal Town 0...Hyde United 2

In this "Tuesday night re-arranged fixture", Hyde scored at the start of the first half and at the end of the second half. This result consolidates their fourth place in the league and they still have the best league goal difference of +39.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

It was nice to get a win tonight, the clean sheet and scored penalty kick are welcome bonuses too.

Going forward, my back five would be Karius, Clyne (when he's back), Lovren, van Dijk and Robertson. After Saturday's performance where he conceded five goals, I honestly don't want to see Mignolet in goal for us again. I also think Matip looks off form at the moment, as does Mané.

I'm disappointed we haven't looked at getting an extra forward and midfielder in, but at least we only have two competitions to compete in now...

Certainly don't begrudge Liverpool the win and points, to get anything out of the game would've been a bonus... BUT:

I am disappointed with the way we simply rolled over to have our bellies tickled for the first 75 minutes. In the last 15 we actually showed a bit of desire to get in behind Liverpool's defence... but by then the game was over.
I worry that after starting the season so well, and working so hard to defy the odds and get promoted in the first place, we may go down with barely a whimper...

After a decent showing off the bench, the £500k Collin Quaner should be the first name on the team sheet for Saturday as we attempt to get our first "double" of the season against a little village team from over the hills in Lancashire!

 

[507021]

Certainly don't begrudge Liverpool the win and points, to get anything out of the game would've been a bonus... BUT:

I am disappointed with the way we simply rolled over to have our bellies tickled for the first 75 minutes. In the last 15 we actually showed a bit of desire to get in behind Liverpool's defence... but by then the game was over.
I worry that after starting the season so well, and working so hard to defy the odds and get promoted in the first place, we may go down with barely a whimper...

After a decent showing off the bench, the £500k Collin Quaner should be the first name on the team sheet for Saturday as we attempt to get our first "double" of the season against a little village team from over the hills in Lancashire!

I was surprised at how Huddersfield played, to be honest with you. I was expecting a tricky game, especially after how shocking our defence was at the weekend against West Brom. I hope Huddersfield stay up though, it would be a shame if they went down after doing so well to get promoted in the first place.

Considering how much we paid for van Dijk, I thought it was a bit strange Klopp decided to have him as a substitute. Hopefully he plays on Sunday, preferably alongside Lovren.

 

[Drogba11CFC]

Winchester City 4...Alresford Town 3 (Bailey 20, Carr 53, Cox pen 74, 90; Harding 34, Yeboah 82, Burt 85)

Winchester City progressed to the last four of the Hampshire Senior Cup in a seven-goal thriller. The hosts took the lead midway through the first half but were pegged back ten minutes from the break. In the second half they took a two-goal lead only for the visitors to pull level but Pat Cox's last minute header secured the win.

Highlights:

Winchester City 2...Cinderford Town 0 (Gilbert 13, Cox 64; Bamford m/pen 37)

Winchester City moved back into the top six with a solid victory over a mid-table Cinderford side. They took the lead when Liam Gilbert headed home from a corner (won after their keeper tipped a Liam Gilbert piledriver over the bar). Cinderford won a penalty after one of their players went down quite easily but the weak effort was saved by Ryan Pryce. City doubled their lead in the second half when Pat Cox bundled the ball over the line before an ACL injury to a Cinderford player held up play for 40 minutes and knocked the wind out of the game.

Highlights:

K*dlington 1...Winchester City 1 (Martin 44, Martin m/pen 43; Cox 90+1)

Winchester City climbed to fourth in the table with a last-gasp point. They battered their hosts throughout the first half but fell behind just before the break when a soft penalty was saved only for the rebound to fall to the taker. City applied pressure in the second half (during which the hosts got away with quite a few nasty challenges) before a corner was scrambled in in stoppage time (wedging in the stanchion).

League Table:
1. Taunton Town 24/61
====================
2. Salisbury 26/53
------------------------------------
3. Bristol Manor Farm 27/46
4. Winchester City 27/45
5. Swindon Supermarine 26/45
6. Didcot Town 27/45
------------------------------------
7. Bideford 23/44
8. AFC Totton 28/44
9. Evesham United 26/43
10. Wimborne Town 26/42
11. Yate Town 26/41
12. K*dlington 25/37
13. Cirencester Town 28/37
14. Larkhall Athletic 23/28
15. Cinderford Town 24/27
16. Paulton Rovers 25/26
17. North Leigh 26/25
18. Shortwood United 24/23
19. Slimbridge 25/23
20. Mangotsfield United 27/21
21. Barnstaple Town 26/17
-----------------------------------
22. Bishops Cleeve 25/11

 

[SS4]

A nerve racking end at Villa Park but three points are three points.

Annoyingly though Cardiff and Derby both won as well as Small Heath

 

[familyguy99]

Oldham 2-1 Bradford

Great victory for Latics as they pick up they first win in 2018 but stay in bottom 4. Latics first goal was wonderfully strike by Dummigan from 25/30 yard out, I doubt they be better goal then one from Boundary Park today. I can see why Bradford lost last six matches in row as they were poor today and didn't trouble our goalie until five mins from time.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Evo Stik First Division North

Hyde United 4...Clitheroe 0

Clitheroe always give a hard game and had beaten Hyde 2-0 at their ground last November, inflicting one of the two defeats Hyde have suffered in the league this season. Therefore, it was good to see Hyde rise to the occasion and they scored twice in each half. They now move up one place to third in the league.

 

[Iskra]

Leeds 1 Cardiff 4

Leeds continue their meltdown, with a men sent off in the first half yet again, another taken off injured and more abysmal defending of crosses against a typical Warnock side that lacked any finesse, and looked pretty mediocre.

I do wish they would stop providing us with match officials from Huddersfield though! Todays was the worst set of officials I've ever seen, but still that doesn't change the fact that our team performance was dire and our manager is inept.

It's going to be interesting to see what team we manage to put out for our next game! I have a feeling that our season may be pretty much over.

 

[Howardh]

Leeds 1 Cardiff 4

Leeds continue their meltdown, with a men sent off in the first half yet again, another taken off injured and more abysmal defending of crosses against a typical Warnock side that lacked any finesse, and looked pretty mediocre.

I do wish they would stop providing us with match officials from Huddersfield though! Todays was the worst set of officials I've ever seen, but still that doesn't change the fact that our team performance was dire and our manager is inept.

It's going to be interesting to see what team we manage to put out for our next game! I have a feeling that our season may be pretty much over.

Perhaps Leeds need a new badge? Ahem...

 

[507021]

Definitely not a great performance from Wednesday yesterday, although the referee wasn't much better.

Still, at least we've finally managed to score our first goal in the Championship since Boxing Day...

 

[507021]

Awful, awful refereeing. Neither of those were penalty kicks.

Mo Salah though, what a player. 21 league goals this season already.

 

[Darandio]

Awful, awful refereeing. Neither of those were penalty kicks.

First one certainly was, second one Lamela was looking for it but they do get given.

It's funny really, I was saying after 75 minutes or so that Karius actually looked quite solid today, then he punched it to Wanyama.

 

[507021]

First one certainly was, second one Lamela was looking for it but they do get given.

It's funny really, I was saying after 75 minutes or so that Karius actually looked quite solid today, then he punched it to Wanyama.

I'd probably have to look at the first one again to be fair, but the second one definitely wasn't a penalty.

Karius did play well bar that one mistake, hopefully he can start building some confidence.

 

[Darandio]

I'd probably have to look at the first one again to be fair, but the second one definitely wasn't a penalty.

Karius did play well bar that one mistake, hopefully he can start building some confidence.

At first I wasn't convinced about the first one as I was sure Kane was offside, but Lovren did touch it on the way through so Kane couldn't be off. Karius did then catch Kane with his shoulder, soft but correct.

 

[12CSVT]

Strange goings on in Scotland yesterday
Both the 'Old Firm' lost (well done Kilmarnock and Hibernian)
And Fort William doubled their points tally for the season

 

[AlterEgo]

Neither penalty in the Liverpool game was a penalty. The first was a dive and the second was soft beyond belief.

It’s alright though, Spurs will be nicely hollowed out in the summer when Kane goes off to Madrid.

 

[fowler9]

Really enjoyed our game this evening. Well done to Spurs, I thought a draw was a fair result. Mo Salah is quite a player, my worry on that front is that in a year or two's time I will be worrying about how much much we get for him. Harry Kane dived for the first penalty and I have a weird feeling he did a Robbie Fowler when he missed it (Fowler got a dodgy pen against Arsenal and missed it after telling the ref is wasn't a pen). The second one I feel was a penalty but it was a soft one, we should never have let it happen. Mo Salah though, what a player.

Just to add to that a certain website was saying today that in a combined Liverpool and Spurs team there would only be 3 Liverpool players. Given Salah scored 2 goals from open play in such a poor team I am surprised Kane is rated so highly.

 

[Iskra]

Perhaps Leeds need a new badge? Ahem...

New manager required now. He's left the building. Been well out of his depth for the last 4 months.

 

[BantamMenace]

Oldham 2-1 Bradford

Great victory for Latics as they pick up they first win in 2018 but stay in bottom 4. Latics first goal was wonderfully strike by Dummigan from 25/30 yard out, I doubt they be better goal then one from Boundary Park today. I can see why Bradford lost last six matches in row as they were poor today and didn't trouble our goalie until five mins from time.

I'm a life long Bradford fan, we're beyond rubbish at the moment. I'm torn between head and heart on what to do with McCall.

 

[KashmireHawker]

Premier League TV Right's Auction kicks off and could be done by the end of the week, with Thursday being the deadline for bids in relation to matches in 19/20, 20/21 & 21/22 seasons - BT may have a little problem looking at the comments of there boss... https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/feb/02/bt-chief-we-dont-need-premier-league-rights

 

[adrock1976]

Something I have been meaning to ask for a while regarding Mansfield Town.

How come is Steve Evans still managing teams? This is the same Steve Evans who was convicted of tax fraud (alongside the then chairperson/owner) when managing the Lincolnshire side Boston United. They both got caught fiddling player registrations, and very conveniently placed the club into administration even though the points that were deducted did not result in relegation.

I remember Carlisle United bowing out of the basement division around this time (circa 2003?), and if my memory is not playing tricks on me, there was a lot of upset about the actions of Evans and the chairperson/owner of Boston United back then.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I'm a life long Bradford fan, we're beyond rubbish at the moment. I'm torn between head and heart on what to do with McCall.

It's tough when a manager who is a club legend loses their way. I hear that McCall has now been given his P45 which means that David Wagner is the only manager of a West Yorkshire side in the top 4 divisions who has been in charge since the start of the season. It also hasn't escaped my notice that we're also the lowest-placed West Yorkshire side in our respective division.

There is now talk among sections of Town fans about possibly getting rid of Wagner. I'm not one of them, though I'm no longer expecting him to arrive for work by walking on the surface of the Colne! His lack of a plan B is worrying, as is the complete collapse in confidence of the players. All the things that made us so exciting to watch (and so successful) last season feel like a distant memory right now!

I'm not overly fussed if we go down because it was always likely this season, but I'll not be happy if we go down without a fight- which is what seems to be happening at the moment.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I'm a life long Bradford fan, we're beyond rubbish at the moment. I'm torn between head and heart on what to do with McCall.

I desperately wanted him to succeed, just as I did last time, but I never thought he actually would. McCall was a wonderful player and is a good coach, but he isn't a manager. When things go well he has no idea why, which means he can't repeat it. When things go badly he has no idea why, which means he can't change it. It was the same the first time he was here, it was the same at Motherwell, and it was the same at Rangers. Last year we did well but I never truly felt that McCall understood why we were winning.

I'm sad it ended this way, but I wanted him fired after the Peterborough match at Christmas. If he wasn't a club legend he wouldn't have survived the extra six weeks. Losing 4-0 at home to AFC Wimbledon shows that he'd lost the players and he'd lost the plot.

I don't think we can blame just him, the player recruitment strategy seems a bit off at the moment, but still. City have been garbage for most of the season, and it was only a succession of lucky wins at Portsmouth, Wigan and Shrewsbury that papered over the cracks.

How come is Steve Evans still managing teams? This is the same Steve Evans who was convicted of tax fraud (alongside the then chairperson/owner) when managing the Lincolnshire side Boston United.

He did well at Rotherham, to be fair to the slimy old toad. And he wasn't bad at Crawley either, when Crawley were playing the Forest Green Moneybags game.

Don't forget him sexually assaulting one of our (female) stewards at Valley Parade, though. Dropping his trousers, shaking Little Steve all about, and rubbing himself against her. How he didn't get prosecuted for that- never mind a touchline ban- I'll never know. And isn't Little Steve such a happy thing to think about on a wet grey Monday morning?

 

[Tetchytyke]

Karius did then catch Kane with his shoulder, soft but correct.

Nah, Kane dragged his feet along behind him until he felt contact. Not as pathetic a dive as Lamela's at the end though. Van Dijk wasn't within two feet of him.

But Plucky Spurs can pluckily do no wrong so the media will pluckily turn a blind eye to their plucky cheating.

 

[Howardh]

I'm a life long Bradford fan, we're beyond rubbish at the moment. I'm torn between head and heart on what to do with McCall.

Good news for you, you're playing my lot next Saturday. Three managers..maybe four...in three months, bottom, without a goal in nearly 1000 minutes until last week-but-one, a crowd (crowd...) resigned to the fourth division; players not fit for the fourth....

 

[Darandio]

Nah, Kane dragged his feet along behind him until he felt contact.

I'd still maintain it's a penalty by the letter of the law, he drew the foul, many do it. The whole Kane/Karius thing is really a moot point though.

The issue for me was the offside decision that the officials debated as part of the process. Replays show Lovren did touch the ball so Kane wasn't offside. The problem is that a transcript has now been posted of what was said between the referee and the assistant, along with the fourth official via the earpiece.

Referee Jon Moss: "I have no idea whether Lovren touched the ball to be honest with you. Martin (Atkinson), have you got anything from TV? I'm giving the penalty."

So he has admitted during the process that he doesn't know whether Lovren touched it, the assistant had already said he wasn't sure and that is why he called the referee over. If the referee isn't sure, then he should not give the penalty.

 

[AlterEgo]

The issue is that the offside law is frequently implemented in a different way to what is actually stated in the Laws of the Game.

Kane was offside. To be offside he must be:
1) In an offside position
2) Involved in active play

Kane was definitely in an offside position when the ball was played by his team mate. There is no doubt about that.

He was also involved in active play. The ball is played towards him, he is gaining an advantage by being offside, and he touches the ball and gets a penalty.

The fact that Lovren touched the ball is not relevant in the slightest. Kane was offside before Lovren touched the ball, by being in an offside position and by having a through ball played towards him!

If you want to argue that it was Lovren’s (almost) air shot played the ball, consider this. Had the Spurs midfielder not passed, and instead had a shot which Karius parries - a deliberate act of playing the ball - and Kane then scores from, all of us would agree that the goal would not stand and he would be definitely offside!

See slides 22-25 here: https://www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/refereeing/law_11_offside_en_47383.pdf

Kane was offside. OFFSIDE.

O F F S I D E.

 

[DarloRich]

Darlington 3 v Blyth 0 - Darlo win 2 games in a week and keep a clean sheet for the first time since September Bradford PA next weekend! A really good result against a side i nthe pay offs. It is really tight at the bottom and our win only moved us up a place.

I actually went to see Dulwich Hamlet v Metropolitan Police. it was a dull game that finished 0-0. The old bill missed a penalty and that was that. It was all very strange and didn't feel like football. The match seemed to be a sideshow to getting plastered and having a chat. There was Thai food and grass fed burgers. There was lots of beer. It was very "nice" but not football as I know it. No one seemed to care at all about what was happening on the pitch. However there was 1400 there ( of all ages and skin colours) so what do i know?

I also don't think the standard and fitness level were as high as the corresponding league in the north.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I desperately wanted him to succeed, just as I did last time, but I never thought he actually would. McCall was a wonderful player and is a good coach, but he isn't a manager. When things go well he has no idea why, which means he can't repeat it. When things go badly he has no idea why, which means he can't change it. It was the same the first time he was here, it was the same at Motherwell, and it was the same at Rangers. Last year we did well but I never truly felt that McCall understood why we were winning.

I'm sad it ended this way, but I wanted him fired after the Peterborough match at Christmas. If he wasn't a club legend he wouldn't have survived the extra six weeks. Losing 4-0 at home to AFC Wimbledon shows that he'd lost the players and he'd lost the plot.

I don't think we can blame just him, the player recruitment strategy seems a bit off at the moment, but still. City have been garbage for most of the season, and it was only a succession of lucky wins at Portsmouth, Wigan and Shrewsbury that papered over the cracks.



He did well at Rotherham, to be fair to the slimy old toad. And he wasn't bad at Crawley either, when Crawley were playing the Forest Green Moneybags game.

Don't forget him sexually assaulting one of our (female) stewards at Valley Parade, though. Dropping his trousers, shaking Little Steve all about, and rubbing himself against her. How he didn't get prosecuted for that- never mind a touchline ban- I'll never know. And isn't Little Steve such a happy thing to think about on a wet grey Monday morning?

There aren't many managers who would make me boycott games if they were in charge, but Steve Evans is one of them (Paolo Do Canio being another). The thing with the female steward, I'd hope wouldn't go unpunished in the hopefully more enlightened times we now live.

He did a good job at Elland Road though!