Football

[Harvester]

Villa only managed a draw with a 98th minute equaliser!

 

[Typhoon]

The European Court of Justice has ruled that the proposed Super League was unlawfully blocked as denying competition under EU Law but added that the competition may still not be approved.

The majority of the Big 6 in England have said they will remain as they are currently under UEFA.

And they won't say otherwise until a Super League becomes a reality (if it does). That means clubs (presumably elsewhere) signing up. We have no idea of what is going on in the background. I just wish there were fewer foreign owners (which is why I think Ratcliffe taking an interest in Man U is good for the game).

As far as the UK goes stories like https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67791936

Fans and clubs can be convinced to back new plans for a breakaway European competition, says the head of the organisation behind the new proposal.

(there is much more but that is a decent summary) show a complete misunderstanding of fans, that supporters of, say, West Ham or Fulham will not switch to Arsenal or Chelsea (even as a 'second team') if the latter were in the Super League.

 

[Harvester]

He's a total spoofer. I give him a year tops.

THC

First match in charge and a 0-3 home defeat……………

 

[Iskra]

Leeds 4 Ipswich 0

A very easy game for Leeds, with Ipswich offering very little. However, it’s all a bit confusing as we’ve put 8 goals past Ipswich this season and taken 6 points from them, but we remain 7 points adrift from them and 3rd in the table.

 

[DannyMich2018]

Leeds 4 Ipswich 0

A very easy game for Leeds, with Ipswich offering very little. However, it’s all a bit confusing as we’ve put 8 goals past Ipswich this season and taken 6 points from them, but we remain 7 points adrift from them and 3rd in the table.

I'm glad Leeds won today, we had a 3-0 win at home today against bottom place Rotherham United, we weren't great 1st half and they defended well but 2nd half we had all the play . We go to Ipswich on 26th Dec so that will be certainly a lively game! A busy time in the league for us all, 4 games in just 9 days now.

 

[SteveM70]

First match in charge and a 0-3 home defeat……………

Someone we know is friends with someone who played under Beale at Rangers and the feedback we got was “the best coach I’ve ever played under but really not a nice man. The younger players will love him, but the older ones will see right through him in five minutes”

 

[Iskra]

I'm glad Leeds won today, we had a 3-0 win at home today against bottom place Rotherham United, we weren't great 1st half and they defended well but 2nd half we had all the play . We go to Ipswich on 26th Dec so that will be certainly a lively game! A busy time in the league for us all, 4 games in just 9 days now.

I’m obviously hoping you can beat Ipswich twice for us! Even if we don’t go on to get promoted this season, I must say I am really enjoying the Championship this season and the busy schedule does add to the enjoyment I feel!

 

[Haywain]

A good performance for the Hatters yesterday against a Newcastle side who look rather tired. It may only have been 1-0 but we also hit the woodwork 4 times and deserved a more convincing scoreline. Aside from the emotional aspects after the events of the last week, it also provides an opportunity to say a big "Up yours!" to those who were insisting at the start of the season that we wouldn't even beat Derby's lowest ever 11 point record, and an even bigger "Up yours!" to a certain Garth Crooks, as we are most definitely not "relegated by Christmas".

 

[75A]

A good performance for the Hatters yesterday against a Newcastle side who look rather tired. It may only have been 1-0 but we also hit the woodwork 4 times and deserved a more convincing scoreline. Aside from the emotional aspects after the events of the last week, it also provides an opportunity to say a big "Up yours!" to those who were insisting at the start of the season that we wouldn't even beat Derby's lowest ever 11 point record, and an even bigger "Up yours!" to a certain Garth Crooks, as we are most definitely not "relegated by Christmas".

Well said sir.

 

[SteveM70]

Garth Crooks

It beggars belief that the BBC still pay him for his team of the week garbage on the website

Generally it consists of people who scored a goal regardless of how well they actually played, and ridiculous formations with attacking midfielders playing wingback and the like.

 

[Haywain]

It beggars belief that the BBC still pay him for his team of the week garbage on the website

Generally it consists of people who scored a goal regardless of how well they actually played, and ridiculous formations with attacking midfielders playing wingback and the like.

I wonder how many Newcastle players he'll pick tomorrow (or whenever it appears this week)?

 

[DannyMich2018]

I’m obviously hoping you can beat Ipswich twice for us! Even if we don’t go on to get promoted this season, I must say I am really enjoying the Championship this season and the busy schedule does add to the enjoyment I hope we can beat them for you! Like you said it's an interesting season for us too and nice to play different teams. Not been a season ticket holder means it's hard to get away games however.

 

[Ivor]

Another Chelsea fiasco @ Wolves.

I’ve been going to The Bridge since the early 60s, not away games now as old age has crept up. I’ve seen some great Chelsea sides & some poor sides but even those that were poor & finished mid-table, relegated, couldn’t buy a trophy etc there was a fight, a passion, a hunger but were just not good enough.

The current ‘lot’ with the exception of a few show no fight or passion, there’s no excuse for lack of effort.

Rant over!

 

[DannyMich2018]

Well said sir.

I'm glad Luton are doing quite well. We visited Luton back in September for a day and went to find the ground. I was impressed how pleasant and friendly the people of Luton were.

 

[dangie]

Another Chelsea fiasco @ Wolves.

I’ve been going to The Bridge since the early 60s, not away games now as old age has crept up. I’ve seen some great Chelsea sides & some poor sides but even those that were poor & finished mid-table, relegated, couldn’t buy a trophy etc there was a fight, a passion, a hunger but were just not good enough.

The current ‘lot’ with the exception of a few show no fight or passion, there’s no excuse for lack of effort.

Rant over!

Something which pees me off is that when one of the ‘big’ clubs gets beaten by a ‘smaller’ club, it always because the ‘big’ club is poor. It’s rarely written because they were beaten by a team which played better. Well done Wolves.

 

[Ivor]

Something which pees me off is that when one of the ‘big’ clubs gets beaten by a ‘smaller’ club, it always because the ‘big’ club is poor. It’s rarely written because they were beaten by a team which played better. Well done Wolves.

I was venting how poor Chelsea were again as they continue on from last season with the lack of effort/desire & wasn’t criticising Wolves.

 

[dangie]

I was venting how poor Chelsea were again as they continue on from last season with the lack of effort/desire & wasn’t criticising Wolves.

I totally appreciate that. I apologise for hijacking your post to make my point.
I’ve seen Match of the Day when one of the big clubs were beaten by a minion and the after match dissection by Shearer & Co has all been how the big side lost and not how the minion won.

 

[Ivor]

No problem at all @dangie

Chelsea guaranteed to ruin many a weekend or holiday period the past couple of years.

 

[1D54]

Another Chelsea fiasco @ Wolves.

I’ve been going to The Bridge since the early 60s, not away games now as old age has crept up. I’ve seen some great Chelsea sides & some poor sides but even those that were poor & finished mid-table, relegated, couldn’t buy a trophy etc there was a fight, a passion, a hunger but were just not good enough.

The current ‘lot’ with the exception of a few show no fight or passion, there’s no excuse for lack of effort.

Rant over!

What the hell do Chelsea do? Fire the manager and hire who to replace him? .They have been down this road numerous times over the years and it has always ended with more silverware. Undoubtedly a very big club who won every trophy available in the 20 years under Roman but things have changed massively since he was forced out and club are fast becoming a laughing stock.

 

[75A]

club are fast becoming a laughing stock.

More so than Man Utd?

 

[1D54]

Good question and there are similarities between the two on and off the pitch but the whole Chelsea thing seems like a massive car crash. Money in abundance and no problem spending it. Utd has been a steady fall from grace after SAF but with Chelsea it has been in the space of two years

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Good question and there are similarities between the two on and off the pitch but the whole Chelsea thing seems like a massive car crash. Money in abundance and no problem spending it. Utd has been a steady fall from grace after SAF but with Chelsea it has been in the space of two years

The loudest voices describing each as "a laughing stock" seem to be either (a) frustrated fans of those clubs, or (b) gloating from fans of rival clubs. The so-called fall from grace of both are really just a regression to the mean. No club can stay on top forever. Manchester United got used to being the "top dog" for over ten years under Fergie, and Chelsea had a brief period of dominance following the Abramovic takeover... but periods like that are the exception, not the rule.

 

[DarloRich]

After 2 X 2-0 defeats over Xmas Darlington manager Josh Gowling has left the club. It had to happen.

He was the wrong man for the job. The club are second bottom of the league and 8 points adrift of safety

 

[Cletus]

After 2 X 2-0 defeats over Xmas Darlington manager Josh Gowling has left the club. It had to happen.

He was the wrong man for the job. The club are second bottom of the league and 8 points adrift of safety

Similarly my team Dover Athletic are second from bottom of the NL South. 12 points from safety. We finally made the change from the wrong man as manager a few weeks ago. We are now at least 3 games unbeaten and actually won today at home in the league for the 1st time since February. We won't make a miraculous comeback though because our chairman is only putting the bare minimum in to keep the club going.

 

[SteveM70]

Altrincham 1-2 FC Halifax Town

Weird one.

We controlled the game, kept the ball fantastically and scored two good goals, and made a decent Alty team look crap apart from a consolation goal with ten seconds to go.

But our goals were our only shots on target.

And totally unsurprisingly, Matty Kosylo got booked (and should maybe have been sent off) for a wild tackle.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Another great comeback from MUFC. Made my Christmas weekend.

 

[Harvester]

Another great comeback from MUFC. Made my Christmas weekend.

Or did Villa throw it away?

 

[Lewisham2221]

My football viewing for today consisted of:

Newcastle United 1 - 3 Nottingham Forest
Newcastle, IMO, looked mentally fatigued and lacking concentration and focus for periods, resulting in some sloppy play. A rejuvenated Forest side defending well and looked good on the counter-attack, leading to a hat-trick from Chris Wood.

Bournemouth 3 - 0 Fulham
The recent run of good results continued for Bournemouth, who finish the day in the top half of the table - a feat that seemed nigh on impossible, earlier in the season.

Man Utd 3 - Aston Villa 2
A real game of two halves, with Villa dominating most of the first half and scoring two pretty decent goals. The same Villa seemed to remain in the dressing room for the second half, as Utd came out fighting and scored 3 impressive goals to go on and win the game. Dendoncker's goal was his first for Villa, whilst Hojlund scored his first United goal.


Meanwhile, in the Championship...

Birmingham City 1 -3 Stoke City
A very welcome 3 points for Stoke, who looked worlds apart from Birmingham for a large part of the game. Stoke's defending, under their new manager, looks much more assured; whilst attacking play looks much more positive, aggressive and less hesitant. It was nice to see Stoke actually winning some aerial battles. Birmingham looked pretty poor until the introduction of Romelle Donovan part-way through the second half, who injected some sting into Birmingham's play. Birmingham are now 6 places from the bottom of the table, a stark contrast to being 6 places from the top of the table when Rooney was appointed as manager.

Or did Villa throw it away?

A bit of both, IMO.

 

[75A]

My football viewing for today consisted of:

Newcastle United 1 - 3 Nottingham Forest
Newcastle, IMO, looked mentally fatigued and lacking concentration and focus for periods, resulting in some sloppy play. A rejuvenated Forest side defending well and looked good on the counter-attack, leading to a hat-trick from Chris Wood.

Bournemouth 3 - 0 Fulham
The recent run of good results continued for Bournemouth, who finish the day in the top half of the table - a feat that seemed nigh on impossible, earlier in the season.

Man Utd 3 - Aston Villa 2
A real game of two halves, with Villa dominating most of the first half and scoring two pretty decent goals. The same Villa seemed to remain in the dressing room for the second half, as Utd came out fighting and scored 3 impressive goals to go on and win the game. Dendoncker's goal was his first for Villa, whilst Hojlund scored his first United goal.


Meanwhile, in the Championship...

Birmingham City 1 -3 Stoke City
A very welcome 3 points for Stoke, who looked worlds apart from Birmingham for a large part of the game. Stoke's defending, under their new manager, looks much more assured; whilst attacking play looks much more positive, aggressive and less hesitant. It was nice to see Stoke actually winning some aerial battles. Birmingham looked pretty poor until the introduction of Romelle Donovan part-way through the second half, who injected some sting into Birmingham's play. Birmingham are now 6 places from the bottom of the table, a stark contrast to being 6 places from the top of the table when Rooney was appointed as manager.


A bit of both, IMO.

I saw the Newcastle game, which to me was a fair result, the Geordies really did struggle.
Then the Man Utd / Villa game which I thoroughly enjoyed. The classic game of two halves, Villa were dominant in the first, and Utd came out a different side after half time and in my opinion deserved a 4th.
I hope the Everton / Man City game tonight is as exciting to watch.
As Mr Greaves would say, 'it's a funny old game.'
'

 

[VauxhallandI]

Altrincham 1-2 FC Halifax Town

Weird one.

We controlled the game, kept the ball fantastically and scored two good goals, and made a decent Alty team look crap apart from a consolation goal with ten seconds to go.

But our goals were our only shots on target.

And totally unsurprisingly, Matty Kosylo got booked (and should maybe have been sent off) for a wild tackle.

See you on NYD…