League Two Postponements 16th December 2010

No games are being played in League Two today.

Accrington Stanley P-P Burton Albion

Aldershot Town P-P Lincoln City

Bury P-P Stevenage

Cheltenham Town P-P Stockport County
Cheltenham’s Josh Low could be missing for four weeks due to a hamstring injury.

Crewe Alexandra P-P Brasford City

Gillingham P-P Chesterfield

Hereford United P-P Macclesfield Town

Northampton Town P-P Morecambe

Oxford United P-P Shrewsbury Town

Port Vale P-P Barnet

Southend P-P Wycombe Wanderers

Torquay P-P Rotherham United

League One Fixture (and Postponements) 18th December 2010

Only one match in League One is going ahead today.

Bristol Rovers P-P Colchester United

Dagenham & Redbridge P-P Peterborough United

Exeter City v Sheffield Wednesday
It must be quite nice being the only team in League One with a playable pitch. I don’t know when the Sheffield Wednesday players left Sheffield or if they’ve actually got there in one piece but it’s difficult to imagine them getting home tonight.
Richard Duffy should start for Exeter after some good performances but he doesn’t think he’s quite at his best yet. Daniel Nardiello seems to start on alternate matches so it’s his turn to start this time. Rob Edwards will probably be on the bench. Rob says the club are excited to be playing at home again after a long run of away matches.
Goalkeeper and general manager Andy Marriott will leave Exeter to join West Bromwich Albion as assistant to the sporting and technical director. He’ll be missed but manager Paul Tisdale says the players and staff are thrilled for him.

Leyton Orient P-P Plymouth Argyle
This match would have been Jason Brown’s final game on loan at Leyton Orient although he is hoping to extend his loan spell.

Rochdale P-P Bournemouth

Swindon Town P-P Tranmere Rovers
Ash Taylor was looking forward to getting back into Tranmere’s starting line-up after being out injured for four months. He was a doubt for this match due to a wrist injury but now he definitely won’t be playing.
Fellow Tranmere player Jack Mackreth has signed for Colwyn Bay on loan. He has just returned from a loan spell at Burscough Town where he played against Colwyn Bay. Jack joins Welsh players including former Crewe Alexandra striker Alex Titchiner, who has just returned from a loan spell at Chester.

Yeovil Town P-P Carlisle United

Championship Postponements 18th December 2010

Millwall P-P Barnsley
This match has been postponed for safety reasons. But is it ever safe inside the Lions’ Den?

Portsmouth P-P Scunthorpe United
No Welsh players in this but it’s still been postponed.

Watford P-P Preston North End
This match is postponed as it’s apparently been snowing.

Premier League Postponements 18th December 2010

Arsenal P-P Stoke City
This match has been cancelled due to unsafe conditions around the stadium.
Aaron Ramsey should be back at Arsenal by the time this match is played and he might easily be starting.

Wigan Athletic P-P Aston Villa
This match has been postponed due to freak weather conditions. The pitch is playable but no-one would be able to get there as there’s ten inches of snow and no public transport.

Liverpool P-P Fulham
This match has been postponed due to icy conditions.
Let’s hope the decision was taken before any Fulham fans – and the players - had begun the lond journey to the north of England.

Sunderland v Bolton Wanderers is being played as I type.
Blackburn Rovers v West Ham United is expected to go ahead.

Championship Fixtures (and Postponements) 18th December 2010 (Part 3)

Sheffield United v Swansea City
Swansea haven’t won at Sheffield United since the year the Second World War started. That’s 1939, in case they don’t teach that anymore. If Swansea draw, they’ll move ahead of Cardiff City as their game has been postponed.
Ched Evans should start for Sheffield United.
David Cotterill doesn’t get the best reaction when Swansea play Cardiff City and he never even played for Cardiff, he was just born there. So his former club Sheffield United probably won’t be that thrilled with him either. David hasn’t been starting lately but with Gary Speed choosing country over club, maybe he’ll get more chances.
Ashley Williams looks certain to start – it will be his 300th club career appearance – but he doesn’t think this is a good time to play Sheffield United. Joe Allen is also likely to start while Neil Taylor and loanee Jermaine Easter should be somewhere in the squad. Jermaine is hoping that if he scores, the Swansea fans will stop booing him. Not that they’re all booing him but it was loud enough for Jermaine to hear.

Watford v Preston North End
Watford’s last league match went quite well. They beat Queen’s Park Rangers 3-1 away and ended their unbeaten start to the season. Now they host the team at the opposite end of the table. A win could move Preston out of the bottom three and they have been playing well.
Craig Morgan and Paul Parry haven’t started for Preston for a while. As Preston haven’t really found a winning formula yet, they might be worth a try but I don’t think Darren Ferguson reads my blogs so he might keep them on the bench.

Championship Fixtures (and Postponements) 18th December 2010 (Part 2)

Ipswich Town v Leicester City
Six defeats on the spin have left Ipswich just three points from the relegation zone. I seem to have recollections of them being unbeaten in the league, then unbeaten at home… but that seems like such a long tme ago and it probably seems like even longer if you’re an Ipswich fan.
Even more worryingly, Roy Keane thinks he’s been too nice to his players. Now there’s a scary thought.
Leicester could be feeling confident after thrashing Doncaster Rovers 5-1 last weekend. Or they could be feeling worried after losing their last two away games.
Troy Brown could keep his place in Ipswich’s defence but considering they can only beat Premier League teams at the moment, Roy Keane might make a few changes.
Andy King will start for Leicester.
Elliott Chamberlain is apparently on trial with Blue Square Premier club Oxford United. I did wonder if it was an old article but I think they just got the league wrong.


Leeds United v Queen’s Park Rangers
QPR’s long unbeaten run came to an end last weekend when Watford beat them 3-1. They can’t even comfort themselves by remembering that they still remain unbeaten at home. Not when this match is away. Leeds are unbeaten in eight matches. So they’ve still got a way to go before they match what QPR achieved.
Sanchez Watt is apparently in contention for a place in the squad but I know what Leeds are like, I’ll believe it when I see it. He scored in a behind-closed-doors match where Leeds beat Newcastle United 4-1.

Millwall v Barnsley
Barnsley are unbeaten in five matches – three points from the play-offs, and not forgetting their game in hand. But Millwall are just one point behind them and unbeaten in four. They also have the home advantage: Barnsley have only won twice away.
Millwall’s striker crisis has probably eased a bit by now but even so, they’ll almost certainly pick Steve Morison. And Kenny Jackett says Nottingham Forest haven’t made a bid for Steve which is good news.

Nottingham Forest v Crystal Palace
I don’t want to speak to soon but for the moment it looks like Nottingham Forest might actually be able to play their match this time. Their last two have fallen victim to the weather.
Forest are the only team in the Championship who are still unbeaten at home and they’ll be hoping things stay that way. If they draw again they’ll still be unbeaten but they’ll have drawn half their league matches this season. Palace have only one win – and one draw – from away games this season.
Aaron Ramsey is probably struggling to build up match fitness as there have’t been any matches but he should get a substitute appearance in this one. If it happens.
Chris Gunter and Robert Earnshaw should start.
Lewis Price and Andy Dorman will probably be on the bench for Palace.

Championship Fixtures (and Postponements) 18th December 2010 (Part 1)

Cardiff City P-P Burnley
South Wales is inches deep in snow and it’s just not safe for visitors.
So Cardiff’s star English striker Jay Bothroyd should recover in time for the next fixture, Craig Bellamy can rest his knee, Jason Koumas can make sure his toe is properly better and the players can recover from their latest epidemic.
Craig has been talking about Feyenoord… and even Feyenoord aren’t happy.
Dave Jones says Cardiff have to deliver on Saturday. And what happens? Snow happens.
Jonathan Meades won’t be able to play for Cardiff until the transfer window opens as he’s been playing for FK Moss. But when the transfer window does open, he’ll be ready to stake his claim.

Coventry City v Norwich City
Coventry are unbeaten in four while Norwich ended a long unbeaten run last week. History would sem to favour Coventry – Norwich have only beaten them once away in the last fifty years. The present would also seem to favour Coventry. They haven’t conceded for nearly 400 minutes. The last team to score against them were Crystal Palace, which probably served as a kick up the backside, as well as a kick into the back of the net.
Freddy Eastwood will be hoping Coventry’s failure to score against Reading last weekend will give him the chance to start.
Andrew Crofts should start for Norwich and a succession of injuries could mean Owain Tudur Jones gets to play again, as long as he’s recovered from being bashed about by Fakenham Town in the Norwich Senior Cup. Norwich City won 3-0 and Josh Dawkin also played 90 minutes.

Derby County v Reading
Derby have lost their last three matches and they’re now three points away from the play-offs – although if they win and Norwich lose, they’ll be back in the top six. And considering Derby’s home form (if you ignore their last home match) and considering Reading are without a win in six (although the last five were draws), they must be in with a good chance of a win.
Reading’s Jem Karacan wants to silence Robbie Savage. Good luck with that. Robbie is expected to play after recovering from an ankle injury but Gareth Roberts, who was substituted after forty minutes of Derby’s defeat to Bristol City, will be out for two or three weeks with a calf injury which must be so annoying when he’s finally broken back into the first team after his last injury.
Simon Church and Hal Robson-Kanu seem to be Reading’s first-choice substitutes at the moment but Reading have drawn their last five and failed to score in their last two so they’re obviously in need of a couple of goalscorers. Hal scored just a few days ago in a reserve match which is quite an achievement considering most reserve matches are being cancelled at the moment. Also in the team was Jake Taylor, who managed 60 minutes after recovering from knee surgery. He’s not ready for the first team yet but he’ll be back in full training soon.

Premier League Fixtures 18th December 2010

Arsenal v Stoke City
Ryan Shawcross faces Arsenal for the first time since breaking Aaron Ramsey’s leg. Some papers reported that Stoke will be providing Ryan with extra security. Arsene Wenger feels this isn’t necessary. Tony Pulis is inclined to agree but it’s probably the only thing he and Arsene do agree on.
Some people have criticised Arsene Wenger for saying it’s up to Aaron to forgive Ryan, not Arsene. I think it’s probably the best thing he could have said although it does put a bit of pressure on Aaron. If Arsene said he does forgive Ryan, he risks upsetting Aaron and the Arsenal fans. If he says he doesn’t, that will upset the Stoke fans – something he’s succeeding in doing on quite a few occasions in the last year. So he’s attempted to remove himself from the equation altogether and to me it seems like he is effectively saying he has nothing personal against Ryan.
Far more necessary from an Arsenal point of view is not losing another game at home. Only West Ham United have lost more home games than Arsenal although there are quite a few who have lost three.
Danny Collins should also start for Stoke.
Aaron Ramsey is, of course, on loan at Nottingham Forest.

Blackburn Rovers v West Ham United
Avram Grant has allegedly been given three matches to save his career – he needs to win at least one. He has denied this is the case but all the same, winning at least one of the next three sounds like a good idea to me. West Ham have won only two league games this season and they’ve both been at home (they haven’t won away for sixteen months) but a team who has lost their manager for no good reason will often be fair game.
Danny Gabbidon missed West Ham’s last game with an unspecified injury. There’s nothing to suggest he will miss that match too but there wasn’t anything last time either. Jack Collison is definitely still out but he is back in training following his long-term knee problems.

Liverpool v Fulham
Roy Hodgson takes his new club back to meet his former club - and neither club is where they want to be. Liverpool are nine points from a Champions’ League place while Fulham are outside the relegation places only on goal difference. But with Liverpool’s home form looking fairly healthy and Fulham not winning away for more than a year, I know what result I’m expecting.
Simon Davies should start for Fulham.

Sunderland v Bolton Wanderers
Sunderland are unbeaten at home and they’ll hope this run continues – but sixth-placed Bolton will provide a stern test although they’ve only won twice away this season. Even a point for Bolton will be an improvement on last year, when Sunderland beat them twice.
Sam Ricketts should keep his place in Bolton’s defence. Sam was one of a group of players who visited Bolton Hospice to meet the patients and give out presents.

Wigan Athletic v Aston Villa
A point could be enough to hoist Wigan out of the bottom three – and Villa’s only away league win was nearly three months ago.
James Collins should start for Villa. He’s pretty much the only defender who doesn’t seem to be either injured or dumped in the reserves.

League One Fixture 17th December (postponed)

Brighton & Hove Albion P-P Notts County
This match is postponed due to a frozen pitch. I wonder how far down the motorway Notts County were when they received this piece of news. But on the positive side, the BBC Sport website seems to be under the impression that this is a Championship fixture. So neither team can be doing too badly.
So Brighton are safe from Ben Davies' free kicks. For now.

Championship Fixture 17th December 2010

Doncaster Rovers v Middlesbrough
I wonder when the idea of these two clubs playing in a league match will stop sounding really strange. Doncaster haven’t got a point against Middlesbrough since before Wales were in the World Cup. And we all know what a long time ago that is. Middlesbrough have only won once away this season.
John Oster and Brian Stock should start for Doncaster.
Danny Coyne will probably be on the bench for Middlesbrough. There’s no news on whether Rhys Williams is likely to return from a pelvis injury in the near future. I think he was initially ruled out for three to four months. It’s been four months so far.

FA Cup Results 14th December 2010

Hartlepool United 4-2 Yeovil Town
Hartlepool fought back from 2-0 down to ensure that Yeovil, unlike them, will be able to focus entirely on the league from now on. And considering Yeovil’s league position, it seems like Hartlepool have done them a big favour.
Shaun MacDonald played 71 minutes for Yeovil.

Notts County 3-1 Bournemouth
Last season, Notts County finished first with Bournemouth second yet in League One it is Bournemouth who are higher in the league. By quiet a way. But when these two teams met in the Cup, it was Notts County who came out on top in what actually counts as a shock win. Maybe ‘shock win’ is taking it a bit far but credit to County for pulling off a shock and credit to Bournemouth for becoming a team who can be the victim of a shock win by teams in their own league.
Ben Davies nearly scored from a free kick for Notts County.
Rhoys Wiggins got the assist for Bournemouth’s goal and nearly scored too bit his long-range effort hit the crossbar.

Premier League Result 13th December 2010

Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal
A deeply disappointing result saw Manchester United replace Arsenal at the top of the table. But considering Arsenal’s lack of confidence, it was a relief in some ways only to lose by one goal. If Man Utd had been at their best, I’m sure it would have been worse.
Ryan Giggs came off Manchester United’s bench after 88 minutes.

Premier League Results 12th December 2010

Bolton Wanderers 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
So Blackburn lost narrowly to Bolton. A team in the top six. Away. To a late goal. Is that a reason to sack your manager? Or are Blackburn just copying Newcastle? Okay so Bolton were down to ten men but everyone says it’s harder against ten men and certainly it isn’t necessarily easier.
Sam Ricketts provided the free kick that led to Bolton’s opening goal.

Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Chelsea
Typical. One of the few games I actually kind of vaguely want Tottenham to win and they can’t do it. But at least they made sure Chelsea stayed behind Arsenal which is exactly where I want them.
Gareth Bale was quiet but effective for Tottenham. He was limping as he left the stadium but there’s no news of an injury. Maybe he just stubbed his toe in the dressing room.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Birmingham City
Wolves were so desperate, they had Academy players on the bench but clearly desperation suits them as they claimed their fourth win of the season.
Dave Edwards returned from a thigh injury and was on fine form for Wolves. Wayne Hennessey helped Wolves to their first clean sheet of the season. Not that he really had any saves to make.

League Two Results 11th December 2010 (Part 2)

Rotherham United 1-0 Aldershot Town
Adam le Fondre is too good for League Two. He must have noticed he’s scored more goals in four months of the season than most players do in a whole season. It’s just a shame he was born in Stockport really. The Aldershot manager seems quite happy they only lost by one goal.
Mark Bradley was on the bench for Rotherham.
Darren Jones and Aaron Morris both played the full match for Aldershot.

Shrewsbury Town 1-1 Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham probably thought they’d won it but Shrewsbury had a secret weapon on the bench. A Welsh secret weapon.
The secret weapon in question is called Tom Bradshaw and he did something he did on a number of occasions last season – came off the bench and scored a goal. But he didn’t score with his feet or his head. He scored with his bottom.
Josh Low played the full match for Cheltenham.

Stevenage 0-1 Northampton Town
Northampton win their second successive league match despite spending more than half an hour with ten men – they’ve only lost one of their last seven. They’re probably in a position now where they can look at the league table and not want to kill themselves.
Paul Walker was on the bench for Northampton.

Stockport County 3-3 Crewe Alexandra
Stockport might have conceded – and scored – three goals but manager Dario Gradi’s main concern is with his strikers.
So hopefully he hasn’t got a problem with goalkeeper Rhys Taylor. I don’t want Rhys getting sent back to Chelsea and getting into the first team and making them good again.
Anthony Pulis was on the bench for Stockport.

Wycombe Wanderers 1-0 Bury
Wycombe are now just three points behind Bury, who are in the third automatic promotion place.
Owain fon Williams made some good saves for Bury so clearly it could have been worse.

League Two Results 11th December 2010 (Part 1)

Barnet 2-0 Accrington Stanley
Barnet remain in the relegation places on goal difference but they do mean business and could move ahead of Accrington if they win their next game too.
Grant Basey helped Barnet to keep a clean sheet.
Joe Jacobson was probably trying to do the same for Accrington but he was less successful.

Bradford City 1-0 Hereford United
It was all going so well for Hereford but now the confidence has gone (and if they keep this up, the physio manager could be going too). Bradford end a run of four matches without a win.
Jason Price didn’t score Bradford’s goal but I’m sure he would have done if he hadn’t been put in a defensive role when he finally came off the bench.
Due to suspension and injury, Stuart Fleetwood was Hereford’s only Welsh representative and even he didn’t make it onto the pitch until the 72nd minute.

Burton Albion 3-1 Southend United
Southend’s five-match unbeaten run came to an end when they were overcome by Burton, who moved into the top half of the table.
Tony James has a hamstring problem and wasn’t in Burton’s squad.
Southend were without Peter Gilbert due to suspension.

Chesterfield 1-0 Torquay United
Chesterfield moved back to the top of the table after beating Torquay.
Craig Davies didn’t recover from injury in time for this game.

Macclesfield Town 2-4 Gillingham
Gillingham are just showing off now. This was their third consecutive away league win. They’re only a point behind Macclesfield now.
Sam Wedgbury was on the bench for Macclesfield.

Morecambe 1-0 Port Vale
Morecambe moved two points clear of the relegation zone with an impressive win over former league leaders Port Vale.
Gareth Owen started for Port Vale but left the field after just half an hour with a back injury. Lewis Haldane was a 59th-minute substitute.

League One Results 11th December 2010 (Part 2)

Plymouth Argyle 2-0 Exeter City
Plymouth won for the second successive match as Exeter slide out of the top half of the table.
Carl Fletcher finally made his return from a leg injury as a 54th-minute substitute.
Richard Duffy helped Exeter to keep a clean sheet and there was also a start for Daniel Nardiello, who could have scored but didn’t. Rob Edwards was on the bench.

Sheffield Wednesday 6-2 Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers often do well against the top sides and as long as you just look at the away team’s goals and ignore the rest, they did well to score twice and on another day might have got something. But things really didn’t go according to plan for Bristol Rovers.
Byron Anthony played the full match for Bristol Rovers. Ben Swallow made a substitute appearance but Eliot Richards didn’t.

Southampton 0-2 Brentford
Brentford moved up to tenth after a great win over the former favourites to win the title. This was Brentford’s fifth consecutive away win.
Ryan Doble was on the bench for Southampton.

Tranmere Rovers 1-2 Leyton Orient
Sheffield Wednesday’s thrashing of Bristol Rovers ensured they went into the bottom four instead of Tranmere but other than that, Tranmere will be disappointed. Orient climbed over both teams and also promoted duo Notts County and Rochdale to take the points.
Ash Taylor was on the bench for Tranmere.
Jason Brown got his first league win with Leyton Orient. Not that he’s ever lost with Leyton Orient. Jason was very impressed with the not-exactly-first-choice centre backs.

League One Results 11th December 2010 (Part 1)

Bournemouth 0-1 Hartlepool United
Bournemouth lost a second successive match whilst Hartlepool climbed into the top half of the table, somewhere they have no right to be. Whatever next, a pub team from Essex in League One… oh wait.
Rhoys Wiggins played the full match for Bournemouth.

Carlisle United 0-2 Dagenham & Redbridge
My favourite pub team from Essex (actually my favourite team of any kind in Essex) Dag & Red got an impressive away win at Carlisle United, who drop down to eleventh as a result but they’re still only two points from the play-offs.
Kayleden Brown got not one but two assists for Dagenham, both of them coming in the last eight minutes (or the last eleven minutes if you want to get technical). He arguably should have got a third ‘assist’ but the referee chose not to award a penalty after Kayleden was fouled. Tony Roberts was in athetic form in the Daggers’ goal.

Colchester United 0-0 Yeovil Town
Struggling Yeovil got an excellent away point at Colchester, who remain in the play-off places. Yeovil weren’t able to overtake Dagenham & Redbridge unfortunately as they won too but at least they got a bit further away from Walsall.
Lloyd James made a late substitute appearance for Colchester but Lee Beevers stayed on the bench.
Shaun MacDonald, Yeovil’s only remaining Welsh loanee midfielder, played the full match.

Notts County 2-0 Milton Keynes Dons
Notts County moved out of the play-off places as Paul Ince’s team beat his former club, the opening goal coming from Ince’s son Thomas.
Ben Davies could have scored for Notts County but the keeper saved it.

Championship Results 11th December 2010 (Part 3)

Norwich City 0-2 Portsmouth
Portsmouth ended Norwich’s six-match unbeaten run but didn’t quite manage to take them out of the play-off places.
Andrew Crofts played the full match for Norwich but Owain Tudur Jones was an unused substitute.

Preston North End 1-0 Ipswich Town
Preston claimed a much-needed victory over Ipswich, who have now lost their last six league matches. Their only recent victory was the Carling Cup win over West Bromwich Albion.
Paul Parry played the last five minutes for Preston but Craig Morgan was left on the bench.
Troy Brown kept his place in Ipswich’s defence and came close to scoring with his head.

Reading 0-0 Coventry City
Reading drew a fifth successive match against Coventry. They haven’t won any of their last six matches although the one they lost was against Queen’s Park Rangers. Coventry were therefore denied a fourth successive win but at least they’re unbeaten in four, with four clean sheets.
Simon Church and Hal Robson-Kanu came on the field together in a double substitution but neither could find a winner for Reading.
Freddy Eastwood didn’t get a chance to snatch the points for Coventry, who left him on the bench.

Championship Results 11th December 2010 (Part 2)

Crystal Palace 0-0 Hull City
Palace were back in the relegation zone despite drawing against Hull, who are themselves only two points clear.
Lewis Price and Andy Dorman stayed on the bench for Palace.

Leicester City 5-1 Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster took the lead as early as the sixth minute but they were unable to build on it – and even if they had, it might not have been enough with Leicester in such a rampant mood. Whatever Sven-Goran Eriksson gave the Leicester players at half-time, I want some.
Andy King played well for Leicester and provided the assist for their third and fifth goals. He nearly scored a couple too.
Brian Stock and John Oster played the full match for Doncaster but they probably didn’t enjoy it as much as Andy.

Middlesbrough 1-0 Cardiff City
Who could have predicted this? True, Cardiff have stuttered of late – losing to Queen’s Park Rangers was disappointing, while drawing with Preston North End was just embarrassing – but now Cardiff lose to Middlesbrough, who are even now only out of the relegation places on goal difference.
Danny Coyne was on the bench for Middlesbrough.
Craig Bellamy was the only Welshman to feature for Cardiff but he couldn’t find the back of the net, only the side of it. Darcy Blake (who has been ill recently) and Adam Matthews were on the bench, while Jason Koumas was kept out presumably by his toe injury.

Championship Results 11th December 2010 (Part 1)

Barnsley 1-0 Sheffield United
What turned out to be Gary Speed’s last match as manager of Sheffield United ended in defeat as Barnsley took all three points and extended their unbeaten run to five matches.
Ched Evans played the full match for Sheffield United.

Bristol City 2-0 Derby County
For the third consecutive match, Bristol City won. And for the third consecutive match, Brett Pitman scored. It was also the second successive match in which he’d scored a brace. Let’s hope Gary Speed knows about Brett’s eligibility. If he is eligible. No-one seemed very certain. That’s five goals in three matches for the (I hope) future Welsh international.
Brett feels Bristol City’s hard work is finally paying off. So is Brett’s hard work – his second goal was brilliant.
Christian Ribeiro started again for Bristol City. Lewin Nyatanga, whom Bristol City signed from Derby last season, was on the bench for his first match since returning from his loan spell at Peterborough United. Gavin Williams, back from his loan to Yeovil Town, didn’t make it into the squad.
As for Derby, it was all going so well but they’ve now lost four of their last five league games. Eight minutes before Brett’s opening goal, Gareth Roberts was forced off due to a calf injury and with Robbie Savage out with an ankle problem, Derby were in trouble.

Burnley 2-3 Leeds United
Burnley were 2-0 up when the whistle blew for half-time but Simon Grayson must have said something scary in the dressing room because Leeds fought back to claim all three points.
Sanchez Watt wasn’t in Leeds’ squad.

Premier League Results 11th December 2010

Aston Villa 2-1 West Bromwich Albion
Aston Villa’s run of five straight defeats came to an end when they won the derby match with West Bromwich Albion.
James Collins played for Villa despite daring to go out for a meal with his wife in the vicinity of a nightclub the night before a game. He nearly scored (during the match, I mean, not at the nightclub) and finished the game with a match-saving block.
Boaz Myhill was on the bench for West Brom and missed the chance to play against a former club.

Fulham 0-0 Sunderland
Both teams have drawn more than their fair share of matches this season so this result was no surprise at all. Fulham remain outside the bottom three on goal difference and have equalled the record for the biggest number of draws in the opening seventeen games. This was their tenth draw. I won’t say how many matches Mark Hughes has won from his last twenty-six because I’m supposed to be nice to Welshmen.
Simon Davies played the full match for Fulham. He might have got an assist if the referee hadn’t been paying attention.

Stoke City 0-1 Blackpool
Tony Pulis and Ian Holloway are good friends and Tony’s son Anthony Pulis, now at Stockport County on loan from Southampton, is apparently Ian Holloway’s godson. Which practically makes Ian Welsh if you’re me. But if Tony had had another child after this match, maybe he would have chosen a different godparent.
Stoke are formidable at home and they were on a five-match unbeaten run but Blackpool fear nobody and they do have the third-best away record in the League, after Arsenal and Manchester City. The win puts them into the top half of the table. They haven’t done enough to stop them from going down (not even Manchester United have done that) but at least they’ve managed to shut up most of the people who are saying they’ll go straight back down again.
Danny Collins and Ryan Shawcross played in defence for Stoke. Danny says he can’t blame the fans for jeering.
Neal Eardley nearly scored on his 150th league appearance and also made a great block to deny Stoke a certain goal but this was unfortunately credited to a team-mate.
David Vaughan also had a good game – 91% of his passes were successful. Rob Edwards was on the bench. It’s nice to see the Blackpool players being so complimentary about two of my favourite Blackpool players.

West Ham United 1-3 Manchester City
West Ham must be so disappointed. If only their former player Carlos Tevez had decided to leave forty-eight hours earlier. It would have thrown the club into disarray and maybe West Ham could have got a point or three.
Danny Gabbidon didn’t play for West Ham due to injury. Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion are both said to be interested in bringing Danny to the Midlands.

Championship Result 10th December 2010

Swansea City 1-1 Millwall
Millwall got an excellent point away at Swansea, cleverly denying Swansea the chance to move ahead of Cardiff City into second place.
Jermaine Easter finally made his long-awaited debut for Swansea as a 56th-minute substitute against one of his former clubs. When you’re struggling to score in League One, the problem isn’t usually solved by sending the player to one of the Championship’s promotion contenders but I’m sure Jermaine doesn’t mind too much.
Ashley Williams and Joe Allen played the full match, with Neil Taylor and David Cotterill both unused substitutes.
Swansea manager Brendan Rogers wants Ashley’s contract situation resolved as soon as possible. He doesn’t want Ashley pissing off to join a Premier League club. Especially as Swansea could be in the Premier League themselves by then (and I hope they are as long as Cardiff go up too and in a higher position).
Steve Morison had chances to win it for Millwall but it didn’t quite happen.

Gareth Bale Wales Sports Personality of the Year

Belated congratulations to Gareth Bale, who has been named the 2010 Wales Sports Personality of the Year.

It's not as prestigious a competition as the British one but it's still a great achievement and a deserved one.

Gareth's dedication to football was demonstrated by the fact he did not attend the awards ceremony - he was very proud and honoured to have won the award but instead he travelled to Holland for Tottenham Hotspur's match against Werder Bremen, even though Tottenham had already qualified and Harry Redknapp was thinking of resting players.

Somehow I think Gareth will win this award again. And again.

Gary Speed appointed Wales' new manager

To begin with, Gary Speed wasn't even interested. He'd only recently been appointed manager of Sheffield United although he'd been with the club for a number of years, first as a player and then as a coach.

But when Ryan Giggs yet again turned down the chance to become Wales' manager, the Welsh FA turned to an inexperienced manager whose club are near the bottom of the Championship.

A number of people are believed to have applied for the job. Brian Flynn, the caretaker-manager of Wales for their two most recent matches, was the choice of the players and was interested in remaining in the job. Chris Coleman and John Hartson were also thought to have been very keen. Chris was the most experienced Welsh candidate while John had none at all. Lars Lagerback was also interviewed for the position whilst other managers linked with the job included Martin O'Neill.

But it seemed FA Wales were looking for a star rather than an experienced manager and, after holding interviews, they made the decision to approach Gary Speed - and he accepted their offer to become manager of Wales.

It's true he's a Welsh legend and he could inspire the players, as no doubt Ryan Giggs would have done - and although his managerial track record is not particularly good, he does have experience as a coach. The younger Welsh internationals (which to be fair is most of them) will remember him as a star. He's just not that experienced or that successful as a manager and that could turn out to be a disadvantage.

I really hope it works out for Gary and he has my full support. I hope the unsuccessful candidates won't be too disappointed. Brian Flynn certainly has reason to be, although he clearly loves working with and developing young players and there will be more opportunities for him to do this at under-21 level and lower. Chris Coleman has also been offered another job but he'd decided not to accept it until he knew whether or not he's got the Welsh job. It looks like he'll be managing Greek side Larissa then.

As for Wales, we have a Welsh manager who loves his country. That's not something every country can claim.


Gary Speed's career in pictures.

Gary says he has taken a pay cut in order to manage Wales. It's always good finding people like that in the world of football.

Gary says one of his first jobs will be to try to coax Welsh players out of international retirement. That might actually be a harder job than beating England but some of those players could well be his friends so maybe he can do it.

Gary says Wales have nothing to lose. Well, we can lose the rest of the games which would also mean finishing bottom of the group but I do see what he means.

Former Wales manager Mark Hughes, who was linked with a return to the role, believes Gary will do a great job.

Champions' League Results 7th December 2010

FC Twente 3-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Well, at least they didn’t win.
Gareth Bale was a star again. But no, the three goals weren’t his. Not this time.

Manchester United 1-1 Valencia
Much as I like seeing rival Premier League teams draw, it’s not nearly as sweet when they still win the group.
Ryan Giggs was an 81st-minute substitute

Premier League Result 6th December 2010

Liverpool 3-0 Aston Villa
Villa manager Gerard Houllier didn’t have his best match against his old club.
James Collins played the full match for Aston Villa despite being out clubbing the night before.

Premier League Results 5th December 2010

Sunderland 1-0 West Ham United
Isn’t it nice when records are kept intact? Sunderland’s unbeaten home record remains while West Ham are still without an away win this season.
Danny Gabbidon made sure Sunderland only won by one goal.

West Bromwich Albion 3-1 Newcastle United
I know losing to West Brom is a bit embarrassing. Arsenal have lost to them this season too. But sacking Chris Hughton is as crazy an idea as replacing him with the pundit who was the manager when they last got relegated. He’s done an amazing job and defeat to West Brom doesn’t change that.
Boaz Myhill was on the bench for West Brom.

League Two Results 4th December 2010 (Part 1)

Northampton Town 2-0 Stockport County
Northampton moved ahead of Stockport, who are now only three points outside the relegation zone.
Paul Walker was on the bench for Northampton.
Anthony Pulis might have been wishing he was on the bench for Stockport.

Oxford United 2-1 Barnet
Barnet missed the chance to move out of the bottom two after they were beaten by Oxford.
Grant Basey played for Barnet.

Championship Results 4th December 2010 (Part 2)

Ipswich Town 1-3 Swansea City
Ipswich have forgotten how to win against Championship sides so Swansea ended up getting all three points, thus putting pressure on Cardiff, which Swansea probably didn’t mind doing at all.
Troy Brown kept his place in Ipswich’s starting line-up.
The only good thing about Swansea’s result is that Joe Allen scored again. It’s good for Wales. It’s probably also good for Wales that Ashley Williams and Neil Taylor only let one goal in. It seems like a horrible thing to happen but I’m sure it’s good really. David Cotterill was left on the bench which is a bit of a waste but maybe he’s saving his goals for Wales. Jermaine Easter finally made his Swansea debut. If he can go on a scoring run, that could be great for Wales too.

Leeds United 2-1 Crystal Palace
Leeds are unbeaten in seven after the double promotion hopefuls beat the surviving-by-the-skin-of-our-teeth-again hopefuls.
Sanchez Watt wasn’t in Leeds’ squad.
Lewis Price and Andy Dorman was unused substitutes for Palace.

Millwall 3-0 Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe won the play-off final the season before last but Millwall are winning the race to stay there. My dad says they could have got four but that would have lifted Crystal Palace out of the relegation zone and no Millwall fan would want that.
Steve Morison scored not once but twice for Millwall.

Watford 3-2 Leicester City
Watford’s run of five matches without a win came to an end in this match but Leicester are five points outside the play-offs so it could be worse.
Andy King played 63 minutes for Leicester. I hope that was a tactical substitution rather than another injury.

Championship Results 4th December 2010 (Part 1)

Cardiff City 1-1 Preston North End
Cardiff are just one point ahead of rivals Swansea City after only drawing with struggling Preston.
Darcy Blake and Craig Bellamy both started for Cardiff but Darcy was replaced after 26 minutes as he became the first victim of Cardiff City’s latest epidemic. Adam Matthews was an unused substitute but Jason Koumas was missing with a toe injury.
Craig Morgan and Paul Parry were on the bench for Preston. Paul was a 93rd-minute substitute and he must have done something right because Cardiff scored a minute later. It’s a shame Paul doesn’t play for Cardiff anymore really.

Coventry City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Coventry are up to fifth following this win but Boro aren’t even up to fifth from bottom.
Freddy Eastwood came off Coventry’s bench ten minutes before the goal went in.
Danny Coyne was on the bench for Boro.

Derby County 1-2 Norwich City
Derby’s strong home faltered for once when Norwich came to town. Except of course Derby is a city.
Gareth Roberts returned from suspension and was in the starting line-up with Robbie Savage.
Andrew Crofts played the full match for Norwich and something wonderful happened: I was wrong. Owain Tudur Jones was not only on the bench for Norwich, he came off it.

Premier League Results 4th December 2010

Arsenal 2-1 Fulham
Saturday wasn’t a good day for the Welshmen with none of those in the Premier League finishing on the winning side. Don’t tell me they’re all cursed now. Luckily I was supporting the team without a Welshman in and Arsenal claimed another win following a stressful match.
Simon Davies was playing against Arsenal though and Fulham haven’t won for ages so he might not be cursed. Mark Hughes named Simon as one of his best players in this match and the Daily Mail says he gave Gael Clichy a torrid time which would be great if Clichy didn’t play for Arsenal.

Birmingham City 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
At least Birmingham are three points from the relegation zone after this draw. And fifth isn’t too bad for Tottenham.
Gareth Bale played well for Tottenham as usual. Some Tottenham fans are complaining he’s not firing on all cylinders but that’s the thing about Gareth. He can give his cylinders a rest anytime he likes and still be the best player on the pitch. As he arguably was in this match.

Blackburn Rovers 3-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves losing doesn’t mean they’re cursed either. Wolves always lose. If there was something funny going on for Wolves, they’d be winning.
Wayne Hennessey kept his place in goal for Wolves but he was unable to extend his winning run. David Jones and Dave Edwards were out due to thigh and foot injuries.

Manchester City 1-0 Bolton Wanderers
Manchester City claimed all three points in this, er, battle for the fourth Champions’ League place.
Sam Ricketts was the victim of a tackle that saw Manchester City’s Aleksandar Kolarov sent off.

Wigan Athletic 2-2 Stoke City
Wigan moved ahead of West Ham United after beating Stoke City who have only just broken ther referee curse and definitely don’t need another one.
Danny Collins and Ryan Shawcross played for Stoke. Danny scored a goal but it wasn’t in the right net or anything like that.

League One Fixtures 11th December 2010 (Part 2)

Plymouth Argyle v Exeter City
Exeter won when the two Devonshire teams faced one another recently in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and was the first of a four-match unbeaten run for Exeter – which will become five if they don’t lose this game. Plymouth however are on a winning run. If you can have a run of one games.
Carl Fletcher should actually play for Plymouth this time after finally recovering from a leg injury. Carl is on a three-match unbeaten run while Plymouth did win their last game. Carl says the club’s financial problems are affecting the players but they’ll still be doing their best to win the derby.
Exeter’s Richard Duffy has a slight hamstring problem but he should be fit to play. Rob Edwards has warned his team-mates to be wary of Plymouth while Daniel Nardiello is looking forward to giving Plymouth even more to worry about although he’s likely to be on the bench.

Sheffield Wednesday v Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers are looking forward to taking on Sheffield Wednesday. They are unbeaten in two despite playing the matches in question against the top two, Brighton & Hove Albion and Charlton Athletic. They would have faced third-placed Bournemouth last weekend had the weather not intervened so now they play fourth-placed Sheffield Wednesday. Nice stat although maybe Sheffield Wednesday wouldn’t have been fourth if the last lot of matches had all gone ahead. Bristol Rovers’ next league fixture is against Colchester United – who could easily be in fifth by the time that match comes around. The run will end there as Walsall won’t quite get up to 6th place in time for the match after that (actually they won’t even be out of the relegation zone) but it was nice while it lasted.
Byron Anthony returns from suspension to boost Bristol Rovers’ chances of not losing. Ben Swallow (scorer of the best goal in the last round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy) and Eliot Richards will probably be on the bench.

Tranmere Rovers v Leyton Orient
Tranmere are only two places outside the relegation zone but they’re already thinking in terms of the top half – two wins could to it. And with Orient missing two central defenders following their dismissal in the FA Cup match against Droylsden (and having won only one away game this season), Tranmere might fancy their chances.
However, Tranmere will have to get past Orient’s loanee goalkeeper Jason Brown, who is unbeaten not only in his four matches for Orient (let’s ignore the fact his only win came in extra time), he was unbeaten in his last three games for parent club Blackburn Rovers, including the match against Chelsea.
Ash Taylor could make his first start of the season after recovering from knee surgery.
Jack Mackreth has returned to Tranmere Rovers following a very successful loan spell with Burscough and was on the bench against Hartlepool United as I failed to mention. So he could be on the bench again.

League One Fixtures 11th December 2010 (Part 1)

Bournemouth v Hartlepool United
Bournemouth will go second if they win and Charlton lose and Sheffield Wednesday don’t win by four goals more than Bournemouth. If Hartlepool win, they might go into the top half of the table.
Bournemouth have only lost one home league match this season and failed to win just two.
Rhoys Wiggins says Bournemouth can continue to prove their doubters wrong. Rhoys will make his 50th league start for Bournemouth in this match.

Carlisle United v Dagenham & Redbridge
Dag & Red are improving but they’re six points from safety so they ideally need to improve a little bit more. They’ve only won one away game this season (and drawn just two) but that’s only one fewer than Carlisle.
Carlisle don’t seem to want Jason Price back from Bradford City.
I haven’t heard anything about Tony Roberts but BBC Sport suggests he won’t play in goal. Well, he’s not likely to play anywhere else. Kayleden Brown could start after extending his loan spell until next year.

Colchester United v Yeovil Town
A win could take Colchester to joint second but they’re not expecting this match against the second-bottom team to be easy. I thought teams with a record of 4 4 2 either home or away was probably not that common but Colchester are another. Yeovil have lost seven of their ten away games this season.
Lee Beevers and Lloyd James will probably be on the bench for Colchester.
Yeovil have not only lost Owain Tudur Jones, Gavin Williams has gone too. Shaun MacDonald is their only remaining loan Welshman but he’s still got Nathan Jones to keep him company. Gavin believes Yeovil will survive relegation this season.

Notts County v Milton Keynes Dons
Notts County’s new manager faces one of his old clubs as the home side attempt to haul themselves out of the bottom three. A win for MK Dons could put them outside the play-offs on goal difference. Or even in the play-offs – Oldham Athletic aren’t playing so a 10-0 win from MK Dons will do it, as long as Yeovil can beat Colchester United.
Ben Davies should start for Notts County.

Championship Fixtures 11th December 2010 (Part 3)

Preston North End v Ipswich Town
Preston have only won one of their last eleven matches but they are unbeaten in two. Ipswich have just beaten West Bromwich Albion but that wasn’t in the league. They haven’t won in the league for over a month.
Craig Morgan and Paul Parry haven’t started for Preston since they lost to Hull nearly a month ago. But in the two games before that when both started, one of them scored.
Troy Brown played in the win over West Brom and kept his place for the next game but Ipswich didn’t win. So he could be back on the bench again. It wasn’t his fault though – but neither was it Roy Keane’s, according to Troy and his team-mates.

Reading v Coventry City
If Coventry win this match, it will be their fourth win in a row and fourth clean sheet in a row. Reading are also unbeaten in four but they didn’t actually win any of those games. Like Leeds’ away form, Reading’s home form could be a clue to what formation they will play. Coventry go for a more radical 4 2 4.
Simon Church has been starting for Reading but not scoring. So he could be back on the bench with Hal Robson-Kanu and that might not be all bad because he’s such a great supersub but I’m sure he’d rather be a superstarter.
Freddy Eastwood will probably be on the bench as the other strikers keep scoring.

Scunthorpe United P-P Nottingham Forest
Aaron Ramsey misses another chance to build up his match fitness after the freezing weather conditions in Scunthorpe lead to the cancellation of this match.

Championship Fixtures 11th December 2010 (Part 2)

Leicester City v Doncaster Rovers
Leicester have lost two of their last three matches but the one they won was a home game and they actually haven’t lost a home league game since mid-September and even then that was only Queen’s Park Rangers and they were beating everyone then. And the last time they lost a home game to a team who wasn’t QPR was in August. Doncaster have been doing really well but they’re not QPR. And their last away win at Leicester was only a year off being Victorian.
Andy King should start for Leicester.

Middlesbrough v Cardiff City
Cardiff have another bug. The last two times I visited Cardiff, I came back with a bug. It’s ny favourite city in the world but something’s wrong there.
Cardiff seriously need a win too as Swansea City are only behind on goal difference.but Middlesbrough don’t stop many teams from beating them. Cardiff are strong away from home though, having won more away matches than any other team in the Championship.
Darcy Blake has recovered from his bug, Jason Koumas has recovered from a toe injury and I’m sure someone would have mentioned it if Craig Bellamy might not be able to play – especially as he’s a hat-trick away from his 150th career goal. I don’t know about Adam Matthews and Aaron Wildig but if they’re okay, their chances of starting have probably increased.
Craig believes Cardiff can still win the league but they need one or two January signings.
Danny Coyne will probably be on the bench for Boro. Rhys Williams is still out with a pelvis injury.

Norwich City v Portsmouth
Norwich are unbeaten in five. Most of those matches were draws but they’re still fourth. Portsmouth aren’t even in the top half of the table and might not be even if they win but Portsmouth have got a pattern thing going. They lose seven… they win seven. They lose four… they win… one. So that looks like three wins to come, one of them against Portsmouth. Norwich must be so glad runs like that don’t mean anything.
Andrew Crofts should start for Norwich. Owain Tudur Jones could be on the bench again after doing nothing wrong as far as I can see in his cameo appearance last week. Manager Paul Lambert says Owain still has a role to play for the club.

Championship Fixtures 11th December 2010 (Part 1)

Barnsley v Sheffield United
Barnsley are unbeaten in their last four matches. Sheffield United… aren’t but Barnsley aren’t very good at scoring at home and if they don’t score at home, Sheffield United can’t lose. But if they do lose, they could find themselves in the bottom three.
Ched Evans will play for Sheffield United as he’s the only fit striker. He says he’s happy to play as the Blades’ loan striker and he believes Sheffield United can get a result.

Bristol City v Derby County
Bristol City hope to continue their ascent of the Championship table against a Derby side who have lost three of their last four matches.
Brett Pitman will hope for another start after scoring three in his last four games. Christian Ribeiro is fine to play for Bristol City after having knee problems. Lewin Nyatanga and Gavin Williams could play for the first time since returning from loan spelsl at Peterborough United and Yeovil Town respectively but Gavin doesn’t believe he has a future at Bristol City.
Sam Vokes is in a race against time to recover from a hamstring injury before his loan spell comes to an end and add to the thirteen minutes of game time he’s notched up so far at Bristol City. He must have done well in those thirteen minutes though as Bristol City do want to keep him for longer.
Robbie Savage and Gareth Roberts might keep their places in Derby’s starting line-up… or they might not. Gareth in particular could be in trouble as manager Nigel Clough is reportedly not happy with his defenders but Gareth says the fans haven’t seen the best of him yet.
This week, Robbie won the Plain English award. Well done to Robbie but he doesn’t think he’ll win the Plain Welsh award, probably at least partly because it doesn’t seem to exist.. Robbie’s plain speaking this week includes his opinion on the sacking of Chris Hughton.

Burnley v Leeds United
Leeds are unbeaten in seven but at least this match will be at Turf Moor, the venue for all Burnley’s league wins this season. Despite their recent wobbles, Burnley still have an excellent home form while Leeds’ away form reads like a team formation – 4 4 2.
Leeds have an Arsenal player on loan, a young striker called Sanchez Watt who is eligible to play for Wales. Has anyone seen him lately?

Crystal Palace v Hull City
Palace aren’t exactly doing brilliantly this season but their best work has come at home, most recently beating Doncaster Rovers and Coventry City, who are pretty good. Hull aren’t quite as good as those two but they are unbeaten in four.
Andy Dorman and Lewis Price are most likely to be on the bench.

Premier League Fixtures 11th December 2010

Aston Villa v West Bromwich Albion
Villa have never lost to West Brom in the Premier League but the two midlands clubs meet with West Brom the side on form. Villa have only lost once at home this season and that was to Arsenal.
Gerard Houllier is said to be unhappy with Villa’s defending. James Collins is in trouble for going clubbing the night before a match, although he says it was just a meal with his wife, but Houllier says he won’t punish him.
One Welshman likely to be sitting on the bench though is West Brom’s Boaz Myhill.

Fulham v Sunderland
Fulham are only out of the bottom three on goal difference and really need a win. But one thing Fulham and Sunderland share is the fact that they’ve drawn at least as many games as they’ve won and lost put together. Managers Mark Hughes and Steve Bruce did better when they were on the same team.
Simon Davies should play for Fulham.

Stoke City v Blackpool
Blackpool have been training on the beach. It sounds nice… but then I remembered the temperature. Blackpool are unbeaten in three but Stoke are notoriously strong at the Britannia Stadium and are themselves unbeaten in five.
Danny Collins and Ryan Shawcross should both start for Stoke. And if anyone from Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid or Juventus happens to be reading, Ryan is not for sale. Okay?
Neal Eardley will be making his 150th league appearance if he plays some part in this match – I’d expect both him and David Vaughan to start with Rob Edwards on the bench.
David can expect a lot of support today from his fan club – of which Everon are apparently members.

West Ham United v Manchester City
The papers are full of rumours of Manchester City bust-ups but they are still fourth in the league and could be second after this match (or top if they win by seven goals). West Ham are unbeaten in five home games in all competitions.
Jack Collison is back in training for West Ham! He won’t be playing in this fixture and he probably still won’t play again in 2010. Maybe he’ll inspire West Ham to win. They have done quite well against teams from Manchester recently.
Danny Gabbidon should play for West Ham – which is also very exciting when you consider his own injury problems.

League One Fixture 10th December 2010

Peterborough United v Rochdale
If Peterborough win this match 10-0, they’ll be in the play-off places. But being outside only on goal difference is a definite possibility considering Rochdale haven’t won any of their last seven games. Including their tie with FC United of Manchester, whom I’m sure will be back in the FA Cup next season.
Arron Davies will hope to start for Peterborough.
Nicky Adams is likely to start for Rochdale with Matt Done on the bench.

Championship Fixture 10th December 2010

Swansea City v Millwall
So it’s up to my dad’s team to stop Swansea from moving ahead of my Welsh team. So if it works out, I’ll be happy. And if it doesn’t work out, I’ll be happy for all those lovely Welsh players. Sort of. Maybe.
Letting in the goals for Swansea will be defenders Ashley Williams and Neil Taylor with Joe Allen and David Cotterill possibly chipping in too. As for Jermaine Easter, I don’t know where he’s pissed off to but if he does finally make his Swansea debut, he’ll be playing against a former club.
Steve Morison scored twice in his last game so he should remember how it’s done.

Premier Leagur Fixtures 5th December 2010

West Bromwich Albion v Newcastle United
The Premier League’s two automatically promoted teams have had some great moments this season but more recently they’ve been on a downward slide. Not that (to my knowledge) there’s any such thing as an upward slide. Newcastle haven’t lost to West Brom since 1984.
I would love to see Boaz Myhill start for West Brom again but he did just lose to Ipswich Town.

Sunderland v West Ham United
West Ham haven’t won many games this season but two of their wins came in their last two matches. However, Sunderland are unbeaten at home this season.
Danny Gabbidon will hope to make his 100th appearance for West Ham after sitting out their shock win over Manchester United with a knock. Jack Collison has a long-term knee injury.

League Two Fixtures (and Postponements) 4th December 2010

Accrington Stanley P-P Shrewsbury
This match won’t happen as apparently there’s something wrong with the weather.

Aldershot Town P-P Bradford City
Aldershot have a frozen pitch so this match has been postponed.
Bradford’s loan striker Jason Price gets what is probably a welcome break from the rough and tumble of League Two. Michael Flynn is at least two months away from a return.

Bury P-P Chesterfield
Bury have a frozen pitch too. There’s a lot of it going around.
Owain fon Williams says Bury v Chesterfield is a massive game – but depending on when the rearranged fixture is, he might not get to play in it.
Craig Davies has a hamstring injury so I bet Chesterfield are quite glad they (probably) won’t have to play such a big game without him.
Robert Page says he’s ready to wait for his chance to play in the first team as he is getting on a bit.


Cheltenham Town P-P Lincoln City
And another frozen pitch.
Josh Low says Cheltenham have come a long way in the last twelve months. I’d say they’ve come a long way in the last six months too. At the end of last season, they were fourteen places lower than they are now.


Crewe Alexandra P-P Wycombe Wanderers
Crewe have one fewer match to show Rhys Taylor why he should stay for the whole season. Centre back Danny Blanchett certainly seems to like him.
Rhys wants to stay with Crewe for the rest of the season. Wales might be short of players who can score penalties – but here’s one who can save them.

Gillingham P-P Rotherham United
Gillingham’s pitch is a foot deep in snow so this match is off.

Hereford United P-P Morecambe
Hereford’s pitch is frozen but at least it’s theirs.

Northampton Town v Stockport
Northampton have only won once away while Stockport have only won once at home. Both teams will be glad it’s not the other around.
Paul Walker will be on the bench for Northampton.
Anthony Pulis should start for Stockport after extending his loan deal to 4th January. Highlights of his loan spell so far include a debut goal and three 5-0 defeats. But I’m sure that’s not Anthony’s fault.

Oxford United v Barnet
This match is still on but there will be a pitch inspection tomorrow to check it’s not too cold. Barnet have only two points from away matches this season but a first win would lift them out of the bottom two.
Oxford defender Rhys Day still wants to join loan club Mansfield Town full-time despite a change of manager. Rhys has recently been Mansfield stand-in captain.

Port Vale P-P Stevenage
How many ways are there of saying ‘the pitch is frozen’? I reckon I’ve got most of them.
Lewis Haldane believes he’ll struggle to get back into Port Vale’s starting eleven.

Southend United P-P Macclesfield Town
For the reasons for this postponement, see above.
Peter Gilbert would have been suspended for this match after Southend made the decision not to appeal against his red card on the grounds that it might be deemed frivolous.

Torquay United P-P Burton Albion
I’m not even going to tell you why this one’s off.
Garyn Preen has joined Stafford Rangers on loan from Burton.

League One Fixtures (and Postponements) 4th December 2010

Brentford P-P Notts County
Notts County are considering under-soil heating but even if they did have it, it wouldn’t be much help as this match is at Brentford, who have a frozen pitch.
Ben Davies says Notts County can build on their victory over Swindon Town. Ben will meet the board soon to discuss his future.

Brighton P-P Colchester United
This game can’t be played as Brighton just isn’t a safe place for supporters.

Bristol Rovers v Bournemouth
This game isn’t cancelled yet but there’s going to be a pitch inspection tomorrow. So don’t go out without checking though if you do it won’t be a big disaster, it’s not like the match is in Carlisle. A win for Bournemouth would put them into the top two although Charlton Athletic would have a game in hand – and Bournemouth, despite their good position, have won away only once this season.
Byron Anthony returns from suspension for Bristol Rovers with Eliot Richards and Ben Swallow on the bench.
Rhoys Wiggins will start for Bournemouth
Joe Partington has extended his loan spell at Eastbourne Borough.

Dagenham & Redbridge P-P Huddersfield Town
There’s a safety issue in Dagenham so this match won’t be played.

Exeter City v Tranmere Rovers
Exeter are three points from the top six but they’d need a to win by ten goals in order to overturn Oldham Athletic’s goal difference. Tranmere won’t be in the bottom three if they lose because not enough of the teams below tham are playing but it would be uncomfortably close.
Richard Duffy has a slight hamstring injury but he’s expected to be fit to play for Exeter and first team coach/team-mate Rob Edwards believes Richard could be playing for Wales again before too long. Brian Flynn was at a recent match and Rob doesn’t think he was there to watch him and has concluded he must have been watching Richard – though Daniel Nardiello is Welsh too, you know, Rob.
Rob believes the current Exeter side is the strongest he’s seen at the club but he is worried about facing Tranmere’s Dale Jennings. Ash Taylor isn’t too bad either but he’ll probably only be on the bench as he’s coming back from injury.

Leyton Orient P-P Carlisle United
Orient imply there’s nothing wrong with their stadium, it’s the roads around it that are the problem.

Milton Keynes Dons P-P Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth’s financial problems are unlikely to be helped by the cancellation of this match due to a frozen pitch in Milton Keynes.
Plymouth captain Carl Fletcher is still yet to make his comeback from injury. He was set to play in a reserve match this week but I’m not sure if it happened.

Rochdale P-P Charlton Athletic
It’s not just London where the pitches are frozen. Stadia that were due to be visited by a London club are having problems too.
Matt Done visited a school in Rochdale this week as part of Anti-Bullying week.

Yeovil Town P-P Peterborough United
Yeovil and Peterborough can’t play this match due to an excess of snow.
Yeovil loanee Owain Tudur Jones, who has returned to Norwich. His final match was meant to be an FA Cup match but it was postponed.

Championship Fixtures (and Postponements) 4th December 2010 (Part 2)

Ipswich Town v Swansea City
Ipswich haven’t beaten Swansea since they were both in the top division together which must have been a very long time ago. Ipswich are hoping to avoid a fifth consecutive defeat.
Troy Brown played well in Ipswich’s Carling Cup win over West Bromwich Albion but he’s not expected to keep his place.
Jermaine Easter is yet to make his debut for loan club Swansea after injuring his thigh. He will have a fitness test to determine whether he’s able to play in this match. If he does, it will be his 250th career league appearance. Ashley Williams, Neil Taylor, Joe Allen and David Cotterill will also hope to start – but if not they should be on the bench.

Leeds United v Crystal Palace
Palace could be out of the bottom three if they manage to beat or even just draw with Leeds but with Leeds unbeaten in five matches, that’s a big if. Palace’s away form is identical to Middlesbrough’s which kind of says it all really.
Sanchez Watt has apparently recovered from his ankle injury but he’s yet to appear in a Leeds squad.
Palace are short of midfielders which could see Andy Dorman’s first start since it was revealed he was having trouble adapting to the Championship. Lewis Price will also hope to return to the bench.

Millwall v Scunthorpe United
Millwall will attempt to beat one of the Championship’s struggling sides in an effort not to become one of them themselves.
Steve Morison should start for Millwall.

Nottingham Forest P-P Bristol City
This match has been postponed as the streets of Nottingham are hazardous.
Aaron Ramsey will hope Forest’s fixtures don’t all get postponed now he’s joined them on loan. He was glad to get back to playing against Leicester City. And it’s not just you who’s glad, Aaron.
Chris Gunter says Aaron is mentally stronger after his injury.
Christian Ribeiro seems to be making the right back spot his own – Bristol City were relieved when he was declared fit to play in this weekend’s match – although obviously he won’t be playing now.
Sam Vokes was expected to play in a behind-closed-doors friendly for Bristol City but it’s not clear whether this happened or not.

Sheffield United P-P Reading
This match has been postponed as it’s just too cold.

Watford v Leicester City
Leicester hope to win their fifth games in seven matches but the last seven matches have been less kind to Watford, who haven’t won any of them.
Andy King returned from injury with a bang last weekend. He says Leicester aren’t scared of anyone and they could get promoted.

Championship Fixtures (and Postponements) 4th December 2010 (Part 1)

Cardiff City v Preston North End
Cardiff will need to draw at least to ensure they remain ahead of rivals Swansea City but supporters will expect more from the promotion contenders when they face the Championship’s bottom side.
Darcy Blake and Craig Bellamy should start with Adam Matthews and Jason Koumas also in the squad. A hat-trick for Craig will bring him up to 150 club career goals.
Paul Parry faces his former club, Cardiff City, but he – along with team-mate Craig Morgan - is not guaranteed a starting place.
Darcy and Adam will show their superhero side next week to raise money for hospice Ty Hafan.

Coventry City v Middlesbrough
Coventry could be in third place if they win this match. Not the kind of team Middlesbrough want to be facing as they attempt to climb out of the bottom two. Boro only have one away win this season.
Freddy Eastwood will be hoping to get back into Coventry’s starting line-up.
Danny Coyne should have recovered from injury by now but new manager Tony Mowbray might not fancy him for the #1 spot. Rhys Williams is still out with pelvis problems.

Derby County v Norwich City
Derby are above Norwich only on goal difference but the loser of this match is likely to drop out of the top six. Derby have won six of their nine home games.
Robbie Savage has a good chance of starting for Derby but Gareth Roberts is still suspended.
Andrew Crofts should start for Norwich. Owain Tudur Jones has returned from his loan spell at Yeovil Town but I’d be surprised to see him in the squad. It would be a very nice surprise though.

Doncaster Rovers P-P Barnsley
No run-out this week for Doncaster’s Welsh midfielders John Oster – who would have been facing a former club - and Brian Stock as their pitch is frozen.

Premier League Fixtures (and Postponements) 4th December 2010

Arsenal v Fulham
Arsenal might be only third in the league but they’re second in the form table and they’ve never lost to Fulham at home before. As for Fulham’s form, it’s all about drawing. They’ve drawn nine of their fifteen League matches this season and are yet to win away. They haven’t won away for 33 matches.
Simon Davies should start for Fulham.

Birmingham City v Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham are having an injury crisis but I don’t have too much sympathy for them. They’d better hope they don’t get any penalties because the chances are, they’ll miss. Birmingham have only lost once at home this season.
Tottenham won’t be leaving out Gareth Bale.

Blackburn Rovers v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Blackburn really need to bounce back from last week’s embarrassing defeat while Wolves are still looking for their first clean sheet of the season. And their first away win. And their second away point.
Wayne Hennessey has done enough to hang onto his first-team place. David Jones is out after injuring his foot in Wolves’ match against Sunderland. Dave Edwards isn’t ready to return from a thigh injury and is using a scuba chamber in order to speed up his recovery.

Blackpool P-P Manchester United
This match is postponed due to Blackpool’s lack of undersoil heating.
Michael Owen will be back from his hamstring injury soon. But Owen Hargreaves’ return has been put back again.
Blackpool will hope the rearranged match happens before the transfer window as contract talks have hit a problem: David Vaughan doesn’t want to take a pay cut if Blackpool gets relegated. Well, if they keep going as they have, pay cut clauses shouldn’t come into it.

Manchester City v Bolton Wanderers
Manchester City haven’t scored at home in the league for two months. And with their strikers, there’s no excuse. But this offers Bolton the chance to reclaim their place in the top four.
Sam Ricketts should keep his place in Bolton’s starting line-up.

Wigan Athletic v Stoke City
Stoke will be hoping Wigan left back Maynor Figueroa doesn’t score another Goal of the Season but this season he hasn’t looked like the sort of player you’d want to buy to replace Gareth Bale. But who does? Stoke are unbeaten in four matches.
Danny Collins and Ryan Shawcross should both start for Stoke. Tony Pulis says he is focusing on Stoke’s survival rather than a top ten finish.