Saturday, 4 December 2010

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.

Thursday, 2 December 2010

Premier League Results 27th November 2010 (Part 2)

Manchester United 7-1 Blackburn Rovers
Manchester United haven’t looked really convincing this season, despite the fact they have an excellent trio of forwards in Dimitar Berbatov, Javier Hernandez and Bebe, not forgetting Michael Owen if he ever gets fit.
Speaking of Bernatov, he became only the fourth striker ever to score five goals in the same Premier League match. It’s now happened in two consecutive years: Jermain Defoe did it last year. Maybe next year it could be Robin van Persie’s turn. Then he could get all his goals out of the way before he gets injured again.
But finally Manchester United showed that they are actually pretty good and if Arsenal can’t stop Chelsea themselves, maybe another team can.
Ryan Giggs was rested – and quite honestly not needed - in this match.

Stoke City 1-1 Manchester City
Stoke were unable to make it four wins in four games but a late equaliser meant they were able to make it four unbeaten. Manchester City have a better team on paper but it’s off the paper where it matters.
Ryan Shawcross and Danny Collins played in defence for Stoke.

West Ham United 3-1 Wigan Athletic
West Ham remained bottom despite picking up three much-needed points with a win over fellow-strugglers Wigan. It takes more than a win over Wigan to save your season but one more win could make a huge difference.
Danny Gabbidon conceded a rather harsh penalty but Wigan missed it so it didn’t matter. Except to Wigan.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 Sunderland
Wolves needed a win and they got one over their manager’s former side. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake has done little for Wolves since being the Championship’s top scorer in their promotion year but his winning goal suggests maybe they’re not completely doomed after all.
Wayne Hennessey replaced Marcus Hahnemann in goal and it seemed to work. Mick McCarthy says the No. 1 jersey (figuratively, Wayne wears No. 13) is his again. David Jones also started.

Premier League Results 27th November 2010 (Part 1)

Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal
This match was a lot more excrutiating than the result suggests. Arsenal won by two clear goals but it could easily have been won by one goal – and not necessarily by Arsenal. But they did get to the top of the table briefly and I’m just happy they’re still in a position where they can get to the top of the table.
James Collins played the full match for Villa and aggravated his calf which must have been, well, aggravating.

Bolton Wanderers 2-2 Blackpool
It looked as though Blackpool were about to pull off another shock when they went 2-0 ahead at Bolton. But Bolton aren’t in a Europa League place for nothing and two late goals gave them a share of the points.
Sam Ricketts played the full match for Bolton.
Neal Eardley was in the right place to ensure Bolton didn’t get a winner. He and David Vaughan played the full match for Blackpool with Rob Edwards on the bench.
David is Ian Holloway’s dream man – if he is a man. Apparently he was manufactured which makes him sound more like a robot. Whatever he is, Holloway is going to offer him a new contract which he hopes will be enough to entice him to stay.

Everton 1-4 West Bromwich Albion
I thought Everton were getting over their usual early season slump but if you’re losing at home to West Brom (who aren’t on the best run themselves), you’ve really got a problem. Oh well, at least the Liverpool fans had something to be happy about for once.
Boaz Myhill was on the bench for West Brom.

Fulham 1-1 Birmingham City
Fulham used to be good at home but now it seems all they’re good at is drawing. In some ways, drawing a match is more of an achievement than winning it because if you win a match, you can score any number of goals and as long as it’s more than the opposition, you win. For a draw, you need to score exactly the same number of goals as the opposition. It’s probably not easy. But it still only gets you one point.
Simon Davies started for Fulham and took the corner that led to their equaliser.

FA Cup Results 27th November 2010 (Part 2)

Dover Athletic 2-0 Aldershot Town
The FA Cup wouldn’t be the same without them. Dover went through to the third round at the expense of league side Aldershot. Next up are Huddersfield Town. I don’t know about winning but I think they might do better than Macclesfield Town.
Adam Birchall went into the match hoping for a tenth goal of the FA Cup campaign – and ended up with his eleventh too. He scored early in the second half to put Dover ahead before converting a 90th-minute penalty and he says he loves Dover. The way he’s playing, I’m sure Dover loves him too. His manager, at least, really doesn’t want to and doesn't need to sell him.
Darren Jones kept his place in Aldershot’s starting line-up but Aaron Morris was on the bench.

Hereford United 2-2 Lincoln City
Two of League Two’s strugglers probably don’t want another game as they have enough to concentrate on in the League. Their next opponents are also from League Two: Wycombe Wanderers.
Stuart Fleetwood played the full match for Hereford but had a penalty saved. It happens to all the best Welsh players. Ryan Green and Ryan Valentine were out due to suspension and injury respectively.

Huddersfield Town 6-0 Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield are never going to win the FA Cup and maybe they were never going to win this match but did Huddersfield really need to be so emphatic about it? They face Dover Athletic in the next round.
Sam Wedgbury was on the bench for Macclesfield.

Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 Northampton Town

Sheffield Wednesday aren’t as good as they used to be but at least they’re better than Liverpool – although Northampton put up a good fight and things could have been different if they hadn’t kept conceding penalties. Sheffield Wednesday are at Bristol City in the next round.
Paul Walker was on the bench for Northampton.

Southampton 3-0 Cheltenham Town

Cheltenham have been doing well in League Two but for once Southampton showed why it could have been them getting promoted if it weren’t for their points deduction. Their next opponents were expected to be spending this season in League One with Southampton. Instead, they’re tearing up the Premier League.
Ryan Doble was on the bench for Southampton.
Josh Low played the full match for Cheltenhan.

FA Cup Results 27th November 2010 (Part 1)

Burton Albion 3-1 Chesterfield
In the league, Chesterfield are on top while Burton (like every other team in League Two) are further down. But Cup matches can go either way even when the two sides involved are in different divisions so this probably shouldn’t really be a surprise. Even though it is. Burton’s next opponents are struggling Championship side Middlesbrough.
Tony James was on the bench for Burton. I like to think he was rested but the truth is he isn’t really first-choice anymore.
Craig Davies didn’t have the best day. After spending the first half being booed by the Burton supporters (he was born in Burton which was hardly his fault, I blame the parents), he then suffered a hamstring injury. Chesterfield aren’t sure how serious it is but they seem pretty hopeful.

Bury 1-2 Peterborough United
Bury killed one giant in the first round but Peterborough were just a little bit too much for them in the second. Next time, Peterborough could be the giant-killers as they face Fulham.
Loanee Owain fon Williams was in goal for Bury. His loan runs out at the end of December but he’s not sure what will happen then.
Arron Davies was a substitute but he didn’t come on until the 94th minute so he might not have actually kicked the ball or anything like that. Despite being left on the bench, Arron believes manager Gary Johnson will take Peterborough back into the Championship.
Lewin Nyatanga was not given permission to play in this match by parent club Bristol City but most reports suggested his loan had already come to an end by the time this match came around. But he’s definitely back at Bristol City now.

Carlisle United 3-2 Tamworth
Tamworth will feel disappointed to go out but the non-league side played well and didn’t look like minnows. Not that I’ve ever seen a footballer who does. The score was 2-2 with minutes still to play and it looked as though Tamworth had forced a replay but then Carlisle scored which spoiled things a bit. Carlisle will need to up their game just slightly when they face League Two Torquay United.
Scott Barrow played the full match for Tamworth.

Colchester United 1-0 Swindon Supermarines
Swindon Supermarines bowed out of the FA Cup after another great performance against one of the best teams (according to League place) in the competition. They couldn’t quite equalise but they must have given Colchester’s players a few scares. Colchester’s next opponents are a few more stops down the train line from Swindon – Swansea City.
Lee Beevers and Lloyd James were unused substitutes for Colchester.

Darlington 0-2 York City
Two former League sides battled for the right to face a Premier League side in the third round and it was York who went through, with Bolton Wanderers their reward.
Danny Parslow missed out for York after suffering from larynx damage which is an unusual one for a footballer but as an ex-singer I can tell you it can be pretty bad. Levi Mackin is being brought back slowly from a knee problem and wasn’t in the squad for this match even though he did feature in the last round.