Official Football Thread

Don't expect favours in football! I was expecting a few from Ian Holloway this week - so naturally Plymouth lost 4-0 to Burnley and 2-1 to Leeds. ;) But against Lootown, I hope we can do you a favour! Preston have lost a couple on the bounce, so that's not an impossible game. Overall, the survival race is still well open, and I expect it will go down to the last game of the season to decide the final one or two places.
 
Preston have indeed had a bit of a bad run (loosing to Leeds and Palace), but they still need the points for automatic promotion - they do not want to put themselves through the pain of the play-offs as they did last year.

But you're right. Favours don't happen in football. If Southend were to play Palace (for example - I know it's Luton) on the last game of the season and the Shrimpers needed one point, Palace - managed by Peter Taylor (an ex-Southend player of legendary status) - will do all they can to beat them. Sort of reminds me of the goal Man City scored back in the early 70's to put Man U down to the second teir - the goalscorer? Denis Law - and look how pleased he was at doing so. :D
So, I was watching the live score on SkySports and saw Southend were 2-1 down, Leeds 1-0 up and Luton 2-1 up with 10 minutes to go. I had to leave this drama to tend to something else then returned when the games were done. Surely I'd see nothing much changed in each score line - how wrong was I. Southend won 3-2, Leeds lost 2-1 and QPR beat Luton 3-2 - the last two goals in each game coming in the last 10 minutes of each match. Sets up the last few games nicely.
 
Well, as I - and one or two others - predicted, all three English clubs are through with Milan to the Champions League semis. I'll pip for a Liverpool v Man U final. However, a Milan v Chelsea final seems a little dull, does it not?

I must admit, I did not see Milan beating Bayern, but they did.
 
How about the Man Yoo game last night?! It had me laughing as each goal went in. On current (Champions League) form, I'd agree that Liverpool or Man U are most likely to win it, and would make for the most interesting final too. Crouch to finish top-scorer? he gets my vote. For years I've been syaing he's a quality player - are other people finally seeing what I am? The hat-trick he scored against Arsenal the other week was sheer class.
 
That Man U game was a little farcical. I can't take away how good Man U were, but not team at this stage of the competition should concede 7 goals in one game - especially a team sitting second in one of the "best" leagues in the world. ;)
 
national acrobat said:
Nice turn around of results eh? :D
Click to expand...

I guess I won't show my face here for a while  :blush:
Well, obviously I am quite disappointed, especially in AZ's result.

A trivia question for you guys (I don't know the answer myself yet):

Did it ever occur that two English football clubs stood in the same European cup final?
 
Forostar said:
Did it ever occur that two English football clubs stood in the same European cup final?
Click to expand...
Not yet. It does look likely this year, should Man U get past Milan - and I think they should.

I think we had an all English UEFA final a few decades ago. It was Man City against someone like Birmingham (I think) back in the early 70's.

EDIT: Not even close, it was Spurs against Wolves in '72.
 
I was suprised Spurs went out in the UEFA cup. I didn't see tonight's game, but last week the penalty given against Paul Robinson was outrageous! Spanish teams always seem to do well in the UEFA cup though. Gone are the days when the like of Stan Bowles finished top-scorer in the UEFA cup. :D
 
I was too NA. Shame Spurs went out, but at least they lasted longer in Eurpoe than Arsenal (small comfort to the Spurs faithful).

Any road, who wants to have a stab at the FA cup semi's - or is it too easy to predict. I'm going for a Man U v Chelsea final - not that surprising, is it? Really, can we see Blackburn v Watford as the first ever FA Cup final at the new Wembley? :D
 
Hmmm surely the final must be Man U vs. Chelsea. That seems the kind of tie that Wembley deserves on its first major game.

Anyway, I'm off to Sunderland tomorrow, to cheer on QPR in what seems like a completely futile gesture, as we're sure to lose. ;) And I'm going to go against all these idiots who always recommend otherwise, and wear my QPR shirt to the game. Wish me luck!

And good luck to Southend! (and Burnley too, send Leeds down.)
 
Do I remember when Southend played Sundelrand at Roots hall this season - Sunderland were beaten soundly 3-1. But Keano took over and the rest is history. Still, Southend play Barnsley in a true 6 pointer. A win here and both Burnley and Colchester getting maximum points, puts Southend 5th from bottom. Now, that really is not much to ask - is it?
 
Just back from Sunderland. So results didn't quite go to plan. The atmosphere at the Stadium of Light was extremely different from last season, when I saw the Villa play there. Can I blame the Sunderland fans for only supporting their team when they're doing well? Yes, I can. There were 39,000 at the game today, only about 500 home supporters making noise by my estimation, but about 1,200 QPR fans in good voice, throughout the game. Up the R's!
 
Yeah, I'm also expecting the game at Wembley to be between Chelsea and ManU, especially now that ManU won 4-1 against Watford. Speaking of which, that was a pretty good game, although in the second half it was all about Rooney trying to score a hat trick. Anyway, I am also glad about the result last weekend (2-0 AC Milan vs. Bayern)  :bigsmile:. As most people on here know by now, I don't like Bayern so frankly anytime they get beat, I'm happy, but even more so since its AC Milan. The game against ManU should be good, and while I don't like to say it, ManU are looking really fit and might actually be able to beat Milan. Whatever may be, its been a great soccer season so far.  :D
 
Gutted, is my only feeling at the moment - turned over by Barnsley 3-1 at home. :( It seems Southend are better away from home - but that is no comfort at the present.

Still, the Man U v Watford game was quite interesting - until Man U scored the third & fourth. But they are looking good right now, and with two league games at home on the bounce with Chelsea having two away - United could reclaim that 6 point lead again (or more).
So, we seem to fret over the QPR's and Southends when it comes to relegation woes - do we not? Although QPR look pretty safe now.

Spare a though for Lancaster City, they went into administration earlier on this season and lost all their players as they could not afford to keep them. They then drafted in a load of local boys and they managed 1 point to add to their amazing tally of 9. The league then fined them for having to go into administration - ten points - this then gave them a sum total of 0. With three games left, they still remain on 0 points. Have a look at the bottom of this table.

Still, it does not help with the knowledge that Southend must win every game they have left to avoid the drop - and even that may not be enough.
 
I read that article about Lancaster City too. I'm not sure what's worse though, finishing bottom with no points, or finishing bottom every season like East Stirling. The only reason they don't get relegated is because there's noone below them to get promoted.

Bottom of the Championship, I've just done Predictor on BBCsport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... efault.stm), and the bottom of the table finished like this:

18 QPR        46  -12  53
19 Barnsley  46  -27  51
20 Leeds      46  -25  48
21 Hull        46  -18  47
22 Leicester 46  -19  47
23 Southend 46  -24  47
24 Luton      46  -32  37

We'll see. I hope Southend stay up Albie, but I won't cheer them on until QPR are safe. ;)
 
And this is mine:

    Team        GD  Points
18 QPR          -11    56
19 Southend  -22    51
20 Barnsley    -29    50
21 Leicester    -16    48
22 Leeds     -25    48
23 Hull          -21    45
24 Luton        -31    37

I'll settle for that. :D
 
Quite exciting so it seems ! :)

The Dutch league as well.:

Only two rounds to go and three teams can still win the championship!! (see top 6):


1. PSV               71  69-23
2. AZ                 69  78-27
3. Ajax              69  77-33
4. FC Twente   62  64-35
5. Heerenveen  52  54-39
6. Feyenoord    52  54-60
 
Wow that is close! It's not often that three teams can still win the title with so few games to go.

Any predictions on the Premiership title? I hope it's Man U, but it'd be just like Chelsea to win all 4 trophies.  -_-
 
The way I see it is that Man U will win the league. For them to lose out to Chelsea, they would need to lose two out of their last three as their goal difference is 14 more than Chelsae's. I can't see that happening.

Chelsea may win the FA cup, but I'm sticking with a Man U v Liverpool Champions League final - and I'll not pick the team to win it just yet.
 
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