Transfer Deadline Day!

The English domestic transfer window closes today with the usual dramatic stories bubbling. Andy Carroll, Michael Dawson and Clint Dempsey are the main items on the auction block today, but there are plenty of other juicy stories around. Football 365 also has a much more professional transfer deadline day blog here:

http://www.football365.com/transfer-blog/8036093/Live-Transfer-Blog-Owen-To-Liverpool...-

If you're around today, drop in for a chat about the latest news.

Premiership Predictions Game - Week 2 Update

Before we get into another busy weekend of Premiership action, let's pause to take stock of a crazy week's hurly burly effect on our PPP game. Consider this - AZ Kicker went from bottom to top of the pops this week. Here are the current standings:

1. AZ Kicker - 12 points
2. The Red Devil - 6 pts
- West Ham Rising - 6 pts
4. Thomas - 5 pts
5. Someone Said - 4 pts
6. Man Utd Rules - 2 pts
- Blue Devil - 2 pts
- Matthew - 2 pts
- Simon Burke - 2 pts
10. Chelskilad - 0 pts
- Gooner71 - 0 pts
- United We Stand - 0 pts

2012/13 Champions League Draw

The instant analysis of this draw has Citeh faring worst of all the British entrants in the group round this year. Group A: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Paris St-Germain, Dinamo Zagreb Group B: Arsenal, Schalke, Olympiakos, Montpellier Group C: Milan, Zenit St Petersburg, Anderlecht, Malaga Group D: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund Group E: Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, Nordsjaelland Group F: Bayern Munich, Valencia, Lille, Bate Borisov Group G: Barcelona, Benfica, Spartak Moscow, Celtic Group H: Manchester United, Braga, Galatasaray, Cluj I have no great problem with our task, but there are banana skins in Germany and Greece if we're not careful. What say you United boys?

Blogging the RNC - Day 2

I'm back from my evening class in time to enjoy the Republican's second (or first) night of festivities. Tonight's theme is "We Built This!" How Starship didn't get an opportunities to slay the RNC delegates with what must rate as one of the worst songs in rock history is a head scratcher. Instead we've the Oak Ridge Boys and a keynote address from Dunkin' Donuts poster boy Chris Christie. Should be a gas, gas, gas. Join me if you've got the stomach for it.

League Cup - Second Round!

The League Cup starts its Second Round action today and my eyes will be firmly on Elland Road as the Mighty Whites take on Oxford United. It's been a while since we got a decent second round draw, so let's not bugger this one up, lads. Alas, I'll be teaching this afternoon, so I'll just be popping in during my class breaks. Come on, you LUFC boys!

Blogging the RNC!

I'm having a bit of a giggle today over Hurricane Isaac's having postponed the Republican National Convention by a day, but I'll be keeping vigil with the convention through Thursday. If you're doing your civic duty as well, free free to drop in for a chat.

Sunday Morning Footer

So we have two more games to follow this morning on FSC. We open up with Arsenal visiting Stoke still looking for their first goal of the season. The next match is the big one as Liverpool hosting the 'champions'. It is a no lose situation. If Liverpool beat Citeh that is good for United. If Citeh beat Pool then they are still rock bottom! I will be here for the first match but I am off to Tom's first game of the season this afternoon. Text updates will be required

UWS

When Saturday Comes... it's fun!

Another Saturday is upon us and we have a triple header ahead of us on the box.
ESPN starts with a battle of the new boys as co-league leaders Swansea host West Ham. FSC follows that with RVP home debut as United take on the other co-league leaders. The last match of the day will be a good one as Newcastle visit the Bridge. I won't be around for the first match as I am at practice. I will be here with bells on for late matches

Join me.. or without me for the first match

UWS

Tenacious D on WTF!

Tenacious D (aka Jack Black and Kyle Gass) are the featured guests on the WTF podcast this week, playing tunes and telling stories with host Marc Maron. Download it from iTunes and have a listen. Enjoy!

Chelski v. Reading Live!

Join me this afternoon to check the early season form of Chelski. New boy Eden Hazard looked fairly impressive on Sunday, while Reading notched one of the results of the first weekend. The Premiership rolls onward!

Championship Tuesday!

This season has started as if it's been shot out of a cannon. No sooner had we finished with the first round of matches and we've got a full slate of Championship matches today and Premiership matches tomorrow. Phew! Strap in and join me to follow Blackpool v. Leeds and other tasty Championship morsels from 2:45pm EST onward this afternoon.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Early Doors

We've reached the end of a breathless first round of matches in the Premiership. If the season ended today, Fulham would be champions, Swansea and West Brom would be in the Champions League and Liverpool would be relegated. Of course, it's early doors. Here's how the PPP standings are shaking out so far:

1. Matthew - 12 points
2. Simon Burke - 11 pts
- Someone Said - 11 pts
- Thomas - 11 pts
5. ManUtd Rules - 9 pts
- The Red Devil FCK1 - 9 pts
- West Ham Rising - 9 pts
8. Blue Devil - 7 pts
- United We Stand - 7 pts
10. Gooner71 - 6 pts
11. Chelskilad - 5 pts
12. AZ Kicker 0 pts

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL... who needs the NFL?

The first weekend of the Premier League ends tonight with a great match up at Goodison Park. United have some payback due upon Everton after last season's 4-4 draw which cost United #20

Join me

UWS

A Sunday of Champions

The first Sunday starts with the Chelsea, the champions of Europe travelling to Wigan folloowed by Man Citeh, the EPL champs hosting Southampton , the champions of the Championship.Join us for the Synday action.

It All Starts Again...!

Saturday is back! Admit it - you've missed it. The early morning bagels and coffee, the dodgy links, the LOB banter. It's all back starting this morning with the early morning appetizer of Leeds v. Wolves, followed by the two FSC matches - WBA v. Pool and Newcastle v. Spurs. Join me to kick off a glorious new season. Remember - at this stage, anything is possible!

What Brazil's loss in the Olympics means

I've been surprised not to hear more wailing and knashing of teeth about the Mexican win over Brazil for the gold medal at the London Olympics. My three reasons for concern are 1. Mexico were the poorer team: They won on the day, but you can't tell me that the Brazilians weren't the better team throughout the tournament. Neymar is very, very good if a little lightweight, Marcelo is the best left back currently playing, and Damiao is lethal in front of goal. The better side lost. 2. It means that the Brazilians are going to go home having learned the wrong lesson: They fielded an awesome and brilliant to watch attack, and they attacked and scored goals without worrying or seeming to worry about the defensive side. Don't you want Brazil to play like that? Or do you want the team filled with Emersons, Dungas, and Gilberto Silvas? I worry that the next time you see them in action, there will be many more defensive midfielders anchoring the side, making it so less fun to watch. They don't have qualifying matches to play to get the side right and they are banking on winning the World Cup on home soil. 3. Mexico winning is horrible for the USA's role in CONCACAF. I predict that the recent first win by the USA in the Azteca is a reprieve, at best. I watched that match through splayed fingers, and without the hopelessness of Chicharito's finishing, and again, Tim Howard's heroics, the USA should have received our customary hiding and loss. When we have to play them for real, they are going to tread all over us. Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian has this to say about Brazil and their future plans for 2014. Click here to read his thoughts

5 Five Premiership Preview

Just in case you aren't excited enough yet, there's a cracking preview of the new season on Radio Five Live today, easily downloadable on iTunes and other outlets. It all starts bright and early tomorrow with the mighty LUFC meeting Wolves on hallowed Elland Road ground at 7:45 am EST. Be there!

League Cup 2nd Round Draw!

Snobbish fans of the elite sides competing in Europe this season may look away but the draw for the League Cup 2nd Round was made yesterday and for once we got a decent fixture! Wahay!

Here's the draw in full:

Preston North End vs. Crystal Palace
Watford vs. Bradford City
Swansea City vs. Barnsley
Yeovil vs. West Bromwich Albion
Coventry City vs. Birmingham City
West Ham United vs. Crewe
Doncaster Rovers vs. Hull City
Carlisle United vs. Ipswich Town
Reading vs. Peterborough
Sheffield Wednesday vs. Fulham
Leicester City vs. Burton
Burnley vs. Plymouth
Queens Park Rangers vs. Walsall
Stevenage vs. Southampton
Nottingham Forest vs. Wigan Athletic
Stoke City vs. Swindon
Aston Villa vs. Tranmere
Crawley Town vs. Bolton Wanderers
Gillingham vs. Middlesbrough
Northampton vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
Everton vs. Leyton Orient
Milton Keynes Dons vs. Blackburn
Leeds United vs. Oxford
Sunderland vs. Morecambe
Norwich City vs. Scunthorpe

A Day of International Friendlies

We have international footie just three days before the start of the domestic season.England host Italy at 3 PM just seven and a half weeks after that heart breaking loss in the quarters of the Euros.Another tasty match will be Mexico vs the U.S. at 8 PM . Come join us for all the action.

Happy Birthday, Bivalve!

Raise your glass to Bivalve as she celebrates her birthday today. Have a great day, Bets!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game!

Who dares grab this shield from my hands? Yes, friends, it's time again to make your predictions for the new season. I've tweaked the points a bit but the set-up is simple. Post your predictions for the following categories here or email them to me by next Saturday and you're in:

* Champions (10 points)
* Champions League Qualifiers - 2nd, 3rd and 4th (3pts each plus a bonus pt for correct order)
* Europa League Qualifiers - 5th, 6th and 7th (2pts each plus a bonus pt for correct order)
* Relegated sides - (2pts each plus a bonus point for correct order)
* Promoted sides (2pts each plus bonus pt for correct order)
* League Cup winner (6 pts)
* FA Cup winner (8 pts)
* Europa League winner (6 pts)
* Champions League winner (8 pts)
* Premiership top scorer (6 pts)

Good luck, chaps!

It All Starts Here....

Blimey! It's here already. The English domestic season kicks off today with the first round of what is now known as the Capital One Cup. I'll have my eyes fixed firmly on Elland Road as the might whites get their new campaign started against Shrewsbury. Come on, Leeds!

Usain Bolt to Old Trafford?

Now that Jamaican lightening streak Usain Bolt has cleaned up at the London Olympics, what's his next move? Disneyworld? Nope - he's wants play for his beloved Manchester United! Well, what say you, Red Devilers?

Man United vs Barca

A preseason marquee match as Man United and Barca play a tasty preseason friendly in Gothenburg, Sweden in a repeat of the 2009 and 2011 Champions League Finals. The match will be aired live on FSC.Come join us and take a short break from the Olympics.

Yanks vs Canucks Women's Olympic Footie Semi

Japan just defeated France 2-1 in the other semi, so will the U.S. defeat their rivals to the North? If so then the Olympic Final will be repeat of last year's World Cup Final. Canadian coach, John Herdman, has already started the trash talking by stating that the U.S. use highly illegal tactics. I will be in and out , but please join me if you can.

Olympic Footie Saturday

My apologies to Psycho and company. After I witnessed Brazil's demolition of Team GB in a pre-Olympic warm-up, I didn't rate their chances highly. But after having drawn UAE and beaten both Senegal and Uruguay, they're through to a highly-winnable quarterfinal match-up with South Korea this afternoon.

Before that, Japan have just completed a 3-0 thumping of nine-man Egypt, Mexico are up shortly and Brazil kick-off against a thuggish Honduras at noon (all EST times). I'm off to do a few Saturday morning errands but I'll be back for the Brazil kickoff.

US Women v. The Kiwis Live!

The US women's footer team takes on New Zealand this morning with my Gator girlfriend Abby Wambach leading the line. Join me from 9:30 am onward for all the action.

Shite Adverts on the LOB!

I'm back in Blue Devil HQ and taking care of a few bits of biz this morning. I've noticed a few irritating developments in Blogger in the past month. It started with meaningless links from the text that we'd written both in the original posts and in the comment threads that connected to advertising sites that had nothing to do with our content. Now, suddenly we've got a commercial strip at the top of our page for products such as life insurance and boner pills (are they trying to tell us something?).

I wanted to reassure you that I had nothing to do with these nefarious developments. Blogger asked me early on if I wanted to "monetize" our blog with commercials and I said "no." I didn't want to sully the purity of our content with the doings of filthy lucre. Well - I'm not having this. I'll be contacting Blogger today and telling them that we're upset with their attempt to make money off the mighty LOB - especially as we're not getting any revenue out of it!

Any thoughts?

GB vs Uruguay Olympic Footie

GB take on Uruguay, a team that includes Liverpool players Luis Suarez and Seb Coates.Craig Bellamy , another Liverpool player will be key in their goal to defeat Uruguay at the Millenium Stadium, his home town stadium.It should be a great match with all sorts of scenarios as Senegal takes on the UAE at the same time. If GB ins the group then they will play South Korea in the quarters. The group runner up will play a tough and well disciplined Mexican team in the quarters. Come join us for what should be an electric atmosphere.