Fat Sam is Out!

Oh - my giddy aunt! It's been an action-packed day at Lancaster Grove, where officials have been meeting with England manager Sam Allardyce about his involvement in illegal third-party ownership schemes. The result is that Allardyce has been shown the door. That's right, chaps - he's one and done. Brian Clough lasted longer at Elland Road!

So, what next for England? There's only a World Cup qualifying campaign to deal with. Who should the FA bring is as the new manager. Your thoughts, gents?

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 6 Update

With Burnley's 2-0 win over Watford in this afternoon's middling to poor Premiership club clash, we've finished Week 6 of the domestic fixtures. So, before we get into the hurly burly of another mid-week of Champions League, Championship and Europa League fixtures, it's time to catch up with proceedings. I'm happy to report that Man City continued their run of form and perfect record this weekend and are now eight points clear at the top. That, combined with the return of my Golden Boot pick Sergio Aguero, means that I'm seven points clear at the top of the pops. In other good news, Juve are back up on top of Serie, so two points all round.

Here are the current standings:

1. Blue Devil - 42 points
2. Yellows - 35 pts
3. The Red Dragon - 26 pts
-  The Saint - 26 pts
5. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 23 pts
6. United We Stand - 22 pts
7. Man Utd Rules - 21 pts
8. Red Devil 1FCK - 20 pts
9. Gooner71 - 19 pts
10. Someone Said - 18 pts
-  West Ham Rising - 18 pts
12. Swansong - 15 pts

A Rather Quiet Sunday Morning

With apologies to West Ham Rising, it's a bit of a snoozer this morning, the footer schedule. With only West Ham v. Soton on tap at 11am, I've had a chance to take a leisurely shower, have a read through the Sunday NYT and make some delicious strawberry pancakes for the missus. Now, I'm all set for this relegation dogfight. West Ham come in to this match third bottom; Soton aren't much better at 15th. The Hammers could leapfrog quite a few sides with a healthy win, sinking both Swansea and Burnley into the mire. Soton could rise into mid-table safety. We'll see what happens soon enough.

Saturday's Alright for Subbing

A very good Saturday morning, lads! Welcome to what promises to be a fascinating day of top-level Premiership footer. We start with the tantalizing tie of Manchester United and Leicester at Old Trafford. That takes us up to the 10am EST kickoffs, including Liverpool v. Hull and Swansea v. Citeh. And we end with another biggie - Arsenal and Chelsea from the Emirates. Join me, won't you?

League Cup 3rd Round Wrap-Up

I thought I'd take a moment this afternoon to wrap-up the 3rd Round of the League Cup (now known as the EFL Cup). Of course, I was thrilled to see Leeds scrape through a narrow win at Elland Road against Blackburn. It's the deepest we've gotten into this tournament in nearly a decade. The biggest story in terms of the PPP was Leicester crashing out at home to Chelsea in extra time on Tuesday evening. Several of us chose Leicester to be in the final, so we'll lose points there.

The 4th Round draw was made immediately following the matches last night. Here's the draw in full:

West Ham v Chelsea
Manchester United v Manchester City
Arsenal v Reading
Liverpool v Tottenham
Bristol City v Hull
Leeds v Norwich
Newcastle v Preston
Southampton v Sunderland

League Cup 3rd Round Tuesday!

Afternoon, fellas - it's 3rd Round League Cup time. Of course the big boys Leicester City and Chelsea are on the box this afternoon (when are Leeds are BEin televised?). But my eyes will be firmly on Elland Road, where my beloved will be taking on Blackburn. Fortunately, we're on a run of good form, which includes a win against lowly Blackburn just last week! Here's hoping we can do the business again. MOT!

Join me to follow along this afternoon.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 5 Update

Hiya, chaps - it's Monday evening, which means PPP update time. Another week has rolled around and Man Citeh have reinforced their lead at the top of the Premier League, after losses for Chelsea and United. They're now the sole team with a perfect record in the division. That's all good news for me, even though I've been suffering through Sergio Aguero's three-match ban. In his absence, Diego Costa has leapt to the top of the goalscorer's table with five goals from five. Elsewhere, West Ham - who wrecked a lot of or predictions last year by finishing in the top six, have now dropped into the bottom three, wrecking our relegation predictions. Come on, Hammers - buck yourselves up! In Italy, Napoli are back on top, which is no help to us either. So here are the deflated current standings:

1. Blue Devil - 14 points
2. United We Stand - 32 pts
3. The Red Dragon - 25 pts
4. Gooner71 - 20 pts
-  Man Utd Rules - 20 pts
-  Yellows - 20 pts
7. The Saint - 19 pts
8. Someone Said - 19 pts
9. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 16 pts
10. West Ham Rising - 15 pts
11. Swansong - 14 pts
12. Red Devil 1FCK - 13 pts

Sunday Morning Coming Down

It'll be an extra early start to affairs tomorrow morning, so I'm setting this thread up early. I'll be looking for all you to join me for another packed day of Premiership footer. It all starts at the ungodly hour of 7am with United's trip to plucky Watford. There are a couple of fixtures then at the 9am hour and finally Spurs v. Sunderland at 11:30. Hope to see you in the a.m.

An Odd Saturday Schedule

Morning, lads - I'm up early to follow Leeds' visit to Cardiff on a very odd Saturday morning. First off, the match is not BEin televised for some reason. What gives? That's followed at 10am with a number of matches that are on the box, including Hull v. Arsenal and Citeh v. Bournemouth. We end the day then with Everton v. Boro. Join me during a very odd Saturday, won't you?

Chelsea vs Liverpool in a Dreaded Friday Night Match

The Premier League in their infinite wisdom or lack thereof decided to schedule a Friday night Football match, presumable due to a deal with an evil television company. However, it is a blockbuster match between two possible title challengers due to the fact that they do not have the distraction of European Football. It is the first true test for Chelsea since Conte took over. Join me if you can

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 4 Update

Hiya, chaps - it's Monday night, which means PPP time. With Everton's stonking 0-3 win against hapless thanks to a second half hat-trick by Romelu "The Chunk" Lukaku, we've come to the end of the fourth round of Premiership matches. Only minor changes to the tables this week. Citeh are still on top, Chelsea and United are in the top four (now joined by Spurs) and Southampton, Sunderland and Stoke are at the bottom. Huddersfield's win at Elland Road keeps them improbable tops in the Championship, with Newcastle and Norwich giving PPPers points in that category. More predictable point earners are Real, Bayern and Juve at the top of their respective leagues. Finally, Diego Costa has joined Zlatan at the top of the goalscorers chart, with four goals in four. Cor!

Here are the current standings:

1. Blue Devil - 37 points
2. Man Utd Rules - 24 pts
3. The Red Dragon - 23 pts
-  Yellows - 23 pts
5. West Ham Rising - 22 pts
6. United We Stand - 21 pts
7. Gooner71 - 18 pts
-  Someone Said - 18 pts
-  Swansong - 18 pts
10. Red Devil 1FCK - 15 pts
-  What's Up Wheaton Simon - 15 pts
12. The Saint - 14 pts

Chelsea v. Swansea Live!

Happy Sunday morning, lads. The Premiership weekend wraps up today with Chelsea trying to preserve their perfect record against Swansea City, who are hovering perilously just above the drop zone. Both sides picked up some interesting players during the frantic last days of the transfer window. It should be a fascinating encounter. Join me for all the fun here on the LOB!

What a Way to End the International Break: El Classico Manchester

It's the hottest contested Manc Derby in years thanks to two managers who have a mutual hate for each other as well as Zlatan calling former manager, Pep, a coward. I Can't wait for this match to start. Then there's the remainder of the Prem matches. Now time to get a nice cuppa freshly brewed coffee.

U.S. v. T&T Live!

Here's hoping that the US will take that last step toward the Hex tonight against T&T in my old stomping grounds in Jax, FL. It's a busy night at the Cottage, so I'll likely be in and out, but I thought I'd start off the thread and see who jumped on in my stead. Enjoy the match!

Very British Problems

I had the good fortune to come across a British series called "Very British Problems" on Netflix last night during a bout of insomnia. Originally shown on Channel 4, it features a variety of comedians and writers such as James Corden, Julie Walters and Vic Reeves talking on the theme of the awkwardness of being British. It's loads of fun, as you'll see from this short clip. Check it out!

Slovakia v. England Live!

Morning, guys. A very happy international break weekend to you. I hope you'll join me this afternoon for England's rematch with Slovakia only a couple of months after the 0-0 draw at France 2016. England will want to get off to a winning start under new manager Sam Allardyce. Unfortunately, Fox in their infinite wisdom have decided to broadcast matches involving the likes of Lithuania and Armenia but not our match. So, ESPN3 is the only venue to watch this one on, as far as I can tell. Join me from noon onward to watch on-line.

Transfer Window Wrap-Up

Evening, chaps - it was a busy week at the office, so I'm just getting to the news out of Transfer Deadline Day today. I thought I might put together a wrap-up of the big deals and start a discussion about them. Here were some of the more notable moves during the window:

Shkrodran Mustafi from Valencia to Arsenal for £37 million
Jordan Ibe from Liverpool to Bournemouth for £15 million
David "Sideshow Bob" Luiz back to Chelsea from PSG for £34 million
Enner Valencia from West Ham to Everton on loan
Islam Slimani from Sporting to Leicester from £31 million
Sadio Mane from Soton to Liverpool for £30 million
Claudio Bravo from Barca to Citeh for £15 million
Wilfred Bony from Citeh to Stoke on loan
Moussa Sissoko from Newcastle to Spurs for £30 million

So which club got the best deals on deadline day? Your thoughts, gents?