A Later Than Usual Start on a Sunday

Morning, boys - I hope you all enjoyed the extra hour of kip this morning. We're starting a bit later than usual (9am) with Everton v. WH due to Daylight Savings Time in UK starting this weekend. The Hammers have had a tough time at their new home of London Stadium but they've been better on the road. Later today, we've got Southampton v. Chelsea. Join me for a late morning treat, eh?

Soccer Saturday Once Again

Morning, guys - I'm up early on a very dark morning to watch Sunderland v. Arsenal, which on paper looks like a hiding to nothing for the Black Cats. Then we've got nearly a full slate of 10am kick-offs featuring the likes of City, Spurs and United. Finally, we end the day with another look at in-form Liverpool, away to Palace. Join me for all the fun and games today, here on the LOB!

League Cup 4th Cup Watch!

Afternoon, chaps! It's League Cup 4th Round time. There are a number of intriguing fixtures on tap today, but my eyes will be firmly on Elland Road. It's been nearly a decade since my beloved LUFC got to the 5th Round. Norwich City are the significant 4th Round obstacle. They're currently flying high in second in the Championship, while we're languishing in mid-table. Norwich, more than any other club, have raided our youth academy and senior squad, so that will add an extra edge to the affair.

Come on, you Whites!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 9 Update

Hi there, PPPers - I'm here on a Monday afternoon with a quick update on our game before we enter the hurly burly of the EFL Cup matches tomorrow and Wednesday. It's points all round this week, as all of our participants, with the exception of United We Stand, picked up valuable terrain in the game. Much of that was due to Hull City dropping into the bottom three and Real Madrid rising to the top again in La Liga. City remains on top of the Premiership, albeit by goal difference from Arsenal, while Diego Costa remains at the top of the scoring charts. We have a new league leader, with Yellows mounting a strong challenge for remaining the champion - he now has an impressive 47 points at the top.

Here are the current standings:

1. Yellows - 47 points
2. Blue Devil - 44 pts
3. The Red Dragon - 36 pts
4. The Saint - 32 pts
5. Someone Said - 28 pts
-  United We Stand - 28 pts
7. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 27 pts
8. Gooner71 - 26 pts
9. Man Utd Rules - 24 pts
10. Swansong - 23 pts
-  West Ham Rising 23 pts
12. Red Devil 1FCK - 18 pts

It's Time to Watch Football

Yesterday's matches nearly put me to sleep - not a Super Saturday at all. But today promises much, much better. We start with Manchester City, who have recently been going through a slump, up against a faltering Southampton side. Something's got to give. Then there is a big one from Stamford Bridge. Matches between Chelsea and United tend to bring fireworks - let's hope this one doesn't disappoint. Join me for all the usual banter here on the LOB.

Saturday in the Prem

It's another busy, packed Saturday of Premiership and Championship fixtures today. We start on the South Coast with Bournemouth v. Spurs, a real test of Tottenham's ability to be real title challengers. Then we've got the usual 10am fixtures, including Arsenal v. Boro and Leicester v. Palace. Then we finish up with Liverpool and West Brom at 12:30pm. Join me for all the action today here on the LOB!

RIP: Gary Sprake (1945-2016)

Sad news yesterday of the passing of Elland Road legend Gary Sprake. As Sergeant Wilko mentions in this clip from a documentary about Sprake's time at Leeds, Gary was often caricatured as a bit of joke, a keeper prone to widely-televised howlers. However, the reality is that he was one of the best in the business. He'll be missed.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 8 Update

I've just about recovered from the sheer tedium of that Liverpool-United match at Anfield last night, which rounded off Week 8 in the Premiership with a whimper rather than a bang. Things have tightened at the top of the Prem, with Citeh merely hanging on to their lead through goal difference to Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea very much in the hunt behind them. The "S" teams - Stoke, Swansea and Sunderland - are now permanently ensconced at the bottom. Yellows' beloved Norwich are top of the heap in the Championship, while Atletico, Bayern and Juve remain on top their respective leagues. Diego Costa rattled in his seventh goal early Saturday morning and hangs on to his lead at the top of the scoring charts. All of which, brings us these current standings:

1. Blue Devil - 41 points
2. Yellows - 40 pts
3. The Red Dragon - 30 pts
4. United We Stand - 28 pts
5. The Saint - 25 pts
6. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 24 pts
7. Someone Said - 23 pts
8. Gooner71 - 21 pts
9. Swansong - 19 pts
10. Man Utd Rules - 18 pts
11. West Ham Rising - 17 pts
12. Red Devil 1FCK - 12 pts

An Average Soccer Sunday

It's the typical Sunday double header starting with Middlesbrough vs Watford , followed by the Saints vs Burnley. These are not exactly marquee matches, but we can see how two of the newly promoted teams perform.

Back to the Prem

Hurrah! After an interminable international break, we're back to the Prem this morning. Everything starts extra early today with Chelski and the Foxes kicking off at the Bridge at 7:30am EST. That's followed by the usual kick-offs at 10am, including games featuring Arsenal, Spurs and Citeh. I'll look forward to chatting with you this morning.

Six Problems Facing England

I was fortunate to miss the worthless mess of a performance by England in Slovenia during a busy work day. I suppose that an away draw is an away draw but the match exposed a number of problems for England going forward, as documented by The Guardian's Daniel Taylor and Dominic Fifield:

1. England has only scored 4 goals in the past 5 matches against fairly modest opposition - Slovenia, Malta, Iceland and Slovakia (twice).

2. England no longer have an unbeaten aura to them, even at Wembley. Teams feel like they can get a result against us.

3. England lack leadership on the pitch. If Wayne Rooney is being shuffled off toward international retirement, which seems likely, who among the youngish squad is up to being skipper?

4. England have no distinctive style; they just play like other middling European teams.

5. England lack a sense of spirit on and off the pitch; Allardyce's resignation hasn't helped with this.

6. England don't have a permanent manager; should the FA appoint Gareth Southgate as the new England manager?

Here's the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/oct/12/england-gareth-southgate-wayne-rooney-fa-world-cup

Your thoughts, gents?

The 2nd Presidential Debate Live!

Tonight's debate is likely to be dominated by arguments about character traits - and perhaps rightly so. Call me old fashioned, call me a policy nerd, but I hope that there is some time for Martha Raddatz to ask Clinton and Trump some substantive questions about policy. Here are the ten questions that I'd like to hear asked tonight: 

1. Has U.S. foreign policy since 9/11 generally been a success? If not, what would you do specifically to change it?
2. If you had to cut $500 billion a year from the federal budget, how would you do that specifically? What would you cut?
3. What specific plans do you have to curb climate change and its effects?
4. Has the Affordable Care Act been a success? If not, what is your alternative?
5. Are public schools in crisis? If so, what is the cause of that crisis? What would you do specifically in order to reform education?
6. Has the War on Drugs policy been a success? If not, what would you change about federal policy regarding drugs?
7. Has Dodd-Frank been a success? If not, how would you reform the way that banks are regulated?
8. Do you support raising the minimum wage? If so, to what dollar amount/hour? If not, why not? How would you address growing income inequality.
9. Should public businesses be required to serve customers regardless of gender, race, national origin or sexuality?
10. Has immigration been a net positive or a net negative for the United States? 

So, what questions would you like to hear tonight?

Russia 2018 World Qualifiers Live!

This afternoon sees a raft of World Cup qualifiers for Russia 2018. I'm hoping for an easy, professional win to start off the Southgate era. Should really be shooting practice for the England boys against lowly Malta at Wembley. It's not being shown on any of the usual channels, so I'll be searching for a dodgy link in about an hour's time. Join me for all the fun and games, won't you?

Gareth Southgate's First Match

Gareth Southgate's first match in charge of the Three Lions will be today vs Malta at Wembley. Kickoff is at noon eastern with the match being shown on Watch ESPN. The Jocks won 1-5 away to these mugs, so why can't the Three Lions do the same. No pressure, Gareth. How will this match pan out. Join me and see.

Southgate's First Squad

England's new caretaker boss Gareth Southgate picked his first England squad earlier this week and it was full of surprises. The big news was Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard's recall from the U-21 squad up to the senior squad for the next two qualifiers. Stoke defender Glen Johnson was also inexplicably recalled after several years in the wilderness but then crocked himself and has been replaced by Burnley's Michael Keane. Raheem Sterling is another notable injury loss with Andros Townsend stepping into his spot.

So - you know the question - what's your starting XI for the match on Malta on Saturday and the match away to Slovenia on Tuesday of next week.

Goalkeepers - Fraser Forster (Soton); Joe Hart (Torino on loan); Tom Heaton (Burnley)
Defenders - Ryan Bertrand (Soton); Gary Cahill (Chelsea); Phil Jagielka (Everton); Michael Keane (Burnley); Danny Rose (Spurs); Chris Smalling (Man United); John Stones (Man City); Kyle Walker (Spurs).
Midfielders - Eric Dier (Spurs); Jordan Henderson (Liverpool); Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal); Michail Antonio (West Ham); Jesse Lingard (Man United); Andros Townsend (Palace); Theo Walcott (Arsenal); Dele Alli (Spurs).
Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Man United); Marcus Rashford (Man United); Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool); Jamie Vardy (Leicester).

The Vice Presidential Debate Live!

Evening, folks. It's time for "the other guys," the quadrennial Vice Presidential Debate. Tonight we've got a battle of 60 something white guy former governors, Tim Kaine from Virginia and Mike Pence from Indiana. These events are usually not events that produce knock-out blows but they can be entertaining and often produce memorable one-liners such as Lloyd Bentson's quip that Dan Quayle was "no Jack Kennedy." I hope you'll join me from 8:30pm onward to follow the debate from Longwood University in Virginia.

Guidolin Out - Bradley In!

It was all change at Swansea City yesterday evening, only hours after I had posted my weekly update of the PPP. The unfortunately Italian Francesco Guidolin was forced to walk the plank, ushering in the new era of Bob Bradley at Swansea. Bradley then becomes the first American manager in the Premier League, a trivia factoid that will no doubt be bandied about by the hacks on NBC Sports and Fox Sports 1 for some time to come.

Meanwhile, here's a mini update of the PPP standings, reflecting that Blue Devil, Red Dragon and The Saint have all picked up two points due to Guidolin's sacking.

1. Blue Devil - 37 points
2. Yellows - 34 pts
3. The Red Dragon - 28 pts
4. United We Stand - 24 pts
5. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 23 pts
6. The Saint - 22 pts
7. Man Utd Rules - 19 pts
8. Gooner71 - 17 pts
9. Someone Said - 16 pts
10. Swansong - 15 pts
-  West Ham Rising - 15 pts
12. Red Devil 1FCK - 12 pts

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 7 Update

Hiya, chaps! A very happy Monday afternoon to you. I'm chipping in before the next interminable international break to update you all on the goings-on in our humble PPP Game. After seven rounds of domestic footer, the pieces continue to shift. Man City are still on top, to the endless joy of Yellows and me, albeit now by only a point after its loss at Shite Fart Lane yesterday. Sadly for us, the villainous Diego Costa has shot to the top of the goalscoring charts with six, one ahead of our boy Sergio. It's still all North London and Merseyside in the European slots. Sunderland have now dropped below Stoke to the bottom of the Prem. On the continent, Atletico are pipping Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, with Bayern and Juve continuing at the top of their respective leagues.

So here are the current standings for the next two weeks:

1. Blue Devil - 35 points
2. Yellows - 34 pts
3. The Red Dragon - 26 pts
4. United We Stand - 24 pts
5. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 23 pts
6. The Saint - 20 pts
7. Man Utd Rules - 19 pts
8. Gooner71 - 17 pts
9. Someone Said - 16 pts
10. Swansong - 15 pts
-  West Ham Rising - 15 pts
12. Red Devil 1FCK - 12 pts

A Busy Sunday Morning in the Prem

Wakey, wakey, everyone. It's footer time. United v. Stoke get us started early doors today. That's followed at 9am by two matches, including the tantalizing tie between City and Spurs. And then we finish up with the Arsenal at 11am. You wouldn't want to miss a minute of that, would you?

The Sack Race Heats Up

A very good Saturday morning to all of you. I'm here after a very long, hard week at work looking forward to some relaxing Premiership watching. There are several people who won't be relaxing, though: Premiership managers. This is traditionally the time of year that clubs begin to shed their managers. There are several bosses under pressure this morning. My money is now on Francesco Guidolin, Swansea's hapless gaffer, who faces an in-form Liverpool early doors. If they get mullered today, it could be curtains for the Italian. But it could also be David Moyes, whose Sunderland host West Brom at 10am EST. And what about Mike Phelan? He's not actually the full-time boss at Hull yet but a bad loss to Chelsea could move him along sharpish.

Join me to follow the sack race this morning won't you?