Transfer Deadline Day!

Morning, chaps - can you sense the excitement in the air? It's Transfer Deadline Day. So far the biggest deal that's been done is The Ox moving to Anfield for £40 million. Cor! But I'm sure that there are plenty of other deals to be done.

From my Leeds perspective, I'd be happy with some late arrivals to fill the gaps left by the recent moves by Chris Wood and Liam Bridcutt. We'll see what Thomas Christiansen and the new owner have up their well-tailored sleeves.

You can follow all the news on the excellent Guardian website here: https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2017/aug/31/transfer-deadline-day-alexis-sanchez-thomas-lemar-alex-oxlade-chamberlain-latest-live?CMP=share_btn_fb

NPR "Up First"

If you're like me, your morning routine is too busy to really enjoy the full NPR "Morning Edition" experience. For people like us, there is the "Up First" podcast, a ten minute capsule summary of NPR reporting hosted by Rachel Martin and Steve Inskeep. Check it out!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 3 Update

Afternoon PPPers. As we head into the first interminable international break of the season, I'm checking in with you with the usual update of our standings. Another domestic weekend of footer has sped by leaving us virtually in the same spot that we were last week. ManYoo are on top, West Ham are on the bottom. That means that our United fans are still doing extremely well in the standings, with the Nocito boys Red Dragon and The Saint on top.

One note - I did credit Raheem Sterling with the award for first player to get a second yellow card for a silly offense after his walk of shame on Saturday afternoon for "excessive celebration" of his winning goal for City. None of us picked Sterling, sadly. Europe has been equally confounding, with Sociedad and Dortmund atop their respective leagues. Only Juve are playing to form in Serie A.

So, here are the latest standings:

1. Red Dragon - 27 points
2. The Saint - 26 pts
3. Yellows - 25 pts
-  United We Stand - 25 pts
5. Red Devil 1FCK - 15 pts
6. West Ham Rising - 13 pts
7. Man Utd Rules - 12 pts
8. Blue Devil - 10 pts
9. Gooner71 - 9 pts
-  Someone Said - 9 pts
11. MOT the Hoople - 8 pts
12. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 7 pts
13. Swansong - 2 pts

A Big Sunday in the Prem

The Premier League suits have saved quite a few big matches for us to enjoy this Sunday morning. We start with Chelsea v. Everton at the Bridge. Later on we've got Arsenal visiting Anfield. Join me for all the fun and games here on the LOB.

Wahay! It's Footer Time!

After a very busy first week back on campus, it's a real pleasure to settle in to watch some of the good stuff this morning. It's a tale of the two Manchesters this morning. We start with Citeh, who travel to the south coast to meet Bournemouth. I often forget that Bournemouth are still in the Premier League - how about you? At the end of the day, we've got table-topping United versus enigmatic Leicester City. Join me here on the LOB for all the fun.

Champions League Group Stage Draw

The draw for the Champions League group stage was made yesterday - and at least it wasn't done in Beijing in the middle of the night! The English clubs, with the exception of Spurs, did fairly well out of it. Here's the draw in full:

Group A - Benfica, Basel, Man Utd, CSKA Moscow

Group B - Bayern, Anderlecht, PSG, Celtic

Group C - Chelsea, Roma, Atletico, Qarabag

Group D - Juventus, Olympiacos, Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon

Group E - Spartak Moscow, Liverpool, Sevilla, Maribor

Group F - Shakhtar Donetsk, Napoli, Man City, Feyenoord

Group G - Monaco, Besiktas, Porto, Leipzig

Group H - Real Madrid, Spurs, Dortmund, Apoel

The Guardian pundits have given their predictions here: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/aug/24/liverpool-english-clubs-progress-real-madrid-favourites

Your thoughts on your team's outlooks, gents?

Wayne Rooney Retires from International Football

Wayne Rooney retired from international football yesterday. In truth, his career and form have been in decline for some time, despite his excellent start for Everton this season. For those who have only watched him only recently, it's easy to forget how exciting it was to see the 19 year old Rooney emerge on the world stage for England at Euro 2004. Relive those goals again here. Thanks for the memories, Wazza!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY-bndq8i5w

League Cup Second Round Live!

Believe it or not, lads, we've already reached the second round stage of this season's League Cup. This is the stage at which those Premier League clubs who are not involved in Europe will join in.

I'll be in and out this afternoon, as I've got a number of meetings to attend to. But I'll have a sneaky eye on the goings-on at Elland Road, as my beloved Leeds United take on Newport County. Chip in here if you've got the time to watch on ESPN3 where they'll be streaming the Sheffield United v. Leicester match. Guess who I'll be cheering on in that one? ;-)

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 2 Update

A very good Monday evening to all of you in the LOB orbit. I'm checking in with the second update of our PPP game. With Everton's draw with Man City this afternoon, the second round of the Premiership. United sit atop the Premiership with a perfect record and eight goals under their belt. And their target man Romelu Lukaku now has three goals and is out front on the Golden Boot stakes. That's serving the ManYoo supporting Nocito clan in Scotia rather well, including Red Dragon who is the new leader. Huddersfield, West Brom and Watford are wreaking havoc on our European qualifier predictions but it is early doors. Only Brighton gives any of us some points at the bottom of the Premiership; very few of us picked either Palace or West Ham for relegation.

La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga all started this weekend, but only Real Madrid are the predictable leaders, giving us points. AC Milan sits on top Serie A, while only our Bundesliga expert Red Devil had the foresight to pick Dortmund this season - he gets 2 points for that one.

Here are the current standings, then:

1. Red Dragon - 28 points
2. United We Stand - 25 pts
-  Yellows - 25 pts
4. The Saint - 22 pts
5. Gooner71 - 16 pts
-  Red Devil 1FCK - 16 pts
7. Man Utd Rules - 12 pts
8. MOT the Hoople - 10 pts
-  Swansong - 10 pts
-  West Ham Rising - 10 pts
-  What's Up Wheaton Simon - 10 pts
12. Blue Devil - 8 pts
13. Someone Said - 3 pts

A Fascinating Sunday in the Premiership

A very good Sunday morning to all of you of out there in the LOB community. We've got a fascinating day ahead of us with two intriguing fixtures. First up is a battle between two recently promoted sides, Huddersfield and Newcastle. Huddersfield had a brilliant start to the season last weekend, while Newcastle ran up against an outstanding Spurs side. So is the home side the favorite today?

Then at 10:30am is the first big clash of the season. Chelsea were taken apart by Burnley at Stamford Bridge last weekend. Now they have to travel to Wembley to play a Spurs side that has a good chance of nicking their title off them this season. Join me for all the banter.

Another Big Premiership Weekend

Welcome to another big weekend in the Premiership, boys. It all starts out with ManYoo's trip to Wales to meet Swansea. United had a smashing start to the season. Can they keep it up?

Later we've got the usual packed fixture schedule of 10am matches, including Liverpool hosting Palace.

And at the end of the day, we've lot a cracking double head. Arsenal will visit Stoke on the telly, while my beloved Leeds meets up with high flying Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Join me for all the action this morning, won't you?

RIP Sir Bruce Forsyth (1928-2017)

For those of us who grew up in England in the 70s, Bruce Forsyth was always just there, on the telly, with his cheeky chappy persona and a trademarked catch-phrase (e.g., "Nice to see ya...to see ya, nice!"). It's not as if The Generation Game or any of his other many, many shows was very good. It wasn't "Fawlty Towers." But he was just part of your living room. So, it's sad to hear today of his death at the age of 89. We're getting older, friends. RIP Brucey!

Guest DJ Week on All Songs Considered

The pundits at All Songs Considered are off on their summer holidays this week, but there is still excellent content to be had. Instead of their usual offerings, they're revisiting some of their best Guest DJ spots from over the years. They've already done Roger Waters and Randy Newman and today's guest is Bjork. Check it out at iTunes or from the All Songs website here:

http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/163479981/our-show

The First Tuesdsy of the Season

We've barely recovered from the first weekend of the season and suddenly we've hit another full slate of Championship fixtures as well as several key Champions League qualifiers, one of which involves Liverpool up against Hoffenheim. If you've got the time to drop by and have a cuppa with me this afternoon, join me here on the LOB!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 1 Update

Greetings, PPPers! What a first week of the Premiership we had, eh? Some wild and woolly matches indeed. At the end of it, we were left with some surprising sides at the top - e.g., Huddersfield - and at the bottom - e.g., West Ham. Lots of goals around, as well, so there are five different players on two goal each now.

The main beneficiaries of all of this were the Nocito clan, who all picked ManYoo to win the title (natch!) and thus gain 10 points right off the top. Two of them also picked their new hero Romelu Lukaku to pick up the Golden Boot, so that's 6 more points. But top of the heap so far is last year's holder Yellows, who starts with a whopping 36 points. He's got four of the five top sides in the Premiership, one of the relegated sides, Lukaku as top goalscorer and also guessed correctly with Lacazette as the first goalscorer. That's an impressive marker to lay down in Week 1. He's the one to beat so far lads - what will happen next?

(By the way, I did allow in one late entry - Red Devil 1FCK - who was in the midst of a big move to Long Island when the PPP deadline came due). 

Here are the current standings:

1. Yellows - 36 points
2. United We Stand - 27 pts
3. Red Dragon - 26 pts
4. The Saint - 20 pts
5. Gooner71 - 14 pts
6. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 13 pts
7. Red Devil 1FCK - 11 pts
-  Someone Said - 11 pts
9. Man Utd Rules - 10 pts
-  Swansong - 10 pts
11. MOT the Hoople - 8 pts
-  West Ham Rising - 8 pts
13. Blue Devil - 7 pts
 

First Super Sunday of the Season

We've had a great start to the season these last couple of days. Twenty-Five goals in the first 8 games(including a nil niller) and with two of the most attractive games still to come. Our opener is way go up north to newly promoted Newcastle taking on one of the title favorites Spurs. Can Spurs go one better than last season and with their first title since 1961? A lot of you on PPP think they will. The first weekend definitely brings to mind...Saving the Best for Last!!  My beloved Manchester United host the Hammers. Can United get off to a flying start and get the leg up on Chelsea and Liverpool?

Join me
UWS

The First Saturday of the 2017-2018 Premier League Season

  What a start it was to the new season with that wild match at the EM yesterday. Let's hope that's a sign for the new season. There are seven matches to day , starting with the Hornets vs Liverpool and concluding with the newly promoted Seagulls vs Citeh.

IT'S BACK....WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE, WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE!!

Our summer is almost over which is always a bummer BUT on the bright side... The Premier League is BACK!!! We start on a Friday this season as Arsenal host Leicester City. Can Arsenal start a title challenge on the front foot? Can Leicester regain their title lost last season?
This season sees two newcomers to the Prem. Brighton and Huddersfield become the 48th and 49th different team to play in the league since its inception in 1992-93... Premier League... A Quarter of a Century Old!!

Join me for our opener
UWS

The European Super Cup

So, the European Cup winners Real Madrid take on the Europa League winners Manchester United with the first trophy of the season up for grabs. Strange place to have this match but we are all off to Macedonia!!
Join me for United's first trophy of the season!

UWS

The Shield is Deep in the Heart of Texas

Hiya, PPPers. The good news is that the legendary LOB Shield has now arrived back Stateside and is in the grateful hands of last year's champion, Man Utd Rules. That's our prize for this year - who will snatch the Shield out of MUR's hands?

In order to do so, you'll need to send me your predictions in the following categories before Friday:

1. Premiership Champions - 10 points

2. European Qualifiers (Choose #s 2-5 in the Premiership) - 4 points each plus a bonus point for the correct order)

3. Relegated sides - 3 points each plus bonus point for correct order

4. Promoted sides - 3 points each plus bonus point for correct order

5. League Cup winner - 6 points

6. League Cup loser - 2 points

7. FA Cup winner - 8 points

8. FA Cup winner - 2 points

9. Europa Cup winner - 4 points

10. Champions League winner - 6 points

11. La Liga champions - 2 points

12. Bundesliga champions - 2 points

13. Serie A champions - 2 points

14. Premiership top scorer - 6 points

15. First Goalscorer in the Premiership (2 points for actual first goalscorer; 1 point for first goalscorer in the PPP pool)

16. First Player to Get a Red Card (including two yellow cards) in the Premiership - 2 points

17. First Premiership Player to Get an FA Ban for an Off-Pitch Incident - 2 points

18. First Premiership Player to Get a Second Yellow Card for a Silly Offense - 2 points

19. First Premiership Manager to Get a "Vote of Confidence" (shortly before getting the sack) - 2 points

20. First Premiership Manager to Get Sacked in the Premiership - 2 points

21. First Two Premiership Managers to Get into a Touchline Fight - 2 points

The Traditional Curtain Raiser... The Charity Shield!

The Football season is finally back. Even though it was an odd number year and no WC or EC to follow...we still had quite a lot of footer to follow during the summer but the real stuff starts this weekend. The Charity Shield(still) gets us going with the League Champs Chelsea take on Cup Winners Arsenal. Can the Arse beat Chelsea at Wembley again?
Of course, Mighty Leeds visit newly promoted Bolton for the nightcap
Join me

UWS

Saturday is Back!!

Yes, folks, the long, lonely summer is over. It's safe to come back into the living room and sit on the settee for several hours on a Saturday morning, because football. is. back. Well, at least Championship football is back on Saturdays. Well, at least you can access the Championship on ESPN3 this morning. If you have FlashPlayer on your device. So, okay, it's a bit of a disappointing return to football. But - football is back! Join me if you're around this morning. It's Fulham v. Norwich at 10am on whatever device you've got nearby.

Two Championship Matches To Start the Football League Season

It may still be Summer, but the Football League season has just kicked off with the Black Cats vs the Rams and Forest vs the Evil Lions. The match from the SOL is on Watch ESPN

The Guardian Football Weekly sans AC Jimbo!

The Football Weekly pod crew are back, but with one notable absence. For the first time, James "AC Jimbo" Richardson is no longer at the helm. He's been replaced by regular pod sub host Max Rushdon. They've still got the likes of Baz Glendenning and Sid Lowe, so it will continue to be a must listen, but I'll miss Jimbo.

This week, they've got a preview of the Championship season as well as some lively banter about the astounding price that Neymar has fetched to go to PSG. Check it out here:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/series/footballweekly

PRE Season Footie Highlighted by Manchester United vs Sampdoria

   With the regular season around the corner, United are in the final stages of preparation. They get a decent test as they face Sampdoria at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin with kickoff at 2:45 PM EDT. There are a couple of Audi Cup matches as well as some preliminary round CL and EL matches. It's a great opportunity to enjoy some Summer Time Footie.

Guardian Premier League Previews

As you're busy compiling your predictions this week, you might want to consult the Premier League previews written by the boffins over at The Guardian. They started with Arsenal at the weekend and have worked their way through Burnley at this point. Check it out here:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/series/premier-league-2017-18-previews