Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 13 Update

Hiya, chaps - I'm here on a Tuesday morning to update the cohort on our latest PPP standings. There are several Premiership and Championship matches today and tomorrow, so the tables will likely change radically by the time you take notice, but there we are. The big news over the weekend was the return of Arsenal to the top four, which nudged Liverpool out. That means that Gooner71 is back up on top of the pops. Indeed, the Dahlgrens are now top and very bottom of the charts. Otherwise, not a lot of shifting in our tables. Here is where we are at this moment:

1. Gooner71 - 36 points
2. Swansong - 35 pts
3. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 30 pts
4. MOT the Hoople - 29 pts
5. Yellows - 24 pts
6. Someone Said - 23 pts
7. Red Dragon - 21 pts
8. United We Stand - 20 pts
9. The Saint - 18 pts
10. Man Utd Rules - 15 pts
-  Red Devil 1FCK - 15 pts
12. West Ham Rising - 14 pts
13. Blue Devil - 9 pts

A Relaxing Sunday

I'm enjoying my last relaxing day of Thanksgiving Break before I get thrown into the whirlwind of another workweek. I have to admit that I had some extra kip last night after the events of the chili cookoff, so I've just joined Soton v. Everton in progress on CNBC. I'm a bit confused as Burnley v. Arsenal is scheduled to begin on this channel in a matter of minutes. Then at 11am Hudders and Citeh kick off on NBC Sports. Not sure what game NBC is playing this morning, but it should be entertaining. Join me for a cuppa, won't you?

Post-Thanksgiving Footer

I hope that all of you enjoyed a relaxing Thanksgiving with family and friends as much as we did at The Cottage. I'm up at the crack of dawn to follow Leeds' road trip to Barnsley. Last time out, we were on a hiding to nothing at Molineux, but an away win at Barnsley is certainly on the cards. We need the three points for sure. After that early morsel, we've got the usual 10am kickoffs, including Man Utd hosting Brighton. And finally at the end of the day, we've got the day's big one - Liverpool v. Chelsea. Join me for all the action this morning.

Happy Thanksgiving, LOB!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the Lakenheath Old Boys universe out there. May your day be filled with the joy of friendship and lashings of lovely festive turkey and trimmings!

Wednesday Champions League Match Day 5 and a Few Championship

We have the normal Thanksgiving Eve footie  where the main LOB interest will be Man United away to Basel  Brush, BOOM BOOM ,

and Leeds away to Championship leaders , Wolves . According to Sparky dogs descend from Wolves so he may be rooting for the Black and Gold Team . How about everyone else?

Premiership Predictions Plus Game - Week 12 Update

We got back into the swing of domestic footie after an especially interminable international break. At this point, after twelve weeks of Premier League action, it appears that Man Citeh are unstoppable and the engravers should be contacted immediately. That means ten automatic points for those among us - Gooner, MOT, Simon and our current leader Swansong - who predicted a Citeh title win. The tables shifted very little this weekend, with Chelsea swapping places with Spurs in the top five the only significant change. A lot of us lost points, however, with Mo Salah ascending to the top of the goalscorer charts with 9 goals now.

So here are the current standings:

1. Swansong - 35 points
2. Gooner71 - 31 pts
3. MOT the Hoople - 29 pts
4. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 27 pts
5. Someone Said - 24 pts
-  Yellows - 24 pts
7. The Saint - 23 pts
8. Man Utd Rules - 19 pts
-   Red Devil 1FCK - 19 pts
10. West Ham Rising - 18 pts
11. Red Dragon - 17 pts
12. United We Stand - 16 pts
13. Blue Devil - 12 pts

Time to Stop the Rot

My beloved Leeds United have lost seven of their last eight matches, so it's high time to stop the rot. Today, we're hosting Middlesboro and a win today would launch us back into the playoff spots. Let's get it done today, Whites. Join me for the proceedings here on the LOB. #MOT!

Welcome Back, Premier League!

The interminable international break is over and the Premiership is back with a bang this morning with the North London Derby, live from the Emirates Stadium. Both sides still have title ambitions, so this match couldn't have higher stakes. Then at 10am EST, we've got the usual kickoffs including league leaders Man Citeh at Leicester, as well as Liverpool hosting Soton and Chelski away to WBA. The late one ain't bad either - it's United hosting the Not So Happy Hammers. Join me, won't you?

Back From the International Break With a Bang

 Talk about  a quick start to end the international Break: It's none other than the always feisty North London Derby. The highlight of the 10 AM matches appears to be the Foxes vs league leaders, Citeh. It concludes with United vs the Toon. If you are football starved then come join us.

Coach Stanley Hunter RIP

I sent a 54th Birthday wish to our old teammate Joel Hunter this morning. He replied almost immediately thanking me for my birthday greetings but told me some very sad news.
His dad (and our coach) Stan died yesterday at the age of 84.
He was such a lovely man. I have great memories of being a friend's dad, a biology teacher and a soccer coach. He took Bob and I to the cricket at the Oval as Joel stayed to home to mow the lawn. He invited me on a family trip to Scotland and of course he drove me home from practice every day
You're in our thoughts Stan and so is your family

Cheers to Stan from all the LOBers

UWS

D-Day for the Italians

Sweden take a slender 1-0 home win into the cauldron of the San Siro this afternoon in the second leg  against mighty Italy. What would the World Cup be without the Italians? We may just be about to find out, gentlemen. One away goal and Italy would have to score three times. Crikey!

I'll have half an eye on this one while I'm working this afternoon. Join me if you can.

A Full Schedule of Friendlies and a World Cup Playoff Match

 As with most friendlies it's a contest between two big name countries , but in reality, a young experimental side as those two rivals meet at Wemberley. It's England vs Germany in a so called friendly on FS2 while on FS 1 , Sweden hosts Italy in a the first leg of a World Cup playoff. Join us for the action during this international break.

Who Would You Play Against Germany and Brazil?

Gareth Southgate announced his squad for the two international friendly matches at Wembley this week - against Germany on Friday and against Brazil on Tuesday. With several starters (e.g., Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Jordan Henderson) unavailable due to injury, the squad has a rather experimental look to it.

Here is the squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Joe Hart, Jordan Pickford

Defenders: Ryan Bertrand, Gary Cahill, Joe Gomez, Phil Jones, Michael Keane, Harry Maguire, Danny Rose, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker

Midfielders: Jack Cork, Eric Dier, Jesse Lingard, Jake Livermore, Roben Loftus-Cheek, Ashley Young

Forward: Jamie Vardy, Tammy Abraham, Marcus Rashford

So, you know the drill - who would you pick for the upcoming matches?

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 11 Update

Happy Election Day, chaps! I'm taking a brief break from a busy Tuesday to update our PPP standings for the week. We're about to head into the last interminable international break of the year, so our current leader, Swansong, will be top of the pops for a couple of weeks. City are still top and Palace are still bottom. Yet, there has been a bit of shifting in the table. Liverpool leapfrogged Arsenal into the European slots. West Ham and Swansea have slid into the bottom three now. And my beloved Leeds are now well out of the playoffs with no sign of a win in sight (sigh). Most of us are benefiting from Bayern Munich being back on top in the Bundesliga.

So, here are the current standings after 11 weeks:

1. Swansong - 39 points
2. MOT the Hoople - 36 pts
3. The Saint - 34 pts
4. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 32 pts
5. Gooner71 - 31 pts
-  Someone Said - 31 pts
7. Man Utd Rules - 25 pts
-  Red Dragon - 25 pts
9. Red Devil 1FCK - 24 pts
10. Yellows - 23 pts
11. West Ham Rising - 19 pts
12. United We Stand - 18 pts
13. Blue Devil - 14 pts

Bilic Walks the Plank!

It's a sad evening in East London, as news has come through that everyone's favorite chirpy Croatian chappy Slavan Bilic has been sacked by the West Ham United board. I suppose that 1-4 drubbing by Liverpool at the London Stadium on Saturday was the final straw. Top of the list of those to replace him - David Moyes!

Your thoughts, gents?

Saturday Morning on the Road

Greetings from Little Rock, Arkansas! I'm on the road this weekend at the History of Education Society conference. I'll be presenting at 8:30am CST, so I'm just posting this so that you can chip in. I should be back up in the room for the 11:00 EST kick-offs and am especially looking forward to following the late one between Brentford and Leeds United. See you then!

Champions League Wrap-Up

Greetings from Little Rock, Arkansas, where I'm enjoying the History of Education Society conference this week. My apologies for being so negligent about the blog updates this week. I didn't get a chance to watch much footie this week, due to my travels (and the less said about Leeds' third consecutive home loss the better), but I thought I'd chip in here about the Champions League matches.

The big story out of the CL was Spurs' shocking win against current holders, Real Madrid. Tottenham's home form has been sputtering at Wembley but this result confirms that they're a force to be reckoned with in Europe. Not far behind that was Citeh's thrilling 2-4 away win at Napoli, one of the most in-form teams in Europe. Added to that was United's professional 2-0 win at home to Benfica and Liverpool's 3-0 demolition of Maribor at Anfield. The only blot on that record was Chelsea's 3-0 collapse in Rome. But what do you know - the Premiership is back! Does this mean that British clubs have improved?

Your thoughts on the action, chaps?