Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 28 Update

Hiya, chaps - I'm here as usual at the start of the week to intrude on your work with the current standings in our PPP game. With the end of Week 28, we rounded the corner into the last quarter of the domestic footie season. Swansea dropped back in the relegation zone, which meant four points for most of us. We also saw the first major silverware handed out, as Citeh won the League Cup at Wembley. The Arsenal loss meant two points to Blue Devil and MUR; however, the big loser of the weekend was Red Devil who would have landed eight points if Arsenal had defeated Citeh. In the end, he got none. Sorry, mate.

Here are the current standings:

1. MOT the Hoople - 45 points
2. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 38 pts
3. Swansong - 37 pts
4. Gooner71 - 35 pts
5. Man Utd Rules - 30 pts
6. The Saint - 29 pts
-  Someone Said - 29 pts
8. Red Devil 1FCK - 25 pts
9. Red Dragon - 24 pts
10. United We Stand - 21 pts
11. West Ham Rising - 20 pts
12. Yellows - 18 pts
13. Blue Devil - 16 pts

League Cup Sunday!

In years past, the League Cup ruled its Sunday; today, it's got a silly name and has to struggle for relevance with a slate of Premiership matches on the same day. In my book, though, it's the first real silverware on offer during the season (as well as some significant PPP points). Yes, I'll be watching the early Spurs match and hoping that Chelsea v. Man Yoo is a cracker. But the match at Wembley at 11:30 will still be the true star of the day. Join me for all the fun today, eh?

The Weekend Curtain Raiser

Most of the fireworks are on Sunday this weekend, with both the Chelsea v. ManYoo clash and the League Cup Final taking place tomorrow morning. So, consider today a curtain-raiser, an amuse bouche if you will. I elected to sleep in through the Leicester v. Stoke opener and to join in for the 10am EST kickoffs. Then we have Liverpool hosting The Happy Hammers on CNBC (The Winter Olympics are still on-going on NBC Sports this weekend). Of course my eye will be fixed on Elland Road where Leeds will be hosting Brentford. Three points please, lads!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 27 Update

Hiya, lads - nothing much had changed in the Premiership or Championship this past weekend, so I held off on updating our scores this week until the mid-week European action ended yesterday. The top five and bottom three Premiership sides are exactly as they were. However, there were some big events in the cup competitions, which might have some impact on our PPP game down the line. Most astonishingly, WBA put an end to Pep Guardiola's quadruple hopes on Monday by knocking Citeh out. That ruined a lot of FA Cup plans for our players. Similarly, I had thought that Napoli for the Europa League win was a good solid bet; not so much - they got knocked out yesterday, along with Celtic.

So the standings haven't changed very much, as they stand today.

1 MOT the Hoople - 45 points
2. Swansong - 36 pts
3. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 33 pts
4. Gooner71 - 32 pts
5. Man Utd Rules - 28 pts
6. The Saint - 26 pts
-  Someone Said - 26 pts
8. Red Devil 1FCK - 21 pts
-  Red Dragon - 21 pts
10. United We Stand - 18 pts
11. West Ham Rising - 17 pts
-   Yellows - 17 pts
13. Blue Devil 14 pts

Wednesday Action Footer Madness!

I've raced home after a tedious meeting to settle in to enjoy this afternoon's footer action. Of course, my attention will be firmly on The Baseball Ground (as I like to call it) where my beloved LUFC will be taking on Derby County. At the same time, United will kick off their Round of 16 fixture away to Sevilla and Shakhtar take on Roma. Join me for all the action this afternoon!

A Busy Football Tuesday

 It's a busy Tuesday as is to be expected at this stage of the season. The marquee match is Chelsea vs Barca at The Bridge where Barca are the overwhelming favorites. However, that famous Cup result yesterday showed that anything is possible. There are also matches from the Championship, L1, L2, and the National League. It's a great day to watch football if you don't have anything going on.

Time for the Turnaround

It's been a rotten year so far for my beloved Leeds United. But every match brings the promise of a turnaround. This afternoon, we head to Bristol City, who are very much in the thick of the playoff race. It'll be a tough lift for us, but I hope that we can get a result for the new gaffer Paul Heckingbottom. Come on, you Whites (or whatever color we're playing in today)!

Oh - and Spurs face Rochdale in the Cup....

A Bit of This and a Bit of That

A very good Saturday morning to all of you chaps out there in LOB land. I'm up early to enjoy the cornucopia of English footie on hand today. We start with the Cup. Chelsea and Leicester have already been guaranteed spots in the quarter-finals. Who will join them? First up are Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea. That's followed by a full schedule of Cup and Football League action at 10am EST. Finally, we've got the big one - Huddersfield v. United. Join me for all of the fun, won't you?

Friday Night FA Cup Fifth Round Doubleheader

It's a Friday Night doubleheader as Chelsea hosts the Tigers and the Foxes host the Evil Blades. The match from SB is on FS2 at 3 PM. Join me if you can for the action and banter,

Champions League Valentine's Day Special!

What's more romantic than an afternoon of top-notch football, eh lads? Well, I'll be hoping to skip home quickly after a tedious faculty meeting in order to enjoy the Champions League action with the missus. Today's Round of 16 action includes the marquee match up - Real Madrid and PSG. It's Ronaldo v. Neymar. Can it get any bigger? Let's hope that it's a thrill fest. See you later this afternoon!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 27 Update

Hiya, lads - it's Tuesday, so it's PPP time. With Chelsea's cracking 3-0 win over hapless WBA yesterday, Week 27 of the domestic season came to an end. Not a lot to report this week, though. The only two changes were with Huddersfield rising out of the bottom three, replaced by Southampton. That robbed a lot of us of three points, so you'll notice a sagging in the scores. The other change is in the Championship, where Villa are now in the second automatic promotion spot alongside city rivals Wolves. That added a point to those who chose Villa for promotion (they were already getting 3 points).

While most of us fell in our scores, our league leader MOT the Hoople actually picked up 2 points and now has extended his lead to an impressive 9 points over Swansong. So, here are the current standings:

1. MOT the Hoople - 46 points
2. Swansong - 37 pts
3. Gooner71 - 32 pts
-  What's Up Wheaton Simon - 32 pts
5. Man Utd Rules - 28 pts
6. The Saint - 26 pts
-  Someone Said - 26 pts
8. Red Devil 1FCK - 21 pts
-  Red Dragon - 21 pts
10. United We Stand - 18 pts
-  Yellows - 18 pts
12. West Ham Rising - 17 pts
13. Blue Devil - 14 pts

The World Cup Planning Thread

Hiya, chaps - it's that time again. If it's an even-numbered year, we've got a summer of top-notch footie to enjoy. Of course, this is a special one as it's a World Cup summer. We may be arsed off that World Cup 2018 will be hosted by Russia, but we're still determined to enjoy the tournament.

This is an effort to start a conversation about ideas for an LOB reunion this summer. I'm open to traveling or hosting and am looking forward to seeing you lot and enjoying the footer together. So, let's be hearing you. Where and when would you like to get together?

A Sunday Triple Header

I slept in and missed most of the Terriers surprise thrashing of the Cherries as they won 4-1 to get out of the relegation zone. The Toon , who host United next , are now in the drop zone . The final match is a reunion for several Liverpool players, who return to St. Mary's

A Morning of Big Derby Matches

Morning, chaps! I'm up early for a big morning of high-stakes derby matches. On the box, we've got Spurs v. Arsenal kicking off at 7:30am EST. Both sides will be looking for a win in order to solidify their European pushes.

At the same time, Leeds kick off at Bramall Lane against the Evil Blades looking to get our season back on track. I'm filled with dread about this one. We'll be missing Sam Saiz, Liam Cooper and Gaetano Berardi due to suspensions and Pontus Jansson due to injury. This is the first match with the new gaffer in charge. We could easily get tonked by the Blades today. I'd take a draw.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 26 Update

Hiya, chaps! I'm here as usual on a Tuesday afternoon to update our little game of PPP. Not a lot to report this week. The main action is at the bottom of the Premiership, where Palace and Swansea have been replaced by Stoke and Huddersfield. As Huddersfield were one of the early relegation favorites, that's meant points for many of us. However, some of us also predicted the drop for the Swans, so in that case, it's as it was. That's all meant that there has been a slight bit of resifting in our table, but with MOT still riding high on top, thanks to his tips for Citeh to win the title and for Harry Kane (22 goals now) to earn the Golden Boot.

So, here are the current standings:

1. MOT the Hoople - 44 points
2. Swansong - 39 pts
3. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 36 pts
4. Gooner71 - 35 pts
5. Man Utd Rules - 31 pts
6. The Saint - 29 pts
-  Someone Said - 29 pts
8. Red Devil 1FCK - 25 pts
9. Red Dragon - 24 pts
10. United We Stand - 21 pts
11. Yellows - 21 pts
-  West Ham Rising - 17 pts
13. Blue Devil - 17 pts

Leeds Sack TC!

It's taken me the better part of a day to absorb my initial outrage over the sacking of Leeds manager Thomas Christiansen and come up with an at-least semi-coherent response. I'm still shocked by the abrupt end of TC's tenure. Yes, we'd just suffered a humiliating 1-4 tonking at the hands of Neil Warnock's Cardiff City at the weekend. Yes, our season is now effectively over, after being dumped out of the FA Cup by lowly Newport County and now languishing in mid-table with little or no chance of making the playoffs. Yes, we've seen three red cards (for "Spitty" Sam Saiz, "Clogger" Liam Cooper and "Mad Hatter" Berardi) in recent weeks, indicating some loss of discipline in the camp.

But still - we're 10th, not facing relegation. We're a mere six points from numerical safety in the Championship. And, when we've had our full-strength squad around, we've played some decent stuff under TC this season. This, after selling off the spine of our side - Rob Green, Charlie Taylor, Liam Bridcutt and, most importantly top-scorer Chris Wood (as well as Kyle Bartley going back to the Arsenal) in the summer. I would have liked to have given TC at least a season to see what he could do, if not let him do some business in the summer and start the 2018/2019 with a strengthened squad. Now, goodness knows what we do.

Who's next at Elland Road. The whisper campaign is all about bringing back one of two former gaffers, Simon Grayson or Gary Monk, who are out of a job presently. That strikes me as a step backward. But I can't think of anyone else who's available that I would want in the position.

Any thoughts, gents?

It's a Sunday Double Header That's Not the Stupid Bowl

It starts with a mid table/relegation six pointer where Palace hosts the Toon followed by fourth vs fifth as Liverpool hosts the Spuds.  Who says the Stupid Bowl is the only show in Toon today ?

Wahay - it's Saturday!

Somehow we've reached another weekend, another Saturday morning when we can put our feet up and watch some of the good stuff. We start early with Citeh's trip to Turf Moor to play Burnley. At 10am, our two United's will be featured (Man Utd on the box against Huddersfield and Leeds against Evil Cardiff in a playoff cracker streaming on ESPN). Finally, the late was has Arsenal and Everton. Join me for all of the action this morning, won't you?

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 25 Update

Hiya, folks - I'm checking in a bit later in the week than usual in order to take into account the mid-week Premiership and Championship matches. These shook things up quite a bit. At the top of the Premier League, Liverpool have jumped back up into third above Chelsea. Swansea have dropped back into the relegation zone. And Fulham have popped up in the playoff spots in the Championship. All of these moves brought more points - that is, for all of us apart from Yellows and me (Blue Devil), who languish at the bottom of our table.

Here are the current standings:

1. MOT the Hoople - 41 points
2. Swansong - 36 pts
3. Gooner71 - 35 pts
-  What's Up Wheaton Simon - 35 pts
5. The Saint - 29 pts
-  Someone Said - 29 pts
7. Man Utd Rules - 28 pts
8. Red Devil 1FCK - 24 pts
-  Red Dragon - 24 pts
10. United We Stand - 21 pts
-  West Ham Rising - 21 pts
12. Yellows - 17 pts
13. Blue Devil - 14 pts