Transfer Deadline Day!

It's Transfer Deadline Day in the UK, with clubs making their final moves for this January transfer window. My beloved Leeds United have already made two significant moves, bringing in Leipzig striker Kevin-Jean Augustin on loan and buying 19 year-old winger Ian Paveda from Manchester City. I'm hoping that we'll be able to hang on to LUFC Academy jewel Kalvin Phillips and perhaps add a defensive midfielder to our increasingly thin senior squad. What about the rest of you, FB footie fans? What would you like for your teams to do today before the window closes?

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 24 Update

Happy Thursday afternoon, everyone! I'm here to update our standings in the PPP Game before we jump into another busy domestic footie weekend. This week has been dominated by FA Cup and League Cup knock-out footie, with just a bit of league play tucked around the edges. Thus, the league tables haven't changed very much.

So, what has changed! Well, I'm happy to underscore that my beloved Leeds United are back on top of the Championship after a thrilling 3-2 come-back win against Millwall the other night. So, we've swapped places with the out of form WBA, with some points changing up and down for some in the pool. Similarly, a couple of us who backed Real Madrid as La Liga champions have picked up a couple of extra points, while those who backed Barca (now a point behind) have dropped a couple.

The League semi-final stage wrapped up with Aston Villa and Man City emerging as the finalists. Since no one plumped for Villa in the pool, only those who tipped City are left in the hunt for those 2 or 6 points for correct losers or winners predictions (Blue Devil, MUR, Pink Kits, Swansong, and What's Up Wheaton Simon).

With that, here are the current standings:

1. MOT the Hoople - 41 points
2. West Ham Rising - 32 pts
-   Someone Said - 32 pts
4. Swansong - 31 pts
5. Blue Devil - 29 pts
6. Pink Kits - 24 pts
7. The Bee's Knees - 20 pts
8. The Saint - 18 pts
9. Red Dragon - 17 pts
-   Yellows - 17 pts
11. Man Utd Rules - 16 pts
-   United We Stand - 16 pts
13. Red Devil 1FCK - 14 pts
-   What's Up Wheaton Simon - 14 pts
15. Gooner71 - 10 pts

The League Cup Manc Derby!

I'm getting to it a wee bit late today, but I'll be tuning in this afternoon to the League Cup semi-final second leg. It's the Manc Derby, eh? Come on!

If It's Tuesday, it Must be Midweek Footie Time!

A very good Tuesday afternoon, chaps! It's mid-week footer time! There is one League Cup semi-final match and a full slate of EFL matches tonight, but my eye will be laser focused on West Yorkshire. My beloved Leeds United have experienced a bit of speed bump in their promotion bid this month, losing two matches on the trot. We'll need to bounce back this week with two home wins. Today, we host Evil Millwall at the sacred Elland Road ground. Three point, please, boys. Come on, you Whites! #MOT!

FA Cup Fifth Round Draw

The Draw  for the Fifth Round of the FA Cup was just made  and here are the ties to be played on Tuesday March 4th and Wednesday March 5th. The midweek fixtures are disdain of many of us, especially the traditionalists.

• Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City
•  Reading or Cardiff City v Sheffield United
•  Chelsea v Shrewsbury Town or Liverpool
•  West Bromwich Albion v Newcastle United or Oxford United
•  Leicester City v Coventry City or Birmingham City
•  Northampton Town or Derby County v Manchester United
•  Southampton or Tottenham Hotspur v Norwich City
•  Portsmouth v Bournemouth or Arsenal

Sunday FA Cup Fourth Triple Header

It's a Sunday  Triple header of FA Cup Fourth Round action, starting with Citeh vs the Cottagers at    8 AM, followed by Tranny vs United at 10 AM , and the Shrews vs Pool at Noon. Join me for what should an exciting Sunday of FA Cup action.

FA Cup 4th Round Time

Morning, chaps! It's FA Cup 4th Round time! Sadly there is no Leeds in this round, as we bowed out gracefully to Arsenal in the 3rd Round. Still - there is plenty of fun on hand today, with Brentford hosting Leicester to start things off in a moment. That's followed at 10am by a range of fixtures, including Burnley v. Norwich and West Ham v. West Brom. Finally, at the end of the day, we've got Hull v. Chelsea. The magic of the Cup, eh?

Join me for all the fun today.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 24 Update

Happy Friday, PPPers! I thought I'd take a moment to update our standings after a busy week in the domestic and European leagues before we get into the hurly burly of a weekend of FA Cup 4th Round and Football League action. Not a lot has changed, to be honest, though. The top six are unchanged. So, too, is the top of the Championship. In the relegation zone of the Premier League, however, Aston Villa have escaped the clutches of the drop zone temporarily, with Watford replacing them. That means that three of us lost three points.

Jamie Vardy continues on top of the scoring charts, but Sergio Aguero has closed the gap on his and is only a goal behind on 16 now, after that hat-trick in mid-week. Likewise, Kevin de Bruyne is top of the assist chart but with Trent Alexander Arnold closing on him.

All that means that our current champion, MOT the Hoople is still top of the league. Here are the current standings:

1. MOT the Hoople - 41 points
2. West Ham Rising - 33 pts
3. Someone Said - 32 pts
4. Swansong - 31 pts
5. Blue Devil - 29 pts
6. Pink Kits - 25 pts
7. Man Utd Rules - 20 pts
8. Yellows - 18 pts
9. The Bee's Knees - 17 pts
-   Red Dragon - 17 pts
-   United We Stand - 17 pts
12. Red Devil 1FCK - 16 pts
-   The Saint - 16 pts
-   What's Up Wheaton Simon - 16 pts
15. Gooner71 - 9 pts

RIP Terry Jones

Sad news out of Blighty this morning of the death of legendary Monty Python member Terry Jones. Terry will be fondly remembered by Python fans as Cardinal Biggles in the Spanish Inquisition sketch, Mr. Creosote in the Meaning of Life and the naked organist, among many, many other roles. He was also the principal director of classic Python films such as The Quest for the Holy Grail and Life of Brian. As many will know, Terry has in recent years been plagued by Alzheimer's related dementia. He'll be missed.

A Busy Tuesday of January Premier League Matches

   It's a busy Tuesday of football with half a dozen Premier League matches and even a few lower division matches today.  I will be watching Chelsea vs Arsenal on the telly and the Evil Blades vs Citeh on Gold thanks to UWS . Come join me if you can for what is the reverse of the Premier League matches that were played during UWS's last weekend in England.

A Big Sunday?

Any normal season, this match would be the biggest fixture of the season. This season, not so much. Liverpool have conquered all in front of them with 20 wins from 21 matches! Of course, their only blip was against today's opponents.
Living in England, Liverpool won the title almost every season....United won NONE. In 1990, Liverpool won their last title and three years later United won again. Thirteen titles later, United are on their perch with 20 titles to Liverpool's 18! I fear the tide has turned and I am going to have to live through the 70s and 80s again!
Can United entertain me? Doubt it!
Can United take points of Liverpool again? Doubt it!

Join me for today's match
I don't think I'll be enjoying it!

UWS

Another Big Saturday

Morning, chaps! It's been a couple of weeks since I was in my favorite spot in the Cottage watching the matches, so it feels particularly great to be back. I'm enjoying the beginning of a three-day weekend here in Fred-town. First up this morning is Watford v. Spurs. Will the resurgent Watford make Mourinho's Spurs grumpier? At the same time, my beloved Leeds are away at our bogey team QPR at Loftus Road. With Fulham winning yesterday, the gap between second and third is down to four points, so a win is crucial for us today.

After that, we've got the 3pm kickoffs, including Arsenal hosting the upstart Evil Blades at the Emirates. I'll be hoping that the Gunners can do over the nasty. Finally, we've got Newcastle v. Chelsea on NBC at 12:30pm. Join me for all of the Saturday action, won't you?

Democratic Party Primary Debate Night!

Evening, all! It's a big night of debating ahead for the Democratic Party candidates still left standing. This is the last such event before the Iowa Caucuses process on February 3rd, so each one will be anxious to make an impression. Join me for all the political hi-jinx from 9pm onward on CNN.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 22 Update

Happy Monday, folks! I'm here to take account of the whirl of activity in the domestic leagues over the weekend before we get into the FA Cup 3rd Round replay nonsense tomorrow. Not a lot to update, honestly. Liverpool are running away with it, City and Leicester have swapped places in the top four, Villa have dropped into the relegation zone alongside Bournemouth and Norwich and my beloved Leeds United and West Brom have swapped places at the top of the Championship.

Good news for everyone - Juventus have finally taken their rightful place on top of Serie A bringing most of us two points. I've also accounted for those who have exited the League Cup before the semi-final stage.

So, here are the latest standings:

1. MOT the Hoople - 41 points
2. West Ham Rising - 36 pts
3. Blue Devil - 32 pts
-   Someone Said - 32 pts
5. Swansong - 31 pts
6. Pink Kits - 25 pts
7. Man Utd Rules - 20 pts
8. Red Devil 1FCK - 19 pts
-  Yellows - 18 pts
10. The Bee's Knees - 17 pts
-  Red Dragon - 17 pts
-  United We Stand - 17 pts
13. The Saint - 16 pts
-  What's Up Wheaton Simon - 16 pts
15. Gooner71 - 11 pts

Birthday Footer

Greetings from the Finger Lakes District, where Kate and I are enjoying a weekend getaway. I'm taking a couple of hours out from the festivities to follow my beloved Leeds United as they clash with ancient rivals Not a Big Club in the big Yorkshire Derby at Elland Road today. Three points are a must in order to keep up our current promotion challenge. Come on, you Whites! #MOT!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR BOB!!!

Happy Birthday Dr Bob!! Hope you have a great day and hope to join you for some footie chat before you enjoy your day with Kate!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!


UWS

Megxit!

Any thoughts about Harry and Meg's choice to abandon the Royal Family duties - what is being dubbed "Megxit" in Blighty this week? I'm an anti-royal from way back, so this won't come as a surprise, but it strikes me that if leading members of the Windsor mob are running away from Britain to take on a Kardashian lifestyle in LA, why on earth don't the Brits abolish the institution already?

Your thoughts, LOBers?

League Cup Semi Final Wednesday

It's a relatively quiet day in the office today, so I thought I might have a sneaky peek at today's Carabao Cup semi between Leicester and Villa. Drop on by for a chat if you're watching, eh?

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 21 Update

It's been a busy holiday period, so I haven't been able to issue one of these updates in several weeks. Thus, it's high time to take account of the whirlwind of activity in the domestic and European leagues over the holidays. So where are we? Well, Liverpool are still top of the heap, of course, and cruising toward their first title in two decades. The trailing European pack now includes Chelsea and United alongside Leicester and Citeh. Bournemouth have dropped into the relegation zone alongside Watford and Norwich; however, everyone from Everton in 11th on down could easily be relegated.

In the Championship, my beloved Leeds United and WBA are locked at the top of the table, with a comfortable 9 point gap with the trailing playoff hopefuls. In Europe, Leipzig and Inter continue to confound our predictors (with the notable exception of Pink Kits), while everyone's favorite Barca rules the roost in La Liga.

Jamie Vardy continues to have a party at the top of the goalscoring charts; the Foxes cheeky chappy is now on 17 goals. Everyone's favorite ginger Belgian KDB is top of the heap on assists with 12.

Here are the current standings, then, with our defending champion on top of the pops:

1. MOT the Hoople - 40 points
2. Blue Devil - 32 pts
3. Someone Said - 31 pts
-   West Ham Rising - 31 pts
5. Swansong - 28 pts
6. Pink Kits - 26 pts
7. Red Dragon - 17 pts
-   Yellows - 17 pts
9. The Bee's Knees - 16 pts
-   Man Utd Rules - 16 pts
-   The Saint - 16 pts
-   United We Stand - 16 pts
12. Red Devil 1FCK - 14 pts
-   What's Up Wheaton Simon - 13 pts
14. Gooner71 - 13 pts

The Dahlgren Derby!

The 3rd Round of the FA Cup has always been my favorite weekend of the season. Yet, a fixture between my beloved Leeds United and Arsenal is a no-win situation for me. If we lose badly and get dumped out of the tournament at the first hurdle, I'm grumpy for the rest of the week. If, however, the unlikely happens and we win one on the road against one of the biggest clubs in the country, then the Gooner71 will be grumpy for the rest of the week. No one wins. So, given that promotion is our priority and the Cup is a distraction, I'll just hope for a good match and no injuries for our side. #MOT!

FA Cup 3rd Round Sunday!

A very good Sunday morning to all of you! I couldn't be happier to be settling in for some FA Cup 3rd Round action. It was regrettable that I had to miss out yesterday due to my drive home from the holidays, as I love the 3rd Round weekend. No matter - I'm here to enjoy Chelski v. Forest and then the Merseyside Derby.

Join me?

New Year's 2020 Football

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and we start 2020 with a full day of football . We're starting with the Seagulls vs Chelsea on NBCSN and Burnley vs Villa on Gold. There is a full schedule of 10 AM matches. The 12:30 ,match is the Hammers vs the Cherries and the late match at 3 PM is the Gunners vs United. There is also a top two showdown in the Championship as the Baggies host Leeds, which kicks off on Plus at 12:15 PM.Plenty to keep us busy tom start off the New Year and decade