Football Orphan: The pressure is building in the Premier League…
This weekends Premier League fixtures throw up a few intriguing match up’s. The centre piece of the action will be served up at Anfield, where Manchester City take on Liverpool. City will be fresh from their midweek disappointment in Naples, and will be either a “wounded animal” or wallowing in self-pity come Sunday afternoon. Dalglish’s men on the other hand will be buzzing after a fine performance at Stamford Bridge to send Roman Abramovich scampering for the location of AVB’s P45, just in case. The league leaders have only dropped 2 points so far this season and the law of averages will favour City dropping more points in the coming games. I don’t see City taking all the shares from Merseyside in the circumstances, I’ll stick my neck out and say that Liverpool will enjoy upsetting another one of the big boys and end Mancini’s unbeaten start to the Premier League season.
Fresh from losing their own unbeaten record, Newcastle face a daunting trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United. If United fail to overcome the Geordies, serious questions will be asked of Fergie’s men having leaked so many goals this season, whilst stuttering their way through their Champions League campaign. Alan Pardew has been a revelation in the North East this season so much so that, in sections of the english media he has been touted as a possible successor to Fabio Cappello. For me, this smacks of flavour of the month in a similar vein to when Steve Mcclaren was appointed. It would be impossible to see a defeat for United at home, in fact Ferguson’s team are at their most dangerous when they’ve had a shaky result such as the calamity of the 2-2 against Benfica on Wednesday. I’ll plump for a comfortable home win on this one.
At the other end of the table I fear for certain clubs this weekend as we might see one or two being cut adrift so early in the season. In previous years we’ve witnessed the likes of Sunderland, Derby County stare relegation in the face from the starters’ pistol. This time around I believe it’s Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers who will entertain this notion untill the last whistle of the season. Both will in my opinion be on the other end of an away day hiding as both Stoke and Sunderland are certain to steady the ship after a little early season turbulence.
Other games don’t look so clear-cut, so gamblers beware of the likes of Swansea entertaining Villa, Everton at the Reebok to face Bolton, Norwich at home to QPR and Champions League chasing Tottenham away to West Brom. If the majority of these games don’t end in stalemate, they’ll only be won by the odd goal. Last but not least, the late kick off on Saturday see’s a Fulham team lacking any sort of continuity, travel to the Emirates to attempt to upset Arsenal. This is potentially the trickiest fixture of the weekend to call. While Wenger’s men have qualified for the knock out stages of the Champions League with a game to spare, Fulham tend to blow a little hot and cold against The Gunners. Arsenal supporters will be hoping that this the former of the two come Saturday evening.
Football Orphan: Premier League review. Will the real Fernando Torres please stand up?
Which Torres will we see on Sunday? The unhappy Liverpool one, or the miserable Chelsea one?
The most obvious fixture of the weekend can only be the visit of Liverpool to Stamford Bridge. While Chelsea are not without their troubles, Liverpool are carrying a rather expensive Geordie at the moment. This coupled with the Luis Suarez racism case will eventually weigh down on the team very heavily, and could halt any progression in a pivotal season. While the Sky cameras are delighted to drink up the action in east london, for me the one to look out for is at the Etihad Stadium, where Manchester City take on an unbeaten Newcastle United. Now that the international football is taken care of, the honeymoon stage of the season is over. One, or both of these teams will wake up on Sunday with a slight hangover having dropped vital points, although clearly a point would suffice for Newcastle.
Arsenal face a tricky trip to Carrow Road in attempt to continue their recent good form. While Arsene Wenger has no new major injuries to concern him, this game will be far from being a pushover against a plucky Norwich team. At the other end, an early season six pointer between Wigan and Blackburn at the DW stadium should offer us some good old-fashioned Premier League drama. Unsackable Steve Kean will be his usual bulletproof self, regardless of the result. He always somehow manages to piece together a determined post match interview to paper over the cracks.
The almost forgotten Monday night slot goes to White hart Lane, as Spurs take on an unispiring Aston Villa. Spurs will hope to make another stride towards Champions league qualification, while Villa will surely be content with slipping under the radar to secure safety this season. Champions Manchester United face a straight forward trip to Swansea and West Brom host a struggling Bolton. The games likely to be squeezed in towards the end of Match of the day are Wolves trip to Everton, Stoke against QPR and Fulham’s excursion to the Stadium of Light to face an under pressure Sunderland.
Football Orphan will return on Monday to round-up the highlights of the weekends action.
Enjoy your weekend!
Football Orphan: No last day drama in Championship finale.
Alejandro Faurlin collected what will easily be remembered as his most memorable winners medal today.
All the loose ends of The Championship were tied up today with only minor sub-plots to be resolved. The day began with the breaking news that the FA will not enforce a points deduction against QPR. Cue spectacular celebrations in West London. With automatic promotion and relegation confirmed it was only the final jostle for play off places to be settled. Reading, Cardiff and Swansea were booked and only the final standings to be confirmed.
Only a heavy defeat for Nottingham Forest coupled with a big win in Loftus Road for Leeds against QPR would have seen Forest ousted from the final play off place. It wasn’t to be as Forest lead Crystal Palace on a merry dance around Selhurst Park. Leeds caught QPR in party mode, beating them 2-1 and finishing a superb season which realistic fans would have snapped you hand off for at the start of the season.
Now that the regular season has drawn to a close, some fans will feel disappointment, while others breathe a sigh of relief. It will most likely be the supporters of the clubs of which out did all expectation who will be eager to get next season started. Personally I fall into the “sigh of relief” category. I for one will enjoy the off-season a little more than usual having watched my team struggle against relegation two seasons in a row. Surviving both times. Only just.
It’s time to sit back and watch as other supporters ease closer to cardiac arrest while Premier League and Champions League accelerates to a climax, but before that, the play offs kick off on Thursday. So pens out and diaries at the ready, Manchester United Vs Chelsea tomorrow, Thursday and Friday evening see play off semi final first legs begin, while Saturday is the FA Cup final at Wembley. Check the listings for other EPL games (of which there are many) which suit your preference. Is it any wonder that they give us a few weeks off to recover in the summer?
Football Orphan: QPR will accept boomerang trophy tomorrow and intend to keep it.
Poor old QPR will be handed the Championship trophy on Sunday and have no idea whether to be in celebrity mood or not. Neil Warnock is in no mood for gloomy faces though, as he feels the club are in good legal hands. This is a scenario that nobody in their right mind understands why it has rumbled along for so long. We’re told the four o clock deadline will be ignored and we could see this enter into another week. Teams who currently occupy the play off places are in limbo along with the west Londonerswith all of the top six in line to be affected by the outcome. The circumstances now dictate that whatever the outcome, at least one club won’t be happy. It promises to rumble on and on.
QPR celebrate promotion last week, but their season isn't over quite yet.
The play offs are due to start next Thursday, and everything from team selection, ground staff and policing still set to be disrupted. We’re told that the FA are coming under increasing pressure due to a slow response, but as yet no single person has come out and held their hands up and taken the blame for a lack of efficiency.
If indeed QPR are found guilty as charged, it is likely to have an adverse effect on rival supporters. I personally predict that a guilty verdict along with a confiscation of promotion of some sort, will upset supporters across the board given the ridiculous timing of the hearing. Conversely, if QPR find themselves walking away from the hearing without as much as a scratch, it will lead to conspiracy theories with the obvious links to Neil Warnock’s last stint in the Premier League with Sheffield United.
The more you think about the situation the more obvious it becomes. The lateness of the hearing looks as if the FA had hoped against hope, that QPR would crumble and their decision wouldn’t be as high-profile as deducting points from a club directly involved in promotion. The result is that, in a cowardly way trying to avoid a bullet, they have inadvertently walked straight into a firing squad, with no-one else to blame but themselves.
Football Orphan:”Lets be ‘avin you, C’mon”
Last season Simeon Jackson was relegated to League 2 with Gillingham. This season fires Norwich to Premier League
Norwich beat Portsmouth 1-0 last night at Fratton Park to secure automatic promotion back to the Premier League. It was the Canaries’ second automatic promotion in two seasons under Paul Lambert. Ironically it was a heavy 7-1 defeat to Lambert’s Colchester at Carrow Road at the very beginning of last season which provoked Norwich to sack Bryan Gunn and recruit Lambert, who guided them to the ultimate success.
It now means Norwich will have played in a different division for four seasons in a row, having been relegated from the Championship, followed by promotion from League one to the Championship again, and then to the Premier League. It may get even better for the team from Norfolk if QPR are hit with a severe points deduction for signing Alejandro Faurlin, who was third-party owned. It means that Norwich could even be crowned champions of the division by the weekend. The hearing for the case begins today.
Cardiff City were the only club who could have overhauled Norwich for the last available automatic promotion place, but they conceded three goals in the first 22 minutes eventually losing by three goals to nil. Cardiff now have to settle for a play-off place instead. They will be joined by Nottingham Forest, Reading and Swansea. Rather predictably, Norwich have been installed as the current favourites to be relegated from the Premier League. They will move up the pecking order in the relegation stakes once the play-offs have been settled, with the latecomers replacing the Canaries.
Football Orphan: Top teams fight to the finish, while trap door edges closer for northern clubs in Championship.
Easter Monday saw supporters of teams in the Championship whipped into a frenzied euphoria, or plunged into the depths of despair, and the campaign still has two games to go. QPR were pegged back to 1-1 by Hull City late on, but were still seconds from confirming promotion to the Premier League until Norwich got a winner six minutes into added on time to keep automatic promotion alive. Cardiff did their bit as they beat Preston North End to still have shout of that coveted automatic spot.
Some think they'll never get in, while other's can't wait to get out.
Nottingham Forest had a fantastic 3-2 away win at Bristol City to almost secure the last play-off place. Leeds suffered a near fatal blow to their play off chances, as they continued their end of season jitters, when they lost away from home to Crystal Palace. Swansea all but secured a playoff place cruising to a four-one victory over Ipswich Town.
Reading will have to settle for the play-offs as their fine form took an unbelievable u-turn when they let a two goal lead slip at home to Sheffield United, and have all but seen a direct route to the Premier League snuffed out. Sheffield United went on to win 3-2 at the Madejski Stadium. This is the kind of spirit that could have seen the Blades avoid relegation. The twist in the tale was that a Crystal Palace win against Leeds leaves them six points adrift of Palace and Doncaster, with a far inferior goal difference and almost certainly relegated. Scunthorpe who lost at home to play off chasing Millwall now find themselves in the same impossible situation, as time looks to have finally run out on survival hopes. That impressive away win leaves play-off chasing Millwall two points behind an in-form Forest. Truth be told, over a long 46 game league programme, there’s never a dull moment in this division.
Football Orphan: Lambert looks to guide Canaries through the Forest.
As we watch a thrilling season finale explode to an epic conclusion, this weekend promises to be an exceptional stepping stone on the way. We can look forward to Fa Cup semi finals, vital Premier league games and the main event, the Spanish Classico on Saturday evening.
It all starts with a bang with Championship promotion hopefuls Nottingham Forest against Norwich City at Carrow Road tonight. It wasn’t that long ago that both of these Championship giants were plying their trade in League 1. Both made the step up to Championship football with relative ease. Forest missed out narrowly on a double promotion last season while Norwich are aiming to go one better this year with a consecutive promotion of their own.
QPR look odds on favourites to make a return to the top flight in top spot, but the second automatic place is wide open with Swansea, Cardiff City, Leeds and Reading along with tonight’s two teams also vying for a Premier League birth. This evening’s match promises to be the perfect kick off for the weekend’s action, as defeat will severely damage both sides’ end of season prospects. Nothing less than a win will do for both clubs.
Norwich have had an exceptional season under former Scottish international Paul Lambert. The ex-Wycombe Wanderers manager took over from Brian Gunn and guided the Canaries back to the championship at the first attempt. Forest on the other hand had multiple attempts to make the return. Once they secured their status in the second tier, an almost instant return to the Premier League was almost achieved, only falling to eventual winners Blackpool at the semi final stage of the play offs.
With all the loose ends of the Champions League quarter finals all tied up, it must feel like a million years since their own respective European exploits were in full flow. Trevor Francis header against Malmo for Forest, or the Jeremy Goss screamer when Norwich beat Bayern Munich in Germany. Like the old proverb goes, “The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step”.
Football Orphan 