Championship run-in tightest in years

Kingp35

KdjaCL wrote:

Leeds have hope now, hopefully that will build to a last day relegation and i get my my laughs at grown men crying , this time be lots of mates i cant point and laugh at

Here now, less of that

Huge game today against a very good Colchester side. They are an excellent home side and its going to be very tough to get anything but confidence is high. I would be happy with a point if Barnsley and Southend can slip up today.

mike65

Getting interesting Brum loosing, Wolves cruising at 3-0, Burnley ahead against Cardiff, Derby v Coventry stalemate, Brom drawing.

Mike.

Guy:Incognito

KdjaCL wrote:

Leeds have hope now, hopefully that will build to a last day relegation and i get my my laughs at grown men crying , this time be lots of mates i cant point and laugh at


kdjac

Hopefully the wheel out that pudgy kid they always show a cllip of when the take about Leeds going down. It's a quality clip, the kid is about 10 and he's singing "down in a minute, we're going down in a minute"


Leeds just went 1 up btw.

mike65 wrote:

I have a horrible feeling Wolves blew it over the last two games.

Mike.

I have a similar feeling only it makes me all warm and fuzzy.

Kingp35

Leeds winning!!!!

GuanYin

Long way to go yet, but as I said a while back, the Brummies haven't been convincing in a long while.

I still think Derby and Sunderland will finish top two, althouogh I think Sunderland are in for a rough ride today as Southamton are playing the best football in the Division at the moment. I'd be surprised if Sunderland came away with anything more than a point from that game.

mike65

Bollix Brom just gone ahead.

Mike.

Passport

Wow great times for sunderland, both birmingham and derby fail to win, Keane will have them in the top spot tonight.

GuanYin

Passport wrote:

Wow great times for sunderland, both birmingham and derby fail to win, Keane will have them in the top spot tonight.

You're not giving Southampton enough credit. They're probably as good if not a better footballing team as Sunderland.

Necronomicon

Thoroughly enjoyable game sof ar, Sunderland in the ascendency in the last few minutes. Some good chances.

acquiescefc

Kingp35 wrote:

Leeds winning!!!!

Leeds losing!!!!

Sorry.... bit of a strange one today. Damn that last goal for the Baggies. An extra point needed now for the unbeatable* Owls.


*i wish i hadnt said that. The curse of the live game on friday will probably kill that wembley dream.

kensutz

Yes damn that last minute goal for the baggies but we should've had a penalty straight after it only for the ref took his eyes off the game

Bateman

1-0 Southampton in a pulsating game on Sky. Anyone else see the black geezer from Southampton blowing kisses to the crowd in the midst of the goal celebration?

mike65

Sunderland equalise, c'mon Black Cats.

Mike.

GuanYin

I have a score on the draw, so I'm happy with that, but I'll take a Sunderland win as consolation.

GuanYin

cool/crap 2-1 sunderland

Bateman

Cracking goals by Edwards and Leadbitter, you have to hand it to them and their manager.

GuanYin

Bateman wrote:

Cracking goals by Edwards and Leadbitter, you have to hand it to them and their manager.

Leadbitter coming as a sub and scoring.

Keane seems to have a habit of doing that. I wonder if he had another "feeling" today that if he threw the lad on he'd score

mike65

1-Sunderland

---

42-25-79
2-Derby

---

42-16-78
3-Birmingham

---

41-21-74
4-West Brom

---

42-20-70
5-Wolves

---

42--1-69
6-Preston

---

42--9-68

Mike.

GuanYin

mike65 wrote:

1-Sunderland

---

42-25-79
2-Derby

---

42-16-78
3-Birmingham

---

41-21-74
4-West Brom

---

42-20-70
5-Wolves

---

42--1-69
6-Preston

---

42--9-68

Mike.

Aye - Keane has certainly shown his worth. Alot of the Championship's begrudgers are pointing out he had money to spend, but (using a Keane catchphrase) "in all fairness to the lad" he has recouped a good amount in transfer sales.

More importantly he took a team in the relegation zone and now has them with their destiny in their own hands in less than a season.

I think also, credit to Southampton, they played good football and they're a great team to watch. For my money, the two best teams in the league at the moment and I have a punt on them to go up via the playoffs.

leninbenjamin

the ntl went for the entire duration of the Sunderland match, only back on now. sounds like it was a good one. fair fecks to Keane though, they are looking pretty good for the 'aul automatic promotion.

Chucky the tree

Wolves are a great bet for promotion.

Dr. Nick

Being in a pub in Cork this evening for a pint was like being in downtown Sunderland...........this one will grow legs across the country if/when they get promoted.

applehunter

Well you can see them this summer.

They are doing tour during the summer. Going to Galway and Cork as far as I know.

GuanYin

Roy Keane wrote:

Now is not the time to reflect on what has happened.
"We can't do that with four games to go. We've been top for five minutes so it's difficult to say how it feels.

"We have a tough game with QPR at the weekend and that's the next challenge."

Jesus Christ! I mean - he's dead right, but even still... jesus.... relax for maybe 5 minutes!

mike65

Keano relax? - NEVER NEVER NEVER!!!!!!!!! I like the way he has adopted the serious "Man at C&A" beard.

Mike.

Call Me Jimmy

mike65 wrote:

Great match, better than a lot of premiership games I've seen, maybe not in terms of quality but sheer excitement. The goals were really good and if they were on next week i'de defo watch em

watman

This year's championship run in is immense , so much so i don't know if i can hack it. Sitting in the Boothen End yesterday , the nails chewed to the bone , watching my side trying to hang on against Crystal Palace, The 4th Official announced there would be 5 mins injury time to our dismay, Stoke using the Feed the BEAST and let him head for corner flag routine as they tried to stop wave after wave attacks from Palace. 3 mins into injury time , the boothen arrupted, news of southends late winner at preston flashed up on the scoreboard, E-I-E-I-O Up the Football League we go !! immediately rang round the ground to try inspire our team to another victory. The Final Whistle blew - A 2-1 Victory. Everyone then piled onto buses to get to pubs as quickly as possible to catch the late game - Southampton v Sunderland. Keano your forgiven for Saipan for getting that result and keeping us in with a shout. Next week we travel to our bitter rivals Cardiff City in search of keeping the dream alive. Its going to be tense , Its going to be dramatic, and i ll probably only have stubs instead of fingers by the time we travel to QPR on the final day if we are still in with a shout

GuanYin

To be fair, I want to see Keane return for the sheer spectacle of seeing him bring Sunderland to Old Trafford and square up (in a managerial sense) to Fergie.

thebaz

will Birmingham bottle it ? they looked certs to go up in January

GuanYin

thebaz wrote:

will Birmingham bottle it ? they looked certs to go up in January

They already have bottled it. They have gotten results, but haven't looks convincing in months.

They have the hardest run in of the top three and Derby are in a better position and have had better form.

Birmingham look like play off fodder to me.

I hold my prediction of Sunderland, Derby and Southampton.

thebaz

i wouldn't rule out West Brom getting out of the playoffs

leninbenjamin

thebaz wrote:

i wouldn't rule out West Brom getting out of the playoffs

i don't think you can rule out anyone yet. so much can happen between now and then still.

Kingp35

psi wrote:

They already have bottled it. They have gotten results, but haven't looks convincing in months.

They have the hardest run in of the top three and Derby are in a better position and have had better form.

Birmingham look like play off fodder to me.

I think I posted on this forum a few months ago saying that Birmingham with mess it up, myself and Chucky the tree said it and most people disagreed with us. Birmingham have not been playing well for the last few months and have been grinding out some lucky results but their luck has run out now. They will finish in the play off places and they wont go up. Personally I feel its because of their manager, Steve Bruce just isnt a good manager.

I dont want Sunderland to go up. It really annoys how me Sunderland have become almost like an Irish team with everyone looking out for their results, the newspapers focusing on Sunderlands results and people wearing Sunderland shirts. Bloody bandwagon fans :mad:

BaZmO*

Kingp35 wrote:

I dont want Sunderland to go up. It really annoys how me Sunderland have become almost like an Irish team with everyone looking out for their results, the newspapers focusing on Sunderlands results and people wearing Sunderland shirts. Bloody bandwagon fans :mad:

Conversely, it's good to see that that oh so Irish trait of begrudgery is alive and well.

Kingp35

BaZmO* wrote:

Conversely, it's good to see that that oh so Irish trait of begrudgery is alive and well.

Call it what you want but these people going around in Sunderland shirts are not proper fans of the club and im sick of hearing people in work coming in and talking to me about the last Sunderland game.

Rollo Tamasi

Kingp35 wrote:

Call it what you want but these people going around in Sunderland shirts are not proper fans of the club and im sick of hearing people in work coming in and talking to me about the last Sunderland game.

Hey! Be grateful that some people want to talk to you about Championship football. I know it's a sore point for you Leeds fans.

On my own team...Palace have no chance of getting to the playoffs. I think if Taylor had concentrated more on Palace rather than England U21s then we would be in a much better position. I can see our top players leaving. yes we do have some, well 3 anyway - Watson, Soares, McAnuff.

watman

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

I think if Taylor had concentrated more on Palace rather than England U21s then we would be in a much better position. I can see our top players leaving. yes we do have some, well 3 anyway - Watson, Soares, McAnuff.

Would have to agree with you there Rollo , Palace have been one of the better teams we played at the Britannia Stadium this season

watman

Championship Promotion Calculator

found that on one of our messageboards

Fratton Fred

Come on Southampton (I can't believe I just said that).

mike65

Nothing like a Saints/Pompey derby day eh?

Mike.

kensutz

Only one derby that matters and that's what's happening on the 22nd.

Necronomicon

watman wrote:

Championship Promotion Calculator

found that on one of our messageboards

Well it's probably the hardest league to make such predictions on, but good fun! My projected league has the top 3 staying the same, but Stoke sneaking into the play-offs. Although really I think Preston will maintain their place, despite their poor form recently.

Projected table from my match predictions:

Sunderland 46 89
Derby 46 88
Birmingham 46 82
Wolves 46 79
West Brom 46 77
Stoke 46 77
Preston 46 76
Southampton 46 74
Colchester 46 71
Cardiff 46 70
Sheff Wed 46 65

kensutz

Sunderland 46 24 91
Derby 46 16 88
Birmingham 46 21 83
West Brom 46 20 77
Wolves 46 -1 75
Preston 46 9 74
Stoke 46 19 73
Colchester 46 16 72
Southampton 46 20 71
Cardiff 46 8 68
Sheff Wed 46 3 63

Preston to go up and none of those from the West Mids to go up especially Wolves.

Guy:Incognito

Kingp35 wrote:

Call it what you want but these people going around in Sunderland shirts are not proper fans of the club and im sick of hearing people in work coming in and talking to me about the last Sunderland game.

Dont worry bout it, as said above, it's a sore point for you at the min. Next year you'll be 2 divisions apart so you wont care.



I kid, I kid.

Chucky the tree

Derby 46 16 88
Sunderland 46 24 86
West Brom 46 20 82
Birmingham 46 21 81
Wolves 46 -1 81
Southampton 46 20 76
Stoke 46 19 75
Preston 46 9 74
Colchester 46 16 72
Cardiff 46 8 70
Sheff Wed 46 3 68

GuanYin

Kingp35 wrote:

Call it what you want but these people going around in Sunderland shirts are not proper fans of the club and im sick of hearing people in work coming in and talking to me about the last Sunderland game.

How do you become a proper fan of the club?

You start supporting them when they're in a relegation fight?

People are drawn to support clubs for lots of reasons. Sometimes it because families/friends support the team, some times it's because families/friends support the main rival teams. Often it's locale, but more often than not, it's success or empathy.

By your reasoning, most fans of the big clubs aren't proper fans. Irish people who support Celtic because of the Irish connection aren't proper fans, Irish people who started supporting Villa and Liverpool when they had large Irish contingents etc etc etcaren't proper fans.

Chucky the tree

Most people support a team from about 10 or so. Not from there mid 20's.

GuanYin

Chucky the tree wrote:

Most people support a team from about 10 or so. Not from there mid 20's.

I wasn't aware there was a rule or guideline on this.

Can you direct me to some stats or a website that tells me more?

KdjaCL

psi wrote:

I wasn't aware there was a rule or guideline on this.

Can you direct me to some stats or a website that tells me more?

I think its called www.picking up a ball at a young age whacking it into an imaginary goal and shouting the name of <insert player name here> ......com


SOCRATES!!!!!!!!!!!! etc:


kdjac

GuanYin

KdjaCL wrote:

I think its called www.picking up a ball at a young age whacking it into an imaginary goal and shouting the name of <insert player name here> ......com


SOCRATES!!!!!!!!!!!! etc:


kdjac

I know plenty of people who got interested in playing and supporting english teams at a late age. Quite a few of them are long time EL supporters or people who started playing in a work league late on.

Nothing wrong with it so long as you don't drop your old team imho.

I quite avidly watch Arsenal because they play sublime football, I wouldn't call myself an Arsenal supporter but I'd cheer them on for the style they have. Likewise I'm very much enjoying watching the football played by Southampton and Sunderland - apart from the obvious interest in the Keane/Quinn connection in the latter.

I still support my own team first and foremost.