Football

[side effect]

Southgate

 

[Kite159]

Is Big Sam available?

 

[AlterEgo]

Wilfried Nancy is available after being taken round the back of the barn by Celtic's board just now. Old Firm mid-off has been great to see this year, which has made the SPL properly feel like EFL League One and made it more of a proper competition.

 

[sannox]

Wilfried Nancy is available after being taken round the back of the barn by Celtic's board just now. Old Firm mid-off has been great to see this year, which has made the SPL properly feel like EFL League One and made it more of a proper competition.

Has to be up there with one of the worst managerial appointments of all time. Celtic's squad is not great this season, but it is one of the better squads in the league and O'Neil was on a 5 game winning streak including beating Feyenoord prior to him coming in.

In the cup final defeat, St Mirren changed tactics at half time and he had no answer to it. He was tactically too rigid and unable to adjust.

 

[AlterEgo]

Has to be up there with one of the worst managerial appointments of all time. Celtic's squad is not great this season, but it is one of the better squads in the league and O'Neil was on a 5 game winning streak including beating Feyenoord prior to him coming in.

In the cup final defeat, St Mirren changed tactics at half time and he had no answer to it. He was tactically too rigid and unable to adjust.

Almost as bad as Russell Martin at Rangers, which was arguably more hilarious as he was a total cultural misfit right from the off. Must be something in the water in Glasgow.

 

[THC]

Almost as bad as Russell Martin at Rangers

No, worse. We couldn't let Rangers win the shortest management reign of the year trophy - they're finishing second in that too.

Bring back St. Martin...

THC

 

[sannox]

The culture thing seemed silly but Martin alienated the players after the Motherwell game which was a mistake. People who watched his Championship sides also said his style wouldn't work against defensive minded teams, which the Old Firm come up against weekly. It showed as he drew a lot of games but he only lost 1 league game, a game with controversial decisions against Hearts.

Nancy was embarrassingly bad- form in the last 6 games has Celtic 10th, only above the bottom 2 teams. That is untenable for any manager and whilst you might have a style you want to implement you have to be pragmatic coming in mid season and working with the players you have.

 

[Bald Rick]

Is Big Sam available?

Apparently he’s been drafted in as the temporary manager of Venezuela till the end of the season

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Premier League

West Ham United 1 ... Nottingham Forest 2

This Tuesday night match result has opened up a seven-point gap between the 17th and 18th placed teams.

 

[Ted633]

Text book 6 pointer. At half time, West Ham were one point off safety. Full time, seven points!

 

[REVUpminster]

Text book 6 pointer. At half time, West Ham were one point off safety. Full time, seven points!

As a West Ham supporter I remember 2002/3 when West Ham finished 18th with 42pts. They spent the second half of the season chasing Bolton Wanderers (Sam Allardyce) until the last game of the season when they had a chance to stay up.
It's going the same way.

 

[E B]

I have some football related questions, which may mix things up from the usual match report:

1) who here plays football? Not necessarily for a team; it could simply be recreationally, whether that be 6-a-side kick about games, or anything really, even if occasionally.

2) for those who don't, when did you last play football, and would you consider playing (even if only on an occasional or one-off basis), if a suitable opportunity arose?

3) how many people here have ambitions to one day visit all current football league grounds, and how far are you with that aim?

1) Yes
3) Yes, 24/92

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

With the start of 2026 having a deep cold snap for consecutive days, I wonder how many of the lower tier matches will see fixtures cancelled this weekend.

That indeed proved to be the case and many of tonight's (Tuesday) lower-tier matches have been cancelled.

Just prior to this, the following local match produced a goal-fest....

Northern Premier League - West Division

Stalybridge Celtic 2 ... Bury FC 6

Bury were 4-0 up at half time. This result consolidated their third place in the league and improved their goal difference.

 

[THC]

Macclesfield 2 Crystal Palace 1. FA Cup holders Palace dumped out at the first opportunity in one of the cup shocks of all time (well, since 1871). I can't remember the last time, if ever, a sixth-tier team beat one from the top flight (no matter how much changed the latter's on-field XI was). Any offers?

THC

 

[Darandio]

Never ever happened according to what was said during the match. The previous big one was Sutton Utd v Coventry who were fifth-tier vs top flight.

 

[Purple Train]

Macclesfield 2 Crystal Palace 1. FA Cup holders Palace dumped out at the first opportunity in one of the cup shocks of all time (well, since 1871). I can't remember the last time, if ever, a sixth-tier team beat one from the top flight (no matter how much changed the latter's on-field XI was). Any offers?

THC

It is the first time ever, I believe. Plus, I heard that the last time a non-league side beat the cup holders was in 1909. The non-league side in question was Crystal Palace.

 

[Peeled Apples]

Never ever happened according to what was said during the match. The previous big one was Sutton Utd v Coventry who were fifth-tier vs top flight.

Other fifth tier ones I can think of are Lincoln at Burnley in 2017 and Altrincham at Birmingham in, I think 1986.

 

[swt_passenger]

So has the well known phrase ‘we can concentrate on the league’ come up yet in interviews with Palace staff?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The FA Cup 3rd Round draw has thrown up Manchester City vs Exeter City.

This will be the first time the two clubs have ever played each other in a competitive fixture.

Manchester City 10 ... Exeter City 1

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jan 2026 ==

Once again, many of the lower-tier fixtures were cancelled today, but the following one between the teams placed second and third in their league went ahead......

Northern Premier League...West Division

Bury FC 1 ... Avro 1

Once again, a very good attendance figure of 3,739.

 

[Darandio]

Other fifth tier ones I can think of are Lincoln at Burnley in 2017 and Altrincham at Birmingham in, I think 1986.

I do remember the Burnley one. When they were talking of the previous big one being Sutton I assume they were maybe talking about league places between the teams. Today's was a staggering 117.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Macclesfield 2 Crystal Palace 1. FA Cup holders Palace dumped out at the first opportunity in one of the cup shocks of all time (well, since 1871). I can't remember the last time, if ever, a sixth-tier team beat one from the top flight (no matter how much changed the latter's on-field XI was). Any offers?

THC

Perhaps appropriate on a Railway Forum to note the passing Pendolino around 40 seconds into this BBC clip.

FA Cup: Macclesfield FC v Crystal Palace

Sixth-tier Macclesfield FC beat reigning champions Crystal Palace. With 117 places between the teams, it's the biggest upset in FA Cup history.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Haywain]

Other fifth tier ones I can think of are Lincoln at Burnley in 2017 and Altrincham at Birmingham in, I think 1986.

Ahem. Luton at Norwich in 2013, the first non-league team to beat a Premier League team (and yes, football did exist before 1992).

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Ahem. Luton at Norwich in 2013, the first non-league team to beat a Premier League team (and yes, football did exist before 1992).

Hereford United vs Newcastle United in 1972. If only there was footage of the goals from that particular R3 replay still available.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Hereford United vs Newcastle United in 1972. If only there was footage of the goals from that particular R3 replay still available.

You mean like this!

hereford v newcasle - Search Videos

Watch videos instantly on Bing—enjoy direct playback, discover related clips, and dive into trending content all in one place.

www.bing.com

 

[Peeled Apples]

Ahem. Luton at Norwich in 2013, the first non-league team to beat a Premier League team (and yes, football did exist before 1992).

I was at Kenilworth Road In the round before

 

[sannox]

Super for Macclesfield but the FA Cup leaves me hollow now the way bigger teams treat the competition. Hate seeing all the changes and 3rd choice teams

 

[Darandio]

Super for Macclesfield but the FA Cup leaves me hollow now the way bigger teams treat the competition. Hate seeing all the changes and 3rd choice teams

You say that but even looking at Crystal Palace as an example, the starting line up cost over £100 million.

 

[43096]

Super for Macclesfield but the FA Cup leaves me hollow now the way bigger teams treat the competition. Hate seeing all the changes and 3rd choice teams

But looking at the winners for the last 16 years the following clubs have won it: Arsenal, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Manchester City, Manchester United. Of that list only Crystal Palace might be classed as not a "bigger team" - which suggests they are getting their team selections right.

 

[JD2168]

Macclesfield 2 Crystal Palace 1. FA Cup holders Palace dumped out at the first opportunity in one of the cup shocks of all time (well, since 1871). I can't remember the last time, if ever, a sixth-tier team beat one from the top flight (no matter how much changed the latter's on-field XI was). Any offers?

THC

Great result for Macclesfield especially after being wound up then reformed plus the recent tragedy of the player Ethan McLeod dying in a car accident. Shows the magic of the FA Cup is still alive in some areas

 

[75A]

But looking at the winners for the last 16 years the following clubs have won it: Arsenal, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Manchester City, Manchester United. Of that list only Crystal Palace might be classed as not a "bigger team" - which suggests they are getting their team selections right.

Not sure how accurate this list is. e.g. 2021 Leicester City beat Chelsea 1-0.