Football

[JamesT]

ITV to broadcast live Sky Bet Championship fixtures

The Official home of the English Football League

www.efl.com

ITV will broadcast two Sky Bet Championship fixtures as part of an agreement with Sky Sports and the EFL to give all UK football fans the chance to watch free-to-air coverage.

Leeds United v Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday, 19 January will air on ITV1 and ITVX and Middlesbrough v Sunderland on Monday, 3 February will air on ITV4 and ITVX.

Sounds like it was part of Sky’s EFL contract they had to make some live games available elsewhere?

 

[DarloRich]

£1000? That's very impressive. Is that just based on matchday sales of tickets or is there a subscription option? The similar draw at Luton Town, with crowds of over 10,000, produces a prize of around £500 to £700 on tickets at £2.00.

a mix between in person sales and on line sales. I don't think you can subscribe to this draw but you can to the club lottery which has weekly prizes of £100 and monthly prizes of £1000 and mega xmas SUPER DRAW prizes of £x

The 50/50 has really grown and the supporters group really push it and put a lot of effort into sales. Once people started seeing £1000 prizes regularly more and more people bought tickets. The moans when an in line ticket wins...............

( it is a great earner for the club)

Middlesbrough v Sunderland is on ITV 4 on Monday 3rd February.

I cant wait - some sort of deal between sky and ITV to show some live championship matches

 

[bearhugger]

I really do wonder what is the reason for the loss of form recently at Hyde United in the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League?

That thought did cross my mind last night as I looked at the table. We (Stockton Town) are currently 2 places & 6 points above you. You gave us a good hiding (pun intended) at your place at the beginning of the season.

 

[Haywain]

some sort of deal between sky and ITV to show some live championship matches

A grand total of two!

 

[75A]

Interestingly, 4 'Northern' teams.
Not tham I'm compliaining because Pompey usually lose when they're on live.

 

[Haywain]

Interestingly, 4 'Northern' teams.
Not tham I'm compliaining because Pompey usually lose when they're on live.

Probably based on the potentially large audience that "big" clubs will attract. After all, ITV have to pull in enough advertising revenue to justify showing the matches.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Probably based on the potentially large audience that "big" clubs will attract. After all, ITV have to pull in enough advertising revenue to justify showing the matches.

No surprise that one of them is a Sunderland away game as they consistently sell every ticket in their away allocation. I think Leeds are the only other championship club where this happens so a bit surprising it isn’t one of their away games too

 

[1D54]

I wasn't even aware that the Leeds game was on until last night so you could argue they are not doing a very good job.

 

[Cross City]

I went to this one. Horrible horrible watch. Neither team played well at all but Brum had the better players and, in this case, came out on top. Exeter City couldn't even muster a shot....

Blues are remarkably efficient this season. Win the game and then shut it down without expending any energy. It's how we've gotten through the busy Xmas period unbeaten.

It's not a pretty watch at all but it works, and we win games just by being better. There is no point demolishing teams for 90 minutes when we get the same amount of points for 1/3 of the energy expenditure.

For Exeter to not even have a touch in our box shows how dominant we were.

 

[DarloRich]

A grand total of two!

two is better than zero

 

[Ghostbus]

Earth calling @Paul The Alien...

THC

I wouldn't say they got hammered. Well beaten, maybe even played off the park. But not a hammering. Two of their four goals were in injury time after all.

What actually happened is a credit to Howe as a manager. A team that presumably still has a lot of Howe in their DNA, went away from home, and in the words of the commentator, "Did a Newcastle to Newcastle".

Howe's team responded well to going behind, scored a great goal, but just didn't have any control at any point. Howe fronted up, said Bournemouth were the better team.

He offered only one excuse, fatigue. And to anyone who watched the game and has watched Newcastle this seaon, he's probably right. The performance was off from the get go, with multiple players not up to their usual standards.

Nothing Howe tried worked, in contrast to his usual ability to change games with a substitute or a change in formation or tactics. I personally think he needed to add another midfielder since the issue was clearly that Bournemouth were using pace to stretch the game and isolate Isak.

This meant Newcastle attacks had to cover so much ground, and it was telling that they often broke down due to tired minds and tired legs. But Howe hardly ever does that, and doing so does nullify the attacking potential of even a tired Newcastle team. Lesson learned hopefully. But there was no lack of character or fight, literally.

In the eyes of Bournemouth fans, they had their best ever performance in the Premier League, and are absolutely buzzing at having beaten one of the big clubs. So for one game they've experienced what it's been like for a Newcastle fan watching an Eddie Howe managed team.

Had Eddie won this game, it would have been a club record winning stream. He was prevented from doing so by a team that was unbeaten in 10 games.

If it becomes a pattern, if the team play that after a week off, then we can maybe start questioning the manager, since it wouldn't be the first time he works his teams too hard.

 

[SuspectUsual]

A team that presumably still has a lot of Howe in their DNA, went away from home, and in the words of the commentator, "Did a Newcastle to Newcastle".

Are there any of Howe’s players from his Bournemouth days still playing there?

 

[Scotrail84]

.

 

[THC]

Haha Rangers, go home peacefully and don't riot. Again!

That was a different Rangers. And they were Chelsea fans who rioted. Or something like that.

In the big cup, Celtic have qualified for the knockout stages for the first time since 2013 following a 1-0 win against YB Berne, then sold Kyogo to Rennes and moved to re-sign Jota from the same club. Quite a 24 hours!

THC

 

[1D54]

Haha Rangers, go home peacefully and don't riot. Again!

They caused no trouble on last visit to OT either!

 

[Scotrail84]

They caused no trouble on last visit to OT either!

There was lots of trouble inside the ground as well as in the city centre last night.

 

[Ghostbus]

How desperate must you be to be paying serious money to watch a game at Old Trafford? The highlight of your season. Your World Cup final. How bad must you be to lose it?

Not that Celtic were any better. Played the worst team in the Champion's League, and still needed a single extremely lucky own goal to save them. Their star striker was offside by miles multiple times, and it can't be because he isn't used to playing terrible teams. Opposition fluffed two great chances. Celtic's prolific penalty taker defecated the bed at 0-0. Numpty star striker even got himself red carded after they'd scored. What an embarrassment.

 

[1D54]

There was lots of trouble inside the ground as well as in the city centre last night.

Yep give you that one. There were always going to be disturbances in the centre because of the number that travelled and trouble in the ground was caused by Gers fans in areas that they shouldn't have been in. That one has to be down to Man United for selling tickets to people with no purchasing history but looking on the fans forum could also include people obtaining tickets from friends who live in the MCR area.

It was nothing really though. The best part of 200k went to Sevilla a couple of years ago and there wasn't one arrest.

 

[THC]

Not that Celtic were any better. Played the worst team in the Champion's League, and still needed a single extremely lucky own goal to save them. Their star striker was offside by miles multiple times, and it can't be because he isn't used to playing terrible teams. Opposition fluffed two great chances. Celtic's prolific penalty taker defecated the bed at 0-0. Numpty star striker even got himself red carded after they'd scored. What an embarrassment.

How's your Champions League campaign going Paul? Will we see your Geordie galacticos in the knockout stages? No, thought not.

THC

 

[PauloDavesi]

Meanwhile, Birmingham City extended their unbeaten run to 15 games, with a come from behind draw at Wrexham, leaving them 5 points clear and still with two games in hand.

 

[Haywain]

Meanwhile Cardiff, Newport, Swansea and Wrexham are contemplating entering the Welsh League Cup if the FAW agrees to the winners getting a Conference League place.

Whilst the FAW were very much in favour of the four Welsh EFL clubs joining their cup competition, the English FA have knocked it on the head completely. The following quotes are from the FA, but I can't actually find a source other than the Daily Mail website!

"The FA board has considered a request made by four Welsh clubs to take part in a restructured version of the FAW League Cup which would provide an opportunity to qualify for UEFA competition.
As part of the request, the Welsh clubs would forfeit their existing right to qualify for UEFA club competitions through the English system whilst they remained members of the EFL.
The Welsh clubs would then seek to qualify for UEFA competition via the English system should they be promoted to the Premier League.
“As a result of the request, the FA undertook a thorough consultation with stakeholders and invited submissions from the Welsh clubs.
“Following careful consideration, taking into account various factors including equal opportunity for clubs to participate in the same competitions, for the same rewards on an equal basis; concerns raised by stakeholders regarding competition integrity, fixture congestion and player welfare, and the impact on the standing of existing competitions, the FA board has rejected the request.
“It was noted that it is open to the Welsh clubs to choose whether or not to participate in the English or Welsh system based on their own assessment of the relative merits of participation in each system, but if they choose to participate in the English system they must do so on the same basis as the English clubs which participate in that system.”

In other news, it should come as no surprise that Watford (excuse my language) appear to be on the verge of replacing manager Tom Cleverly, with it rumoured that he will be replaced by José Rojo Martín, more commonly known as Pacheta, the former manager of Villareal. Cleverly is in charge for the game against Coventry City tomorrow but no comment has been made about his future beyond that.

 

[Ghostbus]

How's your Champions League campaign going Paul? Will we see your Geordie galacticos in the knockout stages? No, thought not.

THC

Newcastle are doing fine. Credit to Ang for admitting Newcastle had to endure chronic injuries last season, without complaint.

He probably should have kept his mouth shut, because the standard has been set by Eddie Howe. Tottenham are doing worse than Newcastle if they don't finish seventh this season and get right back at it with a return to Champion's League qualification form next season.

If Celtic can only beat Young Boys 1-0 at home and get walloped 7-1 away by Borussia Dortmund, then the team who got 1 win and 2 draws in a group of Borussia Dortmund, Milan and PSG, and whose low point was getting beat 2-0 away to Borussia Dortmund with a much depleted and rearranged team, are going to do pretty well in the new format.

It's scary how good this Newcastle team could be against the lesser teams of Europe. Look at how they've done this season against England's current Champion's League representatives:

Premier League:
Newcastle United1–1Manchester City
Newcastle United1–0Arsenal
Newcastle United3–3Liverpool
Newcastle United3–0Aston Villa

Carling Cup semi-final:
Arsenal0–2Newcastle United

I make that 3 wins and 2 draws, with a +6 goal difference.

That kind of form seems to be easily good enough to finish in the top 8 of the new Champion's League format and so progress automatically to a 16 team knockout stage. Where a Premier League team with this attacking talent (38 goals in 22 Premier League games) and this defensive record (8 clean sheets, only Liverpool, Arsenal, Notts Forest conceded fewer) would have a pretty good chance in.

And that's if we assume all 36 opponents are as good as English teams. Which they are clearly not. By a very long way.

 

[SuspectUsual]

It's scary how good this Newcastle team could be against the lesser teams of Europe. Look at how they've done this season against England's current Champion's League representatives:

Premier League:
Newcastle United1–1Manchester City
Newcastle United1–0Arsenal
Newcastle United3–3Liverpool
Newcastle United3–0Aston Villa

Carling Cup semi-final:
Arsenal0–2Newcastle United

I make that 3 wins and 2 draws, with a +6 goal difference.

And yet they're 12 points off the top of the league. Perhaps they're also a bit inconsistent and don't pick up as many points as they should against the lesser premier league teams? And that could replicate itself against the lesser teams of Europe.

 

[THC]

Newcastle are doing fine. Credit to Ang for admitting Newcastle had to endure chronic injuries last season, without complaint.

He probably should have kept his mouth shut, because the standard has been set by Eddie Howe. Tottenham are doing worse than Newcastle if they don't finish seventh this season and get right back at it with a return to Champion's League qualification form next season.

If Celtic can only beat Young Boys 1-0 at home and get walloped 7-1 away by Borussia Dortmund, then the team who got 1 win and 2 draws in a group of Borussia Dortmund, Milan and PSG, and whose low point was getting beat 2-0 away to Borussia Dortmund with a much depleted and rearranged team, are going to do pretty well in the new format.

It's scary how good this Newcastle team could be against the lesser teams of Europe. Look at how they've done this season against England's current Champion's League representatives:

<fatuous analysis snipped>

And that's if we assume all 36 opponents are as good as English teams. Which they are clearly not. By a very long way.

If your auntie had balls she'd be your uncle. No amount of hyperbole or selective reporting will replace the fact that you're not in the Champions League. Maybe next season, eh? Or maybe not.

THC

 

[PauloDavesi]

In the championship, Oxford United continue there recovery with a draw at Stoke, and have now gone undefeated for 6 games, Plymouth, despite getting a draw at sunderland, are falling even further back from Safety, and are now 7 poits away from 20th place.

 

[dangie]

In the cchampionship, Oxford United continue there recovery with a draw at Stoke….

I wouldn’t call getting a draw at Stoke continuing their recovery, more of a step back

 

[Cletus]

Lovely sunset for Dover's winner yesterday

x.com

twitter.com

 

[DarloRich]

A good week for Darlo:

Table toping Kidderminster 0 v Darlo 1 - a smash and grab raid with Cedric Main grabbing the winner. Points. Bag. Bus.

Darlo 0 v Curzon Ashton 0 - We played most of the second half with 10 men. A series of great saves kept the Quakers in the game and we really should have pinched it. Handbags at the end after Scott Barrow (our experienced full back) was elbowed twice by the Curzon centre forward with the culprit only being booked when he should have walked. There was a full and frank exchange of views on the final whistle.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Darlo 0 v Curzon Ashton 0 - We played most of the second half with 10 men. A series of great saves kept the Quakers in the game and we really should have pinched it. Handbags at the end after Scott Barrow (our experienced full back) was elbowed twice by the Curzon centre forward with the culprit only being booked when he should have walked. There was a full and frank exchange of views on the final whistle.

Curzon Ashton have a reputation for being a hard team to play against....in more than one way of expression.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Halifax have only played two matches since Boxing Day, both against fellow playoff contenders and comfortably won them both; 3-0 at Gateshead and 2-0 at Solihull.

We now have the best away record in the national league