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Post by Panda on Apr 27, 2023 17:35:51 GMT 1
Julio Arca is confirmed as the new manager of South Shields.
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Robbie
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Post by Robbie on May 2, 2023 11:02:40 GMT 1
Breaking News It looks like Leeds United are about to sack Javi Gracia with Sam Allardyce set to take over.
Leeds set to sack Javi Gracia and in talks with Sam Allardyce
Leeds United are set to sack manager Javi Gracia and are in talks to appoint former England boss Sam Allardyce as his replacement.
Director of football Victor Orta is also set to leave the club.
Leeds are 17th in the Premier League, above the relegation zone only on goal difference, with four games left this season.
Gracia, appointed in February as Jesse Marsch's successor, has won only three of 11 league games in charge.
Leeds have lost four of their past five matches and face leaders Manchester City on Saturday.
Spaniard Gracia joined Leeds on a "flexible contract", but the board is considering bringing in former Bolton, West Ham and Everton manager Allardyce.
The 68-year-old has been out of work since the end of the 2020-21 season when his West Brom side were relegated from the Premier League, the first top-flight relegation of his career.
Allardyce worked with Leeds chief executive Angus Kinnear at West Ham.
Leeds face arguably the toughest end to the season of the clubs battling relegation, with City and Newcastle up next before a visit to West Ham and then Tottenham at Elland Road to end the campaign.
They conceded 23 goals in April - a Premier League record for a single month and the most by any top-flight side since Birmingham also let in 23 in April 1965.
After Sunday's 4-1 defeat by Bournemouth, the Leeds United Supporters Advisory Board issued a statement of no confidence in the club's management.
Spaniard Orta was appointed by Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani in 2017, and was responsible for the hiring of former head coach Marcelo Bielsa, who led them to promotion to the Premier League after a 16-year absence.
Radrizzani also brought in Marsch after Bielsa's sacking in February 2022 but, while the American kept Leeds in the top flight last season on the final day of the campaign, he was sacked in February.
Orta is set to leave because he and the board do not agree on Gracia's position.
I don't know if this will cheer up the Leeds fans but I suppose avoiding relegation is all that matters.
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Post by Earl Purple on May 2, 2023 11:30:43 GMT 1
Everton maybe lucky to get a point yesterday although I wasn't watching, I was watching an individual from Leicester who also didn't win, in his contest against a Belgian, the match taking place in Sheffield.
Everton have been in the top flight since about 1951, the longest other than Arsenal.
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Post by o on May 2, 2023 17:02:13 GMT 1
Leicester were lucky to get a point yesterday, if you'd watched the game you'd know that, Leicester gk kept them in the game. Brilliant game for the neutral. Everybody is laughing at Leeds and the Big Sam situation, but I guess if he keeps them up it's a different matter? But when you're last 4 games are Man City, Newcastle, West Ham & Spurs then surely you need a miracle?
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Post by Panda on May 2, 2023 19:01:55 GMT 1
Coming into the football thread to talk about a match he didn't watch and end up talking about a completely different sport when there's already a thread dedicated to that sport might be peak Earl Purple.
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Post by suedehead on May 2, 2023 19:07:08 GMT 1
Coming into the football thread to talk about a match he didn't watch and end up talking about a completely different sport when there's already a thread dedicated to that sport might be peak Earl Purple. We can bring it back to football. Said Belgian comes from the same town as Leandro Trossard. The Belgian in question beat someone from Leicester who won a world title om the day that Leicester City won the Premier League.
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Post by Panda on May 2, 2023 23:44:27 GMT 1
The draw for the first women's Nations League was made today. This edition of the Nations League will determine the groups for the Euro 2025 qualifiers, which start next year. In addition, going forward, the Nations League will be used to determine which European teams qualify for the Olympics, with the finalists (or 3rd place if France reach the final) going on to Paris 2024. LEAGUE A GROUP 1 England Netherlands Belgium Scotland GROUP 2 France Norway Austria Portugal GROUP 3 Germany Denmark Iceland Wales GROUP 4 Sweden Spain Italy Switzerland LEAGUE B GROUP 1 Ireland Northern Ireland Hungary Albania GROUP 2 Finland Romania Slovakia Croatia GROUP 3 Poland Serbia Ukraine Greece GROUP 4 Czech Republic Slovenia Bosnia & Herzegovina Belarus LEAGUE C GROUP 1 Malta Moldova Latvia Andorra GROUP 2 Turkey Luxembourg Lithuania Georgia GROUP 3 Azerbaijan Montenegro Cyprus Faroe Islands GROUP 4 Israel Estonia Kazakhstan Armenia GROUP 5 North Macedonia Kosovo Bulgaria The competition starts in September after the World Cup.
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Post by suedehead on May 7, 2023 18:36:30 GMT 1
We should pause to note that the final Scottish League Two table has East Fife fourth, Forfar fifth.
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Robbie
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Post by Robbie on May 20, 2023 19:38:23 GMT 1
Notts Forest 1 Arsenal 0
The result means that not only are Forest safe but also that Man City win the Premier League title for the third season running.
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Post by Panda on May 20, 2023 20:25:14 GMT 1
In addition, The Spartans beat Albion Rovers to win promotion to the Scottish League for the first time in their history and end Albion Rovers' time in the league, going back over a century.
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Post by o on May 20, 2023 21:25:35 GMT 1
Arsenal were just totally abysmal, if that's 2nd in the Prem League, it's a sad state of affairs. And welcome to Spartans. League Playoffs we have Coventry v Luton to get in the Prem, nice to see some old faces coming back. Sheff Weds v Barnsley to get into the Championship after Sheff Weds amazing turnaround after being 4-0 down to Peterboro! And Stockport v Carlisle to get into league 1, glad to see Salford stumble again and frustrate their owners.
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Post by Earl Purple on May 21, 2023 10:42:14 GMT 1
I reckon Arsenal gave up on winning the title some time ago. Spurs gave up on Champions League qualification and have no direction in management. Chelsea have also been abysmal this season.
With Liverpool only drawing at home against Aston Villa they won't get to be in the Champions League next season.
I'd like to see Manchester City complete the Champions League and win it, then be hit with a load of sanctions for breaking FFP so essentially they can't win it next year or be so dominant. I hate if it one team are overly dominant.
In my time I have seen Liverpool (1982-1984) and Manchester United twice (1999-2001, 2007-2009) win it 3 years in a row and Manchester City now (2021-2023). The only other team I have seen win it twice in a row are Chelsea (2005-2006) and Arsenal have won it a 6 times but never consecutively. (1971, 1989, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2004). I have never known (in my lifetime) a team to win it 4 times in a row. (Manchester United were actually about 12 points clear around December 1997. Had they won it that season they'd have won 6 in a row. But they didn't.)
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frag
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Post by frag on May 22, 2023 12:17:26 GMT 1
We seem to have run out of steam after Easter, and the last two performances have been appalling. Last season the last 10 games were also catastrophic (5 wins, 5 losses), it's a worrying pattern - our record since GW28 this time around is actually worse (3-3-3).
Beyond psychology, there's a few reasons - Saliba's injury caused a big drop-off in our defence, and I also wonder if the mid-season world cup is catching up with some of our players. Saka in particular looks shattered, has been out of form for some time but we simply don't have the cover in that position - Nelson scored an important goal vs Bournemouth but hasn't been trusted to start a game. I also think that Arteta is sometimes too reluctant to change things, meaning that players get tired quicker than they otherwise would.
On the whole there's been a huge improvement since last season, and our very young squad should get better over the next few years. With the right additions (Rice + 1 midfielder, a rotatable right winger, plus a 4th centre back to upgrade on Holding), I think we can challenge again next season.
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frag
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Post by frag on May 22, 2023 12:20:00 GMT 1
In my time I have seen Liverpool (1982-1984) and Manchester United twice (1999-2001, 2007-2009) win it 3 years in a row and Manchester City now (2021-2023). The only other team I have seen win it twice in a row are Chelsea (2005-2006) and Arsenal have won it a 6 times but never consecutively. (1971, 1989, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2004). I have never known (in my lifetime) a team to win it 4 times in a row. (Manchester United were actually about 12 points clear around December 1997. Had they won it that season they'd have won 6 in a row. But they didn't.) No team has ever won it 4 times in a row. Before the times you've mentioned, two teams managed 3 in a row: Huddersfield in the 20s and Arsenal in the 30s (both managed by Herbert Chapman, until he died suddenly halfway through Arsenal's 3-year run).
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frag
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Post by frag on May 22, 2023 13:47:13 GMT 1
Ups & Downs, 2023
A condensed feature this season, with a historical focus on the promoted and relegated as well as those in the play-off finals.
EFL Championship
Coventry v Luton in the Championship play-off final will be interesting - both teams were promoted from League Two together just five years ago, and Luton were actually in the National League in 2013/14.
Luton would be the fourth team since the 2nd world war to go from non league to the top division, and the first since automatic promotion was introduced in the 80s. If they went up this year, the 10-season span (2013/14 to 2022/23) would be the joint shortest, and the first not to be interrupted by relegation on the way. The others:
Wimbledon (1976/77 to 1985/86) - 10 seasons, 6 promotions and 2 relegations - founder member of Premier League in 1992. Oxford United (1961/62 to 1984/85) - 24 seasons, 5 promotions and 1 relegation Wigan Athletic (1977/78 to 2004/05) - 28 seasons, 5 promotions and 1 relegation
Luton were last in the top division in 1991/92 (a 31-year absence); Coventry are looking to return to the Premier League after a 22-year absence (since 2000/01).
The other teams leaving the Championship:
Champions: Burnley - immediate return to the PL; 4th promotion to PL and second Championship title (last in 2016). Record points tally of 101.
Promoted: Sheffield United - return to PL after 2-season absence; 3rd promotion to PL, each of them via finishing 2nd. Have a curious habit of getting promoted to the top division after finishing 2nd - here's a full list: 1893: 2nd 1939: 2nd 1953: 1st 1961: 2nd 1971: 2nd 1990: 2nd 2006: 2nd 2019: 2nd 2023: 2nd
Relegated
24th: Wigan Athletic - immediate return to League 1, first-ever bottom placed finish in the Football League 23rd: Blackpool - back to League 1 after two seasons in the Championship 22nd: Reading - relegated due to a points deduction; ends a 10-season stint in the Championship, and first time in the third tier since 2002.
Reading's was the second-longest current spell in the Championship; the longest is Birmingham (12 years).
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Post by Panda on May 22, 2023 19:25:03 GMT 1
Former Hartlepool manager Graeme Lee has been announced as the new manager of Marske United.
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frag
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Post by frag on May 23, 2023 14:22:00 GMT 1
Ups & Downs 2023
League One
Fresh from the biggest-ever play-off comeback (and one of the biggest of all time in two-legged ties), Sheffield Wednesday face Barnsley on Sunday.
If Wednesday win, it'll be the first ever time that both Sheffield clubs have gone up in the same season (albeit from different divisions); it would seal Wednesday's return to the Championship at the second attempt, having lost in the play-off semi finals last season. This is their fifth time in the play-offs, and they've been promoted through them once before, in 2005. If they lose, I'm pretty sure that 98 points will be the highest total by a team that has failed to be promoted.
Barnsley are attempting to return to the Championship at the first attempt; they've been a yo-yo club in recent seasons, with 3 relegations and 2 promotions in the last 9 seasons. This is their third League One play-off final, and they've won the previous two.
Champions: Plymouth Argyle - 101 points being one short of their personal best (102 pts in Div 3 in 2002); they're back in the Championship for the first time since 2010, with two spells in League Two since then. This is their first divisional title since 2004 and sixth overall.
Promoted: Ipswich Town - finally ending a four-year spell in League One, and with 98 points their record total. They'll resume their rivalry with Norwich next season.
Relegated
24th: Forest Green Rovers - still their best-ever finish, despite a worst-ever points tally, as this was their first season in the 3rd tier. 23rd: Accrington Stanley - will be back in League Two after five seasons in the third tier. 22nd: Morecambe - Continuing the theme of clubs returning to their "normal" division; next season will be Morecambe's 17th in the EFL, and 15th in League Two. They actually managed more points than last season, but finished three places lower and are thus relegated. 21st: Milton Keynes Dons - Relegated from League One with a near-identical record to their previous relegation in 2017/18; both seasons saw 11 wins, 12 draws and 23 defeats, but this time they managed one more goal, conceded three fewer, and finished two places higher, to no avail. They've had three seasons in League Two in their 19-year history, never finishing lower than 4th.
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Post by o on May 23, 2023 16:55:22 GMT 1
Weird how it's all "new"clubs being relegated to league 2 this season and old clubs in Wrexham and Notts County coming up from the Conference! Both of the promoted clubs will do well next season, and like you say MK Dons always do well in league 2, nice for them to renew their rivalry with Wimbledon next season!
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on May 23, 2023 17:11:45 GMT 1
The national league is full of huge former football league teams these days, even a fee got relegated from it!
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Post by o on May 23, 2023 17:22:48 GMT 1
The national league is full of huge former football league teams these days, even a fee got relegated from it! I disagree now that County and Wrexham have got out of it to be replaced by Hartlepool and Rochdale. Oldham were in the Prem league briefly but are a league 1/2 team at best, then you have Chesterfield who are similar, but lower unless brown envelopes are involved. Then it's Barnet, Southend, Halifax, Aldershot and York, and promoted back into the Conference are Kidderminster, with Fylde, Ebbsfleet and Oxford City coming up, I'd say the Conference looks the weakest it's been for a while, but that gives clubs that have never been in the Football League a real chance next season. And we lost Maidstone, Torquay, Scunthorpe and Yeovil this season.
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