Season 25 Week 12 processing...

Welcome to week 12 with the sad news that Jamie has decided to leave Schalke of Bundesliga fame due to a lack of time. Schalke will now go into protected mode while the system tries to find them a new manager from inside the game.

Okay, lots to do this week, a ton of data entry, before I can run any games.

Man City v Fulham
In week 10 Fulham stunned Watford and every manager in Championship Football by grabbing a late draw against the then leaders. This time up The Cottagers visit a rampant City who have stormed to the top of the table with some breath taking recent form. Dzeko and Carroll are bullying defences across the Premier League and with the ageless Fat Frank scoring for fun from midfield this is a big ask for Phil's team. Although City have only conceded 4 in the League this season and of those only 2 in 5 home games the Fulham fans have some hope in this game if the midfield trickery and vision of Lallana and new boy Modric can unlock Luis Suarez who has declared to the press that he's hungry. It could be for pies, goals or Micah Richards. This is certainly one to keep an eye on.

Birmingham v Spurs
I'm a big fan of Rich's Birmingham and they continue to move along under the radar but are still close enough to make a bid for the title especially as they still have 7 home games to play. Wanyama and Fellaini proved not only a solid midfield base but also add vital goals, Nani provides trickery from out wide and if RVP and Welbeck could trouble the top scorers list this team could be dark horses for the title. This week a solid if uninspiring Spurs will attempt to take advantage of Brum's leaky defence. If Brum can fix the gaps at the back and fine tune the forwards then the fans could be celebrating at the end of the season. Spurs .... when Clint Dempsey is your standout player after letting Modric go .... you get what you deserve. Although 6 points clear of relegation I predict an uncomfortable end to the season for this North London team.

Man United v Watford
What's going on at Watford? For any other team these things happen but when you support the Harlem Globetrotters of football and have the array of talent the Hornets have it's a major worry. A home draw against a Liverpool team who only gained 1 point and scored 5 goals in their first 10 games is a concern. The fact it let City slip into first place has alarm bells ringing. The good news is ..... Lloris, Kompany, Negredo, Eriksen, Sanchez, Rooney, Pogba etc. This is the games' most talented squad. I expect Jamie to get things back on track this week against unpredictable United. LVG's TOT tactics provides excitement and some unexpected results and old timers D'Alessandro and Pavlyuchenko are having an Indian Summer in the North West but I'm not sure it's enough this time out.

Liverpool v Everton
No Merseyside Derby has ever been this desperate. It a case of 2 shocking teams and a desperate struggle for local bragging rights. Liverpool are doomed to relegation but it'd mean a lot if they dragged the Toffees down with them. For the Bluenoses a win would see them clear of the bottom 3 and living to fight another day for their Premier League survival. It isn't going to be pretty but this Scouse dog fight will be more compelling viewing than Season 2 of House of Cards. Will it be the death knell for Liverpool or a mortal wound for Everton? A thriller, where a draw suits nobody except Fulham, Chelsea and Blackburn.

Blackburn v Charlton
Sturridge, Sterling, Coutinho, Willian and Henderson to some it means dodgy haircuts and dodgier dance routines to Tom it's a dream team. If these guys could gel and score some goals Charlton have a potential title challenge. This is the type of game they need to dominate and win. Is it time for Stevie G to park the Zimmer frame and take a rest? Can Allen and Lucas form a midfield for the future? Tom has to dig deep and come up with some answers for the Valley faithful. Standing in their way is Roque Santa Claus. He's so old he's got a big white beard but he keeps handing out gifts at Ewood Park with 7 goals so far this season and those goals have earned 6 of Blackburn's 8 points. It's Tom's managerial skills versus Roque's left peg ..... a clash of the titans.

Chelsea v Plymouth
Chelsea aren't the same team since Gaz left. The players certainly performed better for him than they do for José. Maybe Gaz is the real Special One!!!
On to the game. After a tough run of 4 games including Charlton, Watford and City Ben's Plymouth will be looking to fill their boots against Chelsea. Plymouth are still in a fantastic position, only 4 points off the top and having already played City twice. Plymouth have been heavily reliant on the German duo of Ozil and Podolski so far but like his mentor and idol Wenger it's time for Ben to let go of the old and let Aguero, Di Maria and Wilshere take Plymouth to the next level. Like Birmingham, Plymouth are still a fantastic outside bet for this year's title. If the goals start to flow there could be another huge celebration on the South Coast. José..... can't see it being your week. Leave the ref alone and don't cry or it won't just be Zlatan making fun of you.

Reading v Villa
League One is a slog fest ..... only 12 points separate top from a relegation place (the Prem gap is 19) and Forest, the most prolific team only have 15 goals. It's close, tense and not pretty. A great description for Villa's finest. Growing pains are kicking in and a requirement for infrastructure and staff. Tired and injured players are causing havoc. Harry Kane is emerging as a real strike option, Schneiderlin and Delph are forming a midfield and John Terry is holding the defence together. This week a solid Reading visit. The Royals are uninspiring but very solid and tough to beat. With neither team prolific and both miserly in defence I can see this being a tight contest with a single goal likely to be the difference.

Some light reading pre this week's matches.

Thanks Rob for another great read.

Reserve & Youth games are currently running, but very slowly. League Kickoff confirmation to follow.

Okay all ready for the League games in the morning.

Kickoff 1000 hours Wednesday morning.

Thanks Paul.

Just a few minutes from kickoff now as everybody settles in to what promises to be an exciting couple of hours of football.

The teams are lining up, the ref checks his watch...

and we're off...

5 minutes in and all's quiet so far...

We have our first two goals of the day...

Bordeaux 0 Nantes 1 Destro on 7 minutes.
Ancona 1 Salernitana 0 Bale.

Stoke 1 Wednesday 0 Cisse header on 9 minutes.
Exeter 0 Wycombe 1 Bossman header.
Ancona 2 Salernitana 0 Montolivo.

Looks like being another good day for Jamie's feeder club Ancona.

Cruzeiro 0 Santos 1 Kerrison penalty on 10 minutes, a couple of important players out this week at Santos including captain fantastic.
Blackpool 0 Wimbledon 1 Hallfredsson.
Stoke 1 Wednesday 1 Pienaar.

Cruzeiro 1 Santos 1 Villanueva freekick on 11 minutes.
Etienne 1 Cannes 0 Roux.
Juventus 1 Parma 0 Gago freekick.

Banstead 1 Shrewsbury 0 Tutte header on 13 minutes.
Valencia 1 Sevilla 0 Aimar freekick.

Birmingham 1 Spurs 0 Nani on 14 minutes.

Stoke 2 Wednesday 1 Walters on 16 minutes.

Chelsea 0 Plymouth 1 Ozil freekick on 17 minutes.
Lens 0 Monaco 1 Defederico.

Good starts for Birmingham and Plymouth there, with Monaco keeping up the pressure on Nantes.

Wolves 1 West Brom 0 Viana freekick on 18 minutes.

Bayern 1 Hoffenheim 0 Trochowski on 19 minutes.

» Season 26 week 23 processing...into the pre-season break...
» Season 26 Week 22 processing...End of the season...
» Season 25 week 1 processing ... the new season ...
» Season 24 week 1 processing ... new season ...
» Season 28 Week 5 processing...