It's hotting up!

Hi scorers-

I'm back with you for the remainder of what has been a rollercoaster season. This is the business end of it, and it's all about the result.

Rickie Lambert has been named player of the year for the Championship, but he will be worried that a win for Reading on Tuesday night would see them draw them level on points with Southampton. They though, will be playing a Doncaster side hoping to move to within a point of safety in what would a big battle for 3pts at the Keepmoat. With Cardiff's memories of Wembley fading from view, Malky Mackay's side will need to adjust their focus to the league as they're without a win in 4 Championship games. They will have home advantage against a Hull team without a win in 5, a win for them, however, would put them level on points with the Welsh side. Also, just about in the promotion picture, is Birmingham City. As a bluenose, I'm going to the Walkers stadium to see us do battle with Leicester. Us droping points at home to Nottingham Forest and Derby, combined with just a point with the game at the Ricoh on Saturday has seen us drop out of the play-offs. Chris Hughton has said that the hope of automatic promotion is all but over. With Leicester midtable, the push- even for the play-offs looks to be over for them. Nigel Pearson will be hoping for better things next season. To round this off, we have the Derby derby, where Nottingham Forest and the Rams have just local pride at stake.

Here are my predictions...

Cardiff vs. Hull

In the reverse fixture back in October at the KC stadium, a late winner from Nicky Barmby cancelled out a well struck goal by Bluebird Joe Ralls. Cardiff dropped to ninth, Hull City moved up to sixth, and extended their unbeaten run to six games. With positions swapped, Cardiff have are now sixth, Hull are ninth, but Cardiff's recent trip to Wembley has seen them lose a bit of sight on their league form- they need a win to keep the likes of Birmingham City and indeed, Hull, from snapping at their heels. A big game for Malky Mackay's side.
Verdict- 2-2

Leicester vs. Birmingham

Whilst I'm looking forward to this one tommorrow night, I'm concerned that we're losing our consistency. When we beat them back in October, it was to mark a good run for the team, as we drew 4pts away from the play-offs with two games in hand.  What hasn't changed is that Leicester are still midtable, they need a bit of time to gel as well as the cash provided by the chairman. I think they'll begin to do that within the next few years. Back to this game, I think it's important we get that winning feeling back, my mate who supports Leicester has been saying they've played poorly recently. Having lost their last two, my head still says a draw, but I'm going to go with my heart and predict a narrow Blues win. Positive thinking.
Verdict- 0-1

Doncaster vs. Reading

A game of significance at both ends of the table. A win for Doncaster: they go to a point of safety, putting Bristol City in trouble, with Donny Rover's having two games in hand on them. A win for Reading: they leapfrog West Ham, at least for the time being to go into the automatic promotion spot and draw level on points with league leaders, Southampton. A draw: Reading just sneak into the automatics, but West Ham would have the chance to overtake them with their game in hand at Peterborough. Doncaster would still be 3pts adrift. A point not good enough for either side!
Verdict- 0-2
Cheers,
Gabriel

FA Cup- 4th Round predictions

Alright scorers-

To save myself from utter boredom this weekend, I'm going to have a crack at some of the games in an 'FA Cup special edition' article.

Liverpool vs. Man Utd

They sometimes call it 'the romance of the cup' but these respective clubs won't be in a civil partnership anytime soon. Luis Suarez has reached his penultimate match ban for suggestions of racial abuse towards Patrice Evra when Liverpool played United back in mid-October. Evra, unlike Suarez, will play on Saturday despite the potential abuse of Liverpool fans. As for the game itself, Liverpool will be buoyed by beating Man. City in midweek, but have they got it in them to turnover two top Manchester clubs in the space of 4 days? As for United, they've won their last three games to fully get over their 3-0 defeat at Newcastle.

Verdict- City for the title, United for the cup: 0-3

QPR vs. Chelsea

The major talking point for this game has been whether Anton Ferdinand will shake John Terry's hand in the build-up more than the actual match. As much as I strongley dislike John Terry, I don't know if the media have maybe made him look like more of a monster than he actually is. Having played alongside and built a good relationship with Bosingwa, Alex, Ashley Cole, Michael Essien, Obi Mikel, Florent Malouda, Kalou, Sturridge and Didier Drogba- to name a few- I'd be surprised if Terry actually had fascist views. Anyway. The game. Mark Hughes has made quite a promising start to his career with QPR, and I'm sure the fans would like nothing more than to see him continue that in style with a win over rivals Chelsea and knock them out. Villas-Boaz's men have stuttered slightly when playing some of the bread-and-butter teams in the league. With the title out of sight, the FA Cup is Chelsea's only hope of glory. They can't lose this.

Verdict- 0-2

Sheffield Utd vs. Birmingham
Didn't get tickets for this one but I'm looking forward to seeing how we'll do. Really, it's a win-win situation. If we win, it's a real confidence booster for the squad, it keeps the winning mentality despite the loss of Jean Beausejour to Wigan this week. If we lose, we can fully home in on the Championship as our only competition- looking at the small squad we have and the position we're in may suggest we're better off without a Cup run. To be honest, I'd take promotion over a cup run anyday. We've pissed around with cups, memories, beaten Brugge in Europe, broken records, made our pensioners happy who have never seen us play in Europe for 50-odd years or whatever. That's not to say it's not been a huge achievement by the players and something that the fans can be proud of, but I think now is the time to make sure we get back into the Premier League, where we belong- we're much more likely to get a new owner in the Premiership as well to sort out our financial position. From there, we can build this club properly under Chris Hughton's guidance. As for Sheffield United, they have their own promotion chase going on in a tight clash between them, Huddersfield and rivals Wednesday. Neither side can really afford a significant cup run, so I'm going for the Blues to win purely on quality.
Verdict- 0-2

Other games:
Watford 0-2 Spurs
Everton 1-0 Fulham
Blackpool 2-0 Sheff Wed
Bolton 0-0 Swansea
Derby 1-2 Stoke
Hull 1-0 Crawley
Leicester 1-0 Swindon
Millwall 1-1 Southampton
Stevenage 0-2 Notts County
West Brom 2-2 Norwich
Brighton 1-2 Newcastle
Sunderland 3-0 Middlesbrough
Arsenal 4-1 Aston Villa

Cheers for reading

A round of predictions- 21/01/2012

Hi Scorers!

I think it's time to have a crack at Saturday's games, don't you?

Barnsley vs. Millwall

With Millwall, I think it was an important psychological boost to beat Dagenham and Redbridge 5-0 in midweek, after their woeful display in their 6-0 defeat to Birmingham (no-one was sadder than me).  Especially with Henderson scoring a hatrick, we should see the regular Millwall from now on- by which I mean they'll only get one man sent off and some of their fans'll prefer to watch the game rather than brawl. As for Barnsley, they've lost their last three games since their 4-1 win over Leeds on New Years Eve and will need to get back to winning ways. I've got a feeling they might.

Verdict- 3-1

Birmingham vs. Watford

I'm going to this one and I can see us putting a few past Watford tommorrow afternoon. I think we'll be buoyed by our 6-0 at Millwall and derby win. We can now score a few goals and haven't conceded in 3 games, plus the last time we conceded more than one goal was away at Blackpool in late November. As for Watford, I've got confidence that they'll stay up- Sean Dyche is a good manager but I'm thinking we'll have too much for them in the end.

Verdict- 4-1

Blackpool vs. Crystal Palace

4pts from their last two league games and emphatic progression to the 4th round of the FA Cup over neighbours Fleetwood wasn't a bad start to the new year for Ian Holloway's side. Unbeaten at home since October, I can see Blackpool beating a Crystal Palace team sitting in midtable, with more than half an eye on reaching the Carling Cup final. I'm going to go with Blackpool.

Verdict- 2-0

Bristol City vs. Doncaster

I don't think I can talk about this game without crediting Derek McInness. He has done a marvellous job motivating the team to battle their way out of the relegation zone, and even begin to climb the table. Over the past three months, I have seen the confidence within the team soar to new heights- 20pts from his first 14 Championship games in charge proves this- great work. As for Doncaster, when they want to they can pull together and produce some impressive results, but fail to emulate Bristol City, who can do so on a more consistent basis. I think Doncaster will go down, mainly because of their poor defensive record- away from home, they have shipped 31 goals inside 13 games. But for Bristol City, a win would an important step to survival- given the tough games approaching them.

Verdict- 2-0

Burnley vs. Derby

I don't think I was the only one slightly surprised by Burnley's 2-0 win at the Riverside last week. After defeat at Leeds in the first game of the New Year, and an abrupt end to their FA Cup dreams when they played Norwich, Burnley went and beat 3rd place Middlesbrough in convincing fashion. If they can turn this positive result into a notable run of form, there's no reason why they can't make a play-off spot. As for Derby: they've put their November slump behind them, they've won their last 5 games in all competitions and are competing with the likes of Burnley to be the side that sneaks into the play-off place via the back door. They will need to swim across the pond in the back garden first, though, in the shape of Burnley.

Verdict- 1-1

Cardiff vs. Portsmouth

So far, it's been an opening month that's promised much, but has been ultimately disappointing for Cardiff City. They lost the opening leg of the Carling Cup semi-final to Crystal Palace, crashed out of the FA Cup in a 4-2 defeat to West Brom and have dropped a big 2pts at relegation bankers Doncaster. Victory at Nottingham Forest on New Year's Eve, followed by a win over fellow promotion contenders Reading 2 days later started 2012 well, but they will need to turn the tie round against Palace on Tuesday, and pick up their league form, to write this tricky period off. Cardiff might have chosen an better time to play Portsmouth, who put in a spirited performance against West Ham, have no cup distractions and have had an enjoyable December. With all the pressure on the Welsh outfit, I think they'll find goals hard to come by in a narrow win over Portsmouth.

Verdict- 1-0

Coventry vs. Middlesbrough

7pts from safety. A dodgy board. An attendance of 9,000 people at the last home game (33,000-seater stadium). More than most would be inclined to say- it's not looking good for Coventry City. For me, unless they produce an odds-defying run of results against the likes of Blackpool and Reading away, Leeds at home and Middlesbrough at the Ricoh today- a side who were knocked back somewhat by going without a league win in three matches- and two successive defeats to Blackpool and Burnley. If Coventry can capitalise on Middlesbrough's misery- rather than the oew ther way around- and then go on a good run, then who knows. But I just don't think it's likely and I can see the Boro coming back from an awkward Christmas and New Year period with a convincing 3pts at the Ricoh and leave Andy Thorn's side stranded at the foot of the table.

Verdict- 1-4

Leeds vs. Ipswich

On New Year's Eve, when Leed's lost 4-1 at Barnsley, I could have seen them slip into lower mid-table. However, 4pts from 2 potentially tricky league games has seen them, at least stay in the play-off picture. Thierry Henry's late goal for Arsenal in the FA Cup on his 2nd debut for the club being the only dampener in an otherwise (wet?) start to 2012 for the North Yorkshire club. As for Ipswich, they are without a win in 6 games and Paul Jewell's side will have a tough game- still presented with the task of hoisting the East Anglian club away from the relegation zone. I can see a routine win for Leeds.

Verdict- 2-0

Peterborough vs. Brighton

Right, it's Friday at 5 o'clock, I've just got 4 more games, then I can go out. In future, I should just paste the link for a match preview if I can't be bothered to write it! I'll stick it out. My 2 followers had better enjoy this.

Okay, Peterborough-Brighton. I think Peterborough could lack motivation for the remainder of this season. They're already well away from the relegation dogfight, which was their initial aim they're not going to snatch a play-off spot- I don't think- and have gone out of the FA Cup. For me, it's a case of entertaining the fans each week, and ensuring they don't go on a run of defeats- that might change my mind over their position regarding the 'R' word. For Brighton, they are only 4pts off the play-offs with some winnable games coming up, which they'll need to win if they want to pile the pressure on the likes of Reading and Hull, who currently occupy the last two play-off spots. If Brighton can join in that chase, it could make for an interesting conclusion to the season.

Verdict- 2-2

Reading vs. Hull

Two sides that I've just mentioned in Reading and Hull go head-to-head in a dog-eat-dog scenario. All teams up to about midtable will be hoping for a draw in this one. Reading left Watford toothless last week, as Adam Le Fondre's late goal completed a turnaround win for Brian McDermott's side, who were experiencing a tricky new year up to that point- he will be hoping that that result is a sign of things to come, given three very easy games- on paper- against Bristol City, Doncaster and Coventry after Saturday's visit of play-off rivals Hull City. The Yorkshire side's fans had to endure three 1-0 defeats over the Christmas and New Year period, but may be about to turn that disappointment around after progression in the FA Cup and a win over Peterborough last week. A big game of significance to more than the respective clubs involved.

Verdict- 1-1

West Ham vs. Nottingham Forest

Well, I think it's been an inconsistent Christmasy/New Yeary/whatever period for West Ham. Whilst they've won their last two league games, they've crashed out of the FA Cup to Wednesday, a side in a similar position to the Hammers in the Division below- dropped points at Birmingham and Derby still in their mind. Having said that, any Cup can be a distraction to a side gunning for promotion and I think now, West Ham can really give their all in the League- the Cup exit could be a blessing in disguise. As for Forest, I can't see where their next goal is going to come from. From their last 11 games, they have only scored in one match. I think it's a danger that they may deem themselves too good to go down- they're not. Trouble.

Verdict- 3-0

Southampton vs. Leicester

The two teams that will play each other on Saturday evening are both in the 'we've just trounced Nottingham Forest' club. Nigel Adkins has done well to ensure that their 3-0 defeat at Brighton- Saint's first game of the 2012- wasn't one carrying too much emphasis on the remainder of the season. The 3-0 reverse at the City Ground demonstrating true stickability and team spirit. For me, their home form is exceptional as well. As for Leicester, I've got a feeling that their 4-0 win over Forest in midweek could tire them out for this fixture- rather than a symbol for future progression. I can see a narrow Southampton win.

Verdict- 1-0

Right, there you go, that's me off to the local.

Cheers for reading-

Gabriel

A bit of an update

Hi scorers!

Apologies for not posting for a while- I've had a busy couple of weeks.

The other weekend, I took Kevin- a mate of mine from France- to the

Man. City v Man. Utd game in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup. It was a fantastic

stadium, a great atmosphere and an amazing game. Just before the game,

I brought a red and black scarf as a souvenir- thinking it was a Manchester United

scarf, before realising it turned out to be a City away scarf- got a bit of stick for that

from the United fans.

As well, I've alway's had Kevin down as a relatively low key Manchester United fan,

so I was surprised to see him shouting abusive chants at the Man. City fans half way through the game. 

At least he got into it. When I came back to Birmingham, I asked dad: 'did you enjoy your 0-0 with Wolves?'.

Also, I've justcome back from a weekend in London, watching Blues win 6-0 against 9-men Millwall with
my brother. Although it was pretty much game won when they had their second sending off, I was delighted with how clinical we were in the final third. Pretty happy with that.

Cheers for reading.
Gabriel.

Twitter page

Hi everyone-

I've just created my Twitter page. Here's the link- http://twitter.com/#!/sutton_thescore

Annoyingly I've had some trouble uploading my photo, which is a pain as I've

spent ages gelling my hair and sorting out my shirt and everything, but I hopefully I'll

get it to work- nuisance.

Championship wise, it's been a pretty odds-defying start to 2012 this afternoon. Southampton,

the current league leaders, were beaten 3-0 at Brighton. This result shocked me the most, because

throughout the season so far, I've always seen Southampton as the side that are quite consistent, never give

many goals away and always tend to get back to a winning habit following a patchy spell. Following the sending off of Lambert and injury to Guly do Prado, they conceded 3 goals to a side with ten players unavailable. The result has put a lot of questions in my mind about that side and they will need to recover quickly when they play Nottingham Forest in two weeks. Will time be a healer?

For other results, Blackpool beat Middlesbrough, who could have gone after Southampton's defeat, are now 4th. The 3-0 win for Holloway's side will see them move to a point off of the play-offs. Cardiff have beaten the in-form Reading 3-1 to go 3rd, whilst Hull look vulnerable to dropping out of the last play-off spot having lost to Derby.

In terms of the relegation dogfight, all sides in the bottom three were showing signs of promise, pilling the pressure on Bristol City and Millwall, who play each other tommorrow. Coventry showed that they can at least compete in this league having kept the scoreline to just 1-0 when they lost at West Ham. Doncaster beat Barnsley 2-0 to go 2pts from safety, whilst Nottingham Forest managed a 3-1 win away to Ipswich to go 3pts from East Anglian club to ensure a tasty opening four months of the new year at both ends of the table- any side from midtable could still get into the playoffs and go up, any side from midtable could still go down- it really is all to play for.

New kid on the blog

Hi everyone-

I'm Gabriel Sutton, I'm 19 and am a stand-up comedian from Birmingham. I love talking about football, I've got a real passion for it and am a Birmingham City fan. Loads of people have suggested that I should write about it, and, well, this is it.

Now, I know topics like the Tevez affair (and more literally, the Rooney affair) from the Premiership are already covered widely by English press- you will be sick to death of hearing about it. That's why I have decided to dedicate this blog, for the most part, towards the nPower Championship. I think that this league has everything, derby clashes, unpredictability and true grit.

I'm hoping that my writing will catch a wave of backlash against a very corporate society within football that became increasingly money-orientated. Now that the reign of Rupert Murdoch over the British press appears to be coming towards an abrupt end, people are now more aware of the power of money in our society and hopefully in football, this will shine through and we can see the real people who are what football is all about.

So there you have it, I really hope you enjoy this blog, do follow it and spread the word- tell your mates down the pub about it, or whatever.

One final thing, every Thursday I will be making a round of predictions for all of the Championship games on the Saturday- if you wanna send in your predictions for the games which will be posted, send 'em to:

championshipfootballthescore@gmail.com

If the e-mails flow, I might start up a prediction game- we shall see.

Cheers for reading

Gabriel