Match Review: Wednesday in trouble on a Saturday

C & J took another ESDB Football outing to Hillsborough to see Sheffield Wednesday take on Leicester as the Foxes bested the Owls in a wet affair...

Coming into the game it was obvious that these two sides were mismatched on paper in terms of personnel. Wednesday have no discernible stand out stars in their current side to our mind - Michail Antonio and Jose Semedo are good players but neither look to be the next break out stars from the Championship whereas Leicester are chock-full of established Championship players who have seen everything - players like Wes Morgan, Zak Whitbread, Kasper Schmeichel, and Andy King all know how to get promotion (albeit not all from the Championship granted). This was reflected in league positions with Wednesday sitting 4th bottom whilst the visitors were riding high in 5th place.

Hillsborough was rocking before the game and the atmosphere was excellent in this old ground. The England band are Sheffield Wednesday fans on a normal week and they were sitting at the top of the Kop regaling the ground with many classics we have come to hate over the years! The ground makes a nice change from the identikit new ones that have such a lack of atmosphere and there is a lot to be said for the character of the ground. There was a crowd of 24000 and it boggles the mind to think what an electric atmosphere there would be when Hillsborough is full and rocking. It would be nice to see the ground back in the top flight sooner rather than later.

The first half was fairly slow and tepid as it was clear Wednesday were lacking confidence. Mamady Sidibe had signed from Stoke on the loan deadline day and he clearly has yet to gel with his teammates, understandably. It was a bit baffling though to see Dave Jones opt to play both Sidibe and England's own Jay Bothroyd up front together. They were both too similar in styles - both big target men. As a result Wednesday were one dimensional and had no pace. They failed to get in behind Leicester's defence really and had no penetration. Every time Wednesday got the ball in the Leicester half there didn't appear to be any danger.

Leicester had plenty of possession and looked to be best on the counter attack against a fairly slow Wednesday team. Ex Man Utd man Danny Drinkwater excelled at times in the first half as a driving force transitioning the Foxes from defence to attack. It was suprising that Dave Jones hadn't earmarked him as a danger man before the match given his history managing him for Cardiff for 9 games in 2010/11! Drinkwater put Leicester in front just before half time as he did an excellent one-two with Ben Marshall and then proceeded to drill the ball across the face of goal into the bottom corner. It was a deserved lead for the Foxes and it seemed to send the crowd into an all too familiar feeling, as their team's heads began to drop.

The second half continued much like the first as Wednesday failed to trouble the Leicester defence at all, whilst having an equal share of possession but Leicester were a lot more comfortable sitting back and hitting the Owls on the counter.

Jay Bothroyd continued his terrible game in the second half and looked lost. He misplaced numerous passes and appeared to be on a completely different wavelength to his fellow players as he failed to make runs they wanted him to, and then ran from the position they had passed to on countless occasions. He was substituted to boos in the second half and looks like he is ever popular - just as his time at QPR!

Ex-Wednesday man Ben Marshall put the nail in the coffin as he capped an excellent performance with a lovely curling effort from the edge of the box on the 76th minute. He cut in from the right and curled in with his left past the despairing dive of Owls keeper Chris Kirkland.

The dismal performance by the Owls was best epitomised by the fact that their best opportunity occurred when Kasper Schmeichel got caught under a hopeful free kick into the box and flapped and missed the ball, requiring one of his defenders to cover and head the ball off of the line! On this showing Wednesday need something different up front and January could be a key period for them as they look to desperately need some reinforcements!

Man of the match: Leicester's Ben Marshall spent last season on loan at Hillsborough and he sparkled on his return. He was full of energy and got the assist for the first goal and scored the second with an excellent effort. He was clearly popular at Hillsborough and was given a deserved rousing ovation from the whole ground when he was substituted on the 81st minute.

J

Still in the job!

Match Review: QPR 1-3 Southampton

Astonishingly, I'm sat here writing this match review and Mark Hughes is still Queens Park Rangers manager and still getting public backing from the 'ambitious' Hoops board!

I absolutely hate watching Match of the Day at the moment. Particularly the end credits. I've switched it off by that point. You see, when Gary says "before we go there's time to take a quick look at the league table", I'd rather not, so I grab the remote. This week I stopped listening when Lineker introduced the "bottom of the table clash" - I couldn't bare to watch that again. For what happened at Loftus Road on Saturday afternoon was embarrassing at the top level of English football. At this rate, Derby County's record low points total is under serious threat!

The afternoon began badly with news that yet again we were going with one up front, and Zamora's name wasn't even among the subs list - it now transpires he'll be out for three months, no big loss to be honest... Hughes really shot himself in the foot letting Helguson go and taking on just Andy Johnson as intended cover for the lazy duo of Zamora and Cisse - a crazy decision and one that has left us very very thin on the ground indeed up front.

And on the pitch itself the afternoon just got worse and worse. The game which was a must-win and will-win certainly didn't look like the walk in the park it was built up to be. Southampton looked far better, far more coherent and far more determined in the opening exchanges which is absolutely criminal for such a crucial clash for which we had a sell out home crowd. QPR were seeing hardly any of the ball and chasing the game right from the first minute. In the 8th minute, Saints began to show what their attack is capable of - an inviting ball was whipped in by QPR reject Jason Puncheon and missed everyone, including all of the static R's back line and Julio Cesar who reacted late. It hit the post and bounced away with Adam Lallana unmarked and inches away from diverting it goalbound. Another week without any defending coached at training then? Ferdinand and Bosingwa just looked at each other.

Southampton even had time to hit the woodwork again before eventually getting the goal their positive approach and QPR's dire defending merited. Poor marking allowed the Saints to do as they pleased in the QPR penalty area and, after a corner was only partially cleared, the ball was chipped back in, played to the side and then a cross put in with Cesar out of position for Rickie Lambert, unmarked and the most prominent aerial threat in the Reds' lineup, to head home from less than one yard out. Unmarked and one yard from goal? Utterly ridiculous. But such are QPR currently. At this point the support of the fans was well and truly waning - probably because we've seen this comedy defending every week since drawing with Chelsea this campaign and still nothing has been done about it. Southampton had scored 40% of their goals all season from headers this season - surely someone in Hughes' coaching staff will have picked that up and researched Rickie Lambert's game?!

The rest of the half was shocking from the home side. The passing was disjointed and positional play atrocious. Cesar insisted on booting the ball route one but Cisse couldn't be bothered to try to challenge for it or run after it. Ferdinand won hardly any headers and allowed Rickie Lambert to be the focal point of Southampton's play, which is what their gameplan relies upon. Granero looked lost out on the wing and clearly didn't want to be there, meaning it was thrust upon Bosingwa to be the creative source down the right hand side - a man without a single creative bone in his body and crossing ability worse than most goalkeepers. Bosingwa resorted to wayward hoofs, one even sliced so badly that it went out for a throw in, but didn't look in the slightest bit bothered by how awful his play is - he's earning a silly amount of money and has already won plenty of trophies, so why bother eh? Sod off back to Chelsea, will you?

Hughes at least recognised the last woeful tactical decision on that list his at half time and took off Alejandro Faurlin, who has been brought back into the lineup of late because he is a fans favourite and was beginning to show signs of discontent at being left out of a struggling side (as I've said before, central midfield is our strongest area).

But the change was too late as the inevitable 2nd was netted before half time. Rangers and not long ago Southampton reject Puncheon was being allowed the freedom of the ground he used to play so poorly on and after a neat bit of skill to shrug off a half-hearted QPR challenge from Clyne, he picked up the ball, ran a couple of yards to a point where he had a clear sight of goal and nobody tracking him, and slammed the ball home from 25 yards beyond the late dive of Cesar. At half time, the crowd booed the side off, called for Hughes' head and elected to sympathise with Ryan Nelsen, the one shining light in our defence this season, who must be wondering what he's done wrong in life to deserve to play in this team.

Faurlin's replacement at half time was Jamie Mackie, a member of the old guard and still much loved by QPR fans for his positive mental attitude and the fact that he runs at defenders with or without the ball. His presence on the field lifted the crowd and lifted the players who turned up the heat for five minutes and earned a goal back for their efforts - a fine ball in from Taarabt, who had been far too quiet up to this point, caught out the Saints defence and forced Paolo Gazzaniga into no mans land. There, he met Junior Hoilett, who outjumped his tame effort at commanding his area and headed into the empty net. Where did this tempo come from? The goal told us what we all knew - Southampton's attack might be Premier League standard, but they rely very heavily on it to carry them through games because their defence is shambolic. Game on and the impetus with the home side, or so we thought...

No.

Incredibly, QPR couldn't cause any further trouble to what is supposedly the league's leakiest defence and worst side on paper, and it was the away side who looked the more likely after the goal. Rickie Lambert was continuing to play knock-downs and run the show from the top for the Saints because the QPR defence allowed him to. He caused havoc every time a ball was played into his path and forced a series of corners and sustained period of pressure, which eventually told when Morgan Schneiderlin was allowed to run from the right hand side in towards goal in a straight time and produce a killer ball into the area where Cesar was standing. For some reason he just loves the near post position, but unfortunately so do defenders and this time the near post guard role was duplicated by the keeper and defender. A comedy of errors then followed, where the lack of communication between the two lead to Scooby Doo putting through his own net to sum up his abject display. Ferdinand just hasn't looked like the player he did in his early QPR days and looks lazier by the week. I'll be glad when Stephane Mbia returns at Old Trafford next week, but his short fuse doesn't exactly fill me with confidence either!

This was a totally unacceptable, gutless, spineless display to round of a series of failings from the team, who are just as much to blame as their manager, don't get me wrong. But Hughes just had to go after this one, yet he hasn't! The lack of testing the opposition's keeper was what angered me most in this latest installment. The full time whistle was met by a chorus of boos and all players bar Mackie and Nelsen were snubbed by the fans at the end. QPR are now six points from safety and only twelve games have passed. Disgusting, especially given the outlay this Summer on players we didn't even need on the face of it, certainly not in our starting lineup!

But I guess all this negativity needs some perspective doesn't it? It was only ten years ago this weekend just gone that the R's suffered the ultimate humiliation, the lowest point in their history - Vauxhall Motors. I still get flashbacks to that today and with defending like we have done in recent times I wouldn't mind betting they would do us again now! Oh, and seeing as we're talking anniversaries, this weekend just gone also marked a year since our last win away from home in the league. Now that's perspective, as we have a true means of comparison in terms of resources. But not a comparable playing squad: we didn't have many big names or foreign 'next big things' in our lineup that day, we had a team of seasoned football league camapaigners who are renowned triers, many of whom had earned their right in the promotion winning season or through hard graft in long careers to play in the Premier League. And, Joey Barton and SWP aside, most were on modest wages. I can only imagine what we could have done with a Helguson or Smith in our side on Saturday, even an in-form DJ Campbell who has rediscovered his love for football again having been left in the wilderness by the club he supports and wants to play for! Neil, we were wrong, please come back and save us from Sparky and his overpaid bunch of layabouts!!

Man of the match: Ryan Nelsen - he plays on his own, you know. Feel massively sorry for him, as he's clearly a top pro and deserves to play in a team with top pro's, but has to make do with this bunch of big time Charlie's.

Groundhog Day at Loftus Road

Match Review: QPR 1-1 Reading

Queens Park Rangers are still winless after this 'must-win' fixture ended in a draw. Time for Hughes to go now surely? I'm beginning to think so...

The message from Mark Hughes at the end of last season was simple and clear: "For as long as I'm here, the club will not be in this situation (a relegation dogfight) again". Very bold at the time but yet fairly convincing when you consider the outlay and calibre of players coming through the revolving door at QPR over the Summer. But football has a nasty habit of making your words come back to haunt you...

Going into this round of fixtures (the 9th game of the season) the Hoops found themselves rooted to the bottom of the league. We've been told not to panic and to start with I admit I bought into the noises coming out of the club and was prepared to be patient. "We haven't had the rub of the green with decisions", "We're dominating games, we've just been unlucky", "We've had a difficult fixture list and played all of the top teams bar Manchester United in those nine games", "We've made several changes to the playing squad and it will take time for the team to click and us to discover our best formation". But surely after this game, the 'must win and will win' game as labelled by the pundits, the game where Anton Ferdinand and Jamie Mackie told us they 'knew what they had to do'; the spin machine which puts the PR in QPR must be running out of lines...

The worst thing about this plight is that much of it seems to be so avoidable - individual defensive errors, lack of discipline and playing one up front at home - I thought we'd cured all those woes last year when we finished the campaign so strongly (well at home at least) and secured our Premier League status. All of the above has returned in recent weeks and it is very alarming. 

"We'll win this week kids, I promise"

Hughes seems to have signed players with lots of experience (which was definitely needed) but what we didn't need were 'has-beens' which push out the bread and butter players because of their reputation alone. On paper these players looked great signings, but as one pundit commented at the time: "this team would have been challenging for top honours five years ago, not sure about now". Players like Djibril Cisse and Ji-Sung Park started their QPR careers so well but have faded somewhat and look lifeless at times in a league where extreme energy levels are demanded no matter what the opposition. And then there are some players whose QPR careers just haven't started at all (Shaun Wright-Phillips). And then there are the 'hot heads'. Mark Hughes seems to have a knack of picking players with highly volatile temperaments, who can go from being calm and composed in one minute to just plain ridiculous the next - Cisse, Diakite, Mbia and probably even Taarabt can be considered amongst that number. Finally, there are those that are just lazy and don't look interested - Bobby Zamora is arguably the worst offender of those and astonishingly (though perhaps unsurprisingly) in the week following this game, he was quoted in an interview as saying that he 'doesn't enjoy' playing football any more and just 'does it because it's a job'. That's not the sort of player any club needs and it is gut-wrenching to think how much money he is earning.

Anyway, on to this game itself. Reading started brightly and clearly came sensing that they would go home with something if their attitude was right on the day. They've already turned over QPR's first team at Loftus Road in the COC this season with a 3-2 victory and the tactics used by McDermott were almost carbon copied here. They pressured QPR and allowed them little space, whilst also identifying crossing from the wings and getting in behind the back line as their best plan of attack. Unbelievably, Hughes didn't seem to re-brief his side after the disastrous performance, individual and tactical errors against the Royals in that cup match, and Rangers were undone yet again by the man they let go - Kaspars Gorkss. Having already been unmarked for a header early on, he again was given the freedom of the penalty area he once defended for  Rangers and this time even had so much time to show the home crowd something we didn't know he had in his locker - an excellent volley which flew past Cesar, who couldn't possibly have foreseen it. From what I have seen of Gorkss so far this season (not just against QPR), he has been quite impressive defensively in a struggling side and Reading use his aerial prowess to ruffle the feathers of many teams when attacking set pieces. I really regret that we let him go in favour of keeping Fitz Hall and signing Anton Ferdinand last season and just wonder how many of our goals he could have prevented this year if he had played rather than Scooby Doo or Madman Mbia. 

Hughes and his coaching staff also clearly didn't do any homework on Reading's only real danger man from open play - Jobi McAnuff. His tricky wing play has caused plenty of problems this year and he was the shining light in their recent match against Liverpool. I just can't understand how we allowed him so much space to operate in the first half. Part of the reason he had so much space though was the decision to persevere with Jose Bosingwa, who has not looked like a player that has won the Champions League twice at all since pulling on the Hoops jersey for the first time. I'm starting to wonder whether Chelsea have set us up with the guy. But with Nedum Onuoha equally inept, and Luke Young not named in the 25 man squad, what choice do we have?

Rangers did their usual 'response in kind' after the goal had gone in and were unlucky not to level through Esteban Granero's stunning free-kick which Alex McCarthy, a keeper in the form of his life at the moment, somehow tipped it onto the bar. You just sensed at that moment that the crowd knew it wouldn't be QPR's day.

So 0-1 it was at a thoroughly depressed Loftus Road at half time in cold and wet conditions. Hoilett was toilet and the recalled Jamie Mackie, brought into the side after looking lively and dangerous against Arsenal at the Emirates a week before, was completely anonymous (still, better him than SWP). The real concern is that Reading were not and are not even good. If we can't beat a team whose best player is top end Championship standard at best, and with Jimmy Kebe and Pavel Pogrebnyak (two of their other best players) on the bench, then what hope have we got for the rest of the season that lies ahead? We were even making Mikele Leigertwood look good!!! This was soul destroying. 

The second half was better from Rangers and as we've come to expect, they dominated possession, played nice football and created some chances which were wasted, with Taarabt the particularly guilty party. The Moroccan has definitely looked better under Hughes in the Premier League than he did under Warnock but continues to entertain and frustrate in equal measure. He just had to finish a one-on-one with McCarthy which he had in this half. But he didn't.

When the equaliser did arrive, it did so out of nothing. The ball ricocheted its way to Djibril Cisse, whose initial heavy touch looked to have taken the chance away from him, but he then adjusted himself very well to poke the ball beyond Alex McCarthy for 1-1. For a few moments, the crowd were back with the home side and there was belief. How nice it would have been to see Hughes make a positive attacking change to the formation or personnel with the wind in our sails and the crowd in full voice. No chance of that, and after this brief excitement the game returned to being evenly fought in midfield.

Eventually, with ten minutes to go, Bobby Zamora (who should have started but presumably wasn't in the mood) was introduced and he made a difference, up against the lofty Gorkss and Morrison centre half pairing who had had no trouble dealing with QPR aerially all afternoon up until this point. 'Bobby Zee' really should have buried one in the closing stages when a rare counter attack culminated in a rare fantastic delivery from Djibril Cisse, but he failed to connect properly with the ball and despite bundling it goal-bound there was not enough contact on it to take it pass the grateful McCarthy who was disappointingly even able to catch it.

The Biscuitmen attempted to snatch all three points late on with the introduction of Adam Le Fondre, but in the five or so minutes that he was on the pitch he only embarrassed himself with a terrible dive which saw him rightly booked by referee Michael Oliver.

In conclusion, this was Groundhog Day at Loftus Road: same shit, different week, apart from the small milestone of there being no QPR bookings(!) A draw was a fair result because neither side really did enough to win the game, in what was a low quality affair which threatened to entertain towards the end of the second half when both sides went for it. A draw, of course, is no use to either side though.

Since this report, another Groundhog Day (the away version) has occurred at Stoke, whereby yet again one defensive lapse (shocking marking by Rangers saw three men gather around Crouch and leave Adam all alone at the back post), a lack of attacking threat or poor decision making (Taarabt attempting a chip when placement into the bottom corner was all that was required) have proved our downfall. On the road the script tends to be that in spite of having some (albeit limited) chances we have lost by the odd goal. That doesn't bode well, especially as our next two away games are at Manchester United and Sunderland, traditionally unhappy hunting grounds for the R's.

"What the hell am I doing playing here every week?"

Southampton picked up a point against Swansea to send us back to the foot of the table (they lifted us off it with their inferior goal difference on Monday night) and they are the next side to visit Loftus Road. So next week really really is your last chance, Sparky. Win or bust.

Man of the match: I don't really think anyone really covered themselves in glory in Hoops in this game. Samba Diakite still looks a cut above the others though, and showed once more that if he can keep his discipline, he is a fine central midfielder. He continues to keep the much loved Alejandro Faurlin out of the team with his performances of late and will continue to do so whilst Hughes persists with the same formation. The question is: Can we find another way to use Faurlin? He's clearly one of our most talented players who is obviously hating being on the bench but the Granero-Diakite combination is the one positive so far. 4-1-3-2 anyone?

C

Weekend Preview: The consistently inconsistent world of AVB

This week was a mixed bag for English clubs in Europe yet again. The weekend, however, could see some sorting out of managerial issues and ambitions for the season...

We're up and running for the weekend already as Friday night, which together with Monday night are the nights every football fan prays that a fixture won't get switched to - apart from Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday fans it seems (28,229 packed into the Riverside for last night's game - I expect ticket prices were reduced, Boro's form of late and the fact that there can't be much else going on in Middlesbrough on a Friday night had much to do with it). Still, the red army will have gone home happy with what they saw after the home side shot down the Owls, beating them 3-1. Once again, Emmanuel Ledesma, who promised so much in his early days as a QPR player that T-Shirts were on sale after a hat-trick against Carlisle in the League Cup, was the star of the show for Boro, involved in most things good about their play. Ledesma is undoubtedly a very talented player but I am still surprised that he is plying his trade in this country when it is obvious to me that his style better suits something like La Liga or a South American league. Still, good luck to the guy, I always like to see talented players fulfilling their potential.

Plenty more lies ahead of us this weekend, of course:

Southampton v Swansea - The annual sack race in the Premier League looks set to culminate soon with what seems to be a sprint finish between Nigel Adkins and Mark Hughes. This weekend could determine who wins that race with QPR travelling to almost struggling Stoke, while bottom-placed Southampton take on Swansea at St Mary's. These two teams have only met twice in the last 29 years and Southampton haven't won either of these meetings (which took place in the Championship in 2008/09), with one draw and one Swans win. Swansea haven't won in their last 2 games but considering their last outing was a draw against Chelsea it must have felt like a win to them. Between them in the league so far this year there have been an average of 3.55 goals in games involving this teams so it's a very decent bet there will be more goals here! Saints have conceded a staggering 28 goals in 10 matches which is a joint Premier League record along with Barnsley in the 1997/98 season. Swansea have actually failed to score in 5 of their last 7 away league games, but it is extremely hard to imagine that run will continue. Saints haven't won in 5 and Swansea have only won 1 game in their last 8. However, since their victory against Wigan, Swansea have narrowly lost to the Man City at the Emptihad and drawn to the team who sat at the top of the table going into the weekend of that game so they seem to have turned a corner. It is incredibly hard to see anything but a Swansea win here, and it could spell disaster for Nigel Adkins. It would be harsh - especially considering the team have had 2 successive promotions to get here, and also it seems like there is a lack of talent to replace him. The only name that leaps at you is Harry Redknapp, yet he is the exact man who relegated Saints last time they were in the Premier League and you can't imagine he'd be very welcome at St Mary's! This could be an interesting one...

Prediction: Southampton 1-3 Swansea

Man City v Tottenham - For the first 2 games of the season we were told that Andre Villas Boas was a flop who had got his players backs up and wouldn't succeed at White Hart Lane. Then for a spell of about 4 or 5 games he was the next coming of the Messiah and could do no wrong. Now he's back to being a disaster after losing 2 out of his last 3 league games! Which is right?! Maybe we'll find out this weekend - a win at the Emptihad for AVB and Tottenham would arguably banish a lot of his critics surely! Tottenham have won their last 3 away games and after last weekend's grumblings at White Hart Lane you have to feel it may be beneficial for them to be away from home after all. This isn't an easy place to come though with City having won 27 of their last 29 league games at home. Tottenham's problems have arguably centred around their leaky defence - which has conceded 14 in 10 games - over a goal a game. City will have been stung (yet again) by a pretty dismal performance in Europe and they seem to have a knack of grinding out results at the moment - as shown by the fact they're the only unbeaten team in the league without really impressing at all, so they could easily compound Tottenham's problems. A lot could depend on Gareth Bale and whether he is given freedom to play in his preferred position on the left or is moved around by AVB, which seems to have happened too often this season. Tottenham haven't won away at both Manchester clubs in the top flight since 1959-60 and it's hard to see that run coming to an end as well.

Prediction: Man City 2-2 Tottenham

Chelsea v Liverpool - A clash that would have been billed as a 'Top four Grand Slam Super Sunday' special on Sky a couple of years ago, this fixture has produced some decent controversy over the last few years, mainly in the Champions League though rather than domestically. Fast forward to 2012 and it's kind of difficult to get excited about this game in the fixture calendar. Chelsea managed a lucky midweek win over Shakhtar after their opponents were guilty of over-committing on an attack at the end of the game, then some QPR-esque marking from said corner. Liverpool put out a bunch of reserves (even Carragher played) in Russia with Sunday's fixture in mind so I don't think they'll particularly suffer from any effects of their midweek exertions, but even a slightly tired Chelsea side are good enough to sweep the Scousers aside at the moment. Yes, they turn up for the big games, but I can't look beyond Torres piling misery on his former side here.

Prediction: Chelsea 3-0 Liverpool

In the Championship there are some tasty local derbies around, Barnsley v Huddersfield looks like a League One tie on paper but having said that the two have looked far from League One teams, the latter particularly flying high currently. Blackpool v Bolton looks like it could be a classic, I'd go with a score draw! The standout fixture has to be Leicester City v Nottingham Forest though. The away side have been wildly inconsistent this season so far, producing some outstanding football at times but then having taken two steps forward they take one back with performances like that which saw them lose 4-1 at home to Millwall. They don't have a great record at the Walkers Stadium (their last win there was in 2005) but they have only lost once on the road so far this season and Leicester's form has dipped slightly of late with unexpected defeats to Crystal Palace and Watford. Still, I fancy Leicester to beat them here, probably not as comprehensively as they did in the FA Cup earlier in the year, but still fairly comfortably. Nugent on the scoresheet.

Prediction: Leicester 2-0 Nottingham Forest

Our sides are all in action this weekend and, for the first time in god knows how long, all playing today (albeit with staggered kick-off times). 

1.FC Union Berlin are underway against VfR Aalen hoping to continue where they left off with that fine away win in Dresden. That confidence should translate into an excellent atmosphere at the Alten Foersterei this afternoon and hopefully they will extend a decent record which they have against today's opponents, who they last played at Division Three level!

C is unbelievably missing the mouthwatering prospect of Stoke v QPR at the Britannia this weekend (part timer!). QPR have a fairly decent record away at the Potters' ground but with Stoke not having lost in their last eleven home games and Peter Crouch up against an incompetent back line that aren't practising marking from set pieces, we don't hold out much hope for the travelling R's faithful today. Having said that, there is the continued saving grace that Rory Delap is out injured and the home side are, together with Sunderland, the League's draw specialists. I know QPR need more than one point from games at the moment, but a point at a hard place to go would certainly be looked upon favourably.

Crewe Alexandra are home to league table neighbours Colchester this weekend and will be hoping that the goals against Wycombe in the FA Cup and in the outstanding away win at Doncaster midweek has breathed life back into the seasons of their strikers. Mathias Pogba has been in amongst the goals again whilst loan signing Lauri Dalla Valle introduced himself to the Alex fans with the opener in the victory at the Keepmoat. Colchester haven't yet recovered from their TOWIE derby defeat to Chelmsford City in the FA Cup but on their day are more than capable of competing at this level. 

Tea-time sees Manchester United travel to the West Midlands to take on Paul Lambert's Aston Villa. United should have beaten Arsenal by more last week but a convincing ending to the match at Braga should mean their tails are up for this one. Villa won at Sunderland last weekend by virtue of the fact they were able to finish a chance on the day whilst Sunderland haven't looked like scoring in a month of Sundays. I'm not really convinced by Lambert's Villa revolution yet and I can see United winning comfortably here.

Enjoy the weekend's football and we'll be back with C's review of QPR v Reading and a weekend review later this weekend.

C&J

Match Report: No Giant Killing at Highbury

Fleetwood Town 4-0 Bromley

The magic of the FA Cup was bypassed on the North West Riviera on Saturday as Fleetwood brushed aside minnows Bromley in their First Round tie. There are 60 league places between the two teams with Fleetwood riding high in 4th place in League Two while Bromley sit in 17th in the Blue Square South and the gulf in class was evident between these two teams.

Before the game I found out that Fleetwood had captured the signing of Barry Ferguson on loan from neighbours Blackpool and he was signed in time to make his debut today (possibly not a good sign for him that Blackpool weren't worried about him being cup-tied for them later in the competition, but good news for me!).

Bromley brought a decent amount of fans for a club their size (obviously all full time fans who don't support bigger teams and decided to joy-ride on their local teams success!) and their fans were in good voice before the game.

Bromley started brightly and looked like they fancied getting at Fleetwood down the flanks but they failed to really threaten as their strikers couldn't really get on the end of anything. Fleetwood then broke down the right hand side and former Citeh trainee David Ball scored a really scrappy goal after Bromley just failed to deal with a cross completely. Brilliantly the Cod Army's goal music is pirate themed and set off many fans (included my Cod Army devotee, JJ) dancing along with Captain Cod, the mascot, to this.

This goal seemed to knock the wind out of Bromley's sails and in just 6 more minutes Fleetwood added another from the penalty spot when Bromley's keeper Welch was adjudged to have felled ex-Crewe man Junior Brown after Bromley again failed to deal with a ball in from the right hand side. Big Jon Parkin dispatched the penalty with minimal fuss and effort (after all he's not one to run up quickly). Amazingly this was only the second game Big Jon Parkin has scored in for Fleetwood this season - and I've been present for both now. If you're wondering Big Jon, I could be available to travel to all of your games this season - for the right price! 

Bromley tried to get back into the game and on their right hand side Tony Finn was quite lively and had a couple of efforts on goal. One particular effort was in a terrific position from the corner of the box and he really should have hit the target. Unfortunately, the lack of quality in Bromley's side was exposed again and he curled the ball high and wide. 

Bromley 'keeper Joe Welch then conceded another penalty when he was left exposed by his defence and the pacy Curtis Obeng galloped through (again down the right hand side) only for his run to be illegally halted by the goalkeeper. Big Jon Parkin thundered in the penalty straight down the middle and the tie was effectively over.

After around half an hour, Fleetwood's club captain Steve McNulty came on for a return from injury. He received an excellent reception from the Cod Army faithful - apparently he's a red and hates Barrow (but don't we all?!). He was the quintessential non-league defender with a physique that makes Big Jon Parkin look like an adonis!

Bromley came out all guns blazing after half time and they'd obviously had a rocket up their arses. They had a couple of gilt-edged chances but their finishing was woeful. Pierre Joseph-Dubois was particularly culpable after Fleetwood goalkeeper Scott Davies nearly gifted him a goal through a terrible pass out. Former QPR striker Richard Pacquette also had a pretty dismal game and was very ineffective. It was obvious Fleetwood had become a bit complacent after half time and with some better finishing they would have been punished.

Big Jon Parkin did have a pearler of a goal ruled out for offside to deny him a hat-trick as well. He hit a stunning half-volley with his left foot right into the top corner but was dismayed to see the flag up. He did have another good chance to score a third for himself when put through but he hit very unhandsomely high and wide and ended up getting the ball stuck in the roof of the stand as it lodged due to the brute force behind it!

All in all though the second half was a pretty dour affair and Fleetwood were happy to settle for a 3-0 comfortable victory and a place in the second round of the FA Cup.

Man of the Match: Former Scotland captain Barry Ferguson was clearly a class above everyone else on the pitch, particularly in the first half. He always found space to receive the ball from a teammate when nothing else was on, and he consistently found teammates in space when he played the ball. He tired in the second half and you could tell he hasn't been consistently playing first team football this season, but all evidence on Saturday suggested Fleetwood have a gem of a signing for League Two. He has since said he would like to stay until the end of the season which should be music to any Fleetwood fans ears!

J

Weekend Review: Wilshere sees red, Latics delight at The Lane

Another weekend and plenty to discuss in the weekend review. This was a weekend that saw supposedly struggling teams pick up points and 2 of the big 3 dropped points.

This weekend saw 2 sides struggling yet again who have somehow managed to avoid the glaring stare of the media. Both Sunderland and Stoke sit in 15th and 16th place having lost to teams who seem destined to be embroiled in a relegation battle this year. Both their woes seem to centre on the fact they can't score. Sunderland are the league's lowest scorers with just 6 goals in 9 games, and incredibly their top (and only) goal scorer in the League in October was Demba Ba (yes - Newcastle's Demba Ba!). Steven Fletcher remains their only goal scorer from their team, and their woes were compounded in Saturday's 1-0 loss to Aston Villa. During the game Sunderland actually had 12 shots on goal and yet they somehow managed to get 0 on target! Last year's bright sparks for the Black Cats like Sessegnon and Larsson just haven't fired this season at all, and Adam Johnson seems to be showing why Mancini never took to him at Man City as he is too predictable constantly cutting in onto his left foot from the right side. Meanwhile, Stoke succumbed to Norwich in another 1-0 loss. Stoke's troubles have also come in front of goal as they've only scored 8 in 10 games in the league. Only 3 of their players have scored so far this season (Crouch 4, Walters 1, Kightly 2) and it seems like Tony Pulis' signings in the summer to make Stoke more of a footballing side have actually had an adverse effect on their attacking threat. Charlie Adam is yet to get an assist this season (which he has surely been bought for primarily with his free kick and corner kick taking prowess).Stoke had 9 shots in the game with 4 on target yet failed to find the back of the net and they haven't won in 4 now. Both sides need to start picking up points soon or we imagine that their managers could find themselves under pressure sooner rather than later.

The headline fixture of the weekend didn't disappoint as Manchester United overcame Arsenal by two goals to one. United were visibly (and understandably) disappointed to concede a goal late on to Santi Cazorla, which in spite of being merely a consolation and the last kick of the game, will have had SAF tearing his hair out. He, like all managers, will have identified Santi as the Arsenal danger man to be marked at all times, and quite frankly he was given far too much space to produce the crisp finish that he did. However, overall United can be very pleased with their afternoon's work. They could (and probably should) have had 5 or 6 with RVP, in particular, missing a few gilt-edged chances. However, the difference between these 2 sides this season was particularly evident in a comparison between United's Van Persie and his replacement at Arsenal, Olivier Giroud. Van Persie had 41 touches in the game whilst Giroud had 37 so they had similar opportunities on the ball throughout the game, yet RVP completed 87% of his passes while Giroud completed just 72%. RVP won 50% of his aerial duels in the game while Giroud (supposedly a more physical presence) won just 22% of his aerial battles. Giroud had 3 shots with only 1 on target whereas RVP had 4 shots and 4 on target, with his first touch in the game itself being a goal. Arsenal's first shot on target didn't come until injury time through Giroud just before Cazorla's goal! In essence United had 13 shots to Arsenal's 7 with 6 shots on target to Arsenal's 2. This game was a strange case of 2-1 not telling the story and actually flattering Arsenal.

Swansea grabbed an 88th minute leveller (and a beauty it was) through Pablo Hernandez to snatch a point off of Chelsea, who lead through Victor Moses' first goal for the club. It was a deserved point for the Jacks who had looked like they had run out of steam at the time but had played extremely well for large parts of the game.

The biggest surprise of the week was at White Hart Lane, where a lacklustre Tottenham Hotspur were out-foxed and out-fought by Wigan Athletic. Perhaps we should have known - they've been here and done it before, they've been to the Emirates and done it before. Martinez got his set up and approach spot on here and Wigan were very assured in their play. Incredibly, Ben Watson was confirmed as being the first Englishman to score for the side from the North West in 2012!

Roundup of our sides

Man Utd beat Arsenal 2-1 as detailed above.

In the Hoops Hoopla (trademark pending) QPR took a battling point against Reading in a 1-1 draw at Loftus Road. C's match report from the game will be appearing next week but it was an entertaining affair of 2 halves, which saw Rangers come back into the game after going down in the first half to yet another goal against his old team from Kaspars Gorkss. Djibril Cisse equalised for Rangers to leave both sides with a fairly deserved point. Check the blog in the next week or so for C's thoughts on the game and the result.

Crewe came from a goal down to beat Wycombe 4-1 in the FA Cup First Round. An early Matthew Spring (remember him?!) goal put Wycombe in front, but 2 goals either side of half time saw Crewe comfortably into the 2nd Round. Mathias Pogba, Mark Ellis, Chuks Aneke and Luke Murphy all got in on the goalscoring act for the Alex and it's a morale boosting win after last weekend's loss to Yeovil. They will face either Burton or Altrincham in the next round at home, after those sides played out a 3-3 draw - a very good result for non-league Altrincham against the League Two side! Either way it won't be a long trip in the next round for either side's supporters!

Meanwhile in Germany in the derby at Dresden Union Berlin ran out 2-0 victors against Dynamo Dresden in an excellent result for the team. The result sees Union sit in 10th place in the league now and they are 6 points from the relegation zone now. A Fabian Schonheim double either side of half time was enough to see off Dynamo for Union - a remarkable achievement for the defender! This result stops Union's run of 2 losses in a row and is very welcome as it is their first away win of the season. Let's hope it's the first of many!

What we learned this week

- For all the positives to come out of Goodison Park this season, Everton have developed a nasty habit of conceding early goals and giving themselves mountains to climb in games. The 7th minute goal they conceded at home to Fulham was the 7th goal they have conceded in the opening 25 minutes of games in their last five league matches.
- Wayne Rooney has a pretty dismal penalty record having missed 7 of the 20 penalties he has taken in his career - surely he shouldn't be the number one choice?!
- What is with players wearing short sleeve shirts and gloves?! Nani was a culprit and we spotted 3 alone for Man City - with Nasri, Dzeko and Balotelli all guilty of this ridiculous fashion faux pas.

- Strikers still on QPR's books are finding the net again in the Championship - DJ Campbell scored the winning goal at St Andrews for Ipswich, who began life under Mick McCarthy with a win, whilst Rob Hulse scored a first since a header away at Scunthorpe in April 2011

- Fernando Forestieri was the difference between Watford and high-flying Leicester City at Vicarage Road. The Argentinian has adapted well to the English game and is showing he is just too good for the Championship after running the game here. Maybe there are some benefits from being Udinese Reserves?!

- Big Jon Parkin only scores for Fleetwood in the presence of an ESDB Football blogger - read J's match report from Fleetwood v Bromley later this week.

- Efe Sodje saw red again for Bury this weekend, his 14th sending off of an illustrious career

C&J

Weekend Preview: Have You All Got Over The COCup last week?

After a midweek round of the COCup (Capital One Cup) which included an incredible 36 goals we're in the uncomfortable position that the Premier League might not be able to live up to the League Cup!

Reading and Arsenal played out a thriller at the Madejski where Reading went 4-0 up before half-time, before Arsenal pulled it back to 4-4 at the end of 90 minutes with 2 goals in injury time. There was a definite shift in momentum by this point and Arsenal ran out 7-5 victors in an extraordinary game after extra time. Sky must have thought that their luck was in this week as the next televised game on Wednesday night between Chelsea and Man Utd and featured a further 9 goals! United were 3-2 up in the 92nd minute but a last minute Eden Hazard penalty again saw the momentum shift. Chelsea had by this point essentially thrown on their full strength team against a Man Utd substitute and reserve team with only really Rafael a first teamer in their XI. Chelsea eventually won 5-4 after extra time. Amazingly there were more goals in each of those two games than there were penalties scored between Wigan and Bradford. The Bantams, with their German-esque record in shootouts (six shootout victories in a row going into this one) clearly knew that the strategy here was to hold Wigan out for 120 minutes before dumping them out with their nerves of steel from the spot. The quarter final draw has pitted Leeds and Chelsea against each other (two clubs which deserve each other) and Bradford have a money-spinning tie at last at Valley Parade as they host Arsenal. The COCup has fast become one of the most entertaining competitions this season amazingly! Still, it's a mickey mouse cup that nobody's bothered about, right?

This weekend's action:

The Championship kicked us off with another 'cracking game' (Warnock, 2012) last night as Brighton and Leeds shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw, with Paddy Kenny producing some fine stops including one from the spot and one deep into added time to deny the Seagulls all three points in front of over 26,000 at the Amex (again!). I noted that Lee Mason refereed the match last night and incredibly has now given six penalties in three days (he also took charge of the Chelsea v Man Utd league cup tie).

Fulham v Everton - This looks like it could be a decent tie, given their respective good starts to the season. Everton's sparkling early form has tailed off a little with three straight stalemates, but they've still shown plenty of quality in those draws to suggest that they aren't about to embark on any kind of slump (and, Stevie G, I can verify that Everton most certainly do not play long ball football!). As we've come to expect with the Cottagers, they've been strong at home and Berbatov and Petric have certainly hit it off with three goals each so far this campaign and we can't overlook the incredible goalscoring form of Bairdinho from the back so far this year! Everton have an excellent recent record against Fulham with five wins and a draw from the last six meetings, but for us all roads lead to a score draw this time around.

Prediction: Fulham 2-2 Everton

Norwich v Stoke - We don't feel like we've featured either of these teams too much this season so we're going to give them some attention now! This is a game between two sides out of form - they've each only won one in their last 6 league games. Stoke haven't won in 3 while Norwich did win recently against Arsenal but showed their lack of clinical edge this season in their draw against Aston Villa last weekend. In the last 6 games between the two teams Stoke definitely have the edge with 4 wins against the Canaries. In that period they've scored 10 goals to Norwich's 3. However, you can almost guarantee the game will be feisty with a total of 14 yellow cards in this period and 3 reds. Stoke haven't won in 14 attempts away from home so Norwich will be feeling that this could be a good chance for them to pick up another 3 points at Carrow Road. Both sides have averaged under 1 goal a game this season in the league (Norwich have 7 goals in 9 games, while Stoke have 8 in 9). But while Norwich have been leaking goals at over 2 a game, Stoke don't concede a lot with 9 in 9 for them. It could come down to the performances respectively of Stoke's forwards. If Stoke's forwards have a good day they should win, but if they misfire it could be Norwich's day.

Prediction: Norwich 0-1 Stoke

Crystal Palace v Blackburn - Game of the week in the Championship promises to be a real treat in South East London as 4th plays 5th. Hot on the heels of the news that Ian Holloway is set to take over at Sel'urst and on the back of an excellent run of form which continued with a fantastic 2-1 win away at Leicester last week, the Eagles host the mad chicken farmers who themselves will have new boss Henning Berg in the hotseat and have shown signs of recovery again lately by grinding out victories against struggling Sheffield Wednesday and Watford. I have been incredibly impressed by the Championship's surprise package this year so far: Palace have not lost in the league since August 25th and as well as at Leicester have claimed  victory over Cardiff, Bolton and Wolves in recent weeks. With 26 goals having been scored at Selhurst Park this year, I'm expecting more of the same here. Blackburn do not roll over easily though and they are the only Championship side unbeaten on the road this year, albeit having drawn 5 of their 6 away games. We fancy another 'Desmond' here!

Prediction: Crystal Palace 2-2 Blackburn

It's the FA Cup 1st round proper this weekend in the lower echelons of the football league, and there are some intriguing encounters. Among them, Chelmsford City take on Colchester United in an all Essex derby, whilst there is the always feisty encounter of Hereford versus Shrewsbury on Sunday. Crawley Town will be glad they don't have corruption king and general criminal Steve Evans still at the club as the Met Police come to the Broadfield Stadium in an attempt to arrest the Sussex club's recent series of cup runs. Gillingham host Scunthorpe today without any detailed scouting reports on their opponents - after their scout joined the opposition's staff this week! Last night saw Cambridge City force a replay out of MK Dons. 

Our teams:

Saturday's game at Gresty Road sees the FA Cup start properly for Crewe Alex as they take on Wycombe Wanderers. Both sides lost their last league outing and will be hoping to try and begin a cup run this weekend. Wycombe are however, without a win in 3 and they are the underdogs going into the game a division down from Crewe. Interestingly both sides would have been in opposite positions last year when Wycombe were relegated from League One while Crewe were promoted from League Two. Crewe have won 3 of the last 4 meetings between these sides, however, they have lost their last 4 matches in the FA Cup.

QPR take on Reading in the battle of the hoops, which ought to be viewed as a 'win or bust' for Mark Hughes. He's had plenty of mitigating circumstances with injuries and suspensions and the team have played better football than their league position suggests at times, but ultimately football is a results business and results are dictated by goals - which QPR don't score enough of, but concede to many of. I really hope Hughes goes for it in this one and stops pissing around playing one man up top at home. This has to be 4-4-2 for me.

Saturday's early game sees Man Utd host Arsenal. None of the last 6 games between the sides have ended in a draw, so our tip is not to bet on that outcome! United have won 5 of the last 6 meetings between the two and it has always seemed that they have had Arsenal's number when it comes to these games. The same fixture last season saw United run out 8-2 winners in a thrilling game, but I think you'd go a long way to get odds on that score again! United have scored 16 goals in their last 6 games against Arsenal and they will be hoping that run continues on Saturday.

Union Berlin have a massive derby game with Dynamo Dresden on Sunday. The last 2 games between these 2 have ended in a 4-0 victory for either team so that could be a decent score to bet on! Both sides are mid to lower table in II Bundesliga and Union actually sit 2 places and 3 points better off than their hosts. Union have won 5 of the last 6 games between these two teams so they will be hoping to keep up that run. Dynamo haven't won in their last 3, and both sides lost their last game so it should be an interesting battle between two sides fairly low on confidence.

Enjoy this weekend's football everyone! C is off to Loftus Road to watch QPR take on Reading on Sunday while J is travelling to the world famous Highbury Stadium to see Fleetwood Town take on Bromley in the magic of the FA Cup First Round. Look out for match reviews and the weekend review over the next week or so!

C&J