The Premier League Reimagined: It's a Whole New Ball Game

[King Jeff]

Hey Ben! Good question. Manchester City are definitely not hard-coded in to the Champions League in season one. I don’t know how they coded the algorithm, so I can’t say whether it was purely random or if they used a weighting, but I ran a couple of test saves before doing this for real and in one Manchester United were in the CL (I can’t recall who was in it the third time – Liverpool, maybe). You’re right, it should have been Leeds. On the scale of programming oddities, I’d say having the wrong number of teams in each division ranked slightly higher in my mind - ha ha.

 Oche, this is the last season on the CM1 engine. After this one, we move to the “original” CM2. I mentioned this in the preamble but there are a few noticeable differences between the two engines. I’ll address one of them in this post, the other couple I’ll speak to in more depth as the game ports forward.

 ============

The Summer of 1994

England isn’t in the World Cup but never mind that, we have a couple of meaningless friendlies to report on! Up first it’s Greece, followed by Norway five days later.

 

England vs Greece

Friendly

Wembley Stadium, London

Lineups:

England: Chris Woods; Gavin Johnson (Tony Dorigo 82), Terry Phelan, Gary Pallister, Paul Lake; Nigel Clough, David Platt ©, Paul Gascoigne, Kevin Watson (Alan Wright 63); Alan Shearer, David Hirst (Ian Wright 70)

Greece: Karkamanis, Apostolakis, Kolitsidaikis (Karataidis 46), Kalitzakis, Karagiannis, Kofidis (Kostis 70), Nioplias, Tsalouchidis ©, Tsiantakis, Hantzikis (Mitropoulos 46), Machlas (Saravakos 46)

 

The one thing you have to say about England under Terry Venables so far: they are entertainers. Again led by David Platt, England racked up a dominating 5-0 win over a hapless Greek side. Given the quality of the opposition you might question why Venables wouldn’t have selected a younger starting keeper, such as Tim Flowers of Southampton or David Seaman of Chelsea, either of whom might be ready to wear the #1 at Euro 96.

The rout started in the 24^th minute when Kevin Watson scored his first international goal. David Hirst made it two in the 37^th. Just before half time, a Platt penalty made it 3-0 heading back to the dressing rooms. Seemingly realizing that they were out of their depth, the Greeks made three substitutions at half time, but it didn’t stop the flood of goals – Platt grabbed his second in the 55^th minute and Alan Shearer rounded out the scoring in the 65^th. Alan Wright came on just before Shearer’s goal to make his England debut and the Blackburn left-sided player appeared to settle in well. Ian Wright and Tony Dorigo also made late cameo appearances. Stiffer competition awaits in a few days’ time.

Final Score; England 5-0 Greece (Watson 24, Hirst 37, Platt 45 (pen) 55, Shearer 65)

 

England vs Norway

Friendly

Wembley Stadium, London

Lineups:

England: Tony Coton; Gavin Johnson, Terry Phelan, Gary Pallister, Paul Lake; Nigel Clough (Scott Thomas 76), David Platt ©, David Batty, Kevin Watson (Ian Wright 76); Alan Shearer, David Hirst

Norway: Erik Thorstvedt (By Rise 86); Henning Berg, Ronny Johnsen, Rune Bratseth ©, Roger Nilsen (Sorloth HT), Jostein Flo, Orjan Berg (Ingebrigsten 66), Lars Bohinen, Jan Age Fjortoft (Haland 46), Kjetil Rekdal, Mini Jakobson

Both teams will be off to Orlando after this one, the difference is that Norway will be going to play in the World Cup while England will be going to work on their tan. A game devoid of creativity and inspiration was a tale of two teams looking to get very different things out of this fixture: for England coach Terry Venables, it was to continue to look at a younger core of players he hopes will help guide him to Euro 96. For Norway, it was a case of avoiding injury. Mission accomplished. For the 79,000 fans who paid for tickets, I’m sorry.

Final Score: England 0-0 Norway

 

***

 

After the friendlies it’s time for soccer! World Cup 94 happened!  

To knock down a fourth wall for a second, I’ll remind you that the CM1 engine did not have playable internationals so there’s nothing to report on that would be different from our history. If you don’t know what happened in real life, Wikipedia is a wonderful website. So’s YouTube.

 

While the eyes of the footballing world were firmly fixed on the USA, both UEFA and the FA decided to make some announcements on upcoming changes to their competitions, all of which will take effect next year. 

In Europe, as was previously rumoured, this will be the last year of the two-legged UEFA Cup Final. In 1995/96, we’ll move to a one-off game held at a neutral venue. There are also extensive changes to the format of the Champions League, whereby the group stage is moved to the start of the competition and a knock-out competition follows. We believe this format will prove to be more exciting so we’re all for it.

In England, big changes are coming. The FA approves a plan to expand the league from 80 to 92 teams. The Premier League will remain at 20 teams; however, as part of a new sponsorship arrangement with Endsleigh, Divisions One, Two and Three will be expanded to 24 teams. This means 12 teams will be promoted from the Conference to Division Three at the end of the year. Although we’re convinced the true motivation is money, there is a faint story offered which says expanded divisions are good for the competitiveness of the game. No one buys it.

***

The Transfer Market

The summer begins with the expected annual exodus of top domestic talent for opportunities abroad. As the departures are announced we can’t help but wonder whether there will come a time in which the world’s top talent will want to come to the Premier League rather than wanting to leave it. The hardest hit team is champions Leeds who lose Tony Dorigo to AC Milan, Gary McAllister to Juventus and Gary Speed to Napoli. Manchester United are hit with the departures of Gary Pallister to Lazio and Eric Cantona, who heads back to France, rejoining Marseille. On the other side of town, Manchester City lose defender Paul Lake to Roma, while midfielder Fitzroy Simpson joins Cologne in Germany. The other big name on the move is Sheffield Wednesday striker David Hirst, who moves to Genoa. An impressive summer for Serie A.

 

Within England, there are several big transfers through the summer, the most noteworthy of which is Teddy Sheringham moving from Tottenham to Everton for 1.7m. That unites two of the Premier League’s most prolific strikers in Sheringham and Tony Cottee, so we’ll be curious to see how they work as a pair. Tottenham replaces Sheringham with World Cup Golden Boot winner Oleg Salenko, which is a fantastically intriguing signing.

Manchester United bring in England international Alan Wright from Blackburn for a fee of 1.5m. This deal strikes us as odd, given United already have Lee Sharpe and Ryan Giggs capable of playing left wing, while Denis Irwin holds down the left back spot. We'll see how the diminutive Wright fits in to Fergie's plans, especially considering he is rumoured to have a bumper crop of youngsters a year away from breaking into the first team. 

Champions Leeds begin replenishing their team by signing Newcastle midfielder Robert Lee for 900k and QPR defender Darren Peacock for 1.4 million. We like both moves. The biggest transfer from a fee perspective is newly-promoted Norwich selling Mark Robins to Liverpool for 2.1 million. In a separate deal, Liverpool also sign Norwich’s number one keeper, Mark Walton, for 500k. Norwich then use the proceeds to sign Jon Hallworth, who was Oldham’s number one last year, for 300k. We'll dive deeper in to this during the season preview but we feel as though Liverpool have lost their way and are likely to regress this year. 

The last purchase that catches our eye is Nick Barmby’s move from Arsenal to Sheffield Wednesday for 1.6 million. The Gunners also sell Jimmy Carter and Pal Lyderson in the summer, which leads me to believe a major asset stripping might take place this year. Bruce Rioch’s side still have Steve Bould, Lee Dixon, John Jensen, Paul Merson, Pat Nevin, Ray Parlour, Alan Smith, Nigel Winterburn and Ian Wright on their books so they will be a very intriguing team to keep an eye on, although maybe not for the reasons Arsenal fans would be hoping for. 

 

Up next: The Season Preview

[King Jeff]

 Hello and welcome to our preview of the 1994/95 Premier League season. Can Leeds win their third title in four years? Will Brian Clough ride off into the sunset a champion? Will Alex Ferguson finally be able to guide Manchester United to a Premier League crown? Can any of the newly-promoted teams avoid the drop?

 Here’s our thoughts.

 

Pre-season Preview – Part One: The Relegation Battle

 

20^th – Millwall

Manager: Mick McCarthy – you'll have to excuse our bias, but we believe the Premier League is a better place with Slick Mick in it. Rough around the edges, very quotable, and generally disliked by everyone, he's a pundit's delight.

Last Season: 1^st in Division One, and out in front for a majority of the season.

Transfers in: None

Transfers out: Ian Bogie, Aston Villa 950k

Projected XI: Ben Roberts / Colin Cooper, Andy Melville, David Thompson, Keith Stevens / Phil Barber, Owen Archdeacon, Darron Wilkinson, Malcolm Allen / Dean Holdsworth, Etienne Verver

Key Man: Malcolm Allen. The Welsh winger has been one of Division One’s best players the past three years. He’ll need a big year if Millwall are to have any chance of staying up.

Prediction: 20^th. Even though they won Division One last year, the Lions’ squad looks most likely to struggle with the step up. We'd expect their time in the top-flight to be short.

 

19^th – Sunderland

Manager: Terry Butcher – the former England captain is back in the top flight for the first time since being sacked by Coventry in January of 1992. He has yet to really prove his managerial chops at the highest level.

Last Season: 3^rd in Division One and Playoff Winners. Rode the back of Lee Glover's 33 goals to get into the Premier League. Beat a strong Crystal Palace side in the Playoff Final to secure their spot.

Transfers in: Martyn Margetson, Man City 250k; Louie Donowa, Birmingham 150k; Geraint Williams, Ipswich 40k

Transfers out: Kieron Brady, Sheff Wed 850k; John Colquhoun, Hull 100k

Key Man: Lee Glover. While big things are expected from young Ugo Ehiogu, Sunderland’s ability to survive will be based on whether last year’s 33-goal man can do the job at Premier League level.

Prediction: 19^th. Another newly-promoted team that looks like it is in for a real battle to stay up. There are a couple of good pieces there but they need investment to secure their survival.

 

18^th – Barnsley

Manager: Mel Machin – did a very good job steering the Tykes to safety last year. This is his sixth season as the Barnsley boss and he seems to be as secure in his role as any manager could be.

Last Season: 17^th. Mission accomplished. The signing of Lee Chapman from Leeds at the transfer deadline, and the seven goals he provided afterward, was the difference between going down and staying up.

Transfers in: Gary Penrice, QPR 600k; Marcus Ebdon, Birmingham 450k

Transfers out:

Projected XI: Lee Butler / Gary Fleming, Michael Johnson, Charlie Bishop, Brian Statham / Simon Sturridge, Neil Redfearn, Marcus Ebdon, Brendan O'Connell / Andy Liddell, Gary Penrice

Key Man: Gary Penrice. Barnsley smashed their previous transfer record when bringing in the former QPR striker. They will need his goals to avoid the drop.

Prediction: 18^th. Just got across the line last year but look destined to be in tough again this year. With Norwich looking very likely to stay up, they’ll need at least one other team to falter.

 

17^th – Coventry

Manager: Bobby Gould – built up a lot of cache with the Coventry fans by winning the League Cup in 1993. Now in his third season with the Sky Blues.

Last Season: 15^th. Benefited greatly from the fact that the bottom four teams were dreadful.

Transfers in: Chris Billy, Stockport 200k; Carl Muggleton, Leeds 750k; Mike Evans, Fulham 400k

Transfers out: None

Projected XI: Carl Muggleton / Phil Babb, Peter Billing, Richard Jobson, Kevin Ashley / Istvan Kozma, Stewart Robson, Lloyd McGrath, Sean Flynn / Peter Ndlovu, Martin Curruthers

Key Man: Peter Ndlovu. Started to show his potential last year by grabbing ten league goals. Will need to do more this year.

Prediction: 17^th. We expect more of the same this year. They'll hover just above the relegation zone and ultimately secure their survival with a couple of games to spare. Having said that, an injury to their prime goal threat, Peter Ndlovu, could leave them in a world of trouble.

 

16^th – Norwich

Manager: Mike Walker – Norwich kept faith in their man after they were relegated two years ago, and he repaid their faith by guiding them right back up. Now in his third year as Canaries boss and hoping his second kick at the Premier League can will work out better than the first attempt.

Last Season: 2^nd in Division One. Secured automatic promotion on the last day of the season after managing to keep together the nucleus of the team which went down the year before.

Transfers in: Jon Hallworth, Oldham 300k; Stuart Barlow, Man City 600k

Transfers out: Mark Walton, Liverpool 500k; Mark Robins, Liverpool 2.1m

Projected XI: Jon Hallworth / Mark Bowen, Ian Butterworth, Darren Wassall, Ian Culverhouse / Ian Crook, Daryl Sutch, David Phillips, David Smith / Stuart Barlow, Lee Power

Key Man: Stuart Barlow. With the sale of Mark Robins to Liverpool, a lot of pressure will be on the former Manchester City man to get in the goals.

Prediction: 16^th. If they hadn't sold Mark Robins we would have felt very confident that the Canaries would survive. Now we're quite not as sure, but we still think they'll be okay. A bad start would be deadly, though.

[King Jeff]

This is part two of our season preview, profiling the squishy middle – the teams that are probably just going to be happy knowing they’re likely to survive another year in the top flight but might need to look over their shoulder if it doesn’t go to plan. As is the norm, our third part will focus on the ‘second tier’ of teams, which might be able to contend if all goes well, while our last preview focuses on the teams we think have a legitimate shot at a title.

 

Pre-season Preview – Part Two: The Mid-Table Scrappers

15^th – QPR

Manager: Gerry Francis – has done well in his time as Rs boss, navigating the team to mid-table finishes the past two years, but fans might be expecting more from him soon.

Last Season: 9^th. Spent most of the first half of last year in the top four but fell away with the enforced sale of Les Ferdinand.

Transfers in: Robert Edwards, Crewe 150k

Transfers out: Gary Penrice, Barnsley 600k; Mark Bright, Sheff Wed 70k; Darren Peacock, 1.4m

Projected XI: Jan Stejskal / Rufus Brevett, Alan McDonald, Brian Law, Danny Maddix / Andy Sinton, Simon Barker, Steve Claridge, Andy Impey / David Howells, Bradley Allen

Key Man: David Howells. Even though his biggest offensive output in a year is five goals, he’s become the team’s number one man. He’ll need to step up in a big way.

Prediction: 15^th. Worrying signs here. The sale of Les Ferdinand last year was a surprise, but are the sales of Gary Penrice and Darren Peacock signs that QPR is a team with a real financial problem? They might end up getting sucked into a relegation dog-fight if they have to sell anyone else.

 

14^th – Derby

Manager: Arthur Cox – a well respected veteran manager who steered Derby to safety in their first season at the Premier League level. Cox has over 20 years of managerial experience, including time in the top flight with both Newcastle and Derby.

Last Season: 14^th. Got off to a great start, on the backs of their two young strikers, Paul Kitson and Tommy Johnson. That was enough to secure them safety.

Transfers in: None

Transfers out: None

Projected XI: Martin Taylor / Colin Woodthorpe, Craig Short, Chris Coleman, Ian Nolan / Craig Ramage, Mark Pembridge, Martin Kuhl, Tommy Johnson / Paul Simpson, Paul Kitson

Key Man: Tommy Johnson. Had no difficulty making the step up to Premier League level last year – will now look to take the next step towards becoming an elite player.

Prediction: 14^th. A number of teams struggle in their second season in the top-flight. We think Derby have enough to survive but big clubs will start circling in on some of their young guns and they could end up in trouble if they're forced to sell.

 

13^th – Liverpool

Manager: Graeme Souness - Hasn't achieved as manager what he did as captain. We called last year his make-or-break year, but they slid from 5^th to 10^th. Might be short on time.

Last Season: 10^th - Were among the top pack early on but the lack of goals and squad depth ended up costing them.

Transfers in: Tommy Watson, Tranmere 450k; Mark Walton, Norwich 500k; Mark Robins, Norwich 2.1m; Deion Vernon, Bristol City 100k

Transfers out:

Projected XI: Mark Walton / David Burrows, Marin Keown, Toben Piechnik, Rob Jones / Scott Sellars, Steve Harkness, Jamie Redknapp, Russell Beardsmore / Don Hutchison, Paul Stewart

Key man: Don Hutchison – we’re confident this will be his breakout year. If It’s not, look out, this could go very wrong.

Prediction: 13^th. An ageing, thin squad which might be short on goals and a manager who is making questionable decisions in the transfer market is not a good combination. We think they're taking steps backward.

 

12^th – Chelsea

Manager: Dave Webb - In his third season as Blues boss, Webb is a club legend who hasn't quite worked out as a manager. The Stamford Bridge support will be looking for improvement, quickly.

Last Season: 16^th. Underachieved again, but never really seemed to be in danger of the drop.

Transfers in: Jamie Murphy, Stockport 100k

Transfers out: Damian Matthew, Blackburn 1.2m

Projected XI: David Seaman / Frank Sinclair, Gareth Hall, David Lee, Steve Clarke / Dennis Wise, Andy Townsend, Craig Burley, Scott Houghton / Graham Stuart, Roy Wegerle

Key Man: Roy Wegerle – signed last year from Coventry and banged in ten goals in 25 appearances. Provides Chelsea a real goal threat, something a number of other teams lack.

Prediction: 12^th. There are a number of teams in the league who look like they're going to take a step backward and Chelsea might benefit from this. The sale of Damian Matthew was a surprise, but we think there’s enough in the midfield and up front to push closer to mid-table this year. A slow start will surely cost Dave Webb his job.

 

11^th – Southampton

Manager: Ian Branfoot – Entering his fourth year as Saints boss, the former Reading man has established Southampton as a comfortable mid-table team. 

Last Season: 7^th. Continued to outperform expectations in Matt Le Tissier's breakout season.

Transfers in: Mark Patterson, Birmingham 200k

Transfers out:

Projected XI: Tim Flowers / Francis Benali, Richard Hall, Ken Monkou, Jason Dodd / Alan Stubbs, Perry Groves / Chris Sutton, Iain Dowie, Matt Le Tissier, Simon Ireland

Key Man: Matt Le Tissier – will be an England regular by the end of the year. Last year he broke through in a big way with 15 goals, some of which were absolute class. We think this is just the start.

Prediction: 11^th. Every year we look at this team and think they're likely to be fighting relegation. Not this time- with Matt Le Tissier proving himself to be one of the Premier League's real stars, and the man up front alongside him, Chris Sutton, looking like another potential star, we think the Saints will be fine. Mid-table awaits.

 

10^th – Wimbledon

Manager: Joe Kinnear - abrasive and difficult to like but finds a way to get the most out of his team. Came to Selhurst Park without much of a resume but has done very well in his two years in charge

Last Season: 8^th. Another year of safe, mid-table results.

Transfers in: Kevin Gage, Sheff Utd 200k

Transfers out: Scott Fitzgerald, Man City 800k; Steve Thompson, Man City 100k

Projected XI: Neil Sullivan / Brian McAllister, John Scales, Dean Blackwell, Roger Joseph / Andy Clarke, Robbie Earle, Paul Cook, Neal Ardley / Ian Olney, Paul Miller

Key Man: Dean Blackwell – unlike most of the other teams at this level, Wimbledon has built a strong defence first. Where they lack in attacking skill and flair, they’re rock solid in defence and that should ensure they’re one of the division’s toughest teams to score against.

Prediction: 10^th. With no real star players but a solid back four, they are a stronger team than the sum of their parts. Wimbledon defies the odds to finish mid-pack every year and with the division looking pretty thin on a whole, we expect more of the same this year.

[King Jeff]

Pre-season Preview – Part Three: The Wannabes 

9^th – Blackburn

Manager: Kenny Dalglish – the man who could do no wrong in charge of Liverpool just hasn’t seemed to have the same magic touch at Blackburn. Call it a hunch but we wouldn’t be surprised if this was his last year in charge at Ewood Park.

Last Season: 12^th. A team from which much was hoped, they never came close to meeting expectations. Alan Shearer has yet to develop into the goal scorer Dalglish would have hoped.

Transfers in: Jon Moncur, Swindon 200k; Pal Lyderson, Arsenal 250k; Damian Matthew, Chelsea 1.2m

Transfers out: Alan Wright, Manchester United 1.5m

Projected XI: Bobby Mimms / Henning Berg, Eddie McGoldrick, Patrik Andersson, Mark Atkins / Jason Wilcox, Graham Hyde, Steve Palmer, Jamie Pollock / Alan Shearer, Mike Newell

Key Man: Alan Shearer. One of England’s best if he can stay healthy. If he can, this might be the year he begins to fulfill his promise.

Prediction: 9^th. If Shearer stays healthy we think they have the potential to finish in the top eight, but something seems off at Ewood Park. While we’re predicting another year of mid-table security, we wouldn’t be surprised if they shot the lights out and became legitimate title threats or if it all went horribly wrong.

 

8^th – Tottenham

Manager: Doug Livermore - starting his third season in charge of Spurs; however, given the way the second half of the season went for him, he'll likely be on a very short leash to start the season and a poor start could see him winning the sack race. 

Last Season: 13^th. Last year, “doing a Spurs” became synonymous with finding ridiculous ways to lose. Runaway leaders in the first half of the season, managed only eight points from their last 19 games.

Transfers in: Dean Williams, Luton 150k; Ian Hamilton, Huddersfield 80k; Oleg Salenko, Spain 1.4m

Transfers out: Andy Turner, Man City 250k; Teddy Sheringham, Everton 1.7m

Projected XI: Ian Walker / Andy Hinchcliffe, Gary Mabbutt, Neil Ruddock, Gundi Bergsson / Kevin Watson, Ian Woan, Vinny Samways, Darren Anderton / Gordon Durie, Oleg Salenko

Key Man: Oleg Salenko – it was a tremendous gamble to bring in the World Cup Golden Boot winner to replace a proven Premier League striker like Teddy Sheringham. Sure, the Russian striker could do it in the USA over the summer, but could he manage to replicate the same types of performances on a wet, windy Tuesday night in Sunderland? We’ll see.

Prediction: 8^th. Last year we said we felt like Tottenham was building a solid core and was 1-2 years away from competing. This year, we’re not so sure. It would be nice to think that the way they finished last year is all in the past and will be forgotten about, but you know that the Spurs players and supporters will all be on tenterhooks and a slow start could see the knives come out. If Salenko doesn’t hit the ground running, it could mark the last throw of the dice for Doug Livermore’s run as manager.

 

7^th – Sheffield Wednesday

Manager: Trevor Francis – has adapted to the challenges of managerial life well so far, guiding Wednesday to three top-half finishes during his time in charge.

Last Season: 3^rd. Overachieved yet again, led by the veteran leadership of Chris Waddle and the now-departed David Hirst.

Transfers in: Kieron Brady, Sunderland 850k; Marvin Johnson, Luton 150k; Nick Barmby, Arsenal 1.6m; Mark Bright, QPR 70k

Transfers out: David Hirst, Genoa 1.7m

Projected XI: Chris Woods / Phil King, Ian Marshall, Carlton Palmer, Julian Watts / Paul Bernard, John Sheridan, Nick Barmby, Chris Waddle / Paul Warhurst, Chris Bart-Williams

Key Man: Paul Warhurst -with his striking partner gone, it’s time for the big man to step up and take over as the lead offensive threat.

Prediction: 7^th. The loss of David Hirst leaves some concerns about who will provide the goals, but we think Paul Warhurst and Chris Bart-Williams can help fill the void. The squad is ageing, though, and they'll need an influx of younger talent to continue to hang with the real title contenders.

 

6^th – Manchester City

Manager:  Peter Reid – proving to be a manager of real quality in his first role as a boss. In four years, he claimed a Premier League, League Cup and FA Cup title, as well as a hat-full of managerial awards. Next in line to be England manager?

Last Season: 11^th. Overextended by competing on four fronts. League Cup and FA Cup winners and Champions League finalists, the squad just ran out of gas in the league and slid down the table.

Transfers in: Scott Fitzgerald, Wimbledon 800k; Matthew Bound, Bristol City 80k; Andy Walker, Charlton 200k; Andy Turner, Tottenham 250k; Steve Thompson, Wimbledon 100k

Transfers Out: Martyn Margetson, Sunderland 250k; Stuart Barlow, Norwich 600k; Lee Jones, Leeds 500k; Paul Lake, Roma 1.7m; Fitzroy Simpson, Cologne 1.2m

Projected XI: Tony Coton / Terry Phelan, Michael Vonk, Scott Fitzgerald, Gavin Johnson / Andy Turner, Gary Flitcroft, David Brightwell, Scott Thomas / Mike Sheron, David White

Key Man: Gary Flitcroft – with the departure of Fitzroy Simpson, he’ll need to take over the role of midfield general for what appears to be a very young, very thin group.

Prediction: 6^th. The squad looks too thin to compete for a title, and they’ll be asked to compete on four fronts again, but with the guidance of one of the division’s best managers, they should be safe in the second tier. We’d like to see at least one experienced midfielder arrive, though.

 

5^th Aston Villa

Manager: Ron Atkinson – One of the leading personalities in the Premier League, Big Ron's got over 20 years of experience. He's established Villa as an upper-mid table team and is maybe one or two pieces away from being a real contender.

Last Season: 6^th – the inspired signing of Tony Adams made Villa rock solid at the back, while Dean Saudners’ goals counted for a lion’s share of the offense.

Transfers in: Ian Taylor, Brentford 150k; Ian Bogie, Millwall 950k

Transfers out: Nigel Spink, Bradford 10k

Projected XI: Mark Bosnich / Steve Staunton, Tony Adams, Steve Redmond, Earl Barrett / Dwight Yorke, Scot Gemmill, Mark Blake, Garry Parker / Dalian Atkinson, Dean Saunders

Key Man: Dean Saunders – his goals keep Villa in the top half of the table. If that production line dries up, they’ll take a big step backward.

Prediction: 5^th. There's a lot to like here but they depend too much on Dean Saunders. If they can find someone to help carry the load (and to date Dalian Atkinson hasn't proven he can be the one to do that) they'll be right in the title hunt. If not, it'll be another year in the second tier.

 

Up next – a look at the Contenders

[King Jeff]

Pre-Season Preview – Part Four: The Contenders

This is it – a look at the four teams which we think have the best chance of lifting the championship trophy at the end of the season.

 

4^th – Leeds

Manager: Howard Wilkinson - Has finished 1^st, 4^th and 1^st in the past three years. One of England's top managers, leading one of its most famous clubs. In his eighth season with Leeds.

Last season: 1^st. Won the league for the second time in three years, by being the least worst in a terribly mediocre league. 

Transfers in: Philip Jones, Luton 150k; Robert Lee, Newcastle 900k; Paul Jones, Wigan 100k; Darren Peacock, QPR 1.4m; Lee Jones, Man City 500k

Transfers out: Carl Muggleton, Coventry 750k; Tony Dorigo, AC Milan 1.7m; Gary McAllister, Juventus 2.2m; Gary Speed, Napoli 1.2m

Projected XI: Nigel Martyn / Mark Stimson, Jon Newsome, Chris Fairclough, David Kerslake / Steve Hodge, David Batty, Jason Rees, Robert Lee / Rod Wallace, Paul Williams

Key Man: David Batty – with three influential players moving to the continent, this is now Batty’s team. Can he fill the gap that Gary McAllister leaves behind?

Prediction: 4^th. The Champions have lost their best defender, best midfielder and a young starlet to moves to the continent. While we like the moves they've started making to fill the gaps, we still think they're likely to take a step back this year.

 

3^rd – Everton

Manager: Howard Kendall – guided Everton to glory in the 80s and although he hasn’t achieved the same levels of success in his second stint as boss, it’s tough to argue with two consecutive top-five finishes.

Last season: 5^th. Carried to another top-five finish in the league thanks to Tony Cottee’s goals

Transfers in: Teddy Sheringham, Tottenham 1.7m; Paul Mardon, Ipswich 600k

Transfers out: none

Projected XI: Mike Hooper / David Unsworth, Paul Mardon, Stig Inge Bjornbye, Matt Jackson / Peter Beagrie, John Ebbrell, Billy Kenny, Stuart Ripley / Tony Cottee, Teddy Sheringham

Key man: Teddy Sheringham. A bold pickup by Everton, he is an elite goal scorer at this level. How he links up with Tony Cottee will determine whether they’re legitimate title contenders.

Prediction: 3^rd. They should more than enough going forward to be among the leaders again. We have questions about their midfield, though, and that might be the difference between first and third.

 

2^nd – Manchester United

Manager: Alex Ferguson - Came into England announcing that his goal was knock Liverpool off their perch. Has yet to be able to lead United to an elusive title but the pieces are all there for the team to be a contender for years to come.

Last Season: 4^th. Continued to knock at the door, as part of the second tier of teams, but can't seem to crack the group of top teams. Their final position flatters them slightly, given they were never really in contention.

Transfers in: Alan Wright, Blackburn 1.5m

Transfers out: Gary Pallister, Lazio 1.2m; Eric Cantona, Marseille 1.3m

Projected XI: Peter Schmeichel / Alan Wright, Colin Hendry, Paul Parker, Denis Irwin / Lee Sharpe, Paul Ince, Clayton Blackmore, Ryan Giggs / Gavin Peacock, Guy Whittingham

Prediction: 2^nd. Every year we look at United on paper and think this is the year they'll break through. Every year they prove us wrong. We think they'll be in the hunt again.

 

1^st – Nottingham Forest

Manager: Brian Clough – Rumoured to be retiring for the past couple of seasons, this marks 20 years in charge of Forest and Cloughie is back for one more shot at a title. The man who has done it all as boss is a true legend – just ask him.

Last Season: A slow start, revitalized by the signing of Les Ferdinand. If the season ran 42 games instead of 38, probably would have ended up winning the league.

Transfers in: None

Transfers out: None

Projected XI: Mark Crossley / Stuart Pearce, Steve Chettle, Carl Tiler, Gary Charles / Kingsley Black, Roy Keane, Nigel Clough, Gary Crosby / Les Ferdinand, Stan Collymore

Prediction: 1^st. We called them a dark horse pick for the title last year and they came very close. A full year with Les Ferdinand in the squad should be what pushes them over the top.

 

Up next: the season kicks off

[King Jeff]

The magic of the first day of a new season is upon us!

From a logistics perspective, Cardiff return to the Football League after one year in the Conference, so that is my new team for the year. It's the last year on the CM1 engine, but my 20-odd years of experience playing this game and the practice saves I ran prepping this story tell me that we should expect to see a couple of differences in the world this year. 

1)     Some managerial movement. Teams are pretty static the first couple of years, but I've found that things start to happen in year three.

2)     More money being spent. In real life this was the year of Klinsmann joining from Monaco, Keegan splashing cash with Newcastle, and big money moves for Andy Cole, Romanian World Cup stars, Yeboah signing for Leeds, et al. We won't see 7m moves but more of the 1-2 million type transfers should take place.

With those caveats in mind, let's get going!

==============

Round 1

The fixture computer throws up a glamour tie in the first week of the year when Manchester City travel to Old Trafford to take on United. With both teams hoping to be among the lead pack this is a great measuring stick for the two sides. A good sign for Alex Ferguson, then, is that the game is all United. Goals from Ryan Giggs and Gavin Peacock give them a 2-0 victory.

In Birmingham, the defending champions Leeds kick off their season with a 3-1 win over Aston Villa. Mark Stimson, debutant Lee Jones, and Welsh midfielder Jason Rees score for the visitors, while Dean Saunders (who else) replies for Villa. We flagged that his strike partner Dalian Atkinson would need to have a big year if Villa are to be a legitimate contender but rather than find the net, Atkinson saw red in this one.

We picked Nottingham Forest to win the title this year and they opened their season with a trip to Roker Park to face newly-promoted Sunderland. Forest batter the Mackems racking up chance after chance but poor finishing leads to the inevitable goal completely against the run of play: Richard Ord climbs the highest from a corner to head past Mark Crossley and give Terry Butcher's men the 1-0 win.

Fellow newly-promoted side Millwall started their life in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Blackburn. Colin Cooper grabs the goal for Mick McCarthy's side. It's a much less happy return for Norwich, though: they are well beaten by Tottenham, 3-0. Gordon Durie, Kevin Watson and Mike Marsh all score for Spurs, while new signing Oleg Salenko is taken off injured in the first half.

Elsewhere, the combination of Teddy Sheringham and Tony Cottee looks good as both men score in a 3-1 win for Everton over Southampton, and Chelsea beat Sheffield Wednesday by the same score, and Liverpool grab a 2-0 away win over QPR.

 

Round 2

We'll start at Maine Road where there might be two stories developing. The first is Chelsea potentially starting to get their act together after years of underachievement under Dave Webb. The second is Manchester City slumping to their second straight defeat. Irish midfielder Andy Townsend scores twice in the Blues win, sending Chelsea to the top of the table, while City are in the basement.

Joining Chelsea atop the league is Tottenham who pick up their second consecutive win with a 1-0 win over Derby at the Baseball Ground. Gordon Durie scores for the second straight game in the victory. Champions Leeds are held by Wimbledon in their first home game of the year. Rob Lee gets his first Leeds goal in the game and Howard Wilkinson's men have four points from two games, while Joe Kinnear's Dons have started with two straight draws. Liverpool and Manchester United are also both on four points from two games after they each drew this round: Liverpool were held 1-1 by Aston Villa at Anfield while United struggled to a scoreless draw against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

We had fears about QPR this year and already there are worrying signs for Gerry Francis's team. They slump to their second straight 2-0 defeat, going down to Blackburn at Ewood Park. They sit alongside Manchester City with no points from their first two games.

Elsewhere, Gary Penrice scores twice in his home debut for Barnsley as they beat Everton 2-1, and Matt Le Tissier and Iain Dowie each score twice in Southampton's wild 4-2 victory over Terry Butcher's Sunderland.

Round 2 Table: Tottenham, Chelsea 6; Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester United 4

Derby, Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday 1; Manchester City, QPR 0

 

Round 3

Normally we start weekly round-ups with a look at what's happening at the top or bottom of the table, but there is only one place to start this recap: Roker Park, where we see a new record high-scoring game. Terry Butcher's Sunderland side have already been involved in a couple of noteworthy games, but they mark their arrival in the Premier League in style by hammering Norwich 7-2. The seven goals is a new record, as is the nine total goals in the game. 38-year-old Viv Anderson scores one, Gordon Armstrong gets two, and Green gets four from the bench. In doing so, he becomes only the second player in Premier League history to hit four in a game. Lee Power scores twice for the Canaries in a night to forget.

At the top of the table, Chelsea remain joint-top of the league, after a 1-1 draw with Blackburn at Stamford Bridge. Kevin Gallacher gave Kenny Dalglish's team the lead before substitute Robert Fleck grabs the Blues' equalizer. Moving alongside Chelsea on seven points is Leeds, who beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park. Young Welsh striker Lee Jones, who was signed from Manchester City in the summer, scores his second goal in three league games for the champions. Jones barely got a look-in at City last season but famously scored the FA Cup-winning goal in last year's final, in what proved to be his last appearance in a City lineup.

As you may have inferred, Tottenham were beaten this week, going down 2-1 at home against Sheffield Wednesday. Oleg Salenko scored his first goal in a Spurs uniform to give them the lead but a Chris Bart-Williams equalizer and a winner from Carlton Palmer gave the Owls the three points.

At the bottom of the table, it's more misery for Manchester City who lose 2-1 to Aston Villa at Villa Park. Tony Adams and Mark Blake score for Villa, while young Andy Turner scores his first City goal. QPR are off the mark, though: they beat Barnsley 2-0 with goals through Andy Impey and Bradley Allen. We suspect it will be a long season for both teams.

Round 3 Table: Chelsea, Leeds 7; Sunderland, Tottenham, Coventry, Nottingham Forest 6

Everton, Southampton, Millwall, Barnsley, QPR, Norwich 3; Man City 0

[Drogba11CFC]

Good start...

[King Jeff]

Indeed! Chelsea's lack of progress has been frustrating for me to watch; they have way more talent than they have shown in the first couple of years. So far, so good, though!

================================

 

With the preparations for Euro 96 in full swing, there is a revolving door of teams coming to play at Wembley over the next 12 months. In the summer of 1995 England will welcome Japan, Sweden and Brazil in the Umbro International Trophy. Additionally, throughout the year, there are planned home friendlies with Nigeria, Romania, and Uruguay, along with a trip to Lansdowne Road to take on the Irish. But first is a home-game against the USA.

Terry Venables' squad for the USA game has a distinctly European flavor, containing several Italian-based players. The squad in full is:

Goalkeepers: Tony Coton, Manchester City (1 cap); Nigel Martyn, Leeds (no caps)

Defenders: Gavin Johnson, Manchester City (3 caps); John Scales, Wimbledon (1 cap); Terry Phelan, Manchester City (3 caps); Paul Lake, Roma (2 caps); Paul Parker, Manchester United (25 caps); Paul Warhurst, Sheffield Wednesday (2 caps); Des Walker, Sampdoria (53 caps); Gary Pallister, Lazio (15 caps, 1 goal)

Midfielders: Chris Bart-Williams, Sheffield Wednesday (2 caps); Garry Parker, Aston Villa (no caps); Lee Sharpe, Manchester United (1 cap); Tony Dorigo, AC Milan (16 caps, 1 goal); David Platt, Sampdoria (38 caps, 15 goals); Nigel Clough, Nottingham Forest (17 caps, 2 goals); Paul Gascoigne, Lazio (31 caps, 5 goals); Fitzroy Simpson, Cologne (no caps)

Attackers: Alan Shearer, Blackburn (9 caps, 3 goals); Les Ferdinand, Nottingham Forest  (4 caps, 2 goals); Dalian Atkinson, Aston Villa (no caps); Mike Sheron, Manchester City (2 caps, 1 goal)

***

I know it's very early in the season but already the question needs to be asked: are Chelsea for real? They win again this week, and do so in fine form, beating Barnsley 3-1 at Oakwell. Charlie Hartfield, Scott Houghton and Craig Burley all score for Dave Webb's men. Marcus Ebdon got the lone goal for the hosts.

Leeds' strong start to the season was derailed by terrible discipline in their game against Millwall at Elland Road. David Batty and Steve Hodge are both sent off for the hosts, and Darren Wilkinson and Owen Archdeacon capitalized with goals in a 2-0 Lions victory. Sunderland hit seven in their last game but still had room for one more in their trip to Blackburn—Jeff Kenna grabbed the goal while the defense kept a clean sheet in their 1-0 win.

At Anfield, Manchester United humiliated Liverpool in a day that will be long remembered. Steve Harkness saw red for the Reds while Gavin Peacock hit a hat-trick in a 3-0 United victory. Fergie's men are up to seven points, three points back of the leaders. Also on seven are Tottenham, who are held to a 0-0 draw by Southampton, Nottingham Forest, who are also held to a draw by QPR, and Sheffield Wednesday who beat Coventry 1-0 at Hillsborough.

At the bottom of the table, Manchester City finally open their account with a 1-0 win over Wimbledon. Their tally of three points puts them level with Barnsley and Norwich who lose 1-0 at home to Everton. Don Goodman, Everton's third striker, proves he's no pushover, either, with the lone goal.

Round 4 Table: Chelsea 10; Sunderland 9; Man Utd, Tottenham, Leeds, Nottm Forest, Sheff Wed 7

Blackburn, Southampton, Liverpool, QPR 4; Man City, Barnsley, Norwich 3

 

During the week, Tottenham are active in the transfer market, selling Gudni Bergsson to Coventry for 1.2 million. They replace him with Craig Fleming, picked up from Arsenal for 350k. Down in the Football League, you know that I always keep an eye out for former stars plying their trade at lower leagues – here's another one: former England international Clive Allen leaves West Ham to join Division Three club Wigan for 30k.

 

Round 5

Pinch yourself, people, because otherwise you might not believe it: Sunderland are top of the Premier League. Terry Butcher's side, which have proven to be free-flowing and entertaining going forward, while surprisingly stingy at the back, rack up another big result in a 3-0 win over Barnsley. Lee Glover scores twice for Sunderland and Peter Davenport grabs the third in the win.

Sunderland claimed the top spot in the table at Chelsea's expense, after they were kept to a single point in their 1-1 draw at home against Leeds. Chelsea are one point back of Sunderland, while Leeds are part of a big group on eight points. In that pack are Manchester United who draw 0-0 against Norwich, Nottingham Forest who have the same result against Everton, Sheffield Wednesday, who draw 0-0 at Millwall, and Aston Villa, who win 1-0 at home against Southampton.

Elsewhere in the division, QPR picked up three big points in their game against fellow strugglers Derby. Gerry Francis's men jump to the top half of the table with seven points, while Derby are on five. Manchester City also pick up a point in their second straight game, thanks to a 0-0 draw at Coventry. They might be starting to turn the corner.

Round 5 Table: Sunderland 12; Chelsea 11; Man Utd, Leeds, Nottm Forest, Aston Villa, Sheff Wed 8

Southampton, Man City, Norwich 4; Barnsley 3

 

In Division One, Ipswich and Burnley are the early pace-setters, each with 13 points from their first five games. Watford, Arsenal, Tranmere and Oxford are in the playoff spots. Down at the bottom, it's Newcastle and Southend occupying the two relegation places. With the re-jigging of the pyramid at the end of the year, only two teams will go down into Division Two.

 

With August coming to a close, Sunderland's Terry Butcher is deservedly named Manager of the Month. Aston Villa defender Earl Barrett is chosen as Player of the Month.

***

Round 6

At the start of the day, we were all wondering how Sunderland would be able to handle the pressure of being Premier League leaders. The answer is not very well. Terry Butcher knew there would be days like this in the first year in the top flight, but Aston Villa tear apart the leaders and grab goals from Steve Staunton, Mark Blake and Scot Gemmill in a 3-1 Villa win. That gave Chelsea the opportunity to go back to the top of the pile, but they were held to a 1-1 draw by Everton, and as a result, Chelsea and Sunderland now sit level on points.

There was a large group of teams four points back of Sunderland at the start of the day. One of those teams, Manchester United, travelled to The Den to take on Millwall. United took the lead through a Guy Whittingham goal but a double from Dean Holdsworth gave Mick McCarthy's side a famous 2-1 win. Up at Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday took on Leeds and Trevor Francis's side made a real statement in a 3-1 victory. Carlton Palmer, Chris Waddle and Chris Bart-Williams all score for the Owls, while Lee Jones replies for Leeds. Nottingham Forest seem to be righting their course, as well, beating Blackburn 2-1 at home: Mark Wright and Gary Crosby score for Forest in the win.

At the bottom of the table, Barnsley fall 1-0 to Manchester City at Oakwell. England winger Scott Thomas scores the only goal and is sent off later in the game for Peter Reid's side. Norwich look impressive in a 3-1 win over Derby. Lee Power scores twice for the Canaries in the win. The win pulls Mike Walker's team out of the bottom three. Replacing them in the drop zone is Southampton who put in a good effort at Liverpool but fall 3-2. Russell Beardsmore, Paul Stewart and Scott Sellars all score for the Reds, while Perry Groves and Matt Le Tissier get goals in reply.

Elsewhere in the league, Paul Miller scores twice for Wimbledon in their 3-0 win over Coventry, and Tottenham split the points with QPR in a 1-1 draw.

Round 6 Table: Sunderland, Chelsea 12; Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest 11

Blackburn, Man City, Coventry, Norwich 7 / Derby 5; Southampton 4; Barnsley 3

[King Jeff]

Although movement in the transfer market has been slow so far, heading in to the first international break, Sunderland break their club transfer record with the £1.2 million signing of Kingsley Black from Nottingham Forest. Forest replace Black with Paul Mortimer, signed from Crystal Palace for 650k.

***

England vs USA

International Friendly

Wembley Stadium

 

England: Tony Coton / Terry Phelan, Paul Parker, Gary Pallister, Gavin Johnson / Lee Sharpe, David Platt, Nigel Clough, Chris Bart-Williams / Alan Shearer (Dalian Atkinson 81), Les Ferdinand (Mike Sheron 81)

USA: Brad Friedel (Juergen Sommer 81); Jeff Agoos (Mike Lapper 70), Marcelo Balboa, Alexi Lalas, Paul Caliguri, Thomas Dooley, Mike Sorber, Claudio Reyna (Frank Klopas 81), Cobi Jones, Earnie Stewart (Joe-Max Moore 81), Hugo Perez (Eric Wynalda HT)

 

He might be struggling to do it consistently at club level but there's no doubt that Alan Shearer is turning into a legitimate goal threat at international level. A pair of centre-forward's goals from the Blackburn man: the first made by himself, the second finished clinically, were the difference in a 2-0 win for England.

For England fans, it must be a case of wondering what-if: the difference in quality between the Taylor and Venables era is marked, the home side playing with confidence and freedom since El Tel took over earlier this year. Sure, this wasn't the best of competition, but there will be an increased sense of optimism heading into the remainder of the year's friendlies.

Final Score: England 2 – 0 USA (Shearer 33, 40)

***

Round 7

After a blazing start, it might be a dose of reality for Sunderland. They were second best by a clear distance against Manchester United at Old Trafford, and United should have won by more than a one-goal margin. The lone goal came from Darren Ferguson, given a rare start by his father in United's midfield.

Chelsea had no such problems this week. They come out against Coventry guns blazing, and get goals from Scott Houghton, Andy Townsend and Roy Wegerle in a 3-0 win at Highfield Road. Sheffield Wednesday keep pace with the leaders, staying one point back after they pick up a big 2-1 win over Manchester City at Maine road. Chris Waddle and Paul Bernard score for the Owls while Ian Brightwell grabs City's goal.

With Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa both being held to draws this week, Millwall jump out of the pack and up in to third place, following their 2-1 win at QPR. Equal with the Lions on points are Liverpool who beat Alan Shearer's Blackburn 1-0 thanks to a Don Hutchison goal. Shearer just hasn't produced consistently at the club level since signing for Rovers.

At the bottom of the table, Barnsley lose again, going down 1-0 to Norwich. We picked Barnsley to go down before the season started and we're getting close to considering that a banker. The other two teams in the bottom three, Derby and Southampton played out a 1-1 draw at The Dell—Iain Dowie scored for the hosts while Martin Kuhl got Derby's goal.

Round 7 Table: Chelsea 15; Sheff Wed 14; Millwall, Liverpool 13

Blackburn, Man City, Coventry 7 / Derby 6; Southampton 5; Barnsley 3

 

Chelsea clearly have their tails up now and are looking at adding to their squad in hopes of strengthening their title chances. In comes Lee Sinnott, signed from Crystal Palace for 800k.

Meanwhile, we say goodbye to one of my personal favourites, Carlton Fairweather. The 33-year-old striker leaves Millwall to join Division Two Crewe for 40k. Sadly, Fairweather didn't get the chance to feature for Mick McCarthy's side this year.

***

Also midweek, we get this year's first dose of UEFA Cup action. This year's English representatives are Everton, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday. I will be diplomatic and say that English sides have found European competition "challenging" but three of the four teams have drawn favourable ties: United face Israeli side Qesari, Wednesday will face Svendborg of Denmark, and Forest play Veszprem of Hungary. Everton look to be in tough against Sporting Lisbon, though.

True to form, Everton end up losing their first leg fixture 1-0 at home against the Portuguese. We expect their dismissal from Europe will be academic now. Sheffield Wednesday will be left ruing missed chances in their tie as it ends 0-0 against Svendborg at Hillsborough. With the match heading back to Denmark, both sides will consider themselves in with a shot.

The most disappointing effort comes in Hungary where Forest lose 1-0 at Veszprem. Brian Clough, who knows a thing or two about winning in Europe, was left furious as his team missed a bag full of chances and then got hit on the break. They'll still consider themselves in with a decent chance of winning the tie back in Nottingham.

One English representative has a very good chance of qualifying for the next round and that is Manchester United. United cruise to a 3-0 win at home over Qesari and will just have to avoid a big defeat in Israel to book their spot in the next round.

 

[King Jeff]

Round 8

A good omen for the Stamford Bridge faithful is that Chelsea are finding different ways to win every week. So it continued in their victory over Sunderland this round. The Blues got a brace from Roy Wegerle, who hasn’t contributed much in terms of goals so far this season, as well as a goal from his strike partner Graham Stuart in the 3-2 win. Sunderland benefited from a Frank Sinclair own goal, as well as one from Lee Glover in the loss. Jeff Kenna also saw red in the lost.

Sheffield Wednesday are another team that seems to have goals throughout the lineup. This week it is left-back Phil King who opens the scoring before a more usual suspect, Chris Bart-Williams, scores a second in their 2-0 win over Liverpool.

Millwall remain tied for third after the weekend’s action through picking up a 1-1 draw against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Neil Ruddock scored first for Spurs, who were by far the better side, but a late equalizer by Etienne Verver keeps Mick McCarthy’s men in a great spot. As for Tottenham, they’ve been sliding down the table and now sit one point outside of the relegation spots.

With Liverpool losing and Millwall picking up a draw, Everton jump up into a third-place tie, following their 2-0 victory over Wimbledon. Tony Cottee scored his first goal since the opening weekend in the win and winger Stuart Ripley grabbed the second for the Toffees.

At the bottom of the table, it’s bad news for Barnsley. While every other team is picking up points with some degree of regularity, Barnsley are stuck on just three points and have already been cut adrift from the rest of the division. This weekend they lose a relegation six-pointer at Derby 1-0. Mark Pembridge scores his second goal of the season to pull the Rams out of the bottom three.

The team which started the day in 19^th, Southampton also picked up three points, with a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest. Perhaps Forest were suffering from a bit of a let-down after their foray in the UEFA Cup but they were never in this one – Neil Webb got sent off, Perry Groves got the goal and Southampton picked up a precious three points. They’re still in the drop zone, though. QPR is there with them, following their 2-0 loss at Coventry-Martin Carruthers has been a decent performer for Coventry since signing from Aston Villa last year. He scores his third of the season and Darren Rowbotham scores his second of the year in the win.

Round 8: Chelsea 18; Sheff Wed 17; Everton, Millwall 14

Tottenham, Wimbledon, Leeds, Derby 9 / Southampton, QPR 8; Barnsley 3

 ***

Midweek, Leeds add a much-needed veteran midfielder, although we doubt this is the right choice of player. 31-year-old Australian midfielder, Vlado Bozinovski joins from Aston Villa for 150k. Bozinovski signed from Ipswich last year but never made an appearance for Ron Atkinson’s side. We’re not sure his time at Leeds will end up going much differently.

The midweek fixtures also allow us to welcome back the Coca-Cola Cup. Defending champions Manchester City beat Division Three side Rochdale in the first leg of their 2^nd round tie. There are also wins for Derby, Sunderland, Barnsley, Leeds, Everton, Liverpool, Sheffield Wednesday, and Wimbledon. The potential upsets come at York City, where the Division Three club beats Aston Villa 2-1 in the first leg of their tie. You’d still make Villa the favourites, though. More noteworthy is Crystal Palace hammering Blackburn 4-1 at Selhurst Park, and Manchester United getting beat 1-0 by Division One Oxford at Old Trafford. We’ll see how the second leg of those ties play out.

 

Round 9

It’s taken nine games, but Chelsea have finally been beaten. Dennis Wise sees red in a 1-0 loss to Wimbledon at Selhurst Park – Paul Miller, who is having a fine season for the Dons, scores the lone goal in the game. Unsurprisingly, Sheffield Wednesday aren’t able to take advantage – they are held to a 1-1 draw by Barnsley at Oakwell. That’s a huge result for Mel Machin’s side, who already look dead and buried. Barnsley’s goal came from Zimbabwean defender Brian Statham, while Chris Bart-Williams scored for the Owls.

Millwall and Everton started the day tied for third, but the two teams played out a scoreless draw at The Den and that meant it was almost a certainty someone would jump over them in the standings. Sure enough, Everton’s crosstown rival, Liverpool, seized their opportunity when Don Hutchison scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Derby. That result moves the Reds on to 16 points, alone in third, two points behind the leading duo. Manchester United and Nottingham Forest also both fight their way back into contention with 1-0 victories. United beats QPR at Loftus Road, Colin Hendry grabbing the goal, while Forest topple Manchester City at the City Ground, thanks to a Nigel Clough goal.

Nearer the bottom of the table Southampton escape the bottom three by beating Blackburn 3-2 at Ewood Park. Much of the Saints’ production this year has come from Matt Le Tissier, who currently leads the division in scoring, and Perry Groves. Both men score today, as does Alan Stubbs. Damian Matthew and Mike Newell score for Rovers in the loss. Blackburn are sitting on 10 points, in a crowd of teams just above the drop zone. Also in that mix are Leeds and Tottenham– both clubs played out 0-0 draws this week, with Norwich and Sunderland, respectively.

Round 9 Table; Chelsea, Sheff Wed 18; Liverpool 16; Man Utd, Everton, Millwall, Nottm Forest 15

Tottenham, Blackburn, Leeds, Man City 10 / Derby 9; QPR 8; Barnsley 4

 ***

Midweek we head back to Europe and there were two UEFA Cup ties in which the results seemed to be locked up: Manchester United beating Qesari and Everton losing to Sporting Lisbon. Both ties went as expected – United beat their Israeli opponent 2-0 to win 5-0 on aggregate, while Sporting beat Everton 3-0 in Portugal to claim the tie 4-0 overall. In Nottingham, it’s anger and frustration for Forest fans after they are bounced by Hungarian outfit Vaszprom with a stoppage time equalizer that puts them through 2-1 on aggregate. Brian Clough’s men were by far the better side but that didn’t matter. Meanwhile, out in Denmark, Sheffield Wednesday suffer an equally embarrassing elimination at the hands of Danish side Svendborg. The Danes get a 1-0 win in the second leg to advance 1-0 on aggregate.

[HawkAussie]

Woah, you are completely going at a fast rate right there.

[King Jeff]

😐 I hope that's a good thing!

Full transparency: I just finished my second novel a couple of weeks ago and while the manuscript is with my editor, I have more capacity to peck away at "fun" writing. The draft is due back to me next week, so I'll probably be AWOL for a couple of weeks working on revisions.  

Aiming for a late September release, so expect a bit of shameless self-promotion in this thread at some point. *ahem* Buy my first book. *ahem*

As you were.

 =========

Round 10

Generally speaking, we start each session recap with what's happening at the top of the table, but we think the big story this week is what happened at the bottom of the table. There are two storylines here: first, we are going to go on record and say that Barnsley will be relegated this year. They're clearly a mile off the rest of the division. That prediction isn't based on their 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest, just an honest assessment of all of their performances to date. Four points from 10 games just isn't going to cut it.

The other major story is the champions Leeds dropping in to the bottom three. Yes, it's early, and yes, their squad had a lot of turnover in the summer, but the level of their struggles has been a major surprise. This time out, Leeds fall to Liverpool 1-0 at Elland Road with Steve Harkness getting the game's only goal.

Leeds fall into the relegation zone because QPR pull out a stunning victory against league leaders Chelsea at Loftus Road. Chelsea were beaten for the first time last week and most skeptics would have been curious to see how they responded to their first bit of adversity. The answer is not well. Frank Sinclair, who has been one of the weak links in the Chelsea lineup this year, gets sent off, and goals from Danny Maddix, Andy Impey and Bradley Allen give the Rs a convincing 3-0 win.

With Chelsea losing, who would be able to take advantage of the slip up and take top spot? The obvious choice would have been Sheffield Wednesday who were tied with Chelsea at the top of the table, and in Chris Bart-Williams they have one of the league's star performers. Bart-Williams scores in Wednesday's game against Blackburn but goals from Mike Newell and Alan Shearer, his first of the year, give Kenny Dalglish's men a big three points. That meant it was Liverpool who snuck into the lead with 19 points, one point up on Wednesday and Chelsea. Everton join the group of teams one point back after they absolutely batter Manchester United at Old Trafford – Teddy Sheringham hits a hat trick and Don Goodman adds a fourth in a 4-1 victory. We can't help but wonder whether there will be any pressure on Alex Ferguson this year given United's inability to fulfill their potential.

Round 10 Table: Liverpool 19; Everton, Chelsea, Sheff Wed, Nottm Forest 18

QPR, Coventry, Norwich 11 / Leeds 10; Derby 9; Barnsley 4

 

Top Scorers

6 – Matt Le Tissier, Southampton

5 – Teddy Sheringham, Everton

4 – Gavin Peacock, Man Utd; Lee Power, Norwich; Scott Green, Sunderland

3 – 8 players

 

In Division One, Ipswich continue to lead the way with 24 points from their opening ten games. They might be following the path Norwich is on this year; they were very poor in the Premier League last year but if they come back up they might come back stronger. Second place right now is Watford, who are on 19 points. Then in the playoff places you have Oxford and Charlton tied with 18, Sheffield United on 17, and four teams equal with 15: Oldham, Crystal Palace, Wolves and Burnley. In the relegation spots right now are Southend and Grimsby.

To wrap up September, Everton boss Howard Kendall is named Manager of the Month, while Sheffield Wednesday youngster Chris Bart-Williams is named Player of the Month.

***

Following the first leg of the Coca-Cola Cup 2^nd Round ties, we flagged two matches in which there was the potential for an upset. The first was Aston Villa vs York, where the Division Three side won the first leg, and the second was Blackburn vs Crystal Palace, which looked like a done deal after Palace dominated the first leg. In the second leg, Palace play it smart and are able to contain Blackburn and secure their passage into the next round. 1-1 is the final on the night, 5-2 the Division One side wins on aggregate. At Villa Park, York's dreams of moving on to the next round are dashed when Villa get the 1-0 victory they needed to advance on away goals. Surprisingly, Oxford United are able to grab a 1-1 draw in their tie against Manchester United and secure their spot in the next round, winning 2-1 on aggregate. There are also wins for Arsenal over Barnsley, Ipswich over QPR and Fulham over Millwall.

 

Round 11

The biggest tie of this round of fixtures took place when Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest, each one point back of the league leaders, met at Hillsborough. Both of these teams would have fancied themselves real contenders at the start of the year but if today's result is anything to go by then Wednesday are streets ahead of Brian Clough's men. The Owls are rampant and again it's Chris Bart-Williams who plays the role of catalyst. He scores one and sets up another in a 3-1 win. Last year's Young Player of the Year, this season is really Bart-Williams' coming out party and we can't help but wonder if a big money move to the continent awaits.

Liverpool started the weekend as league leaders but as we have so many times over the past couple of years, as soon as someone gets their noses in front it all goes wrong. This time it's Norwich who play the role of spoilers, going to Anfield and grabbing an unlikely winner from an unlikely source: defender Ian Culverhouse. 1-0 to the Canaries is the final.

Everton looked to capitalize on Liverpool's slip-up and again their high-powered offense made the difference. Teddy Sheringham has been the main man so far this year for Everton, and he is in the goals again today against QPR. Central midfield duo Billy Kenny and John Ebbrell each find the back of the net, as well, in a 3-2 win. One of the bright spots for QPR this year has been the play of Bradley Allen and he scores his fourth of the season in defeat. With QPR selling off their starting strike pairing of Les Ferdinand and Gary Penrice over the past year, they will need Allen to continue his good form if they are to secure survival in the Premiership.

In other action near the top of the table, Chelsea's wobble continues, and we wonder if they are now starting the process of reverting to their expected mean. They are outplayed by Aston Villa and fall behind to a Dean Saunders goal but claw back a draw thanks to an Andy Myers equalizer.

Down at the bottom, the pack gets farther and farther away from Barnsley. They lose 1-0 to Leeds, who jump out of the bottom three with the victory. The Tykes are now six points adrift of 19^th-place Derby following the Rams' 1-1 draw against Blackburn, and seven points off safety. QPR and Coventry sit equal on 11 points tied for 17^th. Bobby Gould's team is another one that we pegged as likely to struggle this year and they're beaten 2-0 by Terry Butcher's Sunderland, who seem to be adapting to life in the Premier League quite well. Gordon Armstrong, who has been one of the Mackems' best players this year, is in the goals, as is Scott Green who grabs his fifth of the season.

Round 11 Table: Everton, Sheff Wed 21; Chelsea, Liverpool 19

QPR, Coventry 11; Derby 10; Barnsley 4

 

Up next -- a stunning piece of news rocks the Premiership.

[King Jeff]

Quote

 

Clough Says Goodbye – Managerial Legend's Retirement Stuns the Footballing World

Brian Clough is a man who has never been lost for words but as he drove away from the City Ground yesterday, he could only manage to say one thing to the assembled crowd: "Goodbye."

With Clough Senior not offering comment, it was his son Nigel who ended up talking to the BBC. "I think age has caught up with him.  40 years in this business has taken its toll and over the past 18 months it has caught up. I just think he has run out of energy."

Nigel Clough would not comment on questions about his father's health, although sitting on the touchline in his final game against Sheffield Wednesday, Brian Clough's face looked reddened and blotchy, and there have been continued rumours about his heavy drinking which has damaged his relationship with the club's directors.

He leaves a Forest side that many pundits had picked to win the league this year, but there will be myriad questions about what Forest's future looks like.

As for Cloughie, surely this marks the end of a remarkable career which started at Hartlepools, then included First Division titles at Derby and Nottingham Forest, two European Cups, and an infamous 44-day stretch as Leeds United boss.

 

 

 

Breaking down the fourth wall – This does represent the end of Brian Clough's career in our Premier League, as he is not in the CM2 database. His resignation in the game stunned me, because it doesn't really make any sense (although the CM1 engine is prone to strange happenings like this), so I felt like the only way to tell the story in a way that did make sense was to leverage some of the coverage from Clough's real-life retirement (including having Nigel Clough face reporters) and blame the burnout – the alcoholism was a bit of an elephant in the room. If you're curious, there's a really interesting retrospective of Clough's retirement located on the Daily Mail website (something I would normally suggest people visit). Back to the story...

***

We're not sure when Forest would have found out about Brian Clough's decision to retire but it doesn't take long for the pundits to assemble a list of possible replacements. The bookies' favourite is Charlton Manager Alan Curbishley, while George Graham, Hull boss Terry Dolan and Kenny Hibbitt of Walsall are also mentioned as options.

While most headlines focus on the happenings in Nottingham, in Leeds and Manchester people are thinking about European football. Leeds kick off their Champions League campaign with a tie against Yugoslavian side Red Star Belgrade. Meanwhile, in the Cup Winners' Cup, Manchester City face Aarhus. In Leeds, it's very much as you were – the game ends in a scoreless draw and you'd have to give Red Star the edge heading back to Yugoslavia. However, in Denmark, Manchester City put in a respectable performance and battle to a 2-2 draw. All things being equal, you'd consider City the more likely side to advance now.

 

Round 12

Ron Fenton is in charge of Nottingham Forest as they take on Derby in the first game of the post-Clough era. The crowd at the City Ground was definitely subdued and perhaps the players of both sides were, too – the game ends in a 0-0 draw. Afterward, Fenton talked about the team needing to rally around each other and push onward if they wanted to claim the Premier League title. He had no news on the appointment of a permanent manager.

At the top of the table, Sheffield Wednesday are your new league leaders. Inspired by Chris Bart-Williams (who else), Trevor Francis's side get goals from the young winger and from Eddie Newton in a 2-1 win over Norwich. Everton, who started the day tied with Wednesday at the top of the table, slip back to second after they are held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa.  Garry Parker scores for Villa before substitute Don Goodman pulls the Toffees level late on.

Chelsea are back to their winning ways after picking up a 2-1 victory over Millwall at Stamford Bridge. David Lee and Scott Houghton score for the Blues in the win, while Colin Cooper scores in defeat.

At the bottom of the table, Barnsley pick up a rare point in a 0-0 draw at home against Liverpool. Because Derby grabbed a draw at Forest they're still six points back of 19^th. 18^th-place QPR also draw, finishing 1-1 at Sunderland. Goal Machine Scott Green finds the back of the net again for Terry Butcher's side, while Andy Impey scores for QPR. Coventry escape the bottom three for now by beating Manchester United 2-1. Peter Ndlovu opened the scoring and a Colin Hendry own goal was the difference. Alan Wright was sent off for the second time this season for United in the loss.

Elsewhere in the league, David White scores twice to give Manchester City a 2-0 win over Blackburn.  That loss pulls Rovers back into the relegation dogfight.

Round 12 Table: Sheffield Wednesday 24; Everton, Chelsea 22; Liverpool 20

Blackburn, Norwich, Coventry 14 / QPR 12; Derby 11; Barnsley 5

***

With the games coming thick and fast, we turn our attention to the Coca-Cola Cup Third Round. We might see a couple of lesser-light teams make a deep cup run this year, after Sheffield Wednesday, Chelsea and Everton have all been bounced from the competition. Defending champions Manchester City are still alive, though; they move into the fourth round after beating Bristol Rovers 3-1. They'll be joined by Aston Villa, Derby, Liverpool, Tottenham, Norwich and Wimbledon. Also, for those on the Clough replacement watch, you might be curious to know that Alan Curbishley's Charlton bounced Leeds from the Cup after beating them 2-1 at The Valley. We'll see whether that moves the odds on his appointment even closer in.

We close with Terry Venables' announcement of the England squad to face Romania and Nigeria in friendlies over the next month.

Goalkeepers: Tony Coton, Manchester City (2 caps); Nigel Martyn, Leeds (no caps)

Defenders: Gavin Johnson, Manchester City (4 caps); John Scales, Wimbledon (1 cap); Terry Phelan, Manchester City (4 caps); Paul Lake, Roma (2 caps); Paul Warhurst, Sheffield Wednesday (2 caps); Paul Parker, Manchester United (26 caps); Des Walker, Sampdoria (53 caps); Tony Adams, Aston Villa (25 caps)

Midfielders: Chris Bart-Williams, Sheffield Wednesday (3 caps); Garry Parker, Aston Villa (no caps); Lee Sharpe, Manchester United (2 caps); Kevin Watson, Tottenham (8 caps, 1 goal); Nigel Clough, Nottingham Forest (18 caps, 2 goals); David Platt, Sampdoria (39 caps, 15 goals); Fitzroy Simpson, Cologne (no caps); David Batty, Leeds (12 caps)

Attackers: Alan Shearer, Blackburn (10 caps, 5 goals); Dalian Atkinson, Aston Villa (1 cap); David Hirst, Genoa (13 caps, 6 goals); Mike Sheron, Manchester City (3 caps, 1 goal)

[King Jeff]

Heading into the international break and the news breaks over the wires that Glenn Hoddle has been sacked as manager by Swindon Town. It was Hoddle’s first managerial role, and during his time at Town, he saw the team relegated from Division One and now sitting just above the relegation zone in Division Two. Hoddle becomes the latest in a long, long line of great players who just weren’t able to find the same level of success as a manager although we have no doubt he’ll resurface at some point.

In other managerial news, Nottingham Forest have found their man to replace the now retired Brian Clough: George Graham makes his return to the Premier League and takes over a team from which much is expected. Of course, Graham had a lot of success during his time at Highbury but it all went wrong in the end and finished with a relegation. Forest will be hoping that history doesn’t quite repeat itself. Charlton fans everywhere breath a sigh of relief with the news.

***

England vs Romania

International Friendly

Wembley Stadium

 

England: Tony Coton; Gavin Johnson (Paul Lake 58), Terry Phelan, Tony Adams ©, Paul Warhurst; Lee Sharpe, Nigel Clough, David Platt, Chris Bart-Williams (Garry Parker 71); Alan Shearer, Dalian Atkinson (David Hirst 71)

Romania: Bogdan Stelea (Florin Prunea 87); Dan Petrescu, Daniel Prodan, Miodrag Belodedici, Ioan Lupescu, Gheorghe Popescu, Marius Lacatus (Florin Carstea), Ilie Dumitrescu, Florin Raducioiu (Daniel Timofte 77), Gheorghe Hagi © (Tibor Selymes HT), Dorniel Munteanu

 

England’s supporters saw first hand how much farther they will need to progress if they are to be legitimate contenders at the European Championships in the summer of 96. Romania, World Cup quarter finalists in the past summer, showed themselves to be a class above and left England playing without confidence.

Striker Ilie Dumitrescu, who has caught the eye of several Premiership clubs, will have done his chances of a big-money move no harm when he scored a fine opener on 36 minutes. An overmatched England fought back and got an equalizer through young Chris Bart-Williams just before half-time. Sheffield Wednesday youngster Bart-Williams has caught the eye with his performances at club level over the past two seasons and looks to be on the verge of becoming an England regular.

Although being outplayed, England had the best chance of winning it in the second half when Shearer could have done better from close range, but his scuffed shot hit a defender’s leg and bounced harmlessly wide. Onward, then: Up next is a friendly with African side Nigeria in four weeks’ time.

Final Score: England 1-1 Romania (Bart-Williams 45’; Dumitrescu 36’)

 ***

 

Round 13

We start off the weekly recap by highlighting Chris Bart-Williams, who just can’t stop scoring goals for club or country. He finds the net for the sixth straight Premier League game, a new competition record, in Sheffield Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Derby County. The win keeps Trevor Francis’s team at the top of the Premier League table.

And what price could you have received for Sunderland’s Scott Green to be the Premier League Golden Boot winner? You probably would have been able to name your price, given his previous high goal tally was six, and that was when he was playing in Division Three back in 1990. He remarkably becomes the first man in Premier League history to score multiple hat-tricks. He hit four past Norwich earlier in the year and grabs another three against Everton at Goodison Park. That takes him up to nine league goals for the year, three more than Le Tissier, Sheringham and Bart-Williams.

Chelsea come back from the international break well with a 1-0 win over Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Scott Houghton has been Chelsea’s best player so far this year and he hits the only goal of the game in the win. Dave Webb’s men continue to sit two points back of the leaders. Fourth-placed Liverpool are turned over at home by Manchester City, thanks to a David White brace. City’s win brings them up to 20 points, level with Liverpool, Sunderland, Aston Villa, who drew 1-1 with QPR, and Wimbledon, who also drew 1-1 against Manchester United.

At the bottom of the table, Barnsley are easily beaten by Southampton, 2-0, and they remain nine points off safety. Coventry are easily turned over by Millwall, 4-2, who benefited from a Dean Holdsworth hat trick, and Blackburn remain tied for 17^th after losing 2-1 to Leeds. Norwich who were level on points with Coventry and Blackburn heading in to play beat Nottingham Forest in George Graham’s first game in charge as boss. Ex-Forest man Darren Wassall scores the lone goal in the win.

Round 13 Table: Sheff Wed 27; Chelsea 25; Everton 22; Sunderland, Wimbledon, Aston Villa, Man City, Liverpool 20

Blackburn, Coventry 14 / QPR 13; Derby 11; Barnsley 5

 ***

In the transfer market, Sunderland are active on both the buy and sell side. They bring in defender Lee Martin from Manchester United for 590k, while heading out of Roker Park is veteran midfielder Steve McMahon, who moves to Millwall for 60k. Also on the move during the week is Lawrie Sanchez, who leaves Wimbledon after 11 years to join Division Two Bristol Rovers, and Alan Pardew, whose time at Swansea ends with a 20k move to Brentford.

Also midweek we head back to Europe, and witness the end of Leeds’ run in the Champions League. It isn’t much of a surprise to see them go down 1-0 to Red Star Belgrade in Yugoslavia. However, Manchester City’s time in the Cup Winners Cup will go on – they beat Aarhus 3-1 at Maine Road to take their tie 5-3. They draw a favourable match up with Cypriot side Onomia in the next round of the competition.

[King Jeff]

Round 14

Everything seems to be coming along nicely for Sheffield Wednesday these days. Top of the Premiership, a star player who is barely 21 years old and tearing up the league, and now winners of four on the bounce. Chris Bart-Williams' goalscoring streak ends at six games, but Chris Waddle grabs a first and substitute Peter Ward claims his first Premier League goal to give Wednesday a 2-0 victory over QPR.

The gap between first and second widens slightly to four points after Chelsea drop points in their 1-1 draw against Southampton. American striker Roy Wegerle scores for the Blues while Matt Le Tissier continues his great year by scoring for Ian Branfoot's side in the draw. Manchester City have flown under the radar since their abysmal start to the year but they're suddenly up to third in the league after beating Everton 2-1 at Maine Road. Defender Michael Vonk and young striker Mike Sheron score for City, while Teddy Sheringham grabs Everton's goal. Joining City in third place is Liverpool, who beat Sunderland 2-1 at Roker Park. Midfielder Gordon Armstrong grabbed the goal for Terry Butcher's men while Martin Keown and Scott Sellars score for the Reds.

Down at the bottom of the table, the big game comes between Derby and Coventry. If Coventry were to win this, they would go a long way to relegating the Rams, and sure enough, Bobby Gould's side do get a 1-0 win at Highfield Road. Frustrating Rams fans will be that the goal they conceded was an own goal, last touched by Jason Kavanagh. That pulls the Sky Blues six points ahead of Derby and four points ahead of QPR who are in 18^th.  Barnsley remain well back, they're now 11 points off of safety, although they pick up a point in their 0-0 draw at home against Millwall. Mel Machin has built a lot of equity through getting Barnsley promoted and then keeping them up in their first season in the top flight, but the club directors might start getting an itchy trigger finger soon.

A quick note about parity – even now, nearly halfway in to the season, just six points separate the teams in third from the teams in 17^th. Don't count anyone out yet… (except Barnsley).

Round 14 Table: Sheffield Wednesday 30; Chelsea 26; Manchester City, Liverpool 23

Tottenham, Blackburn, Coventry 17 / QPR 13; Derby 11; Barnsley 6

 ***

Round 15

Last round we observed how well everything seemed to be going for Sheffield Wednesday. Naturally, that was the cue for their winning streak to end – Southampton run out 2-1 winners at The Dell, beating Wednesday thanks to goals from Alan Stubbs and Simon Ireland. Phil King scores for Wednesday in the defeat.

Chelsea are able to close the gap to just one point after they squash Manchester United at Old Trafford. The Blues get goals from Charlie Hartfield, Roy Wegerle and Robert Fleck, while Lee Sharpe sees red in the loss. At what point do Manchester United fans start to get fed up with the types of performances they've been seeing from their team over the past three years? United are now in the bottom half, just two points above 17^th.

Liverpool started the weekend tied for third place with Manchester City but The Reds end the round alone in third after they play to a 2-2 draw at home against George Graham's Nottingham Forest (still getting used to writing that – ed.) Liverpool grab goals from Michael Thomas and Don Hutchison, while Robert Rosario scores twice for Forest. It is interesting to note that Les Ferdinand has fallen out of favour at Forest, being pulled from the starting lineup since Graham came into charge. We'll monitor that situation, as he is rumoured to be considering submitting a transfer request if he is not getting first-team football.

For Manchester City, as you may have gleamed, they ended up getting beat this week, falling 2-0 to Norwich at Carrow Road. Daryl Sutch and Ian Crook score for Mike Walker's side, who pull level with City following the victory. Also on 23, tied for fourth, is Wimbledon who beat QPR 1-0 at Loftus Road thanks to a Nigel Jemson goal, and Leeds who draw 0-0 at Derby.

At the bottom of the table, Barnsley pick up their second straight draw with a 2-2 result against Blackburn at Ewood Park. As much as Barnsley have struggled picking up points, they've also had challenges just finding the net, so this is a big step. Defender Michael Johnson and forward Andy Liddell score for the Tykes, while Eddie McGoldrick and Mike Newell get Blackburn's goals.

Heading into the round, Coventry were in 17^th place, four points up on 18^th-place QPR. However, Bobby Gould's team picks up a huge 2-0 win at Goodison Park and in doing so, jump several spots in the league table. Peter Ndlovu scores a brace in the win.

Elsewhere in the division, Steve McMahon marks his Millwall debut with a goal in The Lions' 2-0 victory over Sunderland.

Round 15 Table: Sheffield Wednesday 30; Chelsea 29; Liverpool 24; Wimbledon, Man City, Leeds, Norwich 23

Tottenham, Blackburn 18; QPR 13; Derby 12; Barnsley 7

 

In Division One, it continues to be Ipswich at the front of the pack. They've picked up 30 points from their first 15 games and have a five-point cushion on Sheffield United and Oxford. Watford, Crystal Palace and Leicester round out the top six. At the bottom of the table, West Ham and Grimsby are in the two relegation spots. Southend, who started the year so poorly, sit one point above from the drop zone, but are starting to string together results.

***

With West Ham facing relegation to Division Two in the face, the club directors at Upton Park swing the axe and fire Billy Bonds. First-team coach Harry Redknapp, who couldn't help but tell the media he thinks the club is full of t'rrifc players, is the favourite to take the reins full-time.

We end the month of October with the announcement that Peter Reid wins Manager of the Month for an unrivalled 10^th time. Chris Bart-Williams is an obvious choice as Player of the Month for the second month in a row.

[King Jeff]

Round 16

Okay, maybe we wrote off Barnsley a bit too soon. The Tykes pick up their third straight draw with a 1-1 result at Oakwell against Manchester United. We still have concerns about Barnsley's goalscoring possibilities, but they get a marker from Andy Rammell to take a first half lead before United's main man up front, Gavin Peacock, scores the equalizer. We've already seen Arsenal go down to Division One – is Manchester United the next one of the Big Five to go? They're now tied for 17^th place, although there is a bit of a buffer to the bottom three.

Up at the top, Sheffield Wednesday grab a 1-1 draw at Hillsborough against an Everton side that's now going backward. Chris Bart-Williams is back in the goals, and so is Teddy Sheringham for the Toffees. The lead that was down to one point after the last round of games is back up to two points after Chelsea are beaten by third-place Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. We didn't have high expectations for the Reds at the start of the year but they've proven us wrong and are real contenders. Graeme Souness's side get goals from influential midfielder Russell Beardsmore and Paul Stewart, while Scott Houghton scores in defeat. Liverpool are four points behind the leaders.

There was a four-way tie for fourth heading into action, with Wimbledon, Manchester City, Leeds and Norwich all level. Four became two after Leeds beat QPR 2-1 and Norwich beat Aston Villa 1-0. On the other side of the coin, Manchester City and Wimbledon were both dealt 3-0 defeats—City losing to Millwall and Wimbledon being beat by Blackburn.

At the bottom of the table, Derby continue to limp along—they are another team beaten 3-0, losing to Sunderland at Roker Park. Terry Butcher's men, who are by far the highest scoring outfit in the division, get goals from Gordon Armstrong, Lee Glover and David Rush in the win. Just outside the drop zone, Tottenham get a rare double from winger Paul Allen as they beat Nottingham Forest 2-0. The win sees Spurs leapfrog ahead of Forest and Manchester United in the table. It's a long way back to the bottom three, though.

Round 16 Table: Sheffield Wednesday 31; Chelsea 29; Liverpool 27; Leeds, Norwich 26

Manchester United, Nottingham Forest 20 / QPR 13; Derby 12; Barnsley 8

 

***

Midweek and it's Manchester United flying the flag as England's last contender in European football. They travel to Sweden and put in a strong performance in the first leg of their UEFA Cup tie beating AIK Stockholm 1-0.

In the transfer market, the league leaders are active, selling Micky Adams to Division One Newcastle for 60k. Adams hasn't played all year so it's not a major loss for Sheffield Wednesday. Down in London, David Preece swaps locker rooms at Selhurst Park moving from Wimbledon to Crystal Palace for 250k.

 

Round 17

Barnsley win, Barnsley win! Their sudden reversal in form sees a team that we considered dead and buried now unbeaten in four and within nine points of avoiding the drop. Their victim is Wimbledon, who are beaten 2-1 at Oakwell. Both goals come from central defenders – Charlie Bishop and Phil Gridelet score for Mel Machin's men.

Two points ahead of Barnsley are QPR and Derby, who are both level on 13 points. Derby pick up a single point through a scoreless draw with Millwall at the Baseball Ground while QPR are beaten 2-0 by Norwich at Carrow Road. Jason Minett scores his first professional goal in the win and John McGinlay chips in a second for Mike Walker's men who are remarkably still in the top five in the league.

With an England friendly on tap for next week, Dalian Atkinson was looking to impress Terry Venables and earn a spot in the starting lineup against Nigeria. He did himself no harm by scoring the game's only goal in Aston Villa's 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. That result, combined with Chelsea's 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, means that the Blues are back at the top of the league. It's amazing to me that Dave Webb has not been recognized for what his team has done so far this year.

Liverpool and Leeds keep pace with Chelsea after they both win 1-0. Leeds beat a Coventry team which was in a rich vein of form thanks to a David Batty goal, while at Anfield Torben Piechnik scores Liverpool's winner over Tottenham.

Round 17 Table: Chelsea 32; Sheffield Wednesday 31; Liverpool 30; Leeds, Norwich 29

Nottingham Forest 20 / QPR, Derby 13; Barnsley 11

 

Heading into the international break, there is a bit of transfer activity as Tottenham bring in utility man Mark Atkins from Blackburn for 950k. Atkins can play on both sides of the pitch and is equally comfortable in defense and midfield, so we like this signing. Also heading to London is Australian goalkeeper Jason Kearton, who leaves Everton to join Millwall for 600k. The last transfer deal of the week is former Coventry captain Brian Borrows leaving the Sky Blues to join Division Two Bournemouth for 50k.

***

England vs Nigeria

International Friendly

Wembley Stadium

 

England: Nigel Martyn; Gavin Johnson, Terry Phelan, Des Walker, Paul Parker; Lee Sharpe, Chris Bart-Williams (Nigel Clough 25), David Platt ©, Garry Parker; Alan Shearer (David Hirst 78), Dalian Atkinson (Mike Sheron 78)

Nigeria: Peter Rufai, Augustine Eguavoen, Benedict Iroha, Mutiu Adeoju (Nwankwo Kanu 85), Uche Okechuwku, Uche Okafor, Finidi George, Daniel Amokachi (Victor Ikpeba 60), Rashidi Yekini (Efan Ekoku 60), Jay-Jay Okocha, Emmanuel Amunike

A veteran backline and some midfield steel from captain David Platt gave England a 1-0 win over Nigeria at Wembley Stadium. England boss Terry Venables used the opportunity to hand Leeds keeper Nigel Martyn his first ever cap in goal but protected him with an experienced pairing of Des Walker and Paul Parker in defense.

Sheffield Wednesday fans will be holding their breath tonight after Chris Bart-Williams, who started the game in the centre of midfield rather than on the wing, hobbled off after only 25 minutes with a muscle strain. The word from the England camp was that he should be fine to rejoin his club side within a week. England took the lead in the 41^st minute when captain David Platt found the back of the net.

Up front, Shearer and Atkinson were ineffective and their replacements, Hirst and Sheron, didn't get enough time to really make an impact. This performance won't lessen the cries for an alternative option up front, such as Everton's Teddy Sheringham, Southampton's Matt Le Tissier or even Manchester United's Gavin Peacock.

England end the year unbeaten in six, next up is the Irish at Lansdowne Road in February.

[oche balboa]

Great stuff  

Can you tell me how West Brom are doing?

[King Jeff]

Of course! The Ossie Ardiles-led Baggies are currently in 6^th place in Division Two. With the expansion of the Football League pyramid at the end of the year, that would be good enough to claim the last promotion spot into Division One. The star man at The Hawthorns so far this year has been Czech goalkeeper, Pavel Srnicek. Midfielder Jason Watkins, signed from Plymouth last year, leads the team with 4 goals so far. Considering my memories of Ardiles’ teams is that they couldn’t defend and only attack, they’ll need to upgrade their attack to ensure promotion.

 =========================

Manchester United knew they held the upper hand in the second leg of their UEFA Cup tie against AIK Stockholm. A draw would be sufficient to ensure their passage to the next round. At half-time at Old Trafford, fans were not overly impressed with the quality of the game they were observing but they knew the 0-0 scoreline would have been job done. In the second half, it became a bit more comfortable as Lee Sharpe scored for United. In truth, AIK offered little and United cruised into the next round. Up next is a tie against Estoril of Portugal.

 

Round 18

Chelsea will lead the pack at the half-way point of the Premier League after they pick up a 2-0 win over Norwich at Stamford Bridge. The Blues now have a four-point advantage over Sheffield Wednesday who were beaten 2-1 by Sunderland at Roker Park. I don’t need to remind you that the team which was leading the division at the half-way point last year ended up completely imploding and finishing the season in 13^th place. Chelsea fans will be looking for something better.

Tied for third place are Leeds, who managed a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford, and Liverpool, who were beaten 3-1 by Millwall at The Den.

At the bottom of the table, it has not been an easy transition into the George Graham era for Nottingham Forest; they lose 2-0 to Wimbledon at Selhurst Park. Neal Ardley and Ian Olney get the goals for Joe Kinnear’s men. Forest’s lead over the bottom three is cut to just four points now, after Derby picked up a big win over Everton at Goodison Park. Marco Gabbiadini’s first goal of the year was the difference in the 1-0 win. QPR and Barnsley both inch one point closer to survival, as well, as bot teams picked up draws during the week. QPR drew 2-2 at home against Southampton, with Simon Barker and Andy Sinton scoring for Rangers, and Barnsley’s run of form continues with a 1-1 draw at Villa Park. Scot Gemmill scored for Villa, while Andy Rammell scored Barnsley’s equalizer. Mel Machin’s men are now unbeaten in five and there is a sense of belief around Oakwell that Barnsley just might be able to survive. We’ll see.

Round 18 Table: Chelsea 35; Sheff Wed 31; Leeds 30; Liverpool 30

Nottingham Forest 20 / Derby 16; QPR 14; Barnsley 12

 ***

Neal Ardley scored a goal for Wimbledon at the weekend in their 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest. That turned out to be his last game in a Dons uniform as he’s sold to Liverpool for 450k during the week. It’s not the only deal of the week as Southampton bring in David Whyte (not to be confused with Manchester City’s David White) from Crystal Palace for 600k. It seems like a big fee to pay for a 23-year-old striker with just five senior goals to his name and no goals from five appearances for Palace this season.

Also in Division One, promotion contenders Sheffield United sign Arsenal’s Scottish winger Pat Nevin for 150k. Lastly, former England international and AC Milan legend Luther Blissett is on the move again. He leaves Division Three Wigan to join up with Division One side Tranmere on a free transfer. Blissett managed four appearances for Wigan, and this is probably the last move of his notable career.

 

The Coca-Cola Cup will have a new winner in 1995 after last season’s winner, Manchester City, are bounced on penalties by Division Two side Bournemouth. The Cherries will face Norwich in the Quarter-Finals after the Canaries beat their main rivals Ipswich Town in the Fourth Round. Also in the Quarter-Finals, Derby will face Portsmouth, Tottenham will face Watford, and in the only all-Premier League tie, Wimbledon will take on Aston Villa at Selhurst Park.

***

As we near the half-way point of the season, transfer business is beginning to pick up and there’s a huge move in Division One when Crystal Palace pay more than four times their previous transfer record fee to bring in Darren Anderton from Tottenham. Palace are second in the table right now and see Sick Note as the man who can help ensure there are two Selhurst Park teams playing in the Premier League next year. Also on the move from White Hart Lane is midfielder Andy Gray, who joins Manchester City for 180k. Gray had made ten appearances for Doug Livermore’s side during the year so it’s somewhat surprising they would sell him for such a low price.

Aston Villa also sell two players during the week: Sunderland pay 190k to sign right-back Dariusz Kubicki, while Leeds bring in veteran Irish defender Paul McGrath for 50k. Both men were surplus to requirements at Villa Park but I don’t see either one getting much of a look-in at their new clubs, either.

 

It’s monthly awards time again and the managerial honour stays in Manchester but this time it’s the red side of the city which is being recognized. Alex Ferguson wins his second Manager of the Month award, while Sunderland midfielder Gordon Armstrong is named Player of the Month. Armstrong is probably the least recognizable name to be given the honour since the inception of the Premier League, but he has been a dynamo in the centre of Sunderland’s midfield this year.

***

Round 19

The season reaches the half-way marker and Chelsea wrap up their first half of the year in fine style. With a four-point lead on the division heading in to the day’s action, it was already assured that the Blues would be the leaders at the mid-way point, but they turn on the class in a 3-1 win over Derby at Stamford Bridge. Scottish midfielder Craig Burley is the star of the day scoring twice, while Scott Houghton, who has been Chelsea’s most consistent performer, grabs the third. Irish international Liam O’Brien scores his second of the year for Derby in the defeat. For the Rams, they end the first half of the season in 18^th place, five points from safety.

Sheffield Wednesday continue in second place, despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Wimbledon. Paul Warhurst has been a bit of a forgotten man this year, primarily playing in central defense rather than up front which is where he spent most of the last three years. He chips in with his second goal of the year for Wednesday, while Ian Olney scores for Wimbledon. Leeds are third at the half-way point after drawing with Sunderland 0-0 at Roker Park. That moves the champions one point up on Liverpool, who lose 2-1 at Everton, and Norwich, who pick up a scoreless draw at Coventry.

At the bottom of the table, Barnsley are beaten by Tottenham 1-0 to remain at the bottom of the table. QPR remain in 19^th even though they pick up a point in their draw at home against Manchester City. Just above the line is Nottingham Forest who are still finding their feet under George Graham. Forest end up playing Aston Villa to a scoreless draw this week.

Round 19 Table:  1) Chelsea – 38; 2) Sheff Wed – 32; 3) Leeds – 31; 4) Liverpool – 30; 5) Norwich – 30; 6) Millwall – 29; 7) Manchester City – 28; 8) Sunderland – 27; 9) Southampton – 27; 10) Everton – 27; 11) Wimbledon – 27; 12) Coventry – 27; 13) Aston Villa – 26; 14) Tottenham  - 25; 15) Manchester United – 25; 16) Blackburn – 22; 17) Nottingham Forest – 21 / 18) Derby – 16; 19) QPR – 15; 20) Barnsley 12

 

Top Goalscorers

10 – Teddy Sheringham, Everton

9 – Gavin Peacock, Manchester United; Scott Green, Sunderland

8 – Chris Bart-Williams, Sheffield Wednesday

7 – Dean Holdsworth, Millwall; Gordon Armstrong, Sunderland; Matt Le Tissier, Southampton

6 – David White, Manchester City; Dean Saunders, Aston Villa; Ian Olney, Wimbledon; Scott Houghton – Chelsea; Peter Ndlovu, Coventry

 

In Division One, Ipswich continue to lead the pack. John Lyall's men moved to the top of the table after the fourth round of fixtures and haven’t been knocked off top spot since. However, lurking just one point behind is a Crystal Palace side which has just splashed the cash to help their promotion chances. In the playoff spots are Sheffield United, Leicester, Watford and Charlton. At the bottom, the two relegation places are filled by Wolves and Grimsby.

What will our last few months in the CM1 world bring us? 

Up next: Our mid-year report cards & some second half predictions

[King Jeff]

Mid-Year Report Cards

At the half-way point of every season we look back at what has happened so far in the year through a club-by-club review, then cast our eyes forward to make some fearless predictions as to what’s to come in the second half of the season.

Last year we accurately predicted Leeds would come from behind to emerge Premier League winners after a spectacular collapse by Tottenham. That won’t happen this time out. Given our preseason title pick now sits in 17^th, we’ll consider picking Forest our mulligan and make a revised pick for the title – Chelsea have been the surprise package of the year, leading most of the way. Can they claim their first Premier League title? And what about the three promoted teams who have all been excellent?

At the bottom of the table, Derby, QPR and Barnsley have been off the pace almost since day one – is there any way back for them?

Before we begin our review, we feel the need to highlight that between 2^nd and 17^th, league position is almost irrelevant – the 16 clubs are separated by just 11 points with far too much parity to read too much into anything.

 

20th – Barnsley

Halfway Grade: 2.5 out of 10. Even by low standards, this has been a horrible first half. Have been showing some signs of life lately, though.

What we said: "18^th. Look destined to be in tough again this year. With Norwich looking very likely to stay up, they’ll need at least one other team to falter.”

Star Man: Gerald Dobbs – a converted right back who has been moved up to the wing, Dobbs has been the best of a bad bunch so far.

What to expect: Last year Barnsley managed to survive off a late run of goals from a deadline-day signing. This year we think they’re coming from too far behind. If anything, they remind us of Ipswich last year – last for a long time then showed signs of life before ultimately coming up short. We expect they’ll fight hard but go down – possibly in 18^th or 19^th.

 

19th – Queens Park Rangers

Halfway Grade: 2 out of 10. We feared this might be coming at the start of the season, but this has gone worse than we expected. The team looks to be beyond hope and lack some of the fight we see in the other two clubs in the bottom three –destined for Division One.

What we said: “15^th. Worrying signs here. The sale of Les Ferdinand last year was a surprise, but are the sales of Gary Penrice and Darren Peacock signs that QPR is a team with a real financial problem?”

Star Man: Bradley Allen. A team that desperately needed someone to step up and lead the line, Allen has surpassed David Howells in that role.

What to expect: Like Barnsley, we think relegation is inevitable for QPR. We feared the club might be in a bit of financial turmoil after some questionable transfer market dealings but now we just think they’ve been doing bad business and it’s come back to cost them. With no real team spirit in place, we expect them to finish 20^th.

 

18^th – Derby

Halfway Grade: 2 out of 10. It looks like Premier League defenses have figured out Derby’s young squad. We felt confident they’d survive if they could retain their young core but now we’re not so sure.

What we said: “14^th. We think Derby have enough to survive but big clubs will start circling in on some of their young guns and they could end up in trouble if they're forced to sell.”

Star Man: Tommy Johnson – hasn’t produced goals like he did last year but has been the club’s most dangerous player going forward.

What to expect: If any of the current bottom three are to escape the drop we think the Rams are most likely. We’re not sure who it will be, but we do expect at least one team to hit the rails in the second half and get sucked in to the mire. If Derby can retain Kitson and Johnson, they just might survive.

 

17^th – Nottingham Forest

Halfway Grade: 0 out of 10. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Forest were supposed to send Brian Clough into retirement a champion, instead he ended up resigning not having any more energy for the daily grind of managerial life, and the team has found it difficult to get going under his replacement George Graham.

What we said: “1^st. A full year with Les Ferdinand in the squad should be what pushes them over the top.” Unfortunately, Ferdinand hasn’t been able to replicate his fine form in the second half of last season, managing just three goals so far.  

Star Man: Nigel Clough – playing largely in an attacking midfield role, Clough still doesn’t score as many goals as we’d like him to, but he controls nearly every game he plays.

What to expect: They’ll find their rhythm under Graham and slowly move up the table, finishing somewhere in mid-pack.

 

16^th – Blackburn

Halfway Grade: 1 out of 10. A team that was supposed to be backed by a multi-millionaire benefactor, it just hasn’t seemed to click at Ewood Park and now seems like a team without a plan.

What we said: “9^th. Something seems off at Ewood Park. While we’re predicting another year of mid-table security, we wouldn’t be surprised if they shot the lights out and became legitimate title threats or if it all went horribly wrong.” Although we hedged our bets slightly at the start of the year, we sensed that the potential for a mess was there.

Star Man: Mike Newell – although his strike partner Alan Shearer is the man with the hefty price tag and England call ups, Newell has been a much more consistent contributor.

What to expect: We’re going to hedge our bets again – logic tells us Blackburn should start to right this ship and survive with ease but if there was ever a team that looked like it’s not cut-out for a relegation fight this is it. We would not at all be surprised if they were to end up getting sucked into the bottom three.

[King Jeff]

15^th – Manchester United

Halfway Grade: 2.5 out of 10. League form has been typically underwhelming and inconsistent, although they’ve done well to stay alive in European competition thus far.

What we said: “2^nd. Every year we look at United on paper and think this is the year they'll break through. Every year they prove us wrong. We think they'll be in the hunt again.” We stand by the comments although 2^nd is probably out of reach.

Star Man: Lee Sharpe – his outstanding form has led to a recall into the England setup after a three-year hiatus.

What to expect: They are one of the clubs whose league position might be deceptively low due to how compressed the division is. We think there’s a lot there and once they are out of European competition a top eight finish is very attainable. If they continue to fight on multiple fronts, they might finish in the bottom half.

 

14^th – Tottenham

Halfway Grade: 4 out of 10. A slow start in the league held them back but they’ve been improving their consistency lately.

What we said: “8^th. If Oleg Salenko doesn’t hit the ground running it could mark the last throw of the dice for Doug Livermore’s run as manager.” Salenko was injured in his first game which held back his progress but the signs are there he’ll be able to adjust to the Premier League just fine.

Star Man: Mike Marsh – the ex-Liverpool man replaced Salenko as the team’s offensive leader in the first half of the season.

What to expect: We’re comfortable with our pre-season prediction of 8^th. Spurs look like one of those teams which is going to be somewhere in the middle third of the table and their final league position will depend on results on the last day. If they win they could be 8^th, if they lose they could be 13^th – that’s how tight we think it will stay.

 

13^th – Aston Villa

Halfway Grade: 3.5 out of 10. A disappointing start put Villa in a position where they were chasing the pack early on. They’re now comfortably midtable.

What we said: “5^th. There’s a lot to like here… if they can find someone to help Dean Saunders carry the load, they’ll be in the title hunt. If not it’s another year in the second tier (of clubs).” Saunders still leads the way but we see signs that a supporting cast of Dalian Atkinson, Scot Gemill and Mark Blake will help carry the load.

Star Man: Dean Saunders – at the end of the day this is still his club.

What to expect: See Spurs. Somewhere in the middle of the pack, perhaps in the top half of the table but it’s so close that trying to predict an exact finish is foolish.

 

12^th – Coventry

Halfway Grade: 7.5 out of 10. I think most Coventry fans would have bitten your hand off if you were to offer them a 12^th-place finish.

What we said: “17^th. We expect more of the same this year. They'll hover just above the relegation zone and ultimately secure their survival with a couple of games to spare.”

Star man: Peter Ndlovu – leading the team with six goals in the first half of the year his form will be crucial in determining whether Coventry will be safe.

What to expect: A finish somewhere in the bottom half. Almost certain to be safe but not likely to pull up any trees between now and the end of the year.

 

11^th – Wimbledon

Halfway Grade: 7 out of 10. Doing exactly what was expected and continuing to fly under the radar. Ian Olney is having a breakout year for the Dons.

What we said: “10^th. They are a stronger team than the sum of their parts. Defies the odds to finish mid-pack every year and with the division looking pretty thin on a whole, we expect more of the same this year.” We stand by this, although they have one of the best defenders in the country in John Scales and what appears to be a decent goal threat in Ian Olney.

Star Man: John Scales – Wimbledon’s strength is their defense and the England international Scales is the rock in the back line.

What to expect: More of the same.

 

10^th – Everton

Halfway Grade: 5 out of 10. Teddy Sheringham has quickly inserted himself as a key man in Everton’s attack. Another team that has been hurt by inconsistency but should be capable of much more.

What we said: “3^rd. They should more than enough going forward to be among the leaders again. We have questions about their midfield, though, and that might be the difference between first and third.”

Star Man: Teddy Sheringham – it was a stunning coup for Everton to pick up the Spurs ace during the summer. Although he can’t seem to get a look-in at international level, Sheringham is one of England’s best goalscorers and leads the league with 10 goals so far.

What to expect: They’ll be in the top six by the end of the year. We’d still like to see them sign a midfielder, though.

 

9^th – Southampton

Halfway Grade: 7 out of 10. Matt Le Tissier continues to be one of the league’s best and the supporting cast around him is getting better and better. Lots of positives so far for Southampton fans.

What we said: “With Matt Le Tissier proving himself to be one of the Premier League's real stars, and the man up front alongside him, Chris Sutton, looking like another potential star, we think the Saints will be fine. Mid-table awaits” 10/10 for our prediction on this one, then.

Star man: Matt Le Tissier – some may consider him a luxury player but he’s always capable of the incredible and has found a club that suits him perfectly.

What to expect: We stand by our pre-season picks. We expect a finish somewhere in the middle of the pack.

 

8^th – Sunderland

Halfway Grade: 10 out of 10. Remarkably, they are the lowest-place team of the three promoted squads but as far as we’re concerned, Sunderland have been the most enjoyable team of the season.

What we said: “19^th. In for a real battle to stay up. There are a couple of good pieces there but they need investment to secure their survival.” We’ll hold up our hands and say that we’ve been wildly wrong on our picks for all three promoted teams.

Star Man: Gordon Armstrong and Scott Green – it simply wouldn’t have been fair to just pick one. Green, who was playing in Division Three with Preston this time last year, became the first player in Premier League history to score multiple hat-tricks, and became only the second player in League history to score four goals in a game, which he did against Norwich. Oh, and it was after coming on as a sub.

Lifelong Mackem Gordon Armstrong was expected to be a regular starter this year but the fact he has been one of the most consistent and best players in the league is far beyond what was expected. The 27-year-old was named Premier League Player of the Month last month.

What to expect: We often see promoted clubs sink back to earth a bit in the second half, and while we love the Sunderland story so far, we’d still expect them to end the year in the bottom half of the table. Look for a 12^th – 15^th place finish.

 

[King Jeff]

7^th – Manchester City

Halfway Grade: 6 out of 10. We had no idea what to make of City heading in to the year, but seventh seems about right.

What we said: “6^th. The squad looks too thin to compete for a title, and they’ll be asked to compete on four fronts again, but with the guidance of one of the division’s best managers, they should be safe in the second tier.” Still fighting on all four fronts, we stand by this assessment.

Star man: Gavin Johnson – England’s first choice right back has gone from strength to strength and looks to have a big future at Maine Road.

What to expect: We have City somewhere in the second group of teams and assume that will mean a finish somewhere between 5^th and 10^th.

 

6^th- Millwall

Halfway Grade: 10 out of 10. Without being overly flashy, they’ve been a really good team this year, and better than the sum of their parts.

What we said: “20^th. Even though they won Division One last year, the Lions’ squad looks most likely to struggle with the step up. We'd expect their time in the top-flight to be short.” Oops.

Star man: Etienne Verver – doesn’t score many goals but the Surinamese forward has been the man through which the offense runs.

What to expect: We still think the Lions are punching above their weight and will come back to reality a bit. We’d look for a finish somewhere between 10^th and 15^th, but ultimately never having to worry about relegation, which would have been a dream first year in the top-flight for Mick McCarthy and co.

 

5^th – Norwich

Halfway Grade: 10 out of 10. How did this happen? A team that looked so woeful when going down a couple of years ago and then sold their best striker and starting keeper after winning promotion back in to the top flight is right amongst the leaders of the Premier League.

What we said: “16^th. If they hadn't sold Mark Robins we would have felt very confident that the Canaries would survive. Now we're quite not as sure, but we still think they'll be okay.” We were confident Norwich was the best-suited of the three promoted teams to stay up but they’ve shocked us so far.

Star man: It’s a testament to Mike Walker’s management that there is no obvious candidate so far. We’ll go for Ian Culverhouse, who wears the captain’s armband and is an ever-present at the back. It’s really been a team performance though.

What to expect: We continue to believe Norwich are the most likely of the three promoted teams to keep the impressive results coming. We’re going to stick our neck out and predict them to finish in the top half – the addition of a striker might be enough to see them in the top eight.

 

4^th – Liverpool

Halfway Grade: 8.5 out of 10. A team we were convinced was going backwards has completely revitalized itself, even without any major signings.

What we said: “13^th. An ageing, thin squad which might be short on goals and a manager who is making questionable decisions in the transfer market is not a good combination.” While we are not fans of Graeme Souness’s decisions in the transfer market, his ability to get the most out of this team cannot be ignored. We weren’t sure of Souness’s future at Anfield but we think he’s now guaranteed his spot in charge for the foreseeable future.

Star Man: Don Hutchison – at the start of the season we picked the young forward to have a breakout year. He’s been Liverpool’s most consistent goal threat and one of only a couple of young players in the lineup. They’ll continue to rely on him in the second half of the year as the older legs start to tire.

What to expect: A top six finish and hopefully one or two quality signings; otherwise, we could see the ageing squad starting to fade.

 

3^rd – Leeds

Halfway Grade: 8.5 out of 10. After losing a couple of key players to the continent we feared the Champions were going to take a significant step back this year. But they’ve been shrewd in the transfer market and have turned over their squad nicely. They are a decent bet to repeat as Champions.

What we said: “4^th. The Champions have lost their best defender, best midfielder and a young starlet to moves to the continent. While we like the moves they've started making to fill the gaps, we still think they're likely to take a step back this year.”

Star man: Lee Jones – the young man from Wales was picked up from Manchester City for 500k after barely getting a chance at Maine Road. Now leads the team in goals.

What to expect: A finish in the top four. While we don’t think they’ll win the league, we wouldn’t be surprised to see them right there until the end.

 

2^nd – Sheffield Wednesday

Halfway Grade: 8.5 out of 10. A team that’s there or thereabouts most years, we picked them to take a step back after the loss of David Hirst, but Chris Bart-Williams has emerged as one of the league’s best players and has carried Wednesday on his back so far.

What we said: “7^th. The loss of David Hirst leaves some concerns about who will provide the goals, but we think Paul Warhurst and Chris Bart-Williams can help fill the void.” Warhurst has mostly been used as a central defender but Bart-Williams has picked up the load.

Star man: Chris-Bart Williams – who else. Set a Premier League record by scoring in six straight league games and was named Premier League Player of the Month two months in a row, becoming the first man to achieve that honour. The most exciting part? He’s only 20.

What to expect: Wednesday is our pick to win the league. While it might not be fair to expect Bart-Williams to keep up his levels of performance, we think the support is there to help get the Owls over the top. One more midfield addition would help even more.

 

1^st – Chelsea

Halfway Grade: 10 out of 10. After years of underperforming, Chelsea broke out in force this year. Led by a dynamic midfielder in Craig Burley and Scott Houghton up top, the Blues have wowed us with their performances so far.

What we said: “12^th. There are a number of teams in the league who look like they're going to take a step backward and Chelsea might benefit from this. We think there’s enough in the midfield and up front to push closer to mid-table this year.” Although we expected improvement, we didn’t give them enough credit.

Star man: Scott Houghton. Signed from Tottenham last year, the 23-year-old was moved up front and has already eclipsed his single-season record for goals in a year.

What to expect: It might be harsh to say we don’t expect the first-half leaders to continue to set the pace, but in this case we don’t. While we won’t see a collapse of Spurs proportions, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Chelsea end the year around fifth. They should finish the year in the top six, though.

 

Enough looking back – let’s cast our eyes forward and see what we think the second half of the year will bring.

 

Manager of the Year: 1) Mike Walker, Norwich; 2) Trevor Francis, Sheffield Wednesday; 3) Dave Webb, Chelsea. This was a tough decision as there are cases to be made for five or six men in total. Webb's work with Chelsea this year can not be ignored, and Terry Butcher and Mick McCarthy should get a lot of credit for keeping their teams up with relative ease but if Norwich finish in the top eight like we expect then Walker's our man.

Player of the Year: 1) Chris Bart-Williams, Sheffield Wednesday; 2) Teddy Sheringham, Everton; 3) John Scales, Wimbledon

First Manager Sacked: Gerry Francis, QPR. This seems like a no-brainer to me – if anyone is going, it’s him.

Champions: Sheffield Wednesday. We have questions about Chelsea and Liverpool, so we see the title ending up either at Hillsborough or staying at Elland Road. Ultimately, we’ll take Warhurst and Bart-Williams over Lee Jones and Paul Williams. That will be the difference.

Relegated: 17^th – Blackburn (just) / 18^th – Derby; 19^th – Barnsley; 20^th – QPR

 

Up next… the second half of the year!

[King Jeff]

As though managers across the country were inspired by our mid-season predictions, we start the second half of the season with a flurry of activity in the transfer market. Millwall make the biggest signing from a financial perspective by bringing in German midfielder Stefan Beinlich from Aston Villa for 1.2 million. I would argue, however, that Manchester United’s signing of England international defender Mark Wright from Liverpool for 200k is a bigger signing. Whether he still has any legs left is another matter. Liverpool replace Wright with Andy Myers, a youngster from Chelsea.

Coventry are also busy in the transfer market, bringing in QPR man Dennis Bailey for 900k. They also sell defender Kevin Ashley to Portsmouth for 500k to help fund the deal.

 

Also during mid-week there is the return of European club competition with both English teams in action. Manchester City would have been expected to cruise past their opponent from Cyprus, Omonia, in the Cup Winners Cup, but they’re held to a 1-1 draw in the Mediterranean. It’s worse for Manchester United, who are beaten 2-1 by Portuguese side Estoril in their UEFA Cup tie.

***

Round 20

 

While we would have preferred to see a matchup of 1^st vs 2^nd on the last day of the season, that’s how we start the second half of the season when Chelsea travel to Hillsborough to take on Sheffield Wednesday. We went on record picking Wednesday to emerge as the champions this year but after today’s result we’re a little less confident. Chelsea get goals from David Lee and Roy Wegerle and widen the gap between the two teams to nine points with a 2-0 win.

With Wednesday faltering, Leeds move up into second place in the table after their 1-0 win over Aston Villa. Rob Lee has had a good first half of the season since his move from Newcastle and he shows no signs of slowing down after scoring the only goal in this one. Liverpool and Norwich both win, as well, moving the two sides in to a tie for third place. Liverpool get a 2-0 victory over QPR at Anfield, with the goals coming from their attacking duo of Don Hutchison and Paul Stewart, while Norwich knock off Tottenham 2-1 with Stuart Barlow and Nicky Summerbee getting the Canaries’ goals.

At the bottom of the table, Derby is the only one of the bottom four clubs to pick up a point. They draw with Wimbledon 2-2 at the Baseball Ground with Mark Pembridge and Tommy Johnson getting the Rams’ goals. Bottom side Barnsley are completely inept in their 1-0 loss at home against Coventry – they barely manage 40% possession and pick up a solitary shot on target. Coventry, on the other hand, pepper the goal with 10 chances on target.

Just outside the relegation zone, Nottingham Forest inflict damage on their own chances in their 2-0 loss to Sunderland. Icelandic midfielder Thorvur Olrygsson is sent off early on in the game and goals from Brian Atkinson and Lee Glover allowed Terry Butcher’s men to capitalize.

Round 20 Table: Chelsea 41; Leeds 34; Liverpool, Norwich 33

Nottingham Forest 21 / Derby 17; QPR 15; Barnsley 12

 ***

Last season Barnsley’s late run of form was enough to secure their survival. Mel Machin is clearly hoping for lightning to strike twice and during the week he adds two men to his squad whom he hopes will help secure Premier League status for the 1995/96 season. Defender Neil Moore arrives from leaders Chelsea for 400k while experienced midfielder Mark Chamberlain moves from Birmingham City for 30k. QPR also attempt to improve their squad with the signing of a midfielder: Eddie Newton arrives from Sheffield Wednesday for 700k.

 

Round 21

Hats off to Chelsea – if they’re going to give up their lead, they’re not going down without a fight. They impress us yet again by dismantling Manchester City 3-0 at Stamford Bridge. American striker Roy Wegerle scores two for the Blues while Scott Houghton picks up the third. Leeds slip farther back of the leaders after they are held to a 0-0 draw by Wimbledon, meaning the gap between the top two is nine points.

The other members of the chasing pack also falter: Liverpool are held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa. Dean Saunders scores for Villa while midfielder Russell Beardsmore gets the Reds’ goal. David Burrows is also sent off in this one. Behind Liverpool in the standings is a glut of teams, including all three promoted clubs. Norwich were best-positioned heading in to the week but they lose to Millwall, Sheffield Wednesday pick up one point in their draw against Manchester United, and Sunderland and Coventry both grab wins. Sunderland beat Southampton 2-1 thanks to goals from Gordon Armstrong and David Rush, and Coventry are now one of the form sides, riding high with a 3-0 win over a woeful Nottingham Forest side. Lloyd McGrath, Darren Rowbotham and Peter Ndlovu get goals for the Sky Blues.

In the relegation zone, there are rare signs of life from QPR, who beat Blackburn 2-0 at Loftus Road. We considered QPR the team most likely to down tools and give up without a fight but now they’re only three points from safety. Barnsley, who are less talented than QPR but we think they’ll fight harder, pick up an important point away from home with a 1-1 draw against Everton at Goodison Park. Gary Penrice scores the goal for Mel Machin’s men in this one. Derby are well beaten this time out, going down 2-0 to 10-man Tottenham: Mike Marsh and Oleg Salenko score for Spurs who win despite Andy Hinchcliffe’s sending off.

Round 21 Table: Chelsea 44; Leeds 35; Liverpool 34; Sunderland, Sheff Wed, Millwall, Coventry, Norwich 33

Nottingham Forest 21 / QPR 18; Derby 17; Barnsley 13

 

Round 22

We’ve been full of praise for Chelsea for putting in some great performances this year and continuing to defy the skeptics, but they come crashing down to earth this time out, losing 1-0 against Blackburn at Ewood Park. Blackburn have been one of the division’s biggest disappointments so far this year; however, you couldn’t deny that they were the better side this week and deserving of their result.

Chelsea’s lead is cut back down to six points after Leeds beat Everton 1-0 at Elland Road. Welsh international midfielder Jason Rees grabs the game’s only goal for the champions.

Third-place Liverpool was in tough with a game against one of the division’s in-form sides, Coventry. After a scoreless first half, Coventry took the lead when defender Gudni Bergsson scored his first goal for the club. It then fell to one of Liverpool’s experienced leaders, John Barnes, to provide the equalizer in a 1-1 final.

The last time Norwich played Sunderland there were nine goals in total. While the two teams didn’t quite replicate that amount this time out, they do come up with another five in Norwich’s 3-2 win. And while no one matched the four goals that Scott Green scored last time out, Norwich’s John Polston does score two in the win.

The biggest game in the relegation zone was a 1-1 draw between Barnsley and QPR. Gary Penrice scores in his second straight game for Barnsley, this one coming against his old team, while Dean Howells gets QPR’s goal. Derby also pick up a draw, ensuring that all three clubs in the relegation places grab a point – they tie Manchester United 1-1 at the Baseball Ground. Above the line, though, Nottingham Forest pull farther away from the chasing pack after they win 3-1 over Millwall. Gary Crosby, Robert Rosario and a Colin Cooper own goal contribute to the result.

Elsewhere in the league, it looks like Russian striker Oleg Salenko is starting to become more comfortable at Premier League level. Salenko scores for the third straight game in Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. So much for Wednesday being champions.

Round 22 Table: Chelsea 44; Leeds 38; Norwich 36; Liverpool 35

Nottingham Forest 24 / QPR 19; Derby 18; Barnsley 14

[King Jeff]

Chelsea respond to losing their first game in a while by hitting the transfer market and picking up one of this generation’s most recognizable players. “Psycho,” Stuart Pearce, is headed to West London for the rather derisory sum of 200k. Pearce probably has another couple of good years left in him so this seems like a tremendous coup for Dave Webb. Also arriving at Stamford Bridge is Dominic Iorfa, who comes in from Peterborough for 450k.  

Last week QPR signed Eddie Newton in an attempt to bolster their midfield, this week they add another midfielder, with Danish international John Jensen coming in from Arsenal for 350k. We’ve been expecting Arsenal to sell off some of their remaining assets as they look destined to miss the playoffs again this year and are facing a third-consecutive season in Division One.

 

It’s a disastrous week in Manchester when it comes to its clubs’ European campaigns. Manchester United were always up against it in their tie against Estoril, heading back to Old Trafford with a 2-1 deficit but when the Portuguese side scored first it was game over. Estoril advanced 3-1 on aggregate. The real shocking result comes from Maine Road where City fall to Cypriot outfit Omonia. They lose 1-0 at home, going down 2-1 on aggregate. Peter Reid’s team are booed off the pitch in response.

To wrap up 1994, Chelsea manager Dave Webb is named Manager of the Month, and deservedly so. Chelsea make it a clean sweep of the awards as Scott Houghton wins Player of the Month honours.

***

Round 23

It’s the start of a new year and what better way to kick off 1995 than with a good old top vs bottom clash, as Chelsea host Barnsley. We’ve seen a list a mile long of banana skin-type performances from top sides losing games like this, and Chelsea nearly fall into that trap again. Roy Wegerle scores for the Blues but when Dennis Wise is sent off, everything is up for grabs. Barnsley striker Gary Penrice scores in his third straight game to make it 1-1 and although the Tykes are the better outfit they can’t find a winner. Still, they’ll feel confident that another great escape might be in the cards. Right now, though, they are still nine points from safety.

Chelsea’s lead at the top of the table remains at six points after Leeds matches the Blues’ 1-1 result. Leeds pick up their draw against Millwall at The Den. Paul Williams, who has not reached the same heights he achieved in his first season at Elland Road, scores for Leeds, while Colin Cooper grabs Millwall’s goal.

Third place Norwich and fourth-place Liverpool also grab 1-1 draws: Norwich at Everton and Liverpool at Manchester United, so it’s largely as you were at the top of the table. The teams that gain ground are Sheffield Wednesday, who beat Coventry 0-2 at Highfield Road and Sunderland who beat Blackburn 2-1. The Blackburn result combined with Nottingham Forest’s 3-0 win over QPR means that Rovers are now in 17^th. They do have a seven-point cushion on QPR and Derby who grab a single point in their scoreless draw at Aston Villa.

Round 23 Table Chelsea 45; Leeds 39; Norwich 37; Sheff Wed, Liverpool, Sunderland 36

Blackburn 26 / QPR, Derby 19; Barnsley 15

 

Transfer activity is coming hot and fast now with multiple comings and goings nearly every week. Arsenal sell off another experienced piece as Nigel Winterburn goes to Wolves for 150k. Also in North London, Tottenham sell Nigel Spackman to Nottingham Forest for 50k. They replace him with another veteran midfielder, Micky Hazard comes in from Swindon for 10k. From a cost perspective, the biggest deal of the week sees winger Warren Aspinall join Aston Villa from Portsmouth for 400k.

The Coca-Cola Cup is down to its final four after the quarter finals threw out a couple of interesting results. Division One Watford knock out Tottenham 2-1 in an all-London contest. They’re joined in the last four by Aston Villa, who beat Wimbledon 2-1, Derby, who knock off Portsmouth, and Norwich who bounce Division Two leaders Bournemouth. The semis will see Norwich take on Derby and Watford against Aston Villa.

 ***

Round 24

There are big, big fixtures at the top and bottom of the table this week and the results have a huge impact on both the title race and the battle to avoid relegation. In the matchup of 1^st vs 2^nd, Chelsea are put to the sword by Leeds at Elland Road. Howard Wilkinson’s side, who were six points back of the Blues at the start of play, cut the gap to three after their 3-1 win. David Kerslake, Mark Stimson and Paul Williams all score for the defending champions, while Roy Wegerle replies for Chelsea.

At the bottom of the table, Derby pick up a big win against QPR at The Baseball Ground. The two clubs were tied on 19 points heading in to play, seven points behind Blackburn, but goals from Richard Goulooze, Paul Kitson and Craig Ramage move Arthur Cox’s side one step closer to safety. The Rams are now only four points behind Blackburn after Kenny Dalglish’s men are beaten 2-1 by Tottenham at Ewood Park. Vinny Samways and Mike Marsh score for Spurs in the win.

Also at the bottom of the table, Barnsley grab three big points and Gary Penrice scores in his fourth consecutive game, as the Tykes beat Sunderland 4-2 at Oakwell. Andy Liddell scored two for Barnsley in the win.

Also scoring two goals this week was Don Hutchison of Liverpool. The Reds pick up a 2-0 win over Wimbledon at Anfield, which combined with Norwich’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United, moves Graeme Souness’s men into third with 39 points. The Reds are three points behind Leeds and six behind Chelsea. Level with Liverpool is Sheffield Wednesday who pick up a 2-1 win over Millwall to stay in the hunt. John Sheridan and Nick Barmby score for the Owls while Etienne Verver grabs Millwall’s lone marker.

Round 24 Table: Chelsea 45; Leeds 42; Sheffield Wednesday, Liverpool 39

Blackburn 26 / Derby 22; QPR 19; Barnsley 18

[King Jeff]

The transfer market continues to heat up and Barnsley break their club record transfer fee in an attempt to secure their Premier League status. Arriving at Oakwell is Nicky Banger, a 23-year-old striker who has managed four top-flight goals from 35 appearances. His price tag is 800k, 200,000 more than their previous club record signing – we consider this an act of desperation. Let’s see if it pays off.

***

Next year will see a bunch of changes to competition structures but one competition that won’t be changing is the FA Cup. The “most famous” cup competition in the world reaches the fourth round where the highest profile tie is Chelsea vs Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were the better team on the night but it’s Tottenham who advance to the fifth round with a 1-0 win, thanks to a goal from Mike Marsh. In the other all-Premier League ties, Wimbledon beat Manchester City 2-0 and Aston Villa knock out Manchester United 1-0. Elsewhere there are wins for Sheffield Wednesday, Derby, QPR, Liverpool and Sunderland. Everton and Millwall are both bounced by lower-league opposition, while Southampton and Peterborough goes to a replay. The closest thing to a cup stunner was non-league Bury running Leeds very close. The two teams were tied 1-1 at half-time, then 2-2 when Bury had a man sent off. That opened the door for last year’s FA Cup hero, Lee Jones, to score a late winner and put Leeds into the last 16. You might recall that Jones came off the bench in last year’s FA Cup Final to score the goal that won Manchester City the Cup.

 

Midweek, the transfer market is active again, with the days ticking down until the deadline. QPR make the rather questionable decision to sell one of their starting defenders to a relegation rival when Roberto Herrera joins Derby for 500k. Tottenham are the busiest side this week, shipping out Mark Walters to Division One side Southend for 65k then replacing him with Aston Villa man Mark Gavin, who comes in for 80k. Moving down the Football League is 36-year-old Dave Beasant—the veteran keeper leaves Sheffield Wednesday to join Division Two Brighton for 10k.

***

Round 25

Last season, Leeds were the great benefactors from the team leading at the half-way point of the season throwing it all away in the second half of the campaign. Is history about to repeat itself? It’s starting to look more likely, after Chelsea are held to a 0-0 draw by Everton. That result means Dave Webb’s men are without a win from their last four league games.

Chelsea were saved somewhat by the fact that second-place Leeds were taking on third-place Sheffield Wednesday at Elland Road and with the two clubs sharing the points following a 1-1 draw, it’s very much as you were at the top. The team to make a big move was Coventry, whose fine form continues with a 2-0 win over Wimbledon at Highfield Road. That result moves Bobby Gould’s men into a tie for third with Wednesday. Liverpool, who were tied for third at the start of the day’s action, slipped back a point after they were beaten 2-0 by Southampton at The Dell.

In the relegation battle, Barnsley continue their decent run-they’re now five games without defeat following their 0-0 draw against Manchester City at Maine Road. QPR and Derby also draw against Tottenham and Norwich, respectively. With 17^th-palace Blackburn also drawing, it’s a complete status quo at the bottom of the table.

In a week largely devoid of excitement, you can always count on Sunderland’s fixtures to bring goals. They get into another high-scoring affair, this time at Villa Park, where they are downed 4-2 by Aston Villa. Dean Saunders scored twice for Aston Villa and young Trinidadian winger Dwight Yorke grabbed his first goal of the year in the win. Scott Green grabbed one of Sunderland’s goals, taking him to 11 on the year. He is two back of current top scorer Teddy Sheringham.

Round 25 Table: Chelsea 46; Leeds 43; Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry 40

Blackburn 27 / Derby 23; QPR 20; Barnsley 19

 

In Division One, we have a new leader! After Ipswich led for 18 straight weeks, they’ve been passed by Sheffield United, who top the league on goal difference over the Tractor Boys. The two clubs are five points clear of third-place Leicester. Crystal Palace sit fourth in the table, one point behind Leicester, while it’s Watford in fifth and Middlesbrough and Burnley tied for sixth. At the bottom of the table, Grimsby and Wolves are tied on 23 points, while West Ham sits in the basement with 22 points. With only two teams going down to Division Two this year, this one looks like it could go right until the last day.

 

Top Scorers

13 – Teddy Sheringham, Everton

12 – Gavin Peacock, Manchester United

11 – Scott Green, Sunderland

9 – Dean Saunders, Aston Villa

8 – Chris Bart-Williams, Sheffield Wednesday; Gordon Armstrong, Sunderland; Ian Olney, Wimbledon; Scott Houghton, Chelsea

7 – Craig Burley, Chelsea; David White, Manchester City; Dean Holdsworth, Millwall; Don Hutchison, Liverpool; Matt Le Tissier, Southampton

***

Round 26

We’ll start at the bottom of the table where there might be a major story brewing. 17^th-place Blackburn are now in a world of trouble after they are beaten 2-1 by Liverpool at Anfield. Rob Jones and Mark Robins score for the Reds while Alan Shearer sees red for Blackburn in defeat. Kenny Dalglish’s men are now just one point above the drop after Derby beat Southampton 1-0 at The Baseball Ground through a Mark Pembridge goal. With the bottom three all starting to find a bit of form, Derby and Barnsley specifically, and Blackburn going backwards, could we see Rovers destined for the drop?

Speaking of Barnsley, they stretch their unbeaten streak to six after picking up another draw, this time 0-0 at home against Norwich. They’re still seven points adrift, though. QPR are now propping up the table, after they are beaten 1-0 by Millwall. German midfielder Stefan Beinlich scores his first goal for Mick McCarthy’s team in the win.

The big game at the top of the table sees Chelsea demonstrate their bouncebackability by knocking off in-form Coventry 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. The goalscorer is Dominic Iorfa, who picks up his first goal since joining from Peterborough a couple of weeks ago. With Leeds losing 2-1 at Nottingham Forest, Chelsea’s lead is back up to six points at the top of the table. This fixture marked the first time all year that Stan Collymore and Nigel Clough have both scored in the same game – if you want to understand why it just hasn’t worked for Forest this year, that’s a pretty good illustration. Their big three just hasn’t got the job done.

Alongside Leeds are Sheffield Wednesday, who move into a tie for second after their 1-0 win over Manchester City. Nick Barmby scores for the Owls in the win.

Round 26 Table: Chelsea 49; Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds 43; Liverpool 42

Blackburn 27 / Derby 26; Barnsley, QPR 20

 

We close out January 1995 with the news that Tottenham's Doug Livermore is named Manager of the Month. Aston Villa’s Tony Daley is named Player of the Month. Daley becomes the third Aston Villa player to win Player of the Month on multiple occasions – he was named the first ever recipient of the award back in August 1992.

[King Jeff]

February of 1995 starts with a very surprising move in the transfer market. Arsenal captain Paul Merson is sold by the Gunners – that isn’t the surprising part, the destination is: he moves to Division Two Birmingham for 800k. Birmingham are in 8^th place in the third tier right now, but with six teams being promoted due to the realignment of the pyramid, they’re gambling (poor choice of words, maybe) on the fact Merse can make the difference and get them higher (again, probably not the best choice of words) in the pyramid.

 

Coca-Cola Cup Semi-Finals

We’ve largely ignored the league cup this year, but now that it is down to the last four clubs and we are guaranteed a slightly unexpected winner we’ll start to give the competition a little bit of credit.

In one semi-final, Norwich took on Derby with the first leg at Carrow Road. It was the visitors who struck first with Paul Kitson giving them a first half lead. However, Norwich were probably the better side on the night and they got a second half equalizer from John McGinlay. Norwich fans will rightly feel as though they should have picked up all three points but this tie hangs in the balance as it heads back to The Baseball Ground.

The second semi-final looks a little more cut and tried after Aston Villa jumped out to a two-goal lead at Vicarage Road in their tie against Watford. First half goals from Mark Blake and Dean Saunders have Ron Atkinson’s team with one foot in the final.

***

After a winter break from international friendlies, Terry Venables names his squad for a pair of upcoming contests. Uruguay will visit Wembley in March but before then England will travel to Lansdowne Park to take on the Republic of Ireland on February 15^th. Valentine’s Day in Dublin – what could possibly go wrong? The squad, then.

 

Goalkeepers: Tony Coton, Manchester City (3 caps); Ian Walker, Tottenham (no caps)

Defenders: John Scales, Wimbledon (1 cap); Paul Parker, Manchester United (26 caps); Terry Phelan, Manchester City (5 caps); Phil King, Sheffield Wednesday (no caps); Des Walker, Sampdoria (53 caps); Tony Adams, Aston Villa (26 caps); Martin Keown, Liverpool (9 caps); Paul Lake, Roma (3 caps)

Midfielders: Chris Bart-Williams, Sheffield Wednesday (4 caps, 1 goal); David Rocastle, Leeds (14 caps); Kevin Watson, Tottenham (8 caps, 1 goal); Lee Sharpe, Manchester United (3 caps); Nigel Clough, Nottingham Forest (19 caps, 2 goals); David Platt, Sampdoria (40 caps, 15 goals); Garry Parker, Aston Villa (1 cap); Fitzroy Simpson, Koln (no caps)

Attackers: Dalian Atkinson, Aston Villa (2 caps); Mike Sheron, Manchester City (3 caps, 1 goal); Teddy Sheringham, Everton (no caps); David White, Manchester City(no caps)

 

The last bit of club action before the international break is a round of games in the FA Cup 5^th Round. The biggest tie of the round features Liverpool knocking out Leeds with a 1-0 win at Anfield. Don Hutchison scores the games only goal for the Reds. In the only other all-Premier League tie, Aston Villa dump out Sheffield Wednesday with a victory on penalties. That keeps Villa’s hopes for a cup double alive. Derby also have a shot at an unlikely cup double after they beat Division One Newcastle 2-0 at St. James’ Park. Other teams through to the quarter finals are Tottenham, who beat Paul Merson’s Birmingham 3-2, QPR, Southampton and Wimbledon. Division One Sheffield United are the only non-Premiership team in the last eight.

 

There is a bit of transfer activity over the international break and wheeler-dealer Tottenham are involved again. They sell defender Jason Cundy to Liverpool for 600k, bringing in Nicky Marker from Blackburn to replace him at a price of 250k. Leeds also complete two pieces of business, selling Jon Newsome to QPR for 650k and bringing in midfielder Mark Quigley from Aston Villa for 150k.

Outside of the Premier League, Arsenal are also active, brining in Chelsea defender Steve Clarke for 200k and shipping off veteran striker Alan Smith to Millwall for 70k. Smith is expected to retire at the end of the season so this is very much a rental player arrangement unless Mick McCarthy can convince Smith to stay on.

***

Republic of Ireland vs England

International “Friendly”

Lansdowne Road, Dublin

 

Ireland: Alan Kelly, Jeff Kenna, Denis Irwin, Alan Kernaghan, Paul McGrath, Eddie McGoldrick, Andy Townsend ©, David Kelly, Niall Quinn, John Sheridan, Steve Staunton

England: Tony Coton; John Scales, Terry Phelan, Tony Adams, Des Walker; Kevin Watson, Nigel Clough, David Platt ©, Chris Bart-Williams; Dalian Atkinson, Mike Sheron

 

Author’s Note – this is one of those incidents where I wasn’t quite sure how to play this out. In the end there's no point pretending this didn't happen...

It started with the booing of national anthems, then progressed to chants of “No Surrender to the IRA” and Nazi salutes from a band of extremists from a group known as Combat 18. It ended with police sirens, riot police, and an English World Cup winner being called “Judas” by English supporters.

There was 27 minutes of football in there, somewhere, but it didn’t matter. The real story is what happened off the pitch. And if you don’t know what happened, YouTube is a wonderful resource. So’s Wikipedia.

Let's move on.

[King Jeff]

Round 27

Forgetting about riots and the like, it’s time to reset with Premier League action. In the big game near the top of the table, Liverpool take on Sheffield Wednesday at Anfield. Michael Thomas is famous for scoring big goals at Anfield, and while his goal today is just a bit less important than the one he scored in 1989, it keeps Liverpool in this year’s title race. It also knocks Wednesday back down to fourth in the league. Purely from anecdotal evidence, it seems to me that Sheffield Wednesday just can’t beat the other elite teams with enough consistency to end up as champions. But we’ll see.

At the top of the table, leaders Chelsea are back to their losing ways after their win over Coventry before the international break. The Blues have been in a run of lousy form lately and this time out they’re beaten 1-0 by Sunderland at Roker Park. Lee Glover, last year’s top scorer in Division One, grabs his seventh goal of the year in the win. Glover, like so many other members of Sunderland’s squad, has had no difficulty with the step up to the top tier this year.

Leeds headed into the round in second place and with Chelsea’s loss they had the chance to close the gap on the leaders. While Howard Wilkinson’s men were able to pick up a 1-1 draw at home against Manchester City and cut the deficit from six points to five, Liverpool’s win means the Reds jump into second while Leeds drop to third.

At the bottom of the table it’s as you were: the bottom four all draw with nary a goal in sight. Blackburn and Norwich ends scoreless, as does Barnsley v Derby and QPR Coventry. The Premier League—it’s the most exciting league in the world!

Round  27 Table: Chelsea 49; Liverpool 45; Leeds 44; Sheffield Wednesday 43

Blackburn 28 / Derby 27; Barnsley, QPR 21

 ***

Transfer Deadline Day 1995

This is the first transfer deadline in which clubs are willing to splash the cash and it starts with the leaders Chelsea breaking the Premier League transfer record to sign Les Ferdinand from Nottingham Forest for 2.725 million. Sir Les had a brilliant few months with Forest last year after his move from QPR but it just hasn’t happened for him this year – he only has two goals this season, and with Nigel Clough and Stan Collymore in the squad, George Graham might think he can better spend the proceeds upgrading other parts of his team. Demonstrating Graham’s priorities, Forest use a decent chunk of the cash from the Ferdinand transfer bringing in left-sided player John Beresford from Everton for 1.7 million. Beresford will likely inherit the number three shirt vacated by Stuart Pearce when he joined Chelsea earlier this season. Forest also sell Brian Laws to Manchester United on deadline day for 60k.

Manchester City make a couple of bizarre transfer decisions, offloading England’s number one keeper, Tony Coton, to Leeds for a paltry 250k. Then they make an even more head-scratching decision by selling another England international, young forward Mike Sheron, to Manchester United for 2 million. City aren’t done, though, bringing in defender Shaun Teale from Aston Villa for 750k and midfielder Vaughan Ryan from Coventry for 150k.

In addition to brining in Sheron and Laws, Manchester United are active on the sell side, offloading right winger Andrei Kanchelskis to Blackburn for 1.8 million. The Russian was surplus to requirements with Giggs and Sharpe on the wings. Steve Bruce also departs, joining Aston Villa for 50k.

Elsewhere on deadline day, Sunderland pick up Tottenham keeper Erik Thorstvedt for 550k, Coventry sign QPR defender Rufus Brevett for 500k, Norwich add Gary Rowett from Reading, and Barnsley bring in Craig Hignett from Notts County. As you can see, four of the 10 highest transfer fees in Premier League history were all paid today (deadline deals in italics).

 

Quote

Premier League Record Transfers

Name	From	To	Fee
Les Ferdinand	Forest	Chelsea	2.725m
Nick Barmby	Tottenham	Arsenal	2.4m
Stuart Ripley	Blackburn	Everton	2.3m
Darren Anderton	Tottenham	Crystal Palace	2.3m
Scot Gemmill	Forest	Aston Villa	2.2m
Mark Robins	Norwich	Liverpool	2.1m
Mike Sheron	Man City	Man Utd	2m
Mike Marsh	Liverpool	Tottenham	1.9m
Andrei Kanchelskis	Man Utd	Blackburn	1.8m
Gavin Johnson	Ipswich	Man City	1.7m
Les Ferdinand	QPR	Forest	1.7m
Teddy Sheringham	Tottenham	Everton	1.7m
John Beresford	Everton	Forest	1.7m

***

League Cup Semi-Finals

After the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals we speculated that that Aston Villa had already booked their place in the final when they beat Watford 2-0 at Vicarage Road. Any doubts that may have lingered when Dwight Yorke, Mark Blake and Garry Parker all scored in the first half to give Villa a 5-0 lead on aggregate. Watford pulled one back in the second half but Dean Saunders made it 4-1 on the night and 6-1 overall, ensuring Aston Villa will try for their first League Cup since 1977 when it took three games for Villa to finally beat Everton.

In a rematch of the 1975 League Cup Final, their opponent in the final will be Norwich City. The Canaries turn over Derby 2-0 at the Baseball Ground in a relatively even game.  Stuart Barlow, wearing the captain’s armband for the game, opened the scoring in the first half, then his strike partner John McGinlay scored on the other side of the break, booking Norwich a place in the finals for the first time since 1985.

In case you’re curious, Villa won the 1975 final – will history repeat itself 20 years later?

***

Round 28

This round’s big news comes from the Baseball Ground where Derby beats second-place Liverpool 3-1 thanks to goals from Paul Kitson, Tommy Johnson and Roberto Herrera. That result, combined with Blackburn’s 1-1 draw at Southampton (Alan Shearer scored against his old club in the fixture), means that Derby are out of the bottom three. It is the first time since the eighth round of fixtures that they have been out of the relegation places.

Also at the bottom of the table, Barnsley and QPR both lose. Barnsley lose 2-1 to fellow Yorkshire side, Sheffield Wednesday, with Bart-Williams and Barmby getting goals for the Owls and Martin Allen replying for the Tykes. QPR go down 3-1 to Manchester United, and Mike Sheron scores on his United debut in the win. Paul Ince and Guy Whittingham scored the other United goals, while David Howells scores QPR’s goal. Those results leave Barnsley and QPR nine points off safety and with ten games to go, both sides are all but relegated.

At the top of the table, Chelsea are Spursing it hard now. They’re beaten again, and now have just one win in seven games, after they lose 1-0 at Stamford Bridge against Wimbledon. Roger Joseph is the unlikely hero for the Dons as the defender scores his second goal of the year. Chelsea are only still at the top of the table because every team around them seems to be just as inconsistent. In addition to Liverpool losing, Leeds also go down, beaten by a Norwich side riding the crest of the wave from their League Cup result.

The hottest team in the league right now is, wait for it… Spurs! They are suddenly tied for third after a 2-0 win over Sunderland at White Hart Lane. Mark Atkins and Mike Marsh score for Doug Livermore’s side and wouldn’t it be something if they ended up being the team that benefitted from Chelsea doing a Spurs?

Round 28 Table: Chelsea 49; Sheffield Wednesday 46; Tottenham, Liverpool 45

Derby 30 / Blackburn 29; Barnsley, QPR 21

[King Jeff]

FA Cup Quarter-Finals

Aston Villa’s hopes of a cup double are officially gone after they are beaten by Liverpool in the FA Cup Quarter-Finals. Michael Thomas scored twice for Liverpool, one in each half, and that was enough for the Reds to win 2-1. Liverpool is joined in the semi-finals by red-hot Tottenham, who knock out Sheffield United 2-1. Sol Campbell opened the scoring for the Blades but a first-half equalizer from Andy Hinchcliffe and a second-half winner from Mike Marsh puts Spurs through.

Derby are another red-hot team these days and they advance to the last four by beating QPR 1-0 at the Baseball Ground. Welsh defender Chris Coleman scores the Rams’ goal in the victory. The last team in the final four is Wimbledon, who come from one goal down to beat Southampton 3-1 at Selhurst Park. Gary Kelly opened the scoring for the Saints but goals from Robbie Earle, Andy Clarke and Paul Miller sees Joe Kinnear’s side through. In the semi-final draw, Wimbledon will face Tottenham and Liverpool will take on Derby.

 

February ends with Derby manager Arthur Cox being named Manager of the Month. It’s the second time in his career he’s received the honour. The Player of the Month is Wimbledon defender Roger Joseph – he becomes the first Dons player to collect the award.

***

Last year we all had a quiet chuckle about the fact that Leeds won the league with 66 points. With ten games left in the season and a division leader on 49 points is it possible we’ll see a team win it with fewer points this year? At this point I don’t see any team being able to beat 66 – it’s looking more likely that 62 or 63 points will win the league. On the other hand, it will probably take more than 40 points to stay up. Madness.

 

Round 29

So who wants to win this thing?

Over the past couple of rounds we’ve been highlighting that the division’s two form sides are Tottenham and Derby. Naturally, neither team wins this time out. Spurs have their title challenge temporarily derailed in a 2-1 loss to Coventry. Peter Ndlovu and Istvan Kozma score for Bobby Gould’s side and suddenly the Sky Blues are back up to a tie for fourth in the league. Meanwhile, Derby are held 1-1 at The Baseball Ground by Manchester City: Tommy Johnson scores for the Rams while Scott Thomas grabs City’s goal.

Blackburn remain one point behind Derby after they collect a 0-0 draw at Sheffield Wednesday. That keeps the Owls in the title picture.

Chelsea should have had an easy path to victory this time out with a home game against bottom side QPR but instead they have to settle for a 2-2 draw. Roy Wegerle’s two goals for the Blues are cancelled out by markers from John Jensen and Andy Sinton. Chelsea might be out of top spot by this time next week after Liverpool beat Leeds to move within two points of the top spot. Mark Robins gets the goal for the Reds and that’s probably the end of Leeds’ hope of repeating as champions – they’re six points adrift but there now are six teams ahead of them.

Round 29 Table: Chelsea 50; Liverpool 48; Sheffield Wednesday 47; Tottenham, Coventry, Norwich 45

Derby 31 / Blackburn 30; Barnsley, QPR 22

 

Round 30

Everyone is Spursing now! Tottenham lose their second straight to slide right out of the title hunt (for the time being). It’s Manchester United to beat them, winning 2-0 at Old Trafford thanks to goals from Gavin Peacock, who is now the division’s top scorer with 14 goals, and Darren Ferguson.

Chelsea? Well, they are humiliated by Aston Villa 4-0 at Villa Park. Scot Gemmill scores twice in the win and Mark Blake and Dwight Yorke chip in the other goals. Sheffield Wednesday? Nearly as bad—they’re beaten 3-0 by Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. John Beresford scores his first goal for Forest since his move at the transfer deadline. Roy Keane and Stan Collymore grab the other goals. Liverpool manage to pick up a point in their scoreless draw against Norwich and that puts them one better than most other clubs. It also puts them one point off the lead.

The club which benefits the most from everyone else’s results are Coventry who are suddenly up to third in the league after their 3-0 win over Sunderland. Peter Ndlovu is in great form right now and he hits another two goals in this one, while Dennis Bailey scores his first goal since moving from QPR. Could the Sky Blues make an unlikely run to the title? They’re only two points back now.

There is a huge game at the bottom of the table when Blackburn host Derby. Neither team will be happy with the result – a 1-1 draw - but Blackburn will definitely look at this as a big opportunity missed. A pair of right backs grab the goals: Tony Dobson scores for Blackburn and Jason Kavanagh grabs his first of the year for Derby.

Barnsley were able to capitalize on the opportunity and they really have their tails up now. They’re just seven points off safety after they beat Leeds 2-1 at Elland Road. Club record transfer Nicky Banger scores his first goal for Barnsley and Simon Sturridge chips in the winner. Game on!

Elsewhere in the league, there’s a wild one between Wimbledon and Millwall at Selhurst Park—in a nasty contest, the teams combine for two goals and four red cards (one goal and two reds apiece). Kevin Gage and Keith Stevens grab the goals while Aiden Newhouse, Andy Clarke, Stefan Beinlich and Owen Archdeacon are all sent off in the 1-1 draw. So much for meaningless mid-table fixtures, eh?

Round 30 Table: Chelsea 50; Liverpool 49; Coventry 48; Sheffield Wednesday 47

Derby 32 / Blackburn 31; Barnsley 25; QPR 23

 

Top Scorers

14- Gavin Peacock, Manchester United

13 – Teddy Sheringham, Everton

12 – Dean Saunders, Aston Villa

11 – Scott Green, Sunderland

10 – Peter Ndlovu, Coventry

9 – Chris Bart-Williams, Sheffield Wednesday; Roy Weglere, Chelsea

8 – David White, Manchester City; Gordon Armstrong, Sunderland; Ian Olney, Wimbledon; Scott Houghton, Chelsea

 

In Division One, Ipswich are back on top after a brief run in second. They are three points up on Sheffield United at the moment, and six points up on third-place Leicester. Crystal Palace, Watford and Oxford make up the other three playoff positions right now. At the bottom it’s still West Ham and Grimsby in the relegation places.  

[oche balboa]

My money is on Liverpool to win it 

[King Jeff]

I picked Sheffield Wednesday at the mid-way point so I kind of have to stick with them, but yes, Liverpool are definitely the favourites now...

=================

Round 31

It’s taken a while (longer than it should have) but Chelsea have finally been knocked off the top of the table. The Blues, who have been top of the pile since Round 17, have hit the wall hard over the past few weeks and after this week’s 1-0 loss at Millwall, they’re down to second.

Coventry and Sheffield Wednesday, who entered the week’s games in third and fourth place respectively, also both lose. Coventry are beaten 2-0 by a Manchester United squad who are suddenly gaining momentum and within striking distance of the leaders – Paul Ince and Mike Sheron score for United in the win. Wednesday are beaten 1-0 by Norwich at Carrow Road thanks to a David Phillips goal. Remarkably, that moves Norwich up into third place. Don’t forget they are a newly-promoted team which sold off two of its biggest assets at the start of the year.

That means our new leaders are Liverpool, who move to the top of the tree with a 1-0 win over Barnsley. Russell Beardsmore has grabbed a couple of clutch goals for the Reds this year and he makes his mark here. It’s tough to see any way back for Chelsea now – the question is whether Liverpool are going to be able to survive on top until the end of the year. I think we’ve got at least a couple of more twists and turns ahead!

At the bottom of the table, Derby are able to open up some breathing space between them and Blackburn. The Rams are now four points up on Blackburn after Derby beat local rivals Nottingham Forest 1-0 at The Baseball Ground thanks to a goal from Marco Gabbiadini. By contrast, Blackburn are beaten 2-1 by Manchester City – Terry Phelan and Paul Stephenson score for City.

QPR are very nearly relegated now – they’re 12 points adrift after being beaten 1-0 by Sunderland at Loftus Road. Lee Glover has been carrying the load for Terry Butcher’s men lately and he grabs the goal in this one.

With the standings being so tight, I’m going to provide an updated table showing all clubs within nine points of the lead or within nine points of the drop. As you’ll see, that’s 19 of the 20 clubs – the only club that really isn’t involved in either battle is Southampton.

Round 31 Table:

1) Liverpool 52; 2) Chelsea 50; 3) Norwich 49; 4) Coventry 48; 5) Sheffield Wednesday 47; 6) Wimbledon 46; 7) Tottenham 45; 8) Manchester United 45; 9) Sunderland 45; 10) Aston Villa 44; 11) Leeds 44; 12) Millwall 44; 13) Manchester City 43

15) Everton 38; 16) Nottingham Forest 38; 17) Derby / 18) Blackburn 31; 19) Barnsley 25; 20) QPR 23

***

England vs Uruguay

International Friendly
Wembley Stadium

 

Lineups

England: Tony Coton; Terry Phelan (David Rocastle HT), Tony Adams, Des Walker, John Scales; Paul Lake; Kevin Watson, David Platt ©, Chris Bart-Williams; Teddy Sheringham (Mike Sheron 71), Dalian Atkinson (Nigel Clough 65)

Uruguay: Oscar Ferro, Oscar Aguirregaray, Alvaro Gutierrez, Diego Lopez, Diego Dorta, Paulo Montero, Gabriel Cedras, Pablo Bengoechea ©, Daniel Fonseca, Enzo Francescoli (Dario Debray 85), Gus Poyte

 

After the shenanigans in England’s last international it was a refreshing change to be able to focus on 90 minutes of football, even if it was a dreadful 90 minutes.

England showed a lack of ambition in the first half and Uruguay had little to offer themselves. It was so bad that the crowd of just 35,000 took to booing the home side, specifically aiming their displeasure at Sheffield Wednesday winger Chris Bart-Williams. In the second half, when England switched from a 4-1-3-2 to a more common 4-4-2 they looked livelier and should have won the match, but Mike Sheron missed a glorious chance 12 minutes from time when Watson fired in a deep cross that Tony Adams headed back into the area, and Sheron – unmarked and six yards from goal – headed it against the bar. The Manchester United man will know he needs to do better if he wants to claim a spot in the Euro 1996 squad next summer.  

Final Score: England 0-0 Uruguay

***

Round 32

It’s looking more and more like the Premier League title is heading to Anfield after Liverpool get a late goal from substitute Steve Harkness to beat Manchester City 1-0. That result, combined with Chelsea’s inevitable loss, 3-1 at home against Tottenham, means the gap between the top two is five points. More importantly is that they’re two clubs heading in very different directions – Liverpool are finding form and Chelsea have been atrocious for weeks. The hero for Spurs today is Gordon Durie who scores twice in the win – Durie had only managed two goals all year up until this point.

In the chasing pack, Norwich pull into a tie for second with Chelsea after they grab a 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. In a tie for fourth are Tottenham, Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry. Coventry slip back after they lose 2-0 at home against Millwall, thanks to Andy Melville and Stefan Beinlich goals. Meanwhile, Sheffield Wednesday end their game scoreless against 17^th-place Derby.

The gap between Derby and Blackburn is up to five points now, after a Paul Williams goal gives Leeds a 1-0 win over Kenny Dalglish’s men. At this rate, if anyone in the bottom three is going to escape, it seems more likely to be Barnsley, who are back to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Southampton. Gary Penrice scores the goal for the Tykes that pulls them within eight points of safety, and now they’re three points behind Blackburn. At the bottom of the table, it’s just a matter of time before QPR are officially relegated – they’re now 12 points adrift with 18 points left to play for. Picking up a point at Villa Park is not a bad result but it certainly isn’t enough to help their survival cause.

Round 32 Table: Liverpool 55; Chelsea, Norwich 50; Tottenham, Sheff Wed, Coventry 48

Derby 36 / Blackburn 31; Barnsley 28; QPR 24

[King Jeff]

FA Cup Semi-Finals

The way things are going, they might end up first and second in the Premier League, but there is one thing we know for sure: Tottenham will face Liverpool in the 1995 FA Cup Final at Wembley. Tottenham took on Wimbledon in a London derby held at Villa Park and jumped out to a 2-0 first half lead thanks to goals from Oleg Salenko and Kevin Watson. Wimbledon’s Aiden Newhouse clawed it back to 2-1 before the break, before Salenko scored his second of the game in the second half to give Doug Livermore’s side a 3-1 win and their spot in the final.

At Old Trafford, Liverpool also jumped out to a 2-0 first half lead over Derby. Don Hutchison opened the scoring and then Mark Robins made it two before the break. In the second half, an outclassed Derby clawed one back through Paul Kitson, but that was as close as they got.

Given the way the two teams are playing right now, we are expecting an exciting, high scoring final. (Cue the 0-0).

 

Round 33

Let’s start by taking a look at the form of the newly-confirmed FA Cup Finalists, starting with Premier League leaders Liverpool, who were at home to Sunderland. The Reds jump out to a first-half lead thanks to a goal from Russell Beardsmore but in the second half it’s Sunderland who come roaring back against the run of play: captain Gary Mabbutt grabs the equalizer and Gordon Armstrong puts Terry Butcher’s side 2-1 up. Liverpool were the better side, though, and finishing without a point would have been a cruel result. Ultimately, they were able to nick a point when Scott Sellars scored the game’s fourth and final goal. 2-2 at Anfield, then.

Much less drama at White Hart Lane where Tottenham explode for three first half goals in their 3-0 win over a Leeds side that’s already on the beach. Vinny Samways scored first and then Oleg Salenko grabbed a brace putting the result beyond doubt. It took a while for Salenko to bed himself in the Premier League but he seems to be adapting well now with four goals from his last two games.

While Spurs and Liverpool move forward, Chelsea continue to head in the wrong direction. They are well beaten by Southampton, 3-0 at The Dell. The Blues are still only six points back of the leaders but unless they have a complete 180 in form, they’re totally out of it now.

Looking for a late charge from an unexpected team? Keep an eye on Manchester United. Fergie’s men are now seven games without a loss after they beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 at Old Trafford. The Premier League’s leading goalscorer, Gavin Peacock, scores the only goal in the win. United are now just seven points back of Liverpool; however, they’ll probably need to pick up at least 13 points from their last 15 in order to lift the title, though, and that might be just a bit out of their reach.

In the relegation battle, Barnsley continue their incredible run, beating Millwall 3-2 at The Den. It’ll probably be too late to save them, but they’ve put in a heck of a performance trying to fight for survival. Barnsley’s front three of Andy Liddell, Gary Penrice and Nicky Banger all find the goal in the game, while Millwall’s goals come from Dean Holdsworth and a Charlie Bishop own goal.

Derby have matched Barnsley’s performances stride for stride and now look very likely to survive. They put in one of the performances of the week beating Coventry 4-1 at The Baseball Ground. Colin Woodthorpe, Mark Pembridge, Tommy Johnson and Marco Gabbiadini all score for the Rams in the win. That result moves Arthur Cox’s side to 39 points, they’re now level with Forest and seven points up on Blackburn who managed a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa at Ewood Park. The usual strike pair of the national team, Alan Shearer and Dalian Atkinson, grab the game’s goals.

At the bottom of the table, QPR pick up the three points they need to avoid being mathematically relegated this round. They grab a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday, which not only serves as their stay of execution, but also kills off Sheffield Wednesday’s title hopes.

 

We end March 1995 with an announcement that Arthur Cox is named Manager of the Month for the second straight month. Meanwhile, Tony Adams wins Player of the Month – it’s his third time winning that honour, the most it has been awarded to any individual.

***

 

1995 Coca-Cola Cup Final

Aston Villa vs Norwich

Wembley Stadium

 

It’s a replay of the 1975 League Cup Final. On that day, Aston Villa won 1-0 thanks to a late winner by Ray Graydon. Will we see a similar result this time around?

 

When you look at the season Aston Villa has had, you have to be a little disappointed. They’ve never really threatened at any point this year, spending most of the season oscillating between 8^th and 15^th in the league. They’ve been bolstered by excellent individual performances from Earl Barrett and Tony Adams at the back and Tony Daley in midfield. Of course, Dean Saunders has led the way up front, although Dalian Atkinson has stepped up this year to be a regular goal scorer.

 

For Norwich, it’s tough to imagine how this year could have gone any better. They’ve been floating around the top five of the table for a good portion of the year, and although they’ve never really looked like they were going to go on and challenge to win the league, they’ve immediately established themselves as one of the teams in the second tier, safe in the upper-half of the table. Everything the Canaries have accomplished has been as a team – but in the League Cup run it’s been all about John McGinlay. The 31-year-old Scottish striker has scored in five straight cup games heading in to the final.

 

The Road to Wembley:

Aston Villa

Round 2, 1^st Leg: York 2-1 Aston Villa (Gemill)

Round 2, 2^nd Leg: Aston Villa 1-0 York (Atkinson) Aston Villa win on away goals

Round 3: Aston Villa 2-1 Oxford (Atkinson x2)

Round 4: Aston Villa 2-0 Fulham (Atkinson, Saunders)

Round 5: Wimbledon 1-2 Aston Villa (Parker, Yorke)

Semi-Final, 1^st Leg: Watford 0-2 Aston Villa (Blake, Saunders)

Semi-Final, 2^nd Leg: Aston Villa 4-1 Watford (Blake, Parker, Saunders, Yorke)

 

Norwich

Round 2, 1^st Leg: Norwich 0-0 Southampton

Round 2, 2^nd Leg: Southampton 0-3 Norwich (Fox x2, Crook)

Round 3: West Ham 0-1 Norwich (McGinlay)

Round 4: Ipswich 0-1 Norwich (McGinlay)

Round 5: Norwich 2-1 AET Bournemouth  (Barlow, McGinlay)

Semi-Final, 1^st Leg: Norwich 1-1 Derby (McGinlay)

Semi-Final, 2^nd Leg: Derby 0-2 Norwich (Barlow, McGinlay)

 

Lineups:

Aston Villa: Mark Bosnich; Steve Staunton, Stuart Redmond ©, Tony Adams, Earl Barrett; Dwight Yorke, Mark Blake, Scot Gemmill, Garry Parker; Dalian Atkinson, Dean Saunders

Subs: Neil Cox, Ian Bogie

 

Norwich: Bryan Gunn; Mark Bowen, John Polston, Darren Wassall, Ian Culverhouse; Ian Crook, Jason Minett, Daryl Sutch, Ruel Fox; Stuart Barlow©, Nick Summerbee

Subs: John McGinlay, Kevin Russell

 

Mike Walker springs a surprise with his lineup selection by putting John McGinlay on the bench and starting Nick Summerbee up front. McGinlay’s form in this competition leading up to the final would have been enough for us to include him in the starting eleven. But that’s why we aren’t managers – it’s Nick Summerbee who grabs the game’s opening goal in the first half to give Norwich the lead. (Sorry for doubting you, Mike). The game is slow and cagey with the teams relatively even on position and generating few chances.  The second half sees Villa’s backline control the game but nothing in the way of chances generated – Norwich City are the 1995 Coca-Cola Cup Winners!

 

Final Score: Aston Villa 0-1 Norwich (Summerbee)

Man of the Match: Tony Adams, Aston Villa

Norwich win the League Cup for the third time.

[King Jeff]

Round 34

It’s all up for grabs now…

 

We start the weekly recap at The City Ground where a Gary Crosby goal gives George Graham’s Nottingham Forest side a 1-0 victory over leaders Liverpool. That result probably ensures Forest are safe, and it opens the door for Tottenham and Norwich, each five points back at the start of play to close the gap.

At Villa Park, Aston Villa rebound well from their League Cup final defeat by jumping out to a 2-0 first half lead, thanks to goals from Scot Gemmill and Dalian Atkinson. Neil Ruddock pulled one back for Tottenham in the second half but it wasn’t enough and Ron Atkinson’s side win 2-1. That might be the end of Spurs’ title hopes.  Meanwhile, at Maine Road, Manchester City might have delivered a similar blow to Norwich after a first-half goal from David White was the difference in a 1-0 City win.  So Norwich and Tottenham remain five points back of Liverpool.

The battle for second, then, took place at Stamford Bridge where Chelsea were trying to arrest their slide and get back into the hunt. They took on a Manchester United side, who would jump into second place with a win. From the get-go, it was obvious the stakes were high and both teams flew into tackles – the first turning point came very early on when United defender Alan Wright was sent off for a two-footed tackle that required Graham Stuart to be stretchered off. Just five minutes later, his replacement Robert Fleck was also stretchered off. Roy Wegerle became the third Chelsea player to be stretchered off before half-time when he is taken out by Lee Sharpe. Sharpe stays on the field, though, and the two teams play the last 45 minutes with 10 players each. There was no doubt that United were a much better side on the day and they got the win their performance, if not their fair play, deserved when Paul Parker was able to head home a corner in the second half. When the whistle blew, the away end erupted – Manchester United are in second place, now only four points back of Liverpool.

The losses from the top three heading into play also opened an opportunity for more teams to get back in to the fight. Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry and Sunderland all move within six points of the top.

 

At the bottom of the table, QPR are relegated.  It’s been a long time coming but a 1-0 loss to Wimbledon at Selhurst Park was the final nail in the coffin for Gerry Francis’s men. In the end, they went out with a whimper – they didn’t manage a single shot on Wimbledon’s goal in the loss.

The biggest game at the bottom of the table saw Blackburn travel to Oakwell to take on Barnsley. I’m not sure why I’m surprised by this result but Barnsley end up getting a second-half winner from Andy Liddell to keep their chances of survival alive. On the other hand, it’s tough to see a way back for Blackburn now. They’re eight points from safety with four games to go.

Round 34 Table: Liverpool 56; Manchester United 52; Tottenham, Sheff Wed, Wimbledon, Norwich, Coventry 51; Sunderland, Chelsea 50

Everton, Derby 40 / Barnsley 34; Blackburn 32; QPR 27 (R)

 

A quick look down in Division One, where Sheffield United and Ipswich are tied for first, seven points up on third-place Leicester. Barring a completely unexpected collapse, both teams will have their promotion confirmed in the next couple of games.

***

Round 35 Preview

With so many teams pulled back in to the title race, we’ll start previewing all the round’s key fixtures before moving into the round up.

 

Key Fixtures

Liverpool vs Chelsea

Manchester United vs Barnsley

Tottenham vs Nottingham Forest

Everton vs Sheffield Wednesday

Blackburn vs Wimbledon

Norwich vs Aston Villa

Southampton vs Coventry

Derby vs Sunderland

 

The big game at the top takes place at Anfield where leaders Liverpool take on Chelsea. A look at Chelsea’s form over the past couple of months tells us this should be a straight-forward win for the Reds but we think there’s at least one more twist in this title race that’s why we’re predicting a Chelsea win.

Up at Old Trafford you have two teams in great form, each fighting for very different things. Manchester United have come from nowhere in the past few weeks to be in with a legitimate shot at the title. They’ve been galvanized by the signing of Mike Sheron from Manchester City – United are unbeaten since his arrival at the deadline. By contrast, Barnsley are probably the league’s hottest team with only one loss in their last 11. Even so, a loss and they’ll be all but certain of relegation. Something has to give here but we think Barnsley’s remarkable form will carry on and they’ll eke out at least a point. Barnsley to win or draw is our pick.

Our home banker this week will be Tottenham to beat Nottingham Forest. Spurs are finding their form and Oleg Salenko has been on fire the last month. By contrast, Forest are stumbling across the line – with their win over Liverpool last week, they’re all but guaranteed to stay up and we wonder whether they’ll consider it job done and start planning for next season. Spurs to win.

Sheffield Wednesday haven’t lived up to our expectations since we picked them to win the title. This is really their last shot at it – if they lose against Everton, they’ll be finished. Everton have been out of sorts for a while and are now sucked into the relegation battle. Famous last words here but Everton are too good to go down. I expect the Toffees to get a draw and secure their survival.

It’s now or never for Blackburn after their loss to Barnsley last week has really put them under the gun. If results go against them, they could be relegated. On the other side of the coin, Wimbledon have suddenly snuck into title contention, sitting six points back of the leaders. They’ll probably need to win out from here to lift the trophy, and we think that’s a bridge too far. They’ll lose to Blackburn and end up safely in mid-table where we’ve expected them to be all along.

Elsewhere, Norwich vs Aston Villa is a rematch of the league cup final from a couple of weeks ago. Norwich won on that day and we have a sneaking suspicion Villa will turn the tables this time around.  Coventry are another Wimbledon – they’d need to win out to win the title and we don’t’ think they have it in them. They’ll fall at the first hurdle against Southampton. Sunderland are long shots, too, but their opponents are a Derby side who are still one result away from being safe. Arthur Cox’s team has been in great form the past couple of months, but we expect them to slip up once or twice between now and the end of the year. We’re predicting an away win.

[King Jeff]

Round 35

We start at Anfield where league leaders Liverpool hosted the team that led the way for most of the season, Chelsea. Chelsea are at the bottom of the form table, therefore it would only make sense that they score with the first two shots of the game: Roy Wegerle grabs the opener and captain Stuart Pearce scores his first Chelsea goal to make it 2-0. A stunned Liverpool side are thrown a lifeline when Chelsea midfielder Charlie Hartfield is sent off just before half time. The second half is all Liverpool, they throw everything but the kitchen sink at the Blues and when Don Hutchison scores to make it 2-1, it cues the inevitable collapse. Or so everyone would have thought: instead, Chelsea stand firm and Kevin Hitchcock is massive in the Blues goal. 2-1 is the final score, Chelsea complete a smash and grab job to pick up all three points. Game on!

Over to you, Manchester United. Alex Ferguson’s men have a great chance to jump to within one point of Liverpool, but their opponents are a Barnsley side who are proving to be nearly impossible to beat lately. It starts well for United when Mike Sheron scores the opener in the first half. That makes five goals from eight appearances for Sheron since the England international striker moved from Man City at the transfer deadline. Barnsley are a tough out, though, and they snatch a point in the late going when substitute midfielder Marcus Ebdon scores to make it a 1-1 final. Despite all of Barnsley’s efforts over the past couple of months, that might be the end of the line for them. They’re five points from safety with nine points to play for now.

So too are Blackburn who keep their hopes for survival alive with a 3-1 win over Wimbledon. The Dons were one of those teams who suddenly found themselves in a title race they had no business being in but the loss today will surely eliminate them. Kevin Gallacher was the star man for Rovers this time, scoring two, while Wimbledon’s goal was scored by Ian Olney who is now in double digits for the year.

Back at the top of the table, and among the group of five teams who were tied for third at the start of play, Tottenham and Sheffield Wednesday both grab maximum points. Spurs cruise by Nottingham Forest 2-0 at White Hart Lane thanks to an Oleg Salenko double, while Wednesday beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park with Nick Barmby getting the goal. Everton are now sitting alone in 17^th on the bubble – a spot they have absolutely no business being in, considering the weapons they have in attack.

Norwich keep their faint hopes alive with a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa in a rematch of the League Cup Final. Ian Crook scores the Canaries’ goal while Dalian Atkinson continues his good run by grabbing Villa’s goal. It’s probably curtains for Sunderland and Coventry, though. Sunderland are held to a 1-1 draw by Derby and Coventry are beaten 2-1 by Southampton.

Round 35 Table: Liverpool 56; Tottenham, Sheff Wed 54; Chelsea 53; Man Utd, Norwich 52; Sunderland, Wimbledon, Coventry 51; Aston Villa, Millwall 50

Derby 41; Everton 40 / Barnsley, Blackburn 35; QPR 30 (R)

 

Remember when we laughed at Leeds winning the title with 66 points last year? I’m not convinced anyone will crack 60 this time around!

 

Down in Division One, Sheffield United and Ipswich are still deadlocked on points, they have 64 each. Crystal Palace has moved up to third with 57, Leicester are on 56, Watford on 55 and Newcastle have snuck into the playoff spots on 52 points. Oxford sit in 7^th with 49. Down at the bottom, West Ham and Grimsby continue to occupy the two relegation spots but Wolves are just one point up on the Hammers.

 

Top Scorers

15 – Gavin Peacock, Manchester United

14 – Teddy Sheringham, Everton

12 – Dean Saunders, Aston Villa

11 – Peter Ndlovu, Coventry; Scott Green, Sunderland

10 – Ian Olney, Wimbledon; Roy Wegerle, Chelsea

9 – Chris Bart-Williams, Sheff Wed; David White, Man City; Gordon Armstrong, Sunderland

***

Round 36 Preview

 Key Fixtures

Tottenham vs Liverpool

Aston Villa vs Sheff Wed

Man Utd vs Southampton

QPR vs Norwich

Millwall vs Derby

Everton vs Blackburn

Wimbledon vs Barnsley

 

There are two huge games this week, one at the top of the table and one in the relegation battle. At the top, it’s a preview of the FA Cup Final as Tottenham will take on Liverpool. The stakes are simple: with a win, Spurs will go into first, either tied with Sheffield Wednesday or on their own. A Liverpool win would eliminate Tottenham and all but guarantee the title goes to Anfield. If there’s a draw, Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday could be tied for first. Wednesday have a tricky tie up next, heading to Villa Park. We are calling for Spurs and Wednesday to both win, which will really throw the cat amongst the pigeons.

In the relegation battle, it’s 17^th place Everton against 18^th-place Blackburn. There’s a five-point gap between the two teams right now so an Everton win or draw would relegate Blackburn. A Rovers win means we’re going down to the wire. We’re not sure what’s going on with Everton but they should have enough to get at least a draw and kill off the relegation battle early. Although from a neutral’s perspective we’d like to see Blackburn win and keep this thing alive at least another week.

Barnsley¸ also five points from safety, will hope to capitalize on the fact Wimbledon lost their chance to be among the title contenders last week. Although they still have a mathematical shot at the title, we can’t see it. A draw does neither team any good but that’s exactly the result we’re predicting.

In other contests with title implications, Chelsea are taking on Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge. Now that Chelsea are back to their winning ways and potentially derailed Liverpool’s title challenge last week, it would only make sense for them to shoot themselves in the foot and blow this one. We’ll call for a Forest win. Manchester United take on Southampton at Old Trafford and we think they’ll be able to pick up the three points they need to stay alive in the hunt. Mike Sheron’s been a real difference maker for United and we think that’ll continue. In the last profiled game, Norwich travel to West London to take on QPR. With Rangers already relegated they seem to be playing looser and we wouldn’t be surprised to see them win this one.

 

[Deisler26]

Are Arsenal mid-table Div 1??

[King Jeff]

Short answer is yes. Longer answer is that they’ve been hovering between 12^th and 15^th for most of the year. Because there are only two relegation places and there have been three really bad teams in Division One (West Ham, Grimsby and Wolves), there’s never been a concern of Arsenal going down, but they are a long way off the playoffs. 11 points, to be exact. We’ll dive deeper into this in the close season; however, Arsenal, should benefit from the move to the CM2 engine. I’d expect to see both them and Newcastle right up at the top of D1 next year (assuming Newcastle don’t get promoted this year).

 ================

Round 36

There’s only one place to start: White Hart Lane, for what could be the title decider between Liverpool and Tottenham. The permutations are simple – if Liverpool win, they’ll almost certainly win the league. A draw keeps it in the balance, and a Spurs win means they move to the top of the table. The game was suitably cagey in the first half, and although Tottenham were in the ascendancy we finished the first 45 minutes without a goal. In the second half, the breakthrough comes and it’s Tottenham who take the lead! The goal comes from an extremely unlikely source – Neil Ruddock bangs in his second of the year after a scramble following a corner kick. Overcome with emotion, the notorious hardman races to the crowd where he’s mobbed by teammates and fans. After the goal, Mike Marsh and Kevin Watson control the flow of the game in midfield and Liverpool aren’t able to threaten – their best chance comes to Don Hutchison, but Perry Suckling is able to make a routine save. The final score is 1-0 Tottenham – Spurs go to the top of the pile. Can Sheffield Wednesday join them?

At Villa Park if you’d asked someone who had no awareness of the title situation which one of the two teams playing – Aston Villa or Sheffield Wednesday – had a shot at the title they would have picked Villa. Ron Atkinson’s team are dominant, racking up 64% possession, while Wednesday look completely inept. Despite that, the game was scoreless at the break. If Wednesday were going to have a threat on the counter attack it was going to be Chris Bart-Williams, but Villa just dominated the midfield and ultimately got their reward in the second half when Scot Gemmill scored the game’s only goal. For Wednesday, they’ll live to fight another day, mathematically, but that might be the end of their title push.

Chelsea and Manchester United both stay alive another week, as well, with draws in their respective fixtures. Chelsea is held by Forest 0-0 at Stamford Bridge while 10-man United pick up a draw against Southampton at Old Trafford. Guy Whittingham is sent off in the match and United will miss him for the rest of the season, which could be a costly blow. Norwich, Wimbledon and Coventry are all still mathematically alive but they’re probably out of the running after none of the teams picked up a win this time out.

At the bottom of the table, Blackburn scored a huge win over Everton when Alan Shearer grabs the game’s only goal in a 1-0 Rovers win. Shearer has confirmed he’ll be moving to the continent in the summer, regardless of whether Blackburn stay up, and the Ewood Park faithful have considered his signing a big disappointment. Derby aren’t safe yet, either: they’re only three points ahead of Blackburn now, after they are beaten 2-0 by Millwall at The Baseball Ground. Malcolm Allen and Phil Barber score for Mick McCarthy’s men in the win.

 

Two games to go – who’s going to win this thing?

Round 36 Table: Tottenham 57; Liverpool 56; Manchester United, Chelsea, Sheffield Wednesday 54; Aston Villa, Norwich, Wimbledon, Millwall 53

Derby 41; Everton 40 / Blackburn 38; Barnsley 36; QPR 31 (R)

 

Down in Division One, it’s been a long time coming, but Sheffield United and Ipswich are promoted to the Premier League. The two sides had been clear of the pack for a long time and bounce back to the top-flight at the first time of asking. The third team to go down last year, Oldham, are seven points adrift of the playoffs so their season is over.

***

Round 37 Preview

Key Fixtures

Manchester City vs Tottenham

Liverpool vs Millwall

Leeds vs Manchester United

Norwich vs Chelsea

Sheffield Wednesday vs Sunderland

Barnsley vs Aston Villa

Nottingham Forest vs Wimbledon

Derby vs Everton

Blackburn vs Coventry

 

After their win over Liverpool last week, Tottenham now control their own destiny. If they win their last two games, against Manchester City and Barnsley, they will be Premier League champions. Given the way they’ve been playing lately it’s tough to bet against them but this is Spurs and nothing ever seems straight-forward in this league. We’re going to call for a City win and more broken hearts for Tottenham fans.

Liverpool need to get over their disappointment from last week and take it one game at a time. They must know that if they drop any more points they’ll be done. This week they’re at home against a Millwall side who are still in the title race with an outside shot. This will be a test of Liverpool’s mental strength, but we think they’ll pass it and hold the advantage heading in to the last day.

For Manchester United the job is simple. Win their last two games and hope for some help. The first obstacle in their path is the defending champions Leeds. It’s been a disappointing second half of the year for Howard Wilkinson’s men but we think they’ll enjoy having the opportunity to play the role of spoilers. We’re predicting a home win and the end of United’s title challenge.

For us, Chelsea are too inconsistent to be expected to win their last two fixtures and keep the pressure up. We think they’re going to struggle to a draw against Norwich, officially eliminating both teams. Sheffield Wednesday should be able to keep their faint hopes alive into the last week by beating a Sunderland side who have nothing to play for anymore.

In the key games of the relegation battle, a draw in the Derby vs Everton game would go a long way to securing both teams’ survival. We’re not calling for a Gijon-esque set-up, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it just happened to end 1-1. Blackburn need to win to keep the pressure on and we expect they’ll do that, beating a Coventry side who have nothing to play for anymore. Lastly, we think this will be the week in which Barnsley’s relegation is confirmed – they come up against an Aston Villa side in good form and suddenly just outside the title race. If they win and Tottenham and Liverpool both lose, they’d be within one point of top spot. Villa win for us.

 

Up next: The penultimate round.

[King Jeff]

Round 37

Rather than starting with a look at the top, let’s start by looking at all the teams who are now out of contention. It’s quite a list.

Wimbledon are eliminated after they fall 1-0 to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. The sad irony for Wimbledon fans is that it’s an own goal by their best player, John Scales, which kills them. We fully expect the Dons to lose next week and finish somewhere around ninth in the league.

As we predicted, Norwich vs Chelsea ended in a draw, eliminating both teams. Norwich were the better team and racked up 11 shots on target, but Kevin Hitchcock stood tall in the Chelsea goal and the game ended 0-0. Objectively this has been a great season for both clubs, although Chelsea fans will still likely think they threw away the title.

It’s also the end of the road for our title picks, Sheffield Wednesday. They come back from behind twice against Sunderland, including grabbing a late equalizer from substitute Martin Foyle, but they needed three points in order to keep their hopes alive and the 2-2 draw wasn’t enough. Manchester United are also out after they lose 1-0 to Leeds at Elland Road. Paul Williams has been a bit of a flop this year but he scores his fourth goal of the year in the win. Leeds will end up the season finishing somewhere around 10^th. Aston Villa end the round in third place but they’re also eliminated. They did all they could to stay in it, they won their game against Barnsley 3-1 at Oakwell, with Dalian Atkinson hitting a double, but with results going against them in other grounds, they’re done. Barnsley are relegated with the loss – I’ll give Mel Machin’s side credit, they fought incredibly hard throughout the second half of the season, they just had too much of a deficit to claw back. Unfortunately, I don’t think they’ll adjust to life in Division One very well, either, so it might be a bit of a tough process for them to get back into the top flight.

In the big game at the bottom of the table, Derby and Everton play to a 1-1 draw. How convenient. The point ensures Derby’s safety, which is a great accomplishment for Arthur Cox’s side. Everton aren’t mathematically safe, but Blackburn will need to win, hope Everton lose, and there is a six-goal swing next week. Blackburn need a miracle because they completely threw it away at home against Coventry. They were put on the back foot by conceding an early Tony Dobson own goal and then just never fought their way back into it – when Peter Ndlovu scored Coventry’s second, it was curtains for Rovers. Surely they’re going down.

So that leaves two teams at the top: Tottenham and Liverpool. It’s not often we can say this but both of the leading clubs did what they needed to do (i.e., win) to keep their title chances alive. Spurs got a first half goal from Oleg Salenko and then held on for a 1-0 win over Manchester City at Maine Road. City were probably deserving of at least a point but for all their possession they didn’t offer much going forward and the lack of finishing cost them.

At Anfield, Liverpool jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first half with a goal from midfielder Russell Beardsmore. Don Hutchison made it 2-0 before Millwall forward Dean Holdsworth pulled back a consolation marker. Graeme Souness’s men have ensured the title will be awarded on the last day, but will it be Tottenham or Liverpool who win it?

Round 37 Table: Tottenham 60; Liverpool 59; Aston Villa 56; Chelsea, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry 55

Everton 41 (-3 GD) / Blackburn 38 (-8 GD); Barnsley 36 (R); QPR 32 (R)

***

 

1995 UEFA Cup Final, 1^st Leg

AC Milan vs Esjberg

San Siro, Milan

 

Although AC Milan have managed to finish only fourth in Serie A this year, there is no doubt they enter the UEFA Cup Final as firm favourites over Danish side Esjberg. The first half must have seemed very routine to the Milanese fans: Giovanni Stroppa scored in the 40^th minute to make it 1-0 at the break and the Danes rarely threatened.

 In the second half, the game came to life, though: five minutes in to the half, Esjberg cut through the famous Milan backline and Alessandro Costacurta made a poor tackle in the box—penalty! The spot kick was converted and suddenly Esjberg held all the cards. Seven minutes later it went from bad to worse for Milan – Danish Under 21 striker Chris Hermansen scores to make it 2-1 for the visitors. But then Marco Simone woke up – he scores two goals in five minutes to swing the momentum back in the Rossoneri’s favour. And that’s how it ended – 3-2 Milan but the final is very much in the balance heading back to Denmark for the second leg.

Final Score: Milan 3-2 Esjberg

*** 

Round 38 Preview

It all comes down to three games: Barnsley vs Tottenham, Liverpool vs Everton, and Blackburn against Manchester United. At the top of the table, the scenarios are simple. Liverpool must win their game and hope Tottenham lose or draw at Barnsley. As Spurs have a greatly superior goal difference, a draw for Liverpool and a loss for Spurs, which would have the teams level on 60 points, won’t be enough for the Reds to win the league.

In the relegation fight, Blackburn need to win and hope Everton lose, however the two games must have enough of a margin that there is a six-goal swing in Blackburn’s favour.

Fearless predictions: Tottenham will exorcise their demons, beat a now-relegated Barnsley side, and win the league. Liverpool will beat Everton but it will be all for naught from their perspective. At the bottom, Everton and Blackburn will finish tied on 41 points and Everton will stay up on goal difference.

 

Round 38

1^st Half Updates

 

Danny Baker: “We’re here at Anfield, and on a day in which the home faithful were hoping for a title celebration, it’s the away end who is celebrating for now. “We are staying up, we are staying up” is the chants from the Everton faithful after Tony Cottee’s goal has Howard Kendall’s men 1-0 up over Liverpool at the break. Cottee has been somewhat of a forgotten man this year but he’s wearing the captain’s armband and putting in a captain’s performance today.”

David Mellor: “That’s right, Danny. We’ve seen Liverpool lose titles on the last day in dramatic fashion before, but I think the thing that will be extra disappointing to Graeme Souness and Reds fans right now is just how little inspiration and desire we’ve seen from the team. I can’t even recall Mike Hooper having a save to make. I imagine they’re getting a real telling off in the locker room right now.”

DB: “So that’s the latest here. Our correspondent Pat Murphy is at Oakwell – Pat, do you have any good news for Liverpool fans or will it be Tottenham fans who are celebrating?”
Pat Murphy: “Well I guess it depends on your definition of celebrating. There was a roar of celebration in the away end when news of Everton’s goal filtered back to Oakwell, but at the same time there are still a lot of nerves here. Right now it’s nil-nil; however, you’d have to say Tottenham have been the better side and if anyone is going to get a goal it will probably be Spurs. And if that goal comes, then the celebrations will begin in earnest.

For Barnsley, Andy Liddell has been active but otherwise this looks like a team that knows it has been relegated and has lost some of the fight and spirit we saw over the past couple of months.  On the other hand, Spurs’ midfield of Watson, Marsh, Samways and Woan are clearly controlling the game. Salenko and Durie have both had a couple of opportunities – no goals yet but you get the sense this will be Tottenham’s day.”

Danny Baker: “Thanks, Pat. And what’s happening at Ewood Park, then? David, you have your eyes on that one.”

David Mellor: “I have, yes. To their credit, Blackburn are doing everything they can – they’ve been a better side than Manchester United and they have a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal from Alan Shearer. Of course this will be Shearer’s last game in a Blackburn uniform, as he’s heading to a big club in Italy in the summer. As such, you heard a smattering of jeers by the Rovers fans at the start of the game.

I think everyone here knows that it will take a miracle for Blackburn to survive now, though. United have been decent today, especially their young wingers Sharpe and Giggs, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they pulled this back level in the second half. I think Blackburn’s time in the top-flight is up, Danny.”

Danny Baker: “Indeed. Thanks for that report, David, and sorry, Blackburn fans. I guess it just goes to show you can’t just buy the Premier League title.

But who will win the title? Will it be Spurs? Will it be Liverpool? We’ll find out in 45 minutes.”

[King Jeff]

Round 38 – Full Time

Danny Baker: “Hello, everyone and welcome back to Anfield. A day that promised so much drama has just ended. Let’s start at Ewood Park where Blackburn needed a win over Manchester United and some help in order to stay up. David Mellor, you were keeping an eye on this one. It was 1-0 Blackburn at the half – how did it end?”

David Mellor: “It finished 2-0 for Blackburn, Danny. Alan Shearer, who just never delivered on all his promise during his time at Ewood Park, bows out here by scoring a brace. I have no doubt that Kenny Dalglish will be thinking to himself that if Shearer could have had three or four more games at the level he played at today then they would have survived with ease. But it isn’t enough. Blackburn are relegated.”

Danny Baker: “Before we throw it to Oakwell, I just wanted to get your immediate thoughts on where Blackburn go from here. Kenny Dalglish – does he stay or go? And what about some of the higher-priced players they have on their books: Andrei Kanchelskis, Patrik Andersson, Kevin Gallacher, Graham Le Saux and captain Eddie McGoldrick – surely they won’t want to play in Division One.”

David Mellor: “I agree, Danny. I think Dalglish will go; in fact, I’d bet my mortgage on it. Kanchelskis and Andersson – I don’t see them staying, either. Le Saux will probably be scooped up by someone, as will Jason Wilcox. It’ll be a tough summer for them.”

Danny Baker: “And this is probably where we say good-bye to Bryan Robson. A brilliant playing career is over, certainly at this level – he didn’t feature at all for Blackburn this year but we understand he was active in the coaching scheme – could he be a decent bet as next manager?”

David Mellor: “Certainly a possibility, Danny. Robson has been very up front about the fact that he wants to get involved in management in some capacity. Whether it’s at Blackburn or somewhere else, I’d expect to see him on the sidelines next year.”

Danny Baker: “Great stuff.

When we spoke to you 45 minutes ago, Everton were 1-0 up over Liverpool thanks to a Tony Cottee goal, and Liverpool, who had a decent shot at the title, seemingly hadn’t showed up. What happened in the second half, David?”

David Mellor: “Nothing. If I were standing on the Kop I’d be more angry than disappointed, but this is Liverpool – they shouldn’t have just rolled over and died. Especially not against Everton. Today there was no fight, no steel, none of the qualities that epitomized Graeme Souness as a player existed in his team today. Everton win 1-0.”

Danny Baker: “And that made it academic… but let’s go to Oakwell, where there is a title celebration happening! Pat Murphy: describe the scenes.”

Pat Murphy: “Tottenham Hotspur have won the Premier League! With results going their way at Anfield today’s request was inconsequential but Spurs got a second-half winner from the captain Ian Woan, who broke through the Barnsley backline and scored the decisive goal. And now it is Woan who hoists the Premier League trophy over his head – blue and white ticker tape shoot up from the stage as the players hug each other in celebration. Full credit to manager Doug Livermore – Spurs seemingly had the title in their hands last year but had a horrific second half of the season, and even this year they started very slowly, but they have been in blinding form the past three months and are now your Champions.”

Danny Baker: “Yes, congratulations Tottenham! It’s been a rough 18 months for your lot but you’ve got the last laugh now.

That’s it, folks! The 1994-95 Premier League season is done. Spurs will take on Liverpool in the FA Cup Final in 10 days’ time. The last time Tottenham won the title, which was in 1961, they won the double – can they do it again? We’ll find out soon.”

***

 

Final Table:

1)  Tottenham – 63; 2) Liverpool – 59; 3) Chelsea – 58; 4) Sheffield Wednesday – 58; 5) Aston Villa – 57; 6) Norwich – 57; 7) Coventry – 55; 8) Manchester United – 54; 9) Millwall – 54; 10) Sunderland – 53; 11) Leeds – 53; 12) Wimbledon – 52; 13) Southampton – 50; 14) Manchester City – 50; 15) Nottingham Forest – 47; 16) Everton – 44; 17) Derby – 42 / 18) Blackburn – 41 (R); 19) Barnsley – 36 (R); 20) QPR – 35 (R)

 

Top Scorers

15 – Gavin Peacock, Manchester United; Teddy Sheringham, Everton

13- Dean Saunders, Aston Villa

12- Peter Ndlovu, Coventry

11 – Scott Green, Sunderland

10 – David White, Manchester City; Gordon Armstrong, Sunderland; Ian Olney, Wimbledon; Roy Wegerle, Chelsea

9 – Chris Bart-Williams, Sheffield Wednesday; Dalian Atkinson, Aston Villa; Dean Holdsworth, Millwall; Don Hutchison, Liverpool; Matt Le Tissier, Southampton; Oleg Salenko, Tottenham

 

In Division One, Sheffield United are crowned champions with 70 points, finishing one higher than Ipswich. Watford, Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Leicester will compete in the playoffs. At the bottom, Grimsby and West Ham are relegated to Division Two.

***

1995 Cup Winners’ Cup Final

Benfica vs Real Madrid

Parc des Princes, Paris

 

When these two clubs met in the 1962 European Cup Final, Benfica ended up winning 5-3. From a neutral’s perspective, we were hoping for a similarly wide-open, attacking game, and we were not disappointed.

Both teams come out looking good and Benfica strike first in the 12^th minute when Claudio Caniggia’s shot deflected off Hierro and past Buyo. Caniggia tried to claim it but it went down as an own goal. Madrid struck back just three minutes later when another Argentine, Fernando Redondo, scored to make it 1-1. It stayed that way until the half.

In the second half, a headed goal from Madrid defender Manuel Sanchis made it 2-1 and Los Blancos’ title was confirmed when Danish wizard Michael Laudrup completed a great solo effort to make it 3-1.

Final Score: Benfica 1-3 Real Madrid (Hierro OG; Redondo, Manuel Sanchis, Laudrup)

Real Madrid win the Cup Winners’ Cup for the first time!

 

Up Next: The FA Cup Final and Division One Playoffs...

[CFuller]

Not a great time to be a Gooner, is it? 

On the other hand, I do find it quite amusing that 1995 turned out very differently for Blackburn compared to real life. 

[King Jeff]

Definitely not a good time to be a Gooner. But, hey, at least you're not a West Ham fan!

===================

1995 FA Cup Final

Tottenham vs Liverpool

Wembley Stadium

The top two teams in the Premier League face off in the final of the 114^th FA Cup. Tottenham, who won the Premier League ten days previous, will be looking to complete the Double and win the FA Cup for the 9^th time. Liverpool will be looking to win the Cup for the sixth time, and fourth time in ten years.

In addition to Tottenham winning the league, finally pulling into first after beating Liverpool with just a couple of weeks to go, the two clubs have previous from meeting each other in the Coca-Cola Cup this year. Tottenham won that contest 1-0. Will history repeat itself?

Road to Wembley

Tottenham

3^rd Round: Tottenham 3-0 Coventry (Ruddock, Durie, Marsh)

4^th Round: Chelsea 0-1 Tottenham (Marsh)

5^th Round: Tottenham 3-2 Birmingham (Durie x3)

Quarter-Finals: Tottenham 2-1 Sheffield United (Hinchcliffe, Marsh)

Semi-Finals: Wimbledon 1-3 Tottenham (Salenko x2, Watson)

 

Liverpool

3^rd Round: Barnet 1-2 Liverpool (Horton OG, Beardsmore)

4^th Round: Liverpool 2-1 Watford (Hutchison, Nicol)

5^th Round: Liverpool 1-0 Leeds (Hutchison)

Quarter-Finals: Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool (Thomas x 2)

Semi-Finals: Liverpool 2-1 Derby (Hutchison, Robins)

 

Lineups:

Tottenham: Perry Suckling; Dean Austin, Andy Hinchcliffe, Steve Sedgley, Neil Ruddock; Vinny Samways, Mike Marsh, Ian Woan © (Atkins 51), Kevin Watson; Gordon Durie (Gavin 69), Oleg Salenko

Subs: Mark Atkins, Mark Gavin

 Liverpool: Mark Walton; David Burrows, Martin Keown ©, Torben Piechnik, Rob Jones; Scott Sellars, Steve Harkness, Russell Beardsmore, Michael Thomas; Don Hutchison, Mark Robins

Subs: Steve Nicol, Paul Stewart

 

This was a snoozefest. Although the game featured two teams who play attacking football and can beat you a bunch of different ways, the difference in the game came down to one movement. Liverpool striker Don Hutchison turned his defender about 12 yards from goal and fired a shot off the crossbar. The shot beat Perry Suckling but bounced out. Mark Robins was first to the ball, and he headed it down past a sprawling defender and past a helpless Suckling to give Liverpool the 1-0 lead.

From that point on, Tottenham seemed to have the upper hand but couldn’t generate anything.

After 90 minutes, Martin Keown threw his hands into the air and celebrated. Liverpool won the FA Cup!I

 

Final Score: Tottenham 0-1 Liverpool (Robins)

Man of the Match: Mark Robins, Liverpool

Liverpool win the FA Cup for the sixth time.

 ***

In the Division One playoff first leg, Crystal Palace put their tie with Liverpool beyond doubt after they explode for three first-half goals. Bobby Bowry, Geoff Thomas and Paul Williams all hit the net in the first half, then Bowry makes it two for him in the second half. 4-0 is the final, and it will take something very special at St James Park to turn this one around. The other tie, between Leicester and Watford is still very much in the balance, though, after the first leg at Filbert Street ends 0-0.

 

1995 UEFA Cup Final, 2^nd Leg

Esjberg vs AC Milan

Blue Water Stadium, Esjberg

 

Great stadium name. The Danish club did themselves proud in the first leg but still headed home trailing 3-2 on aggregate. The tie’s result was put beyond doubt in the first half when experienced defender Filippo Galli scored to make it 1-0 Milan. Milan were buzzing after that and dominated the game, strangling possession and making the Danes chase everything.

In truth, Milan should have won by more but it was job done. The Rossoneri win 4-2 on aggregate and win the UEFA Cup for the first time in the club’s illustrious history.

 

Final Score: Esjberg 0-1 AC Milan (Milan win 4-2 on aggregate)

AC Milan win the UEFA Cup for the first time

***

With England not having a competitive game of football in over two years, The FA organizes a summer tournament called the Umbro Cup. It’s a four-team invitational round-robin tournament featuring England, Sweden, Brazil and Japan. Fixtures will be held at Wembley, Goodison Park, Villa Park, Elland Road and the City Ground in Nottingham. Excited yet? You will be when you see Terry Venables’ squad selection!

 

Goalkeepers: Tony Coton, Leeds (5 caps); Ian Walker, Tottenham (no caps)

Defenders: Gavin Johnson, Manchester City (5 caps); John Scales, Wimbledon (3 caps); Terry Phelan, Manchester City (7 caps); Phil King, Sheffield Wednesday (no caps); Des Walker, Sampdoria (55 caps); Paul Parker, Manchester United (26 caps); Tony Adams, Aston Villa (28 caps); Paul Lake, Roma (4 caps)

Midfielders: David Rocastle, Leeds (15 caps); Darren Anderton, Crystal Palace (no caps); Kevin Watson, Tottenham (10 caps, 1 goal); Lee Sharpe, Manchester United (3 caps); Nigel Clough, Nottingham Forest (21 caps, 2 goals); Vinny Samways, Tottenham (1 cap); David Platt, Sampdoria (42 caps, 15 goals); Fitzroy Simpson, Koln (no caps)

Attackers: Alan Shearer, Blackburn (11 caps, 5 goals); Dalian Atkinson, Aston Villa (4 caps); Chris Armstrong, Crystal Palace (no caps); Les Ferdinand, Chelsea (5 caps, 2 goals)

 

England’s first game will be against Japan on June 3^rd.

***

Club Takeover Announcement!

We don’t normally highlight any happenings from Division Three but in this case it’s worth calling out. Leyton Orient, who finished fifth in Division Three and won promotion to Division Two, get taken over by a consortium of investors. Rumours are that the new investors have given Orient manager David Pleat a transfer budget of £1 million with the goal of establishing themselves in Division One within the next three years.

 

Editor comments: I mentioned that when takeovers occurred, I would port them through to the next version of the game. There are no boards in CM2, but I will use the pre-game editor to add the £1.06 million listed in the takeover announcement to their finances.  We’ll have a chat about money in the summer, I promise.

 

 

[CFuller]

My uncle-in-law's a massive West Ham fan (and a former season ticket holder). I'd best not tell him about this. 

Being relatively local, it's nice to see Leyton Orient change hands for a bit more than a fiver. Just a shame John Sitton isn't manager.

[oche balboa]

Was there a data editor for cm2 (before cm9798) ? 

[Minuy600]

How's the Wiki page coming along?

[King Jeff]

Ha ha – I got introduced to that Orient documentary last year through Quickly Kevin, Will He Score. It’s quite something. And I did notice that John Sitton is in the CM2 database, so we might see him yet. Can’t wait to see who he sacks at half-time in our world. Hopefully now that Orient have been taken over, the Chairman doesn't need to answer the phone anymore :/ 

Yes, @oche balboathere is a CM2 pre-game editor. It was created for CM96/97 but ports back perfectly. It’s limited, of course, and there are still a lot of things in the database that are hard-coded, but it’s flexible enough that it allows me to move a clear majority of the things going on in our world to the new game. And that’s all I needed. I’ll explain all the nuances and limitations in a post during the Summer of 1995!

@Minuy600 V1 of the Wiki will be released at the end of the season with information updated to the end of the 1994-95 season. My caveats are twofold: 1) since it’s a stats database right now, I manage it in Excel not as a Wiki. I’ll probably convert it over to a Google docs environment at some point when there’s a more robust history to port over, and 2) It’s quite basic when compared to what it could be. I’ll do a deeper explanation when it launches in the next post or two, but there’s a balance between reporting that augments the world and helps people stay up to date, time suck, and unnecessary overkill. I’m still figuring out where that balance looks like.

========================

1995 Champions League Final

Barcelona vs Olympique Marseille

Ersnt Happel Stadion, Vienna

 

With rumours of financial irregularities and match fixing swirling around the Marseille side, the French champions head to Vienna for their second Champions League Final in three years. You might recall that they were beaten in extra time in the 1993 final by Benfica. This time, their opponents are Cruyff’s Barcelona. With a Barcelona side led by Guardiola, Koeman, Stoichov and Romario, and a Marseille side led by, erm, Tony Cascarino, this looked like a potential mismatch on paper.

But that’s why they play the games, isn’t it?  Barcelona were the better side throughout the game, but in the 62^nd minute it’s Marseille who take a 1-0 lead through a goal from their captain Bernard Ferrer. With the French side just two minutes from victory, Barcelona snatch an equalizer, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s the manager’s son, Jordi Cruyff who gets the goal. Extra time solved nothing, so the game went to penalties.  

Remarkably both teams missed their first shot, and in the second round Barcelona were stopped again. Marseille then converted their kick to go 1-0 up. Barcelona finally score on their third attempt but then Marseille see their kick saved so the teams were even at 1-1 after three shooters. Both teams convert in Round 4 and Round 5, so we go to sudden death. Again, both shooters hold their nerves in the first round of additional kicks and it is tied 4-4 after six rounds. Both teams score again in Round 7 to make it 5-5. The shootout is decided in the eighth round of kicks when Barcelona’s Abelardo sees his shot saved. Marseille defender Bernard Casoni puts his shot past Carles Busquets and Marseille win the Champions League!

 

Final Score: Barcelona 1-1p Olympique Marseille (Jordi Cruyff; Bernard Ferrer)

Man of the Match: Bernard Ferrer, Marseille

***

 

In the Division One Playoff Final, Leicester take on Crystal Palace for the last spot in the Premier League. The game gets off to a rough start when a vicious tackle from Palace forward Bobby Bowry sees Leicester defender Curtis Fleming stretchered off and Bowry shown a straight red card after only four minutes. Despite that, Palace manage to control a lion’s share of possession and end up taking the lead in the 27^th minute when captain Geoff Thomas hits a 25-yard effort past David James in the Leicester goal. Although Leicester wracked up a decent number of chances, there was no denying that Palace were the superior side and when the final whistle blew, Crystal Palace were promoted to the Premier League. Steve Coppell’s side are back into the top-flight after a two year stint in Division One.

As is the norm, the Premier League Team of the Year and Annual Awards are announced after the Playoff Final. Remarkably, there are no Tottenham or Liverpool players in the team of the year. Sheffield Wednesday midfielder John Sheridan, Wimbledon defender John Scales and Aston Villa striker Dean Saunders all make the team for the second year in a row.

 

Team of the Year:

GK: Mark Bosnich, Aston Villa

DL: Steve Staunton, Aston Villa

DC: Paul Elliott, Chelsea; John Scales, Wimbledon

DR: Earl Barrett, Aston Villa

ML: Lee Sharpe, Man Utd

MC: Scot Gemmill, Aston Villa; John Sheridan, Sheff Wed

MR: Ryan Giggs, Man Utd

Att: Chris Bart-Williams, Sheff Wed; Dean Saunders, Aston Villa

 

Doug Livermore is named as Manager of the Year. Chelsea defender Paul Elliott wins Player of the Year while Chris Bart-Williams wins Young Player of the Year for the second straight campaign.

 

Up next: The Year-End Honour Roll

[King Jeff]

Year-End Honour Roll

Premier League: Tottenham

Relegated: Blackburn, Barnsley, QPR

Top Scorer: Gavin Peacock, Manchester United; Teddy Sheringham, Everton - 15

Manager of the Year: Doug Livermore, Tottenham

Player of the Year: Paul Elliott, Chelsea

 

Division One

Champions: Sheffield United

Promotion: Ipswich

Playoff Winner: Crystal Palace

Relegated: Grimsby, West Ham

Top Scorer: Bobby Bowry, Crystal Palace - 22

Manager of the Year: Steve Coppell, Crystal Palace

Player of the Year: Jason Dozzell, Ipswich

 

Division Two

Champions: Bournemouth

Promoted: Port Vale, Bristol Rovers, Birmingham, Barnet

Relegated: Reading, Cambridge

Top Scorer: Junior Bent, Bournemouth - 27

Manager of the Year: Tony Pulis, Bournemouth

Player of the Year: Kevin Francis, Notts County

 

Division Three

Champions: Scarborough

Promoted: Chester, Blackpool, Bristol City, Leyton Orient, Luton

Relegated: Mansfield

Top Scorer: Stuart Rimmer, Chester - 21

Manager of the Year: Russell Osman, Bristol City

Player of the Year: Mark Cooper, Leyton Orient

 

League Cup: Norwich

FA Cup:  Liverpool

Anglo-Italian Cup: Bologna

UEFA Cup: AC Milan

Cup Winners’ Cup: Real Madrid

Champions League: Marseille

 

Up next: The Umbro Cup and then CM2!

 

 

[King Jeff]

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for – the Umbro International Trophy! Three games in eight days, with no real reward. Let’s do this.

 

England vs Japan

Umbro International Trophy

Wembley Stadium, London

 

Lineups:

England: Tony Coton; Terry Phelan, Des Walker, John Scales, Gavin Johnson / Kevin Watson (Lee Sharpe 68), David Platt ©, Nigel Clough (Vinny Samways 68), Darren Anderton / Alan Shearer, Dalian Atkinson (Chris Armstrong 76)

Japan: Kazuya Maekawa; Kazuaki Tasaka; Tetsuji Hashiratani ©; Masami Ihara; Akira Narahashi; Hiroaki Miroshima (Masahiro Fukuda 81); Motohiro Yamaguchi; Tsuyoshi Kitazawa; Naoki Soma (Hiroshige Yanagimoto 74); Kazuyoshi Miura; Masashi Nakayama (Hisashi KurosakI 65)

At half-time at Wembley a disc jockey with a politically incorrect but accurate sense of humour played the Madness song "Embarrassment", and England so nearly suffered it. It took a penalty converted by David Platt two minutes from time to spare the blushes and bring a win from what should be the easiest of the three games they face in a week in the Umbro Cup, with Sweden and Brazil, who finished third and first in last year's World Cup, to come.

A goalless, soulless first half in front of just 21,142 fans (just look at that crowd! - ed) was brought to life by a Darren Anderton goal in the 48^th minute. But the equalizer that Japan deserved came a quarter of an hour later when Japanese defender Ihara headed home at the near post.  

England started to gain the ascendancy in the 68^th minute when Vinny Samways came on and added more balance to the midfield. That unlocked Platt, who hit the post five minutes from time. John Scales scuffed the rebound but Hashiratani handled it on the line. After the Japanese captain departed with a red card, England’s captain saved them their blushes by converting the penalty.

Final Score:  England 2-1 Japan (Anderton 48, Platt (pen 88); Ihara 62)

*** 

England vs Sweden

Umbro International Trophy

Elland Road, Leeds

 

Lineups:

England: Tony Coton; Terry Phelan, Des Walker, Paul Parker (John Scales 80), Gavin Johnson / Kevin Watson (Chris Armstrong 63), David Platt ©, Nigel Clough (Vinny Samways 63), Darren Anderton / Alan Shearer, Dalian Atkinson

Sweden: Thomas Ravelli; Gary Sundgren; Teddy Lucic; Joachim Bjorkland; Pontus Kamark; Niclas Alexandersson; Magnus Erlingmark; Hakan Mild; Niklas Gudmundsson; Henrik Larsson; Kennet Andersson

 

On the football pitch, England is often known for being capable of producing the ridiculous and the sublime. Today, they managed both in 90 minutes.

England went behind 2-0 in the opening 38 minutes, thanks to two goals from Hakan Mild. On 45 minutes they pulled one back through Dalian Atkinson’s first goal at international level but 25 seconds later, they were two goals down again through Kennet Andersson.

In the second half, England came to life when Watson and Clough were removed for Armstrong and Samways. For the second time in a matter of days, the Spurs midfielder Samways changed the balance in England’s midfield and allowed his two partners in the midfield three, Anderton and Platt, to break forward with more ease. With three minutes to go Samways won a free kick on the left, took it himself and found Platt at the far post—the England captain made no mistake scoring his 17^th international goal.

At the death came England’s third, through Darren Anderton. The Crystal Palace man now has two goals from his two senior caps and looks very likely to work himself into Terry Venables’ Euro 96 plans. Anderton’s goal was a lashed volley won off a Shearer header – the ball smacking the inside of the post and finding the net.

It was a remarkable recovery, but it was not deserved. Up next is Brazil. Hold on to your hats.

Final Score: England 3-3 Sweden (Dalian Atkinson 45; David Platt 87; Darren Anderton 90 – Hakan Mild11, 38; Kennet Anderson 45+1)

*** 

 

England vs Brazil

Umbro International Trophy

Wembley Stadium

 

Lineups:

England: Tony Coton; Terry Phelan, Des Walker, John Scales (Paul Parker 89), Gavin Johnson / Kevin Watson, David Platt ©, Nigel Clough (Vinny Samways 78), Darren Anderton / Alan Shearer, Dalian Atkinson (Chris Armstrong 78)

Brazil: Zetti; Jorginho; Aldair (Ronaldoo 90); Marcio Santos; Cesar Sampaio; Roberto Carlos; Edmundo; Dunga ©; Ronaldo (Giovanni 76); Juninho (Leonardo 84); Zinho

 

England came crashing down to reality in a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the world champions. They played well, as they have done since Terry Venables took over the national team, but the difference in quality between the two teams was obvious.

Tottenham midfielder Kevin Watson gave England a 1-0 lead in the first half, but Brazil stormed back with a vengeance. Juninho was the mastermind, scoring the equalizer and then setting up one of the world’s elite strikers, Ronaldo, for the second. When Edmundo made it 3-1, Terry Venables looked at his substitute’s bench for weapons to help him cut the deficit: the fact he could only bring on Vinny Samways and Chris Armstrong shows just how far England have to go to hang with the world’s best. Brazil win the Umbro Cup, England finish second, no one cares.

Final Score England 1-3 Brazil (Watson 38; Juninho 54, Ronaldo 61, Edmundo 76)

 

***

 Introducing: The Premier League Reimagined Database

 

<LINK>

Ever wonder how many goals Boncho Guentchev scored in the 1992/93 season? What about Oldham’s Premier League transfer record fee? Or who scored the first hat trick in Premier League history?

As I have alluded to on a couple of occasions, I’m happy to make a stats pack of Premier League data available to everyone. I’ll be updating the file as the game progresses but have some ridiculously ambitious plans for this.

The database is in its first iteration but right now contains:

• Club Record Transfers for every PL club & Top 50 Transfer Fees
• Goalscorers by season
• England internationals past and present (caps and goals)
• Hat trick data
• Managerial awards
• Player of the Month info
• Annual Awards

 

Coming soon will be:

• All-time records  
• Competition histories
• Managerial history
• Club history (this might be a phase two)

 

Am I missing anything? If there’s a particular stat or piece of information you’d like included in this database in its future iterations, let me know!

 

Up Next: We say good-bye to Championship Manager 93. *nostalgic tear*

[HawkAussie]

Well the CM1 had a good run and not many people do saves that involve the first games in the series. But onwards and upwards to CM2 as I assume you've been on that database working on it while you were doing this?

[King Jeff]

Naturally 😊 This data port was pretty easy, but I loaded and ran a couple of practice sims to see how it all worked in practice. We're all set.

========================================

Breaking Down the 4^th Wall

Alas, CM1, we barely knew you.

After three seasons, which we were able to get through much faster than I expected, we're moving on to the original version of Championship Manager 2 for the 1995/1996 season. After Euro 96, I'll update to CM2 96/97. I have Dosbox versions of both games and they simulate really fast (i.e., we can finish a year in about 30 minutes of simulation). To try and keep my head above water, I will take control of the bottom team in the English pyramid again. In this case it's Macclesfield; I have always been quite bad at CM2 so don't be surprised if you see them relegated...

One of the difficult parts about porting over the game between version is finding the logical cut-off point between games. For CM1 that has actually proved to be a pretty easy decision based on the large amount of annual updating that happens at the end of the year. CM1 includes Premier League players' moves abroad as part of its end of season updates so I have included the moves that were part of that refresh. This also includes managerial retirements (as you'll see). After that, it's Day One in the new world.

 

To get us all aligned on what the CM2 experience looks like, I've included a couple of Q&As.

 

What are the big changes we should expect to see over the next year?

I'll flag a few for your consideration.

1)     I haven't changed any club reputations, so anything baked in to the game's  original engine is kept as is. This will have impacts on a few clubs. It might work against Millwall in the Premier League, but I think the impact will be most felt with teams farther down the pyramid. Arsenal and Newcastle in Division One should benefit from their higher reputations, as should West Ham and Bolton in Division Two (both of which were Premier League teams in 95/96)

2)     International flavor~! CM1 features a very limited international database and you could count the number of transfers from foreign clubs to England on one hand. Suddenly, the floodgates are open. CM2 features a pretty robust database and there are scores of enormous names that are suddenly up for grabs. Maradona, Matthaus, Ronaldo, Romario, Zidane, Roberto Carlos, Kluivert (heck, all of that mid-90s Ajax team), Bergkamp, Maldini, Weah, etc, etc. Sadly, we just miss out on Van Basten and Baresi.

3)     More managerial changes. As you've probably gathered, managerial moves rarely happen in the CM1 engine. You'll immediately see more activity as soon as we change versions. You'll also see that certain young hotshot player managers land very big jobs right out of the hopper – I'm specifically thinking of Bryan Robson and Chris Waddle, so keep an eye on those two.

4)     A couple of annoying little pieces of info are hard-coded across the CM2 engines and I can't change them. I'm thinking specifically of Cup Winners' Cup entrants, as well as UEFA coefficients. This has a bit of downstream impact.

 

"So Jeff, who is likely to move to the Premier League? Will we really see Maradona?" (i.e., Can you provide a bit more detail on the international transfers?)

Maradona? Probably not, because, I mean, really – could he do it on a wet, rainy night in Stoke? I'm unconvinced.

More seriously, I have never seen Maradona move anywhere, England or otherwise. My test saves have shown that English teams primarily make signings from Eastern Europe, Greece and Scandinavia. While you might see one or two younger players of note move over, I'm not expecting any big splash-type signings until at least 1997/98. But we'll see!

 

Can you remind me what data is being ported from CM1 and what isn't?

Moving over: Rosters, managers, current division, CL and UEFA Cup Qualification data, Leyton Orient's finances (because they were shown quite explicitly in an intercept message at the end of season three).

Not moving over: Competition History (because I can't edit it behind the scenes); club reputations (because there's no saved game editor for CM1 that would allow me to collect that data -I'd be guessing); finances for 91 of the 92 league clubs

 

How did you handle young players who weren't in the CM1 database but were established first-team players by the time CM2 came around?

Good question – you might have heard Manchester United had a pretty good crop of young players come through in the mid-90s and they all fall under this scenario. Liverpool have a couple in Fowler and Owen who weren't bad, either. My logic was simple: consider them home-grown players – so the Class of 92, Fowler and Owen are with their starting clubs. But John Hartson, for example, who started at Luton then moved to Arsenal, was moved back to Luton.

 

I know this isn't about the Premier League, but can you give us updates on what's happening in (insert country here)?

Not yet. CM2 97/98 was the first iteration of the game to include multiple leagues running in parallel. We'll get there, just not yet. We can make a deeper dive into what's happening in European competitions and international football, though.

 

With the English pyramid expanding from 80 to 92 teams, how did you decide who would be added to the Football League?

In this case, I used the real-life pyramid as the guide. I picked the 12 highest-ranked teams who weren't in our pyramid and added them all in. That included a bunch of the league teams who were slighted in the original game (Scunthorpe, Doncaster, Bury, etc), as well as a couple of teams who were promoted in the years between the cut-off points (Wycombe, Carlisle). I've also added in Macclesfield, winners of the conference in real life, to replace Mansfield, who finished last in our pyramid in 1994-95, because when I ran the sim on to Day One, the newly promoted team was one of the 12 teams I was adding anyway (I can't remember which one).

 

Any other questions? Let me know; otherwise, we'll get cracking with the Summer of 1995.

 

Up next: The Summer of 1995

[King Jeff]

July 1995 (CM1 engine)

The month of July sees an exodus of England internationals heading abroad, with Italian clubs being the major destination, but French and German clubs also in the news.

Aston Villa lose two of their leading players: England internationals Garry Parker and Dalian Atkinson move to Nantes and Sampdoria, respectively. Also, as expected, Alan Shearer leaves relegated Blackburn to join AC Milan, while Tottenham midfielder Vinny Samways and Crystal Palace attacker Chris Armstrong both move to Inter Milan.

Two England international defenders are also on the move to Italy, making it a total of six in the summer. Terry Phelan leaves Manchester City to join David Platt, Des Walker and Dalian Atkinson in the English contingent at Sampdoria, and Liverpool right back Rob Jones moves to Juventus.

Elsewhere, after being unhappy in second-tier football, Niall Quinn turns his back at another chance in the Premiership and leaves newly-promoted Ipswich to join Bordeaux in France, and Gary Charles leaves Nottingham Forest to join German side Borussia Monchengladbach.

On the staffing front, Derby manager Arthur Cox announces his retirement from football. Cox had been at the helm at The Baseball Ground since 1984 when Derby were in the Third Division. He then led the club to the old First Division before they were relegated back to the second tier in 1991. After winning promotion back to the Premier League in the 1992/93 season, he managed to steer the Rams to survival twice and was recognized as Manager of the Month twice last season.

Also departing is Republic of Ireland manager Jack Charlton. With the Republic now looking hard-pressed to qualify for Euro 96, Charlton made the decision to retire and hand over the reins to a younger man. In Charlton's farewell message he thanked the core group of players who had worked with him between 1988 and 1994 but recognized that an overhaul of the squad was needed to qualify for tournaments in the future. "In my heart of hearts, I knew I'd wrung as much as I could out of the squad I'd got – that some of my older players had given me all they had to give," Charlton said. His final two games in charge were a 0-0 draw at Liechtenstein and a 3-1 loss at home against Austria.

The bookies have flagged Millwall manager Mick McCarthy and Wimbledon boss Joe Kinnear as the two leading candidates for the job, so it seems likely we'll see a couple of new managers in the Premier League this year.

 

August 1995 (CM2)

With only a couple of weeks until the season starts, clubs are scrambling to fill their managerial jobs. Down in the Football League, Bryan Robson leaves his playing role at Blackburn to hang up his boots and take over at Brentford. Also, David Pleat decides that he doesn't want to be the one responsible for spending Leyton Orient's "windfall" (I use that term lightly); he joins Division Three club Huddersfield.

The second week of August sees two young managers land their first jobs: Steve Bruce leaves Aston Villa to become the player manager of West Brom after Ossie Ardiles left during the summer. Meanwhile, Derby announce their man to replace Arthur Cox: Liverpool keeper Neville Southall will take the reins as player manager.

Just as one Premier League managerial job is filled, another one opens up. The Republic of Ireland appoints Wimbledon boss Joe Kinnear to lead the remainder of their Euro 96 qualification campaign. "I've been named Premier League Manager of the Year four times. I was the logical choice," Kinnear said at his unveiling, leaving media representatives awfully confused. Sheffield United boss Dave Bassett is the leading candidate to take over the reins at Selhurst Park, keeping the managerial merry-go-round alive.

One team that does not need a new manager is Manchester United. With Alex Ferguson firmly in charge, he can focus on making changes to his team ahead of the kick-off of the season in a couple of weeks' time.

To clear a spot on his roster, Fergie sells a young midfielder named David Beckham to Everton for £375k. Beckham also attracted bids from Hibs and Motherwell in Scotland, as well as Premier League side Coventry. "We think the young lad has a great deal of promise, but we couldn't offer him the first-team football he desired," Ferguson told reporters. "We hoped he would be receptive to a loan move, but Everton tapped him up and his head was turned – he really forced this move through and we don't want to spend our time molly coddling young players who don't want to be here."

Coming in to United are Chilean Javier Margas, who apparently disappeared without a trace from Colo-Colo before showing up in England, and Spaniard Manolo, who has spent the last seven years with Atletico Madrid and was capped by his national team 28 times.

David Seaman lost his job as Chelsea's number one keeper last year, being passed on the depth chart by Kevin Hitchcock, so Dave Webb must have been over the moon when the Blues receive a £5.5 million bid from French club Monaco. We'll watch with interest how Chelsea invest the proceeds. Liverpool's off-season transfer dealings sees them part with young winger Steve McManaman, who moves to Division One QPR for 1.1 million. McManaman is a talented young player who has never seemed to fulfill his potential at Anfield; interestingly, he turned down a move to Premier League Millwall to join QPR. Coming in for the Reds is former Chelsea man John Spencer, who joins from Rangers for 1.4 million.

On the continent we see Johan Cruyff's Barcelona Dream Team adding Marseille's French international Eric Cantona to their lineup of stars for a fee of £7.5 million. We also see the first departure in the inevitable dismantling of Ajax's team full of young stars when defender Michael Reiziger leaves to join Italian side Torino. Patrick Kluivert, Edwin van der Sar and the de Boer brothers are also expected to move.

[CFuller]

I doubt any future Ireland press conferences will be broadcastable before the watershed, then...

8 minutes ago, King Jeff said:

To clear a spot on his roster, Fergie sells a young midfielder named David Beckham to Everton for £375k. Beckham also attracted bids from Hibs and Motherwell in Scotland, as well as Premier League side Coventry. "We think the young lad has a great deal of promise, but we couldn't offer him the first-team football he desired," Ferguson told reporters. "We hoped he would be receptive to a loan move, but Everton tapped him up and his head was turned – he really forced this move through and we don't want to spend our time molly coddling young players who don't want to be here."

I'm... I'm not the Motherwell manager in this universe, am I? I once signed Mr Goldenballs himself for Well in CM00/01, when he was about 35. 

[Drogba11CFC]

I once signed "Jens Mustermann" as a goalkeeping coach in FM09 for the lulz.

[King Jeff]

Ha ha - love a good Jens Mustermann reference! My personal highlight was signing Alex Del Piero as a Player/Assistant Manager with the mighty Windsor & Eton in CM00/01. Bringing in the ageing pros with staff roles was a great way to work your way up the pyramid back in the good ol' days!

=======================================================================================

1995-96 Season Preview

If 1992 represented a Whole New Ball Game, then 1995 is a whole new world. Who do we think is destined for success? Let's take a look in our season preview. As is the norm, the preview will be split into four parts. We'll start with the clubs we expect to see battling against relegation.

20th - Ipswich

Manager: John Lyall - more than 20 years of experience, and has been at the helm at Portman Road since 1990.

Last season: 2nd in Division One. Led the league most of the way to ensure an immediate return to the Premier League.
Transfers in: 
Transfers out: Niall Quinn, Bordeaux 1m
Projected XI: Craig Forrest / Tony Vaughan, Kit Symons, Tony Mowbray, Andy Thorn / Stuart Slater, Claus Thomsen, Jason Dozzell, Mike Stockwell / Alex Mathie, Chris Kiwomya
Key Man: Kit Symons - we expect Ipswich to be short on goals this year so the strength of their defense will be key to their survival hopes
Prediction: 20th. Looked destined to come back to the top flight stronger after an excellent year in Division One last year, but the loss of Niall Quinn is the difference between survival and relegation.

19th  - Millwall 
Manager: Mick McCarthy - the abrasive young manager has continued to make a name for himself and we expect he'll land a bigger job soon.
Last season: 9th - an incredible first year in the Premier League. 
Transfers in: 
Transfers out: Steve McMahon, Huddersfield 20k; David Speedie, Tranmere 20k
Projected XI: Jason Kearton / Ray Atteveld, Damien Webber, Colin Cooper, Ben Thatcher / Jason Van Blerk, Etienne Verver, Mark Kennedy, Andy Melville / Malcolm Allen, Dean Holdsworth
Key Man: Dean Holdsworth - the Lions will need goals to stay up and Holdsworth is a Premier League quality forward. 
Prediction: 19th. Did well to survive in their first year, but we still insist this team is overmatched in the top-flight and is likely to suffer from second season syndrome

18th - Norwich
Manager: Mike Walker - another young manager who might be destined for a bigger job. Entering his fourth year in charge at Carrow Road.
Last season: 6th - throw in the League Cup title and it could not have gone any better.
Transfers in: 
Transfers out: Gary Rowett, Port Vale 250k
Projected XI: Andy Marshall / Jason Minett, John Polston, Ian Culverhouse, Nick Summerbee / Darren Eadie, David Phillips, Kevin Russell, Ruel Fox / Ade Akinbiyi, John McGinlay
Key Man: Nick Summerbee - made a big impression at Carrow Road since moving from Southampton. Could be on the verge of a breakout year.
Prediction: 18th. This might surprise some, but with a Cup win and a top half finish, last year was a dream season for the Canaries. Complacency might set in after last year's accomplishments.

17th - Derby 
Player Manager: Neville Southall - Liverpool's former number one was lured to the Baseball Ground by the opportunity of becoming player-manager. Untested as a manager.
Last season: 17th - a great escape in the last quarter of the season after spending nearly the entire year in the bottom three. 
Transfers in: Neville Southall, Liverpool, P/Mgr; Gary Walsh, Man Utd 150k
Transfers out: 
Projected XI: Neville Southall / Chris Boden, Craig Short, Chris Coleman, Jason Kavanagh / Kevin Cooper, Wayne Sutton, Lee Carsley, Paul Trollope, Mark Pembridge / Tommy Johnson
Key Man: Chris Coleman - the Welsh defender is likely to be targeted by bigger clubs
Prediction: 17th. We're unconvinced by Southall's appointment. They had a miraculous escape from the drop last year and will spend most of the season looking over their shoulder, but we're tipping them to just survive.

16th - Sheffield United
Manager: Dave Bassett - The Blades kept faith in their man in Division One and he repaid their faith with promotion. Has been at Bramall Lane since 1988.
Last season: 1st in Division One. Miles ahead of the pack last year, secured an immediate return to the top flight.
Transfers in: Perry Suckling, Tottenham 250k
Transfers out: 
Projected XI: Alan Kelly / Roger Nilsen, Doug Hodgson, Sol Campbell, Carl Bradshaw / Andy Scott, Mark Patterson, Jamie Hoyland, Simon Ratcliffe, Paul Rogers / Dion Dublin
Key Man: Sol Campbell - has the potential to be one of England's best defenders. Holding on to him will be a challenge.
Prediction: 16th. Just as the season is starting, they are rumoured to be on the verge of losing their manager. The turmoil can't be helpful and if they get off to a slow start, they could be playing catch-up all year.

 

Up Next: Our predictions for mid-table...