Super 6 Predictions - 31-Oct-09

Here they are, here is my predictions on the Super 6 for tomorrow.

Bolton 1 - 1 Chelsea

Burnley 2 - 0 Hull

Everton 2 - 1 Aston Villa

Fulham 1 - 2 Liverpool

Stoke 3 - 1 Wolves

Sunderland 2 - 1 West Ham

Fire Sale, Everything Must Go

I do think sometimes that the money men in football are a bit unappreciated and misunderstood. However, there are some who have brought their way into the footballing landscape that it is very hard to get an understanding or appreciation of.

Mike Ashley has to be one of those people, because I really cannot fathom the man or his actions, well most of the time anyway.

There are, at least, two sides to every story and with much that goes on in Newcastle in the past couple of years those side to these stories do seem to be poles apart. Unquestionably despite what I and many others took as good intentions in the beginning has been followed by decisions and actions made which have taken the club backwards, fast.

Newcastle is one of those few clubs that no matter what the back-story is, should consider it a huge shortcoming to not be in the top league.

Recently the drama has focused on who the manager will be, with the return of Alan Shearer lasting but a few weeks, and with the only realistic takeover bid being rejected. The story of modern football failure in the big clubs is all too similar, and usually rests with the ego of men who think they know better than the fans.

I saw today that Ashley now wishes to rename St James Park to take advantage of an avenue of revenue that some other clubs have exploited. Surely this decision is a year too late or a year too early to be justified in a maximising of revenue argument? But more serious, and more in keeping with the general feeling is that this is not some new stadium, it already has a name. St James’ Park. It is a part of the tradition and soul of the club that this millionaire has snapped up and plays around with like a child with a train set. In buying the bricks, the club the pitch and the team we have yet another owner who thinks they own the soul of the football club.

What next? Doing away with the famous black and white stripes? A new nickname? What else is up in this firesale?

What must be worse for Newcastle fans is that it would appear they will not be able to force the owner out until they re-establish themselves with a Premier League slot, as it would appear the value of the club has plummeted under the current owners stewardship.

Newcastle’s fans are often described as “long suffering” that seems a bit like an understatement to me right now.

A generation of Fergies?

James Lawton in the Indie has had a go at Ferguson for his treatment of referees (or, his hypocrisy, if you will)

Stating the bleeding obvious you might say, but he's right:

not even arguably the most successful manager in the history of English football, can stand above the game, making his own rules and flaunting his own prejudices. This is what is happening at the moment and what it is doing to the Football Association's campaign to win more respect for match officials is tantamount to rolling it up as though it is a piece of grubby paper and tossing it into the nearest bin.

Ferguson's device, though, of shifting attention from the deficiencies of his team on any passing day with criticism of the referee has done more than wear thin. It is becoming a sustained challenge to football authority – one which recent evidence suggests is hardly likely to be met with any significant force when the FA comes to render its decision on the Wiley affair.

One problem is the grisly prospect of a whole generation of Fergie imitators, men who have swallowed the idea that they should take the best of the great manager and live with the rest.

 
It's an entertaining read, and while we all know it already, I thought it worth posting that the FA really do need to get some balls

Super 6 Predictions 24-Oct-09

After many baron weeks, I surged back with a very solid 3 in 6 last week.

This week, here are my predictions.

Birmingham 1 - 1 Sunderland

Burnley 2 - 1 Wigan

Hull City 2 - 1 Portsmouth

Tottenham 3 - 0 Stoke City

Newcastle 3 - 0 Doncaster

Sheffield Utd 2 - 1 Cardiff

If you're playing, let us know your predictions in the comments.

Not For Liverpool Fans..

From: Republik of Mancunia

Damn Chelsea

Here are the current standings - finally I managed to get a result and came top for the week! But I remain over 70 points off the pace, and I left 'ten-points against ruddy Chelsea' James Collins on the bench - brilliant purchase, rubbish tactics, but at least I'm ahead of Dan now

Otherwise, Rich continues his assault on the top spot, coming second this week, and is now within 20 points of early leader Sylvie and he's also top for the month of October - and also watch out for Roy - he's only down there because he missed the first month, he's currently second for the month

Ireland to face France... I think

I'm not 100% sure about this, as the BBC seem to be paying no attention to this live draw (which they advertised), and FIFA, despite claiming to have started 20 minutes ago failed to put up a stream

But here are the tentative play-offs:

France v Ireland
Portugal v Bosnia
Greece v Ukraine
Russia v Slovenia

oh and now the BBC confirm it - I guess they technically published before me

Can't say better than that really - I'd want France or Greece, hopefully they'll both be going out - good luck to Bosnia as well, what are your opinions on the draw?

One thing I must point out is this piece of reasoning from FIFA:

"The top four nations in the draw are seeded according to the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, published on 16 October. France (ranked number 9), Portugal (10), Russia (12) and Greece (16) go into Pot 1. Pot 2 will contain Ukraine (22), Republic of Ireland (34), Bosnia Herzegovina (42) and Slovenia (49).

However, the ranking positions of the unseeded teams does not necessarily reflect their current form, as all four nations have claimed the runners-up spots in their groups with impressive and courageous qualifying campaigns"

So, having just admitted the ranks mean nothing why have you seeded them at all!

Super 6 Predictions - 17-Oct-09

Here are my Super 6 Predictions:


Arsenal 3 - 0 Birmingham

Everton 2 - 0 Wolves

Man Utd 2 - 1 Bolton

Portsmouth 1 - 0 Tottenham

Stoke City 2 - 1 West Ham

Sunderland 1 - 0 Liverpool

Ireland face a challenge

The news is that Ireland will not be seeded for the UEFA play-off draw, they were never likely to be, but still...

I had not actually realised that the teams were not originally going to be seeded - apparently the decision wasn't made until September 29th (obviously I somehow overlooked that before) which frankly smacks of unfairness

As Shay Given said, if FIFA had decided to seed in the first place then fine - but to do it when France and Portugal were looking precarious is a joke, the teams were already seeded once, why should they get a second crack at the whip? Seriously, I want to see some justification - they've all gone through the same process and the 'big' teams have cocked up, now they are rewarded and protected by UEFA/FIFA

I remember when we fell foul of Russia before Euro 2008, there was much hopeful talk of us being given a lifeline - England too big to go down and all that, money from the fans etc... it was complete fantasy of course, but I think we have a bit of a case for our noses being out of joint now

I wish Ireland all the best and they are perfectly capable of beating France, Portugal, Greece or Russia - and Ukraine will be a match for any of those teams, I hope that France or Portugal - by no means in their position because of a fluke, get Ukraine or Ireland - I think Russia would be the biggest test

We shall find out on Monday at 1pm

The prem is back

...And remarkably Stevie G's groin is still injured...

Anyway - I just posted my own predictions for the week at Beat Lawro and I also wanted to inform you that once again Beat Viv is on and the prize is £100 and a signed Kaka shirt (I'd rather have the extra 400 quid, but hey-ho)

This week you get to predict:

Aston Villa v Chelsea
Arsenal v Birmingham
United v Bolton
Sunderland v Liverpool

good luck

Also don't forget Super Six

Rafa Benitez Is The First Manager To Be....

... Admit it, you thought this was going to say sacked!

That's how the news readers were leading in on this story last night, and I thought that Rafa had got the chop.

Nope, turns out he is the first to be warned about his conduct under new FA powers.

I can't remember a Premier League season where we had had no managerial sackings by October.

New Zealand?

News has reached me that New Zealand will meet Bahrain in a decisive home play-off in a months time, after they drew 0-0 in Bahrain at the weekend

That's New Zealand, ranked 100 in the world, 90 minutes away from a solid world cup spot

They last entered in 1982 (surprising, I know, and their only ever world cup goals were against Scotland...) - so technically this is a bigger achievement for Bahrain (population 800,000), but who cares about them, eh?

It's still an outside shot - but surely a home tie against the 64th best team in the world is as good as it gets?...Iceland would certainly jump at it

I guess the Ozzies moving to Asia helped someone else too

Meanwhile in the next 48 hours, Maradona will show us all exactly how infallible the CONMEBOL system is as his team fail to throw away their chance - should they lose against local rivals Uruguay they are virtually assured the play-off as Ecuador will need to beat 3rd placed Chile

Although you never know- maybe Honduras will do the business

Well, that's that

And so, from Europe we have virtually all our teams settled

Qualifiers:

Denmark, Germany, Spain, England, Serbia, Italy, Netherlands, almost certainly Switzerland, and probably Slovakia

The play-offs will, I believe see the top four ranked sides vs the bottom four ranked sides and so will likely be:

Russia
France
Greece
Portugal

vs

Bosnia
Ireland
Ukraine
Slovenia

Turkey, the Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden and Croatia are the main casualties this time around - there are seven teams in the FIFA top 30 that won't be making even the play-offs - all only from Europe, the best team not going from anywhere else will probably be Egypt (32nd) - is it just me or is Europe the only federation with any sort of competitive system?

I rather handily got a double winnings offer from Betfair on Spain Argentina and Portugal at the weekend, so I will be 're-investing' in a multiplier for the final round

I've gone for a 9-way accumulator - Ukraine, Russia, England, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Portugal, Romania and Greece

Measly odds individually but combined it's about 11/4

International football, you love it

  Finally, we’re at the end of qualification, so I thought I’d look at the key battles in each group

Group 1

That’s the group with Portugal’s fading hopes – they are third, two points behind Sweden and have two home games against Hungary and Malta – Malta is three points guaranteed, so any hope for us opponents is in their game against 4th placed Hungary, should they win then Sweden probably need to beat leaders Denmark, a draw would put it down to goal difference, and they would need to score at least two more against Albania than Portugal beat Malta by to do that – so our best hopes are a Portugal upset at home to Hungary (Portugal are yet to win at home) or Sweden to beat their cousins in Copenhagen

Matches to watch out for:

Denmark v Sweden
Portugal v Hungary

Group 2

One of the most open groups, yet unfortunately also the worst group – Switzerland sit three ahead of both Greece and Latvia – smart money is on Greece to come second with two home ties against Latvia and minnows Luxembourg, but Latvia could cause an upset should they get a point in Greece and then beat bottom-placed Moldova at home, Switzerland are pretty much guaranteed at least second with a tie in Luxembourg, but may need a point off Israel’s visit – not too hard though

Matches to watch out for:

Greece v Latvia

Group 3

Northern Irish hopes lie with Slovakia beating Slovenia, and then a miracle when Slovenia go to San Marino, who are the worst performers in European (and possibly world) qualifying with a GD of -43, NI also need to go to the Czech Republic and somehow make up at least 5 goals – basically they need Slovakia to absolutely hammer Slovenia, who have only conceded four…and then San Marino to hold Slovenia to a draw, and beat the Czechs away – sorry, guys

Matches to watch out for:

Slovakia v Slovenia
Czech Rep v Poland

Group 4

Russia v Germany 10/10/09 – that’s it

Group 5

Spain have won already – Bosnia have a four point lead over Turkey, a win in Estonia will seal the deal for them, but they also face Spain, so Turkey can muscle in if they fail in Estonia, with a trip to Belgium and a home game against Armenia

Matches to watch out for

Estonia v Bosnia
Belgium v Turkey

Group 6

England still dominate proceedings – if they draw with or beat Ukraine then Croatia will almost certainly take second, should Ukraine win at home then they will take it

Matches to watch (online):

Ukraine v England

Group 7

Serbia are guaranteed a play-off, and are four points clear of France, but they have two straightforward home ties against Austria and the Faroes, so Serbia could do with a win over Romania at home, or Lithuania away to secure top spot

Matches to watch out for:

Serbia v Romania


Group 8

Italy have virtually secured the qualification, and Ireland are five points clear of Bulgaria with only two games left – a home win over Italy or Montenegro will do it – Italy are first though, so they may be sweating on that last game if Bulgaria win in Cyprus. Ireland are also still at risk of being the team to miss the play-offs, so need a point from that perspective as well

Matches to watch out for:

Ireland v Italy
Cyprus v Bulgaria

Who Is England's #1 Goalkeeper

I see that Paul Robinson and Joleon Lescott are out of the England squad and have been replaced by Gary Cahill and Joe Hart.

Hart's inclusion got me thinking. Back in the days of Sven, you could pretty much guess the squad selection and know 10 of the 11 that would be fielded. Now, things are less certain. I think Capello is a better boss, and I think England are a better team when selection is not guaranteed. The pain of the Sven era is that that was probably the strongest squad England have had for a very long time, but there was always issues, be it injuries or certain positions.

Anyway, there are a few positions now where selection is uncertain, the key one for me a year out from the World Cup is that of Goalkeeper. So, I thought since it has been a while I would pop up a poll and see who people think should be England's #1 by next summer.  Logical and illogical elaboration encouraged via the comments field.

For the record, my vote will be going in, and it is for Rob Green, who has been solid for some time now for West Ham, and will hopefully get some games and experience before the tournament to cement the #1 jersey. He is now, for me the logical mid to long-term candidate; Ben Foster with experience and games may change that opinion in the future. Fitness allowing Paul Robinson & David James would also be on the plane to South Africa.

Super 6 - 03-Oct-09

My apologies for not posting my predictions last week, but was a manic weekend.

For the record I got 0 right, again.

Here is what I am going with this week, and my luck has GOT TO change for the better!


Bolton 0 - 2 Tottenham

Burnley 1 - 0 Birmingham

Hull 0 - 1 Wigan

Wolves 2 - 1 Portsmouth

Derby 1 - 1 Sheff Weds

Newcastle 3 - 0 Bristol City

More Beat Viv

Beat Viv is back for the second week in a row - yay!

I managed to get a plump zero last week, while the establishment actually got one (I don't believe VC himself ever tipped a game right) - so maybe it won't be as profitable as before,

But whatever, it's free

Here are Viv's selections

United 3-0 Sunderland
Arsenal 4-0 Blackburn
Everton 1-0 Stoke
Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool

I will stick my neck out a bit and venture away from my other predictions

Tarquin:

United 2-0 Sunderland
Arsenal 4-0 Blackburn
Everton 2-0 Stoke
Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool

not many away goals...

post your entries!