The departure of Brendan Rodgers from Leicester City is the culmination of a dramatic fall from grace for both club and manager - with the fear of falling even further the catalyst behind the move.

Rodgers arrived at the Foxes in February 2019 after winning all seven domestic trophies available to him during a successful tenure at Celtic, leaving the adoration he enjoyed at Parkhead to succeed Claude Puel at the King Power Stadium.

For a time, 50-year-old Rodgers enhanced a reputation as one of the most progressive coaches in the game as Leicester produced the attacking football that was his trademark - the high point being the club's first FA Cup victory when Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea were beaten 1-0 at Wembley in May 2021.

It assured Rodgers of his place in Leicester history, but Saturday's last-minute defeat at Crystal Palace - now under the guidance of returning veteran Roy Hodgson - was the final straw for owners who saw the spectre of relegation come into even sharper view and could not wait any longer for Rodgers to show signs of inspiring a revival.

Latest Leicester City news, analysis and fan views
Leicester are in the bottom three after six league games without a win, that fear of the drop forcing the board to act in the manner of fellow strugglers Everton, Leeds United and Southampton by wielding the axe.

Rodgers deserves credit for his FA Cup success but his time at Leicester will also be defined by two devastating final days of Premier League seasons that shaped his and the club's ability to enjoy further success.

On the surface, finishing fifth in both 2019-20 and 2020-21 represented fine achievements but the fact Leicester missed out on Champions League football on the final day both times as they lost 2-0 to Manchester United then 4-2 to Tottenham meant bitter disappointment.

The FA Cup win rightly allowed the 2021 season to be painted in a glorious light - was the club's first FA Cup not better as tangible success than finishing fourth in the league?

However, it could also be suggested with some justification the loss to Spurs the following week was the beginning of the end for Rodgers and Leicester City as operators in the upper echelons, a time which also saw that magnificent against-the-odds title win in 2015-16.

These were savage blows because Leicester not only lost out on the profile of Champions League football but also the riches that came with it, the club's owners and chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha subsequently pulling in the purse strings to ensure they did not fall foul of Financial Fair Play rules.

Leicester City former manager Brendan Rodgers
Leicester's defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday proved the final straw as Brendan Rodgers was sacked
Leicester reached the semi-finals of the inaugural Europa Conference League last season but they faded amid inconsistency in the league, finishing eighth.

The decline has continued this season, with Rodgers unable to revamp his squad, influential title-winning keeper Kasper Schmeichel leaving for Nice and time finally catching up with talismanic 36-year-old striker Jamie Vardy.

There were question marks over the club's recruitment under Rodgers, although they suffered a blow in the summer when one his biggest successes - Wesley Fofana, signed from St. Etienne for £36.5m in October 2020 - moved to Chelsea for an initial £70m fee on the final day of the transfer window after missing much of the previous season with a broken leg.

Leicester's squad was clearly in need of hefty renewal but they did not sign an outfield player until the final day of the summer transfer window.

Harry Souttar, Victor Kristiansen and Tete came in at a cost of £30m in January but Rodgers could not fashion a consistent upturn and the graph has only been heading in one direction lately.

There was also a belief that Rodgers should have been getting more out of a squad still laced with quality in the shape of players such as James Maddison, Youri Tielemans and Harvey Barnes. He was also unable to solve long-running defensive flaws that saw cheap goals conceded on an infuriatingly regular basis.

Impressive wins at Aston Villa and at home to Spurs, 4-2 and 4-1 respectively, hinted at improvement but they were false dawns and the FA Cup fifth-round loss at home to Championship side Blackburn Rovers was damaging for Rodgers and Leicester.

Now, with 10 league games to go, he has paid the price and the club hierarchy must decide their next move.

It will be a desperate personal setback for Rodgers, who rebuilt his reputation at Celtic after his sacking by Liverpool in October 2015, obtaining hero status with one half of Glasgow before angering many fans by leaving to move back to the Premier League.

For a time he regained his previous status as a sought-after manager, linked with a variety of jobs from Arsenal to Spurs and even - unlikely admittedly given his previous links with Liverpool - Manchester United. He was touted in some quarters as having the credentials to manage at international level, with England mentioned.

Rodgers was exuding positivity even in defeat at Selhurst Park. Instead, this was the end of his time at Leicester.

The personable Rodgers will certainly be an attraction for clubs in the future, including those in the Premier League, but the high-end posts will be out of reach for now after the manner of his end at Leicester.

Rodgers, a Spanish speaker, has talked in the past about being open to working abroad and it easy to see his undoubted coaching skills transitioning into that environment.

He has also seen contemporary Roberto Martinez, who managed across Stanley Park at Everton when Rodgers was at Liverpool and was one of his predecessors at Swansea City, land plum international jobs with Belgium then Portugal

Rodgers will rightly feel he is at least the equal of the Spaniard in terms of stature, ability and successes.

For now, though, Leicester City will attempt to secure their short-term future after taking this emergency action while Rodgers will take stock and ponder his long-term prospects.

2 points for each correct scorer
Correct joker doubles your score      
Wrong joker result gives you minus 2
Correct Random Badger gives you 2 points

The random badger is used for any random prediction used once in each matchday sequence. For instance, a scorer at a particular match, the number of red cards in the matches or yellow cards or own goals or owt you want really within reason, I do need to be able to check whether it's correct or not. Please don't put stuff like....."Commentator says...."  
The joker   is played for one match in each sequence and if correct you get double points. So if you've predicted 1-0 and it finishes 2-0, you get 4 pts, but if you've predicted 2-0, that's 8 pts. But if you get it wrong, it's minus 2.
Jokers and badgers are optional. You don't have to play one if you don't want.

The prize for winning the league is one rep point.

Cup games: In the event of a draw, it's half the points if you've predicted a draw when it gets to 90 mins and the full points if it's still a draw after extra time. Half the points will be awarded for correctly predicting the winner of the match if it goes to penalties. Similarly with the badger, if your random prediction is affected by this, it'll be half the points.

Random score generator: I will be using the random score generator again for those who miss predicting, so we shouldn't get some people too far behind that after missing a couple of weeks they lose all interest, because I know it's not easy getting on here every week.
To be fair to everybody, this is going to be like, say if three people in one week miss their predictions, the first one in the table will be given all 0-0, the second one down the line will get 1-0 and the third will get 0-1 and so on, like if there's four missing the 4th will get 1-1, then 5th 2-1, 6th 1-2. and if there are so many missing, might as well pack in.
And if you miss two weeks on the trot, I'll stop until you come back on again. Not doing it for half a season like I did t'other year.  

End of season Play Offs: The one who finishes top of the league will still be champion, but after the season finishes there will be Play Offs between the top 4, with 1st v 4th and 2nd v 3rd. This will take in stuff like the EFL Play Offs, FA Cup Final, final day of Prima Donna League, European Finals etc. It will be one matchday for the semis and one for the Final. It will be the individual scores for each matchday against the allotted opponent, with some kind of tie breaker for a drawn match.

The prize for winning will be enormous. Another rep point.

Friday April 7:
Watford v Town
Town scorers:
Watford scorers:

Millwall v Luton Town (12:30)
Rotherham United v West Bromwich Albion (13:00)
Blackburn Rovers v Norwich City
Blackpool v Cardiff City
Queens Park Rangers v Preston North End
Reading v Birmingham City
Sheffield United v Wigan Athletic
Stoke City v Bristol City
Swansea City v Coventry City
Sunderland v Hull City (17:30)
Middlesbrough v Burnley (20:00)

Monday 10th April:
Town v Blackburn (12:30)
Town scorers:
Blackburn scorers:

Birmingham City v Stoke City
Cardiff City v Sunderland
Coventry City v Watford
Hull City v Millwall
Luton Town v Blackpool
Norwich City v Rotherham United
Preston North End v Reading
West Bromwich Albion v Queens Park Rangers
Wigan Athletic v Swansea City
Bristol City v Middlesbrough (17:30)
Burnley v Sheffield United (20:00)


Table after Matchday 33:

1. jjamez = 778 pts
   
2. themaclad = 742 pts
   
3. Baggiebob(BBB) = 741 pts
   
4. theo_luddite = 724 pts
   
5. St Charles Owl = 704 pts
   
6. neonfoxinthebox = 702 pts
   
7. Lord Snooty = 673 pts
   
8. ritchiebaby = 653 pts
   
9. SHEP_HTAFC = 624 pts
   
10. Amelia Chaffinch = 616 pts
    
11. Devongone = 586 pts
    
12. WakeyTerrier = 171 pts

https://www.bbc.com/sport/boxing/65149207.amp

Ken was one of the past great Scottish boxing champions, well remembered and inducted in the boxing hall of fame. A great lightweight boxer of his generation during the 1970s and early 80s,he was an accomplished participant and a worthy world champion. Sadly taken by dementia, RIP.

Well this match is a case of no "slip-ups" please. All the players have had a nice rest during the international break. More players improving their fitness after returning from injury. Aberdeen FC now above us in fourth place - time to target that position in the Scot Prem and take it from there! We are well capable of attaining that spot and possibly 3rd place after that. However, everybody must embrace the challenge all the way through to season end. C'mon Hibs!

GGTTH

When are International Football Associations going to be made to pay compensation to a club, when its players get injured on international duty.

Sept 2021 O'Shea gets his ankle broken playing for the ROI, we lose him until the following January. This season he does not miss a minute for us, goes away with the R.O.I and now will miss the rest of the season with an injury. If that was not bad enough it also looks like Molumby is also going to be missing for at least 4 weeks of the run in, also playing for the R.O.I. How can it be right that the relevant I.F.A. does not even have to play their wages unless the match was in the finals of a major international tournament (qualifiers do not count).

We faced an uphill battle with the players we had fit, I do hope not, but I fear to lose two such influential players, may make it one hill to far and what will our potential losses be?

While I am sure it is a great honour for players to pull on their national shirt, their first loyalty has to be to the people who pay their wages, week in, week out. Clubs gain absolutely nothing by having their players, playing for their nations. in fact it is all negative not only do they risk losing them to injury and still have to pay their wages, but it also puts those players on the radar of other clubs.

Finance expert reveals early look at West Brom accounts as update on £5m Guochuan Lai loan emerges

West Brom have confirmed in their latest accounts that the loan repayment due from Guochuan Lai is not expected to be received at all.

Kieran Maguire relayed the information on Thursday 30 March, with the value of the £5,059,000 loan now sitting at “nil” alongside the Wisdom Smart Corporation loan.

DD#No1  

Bromley 1-0 Solihull Moors
Dag & Red 2-1 Dorking
Maidenhead United 1-2 Chesterfield
Maidstone United 3-1 Boreham Wood
Scunthorpe 0-1 Torquay
Wealdstone 2-1 Aldershot
Wrexham 4-0 Oldham
Yeovil 1-1 Southend

League Table After Matchday 52
SaltergateBorn - 932
Devon - 917
St Charles Owl - 888
Spireitematt - 805
Dancing - 780
Lord Snoots - 766
Amelia - 708

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 1ST APRIL KO 3:00PM

v

LAST MATCH



Well we managed to rescue a point but we needed all 3. Cheltenham handled the wet conditions better and Stockdale had to make several saves to keep us level. Vaulks had our best chance just on halftime but there goalie saved it. Onto the second and Cheltenham took the lead after another Iorfa error and Keena fired home. It was soon 2-0 when Stockdale parried and May slotted home. We got back into the match when sub Flint headed home a Bazza FK. We grabbed a point when Smith crossed and Geegory fired home from close range. We could have won it but Adeniran fired over and then Vaullks hit the post with the last kick of the match.

THE MATCH



After 3 straight away games, we return to Hillsborough to take on Lincoln. Lincoln seem to be safe for another season, 10 points above the relegation zone with a handful of games left. Lincoln have drawn too many games this season, 18 so far, if they had won half of those they would be contending for a playoff spot. Ben House is there leading scorer with 9 goals. They are managed by Mark Kennedy who took over a year ago.

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 8
LINC 3
DRAWS 7

CURRENT FORM

OWLS              -                                                                             

LINC               -                                                      

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

ROBERT MADDEN
Thomas Harty and Darren Williams
Fourth Official : Oliver Bickle

THE TEAM

Dawson
Palmer Famewo Flint
Hunt Bannan Adeniran Vaulks Johnson
Gregory Smith

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

2-1 Gregory

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

BML LEAGUE

Owlskev 25
Stateside 23
Imre 20
Wash 20
SCO 20
Maddix 17
Peiowl 14

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Notts Forest v Wolves
Norwich v Sheffield Utd
Derby v Ipswich
Northampton v Stevenage
Wrexham v Oldham

HDDDH

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE

WEREHAM




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Super Tommy Clarke cha

MANAGER

Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional football manager, pundit, and former player. He is currently the head coach of Blackpool.

McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later had spells at Manchester City, Celtic, Lyon, and finally Millwall, retiring in 1992. Born and raised in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland, for whom he earned 57 caps and played at UEFA Euro 1988 and the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

McCarthy managed Millwall and then the Republic of Ireland. He guided the country to the knockout stage of the last 16 of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He later managed Sunderland, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Ipswich Town. McCarthy began a second tenure as manager of the Republic of Ireland national team in November 2018, leaving after having guided the team to a UEFA Euro 2020 playoff place. He then had brief spells at Cypriot club APOEL and Cardiff City. He has also been a television pundit and commentator, including for the BBC and Virgin Media Television.



FORM GUIDE

PNE 11 BLACKPOOL 4

https://www.blackpoolfc.co.uk/

https://avftt.co.uk/index.php?forums/avftt-forum.2/

In The Dressing Room

Manager Ryan Lowe confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Greg Cunningham will miss the remainder of the season with a hamstring injury.

Liam Lindsay, who has been absent in recent weeks, is back in full training and will be in contention to feature, while striker Ched Evans will be assessed ahead of the game.

All players who were away on international duty during the past fortnight have returned to Euxton unscathed.

A Look At Our Visitors


Mick McCarthy’s side arrive at Deepdale in need of points if they’re to avoid the drop come May, as they currently sit four points below the dotted line.

The season started with former PNE man Michael Appleton in charge and, after his departure in the middle of January, the experienced McCarthy came in and has since overseen two wins.

With teams at either end of the division still to come in the Seasiders’ end of season run-in, there could be plenty of ups and downs between now and 8th May.

Going Head To Head


Games played: 97
PNE wins: 46
Draws: 19
Blackpool wins: 32
Last PNE victory: PNE 1-0 Blackpool, 5th April 2022

One To Watch


One man the Tangerines will be looking towards to help them escape the threat of relegation is forward Jerry Yates.

The 26-year-old striker has 12 goals to his name in all competitions so far this season – including the two which he scored in the reverse fixture against North End back in October.

As the club’s main source of goals, Yates will be desperate to add more to his tally before the end of the campaign, especially given the ACL injury which Gary Madine suffered before the international break.

Match Officials


Experienced Premier League official Andre Marriner will be taking charge of Saturday’s Lancashire derby.

It will be the first time he has refereed a PNE match since January 2021, when North End lost 1-0 on the road against Sheffield Wednesday.

So far this season, Marriner has shown 57 yellow cards and two reds in his 17 matches.

MACS VIEW

The run in until the end of the season and first up those odd people who live on the coast at the other end of the M55 and bizarrely you can include me in that.
Fighting against the drop they get to play a the palatial palace that is Deepdale, the joy of a dinner time kick off for the delight of the nation on Sky.
Hard to call this one heaven knows who'll turn up the Blackpool who won 6-1 then promptly lost the next game 4-1 or the free flowing passing North End side which has yet to make an appearance this season, question is how many times will Mr Fantastic say fantastic