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The chain thread may mini...
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Pre season suicide watch ...
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Isaac Price
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RIP 2025
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HTAFC Prediction League 2...
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Macs travels through the ...
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The Owls v WBA SBC Match Thread |
Posted by: Owlkev71 - 24-04-2024, 14:37 - Forum: Sheffield Wednesday
- Replies (91)
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THE MATCH
SATURDAY 27TH APRIL KO 3:00PM
v ![[Image: latest?cb=20081202154539]](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/backofthenet/images/1/1f/West-brom-badge.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20081202154539)
LAST MATCH
A massive 3 points in our relegation dogfight, and more crucially finally out of the bottom 3. We got off to a great start, Windass chipping the keeper from about 35 yards, after the keeper made a hash of a clearance. Rovers were soon level, a simple long ball and Szmodics ran onto and finished for his 31st goal of the season. Not much happened the rest of the half. Onto the 2nd half and we were a bit more progressive and took the lead when Vaulks won a tackle, the ball fed to Musaba who crossed to the back post and Johnson finished from close range. We made it 3 thanks to a howler from the keeper, who with the aid of a bobble, sliced the ball into his own net. Szmodics blazed Blackburn's best chance over the bar while we had several more chance but the score remained the same, sending the 7000 Owls fans home very happy.
DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB
THE MATCH
Our final home game of the year sees the Baggies heading north. The Baggies are 5th at the moment but haven't secured a playoff spot yet so should be up for it on Saturday. The Baggies have won as many as we have away from home (6) and we all know how bad we have been all season, so a win for us isn't out of the question. They are managed by Carlos Corberan who took over in October 2022 and has a win ratio of 47.5% from 80 games. There leading scorer is Brandon Thomas-Asante with 12 goals, but wasn't in the last match day squad against Leicester.
DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB
ALL TIME H2H
OWLS 53
WBA 39
DRAWS 28
CURRENT FORM
OWLS -
WBA -
EFL STOOGES
DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT 
GRAHAM SCOTT
Harry Lennard and Derek Eaton
Fourth Official: John Busby
THE TEAM
Beadle
Palmer Ihiekwe Bernard Johnson
Musaba M Diaby Vaulks Bannan Gassama
Ugbo
SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)
2-1 Ugbo
WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME
26
ATTENDANCE
N/A
BML LEAGUE
Imre 23
Maddix 21
Washington 19
Owlkev 13
SCO 12
BMPL
Wereham 13
Stateside 6
Pei -1
Southey -12
OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST
Aston Villa V Chelsea
Blackburn v Coventry
Huddersfield v Birmingham
Barrow v Mansfield
Bradford v Newport County
HADAH
THE MUPPETT LEAGUE
![[Image: tenor.gif?itemid=7264048]](https://media1.tenor.com/images/3abb4487946c076e9d085c45ae6b955c/tenor.gif?itemid=7264048)
![[Image: accountants-accounts-accountants-account...22_low.jpg]](https://s3.amazonaws.com/lowres.cartoonstock.com/accountants-accounts-accountants-accounting_errors-losses-mistakes-mfln922_low.jpg)
KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC
![[Image: iypski5vqnrtadp4tw17.jpg]](http://images.complex.com/complex/image/upload/c_limit,w_680/fl_lossy,pg_1,q_auto/iypski5vqnrtadp4tw17.jpg)
![[Image: Kate1.jpg]](http://twistity.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Kate1.jpg)
![[Image: rs_600x600-170411105514-634-kate-beckins...quality=90]](https://akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2017311/rs_600x600-170411105514-634-kate-beckinsale-bikini-1.jpg?fit=around|700:700&crop=700:700;center,top&output-quality=90)
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Prediction League Week 34 Results |
Posted by: St Charles Owl - 24-04-2024, 03:23 - Forum: West Bromwich Albion
- No Replies
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Premier League
Lady J 11
Derby 11
Minizin 9
Zinman 6
B.B.B. 4
Stairs 0
After a few poor weeks we finally saw a glimmer of form, but it was only a glimmer for most!!! The Gamball was again a complete blowout and the Bonus didn’t fare much better!! Lady Jane again tops the table, where has this form been?? This time she is joint first with Derby on 11 points but they got there in very different ways. LJ managed to score points on 5 games including here bonus but was unable to turn any of her predictions into correct scores. Derby scored on more games, had 2 correct scores but missed on all his balls, including being deducted one point for playing his score all on a 0-0 draw!!
Minizin was 3rd with 9 points, like Derby he scored on 6 games but also missed on his main balls and failed to get any CSs. Zinman moved out of the bottom 2 with 6 points and BBB ended with 4 points. Both missed on their balls but Zin managed to score on one more game.
Stairs had a week to forget finishing on zero points after a classic non-week by missing on his balls and cancelling that out with 2 CRs.
361 Zinman
345 Derby
342 Minizin
338 BBB
306 Stairs
278 Lady Jane
Derby closed the gap on Zinman slightly, and put a small bit of separation between him and Minizin and BBB in the process. With only a couple of weeks left Derby still has a chance of catching Zin but time is running out!! With two drop outs this season Stairs looks like he is safe and LJ seems to be heading for the playoffs.
Cheers
SCO
Championship
AAA 14
Themaclad 7
Snooty 4
SCO 3
Twerton 3
Sanjay 0
BaggieOne -1
Another tough week with a complete washout on the bonus ball (that's now 4 times this season) and just one positive gamball - and that was from an unusual source! Correct scores were also scarce - just 2 this week.
For the second week in a row AAA sits on top of the table with twice as many points as Themaclad in 2nd. AAA chose to play his gamball and was the only player to predict a Swansea win. He was the week's stand out performer, scoring on 7 matches though he was denied a high score by his failure to lock in any correct scores and missing out on his bonus. In 2nd, Themaclad scored on 4 games and added one of the 2 correct scores.
After the top 2, it was a distinctly unimpressive week. Snooty was the best of the rest with 4 points including the other correct score. SCO and Twerton scraped 3 points each with identical results, 3 correct results and a scoreball. Sanjay failed to trouble the scorer with his 2 correct results wiped out by his negative balls while BaggieOne was this week's minus man though he did at least add 1 point for his scoreball.
343 SCO
330 Twerton
313 Snooty
313 AAA
297 Themaclad
275 BaggieOne
234 Sanjay
As the season nears its conclusion (finally!) all eyes are on the play-off chase. SCO and Twerton appear to have promotion signed off but AAA's surge in form sees him level with Snooty in 3rd place. Themaclad will need either an implosion from those above or a dramatic improvement in his form (or both!) to get back into contention.
Zin
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Prediction League Fixtures - Week 35 |
Posted by: Zinman - 22-04-2024, 21:33 - Forum: West Bromwich Albion
- Replies (14)
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Gamball:
Huddersfield - Birmingham
Others:
Everton - Brentford
Aston Villa - Chelsea
Blackburn - Coventry
Cardiff - Middlesbrough
Sheff Wed - WBA
Watford - Sunderland
Hull - Ipswich
Bournemouth - Brighton
Spurs - Arsenal
The penultimate set of fixtures before we, and hopefully Albion, head into the playoffs.
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HTAFC Prediction League 2024 Matchday 17 |
Posted by: Lord Snooty - 22-04-2024, 20:12 - Forum: Huddersfield Town
- Replies (17)
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2 points for correct result
4 points for correct score
2 points for each correct scorer
Correct joker doubles your score (correct score on a joker would give you 8 points)
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. 
So we have a new format for this season, which I put forward as an idea at the end of last season. Nobody offered any objections so here it is explained......
Firstly, I thought it was getting a bit boring towards the end with the league format as it was with the champion being so far ahead and everybody else not much to play for apart from the push for a play off spot, which was a bit of an anticlimax anyway. The most exciting bit was the tussle for 8th, 9th and 10th positions with Shep, Ritchie and Amelia.
So I'm splitting the group up into two groups with the top six from last season in the top group and the bottom six in group 2. At the end of the season, the winner of group 2 and the bottom of group 1 will swap places in what is commonly known as "promotion" and "relegation". It's something that most football fans will be familiar with, unless you're a fan of Liverpool or Arsenal or one of those other fashionable clubs.
The second placed player in group 2 will then have a play off with the player who finishes second from the bottom in group 1 to decide whether they will be going up, down or staying where they are.
We're going to have two seasons in one though, just to try and make it a bit more interesting and not so long drawn out. The first season will end on the Boxing Day fixtures, with the play offs being on the dates of the Twixtmas fixtures and the NYD fixtures.
The second season will start the following week, finishing on the last game of the Championship season. Then another period of relegation/promotion play off games, taking in such fixtures as the EFL play offs, FA Cup Final, UEFA finals and such like.
Each group will have it's own set of fixtures. Both groups will have the Town games, with scorers to predict as before. Then it will be a split of Championship fixtures and bonus matches. And not as many fixtures to go at. Hopefully around ten, eleven or twelve games per Matchday.
The rest of the rules will be the same as before apart from the which will still be in use, but I'm going to get arsey about it. Sometimes in the past, I've been able to just award two points immediately because it was such a nailed on thing to happen. Not accusing anyone of cheating. Far from it. I didn't put any boundaries on it, so anything was alright. So now I'm restricting it to three goal scorers in any of the games in your group. Sorry to all our more adventurous badgerers.
Here's how that will appear at the end of the fixture list. All you have to do is fill in the blanks.......
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
Any of those will score two points if correct. No minus points for getting it wrong.
The joker will still be the same as before, ie doubling your points for a correct prediction or minus 2 for getting it wrong.
Postponed matches will only count if the match is re-played before the next Matchday is under way. Abandoned matches will be awarded half the points for the score at the time of abandonment, so 1 point if you have the correct result, 2 points if you have the correct score.
Substitute :- These will be only be allowed if you change them before the match involved has kicked off.
Division One table after Matchday 16:
- St Charles Owl = 324 pts
- Lord Snooty = 319 pts
- jjamez = 308 pts
- themaclad = 302 pts
- Baggiebob(BBB) = 288 pts
- ritchiebaby = 273 pts
Friday 26th April:
Queens Park Rangers v Leeds United
Saturday 27th April:
Town v Birmingham
Town scorers:
Birmingham scorers:
Blackburn Rovers v Coventry City
Norwich City v Swansea City
Sheffield Wednesday v West Bromwich Albion
Watford v Sunderland
Hull City v Ipswich Town (20:00)
Monday 29th April:
Preston North End v Leicester City
Tuesday 30th April:
Coventry City v Ipswich Town
Bonus matches:
Scottish Premiership:
Saturday:
St Johnstone v Hibernian
Premier League:
Saturday:
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Everton v Brentford (17:30)
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
Division Two table after Matchday 16:
- Devongone = 295 pts
- neonfoxinthebox = 295 pts
- SHEP_HTAFC = 294 pts
- theo_luddite = 293 pts
- WakeyTerrier = 225 pts
- Amelia Chaffinch = 213 pts
Friday 26th April:
Queens Park Rangers v Leeds United
Saturday 27th April:
Town v Birmingham
Town scorers:
Birmingham scorers:
Blackburn Rovers v Coventry City
Bristol City v Rotherham United
Cardiff City v Middlesbrough
Millwall v Plymouth Argyle
Southampton v Stoke City
Hull City v Ipswich Town (20:00)
Tuesday 30th April:
Coventry City v Ipswich Town
Bonus matches:
Premier League:
Saturday:
West Ham United v Liverpool (12:30)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (20:00)
Sunday:
Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal (14:00)
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
Matchdays still to come:-
Matchday 18: Saturday 4th May
The regular season ends with both divisions playing the same fixtures of the final day of the Championship. Then......
Play Off semi final 1st leg: Thursday 9th to Monday 13th May
Play Off semi final 2nd leg: Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th May
So the final whistle for the Play Offs will be when the last ball is kicked on the last day of the Premier League. We're not going to go as far as the finals of the Play Offs or the FA Cup.
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Disqualified |
Posted by: themaclad - 21-04-2024, 20:58 - Forum: Gateshead
- Replies (7)
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Gateshead have been barred from taking part in the National League play-offs after failing to meet the entry criteria for membership of the English Football League.
The club failed to secure a "10-year security of tenure" at the International Stadium, where they have played since 1971-72, by 1 March.
The National League said Gateshead cannot be replaced in the play-offs.
Gateshead finished sixth in the table and were set to play Solihull Moors.
"Gateshead Football Club are extremely disappointed to find ourselves in the position as outlined in the statements released by the EFL and the National League," the club said.
"Rest assured we will continue to challenge both on their decisions, and we will endeavour to ensure that footballing matters are decided on the pitch.
"Therefore our players and staff remain 100% focused on the task in hand, and we wish to go on record to express our gratitude to the National League for supporting our challenge to the EFL."
Gateshead's planned eliminator on Tuesday, 23 April has now been cancelled.
The National League initially said Solihull would get a bye to the semi-finals but then adjusted the draw based on final league positions.
Altrincham, who finished fourth, will now get a bye to the semi-finals, where they will travel to Bromley, while Solihull will host FC Halifax Town on Wednesday for the right to visit Barnet in the last four.
In a statement, the National League said it was "extremely disappointed" that Gateshead would not be able to take part after supporting the club's application for the security of tenure, allowing them to extend the lease on the stadium, which is owned by Gateshead Council.
"Unfortunately, the response received was not supportive of the club's requirements and placed the club at risk of a refusal of membership to the EFL and therefore forfeiture of any right to participate in the play-offs," the statement said.
"On 28 March 2024, following the deadline for licence applications to the EFL had passed, the council offered options to the club. However, in the opinion of the EFL these options still did not satisfy their requirements."
An appeal by the club, which was supported by the National League, was rejected by an EFL arbitration panel.
"As the EFL strongly believes in the principles of promotion and relegation it is therefore highly disappointing that appropriate solutions have not been put in place over the previous two-year period, as avoidable circumstances are preventing Gateshead from progressing up the pyramid even if the club achieves success through sporting merit," an EFL statement added.
"The League hopes that Gateshead and the relevant stakeholders can address this matter so that the club can meet the obligations of EFL membership and be eligible for promotion in future seasons."
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Congratulations Blind Dave |
Posted by: Salopbaggie - 20-04-2024, 21:43 - Forum: West Bromwich Albion
- Replies (1)
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Huge congratulations to our own Blind Dave who has been awarded EFL Supporter of the Season at the recent 2024 EFL Awards ceremony. In part, recognition for the massive £3 million he has raised for the Albion Foundation.
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Crunch Time |
Posted by: jjamez - 19-04-2024, 18:56 - Forum: Huddersfield Town
- Replies (39)
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![[Image: 6208.jpg]](https://m.forebet.com/images/previews/6208.jpg)
If ever there was a time to say that a game is a must win, then this is it. Lose and we are effectively down to the third tier for the first time in over a decade. Draw and that puts even more pressure on us in the game next week against Birmingham. Win and we are still alive and fighting, although it feels like we are on life support and the doctors are gathered around just waiting to pull the plug. We are however very dependent on the results of the teams around us, this weekend, Sheffield Wednesday face Blackburn, who's 1-0 victory at Elland Road all but secured their status for another season, but a win against the Owls would confirm that. Their other two games are against West Brom and Sunderland. Birmingham, well they travel to Rotherham, a side that have been down arguably since Christmas, but could an upset be on the cards now that they have sacked Leam Richardson and replaced him with a former manager in the rather rotund shape of Steve Evans. The Scot has decided to leave Stevenage, now that they are no longer in the race for the playoffs and made a brief step up in an effort to get his feet under the table ahead of a rebuild in the summer. He is notorious for getting his players fighting for every point, so hopefully he is able to pick up three to really put the cat among the pigeons. Birmingham's other two games are against us, which could be a very nervy affair and David Wagners Norwich City. Stoke are another side that are not out of the running for the drop, although they are slightly less likely than those down below them obviously. They face fellow basement dwellers Plymouth Argyle at the 365 Stadium, before finishing off with a trip to Southampton and a game against Bristol City. QPR looked to have saved themselves, but it seems like their bubble has burst, and with it they have a fairly difficult run in, with games against Preston, Leeds and Coventry, although as last weekend showed, anyone can beat anyone in this division. Plymouth, i reckon are the final team to be at risk, yes mathematically there are more, but i think the probability of the result swing is drastically unlikely. They finish with games against Stoke, Millwall and Hull. The big issue from my viewpoint here is that there could be a few teams like Bristol and Hull who treat the games as dead rubbers, whilst Norwich and West Brom could rest important players in preparation of the playoffs, it could be that only Leeds, Southampton and Ipswich are truly playing for anything at the top of the league.
![[Image: nervous-young-man-watching-soccer-game.j...SfAJFkNMg=]](https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1405413817/photo/nervous-young-man-watching-soccer-game.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=MQW7vfozLbLYBk0tNqxaZqR4ScTvD5JddnSfAJFkNMg=)
Moving on to the Town game. The Terriers welcome Swansea to the John Smiths Stadium, with the Swans being safe and secure, with nothing to play for this season, they do however come into the game on the back of two wins, both at home to relegation threatened sides in Rotherham and Stoke. This is a game however, where i do feel that our physicality could work in our favour, their last two defeats have come against Middlesbrough and QPR, with QPR's goal coming from a set piece. In order to get those situations we are going to have to attack, to stay in the league, we will have to attack, so I do hope Andre realizes that and doesn't try to be too nitty gritty, but if it works and we finish one place outside of the relegation places, I wont be complaining!
It's fair to say that Swansea haven't had the season they were expecting, they had to replace Russell Martin during the summer after he walked out on them to take over at newly relegated Southampton. The club launched legal proceedings against the Scottish manager the other day. Naughty Martin in his place the Swans turned to Cheltenham based Barnsley manager Michael Duff, fresh from failing to beat Darren Moore's Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley. The Northern Irishman's style of play didn't fit in at the Swansea.com Stadium with the fans turning fairly quickly on the head coach, it wasn't long before the players instigated a mini dressing room revolt, demanding a change in playing style. Duff relented but was never likely to stay at the helm for much longer and was relieved of his duties in December. It would be January when his replacement was found, with Notts County manager Luke Williams being chosen to take the helm, his more attacking and passing football being regarded as a better fit for the side. He has presided over 19 games so far and has won 7 of those, drawing 3 and losing 9. Their overall record this season stands at 14 wins, 11 draws and 18 defeats, with goals seemingly difficult to come by at times, with Jamal Lowe and Jerry Yates leading the charts for them with 8 goals apiece, whilst former Town loanee Jamie Paterson and Liam Cullen both have 7, for assists Matt Grimes leads the way with 6, with Paterson and Josh Tymon both on 5.
![[Image: 0_GettyImages-2147775412.jpg]](https://i2-prod.walesonline.co.uk/incoming/article28992248.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/0_GettyImages-2147775412.jpg)
The previous meeting between the two sides came back in November when a 94th minute equaliser from Charlie Patino denied Town all three points after they went ahead thanks to a Ben Cabango own goal. Moore's side defended for most of the match, mustering only 5 shots and 23% possession over the course of the game. This was just 1 of 63 meetings between the two sides, with Town having the upper hand since the first meeting way back on christmas day in 1952, Town have come out on top 26 times over the years with 19 draws and 18 defeats to complete the record. Its always felt like Swansea have been a bogey side for us, especially in our lower league days, but it appears I was mistaken and it is more a case that Lee Trundle just enjoyed scoring against us but we more than held our own. The meetings between the two sides since the we reached the Premier League have been slightly more even, with 3 defeats, 3 draws and 2 wins, which can only mean one thing for Saturday right? right? The first Premier League meeting was down in Wales where Town lost 2-0 thanks to a Tammy Abraham brace, if memory serves, there could have been a defensive boo boo that led to one of the goals, the return fixture was a 0-0 draw, Andre Ayew was sent off after only 11 minutes but Town were unable to break through for the rest of the game, it was the first goalless meeting between the sides since the 1970's.
![[Image: 3300.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2b786a0cf4cdeaf9e7d21a81095f6256c78ec50c/0_218_3300_1980/master/3300.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none)
Swansea wouldn't survive that season, but Town would, meaning the next meeting between the two would come back in the Championship a season later when Town suffered the same fate. The first game back in the Championship between the two sides would be a 1-1 draw. Jay Fulton put the away side ahead, before Karlan Grant equalised shortly before half time, loan midfield/defender Trevoh Chalobah saw red just before full time. The away game resulted in a 3-1 win for the Swans, but it was arguably a harsh result, Ayew put them ahead in the first half, before Steve Mounie equalised in the 78th minute, however, only minutes later Fulton put the home side back ahead before Wakefield born Jordan Garrick sealed the deal in the 90th minute. COVID struck and football moved behind closed doors, but Town managed to do the double over the Swans that season. Away from home, Harry Toffolo and Josh Koroma scored either side of Ayew's penalty to give Town a 2-1 win, the home fixture was more of a one sided affair, a 4-1 win with goals coming from Fraizer Campbell, Lewis O'Brien and a brace from Duane Holmes, Connor Hourihane scored the only goal for Swansea. Joel Piroe scored the only goal of the game in what would be our playoff season as Swansea won 1-0, the game in Yorkshire finished 1-1, with a Danel Sinani goal being cancelled out by Flynn Downes. Last season Town drew 0-0 at home, whilst Neil Warnock was unable to inspire Town to a result as they lost 1-0 in Wales.
![[Image: _117100873_gettyimages-1231281641.jpg]](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/onesport/cps/624/cpsprodpb/93A8/production/_117100873_gettyimages-1231281641.jpg)
Swansea are set to be without Joe Allen, Premyslav Placheta and Kyle Naughton on Saturday, with the three set to miss the rest of the season, Josh Ginneley is also out, but returned to the grass this week. There is positive news regarding Nathan Wood as the former Middlesbrough defender is set to return to the squad for Saturday's game. Further news can be seen below;
As for Town, it appears to be a case of as you were, Rudoni and Lees managed to get through the Bristol game unscathed and have had another week with the squad, so will be undoubtedly selected for Saturdays match. It has also been another week on the grass for Rhys Healey, Bojan Radulovic and Danny Ward, meaning that one of the strikers should be able to get through at least 60 minutes. Unfortunately it seems that Radino Balker and Jonny Hogg will miss the game once again, Balker is probably now in a position where his season is over, with Hogg, you never know with him, there is every chance he will take an injection or play through it, much like when he broke his neck against Bristol City but was back in a week...
For Jj, I would probably try to line up as aggressive as possible and try to get in their faces, Swansea were down with us for a fair portion of the season, so whilst they may have a few more technical players than us, it is clear that there are quite a few deficiencies in their play, we have this too, ours is called scoring a goal... part of me is tempted to suggest being unchanged and have the strikers come on when the game is more stretched, but part of me feels that something like, Nicholls in goal, Kasumu rwb, helik, pearson, lees at cb and Spencer at lwb. Midfield duo of Matos and Rudoni, with Burgzorg and Thomas flanking Bojan or Ward (who will probably be ineffective as a starter as normal) use Koroma and Healey from the bench. If we are chasing Kasumu or Matos can come off for a forward and Thomas shift to the rwb role or go to a flat back 4. I think set pieces will be key for us at the weekend, so part of me wants to out number them for height, to the extent that 4-4-2 becomes an option with both Ward and Bojan starting from the off...
In other news the Specsavers home for blind officials have made contact with Town to state that the awarding of the penalty was wrong, however now apology was issued, to be fair it never is, we've done well to even get an acknowledgment, i can't remember the last time they have public acknowledged and apologised for a refereeing performance, probably the early 2000's when the standard of reffing in the premier league was slightly better than it is now. Rebecca Welch has been demoted to a 4th official this weekend whilst John Busby has been named as the official for our game. He has yet to even book a Town player this season, so maybe we might get some semblance of a competent performance?
For more team news and ref watch, Andre the Giants press conference can be seen below, he even brought star pupil for the week Rhys Healey to meet the nasty media people.
Who should we be looking out for I hear snoots ask?
Jamie Paterson- the attacking midfielder spent a season on loan here from Nottingham forest, a few between the two clubs was agreed to see him join David Wagners side permanently, but the then forest owner kept moving the goal posts in regards to the deal and town ended up going after Kasey Palmer instead. Paterson would leave the city ground and go to Bristol City for a few seasons, starting off well and then falling out of favour before moving to Swansea. Capable of unlocking defences he will need to be well marshaled to curb his creative tendencies.
![[Image: vTa4ZfbV_400x400.jpg]](https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1461781360931180545/vTa4ZfbV_400x400.jpg)
Jamal Lowe - joint top scorer for the side, lowe was highly promising whilst at Portsmouth and earned a move to then championship side Wigan, but upon relegation and financial problems he left and joined swansea. After an impressive season there, he was courted by Bournemouth and made the move to the premier League chasing club, but struggled to flourish and saw himself sent out on loan to QPR before being sent out once again back to Swansea. There's a good chance that he will be joining permanently this summer, but in terms of playing style, quick and direct but in the words of Troy Deeney about Ollie Watkins, he's a winger trying to be a striker...we have a few of those.
![[Image: Team-Lowe.png]](https://swanseabaynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Team-Lowe.png)
Matt Grimes- another who has been mentioned in the thread, impressed at the start of his career at Exeter before moving to then premier league Swansea. Played a handful of games whilst they were there but went out on loan to Blackburn and Leeds but found the championship a touch too high, before going on loan to Northampton in league one. This set him up nicely and upon his return to Wales, he became a main stay in the middle of the park and is now their captain. Not really an attacking threat, but he will break play up and is usually on set piece duty for deliveries into the box.
![[Image: 185527.jpg]](https://www.footballdatabase.eu/images/photos/players/2021-2022/a_185/185527.jpg)
Ben Cabango- the 23 year old Welsh international defender has played nearly every game for the swans this season, not a slouch over the ground and solid in the air, the upcoming defender will be a target for premier league clubs in the coming years and a lot of that will all be due to his loan at giants TNS at the start of his career. Cabango has scored for town before in his career and has notched 2 goals this season so far, but will be the main man in stopping towns attacks, especially when Mr darling his central partner is more prone to going on an adventure further upfield.
![[Image: 358049.jpg]](https://www.footballdatabase.eu/images/photos/players/a_358/358049.jpg)
There has been a few that have played there trade in West Yorkshire and Wales, illustrious names such as David Edgar, the defender who had a very brief and nondescript loan at the John Smith's, his loan was even shorter, although he did manage to have some sort of career in England, playing quite a few games for the likes of Burnley. He's now playing and coaching over in his native Canada.
![[Image: JS55259784.jpg]](https://i2-prod.examinerlive.co.uk/incoming/article8512311.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/JS55259784.jpg)
Another former town loanee in the form of Leon knight played for both clubs, the troubled forward was essentially the Nile ranger before Nile ranger, talent but not the attitude to make it count, favouring getting up to no good away from the pitch rather than doing the business on it. That wasn't to say he couldn't, his loan from Chelsea to town saw him almost fire town straight back to old division one, but suspension towards the end of the season effectively prevented that. Further loans to Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton didn't yield the same out put, but Brighton saw enough to sign him permanently. Three years on the south coast saw 32 goals, before a switch to Swansea. He scored 19 in 25 for the jacks, but his off field trouble saw them move him on. After that, he bounced around going to places like Greece, Ireland and the big brother house, before eventually retiring and continuing to cause controversy much like Joey Barton.
![[Image: clyde-wijnhard-points-to-the-huddersfiel...-VpjZIUmw=]](https://media.gettyimages.com/id/651725358/es/foto/clyde-wijnhard-points-to-the-huddersfield-goalscorer-leon-knight.jpg?s=612x612&w=gi&k=20&c=mc4XeIuco4giUFZImrdptjXgwBln1QwwB--VpjZIUmw=)
A defender we had on loan that also featured for swansea is Mr Richards, although he wasn't all that jazz for either of us. He began his career and Swansea and from there he came here on loan, featuring just the 9 times in his brief spell, that being said he only managed to play 39 games over 6 years for swansea before moving to Fulham and then back to Wales to play for Cardiff. Most recently he has been playing in the Welsh leagues for haverfordwest, where he still plays to this day to my knowledge . Surprising considering he could probably play league one or two in England.
![[Image: 32HFC0805_PlayerProfilesJazzRichards.jpg]](https://media.touchlinefc.co.uk/haverfordwestcounty/2022/08/32HFC0805_PlayerProfilesJazzRichards.jpg)
Next on the list is one Kasey Palmer, the current Coventry city playmaker began his career at Chelsea but town gave him his first taste of senior football as he helped the club get promoted to the premier League. He would rejoin on loan, but a few behavioural issues off the pitch saw him frozen out by David Wagner and eventually his second loan was ended and he joined Derby county on loan. He couldn't help them get promoted and it seemed like his spark had gone, as he struggled on his next loan out, this time to blackburn. He would end up on loan at Bristol city, where he struggled a bit, but the chance was taken on him and he joined permanently. He lasted 3 years there, years where he was in and out often, partly down to injuries as well as including a loan to Swansea. Some thought he was coming back here, but eventually he plumped for Coventry city and has been a key member as they continue to be in and around the playoffs.
![[Image: kasey-palmer-3.jpg]](https://images.teamtalk.com/content/uploads/2017/04/26120601/kasey-palmer-3.jpg)
Now my quizzing brain isn't really braining. So there will only be a few Swansea anagrams for you to deal with.
1) hysteric lawn
2) we find miller
3) overt mirrors
4) a creep lyric
5) dean weary
6) devil fetch
7) a masker yelps
8) blew boat tap
9) we turn in jail
10) jet hacks
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Leicester vs WBA - Match Thread |
Posted by: Ska'dForLife-WBA - 19-04-2024, 15:45 - Forum: West Bromwich Albion
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And now the end is near, and so we face the final curtain; and the result against Sunderland suggests that as always, for better or worse, we'll be doing it our way. Albion just don't play the game on easy mode, which is just as well, because there'll be no easy mode available in tomorrow's early kick-off at Filbert Street (look, I just got used to there being no Yugoslavia or Zaire anymore, don't rush me), where we face a Leicester side to whom we've lost four on the bounce - conceding an average of 3 goals per game - and are winless in seven. While we're enjoying our best unbeaten away run since the winter of 2019-20 and could even equal that run by avoiding defeat on Saturday, the fact is that Leicester have averaged 2 goals a match at home across the season, securing them a 75% win rate and more clean sheets than they've kept since the season they won the Premier League. Not only is there no easy mode tomorrow, there's nothing awaiting us in the East Midlands but rage-quitting, controller-smashing ironman mode.
All the same, we have to try and produce something of a performance, even if it ultimately goes unrewarded, to restore some momentum to the final charge. For all practical purposes, we do have to prepare for the worst this weekend with our result and with others, and snatch any bonus that drops our way with due gratitude. But that worst-case expectation doesn't absolve us from putting in the hard yards and showing some self-belief on the pitch. Because that's also doing it our way.
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