Championship 23/24

[Sweaty Gussets]

2 hours ago, Upside Down said:

Still a step up from.what we have now.

It really isn't

[Tugayisgod]

2 hours ago, Upside Down said:

Still a step up from.what we have now.

I've yet to receive a letter from our owners asking me for a £100 donation to keep the club afloat.

Believe it or not there are worse owners out there than ours, which might not be saying a great deal admittedly 

[Upside Down]

Just now, Tugayisgod said:

I've yet to receive a letter from our owners asking me for a £100 donation to keep the club afloat.

Believe it or not there are worse owners out there than ours, which might not be saying a great deal admittedly 

 

11 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

It really isn't

Watch this space

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

They have opened the top tier of the Darwen End for our Nob End neighbours....they are creaming themselves at how massive they are for their 'big night out in Blackburn'

Usual shyte on PNE online...

 

 

[Mattyblue]

Remember when you actually could have a ‘big Friday night out’ in Blackburn?

[Ghost7]

On 31/10/2023 at 20:30, Tugayisgod said:

I've yet to receive a letter from our owners asking me for a £100 donation to keep the club afloat.

Believe it or not there are worse owners out there than ours, which might not be saying a great deal admittedly 

 

The thing is I'm seeing articles start with "we spoke to the Sheffield Wednesday owner and here's what he had to say" and from the pictures I'm seeing it looks like he's attended some of their games? So before we start to defend Venky's let's remember how detached, uninterested and non present they are at our football club. When the heat gets turned up a bit they won't give anyone the courtesy of addressing them directly, or being present on the ground at the club they own.

Venky's remain one of the worst ownerships in English football. We have barely seen or heard from them in 10 years!

Non existent.

[JHRover]

The Sheffield Wednesday owner is a bit of an idiot and seems to enjoy acting like a petulant child with his outbursts on their website. On one side very embarrassing but on the other at least it shows some degree of emotional engagement with them and some degree of reaction to their results and fans.

But fundamentally he's no worse than Venkys. He bought a Championship club and they are more or less where they were when he started, having had 2 near misses with promotion to the PL whilst spending silly money.

Venkys bought a top 10 PL club and dragged it down to League One. This club is vastly inferior in virtually every department to the one they bought.

They do have a lot in common with each other though. Both from backgrounds in Asian food production (Chickens, Seafood), both seem to have inherited their wealth from established family businesses that dominate their respective markets. Both seem to enjoy or at least content to absorb significant multi-million annual losses. Both have had suspect links to shadowy advisors and agents. Both have overseen seemingly endless FFP problems whilst smaller clubs navigate their way around any issues.

Together with the Reading owner they all have quite a lot in common, and suspect ourselves and Wednesday are both nearer to Reading than the current tables would suggest.

 

[JohnD]

I'm surprised at the Leeds win at Leicester tonight, fully deserved it too.

[47er]

On 31/10/2023 at 20:02, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I hope the Chicken Chokers don’t see this !

Or Waggot!

[arbitro]

8 hours ago, JohnD said:

I'm surprised at the Leeds win at Leicester tonight, fully deserved it too.

Leeds were, as you say fully deserving of their win and looked good. They counter attacked with great pace which Leicester really struggled with. However they find it difficult to sit in and play on the break at home as their fans demand they attack and teams will defend in greater numbers. 

[DE.]

Note that Leeds are also the only team so far to have beaten Ipswich in 2nd, so they clearly have something about them. Just a consistency issue, although they've won four of their last five and are rapidly climbing the table. Leicester will go up comfortably, but if Ipswich's form starts to tail off it'll be Leeds who are snapping at their heels. 

[Atko's Engine]

Not a bad set of results today all things being equal (besides Preston winning).

IF (I know) we get the win tomorrow then we're well in contention for the top 6 mix going into the next international break.

[Penwortham Blue]

Another very late winner for Southampton again, making a habit of it. Table beginning to take shape and bizarrely, I feel more confident of us getting a result against Knob End now they have ended their dismal run. Sadly, I don’t see us getting anywhere near the play offs this season.

[rigger]

26 minutes ago, Penwortham Blue said:

Another very late winner for Southampton again, making a habit of it. Table beginning to take shape and bizarrely, I feel more confident of us getting a result against Knob End now they have ended their dismal run. Sadly, I don’t see us getting anywhere near the play offs this season.

I have booked my hotel at Wembley for the play-off final.

[Upside Down]

5 minutes ago, rigger said:

I have booked my hotel at Wembley for the play-off final.

Remember when the red scum actually did that for the F.A. Cup and got knocked out in the third round?

[rigger]

3 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

Remember when the red scum actually did that for the F.A. Cup and got knocked out in the third round?

I do it every season.

[Penwortham Blue]

1 hour ago, rigger said:

I do it every season.

Good job zero cost cancellation is usually available 😊

[windymiller7]

1 hour ago, Penwortham Blue said:

Good job zero cost cancellation is usually available 😊

TBF, I usually do the same but generally around Feb to see if we've any chance.

[Mattyblue]

We used to do it, all the way back to the Bowyer era when we had a load of good players for this level, yet still fell away every time.

Given up bothering now… so watch me scramble around for one this May.

[rigger]

9 hours ago, Penwortham Blue said:

Good job zero cost cancellation is usually available 😊

It wouldn't make sense otherwise. 

[chaddyrovers]

Looks like Millwall will appoint England under 20's head coach Joe Edwards as their next head coach. He has beaten Nathan Jones to the job according to media reports. 

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Norwich sack Wagner after today defeat to Rovers. Its look like the entire club is in holding faze as Keith Andrews said post game from the ownership to new sporting director coming in and Webber joining Leeds. They should be doing better with their budget then they are. Fans turned very quickly on the players and Wagner. didn't take much either 

[Mattyblue]

Watford and Norwich are in the last year of parachutes too, they’ve both made a right hash of it.

[DE.]

Friday's match saw Leeds inflict only a second defeat in fifteen games on Leicester, and curiously both defeats have been 1-0 reversals at home, with Leicester's other defeat being against Hull back on 2nd September.  It ended a run of nine straight wins for Leicester, whilst it was a fourth victory in five games for a Leeds side that are trying to gain ground on the top two after an inconsistent start to the season. They remain in 3rd for the time being, seven points behind Ipswich in 2nd. Leicester stay top of the division, eleven points ahead of Leeds despite this loss. 

Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham City™ were looking good against Ipswich at St.Andrews, 2-0 up after 51 minutes. However, Ipswich showed their usual resilience and refusal to lose, with substitute Marcus Harness scoring in the 79th and 89th minute to claw back the deficit and allow the Tractor Boys to escape with a well-earned point. Rooney is finally off the mark in terms of getting some points at his new club, but will be disappointed to have seen his side blow a two goal home lead. Birmingham fall to 15th in the table, having only picked up a single point from the first twelve available to Rooney. They were 6th when Eustace was sacked. Ipswich remain in 2nd and edge a point closer to Leicester, due to their defeat against Leeds. Ipswich are currently seven points ahead of Leeds in 3rd and four points behind Leicester in 1st, but do have a game in hand on both. 

After getting their first win of the season last week against Rotherham, normal service was resumed for Sheffield Wednesday as they failed to score and lost 1-0 against a Bristol City side currently without a manager, following the surprise sacking of Nigel Pearson. Their cause wasn’t helped by Barry Bannan getting himself sent off in the 32nd minute, and a 64th minute goal from Bristol City was enough to give them all three points. Bristol City climb to 11th, having lost their previous two games, whilst the Owls remain adrift at the bottom of the table, nine points from safety.

Huddersfield and Watford played out a goalless draw at the John Smith's Stadium, and this was in fact the first 0-0 ever contested between these two sides. It's not a result that does either team much good, but whereas it stretches Watford's unbeaten run to five games, Huddersfield have now only won once in nine games. With that said, Huddersfield have taken a couple of recent hammerings, conceding eight in their last two matches, so a clean sheet will be welcome. They remain in 21st, five points clear of Rotherham in 22nd. Watford sit in 16th, still with only four wins in fifteen matches, but having gained a credible nine points from the last fifteen available.

Millwall's poor form continued as they lost at the death against a revived Southampton side at the Den. A 93rd minute goal from substitute Ryan Fraser was enough to give the Saints all three points. Three wins from their last five matches has hauled Southampton into 4th place in the league, just a point behind Leeds in 3rd. Millwall meanwhile haven't won in five, only gaining three points from the last fifteen available. They are due to appoint England U20's boss Joe Edwards in a bid to reverse their ailing fortunes. He reportedly beat Nathan Jones to the post.

Plymouth and Middlesbrough played out an entertaining 3-3 draw at Home Park. A topsy-turvy game saw Boro take the lead, only for Plymouth to score twice in four minutes to go in at half-time 2-1 ahead. Boro then copied Plymouth's feat as they also scored two goals within four minutes in the second half to go 3-2 ahead. A 77th minute equaliser from Plymouth's Morgan Whittaker ensured the teams would ultimately share the spoils. Plymouth move up to 19th, six points clear of Rotherham in 22nd. Boro's winning streak came to an end last week with a defeat, and they were unable to get back on track this week either, leaving them in 12th position.

Two of the division's most out-of-form teams met at Dumpdale as Preston took on Coventry. It was Preston who would emerge victorious in the end, with a hard-fought 3-2 victory. It ended a dismal run of no win in eight games, and was enough to push them back up into 6th place. Coventry meanwhile suffered a fourth defeat in a row and sit in 20th, five points clear of the relegation zone but in absolutely dire form, with just a single point from the last fifteen available.

22nd and 23rd battled it out at the New York Stadium, as Rotherham hosted QPR. Both teams will likely be disappointed to have come away with only a point each, as the match ended 1-1, doing little to help either side. QPR had gone ahead on the 50th minute, but Rotherham equalised in the 70th minute to deny Marti Cifuentes a win in his first match as new QPR head coach. The result is somewhat of an improvement for QPR at least, as they ended a run of six straight defeats. Rotherham meanwhile have picked up four points from the last fifteen on offer. QPR remain in 23rd, six points behind Huddersfield in 21st, with Rotherham five points behind the Terriers. Rotherham do have a game in hand, which would bring them to within two points of Huddersfield if they were to win it. Considering they only have two wins in fourteen matches thus far, however, that's not something that should be considered likely to happen. The postponed match against Ipswich will be played at the New York Stadium on Tuesday.

A stifled contest between Stoke and Cardiff at the bet365 ended in a 0-0 draw. Not much else to say about that - it was just Stoke's second draw of the season, and places them in 13th, having gained ten points from their last twelve. Cardiff have seven from the last nine available points, but Preston's win saw them fall out of the playoff spots and into 7th position. 

Another goalless draw, the third of the afternoon, was found at the Swansea.com stadium, as Swansea and Sunderland shared the points. With that said, Sunderland will wonder how they came away from this match with one point and no goals, having dominated throughout after Swansea's Charlie Patino was sent off in the 30th minute for picking up two yellow cards. Despite this domination, they could have faced an even worse fate had Jamal Lowe not contrived to miss a first half penalty. Sunderland had an impressive 25 shots, but crucially just 3 were on target. Nonetheless, the Swans' resolute defending ensured that they walked away with a point and sit in 14th position. Sunderland are 8th, having only won once in their last five matches. 

Despite a recent run of two straight wins, Hull were reigned in by a West Brom side full of confidence, as they dispatched the Tigers 3-1 at the Hawthorns to record a third successive win and ten points from the last twelve available. The result keeps WBA in 5th position, two points ahead of Cardiff in 7th and nine points behind Ipswich in 2nd place. Hull are 9th in the table, two points behind Preston in 6th. 

Sunday's game, a midday kickoff at Carrow Road, saw the indomitable Rovers inflict a 3-1 defeat on the Canaries. We were two goals ahead inside fifteen minutes, with Dolan and Szmodics excellently finishing off wonderful attacking moves that exposed a woeful Norwich backline. The Norwich fans, frustrated by their side's recent displays, vociferously booed their side multiple times during the first half, rotating between chants of "we're special, we lose all the time", "you're getting sacked in the morning", "we want Wagner out", "sack the board", "we want Webber out" and "David Wagner, get out of our club". Rovers added a third just four minutes after the restart, only adding to the toxic mood within the stadium. An extremely questionable red card for Scott Wharton in the 54th minute changed the complexion of the game, forcing Rovers to fall back and regroup. It still took Norwich until the 92nd minute to score against the determined ten men of Rovers, however, which was far too late. Another cacophony of boos rang out around Carrow Road from the remaining home fans in attendence as the final whistle was blown. A fourth win in five games for the mighty Rovers sees us move up to 10th position, three points outside of the playoff places. We play Preston at Ewood on Friday, and thanks to Preston's poor goal difference of -2, a win would temporarily see Rovers jump into 6th place. For Norwich, a fourth successive defeat and a run of six games without a win sees them drop further to 17th in the table, with the worst defensive record in the division standing at 30 goals conceded. In comparison, QPR and Huddersfield, the league's next worst defences, have conceded 27. One imagines Wagner's time at Norwich may be drawing to a close, with the fans having completely turned on him.

Edited November 5, 2023 by DE.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

45 minutes ago, DE. said:

Friday's match saw Leeds inflict only a second defeat in fifteen games on Leicester, and curiously both defeats have been 1-0 reversals at home, with Leicester's other defeat being against Hull back on 2nd September.  It ended a run of nine straight wins for Leicester, whilst it was a fourth victory in five games for a Leeds side that are trying to gain ground on the top two after an inconsistent start to the season. They remain in 3rd for the time being, seven points behind Ipswich in 2nd. Leicester stay top of the division, eleven points ahead of Leeds despite this loss. 

Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham City™ were looking good against Ipswich at St.Andrews, 2-0 up after 51 minutes. However, Ipswich showed their usual resilience and refusal to lose, with substitute Marcus Harness scoring in the 79th and 89th minute to claw back the deficit and allow the Tractor Boys to escape with a well-earned point. Rooney is finally off the mark in terms of getting some points at his new club, but will be disappointed to have seen his side blow a two goal home lead. Birmingham fall to 15th in the table, having only picked up a single point from the first twelve available to Rooney. They were 6th when Eustace was sacked. Ipswich remain in 2nd and edge a point closer to Leicester, due to their defeat against Leeds. Ipswich are currently seven points ahead of Leeds in 3rd and four points behind Leicester in 1st, but do have a game in hand on both. 

After getting their first win of the season last week against Rotherham, normal service was resumed for Sheffield Wednesday as they failed to score and lost 1-0 against a Bristol City side currently without a manager, following the surprise sacking of Nigel Pearson. Their cause wasn’t helped by Barry Bannan getting himself sent off in the 32nd minute, and a 64th minute goal from Bristol City was enough to give them all three points. Bristol City climb to 11th, having lost their previous two games, whilst the Owls remain adrift at the bottom of the table, nine points from safety.

Huddersfield and Watford played out a goalless draw at the John Smith's Stadium, and this was in fact the first 0-0 ever contested between these two sides. It's not a result that does either team much good, but whereas it stretches Watford's unbeaten run to five games, Huddersfield have now only won once in nine games. With that said, Huddersfield have taken a couple of recent hammerings, conceding eight in their last two matches, so a clean sheet will be welcome. They remain in 21st, five points clear of Rotherham in 22nd. Watford sit in 16th, still with only four wins in fifteen matches, but having gained a credible nine points from the last fifteen available.

Millwall's poor form continued as they lost at the death against a revived Southampton side at the Den. A 93rd minute goal from substitute Ryan Fraser was enough to give the Saints all three points. Three wins from their last five matches has hauled Southampton into 4th place in the league, just a point behind Leeds in 3rd. Millwall meanwhile haven't won in five, only gaining three points from the last fifteen available. They are due to appoint England U20's boss Joe Edwards in a bid to reverse their ailing fortunes. He reportedly beat Nathan Jones to the post.

Plymouth and Middlesbrough played out an entertaining 3-3 draw at Home Park. A topsy-turvy game saw Boro take the lead, only for Plymouth to score twice in four minutes to go in at half-time 2-1 ahead. Boro then copied Plymouth's feat as they also scored two goals within four minutes in the second half to go 3-2 ahead. A 77th minute equaliser from Plymouth's Morgan Whittaker ensured the teams would ultimately share the spoils. Plymouth move up to 19th, six points clear of Rotherham in 22nd. Boro's winning streak came to an end last week with a defeat, and they were unable to get back on track this week either, leaving them in 12th position.

Two of the division's most out-of-form teams met at Dumpdale as Preston took on Coventry. It was Preston who would emerge victorious in the end, with a hard-fought 3-2 victory. It ended a dismal run of no win in eight games, and was enough to push them back up into 6th place. Coventry meanwhile suffered a fourth defeat in a row and sit in 20th, five points clear of the relegation zone but in absolutely dire form, with just a single point from the last fifteen available.

22nd and 23rd battled it out at the New York Stadium, as Rotherham hosted QPR. Both teams will likely be disappointed to have come away with only a point each, as the match ended 1-1, doing little to help either side. QPR had gone ahead on the 50th minute, but Rotherham equalised in the 70th minute to deny Marti Cifuentes a win in his first match as new QPR head coach. The result is somewhat of an improvement for QPR at least, as they ended a run of six straight defeats. Rotherham meanwhile have picked up four points from the last fifteen on offer. QPR remain in 23rd, six points behind Huddersfield in 21st, with Rotherham five points behind the Terriers. Rotherham do have a game in hand, which would bring them to within two points of Huddersfield if they were to win it. Considering they only have two wins in fourteen matches thus far, however, that's not something that should be considered likely to happen. The postponed match against Ipswich will be played at the New York Stadium on Tuesday.

A stifled contest between Stoke and Cardiff at the bet365 ended in a 0-0 draw. Not much else to say about that - it was just Stoke's second draw of the season, and places them in 13th, having gained ten points from their last twelve. Cardiff have seven from the last nine available points, but Preston's win saw them fall out of the playoff spots and into 7th position. 

Another goalless draw, the third of the afternoon, was found at the Swansea.com stadium, as Swansea and Sunderland shared the points. With that said, Sunderland will wonder how they came away from this match with one point and no goals, having dominated throughout after Swansea's Charlie Patino was sent off in the 30th minute for picking up two yellow cards. Despite this domination, they could have faced an even worse fate had Jamal Lowe not contrived to miss a first half penalty. Sunderland had an impressive 25 shots, but crucially just 3 were on target. Nonetheless, the Swans' resolute defending ensured that they walked away with a point and sit in 14th position. Sunderland are 8th, having only won once in their last five matches. 

Despite a recent run of two straight wins, Hull were reigned in by a West Brom side full of confidence, as they dispatched the Tigers 3-1 at the Hawthorns to record a third successive win and ten points from the last twelve available. The result keeps WBA in 5th position, two points ahead of Cardiff in 7th and nine points behind Ipswich in 2nd place. Hull are 9th in the table, two points behind Preston in 6th. 

Sunday's game, a midday kickoff at Carrow Road, saw the indomitable Rovers inflict a 3-1 defeat on the Canaries. We were two goals ahead inside fifteen minutes, with Dolan and Szmodics excellently finishing off wonderful attacking moves that exposed a woeful Norwich backline. The Norwich fans, frustrated by their side's recent displays, vociferously booed their side multiple times during the first half, rotating between chants of "we're special, we lose all the time", "you're getting sacked in the morning", "we want Wagner out", "sack the board", "we want Webber out" and "David Wagner, get out of our club". Rovers added a third just four minutes after the restart, only adding to the toxic mood within the stadium. An extremely questionable red card for Scott Wharton in the 54th minute changed the complexion of the game, forcing Rovers to fall back and regroup. It still took Norwich until the 92nd minute to score against the determined ten men of Rovers, however, which was far too late. Another cacophony of boos rang out around Carrow Road from the remaining home fans in attendence as the final whistle was blown. A fourth win in five games for the mighty Rovers sees us move up to 10th position, three points outside of the playoff places. We play Preston at Ewood on Friday, and thanks to Preston's poor goal difference of -2, a win would temporarily see Rovers jump into 6th place. For Norwich, a fourth successive defeat and a run of six games without a win sees them drop further to 17th in the table, with the worst defensive record in the division standing at 30 goals conceded. In comparison, QPR and Huddersfield, the league's next worst defences, have conceded 27. One imagines Wagner's time at Norwich may be drawing to a close, with the fans having completely turned on him.

Thanks for that.

[arbitro]

Just looking ahead to December there are seven scheduled fixtures for each club with the majority having those seven in a 27 day period. Having international breaks in September, October and November has exacerbated this but for us it will really stretch a small squad that is already creaking through injuries. Keeping players fresh will be a challenge for all the clubs and although it's relatively early in the season it could define it for some.