Newcastle United – romped the league – finished w/ 102 points…going straight back up, rather unexpectedly given the turmoil same time last year West Bromwich Albion – it’s their bi-yearly migration north…can they solve the riddle of consolidation? Roberto di Matteo goes from League One to the Prem in a meteoric two years… Nottingham Forest – rode [...]

Up the road they were celebrating heartily. Loads of beer, plenty of tits, and the criminally underrated Geordie birds too, all celebrating their crown – and passport back to Prem prosperity. The mood back down south was decidedly more somber – a new generation of supporters indelibly scarred by an indifferent squad trudging towards the [...]

It was a fine idea at the time. The playoffs were still within reach, and though we’ve played well without him, let’s get Gary O’Neil back in the side. The club, ahem, came to an agreement w/ Pompey administrator Andrew Andronikou – widely speculated to be a pay as you play scheme for the last [...]

It’s not all pain, hatred, and misery. Gordo was positively giddy in his post-match interview – the calm and professional manner in which they killed off the match, the committed approach, and most importantly a thin sliver of hope thanks to other results going our way for a change. Boro are back in w/ a [...]

Deferred notes on the Crystal Palace match are enclosed. We agonised over not being able to use ‘quality and imagination’ in a laconic fashion – Vic and Uncle Eric had the market cornered, and it is what they do and all… We enjoyed the usual feast consisting of a battered, deep-fried live blog escalope served w/ [...]

If there’s going to be a Welsh bottle job late in the Championship this year it won’t happen in Cardiff. Swansea looks eminently more catchable at this stage – even Leicester are vulnerable and displaying signs of hitting the metaphorical wall and exhausting a season long exuberance which propelled them to unimaginable heights. Deliciously enough, [...]

Credit Preston for trying it. The tested script to banjax Boro at home reads: put them under the cosh for the first 15 mins – let the supporters shower them in abuse – watch them shrivel – score as much as you need. It used to work; not anymore though. Nine on the bounce unbeaten [...]

Notes from the Reading match – devoid of any formal introduction or lead-in: Jones; Hoyte, Wheater, Grounds, Pogatetz; Robson, O’Neil, Franks, Arca; Killen, McDonald Brad Jones back in goal – they say it’s to punish Danny Coyne for a dodgy performance at Derby…doesn’t it just really punish all of us? No Mick – he took ill prior to [...]

Feel the heat in the following notes. The Derby live blog was a sexually liberating experience, just like we’d always imagined. Men openly loving men, achieving emotional nirvana…this is who we are, and we’re okay with that. Barry Robson invoked it. It’s not his fault though, with the tackling, passing, commitment, deathly frozen stare – [...]

Outstanding. Terrific. A Real Treat. Call it what you will, just don’t call it a crucial victory in a palpitating parochial derby. Another late match lapse – the first in some time – confirmed the postulations of Gordon Strachan: this squad is nowhere near finished or to my liking. This is a big project. It [...]