2023/24 Premier League & General Football Discussion

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FA Cup third round draw.

Luton v Bolton
Shrewsbury v Wrexham
Arsenal v Liverpool
Stoke v Brighton
Norwich v Crewe/Bristol Rovers
West Ham v Bristol City
Tottenham v Burnley
Fulham v Rotherham
West Brom v Aldershot/Stockport
Southampton v Alfreton/Walsall
AFC Wimbledon/Ramsgate v Ipswich
Peterborough v Leeds
Millwall v Leicester
Watford v Chesterfield
Sunderland v Newcastle
Sheffield Wednesday v Cardiff
Crystal Palace v Everton
Middlesbrough v Aston Villa
Nottingham Forest v Blackpool/Forest Green
Wigan v Man United
Man City v Huddersfield
Blackburn v Cambridge
Gillingham v Sheffield United
Swansea v Morcambe
Chelsea v Preston
QPR v Bournemouth
Coventry v Oxford
Brentford v Wolves
Plymouth v Sutton
Maidstone v Stevenage/Port Vale
Newport/Barnet v Eastleigh
Hull v Birmingham

Some big ties there, Arsenal v Liverpool and Sunderland v Newcastle, ties will be played on the weekend of the 5-8th January.

Fun fact, only 2 players out of the current Newcastle and Sunderland squads has experienced the Tyne-Wear derby, Paul Dummett and Jamaal Lacselles of Newcastle.
 
Paul Heckingbottom set to be sacked by Sheffield United, it comes after a damaging 5-0 defeat to fellow relegation battlers Burnley on Saturday, they have also suffered heavy 8-0 and 5-0 defeats to Newcastle and Arsenal.

Chris Wilder is in talks with United over a return to the club, it will be the first managerial sacking of the PL season and it early December and I think that's the first time that's happened, this time last season five managers had lost their jobs.
 
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EURO 2024 groups have been drawn.

Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland

Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania

Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England

Group D: Play-off winner A*, Netherlands, Austria, France

Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Play-off winner B**

Group F: Turkey, Play-off winner C***, Portugal, Czech Republic

*Poland, Estonia, Wales, Finland, Estonia

**Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine, Iceland

***Georgia, Greece, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg

Hosts Germany will open the tournament against Scotland at the Allianz Arena on June 14th.
Opening game. Yaaaaaassssss
 
In sunny Scotland…
The early kick off on Saturday saw Hearts overcome Kilmarnock at Rugby Park thanks to a Will Dennis own goal in the 18th minute, with the keeper fluffing his lines after a Killie have had good home form this season, but Hearts held on to win their 4th consecutive Premiership game and move up to third.

The two 3pm kick offs were reduced to just one after the Livingston-Ross County game was called off after the Tony Macaroni suffered a frozen pitch. Lucky for us, Motherwell vs Dundee was an absolute thriller at Fir Park. The away side thought they had won it after an 88th-minute effort from Zach Robinson, but ten man Motherwell pushed and eventually found the net in the 97th minute via Connor Wilkinson. Earlier on, midfielder Harry Paton was sent off after VAR reviewed a tackle on Luke McCowan that was deemed to be red card worthy. The Steelmen had previously scored two earlier goals through Mika Biereth and Bevis Mugabi, to negate efforts from Lyall Cameron and Owen Beck earlier in the game. Final score 3-3.

Sunday had a hat trick of games to enjoy, with the first of them seeing St Johnstone entertain Celtic. It looked as though the Saints would secure a shock win over Brendan Rodgers‘ side, with a mistake by Joe Hart leading to Diallang Jaiyesimi netting in the 40th minute. However, Celtic got their backsides into gear after half time, With goals from Callum McGregor, Matt O‘Riley and James Forrest leading to a 3-1 win for the champions.

After that, Aberdeen faced a trip south for a must win fixture against Nick Montgomery‘s Hibernian. The Dons were the better team the entire game, but an absolute catastrophe of a performance by strikers Bojan Miovski and Ester Sokler meant that Hibs ran out 2-0 winners. Goals either side of half time from Dylan Vente and Will Fish meant that Hibs have established themselves in the top 6, whilst Aberdeen face a mid-season relegation scrap.

Abdallah Sima‘s brace assured Rangers of an unconvincing 2-0 win over St Mirren at Ibrox. Phillipe Clement‘s side remain unbeaten under his tenure in league fixtures, but overall this was a game to forget for the Gers, with many opportunities by Danilo and Cyriel Dessers squandered.

Table
Celtic - 39 points
Rangers - 31 points
Hearts - 23 points
St Mirren - 22 points
Hibernian - 21 points
Dundee - 18 points
Kilmarnock - 17 points
Motherwell - 14 points
Ross County - 14 points
Aberdeen - 13 points
St Johnstone - 11 points
Livingston - 10 points

Fixtures
Tonight
Ross County vs Motherwell
Wednesday
Aberdeen vs Kilmarnock
Celtic vs Hibernian
St Johnstone vs St Mirren
Hearts vs Rangers
 
Paul Heckingbottom set to be sacked by Sheffield United, it comes after a damaging 5-0 defeat to fellow relegation battlers Burnley on Saturday, they have also suffered heavy 8-0 and 5-0 defeats to Newcastle and Arsenal.

Chris Wilder is in talks with United over a return to the club, it will be the first managerial sacking of the PL season and it early December and I think that's the first time that's happened, this time last season five managers had lost their jobs.
So... they've now hired the guy they sacked when they were bottom of the Premier League, to replace the guy they replaced him with who they sacked because they're bottom of the Premier League...

... and this is supposed to help them not be bottom of the Premier League?
 
Scotland had midweek fixtures this week. The bain of my life.



The Tuesday saw Stuart Kettlewell face his former side as his Motherwell team travelled up north to face Derek Adams’ Ross County in Dingwall. However, there was no love lost between the two as goals from Simon Murray, Yan Dhanda and Ben Purrington inflicted Kettlewell’s ‘sorest night in football’ as County ran to a 3-0 win. A 92nd minute second yellow for Will Nightingale was the only mark on an otherwise flawless night for the Staggies which saw them overtake their opposition up to 8th, as the Steelmen’s horror run continued.



A 92nd minute thunderbolt from David Watson secured a dramatic winner for Kilmarnock at Pittodrie against Aberdeen, which saw the Dons drop down to 11th, in a relegation play off place, and Killie move upInto the top half of the table. Having been at the game itself, it was a bore fest, so that is all I am gonna say on it…



Celtic came into their game against Hibernian off the back of superb comeback against St Johnstone at the weekend, but anybody expecting a 4-1 battering of the Edinburgh side is probably lying. A double from Korean Oh Hyeon-gyu as well as contributions from Matt O’Riley and Luis Palma gave all three points to the league leaders, negating a 72nd minute consolation from Christian Doidge to maintain their 8 point gap at the top, ahead of Rangers.



A 95th minute penalty rebound by Chris Kane saw St Johnstone shock St Mirren to take all 3 points in Perth. The visitors were the better team throughout the game, but the strike force of Greg Kiltie, Lewis Jamieson and Jonah Ayunga were wasteful and failed to capitalise on many chances. Eventually, Liam Gordon was brought down in the penalty area by Charles Dunne and whilst Zach Hemming saved the initial penalty, he had no chance with Kane’s rebound and in the battle of the Saints, it was the Perth ones who prevailed.



The late Wednesday game (15 minutes late, that is) saw a 3rd goal in 2 games from Rangers’ Abdallah Sima, which Hearts were unable to respond to in Edinburgh. The 2nd placed side remain undefeated in league action under ‘new’ manager Philippe Clement. Another drab fixture, Sima’s strike was the only goal of the game, despite some antics by Hearts keeper Zander Clark, and more ineffective shot placement by Ranger’s front line of Danilo.



TABLE

Celtic - 42 points (➖)

Rangers - 34 points (➖)

Hearts - 23 points (➖)

St Mirren - 22 points (➖)

Hibernian - 21 points (➖)

Kilmarnock - 20 points (🔺)

Dundee - 18 points (🔻)

Ross County - 17 points (🔺)

Motherwell - 14 points (🔻)

St Johnstone - 14 points (🔺)

Aberdeen - 13 points (🔻)

Livingston - 10 points (➖)



Fixtures

Saturday (all 3pm)

Aberdeen vs Hearts

Livingston v Hibernian

Motherwell vs St Johnstone

Rangers vs Dundee

St Mirren vs Ross County



Sunday (12pm)

Kilmarnock vs Celtic
 
Man City are in a bad run of form, no wins in last four with three draws and last night's defeat at Villa, they've slipped to fourth and are six points behind leaders Arsenal. good return to form for Man United with a really good performance against Chelsea, only three points behind City now.
 
Absolute shambles last night. When City lose, other teams need to capitalise on it... and not get smashed by Everton :banghead:
Trouble is, we have no players left. Same starting line-up for 4-5 games in a row, maximum effort games as well including PSG. At some point Howe needs to be bringing people off the bench regardless of experience. Pretty sure 3 games out of those he didn't use the bench at all.

Everton smelled blood and rightly capitalised.
 
Trouble is, we have no players left. Same starting line-up for 4-5 games in a row, maximum effort games as well including PSG. At some point Howe needs to be bringing people off the bench regardless of experience. Pretty sure 3 games out of those he didn't use the bench at all.

Everton smelled blood and rightly capitalised.
Need to give some of the youth a chance, like he did Miley, cant keep playing this depleted 11
 
Need to give some of the youth a chance, like he did Miley, cant keep playing this depleted 11
Miley has been phenomenal, if there's even a hint of another player who can put in his level of performance then he does need to be using them. Livramento has really stepped up as well, think Burn might have a hard time getting back into the team when he is fit.
 
Man City are in a bad run of form, no wins in last four with three draws and last night's defeat at Villa, they've slipped to fourth and are six points behind leaders Arsenal. good return to form for Man United with a really good performance against Chelsea, only three points behind City now.
Where was this version of Emery when he was in charge of Arsenal?
Ralph Wiggum Danger GIF
 
Well, we're officially not the worst team in the Championship any more, on goal difference, for at least three days.

Confused Robert Downey Jr GIF
 
Im done with Manchester United this club is collapsing.

There needs to be a full purge to save the club starting from the glazers all the way to the bottom.

Also cut their paychecks.
 
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This is why as a Kid I left playing football especially at Turkish communtiy football clubs. Not only kids would get abused the referees would cop all the abuse.

Greek football is in crisis due to this Turkish football says to its neighbour hold my beer with a football club president punching a referee.
 
Scottish League Update

Aberdeen finally got back to winning ways against Hearts at Pittodrie, and in the most dramatic way possible, with a 92nd minute Leighton Clarkson winner sending the home crowd into raptures. It was a tale of two halves, as Hearts dominated large periods of the 1st, with Lawrence Shankland doing what he does best and getting on the scoresheet with a header from a corner. The Dons were booed off at half time, but they managed to turn it around, and a spirited second half start paid dividends as Bojan Miovski netted from a through ball, and Clarkson tapped in a Duk cross, to give all three points to the Dons.

Livingston‘s terrible run continued and they remained rooted to the bottom of the table after a 1-0 loss to Hibernian. Veteran Martin Boyle scored the only goal of the game mid way through the first half, in a pretty boring affair. Dylan Vente thought he had made it 2-0, but he was offside in the build up according to VAR.

A 91st minute equaliser from Mika Biereth secured a late , sorely needed point for Motherwell against St Johnstone. Bevis Mugabi‘s error off a free kick led to an own goal and a lead for the Saints, but Motherwell fought back and the last 10 minutes were largely dominated by the men in yellow. Three more strikers were brought on by Stuart Kettlewell, and eventually they struck gold, with a Theo Bair cross turned in by Biereth, and a point was secured for the Steelmen.

Goals from Cyril Dessers and Abdallah Sima, as well as a James Tavernier penalty, secured a predictable win for Rangers at Ibrox against Dundee. A fifth minute opener from Amadou Bakayoko opened the game up for a surprise, but three goals in the space of 14 minutes turned the game in the Glaswegians favour, despite Jose Cifuentes being sent off at the end of the first half. Tony Docherty’s side were underwhelming in the second period, despite the man advantage, and Rangers strolled to a 3-1 win ahead of their Europa League game against Real Betis.

St Mirren climbed back up to third with their first win in three against an uninspiring Ross County side, despite an incredible performance from Ross Laidlaw in the County net. A 51st minute rugby-esque scrum after a corner kick saw the ball hit defender Ryan Leak and trundle into the net, with a Jonah Ayunga strike being well placed 5 minutes later to double St Mirren’s lead. County were disappointing, with only 2 shots on target the entire game, and they will be looking to rebound next time out against Dundee.

By far and away the best game of the weekend took place at Rugby Park, as Kilmarnock inflicted another defeat on Celtic, who they had knocked out of the cup earlier in the season. Brendan Rodgers’ side’s invincible start was brought to a shuddering halt after an 87th minute Matty Kennedy winner raised the roof across all of Kilmarnock. Celtic were the better team in the first half, and were duly rewarded with an opener by Matt O’Riley. However, after the break, Kilmarnock came to life with an own goal in the 75th minute by Nat Phillips deservingly putting the hosts equal. Killie kept on pushing, and a last gasp tap in from Kennedy gave the hosts the privilege of being the first team to overcome the champions in the league this year.

TABLE

Celtic - 42 points (➖)

Rangers - 37 points (➖)

St Mirren - 25 points (🔺)

Hibernian - 24 points (🔺)

Kilmarnock - 23 points (🔺)

Hearts - 23 points (🔻)

Dundee - 18 points (➖)

Ross County - 17 points (➖)

Aberdeen - 16 points (🔺)

Motherwell - 15 points (🔻)

St Johnstone - 15 points (🔻)

Livingston - 10 points (➖)


Fixtures
Saturday (all 3pm)
Celtic vs Hearts
Livingston vs Kilmarnock
Ross County vs Dundee
St Johnstone vs Hibernian
St Mirren vs Motherwell

Sunday
Aberdeen vs Rangers (League Cup Final, 3pm, Hampden)
 
Horrible scenes at the Bournemouth-Luton game yesterday, Luton captain Tom Lockyer collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest in the second half, he was treated on the pitch by medical staff of both clubs and paramedics and play was suspended before being abandoned after a 25 minute stoppage.

Luton put out a statement on their socials last night saying that he is stable in hospital but we haven't heard anything since, this is the second time this year that Tom has collapsed in a game as he did so in the Championship play off final in May and he suffered a atrial flutter and underwent a procedure to correct it, he was cleared to play afterwards.

Full credit goes to the medical staff of both clubs and the paramedics, and to Luton boss Rob Edwards who told the players to move out of the way so the staff could do their job, later the players of both clubs took to the pitch to thank the fans and Rob looked visisbly distraught.

Best wishes to Lockyer and his family.
 
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It was a very good effort by Manchester United to come away with a draw from Anfield in today's highly anticipated match. Liverpool had more chances and possession but they couldn't score any goals. This draw should restore some of the shattered confidence of ten Hag and his team.

Horrible scenes at the Bournemouth-Luton game yesterday, Luton captain Tom Lockyer collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest in the second half, he was treated on the pitch by medical staff of both clubs and paramedics and play was suspended before being abandoned after a 25 minute stoppage.

Luton put out a statement on their socials last night saying that he is stable in hospital but we haven't heard anything since, this is the second time this year that Tom has collapsed in a game as he did so in the Championship play off final in May and he suffered a atrial flutter and underwent a procedure to correct it, he was cleared to play afterwards.

Full credit goes to the medical staff of both clubs and the paramedics, and to Luton boss Rob Edwards who told the players to move out of the way so the staff could do their job, later the players of both clubs took to the pitch to thank the fans and Rob looked visisbly distraught.

Best wishes to Lockyer and his family.
Wishing him all the best for a full recovery.
 
Its League Cup stuff this week with the quarter finals, Chelsea v Newcastle on Tuesday and Liverpool v West Ham on Wednesday are the TV games on Sky.

Man City are in Saudi Arabia taking part in the Club World Cup, they play Urawa Red Diamonds in the semi final tomorrow with either a 3/4th place match or the final on Friday, their home game in the League against Brentford on Saturday is postponed.

Good result yesterday against Liverpool. 👍
 
Nottingham Forest have sacked Steve Cooper, they have been struggling with recent form but it does seem harsh, they are still above the relegation zone by five points.

Nuno Espirito Santo looks set to take the job, I don't think he is an upgrade over Cooper to be honest.
 
Nottingham Forest have sacked Steve Cooper, they have been struggling with recent form but it does seem harsh, they are still above the relegation zone by five points.

Nuno Espirito Santo looks set to take the job, I don't think he is an upgrade over Cooper to be honest.
Confirmed today. I wonder if they're hoping for some new manager bounce to get them up a bit, plus he did do a good job at Wolves so, I can see their thinking.
 
It was a very good effort by Manchester United to come away with a draw from Anfield in today's highly anticipated match. Liverpool had more chances and possession but they couldn't score any goals. This draw should restore some of the shattered confidence of ten Hag and his team.
I would like to hope so, but I thought our decent win against Everton would, then we defended awfully against Galatasary and threw away a lead several times. Then we got a good result against Chelsea, but then we were thrashed at home by Bournemouth.

I think we need to get worse before we get better because there are too many weeds in that United squad. Good players on their day, but inconsistent and with poor attitudes. And our best players tend to be injury prone. It's a recipie for inconsistency and it will take time to fix and it won't be pleasant during that period. But I hope we allow Ten Hag time to rebuild, it's not a rebuild if you panic and start again part way through.
 
Okay guys, I thought I would post the games over the weekend, there is actually a game tomorrow so here are the games.

Thursday.
Crystal Palace v Brighton (8pm Sky)

Friday.
Aston Villa v Sheffield United (8pm Sky)

Saturday.
Fulham v Burnley
Liverpool v Arsenal (5.30 Sky)
Luton v Newcastle
Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth
Tottenham v Everton
West Ham v Man United (12.30 TNT)

Sunday (Christmas Eve)
Wolves v Chelsea (1pm Sky)

No Man City or Brentford due to City's participation in the Club World Cup so that game is postponed.
First Christmas Eve game in seven years.
Last weeks game between Bournemouth and Luton will be re-played in full.
Nuno Esiprito Santo is new Nottingham Forest boss.
I will post the Boxing Day games on Christmas Eve.
 
Great interview, I love how "chill" he actually is. Doesn't care how he's perceived, just seems relatively normal.

 
Man City are Champions of the World after beating Fluminense 4-0 in the Club World Cup final, they are the first English side to win five trophies in a calender year.

Villa got a 98th minute equalizer against Sheffield United in a 1-1 draw as they missed the chance to go top of the league, Palace and Brighton was also a 1-1 draw on Thursday night.
 
Man City are Champions of the World after beating Fluminense 4-0 in the Club World Cup final, they are the first English side to win five trophies in a calender year.

Villa got a 98th minute equalizer against Sheffield United in a 1-1 draw as they missed the chance to go top of the league, Palace and Brighton was also a 1-1 draw on Thursday night.
There was a discussion on Talksport the other day, debating with a City fan, whether they wanted to win the Club World Cup, or make top 4, to get into the Champions League.

The City fan chose the Club World Cup 😂
 
There was a discussion on Talksport the other day, debating with a City fan, whether they wanted to win the Club World Cup, or make top 4, to get into the Champions League.

The City fan chose the Club World Cup 😂
It's a trophy they haven't won before and a chance to spend a year as the holders of a trophy that says they are the best club in the world. Seems like a pretty good deal to me TBH.
 
Here are the games for after Christmas.

Boxing Day (Tuesday)
Bournemouth v Fulham (3pm)
Burnley v Liverpool (5.30)
Man United v Aston Villa (8pm)
Newcastle v Nottingham Forest (12.30)
Sheffield United v Luton (3pm)

Wednesday.
Brentford v Wolves (7.30)
Chelsea v Crystal Palace (7.30)
Everton v Man City (8.15)

Thursday.
Brighton v Tottenham (7.30)
Arsenal v West Ham (8.15)

All games are live on Amazon Prime.

Wolves beat Chelsea 2-1 in todays game.

Man United have announced the Sir Jim Ratcliffe aquisition of 25% of the club, pending PL approval which will take 6-8 weeks, I think this is really good positive news and the first steps to the glazers leaving the club.

Merry Christmas people. :)🎄🎁
 
Here are the games for after Christmas.

Boxing Day (Tuesday)
Bournemouth v Fulham (3pm)
Burnley v Liverpool (5.30)
Man United v Aston Villa (8pm)
Newcastle v Nottingham Forest (12.30)
Sheffield United v Luton (3pm)

Wednesday.
Brentford v Wolves (7.30)
Chelsea v Crystal Palace (7.30)
Everton v Man City (8.15)

Thursday.
Brighton v Tottenham (7.30)
Arsenal v West Ham (8.15)

All games are live on Amazon Prime.

Wolves beat Chelsea 2-1 in todays game.

Man United have announced the Sir Jim Ratcliffe aquisition of 25% of the club, pending PL approval which will take 6-8 weeks, I think this is really good positive news and the first steps to the glazers leaving the club.

Merry Christmas people. :)🎄🎁
It will be another tough game for ten Hag and his men against Aston Villa. They simply can't afford to lose this one at home. A defeat for United may end ten Hag time as Manchester United manager.
 
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