Paid Members Fatty Facesitter Posted August 5, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 5, 2011 Rick will be thoroughly pissed off I'm sure. How did Hull not score tonight? Top finish from Taylor-Fletcher though. Blackpool played some nice passing football at times but it was Hull who always looked more likely to score out of the two for most of it. Couple of brilliant chances near the end for Hull that really should've given them at least a point. Â That Brady looks to be a very good player for Hull, should be interesting to see how he gets on this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra1000 Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 How did Hull City not score! Blackpool looked good going forward but the defence is still shaky as hell, but as they say I suppose they won't get punished as much as when they were in the Premiership. Its great that they get a first clean sheet of this calendar year! GT-Fletchers goal was class. Â ...and thank God football is back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted August 5, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 5, 2011 Is it May yet? Â Be worried about Blackpool's defence. Our general play was poor and we still created many, many chances. Â Fuck it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEWM Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Fuck me Rick, could be a long season mate. Last ten minutes or so especially, you should have punished them. How that Blackpool defender managed to claw that ball back off the striker (Fryatt was it? Was only able to keep one eye on it at that point) was unreal. Not what you expect on the first day of the season. Love Pearson though so hope it comes together. Holloway can still go and fuck himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Fatty Facesitter Posted August 5, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 5, 2011 Is it May yet? Be worried about Blackpool's defence. Our general play was poor and we still created many, many chances.  Fuck it.  Despite the result, I think it was clear to see which team would be finishing higher up the league table come May. Tonight wasn't Hull's night, but over the course of the next 45 games I find it very hard to believe that they won't be putting a fair few teams to the sword up front.  Even so, I don't think Blackpool will have a horrible season, they passed the ball around nicely tonight and lesser teams will struggle to combat that. Despite looking really shaky at the back they still made a couple of brilliant tackles. I reckon both are good shouts for the playoffs at least, but Hull will finish the higher of the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Fatty Facesitter Posted August 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 6, 2011 It's back, properly. Whilst obviously *I* won't be affected by the goings on in the football league now, I'll still be watching the Championship and most of the goings on in League One and Two. Here's some predictions I have.  Championship:  1. West Ham 2. Birmingham City 3. Leicester 4. Hull 5. Forest 6. Blackpool   In terms of the top two, I think it's going to be incredibly tight. I'm not sure many of the West Ham fans will share my optimism at first, but I think Allardyce has bought shrewdly in the transfer window to add to what is already a good enough squad for the Championship even when you look at players like Parker and Cole who are likely to leave. Kevin Nolan and Matt Taylor are two players who could still easily cut it in the Premier League, so between them they should make mincemeat out of the Championship.  In second, Leicester's budget would put them in the driving seat, but a big budget doesn't always guarantee you anything in the Championship. It helps, but then not everybody with the cash manages to get to the Premier League right away. Birmingham are going through plenty of problems at present, but they've still got a top manager who knows what it takes to get a club out of a sticky mess and to win promotion. He's still managed to add some solid players to the squad, and I think if they can get some momentum behind them they should just about nick second come May, leaving Leicester to fight it out in the playoffs.  Speaking of the playoffs, I think Nigel Pearson will guide Hull to a top four finish. After a poor start last season, he turned the ship around tremendously and sent them on a blistering run of form. They may have lost the opener, but there were plenty of positives to take from the game including the performance of youngster Robbie Brady. I think Hull will experience something of a resurgence under Pearson. Elsewhere, Steve McClaren should ensure that Nottingham Forest are back amongst the top 6 again and the prospect of an East Midlands derby in the final at Wembley is an interesting one, especially between two former England managers. Making up the top 6, I think Blackpool will manage to sneak their way in again. They passed the ball around nicely against Hull and, gasp, kept a clean sheet! They've still got some good players at their disposal and whether you love him or hate him, a great coach. They'll leak plenty of goals, because that's Blackpool for you, but they won't be punished as often as they were last term.  Just missing out, I expect Cardiff, Reading, Middlesborough and Southampton in no particular order to push the top six for most of the season and just about fall short, with Burnley and Ipswich making up the rest of the top half.  Down at the bottom half, I think the bottom three will also be quite tight. Peterborough haven't really strengthened after losing Mackail-Smith to Brighton, and despite having some decent players at their disposal I think they'll be in another battle to survive. Crystal Palace will struggle again, but Dougie Freedman actually shows promise in his role there, and once the club are gradually made more secure off the pitch, you get the feeling he could take them forward on it. But that'll take time. Barnsley are looking quite weak, and Doncaster will struggle with or without Billy Sharp's goalscoring ability. Derby County have brought in a few faces over the summer, but Nigel Clough still seems to be struggling to get Derby pushing for play off spots come May and I think this current Derby squad needs a real injection of quality before that happens. Watford losing Malky Mackay to Cardiff is a huge blow to them, one I'm not sure they'll quite recover from. Coventry are another side looking weak and some departures this summer have left a big hole in the team.  That being said, my bottom 3:  22. Coventry 23. Barnsley 24. Watford  I think Derby, Donny Rovers, Peterborough and Palace will finish just above them. I think the Posh will play some good stuff, and despite not scoring as many goals they've still got some half decent players to keep them up. Barnsley will suffer from the league itself getting more and more difficult, and I fear their new manager won't have what it takes to keep them in the division. Coventry look set to be in real trouble throughout the campaign and I thnk in January you may see one or two other players like Sammy Clingan look for moves elsewhere to leave the sinking ship. Watford have brought in a few over the summer, but I'm not sure they can replace the likes of high-scoring Danny Graham. Making up the rest of the table, we're looking at mid-table mediocrity/stability for Brighton (promotion contenders the season after I reckon), Bristol City, (People are tipping them for the drop, but I think they've got more in the tank than the other three teams), Millwall (Can't wait for the matches with West Ham!) and Portsmouth (Again, looking forward to the derbies with Soton).  In League One, I think Huddersfield will really take some stopping again, I think they are two years overdue a promotion personally after just missing out via the playoffs last season and barely not making it through them in the season before that. Joining them automatically, I'm going to plump for Preston North End to make an immediate return, largely due to Phil Brown. The top six is almost wide open, but I'll take a stab at Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton and Carlisle United.  At the bottom, I think Bury and Stevenage will find it tough going despite their promotions, and Jeff Stelling's Hartlepool look set for another testing season.  League 2 looks more interesting this season than it has for a while, with many of the new additions having a point to prove. For the top three, it's hard to look past Poalo DiCanio and his Swindon Town revolution from taking the top honours. Joining him, Crawley Town already have a decent squad under their belt and I think they'll land a second successive promotion (I quite like those). The bronze medal would probably wind up in the hands of Bristol Rovers.  The playoffs are wide open, but I'll plump for Torquay, Rotherham, Dagenham and Redbridge and a valiant effort from he returning Wimbledon, who I think have a rocket up their backsides at the moment. Sinking down to the conference, I think it could well be curtains for Bradford City as they sink to another low, while Oxford United will likely struggle also.  Of course, like most pre-season predictions, they inevitably turn to shit come May anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra1000 Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Nobody thinks Leeds and Forest will be up there? I can't remember anybody saying anything about Forest this Summer. I think Birmingham will just miss out on the playoffs. How West Ham STILL have Carlton Cole and Scotty Parker is beyond me. If they keep them and they don't get complacent I can see a Newcastle style run. Â Gonna be supporting Brighton for this season, hope they do well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Whole Show Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 How good was it having competitive football back on tv last night? Been a long summer. Â Was really impressed with Brady from Hull and also thought Roseiner looked good at right back. Blackpool played some good stuff, I still think Phillips will knock in 10 plus goals for them this season. Â The championship is just way to hard to predict this year. Theres 16/17 teams who could contend this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Psygnosis Posted August 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 6, 2011 Darius Vassell sent off after 10 minutes in the M69 Derby with Cov, don't think thats the start Leicester had in mind given their eventful summer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Atkins Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Just watching SSN, how long have they had that scrolling thing behind them? It's very distracting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator Frankie Crisp Posted August 6, 2011 Awards Moderator Share Posted August 6, 2011 We just had a shot! Couldn't have asked for more from the boys this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Psygnosis Posted August 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 6, 2011 Personally I think I may change my Leeds prediction at this rate, they're not looking good against Southampton here, think they'll finish 8th or 9th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cum Doctor Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 It's only one game. Teams have bad days. Impossible to make any sort of predictions from the weekend's games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanhalen2007 Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 2nd in table, good times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Psygnosis Posted August 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 6, 2011 John Carew has joined West Ham from SSN - when he's in a good mood (which can vary), nobody can stop him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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