Tuesday, February 26, 2013

John Still

For those of us that follow football below the Premier League you would have been surprised to see John Still leave Dagenham & Redbridge after 9 years to drop into the Conference to manage Luton Town.

Still has had a world of success in Non League circles and Luton is probably considered a bigger club than the Daggers, who live in the shadows of West Ham in the East End of London.

Luton, despite various financial disputes in recent years, are the Man U of the Conference and Still will be the 5th man to attempt to take the Hatters back to the top flight after they were relegated unceremoniously in 2010.

Luton, despite a glorious FA Cun which would have put much needed coffers into the club, are 11 points off the Blue Square Bet Premier play-offs, with as many as three games in hand on teams above them

Still was the longest serving manager outside the Premier League where the average spell as maanger is about a season.

Football League's longest serving current managers are:

1) Paul Tisdale, Exeter City, seven seasons (since June 2006)
2) Kenny Jackett, Millwall, six seasons (since November 2007)
3) Greg Abbott, Carlisle, five seasons (since December 2008)
4) Chris Wilder, Oxford Utd, five seasons (since December 2008)
5) Nigel Clough, Derby County, four seasons (since January 2009)

Photograph of the week

Former England manager Steve McClaren has left his role as coach of FC Twente the day after getting a vote of confidence from his holding talks with chairman Joop Munsterman.

Twente have not won a league match since 21 December and are fifth in the Dutch league, six points behind leaders PSV Eindhoven.

He led the club to their maiden Dutch top-flight title in 2009-2010 during his first stint with the club but has otherwise been shit at his return to Twente, at German side Wolfsburg and Nottingham Forest.

Monday, February 25, 2013

The chasing pack continue to close

N&R Division 1 - Week 27
37 points is now the lead for Ollympic Games. The top 8 was unchanged but Blue Euro Champs moving to 9th, just 4 behind Brox Banditos.

Brett hurdled 4 managers but still a number of sides are knocking on the top 8.

The bottom 12 remains the same, although UnAthletic Madrid did climb a place as did The Billion and a Half Dollar Man.

No sweat

N&R Division 2 - Week 27
No change in the top 6 although Jager Bombers joined Mobotinho with 1,119 points. DTF FC clamber into the promotion places at the expense of Bardzo lubię nie musieć nic, who fall to 13th.

Chillers Champions was a big jumper. Kate is now 14th and Muddy's Mavericks also made good ground.

Cobra jumped 4 places and Forest Green Gingers closed the gap to 39 from 67 on Morgan and Hannah's Newco.

G Force

Week 27 - MoW
A deserved MoW fiver for Graham Ward who nicked 63 points in week 27. Chris Minchell was a surprise 2nd with 60. Chillers stole a 51 as did Brett.

Another surprise was Doyley ram-raiding 49, then Aaron pickpocketed 47 and Alastair Bigg robbed 45.

43 was burgled by Greg Foulger, Paul Keaveney and Rosie.

The lowest score was just 7 by John Hardiman, who was well and truly mugged.

Photograph of the week

Swansea City secured the first major trophy in their 101-year history as League Two Bradford City were thrashed in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley.

The Bantams had beaten Premier League trio Wigan Athletic, Arsenal and Aston Villa on the way to becoming the first side from English football's fourth tier to reach this final since 1962.

N&R Weekly Bet

No collect this week. Here they were:

Nobby

Fulham v Stoke No DRAW
Arsenal v Aston V Yes HOME
QPR v Man U Yes AWAY

Stake £2
Potential Winnings £13.00
Balance £0.62

Ready
Arsenal v Aston V Yes HOME
QPR v Man U Yes AWAY
Norwich v Everton No AWAY

Stake £2
Potential Winnings £8.20
Balance £-25.12

N&R Cup 2nd Round Draw

(Re)Insurance's most treasured fantasy football cup competition gets back under way in week 29. 64 teams are left and they will be whittled down to 32 with the gleaming and famous, at least outside the New Moon, N&R Cup is at stake.

A little while ago I tore by myself a sheet of A4 into 64 pieces, folded them up and put them in an Ironshore cap and then proceeded to pull them out one by one and this is what happened:

N&R Cup 2nd Round Draw
Chris Wright v Brett Davey
Alastair Bigg v John McGowan
Paul Hodges v Neil Reynolds
Rob Munden v Lee Baughan
Peter Doyle v Richard Richards
Luke Sloan v Ken Cobbett
Ben Guarino v Alan Oakley
Mark Wenman v Lee Horne
Paul Keaveney v Graham Ward
Mark Dewberry v Brian Rutter
Steve Merchant v Neil Wallis
Ian France v Ian Kennett
Kate Chillman v Michael Stout
James Stiff v James Down
P&C Long v Tony Murray
Geoff McCormick v Henry Williams
Andrew Shepherd v Greg Foulger
Tim Harris v Mark Sterry
Dan Duboux v Steve Black
Jason Syrett v Barry Paull
Alex Boswell v Simon Newport
Mark Gregory v Andi Turner
Dan Weeks v Chris Minchell
Soozie Saveall v Barry Plummer
Danny Rose v Richard Nathan
Peter Godfrey v Martin Singleton
Alan Waters v Aaron Bardon
Ryan Saveall v Huw Thomas
Neil Addington v Kirsty Baillie
Ricky Wood v Simon Ward
Neil Bixby v Keith Read
Neville White v John Hardiman

There you have it. Ties to look out for? Bigg v McGowan, Jason Syrett v Paull or Soozie v Plummer maybe? Bix taking on Ready or what about Thomas away to Sav? Experienced sloggers Francey and Kenentt match up as do Munden and Sweaty.

Horne v Wenners should be worth a side bet as would Dewbs v Rutts and current N&R Cup Champ Chillers hosts Stout.

Ties to be played over week 29. Draws will result in a replay. Good luck all.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Quotes of the week

"We shouldn't be ashamed of performances but I was ashamed of mine and the team's against Swansea. We need to show great attitude and commitment." - QPR's Christopher Samba

Oh well Samba old chap, only another 232 weeks of your contract remaining at a £100,000 a piece!!

"I don't give a hoot what they're doing personally. If it's within the rules, it's within the rules. Let them get on with it. We've played against a better team than us who have played within the rules of the game. You won't get me moaning about it."

Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy on Watford's 10 loan players on their books from Udinese and Granada - teams who are also under the umbrella of Hornets owners the Pozzo family - as well as Standard Liege's Geoffrey Mujangi Bia.

What they have done this season is absolutely outstanding and I think this final this year will remain in history, a small part because of us and a large part because of Bradford,"

A class statement from a class manager. Swansea manager Michael Laudrup.

"The atmosphere in the stadium and the reception I got was pretty incredible both before the game and then when I came on. It makes it easier when you win. There was slight nerves. I have always said it was a big challenge, since I signed for Paris. Playing in America for six years and then wanting another challenge meant there was a little bit of pressure. But I enjoyed coming on."

David Beckham after his debut for PSG which included helping set up a 2nd goal against Joey Barton's Marseille.

"I had two goals and it's not every day you get the chance for a hat-trick at Wembley so I wanted the third but I didn't get the chance and that was that."

Swansea striker Nathan Dyer, talking about the mini-tantrum he threw when Jonathan de Guzman refused to let him take the penalty, in comic scenes which added to the gaiety of an already splendid occasion.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

N&R Team Challenge - 7 teams battle it out

This is getting exciting.....

Miles Smith still lead but only by 5.5 points from QBE in 2nd. RSA are close by in 3rd, then come Gravity, who jumped 7 places followed by Bluefin who jump to 5th and AIG who drop to 6th. With JRP only 60 or so points behind the leaders in 7th I reckon all seven teams are in with a shout of the Team Challenge Trophy.

In 8th are AonBenfield, Tokio 9th, HDI 10th and bottom after dropping 4 places are probably the busiest boys around - Aon's Global collection of superstars brokers.

All scores correct after 26 weeks. The table will be attached to the week 27 email.

Week 27 overview

The Cup dominated week 27. City rolled over Dirty Leeds and Wigan scored 4 at 'Uddersfield but it was on Saturday that the country had the most fun at the expense of Arsenal and then Everton after Latics striker Matt Smith repeated his FA Cup heroics with a dramatic injury-time equaliser to force a fifth-round replay against the Toffeemen and give of course N&R FL managers a chance for more points if you have Everton players in your team.

Week 27:

Sun 17 Feb 2013 - Premier League
Liverpool 5 - 0 Swansea

Mon 18 Feb 2013 - FA Cup
Man Utd 2 - 1 Reading

Sun 17 Feb 2013 - FA Cup
Chelsea 4 - 0 Brentford
Man City 4 - 0 Leeds United
Huddersfield 1 - 4 Wigan

Sat 16 Feb 2013 - FA Cup
Arsenal 0 - 1 Blackburn
Oldham 2 - 2 Everton

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Week 26 overview

Week 26:

Mon 11 Feb 2013
Liverpool 0 - 2 West Brom 

Sun 10 Feb 2013
Aston Villa 2 - 1 West Ham
Man Utd 2 - 0 Everton

Sat 9 Feb 2013Tottenham 2 - 1 Newcastle
Chelsea 4 - 1 Wigan
Norwich 0 - 0 Fulham
Stoke 2 - 1 Reading
Sunderland 0 - 1 Arsenal
Swansea 4 - 1 QPR
Southampton 3 - 1 Man City

N&R League Cup Finals

To conicide with the Capital One Cup Final weekend, Keith and I have decided to have our own League Cup Finals this weekend too.

Now, just to point out that the Capital One competition does not add points to the N&R FL. In week 28 obviously Swansea will then not be earning N&R FL points. Every team in the finals has one Swansea player and it is the same player so the weekly points total will be fair and square.

The two finals then:

Div 1 League Cup Final
Ollympic Games v The Jager Squad

Top v 21st so a clear favourite but Graham has had a good run to the final beating Chris Wright, Ready and Geoff McCormick amongst others en route.

Div 2 League Cup Final
Bardzo lubię nie musieć nic v Leave Myarsealona

Two professors of the fantasy game match up in the Div 2 final. 10th v 12th and a difficult one to call.

Good luck to all four managers. A £40 prize is due to the winners.

Road to Wembley - From El Tel to Sir Alex

After beginning with Wembley FC and Terry Venables back in August we now at the Quarter Final stage follow Man Utd and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Nani scored one goal and created another for Javier Hernandez to take Manchester United past our previous Road to Wembley side Reading and into the FA Cup quarter-finals.


The Portuguese winger, on as a first-half substitute for the injured Phil Jones, struck the opener from Antonio Valencia's pass.

He then crossed for Hernandez to head past keeper Adam Federici.

JOBI McANUFF pulled one back, but United held on to set up a home tie against Middlesbrough or Chelsea.

Photograph of the week

Arsenal's Champions League ambitions - and their hopes of a first trophy since 2005 - look to be in tatters after they were well beaten by Bayern Munich at Emirates Stadium.

The noise from Arsenal fans suggesting that Arsene Wenger's reign must now come to an end is now getting louder.

In the media

There are a lot of Arsenal on here and even the most ardent of Arsene supporters must now have reached the crossroads after the week they have had.

Here the BBC's Phil McNulty searches for some answers.

"The debate about whether Wenger should stay in his job is a live one, whether people like it or not. It would certainly happen if Sir Alex Ferguson went eight seasons without a trophy at Manchester United - and would be in full swing after eight months without a trophy at Chelsea."

White supremacy

Week 26 - MoW
It was good to see Neville White collect the week 26 MoW award. 68 points for Nev, onemore than Andi Turner and two more than Hilary Flynn.

Alastair Bigg, Sav, Steve Black, Mitesh and Woody all hit 60 plus.

Ben G, Razor, Mark Gregory, Neil Reynolds, Neil's Addington and Wallis plus Paul & son should all be commended for good weeks.

The joint lowest score of 17 was held by Chris Minchell and Rutts, who was Mow a fortnight ago scoring 64 points more with the same line up.

Bearing down

N&R Division 2 - Week 26
Moral Hazard moved into 2nd place 18 points behind Monster Smash in week 26. Addington Bears jumped to 3rd and these three are now over 100 points clear off 13th and promotion does look a formality.

Sloan Rangers are 4th still with Aniseed Twists down to 5th. Mobotinho, Jager Bombers and Anfield Second XI remain 6th, 7th and 8th respectively.

stwike him centuwion vewy woughly, Leave Myarsealona, From SE6 to SB04 and Bardzo lubię nie musieć nic make up the promotion places.

DTF FC are close though and then there is a big gap to Arsene Knows in 14th.

Forest Green Gingers stay bottom with the 69th best score!

Eggs seperate from the others

N&R Division 1 - Week 26
Ollympic Games still out ahead but Guiness & eggs has made a break from the peloton. Too Big to Fail, Gooner win league and Loads of Roubles are separated by 19 points then only 10 separate We are the Darts, OJ's Red & White Army, who are the in-form side, and Brox Banditos.

Paris Eagles, To Elland Back, Boys on tour and 2Infinity & beyond all lead the chase to make it into the top 8.

It is very tightly bunched though with only 41 points between 9th and 22nd.

The bottom 12 are unaltered but the bottom two - Keep the faith and The No Hopers adrift and I would say already down.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

The halfway (and a bit) stage - N&R Div 1

Well better late than never but into the 2nd half of the season and there only looks one winner. Ryan Saveall has led for 8 weeks and has opened up a worthy lead with transfers in the bank, which of course could come to back fire if and when he decides to become tinkerman.

In the last two seasons Steve Black has come 3rd and 2nd and the eggs will be truly scrambled if he missed out again. Alastair Bigg started slowly but like a good pot roast has cooked nicely as the season has progressed and I expect him to have a big say in where the title goes. Neil Reynolds, a previous winner sits nicely in 4th and has spent the entire season in the top 8.

Likewise has Geoff McCormick, who got promoted last season and has led the table for 6 weeks. Our most consistent performer for more than a decade now is John McGowan, who sits in 5th and only recently propelled himself into the title race after a sluggish start. John had his worst season last time out but he is the most experienced player in the title mix.

Soozie is on a nice purple patch of form but has no doubt had to endure her old man giving it large. Into 7th now though and plenty of transfers in the kitty.

Chris Wright dabbled with relegation last season and only survived on goal difference or some such that we made up. Broxy has been going well this season and will expect to be involved in the prize monies.

Two old (bar) stalwarts Barry Paull and Rob Munden are knocking on the door. Barry has never won the N&R Championship but Rob has, and both are nicely placed to crack on in the title race.

Greg Foulger is always hard on himself and starts like a steam train but then runs out of transfers. Slightly different tactics this season and Greg actually was top in December but has been going backwards since.

Another ex-Champ Barry Plummer is currently 11th. A poor start for Bazza but he has shown some good form since the turn of the year. Over a 100 points off the leader but I feel Plums can have a say in the prize money. Ken Cobbett is not doing himself justice by his own standards and needs to find an extra gear to move himself into contention.

Last year's Champ Woody has found fame and fortune hard to deal with and rests in midtable. He has almost spent all of his transfers and one would think he just enjoy now his last few months as residing N&R Champion. Neil Bixby's back in the big time but only featured in the top 8 three times in 26 weeks. He looks safe and should be good enough to avoid getting sucked into the relegation rat race.

Another ex-Champ Brett Davey was top in week 2 but never reached those giddy heights again. Mind you in November he dallied with relegation but now is happily ensconsed in midtable.

Likewise Hilary Flynn is 50-odd points above the drop zone and will be hoping for a couple of good weeks to see her safe after coming up last year.

Godders was once our own Fergie and now he has become Arsene not winning bugger all for donkey's years. He is 18th a place above Ready. Both should be too good to go down (a bit like West Ham were a couple of years ago....).

The Ward brothers I think are indentical twins as they seem to mirror each other's N&R exploits (they both made a transfer today for example). Simon & Graham are both looking over their shoulder and will not want to be swept into the relegation rut.

Tim Harris was for a long period but since the new year has moved away from the bottom 12 and has opened up a little gap between him and Mark Gregory.

Mark looks in a bit of trouble to me and will need all of his players on tip top form to help him survive. Paul and his son Christian Long have had a revival of late which even saw them jointly top the Best Weekly Score. Paul was promoted last season and needs to find some consistency.

Rich Richards, so good they named him twice, also has my favourite N&R FL name this season. Rich I think has the ability to make it out of the drop zone but has let me down on that theory for the last 26 weeks!!

Steve Merchant spent one week in 2nd and then 25 in the relegation zone. He might prove me wrong but I think it could be curtains for Steve.

Lee Horne had a really good spell over Christmas fuelled by pud and pigs in blankets (I saw the Christmas party photos) but has slumped back into the bottom 12. We need another revival Lee - Easter is coming....

Andrew Shepherd apart from Week 1 started so well but he has found himself in the relegation quick sand. Plenty of transfer opps available though for the Millwall fan.

Kirsty my little Scottish sporran has also dipped into the mire. She needs to get herself out to Romford more often and make some transfers otherwise little petal is a gonner.

Dewbs was 5th last season and alongside Rosie represents the biggest flop of the season, at least according to Mrs Dewbs. Plenty of transfer requests remain but Mark is over 100 points from safety.

Rosie made such an effort last year and rightly walked away with the Div 2 title. One year later.... what happened? Has the boyfriend who helped you been dumped? Are you taking advice from Dewberry and not Bigg? Or maybe her Blog has taken up too much of her time? Anyway we are disappointed and all that hard work looks like being undone.

Francey now has to work for a living plus he no longer has some young impressionable lad in the office to help him with his team. Francey almost 200 points from safety has already gone. As has Michael Stout, now living in Germany but still playing (fantasy) football like he is from Burnley and not Munich!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Local hero

Next Sunday's Capital One Cup Final doesn't only have fans from Bradford and Swansea excited, but around these parts Bermudians are eagerly anticipating the game too.

The reason for that? 22-year old Bermudian born striker Nahki Wells, who left the island in 2010 in attempt to make it as a professional footballer in England. Wells paid for himself to attend the then brand new Richmond International Academic and Soccer Academy in Headingley, near Leeds where ex-pros Mark Ellis and John Hendrie are heavily involved.

Whilst there he had a season with the Academies affiliated non-league team Eccleshill United in the Northern Counties East League (6 levels lower than Bradford City in the pyramid) and after a couple of trials he ended up at the unlikely outpost of Carlisle United. I have spent time in both Carlisle and Bermuda and they're unlikely to ever be twinned.

Wells was released by Carlisle manager Greg Abbott after half a season and just 3 appearances as Abbott felt that Wells wasn't anywhere near ready for first team football. Wells moved back to the Bradford area and was given a trial by Bradford City, then managed by Peter Jackson in the summer of 2011.

Jackson gave Wells a one-year deal before getting the sack just as the season started but new manager Phil Parkinson took a liking to him and the Bermudian featured in 33 games during the 2011/12 season, scoring 12 goals, and the Bantams took up the option of an additional year's contract.

It has been this season that Wells has caught the eye with television cameras and the national media following Bradford's fairy tale journey to the final of the League Cup beating three Premiership teams on the way. Parky has said that Wells fluid style, pace and ability to score with both feet will not keep him in League Two for long but just as his manager did when Blackpool inquired after him, Wells committed himself to the Bantams at least until the summer despite January transfer window rumours.

Wells, who signed a 3-year contract extension in September has scored 18 goals so far this season including 3 during the League Cup run. One of those goals was the opener against Aston Villa when he remembered his friend Tumaini Steede, who died following a motorcycle accident in Bermuda last summer. Both Leeds and Huddersfield are said to be monitoring his progress but I have read here in the local press
Wells has a respect of Parky, something we know all about at Charlton.

The last Bermudian to play at Wembley was Shaun Goater in 1999 for Manchester City in the 2nd Division play-off final. Face masks on sale in Bradford has been seen on the island but footballing-loving locals will put away their Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea shirts and pack out the bars here on Sunday to cheer on their local hero to victory.

Ok Yah!

N&R Division 2 - Week 25
Monster Smash lead by 24 with Aniseed Twists now 2nd and Moral Hazard 3rd. The Sloan Ranger makes a move into 4th with Addington Bears pushed out to 5th.

Mobotinho, Jager Bombers and Anfield Second XI are still in the mix and for the 5th consecutive week the promotion 12 stay unchanged.

DTF FC are 5 points behind Bardzo lubię nie musieć nic but then there is a gap of 33 points to Arsene Knows.

Forest Green Gingers remain bottom.

Ohhhh J

N&R Division 1 - Week 25
Ollympic Games had their lead cut to 30 in week 20 as Guiness & eggs smelt a little indecision from the favourite. Loads of Roubles are up to 3rd and then it is close - real close - with only 12 points between Gooner win league, Too Big to Fail and We are the Darts.

Paris Eagles are 7th but look who it is in 8th? Soozie's OJ's Red & White Army who jump 3 places to within 79 points of husband Ryan!

Brox Banditos fall from the top 8 for the first time in 8 weeks and are 9th with Back in the Big Time and Boys on tour joint 10th.

Godders' RVP's Red Army was a big mover upwards, Woody went the other way and will need to make the most of stroking that Champions trophy before he goes to bed at night!

The bottom 12 were unchanged and are 49 points adrift as Armitage Shanks, The Jager Squad and Pure Irish put some air between them and relegation.

Cool hand Luke

Week 25 - MoW
A big week in the N&R FL. Luke Sloan hammered 97 points in week 25 to send him to a season high. 5 points behind was Godders then Tim Harris and Richard Richards both hot 84.

Plums and Steve Black worked out a 83, Soozie 77 and Johnny Mc 76 alongside fellow good guys Razor, Geoff and Brett.

Other notables were Neil Reynolds 72, Muddy 64, Chillers 63, Ben 60, Neil Wallis 58, Sarah 55, Dewbs 44 and surprisingly last Henry with 29.

Best weekly score

Time for an update. Here are the currently the best weekly scores:

1= Steve Black, week 21, 119 points
1= Paul Long, week 21, 119 points
3= Brett Davey, week 21, 110 points
3= Richard Richards, week 21, 110 points
5. Graham Ward, week 21, 109 points
6= Alastair Bigg, week 21, 107 points
6= John McGowan, week 21, 107 points
8. Richard Nathan, week 21, 106 points
9. Mitesh Patel, week 21, 105 points
10 Keith Read, week 21, 102 points

And yes they all came from week 21.

N&R Weekly Bet

Ready will soon need a loan to sort out his debt with the bookies! Our recent Weekly Bet failings here:

Nobby
Swansea v QPR DRAW No
Aston V v West Ham AWAY No
Chelsea v Wigan HOME Yes

Stake £2
Potential Winnings £26.72
Balance £0.62

Ready
Tottenham v Norwich HOME Yes
Southampton v Man C AWAY No
Liverpool v WBA HOME No
Stake £2
Potential Winnings £7.77
Balance £-25.12

Photograph of the week

Everyone's favourite loon has walked out on Swindon Town because "there have been a number of broken promises made by the club over the time that I have been manager of Swindon."

He will now wait it out in the Upton Park car park (next to Peter Odenwingie probably) waiting on Big Sam's departure. You read it here first!

Week 25 overview

6 more points for Man U as the others just watch them move further ahead. Yet Mancini is the best manager in England, Arsene Wenger in France, Rafa Benítez in Spain and Villa Boas in front of the mirror.

Week 25:

Sunday 3rd February 2013
Man City 2-2 Liverpool
West Brom 0-1 Tottenham

Saturday 2nd February 2013
Fulham 0-1 Man Utd
Arsenal 1-0 Stoke
Everton 3-3 Aston Villa
Newcastle 3-2 Chelsea
Reading 2-1 Sunderland
West Ham 1-0 Swansea
Wigan 2-2 Southampton
QPR 0-0 Norwich

Wednesday 30th January 2013
Fulham 3-1 West Ham
Man Utd 2-1 Southampton
Reading 2-2 Chelsea
Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool
Everton 2-1 West Brom
Norwich 1-1 Tottenham

Road to Wembley - Nice boys

Reading take on Man U tonight in the 5th Round of the FA Cup hoping for an upset.
Here are 10 completely useless facts on our Road to Wembley boys:

1) Reading are nicknamed The Royals, due to Reading's location in the Royal County of Berkshire.
2) Alhough they were previously known as The Biscuitmen, due to the town's association with Huntley & Palmers.
3) Huntley & Palmer once owned the largest biscuit factory in the world, but the company no longer exists.
4) Their most famous biscuit was the Nice.
5) Nice bloke Steve Coppell was Reading manager during one of Reading's greatest periods.
6) Coppell was also a legendary Man U winger in his day
7) The best ever football book was about a bloke called Robin Friday. Read it if you haven't.
8) Reading never had a player called Thursday or Saturday but did have a Steve Death, who was a killer in goal.
9) Death holds the record time for a goalkeeper not conceding a goal at 1103 minutes in 1978–79.
10) Reading were formed in 1871 but spent their first 135 years below the top tier, that is until they won the 2005–06 Championship with a league record 106 points, scoring 99 goals and losing only twice.

Thursday, February 07, 2013

In the media

New Premier League spending controls: what do they mean for your club? The Guardian's Owen Gibson explains.

Read here

Photograph of the week

England secured their first win over Brazil for 23 years as Frank Lampard's spectacular strike gave them victory at Wembley.

Brazil returned to Wembley as part of the Football Association's 150th anniversary celebrations - and played their full part in a highly entertaining friendly.

Surely that now means that England are now World Champions, right?

Scotland also won beating Estonia in Aberdeen to give Gordon Strachan a first night's win.

N&R Weekly Bet

No winners last week but Nobby still in the black.

Nobby

QPR v Norwich HOME No
Wigan v Southampton HOME No
Everton v Aston V DRAW Yes

Stake £2
Potential Winnings £36.00
Balance £2.62

Ready
Everton v Aston V HOME No
Newcastle v Chelsea AWAY No
Fulham v Man U AWAY Yes

Stake £2
Potential Winnings £7.70
Balance £-23.12

Week 24 overview

What a week of Cup and League football. In the Prem, Villa are now swimming around surrounded by piranhas and QPR can't get out of their own way.

But it was the Cup that got my juices flowing in week 24. Liverpool, Spurs, Norwich, QPR and Aston Villa all gone. Who said the Cup is dead.

Week 24:

Tuesday 29th January 2013 - Premier League
Aston Villa 1-2 Newcastle
QPR 0-0 Man City
Stoke 2-2 Wigan
Sunderland 0-0 Swansea

Wednesday 23rd January 2013 - Premier League
Arsenal 5-1 West Ham

Sunday 27th January 2013 - The FA Cup with Budweiser - Fourth Round
Oldham 3-2 Liverpool
Leeds United 2-1 Tottenham
Brentford 2-2 Chelsea

Saturday 26th January 2013 -  The FA Cup with Budweiser - Fourth Round
Man Utd 4-1 Fulham
Bolton 1-2 Everton
Brighton 2-3 Arsenal
Macclesfield 0-1 Wigan
Norwich 0-1 Luton
QPR 2-4 MK Dons
Reading 4-0 Sheff Utd
Stoke 0-1 Man City

Friday 25th January 2013 - The FA Cup with Budweiser - Fourth Round
Millwall 2-1 Aston Villa

Is the table upside down?

Week 24 - MoW
Blow me down with a pint of Fosters. Rutts only won the MoW for week 24. No I am not shitting you. The man with a previous best score of 49 cruised to victory in week 24 with 81 wholesome points and if you can still buy a pint of Fosters for a fiver then the next one Brian is on us.

So if Rutts was top, how bloody badly did the rest of you lot do? Well next up was old fantasy stalwart Danny Rose who scored 61, 20 less than Brian, 3rd was Peter Doyle who got 51, 30 pts less than Brian. WTF as the kids say.

Hang on there, did I just write Peter Doyle. Doyley, Ginger Rabbit, the 3rd best score, Rutts winning. Fcuk me, Michael Stout was 4th with 49.... is the table upside flippin down??

I need a lie down.....

Hannoi jumper

N&R Division 1 - Week 24
The top 3 swing away at the tip of Div 1. Ollympic Games are now 47 ahead of Guinness & eggs. Brox are still 3rd and Gooner win league 4th.

Loads of Roubles are 5th, Too Big to Fail 6th with Paris Eagles 7th and We are the Darts 8th.

A number of teams are bunched together behind the top 8 including climber Hannoi Utd.

Only 78 points separate 8th from 22nd and a transfer here or there could make all the difference now between a prized place or a relegation fight.

Ginger snaps

N&R Division 2 - Week 24
The top 4 were unchanged in Div 2 with Monster Smash 35 ahead of Moral Hazard. Mobotinho moved up into 5th with Anfield Second XI in 6th.

The rest of the top 12 remain the same. Outside of those FC Song Roi slipped a bit but DTF FC did close the gap on Bardzo lubię nie musieć nic.

At the bottom Forest Green Gingers remain bottom but did make a huge stride closer to Limited to 50m.

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Just to make you feel a little older

Monica & Chandler's twins would be 9 this year, Phoebe's triplets 14, Ben 18, and Emma 11. Let's just take a moment to let that sink in.

Monday, February 04, 2013

N&R Cup 1st Round Replay

One 1st Round replay to be resolved and it was:

N&R Cup 1st Rd Replay
Mark Wenman 57-42 Mark Simmons

Wenners moves on to the 2nd Round against the Div 2 League Cup finalist Mark S.

Draw for the 2nd Round to be made as soon as the cleaner comes by my desk.

Eclipse

On my return to work this morning I passed a monstrosity of a yacht moored in Hamilton Harbour. It was flagged as Bermudian, with 'Hamilton' written in neat letters on it's stern. 

The yacht is called 'Eclipse' which rang a bell with me and after a Google, I remembered that the 533 ft, $1 billion super yacht belongs to a certain Roman Abramovich. 'Eclipse' is one of the Russian gazillionaire's five boats but the one sat in Hamilton just outside of my office window is the world's largest private yacht, 1 ft 8 in longer than the 'Dubai,' which belongs to Sheikh Mohammed. It is ladies all about the length.

Abramovich's super yacht arrived here last Tuesday I am told and no one is sure whether the Chelsea owner is here, or was in fact in Docksiders on Saturday morning watching Chelsea get beat over a bacon sandwich and a pint of Guinness.

One person told me that Abramovich was due to fly in and land on one of at least two helicopter pads, the details of the inside of the yacht are a bit of a secret, but it is said to have two swimming pools, steam room, disco, library, a private submarine, six-foot movie screens in all guest cabins, 20 jet skis and some 6,000 sq ft of living space and a full sized football pitch for Roman to explain tactics with whoever is the Chelsea manager (I made that last one up by the way).

The 'Eclipse' is in it's first ever visit to the country of it's nationality. Many, many private vessels are registered with a flag of convenience such as Bermuda which asks nothing more than some money to protect the owner's privileges and details and of course offers a nice little tax advantage. I was thinking I might take a run at getting on later but with it's 70 crew, motion sensors, armour plating, anti-paparazzi shield, special missile detection defense system and missile-proof windows I might give it a miss and get the ferry home instead!

Nobby on the slopes, Ready on the Singha

I am little behind with the N&R FL as you are probably aware. Work has started off like Usian Bolt out of the blocks in 2013 and then last week I was invited to go skiing by an insurance company (3 letters, first A, last E) in Colorado.

Next week I am in Miami and in the meantime I have a lot of stuff going on - it gets like that as you know.

Keith flew to Thailand today, but the fantastic news was that he boarded the plane with a job offer. He will start on April 2nd back in the market - more to follow on that.

So, bear with us. Thank you.

Nobby & Ready

Photograph of the week

Mario Balotelli's high profile move to AC Milan from Man City was the only real excitement on Transfer Deadline Day unless you include George Boyd's dodgy eyesight and Peter Odemwingie scurrying around Shepherds Bush like a lost soul.

On Sunday Balotelli scored twice against Udinese, including the winner with the last kick of the game, as he made a successful start to life at AC Milan.

The 22-year-old striker completed a £19m move to the Italian side from Manchester City on Thursday. Balotelli was only included in the team at the last minute after Giampaolo Pazzini was injured in the warm-up.

Road to Wembley - Royals march on

Our Road to Wembley boys Reading cruised past Sheffield United 4-0 to reach the 5th Round of the FA Cup. NOEL HUNT nodded in an early opener before MIKELE LEIGERTWOOD added a 2nd with a fierce shot.

HUNT grabbed his second with a scuffed effort from fellow forward Garath McCleary's cross, and then McCLEARY himself added the 4th with a well struck left foot shot.

Le Fondre also came close for the Royals although they didn't have it all way and the scoreline flattered them slightly as the Blades could not make the most of the chances they had.

Reading were drawn away at Man United in the 6th Round.

Reading: Federici, Shorey, Mariappa, Morrison, Kelly, Karacan, Leigertwood (Guthrie), Robson-Kanu, Le Fondre, Hunt, McCleary
Substitutes: Taylor, Pearce, Cummings, McAnuff, Kebe, Guthrie, Church
Attendance: 14,715

Russian roulette

Week 23 - MoW
That N&R FL legend John McGowan was the MoW winner in week 23 with 71 points, so a fiver for John or around 65,000 roubles!

Plums was next best with 68, Steve Black continued his title chase with 67 and James Stiff has hit a nice little run with another 66 added to his total.

Chris Wright headed in a 62 and Jason Syrett, Sweaty, Neil Addington, Andrew Shepherd and Ben G all nodded in a 61.

The week's lowest total was 20 and that was Oakers.

Week 23 overview

A bumper fantasy week with Cup replays and league games.

Premier League - Wed 15th Jan
Chelsea 2-2 Southampton

Premier League - Sat 19th Jan
West Brom 2-2 Aston V
Liverpool 5-0 Norwich
Man C 2-0 Fulham
Newcastle 1-2 Reading
Swansea 3-1 Stoke
West Ham 1-1 QPR
Wigan 2-3 Sunderland

Premier League - Sun 20th Jan
Tottenham 1-1 Man U
Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal

Premier League - Mon 21st Jan
Southampton 0-0 Everton

FA Cup - 3rd Rd Replay - Wed 15th Jan
Man U 1-0 West Ham
Arsenal 1-0 Swansea

FA Cup 3rd Rd Replay - Tues 14th Jan
Blackpool 1-2 Fulham 2 (AET)
West Brom 0-1 QPR
Bournemouth 0-1 Wigan
Stoke 4-1 Crystal Palace 1 (AET)
Sunderland 0-2 Bolton