Mr Mackem's honeymoon period is well and truly over !!
Drawing 1 and losing 3 league games off the belt with Man Utd and Arsenal the next 2 games pundits are not expecting miracles from Mackem and he could slip into the relegation zone

In the Transfer News it was a shock for many fans to see EMIR SPAHIC  move back to Leverkusen. The 34 year old was the back bone of Reading's defence.
32 year old KIM KALLSTROM arrived from Spartak Moskva on a 2 year deal for a snip at 4.3 million. Young defender GUSTAVO GOMEZ has brought some South American flair to the squad. A purchase from Lanus for 3.6 million. Fears where set aside when SPAHIC replacement was unveiled at a press conference. Defender DIOGO FIGUEIRAS from Spanish side Sevilla for a cool 7 million.  

Reynolds Reflects

Posh boss Lee Reynolds reflected on a missed opportunity tonight as Posh who 3 times came from behind in an exciting 3 all draw at home to Leyton Orient.
Posh coming off the back of 3 straight wins one of which was at home to leaders Bristol City were full of confidence and seemed they would make in 4 wins on the trot, but Orient had other ideas. They stunned the home side inside the first minute Bakayoko heading home.The home side didn't have to wait too long as the front 2 combined with Sigthorsson blasting the ball past the keeper, but good play with in a miniute by Robinson enabled Dagnell to the O's back in front.
Reynolds was becoming increasingly incensed with his back 3 and keeper who seem to be at sixes and sevens. Parity was restored as Zuffi slid in Sigthorsson who hit home his second and drew Posh level again. Orient were a constant threat in particularly Robinson who shot home a 3rd on 39rd minute to once again put Orient in front.
The second half was a different story as fewer chances were created until substitute Murphy on for Babacar with the change greeted by boos on 60 minutes got the leveller again on 79 minutes. Young Mandragora playing the ball into Murphy's run who dispatched with aplomb.
Orient were well worth their point but with Blackpool also drawing Reynolds was disappointed his side could not take advantage. "Fair play to Orient but our defending was amateurish. If we are to go up we must improve defensively. The division is a lot tougher with a number of new experienced managers joining". The one bonus again was the performance of the front 2 which drew praise from their boss, "The front 2 are really clicking since Sigthorsson recovered from his injury. They are beginning to show a great understanding and goals are coming too"

Kinnear Aplogetic to the Booing Crowds

Derby fans have always been known for they patience but the recent run that manager Gordon Gino Kinnear has led the team on a run of 4 defeats that ironically began at tonight's opponents and league leaders Blackburn Rovers.

Kinnear called on the Derby public to turn out and help change the teams fortunes around he was delighted to see not even an empty seat at the Ipro and his pride pre-match that the £50 match ticket prices still led to a full stadium for a SMFA Sports 1 clash was evident to see. Kinnear was in buoyant mood after Beddows had attacked his inability to speak to the press only 11 days ago, with Kinnear stating... "I'd love it if we beat them, I'd love it."

Beddows on the back of a shock 3-0 home defeat at the weekend recalled a few more regular faces including Jason Lowe, who this season had scored 5 in 19 prior to this evening and Grant Hanley at the back.

Kinnear was seen pulling his hair out after only 12 minutes as his captain, Tomkins, set a 'fantastic example' to the youngster in the ground by lunging two footed with a look of deep intent on his face at Blackburn legend, Nils Petersen only to give away a blatant penalty, Beddows could not believe that the ref didn't even give him a yellow card as Adam Johnson dispatched the penalty. 1-0.

Derby regained some composure, coming close on a few occasions, only to be denied by the bestest ever goalkeeper in GC279, Zoet. What a keeper!

And then on 30 minutes the league leaders took full control - Bigrimana and Noble both providing assists for Lowe... 3-0... 2 goals in 5 minutes.

Blackburn pulled a goal back late on but in truth Blackburn could have scored more.

Back to the drawing board for Derby County and Kinnear but at least they will not have to face Rovers again.

Live on SMFA Sports 1 Monday 22nd December...

HEADLINES

 16' CABAYE plays a pass into the feet of Shinji OKAZAKI.
OKAZAKI takes a touch and fires the ball at goal.
GOAL!! - It hits the back of the net. 1-0

40' KAGAWA connects with the knee of CABAYE with a high challenge.
Red Card - It's an early bath for KAGAWA.

82' Papiss CISSÉ finds some space in the box and OCZIPKA feeds him the ball.
CISSÉ tries his luck with a cheeky flick at goal.
GOAL!! - The ball is well placed and creeps just inside the post. 2-0

Tranmere Christmas Night out

After Tranmere's 4-3 win at Loftus Road last night, manager Frank Hirst decided to throw their Christmas party in London...below are a few of the pics...

A few of the Tranmere first team at the Christmas Party night out (L-R Juan Jesus, Ciro Immobile, Romelu Lukaku, Sebastian Rode, Kevin De Bruyne, Juan Quintero).

Goalscorer Heung-Min Son was snapped leaving early

Frello Jorginho should have left early! 

The Royals have appointed there 5th manager to date.

Iridi Balla was the longest serving manager with 127 games under his belt before parting with the club.

Another 3 have played small parts within the club but have the Royals found a manager to take the club to the next level?

Mr Mackem took over the club on the eve to an away trip to Manchester City.

Many pundits and fans alike thought it was a bridge to far for Mr Mackem's baptism of fire?

Reading came away with a 3-2 victory which left many pundits red faced.

This followed with a 4-0 home win against Crystal Palace also a league cup win midweek.

Mackem was quick in the transfer market bringing defender Danny Rose back to England after a poor spell at AC Milan. He kept the German influence going by snapping up Schalke 04 winger Christian Clemens then Wolfsburg's Portuguese International Adelino Vieirinha.

It's so far...so good for Mr Mackem but can it last ?   

Tonight's MOTD Preview

Reality bites at Palace

After a 7 - 0 win over fellow strugglers Hull in Tom Parfitt's first game in charge, hopes were high amongst the Palace faithful of s resurgence from the Premier League whipping boys. Three players had arrived on loan from Barcelona (Rafinha, Vazques & Delofeu) & Vagner Love had also come in as a permanent signing. For a club scrapping at the bottom, comfidence was high before last nights trip to Reading.

After just 7 minutes the home side were ahead through Jucilei, but after the goal, the visitors kept Reading in check. As the game wore on though, the Palaceplayers started to tire, and three late Reading goals (Muller 70 & 80, Esswein 85) saw Reading to a comfortable home win.

Looking at the table, it is hard to see how Palace can survive, even at this early stage, but with the club bottom at the half way mark, 9 points is a huge amount to claw back, especially with the worst defensive record in the division. 

Parfitt was honest after the game & stated that Reading were the better side, but having seen the performance against Hull in midweek, he will be hoping to inspire some similar displays in the second half of the season, and who knows, maybe the great escape might just be on.... 

Posh crash in Bristol

Peterborough were thrashed 6-2 at run away leaders Bristol City with boss Lee Reynolds stated it's City title to lose.

Reynolds watched his side 3 down by half-time and despite a 2nd half Babacar penalty and a strike from De Sa they were well beaten with Osako grabbing a hat-trick for the hosts.

"City were very clinical and kept the ball very well. We in fact created more chances than them but we defended very poorly and our keeper had a very bad day", Lee said in the post match press conference. He was quick to point out though his keeper has kept them in games and it was just one of those days. "You can not start a game so poorly with no temper, pressure on the ball against a side flying", Lee commented.

Reynolds was quizzed on potential additions to the squad, "it may happen if we can shift 1 or 2 out we need a little bit more to cement a play off spot".

Kinnear refuses to speak to the press

Blackburn Rover (5) Derby County (2)

In the days leading up to the game it had been Kinnear and not Beddows who had boisterously predicted that his side would come out on top at Ewood Park in the clash of the top two.

Yet it was the combination once again of Nils Petersen (3) and Adam Johnson (2), ably supported by the little known but greatest player in all of SM Emanuel Rivas (2 assists from the bench) who forced Kinnear to look red faced in front of the Sky TV cameras.

Beddows post-match was delighted, especially with Petersen, Johnson and Rivas who between them have 36 goals and 21 assists.

Could Blackburn be going to Division One?

A Big Warm Welcome...

A Big Warm Welcome to all the new Managers in the English Divisions of Gold 279, my aim is to fill all 5 divisions of England in this game world so keep spreading the word and make this the most competitive gold world on Soccer Manager!

At the time of writing, we currently have a full Division 1, 21 managers in Div 2, 13 in Div 3, 4 in Div 4 & 5 in Div 5.

I aim to keep this blog as up to date as possible, and if anyone wants to add a blog then DM me your email address and I can add you to the community and we can grow this world together...