Blackburn Latest

Earlier this week Coventry City appointed new manager Daniel Gramberg. The board of directors demanded that this season Coventry City will not relegate from division 3. Furthermore the board expects Gramberg to get some new but experienced players in so next season Coventry City will be able to play in the top half of the division with a chance on the playoffs.

Coventry fans are not sure if Gramberg is the right man of the job. They were seen before the match away at Huddersfield Town started with signs that speak for itself.

  

However after 1 draw and 2 losses in the last 3 matches before Gramberg was appointed this match ended in a 0-1 win for Coventry City. Gramberg was happy with his team but also noticed some weak spots in his team. He will try to strengthen these weaker spots in the coming days by getting in some better players. The win was unexpected when looking at the rankings but Coventry was the more dominant team in this match. Man of the Match was goalkeeper Ben Alnwick of Coventry City. John Fleck was on the scoring sheet for his side.

With 5 matches to go Coventry needs 2 points to not have to worry about relegation or play-offs for relegation. The fans and board are hoping Gramberg will keep the team on the right track. With 3 matches at home it should be possible to get the points needed.

Icy Sheikh-up going down in Tamworth

Tamworth FC became embroiled in a war of words with a Saudi cleric, over the icy issue of abominable snowmen.

"One of our players, Elias Yser, is from Saudi Arabia, and his kids were with him when he signed. They had never seen snow and so, as children do, they were playing in it. A member of staff was assigned to mind them while Yser's medical was in progress. He showed them how to make a snowman," said manager Sherief Razzaque.

Alas, that simple action sparked a cold war when a leading cleric, Sheikh Miyup Dawun Ansayeed Wais, declared a fatwa against the building of snowmen, claiming that: we should only create that which does not have a soul, including trees, ships, fruits, buildings and so on.

Razzaque retorted: "If people saw how we played against Barrow, they'd argue we created zero, and showed even less soul. The snowman showed greater mobility and desire on the pitch, ffs! We probably could have used him. What next, will he ban us from reading Harry Potter stories to the club mascots on matchdays?"

Apparently he would, and did. Sheikh Miyup also attacked author J.K. Rowling.

It seems the Sheikh is more inclined towards Disney, the channel on which his syndicated TV show airs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

"We'll make sure to play Mickey Mouse football next time, if it please Sheikh Medown, or whatever his name is," joked Razzaque.

Disclaimer: I'm Muslim, but this, and other idiotic 'sheith', needs to be ridiculed, and often.

Top Totti

Well it's been a hell a week for Tranmere Rovers as they qualified for the SMFA Champions Cup semi final after beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 on aggregate and will now face Italian giants, Juventus! This was followed up with a top of the table clash at home to PMW's Newcastle United, with the Toon Army taking all 3 points home to Tyneside! Rovers Manager Frank Hirst has been very quick to react, by stating "if we've any chance of winning the league, we need more experience" and 38 year old, Francesco Totti was that man! Signing for a hefty 7.6m, Totti will bring an added quality to Birkenhead test is missing at the moment. Could Totti be the man who helps Hirst retain the title?

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404 Team Not Found

Ladies and Gentleman,

Welcome to the inaugural weekly blog of ‘404 Team Not Found’. Each week I will select a match across the 5 Divisions of England for your reading displeasure.

Yes that is correct, I did say displeasure.  

First let me start with a warning. I do not write for the New York Post. I barely secured a pass in Secondary School English. Hopefully my loose use of the English language does not leave you feeling emasculated or defeminised due to a sense of being existentially raped by words on a screen.

FAQ’s

QUESTION:

What is the purpose of ‘404 Team Not Found’?

ANSWER

To humiliate, mortify, defame, shame and hopefully humble a team into never wanting to be on the receiving end of a lopsided result in a match between two competing managers.

QUESTION

Will the match report be an accurate account of what took place during the match?

ANSWER

Yes, whatever I write is 100% factual. It legitimately happened. If I’m ever questioned about the authenticity then I will sue you.

QUESTION

Is the above true?

ANSWER

I told you not to question me. Consider yourself sued bitch!

The first blog will be published after the next matches take place. In all honestly I hope it aids in building friendly rivalries and is taken with a grain of salt in the manner it is intended.

Let the games Begin!

Wonderful week for Wednesday

Throughout the controversy surrounding AC Milan's attempts to land Powell as manager, Sheffield Wednesday secured another good result on Wednesday in a 1-1 draw at Wolves, despite being down to 10 men for nearly an hour when Thomas Meunier was sent off. Odion Ighalo gave the visitors the lead after 53 minutes, before Jacobs equalised soon after for Simone Luciano's boys.

Wednesday's result leaves The Owls unbeaten in 5 matches, with just 1 defeat in their past 8 and there are plenty of positive signs heading into next season.

This all came after another magnificent result on Monday, a 1-0 win away at Michael Hudson's Nottingham Forest. Again, Odion Ighalo netted the only goal to secure the 3 points. Ighalo hasn't been a regular starter for most of this season, but he's earnt us 4 points in the past few days to really stake a claim to become a first XI player.

In other news, Glenn Loovens, Caolan Lavery, Mani Diesuruvwe and Ryan Croasdale have departed the club, with young Brazilian striker Mosquito joining from Frank Hirst's Tranmere Rovers.

Rumoured target Jonathan Pitroipa

There are also rumours of perhaps another player arriving at Wednesday before the season is up, with Al Jazira winger Jonathan Pitroipa and Standard Liege defender Jelle van Damme among those mentioned.

New signing Mosquito

RACE FOR THE TITLE!!!

"Be More Murray" Beddows Rallies His Troops

Beddows 'made' his players watch Murray today as he is an 'example' to follow

After last nights shocking defeat to Charlton, promotion chasing Blackburn are beginning to look over their shoulders and despite the obvious conspiracies that are innumarable against Beddows and his players and their WAGS Beddows has told his players to find inspiration in Murray.

Murray the journalists asked?

"Yes, Andy Murray, that Scottish guy who is good at Tennis. He never gives up, fights for every point and is an ace example to all of my players."

The journalists then questioned Beddows' logic. They reminded him of Andy Murray's record of losing in big finals.

"Yes, of course I am aware of this. But our aim is not to win the league, it is to finish 2nd. We have already conceded the title to Leeds... I told you this already. Andy Murray is great at getting to the showpiece finals and then not quite achieving his goals, this is our aim... like Newcastle's in Division One for example."

On other GC279 matters was asked his opinion on that Division One title race... he said "Personally I'd like to see an amazing out of nowhere run from Aaron at Everton. He is one of my older friends in the mirky world on football management, I think Frank to be honest that been too effected by missing out on Steven Gerrard, he is cracking and the Prince is a bottler... he won't win anything!" 

PAPERS

Powell says Arrivederci to Milan

When Ted Powell sat down on Wednesday evening to hear a voicemail from AC Milan, he instantly assumed it was an offer from the Italian giants for one of the best centre backs in world football, Glenn Loovens. However, it turned out Milan CEO Adriano Galliani was making an offer of a very, very different kind, the chance to become the manager of AC Milan.

2nd in Serie A, an excellent group of players, 43 million to spend, European football, Italian weather, a total of 49 trophies in a glittering history, the list of reasons go on and on to make Milan a very appealing destination.

But not for Powell. ' I feel a real project here at Wednesday and I want to see it out. Milan do not interest me and my full attention is on another match tonight away at Wolverhampton Wanderers, as we look to continue our impressive form.'

Yeovil Town go nuts for Luca!

Luca Toni may be in his twilight years, but that hasn't stopped him scoring 5 goals in 13 games for Yeovil Town and really endearing himself to the Glovers faithful...below is the latest song they've been singing down at Huish Park...

Liverpool Transfer updates

With season 5 nearly over the liverpools management have decided to ship few players out of Anfield. Reason stated were 'Not good enough' and ' High wage demands from player agent'. The following players will soon be looking for a new club. 

ABDENNOUR, Aymen - 10 mill

DIAGNE, Diawandou - 2 mill

DARDER, Sergi -  8 mill

DAEHLI, Mats -  4 mill

PETERSON, Kristoffer - 600k

BORINI, Fabio - 6 mill

EBANKS-BLAKE, Sylvan - 1.5 mill

BLACKETT, Tyler - 5 mill

GUMBAU, Gerard - 2 mill

PODSTAWSKI, Tomás - 1 mill

SUSO, Fernández - 5 mill

ILORI, Tiago - 3 mill

According to sources BRUMA, Armindo, MÁRIO, João and LUKAKU, Jordan might also be available once their loan deals are over.

Players in:

Laporte is on his way to Anfield following the player's desire to play for Liverpool. Sad new is Jose Gimenez and bellerin will soon be leaving the club as part exchange.

TUESDAY'S ECHO

POSH TOO GOOD

A red card for Anton Peterlin and a disallowed goal dented Burton's brave fight against relegation at The Abax suffering a 2-1 loss against Short's hometown club. But the Brewers boss defended his players after they were dominated from start to finish by a classy Posh side.
"How can I criticise my players after 13 points from the last 6 games? Sometimes you just hold up your hands and say the other team were too good and this is one of them times. Posh kept the ball very well and showed why they are second in the league. We were chasing shadows at times. No complaints about the red card, it was cinical challenge by Anton. So, well done to Lee and his players but we'll move on now and put this to one side just as we did with the Birmingham game."

With Rochdale visiting The Pirelli Stadium on Wednesday, another team on the brink of the play offs, Short has a selection headache with suspensions and injuries mounting. "We've lost Anton for 3 games, Lucas Akins will miss Rochdale after collecting 5 yellows and we've a few walking wounded. We're still trying to add another loan signing before Wednesday but it's proving difficult. Alex Macdonald should be back for Saturday and we're hopeful Ryan Jarvis will be too but it's touch and go. Rochdale have been on a bad run of late but I'm sure they'll be looking to put things right against us but we need to use their bad run as an incentive to bounce back. We're all in a positive frame of mind. In fact, anyone heard mentioning the R word will be fined. And that includes the Chairman. Until the maths say otherwise we'll continue to fight for every available point."

Following the Rochdale game Burton then face Brentford (22nd) and Shrewsbury (20th) which will be tense affairs. "We can't look that far ahead. We need to prepare for Rochdale first then look to them games. All our remaining games are against teams who are either looking for promotion or like ourselves fighting for survival. Every game will be tough but those 2 games will need calm heads and understanding officials."

Blackburn Draw - And Another Good Petersen Goal Disallowed!

The Doctor's Office: A Big Win, a Big Loss, a Big Signing and a Big Match

After a messy start with Middlesbrough, The Good Doctor finally seemed to steady the ship. A draw against Cardiff and a massive win against table topping Blackburn seemed to steady the ship.

However, a mighty below was given in the North East derby at the hands of Sunderland who defeated a lackluster Middlesbrough team on their home soil. The fans and playes left that evening deflated but the boss has said since then, things have picked up.

"We have put in a lot of time on the training pitch this weekend and the congested fixture list will mean that some of our fresher faces will be making appearances. the lada are getting the motivation back again so hopefully the momentum hasn't stopped because of the blip against Sunderland."


Middlesbrough travel to the Keepmoat Stadium this evening and battle against toffe ;'s Doncaster Rovers, a team that has lost their last 12 league games. Their last victory in the Division was on 20 December against Fox's very own team.

"A lot has changed since then, I wasn't around and it was during that time. I'm sure the former manager will admit, that the team were very jaded back then. However, time has moved on, the team a fitter and playing better and we have some new talented faces to ensure we give it our all for the three points."


Fox has admitted that there is pressure going into this match tonight giving the points analysis of best and worse case scenarios.

"A loss for us tonight and a win for AFC Bournemouth puts us a lot closer to the relegation scrap than we would ever like to be. We are too close now as I am sure the fans will agree. A win for us tonight and a loss for AFC Bournemouth will give us an 8 point cushion and while that isn't a guarantee, it would certainly be a very nice gap to have with only a few games to go".


In order to help secure a win tonight, Fox has dabbled again the market, this time looking at attacker, Josip Drmic to provide a creative boost.

"We are really happy Josip agreed to come over to the Riverside and also many thanks go out to PSG for accepting the deal. Josip is an immensely talented boy and can add something very special into our attacking options".

Josip Drmic (22) is the latest acquisition for Middlesbrough, coming in on loan. 

Doncaster Rovers (24th) vs. Middlesbrough (20th) - Tonight at 8PM, only at GW279

Huge week for Tranmere Rovers!

It's the business end of the Season and this week sees a huge week for Frank Hirst's Tranmere Rovers side. Tranmere entertain Spanish giants, Atletico Madrid in Birkenhead tonight and then PMW's Newcastle United in a massive clash near the top of the League table on Wednesday!

                                                 Atletico's Costa & Falcao were seen leaving Sherlock's Nightclub at 2am

Tranmere are in a great vain of form at the moment with 7 wins and 3 draws in their last 10 games in all competitions, but a couple of losses this week could spell disaster for Rovers. Manager Frank Hirst must see the League as the more important of the 2 competitions as a whole host of stars have been left out of tonight's squad, including De Bruyne, Jesus, Laporte, Ansaldi, Immobile & Quintero with rumours that Lukaku & Son will share the 90 minutes between them! 

Atletico on the other hand are very confident that they can do the business in Birkenhead have landed at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport on Sunday afternoon. Sunday evening saw a number of first team players hit the night life of Birkenhead with Diego Costa & Radamel Falcao seen leaving Sherlocks Nightclub at 2am, will this strike partnership have recovered in time for this huge SMFA Champions Cup 1/4 final 2nd leg at Prenton Park tonight?

Fight Club in Tamworth

A string of bad results had Tamworth manager Sherief Razzaque reaching for a cleansing ale at his local.

Unfortunately, some local hooligans attempted to lure him into a 'honeypot trap'. Admittedly a man of questionable morals, fidelity is one of the few he's actually managed to hold on to.

Here's what happened next:

Palace fighting hard.....

After a poor first half of the season, Crystal Palace turned to Tom Parfitt to try & turn their fortunes around. He seemed to have an instant effect, with the club smashing Hull City 7-0 in his first game in change. There was an immediate fall back to Earth though, with a 4-0 defeat to Reading in the very next game.

Palace have however, become quite a difficult side to beat. Only 4 defeats in 16 in all competitions since Parfitt took over, compared to the 10 defeats in the 16 games prior to Parfitt taking charge tells its own story. The boss himself though admits that they are drawing too many games at the minute, and probably need to win at least 4 of the final 7 games to have a chance of staying in the Premier League. There is the potential for a huge final day showdown though, with Reading visiting Selhurst Park in what could be an all or nothing encounter for both sides.

There are still plenty of games before that though, and Parfitt will be looking to make sure that his side at least have an opportunity on the last day.

He has found it hard to recruit players since coming to the club. A lack of funds has meant that he has been on a real bargain hunt. The loan services of Alcantara Rafinha, lvaro Vazquez & Gerard Delofeu were all secured very swiftly, but the only permanent signings Parfitt has brought in are goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli in a straight swap for Julian Speroni & Jermaine Pennant, Vagner Love, and most recently Walter Montillo to anchor the midfield.

  

Geronimo Rulli        Vagner Love             Walter Montillo

It is unlikely that any more new players will join before the end of the season, so the outcome of the clubs relegation battle is in the hands of the players at the club right now. 

SHORT MASTERMINDS ANOTHER WIN THEN REJECTS SEASIDERS

Following yet another impressive win, this time over promotion hopefuls Birmingham City Brewers boss Clive Short has rejected the opportunity to swap a relegation battle for a promotion push after rejecting the advances of Blackpool.

"Never crossed my mind to leave". Said Short. "Despite our predicament I'm really enjoying myself here. Yes, there is the relegation v promotion thing but to be fair to the Chairman he told me about the approach and said he'd understand if I wanted to talk to Blackpool. I rang their chairman just to say thanks but no thanks. And despite what some people are saying I haven't turned them down just because another certain manager wants my job. To be honest, this has taken the shine off a fantastic win against Birmingham. I'd rather focus on that and the games coming up."

Short now turns his attentions to second placed Posh tomorrow night. "Birmingham was a great game and a great result but it's gone. We now head to Peterborough for a game I've been looking forward to for obvious reasons. It's going to be tough. Posh play good football, they have a decent squad and they are on a good run. They'll be crossed words exchanged between myself and Lee during the game at some point I'm sure but they'll also be some laughs shared over a drink afterwards."

Friendship will be put to one side tomorrow night states Posh boss Reynolds

Posh boss Lee Reynolds has said friendship will be put to one side tomorrow night when Posh host inform Burton Albion at the Abax (it will still be London Road to me).
Short a fellow Posh fan and Reynolds share great affection for their home town club but have big jobs as Division three is drawing to a fascinating conclusion at both ends of the table.
"We are great pals but for 90 minutes we will be enemies. No matter what the result we will be in the bar afterwards sharing a few beers and then off to the nightclubs of Peterborough (well one) followed by a kebab and a taxi ride with some lovelies", joked Posh boss Reynolds.
On the back of 3-2 away win at Bradford Reynolds has called on his players to give the upmost respect to Burton who are doing everything to stay in Division 3, but do a professional job and make 2nd spot their own.

Seasiders chase Short!

Massive news from Bloomfield Road this morning as Jose Mourinho has walked out on Blackpool after a 4-2 win over Carlisle United! Nobody knows why he left, all we know right know is that Jose has handed in his resignation and was seen riding off on a donkey!

With only 8 games to go and sitting pretty for a playoff chance, Blackpool were quick to approach Division 3 man of the moment, Clive Short. Clive has done miracles since taking over bottom club Burton Albion and with 13 points from his last 15 will Clive make the move before possibly pulling off one of the greatest escapes ever seen?

CARDIFF CITY - 14 games unbeaten in the league…. Could it continue v Blackburn?

Glik signed today and arrived in Cardiff 20 minutes before kick-off

 

Before tonight’s showdown – Cardiff v Blackburn – Cardiff had been squeaky clean, 14 leagues games unbeaten, pushing for the play offs and in Kenwyne Jones a striker as good as any in the division against a Blackburn side who for the last 7 days have been beset by a little controversy.

Last Saturday they dominated Sheff Wed to only see a late penalty given against them (a shocking decision). This was followed by a disappointing cup defeat at Stoke where they were robbed by some shocking more refereeing. Then there was the infamous Pisano Gate scandal and a shocking 3-0 defeat against the ‘Good Doctor Fox’ whose advice Beddows had said had given him very poor advice.

Instead of getting ‘checked’ he elected to go to Cardiff a day early (Friday morning) in order to do some team activities in Snowdonia, paintballing to be precise to increase shooting accuracy and horse riding for the goalkeepers.

Beddows was delighted that his parcel from UPS containing new signing Kamil Glik from Torino arrived just in time for Kick off and he not only included him in the starting line-up but also gave him the captaincy on his debut.

And the team delivered 1 minute gone and Petersen scored (24^th of the season). 4 minutes gone Mark Noble made it 2. Birgimana made it 3 before half-time and great goalkeeping from Zoet (also known as Zeus) kept the score to 0.

Beddows then made his usual changes on 60 minutes and Rivas (the best player in GC279) came on and on 60 minutes with his first touch made it 4-0. Bertrand scored next, then Rivas (21 goals in 9 starts (33 as a sub)) again and Lowe 7-0…

"We knew that they were 14 games unbeaten... but we also knew that the individual socres from paintballing proved we were better than them. We were confident and expected to score goals tonight... just not so many. Well done to the lads. Instead of going home to their WAGs we are going to go directly to Ipswich... another tough but very important tie on Monday."

Great response by Blackburn. Beddows though whilst pleased with the performance and scoreline was more delighted with the fact that his good friend Kinnear dropped points again. Promotion is getting closer. Shame that ‘Dirty Leeds’ won again though.

Post match Beddows refused to confirm the rumours that he'd been asked by several Division Two managers that are currently in crisis including Doctor Fox and Kinnear that they too had requested the contact information of the Paintballing centre in Snowdonia as both sides look to find a solution to their own inability to score goals.

WE'LL GET NO FAVOURS FROM POSH

Following his teams impressive win against Walsall, Burton Manager Clive Short  now turns his attention to Birmingham on Saturday and hometown club Peterborough United on Monday.

"It's no secret. I'm from Peterborough, I've supported Posh for as long as I can remember and Lee is one of my best friends. But that friendship will be put to one side for them 90 minutes believe me. Posh are looking to secure automatic promotion, which I fully expect them to do so, and it's clear as water we need the 3 points. Maybe more so than they do. It will be a hell of a game. The atmosphere at London road, sorry I apologise, The Abbax, can be pretty hostile at times. Just because I'm a Posh fan I'll have my team prepared to go there and get a result. I know how Lee will have his team set up whoever he puts out. I'm looking forward to going home but first we have a game against a very decent Birmingham side who themselves are looking to get into the playoffs. We're going to have to manage the squad for two very very tough games in such a short space of time. We're looking to bring in 2 in on loan for the remainder of the season but they need to be of the right temperament and quality we need for the fight ahead of us."

Short was also questioned on his secret after the upturn in results since his appointment. "There's no magic formula. Confidence was low but the lads fitness levels were good which surprised me to be honest. So it's just been a case of installing some belief into the squad. We've found a system they enjoy playing, we try to keep training fun and relaxed. The entire club have took on what I want to achieve here. If we have to take a step back to move forward then so be it but I'm learning a lot about the character of this group very quickly and so far I like what I've seen."

CRISIS TIME AT WREXHAM

Another defeat puts pressure on the Wrexham manager. He says ' Moral and Confidence is low', but he  will continue with his policy of developing a youth team for the future. He says 'he is in it for the long haul and will not be deterred. Even if it means relegation this season'.
It remains to be seen if the chairman and board will stand by him.

Will their be 'a wealth' of action on Black Friday?

Blackburn boss Beddows brushed aside his marital misunderstanding, the shocking refereeing decision to not allow Petersen’s goal last night and his unhappiness at Frank Hirst’s omission of any Blackburn players from TOTW to concentrate on his preparations for Black Friday Sales Event at Ewood Park tomorrow.

“We are doing a super special sale in order to raise cash to potentially buy players in preparation for next season.”

“There are some excellent models available for any manager that is interested in a bargain or two… Alan Tate for example”

Beddows himself will not be able to manage the sale in person as he has decided to take the players down to Cardiff a day early via Snowdonia where they will be doing a team exercise at  'Paintball Wales' in order to improve the teams shooting accuracy and also their ability to defend leads late on in games. It is believed that the players included in the special sale will not be travelling to Cardiff and instead will spend the afternoon at Blackburn’s premier entertainment venue ‘Vue’ where they will be shown the film ‘American Sniper.’

He added that due to their eagerness to stop everything (including paintballs) and through fear of them incurring injury both Zoet and Bardi will do an extra special horse riding activity in the Welsh countryside.

It is believed that Pisano’s girlfriend, Elena, who made her Page 3 Debut today, will orchestrate the Black Friday sales from Ewood with the other WAG’s manning the phones to do deals with the foreign based managers.

Back from a well deserved Break, Liverpool boss Kun Aguero has already taken things seriously. Their next game against Tranmere surely wont have the same intensity as the 1-0 win on Saturday 8 Nov as many of the liverpool stars are unfit for this game but nevertheless the team sheet submitted by Kun seems promising. Meanwhile Kunal stated that current Tranmere boss Frank Hirst is a good friend and a liverpool win would dent Hirst title run...

subs: M.HASSEN, J.FLANAGAN, T.BLACKETT, C.RONALDO, J.GIMÉNEZ, B.TRAORÉ, S.EBANKS-BLAKE

Rumours say that many players who haven't been doing well lately will be shipped out during the transfer window. The likes for GARDNER, Craig and EBANKS-BLAKE, Sylvan might be wearing the liverpool Jersey for the last time after today's match.




Talking a bit about his team Transfers Kun quoted in an interview that a decent fee could land any of the following players:-

GARDNER, Craig - 6 mill
GERRARD, Steven - 12 mill
EBANKS-BLAKE, Sylvan - 1.5 mill
ILORI, Tiago - 5 mill
BLACKETT, Tyler - 6 mill
FLANAGAN, Jon - 9 mill
EBECILIO, Kyle - 10 mill
BRUMA, Armindo - 10 mill

The future is blue and white

These are interesting times at Sheffield Wednesday. When Ted Powell lost his first game in charge of The Owls 5-2 at Ipswich on the 10th December, things looked pretty bleak, with the side hanging precariously above the drop. However, since then, whilst there has been a huge number of injuries which have led to inconsistency, an influx of signings have given the side a much classier, talented look about them. The likes of Bruno Alves, Bram Nuytinck, Olcan Adin, Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez, and Pape Souare could certainly get into a number of other Division 2 sides.

Artjoms Rudnevs

Bram Nuytinck

In all honesty, there isn't too much to play for a we enter the final strait of Season 5, and Powell is already eyeing up a fast start next campaign. ' There's not too much for us to play for this season to be honest. We are one of a number of sides, pretty much from Ipswich down to Watford, who can pretty much relax and enjoy the rest of the season with no real pressure on us. We are 10 points above the drop, so while it is not impossible we will go down, it is certainly highly unlikely. While we are also 20 points off the playoffs so there's no real chance us reaching those. However, for the first time I've been here, we have a fully fit and available squad for our trip to promotion-chasing Sunderland tonight. Our form is decent, with 7 points in 4, and we nicked a good draw at home to leaders Blackburn last weekend. This freedom means for tonight's tough test at the Mackems, as well as all our other matches, we can go and enjoy ourselves, and really try and express ourselves.'

Despite what may not be the most exciting end to the season for Powell's men, the manager certainly insisted that his side will not be letting up. ' We will still go for it. We will play our strongest available side in every match we possibly can. It would be lovely if we could finish in the top half, and it's vital that we mathematically secure our safety for another season first. We still have to play 5 sides currently in the top 10, and chasing the playoffs and promotion. We must be professional so we can try our best to finish as high as we possibly can, as well as trying not to let other sides down.'

So, while Wednesday may be slipping under the radar for a quiet end to this season, the Owls will certainly be hoping to cause a few fireworks once Season 6 gets underway.

The Doctor's Office: Three in, as the changes begin!

We are back in the Doctors Office with new Middlesbrough boss, The Good Doctor Fox. He has declared himself delighted with the players he has acquired to help strengthen the "foundation" of the team. Fox went on record to say that tonight is the first night that he truly has things in place and his team are raring to go.

"We truly have things in place and my team are raring to go."

With a new tactical philosophy starting this evening against top of the league Blackburn Rovers, Fox admitted that tonight will be a very tough ask stating "tonight will be a very tough ask", he continued "although the boys have been training hard with my new philosophy and I am very pleased with the results on the training ground, this will be the first match where I feel that the players are fit and can really put out work into practice, there is no greater opposition that the league leaders to find out any holes we may have so I am relishing the opportunity tonight so are my boys.

There is some doubt as to whether Boro's latest acquisitions of Andreolli and Cattermole will indeed be available due to the timings of the agreed signings but Vitali Denisov has already played his debut at the Riverside to a 3-3 draw with Cardiff.

  

From left to right: Marco Andreolli, Lee Cattermole and Vitali Denisov

"Given the form we have shown, a point was a great take-home for us especially against a team doing so well in the league as Cardiff City are. Vitali played a very solid game and I am pleased he has a solid debut under his belt. Now it is time for him to crack on and show Stephen Beddows' Blckburn side what we can do."

When asked about Andreolli and Cattermole, The Good Doctor had the following to say: 

"Marco is a fantstic acquisition for us and exactly what we need at the back. He will help Rhys Williams in the right-back position but will also take role as a centre back, helping take some of the pressure away from Seb Hines. Lee Cattermole is a dream signing for Middlesbrough, a local lad who has an unmatched level of tenacity. We would like to thank Sunderland for agreeing to a great deal of business for us, it's great to see Lee back in a Middlesbrough shirt."

Finally, Fox was asked about manager Stephen Beddows leading into their match tonight against Blackburn and the controversy surrounding Rover's boss: 

"I don't know what went on but I would recommend Stephen get 'checked', this is simple medical advice from The Good Doctor here, anything involving a goat is never healthy, regardless if it was snowing or not."

Blackburn Rovers (1st) vs. Middlesbrough (21st) - Tonight 20:00

Hirst faces team he supports as the big games start to pile up!

Frank Hirst's Tranmere Rovers host his boyhood club, Liverpool tonight in a huge Merseyside derby which sees Tranmere as the number 1 team on Merseyside at the moment! Liverpool Manager, Kunal Aguero has been on a leave of absence for the past couple of weeks and his assistant has been relying on the quality of Cristiano Ronaldo so much that upon Kunal's return he sees the world superstar as too unfit to play, along with other stars including Terry, Lucas, Firmino, Skrtel, Henderson & Coutinho giving him a few selection headaches! On the other hand, Tranmere have had a very busy schedule of late and will be without top scorer, Ciro Immobile through injury and De Bruyne & Laporte due to lack of fitness.

Tranmere boss Frank Hirst said, "We are on a great run of form at the moment and confidence in the camp is really high after a 3-2 win over Arsenal in the cup. If we want to retain the League title then we need the 3 points tonight, especially with the run of games that follows (West Ham (3rd), Atletico Madrid (SMFA Cup), Newcastle (4th) & Villa (5th))"

SHORT HITS BACK AT BEDDOWS

Burton boss Clive Short was not amused after hearing remarks made from Blackburn Boss Stephen Beddows about the security of his job.

In a statement released through the Burton press officer Short said "When I took on the job I knew the severity of the position we are in. The board knew it and the supporters knew it. I've had assurance from my Chairman that even if we do get relegated we'll regroup. Together! After a fantastic win against a very good Plymouth side we won't let people from the outside try to distract attention away from themselves just because he's been caught with his y fronts round his ankles. We will continue to look to build on this win against Walsall."

Burton Chairman Ben Robinson also said " We've been very encouraged by the start Clive has made. 15 points from his first 7 games has been a good return and the entire board believe we have the right man in charge. We certainly wouldn't consider appointing a manager based on geography. I will say this once and once only Clive will not be sacked if we get relegated."

Its Snow Joke - SCANDAL at Ewood Park

Transfer Tales at the Posh

Manager Lee Reynolds took time out of his busy schedule to update all GC279 bloggers on the hectic week so far at the Posh.

After a great away win at play hopefuls Blackpool on Saturday, Reynolds was dealt the news that one of his star strikers Kolbeinn Sigthorsson wanted a return to the dutch top flight with Ajax. Within hours of the news filtering through Ajax had lodged a bid of just over £8.8m, only a few weeks ago Reynolds went on record as saying promotion relied heavily on both strikers being fit and scoring. After some negotiation and some talks with the player the club decided to cash in leaving their boss "lost for words" and seeking a replacement. The decent cash return would give Reynolds some needed funds to certainly try and add more depth for what was left of a promotion push.

That replacement was identified as Stephane Sessegnon. Although not a try out and out striker he could certainly drop off and would be seen as an ideal partner for Babacar. A fee of £4.845m was agreed with Junior FC and Sessegnon was a Posh player. Along with Sessegnon, Sergey Parshivlyuk was signed from Spartak Moscow for £4.710m, was the Russian international seen as the regular to fill the right wing back role. The piece of business was the young defender Barbosa Marlon coming in for £2.15m, Barbosa is seen to have a bright future and Reynolds described him as a "young ball playing centre half".

Sessegnon hoping to fill the void left by Sigthorsson

Away from transfer matters Posh still currently lie in 2nd spot, 4 points clear of the chasing pack with 10 games left to play. It is sure to be a tough and exciting conclusion to a good season so far for the Posh, can it conclude in promotion????