After two weeks of anticipation, Super Bowl 55 is finally here as the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Florida.
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Every aspect of Super Sunday will be analyzed in great detail, from the national anthem to the halftime show to the television commercials that will run during the game. The two teams met on this same field during the regular season, with the Chiefs holding on for a 27-24 victory. This time, the stakes are much higher, with the Lombardi Trophy on the line, as well as potential bragging rights in the battle between generational quarterbacks in Tom Brady of the Buccaneers and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs.
Since the game is being played as the COVID-19 continues to rage across the country, both teams will have travel plans and logistical processes unique to this season. Attendance will be limited to 25,000 fans, 7,500 of which will be vaccinated healthcare workers. USA TODAY Sports will have live coverage of the game and all the happenings from Tampa, and we've also answered some key questions about the matchup for anyone looking for last-minute information:
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See our roundup of the best Super Bowl TV sales When does Super Bowl pre-game coverage start on Sunday? Don't think about doing anything else on Super Bowl Sunday, because CBS is on-air live from Raymond James Stadium from 11.30am ET/8.30am PT, making for a whopping seven hours of Super Bowl pre-game coverage on the channel. Super Bowl 2021: full schedule and TV guide While Covid has forced the NFL to make a number of changes to the usual Super Bowl Week schedule in 2021, most of the usual events and formalities are going ahead in one way or another. Super Bowl Media Day, for instance, became Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday, February 1 and saw select players interviewed over Zoom - not the usual circus that ensues at the start of the week. Here's a complete Super Bowl 2021 TV schedule for the big weekend: Saturday, February 6: NFL Honors 2021 at 9pm ET/PT on CBS Sunday, February 7: Super Bowl LV pre-game coverage from 11.30am ET/8.30am PT on CBS Sunday, February 7: Puppy Bowl XVII from 1pm ET/10am PT (2pm/11am paw-off) on Animal Planet US Sunday, February 7: Kitten Bowl VII at 2pm ET/11am PT on Hallmark Channel Sunday, February 7: Miley Cyrus presents TikTok Tailgate concert at 3pm on TikTok and CBS watch puppy bowl 2021 live stream (Image credit: Animal Planet/Discovery+) How to watch a Puppy Bowl 2021 live stream - and what is the Puppy Bowl? Super Bowl build-up wouldn't be the same without the Puppy Bowl, a pawsome pre-game tradition now in its 16th year - so we're on Puppy Bowl XVII, officially. It sees 70 adorable pups compete in a two-hour long event pitting Team Ruff vs Team Fluff. The event is co-hosted and the teams 'coached' by two of America's least likely BFFs, Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart. A one-hour long pre-game show will recap the highlights of Puppy Bowls past from 1pm ET/10am PT, while the game itself 'kicks-off' at 2pm ET/11am PT. TV coverage is on Animal Planet, which if you don't have via cable, can be streamed using either the Discovery+ platform (from $4.99 a month, 7-day free trial) or an over-the-top cable replacement service like FuboTV (from $64.99 a month, 7-day free trial). The reason the Puppy Bowl has captured the nation's imagination is that in addition to being so darn cute, it also features adoptable dogs from shelters all over the country, so if you get tired of the usual talking heads pre-game coverage, be sure to tune in! Sadly, the Puppy Bowl doesn't seem to be available internationally, even in countries like the UK where Animal Planet is available. But anyone from the US currently abroad needn't worry as they can try our No. 1 rated VPN 100% risk-free for 30-days and tune in just like they would at home. super bowl 2021 live stream half time show the weeknd (Image credit: Michael Kovac/FilmMagic) Super Bowl 2021 Halftime Show: who's performing at Super Bowl LV? Following in the footsteps of a sensational performance by Shakira and J-Lo last year that was watched by some 104 million people (and received over 1,300 complaints), The Weeknd has been confirmed to headline the 2021 Super Bowl halftime how. It's expected to go down as the longest halftime show ever at 24 minutes, with Jay-Z and Roc Nation responsible for production of this year's entertainment. For more details, check out our full guide to the 2021 Super Bowl halftime show. Super Bowl 2021 odds and predictions The Kansas City Chiefs are currently installed as the heavy favorites to lift the Lombardi trophy for a second straight season. With arguably the league's most gifted QB in Patrick Mahomes under center, its best TE in Travis Kelce menacing opposing defences, and deadly skill players like Tyreek Hill able to break out for a big play at any time...it's easy to see why. The Bucs are the underdogs, having emerged from the NFC Wild Card picture with big wins over the Saints and Packers to get this far - and few would put another upset past them with GOAT Tom Brady under center. The combination of home field advantage and Brady being Brady somewhat mitigates Tampa's otherwise heavy underdog status, even if the 22,000 fans expected to attended is well below the normal 65,000+ capacity of Ray Jay. Still, while Tampa are a team brimming with the kind of confidence you get when you're led by TB12, most pundits are joining Vegas and the bookmakers in predicting a Chiefs win - though most have it down to be a close game that's likely to come down to the final possession.

1st Part:
Here's the original: https://weszlo.com/2020/03/25/ranking-najbarwniejszych-postaci-xxi-wieku-81-90/
Polish football site Weszło.com made their ranking of 100 most colourful characters in polish football. I decided to translate its 1st part and, because there were some interest in those stories, I translated part 2. And I will translate them all.
So here we go:
The second ten of our ranking of the most colorful figures of Polish football in the 21st century. What have we prepared for you this time? The guy who made Kielce the European fashion capital. Varnisher, who became the director of Lech Poznań. Two outstanding Polish commentators. A bunch of nutjobs and a guy who didn't want to have blood tests, and on pitch broke records in made distance.
90. BUNCH OF NUTJOBS
We decided that we must include in this ranking someone from the famous "Bunch of Nutjobs", one of the most colorful league teams of recent years. But who? Ojrzyński as a leader? Kuzera? Korzym? Małkowski? Vuković? Lisowski? Stano?
Well, there is no way to choose, no one stands out from this list, especially so, Ojrzyński's soldiers will be a collective hero. Korona's ass riding on pitch has become a different sport. The team of league players with tough experiences doomed to relegation, which thumbed on the nose of football Poland, and we followed their fate as in the TV series on KoronaTV.
Are such lockerrooms missed today? Oh yes. The players of the Korona were able to stand up for supporters, whose Kielce Police dressed as civilians caught in the stands and gave stadium bans for swearing. Vuković (today, football manager of Legia Warszawa) thundered to journalists that the stadium is not a theater, and Zbigniew Małkowski ran to intervene with police officers who closed fans in the sector.
Zbigniew Małkowski and Police
Korzym? Emcee, always smiling, bounded with club to such an extent that when in the match against Jagiellonia he suffered a nasty fracture of his leg, he went to put a plaster on his leg and... returned to the stadium. It was he who with the megaphone in his hand started the famous song:

• Bunch of Nutjobs!!!
• Auu!!!
• Hooligans!!!
• Auu!!!
• Koroniarze!!!
• Auu!!! Auu!!! Auu!!!

Kuzera? Subdued, he experienced a lot in his life, very respected. Stano? The defender, which Ojrzyński sent for attack due to the lack of better alternatives and he returned with two goals in one match. Golański? A colourful, making everyone better on the pitch. Kiełb? Fan's favorite. The peak of devotion for the club was then Vuković, who after healing the injury, completely gave up his high contract - he believed that he would not get into a high form, so he does not want to cheat the club.
On the pitch they were doing very well (in the top form fifth place in the league), and outside the cameras they were able to play with themselves in a big bang.
89. DARIUSZ SZPAKOWSKI - Dariusz Ciszewski welcomes you from the Wembley stadium! - Dariusz Szpakowski once introduced himself during one of the broadcasts. And since you can make a mistake even in your own name, you can be mistaken... in absolutely everything.
Szpakowski is a legend, without a doubt. His voice has accompanied us at all major national team events in recent years, we associate him with lost World Cups, associate him with the dark times of football during Beenhakker or before the Engel era. He can show emotions, he has a great voice, well, generally - many times he made our hair stood on end when we listened to "Szpak".
For example, during the famous monologue in the match against Slovenia.
Monologue
Unfortunately - Szpakowski will be remembered mainly by the mistakes he makes with the frequency of Thomas Dähne (Wisła Płock goalkeeper). He could see Shavi, Chavi and Ksavi (Xavi), Pujol and Puziol (Puyol), Maskerano, Mashcherano and Marshcherano (Mascherano, Marszczerano in original text (I wrote it phonetically, so it's easier for you) sounds like rubbing in the morning in Polish) on the pitch in one match. He confused Messi with Maradona, Senegal with Singapore, Salamon with Salaman and Salomon, he called Zieliński Robert, and Lewandowski Piotr, Błaszczykowski Jakubowski...
Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
There is no broadcast during which "Szpak" will not make one of his "Szpaks". How many times did he shout the shooter name and later it turned out that someone else scored? How many times has he seen someone on the pitch, who was in fact aalready sitting on a bench? The pronunciation of names is completely random. We did not want to remember one of the commentator's legends in this way, but unfortunately - in this ranking we present colourful people, and Szpakowski was colourful mainly when all of Poland made fun of him.
Shouting ŁUKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASZ PISZCZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK during his last game in National Team even tho he didn't score
88. GRZEGORZ KRYCHOWIAK
Some say that he is the best-dressed Polish footballer, others make fun of his styles. However, you can not hide - Krychowiak dresses non-standard. And it is mainly thanks to its styles that "Krycha" is in this ranking.
So let us present you the small of the best of (source: Grzegorz Krychowiak's Instagram):
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 5
Photo 6
Photo 7
Photo 8
Otherwise? Colourful stories about Krychowiak relate mainly to his obsessive approach to professionalism. In stores, he is looking for tuna with the lowest fat content. He sleeps for twelve hours, he subordinates everything to regeneration. After the final of the Europa League in Warsaw, instead of going out to the city with other players, he went to the swimming pool at 6AM, where Adam Nawałka (then Polish NT football manager) met him. You automatically smile when hear his characteristic French accent, but in interviews he maintains absolute political correctness.
87. TOMASZ BANDROWSKI
Maybe this is not an obvious choice, because we could probably find a few footballers who would be a better material for anecdotes. But we have found that in this ranking somebody above average intelligent will be useful, who was partly ahead of their time and partly caused surprise on the faces of colleagues with their unusual rituals.
"Bander" had a very specific approach to nutrition. We asked a few people and no one can really say what exactly Bandrowski's diet was, while everyone says: - Tomek always ate something differently than everyone else.
In Lech, he was the only one who did not use isotonic and vitamin shots prepared by the man responsible for supplementation. He always carried his water bottle. No, not with a drink - he didn't drink, smoke, didn't even touch coffee. He even shuddered by the usual blood tests in the club - he turned his nose up
He believed that this disrupts his regeneration and in general it was unnecessary interference in the body. One of the players who shared a room with Bandrowski on away games tells us: - He lived a terribly healthy lifestyle. To the extent that he didn't accept any electronics around him. He thought that the waves affect his well-being. He did not take a phone or a laptop on trips, he also forbade me to use any stuff like that. We slept on the thirtieth floor in the hotel and I was very surprised when he told me... to put my cell phone out the window and put my computer in the bathroom. It was a compromise anyway, because earlier he proposed that we sleep with the open window - and it was February - because he needs healthy energy. I hid my laptop and wrapped the phone in towels, stuck it with tapes and somehow he withstood it.
Perhaps it was unusual and strange, but Bandrowski's performance was cosmic. In one of the matches he ran over 14 kilometers, Lech analysts rubbed their eyes in amazement, because it was then the result reachable mostly for the top players from the Champions League. Later, 'Bander' suffered an injury, in Jagiellonia he did not regain his former shine again. He cut himself off from the media world, today it is said that he does some sports agency businesses.
86. JAKUB BŁASZCZYKOWSKI
This is not a controversial figure, there is not to many anecdotes about him. But nevertheless - it is a symbol that is impossible not to place in this ranking. The perfect material for an idol, authority for kids. A guy with a difficult history, who entered the pantheon of the legends of Wisła Kraków.

• This is not a bad idea - he wrote back to Jarosław Królewski when he proposed to give some money to save Wisła Kraków. And he added his 1.33 million. It's a story that still seems incredible - a footballer with a recognized name has invested his money to save his former club and agreed to play for 500 zlotys. He could find a solid foreign club and have salary with six zeros. What's more, Kuba wanted to borrow this money without interest, and when he learned that the law prohibits it, he bought tickets for kids from orphanages for the value of interest. No wonder that his beautiful gesture was spoken around the world.

Legend. This is not the first time he has helped Wisła, in the summer of 2018 - when it was unknown if the "White Star" will play at Reymont Stadium at all - lent the club a million. He spent only two seasons in Wisła, but he fell in love with her (mutually), which he confirmed at every step. Even when celebrating the championship in Dortmund, he presented symbols of the Wisła. Saying goodbye to the stands in Krakow, he showed the fans a T-shirt with the inscription "I'll be back here".
He didn't throw words. He was an extremely respected figure also in Germany, you can even risk the statement that no other Polish footballer has ever lived to see such adoration in the west. When he left BVB, he was flooded with an unprecedented wave of thanks with the hashtag #DankeKuba. Many supporters did not understand this decision of the club from Dortmund, attacked the authorities, even Kevin Grosskreutz, another of the symbols of the stands, criticized it.
No other footballer has such a generous heart as Kuba, as evidenced by the "Human Gesture" foundation and numerous help in subsequent charity campaigns. But Kuba does not want to show off his charity, so we will respect it in this ranking.
85. WOJCIECH LUBAWSKI
Another story from Kielce, this time in the comedy version. Wojciech Lubawski, former city mayor and his attempts to sell Korona Kielce. Yes, he is the same mayor who said that Kielce is the Polish capital of fashion. The City Hall was asked in an official letter to explain:

• Who is the author of the concept / vision / slogan of Kielce as the fashion capital?
  
• Kielce as the fashion capital is a term propagated by the Mayor of Kielce because he thinks so.
  

CITY HALL ANSWER
Flawless! The same Lubawski tried to sell Korona Kielce for several years, but somehow he did not do it, although we read public declarations every now and then - it will be soon, by May everything will be sold! In the meantime, Korona took cash from the city every six months, which the local councilors were indignant about. City Council sessions have always been hot, and during one of them - when the fate of the club was being weighed - the mayor's camp pulled the largest cannon: - Money is needed because AS Roma is interested in us!
In the last possible moment e-mail appeared, in which Roma was supposed to confirm that it would gladly buy Korona. Yes, the city authorities were distributing the theory that Roma would take over the Korona in a moment and therefore it must be granted cash (so that it does not fall just before such a deal!). And of course, accidentally the Italians became interested in the Polish club just before the stormy vote at the City Council.
Of course, nothing came of the "conversations" with Roma, and Lubawski himself explained it in his charming style: - Apparently, this is how you do business with Italians. (...) They say the same thing from the beginning, but I can't meet them.
Well, they were so horribly interested in the Crown that they could not meet for several months, even despite the fact that the mayor of Kielce - as he declared in the media - had already bought airline tickets to Italy.
Well, they were so horribly interested in the Korona that they could not meet for several months, even despite the fact that the mayor of Kielce - as he declared in the media - had already bought airline tickets to Italy.
But this is not the most comical story with the investor that Lubawski invited us to. Once a press conference was convened in the club with a mysterious gentleman in a denim jacket. First name, last name, function? You can't speak. The media was only given that he was a representative of an investor who was extremely seriously interested in the Korona. No details available. But take it easy, it's almost deal done! A real farce. Often, when it was necessary to get money out of the city, some mysterious investors were pulled out of the hat, with whom contact was wonderfully broken.
But there were also investors who really existed. For example, those from Senegal. At that time, Wojciech Lubawski said his fairy-tale visions: - I witnessed the initiative in Senegal that all Korona matches to be broadcasted on Senegalese television. Canal + is French so they will find a common language. Imagine, Korona will have 15 million viewers more because football is a religion for them.
15 million viewers, i.e. the entire nation would go home at one moment and watch Korona's matches with Wisla Płock. Well... bold thesis. Lubawski finally trusted the Senegalese people, but they couldn't do the one last thing whish is making a transfer for the purchase of the club. And the whole story began again.
One of the people who was looking for an investor together with Lubawski was Tomasz Chojnowski, then the club president, who finally landed in the prosecutor's office. As he bragged himself in an interview with sporteuro.pl, he came up with the idea to ask Calvin Klein if he didn't want to buy Korona. Because you know, the coat of arms of Kielce has the letters CK ("Civitas Kielcensis"), so that's for sure, hehe, a good idea. And the club president personally called the secretary of an American clothing company and offered the secretary such a solution. This referred the matter above, for some time the city waited how Calvin Klein will react to such an idea.
He wasn't convinced. Even despite the fact that Kielce is a city of fashion.
84. MATEUSZ BOREK
A modest pundit from Dębica who doesn't give a fuck about for gull talks. Gourmet and enthusiast of life. The best biceps of Polish sports journalism. The voice of the great matches of the Polish national team in the 21st century, the voice of the hit matches of the Champions League. A real beast of the TV studio. Some say that he would record a one and a half hour program himself - without guests, without questions, without a theme. Others say that they are wrong - Borek would run a three-hour program and play extra time.
He likes to emphasize his roots - he comes from Dębica, he came to Warsaw as a nineteen-year-old. His parents taught him that you have to read a lot in life, have good shoes and nice teeth. As a teenager, he made... wholesale shirt sales. He traveled from Kraków to Lublin together with a friend, he sold nice clothes to wear even better suits. He says that for some time he had to calculate expenses for dinner to have money to invite a girl to the cinema on weekend. But during the shirt trade he got so much that he bought 500 pairs of panties and threw them out after one putting on, because he did not have a washing machine in the apartment.
GOURMET OF LIFE
He is famous for good relations with footballers. And it is not surprising that he better correlated with crazy Piotr Świerczewski or extravagant Mariusz Piekarski than with calm Aleksander Kłak. He introduced several iconic slogans to pop culture. "A nurse in a hospital or a mother with four children is under pressure," "maybe he is weak here?", "You have balls, go out, show." The man who saw everything, met everyone and commented on all matches. It says by itself that he closed Liverpool's banquet after winning the Champions League in 2005. The final he was almost late for - he went to Trabzon with the cameraman to record a report about Mirosław Szymkowiak. The stay was extended, the visitors overslept, at the airport they were saved by the popularity of "Szymek".
Today, Borek on television gives the impression of a guy who would not be disturbed by an earthquake, mass shootings behind the wall or pole dance by Scarlett Johansson. But in the past he almost beat Radosław Osuch (former chairman of Zawisza Bydgoszcz). Let's recall this legendary anecdote from the book "State of Football":
On the same day, Osuch had two more clashes. The first with Mateusz Borek, quite funny. Borek came in a jacket that had an embroidered inscription containing the letters "s", "p", "k" and something else. Radek asked: - What do you have written here? S. P. K. Sparks. You can't even afford your own jacket? Everything has to be bought by Sparks?
Raymond Sparks was a British agent with whom Osuch had some unfinished business since the transfer of Artur Boruc from Legia to Celtic. Borek knew Sparks.

• What the fuck did you say? - Mateusz boiled.
  
• That Sparks bought you a jacket, loser, Osuch said.
  

Don't call me a loser, kurwa. Do you know what the word "loser" means? Do you know what does it mean? Once again you say to me "loser”, kurwa, say it again, I will fucking kill you - Borek does not always speak beautiful Polish language.

• Go away, loser.
  
• Kurwa, kurwa, not "loser"! I'll fucking kill you!
  

At this time Osuch pulls out the phone and in the eyes of the angry Borek rings somewhere.

• Hello, Anitka? - he says sweetly to his wife. - Listen, honey. Please, say what you always say to stop me, because I am standing here and in front of me stands this loser Borek in the jacket he got from Sparks, and I will soon use krav maga, and it is possible that I will kill him and get in trouble.

Of course, the fight did not take place, but what the cockerels jumped was theirs. All this exchange of kindness lasted much longer, probably for half an hour, and someone went out and came back, they scared each other, there was again a phrase „not loser!”, and there was a phone call to Osuch's wife again.
83. SEBASTIAN MILA
It would be most banal here to tell the story of the goal scored against Germany, decorate it with a few neat metaphors, emphasize the humanity of the hero whom all of Poland wanted to make a saint. But everyone knows Sebastian from the peak. And anecdotes known by everyone are the most boring. So let's tell stories from the time of Sebek, not Mr. Sebastian.
On a "good morning" in the locker room of Lechia Gdańsk as a teenager, he heard that he should not try to get a massage, because masseurs take care of the footballers, and the most he can get is some ointment on his leg when he bruises himself. In Dyskobolia he had to carry not only football equipment but also suitcases. And not necessarily his own… but the ones that belonged to the daughters of Chairman Drzymała, because the owner of Groclin took all his family to each pre-season camp. And yet the Drzymałas will not carry their own suitcases - this pleasure had the youth in the club.
He had difficult beginning in Grodzisk. Drzymała was even supposed to tell Bogusław „Bobo” Kaczmarek that he had brought a Trojan Horse to his team. Mila did not know about this conversation, he lived in blissful ignorance. Finally, the coach called him to talk:

• Sebastian, why did I get you here?
  
• To let me grow.
  
• Exactly. And for now the only thing growing here is your wallet.
  

During one of the first call-ups to the Polish national team he was directed to a room with Krzysztof Ratajczyk. "Rataj" – big guy, with a bully face, rather snippy with strangers. Zbigniew Boniek was the coach of the team at the time and he ordered the players to leave the room door open because he wanted to visit them. Mila sat in the room and was really nervous. "Rataj" - relax, went out on the balcony to talk with his wife on the phone. His wife asked him who he was in the room with. And he calmly replied: - I don't know, some kid.
He had luck to meet some „butchers” during his career. He played in Dyskobolia with Radosław Sobolewski. Tactics - clear, two midfielders side by side, in a line. Sebastian slightly on the left, "Sobol" slightly on the right. The match begins, the ball goes in his direction - Sobol jumps out, head. Second action - Sobol slides in front of Mila. Third, Sobol runs out and has everything under control. The fourth time, the ball to Mila, Sobol go in and play.

• Sobol, let me play football!
  
• Don't get in the way when machine fucking works.
  

In ŁKS, Ensar Arifović once set him straight, really tough guy. Some would say - typical Yugo. A piece of solid kabanos, a bit raw technically, but he could run the match. The same Arifović complained to Mila about some badly played ball. Not at the pace, or inaccurately - never mind. They both began to discuss, with increasing voices over time. Ensar finally said in the shockingly calm tone:

• Okay. I will fucking beat you up now.

Fortunately for Sebastian – he didn't.
82. RADOSŁAW MAJDAN
He was in "Dancing with the Stars", "Bar", "Surprise Sur Prise!" with Szymon Majewski, three times with Kuba Wojewódzki (talk show), "Asia Express", "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire", even in "Tomasz Lis live" (guy who talk mostly with politicians), or Ewa Drzyzga's program, he had his own reality show "Iron Majdan", he was in Warsaw Shore, starred in four music videos and three TV shows, he had his own music band, he has his own perfume line, he had a session in CKM (Polish Playboy), he probably visited Pudelek (Polish tabloid site) a thousand times. The hero of two high-profile relationships - with Doda (singer) and Małgorzata Rozenek (TV presenter).
Full time celebrity. On the pitch, he never gained such popularity as in tabloids, where some call him "Polish Beckham". The media likes him and it seems to be mutual love. Majdan feels so comfortable in front of the camera that he sometimes forgets about its existence. Like in this iconic interview.
INTERVIEW, translation below:
I think you know, it was a reaction, he fucking kicked him 3 times right, and he fucking, you know, he fucking waved his hand, he fucking hit him, you know, this guy behaved like an actor. And tell me, there was a hand, huh?
...
(nervous laugh) Well, I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen.
His celebritness was often mocked in the football world. Majdan didn't have it easy especially during matches, when there were chants about what his current partner can do by mouth. He even got some of that from his own supporters. In Polonia, the stands had doubts whether he was focusing too much on the television show at the expense of football. During the match in which Majdan conceded two goals, the stands roared: "Fuck results, we'll win "Dancing with the stars!"
By the way, it was a bold move- Majdan was so pulled by cameras and fame that he went to "Dancing with the Stars" during the season, and yet the episodes were live every Sunday. Our favorite anecdote about Radek? We liked how Józef Wojciechowski was looking for a place in the club for him. In Polonia, Majdan was a sports director, team director and even a spokesperson. The latter until one of the journalists dialed the club owner number.
JW: - Call Majdan, he will tell you everything. D: - He never answers the phone. JW: - Hey, you are right... He doesn't do anything!
And so Majdan became... a goalkeeping coach. A man of many talents, no doubt.
81. MAREK POGORZELCZYK
Pure American dream. From the varnish worker at the Wromet factory to sport director in Lech Poznań. At the end of the '80s he was a shift worker at enamelling plant, three decades later he participated in the construction of the great Lech. At one point, the third after God in Wronki - the second was Ryszard "Barber" Frobrich, Pogorzelczyk was his right hand. The nickname of "Hundy" came from - according to him - the fact that at school he was the fastest to run a hundred meters. Others suggest that this is a nickname with alcoholic connotations. Once he came to the club straight from the factory. He took off his mask, greeted Bogusław Baniak, but he behaved... quite strangely. Baniak thought it was because „Pogo” sniffed some lacquer fumes at job. But the smell of alcohol left no doubt.
Forbrich said years ago that he pulled him out of the loft into the attic, that he drove a battery trolley around Wronki, that he was the head of the Błękitni, earning some extra money to his normal job. Years later, "Barber" will call Pogorzelczyk a "kurwiorz" (Hard to translate. Maybe fucker? Or bastard. But 10x more) - although it must be added that this is how Forbrich spoke to many.
Mieczysław Broniszewski in the pages of Przegląd Sportowy: - In 1996 he heard from Forbrich: "You don't work here anymore, kurwiorzu." I saved him because I considered Marek a hard-working man who could be entrusted with secrets. He was silent like a boulder. Today, he could probably write some wonderful diaries about how football was made in those years. As Forbrich's assistant he learned a lot from him and learned a lot of secrets of the Ekstraklasa…
Some claim that they have never met a man who could shift so well between factions and who always picked those who were just holding the steering wheel at Amica Wronki. He knew for whom he had to buy vodka from the other side of the Warta, he knew with whom he should go smoke a cigarette. Others believe that's hard to find a man in Wronki who has snitched on so many colleagues. And the others that Pogorzelczyk just happened to know what football is about from all the people who ruled in Amica.
Marek Kliszkowiak, a longtime assistant at Amica, also in the pages of "PS": - If not for Ryszard, he would have nothing! To this day, he would screw in the factory. Anyone could become the sports director, and it happened to be Pogorzelczyk. And let him not pretend now that he did not know anything about Amica. Once they sent me in „Hundy's” car to Bukowiec, to transfer money for the match. That "Hundy" didn't know?
Hitching to the right carriages he reached the top. Until 2011 he was the sports director of Lech Poznań, it was "his" Kolejorz who won the Polish Ekstraklasa in the 2009/10 season. "Hundy" knew three languages - Polish and two in shoes. He was once offended at one journalist that he quoted Ivan Turina's statement that "director Pogorzelczyk does not speak English". "Maybe I haven't finished Oxford, but somehow I manage," he thundered. He never played at a professional level. And yet he brought some nice players to Poznań - Lewandowski, Injac, Arboleda, Djurdjević or Stilic. One can laugh that in archival broadcasts of Canal+ smoke is rising over Amica's bench, because "Pogo" was sitting on the side and smoked a cigarette. But wouldn't Lech took today someone with similar transfer efficiency as in the times of Pogorzelczyk, Kadziński and Czyżniewski? You could say that he was unleavened, but he had an eye for footballers. When he saw Grzegorz Wojtkowiak on the pitch, he immediately stated - gentlemen, he will be the Polish National Team player. When he was watching Lewandowski with Smuda, he knew immediately that Kolejorz had to stand in the race for this kid from Znicz Pruszków.
"Hundy" was also amazing in terms of relations with journalists. He could call half of Poznań and find out if it was worth taking this whole Sernas to Lech. Another time on the phone he said that no Krivets would come to Lech and please get it over your head, and at the same time sat with the same Krivets in the office and signed a contract with him. Sports director straight from the '80s, who worked efficiently (until) in the 21st century. "I bred vipers on my chest," - "Barber" claimed, remembering how Pogorzelczyk cut himself off from him when prosecutors followed the Forbrich stench of corruption.
Oh, one more story. Pogorzelczyk once went to Colombia to negotiate the transfer of Manuel Arboleda. Actually, not so much as "negotiating" but simply sign the contract. Amount agreed, only signature is missing. Suddenly Pogorzelczyk was taken to a hacienda - crocodiles around, sad men inside with guns behind the belt from trousers, coca plantations around. Climate "Narcos", the only thing missing is coke sprinkled on the table and Pablo Escobar stroking his mustache. The Colombians in possession of the Arboleda transfer card stated explicitly - either an additional thousands of dollars will appear or Arboleda will not go to Poland. And Pogorzelczyk may not leave this hacienda anymore. In the middle of the night "Seta" called President Kadzinski, somehow he managed to get the extra money out. - Andrzej, give me one hundred of paper here, because they'll shoot us here, we'll be shot – he said in a conversation with the president at three in the morning.
AUTHORS: DAMIAN SMYK AND JAKUB BIAŁEK

When Day 3 of FRL Winter Testing concluded, I eventually wandered down to the Harimau Racing garages. As rain fell from the sky, by that time of day the team was packing up their belongings. Standing in the garage, even this late after Testing was new Team Principal Ilka Halkoaho, and surprisingly, CEO Noah-Joel Petersen (aka NJP). In the team’s leadership’s first interview of the new season, we rattled through many questions, including ones about the teams Winter Testing, their drivers, a quick chat on former drivers, and their general predictions about FRL05.
Noah, I wasn’t expecting to see you here, and you just told me you’re CEO. What’s that about?

NJP: I am happy to offer my experience to the team and continue on with our plans. Reginald had to step down because of ill-health. He’s doing well now, but he’s ordered by doctor to take it easy, and he regretfully has to leave the project he only just started. Reginald secured Chevrolet and Pirelli as suppliers, and the return of PETRONAS as sponsor and supplier of fuel and lubricants, so I hope I can carry on from where he left off, although I hope when the time is right he can make a full recovery and return to the team.

Well, please send Reginald my regards. Previously, you made comments stating you were looking for time off to relax and reset, that you weren’t fond of the politics of the sport and would’ve rather focused on strictly the racing aspect. You being CEO contradict that, no?

NJP: Maybe, but the situation was different then. Firstly, we didn’t plan on Reginald leaving at this point in time. I was asked to fulfill that role not long ago. Secondly, I still have a desire to build this team, but not as TP. Yes, I intended to do that by assisting the team as Senior Advisor, but things change. Besides, I have Ilkka as TP. I think he can deal with the politics of motor-racing better than I could, as he’s a former driver. I don't think there's a contradiction, but a change of heart.

Turning to you Ilkka; how has the adjustment from the car to the pit wall been? Is there a burning desire to race an FRL car still?

Ilkka Halkoaho: I like racing. In the lead up to the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend, we’re doing demo events around Malaysia, and I will be driving some of the cars alongside our current lineup, so that is kind of the team and hopefully a joyous experience for the fans. But no, the adjustment is fine. Seats could be more comfortable.

We saw the car on track, with the team sporting new colors, dramatically different from its two predecessors. What was the paint schemes inspiration?

NJP: Harimau is our team name, and in Malay that word translates as Tiger. So we decided to create a car reflecting that name, hence black and orange, and the tiger stripe pattern. Another factor was we looked at what palettes Malaysian national teams had. We saw that in various sports, at the Olympics and the national soccer level, black/orange, black/yellow, blue/red/yellow, and the traditional racing colors of white/yellow have all been used before. Therefore, we decided on picking one of those palettes. Also, I don’t think in the 5 FRL seasons we have had a team register their colors with orange and black specifically, so we wanted to choose a palette that hasn’t been used a lot, and change things up.

Why the names change from “Harimau” to “Harimau Racing”?

NJP: When people say “Look, there’s Harimau”, we want people to know immediately it’s a racing team, and not a toothpaste or a toilet paper company. With a more straightforward name, people interested in motor-racing or not will know we are a racing team right away.
Ilkka Halkoaho: Remember one of the other potential names was “HRT”, short for “Harimau Racing Team”, but that was heavily rejected.
NJP: Yeah, I contemplated running officially as “HRT”, but it didn’t make obvious who we were, and isn’t catchy or unique “Harimau Racing”. I think having Harimau inserted in the team name is beneficial.

Focusing on Winter Testing results, over the three days, Harimau Racing experienced zero issues or delays to the cars, completing 540 laps over the three testing days. However, on the time sheets your drivers languished between 17th and 20th, with your best time a 1:38.934 on Day 1 and a highest rank of P8 on a rainy Day 3. Has these results confirmed your predictions, and/or dampened the hopes of the team?

Ilkka Halkoaho: The results returning to us are in the ballpark of what we expected, but I know we have more in-store and Winter Testing is still not an accurate representation of any team, yet. I was surprised and pleased we had 3 straight days of no mechanical faults or driver crashing, and I also know why that may be the case. But I’ve turned my attention to Round 1 now.

Are you confident your Chevrolet engines and your cars overall package can yield good results and consistent points, seeing as the engine may be under-powered compared to its rivals?

Ilkka Halkoaho: As we progress through the season, we will make improvements to our car and I’m confident Chevrolet will have the balance of aggressively bringing engine upgrades whilst maintain good reliability. As it is Chevrolet is a solid engine for FRL and has shown that in previous seasons. They grew and grew and in FRL04 they had an engine equal to Ford and Toyota in regards to performance levels. After my visit to their headquarters in Detroit, I was happy with them. Even though it is a new engine era, they can carry on the momentum and apply that previous knowledge now.
NJP: If I can add on; in FRL04, we spent $2 million on upgrading our car, total season. The MT 04A was seriously under-developed, but we couldn’t do so otherwise we’d go over budget. It is the teams’ intention that we surpass that amount for this year’s Harimau 05A-3. Other Formula Racing League teams have shown the value of consistently upgrading your car over the course of the season. This team saw that in our dominant FRL03 Formula B season. In 04 we couldn’t afford to do upgrades like the Ghost team for example, but this year we’ll look to change that pattern. It won’t be a dramatic increase in comparison, but I think it will help. The new regulations will help too.

Many pundits have Harimau Racing as favorites for relegation. Have you prepared for that possible outcome?

NJP: I think any team in our position would be dumb not to prepare for either a favorable or unfavorable scenario. Clearly we intend to stay in Formula A, but should we get relegated, it’s not the end. This team is still financially capable of racing; the people in the team have the passion to race in any tier. I don’t fear that possibility of relegation. Future seasons won’t be as challenging as this, but I think we’ll be fine regardless what happens, but the preference and the determination is of course, Formula A.

You said the team is financially capable of racing. Obviously other teams are in tighter financial situations. How is your team dealing with the rising expenses?

NJP: Going forward we have established how we want to properly proceed with our expenses. Obviously all FRL teams have to adjust to the new quarterly payments from sponsors that have been imposed on the teams. I think it’s a great rule change and I believe like many teams, in order to stay alive we’ll have to designate certain percentages of that money into two groups- the money to spend on the team, and leave the rest in the bank account to keep the team afloat. As I said Harimau are in a good spot, we’d like to reduce the total expenses going forward even more so. We know what to; just need time to play its part so we can go on with our plans.

Onto your drivers; Sabanstev Valentinovich had a difficult debut season with Harimau; 20th position with 2 points. Entering Year 2 of his contract, what do you expect of the young 19 year old from Russia?

Ilka Halkoaho: I’ve been impressed by Sabanstev’s racing ability. As he continues his career he’ll improve on that. I felt last season, his qualifying performances was way off of what it should be, and each retirement he had was due to driver error. What we’ve focused on now is to limit crashes and improve in qualifying, and I must say him getting P8 in Heavy Raining conditions was great growth of both things. He’s only 19, so he has much room for growth. I feel good about him so far.
NJP: Yeah, he’s made great progress so far. He just needs to maintain that into the season. Last year Sab and I did feud a few times, and Sab complained to me in the media. Fortunately, unlike other teams, it was a one-time thing in the media. Of course we’ve resolved that, and that’s a benefit of having Ilkka in our management; he is a former racing driver and understands the complaints of the drivers and how to resolve the matters easier.

Michael Howarth, the 23 year old from England, is entering his final year on his contract. Will the team offer a new deal, or will you guys let him go?

NJP: With Michael we have seen how good a driver he is and we’ve appreciated his consistency and his competence. I must say, to this day I am boggled and speechless as to why Royal Awal and WLD passed on him during the FRL03 Drivers Market Window, although I’m glad we ended up with a top class driver. It’s no secret we’d welcome him back, and we’re ready to rework the budget around a contract for him, but considering the other outcome as well; if Michael feels the need to explore other options and put himself in the running for one of the vacant WLD, Brickyard, or Red Bull seats, we will be extremely sad, but we understand that reasoning and we won’t stand in his way.

So, have you started negotiations with him?

NJP: No. Since our founding at the beginning of the 03 season, one of our team rules for management specifically is negotiations and/or decisions with drivers on expiring contracts won’t commence until a specified number of races has past, so that gives everyone a chance to feel the progress of the season and the team so far, and etcetera, etcetera. It was that way with Zoz, Mousse, and now Michael. We do these procedures early on in the season, so we all have a clear picture moving forward. It won’t be long now until we start these discussions.

Borys Zozulya and Ferraru Mousseau are former drivers of yours, both on expiring contracts. It’s been said you have a friendly relationship with them even now, so where do you see them ending up at?

NJP: As their former boss I hope they find good places. Mousse drives for Kaisersport right now, and his FRL04 result was 10th and 88 points. It can be said he’s past it and is declining now, but he is still capable of racing and I believe only a few teams are interested in his signature for FRL06 onward, I do believe that. He’s 36, he’s raced for Ducklings, Harimau, and currently Kaisersport, so he might retire soon? I hope not, but if he does, I’d certainly invite him to work for us as a brand ambassador or within the team in a role somewhere. He’s popular around the team and Malaysia. Remember, he won the first ever Formula B race and this team’s first race. With Borys though, it’s more complex story.

If I can interject, especially with the interview with Stroker Ace where he confirmed BMW asked to drop his wages.

NJP: Yeah…I don’t agree with that. If BMW are going to do that, they better compensate him for that. Give him a luxury BMW car or something. It’s ludicrous to ask one of the FRL’s best drivers to drop his wage demand when he’s worth it. If you do, compensate him another way; if you do this to help me, I’ll give you this in return. I think Borys should if he isn’t already doing so, is pitch himself to the open vacancies at Ford, Red Bull, and WLD, for example. He’s a top class driver who 100% can win you races and championships immediately. If BMW caused Zoz to complain to the Drivers Union, clearly they don’t appreciate him and he can be better off without them. They can repair the tension with compensation, a compromise might be a better word.

Would you bring back Borys, seeing as you had a great relationship before?

NJP: If I think with my heart, yes I would. However, I think with my brain, and even though we have a positive relationship and friendship, bringing Zoz back is unlikely because of two reasons; Firstly, we’d need to stretch our finances to the limit more than we already are in order to afford his wages. Secondly, we wouldn’t give the best driver in the world a fair fight to win the Formula A Championship, as realistically we are far from FA title contention, far from. He has 1 Formula B Championship which he earned with us, and he should be given the opportunity to win FA, in a top car. Although if he doesn’t mind tootling around with us at the back we’ll consider him, because never say never, but logically, I believe and hope he is promoting himself so a top team can sign him, and they the top teams or current midfield teams aspiring to be top teams should be interested in his signature. And when I say Top Teams, I mean Top Formula A teams, not Top Formula B. I think Borys is done with FB, and even though a race seat is a race seat no matter the place, he’s clear Formula A caliber and ready for it.

Drivers as you said have been asked by teams to drop their wages. Kyle Morrell at Mercedes-AMG refused and was sacked, and BMW confirmed Borys refused to do so. With the potential of more drivers refusing and their stories haven’t yet been revealed to the public eye, what should ALL FRL teams do to prevent tension between driver and team?

Ilkka Halkoaho: Drivers want to be paid a salary that they feel reflects their driving ability, past, present result, and what they feel they can achieve. As Noah said, a team shouldn’t ask that of a driver, but if they do, they should compensate them elsewhere, because nobody ever wants their salary to be tampered with. I’m happy Kyle Morrell refused Mercedes-AMG’s request to decrease salary; it means the team have almost what, $10 million less to spend on their car and team, because they used it on him! Nice payout too...
NJP: Maybe a North American sports salary cap; Maybe that’s worth considering, just throwing things out there. Having been in situations similar but not like this, because I've never asked a driver to reduce wages, I think as a whole, all the teams have to start being wiser on how we conduct contract negotiations. We all could look at different avenues on how to handle such an expense, but I think all team executives in FRL, me included, should if they haven't already, take a look at the Neon/Honda Racing philosophy. We must carry on with what we have now and the circumstances we individually have put ourselves in, but when it’s time to make a correction, maybe take a page from them.

To end off the interview, may I ask you both some predictions about various drivers and teams? First question: Who will win FRL05, both championships, both tiers?

NJP: Brickyard for the Teams Trophy, because I think they’re reigning champs and I believe they have the right formula and chemistry among themselves. Drivers Trophy I think Gil Salgado of WLD. In FB, I think Lotus will take the double, Nappo for the Drivers.
Ilkka Halkoaho: WLD to do the double. Good team, excellent driver lineup. They have money. FB has to be Honda, they have a recipe for success.

Your driver to watch this season?

NJP: Nakama Waka. Oh sorry, wrong driver. I think we shouldn’t underestimate Kimi Samurakami. I believe this young Japanese kid will turn a few heads, even pushing Zoz sometimes. He performed exceptionally in Formula D Asia, was it? I admit, I wanted Kimi’s signature this season. But things didn’t transpire because as much as I wanted him join the crew, the timing wasn’t right. Maybe down the road, who knows?! As much as BMW annoyed me with what they did to Zoz, it’s undeniable they have a superstar now in Zoz and a future superstar in Kimi. Both of them are future FA Drivers World Champions. I just hope they treat them well over there! Anyways, I wish Kimi well in his career; he’s bound for success.
Ilka Halkoaho: There’s a lot of talent in FRL….Dominik Weyrauch we should all watch, and I think he’ll immediately match Moore D’Avis pace, Stanley Holden because he emerged as a leader for Ghost last season and the team may make him #1 at the team, Uwe Strauss the new Drivers Union leader, I think he’ll do well too for his team. There's a lot of drivers out there and I enjoy seeing all the different technique and strategy.

Well, thank you for the chat Ilkka and Noah-Joel, I think we’ve gone a bit longer than anticipated. We covered a lot about your team and a few other teams. Can I ask what’s in store for Round 1 in Mexico?

Ilkka Halkoaho: Mexico is a great racing country, a great party atmosphere at the race venue. A realistic target is making it into Q2, and to do well in the race.
NJP: We look forward to the Mexican Grand Prix. Be sure to keep an eye out on our drivers. On our car we have sponsorship collaboration from Corona, which is a beer, a pale lager. Even though it’s a small icon on our car, our driver’s race suits will be in blue, white and yellow instead of the normal black and orange with tiger stripes, to reflect that special sponsorship. It’s a one-time thing this specialized race suit, and afterwards I think we’ll do a race suit giveaway of those items at some point, so watch for that. But yes, I hope the race goes well for the team next Sunday.

Thank you for your time, travel safely. See you for the race in a week.

Ilkka Halkoaho: Yep.
NJP: Thanks Frank, and you too.

I interviewed NJP way back in FRL03. I think this is the happiest I’ve seen him since that time (maybe I should do an exclusive interview with him and dig around for more info). Rookie Team Principal Ilkka seems calm and collected, but surely this is such a tough task to throw on an inexperienced team manager. Will Harimau Racing claw and fight to avoid relegation, or will they sink into Formula B? Will their power unit suppliers Chevrolet keep up with the other engine suppliers? Between now and the interview, Mercedes announced an engine upgrade BEFORE the first race of the season has commenced. There are lots of questions to be answered, but before you know it, we’ll have them. Throughout the FRL05 season I'll have more interviews with the team and may even turn to the fans and other media to gather their questions for the Harimau team. Be sure to keep an eye on that. In the meantime, enjoy the week, and before you know it, we’ll hear those satisfying words from the commentators: “WE ARE RACING!”
Frank Niederstaetter, Sky Deutschland, reporting Circuit of the Americas (Austin, Texas)

I’m not saying that Aston Villa deserved to be relegated, but if you employ Tim Sherwood as manager you really are providing yourself with the worst possible chance of survival. Tactics Tim was clueless as to how to set up his team appropriately and was promptly sacked after losing six games on the spin. His replacement was highly touted Remi Garde, who not to be outdone, was also let go from Villa after a six-game losing streak.
After months of torment, largely due to poor recruitment and the failure to replace key players in Benteke and Delph, the side were relegated to the second division with a frankly shambolic 17 points, a full 22 points behind Sunderland, who finished in 17th.
Having since been forced to ride the Steve Bruce gravy train, the club are now nestled in the Championship’s dangerous abyss, mid-table.
I did one of these previously, for Sunderland, which you can check out here if you like, and it's also in Reddit form here.
That said, here are the Aston Villa players relegated in 2016, and where they are now.
Goalkeepers
Brad Guzan – Atlanta United
After spending a season in the North East with Middlesbrough, Guzan was presented with a massive opportunity to return to the MLS, as newly-formed Atlanta United’s number one keeper. He was also involved in one of the wackiest incidents I’ve ever seen in football, as he was mic’d up in the MLS All-Star game against Juventus, so the commentators could chat to him whilst he was playing – check this shit out.
Mark Bunn – Aston Villa
Bunn has barely played for the club throughout his career and is still warming the bench at Villa. He’s like when Chelsea had Hilario, every now and then he pops up to let you know he still exists, but there’s not much more to say. Probably a Pointless answer that would heavily impress Richard Osman.
Defenders
Micah Richards – Aston Villa
I am genuinely stunned that Richards is still on the books at Villa. He was named club captain before his debut at the start of the relegation season but has undeniably been a flop since joining from Manchester City. Still taking home around a colossal £25,000 per week, he hasn’t played for Villa in over 700 days and doesn’t look close to returning anytime soon due to constant fitness issues. The sooner the club get to move him on and stop paying his wages the better.
Jores Okore – Aalborg BK
Arriving at Villa for around £4 million at a very young age, Okore was tipped for success in the Premier League, largely thanks to lots of overhyping due to him being incredibly fast and strong on FIFA. After coming back from an awful injury in his first season in England he eventually left Villa under a storm cloud as he refused to come on as a substitute against Bournemouth in 2016, moved to Copenhagen in the summer, and then onto Aalborg.
Ciaran Clark – Newcastle United
Having endured a fairly successful time in claret and blue, even being selected as captain on some occasions, Clark moved to Newcastle and formed a rock-solid partnership with captain Jamaal Lascelles. After helping Rafa Benitez’s side return to the Premier League he has continued to feature in Newcastle’s first team in the top flight.
Joleon Lescott – Retired
Following a decent enough start at his boyhood club, Lescott managed to infuriate Villa fans in a massive way. Firstly, following a 6-0 home defeat to Liverpool, he ‘pocket-tweeted’ a picture of his luxury car and apologised by basically saying ‘oops, didn’t mean to,’ then once Villa had mercifully had their relegation confirmed, he described the moment as, “a weight off the shoulders” and that they “can give these fans what they deserve – some performances.” Villa fans were rightly incensed by the tweet and comments and questioned his desire to play for the club, forcing him to leave for AEK Athens, before finally retiring after re-joining David Moyes at Sunderland.
Alan Hutton – Aston Villa
Fair play to Alan Hutton. Yea he’s shite and never lived up to expectations, but he has also had a trifecta of loan moves since joining the midlands club and still managed to re-establish himself as a starter in the side. Nowadays he’s as inconsistent as ever, but having notched up over 150 appearances for the club, he does deserve credit for working his way back into the first team. When his contract runs out in 2019 at the age of 34, it might finally be time for him to move on.
Jordan Amavi – Marseille
Much like Okore, Amavi suffered a horrible injury in his first season at Villa, however, unlike Okore, Amavi acted with true professionalism following the club’s relegation and made an effort to try and get the team back into the big time. After they failed to return to the Premier League though, it was time for Amavi to depart, and now he is enjoying a good stint at Marseille and is on the fringes of a possible call-up to the French national team. Before he left though, on 27 December 2016, Aston Villa apparently turned down an £25 million bid from an undisclosed Chinese club for Amavi, which highlights the explosive effect China has had on transfer window prices.
Aly Cissoko – Yeni Malatyaspor
Yea he’s now plying his trade in a mid-table Turkish side, but who cares, lets just watch one of the greatest footballing videos ever produced, because I’ve got some Fever for the Flava!
Midfielders
Leandro Bacuna– Reading
In his initial season at Villa, Bacuna was fairly impressive, despite playing almost exclusively out of position, at right-back. From there though his form dipped and like his former club he finds himself trapped in Championship perjury, having moved to the Royals in 2017. He has however, experienced success on the international stage, having helped Curaçao to their first Caribbean Cup victory in 2016, which was the final year the tournament took place.
Idrissa Gana Gueye – Everton
Following Villa’s collapse, there weren’t too many scraps to feed on from the squad, but Everton swooped in for the tastiest piece of footballing steak, as they triggered Gueye’s release clause. Gueye has been a standout performer under his various managers at Everton, cementing himself as one of the top tacklers across the top five leagues in Europe. In other words, he’s kind of a budget Kante.
Scott Sinclair – Celtic
Can you believe Scott Sinclair used to play for Manchester City, no, neither can I. After joining Villa on a permanent basis he endured a middling-to-poor season and was signed by Brendan Rodgers and had a simply excellent year at Celtic, becoming the SFA player of the year. Since then he has been a continuously good performer for the Hoops, despite never hitting the dizzy heights of season one again.
Ashley Westwood – Burnley
Villa fans largely loathed Westwood during his tenure at the club, as he epitomised the lacklustre options in the centre of midfield. The scapegoat in a herd of mediocrity was largely booed by his own supporters when stepping out on the field. Villa fans may feel vilified due to Westwood’s minimal impact under Sean Dyche but it has to sting knowing that the player they hated so much is playing in a higher division than them.
Jordan Veretout – Fiorentina
This highly touted individual was signed by Tim Sherwood with a real weight of expectation to his name, and at just £7 million, could have been one of the bargains of the summer. But it did not work out, not one bit. After one loathsome campaign at Villa he was loaned to Saint-Étienne, before making a permanent transition to Fiorentina where he is finally flourishing like the prospect pundits believed him to be. Now he is probably one of the best midfielders in Serie A – certainly one of the best outside the top four sides – with his delicious range of passes and ability to break up stubborn defences, and he should perhaps be in line for a call up to the French national team soon.
Kieran Richardson – Free Agent
From West Brom saviour to free agent in four easy steps; a fine spell at Sunderland, followed by three poor tenures at Fulham, Villa and Cardiff. He was a versatile option for Villa, and was therefore pretty valuable in the relegation season, but his performances were nothing special and he was released following the side dropping into the second division. He’s since been on trial at Granada, and also trained with Southend United, but nothing came of either. Retirement is surely on the horizon for Kieran.
Adama Traore – Wolverhampton Wanderers
When Adama arrived from Barcelona he was fast as fuck, but he couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo. Final product did not exist in the mind of Traore and his spell at Villa ended in disarray after he was dropped from the side for ill-discipline. He switched to Middlesbrough and quite literally found his feet to win the club’s player of the year award in 2017/2018, notching up five goals, ten assists and being a terror to defenders all year. Wolves picked him up following their promotion, and he’s already cemented himself as a top-drawer impact sub for Nuno Santo’s squad. Pro life tip here though: find someone who loves you as much as Bob Mortimer loves Adama.
Carlos Sánchez – West Ham United
Nicknamed, La Roca (The Rock), for his strength in midfield, he certainly hit rock bottom in his time at Villa. Even though he was one of the more consistent players in the team, he couldn’t save the side from relegation, and following a short stint in Italy and Spain, he has found himself back in England, at Pellegrini’s West Ham United. He made a high profile mistake against Wolves but has been decent outside of that, though he’s currently on the treatment table with a knee issue.
Carles Gil – Deportivo La Coruña
Carles Gil is probably my favourite player in this bunch. Admittedly it’s a real dearth of talent so that’s no great accolade, but hey, I like him. Outside of scoring Villa’s goal of the season in their relegation year, he had a great deal of technical quality but couldn’t drag this sorry squad out of the mire alone. His initial stay at Deportivo was a disaster though. He was side-lined for months due to a hernia injury and then, once he’d returned to fitness, was unfavoured by new manager Clarence Seedorf. Now, with the club down in La Liga 2 he is finally back on the pitch and hopefully beginning an upturn in his career.
Charles N’Zogbia – Free Agent
Poor Charles simply couldn’t get his motor started at Villa. Signed from Wigan Athletic for a pricey £10 million, he suffered from various injuries and his form dropped off a cliff as a result. In summer 2016, having managed just a couple of appearances at Villa Park, he left the club. Since then he trained with Sunderland, who opted against signing him despite him scoring in a trial game, and was almost signed by Nantes. However, Nantes doctor’s discovered a serious heart condition, which scuppered the move and Charles, now aged 32, is unlikely to ever play again, despite having not announced his retirement from the game yet.
Jack Grealish – Aston Villa
What a season this was for Grealish. He burst onto the scene and was a true stand out in this squad, lost all 16 games he played, and was punished for being unprofessional by going clubbing following a 4-0 loss to Everton. Following this he was blasted by all fronts of the media and he became flavour of the month for negative stories. Thankfully, he seems to be beyond those days now and media attacks have greatly reduced. Nowadays, he’s still standing out at Villa and is producing some excellent displays, if his side don’t get promoted this season, surely it will be time for the Premier League vultures to pounce on him.
Forwards
Gabriel Agbonlahor – Free Agent
Agbonlahor spent 17(!) years in the Villa system, somehow. After exploding into the side in 2006, he only registered double figures in league goals 3 times, and in his final three seasons he scored just one measly goal each term. Plus, in these last few seasons, he had some significant fitness and weight issues, causing him to be dropped by Remi Garde, before returning to the squad on a strict fitness regime under Steve Bruce. Now he is without a club and claims that he could not play for another English side due to his love for Villa, apparently even offering to play for them for nothing. Even that is too high a price to pay for a man who scored as many goals in 3 seasons as Joleon Lescott bagged in the relegation year.
Jordan Ayew – Crystal Palace
Having been relegated at both of his Premier League clubs, I would be slightly worried as a Palace fan, as they currently have him on loan from Swansea. He’s yet to score for Palace and was handed a fair amount of criticism last weekend for failing to even attempt to stop Juan Foyth from heading home in a 1-0 defeat. At Villa, he was top scorer with 6 goals in the season, and at Swansea he was also top scorer, with 7 goals; so at least he provides something, but he does look quite out of place in Roy Hodgson’s side.
Libor Kozák – Livorno
Kozák’s time at Villa was largely a fucking disaster, but not one of his own making. After making an okay-ish impression, he broke his leg in a training ground accident with Ciaran Clark, causing him to miss the rest of the 2013/14 season, and leading to a number of issues that meant he could barely feature in the 2014/15 and 2015/2016 terms, tallying just four showings in the club’s final term in the Premier League. Now he is in Serie B, and largely used as an option from the bench because his injury woes prevent him from landing any consistent game-time.
Rudy Gestede – Middlesbrough
I don’t mind being the one to say it, Rudy Gestede is a terrible footballer. He’s still, after 3 long years, riding the coattails of the success he incurred at Blackburn, where he played in a team that were lethal going forward and completely played to his strengths. Unless you go all out on Gestede’s positive traits, the negatives shine through with an intensity only the sun can match. After scoring just 5 Premier League goals, Villa somehow sold him for £6 million to Middlesbrough in January, where he scored once, and was relegated for a second successive year.
To conclude, a real lack of talent throughout the side is obvious, and even those with the talent, they couldn’t utilise well (Vertout, Gueye, Adama). I think the squad overall highlights how a team can completely fall apart if they lose their key players from the year before, as with Benteke and Snakey Snake Delph, they would have had a much better crack at staying in the Premier League. Just four of these men remain with the club, who currently sit in 11th in the league, with promotion looking a challenging task in such a congested division.

I, BEING SOMEHOW LESS BENEVOLENT THAN FOX NEWS, HAVE NARROWED IT TO ONE. INDEPENDENCE FOR QUEBEC! THE HIGH SCORING EPIDEMIC SWEEPING MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER. SEVEN OUT OF TEN GAMES LAST WEEK FEATURED AT LEAST 3 GOALS. EIGHT HAD AT LEAST TWO GOALS. THE MOST EGREGIOUS EXAMPLE WAS IN LAST WEEK'S GAME BETWEEN DCU AND RSL. THAT GAME TRIGGERED MY PTSD FROM THE NUMEROUS SCREWJOBS I RECEIVE IN FIFA ONLINE PLAY THANKS TO EA SPORTS' CATCHUP LOGIC. THAT GAME WAS TOTAL BULLSHIT, JUST LIKE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY LOSSES IN ONLINE PLAY. I AM OTHERWISE UNDEFEATED WHEN I OUTSCORE MY OPPONENTS. I HEREBY PROPOSE THAT MLS INSTITUTE A RULE THAT ENDS THE GAME 10 MINUTES AFTER A TEAM SCORES THE SECOND GOAL. GAMES WILL STILL GO A MAXIMUM OF 90 MINUTES, BUT AFTER A TEAM SCORES TWO GOALS, A CLOCK WILL START COUNTING DOWN FROM 10 MINUTES SO THAT OUR SPORT DOESN'T BECOME A JOKE OF MEANINGLESS BACK AND FORTH SCORING LIKE THE NBA.
IF YOU THINK MY PROPOSED RULE IS PREPOSTEROUS, WELL THEN SO WAS THE IDEA THAT MLS WOULD DO ANYTHING TO HELP CHICAGO OR SAN JOSE ACQUIRE WELL-KNOWN FOREIGN PLAYERS. I MEAN REALLY, 6 MILLION FOR CARLOS VELA? A SERIOUS EFFORT WOULD HAVE MEANT THE LEAGUE HELPING TEAMS NOT NAMED "GALAXY" OR "NEW YORK CITY", AND EL GENERALISSIMO DONALDO GARBERO JUST CAN'T HAVE THAT. WHY WOULD THE LEAGUE WANT TO HELP BOOST THE ATTENDANCE OF AN UNDERPERFORMING FRANCHISE LIKE CHICAGO? THAT'S JUST STUPID, VOTING FOR CARLY FIORINA LEVEL STUPID.
EL PARTIDO #VIERNESDEFUTBOL EN UNIMAS DESTACA LOS PORTLAND TIMBERS CONTRA CHICAGO FIRE. EL EQUIPO DEL RECTO DEL PACIFICO NOROESTE RECIBE EN CASA AL SUBMARINO YALLOP. HAY QUE VER SI PORTERBALL SIGUE CAGANDO OPORTUNIDADES DE SEGURAR PUNTOS FACILES MIENTRAS CHICAGO SIGUE SOÑANDO DE SER EQUIPO COMPETITIVO CON DIRECTOR TECNICO COMPETENTE.
FRESH OFF A PASTING OF A SOUTHEASTERN PRETENDER, TORONTO FC HOST A REAL TEAM IN SPORTING KANSAS CITY. LETS SEE IF GIOVINCO CONTINUES HIS POST ALL-STAR SNUB FORM, HE MIGHT BLOW PAST THE SINGLE SEASON SCORING RECORD BEFORE WE GET TO OCTOBER. BY THEN, TFC WILL HAVE RISEN IN LOCAL RELEVANCE FROM 2ND TO 4TH BEHIND THE JAYS, LEAFS, AND WHOEVER THE HABS ARE PLAYING.
THE CELLAR DWELLING UNION HOPE THIS DISNEY VACATION CURES WHAT AILS THEM. IT IS A PRETTY HOPEFUL THOUGHT CONSIDERING THAT WHAT AILS THEM IS ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. MAYBE ORLANDO CITY WILL BE TOO WEAK AFTER MISREADING THE LABELS ON THEIR RECENTLY ACQUIRED BOTTLES OF CHEAP CANADIAN PRESCRIPTION DRUGS. WHO UNDERSTANDS METRIC? NOT FLORIDA, THAT'S FOR SURE.
SPEAKING OF IRRELEVANCE AND CANADA, L'IMPACT WELCOME LEAGUE LEADING DC UNITED TO TOWN. THE BASTARD COUSINS OF THE CHEESE EATING SURRENDER MONKEYS HAVE TO MAKE UP 4 EXTRA GAMES OVER THE COURSE OF THE FINAL 12 WEEKS OF THE SEASON. LOS CAPITALINOS ON THE OTHER HAND LOOK TO CONTINUE THEIR WINNING WAYS THANKFUL THAT THERE IS NO BALANCED SCHEDULE IN MLS.
IF YOU CAN'T SCORE IN CALIFORNIA, HEAD ON DOWN TO TEXAS WHERE THE WOMEN ARE GRADED ON A CURVE. THE SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HOPE THAT LINE OF INVENTED PHILOSOPHY HOLDS TRUE AS THEY VISIT THEIR PREVIOUS INCARNATION HOUSTON DYNAMO. I WONDER HOW DYNAMO FAN FEELS SEEING DADDY ANSCHUTZ SPEND ALL HIS MONEY ON HIS LEGITIMATE SON AND ONLY CONVINCING CHARITY CASES TO WEAR ORANGE.
THE YELLOW-CLAD COLUMBUS CREW HEAD TO THE LITERAL TOXIC WASTE DUMP THAT IS COMMERCE CITY TO PLAY THE FIGURATIVE TOXIC WASTE DUMP THAT IS COLORADO RAPIDS. I ALWAYS THOUGHT ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARSENAL WAS A SOLID SUPPORTERS GROUP NAME. NOW ITS JUST AN ADDITIONAL REMINDER OF HOW BARREN THE CLUB IS TODAY.
THE LETDOWN GAME ALERT IS BLARING FOR VANCOUVER WHITECAPS. THEIR OPPONENTS, REAL SALT LAKE, HAVE TRAVELED FROM A PAINFUL LOSS ON THE EAST COAST, TO AN EXHAUSTING WIN IN CENTRAL AMERICA, AND NOW TO THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE LEAGUE IN EIGHT DAYS. YOU'D THINK THIS WOULD BE A WALK FOR THE HOME SIDE, BUT SEEING THAT THIS IS WHITECAPS, I'M EXPECTING A SHITTING OF THE BED.
THE COMMISSIONER'S HAND-PICKED ALL-STAR TEAM RETURN HOME TO FACE SOUNDERS IN FRONT OF WHAT WILL BE A SEA OF COLORED JERSEYS, BE THEY RED, RAVE GREEN, OR A DARKER MORE STANDARD GREEN. SURE, THE GAME SHOULD SELL OUT, BUT DON'T BE UNDER ANY DELUSION THAT THEY'RE ROOTING FOR LA GALAXY. THEY SUPPORT THE INDIVIDUAL, NOT THE TEAM, PAR FOR THE COURSE IN SO CAL.
FINALLY, ON FOX SPORTS 1 (THE 1 FOR FUN), NEW YORK 2 WILL DO WHAT MLS COULDN'T DO FOR 20 YEARS: CONVINCE PEOPLE FROM NEW YORK CITY TO GO TO NEW JERSEY AND WATCH A NEW YORK B GAME.
WEEKEND ENTERTAINMENT OPTION FOR NEW ENGLAND AND FC DALLAS FANS, WRITE A 5 PAGE PAPER DETAILING EXACTLY WHY YOU GAVE UP POINTS TO CHICAGO FIRE THE LAST TWO WEEKS.
CAPS ON, FLAIR UP, AND ENJOY THE GAMES, EVERYONE. #SOCALSUCKS

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20:02

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

Join us at 7am tomorrow for all of the latest news and rumours from the market. Until then...
19:54

NO OZIL WAGES FOR RAMSEY

Arsenal are keen to tie Aaron Ramseyto a new contract but will not give him the kind of wages that his teammate Mesut Ozil earns, report the Evening Standard.
Ramsey is seeking a significant increase on his current £110,000 weekly wage with Ozil earning £350,000 since signing his new contract last season.
The Welshman's contract expires at the end of the season and Chelsea, Manchester United and Lazio have all been linked with a move for him.
19:19

REAL'S LAST-DITCH HAZARD ATTEMPT?

Real Madrid will make one last attempt to sign Eden Hazard before the Spanish window closes, according to the Daily Mirror.
Real have been linked with the Chelsea star all summer, and with their window closing on August 31, they feel there is still time to do a deal.
Julen Lopetegui's side have not made a major signing this summer.
18:33

RANGERS APPOINT NEW DIRECTOR

Rangers have made Hong Kong-based shareholder Julian Wolhardt a new director of the club.
Wolhardt, a Danish national, bought a 4.5 per cent stake in the club from Mike Ashley in June 2017. His appointment comes 10 days before a general meeting is held at the club over a proposed share issue.
18:16

SOCCER SPECIAL PRICE BOOST

Back Derby, Leeds and MK Dons all to win this evening in Sky Bet’s latest Soccer Special Price Boost- at odds enhanced from 6/1 to 8/1.
Click here to place your bets
18:11

MILLER SIGNS UP

Calvin Miller has today signed a new one-year contract with Celtic, keeping him at the club until 2020.
The 20-year-old left back made four starts for Celtic last season.
17:52

SUPER 6

The £1 million jackpot may have gone at the weekend, but £250,000 is up for grabs as the free-to-play Soccer Saturday Super 6 game returns for the midweek fixtures.
To be in with a chance of scooping the lot, all you have to do is correctly predict six scorelines in the selected Sky Bet Championship matches taking place on Wednesday night.
Entries in by 19:45 BST (22nd August 2018).
Click here to enter
17:23

PJANIC SIGNS NEW JUVE DEAL

Miralem Pjanic has signed a new five-year deal with Juventus.
Pjanic, 28, has helped Juve win the Serie A and Coppa Italia double in both of his seasons at the club, following five years at Roma.
17:00

DUNNE DEAL

Burnley centre-back Jimmy Dunne has joined Hearts on a six-month loan deal, the Scottish Premiership club have announced.
Hearts have been on the lookout for centre half cover following injury to club captain Christophe Berra.
16:35

MARTINA DEBUT?

Defender Cuco Martina could make his Stoke debut as Wigan visit in the Sky Bet Championship on Wednesday.
The Curacao international, signed on a season-long loan from Everton, has been building up his fitness in the U23s side and will be assessed ahead of the game.
16:03

LOPETEGUI WANTS RODRIGO

Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui wants Valencia forward Rodrigo Moreno, reports AS.
Lopetegui, whose side sold Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this summer, wants to strengthen his attacking options and believes Rodrigo would be a perfect fit for his squad.
However, senior figures in Madrid are reluctant to bring a new forward to the Bernabeu.
Madrid believe Rodrigo’s €120m buyout clause is excessive and feel €60m would be a fair fee for the Spain international.
15:30

BREAKING NEWS

Leeds United full-back Laurens De Bock has joined Belgian side K. V. Oostende on season-long loan.
The 25 year-old joined Leeds from Club Brugge and went on to make seven appearances for the Whites.
De Bock will spend the rest of the 2018/19 campaign on loan at the Jupiler Pro League side.
https://twitter.com/LUFC/status/1031926402386481152
15:09

‘VAN DIJK WORTH EVERY PENNY’

Virgil van Dijk's price tag is not an issue anymore, says Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who salutes the attributes of his Dutch centre-back.
14:39

BREAKING NEWS

Real Madrid forward Martin Odegaard has joined Vitesse Arnhem on a season-long loan, the European champions have announced.
https://twitter.com/realmadrid/status/1031911782355546112
14:36

RAMSEY ON UNITED RADAR

Manchester United are planning a January move for Aaron Ramsey, reports the Manchester Evening News.
The Wales international’s future is up in the air after entering the final year of his current contract at the Emirates.
Ramsey famously rejected a move to Old Trafford before joining Arsenal from Cardiff in 2008.
14:16

BOLT LOOKING TO LEARN

Eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt has teamed up with Central Coast Mariners for pre-season training and admits he has a lot to learn if he is to earn a place in the team.
13:42

MADRID DUO AFTER ALONSO

Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid could be in direct competition to sign Chelsea left-back Marcos Alonso, according to AS.
Alonso has started the season in fine form, scoring and assisting a goal in Chelsea's 3-2 win over Arsenal on Saturday.
Real are seeking reinforcements at left back after allowing Theo Hernandez to join Real Sociedad on loan while Atletico are wary of an approach from PSG for Filipe Luis.
Alonso started his career with Real Madrid before leaving for Bolton Wanderers in search of first-team football back in 2010.
13:36

VILLA TO HIJACK BOLASIE MOVE

Aston Villa are looking to snatch Yannick Bolasie from Middlesbrough's grasp according to Keith Downie.
https://twitter.com/SkySports_Keith/status/1031896906052452352
13:10

JANSSEN UNDERGOES SURGERY

Out-of-favour Tottenham striker Vincent Janssen has undergone minor foot surgery which could scupper the chances of him leaving the club this month.
Janssen spent last season on loan at Fenerbahce and has been linked with a return to Turkey particularly after being stripped of the No.9 shirt at Spurs.
The Dutchman does not feature in Mauricio Pochettino's plans for the coming season.
12:44

SAINTS SEAL HODSON SIGNING

St Mirren have signed Rangers defender Lee Hodson on a season-long loan deal.
The full-back has found himself surplus to requirements under new Rangers boss Steven Gerrard following the signings of Jon Flanagan and Borna Barisic this summer.
12:38

BRUNT RETIRES FROM INTERNATIONAL DUTY

Chris Brunt has announced his retirement from international duty in order to focus on helping West Brom earn promotion back to the Premier League.
"After a period of lengthy consideration I have taken the difficult decision to retire from international football," he said in a statement.
"I have spent a lot of time thinking it over but I feel, at this point in my career, I need my sole football focus to be on helping West Bromwich Albion return to the Premier League."
Brunt made 65 appearances for Northern Ireland after making his debut in 2004 but missed out on participating at Euro 2016 due to a knee injury.
12:34

FORSTER RUNNING OUT OF TIME

Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster is running out of time to leave the club before the European transfer window closes, reports the Daily Echo.
Forster has fallen behind Alex McCarthy and Angus Gunn at the pecking order at St Mary's and has been linked with Turkish clubs Fenerbahce and Besiktas this summer.
12:20

NO OZIL WAGES FOR RAMSEY

Arsenal are keen to tie Aaron Ramsey to a new contract but will not give him the kind of wages that his teammate Mesut Ozil earns, report the Evening Standard.
Ramsey is seeking a significant increase on his current £110,000 weekly wage with Ozil earning £350,000 since signing his new contract last season.
The Welshman's contract expires at the end of the season and Chelsea, Manchester United and Lazio have all been linked with a move for him.
12:07

MILLER TO JOIN ST MIRREN?

St Mirren boss Alan Stubbs has refused to rule out a move for Kenny Miller, a day after he left his role as player-manager of Livingston.
St Mirren were interested in signing Miller during the summer, before he joined Livingston. If he was to sign this week, he could make his debut this Saturday... against Livingston.
Stubbs says there have been no discussions thus far, as Miller has “a few things to tie up” at his former club. However he admits Miller could be a target if the circumstances change in the coming days
11:58

BORO AFTER EVERTON DUO

Middlesbrough remain in discussions over deals with Everton over midfield duo Yannick Bolasie and Mo Besic, according to the Northern Echo.
Tony Pulis is keen to get loan deals wrapped up for the pair before Friday's game against West Brom.
11:33

RABIOT IN BARCA LINK

Barcelona have already signed Arthur and Arturo Vidal this summer, but they remain keen on a move for PSG's Adrien Rabiot, according to Mundo Deportivo.
Rabiot's contract with PSG expires next summer and Barcelona think they will be able to get him for a fee worth £45m.
If Rabiot were to join it would raise question marks over Ivan Rakitic's future at Barcelona with the Croatian having been linked to PSG.
11:05

NEVILLE DEFENDS EMERY

Gary Neville has defended Arsenal's new head coach Unai Emery amid criticism over his tactics during his first two Premier League games in charge.
Arsenal have lost both of their games this season against Manchester City and Chelsea but Neville insists that he has seen improvement early on in Emery's reign.
"For me, the idea of what the coach has been trying to work on is there," he said on Monday Night Football. "He is trying to undo quite a lot of the bad habits, to be quite honest with you, that have been going on for the last five or six years, that those players have had in them.
"But the principle is there and that's a big change for me. It's a big step forward and if I were Unai Emery after these first two games against Manchester City and Chelsea I would be taking the positives."
10:55

MORNING WHISPERS

Catch up with the latest in the transfer world with help from our friends at Football Whispers...
https://storify.com/services/proxy/2/F5hKKG1jxDuHAkMwLai29w/https/d2kmm3vx031a1h.cloudfront.net/mmWGJvgSSaBHYE8P16KF_2018-08-21-11-37-25-sky-top-10-graphic.png
10:40

BETIS EYE ZINCHENKO

Real Betis are interested in signing Manchester City's versatile Ukrainian Oleksandr Zinchenko but are waiting for Pep Guardiola's side to allow him to leave, reports ABC de Sevilla.
The Premier League champions may still require his services this season, but Betis are ready to arrange a loan deal should he become available.
The player's agent was in Seville last week to agree personal terms. Zinchenko turned down a permanent move to Wolves earlier in the summer.
10:26

BARCELONA KEEN ON DE JONG

Barcelona are making another attempt to sign Ajax midfielder Frenkie De Jong, according to Sport.
The club have already had one bid rejected, but the 21-year-old could leave this season if Ajax fail to win their Champions League playoff tie against Dynamo Kyiv.
10:07

EVERTON SET LOOKMAN PRICE

Everton are demanding £28m plus add-ons for Ademola Lookman to join RB Leipzig, according to Sky sources.
Sky Sports News reported on Monday that Leipzig had made a fresh £22m offer for the 20-year-old winger after he impressed during a loan spell with the club in the second half of last season.
The German side have remained keen to sign him before their August 31 transfer deadline, with manager Ralf Rangnick stating earlier this summer: "We want him back and he wants to come."
Everton boss Marco Silva has said this summer that he wants to keep the player, that Lookman is the club’s “present and future”, and he was doing everything “to make him happy again”.
RB Leipzig head of recruitment Paul Mitchell - a potential candidate for Manchester United's new technical director role - is thought to be a long-term admirer of Lookman, who joined Everton from Charlton Athletic.
09:57

BASSONG TRAINING WITH QPR

Former Tottenham and Newcastle defender Sebastien Bassong is training with QPR.
The Cameroon international has not played since March 2017 and was released by his last club Norwich in the summer that followed.
The 32-year-old played an hour of QPR’s Under-23 fixture against Nottingham Forest yesterday and is understood to initially be looking to gain fitness.
Rangers are bottom of the Championship having lost their first three league games – the latest a 7-1 defeat at West Brom on Saturday.
09:44

BORDEAUX BEGIN HENRY TALKS

Bordeaux have begun preliminary talks with Thierry Henry’s representatives about the possibility of becoming their next manager, Sky Sports News understands.
The Ligue 1 side suspended current manager Gus Poyet on Friday after he labelled the French club a "disgrace" and the Uruguayan has said he no longer wishes to continue.
Arsene Wenger confirmed that Henry was interested in the job yesterday and said that he has the 'qualities' to be a success.
09:39

BHOYS IN FOR BRUMA

Sky Sports News reported earlier that Celtic are preparing a bid for Aberdeen central defender Scott McKenna but another player on their radar is Dutch defender Jeffrey Bruma.
According to Bild, Wolfsburg are open to selling him this summer for £5m after he was left out of their matchday squad against SV Elversberg at the weekend.
Bruma has been capped 25 times by the Netherlands and lists PSV, Hamburg, Leicester and Chelsea as his former clubs.
09:24

LIVINGSTON SIGN TOGO STAR

Manager-less Livingston have signed Togo international Steve Tevi Lawson.
The 24-year old fullback agreed to join the club at the weekend, before the departure of Kenny Miller.
Lawson has played 6 times for Togo – his most recent club was Neuchatel Xamax in Switzerland.
09:18

BRENTFORD SIGN DASILVA

Brentford have confirmed the signing of Josh Dasilva with the 19-year-old signing a four-year contract.
Dasilva opted to reject a contract offer from Arsenal at the end of his deal and as such Brentford will have to pay the Premier League club a compensation fee.
Phil Giles, Brentford's Co-Director of Football, said: "It is great that Brentford now has a reputation for being able to offer that to the best young players and that they are keen to join us."
https://twitter.com/BrentfordFC/status/1031828470383484929
09:14

CELTIC PREPARING MCKENNA BID

Celtic are preparing to bid for Aberdeen’s £10m-rated defender Scott McKenna, Sky Sports News understands.
The Dons have turned down bids for the 21-year old Scottish international from Hull and Swansea in the last two transfer windows.
Aberdeen are understood to value their centre half at around £10m which is some way off Celtic’s valuation of the player.
Aberdeen maintain their player is not for sale. He is contracted until 2023 having signed two new long-term deals in the past 12 months.
08:53

DENAYER JOINS LYON

Manchester City's Belgium international defender Jason Denayer has joined Ligue 1 club Lyon on a permanent deal.
Denayer joined City in 2013 and spent time on loan at Celtic, Galatasaray (twice) and Sunderland without making a competitive appearance for his parent club.
It is being reported that the fee for Denayer is €10m with a potential €3.5m in add-ons.
08:46

KLOPP: EVERYONE LOVES NABY

Jurgen Klopp has admitted that everyone at Liverpool loves summer signing Naby Keita and that he believes the Guinean midfielder will continue to improve following an impressive display against Crystal Palace.
"He's very shy and not very extroverted but on the pitch you don't see it. He needs to settle a little bit. He's next to Sadio all the time [in training]," Klopp told Monday Night Football.
"Everybody loves Naby but I don't know if he loves us because he doesn't speak a lot. But football-wise you can see the potential is outstanding but we have to give him time."
08:33

BARCA STANDING FIRM OVER RAKITIC

PSG have been linked with a move for Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic but the La Liga club will not sell the Croatian for anything less than his €125m buyout fee, report Marca.
That would likely rule the Ligue 1 champions out of a deal as their hands are tied due to Financial Fair Play regulations following the blockbuster signings of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
08:24

CHELSEA WANT LOFTUS-CHEEK STAY

Chelsea want to keep Ruben Loftus-Cheek amid interest from clubs in Germany, Spain and France.
Loftus-Cheek has slipped down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge following the summer arrivals of Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic while Ross Barkley has also been picked ahead of him.
After playing for England at the World Cup, Loftus-Cheek was not named in Chelsea's 18-man squad against Arsenal on Saturday and he is said to be considering his options.
08:18

DORTMUND AFTER ALCACER

Borussia Dortmund are keen on a deal to sign Paco Alcacer on loan from Barcelona, reports L'Equipe.
Alcacer is not part of Ernesto Valverde's plans for the coming season and has been linked with Valencia, Real Betis and Alaves.
Dortmund are seeking a replacement for Michy Batshuayi who has joined Valencia on loan.
08:09

FORMER UTD ASSISTANT HITS BACK

Mike Phelan, who was Manchester United's assistant manager when Paul Pogba first left the club in 2012, has replied to Mino Raiola over the agent's comments this morning...
https://twitter.com/Mike_Phelan_1/status/1031808493039308800
08:02

MURRAY THANKFUL FOR PL OPPORTUNITY

Brighton striker Glenn Murray has thanked Chris Hughton for giving him an opportunity in the Premier League and not replacing him with a big-name player as other promoted clubs have done.
"You see with some of the promoted teams this year that they have got rid of some players and have brought some big names in. Thankfully our manager did not do that," Murray said.
"He gave everyone that helped the club to the Premier League an opportunity in the Premier League and I think most of us have taken that opportunity."
07:48

HARPER RETURNS TO MAGPIES

Former goalkeeper Steve Harper has returned to Newcastle to join the club's backroom staff, five years after leaving the club in 2013.
Harper was Newcastle's longest-serving player, first breaking through as an 18-year-old in 1993, and will become their goalkeeping coach with the club's Under-23 and Under-18 sides.
07:24

'300K-A-WEEK' FOR HAZARD'

Chelsea are to offer Eden Hazard a new £300k-per-week deal to ward off Barcelona and Real Madrid interest, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper reports the Belgian has held talks with the club over a new contract, but is yet to agree terms with the Blues.
07:16

READING SIGN SIMS

ICYMI last night, Reading have completed the signing of winger Josh Sims from Southampton on a season-long loan deal.
https://twitter.com/ReadingFC/status/1031798053450145792
07:07

NEVILLE'S RAIOLA ADVICE

A swift riposte from Gary Neville to Mino Raiola's comments, after Paul Pogba's agent took aim at fellow pundit - and former Manchster United player - Paul Scholes...
https://twitter.com/GNev2/status/1031799445728505856
07:01

POGBA AGENT TAKES AIM

Paul Pogba's agent Mino Raiola is normally a quiet, reserved man when it comes to publicity - but the Italian isn't showing that this morning on Twitter.
He hasn't aimed his anger at Manchester United per se, but is there some undertone in there?
https://twitter.com/MinoRaiola/status/1031790668304277504
https://twitter.com/MinoRaiola/status/1031791316030644224
06:54

CARRAGHER: VAN DIJK WORTH £75M

Jamie Carragher believes that Virgil Van Dijk's man of the match display against Crystal Palace shows why Liverpool spent £75m to sign him from Southampton in January.
"Tonight is the reason why you spend £75m on Virgil van Dijk," Jamie Carragher said on Monday Night Football following Liverpool's 2-0 win at Selhurst Park.
"There were two or three minutes to go and Liverpool give away a free-kick in a dangerous position. He wins the first header and it goes out for a corner. Then the next one comes in and that is where the breakaway comes, and that's the goal."
06:46

CITY SUFFER BRAVO BLOW

Manchester City were one of five clubs to vote against bringing the transfer deadline forward last summer and they might be lamenting their luck after seeing two players sidelined with injuries.
Following the news that Kevin De Bruyne will be out for up to three months with a knee injury, City have confirmed that No.2 goalkeeper Claudio Bravo has ruptured his Achilles tendon.
City will be unable to sign a replacement for the Chilean until January so young academy graduate Daniel Grimshaw is in line for a promotion to provide backup to Ederson.
06:33

NEVILLE'S PLEA TO WOODWARD

There's more fall-out to Manchester United's defeat at Brighton - with Gary Neville issuing a plea to chief executive Ed Woodward to improve the club's transfer strategy.
"Ed Woodward's job is to deliver profits on and off the pitch," he told Monday Night Football. "Profit on the pitch is performance and trophies - league titles and Champions Leagues.
"The club are delivering off the field, Ed Woodward has done an incredible job in terms of the commercial operation and the way in which the club makes an operating profit, but there is no doubt he should put a footballing structure underneath him that his extremely serious and can go and deliver for him on the pitch."
Read more from him here.
06:30

CARRAGHER EXPECTS MOURINHO EXIT

Jamie Carragher does not think Jose Mourinho will be Manchester United manager next season and suggested he could even leave the club at some point in this campaign.
"I'm not jumping to a knee-jerk reaction because Manchester United lost a game away from home," he told Monday Night Football.
"But after what's happened in the summer, if performances like that continue, I don't think Jose Mourinho will be the manager of Manchester United next season - he may not be manager at some time this season.
"There will be coaches up and down the country looking at what Mourinho said in the summer about bringing players in, a centre-back. [Of the four they have] Jose has spent £30m on two of them and two are England internationals in Phil Jones and Chris Smalling."
06:22

TRANSFER HEADLINES

• Raiola ignites Scholes feud
  
• Carragher expects Mourinho exit
  
• Neville: United needed new CB
  
• Bordeaux open Henry talks
  
• Denayer joins Lyon from City
  
• Villa hijack Boro's Bolasie bid
  
• Celtic prepare McKenna bid
  
• Leipzig make £22m Lookman bid
  
• Hazard coy over future plans
  
• Pep rules out Marchisio move
  
• Papers: Blues to offer Hazard £300k deal
  
• Euro papers: Modric's big admission
  
• Benitez: No more outgoings
  
• Which PL stars could still leave??
  
• Transfer talk: Raiola to push Pogba out??
  
• EFL clubs can seal loans to Aug 31
  
• European deadline Aug 31
  
• New football season offer
  

06:21

MOURINHO HAS UNITED BACKING

There has been plenty of speculation over Jose Mourinho's future at Manchester United, particularly after their 3-2 defeat to Brighton with Zinedine Zidane rumoured to be a potential replacement.
However, a senior source at the club told The Guardian: "Why would we discuss Zidane when there is no job?"
06:13

IN THE NEWS

• Aaron Ramsey's Arsenal career is on the line after Unai Emery dropped the midfielder at Chelsea. (Mail)
  
• Manchester United have given their backing to Jose Mourinho and insisted they have not sounded out Zinedine Zidane about taking over at Old Trafford. (Times)
  
• Chelsea are to offer Eden Hazard a new £300k-per-week deal to ward off Barcelona and Real Madrid interest. (Mail)
  
• Ruben Loftus-Cheek is eyeing a loan transfer to Spain after barely being used in Chelsea's first two games but Maurizio Sarri wants him to stay and fight for his place. (Mirror)
  
• Jose Mourinho's plea to Ed Woodward that Manchester United should sell Anthony Martial before Europe's transfer window closes is set to be ignored. (Star)
  

06:07

A LATE ONE FROM LAST NIGHT

In pretty much the dead of night last night it was confirmed Mario Balotelli would be staying at Nice, despite various links with other clubs.
Balotelli even failed to report back for pre-season training initially, but Nice's twitter account has now confirmed the Italian forward will remain with them this season.
"The Italian international expressed his wishes to the directors," they said. "There will be a third season for the forward. The agreement was signed by all parties on Monday evening.
"Suspended for the first 3 games of Ligue 1, the Gym's forward, who has scored 43 goals since arriving at the club, will be available for selection next week, ready for the trip to Lyon.
06:02

GOOD MORNING!

Welcome back to the Transfer Blog, early risers. Let's have a quick look at the big stories doing the rounds today...
Join the discussion on Discord. I am a bot. Found any errors? Contact /Football Mods

Here you can find the previews of this weeks coming fixtures. Due to size of the original document, this chapter has been split into 2 parts. This is part 2. Part 1 can be found here
SECTION 2: Week 19 Previews
[Braga] vs [Moreirense]
30/01/2015: 20:30 GMT
Credit to Johanu:
After the unexpected loss against Boavista and an underwhelming tie against a 9 player Porto, Braga is feeling pressured to win in order to get closer to the much coveted third place and the Champions League playoff. Pressure over Sérgio Conceição is starting to mount and he’ll feel like a win is overdue with the team playing some attractive football but being unable to capitalize on its dominance. Belenenses sits 4 points behind Braga, while Vitória de Guimarães is 4 points ahead, sitting in 4th place, with Sporting CP 8 points ahead. Moreirense, 10th placed in the Primeira Liga, will be a tough bone to chew, with a good game in perspective between two free-flowing football-playing teams.
Moreirense is, as Braga, coming off of two bad results, with a loss against Nacional for the Primeira Liga and Benfica for the League Cup, and would like to add a win to its current form this starting year. However, Moreirense’s objectives in the league are much more modest than Braga’s, the maintenance within the top national league being its perennial objective. The achievement of that goal seems to be well on its way for Miguel Leal’s men considering the 12 points that already separate them and the relegation playoff position. Expect this team to play some positive football, with a nice round-opening match predicted for today.
[Benfica] vs [Boavista]
31/1/2015: 17:00 GMT
*Credit to BSantos57
This game, which looks on paper to be one-sided in Benfica's favor, could be problematic if Jorge Jesus' men don't step up and play to their best.
The match between the 1st place in the league and the 13th place will put face to face two teams with completely different results in the last fixture: Benfica threw away a chance to gain a 9 point advantage over Porto, by losing at Paços de Ferreira 1-0, while Boavista got a very surpising win against Braga, helping them stay clear of relegation spots.
Jorge Jesus won't be able to count on Ruben Amorim, recovering from his torn ACL from the first round at Bessa, Fejsa, who also had a torn ACL and hasn't recovered yet and Gaitán, who has an hamstring injury.
Boavista have been very surprising, seeing as they climbed from the 3rd tier to the 1st tier after a controversial court case, and were expected to be the worst team in the league, but they are sitting in the 13th place and have had some very impressive feats in this season, including a 0-0 draw at Estádio do Dragão, against Porto, and last game's win against Braga.
Petit, Boavista's coach won't be able to count on Lucas Rocha, who has broken his foot, and Anderson Correia, who has a simillar injury.
On the side of Benfica, pay attention to Jonas, the Brazilian striker who came in on a free from Valencia has been impressive the whole season, with 13 goals in 17 matches and Samaris, who after a very rough start of the season is starting to pick up his form and having some very impressive games.
On the side of Boavista Mika, the former Portugal U-20 goalkeeper who won the golden glove in the 2011 U-20 World Cup is having a comeback in his career, and Marek Cech, the former Porto and West Brom left back is a new signing and brings a lot of leadership to the this team; and Quincy Owusu, the former Arsenal youngster isn't having the most consistent season but wants to make the best of his (few) opportunities to relaunch his career.
[Nacional] vs [Belenenses]
31/1/2015: 17:30
Credit to RiderofCrapstorms
Most pundits are predicting a very tough game between the two teams, with Belenenses coming out on top in the end. This is also up to debate since the “Insulares” are known for being one of the toughest teams to beat at home in the Liga Portuguesa. Either way, it will be a very entertaining match between two mid-table games.
Viewers are advised to keep an eye on the following players: Ali Ghazal, Marco Matias and Marçal Ali is a 23 year old Egyptian midfielder who has quickly won his place in the starting eleven, good passing and vision are his trademarks. Marco Matias is a curious case, being Portuguese, the fact that he has an eye for goal leaves many fans doubting the veracity of his nationality. Last but not least, Marçal is a brazillian full-back who excels at attack, feeding the frontlines with long balls.
Nacional are one of the two teams hailing from Madeira Island, the other being Marítimo, that play in the Portuguese first division (Liga Portuguesa). They are known for their solid Home games, partly because their stadium is a lot higher above sea level than usual. Due to these conditions, teams have started the habit of travelling to Madeira earlier so the team has the chance to acclimatise.
Belenenses will be hoping to improve on their 0-0 draw last weekend, and will be looking to close the gap on Braga who remain 4 points ahead. It will be a difficult game for them, but if they play to their best standard that we have seen then we can expect them to potentially edge out Nacional.
[Penafiel] vs [Vitória]
31/1/2015: 20:15
In their next game, Vitória travel away to Penafiel. In order to try and secure their 4th place in the league, and give them time to catch up to 3rd placed Sporting who play Benfica next week, they will be wanting to take all 3 points from Penafiel, and It must be said that they are favourites. A solid win could put a lot of pressure on Sporting who will feel them clipping at their heels. Expect a tight performance, and some improvements on defence early on in the game, work which was evidently needed after they let 2 counter attack goals in vs Gil Vicente last week, as Penafiel will be looking to do exactly the same.
Penafiel are currently sitting in second last in the league, with only Gil Vicente behind them. It will be an important game for them too, as neither can afford to lose points. If Vitória win, then Penafiel could go bottom of the league provided Gil Vicente win in Setubal. Vitória's main duo of Hernani and André André should be enough to undo Penafiel, who have currently conceded the most goals in the league so far. Penafiel will be even further undone, as 3 of their usual starters (Rafa, Tiago Valente and Dani) will miss the game due to suspension.
The favourites have to be Vitória as I feel that Penafiel won't be able to withstand the opposition core without their own. Expect a Vitória win, and the main talking point to be André André and Hernani and their abilities to orchestrate attacking transitions. Penafiel will most likely look to play a defensive form of football, looking to exploit the counter, however without three important players for them, It seems unlikely that they will be able to make anything too special happen.
[Académica] vs [Marítimo]
01/2/2015: 16:00
Although playing away from home, Marítimo will have the upper hand in this fixture. Not only are they coming off the back of an extremely moralising 1-0 victory over FC Porto, but Academica haven't been in the best form recently, and they currently sit in the play off zone. This will however motivate them to try to secure at least a point at home though, as Marítimo are always a tough nut to crack, even for the bigger teams. Maritimo may or may not be without leading goalscorer Maazou who was recently transferred to China, si we will have to wait and see who will step up to fill his place.
Académica should remain unchanged from their game vs Sporting, however they have gained Sporting defender Esgaio on loan, and he should be able to help bolster their defence. They did show promise when sitting back and hoping for a counter attack, which is what you should expect them to do this weekend.
My one to watch this weekend is Marítimo's Bruno Gallo, who will be fulfilling the shoes of Maazou (if he has left yet.) He will be needed to become the man who gives Marítimo inspiration, and will hopefully show how well they can cope without their leading goalscorer.
Rio Ave vs [Estoril]
01/2/2015: 16:00
This is one of the matches I expect to be the closest. Rio Ave are only one point behind Estoril, and victory would see them leapfrog their opponents into 8th place. It is important to remember that they are 3 games without a win, and so will be feeling down on morale, which Estoril could look to exploit. A loss however could see them fall to 10th place, provided that Moreirense and Maritimo win. It's time for Rio Ave to prove themselves as a team, as all could be lost and damaged if the match goes badly.
Estoril will be feeling anxious to clear themselves of their direct opposition. This match also carries great meaning for them, because a victory could put them in 6th place if Belenenses and Paços de Ferreira both lose. A loss however means that they fall to 9th, with the potential of 11th if Marítimo, Moreirense and Rio Ave win.
Expect an edgy game from both teams, who will be fighting for everything due to the heavy implications that this match carries. In terms of a result, I can see both teams edging each other out, and my match prediction would be that this game ends in a draw.
[Arouca] vs [Sporting]
01/2/2015: 18:00
*Credit to briannnf
After the first match day where Benfica and Porto both lost while the Leões won in 10 years, Sporting will come into Monday’s match confident in rejuvenating the Portuguese title race. Last weekend allowed Sporting to come within 7 points of leaders Benfica and 1 point of second place team Porto. Sporting look to extend their five consecutive wins in the league, dating back to the 21st of December, as well as maintain their place on the podium.
William Carvalho, easily the best player for Sporting last season, looked to have found some of the form that had lead to interest from Premier League teams last summer, including Arsenal and Manchester United. Marco Silva’s team has played some beautiful football this season, and if they can get their best player to be in form again after his disappointing start to the campaign, they can very well look to push for their first league title in 13 seasons. Nani however, will not be available along with left back Jefferson this weekend after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Académica.
Arouca look to avoid relegation and continue to be a mid-table club in the Liga Portuguesa. Pedro Emanuel’s men currently sit at 15th in the league, three points clear of the relegation zone. Their match last week was the second consecutive game where Arouca have not scored. Pedro Emanuel’s men have the worst attack of the season, scoring only 10 goals in 18 games. However, in the three games where they have played Sporting, they have scored in all but one.
Arouca has never been able to defeat Sporting. Of the three matches played between the teams, Sporting has left with all three points on every occasion, including a 1-0 match at Alvalade earlier in the season. Carlos Mané found the back of the net at the 93rd minute. Iuri Medeiros, a player loaned to Arouca from Sporting, is likely to be in the starting XI after his solid performance against Estoril at the weekend. Medeiros is seen as one with great potential, with a left foot that can deliver a deadly cross, and a very clinical finisher.
[Porto] vs [Paços de Ferreira]
01/2/2015: 20:15
Porto will be wanting and needing a win against Paços. They will be feeling rejuvinated after seeing Benfica stumble last week. They should remain unchanged and will hope that talisman Jackson Martinez will fire them forward. Anything but a win for any of the big 3 is undesirable and could cause a title race to be over. They are definitely favourites for this game, especially because they will be playing at home where they have an extremely impressive record, only losing to Benfica last December for the only home loss in the League for almost 3 years. Expect attractive, attacking football from one of the sides who will hope to recharge their title claims.
Paços will be without main striker Sergio Oliveira after he picked up his 5th yellow against Benfica and will therefore miss this important match. There are of course rumours that because he is on loan from Porto that this is deliberate, but I wouldn't put it past the press to defame any of the top 3 teams. However they will be looking to employ the same strategy seen against Benfica which will be to defend and counter attack quickly. This will be key to their success, and without Brahimi providing that extra catalyst for Porto, they should try to make the most of their chances.
However I can't see this game going any other way than a Porto victory. If they score early then expect Porto to steam roll the opposition. However if left too late and they become too frustrated, then you can fully expect Paços to pull something out of the hat, and maybe even take some points away. Though the latter is definitely unlikely, as I can't see a moralised Porto dropping points at home to Paços de Ferreira.
So concludes the first Mega Thread of the Primeira Liga. You can find part 1 here
Thank you again for all for reading, and a special thanks to all of this weeks writers:

• BSantos57
• Bellushi
• Briannnf
• phreelosophy
• Johanu
• RiderofCrapstorms

QPR vs. Aston Villa
Venue: Loftus Road
Kick Off: 16:00pm BST/GMT
Referee: Oliver
Why not join the IRC live soccer chat?
With Joey Barton in fine form since joining the London club, and a Villa side who need a result this weekend after a poor midweek performance against Bolton, this match could be a corker!!
So let's get the match facts.
Match facts/preview
TEAM NEWS QPR have no fresh injury concerns but Kieron Dyer remains out with a foot injury and Clint Hill joined Nottingham Forest on loan this week.
Jamie Mackie is not yet in contention but is back in full training after a double leg break last January.
Aston Villa are hoping deadline-day signing Jermaine Jenas will finally be fit after a thigh injury.
But Darren Bent has been ruled out with a groin problem, while fellow striker Emile Heskey remains an absentee.
MATCH PREVIEW The last time QPR beat Villa, pop star Jarvis Cocker was about to stun the world! When Kevin Gallen grabbed the only goal of that victory in December 1995, Michael Jackson was Top of the Pops with his Earth Song dirge. Cocker was so enraged at Jackson's performance at the Brits a few weeks later, he invaded the stage and waggled his bottom in Jacko's face!
People who downvote Match threads have aids, let's see who actually reads this stuff. I'll go for a first Rangers top-flight win since they beat West Ham in April 1996 QPR now have someone who loves to get in the face of opponents and they hope Joey Barton continues his abrasive form.
He's already driven them a long way from the naive opening hammering by Bolton and can inspire a first home Premier League victory of the season against Villa, who were poor in the midweek cup defeat by Bolton and who are fortunate to still be unbeaten in the league. I mean, I bet I can put anything, an nobody will give two shits.
Injuries to Darren Bent and Emile Heskey have hit them. Gabby Agbonlahor, though, is looking sharp. He's scored half of Villa's league goals and three in his last four Premier League games. His quick movement in from wide positions will threaten QPR's new-look defence, where Luke Young will be up against his old team. I mean, who do redditors think they are, I create a thread for a Premier League match, because nobody else can be bothered, and they downvote me. Well, guess what, I give you something to downvote, not that you will notice.
With Shaun Wright-Phillips in sparkling form in his opening two matches, Barton's leadership and DJ Campbell's quick feet in the box, I'll go for a first Rangers top-flight home win since they beat West Ham in April 1996.
Earth Song was just an insipid memory by then. Mark Morrison was at Number One with Return of the Mack. Now he did have a bit of snap and snarl about him - just like Joey!
MATCH FACTS Head-to-head
QPR are unbeaten at home to Aston Villa in the Premier League (W3, D1). Villa won 4-2 in the last league meeting between the sides - that was in March 1996 when Dwight Yorke scored twice, while Kevin Gallen was on the scoresheet for QPR. Gallen also scored the winner when the teams last met in the league at Loftus Road in December 1995. Managers Neil Warnock and Alex McLeish previously met in the 2008-09 season when both were in the Championship - McLeish's Birmingham beating Warnock's Crystal Palace at St Andrew's, and the sides then drew 0-0 at Selhurst Park. QPR
QPR haven't scored at Loftus Road yet this season in league or cup. Last season, Rangers won their first four home league matches without conceding a goal. Captain Joey Barton scored the opening goal for Newcastle in their 6-0 win over Aston Villa last season. Aston Villa
Aston Villa are unbeaten after five games of this season's Premier League (for the first time since 2006-07) but have drawn four of their matches. Gabby Agbonlahor has scored half of Villa's league goals this season and has scored three in his last four league games. Only Newcastle have conceded fewer goals than Villa in this season's Premier League. Darren Bent has been caught offside 12 times this season, more than any other Premier League player.
So where are both teams in the league at the moment, I hear you ask?
1 Man Utd 6 17 16 2 Man City 6 14 16 3 Chelsea 6 5 13 4 Newcastle 6 4 12 5 Liverpool 6 0 10 6 Tottenham 5 0 9 7 Stoke 6 -2 9 8 Aston Villa 5 2 7 9 Everton 5 0 7 10 QPR 5 -2 7 11 Wolves 6 -3 7 12 Arsenal 6 -5 7 13 Sunderland 5 2 5 14 Norwich 5 -2 5 15 Wigan 6 -4 5 16 Swansea 6 -5 5 17 Fulham 6 -3 4 18 Blackburn 6 -5 4 19 West Brom 6 -5 4 20 Bolton 6 -8 3
So both teams have had the better of performances out of 20 this season so far, with both teams resting in the top 10.
So you're now interested after reading all that, where can you watch?
Well, if you're a British or Irish citizen, Sky Sports is free this weekend, meaning at 3.30pm GMT, you will be able to pick up the game on Sky Sports 1, without paying the extra £5 per week. Bonus! If you can't find a TV but you're a Sky customer, why not use the SKY GO application, type that in Google and get yourself signed up. For people who neither have Sky or the option of purchasing Sky, you will be needing a stream?
Streams If you have anymore I will post them up.
RojaDirecta
LiveTV
FirstRow
BBC match thread
AtdheNet
RealSpotz
Courtesy of enabled
Obviously none of these will work till 4.00pm
Team Sheets
Not out yet, will update when out, expecting soon. They're out
QPR
01 Kenny
05 Hall
13 Traore
18 Young
35 Ferdinand
04 Derry Helgusson
07 Taarabt
11 Faurlin
17 Barton
32 Wright-Phillips
10 Bothroyd Campbell
Substitutes 26 Murphy, 02 Orr, 16 Connolly, 14 Buzsaky, 09 Campbell, 21 Smith, 22 Helguson
Aston Villa
01 Given
02 Hutton
03 Warnock
05 Dunne
06 Collins
07 Ireland
10 N'Zogbia
16 Delph
19 Petrov
25 Bannan Albrighton
11 Agbonlahor
Substitutes 22 Guzan, 23 Beye, 34 Lowry, 12 Albrighton, 38 Gardner, 14 Delfouneso, 26 Weimann
Reddit Live Match Thread
Kick off! Phewww...
Is that Gary Neville doing the actual commentary?
Warnock : Yellow Card.
HALF TIME
Half time facts.
Possession
QPR 61%
Aston Villa 39%
Attempts on target
QPR 5
Aston Villa 1
Attempts off target
QPR 5
Aston Villa 1
Corners
QPR 7
Aston Villa 4
Fouls
QPR 7
Aston Villa 6
Half time snap shot
"For all QPR's dominance they have only really carved out one clear chance and they will be thankful to Paddy Kenny's expert save from Barry Bannan."
Sternslovechild
2nd Half
Hutton: Yellow Card
57' Penalty Penalty Penalty
Traore: Yellow Card
58' Bannan GOL GOL GOL
QPR 0 - 1 Aston Villa 58'
Chants can be heard all over London to the tune of 'You don't know what you're doing'.
Collins: Yellow Card
Substitution: Bothroyd off Campbell on
Substitution: Bannan off Albrighton on
Agbonlahour: Yellow Card
Subsitution: Derry off Helgusson on
Gary Neville is officially blind. That was a penalty. Shut up Gary.
Traore: Red Card
90' Traore OFF OFF OFF
93' Dunne GOL GOL GOL
QPR 1 - 1 Aston Villa 93'
FULL TIME QPR 1 - 1 Aston Villa
QPR still looking for a first home win.
Full time match facts:
Possession
QPR 54%
Aston Villa 46%
Attempts on target
QPR 9
Aston Villa 4
Attempts off target
QPR 8
Aston Villa 4
Corners
QPR 11
Aston Villa 8
Fouls
QPR 14
Aston Villa 19
Penalties given
QPR 0
Aston Villa 1
Penalties that should have been given
QPR 2
Aston Villa 1
Table after the result
1 Man Utd 6 17 16
2 Man City 6 14 16
3 Chelsea 6 5 13
4 Newcastle 6 4 12
5 Liverpool 6 0 10
6 Tottenham 5 0 9
7 Stoke 6 -2 9
8 Aston Villa 6 2 8
9 QPR 6 -2 8
10 Everton 5 0 7
11 Wolves 6 -3 7
12 Arsenal 6 -5 7
13 Sunderland 5 2 5
14 Norwich 5 -2 5
15 Wigan 6 -4 5
16 Swansea 6 -5 5
17 Fulham 6 -3 4
18 Blackburn 6 -5 4
19 West Brom 6 -5 4
20 Bolton 6 -8 3
The pundits are shit.

Greetings /soccer,
The Dutch Eredivisie only has 5 more weeks to go, but I thought it would be interesting and fun to present an overview of this exciting and small league. Even though most /soccer redditors follow the Premier League or casually follow other and bigger leagues, I hope that people might find it interesting to read up on the most important/interesting news (subjectively chosen to what I think people would want to read), results, statistics and upcoming fixtures of the Eredivisie. If there is enough interest I will make this a weekly thing. Perhaps this is also an idea for other leagues, although I personally only will have the time to do a round-up like this for the Eredivise.
If you think this is interesting and if you want to see more let me know. Here is a preview to give you an impression of what the round-up would look like. Feel free to leave a comment if you have ideas on how to improve the round-up, if you want clarification, if you want to discuss something or for anything else. In any case, just pick and choose what you want to look at, that’s what it’s here for after all.
Then without further ado: enjoy.

Eredivisie Week 29 Round-up

News

Monday
Vitesse – Eredivisie top scorer (29) Wilfried Bony (24) seems to be done at Vitesse. He himself stated his relationship with upper management is bad. Vitesse apparently made promises to him and other players, but they did not keep a lot of these promises. He will however give it his all to help Vitesse in their bid for the championship until he can leave at the end of the season, preferably to a team in England or possibly in France or Germany. Bony has been linked to various teams in England, with West Ham United seemingly being the top contender although other teams in London could also be interested.
PSV – PSV hired 2 behaviour therapists to sort out the unrest that seems to be present in the team from Eindhoven. The latest controversy surrounds Jeremain Lens (25) who scoffed at booing supporters after the away draw versus the lowly Roda JC Sunday March 31st. This was seemingly too much for the higher-ups at PSV who hope that the behaviour therapists will identify and sort out possibly existing problems.
Ajax – Marco van Ginkel (20), a young star at Vitesse with a contract until 2015, is supposedly on the so called ‘shadow list’, a list of players who could be bought to replace existing players if they leave in the transfer window. He would be bought as a potential replacement for Ajax captain Siem de Jong (24). Adam Maher (19), the young star at AZ rumoured to leave after this season to Ajax or PSV, is supposedly also on this list, presumably as a possible replacement for Christian Eriksen (21). The latter is rumoured with a move away from the club this summer.
Feyenoord – Key midfielder Lex Immers (26) had to go off last Saturday March 30th (sc Heereveen 2 – Feyenoord 0) with an injury. It isn’t as bad as it initially appeared however, to great relief of the club. He’ll receive a special training program to help him recover, but he was unable to play against VVV-Venlo. Harmeet Singh (22) made his debut to replace him in the starting 11 Friday April 5th.
Wednesday
Feyenoord – Plans for a new stadium are getting more concrete. The old stadium, ‘de Kuip’, is a fan favourite but the stadium is dated. Renovations were not seen as viable, to great dismay of the fans. The new stadium will cost around 300 million Euros and it will have room for 63.000 supporters. The city of Rotterdam was asked to help financially. Commercial events will also be held once the stadium is completed. Construction should start in 2016 and the stadium should be finished in 2018.
RKC Waalwijk – Teddy Chevalier (25) is out of the first team at least until talks with the technical staff this Tuesday. This disciplinary measure from the club was already put in place on the March 30th because of heated discussion with the coach Erwin Koeman and ‘the player’s lack of self-criticism’. This weekend he’ll miss his second match because of this measure. The club top scorer (8) has a history of bad blood with the coaching staff at his previous clubs as well. His contract runs until 2015.
Thursday
Ajax – Barcelona hire Isaac Cuenca (21) has resumed group training Thursday after having problems with his knee for a few weeks. He has only played two games for Ajax since his arrival in January. He was loaned out to gain match fitness after recovering from a severe injury from last season, but he has yet to shine at Ajax. It is currently unknown when he’ll make another appearance.
Saturday
Post-match criticism – Feynoord trainer Ronald Koeman, PSV trainer Dick Advocaat and Vitesse trainer Fred Rutte criticized their team and players after their performance this weekend. Koeman said his team lacked aggression and focus, Advocaat was unhappy with the performance of his players and Rutte criticized the top scorer Wilfried Bony (24) for being useless large parts of the game. Koeman also mentioned young star Jean Paul Boëtius (19) is still in a bit of a slump, like many young players go through. Koeman was confident however that Boëtius would come out of this slump stronger than ever. All trainers were however in agreement that at the end of the day the result is all that matters at this stage of the competition.
If you have any questions about the news or want to know more about specific topics, leave a comment and I’ll try to get back to you.

Results

Behind every team is their place in the league before the match, to give you a quick overview of the situation.
Friday
1 Feyenoord (4) – 0 VVV-Venlo (17)
71’ Graziano Pellè (FEY)(A: Joris Mathijsen)
Saturday
3 Vitesse (3) – 0 NAC Breda (12)
28’ Wilfried Bony (VIT)(A: Gaël Kakuta), 50’ Renato Ibarra (VIT), 59’ Wilfried Bony (VIT)(A:Guram Kashia)
1 PEC Zwolle (15) – 1 RKC Waalwijk (13)
7’ Florian Josefzoon (RKC), 21’ Younness Mokhtar (PEC)(A: Denni Avdic)
2 FC Twente (5) – 0 Roda JC Kerkrade (16)
44‘ Luc Castaignos (TWE)(A: Leroy Fer), 56’ Nacer Chadli (TWE)(A: Tim Hölscher)
1 Willem II (18) – 3 PSV (2)
45’+1’ Mark van Bommel (PSV)(A: Jeremain Lens), 54’ Jordens Peters (WIL)(A: Marc Höcher), 76’ Ola Toivonen (PSV)(A: Memphis Depay), 82’ Timothy Derijck (PSV)(A: Kevin Strootman)
Sunday
1 FC Utrecht (6) – 0 ADO Den Haag (8)
71’ Jens Toornstra (UTR)(A: Nana Asare)
3 FC Groningen (11) – 1 sc Heereveen (7)
3’ Jukka Raitala (HEE)(Own Goal), 42’ Leandro Bacuna (GRO), 70’ Lukáš Marecek (HEE)(A: Filip Đuričić
1 NEC (9) – 1 AZ (14)
17’ Adam Maher (AZ)(A: Roy Beerens), 19’ Kevin Conboy (NEC)
4 Ajax (1) – 0 Heracles Alemlo (10)
13’ Lasse Schöne (AJA)(A: Kolbeinn Sigþórsson), 52‘ Kolbeinn Sigþórsson (AJA), 75’ Ryan Babel (AJA)(A: Lasse Schöne), 84’ Christian Eriksen (AJA)(A: Ryan Babel)

League Table

Position	Up/Down	Clubs	Played	Goal Difference	Points
1	-	Ajax	29	42	63
2	-	PSV	29	56	60
3	-	Vitesse	29	28	60
4	-	Feyenoord	29	19	59
5	-	FC Twente	29	20	51
6	-	FC Utrecht	29	11	51
7	-	sc Heereveen	29	-7	38
8	+1	NEC	29	-12	37
9	-1	ADO Den Haag	29	-11	36
10	+1	FC Groningen	29	-15	36
11	-1	Heracles Almelo	29	-6	34
12	-	NAC Breda	29	-14	32
13	-	RKC Waalwijk	29	-5	30
14	-	AZ	29	-8	30
15	-	PEC Zwolle	29	-14	30
16	-	Roda JC Kerkrade	29	-18	26
17	-	VVV-Venlo	29	-28	22
18	-	Willem II	29	-38	17

For more detailed information on the league table visit the Eredivisie website.

Statistics

Top scorers

Position	Up/Down	Name	Club	Goals
1	-	Wilfried Bony	Vitesse	29
2	+1	Graziano Pellè	Feyenoord	22
3	-1	Alfreð Finnbogason	sc Heereveen	21
4	-	Jozy Altidore	AZ	18
5	-	Sanharib Malki	Roda JC	14
6	-	Georginio Wijanldum	PSV	14
7	-	Dries Mertens	PSV	13
8	-	Jacob Mulenga	FC Utrecht	12
9	-	Dušan Tadić	FC Twente	12
10	-	Siem de Jong	Ajax	11

Assists

Position	Up/Down	Name	Club	Assists
1	-	Dries Mertens	PSV	14
2	-	Dušan Tadić	FC Twente	13
3	-	Christian Eriksen	Ajax	10
4	-	Jeremain Lens	PSV	10
5	-	Ruben Schaken	Feyenoord	10

Clean Sheets

Position	Up/Down	Name	Club	CS
1	-	Piet Velthuizen	Vitesse	12
2	-	Nikolay Mihaylov	FC Twente	11
3	-	Kenneth Vermeer	Ajax	11

Fixtures week 30

Friday
VVV-Venlo – PEC Zwolle
Saturday
Roda JC Kerkrade – Vitesse
NAC Breda – NEC
Heracles Almelo – FC Groningen
ADO Den Haag – FC Twente
Sunday
sc Heereveen – Willem II
AZ – FC Utrecht
RKC Waalwijk – Feyenoord
PSV – Ajax

Preview

A championship decider is coming up next week. The fixture PSV – Ajax could be very interesting. PSV has the home advantage but their defence is criticized by pundits as very poor. Meanwhile, recent incidents (Erik Pieters smashing a window and various players starting trouble after games) could point to unrest which could hamper their efforts of getting past Ajax.
Meanwhile Ajax is lauded by some pundits as currently playing as one of the best if not the best. PSV is however a giant of an opponent with an offense which could severely punish the defenders from Ajax, who are known to let their guard down a few times during a match. On top of this, Ajax has to make do without their first keeper, Kenneth Vermeer (27), because he was send off last game versus Heracles Almelo.
If there was ever a game you wanted to watch in the Eredivise, next week is a good time to start! The game is played at 16.30 local time (GMT+1), so 15:30 GMT.

This is the end of the Eredivisie week 29 round-up.

Have a nice week!