The 2026/27 Football Season

[mr.bluesky]

No comments yet on Saturday's football.  That's unusual!

It’s tight at the top of the Championship.  Ten clubs are separated by six points:
1  Swansea City
2  Middlesbrough
3  West Ham United
4  Stoke City
5  Wolverhampton Wanderers
6  Queens Park Rangers
7  Birmingham City
8  Millwall
9  West Bromwich Albion
10  Bristol City

It’s the usual mix of yo-yo clubs and “more in hope than expectation” clubs.  Early days yet, but it's always fun to see new-ish faces in the Premier League, especially if they go on to give some of the big clubs a bloody nose.

So how about Swansea, Millwall and Bristol City to be promoted?  That would shake the Premier League up a bit.

Especially Millwall!

Championship is a tough league to get out of. Anyone can beat anyone on the day and there is always a surprise team. At the moment it looks like Swansea, I'm surprised to see Burnley struggling. They might do a Leicester and suffer back to back relegations. A win for my team on monday over Newcastle could propel us out of the bottom six to lower mid table in the Premier league. The international break came at the wrong time for us after our win at Forest, we could have done with that bit of momentum. 

[Vice Admiral]

I'm surprised to see Burnley struggling. They might do a Leicester and suffer back to back relegations.

But they beat Watford yesterday 4-0 at Vicarage Road!

[Jumping Jack Flash]

It’s too early to be even looking at the league table, we are not even a quarter of the way through the season. As Mr Blue Sky says, it’s a difficult division to get out of and unless there’s a stand out team then on their day most teams can beat everyone else.

I’m glad my team aren’t in the Championship but in many ways the football in the Championship is more authentic and more entertaining. Teams in the PL are too afraid of losing and their negative play reflects that.

[mr.bluesky]

It’s too early to be even looking at the league table, we are not even a quarter of the way through the season. As Mr Blue Sky says, it’s a difficult division to get out of and unless there’s a stand out team then on their day most teams can beat everyone else.

I’m glad my team aren’t in the Championship but in many ways the football in the Championship is more authentic and more entertaining. Teams in the PL are too afraid of losing and their negative play reflects that.

The best thing about the championship and EFL is no VAR to spoil the flow of a game. Although West Ham's first penalty against QPR would have been overturned with VAR, it was a clean tackle but even with VAR they still get decisions wrong

[mr.bluesky]

But they beat Watford yesterday 4-0 at Vicarage Road!

Everyone beats Watford nowdays , even we turned them over 5-0 at Vicarage road last season. They change managers more often than I change my socks 

[Nomerzypuntr]

The bus route changed towards Anfield as today is a match day
On my way to work but bus route changed there’s like a sea of LFC fans not happy at all huge traffic everywhere
Me wearing Manchester United T-shirt 

[Vice Admiral]

If Manchester City were able to score three goals against Liverpool at Anfield last night in the middle of the worst crisis in the club's history, how many will they put past Accrington Stanley and Rotherham United next season?

[Stevelondon]

If Manchester City were able to score three goals against Liverpool at Anfield last night in the middle of the worst crisis in the club's history, how many will they put past Accrington Stanley and Rotherham United next season?

      We can live in hope. We can hope that the fine and penalty are serious enough to be considered worthy.
The club are a disgrace to the league they have been so successful in.

I watched the highlights of the Liverpool game. Nowt wrong with City winning against ten men. They were better 🤷🏼

But I have to be honest. The way the players, manager, coaches etc…… all celebrated. As if they were gods gift to football.
Those delusional fans with their bananas and one had a sign saying “What Evidence”

I hope they get booted out the leagues.
But let’s see…..    They have appealed.   So that’s another 8 years befure anything gets done 

[mr.bluesky]

    We can live in hope. We can hope that the fine and penalty are serious enough to be considered worthy.
The club are a disgrace to the league they have been so successful in.

I watched the highlights of the Liverpool game. Nowt wrong with City winning against ten men. They were better 🤷🏼

But I have to be honest. The way the players, manager, coaches etc…… all celebrated. As if they were gods gift to football.
Those delusional fans with their bananas and one had a sign saying “What Evidence”

I hope they get booted out the leagues.
But let’s see…..    They have appealed.   So that’s another 8 years befure anything gets done 

The very least they should get is a one point deduction for each of the 115 charges , no on second thought a three point deduction for each of the 115 charges . Minus 345 pts should see them drop through the leagues like a stone.

[Thephoenix]

As a Liverpool supporter I was naturally disappointed to lose to Manchester City.
They won convincingly against the 10 men of Liverpool, who also had a number of key players out with injuries.

What I found galling was the arrogance of the City supporters, and the smugness of their players.
The supporters were so cock-a-hoop and  defiant, it seemed like they were sticking a finger up to the very fabric of The Premier League, fair play rules, and all the other clubs, players and fans.

Maybe I'm a touch prejudiced but I want to see Manchester City humiliated and their fans eat humble pie.

[Jumping Jack Flash]

As a Liverpool supporter I was naturally disappointed to lose to Manchester City.
They won convincingly against the 10 men of Liverpool, who also had a number of key players out with injuries.

What I found galling was the arrogance of the City supporters, and the smugness of their players.
The supporters were so cock-a-hoop and  defiant, it seemed like they were sticking a finger up to the very fabric of The Premier League, fair play rules, and all the other clubs, players and fans.

Maybe I'm a touch prejudiced but I want to see Manchester City humiliated and their fans eat humble pie.

I get what you’re saying but I imagine that their manager has encouraged a siege mentality in the dressing room so their reaction is probably the result of that.

Just remember that if there’s a football god then Mancheater City won’t be visiting Anfield for a few years.

Since they were taken over their fans have become insufferable anyway, so the plastics will eventually suffer.

[Blackpool Rock]

I get what you’re saying but I imagine that their manager has encouraged a siege mentality in the dressing room so their reaction is probably the result of that.

Just remember that if there’s a football god then Mancheater City won’t be visiting Anfield for a few years.

Since they were taken over their fans have become insufferable anyway, so the plastics will eventually suffer.

Yeah they're going to get stick anyway so probably the best way to handle it is to be brazen, as for the plastics i'm sure they will find another club to support soon enough

[Vice Admiral]

If Manchester City were able to score three goals against Liverpool at Anfield last night in the middle of the worst crisis in the club's history, how many will they put past Accrington Stanley and Rotherham United next season?

It’s not often that my local club, Havant & Waterlooville FC – currently languishing second bottom of Southern League Premier Division South – gets a banner headline in the sports section of the Times, but that is the case today:  “Anfield or Havant, we’ll be there’ — defiant fans go bananas for Man City”.

The headline is explained near the start of the report:  “Opinions among them may vary, but they all agree on one point, made by long-time supporter Liam Wright. ‘Whether we’re at Anfield again next year or if we’re at Havant & Waterlooville in 18 months, we’ll still be following the club everywhere,’ Wright says.”

Mr Wright obviously knows his stuff, so he must have heard it on the grapevine that – far from playing Accrington and Rotherham in League Two, as I predicted – Manchester City’s sentence may be to play in the Southern League Premier Division South next season.  This might be regarded as a cruel and unusual punishment.  But Hanworth Villa and Frome Town would certainly welcome the gate receipts.

Incidentally, lest anyone think that Havant & Waterlooville are a negligible outfit, I would remind readers that in the fourth round of the 2007–08 FA Cup the Hawks played Liverpool at Anfield and, as Wikipedia puts it, “caused a sensation by leading twice before eventually losing 5–2”.

[southcoastpunter]

Could be an interesting watch on Panorama BBC1 today - programme apparently claims that Abramovich with the help of Deloitte’s ( worlds largest accountancy firm) hid finances to avoid tax!

[Blackpool Rock]

Could be an interesting watch on Panorama BBC1 today - programme apparently claims that Abramovich with the help of Deloitte’s ( worlds largest accountancy firm) hid finances to avoid tax!

Who would have ever guessed it 

[Stevelondon]

The Blues one nil up with a dubious penalty 

Jeez…… looks like one of them games where The Toon are never going to score.

Is Wissa playing. If anybody is watching this and has seen him, do let me know.
Oh yes……. Just seen a replay. He tried kicking Someone in the head 😂


Ah well. I’ve opened a nice bottle of Chianti to accompany these olives and sun dried tomatoes. I can drown my sorrows in the event of a loss. 🤷🏼

[Stevelondon]

    Looks like I’ll be going onto the scotch 

Well done the Sky Blues.   Great home win and hopefully a kick on for more to come.

As for Newcastle.      JUST NOT FUCKING GOOD ENOUGH. In fact, fucking useless.

[Private Parts]

Hats off to you Mr Bluesky.
A Thoroughly deserved and spunky win.
Proud you should be!
 
Sleep well tonight!
PP

[mr.bluesky]

Hats off to you Mr Bluesky.
A Thoroughly deserved and spunky win.
Proud you should be!
 
Sleep well tonight!
PP

I think that's what's called backs to the wall defending. Bobby Thomas awesome at the back. 6 attempts on goal and four goals    ( and above the Villa now  )

[Blackpool Rock]

4 goals, not bad for a side that only scored 1 in the league before tonight

[daviemac]

I think that's what's called backs to the wall defending. Bobby Thomas awesome at the back. 6 attempts on goal and four goals    ( and above the Villa now  )

Well done to your lot. For some reason we just can't play on a Monday night, Leeds 4-1 now Coventry 4-1.  Hopefully we can put it right on the 2nd November.

[Stevelondon]

Well done to your lot. For some reason we just can't play on a Monday night, Leeds 4-1 now Coventry 4-1.  Hopefully we can put it right on the 2nd November.

But we did play on a Monday night…….. we played crap.

[daviemac]

But we did play on a Monday night…….. we played crap.

You might call that playing mate but I don't,      Monday nights are embarrassing, we've lost 2 games so far, both on a Monday night and both 4-1.

[TomTank]

It’s not often that my local club, Havant & Waterlooville FC – currently languishing second bottom of Southern League Premier Division South – gets a banner headline in the sports section of the Times, but that is the case today:  “Anfield or Havant, we’ll be there’ — defiant fans go bananas for Man City”.

The headline is explained near the start of the report:  “Opinions among them may vary, but they all agree on one point, made by long-time supporter Liam Wright. ‘Whether we’re at Anfield again next year or if we’re at Havant & Waterlooville in 18 months, we’ll still be following the club everywhere,’ Wright says.”

Mr Wright obviously knows his stuff, so he must have heard it on the grapevine that – far from playing Accrington and Rotherham in League Two, as I predicted – Manchester City’s sentence may be to play in the Southern League Premier Division South next season.  This might be regarded as a cruel and unusual punishment.  But Hanworth Villa and Frome Town would certainly welcome the gate receipts.

Incidentally, lest anyone think that Havant & Waterlooville are a negligible outfit, I would remind readers that in the fourth round of the 2007–08 FA Cup the Hawks played Liverpool at Anfield and, as Wikipedia puts it, “caused a sensation by leading twice before eventually losing 5–2”.

Typical deluded city bollocks.
Any city fan you meet will lie and tell you about the 40,000+ crowds they got when their stadium capacity was 32,000 and they were actually getting averages around and below 20,000 and 3,007 in one game.

External Link/Members Only

[toon972]

Well done Coventry, take your chances and you win. Pretty simple.

[nwluvit]

Well played the Sky Blues. Our front 3 pretty ineffective this evening. We gave 2 soft goals away at the start of each half. Crazy thing is, if we had won we'd have been 4th. Am gannin yem!

[mr.bluesky]

Well played the Sky Blues. Our front 3 pretty ineffective this evening. We gave 2 soft goals away at the start of each half. Crazy thing is, if we had won we'd have been 4th. Am gannin yem!

Some cracking goals by both teams 

[Jumping Jack Flash]

I only saw the second half, that was an entertaining game for the neutral.

[Stevelondon]

You might call that playing mate but I don't,      Monday nights are embarrassing, we've lost 2 games so far, both on a Monday night and both 4-1.

Oh I definitely call it playing Davie. Good or bad it’s still playing.

We have to turn it around V Villa…….. but I just don’t see where the goals are coming from.
Howay lads. You can do much better than this.

[mr.bluesky]

Well done Coventry, take your chances and you win. Pretty simple.

Yep, it's not how much possesion of the ball you have it's what you do with it that counts . I think at one stage Newcastle had 85% to Coventry's 15% .

[toon972]

Yep, it's not how much possesion of the ball you have it's what you do with it that counts . I think at one stage Newcastle had 85% to Coventry's 15% .

Lampard played the right way against us, low block and catch us on the break as we are wide open when we are attacking. Also we find it hard to play the killer pass and break teams down. It was the same problem last season as well so nothing has changed.

[john122350]

Man City add £9m 'super silk' lawyer who worked for Roman Abramovich and Elton John in bid to fight guilty verdict External Link/Members Only

[john122350]

Lisandro Martinez attacks Man Utd board after Atletico Madrid defeat - BBC Sport External Link/Members Only

[WARSZAWA16]

Lisandro Martinez attacks Man Utd board after Atletico Madrid defeat - BBC Sport External Link/Members Only

Is that the same Lisandro Martinez who defended like a wet wipe for Tottenham's goal on Saturday and scored a comic cuts own goal at Fulham?
Seems like he is trying to work his ticket as per his fellow countryman Romero at Tottenham.

[shaft10]

Is that the same Lisandro Martinez who defended like a wet wipe for Tottenham's goal on Saturday and scored a comic cuts own goal at Fulham?
Seems like he is trying to work his ticket as per his fellow countryman Romero at Tottenham.

Exactly! In fairness they didnt play that bad (compared to the weekend at least) but calling out your team mates ... can't see that going down well in the dressing room.

[daviemac]

but calling out your team mates ... can't see that going down well in the dressing room.

Maybe different circumstances but a young 22 year old Jamal Lascelles publicly criticised senior players at the end of the 2015/16 season when we were relegated and Rafa made him club captain, a position he held until the Carabao Cup wining season.

We won the Championship the next season so something worked.

[webpunter]

Exactly! In fairness they didnt play that bad (compared to the weekend at least) but calling out your team mates ... can't see that going down well in the dressing room.

Commentary on TalkS that it appeared that the other players knew what was about to happen
He called out the higher ups not his team mates AFAIAA
He's hit the nail on the head
Surprised he didn't have something knocked up on a bed sheet 
General outlook was that Carrick will struggle with the squad he has this is inevitable
Hopefully there's no bounce back for when they rock up at Bell End on Sunday

[Stevelondon]

Well City have been brought back down to earth after their jubilant celebrations after beating Liverpool.

They are getting spanked by PSG.

Two brilliant goals and a not bad third 

[mr.bluesky]

Well City have been brought back down to earth after their jubilant celebrations after beating Liverpool.

They are getting spanked by PSG.

Two brilliant goals and a not bad third 

Known as the clash of the cash

[Stevelondon]

Known as the clash of the cash

😂.     City pulled their socks up second half. Was a great watch.

[Jumping Jack Flash]

6-0 and we are starting to click. That forward line is really frightening and they’re playing with verve and flair. Emery v2.0 is going to be a special side.

[webpunter]

6-0 and we are starting to click. That forward line is really frightening and they’re playing with verve and flair. Emery v2.0 is going to be a special side.

Banging result 
Ederson's move is going well in the football sink hole which is Turkey 
How Turkish teams are even in the CL i have no idea 

[webpunter]

😂.     City pulled their socks up second half. Was a great watch.

Will have a watch on the MOTD CL round up which IMO is rather good

[stampjones]

😂.     City pulled their socks up second half. Was a great watch.

Or PSG rolled down theirs as the job was done. I enjoyed that.

[timsussex]

Meanwhile some interesting championship results
West ham put 6 past Lincoln reduced to 9 men for over an hour
Portsmouth also helped by a red card beat Sheffield Utd - although conceding 2 goals to 10 men doesnt auger well for the future
Another win for Southampton (13 points from last 6 games) and into the (admittedly extended )  playoff places long with QPR who thrashed Derby

[Vice Admiral]

Meanwhile some interesting championship results
West ham put 6 past Lincoln reduced to 9 men for over an hour
Portsmouth also helped by a red card beat Sheffield Utd - although conceding 2 goals to 10 men doesnt auger well for the future
Another win for Southampton (13 points from last 6 games) and into the (admittedly extended )  playoff places long with QPR who thrashed Derby

You wouldn't want to bet against Southampton being promoted this season...

Meanwhile, when did three major English football teams – Liverpool, Aston Villa and West Ham – last all score six goals on the same day?  (And in "proper" competitions.)  My guess is never.

[timsussex]

.....

Meanwhile, when did three major English football teams – Liverpool, Aston Villa and West Ham – last all score six goals on the same day?  (And in "proper" competitions.)  My guess is never.

Probably has happened in the third round of the FA cup; when the big teams come in; back when they didnt field 9 reserves as
1) the didnt have 60+ matches a year inc pre season tours 
2 )they didnt have squads with several  £30-50million players who usually dont  start 
3) they didnt have mid week European games
4) they  couldnt bring 5 first choice off the bench if things were sticky

[southcoastpunter]

Another win for Southampton (13 points from last 6 games) and into the (admittedly extended )  playoff places

Without the 4 points deduction, we would be 3rd! Good home form - in the league , played 5 won 5!

[Private Parts]

6-0 and we are starting to click. That forward line is really frightening and they’re playing with verve and flair. Emery v2.0 is going to be a special side.

BOSTIN!!

[TomTank]

Commentary on TalkS that it appeared that the other players knew what was about to happen
He called out the higher ups not his team mates AFAIAA
He's hit the nail on the head
Surprised he didn't have something knocked up on a bed sheet 
General outlook was that Carrick will struggle with the squad he has this is inevitable
Hopefully there's no bounce back for when they rock up at Bell End on Sunday

I think Leeds will hammer us this weekend, and Martinez knows it, and knows it might be the end of Carrick, so speaking up for him and on behalf of his team mates.

I've heard a rumour that the squad were really pissed off with the Summer transfer business, and in particular, that Rashford was forced on Carrick, and meant we couldn't get a couple of extra positions we needed to compete in more games this season.

Martinez seems to be a good egg, went straight to Mainoo at the end of that semi final to put his arm round him, and I think he's got the club's and Carrick's best interests at heart.