Pining for Mid-table Mediocrity

Despite Newcastle’s dreadful run, I hadn’t been all that concerned about relegation until this weekend.  The oblivion of mid-table would be quite comforting now.

Saturday’s match versus Swansea started out well enough,with Ayoze Perez netting his first goal in ages in the 20th minute.  The best part was that it wasn’t against the run of play.  But the euphoria didn’t even last until halftime.  As he did all season for my Chester Blues, Gylfi Sigurdsson lofted a perfect corner that was converted by Nelson Oliveira for the equalizer in first half stoppage time. Sigurdsson (left) continued to torment me with an early second half goal. Jack Cork’s goal at 71 minutes seemed to put things out of reach.  The Magpies were at least able to make the finish interesting when Siem de Jong (this summer’s marquee acquisition who has missed most of the season with a thigh injury then a collapsed lung) scored in the 88^th minute but in the end, it was a 2-3 loss.  

With the results at the bottom of the table this weekend, the threat of relegation is a little too real at this point.  The Toon Army was well aware of this and staged a sort of protest during the 34th minute (chosen based on the 34 million supposedly unspent in the Newcastle coffers), showing owner Mike Ashley the red card.  Sissoko and maybe Dummett are back this weekend, and Cisse returns the following weekend so maybe things won't end too badly.  And, the run-in fixtures are Leicester, West Bromwich, QPR and West Ham; if there’s not a point or three in those, Newcastle deserve to be relegated. 

Drama at the Bottom of the Table

The Burnley-Leicester match was a bit of a bust, but Leicester and their fans probably don’t give a sh hoot because the 1-0 win took them clear of the bottom three.  For Burnley, the season may have turned on a 60 second span in which they missed a PK, then allowed a goal at the other end.  Hull City, who had looked absolutely bound for the Championship division, scored a mild upset over Crystal Palace, then doubled down with a bigger win over Liverpool on Tuesday night; they now sit in 15^th , four points clear of relegation.  Even Sunderland (1-1 draw with Stoke) and QPR (0-0 draw with West Ham) picked up points.  Aston Villa were not so lucky, as Dennis will describe below.

Well, when you do THIS (alternate angle HERE) in the opening 5 minutes, your chances to win go down considerably.  Given their recent form, Villa started this match uncharacteristically sloppy and were honestly lucky to only be down 1 after 25 minutes.  They slowly grew into the match and began to resemble the side I've gotten used to for the past month.  City doubled their lead halfway through the second half on a decent free kick, but one that should have been stopped by the wall.  Kieran Richardson was just kind of hanging out just off the end of the wall and when Kolarov hit the free kick, Richardson actually ducked away from the wall and let the ball sneak in the near post.  Look, if you don't want to be in the wall, then go mark someone, but don't half-ass being in a wall - all you have to do is stand their and cover yourself! 

Villa answered almost immediately on a goal that should have been called offsides on Benteke (which  would have been the 7,457th time this match he was called offside) and actually managed to deservedly even the score at 2 in the 85th minute.  But a bonus point was not meant to be as more sloppy defending on a City corner allowed them to reclaim all three points.  Take off the first and last 5 minutes of this match and Villa looked great, but a good 80 minutes doesn't put points on the board.  I wasn't counting on these points, but losing one so late hurts, especially when everyone else keeps creeping up.  Their remaining fixtures are fairly tough and I will certainly be sweating watching the other relevant matches.  It's going to be a hell of a ride the next four weeks and just like Villa, I'm not sure I'll make it through. 

So things are still really tight, with nine points separating 14^th from 20^th.  I was going to link to a Sky Bet relegation predictor but I have found at least two mistakes in it; they have West Brom with 36, not 37 points and they ignore that somebody has to pick up points in the Newcastle-West Brom match (though with the recent form of both clubs you can maybe understand how they missed that).  Working on old-fashioned paper, I did find a couple of scenarios in which 38 points is not enough but they involve things like Sunderland beating Arsenal and Chelsea in the space of five days.  I’ve also found some scenarios in which 32 will keep you up.

Less Drama at the Top

The first half of Arsenal-Chelsea was riveting, and not just for the controversial choices referee Michael Oliver had to make.  For my two cents, Oliver should have awarded a PK and issued yellow to Ospina for his foul on Oscar, should have made no call on the Fabregas incident in the box (yellow to Cesc for simulation was a bit harsh because there was minimal contact - though he really didn't argue and almost seemed to be saying, yeah, you caught me acting), and got the no call for handling on Cahill correct.  The second half wasn’t quite as open and the 0-0 draw basically ends the title race.

Despite a 3-0 thumping by Everton, Manchester United is probably still safe for a Champions League spot thanks to a 2-2 draw between Southampton and Tottenham (for me the most enjoyable match of the weekend to watch) and Liverpool’s 0-0 with West Brom followed by a loss to Hull.  Barring an Aston Villa win in the FA Cup final, Tottenham, Southampton and Liverpool will be the Europa League entrants from the EPL.  The tricky part is that the final is after the season ends so the three teams will need to assume they’re fighting for two spots (or possibly tanking for one).

Union Not Getting Better

Actually, they’re getting worse, as evidenced by the 4-1 thumping at the hands of the Columbus Crew.  The franchise appears directionless, with no plan for development/improvement.  The good news is that I’ll be at PPL to witness the carnage up close as they take on Toronto.

Chester Season Wrap-up

We did manage a draw on the final day with Manchester United.  Unfortunately Aston Villa and Liverpool both won so we finished 6^th.  Still, not bad at all for a club that a few short years ago was playing in the 5^th division.  Michael B and Dennis will be quick to point out that this is indeed fantasy football as Tottenham was third and Aston Villa fourth (I almost made this comment at the beginning of the paragraph, but decided to read until the end before I said anything...).

Preparing now for the summer transfer window.  We got over $24 million for finishing 6^th so I’m hoping ownership will spring for a transfer budget north of $20 million and a salary budget of over $300k a week.  If that doesn’t happen, my decision to turn down the Everton job will, in retrospect, be unfortunate.

Matches with Consequences

We start early Saturday (7:45 am) with Newcastle at Leicester; the Foxes were brought back to earth with a 1-3 mid-week defeat by Chelsea but still seem to have plenty of fight.  Newcastle get some reinforcements but will they be enough?  The 10 am matches include Aston Villa hosting Everton (don’t like the Villans' odds in this one against a surging Everton side), QPR at Liverpool (would have said mark this down as a defeat for the Rangers but Liverpool’s recent indifference makes me wonder), Sunderland hosting Southampton (the Saints should prevail) and Burnley traveling to London to face West Ham (who knows?).

Sunday at 11 sees Tottenham hosting Man City; pretty much the last chance for Spurs to challenge for a Champions League spot, plus a loss could likely leave them third in the race for the Europa League spots.  The other Sunday match is Arsenal at Hull; relegation candidates would prefer the Gunners take care of business here, thank you very much.

Don't forget first legs of Champions League semis are Tuesday and Wednesday.

BFS Apologizes to FA Cup

Dear FA Cup,

We are truly sorry that, in the past, we have made light of your prestigious competition.  Now that one of our own is so close to capturing the Cup, we see the error of our ways and hope that, in poking fun, we have not lessened its reputation.  In our defense, we were, in part, led astray by the many teams (cough, Newcastle, cough), that have put so little emphasis on winning this competition.  We should have seen through the lack of ambition exhibited by such clubs and realized the true value of bringing home a major competition like the FA Cup.  Again, we apologize for our behavior and hope that you will not hold it against Aston Villa.


Dennis - do you think they'll buy it?  Not a chance in hell.

This was one of the few FA cup matches I got to see (Thanks Michael B!) and it was worth it.  I said last week that I would watch the match and find out how much I actually cared.  The answer is a lot more than I thought but still a lot less than avoiding relegation - as Steve mentioned, the whole winning the FA Cup and still getting relegated thing didn't really pan out for Wigan two seasons ago.  While watching, I realized that my priorities for the match were, in order:

1. No injuries - especially not to Benteke, who did spook me a little towards the end but appears fine
2. Continue their recent good form to carry through the rest of the season
3. Win the match

Amazingly enough, I got all three - minus an injury to Baker (who I don't really like but Villa don't exactly have a ton of fit central defenders so this injury could sting).  Villa really owned this game, despite conceding the first goal.  To understand how this game went, just read my comments on the 1-0 win over Spurs - the team looked confident and liked they belonged in the top half of the league, not a relegation battle.  Sherwood even made the same confusing substitutions as last week, which I am definitely keeping my eye on.  

I read some Aston Villa commentary suggesting that this was one of the greatest wins in club history.  I have not been a fan of the team long enough nor do I put enough weight on the historical significance of the competition to agree.  However, last week I would have scoffed at the idea that an FA Cup win was relevant at all.  Now, having seen how much it can mean to players and fans, I'll at least listen to an argument about it's relevance.

The other semi was pretty riveting too.  Reading, from the Championship division, did not go quietly into the night, giving Arsenal a decent fight, losing 2-1 in added extra time.  The winning goal was not a thing of beauty, as you can see from this week's YouTubeableMoment. In fact, it may be the quintessential picture of the "agony of defeat," especially since keeper Frederici's heroics had kept Reading in the match up to that point. 

So the final is set with Arsenal taking on Aston Villa on Saturday May 30th, with the winner getting a Europa League spot...unless Arsenal wins because they will likely have already clinched a spot in the Champions League, in which case the spot will go to the 7th place side in the EPL table.  More on that later.


More of the Same

For my two sides, Newcastle and the Union, Sunday only brought more of the same.  The Magpies were not awful but gave up two "hinky" looking goals in a 1-3 defeat at home to Tottenham.  Frankly, the score flatters Tottenham a bit; with the score 1-2, Newcastle had several good looks at an equalizing goal and the third Spurs goal was basically the result of Newcastle throwing everything into the offense.  But, a loss is a loss.  Fans walked out, a small plane flew overhead taunting the fans that Sunderland have won the last five derbies, yes it was fun times.  And all it did for Tottenham was to move Spurs closer to a Europa League spot, which we all know, works out so well for EPL sides.  At this point, probably the only thing that will keep Tottenham out of that competition is an Aston Villa win in the FA Cup, and even that won't be enough if Spurs insist on winning matches.

The Union were not much better.  Maidana had a beautiful set piece goal but Williams was toasted twice on defense and New England took all the points.  Like Newcastle, they weren't awful but you felt like the best they were going to be able to do was to hang on to a draw.  It's arguable that they withdrew into a defensive shell far too early.  By the way, don't be fooled by the Union's 8th place position in the table.  Ninth place Toronto has three games in hand and last place Montreal has four.  Not sure why it's so unbalanced at this point but Philadelphia's situation could be worse than it looks, if that's possible.


No CL Final for the Mattress Makers

Many of the usual suspects gathered at 6911 for the second leg of the CL quarterfinal tie, and 4000th Madrid derby this season, between Real Madrid and Atletico.  Like the first leg, the match was riveting but somewhat choppy with all the fouling.  Still, it was a pleasure to see the ball skills exhibited by both sides. Unfortunately for Michael B, and he would agree with this, Real were the better side that night.  Javier Hernandez (better know to us as Chicharito) got the game winner late as we had begun to contemplate added extra time.

Javier Hernández celebrates after scoring Real Madrid’s 88th-minute winner to secure a place in the semi-finals at the expense of their local rivals Atlético. Photograph: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images



Every Match Matters

Well, almost.  Newcastle-Swansea is a yawner, though the Magpies are not completely out of the relegation fight yet.  But the other matches have title, Champions League, Europa League or relegation implications.

Arsenal take on Chelsea at 11 am on Sunday; this is probably the last chance for the Gunners to make a run at the title.  They are already down by 10 points and anything less than a win likely leaves them too far back with five matches left.  Man United are relatively safe in third but have a tough match against a revived Everton side.  Man City hold the last CL spot with a 7 point spread over Liverpool; they face Aston Villa, a side that needs a few more points to secure a spot in next year's EPL.

The Europa League sides are Liverpool, Tottenham and Southampton.  If Arsenal win the FA Cup, these three will likely get the berths, barring collapse by anybody above them.  If Aston Villa win, only two will play in Europa next year.  Tottenham travel to the coast to face Southampton on Saturday while Liverpool heads to Birmingham to face West Brom.

And the relegation battle is revving up.  Just three points separate 16th through 20th.  And NBCSN knows that the threat of relegation can make for exciting football, putting the Burnley-Leicester match as the 10 am Saturday match.  Leicester are in great form and have been playing exciting football even when they were losing.  Burnley have not been a pushover for anybody.  This could be some good stuff.  Dennis (and now I) will be hoping that Crystal Palace takes care of Hull, Stoke handle Sunderland and the London derby between QPR and West Ham goes to the Hammers.

The Union travel to Columbus to face the Crew on Saturday night.  Haven't said anything about the Red Bulls so far and Chris K hasn't gloated in the comment section but they are undefeated and atop the Eastern Conference.  Sigh, it must be fun to watch your team do well.

Pardew Was Not the Problem

On the road so will be keeping it short.  Things did get better for most of the BFS "home" sides but Newcastle was a notable exception.

While the Magpies lost 0-2 to Liverpool, Crystal Palace - the Alan Pardew-managed Crystal Palace - handed Sunderland a 4-1 thumping at the Stadium of Light.  Aside from being a helpful result to Dennis and his Aston Villa side, it also highlights the contrast between the fortunes of Newcastle and Crystal Palace since Pardew's change.  Recall that last week Newcastle could barely manage shots on goal, let alone put any in the net in a 0-1 loss to Sunderland.  Pardew brings his charges into the same park and has little trouble dispensing with the relegation-threatened Black Cats.  Just sayin...

Newcastle were better than last week but still far from good enough to really threaten Liverpool  I guess Abeid had a few chances and Perez missed a golden opportunity.  Unimpressed with Lee Mason's performance.  Wasn't so much the fouls he called on Newcastle but what he didn't call on Liverpool.  He missed a pretty clear PK on Perez in the first half.  Newcastle had 17 fouls to Liverpool's 8;  not what I saw.  But then Mason did give us a make up call; he gave Sissoko a second yellow instead of a straight red on what looked like one of the more egregious fouls of the year.  Smart - that's a two-game ban at a time when the Magpies are already shorthanded.  To be clear, Mason wasn't the reason Newcastle lost but I did think he had a bad day too.


Nearly Perfect Weekend for Aston Villa

Start with the unexpected 1-0 win over Tottenham.  (Michael B can feign disappointment over this result but secretly he's happy because losses like this might help Spurs "miss out" on the Europa Cup.)  Then, most of the teams in the relegation fight lost as well; the one side that did win - Leicester - is still at the bottom of the table.  Dennis seems ready to declare the relegation threat over (not true, see below) but I will caution that no team with just 33 points has avoided relegation since the EPL went to 20 teams; the depth at the bottom of the table this year is such that it very well might be enough but I'd hold off celebrating.

First, Villa only have 32 points (I think I meant that even 33 points has never been enough).  Second, I am in no way ready to declare the relegation fight over, but I understand how Steve reached that conclusion.  My comment after the stunning win over Tottenham was "those three points might be enough".  I did not mean they would need zero more points this season - I meant that I think they can get whatever points they will need, which if history is any indication, should be about 4 more.  I have been under the assumption for weeks that Villa need to beat Burnley on the final weekend to stay up, so that leaves just one other point to gain from 4 matches.  It is entirely possible that we don't get that point and are left praying that 35 is enough.  In any event, their season still seems to be building towards that final weekend home match.

But if we keep playing like we did against the Spurs, maybe one more point is realistic.  Villa simply looked the slightly better team (though I missed the final 8-10 minutes due to replay issues, so I don't know how tense the finale was) and Benteke continued his remarkable resurgence with the game winning header.  I did question Sherwood a little bit for removing Grealish and not Sanchez, as the former retained the crispness from the QPR match and the latter was basically sending every touch and pass wayward.  Lo and behold, Sanchez stayed on long enough to receive a second yellow.  So far I have generally agreed with Sherwood's choices, but this seemed an obvious blunder.  

I'll probably watch the Villans FA Cup match, but I don't know how much I'll care.  I guess I'll find out and report back.


This Is Not My Beautiful Game

Heavy use of the dvr this weekend meant I saw all or most of, in the following order, Arsenal 1-0 over Burnley, Union 2-1 over NYFC, and Chelsea 1-0 over QPR (this one had me nervous as Chelsea waited to the very end to claim the points).  No complaints about the results per se but boy that was some brutal viewing.  Unremarkable matches with unremarkable goals.  Well mostly unremarkable.  Check out the Union's Eric Ayuk after he scores against NYFC, this week's YouTubeableMoment (h/t Bob K for reference).  Wonder who had to tell Ayuk that in the "end" the goal was credited to Pfeffer as the ball came off his butt.

Also saw the 0-0 first leg of CL quarter final between Real Madrid and Atletico.  Tense match but also not my idea of the beautiful game - 30 fouls and 5 yellows.  Amazing there were still 22 players at the pitch at full time.  They meet for the second leg next Wednesday.

An exception to the less than beautiful games, to some extent, was the Manchester derby.  Although Man United ended up winning easily this was still a fun match to watch - generally open play and some high quality goals.  The Citizens are looking shaky and their recent form may not be good enough to earn a Champions League spot.  The Red Devils, on the other hand, are playing perhaps their football of the year.


Honorary BFS

(Full Disclaimer: I had the Everton-Swansea match on, but was totally asleep when this happened.  I asked Emily if she remembered anything remarkable from this weekend's set of matches and she conjured up the gem seen here. [Duly noted; I will send your paycheck to Emily.])

With no real BFSs to speak of, we must showcase other examples of refs punishing players for going down too easily.  This move by Seamus Coleman is certainly in the right spirit:

and is almost as good as a BFS since he must have thought he was fouled to do something like this.  [Additional context:  Coleman was called for handling, Shelvey converted the PK and the match ended in a 1-1 draw; also too, Eveton manager Roberto Martinez claims Emnes should have been called for a foul on Coleman.  Alrighty then.] He clearly needs to take lessons from his own keeper, who showed us earlier this season how to handle (or not!) these situations:

Dos a Cero

For the 8th time since 2000, the USMNT beat Mexico 2-0.  Didn't see the match and I have made my views about friendly results clear.  Does sound like there were some improved performances.  Garza had been slipping - at least IMHO - but maybe has been energized by competition for the left back spot from Brek Shea, who also did well last night after subbing in for Garza.  Happy to see high ratings for Bradley and Diskerud too.


The Weekend - FA Cup Semi-finals

EPL has a reduced schedule because of the two FA Cup semis featuring Arsenal-Reading and Aston Villa (crowd noise) - Liverpool.  These being semi-final matches, the venue will be Wembley Stadium.  Arsenal-Reading are on Fox on Saturday at 12:30 (same time as Chelsea v Manchester United on NBC - big stink about that).  Aston Villa - Liverpool is 10 am Sunday on FoxSports 1 (interfering with the Monday Night Basketball derby of Newcastle v Tottenham at 11).

Matches of consequence are mostly on the relegation end, though the last CL spot is possibly still at risk.  Dennis will be rooting for Everton to take care of Burnley and Swansea to stop Leicester.  Southampton could improve their chances to make the Champions League with a win at Stoke while Manchester City, hoping to hang onto that last spot, are hosting West Ham.

The Union finish a tough three game stretch at home vs the Revolution.

The Spring of Our Discontent

A most discouraging series of events since we last spoke.  It's not a question of seeing the glass half full - it's broken.


Newcastle Derby Fail - Again

It wasn't just that they lost, it was how they lost.  Sure, the score was only 1-0 but that just shows how bad Sunderland are (Defoe's marvelous strike right before halftime aside - would have been goal of the weekend most other times).  Newcastle were beaten in every phase of the game but most decidedly - and distressingly - in how much effort the players put into the match.  The Magpies were still shorthanded due to injuries and suspensions and they were once again forced into using Janmaat (a less than 100% Janmaat I might add) at center back.

But this leads me to part two of this particular rant.  Injuries are part of the game but Newcastle knew they were thin at center back yet did nothing during the January transfer window.  No wait, they did worse than nothing - they let a defender go.  Bad luck my ass.

And part three goes out to the raving lunatics fans.  How did that running Alan Pardew out of town work out for you?  I'll wait to the end of the season to do the comparison but the records of Newcastle and Crystal Palace with and without Pardew will be, ahem, interesting.  I'm not saying Pardew is a great manager but the fans are contributing to the zoo-like atmosphere that surrounds this franchise.


Union Busting

Meanwhile, my chosen (given?) franchise on this side of the pond put up two more losses.  One was an absolutely moribund 0-1 loss to the second worst franchise in the MLS - the Chicago Fire.  They generated no real scoring threats.  Distressing as it dawns on us that we are the worst franchise in the MLS.  Then they put up a marvelous 90 minutes at Sporting KC.  Unfortunately, the match was 96 minutes long, with stoppage time and KC managed to squeeze in two goals during stoppage time to snatch a 3-2 victory from the jaws of defeat.  Keeper Rais Mbohli's troubles continued and he's now been benched exiled to France.  So at one point we had an Algerian international (Mbohli), a top prospect (Andre Blake - now injured) and a mostly serviceable MLS keeper (MacMath - now on loan and injured!) yet this weekend we'll be starting a former LaSalle University keeper with no MLS experience.  It will be very interesting to see where they go from the KC performance; do they pick up on the positives or does the late collapse leave a scar?  But there's a larger question - did they really do enough in the offseason to make this team a playoff contender? 


Aston Villa - One Step Back, One Half Step Forward?

Okay, so a result against Manchester United was a long shot but they barely showed up in the 1-3 loss.  And everybody below them got points over the weekend.  That put incredible significance into Tuesday's match at home vs QPR.  This was terrific entertainment from a neutral's perspective, probably heartstopping for fans from either side.  Dennis will provide the details but Benteke's hat trick got the Villans a draw, which was obviously better than a disastrous loss that would have given QPR three points.  Still, the relegation threat hangs heavy in the air.

I'll just skip over the forgettable MU match and the horrid weekend - I literally watched every single team behind us gain ground.  Don't need to relive it, especially with such an excellent match on Tuesday.  NBC likes to really be a tease in these important matches, constantly showing a "live table" - what the table would look like if the game ended right now.  Unfortunately for me, they decided to show the live table just after halftime of Villa - QPR, while Villa held a 2-1 lead.  Seeing the Villans on 31 points with 3 teams at 26 or fewer was just awesome.  And a lie that didn't last.

But at least this was one of the best matches of the year with both teams clearly trying for three points right from the start.  Villa did what they do best and conceded early, but equalized within several minutes to keep the home fans engaged.  Benteke might have finally announced his real return to the league with a hat trick - included a break away finish showing excellent composure and a classic 25-yard-out-up-and-over-the-wall-bending-into-the-near-post free kick.  I can't tell if he is finally shaking off the rust from his achilles injury or if he is shaking off the apathy that he has shown on and off all season.  Or maybe Paul Lambert really did marginalize him and Tim Sherwood is catering to his strengths.  Whatever the case, if this Benteke shows up for the rest of the season, we might have a chance.

The other Villan stand out was pretty clearly Jack Grealish, whose performance almost lived up to his hair and diving acumen.  He controlled the midfield with both his passing and his fancy footwork and made several excellent attacking runs, but failed on more than one occasion to score fairly easy goals.  He also continued his disturbing trend of crumpling to the ground much too easily after contact - if he starts building that reputation now, there is no coming back.  Given the circumstances and his lack of experience, it was an overall fantastic appearance.  And it gave reporters a chance to ask him about his notoriously low socks, which has been a source constant debate in my house - "How can he possibly be wearing shin guards under those?".  The answer, appropriate for a 19 year old, is that he wears a children's size.


The Early Boyd Did Not Get the Vorm

Despite intense early pressure, Burnley's George Boyd and his mates, could not put anything past Tottenham's substitute keeper Michel Vorm.  But Spurs couldn't do anything either so that was a 0-0 draw.  Chelsea solidified their hold on first with a 2-1 win over Stoke, but Charlie Adams had what could be the goal of the year.



With a 1-0 win over Southampton, Everton simultaneously put an end to their relegation threat and likely to the Saints' Champions League hopes.  And Arsenal took all the fun out of Saturday morning with a 4-1 pasting of Liverpool


International Break

The USMNT continued the habit of surrendering goals late in a 3-2 loss to Denmark and a 1-1 draw with Switzerland.  Frankly, the score in friendlies just doesn't matter, like the points in Whose Line Is It Anyway.  And the trend of late goals could easily be attributable to late substitutions to check out new players - at least in friendlies anyway.  No, what matters is how they are playing.  And against Denmark they were mostly awful, except for maybe a great strike by Altidore.  Against Switzerland, they were pretty good, except for a stupid red card by Altidore.  What pissed me off about that, aside from ruining the last 20 minutes of an entertaining match, was how he came off the field with this innocent "What did I do" swagger when everybody in the world knew he had just dropped multiple F-bombs on the referee. 

A side note on BFS staff viewing.  I was at Dennis's house a week ago Sunday.  We were killing time and I suggested watching the Euro qualifier between Scotland and Gibraltar.   Why are you interested in Scotland, Dennis wondered.  Always liked the country, they have some EPL players in the side.  Anyway so we're watching and Scotland is up 1-0.  Then Gibraltar scores.  The announcer says something about it being the country's first goal in international competition.  Wait, that can't be right.  But we can't look it up out of fear that we'll see the match result (Dennis says prophetically the headline will read something like Gibraltar scores first international goal but are routed 6-1 by Scotland).  Afterwards, we did confirm that it was indeed the first goal in their 10 matches since being brought into the UEFA.  And BFS was there.  Sort of.


Still Hopeful in Chester

Once again I was left to rely on my imaginary Chester Blues for some solace amidst the real world chaos.  And to some extent, they responded.  First, there was a 4-1 thrashing of Huddersfield, easily the squad's best effort in months.  Next was a tough away match at Birmingham, which the pundits saw as a draw.  Alas, they were correct.  So heading into the final Sunday, we sit in 5th, behind Aston Villa on goal differential.  We end with Man United at home; we've already lost twice to them but both matches were at Old Trafford so we're holding out hope for a result.  We will finish no worse than 7th and still have a shot at 4th. 


Weekend

A mixed bag of stuff.  The Manchester derby is always fun; that's Sunday at 11.  Both sides are comfortably in Champions League spots at this point but the loser of this match might find things a bit tense over the next few weeks.

Blog favs Newcastle (at Liverpool) and Aston Villa (at Tottenham) are not in line for results this weekend, especially with those clubs still in the hunt for Champions League spots.  Dennis will be hoping that Chelsea (London derby at QPR) and Arsenal (at Burnley) take care of business and do not give away points to the relegation candidates.  He will also be rooting for Southampton (hosting Hull City) and Crystal Palace (at Sunderland). West Brom v Leicester has relegation relevance written all over it, with the Baggies needing a few more points to be safe and Leicester, despite last week's upset over West Ham, are still firmly ensconced in last.  And, in the middle/nowhere, matches of little consequence include Swansea at Everton and West Ham at Stoke City.

The Union will try to pick up the pieces with a home and home series with the new New York Football Club on Saturday (at PPL) and Thursday (at Yankee Stadium).

Also, we have a US-Mexico friendly on Wednesday.

Things have to get better at some point, right?