Better Is Still Zero Points

The two main BFS sides took on the two teams at the top of the EPL table this weekend.  Though both Newcastle and Aston Villa were improved over recent performances in their matches against Leicester City and Tottenham respectively, neither managed to score or take away any points.  Close only counts in horse shoes, hand grenades and atom bombs so all we can take from the Magpies 0-1 loss and the Villans 0-2 loss is, well, pretty much nothing.  Fortunately there is better news from MLS and Football Manager.


New Man In Charge

Newcastle did end up sacking McClaren and installing Rafa Benitez; McClaren's title was Head Coach while Benitez wears the mantle of Manager.  We'll see if this is meaningful but it does suggest that owner Mike Ashley has given Benitez more authority than others who have previously held this position. 

Of course the change did not immediately translate into points.  However, there was a marked improvement on the pitch.  Against the high scoring Leicester side, the defensive was much tighter than we've seen in recent months, even with key personnel out.  In fact, the only goal of the evening came on a spectacular bicycle kick from the irrepressibly high spirited Okazaki.  Arguably, Newcastle were the better side in the second half.  All of this is less than meaningless if it doesn't carry over to this weekend's match against Sunderland.

Watching this match from the Leicester perspective, I reached the same conclusion.  Newcastle looked much more composed and organized than usual, and even a little threatening at times.  The fact that the Foxes pulled out a second consecutive "workmanlike" win really bodes well for their chances down the stretch.  The past two weeks were perfect examples of must win but easy to lose matches and Leicester took care of business both times.

We'll see if Dennis has anything to say about Aston Villa.

That would require Dennis having watched the match.  I was away all weekend and came home to a text telling me that the match was not worth watching.  I think I've mentioned this before, but watching my crappy team is one thing, but watching when I know they lose is just too much for me.

However, discussing Villa's futility with Emily did lead us to realize that things could be worse.  As in, Villa are not the most pathetic team in EPL history.  That distinction belongs to 2007-08 Derby, who managed just 1 win and 11 points, while being the only premier league team to be relegated in March.  Don't get me wrong, this season is still an embarrassment and likely to end as one of the 5 worst seasons in EPL history (they'd need 27 points to escape that fate), but things could somehow still be worse.

Man City were a bust against Norwich, managing only a 0-0 draw.  That's two hours of my life I wouldn't mind getting back, plus it was a point for one of Newcastle's main relegation rivals.  Didn't see Bournemouth-Swansea but that 3-2 win for the Cherries may have been the best EPL viewing of the weekend; the Cherries are just about safe from relegation now. 


FA Cup

Does this say FA Cup or what?  Based on today's table, the semi-finals will feature the 5th or 6th, 12th, 14th and 15th place sides.  Crystal Palace was always the favorite against Championship side Reading and got a generous PK call late (karma?) before adding another in stoppage time to take a 2-0 win.  Next up was Everton-Chelsea.  Two fabulous goals from Lukaku were enough to complete Chelsea's bad awful week which saw them bounced from both the Champions League and the FA Cup.  It will be interesting to see where they go from here; I suppose Europa Cup qualification is not out of the picture but it's not entirely in their hands.  Since we're often about the goofier stuff, check out Diego Costa's absolutely bizarre contact with Gareth Barry this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Words fail. 

Sunday saw a listless Arsenal side fall to Watford 1-2, ending the Gunners hope of a three-peat.  They drew Barcelona in the Champions League so that competition is just about over for them as well (late breaking news, it is over for them).  If they don't bring home the EPL title, expect the calls for Wenger to step down to increase.  And the last match of the quarters was a 1-1 draw between West Ham and Man United.  Payet's free kick goal was a thing of beauty, once you get past the fact that moments earlier he should have been sent off for a text book dive in the box (would have been his second yellow on the day).  With both teams still chasing fourth place, I'm sure they're thrilled about a mid-week replay in the next few weeks.


Pontius Pilots Union to Victory (yeah I went there)

Chris Pontius exults after scoring(JAMIE SABAU / Getty Images)

Facing a tough Columbus team on the road, the Union stepped up their game.  We saw much better midfield play and a fair share of attacking.  We were pleasantly surprised when Chris Pontius (left) gave the Union a 1-0 lead just before halftime.  We were even happier when he doubled the lead in the 70th minute.  We had an ominous sense of foreboding when Columbus got one back in the 87th minute; this is a movie we've seen before.  Sure enough, the defense, which continues to have rough patches, gave the Crew several good opportunities.  Fortunately, they were either off target or Blake made the save.  They are still definitely giving up way too many clear cut chances so there's work to do.  But in the last few years, the Union surely would have found a way to squander those precious two points which has always left us too far back to make a realistic run at the playoffs.  So the 2-1 win feels like progress to me.

Yikes, Red Bulls down again.  Still early I guess.


Chester Is On Fire

An amazing string of results.  First a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford against 5th place Man United.  Then a 5-0 pasting of 4th place Everton at home; decided to release the hounds and went all in for attacking football and was rewarded.  We still sit third in the table, two behind Man City and one behind Chelsea with three games in hand on both. 

Next up was Man United again, this time in the Europa League quarterfinal.  With match congestion, I put in mostly the second team, basically saying we'll do what we can.  So the second team delivered a stunning 2-1 result in the first leg at Old Trafford.  Even with the semis within our grasp, I'm going to go with the same line-up in the second leg and see what happens.


Derby, Derby

A big weekend on tap with the Tired-Weary Tyne-Wear and Manchester derbies on Sunday plus a trip to Talen Energy Stadium (nee PPL Park) to see the Union home opener vs New England.  This is after a full slate of games on Saturday.  Not to mention the world indoor track and field championships.

First, the derbies.  Newcastle-Sunderland (9:30 Sunday morning NBCSN with the Brits still not yet on daylight savings time) is about as crucial a contest, in the context of relegation, as you'll get.  Neither side is in particularly good form and it good be some dreadful football but failure to win here is a big problem.  I am uncharacteristically, and probably unrealistically, optimistic about the Magpies chances but I have this feeling that Benitez may have had just enough time to make a difference.  The Manchester derby is at noon on Sunday on NBC.   This one is big in terms of Champions League qualification.  A loss for Man United might end their chances while a loss for Man City puts them at risk of being overtaken by West Ham.  Derbies can be feisty even when they're not relevant to the table; both of these have enormous consequences so Martin Atkinson (Tyne-Wear) and Michael Oliver (Manchester) could have their hands full.

At the top of the table, Leicester are finally getting respect from NBC as their 11 am match on Saturday at Crystal Palace will be on NBCSN; since this is not FA Cup, I expect Crystal Palace to struggle.  Tottenham Bournemouth is only available on live stream since it's up against the Manchester derby.  Bournemouth can be a handful so Spurs should be wary.  And Arsenal, coming off FA Cup and Champions League disappointments have a tough match at Goodison Park against Everton (8:45 Saturday on NBCSN).

And explain this to me - Swansea-Aston Villa gets a feature slot at 1:30 on Saturday on NBCSN (they must be the only match at the time....).  Even Dennis hardly watches them anymore.  In other relegation battles, we're pulling for West Brom to take all three points at home against Norwich.  Yup, if all goes well, by Sunday night Newcastle might be sittin' pretty in 17th place, two points clear of relegation.  And I might run a 4 minute mile...

BTW, BFS Senior IT Specialist Dennis solved the automatic email issue and it appears to be working again so if you haven't signed up, you might try it again.  I'll probably send the email notification myself too for a few more weeks but if all goes well, I won't have to keep it up.