(Lump of) Coal to Newcastle

Glenn Loovens scores for Sheffield Wednesday against Newcastle
 Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Well there goes any thought of a five-Santa rating for Newcastle's holiday run.  The Magpies were thoroughly outplayed in a 0-1 loss to Sheffield Wednesday Monday.  This coulda/shoulda been much worse if not for the stellar work by keeper Karl Darlow. Newcastle came out strong in the first 20 minutes and a Dwight Gayle shot was redirected by the Sheffield keeper off the crossbar.  But that was pretty much it for the Newcastle offense.  Looked like a lack of creativity on the part of the Magpies but some of that may have been the Owls' hard-nose football (20 fouls, many absorbed by Gayle) and a well-organized defense.

JonJo Shelvey did get his five match ban and while Jack Colback works hard, he just doesn't create chances like Shelvey does.  But if Newcastle are going to struggle without Shelvey, doesn't that suggest some activity in the January transfer window is necessary?  And in fact, Rafa may be pursuing Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea) and Fabian Delph (Man City by way of Aston Villa).  Either could probably help but both may be reluctant to move to the Championship division; loan deals might work.

Every other top 10 team in the championship division won on Matchday 23 and Brighton are now top of the table.  At the halfway point of the Championship season, Newcastle's promotion effort is basically on track but these hiccups do create a certain level of anxiety.  It shouldn't be this close.


Holiday Returns

Dennis was around for much of Boxing Day and neither of us was all that thrilled with the matches. In fact the whole slate of Matchday 18 fixtures probably did not create a slew of converts in the States.  We did have fun watching Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha go down repeatedly under the slightest breeze in the 1-1 draw with Watford.  We did cheer when he finally got booked for simulation.  Even the Watford mascot got into the act, executing a mock dive at Zaha's feet after the final whistle; Sam Allardyce was not amused.    He was probably more pissed about seeing three points disappear as Benteke missed a PK but Watford's Deeney did not in the 71st minute.  We hoped for better with Leicester-Everton but were disappointed with 1) the 0-2 loss for the Foxes and 2) the sleepy overall effort from both sides.  Onto Man City-Hull; not much to recommend in that 3-0 win for the Citizens.  The Southampton-Tottenham match started out brightly enough but lost steam somewhere in the first half; Spurs looked feisty as they sorted things out in the second half and walked to a 4-1 win, party aided by Redmond's sending off at 57 minutes.

All top six sides won.  Chelsea were easy 3-0 winners against Bournemouth; check out Pedro's goal, this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Arsenal struggled to beat West Brom 1-0 but coming off losses to Man City and Everton, the Gunners will likely be happy enough.  Liverpool dispatched Stoke easily enough (4-1) and Man United handled Sunderland 3-1.  So there was no change at the top, except maybe that Man United has moved from mid-table and into the hunt for a top four position.


I'll Be Sacked For Christmas

Two managers got pink slips over the holidays, neither unexpected.  Shortly after we witnessed Crystal Palace's 0-1 defeat at home to Chelsea, Alan Pardew was sent packing.  The timing seems a little weird to me, since they were coming off of close losses to Manchester United and Chelsea.  But after he had appeared to fend off the wolves with a 3-0 upset over Southampton, he weakened his position by criticizing the American ownership.

 "We have a lot of serious investors at the club who perhaps don't know a lot about football, so the chairman has been defending me this week."

I swear he said something about "ignoring advice from people with a foreign accent" but I can't find the quote.  Anyway, he is gone.

Bob Bradley also was let go after a 1-4 defeat against West Ham.  You can't argue that Swansea have struggled under Bradley.  But you also can't argue they struggled before Bradley.  The Swans were 2-2-7 under the American but were 1-1-5 under his predecessor.  This is just a bad team right now. Maybe Bradley wasn't the best choice but sacking him after just 11 matches makes ownership look even sillier.  They'll be looking for their fourth manager in nine months.  Ryan Giggs gets mentioned a bunch but I'd almost hate to see him in this situation for his first managerial gig.  Hey, I hear Alan Pardew is available!

The players are mostly amateurs, and the captains pick the sides
 before each season to keep the league competitive.
 CreditTom Jamieson for The New York Times

A League Where Every Match Is A Derby

Remember the movie Mystery, Alaska, a tiny town that has enough players for a running pickup hockey game.  Don P sends a link about an island off the southwest tip of England with a two-team league.   Action from a recent match is pictured right. Currently, the Five Men from USA have no plans to visit.




We Didn't Trash the Place

And speaking of the Five Men, we passed our Air BnB review.  To wit, comments from our hostess:

They were very polite, considerate guests and we'd welcome them to visit and stay again.

Way to go guys, we can go back if we want.


More Football

I'd love to report that the Matchday 19 match ups will make for great NewYear's Eve/Day viewing but they look a bit tepid, with the notable exception of Liverpool-Man City at 12:30 on Saturday (NBC).  Not even good relegation match-ups.  Mostly we'll see top table teams trying not to screw up against lesser opponents;  Chelsea play Stoke, Spurs are at Watford, Arsenal host Crystal Palace and Man United take on Middlesborough.

The January 2-4 matches aren't overwhelming either but at least there's Spurs-Chelsea on Wednesday (3 pm on NBCSN); that looks like a good reason to leave work early.  Tuesday has a rematch of the great relegation battle earlier this month between Swansea and Crystal Palace. Of course, neither manager from the previous contest will be around (unless Pardew gets hired at Swansea!).

In the Championship division Newcastle will try to get back on track against Nottingham Forest on Friday.  Recall that last time out against this side, the Magpies played half the match with nine players and only lost 1-2.   Hopefully that memory will spur them on to a better performance.  On Monday, they'll travel to Blackburn; this was also a loss the first time out for the Magpies (0-1 at home - ouch) so we're looking for a better result against the 22nd place Rovers.

Pretty good chance if you turn on NBCSN or beIN Sports the next few days you can catch Premier League or Championship division  football.

Feelin' Glad All Over

The final third of the trip continued to provide lifetime memories for the "5 Men from USA." Touring London and a final match at Selhurst Park closed out the itinerary.


Sidewalk Scenes and Black Limousines (Musical Accompaniment courtesy the Byrds)

London, the "rain gray town known for its sound," was just gray and unseasonably mild so we put on the walking shoes and looked around.  Thursday's tour included sights along the Thames (e.g. Big Ben), Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, finishing with a stop at a pub for some pints.  Friday covered Abbey Road Studios, Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace, finishing with a stop at a pub for some pints.
A fab foursome of the "5 Men from USA" are seen at right attempting recreate the famous crossing Abbey Road picture.  Note the original is hard to duplicate exactly because of live traffic, other groups also trying to recreate the original and no one wants to go barefooted.  The studio is a place of business so there was no tour but a trip to the Abbey Road Store allowed us to purchase more swag.


To Selhurst Park

Right, enough of this silliness.  We were here for the football.  And so on Saturday we headed south for a London derby - Crystal Palace hosting Chelsea.  Selhurst Park was the smallest of the three we visited (26,309 versus 36,284 at White Hart Lane and 52,405 at St. James' Park) but lacked none of the enthusiasm and spirit.  The singing and chanting was non-stop throughout the match.  And of course, there is the entrance of the players and officials to the sounds of the Dave Clark Five's "Glad All Over" captured in this video by Michael (left - note how dark and foggy it was at 12:30 pm).  And yes, there was a visit to the CPFC Shop for purchase of swag.

Though Crystal Palace were serious underdogs for this contest, the match was pretty even for most of the first half.  The Eagles defended well and even had the best chances.  But Chelsea's quality started to show through as the half wore on.  In the 43rd minute, Azpilicueta lofted a perfect cross to Diego Costa, who sent it back across the goal for the opening tally.  Unfortunate for Crystal Palace not to go into the locker room at 0-0.  The second half was light on goal scoring opportunities.  Benteke probably had the best attempt but even that wasn't a clear cut chance.  Chelsea were not at their best but the 1-0 win was deserved.  Highlight for me might have been witnessing live the power and speed of Eden Hazard's attacking dribble.

Neil Barnett with Steve/Michael

Paul Dutton (r) with Graham and Charlie

The match was over but our trip south was not finished.  Michael had been in contact with Neil Barnett, host of Sirius XM's "The Football Show" who has a long affiliation with Chelsea FC.  We met Neil and his colleague Paul Dutton (Chelsea Club Statistician) outside the grounds after the match and they took us to a pub up the road rail line in Clapham Junction.  Fascinating discussion with both of them on a wide variety of topics including Chelsea, Tottenham, England's national team and the sport in general.  Neil, Paul and I toasted to our clubs being top of the table for Christmas.  Another great day of football.


Around the League

Even though Crystal Palace-Chelsea was the early match, the traveling to and from Selhurst Park meant we saw no other contests on Saturday.  We were "eight miles high" on Sunday flying home but I did get to see Man City-Arsenal and Tottenham-Burnley via the good ol' DVR machine thing.  Arsenal started well and were exposing Man City's defensive inadequacies.  But the 1-0 lead was gone two minutes into the second half (Sane's first PL goal).  Arsenal's attack went into hibernation and the unpressed Citizens were happy to take control.  Sterling's goal at 71 minutes was the game winner.

Meanwhile, at White Hart Lane, Spurs were doing basically the same thing as Man City.  Fell behind 0-1 but worked their way back to a 2-1 win.  Moussa Sissoko came on late and provided a perfect pass to Danny Rose for the game winner.  I didn't talk about his performance against Hull City but his willingness to go head-on at defenders (north-south instead of east-west as they say in American football) seemed 1) in contrast to his teammates and 2) something Spurs needed.  I was not sorry when Sissoko left Newcastle but I wonder if Pochettino has got him headed in the right direction and whether Benitez might have been able to do the same.

Monday's Everton-Liverpool derby had all the venom you would expect but at a cost perhaps of some quality.  Both sides were pressing so intently that the field seemed too small.  There were only five shots on target and most of those were late.  Seemed like a lot more than 22 fouls.  One of those should have earned Ross Barkley a straight red but he only saw yellow.  I am a bit of a Daniel Sturridge fan and was pleased that he set up the game winner in the 94th minute with a shot the hit the inside of the post and was put away by Sadio Mane.  Tough loss for Everton but key for the Reds in keeping contact with Chelsea.


Top of the Table for Toon at Christmas

Diame scored the winning goal as Newcastle won 2-1

Match reports suggest Newcastle were a little lucky to come away with a 2-1 win visiting Burton Albion.  Dwight Gayle continued his scoring ways and Diame (left) got the game winner.  So even though Brighton won at Birmingham, the Magpies are still top of the table.  Reading also won so Newcastle have a nine point cushion for second.



The Twelve Nine Days of Football

Slightly different schedule this year (because Christmas is on a Sunday?) but everybody gets three matches in a nine day period.  Match Day 18 is December 26-28, 19 is December 30-January 1 and 20 is January 2-4.  We will again be grading teams of interest to this blog using the now-familiar BFS rating system provided below.

	From Paul McCartney - "Simply having a wonderful Christmastime"
	Santa obviously read your list very carefully
	Nice enough but you didn't get the Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time you really wanted
	Ties are a nice gift but how many do you really need?
	You may have been naughtier than you realized

Newcastle's holiday fixtures - home to Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest, then away to Blackburn - offer reasonable hope of nine points.  Sheffield Wednesday are sixth in the table so the Magpies will do well not to be complacent.  I would expect them to be more than ready for the rematch with Nottingham Forest after losing 1-2 playing down two men last time against this club.   Blackburn sit 22nd in the table so that one should just be a matter of staying focused.

The Boxing Day TV lineup is set with Watford-Crystal Palace at 7:30, Man United -Sunderland and Chelsea-Bournemouth at 10 and Hull-Man City at 12:30.  Tuesday sees Liverpool  hosting Stoke at 12:15 and Tottenham travel to the coast to face Southampton on Wednesday at 2:45.  All matches are on NBCSN except for the Chelsea match, which is on CNBC.  In the pile of matches that follow, two I'll be looking forward to are Liverpool-Man City on New Year's Eve and Tottenham-Chelsea on January 4th.

In closing, I just saw this tweet from our President-elect:

Donald J. Trump

5 Americans in UK watching soccer. Pathetic. Not a real sport. Allows ties and no playoffs. Spending $ abroad, adding to trade deficit. Sad

3:33 AM – 20 Dec 2016

Happy Holidays everybody!

Next Stop:White Hart Lane

The experience at St. James' Park set a high bar for the football part of the trip but the visit to White Hart Lane topped that.

When we last spoke our group was completing a pub crawl taking in Sunday's matches.  This left Michael in a bad mood as Tottenham were beaten 0-1 by Manchester United, with neither side exactly distinguishing themselves.   Wins for Chelsea and Arsenal did not help the situation, but at least Manchester City lost to Leicester and Liverpool drew West Ham.

Monday was a van ride to York with a stopover in Whitby for lunch at Royal Fish and Chips, which, depending on who you talk to, may or may not be the finest such establishment in the region.  A quaint seaside town in any case.  York was also a pleasant stop.  Several of the pilgrims climbed to the top of a historic cathedral called the York Minster.

Back in the van to drive to our Air BnB flat in the Marylebone section of London.  Some drama over room assignments but we got through.  Pints of bitters and ale were consumed at every opportunity, but you knew that didn't you?

Michael in Mecca

After two straight football-less days, it was time to get back to business.  We met Michael's friend Simon, who successfully guided us to North London.  First agenda item of course was to purchase swag.  Allegiance to Newcastle meant no scarf for me but I thought a wool hat was okay, especially since the temperature was dropping.

Next stop was the Nicholson suite for pregame festivities.   Sitting at the table eating roast beef, meeting Tottenham greats, leafing through both the Spurs yearbook and game program (which included birthday wishes for Michael), I asked Simon (front right in the photo) if he remembered the scene from Local Hero in which a newly rich townsman asked his friend "I wonder what the poor people are doing tonight?" He smiled.


Finally it was game time.  They let us out
through the secret door and we're in our seats.  Tottenham played, well, like Tottenham.  Total domination for the first twenty minutes, culminating in a goal by Erickson.  Charlie's picture shows the ball on its way into the net.  Then Spurs lost the plot for a while.  By a while I mean the rest of the half.  Fortunately they did not surrender a goal and went into the locker room 1-0.  My recommended Football Manager halftime talk for Pochettino would have been "I want to see more from you."

It took a few minutes but slowly Tottenham took over in the second half.   Goals from Erickson and Wanyama built a comfortable 3-0 lead, allowing everyone, especially Michael, to relax.


Full-time whistle sent us back through the secret door to the Nicholson Suite for more refreshments and post game analysis from Kevin Wimmer.  Also, one more chance to talk with our new friends , Sarah and her relatives.  Sarah was keeper for the Tottenham women's team and now plays for a local club team.  We vigorously protested her claim that at 26 she was past her prime.  They were such nice people we let it slide that they are Dallas Cowboy fans.  The night ended with Michael getting a birthday card signed by Spurs players and a picture with Wimmer.  Yeah, again as good as it could be.

No pressure on Crystal Palace but our teams are 2-0 on the trip with seven goals scored and two clean sheets.

A Yank Among Geordies

Tidying up some items from the northeast, we found the interviews posted by HTIC.  I'm in four separate videos; don't blink though or you'll miss me.

Which keeper?

Lascelles

Toughest opponent

Sunderland player you would take


I feel reasonably good with the responses.  Was a little worried on the Defoe answer but you'll see that someone else agreed.  I wonder how Geordies reacted to hearing a Yank interspersed throughout the videos; hopefully they were pleased that someone from across the pond had at least some knowledge of doings in the Championship division.

Otherwise occupied at White Hart Lane, I couldn't follow Wednesday's match at Wigan.  A 2-0 win put them back ahead of Brighton (who won on Tuesday) and opened a nine points lead over third place Reading.  Nice that there was no let down.

One More Stop

We spent Thursday walking around London (pictures will be in next post) and will do more tomorrow.  Saturday we'll take in Crystal Palace vs Chelsea at Selhurst Park; check out NBCSN at 7:30 Saturday morning and see if you spot "The 5 Men from USA."

Once again, post was composed on my phone so apologies for formatting issues.

Pilgrimmage to St. James' Park

When I was seven, my dad took me to my first baseball game at Connie Mack Stadium.  The thing I remember most was the almost overwhelming sea of green as we got to our seats.  Childlike wonder probably isn't possible at age 60 but the sight of the St. James' pitch after a long trip took me close.

The trip itself was largely uneventful.  We met an extremely helpful woman named Sibon, who made sure we did not miss our train connection in York (less than 10 minutes to get from on platform to the other) and waited for us on the platform in Newcastle to walk with us halfway to our hotel.  We soon found her hospitality to be the the rule in Newcastle.  Except maybe the guys on the train who were feeding Don bad info on how to be a good Newcastle fan.  When I told Don what was happening and played the Newcastle theme for them, I had instant credibility.

Outside the stadium, on the way to collect our tickets, we were accosted by a roving reporter who wanted to ask some questions about the team.  Everybody pointed to me.  I fielded questions on the keeper situation (stay with Darlow because he's in really good form even if Eliot is healthy), Lascelles (Premier League quality center back who might play for England someday) and biggest threat to Newcastle's title chances (Brighton because they were so close last year and understand the rigors of the Championship season).  Hopefully the interview was shown somewhere and that people said he knows a lot for a bloody Yank.

Onto the store to buy Newcastle swag then a picture with Sir Bobby Robson (not him personally but his statue). Then into the stadium.  Fans sitting among us were both curious and pleased about five men from the USA who had traveled far just to see their Magpies.

The place was nearly full (52k fans) and very loud.  Could barely hear the Local Hero music.  From the tap, this game belonged to Newcastle.  Numerous chances but no goals in the first twenty minutes.  Two excellent runs down the right wing followed by two quality crosses set up two goals for Dwight Gayle.  From our perch high in the Gallowgate end, we could see the plays unfold in their entirety.  Going in with a 2-0 lead we speculated that Rafa's halftime talk would be something like don't let up.  Sure enough, Gouffran added a third barely a minute into the second half.  Gayle later would add a fourth to complete his hat trick. Yeah, this was as good as could get.


Sunday included walks and/or runs around
town, then some football at Akens pub, which is named for the "interesting" man described in the picture to the right.  A totally awesome experience and we're a little sad to be leaving Newcastle on Monday.


Top picture below is the crew outside the Newcastle store.  Bottom picture below is at El Torero restaurant with the owner, a Madrid native who came to Newcastle for university and never left.


Sorry if the post looks funky but I did it on my phone.  Will check back in on Tuesday or  Wednesday.

No Joke

Throughout my 25+ years in soccer as a coach and fan, I have steadfastly maintained that while referees make bad calls, they are not the cause of your demise.  Steve Martin (not the comedian but his performance was a joke), in the center for Newcastle's 1-2 loss to Nottingham Forest made me almost give up on that principle.  A short list of grievances include:

- not awarding a PK when Clark was pulled down in the box
- disallowing a goal by Clark for an alleged foul
- sending off Shelvey at 33 minutes for a kick against an opponent
- sending off Dummett at 44 minutes for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity
- not whistling Bendtner for offside on the first Forest goal

An impressive list.  That the FA overturned both red cards would seem to back up the claim that the Magpies were screwed.  Instead of playing a man down for 11 minutes and two men down for 46 minutes, Newcastle would have been at full strength for the entire match.  As it was, they looked in control even at 10 men.  Indeed, shortly before Dummett's sending off, they had taken a 1-0 lead thanks to Matt Ritchie.  Both red call fouls were in the box but Darlow saved both.

So how do I let Mr. Martin off the hook?  It takes some work but hear me out.  I thought Shelvey's red card was deserved.  That he kicked Lansbury in retaliation to being kicked himself doesn't excuse the action.  That Lansbury overacted (grabbing his face when the kick was to the body) is also not an excuse.  Shelvey put his team in jeopardy with his action.  The rest of the stuff probably wouldn't have mattered had Shelvey not been ejected.  They were bad calls but even at 10 men, Newcastle probably get at least a draw and maybe a win.  By the way, Shelvey is also facing a five match ban for allegedly using racially abusive language towards a Wolves player back in September; his hearing for that charge is sometime the week of 12/19.  Benitez does not have a history of tolerating players that constantly find themselves in hot water, regardless of how talented they are.

Oh, and the best part?  This was one of Newcastle's televised matches so I got to see the whole thing in living color.  I can see a definite advantage in becoming a neutral.  Another side note, comedian Steve Martin got trolled by angry Newcastle fans who mistakenly tagged his account on Twitter.  Raving lunatics indeed.


Life As A Neutral

After Friday's debacle, the weekend's matches were much easier to take in without a serious rooting interest.  The featured Chelsea-Manchester City match did not disappoint.  An own goal near half time gave the Citizens a 1-0 lead but they probably felt hard done by referee Anthony Taylor's decision not to send off David Luiz for interfering with Aguero on a breakaway, not awarding a PK on Cahill for handling and not awarding PK against Kante for a challenge in the box.  (IMHO, Taylor got the latter two calls right but not so sure about Luiz).  But as I just said, the fault isn't in the referee's stars, it's in your stars.  Like when Kevin deBruyne, who is having an awesome year, missed a golden opportunity to make it 2-0.  Minutes later Costa leveled things for Chelsea.  Then a Willian breakaway at 70 minutes and a similar effort from Hazard at 90 minutes completed the comeback win.  Man City can point to Taylor all they want but they might do better to get their back line more organized.  Things got ugly in stoppage time when Aguero launched into a tackle and Fernandinho pushed Fabregas over the advertising stand.  Both got multi-game suspensions.

Ryan Fraser celebrates after scoring Bournemouth’s second goal
Photograph: JASONPIX/Rex/Shutterstock

As good as that match was, my favorite for the weekend was Bournemouth-Liverpool.  Two lightning strikes had Liverpool up 2-0 by 22 minutes.  Full credit to Eddie Howe's side as they never quit and to the Vitality Stadium faithful as well, who roared approval with every run and challenge.  The hard work paid off with a PK that cut the deficit at 56 minutes and it was game on.  Even after Emre Can restored the two goal lead in the 64th minute, somehow you knew not to turn away just yet.  Sure enough at 76 minutes substitute Ryan Fraser got one back and two minutes later Steve Cook tied things at 3-3.  Both team had chances in the closing stages.  In a match where neither keeper distinguished himself, a mistake in stoppage time by Liverpool's Karius, left a loose ball for Nathan Ake to slip into the net for the game winner.  Ironically, the man responsible for Liverpool's lost points is on loan from rival Chelsea.  Ouch.

Man United woes continue but I'm not going to dump on Mourinho here.  Yeah, Fellaini was a late sub and it was his foul that gave Everton the PK in the 89th minute that allowed them to snatch a draw.  Seems just plain unlucky to me.  And he didn't kick over any water bottles, at least that I know of.

In the top five, both Arsenal and Spurs got relatively easy three points.  With a 3-1 win over Watford, we officially welcome West Brom into the mid-table; the Baggies have three wins and a draw in the last four matches and sit in seventh, just one point behind Man United.  Bournemouth's win also moves them into that semi-rarefied air.  So, heading into the weekend, the expanding mid-table includes Man United, West Brom, Everton, Stoke City, Bournemouth and Watford; hmm, one of these is not like the others.  Leicester remained tightly linked to the relegation zone with a 1-2 loss to Sunderland at the Stadium of Increasing Light.

Southampton could have put some distance between them and the relegation zone but came up really lame against Crystal Palace.   I mean really lame.  Check out keeper Forster's bad awful day in this week's  YouTubeable or U-12 Moment, take your pick.  The win means Alan Pardew is around for this week's match with Hull City.  I thought he was gone after the Swansea loss so I'll be less bold in predicting his departure if the Eagles don't get a result in this one.


Five Men From USA

On Thursday, a group from our Monday night basketball game (Graham, Don, Charlie, Michael and Steve) leave for 10 days and three matches in England.  We have tickets for Newcastle-Birmingham at St. James' Park on Saturday afternoon, Tottenham-Hull City at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night and Crystal Palace-Chelsea at Selhurst Park the following Saturday.  Email correspondence from the manager at the Newcastle hotel has been carrying the subject line "Five Men From USA" so that's become our handle.

We won't see any of Saturday's EPL matches.  At the top of the table you have Arsenal hosting Stoke (10 am NBCSN) and Man City traveling to the Midlands to take on struggling Leicester (12:30 NBC).  Relegation battles include Hull hosting Crystal Palace and Sunderland at Swansea; any of the four managers of those sides could be gone by Monday.

Sunday likely will feature a pub crawl in Newcastle as we search out venues to watch Chelsea-West Brom, Man United-Tottenham and Liverpool-West Ham.  With the action starting at noon local time (7 am here), I put the emphasis on crawl.

We will likely see Everton-Arsenal at a London pub on Tuesday.  We'll miss the Wednesday matches unless they are shown on TV screens in the Nicholson Suite, from which we'll be taking in Spurs-Hull.  Sweet indeed.

Not sure what our prospects are for seeing the MLS Cup.  With kickoff at 1 am local time (8 pm here) on Saturday, we will probably miss the Toronto-Seattle final.  Though with my sleep habits, you never know.  I'm pulling for Toronto in this one, mostly because I feel like they were the better side for most of the season whereas Seattle is employing the NCAA college basketball approach - just make sure your regular season is good enough to get to the tournament, then get hot.

As events allow, I plan to provide regular updates and pictures throughout the trip.  Also, if you get one of those emails pleading for money because we were mugged outside our hotel in London, I'd still be suspicious; even though we're actually there, it's probably still a scam.

The Bad, The Bad and The Bad

Terrible week for Newcastle.  First, there was a 0-1 loss at home to lower table Blackburn on Saturday.  Though the Magpies had the run of play, they couldn't score and eventually conceded a late game winner.  Second, there was Tuesday's League Cup quarterfinal at Hull City.  Though an away game, Hull City's horrendous recent form seemed to offer hope for Newcastle to snatch a spot in the semi-finals. Coverage on beIN Sports (this time with multiple gaps), allowed me to see my team for the second time in two weeks.  They were clearly superior but again couldn't put the ball in the net.  Finally, they broke through in extra time but then allowed a goal less than two minutes later;  they ended up losing on kicks from the spot.  And lastly there are the implications of the lack of a result versus Hull.  The Tigers are clearly a relegation threat, sitting in 18th place.  If Newcastle cannot beat this team, then are we on a path to get promoted only to struggle again in the top division?  Of course, if Newcastle are promoted, there's every expectation that Benitez will have a decent budget with which to upgrade the squad.

Speaking of Rafa, he's come into some criticism for his line up selections in the Blackburn and Hull City fixtures.  With a reasonable prospect of reaching the League Cup semis, he held out some of the first team on Saturday versus a weaker side in order to field a stronger team to win the semi-final League Cup berth.  Yes, it backfired and in retrospect getting the three points at home vs Blackburn maybe should have been the priority as promotion to the Premiership has to be the year's main objective.  But after so many years of terrible performances in this competition, I'm having trouble faulting him for having some increased expectations for the club.  Hopefully, those lost three points will not matter in the end.


The Smell of Relegation Was In The Air

Recall that last week my second choice for viewing (behind Tottenham-Chelsea) was the Swansea-Crystal Palace.  NBC reached the same conclusion and switched out Leicester-Middlesbrough in favor the Swans versus the Eagles for the 10 am match on CNBC.  And no one was disappointed as the two teams put on perhaps the most interesting match of the season.  Zaha and Sigurdsson traded first half goals.  Two goals in two minutes for Leroy Fer (a two-fer?) put Swansea up 3-1 by the 68th minute.  Crystal Palace then put up three unanswered goals to take a 4-3 lead into stoppage time.  But two stoppage time goals by Fernando Llorente meant that Crystal Palace was consigned to their sixth straight defeat.  The goals themselves were more often the result of chaos in the box as opposed to works of art and game film may become a primer on how not to defend set pieces, as you can see in this week's YouTubeableMoment.   Regardless, this was entertaining football.  Inexplicably, as of this writing,  Alan Pardew is still the manager at Crystal Palace.  If I had time, dissecting the descent of Crystal Palace might be a worthwhile endeavor, as not that long ago they looked to be ready to be a consistently upper mid table side.

The Bournemouth Blueberries?

Meanwhile, At The Top

Chelsea were the better side at Stamford Bridge and deserved their 2-1 win over Tottenham.  Man City had to work hard against an energized Burnley squad in front of a raucous Turf Moor crowd but eventually secured a 2-1 win on the strength of two from Aguero.  Somewhat the same for Arsenal against a determined Bournemouth squad; the 3-1 win was earned and not easily given up by the Cherries, who, despite their nickname, were in blue kits (see right). Liverpool also kept pace with a 2-0 win over Sunderland, who apparently ignored my advice to play a man down and clearly paid the price.

In The Middle

The middle of the table did not get any bigger and the three members -  Everton (0-1 loss to Southampton), Watford (0-1 loss to Stoke) and Man United (1-1 draw with West Ham)  - did little to distinguish themselves.  Let's review the Man United match:

Mourinho ejected? Check
Rooney frustrated at the end? Check
Unsatisfactory result for MUN?  Check

Mourinho clears water bottle from danger area

The Increasingly Not So Special One got a one match ban but I gotta say, his form was pretty good (above).  The Red Devils did have a convincing win over West Ham in the League Cup quarterfinal (with Mourinho possibly not even in the stands) so it wasn't a total disaster of a week.


More Entertainment From The MLS

After competitive and engaging first legs in each of the conference finals, we were hoping for more of the same in the second legs.  Alas, the Colorado-Seattle match was a dud.  Down 1-2 but returning to Denver, the Rapids had every reason to think they had the situation in hand.  But they were largely uninspiring, surrendered a first half goal to Seattle and never looked like a team heading for the final.  Ze Roberto noted the relative quiet in the stadium and that when they did cheer, the tone sounded like a crowd of 12 year-olds.  OTOH, Toronto-Montreal was a real cracker, possibly the best playoff series in MLS history.  The Impact were up 2-3 but with the second leg being played in Toronto, nothing was assured.  The match started out with venom, hard tackles everywhere.  Then Montreal scored to take a two goal lead.  Cooper got one back for Toronto in the 37th minute and Altidore snuck a header in just before halftime;  at the break the aggregate score was 4-4 but Toronto was in with the away goal advantage.  Piatti's 53rd minute tally put Montreal back up but Hagglund stole it back at 68 minutes.  At 5-5 the situation was all square as both sides had two away goals and it stayed that way through 90 minutes.  Eight minutes into extra time, Cheyrou (a surprising sub for Giovinco) scored on his second touch of the game, seen here on a bonus YouTubeableMoment.  A lightning strike from Ricketts two minutes later put the match away for Toronto.  With 12 goals over two matches between two teams that clearly don't like each other, this was good stuff.  We won't argue it was Premier League quality football but it was EPL level entertainment.  Hope the final a week from Saturday is just as good.


Thanks For Asking

Real time and virtual reality time are in sync as it is December 2nd, 2016 in Chester's Football Manager world.  A workmanlike win over Leeds in league play keeps us three points clear at the top of the EPL and a masterful lucky 3-2 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge has us into the semis of the League Cup.  In the latter match, Chelsea ran all over us but some stout defending and goals off of set pieces allowed us to sneak away with the win.


More Newcastle "Live"

My weekend starts today with a delayed broadcast of the Newcastle-Nottingham Forest match on beIN Sports.  The time slot is a full two hours so maybe we won't get the Rosemary Woods treatment and the match will be shown in its entirety.  Sure.

Saturday morning (7:30 NBCSN) looks to be the prime time slot with third place Man City hosting leaders Chelsea; both teams are in good form but the oddsmakers have made Man City a prohibitive favorite.  Everton-Man United at 11 on Sunday (NBCSN) might be another match worth checking out.

Other top table teams in action include Liverpool traveling to Bournemouth (who will presumably return to their cherry kits) and Arsenal at West Ham in a London derby.  The former is at 8:30 Sunday on NBCSN and the latter at 12:30 Saturday on NBC.  Tottenham look to pick up a win at home versus Swansea at 10 am Saturday (NBCSN).  For fans of the relegation battle, you might want to check out Sunderland-Leicester (live stream only) and Middlesbrough-Hull (Monday at 3 pm on NBCSN).

MLS has the weekend off.  Chester will face Aston Villa, who currently sit third in the table.    I'm sure everyone is holding their breath on that one.