(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.