(Strictly) For the Birds

For the birds

What's the meaning of the phrase 'For the birds'?

Trivial; worthless; only of interest to gullible people.

What's the origin of the phrase 'For the birds'?

This phrase is of American origin and, while still in use there, has never been commonly used elsewhere. It is US Army slang and originated towards the end of WWII. An early example of its use is this piece from The Lowell Sun, October 1944, in an interview with a Sergt. Buck Erickson, of Camp Ellis, Illinois:

"Don't take too seriously this belief that we have football at Camp Ellis solely for the entertainment of the personnel - that's strictly for the birds. The army is a winner... the army likes to win - that's the most fortunate thing in the world for America."

'Strictly' is frequently used as an intensifier, as in the example above.

Newcastle manager Steve Bruce; Can
 anybody here play this game?

Or, for example, the Newcastle Magpies - Norwich Canaries 0-0 draw at St. James' Park was strictly for the birds.

Taking in Saturday's action from BFS's Northern Office in Allentown, Dennis, Brenna, Baine (Dennis's pooch) and I saw some pretty wretched football.  Our respective sides got decidedly poor results and looked bad doing it.

We started with Bournemouth - Aston Villa, a critical fixture for both.  Dennis didn't really agree but I thought a draw from this road match would be good enough to keep the Cherries at bay; he thought they needed all three points given so few other opportunities.  No matter, the Villans got neither.  They looked nothing like the squad that had defeated Leicester mid-week in the Carabao Cup.  Two late first half goals for Bournemouth were not really surprising given the run of play.  Villa got a glimmer of hope when Lerma was sent off with a second yellow at 51 minutes; alas, that seemed to do little for their fortunes.  New acquisition Mbwana "What" Samatta did get one back at 70 minutes but that's how things ended.  The 1-2 loss is quite problematic for the relegation struggle.

With Dennis already down, we turned to Newcastle, who had every reason to expect something positive from a home match with Norwich.  The Magpies were outplayed by the Canaries and the 0-0 draw is totally flattering to the home side.  Brenna and Baine fell asleep early; Dennis drifted off for 20 minutes or so.  I was left to cringe by myself.  That's all I'm going to say about the match.

We tried one more and got a little bit of satisfaction when Everton rallied from 0-2 to beat Watford 3-2.  The Toffee's comeback included two goals in first half stoppage time and a goal in the 90th minute by Theo Walcott.  Watford getting no points from the match was some, though small, consolation for the other results.

Aston Villa are in the thick of the relegation battle and Newcastle can't seem to quite get themselves fully clear.  At least the Magpies have some control over their destiny.  It's starting to look like Villa will need help from others.  And by others we mean top of the table; as in stop giving away points to the bottom feeders.  I compared the points of each place in the table through the same point last year and you can see what I mean.

Place	19-20	18-19	Diff	Place	19-20	18-19	Diff
1	73	61	12	11	31	32	-1
2	51	59	-8	12	31	31	0
3	49	57	-8	13	31	27	4
4	41	50	-9	14	30	26	4
5	37	48	-11	15	26	24	2
6	36	47	-11	16	26	24	2
7	35	38	-3	17	25	24	1
8	35	34	1	18	24	22	2
9	33	33	0	19	23	17	6
10	31	33	-2	20	18	11	7

Look at the drop for places 2-6.  And note that everybody from 13th on down has more points than last year.  Also, see the difference in points between 2nd and 19th; last year at this time it was 42 but this year it's only 28.  The bottom line - it may take more points than usual to escape relegation.


Happy Birthday Michael B

Sunday's Tottenham - Man City match offered little prospect for a nice birthday present for Michael.  Spurs had gotten a few breaks earlier in the weekend with many key competitors for Champions League spots getting draws including Leicester - Chelsea (2-2), Wolves - Man United (0-0; would have gotten the over/under wrong there) and Burnley - Arsenal (0-0; oh Gunners...). Spurs played pretty tough in the first half, which ended 0-0.  Michael and I had been trading What's App texts with BFS England Tour Guide Simon W.  At the break, Simon offered that Spurs second half strategy ought to be to get two City players sent off with red cards.  Nobody was laughing when Zinchenko got sent off with his second yellow at 60 minutes!  Spurs pounced quickly with newcomer Steven Bergwijn scoring on a nice volley at 63 minutes, then Son adding insurance at 71 minutes.  Michael's b-day present didn't come gift wrapped but he enjoyed it anyway.

So the race for Champions League (and Europa Cup) spots is on.  Though Leicester have shown some cracks, 538 still has them solid for third.  Somewhat the same for Chelsea; despite some ups and downs, they are still 64% for 4th.  Compare that to 19% for Tottenham, 10% for Wolves, 7% for Man United, 4% for Sheffield United and 3% for Everton.  Any of those would be considered longer shots for Champions League but definitely in the mix for Europa.  I'm a little surprised at how strong Chelsea looks for that 4th spot given how they've played.  The absence of Arsenal from this list is puzzling or concerning depending on your affinity for the Gunners.  Even worse, they are still showing a 1% chance of relegation.  Pardon me but WTF?


The Kids Were Alright (apologies again to The Who)

Normally a midweek FA Cup replay is as welcome as a root canal but at least this time, teams were not facing Saturday matches.  For their part, Newcastle jumped on host Oxford and were up 2-0 by 30 minutes.  From there, things got tedious (nice description, Simon), then thrilling.  In what is clearly the Newcastle way, the Magpies allowed a goal in the 84th minute to make things interesting.  A stoppage time equalizer made it ridiculous.  In the old days this would have necessitated another replay but fortunately these are not the old days and the match proceeded to extra time.  Newcastle started to play better but this had all the markings of a match to be decided on PKs.  Allan Saint-Maximin decided this was not acceptable and took matters into his own feet.  Watch the moves to get open and the power of the shot in this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Just four minutes before the final whistle, it was the game winner to send Newcastle onto the 5th Round (final 16) for the first time since 2006.

Meanwhile, at Anfield, Liverpool's U-23 squad were playing League One Shrewsbury.  Took awhile (75 minutes) and an own goal but the Baby Reds prevailed 1-0.  Shrewsbury officials were less than pleased with Klopp's choice of playing the U-23s, noting that it probably cut the gate receipts by more than $500,000.  Also, had the match not been at an EPL venue, VAR would not have been available to rule out a Shrewsbury goal for offside.

Rules say "trip or attempt to trip" so probably the right call

On Wednesday, Spurs completed a dramatic come-from-behind win over Southampton. In truth, the Saints were the better squad for almost 80 minutes, generating more offense and basically slicing through a baffled Tottenham squad.  Then a great shot from Lucas Moura raised the possibility of extra time.  Fortunately that would not be necessary as Shrewsbury's keeper tripped, attempted to trip or hold or whatever, Son in the box.  Son did not fail to convert and Tottenham walked away with an improbable 3-2 win.

So the 5th Round fixtures are set and can be viewed here.  Newcastle get West Brom; sure they're Championship Division but they are on pace to win the league and return to the EPL. Plus the match is at The Hawthorns so we are the road team again.  Notice that Chelsea - Liverpool is another of the match ups.  Arguably that's two semi-finalists meeting in the quarters.  That's part of the magic of the FA Cup. 


MLS and Players Reach Agreement

New charter flight rules mean we probably
won't be getting pictures like this from Jeff K

Players and the MLS signed a new Collective Bargaining Agreement on Thursday.  Details can be had here.  The good news is that this means there will be no player strike and the season will start on time on February 29th.  The bad news is that the increased allowance for charter flights means frequent flyer Jeff K will not likely run into the Union on one of his many trips.

Side note: Player rep Jeff Larentowicz is a Chestnut Hill Academy product.

Speaking of Fabian, he just signed a deal to play in Qatar.  Hopefully there was no communication error between him and his agent when he said I'll play anywhere close to Upper Darby.  (To Bob K - I never tire of that one.)


The Mid-season Fan Player Break

Though I doubt the EPL had us in mind, the upcoming break does give us fans a chance to catch our breath after the holidays and multiple cup competitions.  Matchweek 26 is spread out over the next two weekends so, while there are matches to watch, the concentration is less than usual.  Note that neither Saturday has matches in the traditional 10 am time slot.  We see some notable matches in the fixture list.  All matches are NBCSN, except the two 12:30 Saturday games, which are NBC.

Not sure the 7:30 am Saturday contest between Everton and Crystal Palace qualifies as notable.  Though probably safe, Palace have been on an awful run, while Everton have rescued their season from the ashes and even have a tiny, tiny chance of getting to fourth.   The 12:30 game is a classic - and critical - relegation matchup with Brighton hosting Watford.  The Seagulls have eight points from their last 10 contests and have squandered a good early season to find themselves uncomfortably close to the relegation zone.  Watford on the other hand did manage a hot streak that lifted (?) them  to 19th in table.  They have cooled a little and are still clearly in the relegation mix.

Sunday is on the tepid side, with Sheffield United hosting Bournemouth at 9 and Man City traveling to West Ham at 11:30.  Though important standings wise, they don't look like exciting contests.  Where you stand on these matches likely depends on where you sit.  Bottom halvers will prefer Sheffield and Man City; those with Champions League aspirations will be pulling for Bournemouth and the Hammers.

Great looking match the following Friday between Wolves and Leicester at 3 pm.  Highly recommend watching this one.  Saturday not as great with Southampton - Burnley (both likely safe but also not in contention for Champions League) at 7:30 and Liverpool heading to Norwich at 12:30; for the latter I guess there's still the drama of whether the Reds will go undefeated this season.

And there is Sunday, bloody Sunday, for the BFS crew.  At 9 we can watch Aston Villa struggle against Spurs then at 11:30 endure what is surely a loss for Newcastle as they travel to their own Little Shop of Horrors, the Emirates, to take on Arsenal.  In both cases all we realistically hope to come out with is no more injuries.

A cracker ends the matchweek on Monday at 3 pm with Chelsea hosting Man United.  At 538 they have this as a blow out for Chelsea but we're hoping for something more interesting from two teams that have been consistently inconsistent.

Hopefully, you'll enjoy the matches spread out at a more leisurely pace.

BFS will observe a Mid-Season Blogger Break as well and will return the week of 2/17.