Season 24 Week 22 processing, last week of the season...

Welcome to week 22, I just realised that Monday is a Bank Holiday so everything will be a day late this week. Enjoy your day off.

Birmingham v Man City

4th v 5th this week, with both teams having little to play for in the final week.  These teams will finish in those two positions after the final reckoning, with fourth place the prize for the winner. A good season for both, Birmingham seeming to find a tactical solution too late on to sustain a real title challenge but they should be there or thereabouts next season for sure.  Man City are very similar in that although 5th could be quite disappointing for their fans, it has been another season of rebuilding with a Champions Cup final thrown in for good measure.  Expect City to be strong next year
with the fans hoping for a repeat of previous years successes.


Newcastle v Watford

Newcastle unfortunately already relegated and Watford stuck in third whatever the outcome of this one means that the result will have little impact on the table and hopefully the players aren't
mentally already on holiday.  Both teams will be using this fixture to experiment for next season, one will be up challenging for the title again and the other will be trying to get back into the big league.
Newcastle certainly have the talent both in the dugout and on the pitch to bounce straight back next year, it just seems like a case of getting them together for long periods of time to get the best out the players.
Watford have had a terrific season, unfortunately finishing just short of a real title push this year.  Based on previous years finshes though, the team is making real progress and another season of strengthening the squad will surely result in this side challenging for honours next year.


Fulham v Spurs

Last week for Fulham without a manager, and they seem to be in desperate need of someone to guide the ship since Will Buckley recent departure.  Results have suffered since his departure with the players being accused of lacking focus and desire by various club legends. This squad is last years Champions don't forget, so for them to finish in a disappointing midtable position has seriously raised questions over some of the players.  Will there be some dep[artures over the close season or will the new manager be able to keep the core of the squad together and challenge for honours again.  In saying all that though, silverware was still achieved this year as the West London outfit came home with the FA cup, will that keep the dissenters happy despite the poor league showing?
Spurs are a comfortable midtable side capable of a shock result or two. Harry has done a grerat job this season against all odds.  Can he repeat the trick next year?


Leicester v Liverpool

Another side looking forward to next season will be Leicester, who despite being relegated, will be keen to improve over the summer and challenge for the Championship title next season.  Surely the players in the squad will prove too good for a level down in the football pyramid.  Last time they were there, it seemed like a walk in the park, lets hope for the same again.
Liverpool very similar to Spurs in that the reality manager has performed miracles with a smaller squad than many others.  Can King Kenny do it again for another year?  Surely survival should be the main aim again, anything else will be a bonus.


Plymouth v Arsenal

A win and possibly a draw will be enough to secure another title for the Home Park side.  A lot of the infrastructure has been built in previous years by Dan, but this squad is certainly starting to resemble one that the current manager has put together, and the results are showing what a good job he has done.  Win after win in the run-in has been relentless and thats where teams win titles, Plymouth have done really well to hold their nerve and continue to pick up three points every week.
Rumours of a big deal in the offing too, resulting a promising young centreback join the club certainly show the club isn't standing still and they are already planning for next season, which should please the fans.  Can anyone stop this winning machine?
Arsenal are already relegated and have little to play for apart from pride and places for next season.  They have a massively talented sqaud which they will hope they can keep together over the summer, but the bright lights of the bigger leagues will shine bright for some of the higher earners.  There is also the concern that they might not be able to afford the weekly wages in a smaller league.  Intersting times for Arsenal fans....


Villa v Norwich

After a disappointing result last week, Villa fell back out of the playoff positions and have one game to get back in there.  They can catch either Forest or Soton, but they are relying on either one dropping points in the final week.  Southampton have done fantastic to force their way into the reckoning after spending a lot of the season in the danger zone.  Forest meanwhile, sit one place and one point above Villa in he final playoff position.  They are at home to the whipping boys of the league, Sheff Utd, in their final game so relying on them to drop points might be a futile one.  Soton face a tricky tie away to Boro this week, who are in second place in the league needing a win to secure automatic promotion.  That game looks like Villa's best bet to sneak in the back door, but in saying all that they need to pick up a win first at home to a team a few places below them.  It will certainly be a nervous week for a certain manager from Argentina watching on....


Other fixture : Chelsea v Charlton

Orders have been received from Man City, Leicester, Charlton, Plymouth ( even though Ben has been busy getting married, hopefully all went well ), Watford, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Schalke and Inverness.

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Orders have been received from Charlton, Plymouth ( even though Ben has been busy getting married, hopefully all went well ), Watford and Inter Milan.

Could he have slightly taken his eye off the ball.......

Tom@Charlton wrote:

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Orders have been received from Charlton, Plymouth ( even though Ben has been busy getting married, hopefully all went well ), Watford and Inter Milan.

Could he have slightly taken his eye off the ball.......

Turn was sent just before. I'm Venice atm but hoping to catch the results as they fly in...

Congrats mate, hope you are having a nice honeymoon!

Some of you are trying to be a bit crafty by listing players whilst they are still on loan. You cant do that and these dealings have been replaced by endloan dealings. A player has to be either at your parent club or your feeder club before you can list him or transfer him.

Just to confirm and warn you  Jose Mourinho has taken over at Chelsea ( new manager didnt materialise i'm afraid ) and I've set him to the top settings for a reality manager.

Will you have to introduce a new 'park the bus' formation now?

Tom@Charlton wrote:

Will you have to introduce a new 'park the bus' formation now?

excellent suggestion

Games will kickoff thursday at 1000 hours.

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Tom@Charlton wrote:

Will you have to introduce a new 'park the bus' formation now?

excellent suggestion

Oh dear .....

Kickoff delayed a few minutes due to thunderstorms. Wont be long though.

okay the players are out and kickoff is imminent...

Last game in Argentina .......

the final week of the season and in the Premiership we have Ben's Plymouth hoping to take that final step to the title by beating Arsenal, so we'll be concentrating our focus on that match today, and we're off...

Santos 0 Vasco 1 Palacio on 2 minutes.

plenty of rumours flying around today concerning French centre back Mangala who looks like he will be plying his trade at Plymouth next season as Ben also chases young starlet Calum Chambers, we'll try and get some conformation of those deals...

Blackburn 1 Everton 0 Nacho freekick on 3 minutes.

could be his last game for promotion chasing Rovers as they are rumoured to be chasing one time fan favorite Hitzisberger and Hleb, both veterans on the transfer list this week...

Bordeaux 0 Lyon 1 Damiao on 3 minutes.
Atalanta 0 Milan 1 Kleber header.

Leicester 0 Liverpool 1 Diaby header on 4 minutes.

Montpellier 0 Etienne 1 Meghni on 5 minutes.
Atalanta 0 Milan 2 Ribas.
Napoli 0 Roma 1 Aquilani freekick.

Aquilani is rumoured to be on his way back to England this week as well...

Alkmaar 0 Ajax 1 Huntelaar header on 6 minutes.

Lazio 0 Ancona 1 Shaqiri on 7 minutes.