Season 26 Week 8 processing...

Serie A

Inter 21 +12
Juventus 19 +9
Cagliari 17 +10
Napoli 16 +13

the three teams below Inter all seem to be on form at the moment so it might get more interesting real quick here if Inter don't stay on their game as well.

Bundesliga

Schalke 19 +13
Bayern 19 +8
Hamburg 18 +3
Berlin 16 +10
Dortmund 13 +3

far from a done deal in Germany where it is very close as usual.

Le Championnat

Nantes 24 +18
Paris 20 +18
Monaco 18 +10
Etienne 17 +7

the usual suspects occupy the top four places in France with Champions Nantes again opening out a slight lead over their rivals.

La Liga

Real 20 +8
Valencia 19 +11
Barcelona 18 +17
Betis 15 +7

Real Madrid still lead the way in Spain but both Valencia and Barcelona are keeping up the pressure and are both ready to pounce if the leaders slip up.

now on to the midweek results...

Champions Cup

Napoli 1 Man City 1
Valencia 1 Bayern 2

Watford 2 Arsenal 3
Schalke 2 Inter 0

Charlton 0 Birmingham 2
Milan 0 Real 0

Fulham 0 Plymouth 2
Ajax 0 Barcelona 3

Delighted with both results this week, tough game at Plymouth against a team in form.  Played for a draw if I'm honest, so happy in the end.

Nantes continue to look strong, although looks like they were hanging on at the end with 10 men.

Worried about both midweek games, Nantes at Juve who are looking very strong in Italy and Inter's main rivals.  A draw would be a great result there.  Charlton have Birmingham who, whilst struggling to get points in Europe, have just done the unthinkable and beaten City, something that no team has done for about two years.

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Champions Cup

Napoli 1 Man City 1
Valencia 1 Bayern 2

Watford 2 Arsenal 3
Schalke 2 Inter 0

Charlton 0 Birmingham 2
Milan 0 Real 0

Fulham 0 Plymouth 2
Ajax 0 Barcelona 3

 Well, that's an awful result. lol

with only 2 games left to play it is still very close in all the leagues, Man City lead group one on 10 points with Napoli on 7, in group two we have Inter and Schalke both on 7 and Arsenal tucked in just behind them on 6, whilst group three is led by Charlton on 7, trailed by Real on 5 and Birmingham and Milan both on 4, so its really tight here, and in the final group we have both Plymouth and Fulham on 9 points with Barcelona on 6. So still all to play for.

Europa Cup

Gladbach 0 Roma 0
Rangers 2 Soton 1

Dortmund 3 Genk 0
Cagliari 1 Blackburn 0

Juventus 2 Nantes 0
Fiorentina 1 Paris 2

Berlin 2 Ancona 1
Etienne 3 Celtic 0

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Europa Cup

Gladbach 0 Roma 0
Rangers 2 Soton 1

Dortmund 3 Genk 0
Cagliari 1 Blackburn 0

Juventus 2 Nantes 0
Fiorentina 1 Paris 2

Berlin 2 Ancona 1
Etienne 3 Celtic 0

And that one.

Well, that's a bonus! Schalke 2 Inter 0.

Perhaps I underestimated the ill-effects that a midweek game can have on the league game? 

Won't happen again!!

Paul Hemmings wrote:

with only 2 games left to play it is still very close in all the leagues, Man City lead group one on 10 points with Napoli on 7, in group two we have Inter and Schalke both on 7 and Arsenal tucked in just behind them on 6, whilst group three is led by Charlton on 7, trailed by Real on 5 and Birmingham and Milan both on 4, so its really tight here, and in the final group we have both Plymouth and Fulham on 9 points with Barcelona on 6. So still all to play for.

Well ......... at least I don't need to play Schalke again. Poor mistake in judgement from me in this game. Should have stuck with FAS. 

Villa lost in the League but was to be expected with a couple of key players missing.

Tough week.

Anybody from group one could still go thru with just 3 points separating top from bottom, but Roma do have their noses in front slightly. In group two Blackburn and Cagliari both sit on 9 points with Dortmund improving on 6. Juventus are on 12 points and already through to the quarter-finals in group three with nantes in second place on 6 points and Fiorentina and paris both on 3 points. Group four is also very close with Berlin and Etienne both on 7 points and Celtic and Ancona on 4, a big push in the last two games could make a big difference to some of the clubs competing this season.

Transfers now...

Aaron Cresswell moves to Soton from Villa for £12millions and Villa sign Pritchard from Preston for £7millions and Preston get both Daehli and Haidara from Hearts to continue their rebuilding.

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Transfers now...

And the Jan window opens...

Gone for about 5 trials this turn (if I remember right) and fully expect to get none of them!

All probably at managed/RMd sides already - but under my (tiny) radar.

Andy@Schalke wrote:

Gone for about 5 trials this turn (if I remember right) and fully expect to get none of them!

All probably at managed/RMd sides already - but under my (tiny) radar.

Went for 1 I think...

yeah quite a few players trialled this week, some not even on the database yet, which is unusual.

sounds hopeful....

coaching and finances now...

okay that's it for today, email turns and printing in the morning...

cheers P

Email turns all sent out...order sheets will be posted tomorrow.

Thanks Paul. Could I ask a favour please? I lost 2-0 to Schalke in Europe but in friendliest have been beating them pretty easily. I can see a couple of differences as the Euro game was away and friendlies are at home plus the Schalke midfield changes from AL AR DY to AM DR DL. I can't see much other difference. A 2-0 defeat to a 7-1 win seems a big swing and in friendlies the 7-1 or so has been consistent for a few weeks. If possible could you take a look please?