jack95

On my Blackburn game, Swansea were 5th place in the Premier League and pushing for the top four in December 2012. Then Brendan Rodgers left to take over at Newcastle, and Swansea chose to replace him with Steve Kean. Since his appointment, Kean has won one Premier League match in 17 games, and is currently on a 15 match winless run in all competitions. They now sit 16th, two points above the relegation zone.

Blackburn and Villa for me. Not that I want to incur the wrath of a certain mod, I quite like Blackburn and ordinarily would like them to stay up. But I really like Owen Coyle and Roberto Martinez, and it would be fun for all three newly promoted teams to stay up. I think it was 2001 the last time that happened? Plus Villa under McLeish are just so dire.

I've screwed up my Blackburn team catastrophically. In 2011/2012 we finished in a very solid 10th place, the fans and board liked me, and I was given £20 million to spend in the summer. Instead of spending that prudently I went mad, signed David Beckham, Michael Owen, Nicolas Anelka and Clarence Seedorf on astronomical wages, and now we're 15th in the league at Christmas, just four points off the relegation places, and teetering on the brink of administration. I'm also no longer very popular with the fans, players or board. On the plus side, Leigh Griffiths is dynamite. And Anelka's not bad when he can be arsed.

That was an insane three minute spell! Just as I was contemplating switching to Chelsea-Barca as well!

I assume some people must be watching Villa-Bolton? Hoping Bolton win because nobody likes McLeish and as a Midlands based Charlton fan I'd love to be going to Villa Park next seen. Villa are doing annoying well though.

A couple of months back, I had a dream where McDonalds brought out a range of Demba BaBurgers and Papiss CisseBurgers. I became hopelessly addicted to them, spent so much money on them I became bankrupt, and ended up fat and homeless. Ever since that dream, Newcastle, and in particular Papiss Cisse have been in incredible form. Conclusion? I have special powers. If only I could harness them...

I am confused! The BBC's Football League live text commentary keep saying that if Cardiff beat Leeds, Middlesbrough will be incapable of reaching the play-offs. But a Cardiff win will put Boro four points behind Blackpool, with two games left to play, so surely they can make it? Am I missing something?

CHAMPIONSHIP, HERE WE COME

It took me an early Europa League exit and a thrashing from Ajax as ADO Den Haag to make me aware that the Eredivisie is a silly league. I went crawling back to my comfort zone in England, decided to give Blackburn a try. It has been exciting! I've so far beaten Newcastle 3-0, Bolton 3-2 having been 2-0 down with Radosav Petrovic scoring a screamer of a winner, lost 3-2 to Wigan with three goals in the opening ten minutes, and got thumped 5-2 by Sunderland (!) despite Lomano Lua Lua, who I signed on a free, scoring a cracker. There has also been a boring win over Wolves and a boring defeat to Chelsea. And a boring League Cup exit at Barnsley in which I fielded my reserves. In other news, Lomano LuaLua is wonderful. He reacts to anything other than constant praise by going off in a sulk, but he's so great. on the pitch I rarely have to criticise him. Every match he seems to pick up the ball, barge past about seven players and then fizz off a shot or a cross that always finds the target.

Appropriate, being as they also play like one.

I'm kind of in an FM rut. Can someone give me a random country they've had fun managing in before? Excluding UK & Ireland.

15 Storeys High is a weird, wonderful British sitcom from the early noughties, branded by The Times as "the best comedy on television." The concept is simple. It's a bit like Friends, in the respect that it's set in a flat. However, in all other ways, it isn't anything like Friends. Sean Lock plays Vince, a misanthropic swimming pool instructor who lives in a grimy flat in a grimy tower block in London. His flatmate is the chirpy, naive, slightly stupid Errol. We follow their antics across two six episode series'. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. It's unrelentingly gloomy, and the pace is slowed down to a crawl by several hit and miss vignettes that offer glimpses into the lives of other inhabitants of the tower block. However, when the show is focused on the lives of Errol and in particular Vince, it's strangely brilliant and utterly unique. Highlights from Series One alone include Errol's job at the Fish-Market, Vince drinking too much of an Eastern European energy drink and becoming convinced that there's a horse in an adjacent flat, the world's slowest foot chase between a one-legged Vince and a working class woman with a sofa, and Vince's feuds with the paranoid boyfriend of a model he's teaching to swim, an incredibly persistent Evangelical Christian, and a group of boys from the swimming baths. You might notice I'm mentioning Vince quite a lot, and there's a good reason for that; without meaning to slight the often funny Errol, Vince is one of the best characters in a sitcom I can think of, and Sean Lock plays him to absolute perfection. If you're looking for something quirky, weird, dark, miserable, memorable, unique and, above all, often side-splittingly funny, you could do much worse than give 15 Storeys High a whirl.

In excellent news for British EWBers with similar tastes in comedy to me, Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle will be getting another two series'.

I'm glad someone else loves this show! To me, it feels more Douglas Adams-y than the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie that came out a few years ago (which I guess is the closest thing to compare it to) which is weird because Adams had some involvement in the latter but not the former. Stephen Mangan is so perfect for the role of Dirk Gently, I've blocked out how much I didn't like Episodes.

According to the BBC, Sheffield Wednesday have sacked Gary Megson as manager? This is bizarre, not just because I'll begrudgingly admit Megson was doing a very good job at Wednesday, but because they're currently halfway through a game against Scunthorpe, at which I assume Megson was managing? EDIT- I've been misreading all night, it's Sheffield United playing. I thought something was amiss. Still, bizarre decision.

I've just got back from said game. Chesterfield aren't exactly pulling up trees in League 1, but we were the best I've seen us in a while. Passed the ball nicely, kept our cool when it took us a while to make the break through, and once we'd got the first goal we looked like scoring every time we went forward. So pleased. Even taking into account our traditional end of season slump, I think we're all but up. The fans were already busting out the "that's why we're champions!" chant. Having said that, the last time I went to see us play was at Walsall in December and we were so poor for a table topping team back then. Even considering how well we played tonight, I don't think we're on the level of a Norwich, Southampton, or even Brighton. I'd take lower-midtable in the Championship next season.

I feel so sorry for Steve Bruce. His management career just seems to be a constant stream of high-profile humilation, despite the good work he's done at numerous clubs.

You know, I thought I was doing a really good job at Rangers until you posted this. I hope you lose your remaining 10 games! Heavily! And win no more trophies!

Backline for 2003-2004 invincible season: Ashley Cole, Pascal Cygan, Sol Campbell, Kolo Toure, with Jens Lehmann in goal. Not really George Graham's backline.

When I was about 8, I tried to learn the Clarinet. I was woeful, I couldn't even make it produce a pleasant sound. That disappointment pretty much killed off my enthusiasm for playing instruments, but a friend of mine who is a genuinely talented acoustic guitarist was able to teach me to play Hot Cross Buns on a piano.

They're fourth in the table, two points behind 3rd place Sheffield Wednesday and with a game in hand on them. They're six points ahead of MK Dons, who trail them in 5th. This is the most bizarre sacking since Hughton and Newcastle last season, surely? I can't think of any more strange off the top of my head.

I'd read Matt's posts and knew things were bad at Leeds, but I didn't realise things were so desperate that they would lose to Coventry.

Redknapp for England, McCarthy for Spurs!

Booooooo. I like Mick McCarthy, and he never got the respect he deserved for the job he did at Wolves. I can understand why the decision was taken though. I wonder if they'll take a punt on Simon Grayson?

Mental end to a mental tournament. Completely worth the £3.99 I paid for Eurosport Player. I was delighted to see Zambia win, especially in the most poignant of places, but you've got to feel for the Ivory Coast. They've produced the most talented team arguably in African football history, and they've got nothing to show for it. I really hope they win next year's edition. Still, amazing upset, and I agree that Renard carrying the injured player to sing with his teammates was wonderful, especially as said player was in floods of tears earlier than his big moment had been prematurely curtailed. Great game.