Adam Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 The EFL has confirmed the dates for this season's competitions, with 11-13 midweek league fixtures. Fixture list will be announced next Friday. Gonna be a strange old season. We have lost Leeds, WBA, Fulham and, unfortunately due to financial problems Bury and Macclesfield. In come Watford, Bournemouth, Norwich, Barrow and Harrogate! EFL fans, what are your hopes for your team this season? Do you even have any considering all that's going on in the world? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FestiveJack Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 Survival for Plymouth please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobfoc Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 My own team isn't in the EFL, but I'd like to see Wycombe survive in the Championship and Barrow do reasonably well in League Two. Other than that, a good showing for Forest and a bad showing for Derby would suit me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naitch Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 I'm not sure what I want Norwich to do. They clearly can't hack it in the Premier League but they're probably too good for the Championship. Usually of lot of their fans get a little overzealous when they're on course for a promotion battle. Might be different this year if we remain in various states of lockdown through part of the season though. I'd like to see Brentford and Nottingham Forest go up in the automatic spots this season. I think if Ipswich don't get out of League One this season then they're more likely to be in a relegation battle than fighting for promotion again the following season. Hopefully Bolton manage to bounce back in League Two but I'm not confident they will. Wishing Barrow well, it'll be interesting to see which side Grant Holt takes when he inevitably provides studio analysis on BT Sport for the Cumbrian derby games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted August 13, 2020 Admin Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 Quote Wigan Athletic’s administrators have set a deadline of 31 August to complete the sale of the stricken football club, and warned that they “cannot see through” the upcoming League One campaign without finding a buyer. An update on the club’s official website said: “We are continuing talks with various interested parties and are in discussions with four bidders regarding the sale. We have set a deadline of 31 August 2020 to agree and sign the sale contract.” “If the contract is not signed by this date, we will have to reconsider the position on the basis that the new season starts a week later,” the statement added. “The reason for this is that we will be responsible for the team at the start of the season and the fulfilment of the fixtures. “Understandably, if no buyer is available, we do not wish to commit to something we cannot see through. We are still hopeful that one of the bidders will be in a position to sign the contract as set out.” The 2013 FA Cup winners were on course for a mid-table Championship finish this season, but were thrown into turmoil when their new owners, the Hong Kong-based consortium Next Leader Fund, placed the club into administration on 1 July. That shock development led the EFL to impose a 12-point penalty which saw the Latics relegated to League One after slipping to 23rd in the table. The club, who are without a manager after Paul Cook’s departure, are set to begin their third-tier campaign on 12 September. Joint administrators Paul Stanley, Gerald Krasner and Dean Watson also confirmed that forwards Joe Gelhardt and Kieffer Moore have been sold to Leeds United and Cardiff City respectively. Centre-back Chey Dunkley’s move to Sheffield Wednesday was announced later on Thursday. The club statement also confirmed that all staff, including the current playing squad, have received their July salaries. Wigan Athletic Supporters Club have provided funds for the first-team kits, which will carry their logo at the beginning of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slogger Posted August 14, 2020 Report Share Posted August 14, 2020 It's Bristol City so we'll be up around the promotion spots for the first part of the year before settling into a nice mid table spot by the end. That win over United seems like an age ago now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted August 17, 2020 Admin Report Share Posted August 17, 2020 Quote The former owner of Wigan Athletic, Au Yeung Wai Kay, sought to put the club into administration before he had even completed his controversial takeover, key documents reveal. A new timeline of the Wigan takeover is pieced together in the written reasons detailing the rejection of an appeal against the club’s 12-point deduction for insolvency, a punishment that led to their relegation from the Championship. According to the documents, which have been seen by the Guardian, Kay contacted the insolvency practitioners Begbies Traynor about putting Wigan into administration the day before he informed the EFL that he had become the sole shareholder in the club. A week later, they were duly declared insolvent. The documents also reveal that Kay failed to inform the club’s board of his plan for administration and that he forced out the then chairman, Darren Royle, after the board had failed to agree to a loan agreement with Kay’s company. It also records Kay being fundamentally opposed to the restart of the Championship season after the suspension because of the Covid-19 pandemic, due to the costs he would incur. The written reasons were compiled by an independent arbitration panel which heard Wigan’s appeal, brought by the club against the points sanction on the grounds of force majeure. Its verdict is dismissive, declaring: “The club cannot rely on force majeure because, far from acting with due diligence to avoid the happening of that event, at least one of the officials of the club – that is, Mr Kay – actively brought it about.” Kay is reported to have approached Begbies Traynor on 23 June this year, before informing the EFL on 24 June that he had bought out a 51% stake in the club from Dr Chiu Fai Stanley Choi, the previous owner, for £20m. In February, Choi had transferred ownership of the club from his own International Entertainment Consortium to a company called Next Leader Fund, which he controlled jointly with Kay. As Kay manoeuvred himself into sole ownership, club officials were becoming increasingly concerned over the provision of funding for Wigan’s day-to-day running. Having promised to provide funding for July’s wage bill on 26 June, by 29 June Kay suggested paying it in instalments. According to a statement given by the lead administrator, Gerald Krasner, Kay had already made clear through his solicitors that he would “not put another penny in the club”. While the panel is highly critical of Kay, it also observes his behaviour to be a notable risk of the owner-funded model in football. “A club that is dependent on its owner or some other external funder … to bridge the gap between income and expenditure must inevitably run the risk that the funder will cease to be willing or able [whether lawfully or not] to continue to fund,”it wrote. Wigan went into administration on 1 July and discussions between administrators and potential buyers are ongoing. Begbies Traynor and the EFL are also conducting separate ongoing investigations into Kay’s ownership of the club. Another panel, arbitrating on the 12-point sanction levied on Sheffield Wednesday for breaching profit and sustainability rules (P&S), is critical of the EFL’s investigation into overspending at the Hillsborough club and the league’s decision to add a secondary charge of a breach of good faith, which was ultimately dismissed. The panel cites the timeliness of the investigation and the complications added by a second charge for the decision to deduct points from Wednesday not in the season just gone but the next one, a move that kept the Owls in the Championship at the expense of Charlton. “It [would have been] inappropriate to impose the deduction in the current extended season,” the document says, “but to postpone its effect until next season when the onus will be on the club to redeem its position on the playing field.” In its findings, however, the panel found that Wednesday officials had backdated signatures on key documents regarding the sale of Hillsborough from the club to its owner, Dejphon Chansiri, including documents regarding the valuation of the deal itself. The changing of the dates meant that Wednesday passed P&S tests they would otherwise have failed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted August 20, 2020 Admin Report Share Posted August 20, 2020 Quote Administrators working to save Wigan have said the former owner Au Yeung Wai Kay has agreed to waive debts of around £36m owed to him by the club. It comes as reports of a new offer to take control of the club were dismissed and uncertainty growing as to the outcome of the administration process. Last weekend, Yeung was revealed to have made inquiries about putting the club into administration last May, days before he completed his takeover. The true motives behind his purchase remain a mystery but it now appears he will not retrieve a single penny of the money his company, the Next Leader Fund, put into the club. A statement on behalf of the administrators, Begbies Traynor, said: “We should like to ... inform fans that the Administrators have been in discussions with Mr Yeung, who has cooperated fully for the benefit of the club and who has agreed … to waive his rights to the repayment of the debts owed to him and to his companies.” Wigan were relegated from the Championship last month after they were subject to a 12-point deduction for insolvency. Administrators said Yeung’s decision to waive his debts meant he was working “to ensure the survival of the club” with the possibility of a second, 15-point sanction, next season should they not be in a position to repay 25p in the pound to their creditors. The clearing of the debts owed to NLF make such a repayment “much more possible”, administrators said. While the club are in a better position to avoid further punishment, any takeover seems to be moving further away. Begbies Traynor are understood to be in discussion with several parties, but there is no preferred bidder, with sources suggesting any progress is uncertain in a constantly changing environment. One potential buyer has been ruled out, however, with claims that the businessmen Randy Frankel and Michael Kalt had made an offer, denied by administrators. According to Begbie Traynor “no credible bid” has been received from the pair. “Talks are however continuing with serious bidders with a view to bring a successful sale to fruition,” the statement said. The Wigan Athletic Supporters Club has raised £190,000 to help support the club and has now teamed up with local band Quaintest Show on Earth to release their single Good Old Days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA! Posted August 22, 2020 Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 Next year's UK Eurovision entry confirmed, @Katsuya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colly Posted August 22, 2020 Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 It's so brilliantly PES2006. I love it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted August 25, 2020 Admin Report Share Posted August 25, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted August 27, 2020 Admin Report Share Posted August 27, 2020 Scott Minto is the latest name to be sacked by Sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baddar Posted August 27, 2020 Report Share Posted August 27, 2020 Not even sure what he's been doing since they lost the La Liga coverage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted August 27, 2020 Admin Report Share Posted August 27, 2020 The EFL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA! Posted August 27, 2020 Report Share Posted August 27, 2020 I take it the idea is to consolidate studio-based pundits and pundits stood at the top of stadiums for Soccer Saturday so they're on screen for more than one day a week? They had a massive roster of pundits tbf and I can't imagine they've claimed back anywhere near enough pre-Covid subscribers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobfoc Posted September 2, 2020 Report Share Posted September 2, 2020 The FA Trophy semi-finals and final have been rearranged for September. I put this in here because Harrogate are part of it. Winning the competition as a league club would be a bit quirky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA! Posted September 8, 2020 Report Share Posted September 8, 2020 A 15-year-old just scored for Grimsby in their EFL Cup game, birth date 2004. Younger than this iteration of EWB, just in case you want to feel old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted September 8, 2020 Admin Report Share Posted September 8, 2020 Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has become a shareholder in League Two side Forest Green Rovers. Bellerin says he has taken a minority holding in the club in order to help develop their environmental and ethical innovations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baddar Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 Cardiff have terminated Mendez-Laing's contract. Plenty of rumours flying about as to why, but it must be serious as he was an important player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9 to 5 Posted September 10, 2020 Report Share Posted September 10, 2020 On 08/09/2020 at 21:28, GA! said: A 15-year-old just scored for Grimsby in their EFL Cup game, birth date 2004. Younger than this iteration of EWB, just in case you want to feel old. Fuck off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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