Football League Thread 14/15

[Thrilla]

HE SCORES GOALS, JORDAN RHODES, HE SCORES GOALS

[9 to 5]

And that was the last goal I needed to win my bet too, double awesome!

[Regia]

We last lost to Millwall at home 47 years ago, so this hurts a little, thought it would be an easy win.

[Matt]

3 wins ( and only 1 defeat, caused primarily by a wank referee) in 6, we're getting worryingly competent recently

[Lineker]

Nottingham Forest striker Britt Assombalonga has been ruled out for a year after undergoing knee surgery.

[Thrilla]

ORIENT SCORE IN 101st MINUTE TO GO 2-3 UP!

[Lineker]

Bloody Huddersfield.

[MDK]

Squeaky bum time indeed.

EVERYONE LOVES A TINY COX!

[Lineker]

Wigan Athletic have confirmed that Honduras full-back Juan Carlos Garcia has been diagnosed with leukaemia.

The 26-year-old returned to the Latics last week from his loan spell at Spanish side Tenerife with what the club called "a blood disorder".

Garcia joined Wigan in July 2013 on a free transfer but his only appearance came in the League Cup last season.

"I went in to see Juan Carlos and he was incredibly upbeat and his spirits were strong," says boss Malky Mackay.

[Lineker]

Championship clubs could benefit by about £1m per year from the new Premier League TV rights deal, according to Bournemouth chairman Jeff Mostyn.

The rights to live matches were sold to Sky Sports and BT last week for £5.1bn, a 70% rise on the previous deal.

Mostyn said money would "trickle down" to the Championship in a "very positive outcome" for clubs in the second tier.

"It could mean a substantial amount in real terms. We may be talking in excess of £1m," he told BBC Radio Solent.

Bournemouth, who are top of the Championship table with 15 games to play, are hoping to be in the Premier League for the first time in their history next season - although the new TV agreement does not apply until the 2016-17 campaign.

Mostyn said Championship clubs had managed to seal an "index-linked" deal with the Premier League over solidarity payments in the wake of negotiations over Financial Fair Play (FFP) in November.

"As a consequence of the battle we had with FFP just a few months ago, it could means a very positive outcome for the Championship clubs and the Football League as a whole," said Mostyn.

"There was a lot of controversy if they were ultimately going to vote in favour of FFP and it went down to the wire.

"The deal that we did with the Premier League was, for want of a better phrase, index-linked - for the very first time we won't have to go cap in hand.

"We have a set scale and because of this new incredible new TV rights deal all the Football League clubs will benefit."

[Lineker]

The owners of Birmingham City Football Club have said they have "no other option" than to go into receivership.

The Championship club's parent company Birmingham International Holdings Limited (BIHL), blamed "fractious and inharmonious relations within the management" for the decision.

BIHL said it had appointed three receivers from Ernst and Young.

The club said it wished to reassure supporters "most emphatically" that no winding-up petition had been filed.

[Lineker]

Brentford to replace Mark Warburton at the end of the season. Absolute fucking madness.

[9 to 5]

You do wonder how many football chairman/boards know what they are doing. Say, 10 of 92? :/

[Adam]

I really do not understand this. Brentford have spent several years developing their managerial/coaching/scouting system, it is one of the more progressive in the country and the owner is a genuine Brentford fan. Why on earth are they completely changing it all when the system they've worked so hard to implement and develop is giving them their greatest success in years? I do not understand it at all.

[Adam]

Sorry to double post about the same topic but it has been over 24 hours now - it seems part of the reason at least is that Warburton disagreed with Benham's stance to adopt more mathematical modelling to the set-up at Brentford. Makes sense as Benham runs Smartodds, but what it seems largely to boil down to is the chairman wanting to adopt the so-called "Moneyball" philosophy. I recently read a book on football scouting that featured Moneyball as well as Mark Warburton quite prominently, and have read into the subject a fair bit and I've got to say they seem to be quite contrasting footballing philosophies if this is the case, even if a lot of it is rooted in similar areas.

Then again, the biggest purporter of "Moneyball" in English football in recent times was Damien Comolli and his fairly wide-of-the-mark "buy all the young English players" plan at Liverpool.

[Loz]

Decent game happening between Boro and Leeds here.

Sol Bamba is an absolute beast! ☺

[Matt]

Silvestri and Bamba were class today, we didn't deserve to win that but 3 points is 3 points. I think we're definitely safe now, barring a spectacular collapse where we lose every game pretty much

[Lineker]

The Championship is so damn tight this year. It's gonna go to the last day.

[9 to 5]

I have given up on the play-offs for sure today.

[brenchill]

Of course it will go to the last day. They aren't going to end the season early :\