Sky Bet Football League thread 2015/16

[Noah]

So the undefeated streak for Brighton ends and they immediately drop to 3rd. Serves us right for drawing 10 games along the way. An undefeated streak is much nicer when you win more games.

[Lineker]

Colchester United have appointed the former West Ham and Stoke midfielder Kevin Keen as their new manager. The appointment sees 48-year-old Keen take on his first full managerial role following caretaker positions at West Ham and Macclesfield in recent years. Keen has also been first-team coach at Liverpool in 2011-12 and was assistant manager to Steve Clarke at Reading, a position he was sacked from earlier this month.

[Sam]

Hopefully he knows how to make a team defend as they will be the key skills he needs. Thought we might do a Fulham and be managerless for a long time. 

[Thrilla]

1 hour ago, Noah said:

So the undefeated streak for Brighton ends and they immediately drop to 3rd. Serves us right for drawing 10 games along the way. An undefeated streak is much nicer when you win more games.

Works well for my bet on Middlesbrough to win the league though.

[Adam]

4 hours ago, Noah said:

So the undefeated streak for Brighton ends and they immediately drop to 3rd. Serves us right for drawing 10 games along the way. An undefeated streak is much nicer when you win more games.

Your streak was becoming quite 'Huddersfield-esque' in that you were drawing an awful lot of games. History tells us that run was not all that impressive since it was 'masterminded' by the football genius Lee Clark. It is still really tight at the top of the Championship and having the undefeated claim off your back might actually benefit the mindset of the players going forward now.

[Colly]

2 hours ago, Thrilla said:

Works well for my bet on Middlesbrough to win the league though.

Ditto.

[Thrilla]

I've just won two tickets and a signed club match ball for Blackburn Vs. Middlesbrough on Boxing Day but er... I probably can't get there :-/

[Lineker]

Man, if only we had another couple of Rovers fans on here.

[Thrilla]

Wolfie and Niner both live further south than I do! Doubt they can get up.  @cmb211087 perhaps? I don't even know if I can transfer the tickets to someone else.

[cmb211087]

I live in Darwen so that would be ideal for me

[Lineker]

The Northern Territory is hardly ideal.

[Dan]

1 minute ago, Lineklaus said:

The Northern Territory is hardly ideal.

He dug a hole so far he can just jump right in and end up outside Ewood.

[Thrilla]

31 minutes ago, cmb211087 said:

I live in Darwen so that would be ideal for me

Cool, I'll see what I can do.  Shoot me a PM with your name and number and I'll try and switch the details over.

[cmb211087]

Pm sent. 

[Lineker]

Neil Lennon will remain in charge of Bolton Wanderers after the Championship club concluded their internal investigation into allegations made in a newspaper article.

Bolton announced on Sunday that they would look into a report about Lennon’s private life that appeared in the Sunday Mirror.

On Tuesday they confirmed that, having concluded the internal investigation, Lennon would remain in his post at the Macron Stadium.

A club statement read: “Bolton Wanderers Football Club can announce that they have now concluded an internal investigation into an article published in the Sunday Mirror on Sunday 20 December.

“The club has dealt with the matter internally and acted accordingly, details of which will remain private. Neil Lennon will remain in charge of the first-team squad. The club will be making no further comment on the matter.”

Bolton are bottom of the Championship and face a trip to Rotherham United, also in the relegation zone, on Boxing Day.

[Baddar]

Ginger tosser.

[Lineker]

Championship clubs Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Bolton have all been placed under a transfer embargo for the rest of the season after breaking Financial Fair Play rules during the 2014-15 campaign, the Football League has announced.

Fulham and Nottingham Forest were sanctioned after exceeding an adjusted loss of £6m – the maximum rules allow – while Bolton were punished after being unable to submit their FFP return owing to their current off-field situation, which has seen them served with a winding-up petition by HMRC over an unpaid tax bill. The punishment means that all three clubs will be unable to sign players in next month’s transfer window.

Last season’s Championship winners, Bournemouth, also posted losses of more than £6m and will face a fine, the amount of which is yet to be revealed. Millwall, who were relegated to League One last term, also went over the maximum deviation of losses, but will not be punished.

A Football League statement read: “An initial analysis of Financial Fair Play submissions from clubs that played in the Sky Bet Championship last season has resulted in three clubs being subject to sanctions, under rules agreed with league clubs in April 2012.

“All three exceeded the maximum permitted deviation of £6m – consisting of a maximum adjusted loss of £3m plus a further maximum of £3m of shareholder investment.

“Champions AFC Bournemouth will face a financial sanction to be finalised in due course, while Fulham and Nottingham Forest will be subject to an ‘FFP Embargo’ for the remainder of the current campaign. Both clubs will have the opportunity to have their FFP embargo lifted at the end of the season by demonstrating that they have stayed within the maximum permitted deviation of £13m (£5m loss plus £8m shareholder investment) for the 2015/16 season.

“A further club, Millwall, also exceeded the maximum permitted deviation but will not face any further sanction, in line with Championship FFP regulations, following the club’s relegation to League One as it was not deemed to have gained any significant advantage.

“The Football League is currently in discussions with a number of other clubs over their FFP submissions and will confirm any further FFP embargoes, if any, in due course.

“Bolton Wanderers did not submit an FFP return owing to the club’s ongoing financial difficulties. As a result, the club will not be permitted to sign any players until it has complied with its obligations under the Championship’s FFP regulations.”

A statement on Bournemouth’s website read: “AFC Bournemouth is fully aware of the Football League’s proposed financial sanction relating to Financial Fair Play and is currently engaged in positive dialogue with the Football League to reach a satisfactory outcome.

“The club will update supporters when an outcome has been reached and will not be making any further comment at this moment in time.”

Fulham also released a statement, outlining some mitigating circumstances behind their rule-breaking.

It said: “The embargo arises as the club made an adjusted loss greater than the £6m limit allowed by the Football League in the year following relegation. The Football League has since recognised this limit is low, especially for clubs recently relegated with Premier League overheads in place, and the limit has now increased to £13m per annum.

“Unfortunately Fulham’s embargo falls in the final year of the previous limit, but the club does not anticipate being in breach in future years.’’

[Lineker]

Fulham have appointed Slavisa Jokanovic as their new head coach, the chairman Shahid Khan said in a statement. The Serb, who has left his post as Maccabi Tel Aviv manager to take the role, was manager of Watford last season when they were promoted to the Premier League. Negotiations to extend his contract at Vicarage Road broke down in June over his wage demands and Quique Sánchez Flores was appointed in his place.

[Lineker]

The Leeds United owner, Massimo Cellino, is apparently trying to prevent his side’s match with Derby County on Tuesday being televised.

It is understood that the controversial Italian has instructed staff to deny Sky Sports’ production crew entry to Elland Road for a game which is to be broadcast live on the network. Staff from Sky Sports were denied entry to Elland Road on Monday as they arrived to set up for the match.

Cellino’s stance is in response to the number of times his side have been shown on Sky Sports this season, resulting in a number of kick-off and date changes. Leeds have been shown live on Sky Sports nine times already this season, with Tuesday’s game taking them into double figures, with four of them home games.

Earlier this season Cellino said he would be capping Leeds’ notoriously large away support at 2,000 in order to make the point that his club would not be taken for granted, only to reverse the decision after fan dissent.

“The League has been made aware that Sky personnel have been unable to access Elland Road today as previously arranged,” a Football League spokesman said in a statement. “We have contacted Leeds United to remind the club of its obligations to our broadcast partner and to ask them for their observations.

“As yet we have not received a response from anyone in authority at the club but are hopeful that the matter can be resolved swiftly once the club does engage.”

The former Cagliari owner Cellino is currently waiting for an appeal date as he fights a second Football League ban for breaching its Owners’ and Directors’ test following a tax evasion conviction in Italy. He will not be present at Elland Road on Tuesday as he is in Miami and has left the enforcement of his ban with other staff.

[Adam]

Martin Ling has resigned as Swindon manager due to 'health reasons', which is a real shame. Was hoping he was over his problems and able to cope with being back in the game.