Chasing The Big Leagues Southampton and the challengers (English Championship) is a post from: Just Football

Tales from Tier Two is a series on Just Football in partnership with @tiertwofooty, in which we assess the promotion chances of the clubs in tier two of Europe's major leagues at the midway point of 2011/12.

Signing of the season?

So one of the most exciting days of the season is over, and Jim White's excitable gossip-hungry clone can go back into suspended animation until next year. Yet spending is down nearly 70% versus last year's January deadline, where Torres and Carroll dominated the headlines.

P TIMES PG 1 West Ham United 54 2 Southampton 50 3 Cardiff City 50 4 Middlesbrough 45 5 Hull City 43 6 Blackpool 42 7 Reading 42 8 Leeds United 42 9 Brighton & Hove Albion 41 10 Derby County 41 11 Birmingham City 40 12 Burnley 40 13 Crystal Palace 37 14 Barnsley 36 15 Leicester City 35 16 Portsmouth 32 17 Peterborough United 31 18 Watford 30 19 Bristol City 30 20 Millwall 29 21 Ipswich Town 26 22 Nottingham Forest 24 23 Doncaster Rovers 23 24 Coventry City 22

Coventry City's Alex Nimely celebrates scoring their second goal of their terrific win against Middlesborough

Every week, my brother places an accumulator on various Football League results, only a few quid, but enough to make it fairly interesting. To this date, he has never won.

Jonjo Shelvey has spoken of his admiration for fellow central midfielder Jay Spearing and commented: 'I look up to Jay'.
Liverpool's No.33 netted his first goal in a red shirt during the FA Cup 3rd round victory over Oldham Athletic as he partnered Spearing at the heart of the Reds' midfield.
"Jay is a top, top player.

Jonjo Shelvey has spoken of his admiration for fellow central midfielder Jay Spearing and commented: 'I look up to Jay'.
Liverpool's No.33 netted his first goal in a red shirt during the FA Cup 3rd round victory over Oldham Athletic as he partnered Spearing at the heart of the Reds' midfield.
"Jay is a top, top player.

P TIMES PG 1 West Ham United 51 2 Southampton 50 3 Cardiff City 47 4 Middlesbrough 45 5 Hull City 40 6 Derby County 40 7 Blackpool 39 8 Burnley 39 9 Reading 40 10 Leeds United 39 11 Brighton & Hove Albion 38 12 Birmingham City 37 13 Crystal Palace 37 14 Barnsley 36 15 Leicester City 35 16 Watford 31 17 Portsmouth 32 18 Peterborough United 31 19 Bristol City 27 20 Millwall 26 21 Ipswich Town 26 22 Nottingham Forest 24 23 Doncaster Rovers 23 24 Coventry City 19

Two points separate the top four sides in the Championship going into this weekend's action, with leaders Southampton in danger of falling out of the automatic promotion spots for the first time this season.
Nigel Adkins' men wasted no time in acclimatising to life back in the second tier, surprising those who bet on the Championship to quickly build up a healthy lead over the rest.

photo by Neil Tingle/ISIphotos.com

Shay Given has recovered from his groin injury and has returned to training for Aston Villa, but that does not necessarily mean he is going to supplant Brad Guzan as the Villans' starting goalkeeper.

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish is keeping his options open in terms of who to start between the goal posts on a permanent basis as a result of Guzan's string of strong performances since filling in for Given since early December.

Matches in the Third Round of The FA Cup frequently draw attendances that are lower than they would be otherwise. The simple fact that tickets are not usually provided as part of annual season tickets combined with the possibility of people feeling the pinch in the weeks after Christmas is usually enough to keep many away.

1. Poor old Olympic cycling champion Chris Hoy probably had another busy Sunday explaining that he's not a referee to irate Manchester City fans. 2. Great to see Paolo Di Canio at the centre of the biggest shock of the weekend as Swindon saw off Wigan. He might be left disappointed by his hopes to [.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

FA Cup ties are the major draw in England this weekend, while Italian and Spanish sides return to action for the first time in nearly a month as winter breaks draw to a close.

Manchester United and Manchester City are still the heavy favorites to take home the Premier League title this year, but it's the FA Cup that provides another exhibition of one of the most heated rivalries in the world.

When Aston Villa starting goalkeeper Shay Given went down with an injury in an early December match against Manchester United, Alex McLeish was forced to turn to American backup Brad Guzan, who has been patiently waiting for a starting role in the Premier League ever since joining Villa from Chivas USA in 2008.

There are not many games on New Years Eve Eve, and I would advise to stay away from a home victory at Anfield. Liverpool may have not lost at home this season, but with Andy Carroll the principal striking option available, I would rather eat more turkey. Instead bet on Southampton to beat Bristol City [.

There are not many games on New Years Eve Eve, and I would advise to stay away from a home victory at Anfield. Liverpool may have not lost at home this season, but with Andy Carroll the principal striking option available, I would rather eat more turkey. Instead bet on Southampton to beat Bristol City [.

Viernes 6 de enero de 2012 Liverpool vs Oldham Athletic 14:00 hrsSábado 7 de enero de 2012 Birmingham vs Wolves 6:30 hrsDagenham & Redbridge vs Millwall 7:00 hrsBarnsley vs Swansea City 9:00 hrsBrighton vs Wrexham 9:00 hrsCoventry City vs Southampton 9:00 hrsCrawley Town vs Bristol City 9:00 hrsDerby County vs Crystal Palace 9:00 hrsDoncaster Rovers vs Notts County 9:00 hrsEverton vs Tamworth 9:00 hrsFleetwood Town vs Blackpool 9:00 hrsFulham vs Charlton Athletic 9:00 hrsGillingham vs Stoke City 9:00 hrsHull City vs Ipswich Town 9:00 hrsMacclesfield Town vs Bolton Wanderers 9:00 hrsMiddlesbrough vs Shrewsbury Town 9:00 hrsMilton Keynes Dons vs QPR 9:00 hrsNewcastle United vs Blackburn Rovers 9:00 hrsNorwich City vs Burnley 9:00 hrsNottingham Forest vs Leicester City 9:00 hrsReading vs Stevenage 9:00 hrsSheffield United vs Salisbury City 9:00 hrsSwindon Town vs Wigan Athletic 9:00 hrsTottenham Hotspur vs Cheltenham Town 9:00 hrsWatford vs Bradford City 9:00 hrsWBA vs Cardiff City 9:00 hrsBristol Rovers vs Aston Villa 11:30 hrsDomingo 8 de enero de 2012 Manchester City vs Manchester United 7:00 hrsChelsea vs Portsmouth 9:00 hrsSheffield Wednesday vs West Ham United 9:00 hrsPeterborough United vs Sunderland 9:30 hrsLunes 9 de enero de 2012 Arsenal vs Leeds United 13:45 hrs Gracias por tu visita Estadísticas de Fútbol

Day eleven. Guided by a star of wonder, the SPL Advent takes a trip to Perth.
Perhaps we should all read a Christmas lesson from the good book of McDiarmid Park.
St Johnstone have lost both a talented young manager and a steady, long-serving chairman this season.
And, so far, it's been more evolution for revolution.

Gems of the Lower Leagues: Jacob Butterfield is a post from: Just Football

Just Football's ‘Gems of the Lower Leagues' series continues with a look at Barnsley midfielder Jacob Butterfield. James McMath looks at why talk of a January move to the Premier League will surprise some, but not Barnsley fans.

The England national football team will jet off to Poland and Ukraine next summer with the hope of achieving something their forbearers have not. Namely, winning the European Football Championship. Yet the inhabitants of Krakow and Kiev would be hard pressed to place a cigarette paper between our brave English Lions, with their matching suits, [.

Mole Hunt
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RIP Socrates
Too disappointed to repost them here!
QPR Vs WBA Reports
- Compilation of Photos from QPR Vs WBA QPR Vs WBA Photos
- Three Year Flashback: QPR Looking for a Mole!
- Four Year Flashback: Nick Ward Exits QPR Nick Ward Departs QPR
FRANK SIBLEY TURNS SIXTY-FOUR
Edit a year.

P TIMES PG 1 Southampton 42 2 West Ham United 41 3 Cardiff City 35 4 Middlesbrough 32 5 Leeds United 31 6 Leicester City 29 7 Brighton & Hove Albion 29 8 Blackpool 27 9 Reading 27 10 Crystal Palace 27 11 Birmingham City 26 12 Hull City 25 13 Derby County 25 14 Burnley 24 15 Barnsley 24 16 Peterborough United 22 17 Millwall 22 18 Portsmouth 21 19 Watford 21 20 Bristol City 20 21 Nottingham Forest 20 22 Ipswich Town 18 23 Coventry City 13 24 Doncaster Rovers 13

Saturday The Galaxy play the Philippines National Team at 6:30am on Fox Soccer. EPL on ESPN2: Newcastle - Chelsea at 7:30am. On Fox Soccer: Manchester City - Norwich at 9:30am, Aston Villa - Manchester United at noon, and Spurs - Bolton at 5pm. On Fox Soccer Plus: Wigan - Arsenal at 10am and Blackburn - Swansea at 12pm.

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(From the Bushman Photo Archives) (40+ Years Later: Alive and Well in the USA)
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- Throughout the day, the QPR Report Messageboard has news updates, comments and perspectives - even links to other board comments of interest re QPR matters (on and off the field) along with football (and ONLY football) topics in general.

1 Southampton 36 2 West Ham United 32 3 Middlesbrough 30 4 Cardiff City 28 5 Leeds United 26 6 Blackpool 25 7 Crystal Palace 25 8 Derby County 24 9 Brighton & Hove Albion 23 10 Leicester City 22 11 Hull City 22 12 Birmingham City 21 13 Reading 21 14 Peterborough United 20 15 Portsmouth 20 16 Burnley 19 17 Millwall 18 18 Barnsley 18 19 Ipswich Town 18 20 Nottingham Forest 17 21 Watford 16 22 Bristol City 13 23 Coventry City 12 24 Doncaster Rovers 12

By Chris Wright

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. Bradford City have requested that their 2012 calendar be removed from stockists after being alerted to the fact that it featured Dele Adebola on the cover Adebola being a Hull City player.

Blackpool boss Ian Holloway believes a new role behind the strikers is bringing out the best of loanee Jonjo Shelvey.
The Liverpool midfielder is on loan with the Seasiders until the end of December and has so far netted five goals in seven games.
This included a hat-trick against Leeds United while playing in a more advanced role.

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From The Guardian's "The Gallery" "Now send your takes on Adel Taarab"...The Winning Entries:
Winning Entry: Jack Palmer
- - Runner up: Thomas Harper
-GUARDIAN - The Gallery: Adel Taarabt: 15 Entries Feature
- Throughout the day, the QPR Report Messageboard has news updates, comments and perspectives - even links to other board comments of interest re QPR matters (on and off the field) along with football (and ONLY football) topics in general.

Football has a habit of re-writing history. If it isn't trotting out statistics with the prefix "since the Premier League began", then it's defining a relatively arbitrary cut-off point of "post-war". Despite these handy devices it has not stopped Manchester United supporters claiming superiority over Liverpool with their 19 titles (first title won in 1908), one ahead of Liverpool's 18 (first one won in 1921).

Bristol City ready to hire black boss if he's the right man for the job

Robins chief Sextone brands racial quotas counter-productive

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-10-13 20:30:53 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Following Keith Millen's exit from the managerial post at Bristol City earlier this week, we are very pleased to welcome Paul Binning for our latest interview. Paul trades under the name @cider1977 on Twitter and runs the consistently enjoyable blog, The Exiled Robin. He also contributes a regular feature on social media and football that appears in the Bristol City matchday programme and I was

Following Keith Millen's exit from the managerial post at Bristol City earlier this week, we are very pleased to welcome Paul Binning for our latest interview. Paul trades under the name @cider1977 on Twitter and runs the consistently enjoyable blog, The Exiled Robin. He also contributes a regular feature on social media and football that appears in the Bristol City matchday programme and I was

Jonjo Shelvey has thanks Liverpool teammate Charlie Adam for his advice after impressing on loan debut for Blackpool.
The England youth international described his first appearance for the Tangerines as 'perfect' after scoring from distance with a free kick in a 5-0 romp against Bristol City.
Ian Holloway has reportedly been tracking the teenager for some time, and Shelvey admits the short-term move came about after conversations with Scottish international Adam, who was Blackpool captain for their Npower Championship promotion and subsequent relegation last term.

Blackpool's Jonjo Shelvey says his debut was 'perfect'

Blackpool's on-loan Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey describes his goal-scoring debut against Bristol City as 'perfect'.

View the full story here: BBC

A news article on 2011-10-03 13:24:10 from: BBC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Shelvey on his wonder goal

Jonjo Shelvey today spoke of his joy after netting a wonder goal on his Blackpool debut during the 5-0 thumping of Bristol City.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-10-02 11:49:44 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Jonjo Shelvey got his loan spell at Blackpool off to a perfect start by netting on his debut in the 5-0 thumping of Bristol City.
The midfielder played the full 90 minutes for Ian Holloway's side and netted with a superb free-kick after 66 minutes.
He also created the first goal for Gary Taylor-Fletcher.

Jonjo nets debut goal

Jonjo Shelvey got his loan spell at Blackpool off to a perfect start by netting on his debut in the 5-0 thumping of Bristol City.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-10-01 18:54:00 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Liverpool's Jonjo Shelvey joins Blackpool

Liverpool teenager Jonjo Shelvey has joined Blackpool on loan until the new year in a bid to gain more experience. He could feature against Bristol City this weekend.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-09-30 10:26:46 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

P TIMES PG J V E D GM GS SG 1 Southampton 19 8 6 1 1 20 10 10 2 Derby County 19 9 6 1 2 14 6 8 3 West Ham United 18 9 5 3 1 16 7 9 4 Middlesbrough 18 8 5 3 0 13 5 8 5 Brighton & Hove Albion 17 9 5 2 2 15 11 4 6 Hull City 14 9 4 2 3 7 8 -1 7 Cardiff City 13 8 3 4 1 10 7 3 8 Crystal Palace 13 9 4 1 4 12 10 2 9 Blackpool 13 9 3 4 2 11 9 2 10 Leicester City 12 8 3 3 2 9 9 0 11 Peterborough United 11 9 3 2 4 16 13 3 12 Leeds United 11 8 3 2 3 16 15 1 13 Reading 11 9 3 2 4 11 11 0 14 Ipswich Town 11 9 3 2 4 11 16 -5 15 Portsmouth 10 9 2 4 3 10 11 -1 16 Watford 10 9 2 4 3 9 12 -3 17 Burnley 9 8 2 3 3 12 12 0 18 Barnsley 9 9 1 6 2 7 9 -2 19 Birmingham City 8 7 2 2 3 10 12 -2 20 Nottingham Forest 8 9 2 2 5 9 18 -9 21 Coventry City 7 9 1 4 4 6 11 -5 22 Millwall 7 9 1 4 4 7 13 -6 23 Bristol City 6 9 1 3 5 8 15 -7 24 Doncaster Rovers 5 9 1 2 6 4 13 -9

P TIMES PG J V E D GM GS SG 1 Southampton 19 8 6 1 1 20 10 10 2 Middlesbrough 18 8 5 3 0 13 5 8 3 Derby County 18 8 6 0 2 13 5 8 4 West Ham United 17 8 5 2 1 16 7 9 5 Brighton & Hove Albion 17 8 5 2 1 14 8 6 6 Cardiff City 13 8 3 4 1 10 7 3 7 Hull City 13 8 4 1 3 6 7 -1 8 Blackpool 12 8 3 3 2 9 7 2 9 Leicester City 12 8 3 3 2 9 9 0 10 Leeds United 11 8 3 2 3 16 15 1 11 Peterborough United 10 8 3 1 4 14 11 3 12 Crystal Palace 10 8 3 1 4 9 9 0 13 Ipswich Town 10 8 3 1 4 11 16 -5 14 Portsmouth 9 8 2 3 3 8 9 -1 15 Reading 8 8 2 2 4 8 9 -1 16 Birmingham City 8 7 2 2 3 10 12 -2 17 Barnsley 8 8 1 5 2 6 8 -2 18 Nottingham Forest 8 8 2 2 4 8 13 -5 19 Watford 7 8 1 4 3 7 11 -4 20 Millwall 7 8 1 4 3 6 11 -5 21 Burnley 6 7 1 3 3 7 11 -4 22 Coventry City 6 8 1 3 4 4 9 -5 23 Bristol City 6 8 1 3 4 6 12 -6 24 Doncaster Rovers 4 8 1 1 6 3 12 -9

2:45pm ET, live in the US on Fox Soccer Plus
Last four head-to-head:
2-3 Liverpool (a; FA Cup) 01.30.91
2-2 (h; FA Cup) 01.26.91
4-0 Liverpool (h; League Cup) 10.29.85
0-2 Brighton (a; FA Cup) 01.01.84
Previous round(s):
Liverpool: 3-1 Exeter (a)
Brighton: 1-0 Sunderland (h); 1-0 Gillingham (h)
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 0-4 Spurs (a) 0-1 Stoke (a); 3-1 Bolton (h)
Brighton: 0-1 Leicester (a); 1-0 Bristol City (a); 2-0 Peterborough (h)
Goalscorers (all):
Liverpool: Suarez 3; Adam, Carroll, Henderson, Maxi, Skrtel 1
Brighton: Barnes 5; Mackail-Smith 3; Buckley 2; Harley, Hoskins, Noone 1
Referee: Michael Oliver
Youngest Premier League referee in history.