Leagues 1 & 2 Discussion Thread 2008/9

[johntheclaret]

I won't be posting too much in here, but I thought this might have a bit of interest for all Australian Soccer fans, and not just Drebin

Thanks to Sky Sports

Foxes lose key stopper

Leicester have lost defender Patrick Kisnorbo until Christmas.

The Australian is a key member of Nigel Pearson's side, but he has now been sidelined with a knee injury.
He picked up the problem during the FA Cup win over Stevenage at the weekend and he will be out for around six weeks - a club spokesman confirmed.
Kisnorbo is now likely to miss up to seven league matches, as well as their FA Cup second round clash against either Hereford or Dagenham & Redbridge.

[Dirko]

Half decent player too Kisnorbo. One of the fringe players for the Socceroos that can't clinch a berth.

[johntheclaret]

Half decent player too Kisnorbo. One of the fringe players for the Socceroos that can't clinch a berth.

I wasn't sure if he was a Socceroo Jabber, so I thought I would put the story up anyway.

[Dirko]

Yeah he's played about 15 games. Most blokes who have cut it in a big league (Kisnorbo played for Hearts too) usually get a gig. The good thing about australian Football atm is the depth that we currently have.

When the majority of the starting 11 are from the EPL, Serie A, Bundesliga or Eredivisie it makes it easy for the selectors to "forget" about blokes toiling away in the CCC, League 1 etc.

[johntheclaret]

So do you think they are just selecting blokes because they are in the top flight or are they picking the best team anyway and the fact these blokes are in the top flight is because they are the best ?

[Dirko]

So do you think they are just selecting blokes because they are in the top flight or are they picking the best team anyway and the fact these blokes are in the top flight is because they are the best ?

Nope these blokes are the best, where as 10 years ago we'd never have so much talent playing top flight. Always had a lot of blokes plugging away in the lower divisions.

[Dirko]

Bloody forgot Michael is a Leeds supporter...

2 - 1 to the Derby...2 - 1 to the Derby
Ohh when the Rams go marching in
Ohh when the Rams go marching in
How I yearn to be at Pride Park
When the Rams go marching in......

[johntheclaret]

Shows you how big Leeds really are !!!! This ones for you Michael

Thanks to The Sporting Life

WHITES REVEAL HEALTHY PROFITS

Leeds are seeking to re-purchase Elland Road and Thorp Arch after revealing profits of £4.5million in the 14-month period to July 2008.

Both Leeds' famous stadium and state-of-the-art training complex were sold during the their financial meltdown in order to help keep the club afloat.

However, with Ken Bates at the helm Leeds are now in the black for the first time in years and planning for the long-term as part of their quest to regain their Premier League status.

During the period the Leeds' books show a profit of just over £4.5million while the club made an operating profit before player trading of £902,000 from a turnover of £23,249,000.

[Mr Butterworth]

WE ALL LOVE LEEDS

MARCHING ON TOGETHER

[Pidge]

Shows you how big Leeds really are !!!! This ones for you Michael :wink:

Thanks to The Sporting Life

WHITES REVEAL HEALTHY PROFITS

Leeds are seeking to re-purchase Elland Road and Thorp Arch after revealing profits of £4.5million in the 14-month period to July 2008.

Both Leeds' famous stadium and state-of-the-art training complex were sold during the their financial meltdown in order to help keep the club afloat.

However, with Ken Bates at the helm Leeds are now in the black for the first time in years and planning for the long-term as part of their quest to regain their Premier League status.

During the period the Leeds' books show a profit of just over £4.5million while the club made an operating profit before player trading of £902,000 from a turnover of £23,249,000.

Great news. One of the few positives Leeds have had for a few years. Hopefully we can get promoted this season. Its pretty tight up top at the moment.

[johntheclaret]

And all they had to do was go into administration and pay their creditors 7p in the pound.

As much as I would love to have Leeds (and Leicester for that matter), back in the CCC, personally I think it is a disgrace that they can effectively go bust so they don't have to pay their creditors and then within a year post £4m odd profits.

What about the poor little one man bands and comapny's that went to the wall with Leeds because thay only got 7 pence for every pound that Leeds owed them.

Legalised mugging imo

[drebin]

And all they had to do was go into administration and pay their creditors 7p in the pound.

As much as I would love to have Leeds (and Leicester for that matter), back in the CCC, personally I think it is a disgrace that they can effectively go bust so they don't have to pay their creditors and then within a year post £4m odd profits.

What about the poor little one man bands and comapny's that went to the wall with Leeds because thay only got 7 pence for every pound that Leeds owed them.

Legalised mugging imo

Don't put us (LCFC) in the same boat as Leeds please - whilst we got into financial strife we never actually went bust as Leeds did and subsequently lost points.

I read with interest last week where the Tax Office (whatever it is called in the UK) wiped the monies owed to them by 42 football clubs with interestingly LCFC was the leading club in terms of having paid back the most owed tax out of any of the clubs.

You have to admire Leeds though (as much as that pains me to say!), having endured financial issues, relegated to the third tier, lost 13 points before a ball was kicked they nearly (and should have probably) got back to the CCC last season. Their financial turnaround has been amazing but when you have a club with the support base it has, 31,000 thru the turnstiles on average at most home games then it is no real suprise.

At the end of the day I don't care as long as Leicester go back up and to ensure that then we need to stay where we are - TOP! We need to avoid the slippery slope of the playoffs if that is possible.

[johntheclaret]

I never suggested LCFC had gone bust. I was referring to them being back in the CCC where I would like to see them (along with Leeds)

Financially I would be happier to see 5,000 Leeds or Leicester fans through the turnstiles at Turf Moor than the 300 that Peterborough would bring.

As for Leeds. Let's look at the facts. They went into administration and struck up a CVA arrangement. They didn't actually go bust and by doing a CVA (Company Voluntary Arrangement), it effectively meant they could get away with wiping out 93% of their debt. As for the Taxman, they are one of only two bodies that can do real damage to an organisastion by seizing assets. The the clubs case the players were their only asset and the taxman has the right to go into the club seizing those assets and selling them for whatever they could get to reduce the debt. The only other pref would have been the landlord, but on the basis that it is a football club, there would be little benefit in seizing assets and killing the club. So i am not suprised that Leeds was paying off the taxman. Tough shit on all the other creditors though. Everyone else got 7p in every pound owed.

Then there is the 13 or 15 point deduction at the beginning of the season. Whilst I am not sure I agree with that, mainly because of the incompetance on the FA, but Leeds were pulling a fast one there too. They knew they were going to be relegated so they went into administration with just one game of the season left. They knew they would get the 10 point deduction even tough it had no effect on their league position, thinking that they would start up all anew next year, but the FA had other plans. They stuck Leeds with another points deduction becausde at least, as incompetant as they are, they could see that they were pulling a fast one.

The way Leeds went into administration, then a CVA, knowing full well they would start up again a week later vitually debt free is a disgrace. I am sorry Drebin but I asee this kind of thing all the timne in the real world at the damage it does to honest suppliers is unfair. And as much as I want Leeds back in the CCC for the away fan revenue, they got what they desreved with the additional points deduction.


BTW regarding the landlord, you can bet your arse that if the club was in a fashionable part of the UK, then the real estate value might have had some influence in the decision to fore-close but not Elland Road.

end of rant

[devilsadvocate]

As for Leeds. Let's look at the facts. They went into administration and struck up a CVA arrangement. They didn't actually go bust and by doing a CVA (Company Voluntary Arrangement), it effectively meant they could get away with wiping out 93% of their debt. As for the Taxman, they are one of only two bodies that can do real damage to an organisastion by seizing assets. The the clubs case the players were their only asset and the taxman has the right to go into the club seizing those assets and selling them for whatever they could get to reduce the debt. The only other pref would have been the landlord, but on the basis that it is a football club, there would be little benefit in seizing assets and killing the club. So i am not suprised that Leeds was paying off the taxman. Tough s***t on all the other creditors though. Everyone else got 7p in every pound owed.

The way Leeds went into administration, then a CVA, knowing full well they would start up again a week later vitually debt free is a disgrace. I am sorry Drebin but I asee this kind of thing all the timne in the real world at the damage it does to honest suppliers is unfair. And as much as I want Leeds back in the CCC for the away fan revenue, they got what they desreved with the additional points deduction.

Spot on. Total disgrace. I was not aware that creditors only got 7p in the quid - robbery.

IMO, for Leeds to have continued as a going concern after their administration, they should have been forced into some sort of creditor compromise scheme, whereby a % of future profits is repaid to creditors outstanding on administration. How they are allowed to wipe the slate clean and just resume business is beyond me. Those creditors now have no leg to stand on as their 7p/£ was no doubt taken as acceptance of settlement of their debt, which at the time probably seemed better than nothing.

Imagine how they'd feel now seeing a profit. If those creditors were supporters of Leeds, I'd be very surprised if they still follow them.

[johntheclaret]

Sorry fella's, I have been away most of this week so here is a round up from Sat 6th Dec

LEAGUE 1

Results

Cheltenham Town 1-0 Crewe Alexandra
Colchester United 1-2 Hereford United
Hartlepool United 0-0 Yeovil Town
Huddersfield Town 2-1 Walsall
Leicester City 3-0 Southend United
Millwall 3-2 Bristol Rovers
Milton Keynes Dons 0-2 Scun.thorpe United
Northampton Town 1-1 Leyton Orient
Oldham Athletic 1-1 Brighton and Hove A
Stockport County 1-3 Peterborough United
Swindon Town 1-1 Carlisle United
Tranmere Rovers 2-1 Leeds United

Round Up

Matty Fryatt scored his second consecutive hat-trick as Leicester maintained their position at the top of Coca-Cola League One with a 3-0 victory over Southend.
The striker put the Foxes ahead after only six minutes, made it two in the 76th minute, and then tucked away a penalty after Peter Clarke handled (80) to make it 22 goals for the season.

Millwall climbed above MK Dons into second place with a 3-2 victory over Bristol Rovers.
Tresor Kandol's double (five and 18) set the Lions on their way but Rickie Lambert was again on the scoresheet as Rovers halved the deficit (19). Gary Alexander restored the two-goal advantage (72) and Jo Kuffour's 20-yarder proved merely a consolation (79).

The Dons suffered their fourth home defeat of the season as Ian Morris (77) and Garry Thompson (83) netted late on to give fellow promotion chasers Scun.thorpe a 2-0 victory.

Stockport scored three goals against Peterborough - but still slumped to a 3-1 defeat.
Michael Raynes put through his own net (22) to give Posh the lead. Anthony Pilkington then levelled (52) but Craig Mackail-Smith put the visitors back in front (62) and a second own goal from James Tunnicliffe (75) settled matters.

Oldham dropped below **** and Peterborough to sixth after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton at Boundary Park.
Andy Liddell's penalty put the hosts ahead in the ninth minute but Glenn Murray equalised (20) and Albion held on despite having Adam Virgo sent off early in the second half.

Leeds' patchy form continued as they were beaten 2-1 by Tranmere despite taking the lead through Enoch Showunmi's overhead kick (11).
Antony Kay levelled six minutes later and Ian Moore grabbed a 49th-minute winner against his old club.

Michael Collins netted three minutes into injury-time as Huddersfield sneaked a 2-1 win at home against fellow mid-table outfit Walsall.
Gary Roberts' penalty had given the hosts the lead in the 26th minute before Alex Nicholls levelled matters four minutes after the break.

Crewe are now six points adrift at the bottom of the table after losing 1-0 to fellow strugglers Cheltenham - Drissa Diallo (48) getting the only goal - while Hereford claimed their first away victory of the season with a 2-1 win at Colchester.
Stephen Guinan (29) and Lionel Ainsworth (39) gave the Bulls a two-goal cushion and they held on despite Jermaine Easter pulling a goal back for Paul Lambert's side (71). Drissa Diallo scored the only goal of the game at Whaddon Road (48).

Paul Thirlwell salvaged a point for Carlisle in a 1-1 draw at Swindon with an 87th-minute equaliser after an own goal from Peter Murphy had put the hosts ahead.

It was the same score at Sixfields in the match between Northampton and Leyton Orient. Liam Davis put the Cobblers ahead after only two minutes but JJ Melligan levelled for Orient three minutes before half-time.

Yeovil stay fourth-bottom after holding Hartlepool to a 0-0 draw.

Table

Teams P GD PTS
1 Leicester 19 18 41
2 Millwall 19 7 39
------------------------------
3 Milton Keynes Dons 19 18 37
4 Peterborough 19 15 36
5 Scun.thorpe 19 11 36
6 Oldham 19 12 35
------------------------------
7 Leeds 19 9 32
8 Stockport 19 9 31
9 Tranmere 19 4 30
10 Walsall 19 0 27
11 Southend 19 -3 27
12 Huddersfield 19 -4 26
13 Hartlepool 19 -1 25
14 Northampton 19 1 24
15 Bristol R 19 3 22
16 Colchester 19 -4 21
17 Carlisle 19 -8 21
18 Leyton O 19 -8 21
19 Swindon 19 -5 20
20 Brighton 19 -5 20
----------------------------
21 Yeovil 19 -10 19
22 Hereford 19 -16 15
23 Cheltenham 19 -21 15
24 Crewe 19 -22 9

LEAGUE 2

Results

Aldershot Town 3-2 Wycombe Wanderers
Bournemouth 1-0 Chester City
Bradford City 1-1 Dagenham and Redb'ge
Exeter City 2-1 Lincoln City
Gillingham 2-1 Chesterfield
Luton Town 3-1 Barnet
Macclesfield Town 1-1 Bury
Notts County 1-0 Morecambe
Port Vale 2-1 Grimsby Town
Shrewsbury Town 1-0 Rotherham United

Round Up

The only unbeaten league record in English professional football came to an end as Aldershot beat Wycombe 3-2 at the EBB Stadium.
Wanderers had gone 18 matches without defeat to open up a seven-point lead at the top of Coca-Cola League Two but they finally came unstuck in Hampshire.
Kirk Hudson hit a first-half brace (12 & 29) as the Shots opened up a two-goal advantage. Loan star Angelo Balanta pulled one back 14 minutes from time but the hosts made sure through Daniel Hylton (88).
There was still time for teenager Matt Phillips to grab a second for Wycombe from long range but their comeback proved in vain, although their lead was only reduced by one point.

Darren Anderton's long career came to an end in dream fashion as he netted the winner for Bournemouth two minutes from time in a 1-0 victory over 10-man Chester.
Tony Dinning was sent off with 82 minutes gone and former England winger Anderton, who has made the decision to hang up his boots at the age of 36, fired in from 20 yards to take Bournemouth into positive points.

There were more red cards than goals at the New Meadow where Shrewsbury climbed to second in the table after a 1-0 win over nine-man Rotherham.
Drewe Broughton was the first to go for two yellow cards (59) and he was followed down the tunnel by Rotherham keeper David Stockdale, who was given his marching orders for bringing down Kevin McIntyre. Grant Holt tucked away the penalty (72).

Bradford joined Shrewsbury on 34 points but were held to a 1-1 draw by Dagenham and Redbridge. Michael Boulding put the Bantams ahead (62) before Matt Ritchie levelled for the visitors (71).

Fifth-placed Bury also had to settle for a 1-1 draw on their trip to Macclesfield. There were two goals in the first eight minutes with Martin Gritton putting the hosts ahead (6) and Stephen Dawson levelling.
Macc's Matthew Flynn was sent off but they clung on for a point.

Exeter climbed to sixth thanks to a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Lincoln.
Lenell John-Lewis put the visitors ahead (51) but Craig McAllister levelled (75) and Danny N'Guessan's 88th-minute dismissal cost Lincoln dear as Dean Moxey pounced in the second minute of injury time.

Gillingham won by the same score against Chesterfield. Adam Miller (18) and leading scorer Simeon Jackson (45) put the Gills two up and they held on despite Jack Lester halving the deficit with half-an-hour left.

Luton are now only seven points away from wiping out their deficit after a 3-1 victory over free-falling Barnet.
Paul McVeigh (11) and Chris Martin (15) gave the Hatters the perfect start before Abu Ogogo pulled one back (40). Ogogo went from hero to villain when he was sent off on the stroke of half-time and Michael Townsend competed a miserable day for the Bees by heading into his own net (88).

Port Vale broke Grimsby hearts thanks to an 88th-minute winner from Simon Richman. Marc Richards put the Valiants ahead (28) but the visitors thought they had earned a point when Adam Proudlock equalised five minutes from time, only for Richman to make it 2-1.

Notts County earned only their second home victory of the season as Sean Canham's goal on the stroke of half-time earned a 1-0 win over Morecambe.

Two games were victims of the weather with Rochdale's trip to Darlington and Accrington's match against Brentford called off.

Table

Teams P GD PTS
1 Wycombe 19 17 40
2 Shrewsbury 19 20 34
3 Bradford 19 10 34
-------------------------
4 Darlington 18 14 32
5 Bury 19 9 32
6 Exeter 19 4 32
7 Rochdale 18 11 31
-------------------------
8 Brentford 18 9 31
9 Gillingham 19 1 31
10 Aldershot 19 -4 30
11 Dagenham R 19 15 28
12 Chesterfield 19 3 23
13 Lincoln 19 -2 23
14 Port Vale 19 -9 23
15 Notts Co 19 -5 21
16 Macclesfield 19 -15 21
17 Accrington Stanley 18 -3 19
18 Morecambe 19 -9 18
19 Chester 19 -15 16
20 Barnet 19 -20 14
21 Rotherham 19 1 10
22 Grimsby 19 -21 10
------------------------------
23 Bournemouth 19 -7 3
24 Luton 19 -4 -7

[johntheclaret]

Leicester looking good for a swift return to the CCC. Fryatt's double hat trick and a tough comeback this week, but what the hell has happened to Leeds lately. Another home defeat this week leaves them in 8th.

[devilsadvocate]

Leeds have sacked their boss McAllister:

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_4676044,00.html

Leeds United have announced that they have sacked manager Gary McAllister.

The decision follows a run of five consecutive losses, including the shock FA Cup defeat to Histon.

Saturday's League One slump at Milton Keynes Dons saw League One promotion hopefuls Leeds slip to ninth in the table.

A statement on the club's official website read: "The board took the decision following the recent poor run of results that has seen the club slip to ninth in League One, 15 points behind the leaders and five points outside the play-offs.

[Pidge]

Come on Leeds!

[Pidge]

Bloody forgot Michael is a Leeds supporter...

2 - 1 to the Derby...2 - 1 to the Derby
Ohh when the Rams go marching in
Ohh when the Rams go marching in
How I yearn to be at Pride Park
When the Rams go marching in......

Is that Derby County or Derby City? Thats what they are called on the ladder in the advertiser today

[johntheclaret]

Sorry boys, really busy time at Xmas for me. Will get back onto the swing n ext week.