My Predictions for this weekends games!

Barclays Premier League

Everton 2-2 Liverpool, 12:45

Aston Villa 1-2 Wigan, 15:00

Blackburn 1-5 Man City, 15:00

Man Utd 2-1 Norwich, 15:00

Bolton 1-4 Chelsea, 13:30

Fulham 0-2 QPR, 15:00

Swansea 1-3 Stoke, 15:00

Tottenham 1-0 Arsenal, 16:00

Wolverhampton 2-3 Newcastle 15:00
Sunderland 2-2 West Brom 15:00

Championship

Barnsley 1-1 Coventry, 15:00

Blackpool 3-1 Bristol City, 15:00

Crystal Palace 2-1 West Ham, 15:00

Hull 2-3 Cardiff, 15:00

Ipswich 3-1 Brighton, 15:00

Leeds 2-0 Portsmouth, 15:00

Millwall 0-4 Burnley, 15:00

Peterborough 4-1 Doncaster, 15:00

Reading 4-3 Middlesbrough, 15:00

Southampton 1-0 Watford, 15:00

Leicester 2-2 Derby, 17:20

Nott'm Forest 1-2 Birmingham 15:00

League One

Brentford 0-3 Huddersfield, 15:00

Chesterfield 0-0 Colchester, 15:00

Exeter 1-2 Oldham, 15:00

Hartlepool 1-4 Sheffield Wed, 15:00

Leyton Orient 1-3 Preston, 15:00

MK Dons 2-2 Notts County, 15:00

Rochdale 1-0 Wycombe, 15:00

Sheffield Utd 3-3 Charlton, 15:00

Stevenage 2-1 Scunthorpe, 15:00

Tranmere 1-1 Bournemouth, 15:00

Walsall 1-2 Carlisle, 15:00

Yeovil 0-0 Bury, 15:00

League Two

Accrington Stanley 2-1 Aldershot, 15:00

AFC Wimbledon 3-0 Gillingham, 15:00

Barnet 1-3 Northampton, 15:00

Bristol Rovers 1-0 Cheltenham, 15:00

Burton Albion 2-1 Bradford, 15:00

Crawley Town 3-0 Plymouth, 15:00

Dag & Red 2-0 Crewe, 15:00

Hereford 2-2 Oxford Utd, 15:00

Port Vale 0-0 Rotherham, 15:00

Torquay 0-1 Morecambe, 15:00

This is the first predictions I have done on my blog, just thought I'd try it for something different, I'll be working out how many results I got right and how many perfect results at the end of each weekend and creating a tally for me to try and beat each week. Any challengers welcome!!!

Report

A big game for both teams at the Mestalla, Valencia looking for their first win in their Champions League campaign whereas Chelsea were hoping to extend their lead at the top of the group. A big game also for former Valencia player Juan Manuel Mata who is in the Chelsea line-up for his first game back at his old stomping grounds. 

The game started with Chelsea in full control, the opening minutes of the game Valencia looked really sloppy in everything they did, often needlessly giving away possession in their own half. After three minutes the first chance of the game fell to Chelsea, Torres was played through on goal and looked to have a real goal scoring opportunity but he was taken out by Adil Rami. But the referee on this occasion deemed there was no infringement. 

Just two minutes later it was Chelsea with a chance again, Valencia gave the ball away and that allowed Ramires to break away from the Valencia midfield with his pace and poise, he then was in on the defence cut inside well and was away from the defence until Rami took him out, my first thought was is that a red card, but I think the referee made the correct decision in producing a Yellow Card this time around as Alba was the covering defender.

Then after 20 minutes of not much happening and Valencia creating more of a foothold in the game, a big chance for the home team arrived, a chance for Pablo Hernandez the striker firing in on goal on the run after a fine whipped ball in from Jordi Alba. Valencia were really starting to come into the game and were certainly giving Chelsea something to think about. 

Half time then arrived, with both teams struggling to build up a head of steam and chances really were at a premium, both needed one of their creative players to step up and supply the strikers with more ammunition, as the strikers were becoming to look a little isolated as the game went on. 

Two minutes into the second half and it was Chelsea straight on the attack, Bosingwa did well down the right crossing in towards Torres who got a great header on target but he was denied a goal by an outstanding save from Valencia's stand in stopper Diego Alves. 

The start to the second half was a cracking affair, chances galore for both teams, as almost immediately after the Chelsea chance Valencia broke quickly forward and only a last ditch headed clearance from Luiz prevented Hernandez a goalscoring chance. Then a minute later it was straight up the other end, Chelsea had a couple of chances, the first Ramires charging through on the keeper, but the keeper does well and then a second later it was Torres with another chance, a cross into the box which he took well and got a shot away which the keeper stopped superbly from point blank range, Chelsea were really starting to pepper the Valencia goal and a goal looked inevitable. 

That goal then arrived with 56 minutes on the clock, and it was the man of the moment Frank Lampard, recently left out of England and Chelsea first team line-ups, it really is the kind of goal which rolls back the years, Florent Malouda does well to lay the ball back to Lampard, and he drills the ball home leaving the keeper with no chance at all. He's certainly proved all his doubters wrong with that strike!

Valencia responded in a good manner after that set back however, a through ball is slid through the Chelsea back line and Soldado's in on goal, his first touch pushed him wide though and the chance passes by, a better touch there and it could've been a real chance. Ten minutes later and its Valencia pushing for an equaliser again, a great opportunity this time for Pablo Piatti, a ball chipped in behind which he latches onto and there's only Cech to beat who pulls off a brilliant save to keep Valencia at bay. Chelsea really needed to up their game or risk a Valencia equaliser, Andre Villas Boas then brought on Nicolas Anelka to try stem the tide of Valencia attacks. 

On 75 minutes Valencia came forward again, Feghouli has the first effort a shot from distance that took a slight deflection and Cech held onto it well. Then the second chance, it drops to Piatti but he should have really done better, placed eight yards out he dragged his shot harmlessly wide of the right hand post.

The goal that had been coming for the last half an hour for Valencia finally arrived with five minutes to go, albeit in controversial circumstances, a penalty was given for a handball in the Chelsea area from Salomon Kalou who had literally just walked onto the pitch to replace Frank Lampard, he went to challenge to win a header from a Valencia corner but he lead with his hand and I feel the penalty was the correct decision. The penalty was then confidently dispatched by Valencia's top scorer Roberto Soldado low into the bottom right of the net.

Then two minutes to go Chelsea with a chance to steal the points , Nicolas Anelka is played through on goal, the keeper however stands up well and makes a good save to deny Chelsea yet again tonight, a top display from the Valencia 2nd choice keeper tonight!   

At the end of the day a disappointing result for Chelsea in a game where they could've had 3 or 4 if not for the brilliance of the Valencia keeper. Still I'm sure they will take a point as Valencia's pressure towards the end could have meant the home side nicked all 3 points but all in all I think both teams will be happy to take home a well earned point.  Great game to watch... well the 2nd half at least, I'm sure both of these teams will successfully make it through to the knock-out stages and I look forward to seeing them both!

Barcelona To Battle Tottenham For Bolton’s £5m England International

Barcelona are weighing up a £5million bid for Bolton Wanderers defender Gary Cahill to help sure up their backline.

The 25-year-old is available on a free next summer and has been widely tipped with a move away from the Reebok Stadium in January as the Trotters will not let him leave for nothing.

The England international has been strongly linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Arsenal in the previous transfer window but no club matched his £17million release clause.

It was the reported interest from the Gunners that alerted Barcelona to Cahill’s ability, and manager Pep Guardiola has been keeping tabs on him since.

Well, that would be a good signing in my opinion, I feel Puyol is slowly coming to the end of his careers and Gary Cahill I reckon could slot right in. It would be amazing seeing an English lad playing in that possibly the best team in the world! Maybe Cesc Fabregas had a word with Pep and recommended him, it is clear he wont be at Bolton much longer and with clubs like Bolton already sniffing around its clear he won't be short of options! I wish him the best as he seems a decent lad as well!

Borussia Dortmund   1 - 1   Arsenal

Arsenal's hopes of starting their Champions League campaign with an away win were dashed when substitute Ivan Perisic's superb late volley rescued a point for Borussia Dortmund.

Robin van Persie looked to have secured the points for the Gunners with a fine goal from Theo Walcott's through ball.
But Perisic dipped a sublime 20-yard shot home to salvage a draw.
And only a fine Wojciech Szczesny save from Robert Lewandowski in injury time stopped Arsenal finishing with nothing.

Well i was unable to watch the match but i listened throughout on TalkSport, from what i heard Arsenal on the whole played pretty well. It sounded like their defence was more solid and it seemed like Van Persie was back to his best. If Arsenal held on to that 1-0 lead they earned it would've been a brilliant three points for them but i think after that wonder strike they are just going to have to accept a point isn't the end of the world and I'm sure at the start of the game they would've accepted a point!

Liam and Luke join Harrogate Town

Simon Weaver has acted to cover several injuries within the squad today when he signed two defenders. Both players will be in contention for tomorrow’s game against Gloucester City.

Joining Town are centre-half Luke Ashworth and right back Liam Darville.

Luke, 21, used to play for Rotherham United before being released. He has also been on the books of Wigan Athletic and Leyton Orient, where he made his first team debut.

Liam, 20, started his career at Leeds United before going on loan to Rotherham United. He has also played on loan at Tranmere Rovers before moving permanently to York City where he made 17 first team appearances.

At present Town are carrying injuries to Mark Cook, Paul Heckingbottom and Liam Hardy.

Welcome to Harrogate Town Luke and Liam.

www.harrogatetownafc.com

Really pleased with these two signings for Town, they have both played football last season at a higher full-time level so fitness should be pretty good. Ashworth is what we've needed at the back a big dominating central defender that can take the pressure off Jake Picton in the aerial department. I think he will be a great signing for us and he still has the potential to reach a higher level. Liam Darville is still another solid signing, proven at a higher level with Tranmere and York City he should be a highly reliable player down the right hand side. I look forward to seeing them both in action! OOOHH TOWN!!

Leeds Sign Finnish International Vayrynen

Finnish midfielder joins Whites on a one-year contract.

Leeds United have signed midfielder Mika Vayrynen on a one-year contract on a free transfer.

The Finland international left Dutch club Heerenveen at the end of last season and has penned a 12-month contract with the Championship side with the option to extend it by one more year.

Simon Grayson is glad to have reinforced his team with the acquisition of Vayrynen and said: "We're delighted to sign Mika.

"There were good offers from other clubs on the continent, but he has turned them down because of his ambition to play for Leeds and be successful here.

"He's an experienced midfielder, who has won over 50 caps for his country, and he has a fantastic pedigree. He has played with PSV and he had a successful season at Hereenveen last season.

http://www.leedsunited-mad.co.uk/

So another Finland international joins the Elland Road revolution! Another great signing in my opinion, he is good mates with Mikael Forssell which can only be a good thing if he is attracting top quality players to Leeds. He is a player with great ability on the ball, he has the quality to pick a pass and score a few goals. He is quite a lightweight player a bit like Neil Kilkenny but better! Looking at the clubs he's played for and the fact that he is a top player on Football Manager he will surely be a good signing for the club!

Leeds United sign striker Mikael Forssell

Leeds United have signed former Chelsea and Birmingham City striker Mikael Forssell until the end of the season.

The 30-year-old had been playing for Hannover 96 in Germany for the last three years but was out of contract.

"I've missed English football and I really wanted to come back here," the Finland international said.

"To come to a club like Leeds is fantastic. I've been working hard and training over the summer." www.bbc.co.uk

Right, im finally back posting on my blog, my internet has been down for nearly a week now, bloody Virgin Media!! Top signing for us, he is a player that possesses real quality, he used to be at Chelsea, which tells you everything you need to know. A player with undoubted ability back in England after a spell in germany will be wanting to prove he can still make the cut in English football. He made his debut last saturday for us and managed to grab an assist with an intelligent knock down for Ross McCormack to score.

 Look forward to seeing more of him!

 

Check out the new Harrogate Town Website!

The new Harroate Town site has been launched and i feel this deserves a post on my blog, they are my local team and have been struggling the last few seasons, 2 years ago they almost went out of business but now Irving Weaver has stepped in to help Chairman Bill Fotherby and things finally look to be on the up!

OOOHH TOWN!!!!

http://www.harrogatetownafc.com/

England Struggle to overcome Wales!

England scraped a narrow win against Wales at Wembley last night, a night where England had a chance to stamp their authority against their local rivals ended with scrappy 1-0 win, leaving Wales fans feeling happier about their performance than England fans.

This game was a real back down to earth kind of feeling, after the Bulgaria game England fans were in positive spirits wondering if Fabio Capello is finally getting us to play with a bit of style but no, today the game was played with no style from England at all, apart from the goal which was a good move down the right, the game lacked quality, which is really poor as the team clearly has the ability in the squad to destroy teams and put them to bed early on.

At the start of the game, England were playing well, keeping possession biding their time looking for openings, yes, this possession football was good but we couldn't find the opening's, again as i said earlier there seemed to be a lack of quality. Moves going forward were just petering out, Rooney was dropping really deep, sometimes into the defensive midfield position to collect the ball, which makes you wonder what Gareth Barry was doing, as he should be the one linking up the play in central midfield, not our lone striker!

One decision i found quite strange from Wales was to play Gareth Bale out of position on the right wing up against one of the best left backs in the world in Ashley Cole, they could've played him left wing and had him up against an inexperienced player playing slightly out of position in Chris Smalling. That didn't work out all game for wales and that was clearly a poor decision from Gary Speed.

Wales were pressurising England well, and were playing a lot better than the last time they played England. They were doubling up on players like Rooney and Young trying to stop them getting into the game and making things happen. All the hard work from Wales was undone however just before half-time, Downing did really well to get past Joe Ledley down the right and on his unfavoured right foot cut the ball back to Young who  finished brilliantly into the bottom right of the goal. Ashley Young was probably the most impressive England player on display last night. I also thought Lampard showed his critics he can still do a good job for the team as well, he played some neat passes throughout the game and possibly should've scored as he fired just over following good work from Wayne Rooney.

Then the game kind of slowed down and nothing much happened, apart from Gary Cahill firing just over after a Hennessey mistake, until the last 10 minutes, a glorious chance for the Wales substitute Robert Earnshaw, Bale delivered a free-kick which came to Darcy Blake who fired across the goal to Earnshaw who from 5 yards out on his left foot fired high over the bar when it was easier to score. Gary Speed had his head in his hands! That was Wales chance to nick something from the game gone in an instant! 

.

England look to be on their way to Euro 2012 now but I'm sure performances like this wont be striking any fear into potential opponents! Why cant we have an impressive win once in a while to give us some strong belief that we can actually do something next summer! The sooner Capello leaves the better in my opinion, the guy speak in riddles in interviews I'm seriously shocked the team know what they are doing when they get out on the pitch.

This stat tells you the story about the game, there was only 1 shot on target all game and that was the goal from England.

Needs to be better!

Lee Stacey's Transfer Day Lowdown!

After weeks and months of transfer talk it all came down the the last day and what a hectic 24 hours it was, I will give my opinion on the transfers that took place throughout the transfer window!

Deal of the Day!

I'm going to go for Raul Meireles to Chelsea and Scott Dann to Blackburn! Meireles to Chelsea is a cracking deal for them, he will bring that bit of youth to the ageing Chelsea midfield, i can see him replacing Frank Lampard over the next few seasons. Seems very harsh on Liverpool to me, the way he handed in a transfer request with half an hour to go of the window, leaving Liverpool with no chance to sign a replacement. If I was  Liverpool fan I'd be very disappointed, he seems to have used the club as a stepping stone to get used to the Premier League and then move on to a bigger club. Still Chelsea have signed a top player there and I can see him doing really well!

Ive also gone with Scott Dann up there with the deal of the day for Blackburn! What a signing he is for them , in my opinion he could be the reason Blackburn might survive this year, I can see him forming a real top partnership at the back with Chris Samba and he's also known to grab a few goals from corners. A few weeks ago there were talks of him joining Arsenal or Liverpool so it is a massive coup for Blackburn.

Shock Move

I'm going to have to go for Craig Bellamy to Liverpool for this one, seriously wasn't expecting this move to take place and I don't think at the start of the day Craig Bellamy was either. I can see him doing a decent job at Liverpool but I cant see him holding down a regular place with the likes of Suarez and Carroll ahead of him. Still has a lot to give at this level and the effort he puts in will bring back memories of his previous spell at Liverpool. Not the best signing ever for Liverpool but good back-up!

One's to Watch

Theres a few I'd like to pick out for this part, Romelu Lukaku is one player I think is going to be brilliant in the Premier League, its a pity he couldn't get that loan deal to Stoke sorted as game time early on for him would have been fantastic for his career. This guy is going to be massive in the Premier League in the next few years, no doubt about it!

I'm also going to put Nicklas Bendtner here, which may surprise a few people but I think given a long run in the team he could be a top signing for Sunderland, a lot of people don't like him but I am a fan of him, I think he has all the attributes to make it as a top centre forward. Just needs someone to trust him and give him the time on the pitch.

Another player I'm going to bring to your attention is Adam Le Fondre signing for Reading, a proven goalscorer in leagues 1 and 2, I will be really intrigued to see if he can cut it in the Championship. Could prove to be an astute signing for Reading.

I'll also chuck in a couple more names that i think will do a good job, Simon Vukcevic to Blackburn should be good, Juan Manuel Mata to Chelsea is a top deal for them, Jose Enrique to Liverpool as I think this guy is one of the best left backs in the Premier League and the last one I'll name is Guy Demel to West Ham!

Who Missed out?

In the Premier League I think the teams that missed out are Tottenham, they lost a number of players for example, Jenas, Hutton, Crouch, Palacios, Robbie Keane and David Bentley but only made two signings for themselves in Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor. No doubt the players they brought in are top quality but the amount of players they lost will hurt them as they are now lacking in back-up for a few position. Harry has to hope they don't have an injury crisis!

I also think after losing Raul Meireles in the last half an hour Liverpool missed out a little bit as they had no time to bring in a replacement with the money they got for Meireles. they still have the quality to do well without him but a signing to replace Meireles I'm sure Kenny would've liked to have got done!

Now I'm going to give a mention for the team I support Leeds United, we lost Max Gradel on the last day and didn't make a single signing to replace him or any player to improve our team. I am now left feeling a bit worried about the season ahead as all the teams around us have strengthened there squads and we have been left lagging behind a little. I really hope we can get a run of form going now to push us higher up the table!

Overall verdict

Well, there is a few teams that have done superbly this transfer window, Man City got most of their work done early, the signings of Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri stand out but they have also made their defence more solid with the signing of Gael Clichy. Before the season i had them finishing third but after these signings and watching Mancini allow them to express themselves I'm now saying they will grab second place with ease and give Manchester United a good challenge for the title.

Liverpool have also improved their squad dramatically, I can see them pushing back to the top 4 again this signing, obviously a big loss to lose Meireles at the end but with Suarez and Carroll getting deliveries from Downing and Adam I'm sure they'll be plenty of goals for them to grab.

Overall, a good and enjoyable transfer window, I was still waiting for that big transfer to happen and when I heard Kaka to Tottenham on Sky Sports News I was getting excited for around 5 minutes before Harry game out and started laughing, saying no chance! Really enjoyed that transfer window.

Just cant wait for the January one now!!!

Bring it on!