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A forum about football, for football fans
West Ham United 0-1 Cardiff City
Goalless at half time in a thrilling match in which the home side dominated for long periods of the game, a great strike on the turn from Kenny Miller that eeked through the hands of the sprawling Robert Green gave the Bluebirds a precious 1-0 win at Boleyn Ground, in a game between arguably two of the most likely teams to attain promotion to the Premier League next season.
More agonising for Sam Allardyce in his first competitive game in charge was that the goal came in the 1st added minute of stoppage time at the end of the second half.
West Ham United 0-1 Cardiff City
West Ham United 0-1 Cardiff City
Goalless at half time in a thrilling match in which the home side dominated for long periods of the game, a great strike on the turn from Kenny Miller that eeked through the hands of the sprawling Robert Green gave the Bluebirds a precious 1-0 win at Boleyn Ground, in a game between arguably two of the most likely teams to attain promotion to the Premier League next season.
More agonising for Sam Allardyce in his first competitive game in charge was that the goal came in the 1st added minute of stoppage time at the end of the second half.
West Ham United 0-1 Cardiff City
Having secured a job recently at Southampton Football Club on matchday hospitality, I was for two sweet hours an insider. At any time, I was able to pop my head above the parapet and view some Championship action; I was in the stadium before the kick off and before any fans were allowed in; I stood just a few yards from ex-Saint, Nicky Banger, who was being interviewed in the suite I worked in... And most exciting of all, the rumble you felt when thousands of fans celebrated each of the 3 goals the Saints hit in a 3-1 victory. A good day all round!
The nPower Championship
Friday 5th August 2011
Hull City (0) 0 - 1 (0) Blackpool (Taylor-Fletcher 81 Att: 18,907)
Saturday 6th August 2011
Brighton and Hove Albion (0) 2 - 1 (1) Doncaster Rovers (Buckley 83, 90 8/ Sharp 39 Att: 20,219)
Bristol City (0) 0 - 3 Ipswich Town (Chopra 13, 60, Martin 51 Att: 13,107)
Burnley (0) 2 - 2 (1) Watford (Austin 77, Treacy 84/ Forsyth 45, Yeates 70 Att: 14,617)
Coventry City (0) 0 - 1 (0) Leicester City (Baker sent off 39/ Peltier 52, Vassell sent off 11 Att: 21,102)
Derby County (2) 2 - 1 (1) Birmingham City (Shackell 26, S.Davies 42/ Davies 19 Att: 27,210)
Middlesbrough (1) 2 - 2 (0) Portsmouth (Emnes 24, Williams 54/ Norris 47, Varney 90 2 Att: 18,196)
Nottingham Forest (0) 0 - 0 (0) Barnsley (Att: 22,951)
Peterborough United (0) 2 - 1 (1) Crystal Palace (McCann 58, Ball 73/ Scannell 33 Att: 11,604)
Reading (0) 2 - 2 (0) Millwall (Manset 86, 89/ Henderson 49, Marquis 62 Att: 18,531)
Southampton (2) 3 - 1 (0) Leeds United (Hammond 10, Lallana 25, Connolly 52/ Gradel (pen) 90 5 Att: 25,860)
nPower League One
Brentford 2-0 Yeovil
Carlisle 0-3 Notts County
Charlton 3-0 Bournemouth
Huddersfield 1-1 Bury
MK Dons 2-2 Hartlepool
Oldham 0-2 Sheff Utd
Preston 2-4 Colchester
Sheff Wed 2-0 Rochdale
Stevenage 0-0 Exeter
Tranmere 1-0 Chesterfield
Walsall 1-0 Leyton Orient
Wycombe 1-1 Scunthorpe
nPower League Two
AFC Wimbledon 2-3 Bristol Rovers
Bradford 1-2 Aldershot
Gillingham 1-0 Cheltenham
Macclesfield 0-1 Dagenham & Redbridge
Morecambe 0-1 Barnet
Northampton 0-0 Accrington Stanley
Port Vale 2-2 Crawley
Rotherham 1-0 Oxford
Shrewsbury 1-1 Plymouth
Southend 1-0 Hereford
Swindon 3-0 Crewe
Torquay 2-2 Burton Albion
Southampton Football Club, more affectionately known as the Saints, have long had a record for producing fantastic young players, with an academy to be proud of- perhaps the finest outside the top flight.
In the past, the likes of Gareth Bale, Leon Best, Wayne Bridge, Theo Walcott and Chris Baird have been a product of their system, alongside Arron Davies, Scott McDonald, Tim Sparv and Jake Thomson, all representing their respective countries. To a lesser extent, Dexter Blackstock was another talent who started at Southampton (although he came through the Oxford United youth academy before Saints paid compensation of £275,000 to bring him to St. Mary's).
So it was of no surprise, then, that another starlet would come through at some time, and in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, they have that starlet. At the age of 16 years, 199 days, he made his first-team debut, becoming the 2nd youngest Saints player ever to take to the pitch (behind Theo Walcott, who was just 16 years and 143 days when he made his debut- and only 15 years and 175 days when he made his Reserve Team debut).
Alex made 36 appearances in his first season, scoring 10 goals along the way, and naturally has been courted by several Premier League clubs, most notably, Arsenal and Manchester United.
In fact, he has been linked strongly with a move to the Emirates this summer.
But Southampton manager, Nigel Adkins, has urged the teenage winger to spend another year on the South coast.
"Obviously in the last couple of days there have been a few comments that have come out nationally," Adkins said on Sky Sports News.
"The expectation for a 17-year-old boy and his parents to be linked with big football clubs obviously will play on people's minds, but I think he's handled himself ever so well, and he's loved at Southampton. We believe it's better for him to stay at Southampton and play his football and keep developing. We've got to try to make sure we look after a young boy who's handled himself ever so well but has been placed in a situation with speculation. It's speculation with big football clubs people always dream about."
Oxlade-Chamberlain expressed fears earlier this week that delaying a move to a big club could hamper his future prospects, saying he feels ready to make the step up immediately.
See what Sky Sports think of the youngster on their website: Sky Sports low down on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Former Blackburn Rovers and Rangers midfielder, Barry Ferguson, has completed a move to Bloomfield Road to join Blackpool from fellow Championship side Birmingham, and open another chapter in his career.
The 33-year-old former Scotland international had 12 months left on his Birmingham City contract, and has joined the Seasiders on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
Ferguson at St. Andrews
He told Blackpool's official website: "I'm delighted to be here and I'm raring to go.
As soon as I spoke to the manager my mind was made up. I saw a lot of Blackpool last year and played against them as well and I was very impressed."
His statistics are as follows:
Rangers - 1997-2003 - 24 goals in 151 appearances
Blackburn - 2003-2005 - 1 goal in 36 appearances
Rangers - 2005-2009 - 20 goals in 137 appearances
Birmingham City - 2009-2011 - 0 goals in 72 appearances
Cardiff City completed the signing, late on Thursday, of 20-year-old Defensive Midfielder, Filip Kiss.
Kiss kiss..
The Slovakian U-21 captain joins on a season-long loan from Slovan Bratislava, and told Cardiff City Player:
"I watched Wednesday`s game against Celtic and was very impressed. I`m very excited to be here. I will give everything I can as a Cardiff City player and I hope to be successful with the club. I want to grow as a player and although I would consider myself a defensive midfielder, I`m happy to play anywhere in midfield."
The former Petralka midfielder started his professional career at Inter Bratislava in 2008, before moving to Petralka in 2009 where he made 23 league appearances. Another year later and another new club, moving to K Slovan Bratislava in 2010. He played 29 games, scoring 6 goals, as Slovan Bratislava won a record 6th Slovak National title.
He could make his Cardiff debut in Saturday's friendly at Bournemouth.
Cardiff, meanwhile, are also thought to be close to signing Scotland striker Kenny Miller from Bursaspor after the Turkish side accepted a bid from the Bluebirds.
Sven Goran Eriksson, the former England, Man City, Lazio, and Mexico manager, was delighted to have snapped up Kasper Schmeichel for his new club Leicester City. The 24-year-old Danish goalkeeper, and son of the best goalkeeper to have graced the Premier League, Peter Schmeichel moves from Elland Road for £1.5 million and is reunited with Eriksson, who he worked with at both Notts County and Manchester City.
Leicester's football director Andrew Neville said of "Sven knows Kasper extremely well and regards him very highly, so we're delighted to have brought him to the club. He's already made a big impression both domestically and internationally and is another player at a good age for our long-term objectives."
Schmeichel was surprised earlier this month when his previous club, Leeds United, accepted the offer from Leicester. Having signed from Notts County last summer, making 40 appearances along the way, the transfer was somewhat unexpected.
In addition to Schmeichel, Neil Danns the 28-year-old Crystal Palace midfielder signed on a Bosman free transfer. Having made 49 appearances for the Eagles and scoring 9 goals along the way, Danns had attracted attention from Scottish champions Rangers also, so Neville was delighted to secure another key transfer.
"Neil is a player that has drawn a lot of interest due to his performances in recent seasons, so we're delighted he has chosen Leicester City for the next stage of his career. Sven and his staff were very impressed with him last season and his quality and versatility will add considerable strength to the squad."
The former Blackburn trainee signed for Colchester in 2004 before moving on to Birmingham for half a million in 2006. 2 years on, he signed for Palace for £600,000 and today joins his 5th club
Leeds United midfielder Neil Kilkenny has joined Bristol City on a three-year deal. After Kilkenny's contract expired at the end of last season, a new offer was turned down following report of interest from other Championship clubs.
Keith Millen, Bristol City manager, sold the club to Kilkenny, he told BBC Radio Bristol- "The way he spoke about the club, about the game and about me - he made my mind up. He described where the club wants to go and it fitted with my ambition, so that was the reason I joined."
The Australia international, 25, left Birmingham City for Leeds in January 2008 for £150,000
Millen said: "There aren't many creative midfielders available so the search has been difficult. The top players cost a lot of money but we've been fortunate in getting him in on a free transfer."
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