Saint Scott

FIXTURES & RESULTS Thursday 9th May - Playoff Semi-Final First Leg LEICESTER CITY 1-0 WATFORD Friday 10th May - Playoff Semi-Final First Leg CRYSTAL PALACE 0-0 BRIGHTON Sunday 12th May - Playoff Semi-Final Second Leg WATFORD 3-1 LEICESTER CITY (WATFORD WIN 3-2 ON AGGREGATE) Monday 13th May - Playoff Semi-Final Second Leg BRIGHTON 0-2 CRYSTAL PALACE (PALACE WIN 2-0 ON AGGREGATE) Monday 27th May - Playoff Final WATFORD v CRYSTAL PALACE

After seeing the first leg of game one last night I thought it might be worth while having a thread dedicated to the playoffs. Before anyone posts a link to another thread vaguely discussing this years Championship playoffs, i'm aware they're some dotted around but thought to save numerous threads popping up tonight and over the weekend it would be easier to consolidate everything into this one. Firstly have a go on the poll on who you'd like to triumph at Wembley this summer. I'm sure everyone has a different opinion be it that you live local to one particular club, have friends or family that are fans or are just an admirer of one teams ethic towards the way they play the game. Here is a brief background on the four clubs involved and my personal opinion of how they will fair over the next 2/3 games that could make or break their season. I'd love your opinions too for those who have the time to write up a couple of paragraphs. [table=width: 1000, align: left] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD] Watford 3rd Place - 77 Points Since being bought by Italian businessman Giampaolo Pozzo in June 2012 Watford have certainly seen an upturn in their fortunes. In the last 10 years they have faced administration whilst ex Premier League footballer Gianluca Vialli was manager but have now balanced the books and are looking to return to the Premier League for the first time in nearly a decade. Pozzo is certainly a football fan and Watford fans would of been delighted to see him buy the club considering his ventures in both La Liga and Seria A. Giampaolo currently owns not only Watford but Italian giants Udinese and Spanish outfit Grenada. After just a month at the club Pozzo installed Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola as his manager. Zola was also given the added bonus of youth talent from Udinese due to the clubs new link and it has certainly paid off for the Italian pairing. No less than 9 players are currently on loan from both Udinese and Grenada including the likes of Matěj Vydra, Ikechi Anya and Almen Abdi who have all been regulars for Zola this year. Zola has certainly employed the continental type of football into his side and they have been credited all season for their mentality towards football. Gianfranco has found the mix between loan players and his core which includes Troy Deeeney and Lloyd Doyley and were very unfortunate not to achieve automatic promotion on the final day due to goalkeeping errors and a late Leeds United goal at Vicarage Road. All is not lost for The Hornet's though as they still have the chance to strut their stuff at England's top level. [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [table=width: 1000, align: left] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD] Brighton & Hove Albion 4th Place - 75 Points Brighton have certainly been on the up in the last few years. They have finally moved on from the joke of a ground that was The Withdean and owner Tony Bloom has pumped money into a new multi million pound development including The Amex stadium. With a new training ground also being built Brighton can now consider themselves as not over achievers for their size but where they should be in English Football. After winning League One in 2010/2011 The Seagulls had a good first season at Championship level finishing in a respectable 10th place. Poyet has certainly picked up some bargains from the continent this summer including Vicente, Leonardo Ulloa and Bruno as well as some very good loan signings such as Wayne Bridge, Matthew Upson and Dean Hammond. Some consider Brighton come into the playoffs as the form team and have certainly proved difficult to beat in the last few weeks. They also hold the best defensive record in the league having conceded just 43 goals all season. Brighton have never played in the newly formed Premier League and will be hoping this is their year to reach the heights of English football, they are certainly my bet to come through the playoffs. [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [table=width: 1000, align: left] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD] Crystal Palace 5th Place - 72 Points Crystal Palace have been one of the famous yo-yo teams in Premier League history despite being absent from the top flight since 2005. They made significant progress under the guidance of ex player Dougie Freedman before being succeeded by ex Blackpool manager Ian Holloway in November 2012. Palace had looked destined for automatic promotion before seeing a poor run of results after the turn of the year and have now had to settle for a playoff place in their hope for a return to the Premier League. Championship top scorer Glenn Murray with 30 goals will be relishing the playoffs as Palace come up against fierce rivals and his former club Brighton in the semi-finals and he and Crystal Palace will be hoping that he can be the difference over the two legs. Alongside Murray are notable youth players that The Eagles have come up with on a consistent basis in recent years including; Victor Moses, Nathaniel Clyne and now Wilfred Zaha who is to join Manchester United this summer. Holloway has already achieved playoff success in recent years after guiding Blackpool to the Premier League in 2010 and he will be hoping to do the same with his new club this season. [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [table=width: 1000, align: left] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD] Leicester City 6th Place - 68 Points As with Watford it has been a decade since Leicester City played in the Premier League and have had to climb back from the depths of League One in that time after their relegation in 2008. After bouncing back at the first attempt they have been competing in The Championship since 2009 and were touted as favourites last season after forking out millions of pounds on some of the leagues hottest property. However it wasn't to be and Leicester struggled eventually finishing in 9th place. This season however Leicester managed to sneak into the playoffs on the final day of the season with a 3-2 victory at playoff rivals Nottingham Forest knocking out Bolton at their expense. They will face Watford who were unfortunate not to achieve automatic promotion on the final day and will be hoping their momentum can oversee the broken hearts of the Watford team. Nigel Pearson has certainly built a good squad at Leicester including the likes of David Nugent, Kasper Schmeichel and Wes Morgan. After an impressive 1-0 home victory courtesy of Nugent in the first leg Pearson will certainly fancy his chances of reaching the final. [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

Let's be honest. A point would of been a great achievement considering spurs aspirations for a top four finish. Sunderland and stoke to go. Can't see us picking up 0 points from those 2 games.

Nice of him to celebrate. Welsh ****.

Brighton for me. I used to live about 5 miles from the city and have always had a soft spot for them. Mind you Poyets comments in league 1 made me dislike them for a while. As above could use a derby too.

Putting his goal aside which was an excellent team goal.... Did you not see Sunderland's defensive display tonight?

Brave post... I'd advise you to post any new threads here from now on.

This or possibly LB with Fox now banned and Shaw likely to be a doubt. Would need some pace if faced against the liked of bale or Lennon.

Decent point. Shouldn't of had Adam's goal disallowed though. CURRENT TABLE

F**king bulls**t decision!

Our confidence is growing here. Lallana and Clyne look sharp down the right hand side.

It doesn't look promising. Only 3 on Wiziwig and are all very low Kbps. I can't even get an image up.

Slightly worrying with the pace of Dyer and Hernandez. A strong team otherwise. COYR's!

[table=width: 800, align: center] [tr] [td][/td] [td] Swansea 01 Vorm 22 Rangel 04 Flores 06 Williams 33 Davies 07 Britton 20 de Guzman 09 Michu 12 Dyer 11 Hernandez 19 Moore Substitutes 25 Tremmel 03 Taylor 16 Monk 21 Tiendalli 24 Ki 15 Routledge 17 Shechter Manager M Laudrup[/td] [td] Southampton 31 Boruc 02 Clyne 03 Yoshida 05 Hooiveld 13 Fox 04 Schneiderlin 18 Cork 08 S Davis 09 Rodriguez 20 Lallana 07 Lambert Substitutes 01 K Davis 06 Fonte 10 Ramirez 16 Ward-Prowse 23 Shaw 24 Mayuka 42 Puncheon Manager M Pochettino[/td] [td][/td] [/tr] [/table] [table=width: 500, align: center] [tr] [td]Venue: Liberty Stadium Date: Saturday 20th April KO: 15:00 Ref: M Halsey[/td] [td][/td][/tr] [/table]

Just noticed he sent an updated tweet. 11th player is Bale.

@alex_crook: Votes are in and #epl team of year as voted by u is De Gea, Zabaleta, Vertonghen, Nastasic, Baines, Mata, Carrick, Schneiderlin, Bale, Michu, RvP Not sure if this is the official vote but I'm glad Morgan got in. He deserves to be there and for me him and Carrick are the two obvious choices. Deserves a call up based on France's current midfield. Probably the right team although completely disagree with Nastasic.

Great news! He has been excellent since coming through 'the water bottle' incident.

Yeah i'd like that too. Am fed up with the yellow away strip though would like to see something like this.

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?41881-Pointless-Early-2013-14-Kit-Speculation-Thread Organise a vote? Sounds like something Cortese would be on board with.

Really like these. The Nike one looks great, however would be more than happy with the kappa or puma one too

I seem to remember Wanyama heavily linked with Man U before joining Celtic. Does look a good player.

Probably referring to the fact this time a couple of years ago he was a school boy and in the academy and now he starts week in week out in the premier league. I think your reading into it too much.

I thought he'd already agreed a third year on loan at Athletico Madrid? Top, top keeper though

Reed looks a decent prospect in my opinion along side Gape as the younger crop now in the U21's. Have known him since he was young and played for the same youth team as myself.

How does that work then? If you lose 15 on the bounce then surely you would not be okay. Clinical Moron!