Hull City manager had to wait three weeks to get young American striker Jozy Altidore into the lineup. Once he did, Tigers supporters had to wait only 28 seconds for him to have an impact.
With his first touch in the 61st minute, Altidore posted up in front of Bolton Wanderers defender Gary Cahill and lobbed the ball backwards over his head into an open area in front of goal, allowing Kamel Ghilas to run in and score the game-winning goal against the run of play. Bolton dominated possession and had twice as many shots as Hull, but they were left to curse their inability to finish today.
Altidore wasn’t finished there. In the 70th minute, a Ghilas interception sparked a blistering Hull counterattack. With the young American churning forward, Ghilas sent the ball wide to Geovanni, who lobbed a perfect pass into Altidore, who quickly gathered and lobbed Jussi Jaaskelainen, only to watch the ball bounce inches wide of the right-hand post. His first Premier League goal would have to wait.
Altidore’s impact on the game was clear. His presence immediately improved Hull City’s tempo and counterattack, and Bolton defenders often had to double-team him in the box to keep him in check. However, this also exposed Altidore’s biggest weakness on the day — his inability to use his teammates. Altidore was so eager to open his Premier League account that he missed opportunities to set up scoring opportunities for others. This is something that will need to be fixed on the training ground.
Nonetheless, Altidore played very well in combination with Ghilas and Geovanni today. That trio showed today that it has the potential to open up more than a few Premier League defenses. Whether that’s enough to get Hull City the 40 points it needs to survive relegation remains to be seen, but for now, it’s 3 down and 37 to go.
Altidore also showed he wouldn’t back down from anyone. In the 88th minute, Zat Knight got in Altidore’s face and jawed at him, sparking chants of “USA! USA!” from the KC Stadium crowd. Less than a minute later, Altidore muscled Knight off the ball and launched another late Hull counterattack. This young man is going to be very popular.

Hold That Tiger: Altidore Sparks Hull Win - World Soccer Talk

Hold That Tiger: Altidore Sparks Hull Win

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>Jozy Altidore seems to be handling this Twitter thing a little better than Darren Bent.
While Bent <a href="http:\/\/epltalk.com/darren-bents-rant-goes-a-twitter/9749">tossed his toys out of the pram in 140 characters or less</a>, the teenage American striker <a href="http:\/\/twitter.com/JozyAltidore17">calmly tweeted to his followers</a>:
<blockquote>England early in the morning so im going to get some sleep ill tweet all day tomorrow on my bb and let you guys know whats going on!</blockquote>
He then thanked his followers for their support. I would check to see if Bent has ever done this, but <a href="http:\/\/twitter.com/db10thetruth">his tweets seem to have disappeared</a> since his online tantrum.
In June of last year, Altidore moved to La Liga club Villarreal from the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer for €7.4 million, which was at the time about $10 million, a record-high transfer fee for an American player. Speculation today had <a href="http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1204101/Hull-ready-rival-Fulham-6-5m-USA-kid-Jozy-Altidore.html">both Hull City and Fulham preparing to offer the Yellow Submarine a £6.5million ($11 million) transfer fee for Altidore</a>. Everton and Olympiacos have also shown interest in the young American, though the Olympiacos rumors seem to have died down.
While he had little impact in his first season in Spain, Altidore has quickly become a mainstay for the USA National Team, scoring 7 goals in 16 matches, including a hat trick against Trinidad &amp; Tobago on April 1 and an important goal against Spain that fueled the USA’s 2-0 upset win in the FIFA Confederations Cup semifinals.
So which Premier League club would be the best fit for Altidore?
The one thing Altidore needs most at this point is playing time at the club level. He’s more likely to&nbsp; get that at Hull or Fulham than at Everton, even though David Moyes seems perpetually short on healthy strikers. However, Roy Hodgson would likely make Altidore fight for a starting job at Craven Cottage, much like he did with American midfielder Clint Dempsey, who has earned his position. The combination of Altidore and Dempsey in attack would certainly attract the attention of USA National Team supporters, something Fulham seems keen to do.
Fulham and Everton can also offer Europa League football, which makes them both slightly more attractive propositions than Hull, even though a forward with Altidore’s strength and pace would have very little trouble cracking the Tigers’ starting lineup.
What might sway Altidore to Hull is the experience of Michael Bradley, his U.S. teammate, at Bundesliga side Borussia Moenchengladbach. After scoring twice in the USA’s 2-0 win over Mexico in World Cup Qualifying last February, Bradley <a href="http:\/\/www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2009/02/tgif-the-usamexico-hangover.html">told reporters the year-long relegation battle at Moenchengladbach helped make him a better player</a>. Phil Brown’s side will definitely be relegation strugglers this season, so perhaps Altidore sees Hull as an opportunity to improve his own play.
The most interesting thing about this potential transfer, though, is that the man who breaks the news might be the man who’s the central figure in the story. I suspect this won’t be the last time we see that.

Altidore: "England Early in the Morning" - World Soccer Talk

Altidore: "England Early in the Morning"

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>When I first heard of Twitter, I thought it was a dirty verb, like: “Get Twittered!” or “Go Twitter yourself!”&nbsp;(And maybe there’s still potential for that.)&nbsp;Turns out it’s a social networking website. And it&nbsp;has undeniably&nbsp;become&nbsp;the Next Big Net Thing.
In addition to allowing friends to keep&nbsp;up with&nbsp;each other’s day-to-day goings-on,&nbsp;all kinds of organizations from restaurants to sporting clubs to&nbsp;Ashton Kutcher&nbsp;are learning to use its free marketing potential&nbsp;to promote themselves. EPL Talk’s&nbsp;own The Gaffer uses it to keep folks current with our site’s updates.
But alongside the benefits, there’s plenty of&nbsp;room for error as well. Controversy arose this week when Tottenham Hotspur’s Darren Bent used Twitter to vent his frustration over stalled transfer talks. He&nbsp;reportedly posted the following items&nbsp;on his Twitter account:
“Why can’t anything be simple? It’s so frustrating hanging around doing jack s**t. Seriously getting p***ed off now.”
“Do I want to go to Hull City, no. Do I want to go to Stoke, no.”
“Do I want to go to Sunderland, yes. So stop f*****g around, Levy.”
There was speculation it wasn’t really Bent’s account&nbsp;(I was&nbsp;hoping it&nbsp;would prove to be Steve Bruce’s), but today Bent owned up to his posts when he apologized on Tottenham’s official&nbsp;site:
“I appreciate that transfers are seldom straightforward and are often complex. However, after a long period of waiting following my withdrawal from the plane to China, I had become incredibly frustrated by the time these things take and I posted inappropriate comments on my Twitter site.
“I allowed my emotions to get in the way of my better judgement. I regret my actions and did not intend to offend Daniel Levy or anyone with the nature or the content of my posting.”
Bent’s retraction aside, does this mean Twitter will play a bigger role in our football media terrain? Will we see players and managers&nbsp;using Twitter to wind each other up? Complain&nbsp;about&nbsp;refereeing decisions? Flush out transfer speculation? Will we be reading articles every week about professional football Tweets?
The possibilities are endless…
A_Zaki: I was completely onside. Linesman was drunk. Time to sulk.
RafaBeni:&nbsp;Getting nervous. Bought Xabi case of&nbsp;Rioja in case he’s on fence.
Fergie99: TiVo’ed Rafa’s latest press conference. Hoping for rant pt 2. 
BexInLA: Took Landon bowling to ease tension. Kicked his arse. Oops.
City_Hughes: Players in place. Time to shop for chemistry.
J_Barton: Anybody know a good lawyer?
In 1998, when I started going to the University of New Hampshire, AOL Instant Messenger was the big rage. We were bent over our computers all hours of the day, keeping up with old&nbsp;friends from home and&nbsp;getting to know new ones at school.&nbsp;I&nbsp;remember many the&nbsp;awkward moments and endless misunderstandings that come too easily&nbsp;with such brief,&nbsp;faceless, voiceless interaction. We learned&nbsp;some&nbsp;big lessons. Like: sarcasm is hard to convey over the internet. And: always talk about the big issues in person.&nbsp;Eventually, we succumbed to communicating using the away message function&nbsp;(the message&nbsp;one left when away from&nbsp;Instant Messanger: at the library… at the dining hall… surfing for porn…) in an attempt to avoid&nbsp;the&nbsp;real-time&nbsp;electronic faux pas. These “status updates” became the template for today’s Tweets. 
Later, this&nbsp;desire for online social networking&nbsp;gave birth to sites like Friendster, MySpace and&nbsp;Facebook. Each one seemed to catch on for a while before getting knocked off the perch by the next. But Twitter seems to reach all the way back&nbsp;to Instant Messenger and amplify&nbsp;that concept&nbsp;to a mass scale.
Bent’s comments might have once been some quiet griping to personal friends. No story there. But today it gets broadcast the world over. Anyone who’s paying attention gets wind of his complaints. And it ends up on all the media sites as the controversy du jour. 
As we demand more and more information in shorter and shorter bursts, it’s easy to get caught in the stream. The lesson those in the public arena need to learn—similar to what&nbsp;we students&nbsp;learned at University long ago—is despite the ease of transmission, you need to watch your words. Now&nbsp;more than ever. The world is potentially listening.
Oh, by the way…&nbsp;keep an eye&nbsp;my upcoming can’t-live-without-it&nbsp;social networking site: TweetMySpaceBookster.com™. It’s going to be huge. Coming soon to a laptop near you.

Darren Bent's Rant Goes A-Twitter - World Soccer Talk

Darren Bent's Rant Goes A-Twitter

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>
So less than 24 hours after Promotion to the Premiership and the usual round of tired cliches and articles about “brave little Burnley” are beginning to pop up on-line and in the press. Do they never learn, Do they know the football history attached to this club? Burnley fans will probably laugh in the face of these doom mongers and pessimists, they’re just glad that they still have a club to support and after you’ve faced that, you can cope with anything.
Back in the 1986-1987 season, The Football League had finally bowed to pressure and allowed relegation to the Football Conference for the first time. Previously, the side that finished last had to seek re-election from the rest of the League, a ludicrous situation, similar to asking turkeys to vote&nbsp;for Christmas. The only amazing thing about that was that some clubs were actually removed from the League, giants such as Barrow, Workington and New Brighton.
Burnley went in to the final game of the season knowing that they could face relegation to the Conference if results went against them. As it was both Lincoln and Torquay failed to win and Burnley finished 3rd bottom, a lowest low for a side that had reached the Quarter Finals of the European Cup back in 1960-1961.&nbsp;This is a&nbsp;side that had won the First Division twice as well as the FA Cup and almost won the double in 1962, finishing runners up in the League and the F.A. Cup and&nbsp;only left the First Division back in 1976, ironically relegated with Sheffield United.
To face that possibility that a side that had played European Football could really find themselves out of the league within a generation must have been terrifying for the fans of the Clarets. To face that fact and to overcome&nbsp;it puts the fans of Burnley in an ideal position to deal with Premiership football and the pressures that come with it. They’re not scared of anything that the top tier can throw at them, after the rollercoaster history they’ve had in the last 25 years alone, next season will be a delight for Clarets fans.
<div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20090526_WST_7853_300662-2.webp&amp;width=257&amp;height=327" alt="" width="257" height="327"></figure></div>
This is a side that have been at the top end of English football before,&nbsp;in fact in the 1960’s, they were one of the big English teams, challenging for trophies and finishing in the top 10 5 times under the legendary Burnley manager Harry Potts. Oddly from 1967 until 1970 they finished 14th every season, back when the top division had 22 clubs.
Of course, next season will be a massive challenge for Burnley, but no more so than the one faced by Hull City and Stoke City this season and their exploits in this season’s Carling and F.A. Cup competitions will stand them in good stead. They have nothing to fear with promotion, the manager Owen Coyle has been earning plaudits all season with the expansive football his side plays and they’ll be looking forward to bloodying the noses of more estabilished Premiership sides next season.
By winning the Championship Play Off Final through Wade Elliott’s super strike, Burnley have become the 42nd side to play at least a season in the in Premiership now. As a founding member of the Football League, some would say it’s been overdue to see them return to the top flight after an absence of 32 years, but they’ve not gained promotion through sympathy, they’ve played their way up.
This is a side with history, both good and bad behind it, and they’ll be relishing next season more than most fans. The fact that they can play a bit too, will make it an interesting season at Turf Moor and good luck to them.

The Premiership Will Hold No Fear For Burnley Fans - World Soccer Talk

The Premiership Will Hold No Fear For Burnley Fans

<figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-86704" src="https://ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https://images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/full/WST_20090525_CMS_7831_championship-600x450_b89100f1.webp&amp;width=600&amp;height=450" alt="championship" width="600" height="450" srcset="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2013/10/championship-600x450.jpg 600w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2013/10/championship-150x112.jpg 150w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2013/10/championship-300x225.jpg 300w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2013/10/championship.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"></figure>
The weekend promised excitement, drama and last-minute heartache with several sides still fighting for survival at the season’s very end. Sunderland, Hull, Newcastle and Middlesbrough were all on the edge of the cliff. Some already hanging off the side. Others teetering on the brink. In the end, four losses would keep all sides in their places. Newcastle and Middlesbrough join West Brom in relegation to the Championship. Sunderland and Hull survive by the slimmest of margins.
Hull City: Early Form Rewarded
Hull’s explosive first half of the season (2o points from their first nine matches) was rewarded yesterday despite a 1-0 loss to Manchester United. The results of Newcastle and Middlesbrough allowed Hull supporters to forgive Phil Brown and Co. for the disastrous spell that eventually displaced their early good form. Hull only <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/h/hull_city/8066370.stm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">won</a> one of their last 22 matches.
The Tigers defied expecation at the start of their campaign, recording wins against Fulham, Newcastle, Arsenal, Spurs, West Ham and West Brom all before the end of October. They dazzled further in November when they scored three goals at Old Trafford. They still lost to hosts Manchester United, but after being 4-1 down at the half, scoring two more goals against the Champs and bringing a point within view, showed the true grit of Hull City.
A lengthy slump aside, Hull deserved to stay up after their fierce start to the season. Now the question is: can they find that form again next year?
Death By Own Goal
One devastating moment from yesterday’s <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/103308/Villa-send-limp-Newcastle-down-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">match</a> at Villa Park sums up Newcastle United’s season. Villa’s Gareth Barry took a speculative shot from distance, firing the ball into traffic. United’s Damien Duff stood his ground, but was crushed when the ball ricochetted off his shin and careened into the net.
1-0 was the final score. And since other results meant Newcastle only needed a draw to survive, that one moment encapsulates the pain and frustration forced upon supporters as Newcastle’s latest campaign comes to an ugly close.
The Magpies will go down after 16 years in the top flight. Though they’ve had their rough patches, Newcastle always seemed to climb out of trouble and endure. But too many managerial changes and not investing enough in defense led to the fall.
Shearer should not be criticized. If he’d had more time to work out a system with the players (and if he’d had the brilliant goalkeeping of Shay Given at his disposal), it might have been a different outcome.
Duff, gutted from yesterdays events, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/8067061.stm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vows</a> to stay with Newcastle and fight for their promotion next season. Newcastle faithful wait to hear what Shearer’s plans are.
Gareth Southgate’s Nightmare
Middlesbrough have had their troubles since their last promotion to the top flight in 1998. We smirk when we think of 2006, when a fan stormed the pitch and threw his season ticket at Steve McClaren in frustration. But despite various problems, Boro spent the last ten years making themselves a Premier League mainstay. They usually finished mid-table, but even when they dipped lower, they secured enough points to keep from sweating over the drop.
But this season the problems became insurmountable. Former Boro hitman, John Hendrie <a href="http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11680_5347611,00.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blames</a> poor transfer window moves and lack of firepower. Boro were the lowest scoring side in the league. Whatever the root cause, Boro simply could not climb out of the ditch they dug themselves.
But Gareth Southgate is expected to stay on as manager and despite the fear of losing some big players, Middlesbrough should have a good enough chance at returning to the top flight.
Sunderland Survive
The Blackcats put their old yo-yoing ways behind them as they prepare to enjoy a third consecutive season in the Premier League. Despite their survival, manager Ricky Sbragia stepped down after Sunderland’s loss to Chelsea. Read more <a href="http://epltalk.com/sbragia-quits-breaking-news/7758" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Sbragia took over the post when Roy Keane left in December.
Sunderland <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUKTRE54O37Z20090525?rpc=401&amp;" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> today they will not be signing 27-year-old striker Djibril Cisse who spend the season on loan from Marseille. It will be intersting to see who Sunderland bring in to manage and play for the next season.
With Boro and Newcastle relegated, Sunderland will be the only side from the north east in the Premier League.
Conclusion
The season was very tight for a long time with many upsets and surprises. It took a while for the European hopefuls to pull away from the relegation zone denizens. Unlike last year, when Derby County clinched relegation early, this season’s bottom teams had their chances going into the final weekends. It is sad to see two mainstays go down, but that’s part of the life-cycle of the Premier League. Wolves, Birmingham and Burnley will come up to try and stake their claim on top flight football. Newcastle, Boro and others will fight in the Championship for a fresh chance to rise.
The rest of us will spend the summer scouring transfer rumors and analyzing friendlies and internationals while we wait for the league action to start anew.

The Premier League Relegation Battle: Life And Death At The Bottom

The Premier League Relegation Battle: Life And Death At The Bottom - World Soccer Talk

<div style="width: 460px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div>Who will feel the effect most if they relegated to the Championship?</div>
With West Bromwich Albion’s fate sealed last week we can&nbsp;now prepare ourselves for a dramatic conclusion to the Premier League season on Sunday.&nbsp;The neutral (including yours truly)&nbsp;will relish it and will want to see as many twists and turns as possible. Anyone supporters&nbsp;involved will have struggled to sleep for a week.
We all have our own predictions as to who will go down and what the&nbsp;sequence of results to will be. What I wondered is what effect will relegation have on the clubs involved.
West Bromwich Albion – 31 points (already relegated)
Even the most&nbsp;biased of Baggies supporters could not have been surprised about the clubs fate this season. However there seems relatively little for the Hawthorns club to worry about. Brom perenially spend within their limits upon promotion and Tony Mowbray has followed similiar traits. Signings that broke the&nbsp;£1 Million mark included:&nbsp;Scott Carson (£3.5 million), Marek Cech (£1.4 million) ,Luke moore (£3 million), Zuiverloon (3.2 million) , Valero (4.7 million), Aboulaye&nbsp;Meitie (£2 million) and Roman bednar at &nbsp;£2.3 million.
Not taking into account players that left that Hawthorns, the Throstles have forked out around £20 million. No doubt&nbsp;a&nbsp; few of the above will leave to recoup some of this. It is also&nbsp;likely that some contracts will include a drop&nbsp;in wages upon relegation ,West Brom should be relatively comfortble providing they spend their parachute monies wisely next season and offload a few big-earners.
Middlesbrough – 32 points 
Although ‘Boro are technically £85 million in debt,&nbsp;the&nbsp;vast majority is&nbsp;owed to chairman Steve Gibson – which is the equivalent of owing your Dad 200 quid. Conisdering Gibson’s patience with Gareth Southgate it seems highly unlikey he will let the club suffer. However should ‘Boro&nbsp;suffer the drop (and it seems likely they will) they will have to get wheeling and dealing quickly. One of the first names out of the door will be Alfonso&nbsp;Alves, who&nbsp;was signed for a fee rumoured to be&nbsp;£12.7 million and one shudders to think what kind of wages the Brazillian is on at the Riverside. After breaking his foot against in the relegation six-pointer against Newcastle and a poor goals return for the club, ‘Boro may have to brace themselves for a big financial loss. The other big name out of the door, and the one Middlesbrough will miss most from an on-field perspective is Stewart Downing. A host of clubs will have relished the prospect of Boro’s demise in order to&nbsp;sign Downing&nbsp;and it is thought that Spurs will lead the chase after keeping tabs on the winger for considerable time. Boro will be hoping for auction fever&nbsp;from rival clubs&nbsp;in order to raise as much cash as possible. It will come as no surprise that Tuncay and&nbsp;David Wheater will also raise the&nbsp;eyebrow for a host of&nbsp;clubs, with Robert Huth also likely to be the subject of some interest.
Should Middlesborough fail to survive,&nbsp;the winds of change are likely to blow through this cold part of the country including&nbsp;the possibility of a&nbsp;new&nbsp;manager.&nbsp; With numerous players likely to leave&nbsp;and taking into account the squads lack of experience,&nbsp;‘Boro&nbsp;may well have to be happy with a season of stability next season rather than a promotion charge.
Newcastle – 34 Points
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. There may have been talks of a conspiracy theory in regard to the strength of Manchester United’s team selection at Hull. But based on perfomances alone, Newcastle are where they deserve to be. If Newcastle are relegated we will witness a real exodus from St James Park, which in turn demonstrates the extent of the problems the Magpies will face. The list of players likely to leave include: Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Obamfemi Martins, Damien Duff, Alan Smith, Nicky Butt, Jose Enrique, Geremi,&nbsp;Gutierrez and possibly Steven Taylor. If things continue in the trational ways of the Tyneside soap-opera then you wouldn’t rule out yet further changes at either boardroom or management level. Chairman&nbsp;Mike Ashley has been ostracised from the club before and if he cannot either&nbsp;persuade Shearer to take the job permanently and/or the Toon don’t get off to a flyer in the championship he knows showing his face in the Sir John Hall stand would be a tad unwise.
Newcastle will have to do their best to wheel and deal as early as possible in order to get the new&nbsp;players to gel as a unit early in the forthcoming season. The first thing they need to do is oust Joe Kinnear from his role, he isn’t physically fit to do job, and if the club are indeed relegated the job starts the minute the final whistle is sounded on Sunday. Although sacking managers isn’t a sign of stability, do any of us genuinely think that Kinnear would stay in the job until the end of next season – fit or not? With expectations and pressure form the fans likley to be huge and the club not in the best of health financially, relegation would hit United very, very hard.
Hull City –&nbsp;35 Points
And to think the start Hull City had. The Tigers are clawing on&nbsp;for dear life in the Premier League and require one last roar this Sunday to ensure survival. Hull are likely to face a considerably weakened Manchester United team on Sunday which may give them half a chance of stealing a point. Whether any of that will come to fruition is another matter. Should Hull find themselves with an instant return to the Championship you would feel that financially the club will not suffer to the degree some of their rivals will. City were desperately unlucky to lose Jimmy Bullard so quickly after his £5 million move from Fulham and could find him leaving the club sooner rather than later at a cut-price fee.&nbsp; Bernard Mendy and Andy Dawson&nbsp;will also&nbsp;have attracted some attention, Giovvani’s early season exploits may tempt a rival club into a gamble. Hull however – are sound financially, have a good boardroom and a good manager in Phil Brown. Providing they can keep the nucleus of the squad together City should be&nbsp;stable and will look to try and bounce back at the first attempt.
Sunderland – 36&nbsp; Points
The fans and players alike pleaded for the board to give Ricky Sbragia the managers job on a permanent basis, the phrase ‘be careful what you wish for’ now springs to mind. Should Sunderland fail to beat Chelsea in Guus Hiddink’s last league game in charge, the Mackems may need another black cat in the dressing room for luck. The club would appear financially sound given the money they have spent in the last few seasons however I would still expect a few to leave. Sunderland shouldn’t really be in this trouble given what they have spent over the last couple of seasons. If the club are confined to the Championship, it is likely they will look to offload the wages of Steed Malbranque and Craig Gordon. I cannot see Kenwyne Jones staying at the Stadium of Light, particularly with Tottenham knocking on Niall Quinn’s door. Kieran Richardson and Anton Ferdinand will attract offers and no doubt the pair pick up a fair size wage packet each too. This being said, Ellis short is now linked to a buy out of the club followed by a change of manager and a £200 million transfer kitty – if Sunderland stay up and we are to beleive the tabloids.

Who Will Relegation Hit The Hardest? - World Soccer Talk

Who Will Relegation Hit The Hardest?

<div style="width: 369px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div>Ready For Sunday then?</div>
So, how’s your nerves? Sky Sports News have today been running an article about stress relief for fans for Sunday. Tips included having a hot bath, avoiding alcohol and meditating to stay relaxed in the build up to the final round of matches in the Premiership. Which will be no help to any of the fans who’s nerves are probably already shredded about Sunday. For the first time in the UK, we’re going to have 4 games broadcasted from the Premiership simultaneously with streams coming in from Hull, Sunderland, Aston Villa and West Ham, which worries me about the potential for an RSI based injury.
The trapdoor to the Championship is wide open, beckoning 2 teams to join West Bromwich Albion in relegation despair. Poor WBA, such lovely football, but no cutting edge, what they’d give for a 15 goal a season striker, it would have made all the difference to such a good football side as daft as that sounds.&nbsp; At 6pm, we will know which of the four candidates will have joined them, with each team’s destiny entirely in their own hands, but for Middlesbrough, it just looks too big a job.
Turning around a 5 goal deficit on Hull City, couple with a Newcastle defeat, is the Boro’s only hope. It’s not impossible to imagine Manchester United putting 3 past Hull, but to win 2-0 at West Ham? That’s a tough ask for most sides, but is it impossible to achieve? Come the last day, nothing would surprise me anymore. Can a team who’ve only scored 27 goals get at least 2 away from home and hope that results in two other games go their way?
Most eyes are going to be on the K>C Stadium, to see exactly which team Ferguson sends out to face Hull City. I’m annoyed by the accusations of a “weakened” Manchester United side taking the field, a side that will probably feature Neville, Ferdinand, Nani, Fletcher,Giggs and Tevez. Disgraceful isn’t it to pick such inexperienced players as those. It’s a side track issue that shouldn’t be even a discussion point; all of those players would walk into every other side outside the top 4 without question.
Newcastle need to worry about themselves at Villa Park, if they don’t win then it could possibly not matter. They have to win and hope for the best, but it’s a massive ask of a team that has only won 2 games this year. Defenders are dropping like flies, Owen isn’t fit, Andy Carroll is definitely out and a couple of youth team players may be on the bench. It all looks hopeless, yet I can’t condemn them fully, something just won’t allow me to say they’re down. It looks impossible but with all of the potential relegation sides in such poor form, it’s too close to call.
Finally, Sunderland, who have just drifted into this situation from seemingly nowhere. Keane walked out when he was rightly questioned over his signings by the majority investor, Ellis Short, over just what value for money they were getting. When someone pays £6 million for Teemu Tainio, you’ve got to ask questions haven’t you? Of all the sides at the bottom, they’ve spent the most, yet got worse so have the most to lose in my opinion, by being relegated some Sunday.
I’m going to be here all the way through on Sunday, so if you can’t get to watch any of the games, hopefully you’ll join us here on epltalk.com, and I’ll try to keep pace with events for us all. Let’s hope we’ve we have a fantastic last day and may the best teams stay up!
EDITOR’S NOTE: <a href="http:\/\/epltalk.com/live-blog-premier-league-final-day/7671" target="_blank">Join the live blog</a> on Sunday at 10:45am ET/3:45pm BST for the Premier League finale hosted by Paul Bestall. Celebrate the final day of the relegation battle with one eye on the television set, and the other eye on your computer as you participate in the online experience with football fans from around the world.

Premiership Final Day Preview - World Soccer Talk

Premiership Final Day Preview

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When the fixture list was released back in June 2008, no doubt the fans of both Newcastle and Middlesbrough hadn’t a thought that they’d be facing a six pointer to try and save their Premiership survival with today’s clash.&nbsp; Yet here they are, staring down the barrel of relegation with West Bromich coming up close behind and it would seem a choice between any three from 5 clubs.
Defeat tonight for either side could condemn them to relegation with the only hope of Sunderland and Hull City’s continual free fall to even give them a glimmer of hope for staying up. Hull City, West Brom and Sunderland will be hoping for a draw, both the Boro and the Magpies will be desperate for a win. <a href="http:\/\/www.premierleague.com/page/FormGuide" target="_blank">The form book shows that between them, they’ve gathered 6 points between them in their last 6 games, 4 for Boro and 2 for Newcastle.</a> In a nutshell, both sides are showing relegation form and a win for either side seems a bridge too far.
A draw would seem to be the obvious result, but wouldn’t benefit either side. Newcastle’s remaining games are against Fulham, chasing European competition, at home and then an away trip to another side in dreadful form, Aston Villa. Middlesbrough have Aston Villa at home, then travel to West Ham United who have hit a blip at the wrong time both on and off the field.
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Honestly though, if I had to hang my hat on either side getting anything tonight, you’d have to fancy Middlesbrough. Sure they’ve been bad this season, but they’ve had a fair run of bad luck and haven’t really got the results that some of their performances deserved. Newcastle have been simply awful all season, a side bereft of fight, tactics and performances and don’t look like they’d be able to beat an egg at the moment. If Newcastle go down, they’ll not return to the Premiership for a long time, Boro at least have some assets that they can cash in on to try and regenerate the side for a promotion push. Let’s not forget that Newcastle United do not have any player on a contract reduction clause and their biggest playing assets are all out of contract in the Summer. Leeds United part two beckons for the Geordies if they fall through the trap door.
This is clearly the biggest Tyne-Tees derby in almost 20 years, but financially, this is the biggest derby in both clubs history. The pressure and the fear that the league table shows the players every time they see it will be playing on every single players nerves, making sick to the pit of their stomach. Those kind of nerves can destroy even the best of players.&nbsp; Newcastle United players will be hoping the club haven’t given them any free flags, after the curse of the flags in last weeks Champions League Semi-Finals.
The Geordie and Boro fans are both sounding downbeat about their chances of winning tonight, though thankfully certain Newcastle fans who keep claiming the Premier League needs Newcastle United in it seem to have got quieter and quieter as the realisation of reality has finally sunk in. Both sides are full of overpaid, under performing players, but maybe tonight someone can finally give their long suffering fans some value for money probably in a red shirt.

A Game Neither Newcastle United Or Middlesbrough Can Afford To Lose - World Soccer Talk

A Game Neither Newcastle United Or Middlesbrough Can Afford To Lose

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