BigE

Coca Cola will no longer be Title Sponsor


The Football League, home to the 72 soccer clubs that compete in the three leagues immediately below the EPL, has signed a new naming rights sponsorship with npower, the U.K. arm of the German-based utility RWE.

http://blogs.forbes.com/sportsmoney/...e-with-npower/

Ben

Will that make it more silly league name changes like The Blue Square Premier?

BigE

EPL RELEGATION/PROMOTION THREE-QUARTER SEASON REPORT
if the season ended now


Barclays Premier League Teams to be Relegated
18 Burnley 31 6 6 19 31 64 -33 24 1
19 Hull City 30 5 9 16 29 64 -35 24 3
20 Portsmouth 30 6 4 20 28 53 -25 13



Coca Cola League Championship Teams to be promoted
1 Newcastle United 37 22 11 4 71 28 43 77 14
2 West Bromwich Albion 38 22 9 7 76 42 34 75
Winner of playoff between:
3 Nottingham Forest 38 19 10 9 53 32 21 67 9
4 Leicester City 37 16 13 8 46 35 11 61 13
5 Swansea City 38 15 16 7 32 26 6 61 8
6 Cardiff City 37 17 7 13 62 46 16 58


Coca Cola League Championship Teams to be Relegated
22 Crystal Palace 37 12 13 12 38 40 -2 39 6
23 Plymouth Argyle 37 9 7 21 38 55 -17 34 5
24 Peterborough United 38 7 9 22 39 60 -21 30



Coca Cola The Football League 1 Teams to be promoted
1 Norwich City 37 24 7 6 77 38 39 79 13
2 Leeds United 37 20 11 6 62 32 30 71
winner of playoff between:
3 Millwall 37 19 11 7 58 35 23 68 16
4 Charlton Athletic 37 18 13 6 63 44 19 67 10
5 Swindon Town 37 18 13 6 57 45 12 67 8
6 Colchester United 36 18 9 9 52 37 15 63

Coca Cola The Football League 1 Teams to be relegated
21 Exeter City 37 8 13 16 38 52 -14 37 6
22 Southend United 36 8 10 18 38 54 -16 34 2
23 Wycombe Wanderers 37 6 13 18 40 65 -25 31 7
24 Stockport County 37 5 9 23 31 68 -37 24


Coca Cola The Football League 2 Teams to be promoted
1 Rochdale 36 23 6 7 75 33 42 75 13
2 Notts County 34 18 10 6 69 27 42 64 16
3 Bournemouth 37 19 7 11 46 39 7 64
winner of playoff between:
4 Rotherham United 36 18 8 10 49 40 9 62 9
5 Chesterfield 37 19 4 14 50 47 3 61 7
6 Bury 37 17 10 10 43 41 2 61 4
7 Northampton Town 37 16 10 11 56 45 11 58

Coca Cola The Football League 2 Teams to be relegated
23 Grimsby Town 37 5 16 16 33 55 -22 31 8
24 Darlington 34 4 4 26 22 69 -47 16

Ben

Newcastle are looking good for promotion. Will have to put a good £30+ on them staying up next year.

Porn Player

Why?

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Ben

I'm guessing it's going to have some pretty odds, and depending on the summer signings, it could turn into a safe bet. £30 is 1 and a half weeks EMA payments, won't be missed if I do lose the bet.

Porn Player

Ashley won't spend big money. The players the currently have aren't n-power league standard (Premiership for the less witty)... I think you're letting the fact they are Newcastle United cloud your judgment, because when you look at the facts at the moment they don't stand a great chance.

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Ben

I guess we'll see. I have faith. They'll be wanting to prove a point, and the supporters and club in it's entirety will want to prove something too. I just think they'll come out harder and stronger. I discounted all 3 promoted teams this season, and it looks like Wolves are staying up, and Birmingham are pushing for the last few European spots.

Nimreitz

I don't think the odds will be very good. No one except PP evidently will expect them to go down. Even if there's a good shot that they will get relegated straight back down I don't think the odds on them staying up will be good. Matter of fact, I'd imagine Wolves would get you better odds for staying up.

MonkeyBallZJr

I caught the Newcastle-Bristol City game yesterday, great game all around. I do think they have a decent chance at staying up, they do need some recruits though but for the large part they still have a decent core of PL level players and they still have both Coloccini and Spiderman Gutierrez along with Nolan, Guthrie, Taylor, Alan Smith, Barton and Andy Carrol has emerged as a pretty decent striker.

__________________
Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph, Kris Joseph, Myck Kabongo, Kevin Zabo, Khem Birch, Dwight Powell, Negus Webster-Chan, Kevin Pangos, Robert Sacre, Anthony Bennett, Andrew Wiggins, Duane Notice, Kyle Wiltjer, Nik Staukas, Tyler Ennis, Andrew Nicholson - Future of Canadian Basketball

Porn Player

I don't expect them to go down but I don't expect them to stay up. I will base my expectations on what they get done in the summer. I was simply trying to point out everybody seems to be sure Newcastle will stay up next year but who in the Premiership are they currently better than?

Every player you listed was part of the team that got them relegated the season before this. While playing at a lower level you may be fooled into thinking they can cut it but the truth of the matter is Coloccini was awful playing in the Prem, Gutierrez was unable to show his skill and running ability because players matched up with him much better and he wasn't allowed the time nor space he is while playing against the likes of Doncaster. The others I agree are serviceable premiership players but are nothing special anymore.

The recruits Newcastle have brought in this year (Lovenkrands, Fitz Hall etc etc) aren't Premiership standard at all, what will happen to all these players who have just signed contracts with the club?

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MonkeyBallZJr

There was too much chaos surrounding the club that season, that it really isn't fair to evaluate those players. Based on talent alone, there was no way Newcastle should have gotten relegated. Add the coaching changes and sackings and there really isn't stability for guys like Coloccini and Gutierrez to settle in. I think their core is good, a lot better than most sides that get promoted, add in the promotion money to get several more players and I think they have a decent chance at staying up, of course it's still going to be a dog fight.

__________________
Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph, Kris Joseph, Myck Kabongo, Kevin Zabo, Khem Birch, Dwight Powell, Negus Webster-Chan, Kevin Pangos, Robert Sacre, Anthony Bennett, Andrew Wiggins, Duane Notice, Kyle Wiltjer, Nik Staukas, Tyler Ennis, Andrew Nicholson - Future of Canadian Basketball

BigE

Because of the World Cup this summer the Play-Off Finals will not be all played over one weekend, as in previous seasons.

DATE MATCH DIVISIONS KICK-OFF


Sat 8th May
Semi-Final 1st leg
Championship
#3 Nottingham Forest @ #6 Blackpool
12:45pm

Sun 9th May
Semi-Final 1st leg
Championship
#4 Cardiff City @ #5 Leicester City
1:15pm

Tue 11th May
Semi-Final 2nd leg
Championship
#6 Blackpool @ #3 Nottingham Forest
7:30pm

Wed 12th May
Semi-Final 2nd leg
Championship
#5 Leicester City @ #4 Cardiff City
7:30pm

Fri 14th May
Swindon Town @Charlton Athletic
Semi-Final 1st leg
League 1
7:45pm

Sat 15th May
Huddersfield Town @Millwall
Semi-Final 1st leg
League 1
12:15pm

Aldershot Town @Rotherham United
Semi-Final 1st leg
League 2
7:75pm

Sun 16th May
Dagenham & Redbridge @Morecambe
Semi-Final 1st leg
League 2
1:30pm

Mon 17th May
Charlton Athletic @Swindon Town
Semi-Final 2nd leg
League 1
7:45pm

Tue 18th May
Millwall @Huddersfield Town
Semi-Final 2nd leg
League 1
7:45pm

Wed 19th May
Rotherham United @Aldershot Town
Semi-Final 2nd leg
League 2
7:45pm

Thu 20th May
Morecambe @Dagenham & Redbridge
Semi-Final 2nd leg
League 2
7:45pm

The Finals for all three divisions will take place at Wembley with:

• The Coca-Cola Championship on Saturday 22nd May,
• League 1 on Saturday 29th May
• League 2 on Sunday 30th May.

BigE

With Newcastle and West Brom not playing, the focus on Saturday afternoon was firmly on the play-off places.

Swansea are being chased hard for sixth, but they won only their second game in nine as they beat Barnsley 3-1 at the Liberty Stadium.

Goals from Ashley Williams and Shefki Kuqi put Paulo Sousa's side 2-0 up.

Darren Moore pulled one back for Barnsley, but the home side sealed victory late on through Darren Pratley.

Blackpool stayed in seventh within two points of Swansea, though, with a 3-1 win over third-placed Nottingham Forest at Bloomfield Road.

Charlie Adam put them ahead on the half-hour from the penalty spot and DJ Campbell doubled their lead not long into the second-half.

Joe Garner pulled one back on 65 minutes, but Blackpool sealed the win as Campbell grabbed his second late on.

Cardiff made sure of their place in the play-offs with a 1-0 win at QPR. The only goal came ten minutes from time with Joe Ledley pouncing.

Leicester are on the brink of finalising their place after a 4-1 win over lowly Watford at the Walkers Stadium.

Martyn Waghorn, Paul Gallagher, Jay Spearing and James Vaughan all scored for Leicester to maintain their four-point lead over Blackpool.


http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...099193,00.html

BigE

RELEGATION/PROMOTION REPORT
if the season ended now - 4/20/2010

Barclays Premier League Teams to be Relegated
18 Hull City 34 6 10 18 32 70 -38 28 4
19 Burnley 35 7 6 22 37 74 -37 27 3
20 Portsmouth 35 6 6 23 29 62 -33 15



Coca Cola League Championship Teams to be promoted
1 Newcastle United 44 29 11 4 87 33 54 98 18
2 West Bromwich Albion 44 26 11 7 87 46 41 89 14
Winner of playoff between:
3 Nottingham Forest 44 21 12 11 60 38 22 75 8
4 Cardiff City 44 21 10 13 70 50 20 73 14
5 Leicester City 44 19 13 12 58 45 13 70 9
6 Swansea City 44 17 17 10 40 35 5 68 7


Coca Cola League Championship Teams to be Relegated
22 Sheffield Wednesday 44 11 13 20 45 64 -19 46 6
23 Plymouth Argyle 44 11 8 25 42 63 -21 41 4
24 Peterborough United 44 7 10 27 44 78 -34 31 1



Coca Cola The Football League 1 Teams to be promoted
1 Norwich City 43 27 8 8 84 45 39 89 10
2 Leeds United 43 23 11 9 71 41 30 80 9
winner of playoff between:
3 Millwall 43 22 13 8 71 39 32 79 11
4 Swindon Town 43 21 15 7 66 50 16 78 11
5 Charlton Athletic 43 21 14 8 67 47 20 77 10
6 Huddersfield Town 43 21 11 11 73 53 20 74 13

Coca Cola The Football League 1 Teams to be relegated
21 Tranmere Rovers 43 12 8 23 39 71 -32 44 6
22 Wycombe Wanderers 43 9 14 20 51 72 -21 41 10
23 Southend United 43 9 12 22 46 66 -20 39 2
24 Stockport County 43 5 10 28 34 84 -50 25 1


Coca Cola The Football League 2 Teams to be promoted
1. Notts County 42 25 11 6 85 29 56 86 18
2 Rochdale 43 25 7 11 80 43 37 82 4
3 Bournemouth 43 23 8 12 54 42 12 77 13
winner of playoff between:
4 Rotherham United 43 20 9 14 54 49 5 69 4
5 Bury 43 19 11 13 53 54 -1 68 7
6 Aldershot Town 43 18 12 13 64 53 11 66 9
7 Dagenham & Redbridge 43 18 12 13 65 56 9 66 11

Coca Cola The Football League 2 Teams to be relegated
23 Grimsby Town 43 7 17 19 41 68 -27 38 7
24 Darlington 42 7 6 29 31 78 -47 27