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Li0nh3eart Profile
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Registered: 01-2008
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Football season (2014/2015)


Today marks the beginning of the football season once more, as the football league has its first set of fixtures this afternoon. With the world cup only ending a month ago it feels like there has been no break throughout the Summer.

After dropping down to the fourth tier for the first time in 9 years Scunthorpe made an immediate response, finshing 2nd and gaining promotion to the 3rd tier (League One) once more. It's never dull following the Iron, there have only been 3 times since the turn of the century when Scunny have not been battling for promotion or against relegation (2000/2001, 2001/2002 and 2005/2006) and during my life time we've been promoted 5 times and relegated 4 times, whilst playing in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th tier.

This season is full of promise, we have a strong squad that should be competitive in this division, I expect a mid-table finish at the very least, with the possibility of pushing for the playoffs. Pre-season has been promising, with some good signings and performances against teams from higher divisions (Leicester and Huddersfield) in friendlies.

Chelsea will be looking to mount a challenge for the Premiership once more, with Mourinho as coach. It seems rare for a Chelsea manager to last a season now, but Mourinho's job hasn't been under threat, which should give them stability. However I feel the lack of fire power up front will hurt them again.

Hearts were relegated to the 2nd tier of Scottish football last season after being dogged with financial problems throughout the last year or so and have only recently come out of administration. Hopefully a change in ownership will bring about some change, after all the recent change of fortune at Scunny has followed the chairmanship of Peter Swann, who arrived last Summer with fresh impetus, succeeding Steve Wharton, who had become old, ill and seemingly disinterested in the club's fortunes, commonly letting our best players go cheaply and often for free. Hibernian also got relegated with Hearts last year and Rangers are up to the 2nd tier after recovering from their fall from grace, so the 2nd tier will have 3 of the biggest Scottish teams this year.

For those that are interested, here are the fixtures for these teams this season:

Scunthorpe fixtures

Chelsea fixtures

Hearts fixtures

A game at Doncaster on the last day of the season will be tasty, especially if it's a vital game for either team.
Aug/9/2014, 13:01 Link to this post Send PM to Li0nh3eart
 
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Re: Football season (2014/2015)


Well, the first game shattered some hope: a dreadful defeat at Swindon, but the midweek victory against Blackburn in the League Cup re-installed the feelings of positivity once more. This has set up a 2nd round fixture against Reading, who are managed by the Iron legend that is Nigel Adkins. He'll get a warm reception, that's for certain!

Onwards we go, the first home game is against Preston this Saturday.

I believe Hearts beat Rangers in their first game at the weekend.

Last edited by Li0nh3eart, Aug/14/2014, 20:09
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Re: Football season (2014/2015)


Well, it has been a shoddy start for the Iron. We are currently bottom of the league, meaning that if the season finished today we'd be relegated again. However, we have recently disposed of our former manager and replaced him with the more professional and experienced Mark Robins, a former Manchester Utd forward from the late '80s/early '90s. He's only been here for a couple of weeks, but the change has been very noticeable. Whereas, beforehand, there'd be little evidence of any game plan other than to desperately defend a one goal lead, whilst rarely committing men forward, now it is more flexible with regards to tactics, and we seem more composed and organised when coming forwards. More importantly, though, it is evident that the football is now entertaining, with us giving it a go, rather than the dull, cautious and negative play enforced by the old coach. Going by comments made by players over social media it is clear that training is more professional and more rigorous now, and this is shown by ever improving performances. In fact we've been unlucky in our last 2 games; we deserved to win both, but we drew one and lost the other against a top side. With financial backing promised by the chairman I am not too concerned at present, by April I feel that we'll have climbed the table, putting us out of danger. Today we're away at high flying Peterborough, a toughy, but they've started to hit a rough patch of form.

Chelsea are doing considerably well, in fact with other top sides faltering it is looking ever more likely that the title is there for the taking. If Chelsea had managed to hold on to the win against Manchester Utd last week I'd have been very confident that Chelsea would have been beyond reach. However, if Chelsea win this weekend and Manchester City don't beat their city rivals I can't see it being anything but a Chelsea title.

Hearts are too doing well, having been relegated last year, they are now top of Scotland's 2nd tier and are unbeaten too. Second placed Rangers are a fairly distant 7 points behind.
Nov/1/2014, 15:05 Link to this post Send PM to Li0nh3eart
 
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Re: Football season (2014/2015)


FIFA have declared themselves, as well as the successful 2018 and 2022 Worlc Cup hosts, clean after an investigation, whilst England have been criticised for foul play. Hmm, I'm sure the English FA resorted to underhand tactics in order to secure the World Cup for England, but I can't help but feel that the blame's been put on England due to the vocal criticism of FIFA by Greg Dyke and other FA stalwarts. Besides, with corruption suspected to be endemic in FIFA (just look at this alarming list) bribery, and other such below the belt activities, will be seen as necessary for a nation to acquire a prestigious tournament. Whilst I suspect the Russian and Qatari bids were riddled with corruption, the ultimate blame has to lie with FIFA, should the very likely scenario be proven true, for promoting such behaviour. Also, I find FIFA's hypocrisy to be somewhat transparent; FIFA singled out England's $55,000 sponsoring of the CFU conference for being dodgy, yet they had no qualms about Qatar's $1.8,000,000 sponsoring of the CAF conference. Now the author of the report, which FIFA have used to declare themselves clean, has appealed against this. It's turning into a farce.

As a Scunthorpe fan I have reasons to be irritated too. Today's scheduled game against MK Dons was postponed a couple of weeks ago, because a couple of their players are on International duty. This comes at a time when we've had improved performances and have two wins in succession in all competitions. I find it laughable that the FA considers it acceptable for teams to be able to force postponement, as MK Dons have done, due to a couple of players being unavailable. We have had several players injured throughout the season so far, yet we wouldn't be able to postpone matches for this, but it's nothing new; York City did the same thing last year. I guess I have another reason to dislike MK Dons, a pariah of the lower leagues due to its controversial formation.

Also, we have been drawn at home to non-league Worcester City in the 2nd round of the FA Cup in what I thought was going to be a shoe-in for tv coverage, since a "giant killing" is a distinct possibility. Instead the broadcasters have opted for a tie involving a team that was televised in the 1st round, along with an uninteresting fixture between Colchester Utd and Peterborough Utd; two teams that are in the same division, and this is not a local derby. The only reason for this being televised is that Peterborough are managed by Alex Ferguson's egotistical son. It's a shame because the tv money would be vital for non-league clubs like Worcester, and such a tie would have more intrigue for a neutral than a game which is struggling to ignite the imagination amongst Colchester and Peterborough fans.

Last edited by Li0nh3eart, Nov/15/2014, 18:44
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Re: Football season (2014/2015)


In Euro qualifiers, there was big hype about how Finland got easiest possible opponents and this is our chance of lifetime to (finally) make it to tournament.
And so far it's been a disaster.
emoticon

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Nov/15/2014, 19:33 Link to this post Send PM to Kaunisto
 
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Re: Football season (2014/2015)


England's qualifying has been smooth so far, but there's no point getting carried away, because if we do qualify in all likelihood it'll be another failure where we're the most dull team there, as it has been in the last two world cups.

After some good performances yesterday's FA cup tie against Worcester brought me down to Earth once again. A terrible performance, especially in the 2nd half, meant that we luckily scraped a draw at home to non-league Worcester. They are 3 tiers below us, and to put that into perspective, this is like Chelsea drawing at home to a 4th tier English side, such as Mansfield Town or Exeter City (well, the gulfs between divisions do become less pronounced as you go down the footballing pyramid, so it's not an exact comparison, but the differences in tiers is the same and we should be aiming to put such teams to rest). Loanees from other clubs were not given permission to play for us yesterday, and this was evident, as the squad matched those under our previous, underperforming manager. The January transfer window cannot come soon enough, so that we can sign more than a few players permanently and offload those that are not good enough, unfit and aren't willing to even try.

Anyway, the draw for the next round is about to commence, so I shall see who we could get in the next round should we win the replay at Worcester.
Dec/8/2014, 21:07 Link to this post Send PM to Li0nh3eart
 
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Re: Football season (2014/2015)


Well, after yesterday I am definitely smiling. Scunthorpe Utd put in a great performance against Rochdale, who were a top 6 side beforehand. We've now moved up to 17th and are 4 points clear from the dreaded relegation zone, and are only 7 points outside the playoffs. With us being 3rd in the form guide, and unbeaten in 9, we may form a lateish charge for the playoffs and possible promotion to the 2nd tier once more! I should calm down, it's a tough division, I'd be content with a mid-table finish this season, which should be more than achievable with our new manager, more signings in January and increasing confidence. Mark Robins (our new manager) has truly made a difference; in a few months we've gone from pathetically succumbing 4-1 to Chesterfield to outplaying sides that are higher up in the table than us, as well as Chesterfield. I know that due to my situation I have not been able to go to as many Scunny games before this season, but my uncle can vouch that yesterday was the most enjoyable match he's witnessed in 4 years.

We are scheduled to play at Sheffield Utd tomorrow, but due to the adverse weather in South Yorkshire the game is in doubt. Bramall Lane has undersoil heating, so there should be no excuse, but they are obviously running scared of the Iron!

MARK ROBINS' BARMY ARMY!

SCUNTHORPE UTD SHALL NEVER BE DEFEATED!

I'll have a whisky and calm down now...

Last edited by Li0nh3eart, Dec/27/2014, 20:53
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Re: Football season (2014/2015)


After a good run it all imploded seemingly overnight. We have had one win in eleven and have slipped into a relegation fight once more. emoticon Just when things were looking up, and I thought we finally had a manager with some nous, things prove me wrong again. The fault almost certainly lies with his odd personnel changes and stubborn clinging to a formation and strategy that other teams have now counter-acted. I just want one season where we can relax in mid-table! Since the start of the Millennium we have only had three seasons where we have not been involved battles for promotion or relegation, these being in 2000/2001 (10th in 4th tier), 2001/2002 (8th in 4th tier), and 2005/2006 (12th in 3rd tier).

Hearts and Chelsea seem to have their leagues fairly wrapped up though. emoticon


Last edited by Li0nh3eart, Apr/9/2015, 20:15
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Re: Football season (2014/2015)


Finnish championship Veikkausliiga ended with good drama. The three best teams finished one point apart, after each of them won four last games of the season.

SJK (Seinäjoki football club) won their first championship. Also second place was best ever result to RoPS (Rovaniemi ball team); the third HJK on the other hand had won last 6 championships.

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