Predictions 2012/13

@Ryan_J_Fisher

This was supposed to be posted yesterday but for some reason it didn’t.

As it is a start of a brand new season, one that I have been looking forward for ages (well since the Olympics), i am going to make my infamous predictions for the 2012/13 season. Check back in May to see how i do.

Premier league Table:
Manchester City
Manchester United
Chelsea
Tottenham
Arsenal
Newcastle
Liverpool
Aston Villa
Everton
Fulham
Stoke
Swansea
Sunderland
West Brom
Norwich
West Ham
Wigan
QPR
Reading
Southampton

Top Scorer: Wayne Rooney

Other English Leagues
Championship: Bolton
League 1: Sheffield United
League 2: Rotherham

Other Leagues:
France: PSG
Spain: Real Madrid
Italy: AC Milan
Germany: Bayern Munich

Cups:
F.A Cup: Chelsea
Capital One Cup: Newcastle
Champions League: Barcelona
Europa League: Athletico Madrid

I'm Back!!

Hey readers. Sorry for the lack of blogs over the last couple of months. I haven’t been up to much apart from watching a lot of sport (as usual) such as Wimbledon, F1, Euro 2012 and of course the Olympics. It was great to see the history of London in such an interesting way like what we witnessed on last Friday. It made me proud to be British and I will be supporting Team GB all the way.

The whole point of this blog is basically to say that I will be posting a lot more now. The football season is fast approaching and the Olympics is in full flow.

  

If you want me to blog about a Sports story in particular then tweet me @Ryan_J_Fisher.

It was ours from the start

So on Saturday we witnessed a miracle in football. Against all the odds Chelsea became the 5^th English club to lift the Champions League trophy, the first in their history. Didier Drogba, who could have played his last game for Chelsea, said it was ‘Destiny’ and we had our name on the trophy from the start. As a Chelsea fan this blog will show why I believe it was supposed to be our year from the start.

Group Stages: Chelsea only just got through the group. We drew to all of the teams in our group: Genk, Valencia and Bayern Leverkusen. We conceded late goals and lack a solid defence. We miraculously finish top of our group, a point above Bayern Leverkusen.

Napoli: Our next game in the champion’s league was against Napoli. The Italian giants finished runners up in a very tough group that had Bayern Munich and Manchester City in. Despite scoring a crucial away goal it ended up 3-1 to Napoli; a result that almost confirmed Andres Villas Boas sacking. The second leg however showed the spirit and determination that we saw in future games. It took extra time and a goal from Ivanovic for Chelsea to knock out the Italian club.

Barcelona: After beating Benfica, our next match was against arguably one of the best clubs in Europe: Barcelona. I was worried that we would be humiliated especially as they had beaten Bayern Leverkusen 10-2 over two legs. The first leg was, as predicted, all Barcelona. However a goal from Drogba on the stroke of Half-Time gave Chelsea a shock lead that they took to the Nou Camp. Before we had even settled in, we were facing a very tough challenge. Two-one down at half time and our captain sent off for the most stupid off the ball incidents I have seen. Messi had the chance to make it three and goodnight for Chelsea but could only see his penalty hit the crossbar. As time went on I could see Barcelona winning it late on mirroring the semi-final in 2009. But remarkably Fernando Torres scored the goal that saw Chelsea go through to the final for the first time since 2008.

4^th Place: Before the Champions League final Chelsea were still in the fight for a fourth place finish that would secure a Champions League spot next year regardless of what would happen in Munich. Unfortunately our minds were too focussed on Europe and Tottenham Hotspurs secured the final Champions League place.

The Final: So Chelsea were up against Bayern Munich trying to win the trophy that we were missing from Roman’s trophy case. Bayern Munich were the favourites mainly due to the fact that they were playing at their own stadium. Chelsea were without many first team starters. Terry suspension in the Semi final ruled him out and Ramires, Merieles and Ivanovic were also suspended. We started as the underdogs and we were out played throughout. The shot count showed that as Bayern Munich had 33 shots to Chelsea’s 9. In the 83^rd minute Muller scored what looked like the winning goal and would end Chelsea’s European campaign. I was gutted and had given up all hope because we looked set for extra time. This was until 5 minutes later when who else but Drogba scored with a bullet of a header. It finished 1-1 on the night and extra time began.

Drogba went from being hero to zero when he fouled ... and gave away a penalty to Bayern Munich. Similar to the Semi-Final, Robben was certain to score. He didn’t. Cech saved to his left and the game switched in our favour. But like in Moscow four years ago it was penalties that would decide the outcome of the 2012 Champions League final. I was certain we could win but there was still something in me worried. Whether it is being an Englishman and seeing German opposition or just the fact that the game mirrored that in Moscow I don’t know but somehow I could only sit and watch.

Seeing Bayern go 3-1 up in the shootout left me gutted and thinking what if but once again Chelsea get out of a difficult situation and we won 4-3.

So there we have it. Chelsea are the Champions of Europe for the first time and another cup double. Roberto Di Matteo has worked miracles and this has to be one of the best seasons Chelsea have ever had (Imagine saying that in January).  Give him the job and keep hold of Didier Drogba

*Just a quick update with the blog I won’t be back until the end of June due to my exams however enjoy the start of Euro 2012 and let’s hope England can pull of a miracle just like Chelsea.

Come on you Boro

Sorry my blogs are starting to become as inconsistent as Chelsea but I am back (unlike Jose Mourinho who looks set to sign a new contract with Real Madrid. This blog is going to focus on my local team Stevenage and their game against Chesterfield.

I was at the game on Saturday against Chesterfield in which we came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2. It was the exact outcome in our last home game against Huddersfield (I was at that one as well). The game was as the cliché goes a game of two halves or as Stevenage manager, Gary Smith, put it a Jekyll and Hyde performance. The first half was the worst half of football I had seen in a while and that is coming from a Chelsea fan. We started with two debutants Jordan Slew and Patrick Agyeman. Both seem to struggle playing together and every time we got the ball it has a kick up field to the strikers. We were not playing the way we were use to.

The second half performance was a lot different. We brought on Reid, Beardsley and Charles and looked a stronger team. Two goals from Laird and Reid secured a much needed point, especially as Notts County and Carlisle picked up points. It was our third draw in a row and with a busy fixtures list ahead of us; playoffs don’t seem likely, like they did a couple of weeks ago.

Up next for Boro is a home fixture against Oldham. Hopefully it will be third time lucky and this game will go ahead as Snow and our F.A cup campaign prevented this in the past. I think that fatigue will get the better of us and my prediction is 1-0 Oldham.

Young Suarez - Manchester City vs Aston Villa

Just found this video. Not sure whether this had anything to with the Suarez/ Evra incident on Saturday, but this was from the game the following day. I found it funny at first before realising that people are easily influenced by footballers. Hopefully young children don't follow the likes of Balotelli.

Suarez vs Evra: Back to Square One

Hey, me again. It has been other week in sport and a lot of talking points. I’m here to give my opinion on what I have seen this week. Enjoy

I’m sure you know what I am going to start with. I will give you a clue it was in the Liverpool/ Manchester United game. Yes it is the handshake situation between Suarez and Evra. Firstly I will say it shouldn’t have gone ahead given the history of the two players. It was the first time the two had met again since Suarez racially abused Evra back in October. Suarez refused to shake Evra’s hand despite saying he would to his own club. Evra reacted angrily and tensions grew throughout the game. Manchester United   ended up winning 2-1 with a Wayne Rooney double. Evra thought he had won the World Cup and made sure he celebrated in front of Suarez as he left the field. Daglish was angered in a post match interview and said Suarez was not to blame for his actions. He and Suarez have since apologised for their actions on Saturday. I don’t think that this will be the end of it but I just hope that John Terry sees this and thinks about his actions when Chelsea next play QPR again.

The Giants won the Superbowl after beating the Patriots 21-17. It was quite entertaining to watch especially as it was my first Superbowl (which I miraculously stayed awake for). I learnt quite a bit from the game and I can see a lot of tactics go into the game. For example how Bradshaw tried to stop himself scoring a touchdown in the forth quarter to run down time. It was another record breaking sport event as 111.3 or a third America’s population watched it. I'm sure that next year will be just as good. Hopefully the Chicago Bears will advance on this years performance

Other news stories from the week in 10 words (or less)

England beat Italy in the Six Nations to remain unbeaten

Mick McCarthy becomes the third manager sacked 5-1 defeat

The Champions league returns from winter break this week

Zambia beat Ivory Coast on penalties to win Cup of Nations

Right that is it for this week. I will be back next week for the F.A Cup review. I am at the Stevenage V Tottenham game on Sunday. Come on you BORO!

Superbowl and More

Hey. It has been a while since my last blog, well a week but a lot has happened in that week and a lot for me to write about.

Firstly it is one of the biggest sporting events on the planet… for most Americans anyway. The Superbowl is hours away. The 2012 Superbowl is to be the New England Patriots against the New York Giants. This NFL season is one of the first that I have closely followed and it has not failed to disappoint. Many records have been broken, a couple of upsets and of course heavy tackles. Going back to the game tonight, I think that the Giants will win. On the way to the final they beat the Green Bay Packers, a team that had the record of 15 wins to one loss. It is not only sport though which makes the Superbowl popular. At half-time the one and only Madonna will be on the pitch. If you are a fellow Englishman like me it will be a challenge to stay awake but I’m sure it will not disappoint.

I know it has been almost a week since the event but Novak Djokovic is the Australian open Champion after beating Nadal in an epic final. The game lasted almost 6 hours, 5 hours 53 to be precise and was the longest open final in history.  It showed how much determination Djokovic had as he had played a 4 four match against Murray, two days before. For now Murray remains Scottish despite showing some improvement under his new manager, Ivan Lendl.

This week also saw the closure of the January Transfer Window. It wasn’t as interesting as last year which saw the arrival of Fernando Torres to Chelsea and Andy Carroll to Liverpool. QPR were the biggest spenders with Cisse and Zamora both joining the Royals. Other big transfers include Gary Cahill to Chelsea, Saha to Tottenham and Wayne Bridge to Sunderland. The big spenders failed to live up to their names as it seemed that the smaller clubs are fighting for survival.

The Six Nations kick off in style this weekend with three very closely fought games. France comfortable beat Italy in the early kick off before England regained the Calcutta Cup. There was only one try in the game but it was enough for England to win 13-6. Today’s game between Ireland and Wales was also an astonishing game. Wales left it late but scored a late minute penalty to win 23-21 in a game that both sides could have won.

Other news stories from the week in 10 words (or less)

John Terry loses captaincy after trail is moved to July

England are chasing 324 to win in the Cricket

Stevenage draw Tottenham in the F.A Cup fifth round

Mohammed Ali’s trainer, Angelo Dundee dies aged 90

So what a week it has been. I am off to watch the Superbowl. Despite being a Chicago Bears Fan, I am cheering on the Giants.

F.A Cup Predictions

Hey, it has been a week of finals but don’t worry this isn’t to be my final blog.

Firstly, in the Tennis, where Nadal and Djokovic will meet in Sunday's final of the Australian open, the first grand slam of the year. The woman’s final is between Maria Sharavpova and Victoria Azarenka.

Also the Superbowl XLVI final is going to be between New England Patriots and New York Giants. The Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers in overtime 20-17, and the Ravens missed a last minute field goal allowing the Patriots to go through 20-23. This Superbowl will be Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s fifth Superbowl final! It should be interesting to watch and as I am English it is whether I can stay awake for it.

And the Carling cup finally has also been decided. The final will be between Cardiff City and Liverpool. Cardiff, who beat Crystal Palace on penalties, will be in their second final of recent years as they reached the F.A Cup final, only to lose to Portsmouth. Despite drawing at home to Manchester City, Liverpool made it through thanks to their first leg victory. This is the first time they will play at the ‘New’ Wembley and the first time they have reached Wembley since 1996. They won the F.A cup in 2006 but this was at Millennium Stadium. Cardiff should give Liverpool a tough game but I think that Liverpool will just about win.

Sticking to Cup competitions, these are my predictions for the F.A Cup Forth round:

Watford v Tottenham – Tottenham win
Everton v Fulham - Draw
QPR v Chelsea – Chelsea win
Liverpool v Man Utd – Manchester United win
Blackpool v Sheffield Wed - Draw
Bolton v Swansea – Bolton win
Derby v Stoke – Stoke win
Hull v Crawley Town - Draw
Leicester v Swindon – Leicester win
Millwall v Southampton – Millwall win
Sheffield Utd v Birmingham - Draw
Stevenage v Notts County – Stevenage win
West Brom v Norwich – West Brom win
Brighton v Newcastle – Newcastle win
Sunderland v Middlesbrough – Sunderland win  
Arsenal v Aston Villa – Arsenal win

Barclays Premier League Gameweek 22 Results

Hey. Did anyone enjoy the football this weekend? Yeah me too.

Manchester City v Tottenham: 3-2

Manchester City have remained three points ahead of United after a less than convincing win over third place Tottenham. The first half produced little chance but in the second half it changed completely. It was City that took control going two-nil up before the hour mark, with goals from Nasri and Lescott. Tottenham did get it back to two a piece, all this in the space of 10 minutes. In what was a crazy game, there wasn’t much doubt over who stole the game. Balotelli was bundled over by Ledley King in the last minute of injury time, and scored the resulting penalty, to seal the win. The main talking point of the game, though, was whether he should have been on the pitch in the first place. He had stamped on Parker’s head. I haven’t seen the incident but looking at various images it did look like he did it on purpose.

Star Man: Mario Balotelli – He will be on the back pages (as usual)

Arsenal v Manchester United: 1-2

Manchester United put more pressure on City after a close victory. Valencia nodded in a cross from Giggs for the opener on the stroke of Halftime. It was none other than Robin Van Persie who curled in a goal that Henry would have been happy with, as he looked from the crowd. However, Arsenal fell apart late on and allowed Valencia to sneak a cross to Welbeck for his third goal in three. I would like to see whether Wayne Rooney still thinks Arsenal are a threat to the title as he thought this on Friday. Overall it wasn’t as entertaining as the previous meeting (8-2) but it still was a decent game.


Star Man: Antonio Valencia - A goal and an assist from the Ecuadorian

Summed up in 10 words (or less):
Norwich v Chelsea: 0-0- Torres comes closes in a game that ended goalless

Everton v Blackburn: 1-1- Blackburn pick up a vital point thanks to Goodwillie’s equaliser

Fulham v Newcastle: 5-2 – Living the American dream. Dempsey hat-trick added to two penalties

QPR v Wigan: 3-1 – Wigan are bottom after losing to QPR who looked comfortable

Stoke v West Brom: 1-2 – Walters penalty miss proved costly as Stoke lose at home

Sunderland v Swansea: 2-0 – Sessegnon and Gardner gives Martin O’Niell another win as manager

Wolves v Aston Villa: 2-3 – Keane is back again. Striker’s double gives Villa the win

Bolton v Liverpool: 3-1- Liverpool failed to turn up, Bolton are out of relegation

Simply the Best:

Player of the weekend: Clint Dempsey – a hat-trick against Newcastle and a good performance from the American

Game of the Weekend: Had to be the one from today in Manchester. Four goals in 10 minutes and a last minute penalty.

Goal of the Weekend: Not really an incredible goal but the pressure and coolness of Balotelli penalty was pretty class

Stat of the Weekend: Fernando Torres has now gone 15 games without a goal. Will his luck ever change?

Barclays Premier League Gameweek 22

Hey again.
It has been a busy week of sport. The Australian tennis open began and Murray is the only British player remaining. The BDO darts champions was named as Dutch player, Christian Kist who beat Tony O’Shea. Also it was a good week for Birmingham and Brighton fans as they progressed to the fourth round after beating Wolves and Wrexham respectively. Lastly one goal was enough to separate Manchester City and Wigan as Dzeko’s goal proved to be the winner.

However the biggest story of the week is Gary Cahill finally joining Chelsea. There was a bit of disagreement with his personal terms but he is a Chelsea player and what a signing he is and he only cost £7 million. Bargain for the English defender

My two reviews this week are a repeat of a super Sunday clash. The two games produced 16 goals between them and proved how much dominance Manchester clubs have over London. Here they are:

Manchester City v Tottenham: 2-0
Tottenham fans would like to forget about any memories they had of this game. They lost the last one 5-1 but then went on their incredible winning streak. If this game didn’t count for much it does now as they drew last week and lost ground on City, who won on Monday night. Tottenham are without Adebayor as he is off to the African Cup of Nations. So they must rely on either Defoe or Pavlyuchenko to lead the attack. City have also been affected by the cup competition as they are without the Toure brothers. They also are missing Kompany who is still suspended.  Hopefully it will produce the same amount as goals or be as equally exciting. Despite Tottenham needing the points, I still think City will win this… just.

One to watch: Sergio Aguero – He has never lost his form this season and was close to scoring on Monday.

Arsenal v Manchester United: 1-0                                                             

For me the last game was the game of the season. It produced 10 goals, a red card, a hat-trick etc. basically it had everything a football fan had except an Arsenal win. That game is in the past, for them, and they seem to be in a fight for fourth place. I think (or should it be hope) that they will finish below Chelsea. Despite that I do think Arsenal have a chance. They always seem to pick up results here and there against the Manchester club. Both players have reintroduced legends to their clubs with Thierry Henry and Paul Scholes scoring in their second debut. Henry is desperate to play a first league game since 2007, but it suffering from a calf strain. It will be a last minute decision to whether he will play. Should be a good game and could be a turning point in the season for both clubs    

One to watch: Wayne Rooney – scored a hat-trick last time which included a free kick. A repeat is not impossible

Norwich v Chelsea: 0-3

One to watch: Fernando Torres (it’s now or never)

Everton v Blackburn: 1-1

One to watch: Mauro Formica

Fulham v Newcastle: 0-0

One to watch: Brete Hangeland

QPR v Wigan: 1-3

One to watch: Victor Moses

Stoke v West Brom: 2-2

One to watch: Peter Crouch

Sunderland v Swansea: 1-0

One to watch: Stephane Sessegnon

Wolves v Aston Villa: 1-1

One to watch: Darren Bent

Bolton v Liverpool: 1-2

One to watch: Charlie Adam

2012 Sport

Hey, Happy New Year and all that!  I know it is a bit late but it’s my first blog of the year. Yes I am back for 2012, a year that is going to be dominated by sport. This blog will cover the last couple of weeks that I have not written about then next week I will be back with my usual layout that you are so familiar with. So here goes…

Olympics 2012

We have waited as a nation for almost seven years. Given the chance to host the Olympics, the first time since 1948. I can’t wait. It is coming round fast and it is 195 days until the opening ceremony. Let’s just hope that we are ready. A lot has changed since we last hosted the event. In 60 years, from London to Beijing in 2008, the number of athletes increased from 4104 from 59 nations to 11,196 from 204 nations. London looks set to have a record amount of people participating in over 300 events. There are no new events but golf and rugby 7’s have been put into the 2016 Olympics, which is due to be held in Rio de Janeiro.

So will we improve on last time I hear you asking? Yes I think so. We have the confidence and the belief to do better than in Beijing which saw us finish fourth with 47 medals including 19 gold. Our best chance of gold is where we have always dominated, the rowing and the cycling.  However Jessica Ennis, Chris Hoy, Phillips Idowu and Rebecca Adlington look like strong contenders for gold.

I have no tickets, but I get the best view from the television. The main broadcaster of the event is going to be the BBC, again. I am sure they will provide a great service and their red button will allow all sports to be shown. I will be commenting on the Olympics nearer the time but it is exciting times for Great Britain.

Euro 2012

Has anyone really recovered from are abysmal World Cup campaign… because England are back. Yes, it is soon that time again where we are stupid enough to believe that England have a good chance to win a trophy, but only see these dreams crushed as we are usually knocked out early on.  We even came last coming out of the draw. Well we have already advanced on our 2008 campaign where we were knocked out before it even started, a time where we were managed by a guy now known as the ‘Wally with the Brolly.’ Not the greatest nickname but he did ruin our footballing summer.

Our chances are promising but with Rooney banned from the first two games, we need a striker in form, a striker that will score. Step forward Daniel Sturridge. I might be bias being a Chelsea fan but name an English striker in better form. At last we have a decent goalkeeper in Joe Hart. That is usually our biggest worry. Paul Robinson’s miskick against Croatia, David Seaman being lobbed by Ronaldinho and has anyone forgotten about Robert Green’s howler in the World Cup. Nah me neither. We have a fairly easy group and on paper it is only Sweden that proposes a threat to us, but we must think back to the game in November when we beat them 1-0.

So with that in mind, we have a good chance but it is England. You know what they are like.

Stevenage F.C

I am just going to give a quick shout out to my local team, Stevenage F.C. It has been somewhat of a chaotic week for them. I was there when they beat Reading 1-0 in the F.A cup third round. Then the rumours started to turn true as Graham Westley and some of his staff were in talks with Preston North End. It was confirmed on Friday that he will in fact move to them. He has been a fantastic manager for us and led us to three F.A trophy finals and back to back promotions. I was worried what would happen to us on Saturday against Rochdale, who too are without a manager, and whether our form would take a dip. However things couldn’t have been any better as we thrashed them 5-1. Fair play to the players and the supporters.

Darts

Darts have already finished their biggest tournaments of the year with the PDC champions already named and the BDO championship is tonight. Adrian Lewis beat Andy Hamilton to regain his title as the PDC world champion. Both players who were born in Stoke on Trent, the same birthplace as darts legend Phil Taylor hadn’t been playing their best darts and Lewis was lucky to be in the final. He almost lost in the first round but picked it up in the semi-final and final to take home £200,000. Hamilton shouldn’t feel disappointed as it was his first final. Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor had his worst year in the tournament. He was knocked out by world number 38 Dave Chisnall in the second round. I heard rumours that he would retire from darts. I hope not, he has been the main reason why the sport is so popular.

I finish this blog with my…

2012 Top 12 sporting events

1. Olympics

2.  European 2012

3.  Champions league

4.  The English Football League 2011/2012 and 2012/2013

5.  Wimbledon

6.  Superbowl XLVI

7.  Six Nations

8.  Ryder Cup

9.  F.A Cup

10. Snooker World Championship

11. Grand National

12. Europa League