Sunderland 'Til I Cry: EFL and beyond 19/20

was expecting this to be as dull as ditchwater so I cut the grass instead. Swansea can be absolute pap on their day, it puzzles me how they finished above Barnsley.

It's basically turned into the Ugly Swansea Pressure show since then. There's a red card in this one somewhere by the looks of it

When I first moved to London I worked with a guy who was a Brentford fan so I went to a few of their games and then went all the way to Cardiff to witness one of their regular playoff final defeats, so I'm a long way from counting chickens here.

I didn't exactly 'grow up on the terraces' but Griffin Park was my first ground. I know there are problems with how they're run these days but it'll be amazing to see them in the top division. But yeah, not counting any chickens - they've shit the bed too many times for that.

hah hah I remember the year they finished second in L1 but but got beat in the playoffs. It was the year the prem was formed so there was one less automatic promotion place.

got to say, going to the playoff finals at Cardiff pisses on going to Wembley. the pubs around Wembley are fucking shit for a start.

Pontus Jansson sauntering onto the pitch eating a protein bar and then getting knocked senseless by a goalbound shot from his own teammate is a hell of a vibe

There's the red

Seems harsh.

Didn't look deliberate at all in any of the replays

Congrats Bees!

Nice to see a new name in the PL.

there used to be a Brentford fan on ilx. But haven't seen them post for years.

Swansea. Cost of compo for Steve Cooper and his staff is a stunning 4.5m ...

— Alan Nixon (@reluctantnicko) May 30, 2021

lol wtf... commiserations if this is happening bananaman begins

What a start for Lincoln.

that was coming ..it's been all Blackpool apart from Grant hitting the post.

so hang on, against the odds, Derek Adams has got Morecambe promoted to L1 but now he's going back down L2 to manage Bradford City. Worst of luck to him!

The bright side of Morecambe going up was us not having to put up with Adams for a year at least.

well if Crystal Palace are after a shithousing and Pulisball manager he'd be a much cheaper option than Cooper I hear

we've just signed Ollie Turton and I was thinking where I have I heard that name before and then remembered he was the lad that scored the fastest own goal in playoff final history only 4 days ago. Tbf he was in a bit of a pickle when it occurred and Blackpool fans like him + say he's a consistent performer defensively despite not offering much going forwards and lacking pace. But results suffered a lot when Pipa got injured last season so a fair squad strengthening signing.

sounds like Wagner is going to the Baggies... jeez wtf happened to you Dave? u used to be beautiful

Torquay's keeper scores with the last touch of the ball to take the playoff final to extra time.

Poor old Torkey, out on pens. Guess there was no way to get a police dog to help them this time.

Dean Moxey had now lost playoff finals in three of the last four years (two of them with Exeter).

so Dean is lacking a bit of... never mind

Valerian Ismael to Baggies is looking almost a done deal. He seems like a good manager. He transformed Barnsley from mid-table to relegation fodder dross to a very tight well organised unit that only just fell short of promotion.

will never forget when Barnsley were briefly in the PL and there was a picture in the paper with all the club badges and there in amongst all the iconic designs was this

https://i1.wp.com/worldsoccerpins.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Barnsley-FC-1981-1998-Alternative-Logo.png

https://i2-prod.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/football/news/article12164178.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200b/Logos.jpg

dogs on football badges always looks utterly shite, the Town and Barnsley badges probably had an influence on Northern Independence Party logo as well and look where it got them clowns!

Rhodes has managed to enrage the Wednesdayites by calmly scoring a decent pen against them today. The backstory on this is that he shit it and refused to step up for the pen shootout they lost against us in the '17 playoffs semi. Lol it's certainly not his fault their club's owners were carelessly profligate enough to pay him 5 times what he was worth on a 5 year contract when he was already past his best.

just reading that Derby are offering "zero-money" contracts to players with just their names on and no wage figures, lol a novel approach but it wouldn't even worked in the maximum wage era.

lol what

I've only a vague understanding of what's going down from reading tweets by the Sun wanker Nixon here

"Derby County. Players turn up for training fearing the worst after Morris comments. Have summit and then ALL handed contracts. Names on but no figures of wages. Need to be signed by tomorrow midday to play at weekend. "

nixon is not remotely to be trusted

we've got them first game which is bad really. I remember when we had "crisis club" Brentford first game. In financial meltdown.. barely enough senior players to make an XI blah blah... useless braindead lump Wally Downes managing them.. they still inflicted the easiest 2-0 away win they probably encountered that season.

we have wednesday at home first up lol

live on sky! tune in folks!!!

they looked decent and well organised on Sunday for a first game of season encounter. Bannan is still a pain in the arse and will be top player in L1.

a top player not THE I meant!

our three-man midfield is gonna end the scrote

We’ve got Bratfud at our place, looking forward to just being there tbh, bet we get stuffed having just sold our best player to the Pish.

Oh dear I mean the Posh.

Season kicks off at home to Farsley Celtic next weekend then up to BPA the weekend after, so two games against mid-table teams before likely high-flyers Fylde at the Bank Holiday.

Preseason has been a very, very mixed bag but with only 13 players signed on as yet the unending avalanche of trialists hasn't helped. And let's not mention the Cheltenham match.

Keep hearing that it’s been a quiet transfer window and lots of players are holding out for better deals - I was expecting a cascade of players dropping down divisions as clubs trim squads but that doesn’t seem to have happened (yet)

Exeter living on through their former players lol, imposing posho Jayden Stockley probably gonna be our skipper this season (at least I hope he is)

It has been a really difficult transfer window for anyone not called Ipswich Town tho aye

Really? I thought he was too focussed on himself to be a good captain, never mind being a bit too free with the old elbows.

Rochdale trust rightly concerned about prospective owners, interesting to see how the EFL responds: https://www.daletrust.co.uk/2021/08/trust-contact-efl-over-comments/

rumours of a covid outbreak amongst our first team affecting at least four key players + the manager have seen "crisis club" Derby's odds slashed by 2-3 points apparently. lol, bloody typical.

rumours are the club have requested a postponement and the EFL have refused. Rotherham got a game postponed last season with one confirmed positive case and few others showing symptoms - perhaps they've changed the postponement rules after that logjam of games in hand the Millers built up last season became quite contentious amongst the relegation clubs.

at last some good news.. Koroma tested negative + is available

The greatest footballer of all time stepping in to save Calz's afternoon

yeah gtf in! nice bullet header equaliser from Sarr from a perfect Sorba free kick, he can be so dangerous at both ends of the pitch! Terrible game so far but football is back baby!

finally bringing on Koroma to torture their slow old centre backs