Soccer 2025-26

[Natsinpwc]

They have benn crushed in the last two games. Not enough top players to handle the Premier League plus Europe plus the Carabao Cup, with the FA Cup about to start. Look at their game on Thursday against Spurs. Tottenham has been dismal under a new coach, even though the team spends loads...on mediocre players. ASnd the new coach never plays the same stars. And never the same style.

Palace has a great coach. If Josh Harris and Woody Johnson (!) spend their money, Palace could fly higher.

I jinxed Palace.  They will end up between 9-11.

[welch]

I jinxed Palace.  They will end up between 9-11.

Depends on how hany good players Palace add in January. They are thin, that's the problem. No dependable second-stringers, so when a starter gets hurt, there is nobody. Harris, Blitzer, and Woody Johnson have money.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Between winning the FA Cup and not circling the PL drain like West Ham, I'd say they've not had a bad year for a small-ish fry in a big pond.

[welch]

They have agreed terms with Spurs to buy Brennan Johnson for £35 million. That will help the scoring. Let them spend more Harris-Blitzer-Johnson money and the rest of the season will look pretty good.

Glassner is a great coach, and his contract end this summer. Palace needs to spend more to persuade him to re-sign.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Spurs break coaches.  Frank should have resisted the siren's call of filthy lucre and stayed where he was. 

They have benn crushed in the last two games. Not enough top players to handle the Premier League plus Europe plus the Carabao Cup, with the FA Cup about to start. Look at their game on Thursday against Spurs. Tottenham has been dismal under a new coach, even though the team spends loads...on mediocre players. ASnd the new coach never plays the same stars. And never the same style.

Palace has a great coach. If Josh Harris and Woody Johnson (!) spend their money, Palace could fly higher.

[welch]

Spurs break coaches.  Frank should have resisted the siren's call of filthy lucre and stayed where he was. 

Frank should be fired. Spurs should have kept Big Ange and ridden the joy of winning the Europa League. Frank cannot decide on a starting lineup, and cannot coach his team to score goals. "You can't win if you don't score".

[Natsinpwc]

OMG.  Wolves have not won a game all year and only three ties.

[Natsinpwc]

Maybe today is the day.

[Natsinpwc]

Maybe today is the day.

And it was.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Beating West Ham is kind of like winning at tennis against someone buried up to their waist.  They have pretty much given up...it should be fun having them playing Millwall next season. 

[welch]

Josh Harris's other football team, Crystal Palace, lost in the FA Cup to a fifth division team, Macclesfield, 2 - 1. The Biggest upset in about a hundred years. Embarrassing, astounding loss. Palace had drawn with Aston Villa this week. AVL is third in the PL.

Humiliating FA Cup loss leaves Crystal Palace and Oliver Glasner at crossroads

Ed Aarons

After Macclesfield defeat, club must invest wisely to bolster a weak squad and convince their manager to stay

Oliver Glasner’s face told the story. The Crystal Palace manager watched in exasperation as the FA Cup holders headed towards ignominy on Macclesfield’s artificial surface and was still in shock when he conducted his post-match interview. “Honestly, I have no explanation for what I have seen today,” said Glasner.

A mere 238 days since the greatest day in Palace’s history, when he and the club stalwart Joel Ward paraded their first major trophy at Wembley, Marc Guéhi’s first thought after the final whistle at the weekend was to face the music from the diehards who had made the trip to Cheshire from south London. Accompanied by the assistant manager, Paddy McCarthy, the Palace captain held intense discussions with several supporters as Macclesfield celebrated their historic victory with a pitch invasion.

It was hard to imagine what Guéhi could have said to make them feel better after such an embarrassing defeat against part-time opponents whose real jobs include property developer, gym owner and lawyer. John Rooney’s side were full value for their victory over a team that sit 117 places above them in the league pyramid and grew in belief after Paul Dawson headed in from a free-kick in the first half – the 10th goal from a set piece Palace have let in out of the last 12 they have conceded.

That is just one explanation for the run of nine games without a win in all competitions. A squad ill-prepared for the demands of a debut European campaign has been seriously weakened by injuries to Daniel Muñoz and Daichi Kamada, while Guéhi and his England teammate Adam Wharton are clearly feeling the effects of Palace having already played 34 games in this marathon season. Their club record 19-match unbeaten sequence that began in April and was ended by Everton in October feels like a lifetime ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jan/11/humiliating-fa-cup-loss-crystal-palace-macclesfield-oliver-glasner-crossroads

[Natsinpwc]

Sounds like a team trying to get its manager fired.

I’m all in for Wrexham in the FA Cup.

[English Natsie]

So that's who to blame...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c77kvx575npo

[English Natsie]

For the Palace fans - check out Glasner's after-game sound-off at the owners. Expectation is that he'll be sacked-in-the morning...

[welch]

For the Palace fans - check out Glasner's after-game sound-off at the owners. Expectation is that he'll be sacked-in-the morning...

I read that. No way Glassner can finish the season. And Palce management has sold Guehi, reportedly for £20 million. What a disastrous week for Palace!

[welch]

Meanwhile, how many managers / head coaches have been fired or are at the edge? Manchester United, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, and probably Spurs. Tottenham losty to West Ham yesterday, as they played a dismal first half, came out and dominated the second to tie the score, and lost in added time. Frank has the fan-base against him, and it looks like he has lost the team.

Many job openings!

[welch]

Palace beat Brighton over the weekend. Ismaila Sarr has returned from AFCON, and his goal was assisted by loan player Evann Guessand. Strand Larsen, also just acquired, starred up and down the pitch. Crystal Palce jumped three points ahead of my official team, Tottenham, a team I saw in 1996 and adopted. Thick and thin. Spurs are a mess, from the owners down through the baord that the owners selected, through the chief executive, through the Director of Football, through the manager. Spurs were "linked" to Strand Larsen during the January transfer window, but must have decided he was not worth it.

Meanwhile, I puzzle, and have puzzled for years, over the category "linked to" in English football. What sort of relation is that? Is it anythinig more than a player's agent whispering to a sports-writer over a beer?

[English Natsie]

Meanwhile, I puzzle, and have puzzled for years, over the category "linked to" in English football. What sort of relation is that? Is it anythinig more than a player's agent whispering to a sports-writer over a beer?

Generally the other way round - when a club wants a player but can't be seen to be 'tapping-up' an under contract player.

[welch]

Generally the other way round - when a club wants a player but can't be seen to be 'tapping-up' an under contract player.

Ah..."tampering", we call it, but that is illegal. Only when a player becomes a Free Agent. There will also be "trade rumors" whispered to sports reporters that clubs might be almost ready to announce a trade.