Here we go again!

It's taken just under 3 months for us to get blogging again after a shocking performance at the summers Euros.... Hats of to Portugal and Ronaldo.... I've heard a rumour we're gonna see if we can help Portugal pay pack some of its national debt by agreeing to sign Ronaldo on loan for the 3 lions next tournament (if we make it!) Something to do with a loop hole when he played over here at United!

In all seriousness it was a a shambles and it was great to see the FA finally give Roy that final push over the diving board and into the shake infested waters... closely followed by everyones favourite pundit Gary Neville.


Once the bloody had subsided and the waters had calmed back down the FA decided to search the deep depths of our footballing nations ponds (lower leagues) and quickly realised that the ponds were almost emptied of any decent English managers!

In a panic and mist of salt and vinegar flavouring the FA appointed BIG SAM.....

Football fans were outraged! The Scots thought it was the funniest thing since Billy Connolly! 

All jokes aside the Big Man recently got his first international out of the way, and at first glance - Nothing much had changed, Rooney was still living on yesterdays glory and Joe Hart was still in goal even though he had a summer to forget and Harry Kane... well the less said about that the better! 

Twitter was going mental, they wanted blood, they wanted the Big Man to fail at the first hurdle.... Some of the tweets were bang out of line, talk of Big Sam being a secret Jock.. looking to put the final nail in the coffin of our once proud footballing nation! 

The difference this time was that the Big Man had a plan and a vision, as simple as it seemed - "Play to the final whistle" and like the great club teams managed by Sam the lads took that vision on board and well in the depths of extra time we managed to bag all 3 points! It may not of been pretty but in the short time SA has been in charge, England already look a million miles better than they did under Roy! 

Could we dream of a World Cup trophy in just under 2 years? or will it be another false dawn????? 

I am the resurrection

It's final day of the season! Two are down, and it's one from either Hull or The Toon! We've been in this situation before and it was The Toon that ended up sinking! Back then Big Al couldn't help stop the rot! It seems The Toon have this self destruct button they can't help but press! They've spent big on players that just haven't bothered bringing their boots to games! Updating twitter seems to be more important to them than putting in a solid 90mins for the fans! Even the returning Spider Man (Jonas) couldn't lift the players.

Now we find ourselves 90 mins away from seeing The Toon playing second tier football (again!) With the fact their playing against one of Ashely's so called lot -  The Cockney Hammer Mob from Down South, surely there shouldn't be any more incentive needed.... But wait a minute, put that cuppa down there's more to this story! This has all the makings of a Hollywood block buster! The extra added incentive for The Toon players, fans and management is that their facing a team managed by BIG SAM! (If you don't know the history between Big Sam & The Toon then you might as well give up watching football!) Add to the fact The Hammers look like their kicking the Big Man into touch after the match this game has got the lot! The half time Tea lady will have her work cut out! 

Personally i think The Toon should put out a team of kids! Whats the worst than can happen? The current 11 (minus Jonas & Krul) have been pure w`?k for the last few months! Throw in the likes of Tom Heardman  & Greg Olley - they will be fearless. The fans love a hero and unfortunately none of the current first team squad look like they would take a bullet for their mums let alone a stadium full of screaming Geordies! It's gonna be a long 90 mins today but for the sake of Football and a city full of Geordies i hope the men in black and white stripes deliver as The Premier League needs Newcastle as much as Newcastle need The Premier League! 

Coming Up? - Lower League Preview

Coming Up - A Lower League Preview

Welcome along to our soon to be regular lower league feature, we've realised here @ 442 that we have a lot of fans following the lower leagues and while the main spotlight is on the Premiership the "Big Four" (or five?) with their "loadsamoney look at my wad" mentality have started to make each season a fairly predictable scenario.
A dip into the lower leagues will show some quality young players, goals and action that some people may be missing out on. The Premiership teams have always been sniffing around the lower Leagues looking to unearth a gem, Connor Wickham - snapped up by Sunderland was wanted by a host of clubs in the top tier before signing on the dotted line for Steve Bruce and Arsenal's pursuit of Oxlade-Chamberlain is well documented, the lower leagues are also used by the "Big Boys" to blood their own youngsters and get vital first team experience in a tough physical league.
It's not just just the players either with a fresh crop of young and more importantly (to me anyway) English managers starting out on their careers in the lower divisions,  when meanwhile on the top table you'd be hard pushed to find an Englishman.

The Championship

The hardest to get out of and the one offering the biggest prize, teams that have been relegated the season before will be looking to bounce straight back up, getting in some experienced players up for a dogfight or two and trying desperately to hold onto the stars they have.
West Ham will be early favourites to come back up and with Big Sam in charge they have arguably not only one of the most experienced managers for getting the best of out his players but in Kevin Nolan one of the signings of the season (in any division)
Elsewhere, a Thai revolution is taking over at Leicester City and some of the Premiership-style fortune has fluttered it's way down a league into Sven Goran Eriksson's pockets, who's been snapping up new players like a fat kid in a sweet shop. Whether those players can gel and also whether Sven can stay there long enough are two factors to be looked at though.
Elsewhere in the league there's the return of another England manager to club management "the wally with the brolly" (he must be sick of that!) Steve McClaren who's been practising his Nottingham accent, Chris Hughton (probably one of the nicest blokes in football) taking charge at Birmingham who have the odds staked against them financially but could still come straight back up, Ollie @ Blackpool no doubt still adopting a cavalier approach to the game and a wicked sound bite in a press conference and amongst overs Brighton - under Gus Poyet playing the sort of sexy football his one time boss Ruud Gullitt would be proud of.

Predictions: Champions - West Ham; Promoted - Leicester City & Notts Forest

League One

Moving on down to League One doesn't necessarily mean a drop in quality and with two former Premiership clubs in the shape of The Blades of United & Owls of Wednesday renewing their local rivalry it's a great time to come from Sheffield.
Other clubs worth looking out for include Huddersfield Town who narrowly missed out on promotion last term under Lee Clark with the help of Kevin Keegan's former number two Terry McDermott, League Two's runaway Champions Chesterfield who were packing them in @ their new stadium last season will be a welcome addition, Brentford with one time Man City striker Uwe Rosler taking over a team that's on the rise who'll be hoping for more heroics from their highly rated 'keeper Richard Lee, the MK Dons who's set up may not be everyone's cup of tea (and a cheeky hob nob) but young English manager Karl Robinson could be one to watch for the future and on a personal note two local teams we here @ 442 who will be looking out for Leyton Orient and Stevenage.

Predictions: Champions - Huddersfield Town; Promoted - Sheffield Wednesday & Leyton Orient

League Two

In League Two teams have the added threat of relegation out of the Football League entirely (and possibly in some cases, existence) to contend with as well as trying climb up and out at the top.
This season the two teams which came up will be on every lower league watchers radar, Crawley Town who after last seasons FA Cup exploits are one of the favourites to continue their ascent, while another chapter in the fairytale that is AFC Wimbledon will be written as the club aim to build on the hard work that has been put in by players and fans alike after the demise of the parent club from Plough Lane.
Other teams of note will include Swindon Town where former West Ham, Sheffield Wednesday & Celtic cult hero was a surprise appointment earlier this year, whether he'll be a success or not is anyone's guess but it's sure to be entertaining, Shrewsbury Town you have a great record of making the play-offs - can they go that extra step this season? And over @ Crewe Dario Gradi (who with 24 years in residence was the longest serving manager in English football) is well respected for finding and coaching young players that have gone on to bigger things including Neil Lennon, Danny Murphy & David Platt so his team could be one to watch for you the talent spotters out there.

Predictions: Champions - Crawley Town; Promoted - Torquay United, Accrington Stanley & Shrewsbury Town

So, that's my little bite-sized nugget of a preview, any lower league fans out there feel free to drop us a line or comment. It's going to be a regular feature so look out for the next installment.