Tag: Sheffield United

FootballOpinion

Turns Out, I’m Not Dead

David Stringer

My Lower League Week column has, over the past two years, become the premier weekly internet recap of events in Leagues One and Two written by a guy called David Stringer.

That is, unless the David Stringer who wrote The Insect Hotel has decided to branch out.

When I feel sad, I like to look at this cover and pretend Bill Oddie wrote a foreword to my book.
When I feel sad, I like to look at this cover and pretend Bill Oddie wrote a foreword to my book.

After not being able to find the time in a hectic last seven weeks (which I’ll blog about at some point soon) I’ve finally gotten back into the swing of things with a Lower League Weeks, published today at Bornoffside.

In it I cover Leyton Orient maintaining their position at the top of League One; Bristol City’s surprisingly enduring underachievement; a mass of sackings and replacements; and, more seriously, Tranmere player Joe Thompson’s battle with cancer.

Click here to read The Lower League Weeks – Getting Back Into the Groove

FootballOpinion

Look! A Lower League Week!!

David Stringer

Going up tonight, the latest Lower League Week, covering events in Leagues One and Two, is now live.

Northampton have had a surprisingly bad start to League Two given their playoff finish last season; Hartlepool and Carlisle have their first wins of the season; Sheffield United are struggling in League One; I’ve covered the latest, (relatively) mundane developments for Coventry; Leyton Orient can’t stop winning even if they wanted to (though I assume they don’t); Notts County can’t win at all; and there’ve been a load of goals in League One, now officially* the best league in the world.

*It’s at least as official as Sky Sports’ insistence that the Premier League is the best league in the world.

Goals! Everyone loves goals!
Goals! Everyone loves goals!

So how can you say no to all that? Be honest, you can’t, can you?

Click here to read Lower League Week: Northampton Are Cobblers And Sheffield United Still Blunt

FootballOpinion

This Fortnight in Football

David Stringer

I wasn’t able to get a Lower League Week finished last week, so earlier this week a Lower League Fortnight went up.

born_offside_green

It covered Celtic’s offers for Peterborough’s Lee Tomlin; some other interesting late transfer window action; Hartlepool’s 5-0 win over Bradford and the context to explain why this was so bizarre; Bradford bouncing back with a 4-0 win over Brentford; Tom Pope opening his account for the season; Greg Abbott being sacked by Carlisle; Sheffield United’s new Saudi Arabian owners; Coventry winnin to cancel out their ten point deduction; and the huge figures Portsmouth owe to their former players.

Click here to read The Lower League Fortnight – Pay Up Pompey

FootballOpinion

Wolves v Blades… And a Tale of Two Coventries. Coventrii?

David Stringer

Today my latest Lower League Week went up at BornOffside.

It featured stories on Wolves trying to clear out unwanted players so that they can take a star player from Sheffield United, one of their rivals; Exeter have decided to expand their fanbase by appealing to Brazilians; Walsall have started surprisingly well and Carlisle surprisingly badly; there’s some brief thoughts on Hartlepool; and two different versions of Coventry City were playing at ‘home’ at the same time on Sunday.

We have a saying here in England - home is where the dangerously amateurish and visually repulsive DIY is.
We have a saying here in England – home is where the dangerously amateurish and visually repulsive DIY is.

Basically, it’s just another ordinary, bizarrely colourful week in the lower leagues!

Click here to read Lower League Week: Wolves at Sheffield United’s Door

FootballOpinion

Last Week of the Season

David Stringer

This is a late link yet again, with the final, double-sized edition of the Lower League Week going up on Bornoffside.net during the week.

born_offside_greenSome of the bigger stories were Coventry’s stadium apparently being on fire; the playoff finals; new managers for Doncaster and Hartlepool; Wolves and Sheffield United still searching for bosses (at the time of writing); the effects and to an extent the morality of  parachute payments; early summer transfers; Bury’s financial troubles, and Billy Sharp being playful. Probably.

Click here to read The Lower League Fortnight – Preparations for Next Season

FootballOpinion

Earlier, The Week

David Stringer

I do have a bad habit of neglecting this blog from time to time…

During the week, the latest Lower League Week was published at Bornoffside.net.

born_offside_green

Portsmouth were taken over by their fans, but, along with Bury and Hartlepool, were relegated from League One with two games to play. Yeovil vs Oldham saw father and son managers on the touchline; Torquay’s new chairman is a lottery winner, and the country’s highest positioned female chairman; Danny Wilson was sacked by Sheffield United; and Coventry have outdone themselves in their battle over the Ricoh Arena.

Click here to read Lower League Week – Confirmation of Relegation Edition

FootballOpinion

Things I Forgot to Link To

David Stringer

You know how sometimes you plan to do something, keep intending to go back to it in just a few hours, regret not doing it yesterday, and then intend to do that thing in just a few hours for a second day in a row? Then a third?
Yeah, I meant to link to my Lower League Fortnight column when it went live last Thursday. I make it a principle of sorts to make sure everything I write is linked to from here, so I’m catching up, even if it is out of date.

Last Thursday’s Lower League Week (written before the frantic last two days of the transfer window) covered Swindon’s new owners, Bournemouth’s impressive form, Sheffield United hitting a rough patch, Zoko being a bit daft for Notts County, Keith Hill’s return to Rochdale, and a banana.

You can read all of that by clicking on The Lower League Fortnight – Of Money and Managers.

Speaking of things I haven’t linked to, a couple of weeks ago there was a bit of a furore over the ballboy in the Swansea – Chelsea match. At BornOffside we wrote some quick reactions, myself included.

These can be reading by clicking through to BornOffside Reacts…

And… that’s me pretty much up to date for today!

FootballOpinion

Catching Cup Fever

David Stringer

My latest Lower League Week is up at Bornoffside.net, though it is a little late in the week.

With last weekend being the FA Cup Second round, that’s dominated the column. In particular the MK Dons – Wimbledon match, a hectic last ten minutes between Accrington and Oxford, and the Micky Adams vengeance match between Sheffield United and Port Vale. (Though I’m not entirely sure if that’s Adams seeking revenge for his sacking, or Sheffield United seeking revenge for him not being a very good manager.)

On the flip side, he does have very sexy legs.
On the flip side, he does have very sexy legs.

There were some big non-cup related news, such as Fleetwood sacking Micky Mellon and the sad and premature passing of Mitchell Cole.

All of that is covered in this week’s Lower League Week – Next Best to Christmas Day

FootballOpinion

Milk!

David Stringer

A new edition of The Lower League Week has just gone up at BornOffside.net.

In it, I cover Tranmere starting to struggle, Sheffield United hitting form, Paolo di Canio whinging, Chesterfield take two months to appoint a manager, Scunthorpe taking less than a day, own goals, a red card, dangerous milk, and a really quite horrific injury.

Den ern, den ern, DER DER DER!

Click here for The Lower League Week – Starting to get Serious

FootballOpinion

A Link to the Column with No Name (Like Clint Eastwood Before He Went Crazy)

David Stringer

Wednesday afternoon the latest edition of the Lower League Week went up… shortly before the announcement of Terry Brown’s departure from Wimbledon, and Mark Robins’ appointment at Coventry. If a week is a long time in politics, an afternoon is apparently a long time in lower division football.

I write about Steve Evans’ latest ban (the Rotherham manager probably has a worse disciplinary record than most midfield enforcers); Tranmere and Andy Robinson’s great start to the season, Coventry’s stadium negotiations, some of the impact of Financial Fair Play, and a transfer from League On to the Conference being delayed because it’s classed as an international transfer.

Wales is the bit that’s in red.
Because it’s the colour of dragons.
They’ve set everything on fire.

There wasn’t a clear theme to this week’s edition, so it’s subtitled The ‘I Couldn’t Think of a Title’ Edition.