Avoiding the Drop

There’s a LOT to talk about in English football right now.  Cesc Fabregas and Phil Brown have been charged in L’affaire  d’Expectorate.  The worst grass this side of Grampa’s cow pasture is going to be relaid in time for the FA Cup Final.  Martin Laursen of Aston Villa and Tomas Rosicky appear likely to never play again for their teams.  Frank Lampard got caught up in some radio host’s nightmare and called the guy an “idiot” on air (like we haven’t seen enough problems with radio hosts lately).  Oh, and Jonathan Woodgate is on Twitter.

So, we come into a huge weekend of football all over the world, but my focus particularly this weekend is on my homeland.  The lower divisions, from the Coca-Cola Championship through League 1 and League 2 are in their next-to-last weekends of the season.  This means that the pressure is ratcheted up to a ridiculous level on certain clubs trying to sneak into their league’s playoffs (a whopping SIX clubs in League 2 within striking distance of the last playoff spot, three clubs in League 1, and four teams looking at the last two spots in the Championship) or trying to AVOID THE DROP!  I was in England last season for the next two weekends.  I was within walking distance of Stamford Bridge and Craven Cottage, but other commitments kept me out of both.  These weekends never let you breathe.  They don’t let you sleep properly.  You feel an ache in your heart.  Every second of the matches is precious.

In the Barclays Premier League, with six weeks left to go, the top of the table sees Manchester United host Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool visiting Hull City and Chelsea bussing across London to Upton Park to visit old friends Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke at West Ham United.  Not surprisingly, as you’ll see, all of those matches are on telly (if you have Setanta, that is).  Perhaps the biggest match in the relegation battle is Newcastle hosting Portsmouth on Monday afternoon, in what surely must be a win for the Toon if they hope to try to stay up.  Other relegation battles see West Bromwich Albion host Sunderland on Saturday, and Middlesbrough traveling to the Emirates to battle Arsenal on Sunday.

It’s weekends like this that make me incredibly homesick.  Ah well.  Here is all the footy on telly for this fantastic Saturday, and as usual, all times EDT:

10:00 AM – West Ham United v. Chelsea – Barclays Premier League – FSC

10:00 AM – Hull City v. Liverpool – Barclays Premier League – Setanta

10:00 AM – Manchester City v. Everton – Barclays Premier League – Setanta Extra

11:30 AM – Bayern Munich v. FC Schalke 04 – Bundesliga – GolTV

12:15 PM – Bristol City v. Preston North End – Coca Cola Championship – Setanta

12:30 PM – Manchester United v. Tottenham Hotspur – Barclays Premier League – FSC

2:30 PM – Fiorentina v. Roma – Serie A – FSC

4:00 PM – Valencia v. Barcelona – La Primera Liga – GolTV

4:30 PM – Bolton Wanderers v. Aston Villa – Barclays Premier League – FSC (delayed broadcast)

6:00 PM – Boyaca Chico FC v. Cuucuta Deportivo – La Liga Colombia – GolTV

6:00 PM – Jaguares v. Monarcas Morelia – Mexican Clausura – Telefutura

7:00 PM – Chicago Fire v. Columbus Crew – MLS – FSC

7:15 PM – Independiente Santa Fe v. Millionarios – La Liga Colombia – GolTV

8:30 PM – West Bromwich Albion v. Sunderland – Barclays Premier League – Setanta (delayed broadcast)

I know the NFL Draft is on today, so I realize there might not be a ton of interest in footy past 4PM, but hey, it’s better than what will be on during the morning, right?  You don’t want to watch cartoons, do you?