Avoiding the Drop

This is NOT Dwayne DeRosario and he is NOT on trial at Celtic

Heart of Midlothian F.C. v. Hibernian F.C. (Saturday)

This latest edition of the Edinburgh Derby finds the two clubs moving in opposite directions in the SPL table. The Jambos haven’t lost since Halloween, are keeping the pressure on the Old Firm, and have a chance of “splitting” the Glasgow sides by passing Celtic for second place. Hibernian, meanwhile, are only out of immediate relegation trouble because Aberdeen have been so dire. Still they are only five points off the bottom of the table and could use three points to make sure there is no danger of having to make trips from Easter Road to, oh, say, Jubilee Road in Dingwall. But seriously, both Hamilton and Aberdeen would have to make a charge for that to happen! Fun Fact: Hearts’ Czech midfielder Rudi Skacel has seven goals this season. The entire Hibernian midfield has scored four.

A.F.C. Wimbledon v. Hayes and Yeading United F.C. (Saturday)

We drop down to the Conference National to bring you wonderful news: at the moment one of the two clubs most likely to be promoted to the Football League next year will be AFC Wimbledon. Sadly, the “other” club (MK Dons) are not likely to be relegated from League One, so we’ll have to wait at least on more season for the real drama. Still, it’s good to see that the wheels of justice are still spinning in favor of Wimbledon. Hayes and Yeading- who merged into a single club only three years ago- are near the bottom of the Conference table, but will likely be happy just to avoid relegation back to regional football. Fun Fact: Hayes and Yeading are midfielder Jamie Hand’s thirteenth club- he’s only 26! Fun Fact 2: Reserve team coach Marcus Gayle played for A.F.C. Wimbledon and Wimbledon F.C.

Crawley Town F.C. v. Eastbourne Borough F.C. (Saturday)

Third place Crawley Town are the other team most likely to be promoted to the Football League next year- they trail second place Newport County by only a point and have four matches in hand. Crawley Town may also be the most ambitious side in the Football Conference. They already have a stadium big enough to accommodated League Two crowds and in recent years they’ve made a point of signing players with experience at the League level. The “Sports” of Eastbourne Borough are newcomers to Conference football, having spent their first five decades in southern and county regional leagues and their only goal this year is likely to play Conference football again next year. Fun Fact: Eastbourne Borough have one of the more unique club crests you will ever see. (link)

http://www.footballcrests.com/clubs/eastbourne-borough-fc

West Ham United F.C. v. Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. (Saturday)

The holiday weekend brings us a relegation battle in which it’s hard to tell which team is worse off going into the match and which will be the worse going out of the match. West Ham currently have a two point lead- but they’ve played two more matches than Wolves. Then again, if Wolves were to defeat Liverpool in their midweek match they could move ahead of West Ham before this match kicks off. All of that being said, if third-bottom Wigan can take two points from their midweek match against Arsenal and their weekend match against Newcastle (and Wolves lose to Liverpool) it won’t matter much what happens in this match as neither club will be able to move out of the relegation zone. I think. I’ve probably made some sort of miscalculation in all of that mish-mash.

Ross County F.C. v. Dundee F.C. (Sunday)

The Staggies haven’t actually played a match since December 14^th, so it will be with almost three week’s rest that they kick-off at Victoria Park this weekend- by now they should be injury free and fully up-to-speed on what new manager Willie McStay expects of them. A win could move County up to 5^th place, but they will face an inspired- if doomed- Dundee side who have not lost since late September. Sadly for the Dark Blues their 25 point penalty for going into administration (again!) will do little but furnish them with a fond memory as they ply their trade in the Second Division next year. Fun Fact: Faroese defender Atli Gregersen recently left County. Ostensibly this was for “personal reasons,” but the fact is that he made only one appearance for the club- in a League Cup match.

Celtic v. Rangers (Sunday)

As in the past, I only lower myself to previewing the Old Firm Derby if there is something else of note involved in the match- and this time around there is. First, recent MLS refugee Freddie Ljungberg is on trial with Celtic and likely to sign with the club. I wonder how well he’ll really do after being consistently underwhelming during his time in MLS? Second, according to Toronto F.C. general manager Earl Cochrane, Dwayne DeRosario is absolutely not on trial at Celtic. So, just pretend you didn’t see the picture at the beginning of this post. Contacted following the publication of this picture by the Glasgow Evening Times, Cochrane now has, “no comment.” Just as an aside, what does it say about Celtic- and the SPL in general- when they are looking at these two players as January signings?

Real Sporting de Gijón S.A.D. v. Malága C.F. (Sunday)

Things are relatively tight at the bottom of the La Liga table at present, with only ten points separating the clubs in the bottom half of the standings. Real Zaragoza are currently propping up the table, but just above them are Los Boquerones of Malága and the Rojiblancos of Sporting. With things so tightly-packed both of these clubs will need to focus on their own business rather than hoping for help from the likes of Almería or Levante. As they chase victory Sporting will be led by midfielder Diego Castro, while the Anchovies will be led by their Venezuelan striker José Salomón Rondón Gimenez. Fun Fact: Malága’s big signing this winter is Júlio “The Beast” Baptista. You may remember him for all of the goals he didn’t score when he played for Arsenal during the 2006-2007 season.

Valencia C.F. v. Espanyol (Sunday)

Meanwhile, a bit further up the La Liga table 4^th place Valencia and 5^th place Espanyol are even on points as they battle to see which of them will play in the Champions League qualifying stages and which will play in the Europa League. Neither club seems likely to catch Villarreal, so they will be looking back at the likes of Atlético Madrid, Getafe, and Athletic Bilbao as they meet this weekend. Getafe will be the biggest source of worry as they are undefeated in their last five matches and only two points behind these two clubs. Fun Fact: Valencia manager Unai Emery played over 300 professional matches in Spain, but only five of them in La Liga. Fun Fact 2: Espanyol’s Estadi Cornellà-El Prat is the club’s eighth home in its 110 year history.