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³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ BLOGS - Paul Fletcher

Archives for April 2010

Will the Owls or the Eagles come crashing to earth?

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³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Sport blog editor | 11:22 UK time, Thursday, 29 April 2010

Sunday might prove to be decisive in but for sheer drama the game of the day is unquestionably the relegation shoot-out in the Championship between Sheffield Wednesday and Crystal Palace.

Wednesday and need to defeat Palace at a sold-out Hillsborough to guarantee their survival.

Relegation would be an unpleasant step in the wrong direction for the Owls and their chairman Lee Strafford, who , but the club would survive.

For Palace, the future is far less certain - regardless of whether they win, lose or draw.

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Cherries on top as Howe's rise continues

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Paul Fletcher | 22:35 UK time, Saturday, 24 April 2010

At the Pirelli Stadium.

"Novices cannot be trusted with the recovery," suggested one of Britain's leading politicians on television the other day.

Try telling that to supporters of Bournemouth, who are managed by 32-year-old Eddie Howe and secured promotion to League One on Saturday with at the Pirelli Stadium in Burton.

The final whistle sparked scenes of jubilation as the Cherries celebrated their first promotion since 2003 and only the fifth in the club's history. A good-natured and most definitely old-skool pitch invasion took place as delirious supporters engulfed their heroes.

The promoted players eventually made their way up towards the modest directors area so that all the fans on the pitch could see them. I was sat yards away trying to finish my match report when I finally realised that I was about to disappear under a mass of celebrating, sweaty bodies.

I have never been fearful of happiness before but when substitute Alan Connell climbed on the flimsy wooden bench supporting my laptop and started jumping around I knew it was time to leave the party to its main participants.

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Notts County's title but Rochdale's triumph

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Paul Fletcher | 07:00 UK time, Wednesday, 21 April 2010

At Meadow Lane.

Notts County all but secured the League Two title with , but the greater achievement this season still rests with the visitors.

Rochdale, like County, secured automatic promotion last Saturday. In doing so they ended a 36-year tenure in the bottom tier of English football. One of the football's most unwanted statistics was laid to rest.

Youngsters who experienced Dale's relegation in 1974 are mature adults now, many of whom were reduced to tears when .

Nick Brierley has not missed a Rochdale game since 1987 and was one of the tearful grown men at Spotland.

On Saturday evening he travelled the short distance from the ground to 'headquarters', known to the rest of us as pub. The landlady put on a spread and later in the evening the club's chairman Chris Dunphy and his fellow directors turned up and joined in with the celebrating, singing and hugging.

It must have been an evening of the greatest, purest pleasure; the sort that follows so many years of underachievement and disappointment.


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Short hungry for success at Ferencvaros

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Paul Fletcher | 16:48 UK time, Friday, 16 April 2010

When I heard Craig Short had been appointed coach of , I immediately thought the former centre-half would make a good topic for a blog.

As far as I was aware, the ex-Scarborough, Notts County, Derby, Everton, Blackburn and Sheffield United man had retired from the game for good after leaving the Blades in 2007.

A brief internet search revealed he had started , which further piqued my interest.

Just what had lured him to Budapest?

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Ablett's season to forget at Stockport

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Paul Fletcher | 18:05 UK time, Sunday, 11 April 2010

Saturday night might be party time for but it is when Gary Ablett's upbeat demeanour is most likely to slip, usually after the Stockport manager has returned home and started to pick the bones out of another defeat.

Last Saturday evening must have been the worst of the season, with the Hatters' relegation still raw after that afternoon confirmed the inevitable.

It was a dreadful, gutless performance, a point that Ablett doubtless impressed upon his players as he kept them in the home dressing-room at Edgeley Park for an hour after the final whistle.

What has frustrated the former Liverpool and Everton defender more than anything this season is that he believes he has a squad that could have stayed in the division, but the cold facts of just .

"I would be lying if I said it had been easy to motivate myself and remain cheery," Ablett told me. "We have been competitive in most games and with a bit of luck could be in a better position but there are plenty of teams who could say the same thing."

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