One last gasp for Hull to avoid relegation
Struggling club needs win against Manchester United, combined with a loss by Newcastle
Hull hosts Manchester United on Sunday in the Premier League’s final day of matches, and it’s one of the few games with anything at stake. It’s Hull’s last chance to escape relegation. They need to beat United, and also hope Newcastle continues their winless run when they host West Ham. Newcastle has taken only one point from their last 10 matches, giving Hull a sliver of hope.
Hull manager Steve Bruce made more than 300 appearances for Manchester United during his playing days, but isn’t expecting any favours from his former club. United, though, is pretty much guaranteed to finish in fourth place behind Arsenal, as goal difference strongly favours the Gunners.
That means United manager Louis van Gaal may use Sunday’s match as a chance to experiment, and bring in some younger players.
So while Hull does have a chance to escape the drop, the odds are still against them. They know they had their best chance two weeks ago, when they hosted cellar-dwellers Burnley, and still lost 1-0.
‘O’ no
The most lucrative single match in the world is on Monday, as Middlesbrough plays Norwich at Wembley in the promotion playoff final. The winner goes to the Premier League next season, a prize worth around $230 million in extra revenue!
The omens aren’t good for Boro, though. The club’s name has been misprinted on all the tickets, with an extra ‘o’ being added, to make it ‘Middlesborough.’
If they win the match, though, I think they’ll get over it. Middlesbrough is hoping star attacker Patrick Bamford will be fit in time to play. Bamford, who is on loan from Chelsea, is considered one of the best young strikers in England.
Meanwhile, Norwich has its own up-and-coming star in winger Nathan Redmond. The England Under-21 international had a goal and two assists last Saturday, as his side swept aside Ipswich 3-1 in the semifinals. One Norwich fan was so appreciative, he bent down and kissed the youngster’s boots.
Redmond follows a match-day tradition of opening a tube of Smarties before every game, and finishing it by halftime. His mother told him it would give him strength.
Crash and burn
While the title races in most of the major European leagues have been decided, that’s not the case in Turkey, where two rounds remain. It’s a big weekend coming up, as the top four clubs all meet in a pair of Istanbul derbies that could decide the title. On Sunday, Galatasaray hosts rival Besiktas, while on Monday runners-up Fenerbahce is away to fourth-place Istanbul Basaksehir, who are the new kids on the block.
Galatasaray holds a three-point lead in the standings, and while the title race is between them and Fenerbahce, the story this month has been Besiktas. The team was top of the table for much of the season, and was still there as recently as two weeks ago. However, the wheels have completely come off down the home stretch, as Besiktas has dropped seven points in three games against weak opposition. That leaves the future of coach Slaven Bilic in serious doubt, especially with his contract up at the end of the month.
Reds lose another Steve
After a disappointing season, Liverpool fans were hoping memories of better days might brighten the mood, with a 10th anniversary celebration of the club’s UEFA Champions League triumph. A gala reunion of the squad is set for Monday at the city’s Echo Arena, with 10,000 tickets sold; however, there was one problem.
Defender Steve Finnan, who retired from the game five years ago, could not be reached by organizers, and nobody seemed to know where he was. After exhausting all avenues, the organizers turned to social media, promoting the tag #FindSteveFinnan in the hope that somebody could locate the former Irish international. A lot of crazy theories and jokes circulated, but the campaign eventually worked. Finnan was found living in London, leading a quiet life out of the game and out of the limelight, and wondering what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately the invite to the big Euro reunion came too late, and Steve has had to decline. He’s going away on holiday — to Europe.