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EFL Championship: Thoughts on Carlos Corberan heading back to Spain from West Brom with a huge relegation battle ahead at the struggling Valencia CF side in La Liga

by Sports Benches

Well, it’s Christmas Day today and Valencia CF has decided to change managers having just swiftly sorted a replacement in Spanish compatriot Carlos Corberan via £2.5 million/€3 milloon compensation from West Brom – something West Ham wouldn’t want to do under their current owners.

This comes not long after their 2-2 all draw v Alaves the other day even though it wasn’t enough to keep Ruben Baraja in the hot seat at least a bit longer when they’re currently four points off to escape the bottom three in 19th. The time is now for Corberan to try keep the once-decorated club in the La Liga top flight as his first game will be the postponed game v Real Madrid next Saturday morning (7am AEDT 4th Jan) at their home Mestalla venue due to the floods that impacted the city two months ago.

Yes, he has yet to have won a trophy as manager before other than U23 level with Leeds United but he has been very established at Championship level for a number of years. He helped Huddersfield Town finish 3rd only to lose in the Play-Off Final two seasons ago v Nottingham Forest before he quit shortly after, as well as the two-legged Play-Off semi off the back of 5th last season at West Brom when they lost to also eventual Play-Off winners this time by Southampton. 

Now he will leave the Black Country club in 7th by just a goal difference shy or two from the Top 6 spots at 35 points that could give West Brom the chance either way back to the Premier League. I know it’s such an incredibly difficult league with the Top 2 being handed automatic and the other being the Play-Off winner but whoever comes in would be at the right time to keep up with the Top 6 ahead of the January winter transfer next month.

And once he arrives at the Mestalla soon enough as said above, sure he will continue to unpack his tactics like his mentor Marcelo Bielsa, who spent some time with him before as assistant coach at Leeds prior to his first top job a few years ago.

We wish him all the best as not only Valencia will get out of this on the field but off the field as well when they will finally be allowed to finish their new half stadium come January 10.

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Thoughts on Valencia CF’s half-finished Nou Mestalla Stadium now set to resume their long-awaited construction works beginning Friday January 10, 2025

by Sports Benches

Valencia CF may be rock bottom right now in this La Liga season so far down in 20th ahead of their next match v Alaves not too long from now, but at least they will finally be able to resume works of their half-finished Nou Mestalla stadium (the one is still sitting there over the past 15 years that dates back to 2009) starting Friday January 10th. This credit comes after the club’s refinancing structure with Goldman Sachs that was struck a few months ago, who will give them half of the €325 million euros, in order to finish the works just 30 months between now through June 2027.

Then it remains to seen even if Nou Mestalla finally comes into life & move there at some point as to whether or not Valencia can host some of the 2030 FIFA World Cup games where Spain is sharing it as co-hosts with Morocco and Portugal.

First of all, it’s sad to see Valencia sunk this low who was once a dominant force in this competition and across Europe back in the early 2000s to now trying to just stay up at the bottom half of the league.

If Valencia lose to Alaves later tonight, we could see the last of Ruben Baraja as head coach irrespective of the board management situation. Regardless of that, glad to hear that Nou Mestalla can be saved with construction workers now allowed to arrive back at the building & finish things off not too long from now rather than knocking it down for something else that isn’t to do with the club. It would be such a pity if this has happened but again, they’re good to go – as long as board politics don’t stand in their way once more like it was before.

Let’s hope they can make the most of the next 30 months that will benefit the club’s full potential including surrounding places like bars, restaurants and mixed-use businesses in the Benicalap area as well.

Time will tell as everyone will be keeping a close eye on this even if Valencia is not able to stay off relegation and had to play the second division competition next season. See West Ham who was once relegated from the PL back in 2010-11 down in 20th, spent a season in the Championship and got that promotion back via Play-Offs, and now have been established back in the top-flight since then including a move to the Olympic Stadium over time back in 2016 despite its drawbacks & yet they’ve also won a European club trophy (Conference League). If West Ham could do it with bad owners, why can’t Valencia – although the ownership could change at some point.

Update on the Valencia v Alaves game: This turned out to be a much-needed draw thanks to Diego Lopez’s last-gasp goal that secured their 2-2 draw right before full-time at the 98th minute. There’s still a long way to go though just four points off the bottom three in 19th.

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24/25 EFL Championship: Hull City celebrate Christmas now out of the bottom three with Ruben Selles & Mason Burstow following their 2-1 home win over Swansea City

by Sports Benches

It’s been a while but Hull City were able to celebrate Christmas on home soil with the win 2-1 earlier this AM over the Welsh side Swansea City thanks to that game winning strike from summer striker signing Mason Burstow with about ten minutes to go and not only that, they now sit just above the bottom three League One (third-tier) relegation spots in 21st place.

Fair play to Swansea off the back their good defensive line coupled with Harry Darling’s good header when they made some progress right before half-time, who plays centre-back & has been a great addition to the squad for 2-3 years now, when now sacked Southampton manager Russell Martin brought him over to Wales in the first place during that time from MK Dons.

It’s just a shame that a few hit and misses on the counter-attack including the goal kick restart allowed Hull to take back with their 2nd goal before it was too late.

They remain 12th on the ladder after 22 games of 46 where Swansea is currently nine points off the 6th-placed Playoffs bubble at 27. So still lots of work to do if they are going to bridge that gap between now and May under another former MK Dons coaching alum in Luke Williams.

Meanwhile, looks like the Ruben Selles era is so far, so good – having came in there to try and turn this around like he did with the troubled Reading FC side over the past 18 months over in League 1 (third-tier). Good to see them score one early while making the most out of their chances up front. 

Yes, they may have been bossed by Swansea later on when it comes to the possession. But at least Hull got away with it as said above when they had the chance to regain the lead once more thanks to Swansea’s late goal kick error and Hull has done enough to hold off the Swans through full-time 2-1. 

Plus, good to see Mason Burstow registering Goal No.2 this term and that came under the new management initially  with Andy Dawson and now Selles when German Tim Walter didn’t treat him well until he was shown the door three months ago. He’s still got lots to prove having came over during the summer from Chelsea following his underwhelming loan spell last season at Sunderland. 

Yes, he’s seeing another raft of coaching changes yet again but looks like he’s happy this time for the minute as scoring at least 10 + will do it at this level since he doesn’t score as much – as he’s got the same height as Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin and the ability of Cameron Archer and also Armando Broja too (still on Chelsea’s books but is currently on-loan though at Everton).

The fight continues for Hull to climb up the ladder and steer clear away from the bottom three (depending on results of course) when they head off to Lancashire against Preston North End on Boxing Day Thursday (Friday 2 AM AEDT) with Swansea hosting London side QPR at the same time (Swansea.com Stadium).

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24/25 EFL Championship: A goal apiece from each of their own right backs saw Middlesbrough deny Burnley the chance to go up the table 1-1 this weekend at Turf Moor

by Sports Benches

It’s been a draw between the two sides earlier this morning and the bottom line is that Middlesbrough denied Burnley the chance to top the EFL Championship table by a single point the other way round ahead of Sheffield United (38 points) after 19 games in out of 46 at Turf Moor. 

Middlesbrough currently sitting 5th off the back of their excellent summer recruitment drive like Tommy Conway up front to suit Michael Carrick’s coaching tactics from Bristol City that led to some valiant progress as of late. 

They’re just inside the Top 6 Play-Off spots with still a long way go if Middlesbrough wish to at least lock up the automatic Top 2 promotion in order to get back to the EPL ahead of Watford by a single point at 31 and three ahead of both West Brom (7th) & Blackburn Rovers (8th).

Good start by the way thanks to right-back Anfernee Dijksteel earlier on, although the opposite team’s right-back Connor Roberts snatched one back for Burnley later in the first half. But then things were quiet since then, especially when it’s now winter over in the UK. 

It could’ve been any better for Burnley other than the solid defensive structure/line-up they’ve got when their attack hasn’t been that good at times. But with more attacking firepower, particularly when they need a No.9 Centre-Forward up front to help out the ageing & experienced Jay Rodriguez, would help them set the benchmark ahead of the likes of Leeds, Sheffield United and Sunderland between the January transfer window and May.

The good news is though that they can go into next week still 2nd depending on this weekend’s results before there’s mid-week soccer coming up in a few days’ time. 

So Burnley take on Derby County (14th) still at Turf Moor while Middlesbrough still away but not far within Yorkshire when they will take on fellow Top 2 contenders Leeds at Elland Roar – both matches taking place just before 7am Wednesday.

Elsewhere, there has been a ring of head coaching changes lately beginning with Frank Lampard’s appointment at Coventry City in place of long-term former manager Mark Robins after nearly eight years – slow start but we’ll come back in a few months’ time.

Plus, Cardiff City decided to install another first-time manager yet again until the end of this season in none other than Omer Riza following another top job uncertainty since they’ve sacked Erol Bulut earlier this season. 

And having seen Hull City sack Tim Walter, they’ve now prized Spaniard Ruben Selles away from Reading after he did a fantastic job there whilst the club is still currently in crisis currently 6th in League 1. 

Wondering who that may be? Considering they are still no closer towards accepting new ownership at the Majeski Stadium ahead of the January buy/sell window next month. Just found out now that it will be Noel Hunt who will be taking over full-time effective immediately on a two and a half year deal. Now that was quick so fans can move on fast in the hope of going back to the second tier (Championship) at season’s end either way.

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2024-25 EFL Championship Round 18/46: Sheffield United start the weekend as table-topping leaders at Bramall Lane following their 1-0, 10-man contest win v Sunderland AFC

by Sports Benches

Yes, Sheffield United may have started the season with two points down following their demotion from the Premier League to the Championship, having finished at the bottom end of the table once again last season, with Chris Wilder back onboard midway despite the battle for survival being too much to beat the bottom three. 

Fast forward to today and it looks like they’ve made a lot of ground now in such short notice as Sheffield has just now topped the charts once again following their 1-0 win over Sunderland on what has been a 10-man contest between either side on home turf at Bramall Lane.

Yes, things were ugly earlier on right before half time-time when both of their own centre halves had to be sent off with a red card – like Chris Mepham in the 40th minute for Sunderland followed by the Socceroos’ player Harry Souttar not long later following his 2nd yellow card who is currently on loan there from Leicester City.

But the match though isn’t over yet for a quite a while before reaching full-time and in the end, Sheffield United had the final say thanks to Tom Davies’ one and only goal in the 83rd minute. 

Depending on this weekend’s results, Leeds United may come back to push them down 2nd if they can beat Blackburn Rovers overnight. Sure, don’t count out Burnley just yet if they can beat Stoke City at the same time – they not have a consistent top-class No.9 at the minute but looks like they’re keeping a close eye though when it comes to the Top 2 spots.

But for Sunderland, their outstanding start has nosedived a in some way lately from 1st to now 4th. Sure, the new head coach Regis De Bris from France has made a massive difference; it’s a shame that injuries have taken their toll – they’re just five points off from where they once were back in Round 1 but only 2-3 points shy if they can get back & hold onto at least the automatic promotions back into the PL.

There’s still a lot to play for after 18 out of a long 46 round season but good to see the current Championship play being closely fought right now when it comes to the Top 2 automatic spots between Sheffield United v Leeds, with Burnley hoping to cut the ribbon between those two teams on what is going to be a busy festive month of December. Let’s see who will get the early presents ahead of January spending time to hunt and sell players in the hope of a May promotion wish back in the PL where they belong either way even via the $$$ Play-Off Final.

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2024/25 EFL Championship Soccer: West Brom & Cardiff City settled for 0-0 draw after a frustrating afternoon at The Hawthorns

by Sports Benches

Both sides may have not been able to get away with it when it comes to scoring goals where shots were flying everywhere that could’ve been 1-0, 1-1 or even 2-1, especially when West Brom played on the home front  at The Hawthorns v Cardiff City. However, at least West Brom and Cardiff settled the score though without a goal following a frustrating and scrappy 0-0 draw at full-time. Cardiff is currently sitting just above the bottom three relegation zone in 20th while West Brom remains within the Top 6 Play-Off places at 5th in the English Championship with 12 weeks in out of a long 46 round season.

First of all, West Brom thought they could’ve done any better when a few shots on goal didn’t quite go towards the net while some have gone outside the crossbar – even though they had 2nd half possession. What could’ve possibly have been if it wasn’t for those three goalkeeper saves by Jak Alnwick from Cardiff? But again, despite yet another draw – West Brom need to re-start winning somewhere as still plenty of time, and their next match will be against Luton on Friday night UK/Saturday morning AEDT.

And as said for Cardiff, yes, they could’ve also done any better had they spent more time when it comes to those conversions within the final attacking third box. Despite not having much ball in the 2nd half, how good was these three saves by the keeper Jak Alnwick?  He was the man who at least frustrated the West Brom attack all afternoon that gave the interim coach Omer Riza something to be content about after recording his yet another undefeated match under his watch. Time will tell if Riza will get the permanent job but lots of first-time managers start there without huge success, so up to Cardiff if they want this to keep on going or hire someone else who may be young but with a bit more experience.

Elsewhere, Sunderland still on a roll currently five points clear in 1st place following a 2-0 win today v Oxford United while Burnley unable to get away with another win thanks to a 0-0 draw v Queens Park Rangers as a few other top teams are circling around them for that 2nd placed automatic Premier League spot – such as Sheffield United (3rd) who def. Stoke 2-0 and Leeds United (4th) who still have a few games in hand despite an also 0-0 draw yesterday v Bristol City.

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EFL Championship: Hull City’s impact 2nd half turnaround sealed their 1st win of the 2024/25 season as well as Narcis Pelach’s first loss into the new job at Stoke City by 3-1

by Sports Benches

It looked like at one stage that Stoke City had the keys following an early goal in the first half by Ben Wilmot following a huge change within management a few days ago. However at the end of the day, Hull City got away with the 3-1 win away from home at Bet365 Stadium. For Stoke, they dropped down a bit from 13th to 14th – even though they already sacked Steven Schumacher a few days ago and yet they continued to pay compensation once again to have Narcis Pelach onboard from Norwich City. Meanwhile, Hull got their first win of the 24/25 season following a series of draws and losses after Round 6.

A lot can change as thought Stoke fans would see some fresh breath of air thanks to Pelach as the new manager/head coach but again, they’ll have to give him time since it’s the boards choice to bring him on rather than going differently with a free agent option. Doesn’t mean it’s impossible not to bring someone young who is out of work or even promote within in-house as this is the way things are to align modern day’s football standards (i.e. promote youngsters with entertaining football) unfortunately should Pelach be gone within 1-2 years. Other than that, Stoke’s 2nd half wasn’t as good as the first including one own goal later on by their 1st half goal scorer Ben Wilmot (Centre-Half).

And congratulations to Hull with the win as still a long way to go when it comes to reaching Top 6 to have another opportunity to get themselves into the Premier League but it’s early days still between now and May. Yes, nothing much happened in the first half other than Stoke’s early lead but Hull did improve in a few ways later on via a brilliant team effort including some fresh faces off the bench & a Ben Wilmot own goal at the other end to safely guide them home. That midfield three engine was up and thriving today with Kasey Palmer (off a missed penalty kick) & Regan Slater providing them the goals & as said with the impact subs, Slater and Liam Millar (winger) proved to be the difference from the team’s poor 1st half into an excellent three-goal finish.

Hull may get the chance to move up the ladder when they will host the last-placed (24th) strugglers Cardiff City next Saturday, while Stoke will travel to Middlesbrough at the same time (currently 10th who will also face the high-flying Sunderland side later this weekend).

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Thoughts on Network 10 retaining the Socceroos and Matildas rights for another four years until at least 2028 with the 2027 Women’s World Cup as part of the package

by Sports Benches

Yesterday, Network 10 officially extended its successful Football Australia contract who will continue airing the Men’s Socceroos and Women’s Matildas matches for another four years between 2025-2028.

Although there will be a couple of changes that you need to know going forward:

  • Home Socceroos matches remains live on 10 & 10 play but all away matches will be behind a paywall via Paramount + with the final round of World Cup Asian group qualifying set to begin later this year – expecting this to be similarly arranged across both the Socceroos and Matildas future friendly games.
  • 2027 Men’s Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia only on Paramount + regardless if the Socceroos qualify or not. It’s a shame there won’t be at least some free-to-air content unlike the previous one earlier this year in Qatar but again, they’re a team who is not at the top band of Asia unlike Japan at this stage – especially when their A-League comp isn’t so strong compared to the Saudi, Japanese and Korean domestic leagues.
  • But there’s a lot more though ahead for the Tillies with six free-to-air 2026 Women’s Asian Cup games on home soil and 15 2027 Women’s World Cup games in Brazil live on 10 & 10 Play with the rest on Paramount +. At least the best of our women’s soccer team will be showcased on free-to-air with the Women’s World Cup rights being a new addition to 10 thanks to Football Australia who recently purchased the 2027 Women’s World Cup rights on its own & then putting it onto this next Football Australia rights deal in order to fetch the best value possible. Sure, 10 missed out the previous Women’s World Cup last year to Seven & Optus Sport when it was held on home soil & also New Zealand, with the next edition going to be held early during the morning our time. But it’s better than nothing though since the Tillies is still on the rise despite their poor Olympics group stage exit at Paris 2024, although you can tell there was no Sam Kerr at the time as she’s still recovering from an ACL knee injury. 
  • All other AFC tournaments including the next two U23 Men’s Asian Cup editions for 2026 & 2028 still on Paramount + as well as the Australia Cup domestic knockout competition. It remains to be seen if some of the Round of 32 games onwards will be split across 10 Play & Paramount + or even see most games only on Paramount + but sure the annual grand final though will still be on 10 & 10 Play after all.

Not a bad deal to keep an excellent product that worked so well for 10 if you look at the Socceroos’s whirlwind 2022 journey to the main World Cup draw via Play-Offs as well as the Matildas’ enormous rise over these last few years. 

What’s next now is to sort out with the A-Leagues whose contract will expire at the end of the 2025/26 season with an option for a three-year extension. Since the competition standards aren’t so good as said with the AFC club rankings, this really translates their poor ratings across 10 and Paramount + where games have been aired on 10 Bold over the last few seasons rather than the main channel except the grand final. 

The good news that 10 is in no rush to stay covering Australian soccer when it comes to the A-Leagues but surely that’s up to the competition itself who needs to improve their standards as things won’t make much of difference if they stay running like this regardless of media partner before there’s nowhere else to look out for with competition at the end of the day. 

Although Foxtel would be happy to come back if it becomes available or 10 no longer wants it where some will be paywall and others would be free-to-view via Kayo Freebies (similar to what they do right now with Netball here), but an appropriate type of marketing, value and relationship with a particular broadcaster is key for that next domestic TV rights package.

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2024 UEFA Super Cup: Real Madrid def. Atalanta BC 2-0 that gave a warm welcome to new signing Kylian Mbappe with his debut goal & his first European trophy in Warsaw

by Sports Benches

Some of the major European Soccer competitions may not have started just yet but we too had an amazing UEFA Super Cup pre-season match from Warsaw in Poland between the last season’s champions – 23/24 Champions League winners Real Madrid and the 23/24 Europa League winners Atalanta BC.

Prior to this match, Madrid got away with the 2nd half stunner v Borussia Dortmund for the Champions League triumph 2-0 while Atalanta ended Bayer Leverkusen’s long unbeaten run of 51 games to hoist the Europa Cup trophy 3-0.

It was a quiet first half to begin with but again, Madrid, likewise with their 23/24 Champions League Final performance, was just too good where they’ve bagged a few tricks here and there to secure yet another UEFA trophy towards the end 2-0.

For Atalanta, you can imagine what their attack would look like if they still had their main striker Giancula Scamacca, who is currently out for half if not most of the season due to an ACL knee injury. Sure, they’ve won some ball along the way but lack the finishing touches up front where Atalanta only scored two shots on target compared to Real Madrid’s six.

They got a huge new campaign ahead including the Champions League as it remains to be seen if Atalanta can keep on going without Scamacca across all competitions.

Meanwhile, it’s great to see Real Madrid win another major European trophy ahead of another busy campaign with the Super Cup. It’s never been a better time with superstar signing Kylian Mbappe now onboard after a few years in the Paris St Germain shirt. Brazil’s Carlos Vinicius Jr. has been excellent as always with his feeds, pace and trickery off the left flank that led to two amazing goals including Mbappe’s debut goal for the team’s 2nd strike.

Gotta say Mbappe has achieved everything in France with so many goals under his belt but his European ambitions when it comes to winning silverware is yet to come & that Super Cup win is his first step towards a long way at the Bernabeu.

The new look UEFA Club competition season under the expanded “Swiss model” format across the Champions League, Europa League & the Conference League will begin mid-next month.

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2024/25 EFL Championship Soccer: Burnley off to a red-hot start under new head coach Scott Parker with the 4-1 win v Luton Town

by Sports Benches

Looks like Burnley is off to a terrific start under new coach Scott Parker with the huge 4-1 win v fellow Premier League relegation team Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. The first half was easy to say Burnley with two goals out in front ahead of half-time. Yes, Luton may have found one back a few minutes at the restart thanks to Tanith Chong in the 55th minute.

But Burnley went all the way though to extend their lead with another two goals that put themselves right up within the Top 2 promotion spots alongside Sheffield Wednesday after Round 1 of 46 in the new 2024/25 EFL Championship season.

Yeah, it’s not the same for Burnley when they returned straight to the 2nd tier after their poor Premier League term campaign last season under previous head coach Vincent Kompany (now managing Bayern Munich). But at least retaining most of the crop would help Scott Parker get up and running for the huge task that proved to be the real real where goals were shared amongst the whole team, while playing possession-based attacking football was a huge plus too in the way Burnley wanted to play their soccer from here where they last topped the Championship table under Kompany two seasons ago (2022/23 term).

There’s still a long way to go so Scott can achieve yet another promotion back in the PL but this time it would have to be the 1st place, having achieved 2nd place before with Bournemouth & Play-Offs for Fulham in the past. Other than that, it was good seeing Burnley function as a whole unit with more to come going into this weekend v Cardiff City as it progresses.

Looking at Luton, they simply just couldn’t handle the dominant Burnley side on their first game back in the 2nd tier. They went with five defenders and a narrow front attacking three; Although they had a good moment or two after half-time, it’s been disappointing to hear that the Luton are not up to the task needed to fight off a side that already has Premier League experience. There’s still 45 odd matches left with League 1 champions Portsmouth next up, but time will tell if Luton can at least be challenging Top 6 between now and season’s end come May. A play-offs isn’t bad having been won that path before last season in the 2022/23 term but a straight promotion would mean a lot to this small team under coach Rob Edwards.

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