Day 5 Nagoya Basho. Hakuho goes into the bout undefeated so far. Yesterday he was caught on the back foot but managed to finesse his way to a victory. When in trouble, he just seems to find an answer. I guess that's what makes him a champion.
Nagoya Basho, day 6. This time the undefeated Hakuho faces Takarafugi, a man on a 2-3 record. They've met on 16 occasions with the Yokozuna winning 14 times.
Championship Playoffs Brentford v Swansea (regular season aggregate 6-1) Fulham v Cardiff (regular season aggregate 3-1) No contest in the regular season as on the whole Brentford were clear masters of this group of 4 but they totally blew the chance of grabbing automatic promotion when their fate was in their own hands. A run of eight straight wins came to a shattering halt with defeats at Stoke and then on the final day at home to Barnsley on the final day. The play offs are a pressure cooker and if this is how they cope then you have to fear for them. Swansea were not in the mix but on the final day a home defeat for Forest meant the Swans overhauled them by turning round a six goal goal difference. They were probably not contemplating the chance and as such arrive on the crest of a wave. Fulham and Cardiff both finished the season strongly to cement their places and you have to say that on paper Fulham are probably the strongest squad. Championship betting is for mugs as its an anyone can beat anyone division and you will get poor betting on this league. Gun to head I think I would take Cardiff as being the real form team coming into this intriguing finale but it really is anyones game with a huge prize for the winners.
Id just plump for Fulham if I had to stick, a couple of reasons, that scally-wag upfront Mitrovic, classic knows where the net is, plus they don't concede many at all. No mortgage is going on who will turn up and get through the feted £100billion football match, or whatever value they attach to it nowadays, but I just favour Fulham...
There are only 2 Yokozuna in the sport today, and are classes apart in skill. Hakuho is the only one competing here. Kakuryu has won 6 Basho while Hakuho has won 44. Today the master takes on Kiribayama.
Entering day 8 of the Nagoya Basho and 3 are still undefeated. One will fall by the way side. One of the 3 unbeaten fighters is Hakuho.
The loss of a single sporting event can invoke in us a sense of both admiration and empathy. The valiant loss to a larger man can seem almost poetic in it's majesty.
Yesterday, Hakuho went into day 10 unbeaten and tied for the lead with one other man. Than man lost and dropped to 9-1. Hakuho has the chance to take the outright lead.
Today, after yesterday's defeat, the 9-1 fighter Asanoyama had a win. He sat ringside to see if Hakuho could maintain his one win lead over him. Tomorrow Asanoyama has the easier opponent.
Old school will be delighted that the teams that finished 3rd and 4th will now contest the final. Brentford overcame a first leg deficit to get past Swansea and Fulham prevailed despite a very wobbly home performance. The final Brentford v Fulham (regular season aggregate 3-0) It looks almost a no brainer that Brentford have a psychological advantage over their neighbours. However, Brentford have been involved in eight play offs and have been to the final three times, every time has ended in defeat. Can they finally break this hoodoo. As a QPR fan I really do not give a toss for either of them but I would say that Brentford are more deserving of promotion than Fulham. Fulham will be desperate for star player Mitrovic to be fit for the final as he missed both semi final legs and is by far their most influential player.
Bit hard to swallow, but Brentford do deserve to get promotion after an excellent season, faltering in just the last half-furlong for automatic promotion. WBA really lucked-out?
So tonight's the BIG match up, Brentford v Fulham in the £160million pound game of football...!! It always makes me laugh when Sky Sports build this game up to be the richest game in football as I don't think it is but get why it's given this special price tag... Brentford are the 11/10 favs for the 90min result, 4/7 to be promoted, with Fulham 13/5 and 11/8 on their side of the betting. The draw at 90mins is 2/1 but i don't fancy that from a betting point of view as i can see goals in this game, but to who...?? As I'm not a fan of either side my preference would be Brentford as they havn't made the top flight before, and I've been to Fulham when in my days of watching Liverpool so it's always good to see a different team in the division... PadPower have the Result and BTTS as 7/2 for Brentford and 13/2 Fulham, to which i actually can see that being the bet to play. The Bees have a horrible history when it comes to the play-offs though that counts for nowt tonight, and Fulham have only recently come down from the Prem, so as they say it's all to play for... But I've had a go on the following... Brentford to win 3-1 @ 17/1 Brentford win & BTTS @ 7/2 Brentford to score in both halves & 4+ corners in each half @ 35/1 Chucked £5 on each of the three, fingers crossed for the Bee's to sting the Cobblers...!!!
The sports section of the International Business Times have reported that Man U. has just about secured the services of Jadon Sancho for the princely sum of US$141 million, to paid over 5 years. I know nothing about this stuff. Is this purely a club-club deal? Would a agreement be reached between clubs on what kind of wage was to be paid to Sancho? And what amount of tax would a player in a high bracket pay?
The amount mentioned is the "transfer fee" Cyc - the amount Man Utd will pay Dortmund to sign the player. His wages and bonuses etc will be subject to a separate agreement and will likely make your eyes water. Most players have creative accountants who can legally reduce their tax bills.
Over €120 million, good grief! Dortmund said the other day that a deal must be done-and-dusted with ManU. by 10th August, and no later. Edit: Just read that Dortmund have said this transfer deal is far from over! The saga continues.....
