The clubgowi Thursday newsletter is reproduced below in full, it is a good example of a standard midweek send out and also gives the schedule for what will be an incredibly busy (they all are at this time of year) weekend ahead.

 

 

Thursday October 22nd

 

Schedule for the rest of this week......

 

Friday 23/10

 

Email #1 will be sent @ 10.00 UK time with the usual Friday focus on Ligue 2.
 

Email #2 @ 16.00 with Saturday "morning" J-League notes.
 

 

Saturday 24/10

 

Email @ 09.00 with all the Saturday football action.
 

 

Sunday 25/10
 

 

Email #1 @10.00 with early football action, plus PGA Golf.
 

Email #2 @13.00 with a round up of the rest to tody's football, main focus on Brazil.
 

Email #3 @16.00 looking at the NFL.

 

Please note the early sending time and single newsletter on Saturday.

 

Just to keep you up to date with all things clubgowi, our latest video has been posted on the website, take a look ! 

 

Europa League:

 

Liverpool- Rubin Kazan

 

Big game for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp with the new head coach making his home debut. Klopp has already generated a huge amount of goodwill in the city, supporters want a manager they can love and the German fits the bill and them some and he is a breath of fresh air after Brendan Rodgers, whom fans never took to and the local press summed up his reign up recently as, too often picking a team to suit him and his situation rather than what was best for the club. The city has welcomed Klopp with open arms and the way he has dealt with the media , it is always Liverpool against the world, has further endeared him. He has inherited an injury hit squad, but started with a 0-0 draw at Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend where the Reds recorded their first clean sheet in nine starts, the team worked incredibly hard for their new boss and covered 5km of ground more than in any other game this season to please him and adapt to his preferred high pressing style. He has made it clear this week, that he will not always ask his team to work that hard, but on occasion, they will have to be prepared to saying :“We ran 116km against Tottenham, there were 5km that were not useful and we did them – but we did them because we wanted to. "It was not the most clever thing, but now we can try to turn the screws and do it in the right way, in the right moment, with better timing and being cooler with the ball, it will get better and better and better.“If you play against a much better team and are not ready to run more than they are, then you are crazy. "Tottenham have been together for a long time – they are stable with results and performances – so we had to give them problems, and that’s what we tried to do.“Now we will try to create problems for Rubin Kazan.”

 

Injury wise, Christian Benteke, Roberto Firmino and Dejan Lovren all trained this week and will give Klopp additional options, at least from the bench and a packed Anfield on a European night is the perfect setting to claim his first win. Rubin have won just 3 of 12 domestic games and scored just three goals in six away starts, they look to be returning to their true level after a golden period between 2008-2012 and are a mid/lower mid table Russian team at best and this is a match that Liverpool should win. Odds reflect that of course and given how few goals the hosts have themselves scored ,they have managed to score more than a single goal just three times in 25 starts and those came against struggling teams in Aston Villa , Newcastle United and QPR and they won only one of those 25 by more than a single goal ! That is not the Liverpool way and why supporters were so frustrated under Rodgers, now we have Klopp, but the fact remains that some of his better striking options will probably start on the bench this evening.
 

It might be that the Reds will come out all guns blazing and fired up, but the likelihood is that it might take a little time to find that breakthrough goal and all things considered odds of 1.90 giving up 1.25 goals is not overly generous and whilst probably correct,  that is not what we are looking for. I would suggest waiting for Liverpool -1 ball 1.90, or -1.25 ball 2.25 , as long as they are not already leading and as long as we are playing 11 v 11, 1.5 units would be my suggestion .

 

Molde- Celtic

 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has returned to Molde where he started his coaching career and will provide a major boost for the club. He won three titles, including Molde's first two Tippeligaen championships during his first spell at the club and with the team currently out of contention domstically ( just three rounds left to play) it will be about building for next season and this current Europa League campaign, Molde already have four group points on board and a win this evening would go a long way towards securing progression. At home, they are in their best form of the year, with three straight league wins over champions elect Rosenborg, Tromsoand  Mjondalen , scoring seven goals in the last two. Interim boss Erling Moe worked with OGS for several years before and the transition will be seemless, but the mood which was already on the up, will nonetheless, be lifted.

Hosts play on an articial surface, Celtic do have some experience of that in the SPL, but have struggled on them a little this season and whist that got a look at this one yesterday, it was in very windy, difficult conditions and with rain almost certain tonight and gusty winds set to pick up this evening, this is going to be a tough game for the visitors. Molde drew with Ajax here and won 3-1 in Fenerbahce (where they ended with ten men and also hit the woodwork), they played similarly in both (largely on the counter), but that still gives them a big goal threat. Hosts in good form, big homecoming for OGS and with conditions in their favour and Celtic never the best of travellers in Europe, I do not see why the Scottish champions should be favourites for this. Celtic played 12.00 on Saturday and this is starting at 21.05 (local time) kick off and that has made for a very strange week in terms of training and build up to the two fixtures, which further makes me lean towards the hosting team.

 

 

 

NFL: Seattle Seahawks @ San Francisco 49ers

 

Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say you were probably wrong and it is likely that I have underestimated the 49ers. I wrote early season..........It pains me to say it, as they are my NFL team, but the Niners are in trouble or at least transition, big transition (!) and I saw this game very differently. San Francisco have a new head coach in Jim Tomsula who has only taken charge of one NFL game previously , new defense and with star quarterback and the entire offense struggling in pre season, during which they posted just two touchdowns. Quarterback Colin Kaepernich had a poor 2014 after a glorious 2013 and is under a lot of pressure and that is multiplied with the loss of running back Frank Gore who has left the (sinking ?) ship to join the Colts, last year Gore became the 20th player in history to gain 11,000 yards of rushing, he has spent a decade at the Niners and is a massive loss. If that was not bad enough, it is, what was until recently, one of the best defense's in the NFL, that is the real problem, key players Patrick Willis, Justin Smith and Chris Borland , plus offensive lineman Anthony Davis have retired and much troubled Aldon Smith has been released after his latest run in with the establishment. They are all important , but just to give this some context, last season I wrote ....Big boost for the 49ers with the return of pass rusher Aldon Smith who is set to make his seasonal debut, Smith has 42 sacks in 43 regular season games, the San Francisco defense has recorded the seventh-fewest sacks this season and his comeback is timely. Maybe everything will work out for Tomsula and his troops, but the likelihood is that they will be much worse than last season, when they were 8-8 after averaging 12 wins in te previous three seasons and this is a franchise only heading one way currently.
 

They were a shambles against the Steelers and Cardinals, but I probably did not give them enough credit for taking the Giants so very close in New York and they did well to beat Baltimore at the weekend and they are better than I have given them credit for.
 

However, the Ravens shot themselves in the foot and are off to their worst start in franchise history, also, the Niners needed some superstar plays to get the win and they came from Colin Kaepernick who looks on his way back, but also Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin and that duo are former Ravens players and were incredibly up for the visit from their former team. I am not so sure that will be the case today, especially on a quick turnaround and Boldin, running back Carlos Hyde and tackle Erik Pears all picked up knocks and are listed as questionable for this NFC West clash.
 

At the same time, the Seahawks were blowing a double digit third quarter lead to the Panthers, allowing Cam Newton to complete on 12 of 15 passes for 169 yards in the fourth quarter and two 80 yard drives .....give me a break ! That should not be allowed to happen and I guess some very harsh words were exchanged afterwards ! The Seahawks are not the Hawks of the last two seasons, but should have won their last two and be 4-2 , instead of 2-4 and now they are in "must win" territory.We were looking for a big performance from Marshawn Lynch (pictured) at the weekend, but it didn't come ( 17 for 54 yards and he was on minus yardage after about half of those !) , nothing has worked, everthing that could go wrong has and yet, they were within a whisker of beating two 5-0 teams (Bengals are now 6-0), 49 ers needed huge performances from 3-4 players to edge past the 1-5 Ravens , who also had to contribute a couple of turnovers. SF are better than I thought, but I doubt they can play with the same intensity today, Seattle just have to find a way to win this and will !