Football 2015/16

[Chris Lfc]

The Europa league offers champions league football for the winner, which I think makes it worth the effort for Liverpool and Spurs.

I don't think international friendlies shoe much regardless of the opposition. Spain lost several between 2008 and 2012 while at the same time losing (I think only one) hardly any competitive matches.

That should of been the case from the past 3 years but deluded managers just see it as no less than a "friendly" game. The fans travel there to see their team win and play well and lets say under Rodgers he didn't take those games seriously at all, the players go to win too so what moral boost does it give them to lose?  And that's true although it would still be nice to get a result I remember the last time England played Spain we beat them, was by a penalty but better than nothing.

[GlastoSimon]

I think its Man City's to lose. 

The only way that changes in my mind is if Wenger makes some quality purchases in January (centre-half and maybe a striker) or Van Gaal's stubbornness subsides and he plays Martial up front, dropping Rooney in the process. All that of course is dependent on both teams consistently performing and/or getting results, which is far from a given. 

Liverpool's squad isn't there yet for me (think they may well make CL football though), Chelsea have left it way too late even with a miraculous run of form. 

[eFestivals]

I think its Man City's to lose. 

The only way that changes in my mind is if Wenger makes some quality purchases in January (centre-half and maybe a striker) or Van Gaal's stubbornness subsides and he plays Martial up front, dropping Rooney in the process. All that of course is dependent on both teams consistently performing and/or getting results, which is far from a given. 

Liverpool's squad isn't there yet for me (think they may well make CL football though), Chelsea have left it way too late even with a miraculous run of form. 

I'd say, for Arsenal, it's all about the injuries. Who they lose, and for how long.

They've got a lot of players out at the mo (9, I think), but I read or heard somewhere the other day that most of those will be available fairly soon.

If that's correct they should be OK (providing they don't get too many more injuries). They're definitely missing some of those players at the moment.

[Gucci Piggy]

I think its Man City's to lose. 

The only way that changes in my mind is if Wenger makes some quality purchases in January (centre-half and maybe a striker) or Van Gaal's stubbornness subsides and he plays Martial up front, dropping Rooney in the process. All that of course is dependent on both teams consistently performing and/or getting results, which is far from a given. 

Liverpool's squad isn't there yet for me (think they may well make CL football though), Chelsea have left it way too late even with a miraculous run of form. 

They don't need a centre back or a striker... Koscielny, Gabriel and Mertesacker are fine and they're hardly conceding (Wed night aside), and Walcott/Giroud is working great. They just need a defensive midfielder to cover any Coquelin injuries which would end their season as it stands.

A quality winger should then be signed in the Summer if Walcott is staying up front. But with back up from Ox, Welbeck and Campbell it isn't a January priority.

And yeah, most of the injured players should be back after the international break, I think. Except Wilshere.

[Alan_C]

It depends on Aguero for me. There's something about Arsenal this season that are making them look a lot more convincing. Cech makes a huge difference.

[Dan R]

Arsenal are looking good but their form is so inconsistent. Everyone seems to have forgotten how well they were doing in the 13/14 season when they were top of the table for the majority of the season, then lost form for a few weeks and finished form. Too much trouble with injury and that doesn't seem to be chasing. If they manage the full season with a fit squad then they can challenge Man City, who are doing alright without some of they key players.

[Gucci Piggy]

Arsenal are looking good but their form is so inconsistent. Everyone seems to have forgotten how well they were doing in the 13/14 season when they were top of the table for the majority of the season, then lost form for a few weeks and finished form. Too much trouble with injury and that doesn't seem to be chasing. If they manage the full season with a fit squad then they can challenge Man City, who are doing alright without some of they key players.

They were only in that position because Ramsey was playing like a man possessed, though. As soon as he got injured and subsequently lost form on his return they were always going to struggle to maintain that level of performance.

This season they're not relying on any outfield player in anywhere near the same way. The closest you could say currently is Özil, but if he was out the likes of Sanchez and Cazorla are still going to be there to take some of the responsibility.

[eFestivals]

Arsenal are looking good but their form is so inconsistent. Everyone seems to have forgotten how well they were doing in the 13/14 season when they were top of the table for the majority of the season, then lost form for a few weeks and finished form. Too much trouble with injury and that doesn't seem to be chasing. If they manage the full season with a fit squad then they can challenge Man City, who are doing alright without some of they key players.

But their form isn't inconsistent.

They took a while to get going this season - as they have many recent seasons - but they've been on fire since they did get going. They're even winning the games they haven't played (for them) well in by a margin.

If this season goes the same as most of their recent seasons, they'll get stronger and stronger as the season goes on. The difference this year is that they weren't towards the bottom of the table at the point they got going, so they've not had to start off chasing for a top 4 spot. This year they're chasing for the top.

[pink_triangle]

I think yesterday was the first time I watched an fa cup first round as a neutral and ended up rooting for the league club over the non league one. The fauning of the class of 92 was sickening beyond belief.

[kingcrawler]

Yeah I get what you mean. Obviously to beat a team a few tiers above you is a brilliant result but hard to buy into the fairytale stuff too much. Jermaine Jenas especially was really patronising towards Salford and it seemed like they could do no wrong in his eyes.

I enjoyed the game though, thought Salford were much the better team and deserved the win.

[thetime]

I think yesterday was the first time I watched an fa cup first round as a neutral and ended up rooting for the league club over the non league one. The fauning of the class of 92 was sickening beyond belief.

Always hated, never ignored. 

[eFestivals]

I think yesterday was the first time I watched an fa cup first round as a neutral and ended up rooting for the league club over the non league one. The fauning of the class of 92 was sickening beyond belief.

I didn't see the match last night, but i watched a bit of the documentary this week, and perhaps I watched a good bit (from comments I've seen of the first one), cos I thought the 'class of 92' came across very well in it - tho mostly it was the Neville brothers who featured in the bit I saw.

I thought those two came across as genuinely nice and well-grounded people who were involved with Salford for the right reasons, with the only obvious flaw being that they wanted and expected a level of commitment from the players which they'd been used to giving - which is understandable - while at the same time being able to see it from the other side and accept that lower level players have to have different priorities. It's a word I hardly ever use, but I thought their attitude was quite sweet.

Not sure if it's been mentioned here or not, but Giggs & one of the Neville's (I think it's Gary) own a central Manc property that they've bought to turn into a hotel, but which got occupied ("squatted") by a group helping the homeless - and the Neville turned round and said they were welcome to stay there until the building work starts in 6-ish months time. Can't knock them or that, either.

 

[pink_triangle]

Yeah I get what you mean. Obviously to beat a team a few tiers above you is a brilliant result but hard to buy into the fairytale stuff too much. Jermaine Jenas especially was really patronising towards Salford and it seemed like they could do no wrong in his eyes.

I enjoyed the game though, thought Salford were much the better team and deserved the win.

It's an impressive result, but needs to be put in the context that their wage bill is more than some teams in their opponents league. The fact that clubs can perform above their natural level if you throw money at them won't surprise many.

[kaosmark2]

Bournemouth will feel hard done by. They destroyed us today. That said, given the last 2 weeks, it's hard not to feel that luck has evened itself out our end...

[pink_triangle]

Always hated, never ignored. 

I couldn't care less if it was ex Man U, Timbuktu or people with no interest in football. There's nothing in the slight bit fairytale or underdog about Salford fc. The talk about the gap in leagues is irrelevant as they don't have a squad that reflects that level. 

It's a smaller scale version of man city and psg. Not that there's anything wrong with the model, but it's certainly not worthy of an arselicking.

The trouble is non of the owners are fans and if it goes tits up, it's the fans left to pick up pieces. When I hear talk about a 25k stadium I despair, I remember the Darlington owner putting them in a 40k stadium and that didn't end u well.

 

 

[Gucci Piggy]

Chelsea?

[thetime]

Chelsea?

Although that makes a space in the top 4 for the dirty scousers .

Edited November 7, 2015 by thetime

[WS_Jack_III]

Bournemouth will feel hard done by. They destroyed us today. That said, given the last 2 weeks, it's hard not to feel that luck has evened itself out our end...

i was shocked McClaren didn't come out with 'we needed a win like that'

Points on the board, all I'm bothered about. Survive in the PL for another season.

 

[pink_triangle]

I didn't see the match last night, but i watched a bit of the documentary this week, and perhaps I watched a good bit (from comments I've seen of the first one), cos I thought the 'class of 92' came across very well in it - tho mostly it was the Neville brothers who featured in the bit I saw.

I will admit to being a cynical lower league football fan, but I have seen many incompetent or dodgy (not that I would accuse the class of 92 being either) who look/sound great when there is a video camera or journalist in the room. I generally pay little attention to their past. From one perspective they may not want the bad pr of shafting a club, but from another they aren't people who have grown up supporting the club.

My instinct is that the project will go tits up. You can get clubs to conference level fairly cheaply, but then the costs start racking up. They may be wealthy to us, but there are league 2/ conference owners far richer who quickly realise what a tough and extremely money draining job running a lower league club without the fan base to sustain the income. While footballers aren't the brightest, they don't tend to enjoy losing huge amounts of money. It's great fun at the start when success is easy to come, I wonder whether the excitement continues when the opposition gets tougher (yet still unglamorous) and the bills keep coming in.

I fear for the Salford fans when I hear talk of 25,000 seater stadiums. I have heard so many times stories of new stadiums which will all be sustainable through hospitality and rock concerts! Where do they think the fans will magically appear from? If they move who will profit from the sale of Salford only asset and how will a new stadium be funded?

 

 

[kaosmark2]

i was shocked McClaren didn't come out with 'we needed a win like that'

Points on the board, all I'm bothered about. Survive in the PL for another season.

 

I know relegation hurts clubs, but I hate relegation battles far more than I hated actually getting relegated. If we're not aiming for Europe (either comp) or a cup run I don't give a crap where we finish except in relation to the mackems.

[DomDom1984]

I thought Bournemouth deserved to lose. If you miss that many chances, you get what you deserve.

[eFestivals]

I will admit to being a cynical lower league football fan, but I have seen many incompetent or dodgy (not that I would accuse the class of 92 being either) who look/sound great when there is a video camera or journalist in the room. I generally pay little attention to their past. From one perspective they may not want the bad pr of shafting a club, but from another they aren't people who have grown up supporting the club.

My instinct is that the project will go tits up. You can get clubs to conference level fairly cheaply, but then the costs start racking up. They may be wealthy to us, but there are league 2/ conference owners far richer who quickly realise what a tough and extremely money draining job running a lower league club without the fan base to sustain the income. While footballers aren't the brightest, they don't tend to enjoy losing huge amounts of money. It's great fun at the start when success is easy to come, I wonder whether the excitement continues when the opposition gets tougher (yet still unglamorous) and the bills keep coming in.

I fear for the Salford fans when I hear talk of 25,000 seater stadiums. I have heard so many times stories of new stadiums which will all be sustainable through hospitality and rock concerts! Where do they think the fans will magically appear from? If they move who will profit from the sale of Salford only asset and how will a new stadium be funded?

If their ambitions are really as much as 25,000, they do at least have the model of FC Utd down the road, to show them both what can be achieved and the speed at which it might happen. If they fuck up with that to watch they will have lived up to the stereotypical thick footballer.

 

[eFestivals]

#Moaniho_in

[pink_triangle]

If their ambitions are really as much as 25,000, they do at least have the model of FC Utd down the road, to show them both what can be achieved and the speed at which it might happen. If they fuck up with that to watch they will have lived up to the stereotypical thick footballer.

 

The difference between fc United and Salford is fans. I think the former get crowds only beaten by tranmere, Wrexham and Grimsby in the non league. There is at least some regular income to help run the club through the turnstiles. 

The salford model is closer to fleetwood, Crawley and forest green where the clubs are almost completely bankrolled. That model can be successful, but doesn't generally result in a huge fanbase. There are championship sides in the north west struggling to pull more than 15k attendances.

[eFestivals]

The difference between fc United and Salford is fans. I think the former get crowds only beaten by tranmere, Wrexham and Grimsby in the non league. There is at least some regular income to help run the club through the turnstiles. 

The salford model is closer to fleetwood, Crawley and forest green where the clubs are almost completely bankrolled. That model can be successful, but doesn't generally result in a huge fanbase. There are championship sides in the north west struggling to pull more than 15k attendances.

Salford can get the crowds in on a good day, so there's no particular reason to think that those crowds won't grow as the club progresses. It's not a guarantee of course, but there's something reasonable to work with.

But for the 'class of 92' I'm not really sure it's about progressing the club hugely (tho of course they'd like that if it happened). It looks to me that it's as much about 'giving something back' as it is anything else, and if 'success' was all they were wanting then they'd have been other better choices they could have made.

I'm no fan of Man Utd, but these guys have chosen to do something better than most ex-players for the sport they love.

Edited November 8, 2015 by eFestivals