Football 16-17

[DareToDibble]

Had a £1 10-fold acca on over the last round of fixtures to win £380.

Everton, West Ham, Man City, Villa, Arsenal, Liverpool, Brighton and Bolton wins - all came in.
Palace/Watford draw - came in

Let down by Newcastle (which was one of my "bankers")

I had the chance to cash out for £95 before the Newcastle game but thought I would wait until Newcastle took the lead to see how mch it went up to.

Can't believe it 

Edited December 28, 2016 by DareToDibble

[thetime]

On 28/12/2016 at 9:01 AM, zahidf said:

The chinese coming after our referees

 

Things are certainly looking up then.

[Wooderson]

How's Clattsie's Chinese?

[The Nal]

Dean screwed West Ham over last night didn't he? Seems hes very unpopular in the game. 

Also, Guardiola is an odd bloke isn't he?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38492059

Edited January 3, 2017 by The Nal

[mjsell]

24 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Dean screwed West Ham over last night didn't he? Seems hes very unpopular in the game. 

Also, Guardiola is an odd bloke isn't he?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38492059

Dean is one of those refs that is great to watch, just as long as he isnt reffing your teams game. Have you seen the celebrityrefs twitter feed? https://twitter.com/CelebrityRefs - he obviously makes the most starring roles.

On the Pep front, I'm not sure if I'm happy or not that so many people are jumping on the 'overrated manager' bandwagon that I've been championing for ages. He is getting dangerously close to being a manager that gets that never-ending press vilification which is very hard to get past in this country.

 

Edited January 3, 2017 by mjsell

[Hugh Jass]

I wouldn't say Guardiola is overrated, he clearly has something about him as a coach but he's struggling to adapt to the intensity of the Premier League. At Barca and Bayern, he only really had to worry about what one other club was doing whereas in England he's got 4-5 direct rivals for the title. Plus smaller teams like Burnley don't always roll over and make it wasy for them.

[mjsell]

18 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

I wouldn't say Guardiola is overrated, he clearly has something about him as a coach but he's struggling to adapt to the intensity of the Premier League. At Barca and Bayern, he only really had to worry about what one other club was doing whereas in England he's got 4-5 direct rivals for the title. Plus smaller teams like Burnley don't always roll over and make it wasy for them.

Yeah don't get me wrong I don't think he is a terrible manager by any stretch. But I hated the 'best manager in the world' status he seems to have had for the past few years. He appears way to stubborn and far less adaptable than I was expecting. In a completely new league it appears he expects the league to change to the way he wants to play and not the other way around.

When was the last time City started the same back 4 in back to back games?

Edited January 3, 2017 by mjsell

[The Nal]

24 minutes ago, mjsell said:

When was the last time City started the same back 4 in back to back games?

Hes still trying to find his best team I suppose. Hes only in the job a few months. I do find him mentioning leaving/retiring a couple of times already a bit odd though.

[big__phil]

Happy New Year all!

2 minutes ago, The Nal said:

I do find him mentioning leaving/retiring a couple of times already a bit odd though.

He's got form for it though - he took a sabbatical after Barca (although I seem to remember he cut it short). Perhaps he just doesn't 'love' the game as much as some other managers?

[The Nal]

4 minutes ago, big__phil said:

Happy New Year all!

He's got form for it though - he took a sabbatical after Barca (although I seem to remember he cut it short). Perhaps he just doesn't 'love' the game as much as some other managers?

Maybe so but keep it to yourself then. He was talking about leaving after a couple of months. 

[big__phil]

Just now, The Nal said:

Maybe so but keep it to yourself then. He was talking about leaving after a couple of months. 

(Haha - I thought you were telling me to keep my new years wishes to myself!)

Yeah, he did seem particularly grumpy from the snippet I saw. Not sure his employers would be too pleased talking like that so soon into his contract. Still, if I had a defence and goalkeeper like that I'd be pretty grumpy as well.

[The Nal]

Huge game tonight with Arsenal and Liverpool dropping points. 

Also did West Ham really offer 5m for Defoe? May as well have said "Take 5m now but you're guaranteed to be relegated". 

[eFestivals]

Player of the week?

Peter Crouch, 2 goals and an assist, aged 35.

[DareToDibble]

Never really seen Klopp like this before. I completely understand his frustration with it. 
Don't get me wrong, Chelsea have been storming the league anyway of late but the fact they had a 4 day gap when other teams had 2 doesn't really make it a level playing field does it?

EDIT: Forgot to attach the video.

Edited January 4, 2017 by DareToDibble

[TheGayTent]

25 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Huge game tonight with Arsenal and Liverpool dropping points. 

Also did West Ham really offer 5m for Defoe? May as well have said "Take 5m now but you're guaranteed to be relegated". 

Sunderland are fucked regardless - hence the opportunistic approach for Defoe. 

Sunderland are limited by FPP rules. They need a negative net spend in January yet at the same time are desperate for new players.

Defoe is 34 and whilst £5m is a relative pittance these days, its £5m more than they'll get for him in 18 months when his contract runs out. 

Who else have Sunderland got that anyone else wants to pay decent money for? 

Sunderland also have the problem of the the £8.8m they owe Inter Milan for Alvarez that is currently being argued at CAS. They already have debts of circa £140m. 

In (Ellis) short, Sunderland are fucked. 

Edited January 4, 2017 by TheGayTent

[mjsell]

1 minute ago, eFestivals said:

Player of the week?

Peter Crouch, 2 goals and an assist, aged 35.

Only 2 away from breaking into the 100 club. Pleased for him - very likeable chap.

 

2 minutes ago, DareToDibble said:

Never really seen Klopp like this before. I completely understand his frustration with it. 
Don't get me wrong, Chelsea have been storming the league anyway of late but the fact they had a 4 day gap when other teams had 2 doesn't really make it a level playing field does it?

Yeah I have a huge problem with how the fixtures have been set out this festive season. When you are expecting teams to play within two days of their last game (which I dont have a problem with) then every team should be dealt the same hand. Even one day extra rest has a considerable impact on the recovery of players both in the short and long term.

[Wooderson]

Klopp rested no one. He needs to button it.

[eFestivals]

6 minutes ago, Wooderson said:

Klopp rested no one. He needs to button it.

the biggest problem against Sunderland was Hendo not playing, and little to do with anything else.

He gives the team a drive and rhythm they don't have when he's not playing.

[Wooderson]

7 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

the biggest problem against Sunderland was Hendo not playing, and little to do with anything else.

He gives the team a drive and rhythm they don't have when he's not playing.

Amusing how such strangely maligned players only noticed when absent...

[Wooderson]

10 minutes ago, Scruffylovemonster said:

Apparently he gave everyone the choice to see him privately and tell him they were tired and he'd keep it private and not hold it against them.

No-one did. 

Ah here, etc.

[TheGayTent]

1 hour ago, mjsell said:

When you are expecting teams to play within two days of their last game (which I dont have a problem with) then every team should be dealt the same hand. 

When you sell your soul to the devil you lose the right to whinge. 

[The Nal]

2 hours ago, TheGayTent said:

Sunderland are fucked regardless - hence the opportunistic approach for Defoe. 

Sunderland are limited by FPP rules. They need a negative net spend in January yet at the same time are desperate for new players.

Defoe is 34 and whilst £5m is a relative pittance these days, its £5m more than they'll get for him in 18 months when his contract runs out. 

Who else have Sunderland got that anyone else wants to pay decent money for? 

Sunderland also have the problem of the the £8.8m they owe Inter Milan for Alvarez that is currently being argued at CAS. They already have debts of circa £140m. 

In (Ellis) short, Sunderland are fucked. 

Agree yep but selling Defoe will guarantee relegation. And then they're proper fucked. Leeds fucked. 

Apparently he gave everyone the choice to see him privately and tell him they were tired and he'd keep it private and not hold it against them.

No-one did. 

Thats mental if true.

Have to say I was very impressed with the way Mourinho handled the XMas period in that regard. The red against West Ham helped mind you. 

Edited January 4, 2017 by The Nal

[eFestivals]

 

2 hours ago, TheGayTent said:

Who else have Sunderland got that anyone else wants to pay decent money for? 

haven't they got a decent young goalie?

 

2 hours ago, TheGayTent said:

In (Ellis) short, Sunderland are fucked. 

Me, if I were a S'land fan, I'd blame England/the FA firstly, as they had a manager who'd have kept them up with Sam.

And secondly I'd blame the moron who thought that Moyes was a good idea for a team that needs to defend.

Short might be next after those 2.

[big__phil]

I don't buy in to the 'Sunderland are fucked' malarkey...just yet. They are only one point behind a pretty awful Palace side, who got beaten by an even worse Swansea side last night.

'Boro have only scored 17 goals all season, and don't look like a side who would enjoy getting dragged into a scrap.

Above them Leicester are really struggling (although they surely have enough in their squad to keep them up), then you're up to West Ham and Watford. Watford's recent form has been dreadful, picking up 4 points from the last 24 on offer (and just one draw from the last 5 games).

2 hours ago, eFestivals said:

haven't they got a decent young goalie?

He really is sensational. What a talent. Getting plenty of practice as well!

[mjsell]

5 minutes ago, big__phil said:

I don't buy in to the 'Sunderland are fucked' malarkey...just yet. They are only one point behind a pretty awful Palace side, who got beaten by an even worse Swansea side last night.

'Boro have only scored 17 goals all season, and don't look like a side who would enjoy getting dragged into a scrap.

Above them Leicester are really struggling (although they surely have enough in their squad to keep them up), then you're up to West Ham and Watford. Watford's recent form has been dreadful, picking up 4 points from the last 24 on offer (and just one draw from the last 5 games).

He really is sensational. What a talent. Getting plenty of practice as well!

Not a bad little summary. Hull and Swansea are toast for me. Then the last could be any club from Sunderland up to Southampton for me (obviously some more likely than others). Any club that puts together a Watford style drop in results over the next couple of months will get dragged into it. For example Southampton have lost their last 3 and are suddenly not a million miles away from being involved.