Football 2022/23

[Comfy Bean]

Ayr were 5th after 88 minutes and ended up 2nd. Absolute scenes 🎉 

Hopefully QP get past Partick in the playoff LJS. Great effort 👏 although I think I’d rather play Partick 

[LJS]

15 hours ago, Comfy Bean said:

Ayr were 5th after 88 minutes and ended up 2nd. Absolute scenes  

Hopefully QP get past Partick in the playoff LJS. Great effort although I think I’d rather play Partick 

aye, we may have lost in an 8 goal thriller but we did manage a fairly special goal...

 https://twitter.com/BBCSportScot/status/1654565776211230720?s=20

 

[Ryan1984]

How is the Premier League’s greatest ever manager doing?

 

[thetime]

Squeaky bum time for Newcastle and Man Utd. 

[charlierc]

On 5/7/2023 at 9:36 AM, thetime said:

Squeaky bum time for Newcastle and Man Utd. 

With both losing yesterday, it's now even squeakier.

Different varieties of defeat of course. Arsenal made the most of getting a goal start in the first 10-15 minutes and Ramsdale just couldn't be beaten, while De Gea's concession was remarkably bad.

[thetime]

47 minutes ago, charlierc said:

With both losing yesterday, it's now even squeakier.

Different varieties of defeat of course. Arsenal made the most of getting a goal start in the first 10-15 minutes and Ramsdale just couldn't be beaten, while De Gea's concession was remarkably bad.

Couple of tricky games for newcastle with leeds away and brighton. If united can not beat 3 teams at home who are safe and nothing to play for, they deserve europa.

[pink_triangle]

Watching live football as a neutral is a great experience. This weekend I went to Notts County V Boreham Wood in the play offs. Great game with no stress!

I like the look of the championship play offs. Luton, Middlesbrough, Coventry and Sunderland are all more interesting to me than the likes of Norwich and WBA who have been up and down so many times.

[Ryan1984]

9 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

Watching live football as a neutral is a great experience. This weekend I went to Notts County V Boreham Wood in the play offs. Great game with no stress!

I like the look of the championship play offs. Luton, Middlesbrough, Coventry and Sunderland are all more interesting to me than the likes of Norwich and WBA who have been up and down so many times.

I was thinking that when looking at the table earlier. As much as Burnley and Sheff Utd deserve their promotions, it would be nice to see new names (or ones who haven’t been there for a while!) in the Premier League.

In the PL relegation battle, I think tonight sent Southampton down. Not sure about the other two… Everton might have just weaselled their way to safety.

 

[pink_triangle]

12 minutes ago, Ryan1984 said:

I was thinking that when looking at the table earlier. As much as Burnley and Sheff Utd deserve their promotions, it would be nice to see new names (or ones who haven’t been there for a while!) in the Premier League.

In the PL relegation battle, I think tonight sent Southampton down. Not sure about the other two… Everton might have just weaselled their way to safety.

 

Everton have Bournemouth at home last game. That’s the sort of game you want. I think it will finish as it is now.

[badleg08]

22 hours ago, Ryan1984 said:

I was thinking that when looking at the table earlier. As much as Burnley and Sheff Utd deserve their promotions, it would be nice to see new names (or ones who haven’t been there for a while!) in the Premier League.

 

Luton would be lovely. They’ve done a sensational job the last few years in the Championship. Never been in the prem as it is now. 

[DareToDibble]

On 5/8/2023 at 10:33 PM, Ryan1984 said:

In the PL relegation battle, I think tonight sent Southampton down. Not sure about the other two… Everton might have just weaselled their way to safety.

 

Yeah I think that win will probably do it for Everton. Not likely to score any points v City but their other 2 games are winnable against Wolves and Bournemouth, both of who aren't really playing for anything now with safety secured.

Leeds look done for with their remaining fixures. Leicester don't exactly have easy games either. Could potentially be that none of the bottom 5 score any more points from now to the end of the season.

[pink_triangle]

I really think the football league should  consider changing the play off format to something similar to the national league. The single match knockout’s are far more exciting.

[Neil]

you just know this posh car doesn't have a cup holder.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Neil

[charlierc]

On 5/10/2023 at 6:45 PM, pink_triangle said:

I really think the football league should  consider changing the play off format to something similar to the national league. The single match knockout’s are far more exciting.

Certainly one can't help but think that barring an extraordinary turnaround, the second leg of Sheffield Wednesday v Peterborough is going to be entirely pointless.

Wednesday must be so annoyed that they got a record points total acquired by a team that didn't go up automatically, then cave in for their first play-off tie.

[charlierc]

On 5/10/2023 at 5:28 PM, DareToDibble said:

Yeah I think that win will probably do it for Everton. Not likely to score any points v City but their other 2 games are winnable against Wolves and Bournemouth, both of who aren't really playing for anything now with safety secured.

Leeds look done for with their remaining fixures. Leicester don't exactly have easy games either. Could potentially be that none of the bottom 5 score any more points from now to the end of the season.

I think we may have let Leeds a little off the hook by stumbling to a 2-2 draw. Didn't watch live but seems like we gave them two sloppy goals, which is less than ideal that our defence has gone from near-impenetrable in the first half of the season to now on a lengthy run since getting a clean sheet.

Now I guess I'm hoping for Wolves or Leicester to do Newcastle a favour for the rest of the weekend, and not exactly being confident. Though tbf the fact a run of 8 wins in 9 before Arsenal last week even got us this far is still something, even if it's not relaxing to be in this business end chase ha. Reminds me of 2016/17 when we nearly blew automatic promotion to the Premier League in the final weeks.

It does seem like it's going to tighten up a little given Everton have the slightly daunting challenge of Man City tomorrow, even if they might have one eye on the second leg against Real Madrid this week, while Forest's awful away form means I can't be certain they'll beat Chelsea today. It's a 2 from 4 imo, given Southampton are pretty much done and will be done with a draw/loss today.

[Punksnotdead]

Chuffed for Notts County. To get 100+ points and not get promoted would have been cruel.

[pink_triangle]

6 hours ago, charlierc said:

Certainly one can't help but think that barring an extraordinary turnaround, the second leg of Sheffield Wednesday v Peterborough is going to be entirely pointless.

Wednesday must be so annoyed that they got a record points total acquired by a team that didn't go up automatically, then cave in for their first play-off tie.

Wrexham did the same in 2012 (thanks Jamie Vardy) and were stuck in the league for 11 more years. I am sure it won’t be as long for Sheffield Wednesday.

[pink_triangle]

2 hours ago, Punksnotdead said:

Chuffed for Notts County. To get 100+ points and not get promoted would have been cruel.

Agree, very well deserved. Played quite poorly today, but over the season deserved that bit of luck. Interestingly BT sport coverage of national league miles better than champions league.

[Punksnotdead]

16 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

Agree, very well deserved. Played quite poorly today, but over the season deserved that bit of luck. Interestingly BT sport coverage of national league miles better than champions league.

Yeah BT coverage has been excellent. Really enjoyed the game - short on quality, but great drama! Always had a soft spot for Notts County - I'm old enough to remember going to their ground to watch Man Utd play against them in the top flight. The away end was full, so we paid to go in amongst the home fans. Aah, the good old days, when you could rock up to the game & pay at the turnstile - even in the top division!

[thetime]

18 hours ago, charlierc said:

I think we may have let Leeds a little off the hook by stumbling to a 2-2 draw. Didn't watch live but seems like we gave them two sloppy goals, which is less than ideal that our defence has gone from near-impenetrable in the first half of the season to now on a lengthy run since getting a clean sheet.

Now I guess I'm hoping for Wolves or Leicester to do Newcastle a favour for the rest of the weekend, and not exactly being confident. Though tbf the fact a run of 8 wins in 9 before Arsenal last week even got us this far is still something, even if it's not relaxing to be in this business end chase ha. Reminds me of 2016/17 when we nearly blew automatic promotion to the Premier League in the final weeks.

 

2 wins and you are top 4, home games against Brighton and Leicester. You should be getting them wins. 

Liverpool will just fall short for me. Possibly only a point or 2, but fall short. 

 

 

[charlierc]

41 minutes ago, thetime said:

2 wins and you are top 4, home games against Brighton and Leicester. You should be getting them wins. 

Liverpool will just fall short for me. Possibly only a point or 2, but fall short. 

 

 

We should be. There's several ways of looking at it in fairness - that run of draws in Jan/Feb really ate into our momentum and threatened to undo it all, then a run of 8 wins in 9 saw us leap the competition and if nothing else guarantees we'll be finishing in the top six, but losing Sean Longstaff and Bruno Guimaraes struggling with a recurring problem means our midfield is limping over the line.

I think it'll be OK, and our final 3 are winnable, though equally, Brighton might still be fierce to protect their own European dreams and Leicester have decent attacking players (hell we've been linked with at least 3 of them, many of whom will be available if they contrive to sink beneath the waves).

Scrolling Twitter in the game was something, mind. Just lots and lots of criticism like it's the Steve Bruce era again.

[charlierc]

12 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

Wrexham did the same in 2012 (thanks Jamie Vardy) and were stuck in the league for 11 more years. I am sure it won’t be as long for Sheffield Wednesday.

The only grudge worth having is a long-held one right? After all I'm still unimpressed by Sam Allardyce primarily thanks to him being Newcastle manager in 2007 and being the only manager to lose a game in the 2007/08 season to the record-breakingly bad Derby County team.

Edited May 14, 2023 by charlierc

[gary1979666]

Gutted for Sunderland to miss out on the play off final, after winning the first leg. It was all a bit much to ask to go up 2 seasons on the bounce.

[pink_triangle]

5 years ago Luton and Coventry were both in league 2, gives hope to all of us lower league fans. Not overly impressed by the quality of the play offs. Think at least 2 relegated premier league teams will be straight back up.

[charlierc]

20 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

5 years ago Luton and Coventry were both in league 2, gives hope to all of us lower league fans. Not overly impressed by the quality of the play offs. Think at least 2 relegated premier league teams will be straight back up.

Either one winning the play-offs is a hugely impressive story, albeit also sees them guaranteed to be put in as favourites to go down next season. Luton have it particularly interesting given they'll also need to spend a bit to bring their ground up to PL standards.

I suspect Southampton, Leicester and whichever one of Leeds or Everton goes down (I feel like it's now between those two, anyway) is gonna be gunning it to go for an immediate return. Whether they manage it is ofc another question. Plus Norwich and Watford wildly underperformed this season, Middlesbrough and West Brom probably still have the gumption for another go and there's usually a decent wildcard somewhere in there (maybe Bristol City if they wisely reinvest the Semenyo and Scott money?)

We've never had 3 teams relegated from the Premier League immediately bounce back, mind. I think the lockdown season was near when Bournemouth nearly followed Norwich and Watford only to fall in the play-offs. So there is still some competitiveness.