Football 2023/24

[Neil]

6 hours ago, thetime said:

De Zerbi leaving Brighton. 

 

 

that'll be the end of the Brighton side hussle of a huey Morgan impersonator.  😞

 

[charlierc]

17 hours ago, thetime said:

De Zerbi leaving Brighton. 

 

 

Depending on who you believe, he's either joining Bayern Munich or already turned them down. Though that may say more about Bayern, given they've been turned down by their first 7 or 8 choices to succeed Thomas Tuchel. And that includes Tuchel himself.

[Neil]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

Depending on who you believe, he's either joining Bayern Munich or already turned them down. Though that may say more about Bayern, given they've been turned down by their first 7 or 8 choices to succeed Thomas Tuchel. And that includes Tuchel himself.

dunno how much he's a part of Brighton's success, but I've been impressed with how Brighton are building on their prem league position (rather than fading away again, like most promoted clubs do).

[thetime]

3 hours ago, Neil said:

dunno how much he's a part of Brighton's success, but I've been impressed with how Brighton are building on their prem league position (rather than fading away again, like most promoted clubs do).

Perhaps that's the reason he is leaving. 6th last season and could be down to 13th at end of play today. 

 

Difficult for any side like Brighton to consistently get top 6 or 7.

[Neil]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

Perhaps that's the reason he is leaving. 6th last season and could be down to 13th at end of play today. 

 

Difficult for any side like Brighton to consistently get top 6 or 7.

Everything set to succeed. historical debt shaken off. shiny new stadium. stable ownership. improving the players who go Through the club.

[charlierc]

6 hours ago, thetime said:

Perhaps that's the reason he is leaving. 6th last season and could be down to 13th at end of play today. 

 

Difficult for any side like Brighton to consistently get top 6 or 7.

Came P11 in the end. Though from what I could tell as an outsider, they just seemed to run out of players after an injury crisis and they seemed to be something of a funk after getting knocked out of the Europa League. One win in their last 10 kinda hinted that they'd come off the rails.

 

Even then, I actually thought he'd stick around. But those in the know hint there was discontent at transfer policy in January and I suspect the fact he seemed to be touting himself for other jobs probably rankled a bit.

[charlierc]

7th place for Newcastle then after beating Brentford in spite of ourselves. I'm ok with that tbf - thought we'd finish about there in pre-season. Even if we have to wait for the FA Cup final next week to see if Man City get us that coveted Europa Conference League place.

 

Bit of an odd season really. I genuinely think our high-end moments were good enough to get 4th again, given we beat Villa home & away plus home wins over Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd, but equally, the injury crisis, our awful away form and failing to win home or away against Luton, Bournemouth and Everton and losing at home to Forest all went a bit of a way to explain why we weren't good enough for more. Ho hum.

 

I'd say roll on next season but first, roll on having to schlep to Melbourne for two post-season friendlies that I truly don't understand the merit of beyond the payday.

 

Oh and Man City won the league after 90 seconds. Good for them I guess.

Edited May 19 by charlierc

[thetime]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

Came P11 in the end. Though from what I could tell as an outsider, they just seemed to run out of players after an injury crisis and they seemed to be something of a funk after getting knocked out of the Europa League. One win in their last 10 kinda hinted that they'd come off the rails.

 

Even then, I actually thought he'd stick around. But those in the know hint there was discontent at transfer policy in January and I suspect the fact he seemed to be touting himself for other jobs probably rankled a bit.

I think they need to be careful, selling all the time and not reinvesting is going to bite. Last 4 season there net spend is in the region of minus £150 million. 

[thetime]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

7th place for Newcastle then after beating Brentford in spite of ourselves. I'm ok with that tbf - thought we'd finish about there in pre-season. Even if we have to wait for the FA Cup final next week to see if Man City get us that coveted Europa Conference League place.

 

Bit of an odd season really. I genuinely think our high-end moments were good enough to get 4th again, given we beat Villa home & away plus home wins over Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd, but equally, the injury crisis, our awful away form and failing to win home or away against Luton, Bournemouth and Everton and losing at home to Forest all went a bit of a way to explain why we weren't good enough for more. Ho hum.

 

I'd say roll on next season but first, roll on having to schlep to Melbourne for two post-season friendlies that I truly don't understand the merit of beyond the payday.

 

Oh and Man City won the league after 90 seconds. Good for them I guess.

 

It's quite the same as last season. 

 

Last season united and Newcastle got into top 4 because of the failure of Liverpool and chelsea. This year Liverpool and Villa got top 4, due to the failure of utd and chelsea. 

 

And City win the league. 

[charlierc]

7 hours ago, thetime said:

I think they need to be careful, selling all the time and not reinvesting is going to bite. Last 4 season there net spend is in the region of minus £150 million. 

Well we saw that with Southampton years ago, who made a virtue for a while of being able to challenge high while banking big fees for their player pool, but ended up slipping down the PL rankings year upon year until last season, they stunk up the joint and finished last. Ironically doing so in a season where they did spend a lot of money.

[charlierc]

7 hours ago, thetime said:

 

It's quite the same as last season. 

 

Last season united and Newcastle got into top 4 because of the failure of Liverpool and chelsea. This year Liverpool and Villa got top 4, due to the failure of utd and chelsea. 

 

And City win the league. 

Chelsea have been a surprise imo, if only because they spent the first 50-60% of the season looking nailed on for midtable yet have ended up in 6th thanks to a decent late charge.

 

Back-to-back top 7 finishes for Villa & Newcastle is still something though. Yes, others have had their failures in the last two seasons, but you have to be in the right place at the right time to take advantage.

[Neil]

bye-bye klopp i'll always remember that goal from the corner against barca in that tie where Liverpool needed a big result. 🙂

 

he gave us some beautiful football. 

[The Nal]

17 hours ago, Neil said:

bye-bye klopp i'll always remember that goal from the corner against barca in that tie where Liverpool needed a big result. 🙂

 

he gave us some beautiful football. 

 

And a load of postiive football and vibes tbf.

 

But this golden period of domination thing is a bit mad.

 

1 league, 1 FA Cup and 2 pisspots in 9 seasons. Finished 8th, 4th, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 3rd, 2nd, 5th, 3rd.

[fraybentos1]

41 minutes ago, The Nal said:

 

And a load of postiive football and vibes tbf.

 

But this golden period of domination thing is a bit mad.

 

1 league, 1 FA Cup and 2 pisspots in 9 seasons. Finished 8th, 4th, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 3rd, 2nd, 5th, 3rd.

you're missing out a champions league

 

also he inherited a bit of a mess, here is the team from his first game in charge:

 

 

[The Nal]

17 minutes ago, fraybentos1 said:

you're missing out a champions league

 

also he inherited a bit of a mess, here is the team from his first game in charge:

 

 

 

He did great things dont get me wrong. But seeing words like "domination" and "conquering" is a bit much. 

[Neil]

18 minutes ago, fraybentos1 said:

you're missing out a champions league

and several other euro finals; he didn't win those, but you have to be in it to win it.

[thetime]

4 minutes ago, Neil said:

and several other euro finals; he didn't win those, but you have to be in it to win it.

Yeah he finished runners up a few times in Europe and to pep in the Premier League. If there was a dominance trophy for finishing 2nd, klopp is your man. 

[thetime]

1 hour ago, The Nal said:

 

And a load of postiive football and vibes tbf.

 

But this golden period of domination thing is a bit mad.

 

1 league, 1 FA Cup and 2 pisspots in 9 seasons. Finished 8th, 4th, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 3rd, 2nd, 5th, 3rd.

 

1 league title *

[Neil]

19 minutes ago, thetime said:

 

1 league title *

a beautiful game, poetry in motion, something not achieved by pep or fergie.

[fraybentos1]

48 minutes ago, The Nal said:

 

He did great things dont get me wrong. But seeing words like "domination" and "conquering" is a bit much. 

Yeah the only team that has dominated english football for the last decade is City, but Klopp did amazing up against that and his tenure was impressive. A golden period for Liverpool I guess, compared to what came before just before it.

[The Nal]

9 minutes ago, fraybentos1 said:

Yeah the only team that has dominated english football for the last decade is City, but Klopp did amazing up against that and his tenure was impressive. A golden period for Liverpool I guess, compared to what came before just before it.

 

Well they nearly won the league in 2014. And went close in 2009.

 

Anyway nowhere as consistent obviously as under Klopp. now the worry is a Dutch manager taking over......

[thetime]

19 minutes ago, fraybentos1 said:

Yeah the only team that has dominated english football for the last decade is City, but Klopp did amazing up against that and his tenure was impressive. A golden period for Liverpool I guess, compared to what came before just before it.

 

Not of this romantic nonsense for wenger. 

[fraybentos1]

1 hour ago, The Nal said:

 

Well they nearly won the league in 2014. And went close in 2009.

 

Anyway nowhere as consistent obviously as under Klopp. now the worry is a Dutch manager taking over......

Yeah I know (well actually I forgot about 09 lol) and they won the champions league too in 05 or whatever. But yeah Klopp still won a good amount and also made them a force again who can attract big names- he leaves them in a better place than he took over by far.

 

1 hour ago, thetime said:

 

Not of this romantic nonsense for wenger. 

Wenger at arsenal was totally different. He stayed too long and left a team on the decline from amazing successes. He overstayed his welcome and was clearly passed his best. Klopp on the other hand leaves Liverpool in good nick.

[thetime]

11 minutes ago, fraybentos1 said:

 

 

Wenger at arsenal was totally different. He stayed too long and left a team on the decline from amazing successes. He overstayed his welcome and was clearly passed his best. Klopp on the other hand leaves Liverpool in good nick.

Time will tell, but last 2 league finishes were 5th and 3rd with a league cup won.

 

The 2 main players will be 32 and 33 come start of the season. 

 

Hardly good nick. 

Edited May 21 by thetime

[The Nal]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

The 2 main players will be 32 and 33 come start of the season. 

 

Saudi ages!