Football 2024/25

[pink_triangle]

7 hours ago, Comfy Bean said:

Spurs poor tonight again. Think Ange on his last legs. Shame as he seems a top bloke and when his “style” works it’s great to watch. 

Agreed and if spurs are not going to win anything (which is the norm) then I would rather them do it not playing like Conte Spurs..

 

Interesting one of our players Sam Dalby is doing well north of the border following loan move to Dundee Utd, have you seen anything of him ?

[Comfy Bean]

3 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

Agreed and if spurs are not going to win anything (which is the norm) then I would rather them do it not playing like Conte Spurs..

 

Interesting one of our players Sam Dalby is doing well north of the border following loan move to Dundee Utd, have you seen anything of him ?

nah mate. My football watching is a league down unfortunately. 

[charlierc]

So England's World Cup qualifying draw features Serbia and Albania, meaning a direct contest between two nations that really dislike one another and famously got a game in Euro 2016 qualifying abandoned over a drone being flown over the stadium.

 

This feels like a bit of a bad idea waiting to happen.

[Skip997]

6 hours ago, charlierc said:

So England's World Cup qualifying draw features Serbia and Albania, meaning a direct contest between two nations that really dislike one another and famously got a game in Euro 2016 qualifying abandoned over a drone being flown over the stadium.

 

This feels like a bit of a bad idea waiting to happen.

More importantly, why do England always get such an easy draw?

[charlierc]

Well, a win for Chelsea tonight reduces Liverpool's lead to two points, even if they've played a game less. Perhaps I was hasty in saying no title race after all. Although certainly Arsenal will be narked that with Liverpool having a stumble at home to Fulham yesterday, they couldn't break down Everton.

 

Also surprised at how fractious it's getting at Wolves. Keeper Jose Sa has not been seen since jumping into the stands to have an argument with a fan during a game against Bournemouth - albeit one where he conceded multiple penalties - then Mario Lemina got stripped of the captaincy for starting a brawl after the final whistle at West Ham last week, and now Ait-Nouri got sent off for his part in a brawl after the loss to Ipswich yesterday, with Cunha likely to get a ban for starting on a member of Ipswich's security. All a bit undignified.

 

Plus, you know, Newcastle thrashed Leicester. How Ruud of us to end Van Nistelrooy's unbeaten start.

[FeverDream]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

Well, a win for Chelsea tonight reduces Liverpool's lead to two points, even if they've played a game less. Perhaps I was hasty in saying no title race after all. Although certainly Arsenal will be narked that with Liverpool having a stumble at home to Fulham yesterday, they couldn't break down Everton.

 

Also surprised at how fractious it's getting at Wolves. Keeper Jose Sa has not been seen since jumping into the stands to have an argument with a fan during a game against Bournemouth - albeit one where he conceded multiple penalties - then Mario Lemina got stripped of the captaincy for starting a brawl after the final whistle at West Ham last week, and now Ait-Nouri got sent off for his part in a brawl after the loss to Ipswich yesterday, with Cunha likely to get a ban for starting on a member of Ipswich's security. All a bit undignified.

 

Plus, you know, Newcastle thrashed Leicester. How Ruud of us to end Van Nistelrooy's unbeaten start.

And now O’Neil is sacked. I can’t see a scenario where Wolves don’t go down now. It’ll be them and Southampton for certain then a toss up between Ipswich, Palace and Leicester for the last spot I think, though I’d lean towards Ipswich.

[kaosmark2]

29 minutes ago, FeverDream said:

And now O’Neil is sacked. I can’t see a scenario where Wolves don’t go down now. It’ll be them and Southampton for certain then a toss up between Ipswich, Palace and Leicester for the last spot I think, though I’d lean towards Ipswich.

I think Everton can easily get pulled back into it.

 

Ipswich have played pretty well all season and are now finding a way to get some wins. I think they're in a decent spot to keep slowly climbing. I'm not sying they'll get out of it, but I kinda fancy them to stay up now.

 

Palace have such a good spine to their team, that I feel they're surely 1 signing away from becoming fine, but they're clearly not atm.

[FeverDream]

37 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

I think Everton can easily get pulled back into it.

 

Ipswich have played pretty well all season and are now finding a way to get some wins. I think they're in a decent spot to keep slowly climbing. I'm not sying they'll get out of it, but I kinda fancy them to stay up now.

 

Palace have such a good spine to their team, that I feel they're surely 1 signing away from becoming fine, but they're clearly not atm.

My thing with Everton is they’ve floated with the possibility of relegation for the last few seasons and somehow always escape it. I think they’ll get away with it again.

 

I'd love Ipswich to be the side out of the 3 promoted that stay up tbf. 
 

Palace have played well against Brighton this first half so I think you’re probably right in that they might just have enough.

[thetime]

7 minutes ago, FeverDream said:

My thing with Everton is they’ve floated with the possibility of relegation for the last few seasons and somehow always escape it. I think they’ll get away with it again.

 

I'd love Ipswich to be the side out of the 3 promoted that stay up tbf. 
 

Palace have played well against Brighton this first half so I think you’re probably right in that they might just have enough.

 

Everton's form is pretty decent in the last 3 months in the league. 

 

3 wins

6 draws

2 defeats.

 

 

 

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, kaosmark2 said:

I think Everton can easily get pulled back into it.

 

Ipswich have played pretty well all season and are now finding a way to get some wins. I think they're in a decent spot to keep slowly climbing. I'm not sying they'll get out of it, but I kinda fancy them to stay up now.

 

Palace have such a good spine to their team, that I feel they're surely 1 signing away from becoming fine, but they're clearly not atm.

We've just seen Palace record a pretty decent win to see off Brighton as part of an unbeaten run they're knitting together. So something does seem to be clicking there.

 

I think Wolves and Southampton are the two most at risk of the drop, then one of Leicester, Ipswich or Everton as the other vulnerable one. PSR may well be a factor given the talk of a points deduction for Leicester or Everton that's been somewhere in the background for a few months, although there's yet to be any charges filed so we may have to wait on that one.

[Punksnotdead]

Get in Amad! Can't believe how sh*t city have become. We were shite, city were worse!

[Neil]

15 minutes ago, Punksnotdead said:

Get in Amad! Can't believe how sh*t city have become. We were shite, city were worse!

City haven't become sh*t it's just they were never that good Despite peps bluster.

[Punksnotdead]

36 minutes ago, Neil said:

City haven't become sh*t it's just they were never that good Despite peps bluster.

They have got the least points in the PL in the last 2 months - including Southampton! How do you go from winning 4 titles on the trot & being top of the league in October to being bottom of the form league?

 

Oh and by the way, much as it pains me to say, city have been brilliant for the last 5 years. 

[pink_triangle]

On 12/13/2024 at 11:10 AM, Comfy Bean said:

nah mate. My football watching is a league down unfortunately. 

Top scorer at the moment so doing well for himself. Not sure if we have a recall clause in January.

[pink_triangle]

5 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

I think Everton can easily get pulled back into it.

 

It feels like my entire life Everton have flirted with relegation and somehow found a way to avoid it.

 

Southampton to me are a perfect example of what I find annoying with some of the current football managers. Heading for one of the lowest points totals in EPL history but with a manager who cares more about their cv and impressing stat nerds than the league table.

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, Neil said:

City haven't become sh*t it's just they were never that good Despite peps bluster.

Eh? You don't win 4 Premier League titles in a row and a Champions League by being sh*t.

 

55 minutes ago, Punksnotdead said:

They have got the least points in the PL in the last 2 months - including Southampton! How do you go from winning 4 titles on the trot & being top of the league in October to being bottom of the form league?

 

Oh and by the way, much as it pains me to say, city have been brilliant for the last 5 years. 

It is confounding as to where exactly this crash has come from. Maybe Rodri and others being injured hit them harder than expected, maybe the midfield has been too weighted towards creative players rather than play-breakers, maybe they're too reliant on Haaland, maybe they haven't adequately replaced wingers sold in recent seasons, maybe Kyle Walker has become too unreliable. I dunno.

 

I can imagine a lot of people are finding it entertaining, mind.

[charlierc]

37 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

Southampton to me are a perfect example of what I find annoying with some of the current football managers. Heading for one of the lowest points totals in EPL history but with a manager who cares more about their cv and impressing stat nerds than the league table.

This has been a constant in Russell Martin's career tbf. Back at MK Dons years ago, he was asked about a Plan B following a sticky patch and said "I don’t understand what a Plan B is. It’s not happening. We aren’t putting a big man on and lumping it."
 

I do wonder if a generation of coaches has come up seeing the success in playing this way and the fact that bigger name clubs are gravitating towards this style and think this is the way to go, even though many of the managers of these big clubs have demonstrated a certain flexibility to be able to workshop solutions rather than rigidly sticking to a plan. I guess it's part of a bigger conversation about why it is English/British coaches aren't getting the gigs with big clubs and haven't in years. Indeed pretty sure it's now just Howe & Dyche as English gaffers in the top 20, with only McKenna and (for now) Martin added when stretching that to British.

[kaosmark2]

2 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

It feels like my entire life Everton have flirted with relegation and somehow found a way to avoid it.

 

Southampton to me are a perfect example of what I find annoying with some of the current football managers. Heading for one of the lowest points totals in EPL history but with a manager who cares more about their cv and impressing stat nerds than the league table.

I spent 5 years running placing £5 bets on Villa to go down then stopped (I was tight for money so stopped doing my yearly £50 of bets), and inevitably that was the season they went down!

 

I do think they'll go in the next 2-3 years unless something changes, the club is in a mess behind the scenes and has endless manager turnover. Bad timing of a points deduction and they're screwed. I think they mostly avoid it by promoted teams being garbage lately.

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

Eh? You don't win 4 Premier League titles in a row and a Champions League by being sh*t.

 

It is confounding as to where exactly this crash has come from. Maybe Rodri and others being injured hit them harder than expected, maybe the midfield has been too weighted towards creative players rather than play-breakers, maybe they're too reliant on Haaland, maybe they haven't adequately replaced wingers sold in recent seasons, maybe Kyle Walker has become too unreliable. I dunno.

I think it's not just Rodri being injured, but all their deep-lying options. Not just Kovacic as the other obvious DM choice, but De Bruyne who can sit deeper and distribute from further back. Add in the shock of moment and Walker's pace going in the space of 2 months and you can kinda understand it.

 

Biggest test of Pep's career though.

[Neil]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

Eh? You don't win 4 Premier League titles in a row and a Champions League by being sh*t.

 

It is confounding as to where exactly this crash has come from. Maybe Rodri and others being injured hit them harder than expected, maybe the midfield has been too weighted towards creative players rather than play-breakers, maybe they're too reliant on Haaland, maybe they haven't adequately replaced wingers sold in recent seasons, maybe Kyle Walker has become too unreliable. I dunno.

 

I can imagine a lot of people are finding it entertaining, mind.

Not the best team ever,

pep hasn't improved any players.mostly there was lots of bullshit spoken.

[Neil]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

This has been a constant in Russell Martin's career tbf. Back at MK Dons years ago, he was asked about a Plan B following a sticky patch and said "I don’t understand what a Plan B is. It’s not happening. We aren’t putting a big man on and lumping it."
 

I do wonder if a generation of coaches has come up seeing the success in playing this way and the fact that bigger name clubs are gravitating towards this style and think this is the way to go, even though many of the managers of these big clubs have demonstrated a certain flexibility to be able to workshop solutions rather than rigidly sticking to a plan. I guess it's part of a bigger conversation about why it is English/British coaches aren't getting the gigs with big clubs and haven't in years. Indeed pretty sure it's now just Howe & Dyche as English gaffers in the top 20, with only McKenna and (for now) Martin added when stretching that to British.

Chris Woods having a decent season as the big front man.

[pink_triangle]

I don’t think this Liverpool team is particularly great, but it feels like (similar to when Leicester won) they will take advantage of a season where others don’t play to their potential. For balance in the past Liverpool have played really well over a season and come second, so maybe it’s luck evening itself out.