English Premier League thread

What happened in Blackburn has nothing to do with football PLF. it's "business".
What happened in Newcastle is madness...not even "business"
 
This league is so tight!! 8 points separate Newcastle in 8th right down to West Ham in last! Madness. I'd say nobody in that group are safe from the drop, anyone could go down if they get a string of bad results.
 
Yeah, I don't know why but from the reactions of many English people I've seen from various websites, they give him a lot of shit and say he's not worth that amount of money etc. The truth is he's not a very good player but his scoring record is fantastic! He's a proven Premier league hit-man. And at 26, that is just about the right price for a guy who only Rooney and Drogba have scored more goals than in past 5 years. Yet he always gets crap from most people.

Even his Tottenham days which by many were deemed a 'failure' is wrong. He was consistently rotated even after he played a great match, he'd be sitting out next two and if you look at his goals per game ratio even during that perior at Spurs, it's still impressive and most of those appearances were either off the bench or not played full 90 mins anyway.

Bottom line, he's a decent footballer nothing special but a GREAT forward! But because he hasn't stayed in one club and that one being a big one like Drogba or Rooney, he's often under-rated. The guy's a proven top EPL striker and guarantees you goals. If that's not worth like $25 million then who is? When you see kids move for that price based on future 'potential'.

Well this guy's been doing the business for like 5 years now already in even crappy teams like Charlton and is still only 26.

Great buy for Villa I say and big loss for Sunderland. Of course they good news is they got enough $$$ for him to replace him, if they can.
 
Hahaha I probably did and wow that was a looooong time ago. Seems like another life. :P

But yah this guy did the business for Ipswich, then Charlton, then people give him $hit for Tottenham days but it's misleading and make it sound much worse than it actually was. Plus even the one season where he scored only like 13 goals there, he was their top scorer. Guys like Keane, Lennon etc. had like 5 goals each I think. So even one of 4 strikers (since Harry LOVED rotating them), he did his fair share despite never really getting going and showing true nature for Spurs.

Anyway, I just find Darren Bent's case funny kinda because usually British players are over-rated and the English media hypes up their own. I don't know what people's problems with him are... maybe it's that they don't like his 'personality' or the fact that he jump-ships.. I don't know but his record speaks for itself and statistics don't lie. The guy has a phenomenal record and scored 25 goals for Sunderland last season and single-handedly won them games at times.

And with him in the squad, Villa are virtually guaranteed to get the goals they haven't been getting this term as he's FAR more prolific than the likes of Heskey, Carew (now offloaded to Stoke I believe), Agbonlahor and the still young Nathan Delfouneso.

and what is the price of getting relegated? Far more crushing than $25M. That's why I think although a lot of money, this will prove a good purchase for Houllier, the Villans and Randy Lerner.
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On another note, I didn't watch the game today so I don't know how he did today but anybody notice what a great season Joey Barton's having! And my god this fucker can deliver a set-piece. I've been paying close attention to corner kicks in particular in all these different teams and players, and there is no one better than Joey Barton! :LOL: This guy delivers a great cross into the box from the corners and free kicks around box 3/5 times.... lot of the Newcastle goals are down to him this season. He surprises me. I didn't expect such productivity from such an idiot. But he really has turned a corner in many ways.... tho of course he'll always be a temperamental dumb@$$ to a large extent.

Overall though, for a guy we expect very little from, I'm proud of him based on performances so far this season. Shows he really is a very good midfielder when he's staying away from trouble (which he has this season except on one occasion) and focused.
 
stats... I never forget Ineista vs Fabregas. Ineista won with a slight margin think that was 4 years ago. You were spot on saying both will make it big , but! winning Euro08 n WC10 wasn`t on your mind I bet :LOL:

:P
 
Bent scored exactly the same amount of Premier League goals as Drogba and Rooney: 82.
He is a fantastic forward and i don't understand all fuss around this transfer.
On the other hand, i would have stayed with Sunderland if i was him...but these guys are professional football players and i guess his wages will be much higher at Villa...in that case i perfectly understand Bent.
 
Besides, even in the worst possible scenario: if Villa was relegated, he would move to another premier club, then signing a new contract, so he would have done the maths and see he can only win at long term.
 
Yep! I couldn't disagree more with it. Just when Mick McCarthy was fined last year too. It's absolutely ridiculous!

There's a reason teams have squads of 25 players! It's the MANAGER's job to decide which 11 players to start in any given game against any particular opponent and NO ONE else's. It's the man in charge who knows who needs some rest... who he needs for a different game 3 days from now.... who's carrying a knock.... who's been good in training... etc.

It's not like teams have a designated starting 11. All 25 submitted players are capable and should play their part.

I HATE this fine and rule. Makes no sense and can clearly understand Ollie's frustration though he's usually a bit of the top and a little too passionate/emotional for my liking but overall, I like the guy and he certainly has a case here!
 
I wonder what the FA will do with the Cup teams of the big clubs. They will never have the guts to fine the likes of Chelsea, Man Utd, City, Arsenal (this year not) and Liverpool because they field second rate teams in the FA Cup and the League Cup.

On top of that Holloway fielded a very competitive team that almost won the match against Villa. This is class justice, pure and simple.
 
Yeah it's just a retarded rule. It should be ALL up to the manager and no one else. It's his job after all.

Plus like you said Blackpool played well and very nearly won that game anyway and who's to say a hungrier 'backup' player wouldn't perform better since they're getting a rare chance to impress than an established 1st-teamer who might be getting complacent and doesn't work as hard? It just doesn't make any sense.
 
Nobody mentioned it here as this thread is kinda dead but anyway, So WBA dismissed Roberto Di Matteo a couple days ago! :SHOCK:

Some of these clubs are ASKING for it! :LOL:

You have West Ham surprisingly showing faith in Avram Grant while sitting bottom from the get-go up until now and then you have WBA, Newcastle and Blackburn get rid of 3 good managers who are doing a good job at their club with no real cause for concern. None should've lost their job!

Yes, WBA had bad recent form but they weren't in the relegation zone right now and the way they were playing and the football they showed and performance against even bigger teams like Arsenal beating them away, showed, this team and this manager has potential. Even if they were to go down, he shouldn't have been sacked as he could bring them back again (like he did last year) and stabilize club. But stability it seems are the last thing these idiot owners look for these days and that'll cost them!
 
I still think Di Matteo is a very promising manager.
To be fair, IMO Blackburn are playing better football since Big Sam was sacked.
 
Any manager would play better football than fat Sam, Gerd. :P
If we're talking about 'attractiveness' of the football displayed.

As much as people hate him though, he's a good manager and an effective one. And while I would not worry about Blackburn before having any problem avoiding drop this season with him in charge, I could see them flirt with relegation and possibly even go down with Steve Kean in charge now.

In fact I was gonna tell you guys it's 1 to 13 odds for either of Newcastle or Blackburn to get relegated and I could see either team REALLY get into BAD FORM in these final weeks and truly struggle and possibly get relegated! good odds.... I gotta think about this one.... Opportunity to make some good money! You put $50, you get $600!

Aston Villa's odds are even better with 1/17! But thing is Villa just has too many quality players so I can't really see them going down just like Everton even if they look like in trouble right now. Come end of season those two will be fine especially Everton who I think will finish 10th probably.

All other teams are still in danger though in fact come to think of it, THIS is why I LOVE EPL so much! Relegation battles! The top of the table sucks but the bottom is SO Congested! Essentially you could say only the top 7 right now are safe.....

13 teams still in danger more or less and not 'safe' by any means. So every week will be a fight and lots of 6-pointers instead of 3 per match.

This is truly why I love EPL. Their relegation battles r0ck and this year is the best yet! I'm excited! I can just imagine like 5 teams still shaking in their boots on the FINAL day of the season! :D How exciting is that?! :D
 
Which teams will go down acoording to you Sina?

A gamble:

West Ham United
Blackpool (i hope not, but in the end they will go down i'm afraid)
Wolves (i hope they can stay up to because i like their football, but they seem to throw it away against other relegation battlers...)

Wigan will stay up.
And somehow WBA will make it this time.
Birmingham is doing well at the moment (that is the team that plays the least attractive football IMO).
 
It's a really tough question that's why it fascinates me and I wanna know other people's opinions with so many contenders for relegation.

I, too, think that while I admire Blackpool and Ian Holloway is a breath of fresh air with his attacking philosophy and bravery, that ultimately, this will cost them. They're a little TOO daring and adventurous for their own good at times. While you can always surprise teams as a newcomer in the 1st half of season, I think Blackpool as already has been evident would find the 2nd half of the season very difficult and struggle.

Will they struggle enough to go down? Yes I can see that and although I hope they don't, that would be one of my guesses.

I also think WBA will pay for sacking Di Matteo and they're my other choice.

The 3rd spot is tough as there are so many teams that could go down and I think it will go to the last day of season! How exciting is that!? :D

But here's what I expect. I expect both Blackburn and Newcastle to struggle big time for the rest of the season. Both have 32 points right now which isn't bad and above others... but I think they will REALLY struggle for the remainder of the season and seriously flirt with relegation.

Will it be enough to go down? Hmmm... I don't know... but I do expect West Ham, Wolves and others at bottom to pick up some points in next few weeks while Newcastle and Blackburn start a downhill slide... so we'll see.

I think one of these 2 might a be a surprise relegation then and join WBA and Blackpool. We'll find out soon I guess... certainly the race at bottom is far more interesting than one at top!
 
I think the race at the top will be interesting too. Don't rule Arsenal out yet...and Man United still face a lot of tough matches...
 
Arsenal are very much in it Sina at the top, its much closer than you think considering our fixture list and Arsenal's along with the fact Arsenal might not be playing the latter rounds of the CL.
 
Arsenal don't have that many difficult matches left. Spurs away, maybe Liverpool at home. Where as Manchester United have Chelsea twice, Liverpool at Anfield, maybe Newcastle away.

A lot could come down to the game between each other. Goal difference is pretty close too.
 
I'm not ruling the gunners out guys.

But even then, it's a two-horse race at best unless something miraculous happpens.

2 contenders. Compare that to bottom of the table where about 13 out of 20 teams are still not safe and fearing for their lives one way or another and I think it's a no-brainer which is more interesting! 13 groups of fans still worried including those of well supported and big clubs like Villa and Everton! 13 managers fearing for their jobs... 13 sets of nervous underpressure squads of players having to perform 100% in the remaining weeks. I LOVE it!

So what does everybody else (Abou, edmundo, gerd, etc.) think of newcastle or Blackburn's chances of going down this season?

I put a bet on both last night. $35 which gives out $420. Now I'm not expecting BOTH to go down though that would be great of course! :D But I think one might and I wasn't sure which so I diversified my risk that way... most likely they won't anyway... but they have a real outside chance I think and 1/13 odds was too good to refuse in my opinion.
 
I think both teams will stay up Sina...
I've seen abysmal defending in WBA-West Ham.
Teams who defend like that, will not stay up.

Furthermore teams like Wolves and Blackpool are extremely vulnerable at the back too.

And did you see the despair on Moyes' face in the match against Bolton.


And speaking of Bolton...look at Sturridge...3 goals in 3 matches and (almost) a fantastic assist (yesterday with the backheel, it turned out the ball was over the line just before the backheel)...at the moment he seems a much better striker than the one Chelsea bought for far too much money.
 
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I think there are a bit too many weaker teams than Newcastle or Blackburn in terms of relegation.

Newcastle are at home to a few of the teams in the relegation mix. Everton, Wolves, Birmingham, WBA - they only really have to draw this games and they should be safe.

Maybe there is a bit more of a case for Blackburn potentially slipping up. They have Blackpool and Birmingham at home, but some tricky relegation battles away (West Ham, Wolves, Everton) and even away to Villa and Fulham in the next few weeks will be difficult both the Villans and the Cottagers looking to get clear of the drop zone.

Overall I think Blackpool, Wigan and maybe Birmingham - I would have said Villa but I think Bent might give them enough. Stoke have the hardest run in and with Sidibe out they could get sucked in - I hope so anyway.
 
Can't see past Man Utd myself now as this is usually when the hit form ,Arsenal I think will blow up, but I've been wrong once before this season when I thought Chelsea were a stick-on for the league after their start.

Looks like Chelsea will struggle just to get in the top 4 never mind winning the league, not helping the matter is wasting £50m on Torres.


FD
 
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