English Premier League thread

Yeah my favourite team among the newly promoted as well. Hope they stay up. Nice to have a Welsh team in the top tier anyway.
 
And they try to play good football.
It seems that QPR are the weakest team, IMO that is because they have by far the worst manager of the 3 promoted teams.
 
No, have to disagree, Neil Warnock is a good manager and more experienced than the other two actually. Talks a lot but he's the guy who also did very well with Sheffield United and look what happened since he left! Now they're in 3rd division! If anything, he always uplifts his teams and gets them to perform better and punch above their weight. Did a good job at Palace as well.

I wouldn't say he's a very likeable guy though lol. Most people don't like him and I'm not a fan either lol. Doesn't help the fact that he's ugly as well hahaaa
 
It's nice to know a lot of neutrals are wishing us well, seen many comments from fans of other teams praising our style of play, seen so many people say about Swansea being their "second team" this season. Well maybe not from any Cardiff fans, though to be fair to that lot down the M4 I hope they go up from the Championship and we retain our Prem spot, would be good to have two Welsh teams in the Prem and a passionate derby match.

Glad we broke our away hoodoo today too, I did say we need to start winning on the road and sure enough we got one (2-0 at Villa). Good performance today, especially Nathan Dyer, gave them the runaround! Bring on Arsenal (in 2 weeks!).:SMUG:
 
PLF Lambert and Swansea's manager (don't even know his name) are among the main reasons both Morwich and Swansea are doing well...two low profile managers with a vision who try to play positive football...
 
Paul Lambert and Brendon Rodgers and yes I agree. Both seem like young talented bright managers who are doing very well in their first EPL season. I just disagreed with saying they are by FAR better than QPR's Neil Warnock who is muchmore experienced than the two and career-wise so far has done more than the other two combined!

His fav club, Sheffield basically went down the shithole when he finally left and he did a great job with a cash-strapped Crystal Palace who went into administration (and then he left) even getting them to the play-offs.

The man isn't very likeable like I said as he's very controversial and usually moaning but he's a good manager and he's proven that in the long-term which is something the other two haven't yet as it's too early to tell still.
 
PLF, i don't want to discuss this to death, because i don't know Warnock very well, so i might be completely wrong (you sense the b-word coming?).

But.

The fact that Sheffield went downhill when he left does not mean necessarily that he did a good job there...on the contrary.

But (another one)...

I have to admit i don't like the man...he's constantly moaning about referees. After the match against Arsenal it looked as if he was complementing Van Persie (he is fantastic) but then it turned out that he was actually once again criticizing the ref (Van Persie makes lots of litle fouls and refs never see it). Yes and his forwards are very clean players with superior technical abilities who never uses their arms let alone their elbows...

But i might well be prejudiced.
 
When they interview Warnock after a match they lost, he always speaks non-sense. Yesterday he said they had 'a brilliant performance'. I don't think losing at home is a brilliant performance.
 
Hahah yeah Neil Warnock is FAMOUS for his constant moaning and ridiculous quotes and controversy! There are sites out there just listing all the crap he's said over the years. :LOL:

I don't think anybody likes him!
 
Yesterday he had reason to complain about Barton's red card, but how did he do it once again...he talked about the "lines person"....totally classless.
 
That is stupid. He didn't do anything. I agree wth Alan Hansen. The ref gave him a red 2 minutes later. What if would have scored in those 2 minutes?
 
That is dumb but anyway WHAT A PERFORMANCE by Newcastle today.

I think they were as good as Untied were poor but they really deserve credit. They were the better team from starting minute and were just SOLID throughout with almost every player putting in a good shift.

Demba Ba and Ameobi bullied Ferdinand and young Jones and Cabaye and Tiote ran the midfield as they are far superior to Carrick and Giggs.

Coloccini was immense. Williamson played like a Premier League CB and not a 2nd division one. Danny Simpson was great and that goal-line clearance on his 25th birthday was brilliant!

Jonas worked really hard and Ryan Taylor put in a good shift too. Overall they should be really proud because they put in great individual performances but most importantly stuck together as a TEAM and all worked really hard for each other, the club's colours and for the loud great supporters in the stadium.

Credit to Alan Pardew as well who made all the right moves tactically and with selections and even substitutes and got the players really motivated and playing for him and each other.

Nice day for Newcastle and well deserved.

And what a FREEKICK from Cabaye! Unstoppable!

Krul is growing in stature and confidence with each passing game as well (Unlike United's goalkeepers) and looks a really nice young reassured keeper now.
 
Yep. For the price of a Bebe, United could have had Tiote and Cabaye. Sigh.

Newcastle were excellent, but I don't think United are anywhere near the second best team in the league given their injuries this season. Maybe with everyone fit, but United have been decimated.
 
True and also now that it matters now but that was definitely a PK by Ferdinand on the ever-impressive and consistent Demba Ba early in the game. Ref didn't give it but it should've been.
 
Very true.

In fact, while I normally defend refs and think they get too much stick and it's a really hard job, I gotta say, I watch the other top leagues in the world too and EPL referees are the WORST bunch.

Where as the average Italian ref let's say gets 2 decisions wrong maybe in a match in Serie A, and the German Bundesliga one 3, the EPL ones get 5-7 wrong and some of them BIG ones.

Also a BLATANT corner kick for United from that Berbatov header early in game but ref gives goalkick.

EPL really needs to increase the quality of their officials. Other leagues (Even Spain and for me they're 2nd worst) have better ones. Italy and Germany are far better and French Ligue 1 refs seem more accurate as well.
 
Newcastle had a great performance yesterday. :)
Very nice goals too, even the own goal.
 
Fantastic perfromance by Newcastle. I hope they can keep this team together.
One negative note: a very strange commentary by Pardew after the match: "this is our best possible team"...why didn't he play it sooner then? And what about Taylor who is injured for the rest of the season and who performed so good? What about Hatem Ben Arfa?

Pardew is a weird guy. Does a good job but is inclined to be autodestructive...was it with West Ham that he did a fantastic job until he felt the need to have an affair with a player's wife...he is supposed to have done that at one of his previous clubs and after that it went all pear shaped. I hope Newcastle have a good second part of the season, it's potentially one of the biggest English clubs.
 
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Everyone. Gets a 2nd. Chance I hope he becomes better from it. I agree w/ PLF refs at Epl. Are. Killing the game w/ ttheir calls. a yellow and no other ref notice it was the wrong player.
 
I liked his reaction: he felt with Bolton's keeper as he damn knew well that it was a freak goal. he remembered that long ago he had a similar goal against and was devastated by it...great guy Tim Howard...

Sunderland also scored a freakish free kick that was largely due to the wind...great goal but a litle bit freakish.
 
Just heard "Colin" Warnock has been sacked by QPR, apparently because of the team's precarious position of 17th in the Prem, but surely yesterday's last-ditch draw at MK Franchise hastened the decision?
 
Pretty surprised at the Warnock thing. Not sure what QPR were expecting given the squad they have at the moment, and Warnock did well to bring them up. Must have someone pretty handy lined up...
 
About the sacking of Neil Warnock. I heard a journalist who is a big QPR fan on football weekly. He had some interesting insights.
He told that the QPR fans are gutted that Warnock got sacked because he achieved quite a bit with that team. First he saved them in the championship in the course of a disastrous campaign and then he got them promoted with good football.
But despite all this the journalist/QPR-fan still thought that it was the logical thing to do. I said he had doubts when in november he talked with a player who had played under Warnock. That player was full of praise for Warnock but said that Warnock is superb for the champioship because he is a big motivator (the English way) but not really tactically fluent (which according to the player is necessary for an EPL manager).
The journalist remembered this talk when Warnock was twicce tactically outwitted by Paul Lambert in the matches against Norwich. He normally sits near Warnock bench on Loftus Road and witnessed something very strange during the second match against Norwich. At the end of the match Lambert had done a substitution and a couple of minutes after that Clinbt Hill (who was warming up) came to the bench and shouted to Warnock: "You got to change something, can't you see that we are four against five at the back?" The journalist remembers that quite a few QPR-reserves agreed with that, but that Warnock did not see their point. A couple minutes later Norwich scored the winner and Clint Hill was furious..."I told you so, you should have listened?".
The journalist/fan thinks that players like Wright-Philips, Barton and Traore who have played for big clubs had lost all confidence in Warnock's tactical ineptitude...

Of course i base this on one source, but is seems rather plausible to me.
 
Makes sense to me.

I agree that he can be tactically naive like a lot of old-school English managers and that his main assets are in motivating his team and firing them up.

Anyway, in regards to the sacking, it is very harsh indeed! They hadn't been in bottom 3 all year. Hadn't gotten the best out of talents like Taarabt yet and so things could improve and he saved the club from possibly going down to 3rd division when he took over and got them promoted a year after (maybe too soon).

In his defence, because of the protracted potential selling of the club all summer long, he wasn't given a chance to strengthen the team the way he would've wanted (Only Barton came in and Armand Traore but majority are 2nd division players) and then the selling didn't happen and transfer window closed, but when it did happen, it was now too late and Tony Fernandes bought club but no time to strengthen team UNTIL January and now that window opened again, he's gone! lol

So I feel for Neil and think he's been sacked very harshly! I mean look at the support the board have given other managers who've been at the bottom as well! Steve Kean still in job! Owen Coyle. QPR were never in serious threat in all of 1st half and did better than those 2 teams with lesser players and still out of relegation zone but he's been sacked in 'fear' of relegation. Well every team down there fears that. Half the league really. If anything stability is the way to go and not rocking the boat!

So I feel he's been harshly sacked and was not given the resources to strengthen in summer as the old owners weren't willing to back him and he had arguments with and by the time new owner came, transfer window was closed and in January where he'd get his 1st chance, he was sacked.

BUT, It's Neil Warnock! Who cares about him! :D Not exactly the most likeable guy lol and a big whiner! Plus Mark Hughes is a great manager in my opinion and although I would normally be against getting rid of stability and bringing in someone new especially half way through season and when they didn't deserve to, IF Mark Hughes is to be the new manager, then I'm for it and think it's a good move. :)
 
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