Anyone got any predictions about the EPL or their own team’s prospects?
EPL would seem to be heading back to Man City with the most realistic threats coming from Chelsea (Now with new improved Lukaku!) or Liverpool with a fully recovered Virgial Van D.
Be interesting to see how Arteta does at Arsenal (already off to a terrible start after losing 2-0 to Brentford, Same applies to OGS does at Manure. If the two clubs aren’t there or thereabouts come Xmas, it’s my feeling the pair of them will be gone.
Hard to see Spurs doing much – especially if – as seems increasingly likely Kane heads up to Manchester before the transfer window slams shut in a couple of weeks.
Relegation – While would love to see Brentford stay up, probably going to be them and two from C Palace, Newcastle, Norwich or Watford.
Having spent two years playing at Birmingham, my team, Coventry City, are finally back in their home city again. Problem is SISU the hedge fund owners who have bled the club white these last few years. Hope they stay up but hard to see them doing much better than aspiring to mid-table.
My Fantasy Seaon started in some style. I thought I was being clever with Aubameyang up front.
Nil points.
I agree with your drop candidates. I also think Brighton and Burnley will struggle. Southampton look shaky too.
Liverpool might get going again with Virgil back, but Robertsons injury will hurt.
Arsenal look a mess and unsure about Spurs. Spuds might come good for a cup, but may struggle to get top 6 in the league.
Top 2 will be Man City and Chelsea.
After that it’s a fight between ManUre and Liverpool, with Leicester continuing to offer a threat.
FA Cup will be Chelsea or Man City
I realise it was only one game and there might be harder games to come but the response to Brentford’s win last night was spine tingling. I’ll be following them closely as they were my local team as a child / teenager. I’ve always followed them if not actually supporting them. Arsenal were bloidy awful and could easily really struggle this season. I have no real interest in the battle of the oligarchs at the top end. I assume the richest will win.
It’s always nice to see teams like Brentford get their shot at the top table – especially given how unlucky the Bees were in season 2019/20.
Sadly, suspect the usual template for newly promoted clubs will apply in that they’ll go great guns right up until Xmas and then go into freewill once the big boys work out their weaknesses. As newly promoted teams often tend to have very under-manned squads, they also suffer when the inevitable injuries to key players start to mount up. They then struggle terribly and maybe just end up staying safe come the last day of the season before going down the following year.
I’m not a big football fan, but Brentford are my local team and I wish them well.
To return to the top flight after 74 years is a similar achievement to Murray winning Wimbledon & I watched the match on tv last night aware of how significant it was.
Brentford was my local team as a nipper, too! I grew up in Chiswick, and went to see Brentford play Colchester, just after CU dumped Leeds out of the FA Cup, for the first time in 1971.
I once went to see Brentford play when I was a kid – my cousin lived in Hounslow. All I remember was that the goalie was called Gerry Cakebread.
Lukaku did extraordinary well in Italy didn’t he? Be interesting to see if he can maintain that back here. Man City to win the league for me unless they get distracted by the Champions League again.
However, I’m an Ipswich fan so these things don’t concern me. We appear to be “Cheque Book Town” now after our takeover though that’s slightly disingenuous as we’ve made almost as much from selling our , erm, Crown Jewels as we’ve spent so far. Plus Ed Sheehan who I’ve always liked! Not started the season brilliantly in terms of results though we seem to be playing ok. Should do ok ultimately.
Lukaku did well before for West Brom, Everton and United (before ha was Mourinho-d).
He looks to be a bit more agile now though so if the balls are played to him he will be fighting Kane and Salah for the Shiny Shoe
A reply to myself.
So, played 3, lost 2, drawn 1.
But no crisis because there’s still white wine in the Boardroom.
100 million for Grealish? Decent player, but world’s gone mad. Wish they would introduce a draft system like North American sport, would be way more interesting
Agree 100% with Dai (checks newly-bought watch, yes I’m still on Planet Earth). Sooner they move to a US-style draft system the better. Until then, money will always win. Always.
Where’s the source of talent in the UK? The US’s draft system works because they recruit from college/university who in turn recruit from high schools. College sport is huge in the US. They even show local high school games on TV here.
Big teams scout and “sign” kids before they are ten. There’s an enormous conveyor belt of ’em coming though all the time.
I think Grealish is really overrated. Given this he’ll probabaly be player of the year
Yep, I agree it’s silly money, but he had a release clause of £100 million – City met it, so off he trots. Release clauses are unusual in English football, but they’re the norm in Spain.
You could buy a team of 100 Trevor Francis’s for that money in the 1970s.
That would have been a great squad…but who plays in goal?
Oh…Trevor Francis.
Great that United are being underestimated…suits us fine. And ManUre… really? Are we back in primary school?
Yes … bum bum poo poo wee
See you behind the bike sheds after home time, Type…
But…I’m the Headmaster!
Not for much longer. They’re already advertising for your replacement in the Times Educational Supplement
Mr. Warnock is doing his usual thing of lowering expectations. He’s right that we need more bodies in forward positions, but he’s brought some good people in. I expect us to be in the play-off scrum, automatic might be a bit beyond us considering the spending power of the parachute-financed West Brom and Fulham.
Good win today over Bristol City, managed by dear old Nigel Pearson, a man who would never have to buy himself a pint in any Teesside hostelry.
Agree about Brentford and apparently their reaction to Saka coming on for Arsenal was fantastic… to all the other supporters in the division: the benchmark has been set.
Now I know that Daniel Levi is minted and… erm… well done on that… but how many seasons running is this that Tottenham just aren’t ready for the season?
And this, remember, is a club for whom dropped points in August mean no 4th place (the only reason for their existence) in May.
I’m a Spurs fan. Obviously it’s going to be shit.
As a fellow-sufferer, I would usually share your pessimism..
However, the acquisition of Gil, Romero and Gollini. with players to come back in and the enigma which is Tanguy Ndombele….I’m hoping for some fun at least…
Getting into the new ground properly, a crop of decent youngsters…It could be a lot worse.
More local colour on the football front is as ever, provided by Haringey Borough, the only team in White Hart Lane…
COYS !
Assuming that Kane is eventually sold to the highest bidder (and I think it’s the best time to cash in on him – he’s at an age where he will only become slower and more injury prone) then it will be interesting to see how Spurs cope. I think they’ll be fine, they certainly won’t become significantly worse. It’s not as if they don’t have numerous very good players, and in Son and Ndombele they have two who are arguably world class. Their real problem is how the owners ENIC regard the club as a business arm that should just tick over nicely. Best stadium in the league and selling players for record sums should provide a foundation for a more ambitious side. I like watching Spurs, and at their best they are more than a match for anyone, but I’m bloody glad I’m not a fan because the inconsistency would drive me nuts.
I’m a Spurs fan and that wasn’t shit at all! Blimey they were up for that.
Amazing. I take it all back. Such a committed performance and great to see the likes of Dele and Moura playing so well. Maybe Harry going (assuming he does) will give Moura and Bergwijn the opportunity to truly flourish that they need. And we’ve still got the marvel that is Sonny.
Santos seems a good guy and there was a real sense the team were playing for him.
What is this strange feeling? Optimism at the end of the first day of the season? Weird….
It’ll last until April, when they’ll go all Spursy…😏
To be honest we’ll be lucky to get to September without the Spursyishness kicking in…
Well no-one will have any interest in my team, because Hampton and Richmond Borough are very much a niche interest, with our berth in the National League South. Today’s opening game for this season saw us win 5-0 away to Eastbourne Borough. I am still somewhat in disbelief but what a fantastic day out…fish and chips on the beach and the sun shone down. Home now. Marvellous!
Incorrect on so many levels.
1. I’d go to Hampton and see Alan Simpson (co-writer of Hancock) at the bar… alas, no more.
2. The local pub just down the road was tremendous.
3. Fish and chips on the beach at away matches… can’t be bad.
4. And I reckon the best value for money football (OK, apart from the free youth games on a Saturday morning – do both!) to be had in London was the Conference South.
I love non-league @deramdaze . It’s where all the fun of following football is this days. And that pub…do you mean the Jolly Coopers, the Railway Bell or the World’s End?
It was the one about 300 yards (?) from the ground – “Coopers” rings a bell … do you know what, it could have been any of them! I was in London a year or so ago and it was definitely still advertising in the “London Drinker”… the only magazine you’ll ever need in the metropolis.
They’ll always be “Hampton FC” to me & are truly my local team. I’ve never seen a match but certainly had a pint or two in the ‘Coopers, the Dip, Worlds End & the Bell.
Yes, it’s “Hampton FC” to me and a growing number of supporters, who would like to see the name changed back. The rest of the name is a clumsy and slightly uncomfortable suffix, a reminder of a slightly desperate move by a former chairman.
Big day for my lot (Wimbledon) today, our first proper home game in front of a crowd for 30 odd years. Good battling draw against Bolton after going two goals down. We have really struggled in League 1 since being promoted but I sense we may have improved enough to be pretty hopeful of a comfortable mid table spot, which is a step in the right direction.
As for the Prem, it is hard to feign much serious interest in that when it is a contest by between a dodgy Russian oligarch and a dodgy Arab state. Most of the pleasure from the Prem comes from occasional great team performances by high quality players, so Man City, Liverpool and Spurs are the sides I am prepared to sit down and watch because they are regularly pretty entertaining. Chelsea, who I loathe with every fibre of my soul, will probably win the title though. Newcastle, Watford and Norwich to go down. Brentford will emulate Sheffield United a couple of seasons back by surprising everyone with their ambitious approach, before being quickly found out next season. I’d be quietly pleased if Crystal Palace dropped though, there is something peculiarly irritating about them.
3-3? Wasn’t Wimbledon’s first league game a 3-3 draw?
Indeed. A historic if frustrating game at the original Plough Lane back in ’77 against Halifax that we should have won. I stood at the away Wandle End with the massed travelling Halifax support – all seven of them.
We started off in the Football League intending to stay semi-pro to cut costs, but that idea lasted about six weeks before we wised up.
I predict that Southend United will claw their way back out of the National League at the first time of asking. Though having seen all the familiar names they’re keeping company with – Wrexham, Notts County, Torquay, Grimsby, Aldershot – I’m having a little twinge of doubt. I dare say we’ve stumbled against all of them in the past. Still, when I’m back in residence in Folkestone I’ll be able to pop along and see them thrash Dover…🤔
@jaygee my son-in-law’s a rabid Cov fan. It’s a hard road…
Woking FC await the Shrimpers at some point. There’s 6 points for you right there.
Hmmm…we’ll see. Tricky (I assume) away game at Kings Lynn next Saturday to open the season.
Beware the mighty Wealdstone. One of only a very few semi-pro clubs left in the top tier of the National League, but ridiculously feisty when playing the bigger clubs. Also notoriously hardcore support, the Millwall of non-league football.
I’d agree with that, having played Wealdstone many times over more recent years. Probably one of the clubs who missed the crowds being allowed in the most because of the noise and intimidation they make. Smaller clubs need that 12th man…
Of course you don’t have to be very mighty to wallop Southend on one of their regular off days.
PUSB, @jaygee. Trust in Robins. I’d say, judging by our performances against Forest and Barnsley, that we’ll be fine this season. And at long last hearing the mighty travelling Sky Blue Army in full voice again yesterday at Oakwell was wonderful.
@robert
Agree with you 100% about Robins who has performed miracles under impossible circumstances. Would be interesting to see how big-spending managers like Mourinho or Guardiola would cope if faced with the sort of problems MR has had to deal with. While it’s rather unlikely they might do so any time soon, not 100% sure I would like to see the SBs go back up to the EPL. Would, however, love to see the back of Joy(less) Seppala and the rest of the SISU crew
I’m feeling depressed. Three of the four richest clubs have bought themselves a better team/squad and the fourth has a £100 million player back after a long lay-off. Man C, Man U, Chelsea & Liverpool seem that much further away than the rest. I can’t see Arsenal, Spurs or Everton making much progress and expect Leicester to fall back a bit. Leeds will find this season harder. Potential relegation candidates are numerous but I do hope Newcastle do well. Steve Bruce was treated unfairly last season, I thought. I have a soft spot for Burnley, largely because they regularly upset Arsene Wenger but their crowd was the only one to boo taking-the-knee yesterday.
As a true Blue, the best I can hope for is top ten and are we ever going to win the Carabao Cup?
How was Steve Bruce treated unfairly? He has built a lucrative well paid management career by achieving very little and in the past has shown to have zero loyalty for whichever team is paying his salary (not alone in that though).
He’s still a hero in Hull, where he got City to the FA Cup Final for the first time in their history. The owners shafted him, as they always do.
And yet he’s never got round to having his nose fixed…
Covid hit the Newcastle squad more than most and his two star players were out of action for a long time. Whenever they were on the pitch they did well. Yet, the fans poured approbium on him almost all season long, until they were safe from the drop earlier than expected. The reaction to today’s game doesn’t bode well.
Newcastle fans have been living in cloud cuckoo land since Bobby Moncur lifted the Inter Cities Fairs Cup over 50 years ago. The fact that the club has had a string of appalling owners hasn’t helped
Do we not call it “footer” – or, if you’re Australian, “footo”?
@Moose-the-Mooche
Or “Soccerball” if you are an American (“Socko” for American Aussies such as Nicole Kidman or Mel Gibson)
Socko sounds like a Ronco product. “Say goodbye to niffy feet, with Socko! – available in traditional and strawberry flavour”
Surely it would be a contraption to enable you to put socks on hands-free? “Just attach the sock to our patented Heel Wheel® and the amazing Socko will do the rest! An ideal Christmas gift!”
This could lead to mishaps. “It’s the wrong sock, Gromit!”
@Black-Type
Got Ronald M Popeil from heaven on line two for you. Mr Type!
Don’t Aussies refer to anything with a ball to kick ‘footy’, whether it’s ‘soccer’, union, league or Aussie Rules?
If you watch the RL film This Sporting Life – which you should, because it’s very good – the word rugby is not used once. It’s referred to as football throughout.
Lindsay Anderson, Richard Harris and a stellar supporting cast including Rachel Roberts, William Hartnell, Leonard Rossiter, Arthur Lowe and Frank Windsor… damn fine film.
Yes – based on the novel by David Storey, who was an ex-rugby league player himself, of course.
‘Appen!!
Si’thee!
Thy knows…
Well the Premier League is back with a bang with plenty of goals. I’d be surprised if anyone other than Man City + Kane (perhaps) or Chelsea now they have Lukaku were to win it though. Nice to see the familiar names in the Afterword FPL league as well.
Back in the real world and the lower leagues yesterday saw me attend my first match since before Covid lockdown when along with 17k others I returned to Valley Parade for Bradford City vs Oldham in league 2 (Division 4 as it used to be). The match was hectic and seemed to have ended on a down when Oldham equalised 3 minutes into stoppage time. Fortunately we got a penalty and won with the very last kick of the game. It couldn’t have been scripted better.
It was interesting to see everyone looking around taking in the old faces and trying to work out where the gaps in the crowd were. Hopefully the old couple who used to sit behind us have moved to the kop for ease of access as they’d mentioned they might 18 months ago. To the left, right and in front it was the same faces though and conversations were picked up where they’d been left all those months ago. Albeit with questions as to how people had been affected.
One thing that hasn’t changed though was the chap in front leaving after the 93rd minute equaliser and missing the 97th minute winner somthing my son will be reminding him of on Tuesday at the next match.
@ne1
That’s the joy of footie right there…A last minute winner from a penalty after just having been pegged back earlier.
You’re right @freddysteady and I didn’t even mentioned the Oldham keeper falling to the floor and needing the trainer to come on shortly after they’d equalised. He may well have needed the attention although our manager and others seemed to doubt that. Either way the delay that came from this break allowed time for one final attack, penalty, goal, whistle, elation!
I know there’s concern about the infection rates etc. and we did think long and hard before attending. Equally I know football is not universally admired around here but i think a lot of folks mental wellbeing will have been improved by some old matchday routines returning and some last minute winners.
Absolutely about the mental well being…after our away win, the first away game we’d been allowed to go to in about 18 months, Saturday was the best I’d felt in ages. And if a football naysayer needs to have that explaining then they really won’t ever understand.
I can understand leaving early if your team is either winning or losing comfortably. I was at Wigan Ath on Saturday, though, and quite a few fans trundled to the exits when the ninetieth minute loomed, with the score a tight 0-0…cue Wigan scoring with pretty much the last kick (or header, to be accurate) of the game.
Yep. I’m hoping to attend a couple of Ipswich away games up here in the North of England with a couple of mates (who support Leeds and Man U respectively ,) basically an afternoon out which will be good for the soul regardless of the result even.
As a Doncaster Rovers fan the season hasn’t exactly got off to a fantastic start.
2-1 home defeat to Wimbledon (hi Slug) on the opening day after being 1 up.
We did beat Walsall in the Carabo Cup but that was on penalties after a goalless 90 minutes.
Then on Saturday a 2-0 away defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
Away at Accrington tomorrow night which will be a new ground for me.
Maybe see you at the Keepmoat later in the season Freddy Steady
Donny Rovers were bestowed with the enormous honour of being the very first visiting opposition to our lovely new stadium last season, so I think allowing us all 3 points at your place is ideal reciprocation!
Indeed! I think we got a 90th minute equaliser.
Hi Lester, I’m in Manchester and had actually pencilled in Donny as a possibility. An hour and a half up the M62 and a new ground for me.
Nice one! I can remember playing you one Tuesday night around ten years ago when you beat us 6-0 and some guy scored a hat-trick and then got transferred a few days later. Was it Connor Wickham?
Oh yes Connor Wickham…one of the many off the Portman Road conveyor belt. Or something. To be fair, he has played in the Premier League. Could have done with him tonight.
As my mate just texted..,,Always tricky at (insert team name here…)
I think my team (Liverpool) will get top four again, but it’ll be between Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs for the title. If I was a betting man I’d go for Man Utd. They were strong last year and they’ve strengthened well, and boyhood Liverpool fan OGS is better than people think.
Bloody hell, Ronaldo’s gone back to Manure after they gazumped Citeh.
Absurd how #21,000,000 for a 36-year old looks like a steal,
but he’s still banging in the goals – top scorer in Serie A last year
Pep must be spitting feathers
Offspring The Younger’s U17 season starts with a friendly tomorrow and a charity match in the stadium on Weds evening. It has changed from a Saturday league to Sundays. The away matches are a further to drive, but at least he no longer has to play against Littleport or Sawtry – both were more like a 90-minute 11-a-side bare-knuckle boxing match.
I know that presenting a “league table” after only 2 games of the Premier League season is meaningless, but …. hmmm ….. let’s see who’s top. Ah … West Ham United F.C.
Erm …. can we somehow just end the season right here?
Irons!
With Coventry in the play off places in the Championship (or whatever they’re calling Division 2 ) this week, i’d be up for that
Au contraire … let’s end it now after three games. Spurs top with 9 points out of 9 and no goals conceded. Arsenal bottom with 0 points and no goals whatsoever. happy days…
Anyone else here seen the 3-part BBC doc about the EPL – Fever Pitch? Well worth a watch, imho
Perhaps theonly thing more predictable than Ronnie’s spectacular return was Spurs reversion to their losing ways
No one else here watching Fever Pitch: The Rise of The Premier League? Excellent BBC doc. Last Sunday dealt with L’Affaire du Cantona after the infamous kung fu kick in 1995.
Amazing to see that, despite getting paid* £10K a week – then the highest pay packet in the EPL – lived in a pretty normal looking detached house on an estate – albeit probably in Cheshire.
I am – got the second part to watch later tonight.
It’s an oft told tale, but refreshingly told (or certainly part 1 was) – just hope it doesn’t descend into a series of talking heads “well obviously I was over the moon when they gave me £200k a week”)
Bit sad that only two of us here seem to be interested in what is a really enjoyable series. Last night’s third (of four) parts was about how obscene amounts of money and non-stop intrusive media attention affected players. While Beckham was able to weather the storm and came out of both it (and this documentary) surprisingly well. Cruelly discarded as a makeweight in the deal that took Andy Cole to Man U from Newcastle, Keith Gillespie had his life ruined by it.
Interestingly, there was nary a sign of Wayne Rooney, a player gifted with a ton more ability than DB and yet who managed to spaff the vast promise he showed at Euro 2004 on grannies and grog. Yes, I know he’s England’s leading scorer but it took him 120 games to get there and his 0.44 goals to games ratio is lower than all bar two of the top 10 scorers (Finney and Lampard).
Not watched it, but would guess Beckham comes out of the documentary well at least in part because it’s his production company that made the thing.
DIdn’t even know he had a production company.
On a side note, a few years back a friend of mine shot a TV Commercial which Goldenballs graced with his silky smooth product schilling skills.
Kev told me that four of the six hours GB was contracted to be on set, four were spent in hair and make-up and that he was barely capable of stringing a coherent sentence together
Fourth and final episode last night took the EPL up to the rise of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal and concluded with Man U’s legendary last minute win in Barcelona – jeez, is it really 22 years ago?
Wonder if they’re going to do further series on the next two decades a la that wonderful Match of the Day 60s, 70s and 80s box set that came out a few years (quite a few years actually) back?
Certainly hope so as there are still plenty of good stories to tell – club owners and managers being two areas that look especially ripe for exploration. While they’ve featured quite a bit in the Man U sections, a show devoted solely to fans would also be nice.
Looking forward to that final episode, and also hope they continue the story.
One forgets how far the game moved in a short space of time.
The early years now look a long forgotten time – more colourful, but not too far removed from the re-runs of (early 80s) Big Match Revisited on ITV4.
Club ownership and big money took the game further away from the fans – interesting to hear those stories. And perhaps those of lower league clubs with ambitious chairmen trying to break into the elite strata.
Reading, Bournemouth, Swansea, Brighton – small clubs with ambition that got in the club (albeit briefly)
I’ve watched a fair few of the Big Match re runs. Love it when Brian Moore reads out the entire address of people that write in. The Xmas edition with Elton John and Kevin Keegan was toe curling.
Comparing the game then to now suggests there’s been a massive improvement in the quality of pitches, and a lot less hit and hope in the modern game. Just watched Swindon (with a baby faced Chris Kamara playing for the Robins) thrash out a 0-0 against a Spurs that inlcude future manager Glenn Hoddle. Jumpers for goalposts etc.
A lot fewer beards and tashes too.
Tattoos? Usually only on the brick sh*thouse central defender (often referred to as The Enforcer)
@Rigid-Digit
Yea, an episode devoted to smaller/more “unfancied” clubs who went up, did incredibly well for a season or so before crashing back down to the Championship (and then frequently sank even further) would be interesting, too.
I’ve watched the first two. So far pretty interesting, although the frst one seemed a bit disjointed. It’s obviously going to conentrate the usual clubs – a new series might spread the er.. net a bit wider.
Only person on Tyneside not celebrating the Saudis’ takeover of the Toon is beleaguered NUFC boss, Steve Bruce, whose performance appraisal with new owner Prince Mohammed bin Salman is set to take place at the Turkish Embassy.
I said this as a joke this morning and those Mash bastards obviously heard me.
https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/sport/taliban-to-take-over-middlesbrough-fc-20211008212884?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2lFgDttvSDnN9lK1MIR07RQ8DB-ivh5DPYofMKIyghB4tLtM1iLwmPVx8#Echobox=1633684021
Predictable, but it gets the noble @jaygee a hamper.
@moose-the-mooche
Aythengyew
The usual can of past-its-sell-by-date Corsair chicken is in the post to you as we speak.
I’d send it on to political prisoners in Saudi, but I think they’ve suffered enough.
So, approximately a quarter of the way through the season, what are your feelings about the EPL and how are your team doing?
EPL
With Salah scoring for 10 matches running (and his belters against Man City and Watford looking a good bet to tie for best goal of 20/21 Looks to be Liverpool by a canter.
Amusing to see Manure and Spurs struggling. Given the shower of shit who’ve taken over the club, I hope the Toon go down and struggle to sign players ever after
My team – Coventry City
After years of shit owners (still sadly there), ricocheting between grounds and winning the Div 1 title without playing a home game in 2019-20, the Sky Blues are punching way above their weight at fourth place in the Championship.
Their achievement in doing so is made all the more remarkable in that all three of the teams above them are able to call on parachute payments and it’s only a few seasons since they were scraping by near the bottom of Div 3.
Hope to God that Man U don’t come knocking for the brilliant Mark Robins when they inevitably get shot of Ole
You’ll be alright with Mark Robins.
Steve Bruce will get the ManUre poisoned chalice (probably)
I don’t think any way they will appoint Bruce. Despite Liverpool’s awesome performance yesterday, I think Chelski are favourites in a 3 horse race for the top spot.
I doubt it will be Bruce either – just trying to start a rumour.
Whenever a job becomes available *, an explorer for the club is immediately linked.
* actually a job doesn’t have to be available, Eddie Howe is still favourite for the (not) vacant Southampton job
The two obvious candidates are Conte and Zidane – available, no compensation will need to be paid, and with experience of the kind of circus that such high profile roles bring. Thereafter it’s more random / unlikely – Eddie How, Pochettino, Rodgers, Erik ten Hag, Alan Pardew.
They play like they did yesterday for much longer and Fat Sam’ll be fancying his chances
@Dai
Be interesting to see what happens a week on Saturday when Ole’s boys face Citeh who, like Liverpool, are no slouches up front themselves
If City are struggling for tactics I suggest:
1. Pass the ball to a Man. Utd. defender.
2. Sit back.
3. Watch.
All the negatives of supporting a big club come out at times like this – and they outweigh any positives there may be 100 to 1.
Much, much better to be an Orient, Gillingham or Dagenham fan.
Steve Bruce now on the phone to Delia Smith, which tells you all you need to know about his, and our, season.
Re: “Steve Bruce now on the phone to Delia Smith”
Why … are his roast potatoes not crispy enough, or something?
@sitheref2409
You’ve made that up, surely? That would be a backwards step for the yellow peril wouldn’t it?
Confucius says: impossible to take step backwards when back up against fucking wall
@sitheref2409
@freddy-steady
@duco01
Don’t panic Canaries fans!
SB is only calling Delia to find out if there’s any way he can delay the imminent cooking of his goose
@jaygee
How dare you! I support Suffolk’s finest, 60 miles down the road.
We all have our cross to bear, Freddie, and as a Coventry supporter, I feel your pain.
@jaygee
But you’re having a pretty good season so far!
True, but not so very long ago, we were where you are now – one division lower in fact.
We also had no ground and, in SISU, probably the worst owners this side of the Oyston family (the latter are still very much running the show, sadly)
@jaycee
As you might know, we’ve got new owners. Rich Americans. So far they seem to be saying and doing the right things. We shall see, though after a poor start (which wasn’t surprising considering the amount of changes we made to our squad) we are hitting a bit of form. Long way to go but from what I’ve seen, we are playing decent football…just can’t defend.
“Suffolk’s finest”
Much competition for that title is there 😉 ?
@sitheref2409
There’s no need for that!
Bury Town, Stowmarket, Sudbury Town…the competition is fierce.
(Sudbury are in the same FA Cup draw as us.)
I’m in the unaccustomed position of having to look towards the top of the table to see my team – West Ham. Even my AW fantasy team is doing well. Moyes continues to spend money cautiously and has weeded out the slackers. It’s actually a pleasure to watch them most of the time, playing as a proper team. Mind you, with Kevin Nolan and Stuart Pearce on the coaching staff, I couldn’t see any prima donna’s lasting long
Moyes stuck to his guns during the transfer window and focused on trying to find a centre half and a striker that would add value, not just on the pitch but in the longer term – they have to have re-sale potential. So no Lingard, no Ings, and in the end no new striker at all. It’s risky but better than some of the misfits (Haller) and lemons (Anderson) that we’ve signed in the past. He’s a man with a plan and I really hope he gets the chance to see it through. We’ve even made a strong start in Europe that contrasts sharply with the embarrassment of previous – very brief – attempts.
Our bubbles could be popped at any time – an injury to Antonio or Rice could see us struggle, but so far it’s been really enjoyable. Planning for life without Rice must also be a priority for Moyes. Rice is under contract until mid 2024 so a sale in summer of 2022 would be the optimum time to cash in. I just hope he’s sensible and well advised and avoids going somewhere where he ends up seeing as much of the bench as he does the pitch
As a Man City fan (other cities are available) got to be pretty pleased with how the season has gone so far. We are traditional slow starters under Pep and there are early signs that the rhythm is coming back. Feel the title will be at least 2 of Liverpool/us/Chelsea neck and neck until April.
As in recent years the two issues for us are:
Will the lack of a number 9 haunt us in the latter half of the season, assuming we are in the title run-in and the CL knockouts. Having both Foden and Gundogan in the team makes this less of a priority, as both seem to have the knack of arriving where the ball goes in the penalty area (something other false 9’s we use don’t quite have). If one or both are injured we will struggle to score against the best teams.
Will Pep over-tinker and out-think himself in the CL later stages. God knows.
Bernardo Silva is in the form of his life, almost like a new signing.
According to press gossip, Sir Alex is recommending M United stick with Solskjaer.
Makes me wonder.. Fergie anointed David Moyes as his successor – a decent manager, but perhaps not tippy top level enough for the big job.. he also met Pep in New York – we are led to believe the tiki-taka hitmaker fancied a couple of years of bratwurst, but maybe Old Red Nose came back from the Big Apple with a negative recommendation.. then there’s the way he allowed his team to go stale in his final years, only to make the vanity purchase of Robin Van Persie – guaranteeing him a final championship but lumbering the team with a player with no resale value..
..is it possible that SAF is pulling up the ladder on his own already unassailable achievements by sabotaging the club’s post-Fergie period?
Is it possible that the clip juxtaposing Kenny and Alex was deepfaked and it was actually the ex-United boss laughing? We all know old stony face Dalglish can’t smile without hurting himself..
Re David Moyes
I’m saying … better than “a decent manager”
Come On You Irons!
England are of to the 🦨 World Cup thanks to wins over Albania and San Marino. Meanwhile Scotland, having got 23 points in their group, have Italy, Portugal and probably The Netherlands (expect it!) blocking their path.
Plus ça change, eh, Mr McGlashan?
Wales too
Indeed so. Alas there is no corresponding 🏴 clip..
Sweden too.
It’s all to do with the bollox that is seeding. Your country is ranked low so you get thrown in against West Germany, Italy, Uruguay, Brazil, West Germany, Uruguay, West Germany and Brazil. Amazingly you fail to get through to the next round. Your ranking remains low. Repeat forever.
Let’s go back to the good old days and put all the team names into a big black bag. Get two wizened old pros to pick the balls out of the big black bag. Then maybe we’ll get:
“Group 8
Scotland
Lapland
The Scilly Isles
Tristan da Cunha”
Only one flaw in this plan –
Do I really want to watch Scotland 2 Tristan da Cunha 3 (aet)??
Hmmm … Scotland v. Uruguay
That reminds me of the Scotland v. Uruguay game at the 1986 World Cup, when one of the Uruguayan guys got sent off for fouling Gordon Strachan after about 50 seconds. We all assumed that the Scots would march to victory, but the South Americans managed to grind out a deathly 0-0 draw for the remaining 89 minutes….
Those were the days, my friend
Why are England always bloody playing San Marino?
Couldn’t have anything to do with their huge army of big-spending fans, could it….?
All my boyhood I dreamed of playing for Scotland. “Law shoots, the keeper saves but Wrongness slots home the rebound. A hat-trick in the World Cup Final!”
Turns out I was merely pretty good at football.
Now imagine if I was brought up in San Marino… “Maguire is beaten by the sheer pace of the veteran centre-forward, Wrongino. He rounds Ramsdale and scores his third. This is going to be one of the biggest upsets of all time!!”
@henpetsgi
There are some people on the pitch wearing white coats and
carrying a strait jacket!
They think it’s all over!
It is for poor Wrongino!
I’m not sure my new nurse knows what she’s doing
8 times in 30 years – if that kind of frequency counts as “always” then perhaps I should publish lewd memoirs of my bed-hopping romps in 80s and 90s. It would be more of a pamphlet, if I’m honest.