2011/2012 English Premier League thread

[NBC]

^ Spurs well on their way to making it happen. (33rd min)

It is unbelievable to me that they are in a 3-way dogfight for 4th when they were yapping about their title chances late last year. They have by far the easiest run in and realistically should get 4th, but they wouldn't be Spurs if they did things the easy way.

[Locke]

I really want Bolton and Wigan to get relegated. I see Wigan have improved but that team just bores me to tears.

I'd love to see Newcastle in the Champions' League.

[NBC]

Not an unexpected result. QPR struggling to survive, Spurs just struggling.

The way this side has mailed it in over the past 8 weeks is staggering. One win, three draws and five league losses since they thrashed Newcastle on 11/02, with their sole win coming at home 3-1 over Swansea.

Like I said earlier, they really should nab 4th based on their remaining matches, but this team finds ways to lose over and over again.

[d_phaneuf]

pathetic

if they don't make top 4 this year no one on the team deserves to play CL football next year, and if I were Levy I would say as much to them

[Locke]

Wow, Cisse, save some of those goals for later! 10 goals in 8 games.

[Barnet Flame]

I'm not sure how you can be bored by Wigan. I like the way they play. They don't try to park the bus or kick the crap out of opponents - they play good passing football, but just lack that killer punch up front. Sadly, they are unlikely to have that unless they uncover a gem who'd likely move on after a season of success.

Credit to Martinez, he is a good manager and he remains faithful to the task of playing football the right way.

[Montana Moe]

Amazing match at Old Trafford this morning.

Everton goes up 1-0, ManU comes back to lead 3-1, then 3-2, then 4-2. Everton comes back in the final 10 to earn a 4-4 draw. Even 5 minutes of that magic Sir Alex stoppage time couldn't sink the Toffees. Tin Howard with a monster save at the end to secure the result.

If you can catch a replay, I'd recommend it.

[NBC]

God Bless you Everton.

[Bagor]

Choke job.

Game on next Monday.

Terrible foresight by the schedule makers.

[Locke]

The ref was doing his best, he gave them 6 minutes of Fergie time.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Choke job.

Game on next Monday.

Terrible foresight by the schedule makers.

The derby used to be on the Saturday & was rescheduled for Monday night.
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/...derby-between-

God I miss vidic so much.

[Bagor]

Nice to hear Hodgson finally get appreciated at Anfield albeit by the visiting fans.

Seven Kenny pity minutes and still same old ....

[NBC]

I'd love it if City won the league on goal difference. Fergie's reaction would be priceless.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by NBC

I'd love it if City won the league on goal difference. Fergie's reaction would be priceless.

No doubt he'd be sick.

Curious though as to your fascination with United. Aren't Portsmouth and Palace the Seagull's main rivals?

[NBC]

Unfortunately - the 1983 FA Cup Final notwithstanding - it has nothing to do with any sense of rivalry. It has everything to do with:

1. a ridiculously arrogant manager
2. an annoying fan base (though many in the EPL are annoying, Spurs, LFC, etc.) rife with glory-hunters the world over
3. an organizational sense of entitlement towards winning everything all the time
4. a fan base that knows little and cares less about Bill Foulkes, Robert Charlton, Georgie Best and Denis Law, yet everything about Ronaldo and Rooney
5. a 20-year hyper-inflated transfer budget propped up through the franchising of bars in Singapore
6. the massive overpayment for talent over the past two decades (Veron, Forlan, Berbatov, Ferdinand, Carrick, Hargreaves, A. Young, Saha, Barthez, Taibi, Nani, Anderson, etc)
7. the realization that 60% of their fan base is based in the footballing mecca of South east asia.

This is very similar to something that can be referred to as the New York Yankees phenomenon. It is more than merely disliking the top team because they are the top team. It is much more nuanced than that and has more to do with the financial rules they play by and how that affects the overall health of the league they play in. Throw in the unsavory glory-hunting fan base and that Scottish w*nker Fergie and it really is quite simple.

[Bagor]

What exactly are you referring to when you talk of the financial rules they play by and how they affect the health of the league?

http://www.transferleague.co.uk/leag...2-to-2011.html

And as for a sense of entitlement and glory hunting fan base .... huh? Yup, Tommy Doc, Sexton and big Ron are to blame for that.

As for Geordie Best et al. Take any supporter of any club under 40-50 and the majority will know little of that era. It's a United exclusive thing?

And as for caring about past managers/players. Ask most Liverpool supporters how they feel about the way Shankley was treated.

Also there are 6 Scottish w*nkers from the same city running clubs in the PL? Why? Because with the exception of old big ead there hasn't been an English manager worth a crap in the last 25 years. Embarassing.

[d_phaneuf]

Premier League team of the season released by the FA

Hart, Walker, Kompany, Coloccini, Baines, Silva, Y Toure, Bale, Parker, Van Persie, Rooney

[d_phaneuf]

Full teams from the PFA awards last night

RVP won player of the year

Kyle Walker won young player of the year

Premier League team of the year: Joe Hart (Man City), Kyle Walker (Tottenham), Vincent Kompany (Man City), Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle), Leighton Baines (Everton), David Silva (Man City), Yaya Toure (Man City), Gareth Bale (Tottenham), Scott Parker (Tottenham), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd).

Championship team: Kelvin Davis (Southampton), Nathaniel Clyne (Crystal Palace), James Tomkins (West Ham), Curtis Davies (Birmingham), Ian Harte (Reading), Adam Lallana (Southampton), Peter Whittingham (Cardiff), Mark Noble (West Ham), Matt Phillips (Blackpool), Rickie Lambert (Southampton), Jay Rodriguez (Burnley).


League One team: Ben Hamer (Charlton), Jack Hunt (Huddersfield), Michael Morrison (Charlton), Harry Maguire (Sheff Utd), Rhoys Wiggins (Charlton), Johnnie Jackson (Charlton), Stephen Quinn (Sheff Utd), Stephen Gleeson (MK Dons), Darren Potter (MK Dons), Jordan Rhodes (Huddersfield), Ched Evans (Sheff Utd).

League Two team: Robert Olejnik (Torquay), Paul Caddis (Swindon), Kyle McFadzean (Crawley), Ian Sharps (Shrewsbury), Kevin Nicholson (Torquay), Matt Ritchie (Swindon), Marlon Pack (Cheltenham), Eunan O'Kane (Torquay), Lee Mansell (Torquay), Izale McLeod (Barnet), Tyrone Barnett (Crawley).

[valo403]

Originally Posted by NBC

Unfortunately - the 1983 FA Cup Final notwithstanding - it has nothing to do with any sense of rivalry. It has everything to do with:

1. a ridiculously arrogant manager
2. an annoying fan base (though many in the EPL are annoying, Spurs, LFC, etc.) rife with glory-hunters the world over
3. an organizational sense of entitlement towards winning everything all the time
4. a fan base that knows little and cares less about Bill Foulkes, Robert Charlton, Georgie Best and Denis Law, yet everything about Ronaldo and Rooney
5. a 20-year hyper-inflated transfer budget propped up through the franchising of bars in Singapore
6. the massive overpayment for talent over the past two decades (Veron, Forlan, Berbatov, Ferdinand, Carrick, Hargreaves, A. Young, Saha, Barthez, Taibi, Nani, Anderson, etc)
7. the realization that 60% of their fan base is based in the footballing mecca of South east asia.

This is very similar to something that can be referred to as the New York Yankees phenomenon. It is more than merely disliking the top team because they are the top team. It is much more nuanced than that and has more to do with the financial rules they play by and how that affects the overall health of the league they play in. Throw in the unsavory glory-hunting fan base and that Scottish w*nker Fergie and it really is quite simple.

You do realize that with some tweaking you can apply this list to pretty much any of the large clubs in the world, right?

[Addick]

Originally Posted by NBC

Unfortunately - the 1983 FA Cup Final notwithstanding - it has nothing to do with any sense of rivalry. It has everything to do with:

1. a ridiculously arrogant manager
2. an annoying fan base (though many in the EPL are annoying, Spurs, LFC, etc.) rife with glory-hunters the world over
3. an organizational sense of entitlement towards winning everything all the time
4. a fan base that knows little and cares less about Bill Foulkes, Robert Charlton, Georgie Best and Denis Law, yet everything about Ronaldo and Rooney
5. a 20-year hyper-inflated transfer budget propped up through the franchising of bars in Singapore
6. the massive overpayment for talent over the past two decades (Veron, Forlan, Berbatov, Ferdinand, Carrick, Hargreaves, A. Young, Saha, Barthez, Taibi, Nani, Anderson, etc)
7. the realization that 60% of their fan base is based in the footballing mecca of South east asia.

I'll give you 4 out of 7 as bolded above.

I'll say Points 4 and 6 are very debatable. Recent, as well as, younger fans and supporters not knowing a great deal about former stars and players is quite common around the league and sports in general. However, I will concede that caring about these players is more of an issue with United as a lot of their fans are glory hunters from near and abroad. Also, while they may have over-spent on some players, I don't think it is something they do frequently or to the extent of the plastic clubs.

In regards to their commercial revenue, I can't really fault them for making money off of their successes. It's sustainable and much better than having large sums of petrol dollars pumped into the club. They are simply reaping what they have sown.