2012/13 Premier League discussion thread part 2

[Guest]

First topic message reminder :

The discussion(s) continue here guys.

Unbelievable win for the Canaries tonight which see's Man City top for the first time this season, will they hold on.

QPR - still without a win - look doomed and Aston Villa drop into the bottom 3.

[TopHat24/7]

There is less pressure on the england job than the liverpool one!!

Got to give rodgers some time i think.. Well i hope!

Dalglish didn't really get the time to turn things around, I don't get why the standards should be different. I think the team has been worse this year as well, less promise in the play, for every step forward, it's two steps backwards.

Before people say that I'm biased towards Dalglish because of his past, I was born after he'd left the club so can only really comment on what saw last year.

WHAT??!! He was given triple the amount of time any other manager would have, a substantially more than his poorly treated predecessor, Hodgson.

He contributed and achieved little during his tenure and his past was allowed to gloss over this. The Yanks know about PR and marketing better than most and his useless handling of the Suarez affair was his death knell. If he'd performed better then, then he might have had an extra season of leeway to continue his mediocrity and try to 'turn things around'.

He had one full season, in which the main issue was not being able to put the ball in the net. I think we played a lot better last season than we have at al times this season. I believe there was more to Hodgson's dismissal than just the poor football and awful results, and that was because he was appointed manager by Hicks and Gillet, when FSG took over they didn't want him there any more. If you had to watch the rubbish of Hodgson, you'd realise that he wasn't ever going to be a success. People point at the bad signings of Dalglish, but Downing, Adam, Enrique even Carroll are far superior to Konchesky and Poulsen. Hodgson alienated players like Agger and Johnson and was a walking, talking disaster.

If the Yanks knew so much about PR, why did they not step in?

Erm, they did??! Too late admittedly, the damage had already been done, but they stepped in to clean up the mess.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17004667

[TopHat24/7]

Who on earth will want to sign him though Crimey?! I think he is a terribly overrated player, for every good game there is 5/6 average ones and he is on £170,000 a week!!!!!! Crazy

PSG? AC Milan? They're both rumoured to want to sign him, he'll probably have to take a pay-cut or City could just pay a portion of his wages while his contract runs out. He's a liability and they need to get rid.

Totally agree. Why oh why Mancini perseveres with him when getting so little in return baffles me. Was very happy to see him starting ahead of Tevez against us - and look at the difference the Argentine made when he replaced the Prem's new Incredible Sulk.

[Mat]

There is less pressure on the england job than the liverpool one!!

Got to give rodgers some time i think.. Well i hope!

Dalglish didn't really get the time to turn things around, I don't get why the standards should be different. I think the team has been worse this year as well, less promise in the play, for every step forward, it's two steps backwards.

Before people say that I'm biased towards Dalglish because of his past, I was born after he'd left the club so can only really comment on what saw last year.

WHAT??!! He was given triple the amount of time any other manager would have, a substantially more than his poorly treated predecessor, Hodgson.

He contributed and achieved little during his tenure and his past was allowed to gloss over this. The Yanks know about PR and marketing better than most and his useless handling of the Suarez affair was his death knell. If he'd performed better then, then he might have had an extra season of leeway to continue his mediocrity and try to 'turn things around'.

He had one full season, in which the main issue was not being able to put the ball in the net. I think we played a lot better last season than we have at al times this season. I believe there was more to Hodgson's dismissal than just the poor football and awful results, and that was because he was appointed manager by Hicks and Gillet, when FSG took over they didn't want him there any more. If you had to watch the rubbish of Hodgson, you'd realise that he wasn't ever going to be a success. People point at the bad signings of Dalglish, but Downing, Adam, Enrique even Carroll are far superior to Konchesky and Poulsen. Hodgson alienated players like Agger and Johnson and was a walking, talking disaster.

If the Yanks knew so much about PR, why did they not step in? I think it's naive to think that Dalglish was the decision maker on the Suarez situation, why would he have been? It was badly handled obviously, but FSG know all about PR and marketing, as you said, so why would they hand it all to Dalglish and why wouldn't they step in. I also feel Dalglish and the whole club were badly let down by Suarez who had professed his innocence throughout the whole trial and afterwards so it was difficult for Dalgish and FSG. Chelsea reacted in a similar way when Terry was charged by standing by him.

In defence of Roy, Dalglish had a £100 Million to play with where as Roy basically had the money from Mascherano to spend, working under owners who the fans hated and with the spectrum of Dalglish hanging over him the whole time he was there.

And if we're talking a walking, talking disaster than I think Mr Dalglish probably fits that mould rather well with how he handled the press last year. And besides you'd have been better off with Roy, he's apparently an expert at making mid-table sides punch above their weight like Fulham, Albion...Liverpool

All joking aside, I don't see the fuss about Rodgers to be perfectly honest, he's got a relatively nice style of football but it was already implemented at Swansea, whenever he's had to introduce his philosophy from scratch he's either failed or not stayed long enough to really get it going. And it's no better than what Dalglish did last year in my view. For me someone like Lambert is far superior tactically to Rodgers who is just as one-dimensional as Tony Pulis.

However now he's been brought in, surely Liverpool have to stick by him until the end of his contract to see if he can successfully implement his "philosophy"

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

There is less pressure on the england job than the liverpool one!!

Got to give rodgers some time i think.. Well i hope!

Dalglish didn't really get the time to turn things around, I don't get why the standards should be different. I think the team has been worse this year as well, less promise in the play, for every step forward, it's two steps backwards.

Before people say that I'm biased towards Dalglish because of his past, I was born after he'd left the club so can only really comment on what saw last year.

WHAT??!! He was given triple the amount of time any other manager would have, a substantially more than his poorly treated predecessor, Hodgson.

He contributed and achieved little during his tenure and his past was allowed to gloss over this. The Yanks know about PR and marketing better than most and his useless handling of the Suarez affair was his death knell. If he'd performed better then, then he might have had an extra season of leeway to continue his mediocrity and try to 'turn things around'.

He had one full season, in which the main issue was not being able to put the ball in the net. I think we played a lot better last season than we have at al times this season. I believe there was more to Hodgson's dismissal than just the poor football and awful results, and that was because he was appointed manager by Hicks and Gillet, when FSG took over they didn't want him there any more. If you had to watch the rubbish of Hodgson, you'd realise that he wasn't ever going to be a success. People point at the bad signings of Dalglish, but Downing, Adam, Enrique even Carroll are far superior to Konchesky and Poulsen. Hodgson alienated players like Agger and Johnson and was a walking, talking disaster.

If the Yanks knew so much about PR, why did they not step in? I think it's naive to think that Dalglish was the decision maker on the Suarez situation, why would he have been? It was badly handled obviously, but FSG know all about PR and marketing, as you said, so why would they hand it all to Dalglish and why wouldn't they step in. I also feel Dalglish and the whole club were badly let down by Suarez who had professed his innocence throughout the whole trial and afterwards so it was difficult for Dalgish and FSG. Chelsea reacted in a similar way when Terry was charged by standing by him.

For me someone like Lambert is far superior tactically to Rodgers who is just as one-dimensional as Tony Pulis.

That's a great sentence and why Lambert has Rodgers's number. Lambert knows how to beat Rodgers's teams and Rodgers doesn't have a plan B to go to

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Reading look like relegation fodder...

[GSC]

Probably because they are...

[The Special Juan]

They can score but can't defend.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Clean sheet = at least a point

Simples

[TopHat24/7]

38 clean sheets = 38 points = survival (possibly)

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

More often than not 38 points would keep you up.

[Liam]

Reading reminding me of Blackpool in that they can score at least 2 maybe 3 goals a game which is great, problem being that they are conceding just as much.

They could do with some experienced signings in the back 4 in january, maybe Dawson from Spurs if he isn't injured, would be an unbelievable signing imo although QPR may go after him again, especially with Redknapp now at the helm.

[Liam]

Games today:

Wigan - Arsenal (1:00)
Man City - Reading
Newcastle - QPR
Southampton- Sunderland
Spurs - Stoke
West Brom - Norwich
West Ham - Everton
Liverpool - Fulham

Tomorrow:

Swansea - Man Utd (1:00)
Chelsea - Aston Villa (4:00)

Some real tight games today, not much between the sides at all apart from the City - Reading game.

I predict wins for:

Arsenal
City
Newcastle
Liverpool
Spurs

Draws in the other games. Tomorrow, I see wins for Utd and Chelsea in two close matches however.

Early team news then for Wigan - Arsenal:

Wigan:

Al Habsi

Stam
Boye
Figueroa

Jones
McArthur
McCarthy
Beausejour
Maloney

Di Santo
Kone

Arsenal:

Szczesny

Sagna
Mertesacker
Vermaelen
Gibbs

Arteta
Wilshere

Oxlade-Chamberlin
Carzola
Podolski

Walcott

Interesting that Walcott playing as the lone striker, where I believe his best position is. Some goals in this one so I'll say 3-1 Arsenal.

[Guest]

Good stuff Liam. Wigan always seem to play well against the "bigger" sides. That said I fancy Arsenal to shade this one 2-1.

I think the mighty Norwich's unbeaten run will come to an end today but what a run it has been!

Newcastle really need to get back on track and should beat QPR at home.

The Southampton - Sunderland match looks the most intriguing to me, that's a pick em.

[Liam]

Cheers FS,

I agree Sunderland - S'oton will be an interesting game, could really go either way.

[The Special Juan]

Carlton Cole has scored 74 goals in his career; 16 less than Messi has scored this year.

[GSC]

Carlton Cole is crap, Messi isn't.

[The Special Juan]

That's putting it bluntly

[Guest]

Barry the worst midfielder in the EPL has probably just lengthened his career at City a while longer.

Unbelievable win for Newcastle. Ameobi the legend has done it! Gonna have to lie down.....

[GSC]

Bit harsh on Barry, Carrick or Allen take some beating there.

[Guest]

Lee Cattermole takes the worst PL midfielder hands down fellas.

[Crimey]

Can't believe it.

Last week off on when Liverpool are playing for the first time in a while, see a awful game against Villa.

This week, back working and miss a feel good result before Christmas. At least I'm back home and can watch Match of the Day.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Well it had to come to an end at some point!

Difference between the two teams were the strikers imo, Morison was utter crap meaning we never had an outlet or any basis to attack from second half, and Lukaku/Long were a handful.

[Guest]

It's been a helluva run though Olly me old china! Be a while before you go on a run like that again.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Haha too true Freek!

To be honest now to be safe we need 5 wins.

We have a very tough period over Christmas with Chelsea (h), Man City (h) and West Ham (a) all in the week! I would be happy with a point from those 3 fixtures tbh

[Fernando]

Daniel Sturridge is due to have a medical at Liverpool on Sunday

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

I hope for Liverpool's sake he fails

[Crimey]

Daniel Sturridge is due to have a medical at Liverpool on Sunday

£12 million.

£60,000 a week.

Daniel Sturridge.



Please fail.

[Lumbering_Jack]

Two disgraceful decisions at Upton Park yesterday. I've no idea what the ref was thinking but he needs to explain himself.

[CFCNick]

Daniel Sturridge is due to have a medical at Liverpool on Sunday

£12 million.

£60,000 a week.

Daniel Sturridge.



Please fail.

You mean he hasn't already??? He's done nothing since this time last year.

[The Special Juan]

Daniel Sturridge is due to have a medical at Liverpool on Sunday

£12 million.

£60,000 a week.

Daniel Sturridge.



Please fail.

So I see Liverpool haven't learned anything from their previous 3 English transfers....

On another note, where is Sahin?

[GSC]

Sturridge is a good player if hes not stuck on the wing. Play him through the middle and he'll score

[The Special Juan]

And Evra was doing so well recently.......

[Guest]

Sturridge is a good player if hes not stuck on the wing. Play him through the middle and he'll score

I agree. At Bolton he showed that when given a run he'll score goals. 8 in 12 PL games there is a more than decent return. Lets be honest here, he was always piddling in the wind at Chelsea.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

But the thing is in Rodgers's system at Liverpool will he really play through the middle?

I can't see Suarez playing out wide

[Guest]

Rooney is having one of the worst games of anybody ever

Useless whenever he gets on the ball

[GSC]

But the thing is in Rodgers's system at Liverpool will he really play through the middle?

I can't see Suarez playing out wide

Given he has Sterling and Ince incoming and only 1 striker I'd imagine Sturridge will get his chances

[GSC]

Sturridge would've outscored Torres had the two had the same chances

[GSC]

Swansea more than a match for United atm

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

But the thing is in Rodgers's system at Liverpool will he really play through the middle?

I can't see Suarez playing out wide

Given he has Sterling and Ince incoming and only 1 striker I'd imagine Sturridge will get his chances

I think for £12 million Chelsea are getting much the better end of the deal personally.

[GSC]

I reserve judgement until Sturridge actually plays for Liverpool personally

[Guest]

Credit to Swansea, very good team and very organised, but united have been awful today

[Ent]

Awful so far today, summed up by Rooney who has been absolutely terrible.

He'll need to pop up with the winner to look at his team mates afterwards.

[GSC]

Rooney has been awful

[Ent]

Williams, what a c bomb.

[Ent]

Yeah that's a penalty, easy decision.


Ah well.

[Ent]

Pathetic performance.

[The Special Juan]

Evra out.

[GSC]

Well earned point for Swansea. Went into their shell a bit towards the end, but a match for United overall.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Well going into the 90th minute yesterday City faced a potential 8 point deficit to Utd.

Now it is 4 pts

[GSC]

Ashley Williams was a rock today

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