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.

[Guest]

west ham vs tottenham today

come on the hammers!!

[JamesLincs]

you mean tottenham v west ham? hard to predict how todays games will go

draws all the way?

[Guest]

i think we can sneak a draw today 1-1

[Guest]

I think Spurs will win comfortably today myself but wouldn't be surprised at all if West Ham came away with a result such is their season so far.

They are all hard games to call to be fair. Hopefully Liverpool can maintain their little unbeaten run with a win today.

[Guest]

Be amazed if Newcastle can grab a win today, season is turning into a nightmare. No Perch, Cabaye, Coloccini or Ben Arfa. Cisse completely out of sorts and slightly injured may play but Saints confidence is high and I think we'll get rolled over. 3-1 Saints.

Chelsea 2-1 Man City
Swansea 0-2 Liverpool

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

No Danny Graham in the squad for Swansea today. Rumor has it we are after him in January, and he has fallen out with Laudrup big time in Swansea. Maybe just maybe...

[JamesLincs]

swansea 1-1 liverpool
saints 1-1 newcastle
spurs 1-1 west ham
chelsea 2-2 man city

[The Special Juan]

Hernandez (Pablo) has settled into English football now, I think. Great player. I was expecting this to be a dull "bore the opposition to death" match but it's surprised me greatly.

[Guest]

Gerrard is gone, I get frustrated watching great players struggle on trying to recreate old form. He's the one holding back Liverpool in my opinion, yet the managers continue to play them because of their name and past success. The same thing happened with Lampard at Chelsea. Gerrard is anonymous in games, only recognised for a set-piece, likewise with Lampard and his penalties. Prolonging these players careers doesn't help club or country.

[Lumbering_Jack]

Is it just me or is Joe Allen massively overrated? He doesn't actually do anything worth while. No final ball and never beats his man.

[Lumbering_Jack]

All this talk of footballers being brave really is vomit inducing. It is a tackle, nothing more.

[Guest]

All this talk of footballers being brave really is vomit inducing. It is a tackle, nothing more.

They'll be getting praise for heading the ball next.

[LivinginItaly]

Hope Rafa manages to have a winning start, despite all the negative media comments I actually think he could have some short term success with Chelsea.

[Crimey]

I think Gerrard has been a lot better for country than club in the last couple of years, Hodgson has given him a role in the England side that suits him a lot more than his club role.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

What's happening with Newcastle this season? I know injuries have hit but if they lose this they are behind us.

[JamesLincs]

spurs have won! gallas is on the bench, so i know weve got this

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Chelsea fans boo Benitez. Dont agree with that, yes they are angry that Di Matteo was sacked but get behind the new manager for gods sake

[Guest]

Chelsea fans boo Benitez. Dont agree with that, yes they are angry that Di Matteo was sacked but get behind the new manager for gods sake

Benitez won't care. He has no feelings, cold as ice that bloke.

[JamesLincs]

2-0 saints, what is going on at newcastle?!?

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Danny Baker ‏@prodnose
Chelsea fans. You HAVE no voice. That is the price you paid to be what you are now. You are season tickets. Program sales. Product. Face it.

That tweet sums up the situation at Chelsea perfectly for me

[JamesLincs]

real class goal from defoe, he turns with the ball on the byline by the half way line, approaches goal, turns it onto his right foot and hits a powerful dipping shot to beat the keeper. just deserved. west ham fans have been giving him stick from the start, and hes obviously delighted

[MtotheC]

In regards to joe Allen, I know quite a few Liverpool fans that are quite frustrated with the lad at the moment an I can see their point of view he doesn't score goals or create them, he doesn't break up the play or drive the team forward. He is a very neat and tidy footballer, he rarely gives the ball away and does keep the play moving with sort sharpe passes, he tends to go backwards more often than not but I think this has a lot to do with his direction from the manager, that's the way Rodgers wants him to play by keeping possession

[JamesLincs]

fantastic win for spurs, at long last. a convincing win

[The Special Juan]

Since when did Defoe score goals? What a season he is having.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

To be fair Defoe has always scored 10+ goals a season mostly from the bench. Guess now he is starting he is proving he can score bagfuls

[The Special Juan]

Never actually rated him before Seems he's better suited to being on his own up front than with Crouch then.

[socal1976]

Danny Baker ‏@prodnose
Chelsea fans. You HAVE no voice. That is the price you paid to be what you are now. You are season tickets. Program sales. Product. Face it.

That tweet sums up the situation at Chelsea perfectly for me

That is the deal they made with billionaire and bond villain look like Abramovich. I really am shocked by di matteo's sacking. I am not a Chelsea fan but they do seem to be making a lot of headlines lately. How do you fire a guy just a few months after winning the european championship and while you have a good squad in the thick of a league championship battle? This is what happens when a football club gets reduced to the satisfaction of one man's ego. Blofeld doesn't care if the fans want di matteo he didn't buy his expensive blue toy to share or to make anyone other than himself happy.

[Guest]

3-1 defeat to tottenham

very poor result!

[MtotheC]

3-1 defeat to tottenham

very poor result!

I would say that considering spurs have finished 4th, 5th, 4th in the last three seasons whilst west ham have been relegated and spent a season in the championship, to be defeated at WHL for a newly promoted team is not a bad result.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

That's really not that bad a result CF. You are a newly promoted side and Spurs are a decent side when they decide to play well

[Crimey]

To be fair Spurs were on a bad patch of form so it wasn't too unbelievable that West Ham could have hoped for a draw.

On the other hand, West Ham haven't won away yet this year so clearly they have an issue with away games.

[MtotheC]

Spurs bad run had coincided with games against city, Chelsea, arsenal and lazio so a tough patch to get any thing from. A very good three points today for spurs but an expected three points

[Corporalhumblebucket]

To be fair Spurs were on a bad patch of form so it wasn't too unbelievable that West Ham could have hoped for a draw.

On the other hand, West Ham haven't won away yet this year so clearly they have an issue with away games.

Hammers have beaten both QPR and Newcastle away this season. But maybe they don't count!.

[Crimey]

To be fair Spurs were on a bad patch of form so it wasn't too unbelievable that West Ham could have hoped for a draw.

On the other hand, West Ham haven't won away yet this year so clearly they have an issue with away games.

Hammers have beaten both QPR and Newcastle away this season. But maybe they don't count!.

I got that from the BBC report of the game, checking now that particular sentence has been removed.

[JamesLincs]

it isnt a fixture thing, spurs have been poor all season and have only turned up in the big games despite defeats to chelsea, city and arsenal. today was a refreshing change. and only our second convincing win of the season. ill add the united win to that list, but it was difficult to watch at times. im a little more confident now ahead of wednesdays game. as it is set to be a difficult night for me with most of my chums being liverpool supporters. 8 of them infact. so a win is a must for me personally, i may not be able to face footy training the following monday

[MtotheC]

I wouldnt say spurs form was that bad at the start of the season, prior to the Chelsea game we had gone 9 games unbeaten 6 without defeat and four wins on the bounce in the league including a massive win at Old Trafford. The slump before yesterday's win was fixture related IMO however we did take the lead against Chelsea, city and arsenal before losing

[Guest]

whats happening with newcastle is our own fault or mostly ashley's. actually gaining a europa league spot was always going to be a negative for this season, add in the injuries to cabaye, ben arfa, perch, taylor + recent suspensions of our two powerhouses tiote & coloccini & the shocking form of Cisse had all added to our current situation. THIS IS GOING TO BE A SHOCKING SEASON FOR US. Not buying or strengthening the first team was a horrific decision.

Take all our issues and translate that to any other team outside the usual top 4 and they would also be in deep trouble. I mean take out Jelavic, Fellaini, Baines & Jagielka out of the everton first team and what do you get.........

The toon are in trouble but we've just got to make sure we get a midtable, do as well as possible in europe (possible last 16) and then rebuild for next season.

[Ent]

Well not sure why I forced myself to watch that travesty of a game, but it's over now.

Benteke aside, nothing worth watching.

Gotta fear for Reading, very little quality in the squad.

[westisbest]

Massive win for us. Benteke does it again.

2 poor teams on show..

This is a big week for us, so far so good.

C'mon villa 3 more points Saturday.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Unless they seriously invest in January, Reading are going down. And even if they do its gonna be a struggle

[guildfordbat]

Unless they seriously invest in January, Reading are going down. And even if they do its gonna be a struggle

Olly - so only two others for you to worry about staying above!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Unless they seriously invest in January, Reading are going down. And even if they do its gonna be a struggle

Olly - so only two others for you to worry about staying above!

I'm not condemning them yet! Way too early for that, but it looks as if they are going to struggle. Lack of depth and quality in the squad imo

[guildfordbat]

Olly - a very proper response to my flippant comment.

Btw, I suspect Sunderland fans might be starting to look over their shoulders ....

[The Special Juan]

Can't put my finger on Sunderland's woes. Decent team, good manager (who was doing a great job before the end of last season so it's not his fault). Missing Nicklas Bendtner?

Now that I think about it, I think it's because Sessegnon hasn't really turned up this season and he makes them tick. There's only so much Fletcher can do so when Sessegnon turns up they'll motor away from the relegation zone. I doubt they'll go down, although there's no such thing as a team "too good to go down".

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

John Ruddy ‏@Johnruddy86
Just to update everyone on my injury, unfortunately I have torn my thigh will be having surgery on saturday and out for up to 3 months,

Oh Poopie

[The Special Juan]

I think Steve Clarke's played a masterstroke tonight in swapping (not dropping!!) Long for Lukaku. I reckon Lukaku's power can cause Chico and Williams a few problems at CB, and even if it doesn't work Long can come off the bench.

Fancy Spurs to win tonight. Dembele gives them something extra in the whole team and is definitely a player that Fergie should have bought to fix the midfield.

Also fancying wins for Everton, Southampton and Citeh.

[Crimey]

Can't believe Rodgers is starting Downing again, absolute madness.

Why sign Assaidi and then never use him in the Premier League despite good performances in the Europa League?

Why condemn Downing to not even getting on the bench, only to start using him in key games?

Let's hope Suarez is in good form...

[The Special Juan]

And I can't believe Benteke is only 21, he looks really old (although not as old as Doumbia!!)

Spoiler:

[Crimey]

What are everybody's thoughts about the whole Darren Bent situation?

I think Paul Lambert is making a big mistake, Bent is a proven Premier League goal-scorer, and whatever else he brings to the table is up for argument, that ability to hit the back of the net is one of the most important and even if Lambert would rather start with Benteke up front (likely as he is a Holt-esque player), Bent is still a good option off of the bench.

It's especially odd because of (1) the money Aston Villa spent on Bent, while it wasn't Lambert who sanctioned that move, I'm surprised that Lerner isn't pushing Lambert to use him, even if it's just to get his price up to sell in January, and (2) he was made captain by Lambert because of Petrov's injury. To be made captain at the start of the season, and yet end November completely out of favour without any public bust up, or even particularly bad form is very odd.

I think the most likely reason is Bent has been difficult in training or something like that so Lambert is refusing to use him on principle. The other is that there is something in Bent's contract that means one more apparence= either a bonus to him, a bonus to Sunderland or some other thing like that and Villa don't want to pay it.

I can't understand it to be honest as Bent would be a valuable player for most Premier League sides in even better positions than Villa, never mind a club struggling to score goals and stay in the Premier League. I feel sorry for him as well, as he finally broke into the England side and is now pretty far down the pecking order.

[Guest]

Hammers play united tonight..

i can see us losing 3-0

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