We Go Again! The 2014/15 Premier League Thread

by **hampo17** Sat 17 Jan 2015, 8:32 pm

First topic message reminder :

I know it's not premier league related, but I was just reading that both of Scunthorpes goalkeepers suffered broken arms in today's game.

by mystiroakey Tue 20 Jan 2015, 9:25 pm

Liverpool looking very organised today.

The PL teams seem to be peaking in quality at the moment. well bar man city and everton

by Ent Tue 20 Jan 2015, 11:03 pm

Teams that win perform as a unit, teams that lose dont - or so say the media an on lookers.

Can you see it yet....?

Mirallas thought he would score, was one of an underperforming sides best players and missed - not on purpose. Terrible management throwing him under a bus and lying about it - every member of evertons squad now knows an absolute self interested Coward is in charge of them. Right call was to absolutely hillock him in fromt of the entire squad and send him out to win the game for the team. God
Help the next penalty taker.

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Tue 20 Jan 2015, 11:48 pm

Team spirit tends around morale too. It's the difference at the moment between a QPR and a Burnley in some respects. I've certainly noticed the impact it's had at West Ham. It's why managers will bring in experienced players too.

Something like how QPR went down last time is evidence of team spirit. Players were better than other teams but had no collective bond.

by Hammersmith harrier Wed 21 Jan 2015, 12:05 am

We won the title in 2013 because of the team spirit instilled by Ferguson, everybody plays eachother, it's why we got rid of Van Nistelrooy and started Saha in his place.

by Ent Wed 21 Jan 2015, 12:13 am

We lost the league on goal difference after blowing an 8 point lead with 6 games to go, we added a worldclass striker in rvp yet team spirit was the difference. Jesus. City won the league the following year, was their team spirit off in 12/13? Or was
It the fact they had a Poopie manager?

Rvn was done, simple.

People want to believe fairy tales etc good management and good players win trophies - not some fantasy about team spirit, otherwise arsenals bang of selfies taking, inloving next gen spice boys would win everything every year.

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Wed 21 Jan 2015, 12:57 am

That's funny, I don't think Arsenal's team spirit is that good. Cos they have the talent to do much more than they do but often collapse. Team spirit isn't just camaraderie. It's more about how you deal with the tough times.

But hey, the world of management has often told you team spirit is important, ex players have, but it's just a media conspiracy and the only thing that wins medals is who is the better player.

by Ent Wed 21 Jan 2015, 11:27 am

You are stalking about mentality.

It's not the same thing, but continue believing in this X factor fairy dust that separates winners from losers.

by Fernando Wed 21 Jan 2015, 11:37 am

Arsenal v Everton - Sunday 1 March 2.05pm -(BT Sport)
Aston Villa v West Brom - Tuesday 3 March 7.45pm -(BT Sport)
Newcastle v Manchester Utd - Wednesday March 4 7.45pm -(BT Sport)
Crystal Palace v QPR - Saturday March 14 12.45pm - (BT Sport)
Burnley v Manchester City - Saturday 14 March 5.30pm - (Sky Sports)
Chelsea v Southampton - Sunday 15 March 1.30pm - (Sky Sports)
Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur - Sunday 15 March 4pm - (Sky Sports)
Swansea City v Liverpool - Monday 16 March 8pm - (Sky Sports)
Manchester City v West Brom - Saturday March 21 12.45pm - (BT Sport)
West Ham United v Sunderland - Saturday 21 March 5.30pm - (Sky Sports)
Liverpool v Manchester United - Sunday 22 March 1.30pm - (Sky Sports)
Hull City v Chelsea - Sunday 22 March 4pm - (Sky Sports)

by westisbest Wed 21 Jan 2015, 12:30 pm

Fernando wrote:Arsenal v Everton - Sunday 1 March 2.05pm -(BT Sport)
Aston Villa v West Brom - Tuesday 3 March 7.45pm -(BT Sport)Newcastle v Manchester Utd - Wednesday March 4 7.45pm -(BT Sport)
Crystal Palace v QPR - Saturday March 14 12.45pm - (BT Sport)
Burnley v Manchester City - Saturday 14 March 5.30pm - (Sky Sports)
Chelsea v Southampton - Sunday 15 March 1.30pm - (Sky Sports)
Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur - Sunday 15 March 4pm - (Sky Sports)
Swansea City v Liverpool - Monday 16 March 8pm - (Sky Sports)
Manchester City v West Brom - Saturday March 21 12.45pm - (BT Sport)
West Ham United v Sunderland - Saturday 21 March 5.30pm - (Sky Sports)
Liverpool v Manchester United - Sunday 22 March 1.30pm - (Sky Sports)
Hull City v Chelsea - Sunday 22 March 4pm - (Sky Sports)

Damn dont have BT, will have to go out and watch it.

by GSC Wed 21 Jan 2015, 12:37 pm

I agree with Ent. The only difference in team spirit tends to be who's winning and losing

by **Crimey** Wed 21 Jan 2015, 1:08 pm

GSC wrote:I agree with Ent. The only difference in team spirit tends to be who's winning and losing

Don't think that's necessarily true, Barcelona reportedly have quite poor team spirit right now but they still win games. Teams at the very top level can win games whilst having poor team spirit but then it usually comes crashing down.

by mystiroakey Wed 21 Jan 2015, 1:14 pm

Yes maybe crimey- But I was also going to mention Barcelona in Ents/GSC's defence

There was all this talk of bad moral at Barca. But then the manager and all the players all squashed it saying- "its only about winning, now that we have won this game[athletico] the morale is back!!" - paraphrasing

However it does make a difference- look at the England cricket team(yes i know i am switching sports here- but same difference i suppose)- we went through a horrid run all due to bad team moral and issues within the set up.

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Wed 21 Jan 2015, 1:37 pm

You have got to see it in relegated teams. Especially teams like the West Ham ones I've seen go down. And the impact someone like Allardyce has had in changing that around. And Nolan too as a captain.

And Ent, how do you reckon you would change a mentality? Or impact upon it? If you had say a collectively strong group who had a good spirit or a divided group who split the dressing room. Would that have an impact on their mentality? Or a group of senior players who didnt trust their new manager and lost belief in his systems. Psychology is increasingly important and the spirit of a group is a core part of that

by liverbnz Wed 21 Jan 2015, 1:49 pm

Pyschology is massively important I think. The thing I don't like about it though is the media use it far too readily as a reason for a team doing well/not so well.

by GSC Wed 21 Jan 2015, 2:06 pm

Should've said results relative to expectations

by GSC Wed 21 Jan 2015, 2:08 pm

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:You have got to see it in relegated teams. Especially teams like the West Ham ones I've seen go down. And the impact someone like Allardyce has had in changing that around. And Nolan too

Having a squad far too good for the Championship probably helped.

by mystiroakey Wed 21 Jan 2015, 2:09 pm

An even better example might be palace and holloway/warnock compared to pullis and pardew.

But what are we talking about here?

A managers influence.. I suppose. Its the managers job to sort Moral out.

by FootballLight Wed 21 Jan 2015, 2:13 pm

Ultimately, that's the media's job to ask those questions really. I'm sure a lot of us would like to know who is going to sign who this window really. (But then again, it doesn't come as a big of a shock). We'd like to know how safe a managers position is and I'm sure we'd all like to know the real reason why Mirallas was taken off at half time (if we don't already). The media is there to put the manager under pressure with psychological questions. It's part and parcel of their job.

Team spirit counts for a lot in football anyway. If it didn't, there would be no need for a captain. It's all about your motivation, leadership and determination skills really. That can play a major factor on a team's performance. If a team is low on confidence and they get beat (say they went 6 games without a win), what would have a more positive impact? The manager slamming the team for not winning again or maybe saying that has been the best performance for some time no, we were unlucky and the result will come next game? Players don't say that a positive atmosphere in the dressing room, training pitch (on and off it) and on game day always makes a difference.

How do you explain a "new manager effect"? Look at Palace last season. Bottom, destined to go down but then Pulis came along, put them through the work and made the players believe in their abilities to get out from bottom of the league and stay up, which they did. Even this year with Pardew. A fresh manager, fresh start, belief in their abilities, positive atmosphere and now they are doing well.

Team spirit is crucial in football.

by FootballLight Wed 21 Jan 2015, 2:18 pm

GSC wrote:
Dolphin Ziggler wrote:You have got to see it in relegated teams. Especially teams like the West Ham ones I've seen go down. And the impact someone like Allardyce has had in changing that around. And Nolan too

Having a squad far too good for the Championship probably helped.

If that was the case why didn't they win the title? They had to go through the play-off route. Southampton and (our lads) Reading went up. We (Reading) had nowhere near the best team in the division to win the league at all. As you say, West Ham probably did and I would say there were at least 7/8 teams with better teams than ours. But McDermott's influence to make us believe we could win the league was absolutely vital, a prime example of this "team spirit".

When he came in as manager, we were 21st, destined to be relegated with 15 games (or so) to go. He guided us to an 8th place finish in that same season. Team spirit changed that for us. The next season, we finished 5th, another improvement through team spirit (we were never the 5th best team in terms of quality) but we lost in the play-off final 4-2 to Swansea. The next season, 1st. Maybe we were the 8th best team in the division when he first stepped in (from Brendan Rodgers) but in 15 games it takes a lot for a team to jump up 13 places from 21st to 8th. Then we just kept progressing as a team.

Your telling me that isn't team spirit and managers influences?

by mystiroakey Wed 21 Jan 2015, 2:51 pm

Managers influence over team spirit FL. Rather than both together.

Its not as if there were problems with palace moral pre pardew.

But pardews moral has been boosted 100 fold coming to palace. He has the backing and confidence to make the kind of choices football managers gamers would take.

His tactics and motivating palace will keep us up. And by playing a much better brand than a TP team..

We may not hit 11th this year. But ever palace fan will be happy with a top 14 and a better quality of football.

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Wed 21 Jan 2015, 3:21 pm

GSC wrote:
Dolphin Ziggler wrote:You have got to see it in relegated teams. Especially teams like the West Ham ones I've seen go down. And the impact someone like Allardyce has had in changing that around. And Nolan too

Having a squad far too good for the Championship probably helped.

Certainly, but we never sunk when things got tough. And then we stayed up convincingly. Stuck together the season after when the fans were on their backs. There was a togetherness and there still is

by FootballLight Wed 21 Jan 2015, 6:46 pm

They are both heavily linked really. One can't be done without the other I would say.

If the manager can't have a big enough influence on his team, he can't motivate them, give them belief in their abilities, bring back the determination and be a leader correctly. But if the team doesn't have any spirit, the manager's job becomes very difficult. Thus, leading to a lot of sackings these days (Martinez might be the next). I often see the term, "losing the dressing room" used a lot for it as well.

Pardew obviously has been Palace through and through from his playing days. (As silly as it sounds) This is his dream to manage at Palace so I'm not surprised he is enjoying himself and getting results.

I'd be sure of that. Pulis is just for someone who is disciplined defensively and will grind out the results. A bit like Chelsea.

by GSC Wed 21 Jan 2015, 7:56 pm

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:
GSC wrote:
Dolphin Ziggler wrote:You have got to see it in relegated teams. Especially teams like the West Ham ones I've seen go down. And the impact someone like Allardyce has had in changing that around. And Nolan too

Having a squad far too good for the Championship probably helped.

Certainly, but we never sunk when things got tough. And then we stayed up convincingly. Stuck together the season after when the fans were on their backs. There was a togetherness and there still is

At the risk of sounding like Nick, 3rd was a fairly sizable underachievement with that squad.

by FootballLight Wed 21 Jan 2015, 8:21 pm

GSC wrote:
Dolphin Ziggler wrote:
GSC wrote:
Dolphin Ziggler wrote:You have got to see it in relegated teams. Especially teams like the West Ham ones I've seen go down. And the impact someone like Allardyce has had in changing that around. And Nolan too

Having a squad far too good for the Championship probably helped.

Certainly, but we never sunk when things got tough. And then we stayed up convincingly. Stuck together the season after when the fans were on their backs. There was a togetherness and there still is
At the risk of sounding like Nick, 3rd was a fairly sizable underachievement with that squad.

Exactly my point with the Reading situation.

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Sun 25 Jan 2015, 2:57 pm

Delph signs four and a half year contract. At very least e'll have to be sold for a lot of money

by GSC Mon 26 Jan 2015, 4:21 pm

Newcastle have confirmed relegation

by Fernando Mon 26 Jan 2015, 4:27 pm

John Carver to stay in charge then...

Gabriel has been issued a work permit We Go Again! The 2014/15 Premier League Thread - Page 4 3559488474

by Guest Mon 26 Jan 2015, 4:35 pm

Basically nobody wanted the job half way through season. Hopefully we just crawl over the line, I mean, if we beat Hull next weekend, I'm certain we are safe, but knowing us, we can equally lose that & go on a horrible run. It's finely balanced which way we could go.

Strong rumours that Frank De Boer is keen on taking the job in the summer. He's even having to endure a hate campaign in Holland now, so see him moving on. Just hope Carver can string a few results together, once the first team is fully fit.

by mystiroakey Mon 26 Jan 2015, 8:42 pm

I think it's a good thing you don't just appoint an 'average' manager .

The toon is a huge club. Just ward of relegation, get a new owner that understands the massive potential first then you can pay for a high quality manager.

It seems like the pl is pulling away from other european leagues when it comes to middle league clubs even more than before. And with the dodgy euro and even more money in the PL. All the teams will be able to pay for the best managers out there.

by GSC Mon 26 Jan 2015, 8:49 pm

Ashley ain't selling.

He's setting up a second cash cow as we speak

by mystiroakey Mon 26 Jan 2015, 8:57 pm

He needs to unlock that potential..

I would be livid with him if I was a goon fan

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Mon 26 Jan 2015, 9:36 pm

Newcastle play half a season. Their board deserve to see them dragged into a relegation fight, for the sake of future managers

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Mon 26 Jan 2015, 9:45 pm

#toonrelegationparty2015

Has begun

by Guest Mon 26 Jan 2015, 9:46 pm

Olly wrote:#toonrelegationparty2015

Has begun

In your world, not in reality

by JDizzle Tue 27 Jan 2015, 5:38 pm

Bojan done for the season with an ACL. Gutted for the lad.

by Guest Tue 27 Jan 2015, 6:13 pm

Shame. He's still young though & has never had blistering pace, so he should come back the same player, hopefully.

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Tue 27 Jan 2015, 6:42 pm

Has Zouma taken Cahill's spot as Mourinho's first choice partner to Terry?

by Guest Tue 27 Jan 2015, 7:43 pm

Cisse's coming home, he's coming, Cisse's coming home!

by Fernando Tue 27 Jan 2015, 7:45 pm

Even Cisse can't save you from Carver

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Tue 27 Jan 2015, 10:16 pm

Senegal out?

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Tue 27 Jan 2015, 10:17 pm

Boom! Kouyate coming home!

by **hampo17** Wed 28 Jan 2015, 6:18 pm

Unsurprisingly Costa has been charged with violent conduct, and handed a 3 game suspension.

by lfc91 Wed 28 Jan 2015, 7:45 pm

Fully deserved, and can only hope Chelsea drop a few points while he's out, so that they actually feel the weight of the ban and it has an effect!

by Fernando Wed 28 Jan 2015, 7:51 pm

Well then have Man Citeh next so be interesting to see how they do with Cesc potentially missing too..

In a random fact Arsenal don't leave London again until March 17th

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Wed 28 Jan 2015, 9:09 pm

Sounds like their usual cup draw

by mystiroakey Thu 29 Jan 2015, 9:57 am

Zaha looks to be coming back to Palace on a perm..

And it looks like Man U may come close to breaking even on the deal if we include loan fees.

reports suggest it will be 7m(3.5+3.5 in add ons)

against what they have paid palace 10m+1m in add ons(original deal 10m+5m , with 4m written of as he wont have triggered that portion of the deal)

Cardiff paid up about 2m and palace paid 1.5m for loan deals.

So palace should be up about 2.5m on the deal and man u down 500k.

The internet is going mad with people stating we will have made 10 m plus on him.. they need to work on there maths.

But anyway. PLEASE let it happen..

by Hammersmith harrier Thu 29 Jan 2015, 11:41 am

Won't have paid a massive amount in wages either so not as bad as I first thought; Zaha, Fletcher and Anderson to be off the wage bill soon.

by mystiroakey Thu 29 Jan 2015, 11:51 am

It's a good deal all round.

You have too many attacking players for him to play enough.

And if he doesn't play enough he may be a little bit troublesome.. Not as bad as many may think. This lad in the right environment works his socks of.

He is also just a typical South london lad and should be around leveled players like punch ,Jedi and his family..

Pardew is also a great manager for him. As he appreciates his potential.

This deal needs to happen for everyone's sake. And despite the BS reports Man U will not have made a significant loss on him.

by Adam D Thu 29 Jan 2015, 11:54 am

Can I ask - who is playing up front for Arsenal at the moment?

I want to take out Costa from my fantasy team due to the ban and replace him with an Arsenal forward as I fancy they are about to go on a goal spree (and no other striker takes my fancy).

Is it Welbeck or Giroud starting these days?

by mystiroakey Thu 29 Jan 2015, 11:55 am

Palace have signed Mutch for 4.75m

I like Mutch. The palace team is shaping up well.

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