Sports The Football Discussion Thread!

Banz said:

Meanwhile Leicester are now favourites. Didn't expect them to continue their dream run. Just a couple of months more...

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Its amazing for sure. With a 5 point lead now and the win over Man City, they have officially shown that they are legitimate contenders for the championship, if not THE favorite (which i think they are of course)

My hope is that this season's success doesn't lead to players like Vardy, Mahrez, Huth an Albrighton leaving for bigger and richer contracts and bigger clubs. This league needs parity and finally has it, leading to my favorite season to date since I've become a fan of the Premier League as a casual fan.
(definitely my least favorite as Chelsea fan though)

Delighted to say though that I did see that Vardy signed a new contract, step in the right direction! :)

Finally they are favourites even for the bookies. For the last few weeks they were 3rd and 4th favourites despite leading the table. William Hill are offering 2/1 for Leicester (also Arsenal) and Ladbrokes are also giving 2/1 (15/8 for Arsenal though)
So people don't trust them enough yet.

tittlemouse said:

I am cheering for Leicester to win the league it proves there is still hope for the other 15 teams in the league that are not loaded by foreign money. Manager of the season no doubt any other season Howe would of won it but this season its Ranieri without a doubt.
Mahrez for 500k is on the same level as Harry Arter 40k odd, Matt Ritchie 400k

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Not to nitpick but Leicester do have quite some reasonable foreign investment going on themselves. Granted this run has little to do with that but you know.

Looks like Afobe is going to be a big hit for you guys, though Grabban will always be a bad move I think. You seem pretty safe for now.

Do you think Howe would leave if offered a big opportunity? Obviously he likes the club a lot considering his return after Burnley.

Banz said:

We threw away 2 points today. Atleast Sunderland got a point, but Newcastle got 3. Hope Sunderland can get 5-7 points against Man Utd, West Ham and Soton, better not leave it till too late.

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I really hope Sunderland go down and it has nothing to do with our local rivalry. They need to be taught a lesson for scraping it year on year playing awful football and never replacing their shoddy defence. I'm beginning to hope West Brom go down so we see the end of Pulis as well.

Dale Cooper said:

I really hope Sunderland go down and it has nothing to do with our local rivalry. They need to be taught a lesson for scraping it year on year playing awful football and never replacing their shoddy defence.

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I find their relegation battles very interesting. It is one of the reasons why I find myself supporting them every April/May.
I hope they can do the same this season.

As I keep asking my Sunderland-supporting dad: Why do a club who have been in the league for so long still struggle every single year? Why has there been no progression like clubs such as Stoke, Southampton and West Ham? Sunderland, with their resources, stadium capacity, fanbase and Premier League longevity should be doing what clubs like Southampton are doing and competing for the top 7. Since Sunderland last came up to the Premier League, Leicester and Southampton went down to League One, have come back up and pushed on at the right end of the table. Even Bournemouth in their debut season with a ground capacity on a par with League Two clubs are putting up a better fight this season than Sunderland. The club is just a bloody mystery! And their cause won't be helped now by today's news regarding Adam Johnson.

Banz said:

I find their relegation battles very interesting. It is one of the reasons why I find myself supporting them every April/May.
I hope they can do the same this season.

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I suppose they have produced a few memorable moments. I'm not so sure there will be a great escape this season, perhaps sacking the manager has finally not paid off the same way. That said I'm guessing there is still a morale boosting Tyne-Wear derby to be played.

Godshida said:

As I keep asking my Sunderland-supporting dad: Why do a club who have been in the league for so long still struggle every single year? Why has there been no progression like clubs such as Stoke, Southampton and West Ham? Sunderland, with their resources, stadium capacity, fanbase and Premier League longevity should be doing what clubs like Southampton are doing and competing for the top 7. Since Sunderland last came up to the Premier League, Leicester and Southampton went down to League One, have come back up and pushed on at the right end of the table. Even Bournemouth in their debut season with a ground capacity on a par with League Two clubs are putting up a better fight this season than Sunderland. The club is just a bloody mystery! And their cause won't be helped now by today's news regarding Adam Johnson.

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This is exactly my thoughts on the club. They have no progression or stability whatsoever despite there being reasonable evidence in other clubs that both of those is possible with their resources. I think Allardyce was probably a long term appointment rather than a short fix, but the long term rot has finally set in and they'll probably end up in the Championship (which amazingly in the long run might help them if Allardyce stays like he did at West Ham and returns them to the PL).

People are saying it will be a disaster for the clubs that go down this season because of the increased money coming in from next season. But if they come up again it hardly matters, does it?

I've personally never understood the fear of relegation anyway. My club were relegated a couple of years ago and it's great. You become a big fish in a smaller pond, everyone views you as one of the big teams in the league, you've got a good chance of winning the league, and you get to visit a whole host of new grounds that you've never been to before. I can't imagine how boring it must be to be a Man Utd/Chelsea/Liverpool (etc) fan, just visiting the same few places every season. I mean, most Man U fans have never even been to Old Trafford, let along anywhere else. Apart from the odd cup tie against lower league opposition it must be tedious to support Man U. My club play in the 8th tier of English football and I recently ticked off my 100th ground visited; the majority of them following my club all over the country.

People are saying it will be a disaster for the clubs that go down this season because of the increased money coming in from next season. But if they come up again it hardly matters, does it?

I've personally never understood the fear of relegation anyway. My club were relegated a couple of years ago and it's great. You become a big fish in a smaller pond, everyone views you as one of the big teams in the league, you've got a good chance of winning the league, and you get to visit a whole host of new grounds that you've never been to before. I can't imagine how boring it must be to be a Man Utd/Chelsea/Liverpool (etc) fan, just visiting the same few places every season. I mean, most Man U fans have never even been to Old Trafford, let along anywhere else. Apart from the odd cup tie against lower league opposition it must be tedious to support Man U. My club play in the 8th tier of English football and I recently ticked off my 100th ground visited; the majority of them following my club all over the country.

In some circumstances it can certainly be favourable, but as a Boro fan it's easy to see why people are scared of relegation. We have been stuck down here for seven seasons, lost a large portion of supporters (who all gradually drift back in now we're doing well again) and were forced to make cutbacks every season a few years ago which left us with a lot of uninspired signings. Thanks to our great owner we're on the right path again, but for other teams it can get much worse.

Sunderland are probably too big of a team to stay down for any great deal of time, so there's a reasonable chance they could benefit from a season down there. It gives them a kick up the backside and might promote continuity.

On a completely different topic, Liverpool fans have probably just done a huge favour to fans of all Premier League teams in getting their owners to reduce their new ticket prices.

Also on a completely different topic, Vincent Tan seems to have completed his transformation from villain to (well we'll stop short of hero) being a decent owner. He pledges to wipe Cardiff's debts. Also made some less important moves in keeping Marshall and Slade. Cardiff could feasibly be a Premier League side again and this time in the right colour soon.

Premier League is pretty crazy this year.

Would be amazing that in a year where Spurs are great and the regular big sides are awful that Leicester would go and win it.

I'm a realist though unfortunately. It'll be Man City, and then they'll go onto dominate for the next few years under Pep.

Dale Cooper said:

Looks like Afobe is going to be a big hit for you guys, though Grabban will always be a bad move I think. You seem pretty safe for now.

Do you think Howe would leave if offered a big opportunity? Obviously he likes the club a lot considering his return after Burnley.

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I believe Howe does have a clause that allows him to talk to top 4 clubs but the only club his style would actually slot into would be Arsenal and im sure he would stay with us.

Afobe so far looks a fantastic signing looking forward to seeing him and Wilson upfront together, Grabban on the other hand looks a terrible buy just not good enough for this league.

And I so hope Sunderland go down this season they remind me of Wigan play terrible for 3/4 of the season to wake up for the final part and stay up with no real desire to actually improve in following seasons

Grabban transfer was inflated by January madness but he's a striker that 2 of the best young managers in the country clearly rated, maybe it's not too ridiculous. A popular guy in the Bournemouth dressing room too by all accounts, that can't hurt.

Woohoo! Well done Sunderland. A win next week will take them out of the relegation zone.

Yep, typically they win right after I write them off.

How many young defenders who would never play in normal circumstances have had a chance at United now?

2 - 0 is truly the most dangerous lead. Well, it is when your defence is made out of tissue paper. Tettey back next week for the easy trip to Leicester, injuries and bans have meant we've really missed the solidarity of Tetts and O'Neil during the last block of games. Am trying to not focus too much on the bottom of the table right now, should be exciting come April though.

6 clean sheets, 5 wins and a draw in 6 games for Southampton since Fraser Forster returned from injury. Surely a contender for the England squad at the Euros this summer.

I'm glad Saints are doing well anyway, gives me some football to watch while the continuous bad weather keeps causing the postponement of Totton's games. Praying the rain stays away this week though. We've got the local derby against Bashley this weekend and they drew 0-0 last night for their first point of the season.

Here's a link to the league table so you can see how well they're doing this season. {XD}

https://www.southern-football-league.co.uk/division-one-south-west/league-table

Pretty sure he'll make the squad. On current form it should be between him and Butland but in reality I think Hart's probably undroppable because muh big clubs.

Sure I won't be as triggered when Ruddy fails to make this summer tournament.

Forster's overall influence has been the key to Saint's resurgence. He is a big character in the dressing room and he instructs his defence extremely well, so much that you can clearly hear what he is saying halfway up the stands. Stekelenberg wasn't an awful 'keeper but you can definitely see what a great 'keeper brings to the game ahead of a good 'keeper.

Absolutely gutted with the League Cup result. Well played Man City and Caballelro, you held your nerves.

caballero was magnificent in the shootout. seriously, i don't wake up at 3:30 am on school days very often, but that game was well worth it. good job both sides.