Sports The Football Discussion Thread!

Today's the day then. #UTB and all that. At the very least, I hope it isn't over in the first fifteen minutes like our last chance at the big time.

Lipstick Vogue said:
Manchester United tomorrow. Easy tbh.
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Good luck. Forgive me if I'm not hastily checking the Premier League scores today though.

FireSnow said:
Just waiting for the transfer period now. Chelsea needs to replace some of their players bad and bring in some young, controllable reinforcements
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I'm sure there will be a lot of changes at Chelsea this season and fortunately you've probably had a long time to prepare for the transfer window due to how long the season has been over for you.
 
Dale Cooper said:
I'm sure there will be a lot of changes at Chelsea this season and fortunately you've probably had a long time to prepare for the transfer window due to how long the season has been over for you.
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Since about October, yes. I like the Nainggolan speculation and Conte is going to go hard after Pogba it looks like, though that will never happen, I like the effort all the same.
 
Ivysaur said:
How is it supporting Atlético in Girona? Just wondering!

I'm counting on Espanyol playing their most annoyingly defensive and tackling the daylights out of every Barça player in sight the glorious 17.00 all-games-at-once Sunday.
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Not great, Barca fans here are insufferable, they act as though they're entitled to every trophy. XD Although it gives me great satisfaction when we beat them or eliminate them, it's the only time they don't talk about football with me!

God I hope so too, not to mention Messi is suspended I believe? Come on Espanyol!

On another note, my local team has the chance to qualify for the Premier League today. Going to head down to the Irish bar and ask them to put it on ;)
 
That was the best day of my life! It's amazing what emotions football can provide, such a beautiful contrast from the playoff final last year. Today was the first time I've woke up happy in a long time.

Big shame about your result, Lapras/WN/LV, but there's still a small hope for you. Unfortunately I think, as I've said before, Sunderland will worm their way out again. Hopefully you can keep the squad together (with no offence intended I don't think many of them have really earned the right to demand a Premier League move should you go down) like Burnley and make a few key additions to bounce straight back. I'd back you to come straight back more than Villa & whichever of our neighbours goes down with you. Definitely still hope for survival though, Watford & Everton have both been very poor in 2016.
 
Nah, no chance. Any confidence that was left in the squad has completely drained away. We're going down 2 years older and less talented than last time.

Last time we went down we only lost Snoddy and Fer, this time it'll be worse. Olsson and Redmond will be going into the last year of their contracts so will be sold. Klose has a pretty low release clause by all accounts so he'll go, especially if he has a good game at the Euros. Naismith has one too although I doubt it'll be triggered. Howson and Brady are probably the only others that could be in demand. Wisdom, Bamford and Mbokani will all return to their parent clubs. Whittaker is out of contract.

On the bright side I see Josh and Jacob Murphy have had good seasons at MK and Coventry, Josh won their POTS. That Maddison kid can be blooded here too, we'll be needing somebody to fill that Hoolahan void soon, he turns 34 just after the season finishes.

Wonder how long until the Jonathan Kodjia/Nahki Wells to Norwich rumours start.
 
Well at least you'll still have Wessi and Jerome should be good in the Championship again. I would make you the favourites to go up unless there's some really unexpected departures.

Would you like Neil to stay? It's hard to tell if he has done a good job because the squad seems a bit weak.
 
He's made some strange decisions this year, leaving Hoolahan and Redmond out for Sunderland being the killer, but yeah, I'd certainly keep him. He lost his way a bit after the Newcastle game early in the season but I can't see the board appointing better.

Holy shit, just taking a look at our forums now and it appears I missed some drama last night. Our CEO told a fan he'd resigned over twitter before making a u-turn in another tweet a while later. Some saying it was a hack but I think he was a bit pissed and pissed off. I'm sure people are going to use this to beat the club but I'm going to take it as a sign of him caring....or something like that. I've said many times that McNally is the most important person at this club and that hasn't changed. However unprofessional that was I'm glad he's not gone.
 
Well if Neil stays that should give you a stability advantage over Newcy/Villa as well. That McNally thing seems about as strange as Karanka's U-turn earlier in the season.
 
Middlesbrough getting through is a relief. They generally seemed to be a decent team for the Premiership. Honestly you sort of wonder if they just stayed in the Championship because Karanka has a history with a side associated with the 'Galacticos,' and so decided that the 'Championship' sounded more impressive.

They generally started playing a fairly solid game with a congested midfield last season, and it's seemingly worked out well for them. It made it hard for other Championship clubs to make as much of their possession, but we'll see if they try it out in the Premiership or default to the usual mid-table approach of trying to look like Norwich or Everton. They can occasionally swarm opponents in a fairly unique way, and generally look quite different in approach, although they don't always keep defensive positioning in this kind of structure. It does have the potential to give them offensive breaks, though, which has usually been able to balance this out.

Speaking of which, Brighton's goal was eerily reminiscent of one of Middlesbrough's against Birmingham last time. They have shown some vulnerabilities against set-pieces, which can be a problem for newly-promoted sides, so hopefully they get that down alright, as it were.

If Leicester can win the league, surely Everton are at least due each a personal knighthood for their service to the league over recent years?
 
Yeah I'm a bit confused by that last sentence myself.

I would guess that we'll stubbornly proceed with Karanka's tactic regardless of whether it works or not. We're very good defensively using it, but it's just a case of upgrading our attacking quartet to compete in the Premier League. If Downing plays like he did this season then he will be terrible in the PL and Adomah probably isn't good enough but should be a useful squad player. Hopefully we can get Gaston back and he might show his true potential.
 
United vs West Ham delayed, MU's team bus has been attacked by some hooligans throwing bottles apparently.
 
United vs West Ham delayed, MU's team bus has been attacked by some hooligans throwing bottles apparently.
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Poor Manchester United. They must be huddling together in fear that it might be the European Union.

At least it's not the usual blasé attitude that has marked most proceedings in Manchester United of late. Would be interesting if one of such hooligans took over the club in the form of Jose Mourinho.

Edit:
Lipstick Vogue said:
>If Leicester can win the league, surely Everton are at least due each a personal knighthood for their service to the league over recent years?

u wot m8
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Drawing on the sense in which Everton pretty much invented and stabilised the mid-table mould that ascended to the Premiersip title this season in the form of Leicester. It was meant sort of in the light of the threat of any Championship club in the Premiership ending up resorting to trying to play like such clubs. Few clubs play consistently like Everton other than Everton, over the same length of time.

We're very good defensively using it, but it's just a case of upgrading our attacking quartet to compete in the Premier League.
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This might depend on how far they want to go with it, given that they are a side with considerable history in the Premier League. There might be a certain push to establish a solid presence there, or they might just settle for something like mid-table.
 
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Well barring any dramatic Everton comeback here, it's all over for Norwich and Newcastle. Shame as well as it seems like Norwich are having a real fight for it tonight (I mean it's a shame anyway but you know).

Are you trying to suggest Everton deserve a title for playing exciting football despite being a bit crap? If not I'm even more confused.

I would not be surprised if we had a real go at it next season. After seeing clubs like Bournemouth survive and also seeing what Leicester have accomplished, I fancy Gibson to throw a decent wedge of money towards transfers and have a serious attempt at finishing top half in the first season back. Of course I would just be happy with surviving, but it does seem like the right time for promoted sides to have a shot at something more. I fancy us to do better than Burnley because of how they tried to stay up with limited spending last time and that we've seen relatively little success from their scouting network. I have no doubt they'll spend more this time having learned their lesson, but I can foresee them spending it poorly.
 
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