@kiwipie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@dogmeat Unlikely but not impossible! I can see Brentford being in the relegation battle as the season progresses - no idea if QPR are good but they do have a guy called Chair. Wikipedia has him as 1.58m tall and weighing 53kg - surely some mistake!
I think he was hoping it would be Fulham...
@canefan Saturday's result notwithstanding I would bet the house on Fulham and West Brom yo-yoing back up. Standrad in the Championship seems to have fallen away and in a Covid environment parachute payments are even more 'helpful' than usual.
QPR have every chance of making the play-offs then who knows.
Brentford will be up against it. Promoted clubs always are - since FFP anyway, but they will be battling it out with half a dozen other clubs so they can hope. Squad depth might be an issue but they seem well run and have a good ethos so I hope they stay up.
Another UCL disaster for Man United the main story of week 1. A thrashing for Barca isn't really news these days when the opposition is Bayern.
United and Ole looks like a union heading for inevitable divorce but it is delayed by extravagant gifts to paper over the cracks. But the more expensive things Ole has to cope with, the less he looks like knowing what the hell he is doing.
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@canefan Saturday's result notwithstanding I would bet the house on Fulham and West Brom yo-yoing back up. Standrad in the Championship seems to have fallen away and in a Covid environment parachute payments are even more 'helpful' than usual.
I thought the same with Bournemouth previous year, 2 games a week and injuries over a long season makes the championship more of a marathon. Need to have players fit near the end.
Hard to make the big predictions this far out, but both teams look likely to be there abouts. Key is to finish obviously in the top 2 and avoid the playoff shootout which anything can happen. Personally I hope my cherries stay close, we have a good young squad, but I am well aware if we have a few injuries we are farked. Still good start for us at least.
@bayimports Fulham have a very strong squad but the last two weekend's results show the accuracy of your comments.
I'd still be very surprise if we didn't finish top 2. We played shite against Blackpool but 9/10 times we would have beaten Reading with 25 shots on goal.
I think you'll be there or thereabouts. It's looking like 3 from WBA, Fulham, QPR, you guys and Sheffield.
I base this on Sheffield having the squad and Manager to make up for their slow start. Coventry have done well but surely not and Stoke, Huddersfield and Blackburn all look very limited despite their lofty positions.
I hope you like 1-0 results with very little goalmouth excitement a.k.a Parkerball. Fulham are a helluva lot better now Scott's gone. Nice guy and could develop into a decent Manager but at this stage it's all about the cardigans.
@Kiwiwomble The game wasn't broadcast in NZ, or at least it wasn't on Sky. Instead they showed West Ham beating ManUre. 
It will be interesting to see where he lands. A very good player whose career has been affected by injuries in recent seasons.
@bovidae He's missed so much football when he should have been at his peak - but he did play around 170 games in the EPL but not a single game since the 2017-18 season. But on 70K pounds per week for this the last few years, he should be set up for life.
Brentford obviously didn't see him as part of their plans after he was on loan there, suspect he would need to take a dramatic salary cut to get a gig somewhere.
@kiwipie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@bovidae He's missed so much football when he should have been at his peak - but he did play around 170 games in the EPL but not a single game since the 2017-18 season. But on 70K pounds per week for this the last few years, he should be set up for life.
Brentford obviously didn't see him as part of their plans after he was on loan there, suspect he would need to take a dramatic salary cut to get a gig somewhere.
Back to the championship for him, or maybe a gig in the US or the Middle East maybe?
@kiwipie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@bovidae He's missed so much football when he should have been at his peak - but he did play around 170 games in the EPL but not a single game since the 2017-18 season. But on 70K pounds per week for this the last few years, he should be set up for life.
Jesus - Foodbill doesn't really cut it for Winston. Brewster's Millions?
To quote Yosser Hughes, "I could have been a footballer...but, I had a paper round."
@chris-b said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@kiwipie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@bovidae He's missed so much football when he should have been at his peak - but he did play around 170 games in the EPL but not a single game since the 2017-18 season. But on 70K pounds per week for this the last few years, he should be set up for life.
Jesus - Foodbill doesn't really cut it for Winston. Brewster's Millions?
To quote Yosser Hughes, "I could have been a footballer...but, I had a paper round."
He signed a contract extension ahead of the 2017/2018 season to keep him at West Ham until 2023 and I think that was when he moved up to 70K per week. Since then he has played 19 games for West Ham. That's about 750K pounds per game not including any pay-off to terminate his contract early. Over 1 million NZD per game played. That's a decent hourly rate.
Ha! Villa beat Man Utd 1-0 at Old Trafford. Happy days
Man Utd were awarded a last minute penalty but Bruno Fernandes forgot for a second he's not Jordie Barrett.
@sparky said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Ha! Villa beat Man Utd 1-0 at Old Trafford. Happy days
Man Utd were awarded a last minute penalty but Bruno Fernandes forgot for a second he's not Jordie Barrett.
So many times yanited get gifted last gasp pens
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Did Emi save the penalty or was it a miss?
It went a long way over the cross bar. Emi messed with Bruno's head before it, telling him he should give the penalty to Ronaldo. Brilliant mind games.
A reversal of last week when United got the late winner and then West Ham missed the pen.
A good day for Man City with none of their 3 main rivals winning - great game between Brentford and Liverpool. Brentford overloading Trent T-A repeatedly and he struggles to defend without being overloaded.
And if Brighton win the last game of the weekend they go top for the first time ever.
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@Hooroo North London is red today.
I have a feeling we won't get much to celebrate this season, so I am clinging on to this like we have won the Prem! 
Has MK Dons played Wimbledon AFC this season? Is this the first season they have been in the same div??
@hooroo said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Ronaldo is a Freak!
The jury is still out on whether he will be the catalyst to United winning titles and cups or the weight around Ole's neck that will bring him down. He does seem to be playing him a lot in a long season and a few times Ole seems to have no idea what formation to play to get the best out of his players - almost too many attacking options now and they can't all play at the same time.
As for Spurs, they look close to falling apart and Harry is bringing down his transfer value with every game. Nuno might have been passed a very well paid hospital pass - let's see if he can get the best out of what is still a talented squad.
As for Arsenal, they look well set up to compete in the battle for 5th to 9th place - the new right back looks decent which makes the defence looks better overall and Partey needs a long run to keep the team stable.
24 days later
In these trying times it's always good to find some joy in the world
Going to Old Trafford and winning 5-zip definitely sparks joy.
Add in Ronaldo losing his shit and should have been sent off, while Pogba also lost his shit, and WAS sent off, and Salah scored 3.
The top 3 all had huge wins and it looks pretty much like it's them fighting out the title
Spurs lost again, and that doesn't appear to be going well at all.
If Newcastle don't start winning games they might end up the richest Championship club in history
And still Ole keeps his job, at least until Saturday. Looks like all he needs is a win against another team (some time soon) or maybe even a draw and he can stay indefinitely. The Liverpool game had the look of a manager on his way out due to the fact that it was entirely predictable that they would be thrashed (in fact Scholes during the week had said that "if they play like they did against Atalanta, then Liverpool could be 3 or 4 nil up by half time").
Spurs are also reeling at the moment so it is entirely possible that United will beat them. Strange days. And hard to see it being anything but a 3 horse race for the title from here.
@kiwipie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
And still Ole keeps his job, at least until Saturday. Looks like all he needs is a win against another team (some time soon) or maybe even a draw and he can stay indefinitely. The Liverpool game had the look of a manager on his way out due to the fact that it was entirely predictable that they would be thrashed (in fact Scholes during the week had said that "if they play like they did against Atalanta, then Liverpool could be 3 or 4 nil up by half time").
Spurs are also reeling at the moment so it is entirely possible that United will beat them. Strange days. And hard to see it being anything but a 3 horse race for the title from here.
i think they have something like Spurs in to City in to Chelsea over the next 3 weeks. I probably wouldn't chuck a new manager in to that either. That's assuming there is one ready to go.
Not the EPL, but Barca have sacked Koeman after another defeat. That club is a dumpster fire.
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Not the EPL, but Barca have sacked Koeman after another defeat. That club is a dumpster fire.
it's insane how they have fucked that place up so badly
@mariner4life said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Not the EPL, but Barca have sacked Koeman after another defeat. That club is a dumpster fire.
it's insane how they have fucked that place up so badly
I'll say, its amazing how fast they have gone from world beaters to also rans. Some of the best football I have ever watched has been at sitting in Camp Nou
@bayimports said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@mariner4life said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Not the EPL, but Barca have sacked Koeman after another defeat. That club is a dumpster fire.
it's insane how they have fucked that place up so badly
I'll say, its amazing how fast they have gone from world beaters to also rans. Some of the best football I have ever watched has been at sitting in Camp Nou
that period where they, and Spain, won basically everything on offer was incredible.
The presidents of the two big Spanish clubs have too much control but never take responsibility for their financial mismanagement that hamstrings the club.
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
The presidents of the two big Spanish clubs have too much control but never take responsibility for their financial mismanagement that hamstrings the club.
yeah they were flat broke anyway and now have this on top.. lol
Bizarre ole day. City lose 0-2, Liverpool draw at home to Brighton after being 2-0 up. ManU pump Spurs away and we won away against Leicester and are now 5th I think.
EDIT:
6th after the Man U win
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@hooroo Did you see Ramsdale's save from the Maddison free kick?
Yes. Spectacular.
