2015/16 Premier League & General Football Discussion

[MUSC4EVER]

Well its only proposals for now and it is a little in to the future so a lot will be discussed, they say the real reason behind this is to reduce the fixture scheduling and also in the future they will discuss scrapping of FA Cup replays, scrapping the Community Shield and a Winter break.

 

[Liquid]

Scrap the League Cup. Problem solved.

5 x 20 is fine but it absolutely cannot include Premier League B teams. That would be horrible.

 

[ASH32]

Scrap the League Cup. Problem solved.

5 x 20 is fine but it absolutely cannot include Premier League B teams. That would be horrible.

A better idea than any they've come up with, either that or the Football League trophy should be gone, we don't need them both that's for sure.

I can't see them scrapping the Community Shield either, that'll be the first thing they move abroad to "grow the game".

The winter break idea also goes completely against trying to reduce fixture congestion as that will just create more.

 

[m8h3r]

Celtic have a new manager by the name of Brendan Rodgers.

 

[Liquid]

A better idea than any they've come up with, either that or the Football League trophy should be gone, we don't need them both that's for sure.

I'm not particularly sure we need either of them. Things would be grand if there was just an FA Cup and league structure.

 

[Brend]

Celtic have a new manager by the name of Brendan Rodgers.

I could not be happier. Fantastic appointment.

 

[ASH32]

I'm not particularly sure we need either of them. Things would be grand if there was just an FA Cup and league structure.

I agree, I'm not sure the teams would give both up though, especially the league cup because there's always a chance they could draw a big boy there and any idea which could lose them money is going to be tough to sell to them and they hold all the power.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

David Ginola had Quadrupil bypass surgery today, he feinted at a Football game in France yesterday, it was initially reported that he suffered a heart attack but that didn't happen and the doctors confirmed it, wishing him a speedy recovery. 👍

Also can I just say how happy I am that a thread hasn't been started for next season yet, there is still Football to be played this season yet with several Cup finals being played all around Europe this weekend, can we leave next season's thread for a couple of weeks please?

 

[Famine]

there is still Football to be played this season yet with several Cup finals being played all around Europe this weekend

Not to mention the Champions League final next weekend.

Or the playoff finals in the lower leagues next weekend...

In other news, Walter Mazzarri is the new Watford manager.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Arsenal have reportedly signed Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka, really good signing if true 👍

Scottish Cup final is on now with the Coppa Italia between Ac Milan and Juve is on Tonight, The German Cup final between Bayern and Dortmund and the French Cup final between Marseille and PSG is either tonight or tomorrow, not sure on those....

 

[lxmmy]

Arsenal have reportedly signed Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka, really good signing if true 👍

It's been confirmed its true. A player which Arsenal have been missing for the past few seasons but I really hope we can use this signing as well to tempt Dahoud who is another great player.

 

[Brend]

Congratulations to Hibs, unbelievable scenes as they win their first Scottish cup in 100+ years.

 

[Dreadmed]

Moaniniho seems to have been given the nod at Man U.

 

[Dennisch]

Watching the Copa Italia final, AC Milan v Juventus, and it's even worse than the FA.

Juve just scored. 110th minute.

 

[Liquid]

In a week where Frank Lampard was reported to earn $6 million a year (£4.8 million), the New York derby went well:

New York City 0-7 New York Red Bulls

Lampard, Villa and Pirlo, managed by Viera, were crushed by ex-Southampton Bradley Wright-Phillips and ex-Charlton Lloyd Sam.

NYC even had 58% possession.

 

[Liquid]

Morning bump: New changes to the laws of the game

Denying a goalscoring opportunity is no longer a straight red card - "unless the offence is holding, pulling or pushing; there's no attempt to play or no possibility of making a challenge". In other words, a last man foul is no longer a red card if it is an innocuous foul which happens to be a last man tackle.

Another change to the offside law - Hands and arms are not included when judging offside.

Then there's this one - Logos permitted on corner flags (previously banned). Except for Blackburn Rovers, who have already been allowed to do so.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Moaniniho seems to have been given the nod at Man U.

This should be fun.

 

[Dreadmed]

This should be fun.

I mentioned it on the bbc forum at the time, but LVG didn't deserve that (literally minutes after the match finished), regardless of the rights and wrongs this year. No wonder he walked out of the end-of-match conference.

As for Jose... well, arguably the most loathed club in England paired with one of the most loathed manager's in the game, why do I have a feeling this is going to end in tears? I'm expecting him to buy a luxury bus this summer.

 

[sems4arsenal]

@Dreadmed on Twitter the rumor was it was Jose's camp that leaked it, him lacking class is hardly news though.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

They could've left it a week or two before moving for Mourinho, it does need to happen but for the news to break about an hour after winning the cup doesn't sit well with me.

Hopefully he can bring some excitement back, my concerns are the spectacular downfall at Chelsea last season, which I think was all his own fault, and his poor record of giving youngsters a chance at his previous clubs, especially after the success of the young players who played this season, eg....Rashford, Borthwick-Jackson etc...

No real ill feeling towards LVG from me, just didn't work out how we planned, or how he planned I expect, he'll get £5 million and early retirement so I wouldn't feel too sorry for him.

 

[mustafur]

Off topic a bit but does anyone know if 2nd tier Scottish sides are eligible for the Europa League?

I know in England they are not if they win a domestic cup, but im unsure about Scottish football.

Because if they are not this would Allow Rangers to take Hibernian's spot for next year if they don't make it to the top division next year even though they won the Scottish Cup(Rangers have already Assured Promotion).

 

[Liquid]

I don't see a reason why not. Division is usually immaterial to being allowed to play in Europe; if you qualify, you qualify.

 

[ASH32]

Off topic a bit but does anyone know if 2nd tier Scottish sides are eligible for the Europa League?

I know in England they are not if they win a domestic cup, but im unsure about Scottish football.

Because if they are not this would Allow Rangers to take Hibernian's spot for next year if they don't make it to the top division next year even though they won the Scottish Cup(Rangers have already Assured Promotion).

Where did you get that from because that's totally wrong. I see no reason why Scotland or any country for that matter would exclude teams because of their division.




Also I see the new/reworded rules test went well yesterday, that's what happens when you change them because the refs are incapable of enforcing the old ones properly, not that I don't agree with some of the changes.

This part "Referees should not 'manufacture' dropped ball situations, in terms of who takes them, or the outcome" might be one of the easiest to understand and follow and yet in the 22nd minute of yesterday's England friendly the ref, after he stopped the play for an injury, restarts with a drop ball and orders Turkey to kick to ball back to England, clearly against the new rules. If the officials can't follow the simple changes what hope to we have of them enforcing the others. I expect many errors in the Euro's because of these changes and because the refs in general are just poor.

 

[Brend]

Hibs earned their right to compete in Europe and therefore they can play in Europe. There are no division pre-requisites that would stop them.

 

[mustafur]

I said this because of what is on the wiki page for the Capital one cup in England(not sure if this is correct).

It says: Winners also qualify for European football with a place in the UEFA Europa League - although this place is transferred to the highest-placed Premier League team not already qualified for Europe.

I thought it went to the winner but when I saw this I was confused.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_League_Cup

 

[Liquid]

It says: Winners also qualify for European football with a place in the UEFA Europa League - although this place is transferred to the highest-placed Premier League team not already qualified for Europe.

That means the Europa League spot is transferred to the next highest PL team if the winners of the competition have already qualified for Europe, not if it is a team from outside the top division.

It's been a while since a second-tier team won an English cup outright but:

Birmingham City won the League Cup and got relegated from the top flight; they competed in Europe as a second-tier team.
Wigan Athletic won the FA Cup and got relegated from the top flight; they competed in Europe as a second-tier team.

 

[mustafur]

Ok good, I thought this was done as a sneaky way for the Countries to help build their UEFA ranking by disallowing the weaker sides from competing(even though Scotland are doing dreadfully bad right now).

 

[ASH32]

I said this because of what is on the wiki page for the Capital one cup in England(not sure if this is correct).

It says: Winners also qualify for European football with a place in the UEFA Europa League - although this place is transferred to the highest-placed Premier League team not already qualified for Europe.

I thought it went to the winner but when I saw this I was confused.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_League_Cup

Qualification for the Europa League does go to winner of both the FA and League cups but if they have qualified for the Champions League (finished in the top four of the Premier League) as Man City (winners of League Cup) have this season the place goes to the highest place team in the Premier League who have not yet qualified for Europe, this season that was West Ham.

Once of the time this place went to the runner-up of the said cup but that was changed a few years back. So a Championship or lower team can qualify for Europe if they win a cup, previously being a runner up, (as Milwall were once when in the Championship if I recall corrrectly), used to earn you a place but not any more.

None of this however applies to Hibs at all, they are not in the top flight of Scottish football so can't qualify for the Champions League (the important part here) so by winning the Scottish Cup they will go into the Europa League, it's as simple as that.

 

[Touring Mars]

LVG has been sacked by Man Utd: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36356584

 

[Liquid]

I'm actually disgusted that they couldn't give him 24 hours to bask in winning the trophy. After all the intense media pressure he's had over the last two years, it's the least he could have had. He'd barely touched the trophy and speculation was rife; it soured the post-match press conference of the biggest domestic cup game of the season.