2016/17 Premier League & General Football Discussion

[lxmmy]

Badstuber is set to join Man City on loan.

Real Madrid are interested in Dybala who will likely include Morata in the deal if they would submit a bid. Dybala is one of the best strikers out there in my opinion, very similar to how Griezmann plays and will fit perfect between Ronaldo and Bale.

 

[Famine]

I wonder how much longer Bilic is going to keep his job after tonight's absolute pasting at 'home' by Manchester City...

 

[Famine]

Chesterfield sack Danny Wilson...

 

[MUSC4EVER]

FIFA Pro awards just now, Ronaldo player of the year (2016), Ranieri got coach of the year so well done to him, best eleven is...Neuer, Alves, Pique, Ramos, Marcelo, Kroos, Modric, Iniesta, Messi, Suarez, Ronaldo.

 

[Liquid]

And Northampton turn over a new Page.

8th January - Danny Wilson (Chesterfield, sacked) League One
9th January - Robert Page (Northampton Town, sacked) League One

Sackings: 19
Resignations: 6

Total: 25

---

Did anyone read that story about Mark Clattenberg saying he'd be interested in refereeing in China? Many people accused him of wanting to jump on the gravy train and whilst there may be an element of truth in that the story goes that the referee governing body is deeply unpopular with the referees themselves and goes some way to accounting for the quality of referees at the moment, in particular the way they are assessed; instead of having an assessor at the game with the referee it can take up to a week for a performance to be reviewed.

To be fair, I don't mind Mike Dean, Mark Clattenberg or any of the referees. There aren't many referees I dislike (apart from Jeff Winter but that's due to his personal antics).

 

[daan]

To be fair, I don't mind Mike Dean, Mark Clattenberg or any of the referees. There aren't many referees I dislike (apart from Jeff Winter but that's due to his personal antics).

But none of them will ever be as good as Pierluigi Collina. We should have cloned him when we had the chance.

 

[Liquid]

But none of them will ever be as good as Pierluigi Collina. We should have cloned him when we had the chance.

It takes some effort for a referee to be the cover star of a football game.

 

[daan]

Walk away, Repka, walk away.

 

[Brend]

Seems like teams go on a winning steak, hit a loss to a close rival and then have a wobbly for a few weeks. Could see Chelsea either bounce back well and prove they're worthy of the title or do as everyone else has and lose a few in a row and drop a handful of points.

Win streaks start to weigh over the team as it'll be viewed as a failure whenever it's dropped

It takes some effort for a referee to be the cover star of a football game.

Twice.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

FIFA have today confirmed that the World Cup will have 48 teams from 2026, 16 groups of three in which top two will qualify for last 32, 80 matches in total but will remain a 32 day tournament.

Reaction has been fairly positive, its got UEFA's backing and the Scottish FA too, English FA say it will meet up to discuss how it will work before giving its reaction but the European Club Association (ECA) has questioned its merits.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Morgan Schneiderlin completes medical at Everton ahead of a £22 million move rising to £24 million.

Claude Makalele joins Swansea as Paul Clement's assistant manager, didn't see that coming!

 

[andrea]

3 free kicks in 3 matches in a row. Messi is pretty good at these.

 

[Famine]

Do I not like that...

England and Watford managerial legend Graham Taylor dies aged 72.

 

[Liquid]

A successful manager unfortunately remembered for his spell as England manager. That that documentary was made, and nothing like it has been since, speaks volumes about its impact on following a team from the inside.

It's easy to forget 7 promotions including taking Watford from the fourth tier to the first and taking them from the third tier to the first again, as well as two First Division runner-up places.

Big loss to football, RIP.

 

[Dennisch]

The UEFA is worried about the financial gap between the top ten European clubs and the rest.

Brilliant move then to change the Champions League setup in favor of those clubs.

Press release. (pdf)

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Dimitri Payet handed in a transfer request at West Ham this morning, the club then rejected a £19.1 million bid for him from his former club Marseille this afternoon, Bilic has since said that the club aren't in the business of selling their key players and Payet wont be anywhere near the first team again unless his attitude changes.

Morgan Scheinderlin to Everton is a done deal, Tom Cleverly has joined Watford on loan till the end of the season with an option to buy in the summer.

Swansea sign winger Luciano Narsingh from PSV for £4 million.

Really sad news about Graham Taylor, him working wonders with Watford and then becoming England manager was a little bit before my time but from what i have read and heard today he seemed a very decent man who had an effect on a lot of players careers and he will be missed.

 

[Famine]

Sheffield Wednesday have reportedly signed Barnsley striker Sam Winnall - the last time we signed a striker from Barnsley, it all went rather well.

And that striker's son, George Hirst, is reportedly attracting Everton's interest. And Everton can 🤬 off.

 

[mustafur]

If Payet leaves, West Ham are in the championship.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Premier League Football back this week after the Cup stuff last weekend, here are the games.

Saturday

Burnley v Southampton
Hull v Bournemouth
Leicester v Chelsea (5.30 BT)
Sunderland v Stoke
Swansea v Arsenal
Tottenham v West Brom (12.30 Sky)
Watford v Middlesbrough
West Ham v Crystal Palace

Sunday
Everton v Man City (1.30 Sky)
Man United v Liverpool (4pm Sky)

EDIT, Big breaking news!, Diego Costa has been dropped by Chelsea after a bust up with a fitness coach, he hasn't trained for three days after having his head turned bu a reported £80 million bid for him by an unnamed Chinese club, his wages will be around £30 million a year!

 

[DK]

So much for those plans by the Chinese FA to clamp down on 9-digit spending sprees and 8-digit salaries.

 

[mustafur]

You wont see me complain, for too long Europes big clubs have gutted the smaller clubs, now it's their turn to feel the pain.

The big problem though is the financial fair play rules that is stopping the european clubs from coming close to match the deals is probably going to be removed if this keeps happening.

The Chinese Government are clearly not going to stop untill their league is the biggest in the world by the sounds of it now.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Apparently Diego Costa is being approached for a move to China as well.

 

[Famine]

It's ridiculous that Chinese clubs with all their new money are coming in with huge wage offers for our players, as if China has done anything at all in world football in the last 20 years...

... say fans of English Premier League clubs.

Sheffield Wednesday have reportedly signed Barnsley striker Sam Winnall - the last time we signed a striker from Barnsley, it all went rather well.

Signing confirmed and he's into today's squad for Huddersfield.

And that striker's son, George Hirst, is reportedly attracting Everton's interest. And Everton can 🤬 off.

Carvalhal released a statement saying exactly that

 

[Liquid]

Why are West Ham allowed to graffito a stadium which doesn't belong to them?

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Chelsea just beat Leicester 3-0 without Costa.

 

[Jimlaad43]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38585962
Another for the list

 

[mustafur]

Ligue 1 really is very close quality wise from top to bottom this year, Last placed Lorient just beat 5th place Guingamp at home 3-1.

And with a 3 way battle for the title as well.

 

[lxmmy]

Bayern have signed both Sule and Rudy from Hoffenheim for 35 million (EURO). Both will join in the summer.

Omer Toprak has said that he will leave Leverkusen in June, with Dortmund interested in the move for him. 12 million (EURO) release clause. Bargain.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Everton leading City 2-0 through Lukaku and Mirallas, City all over the place at the back again....

 

[Famine]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38585962
Another for the list

And another! http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38629630


Also I said this about the Championship a few weeks ago:

The Closeness Coefficient is 1.45, which is the highest it's been in a while (since Leicester won it), but even so the gap between top and top of the relegation zone is 29pt - exactly the same as the Premier League, but after 22 games instead of just 17.

The gap in the Premier League is now 36pt after 21 games (increasing to 1.714), which is more points than the team in 7th has in total. That's a hell of a gulf - Chelsea have more points than any two teams in the bottom half of the table!

Meanwhile the Championship is closing up again. The gap is 31pt after 26 games (1.192) and the leaders Newcastle have more points than any two teams in the bottom six only.