Premier League Fixtures 2015/16 announced Wed 17 June

[Babb'sBurstNad]

I'm happy with these fixtures, it's good to get the hard away games out of the way early on imo and playing stoke away first gives the team the chance to put things right.

 

That game was a one off where Stoke were getting wonder goals, I'm confident we'll do them especially when their players like Adam won't be match fit.

 

Adam has never been match fit, he just sometimes manages to put off when he falls over out of breath.

 

[Rustyjeffears]

It was a poor performance but 6-1 wasn't a true reflection, we have played worse then that under BR and other managers.Stoke were scoring from nearly every chance the first half and most of their goals were wonder goals which they don't score on a normal day.

On the fixture list that some are fearing, when we finished second under BR we played all the top teams away from home the first half of the season apart from Manu.Maybe it could prove to be an advantage if we go away to those teams while they are dealing with the cl.

We were awful and 6-1 was fair.

 

Bar luck the Palace game could have been the same we were awful.

[Phoenix]

Rodgers favourite to be sacked first after the fixtures

 

I think he will survive whatever happens in the early games

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ngogswilly]

We couldn't have been handed a worse start. I don't buy the 'you have to play each team twice' rubbish either. A good start spreads confidence and you can build from there. We seen that two years ago and we seen the opposite in Rodgers first season. I think he's going to be under severe pressure in October to be honest.

 

Bit in bold exactly. Playing each time twice in a season doesn't matter jot if your first 5-10 games go badly and confidence erodes. 

 

The fixtures being random too is absolute bollox. They definitely load fixtures to cause drama. 

[Guest davelfc]

Bit in bold exactly. Playing each time twice in a season doesn't matter jot if your first 5-10 games go badly and confidence erodes. 

 

The fixtures being random too is absolute bollox. They definitely load fixtures to cause drama.

 

You're thinking of the lottery mate, fixtures aren't random and they don't pretend to be.

 

Producing the full fixture list is not just a random draw. It is the result of a meticulous and painstaking process that involves the scheduling of 2,036 matches across the top four divisions.

We spoke to fixture list compiler Glenn Thompson of Atos, an international IT services company, to find out how it all works.

 

When does the work start?

For me it begins at the start of the year, that’s when I get the playing dates from the Premier League. The whole thing is built up putting in the international matches from FIFA and UEFA, then the European club competitions, then the Football Association adds in the dates for its competitions and what you are left with are the dates when you can play league and Capital One Cup matches.

 

What is this thing called sequencing?

That's the methodology we use which was created back in 1982, and that is all about breaking the season down into a number of constituent parts, which are called sets. We break it down into five sets, which are reversed in the second half of the season.

 

Are there any rules you have to adhere to?

There are the "golden rules" of sequencing. In any five matches there should be a split of three home fixtures, two away or the other way around. A team will never have more than two home or away matches in a row and wherever possible you will be home and away around FA Cup ties. A club will never start or finish the season with two home or two away matches because it would be unfair for a team to finish with two aways, especially if they are looking for points. Around the Christmas period, if you are at home on Boxing Day you will be away on New Year’s Day or the equivalent date and we will also try to maintain a Saturday home-away sequence throughout the season wherever possible.

 

Do clubs from the same area play at home on the same day?

Most clubs will have a partner club that they cannot clash with. There are the obvious ones - Manchester United and Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton - and then when you get into London it gets a little bit more complex and less obvious. For example, you have got the likes of Dagenham & Redbridge and Leyton Orient, who wish to be away when West Ham United are scheduled a home match.

 

What happens next?

Around about March, the Premier League sends to each of its member clubs a form asking them to fill in three things: Are there any dates they wish not to be at home? That is answered in conjunction with local police. They will also be asked which club they want to pair with and whether there are any teams they do not wish to play at home on Boxing Day.

 

Can you satisfy all of the requests?

From looking at the sequence we know how many of these dates we can actually meet. When we can't, the Premier League will ask the club which of the requests are most important. We cannot accommodate everything but, on average, we satisfy higher than 85% every year.

 

How do the fixtures get processed?

We cannot do anything until we know the composition of each division, which is obviously after the last Football League play-off. Then we can start looking at the main bit of compiling the fixtures. It is a matter of placing each of the clubs in a pairing grid which basically defines which dates they will be at home. For every date in the season, the fixture computer knows who is at home and who is away and then it will mix them up randomly to determine which matches will take place on which date.

 

What happens if there are any problems?

If we have got any issues then we might have to go back and start again to produce a different set of fixtures. I'm reviewing the fixtures all the time to ensure that other things can be met. Last season, for example, there was a requirement from the Metropolitan Police not to play high-profile matches until after 8 September because of the Olympics and Paralympics.

 

How is the fixture list checked?

The Premier League, the Football League and Atos representatives will sit down and review the fixtures for two days, looking at every date in the season to make sure that wherever possible we have met everything we have been asked to. At that stage the computer is very useful because if we do not want a certain fixture on a particular date, it will give us alternate dates for that fixture to be moved to. It can be that changing one match may require 40 other changes.

We also have a working party meeting with representatives from all of the leagues, the FA and also the Football Supporters' Federation. The fixtures are then looked at by the Association of Chief Police Officers and British Transport Police representatives.

 

Do you consider travel issues?

Yes. We look at whether we have got clubs from the same area travelling on the same trainlines across the Football League and the Premier League on the same day. We want to avoid having various "pinch points" on the rail and road network. We also tell the computer to try to minimise travel on Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

 

How are the fixtures released?

After the fixtures have been finalised, it's just a matter of printing them out and sending them to the leagues. The fixtures are then released to the relevant press distributers the night before so they can distribute them on the morning of release

 

Is it the impossible job?

You can't satisfy everyone. It's a compromise across all clubs, you can't do anything to favour any one club. There are 2,036 matches, across the Premier League and Football League over a nine-month period, and the idea is to ensure that those matches can all be played at 3pm on a Saturday.

[s(k)aturation]

Or when an FA official has a bet on with Ladbrokes about which manager might get the arse first?

[billypilgrimnz]

And even if it were completely random, we would still get the occasional difficult start. That's how truly random shit works.

 

But it's the same thing year in, year out:

 

Tough fixtures at the start: the draw's fixed

Tough fixtures around Christmas: the draw's fixed

Tough fixtures to end the season: the draw's fixed

Tough fixtures perfectly spaced out: oh, it was finally random for once.

[s(k)aturation]

It's the 2016/17 draw that I'm already preparing to be angry about, the bastards.

[ngogswilly]

You're thinking of the lottery mate, fixtures aren't random and they don't pretend to be.

 

 

Yeah but your article there fundamentally states they are to some degree.

 

"It is a matter of placing each of the clubs in a pairing grid which basically defines which dates they will be at home. For every date in the season, the fixture computer knows who is at home and who is away and then it will mix them up randomly to determine which matches will take place on which date."

 

Obviously a lot goes into determining how certain  games and dates can't take place on a specific date and lots of other factors. 

 

But Stoke away on the first day just smacks of TV drama. i.e. Revenge for the 6-1!!! Pressure on Rodgers etc... 

[Guest davelfc]

Yeah but your article there fundamentally states they are to some degree.

 

"It is a matter of placing each of the clubs in a pairing grid which basically defines which dates they will be at home. For every date in the season, the fixture computer knows who is at home and who is away and then it will mix them up randomly to determine which matches will take place on which date."

 

Obviously a lot goes into determining how certain  games and dates can't take place on a specific date and lots of other factors. 

 

But Stoke away on the first day just smacks of TV drama. i.e. Revenge for the 6-1!!! Pressure on Rodgers etc...

 

That definately does smack of drama, although I think it's an excellent chance to make amends for the worst result in over 52 years. Get it out of the way and hit the ground running. In a way knowing we have a difficult start (away games against top teams) might work for us.

[ngogswilly]

That definately does smack of drama, although I think it's an excellent chance to make amends for the worst result in over 52 years. Get it out of the way and hit the ground running. In a way knowing we have a difficult start (away games against top teams) might work for us.

 

Yeah I agree I think its good to get it out of the way. I reckon its a proper setup but I'm not against it. 

 

Second bit I'm not sure. I think we're fragile. A tough start regardless of how your previous season ended is always a tough start though. 

 

Like RobbieOR said though if confidence gets badly dented in the opening games then it can be very hard to turn it around and even if you do you leave a lot of work for yourself. Like we seen this season. Had we not had such a momentously shit start we could have afforded a few slipups come the end of the year. 

[Guest davelfc]

Yeah I agree I think its good to get it out of the way. I reckon its a proper setup but I'm not against it. 

 

Second bit I'm not sure. I think we're fragile. A tough start regardless of how your previous season ended is always a tough start though. 

 

Like RobbieOR said though if confidence gets badly dented in the opening games then it can be very hard to turn it around and even if you do you leave a lot of work for yourself. Like we seen this season. Had we not had such a momentously shit start we could have afforded a few slipups come the end of the year.

 

Look at how some of the so called easy starts go, take the mancs last season. Didn't they on paper at least have an easy start, they fucked that up royally. They recovered though.

 

Having an easy start and losing is worse I think than a difficult start and losing. We rarely get points from some of those aways anyway. The media of course won't let up on Rodgers and the way to shut them up of course is to win games.

 

It was always going to be a big season for Rodgers, surely with the way things are he'd be under more pressure if we had a very easy start and messed it up.

[kirkbyred1]

I forecast 1 point out of the first 5 games and being rock bottom of the table. That me being optimistic too

[Rustyjeffears]

I think we've possibly asked for the big games away first due ground renovation perhaps?

[Rustyjeffears]

Look at how some of the so called easy starts go, take the mancs last season. Didn't they on paper at least have an easy start, they fucked that up royally. They recovered though.

Having an easy start and losing is worse I think than a difficult start and losing. We rarely get points from some of those aways anyway. The media of course won't let up on Rodgers and the way to shut them up of course is to win games.

It was always going to be a big season for Rodgers, surely with the way things are he'd be under more pressure if we had a very easy start and messed it up.

Having a hard start and doing badly early on means you have to make up points which is never easy because as the season goes on there is no guarantee you will win the easier games. Problem is when you have to make points up you can't slip up. Look at last season despite a streak where we were unbeaten in 10 we still never got into the top 4 as we had so much ground to recover from early on.

 

That fixture list is one that will put us out of contention by October unless we win at least half the big away games and all our home games. I can't see it and I think Rodgers will go.

[Guest davelfc]

Having a hard start and doing badly early on means you have to make up points which is never easy because as the season goes on there is no guarantee you will win the easier games. Problem is when you have to make points up you can't slip up. Look at last season despite a streak where we were unbeaten in 10 we still never got into the top 4 as we had so much ground to recover from early on.

That fixture list is one that will put us out of contention by October unless we win at least half the big away games and all our home games. I can't see it and I think Rodgers will go.

Having an easy start and doing badly is surely harder for us as we rarely get points at some of those top team aways. While we are certainly not guaranteed the points at the so called 'easier' fixtures, we stand more of a chance than at the difficult ones. That's just logic isn't it.

[moof]

Logic will tell you momentum and confidence are a massive issue in football

[Rustyjeffears]

Having an easy start and doing badly is surely harder for us as we rarely get points at some of those top team aways. While we are certainly not guaranteed the points at the so called 'easier' fixtures, we stand more of a chance than at the difficult ones. That's just logic isn't it.

I don't think we will lose all those away games, but I don't think we will win all the home ones in between either.

 

I'm reckon we could be sat on 18-20 points after the City game and that's me throwing in a win and couple of draws away and winning all but two home games which I've put as draws.

 

That's from 13 games or 39 points. I think the top 4 will be on 30 or more points. If we have lost 5 or more by November we will not recover.

[boomer39]

You jinx

FAs idea of a sick joke. Oh well I'm confident we'll keep them down to 5 this time

what a sick swan you are........

[ZonkoVille77]

We're fucked

[Rustyjeffears]

Logic will tell you momentum and confidence are a massive issue in football

And that fixture list is weighted against any team gaining momentum. It really could be win/loss win/loss.

[an tha]

Confidence and momentum are hugely important.

 

I can see us only having around 18 points at the end of November - that is from 14 games.

 

Sadly confidence and momentum don't recover from that kind of start - I also don't think our manager would survive that either.

[Mark M]

That initial run of away games we have is horrific. Whats worse is Rodgers record against those sides away from home is poor.

I can see a situation by the time Sturridge is fit to play we'll have a new manager in place.

[Cardie]

That initial run of away games we have is horrific. Whats worse is Rodgers record against those sides away from home is poor.

I can see a situation by the time Sturridge is fit to play we'll have a new manager in place.

You would hope we'd be more long sited than tha....who am I kidding.

 

 

[RobbieOR]

That initial run of away games we have is horrific. Whats worse is Rodgers record against those sides away from home is poor.

I can see a situation by the time Sturridge is fit to play we'll have a new manager in place.

 

I think Sturridge could be back by the start, read something a while ago saying they hope to have him back by then.