Man City - the new bitters?

[Carra_is_legend]

Not that they will get punished but has the hearing even started yet ?

[Lee909]

5 hours ago, an tha said:

Is winning a league with less pts the sign of it not being as competitive?

 

I'd argue if you aren't able to amass nigh on 100 pts it means it is harder to win games, you get beat or draw a lot more and pts are more evenly spread....

 

Most teams are still picking up similar numbers, so the league overall is just as competitive. The big difference was 2 teams able to put up ridiculous points totals to stand out from what just about every team has put up in the past 30 years

[an tha]

4 minutes ago, Lee909 said:

 

Most teams are still picking up similar numbers, so the league overall is just as competitive. The big difference was 2 teams able to put up ridiculous points totals to stand out from what just about every team has put up in the past 30 years

I'll take what you say at face value.

 

I do agree the two teams were exceptional and of course put up totals not seen before or seen very, very rarely.

 

But i do think money has generally widened the gap and that overall the league is less competiitve as a result. By money of course i am talking about that owned by cheats like Abu Dhabi, but also just generally by the richer clubs - yes most/all PL clubs are rich and that is case when compare them to clubs around Europe - but I feel the gap has grown to such an extent between the richer and the rest that it has changed how competitive league is overall.

 

Yes you have clubs like the shite buying 50m players - but they are overpaying massively and getting 20m players in reality...overpaying exists at top end too, but as I say for me the quality gap has been stretched - sides in the middle rarely pick up pts v the top sides IMO compared to years ago....

 

I may be wrong and numbers may prove that to be so - but it deffo feels it is case to me.

[Frank Dacey]

Back in the old days of 2 points for a win and a 42 game season, the saying used to be win at home and draw away and you'd win the league. In fact league champions got less than that and one season in the 70s someone won the league with 55 points, far less than 75% of those available. Try winning the league now on significantly less than 75% of the points. In the 3 points points for a win era, Arsenal won the league with 76 points in 1989, the number of points dropped would suggest a much more competitive league. The days of a team like Forest winning the League directly after promotion or Ipswich winning it in their first season in the top flight or us winning it in the second season after promotion are long gone.

[Lee909]

5 minutes ago, Frank Dacey said:

Back in the old days of 2 points for  The days of a team like Forest winning the League directly after promotion or Ipswich winning it in their first season in the top flight or us winning it in the second season after promotion are long gone.

 

 

Other than it happening in 2015/16 you mean

[Code]

Twisted ankle, but sadly not very serious they claim.

 

 

[an tha]

Our visit really matters to Guardiola doesn't it....pulling all the tricks.

[manwiththestick]

23 minutes ago, Code said:

Twisted ankle, but sadly not very serious they claim.

 

 

Just serious enough to get him on an early plane to Manchester.

 

I hope we do these cheating bastards.

[niallers]

He was missing when we played in April and they beat us 4.1 but they had a much more fluid side then. If he is out, it'll be a big loss but i doubt he will be, the big terminating cunt

[Megadrive Man]

13 hours ago, manwiththestick said:

Just serious enough to get him on an early plane to Manchester.

 

I hope we do these cheating bastards.

 

Rodri pulled out of the Spain squad with a slight discomfort too!

 

They will be struggling to field an eleven next Saturday with all these injuries! 

[Barrington Womble]

15 hours ago, Frank Dacey said:

Back in the old days of 2 points for a win and a 42 game season, the saying used to be win at home and draw away and you'd win the league. In fact league champions got less than that and one season in the 70s someone won the league with 55 points, far less than 75% of those available. Try winning the league now on significantly less than 75% of the points. In the 3 points points for a win era, Arsenal won the league with 76 points in 1989, the number of points dropped would suggest a much more competitive league. The days of a team like Forest winning the League directly after promotion or Ipswich winning it in their first season in the top flight or us winning it in the second season after promotion are long gone.

 

To be fair Leicester won the league in their 2nd season. I do agree with your general point though that it is less competitive. The riches available in European competition give so much of an advantage to the sides who qualify. And then you add to oil clubs, who of course could always be one of those European clubs, but they're almost locked in with the money they have. 

 

I don't know what the right answer is, because of course the best clubs and the PL itself will want our best teams being able to compete in Europe. I don't think there is a right answer to it all. The pyramid system we all grew up on is significantly tougher to climb with the TV, sponsorship and global appeal of the biggest clubs..while some of this trickles down, it's about as effective as trickle down economics. 

[niallers]

 

[Frank Dacey]

22 hours ago, Lee909 said:

 

 

Other than it happening in 2015/16 you mean

You' re right about Leicester, of course, but they are a complete outlier in the PL era. I think you'd agree that something like Forest and Ipswich won't happen again and that the days when the likes of Burnley, Wolves, Derby and Leeds won titles are over

[Lee909]

People saying its less competitive now. You have 7 legit sides who are well established or have cone into money. Unless they fuck up Newcastle will become a force with the backing, City,Chelsea have done this already then you have probably the long term established clubs in ourselves,mancs and Arsenal. Spurs look a decent side finally. That's 7 of 20 teams you can argue with some luck could be legit title contenders. 

 

Outside of that Villa,Brighton amd West Ham are all contenders in the Europa League,Conference levels of football. Overall the league is stronger than it ever has been. 

 

When Wolves won things they were a established club, they were not minnows punching above their weight. Forest spent far more than people things(for that era) when they had a brief period of success. 

 

10 clubs all capable of success shows the strength in depth. 

 

Only 2 of them clubs have shown the ability to put in multiple seasons of 90+ points. For me the recent Liverpool and City teams are head and shoulders above anyone, at least in recent memory. Without us doing that it would still be 75-85pts winning titles regularly like the early premier league days. I don't think other clubs have dropped off, more that Liverpool and City took another 2/3 steps ahead of the pack who only took one step forward in terms of quality. Its the mental pressure both could withstand that set them apart as much as anything else. 

[Anubis]

 

[Redder Lurtz]

Whodathunkit 

 

Cunts 

[an tha]

9 hours ago, Redder Lurtz said:

Whodathunkit 

 

Cunts 

Gonna be amusing watching that little weirdo make out he is a doubt for them ahead of our game and then of course him playing.

[cloggypop]

17 minutes ago, an tha said:

little

 

Unusual choice

[an tha]

49 minutes ago, cloggypop said:

 

Unusual choice

I meant Guardiola!

 

Badly worded to be fair.

[razor]

3 hours ago, an tha said:

I meant Guardiola!

 

Baldy weirdo to be fair.

 

Spot on.

[Scott_M]

[Redder Lurtz]

30 minutes ago, Scott_M said:

 

Shows him up as being as cuntish as the club he plays for. Bottles it for his country again yet still his supporters whinge that he didn't win the Ballon D'Or. He never will all the time he's pulling stunts like this, the cheating cavetroll twat. 

 

I thought there were rules around this type of situation, where players who feign injury like this are ineligible to play for their clubs for a period of time?  

[Pete]

3 minutes ago, Redder Lurtz said:

 

Shows him up as being as cuntish as the club he plays for. Bottles it for his country again yet still his supporters whinge that he didn't win the Ballon D'Or. He never will all the time he's pulling stunts like this, the cheating cavetroll twat. 

 

I thought there were rules around this type of situation, where players who feign injury like this are ineligible to play for their clubs for a period of time?  

So he’s pulled a Giggsy then? What a surprise. 

[Scott_M]

3 minutes ago, Redder Lurtz said:

 

Shows him up as being as cuntish as the club he plays for. Bottles it for his country again yet still his supporters whinge that he didn't win the Ballon D'Or. He never will all the time he's pulling stunts like this, the cheating cavetroll twat. 

It’s unlikely Georgia win in Spain, so Norway will qualify for the play off’s regardless of their result v Scotland, it’d be funny as fuck if they did.

[diamondjoe]

I want the big gormless twat playing against us. We're gonna twat them regardless.