Premier League and other football chat - 2016-17

[Roger]

Amazing FA Cup day.
Lincoln City - of the National League beating Championship topping Brighton - 3-1.
First non-league side ever to get to the 5th round ?
Oxford wallop Newcastle 3-0
Wolves of course and Arsenal score 5 away at Southampton.
And Spurs beat neighbours Wycombe rather late in the game. Good fun.

[jivvy]

BREAKING:
In a last ditch attempt to save their season, Liverpool have dug up the pitch to plant potatoes.
That way they'll have something to lift in May...

[Roger]

I saw the Chelsea v Arsenal epic and will remember the amazing feet (feat) of Eden Hazard for a long time.

Teess you must be happy my 'Allardyce to Sunderland' prediction bombed.
Much like the Palace of Sam did yesterday.

Weird point that Jack Rodwell of Sunderland enjoyed his FIRST win in his 38 starts for his team ! He must be a happy boy today !

More on the Leicester syndrome. Man. City were the last team to be relegated (1938) the season after being Champions. In their relegation season. they were the top scorers in the First Division and were the only team ever to be relegated with a POSITIVE goal difference.

All good fun.

[Alfie]

Chelsea are having a good season. Leicester are having a bad season. For the same reason perhaps: N'Golo Kante. He left Leicester to go to Chelsea.



N'Golo Kante has been key to Chelsea's success this season, according to Phil McNulty of the BBC.

[Teessider]

Really enjoyed the palace sunderland game and spent half time repeating the score to myself             4-0? The players returning from Africa Kone and Ndong played really well and Oviedo had a good debut snuffing out Zaha and outperforming his predecessor van Aanholt. Defoe showed he is still the best finisher in the league, once he gets the ball in the box he knows they can't touch him and can finish with either foot. Also watched Chelsea v Arsenal, should the Alonso goal have been allowed? and Spurs v Boro where I expected a penalty to settle it though there was little doubt it was awarded correctly.

[Roger]

Alfie. Yes Kante is great. TOP signing.
But IMO - it's that crazy Manager Conte who has galvanised it all.
Behind the scenes I'm guessing Conte is a strong but strong Guy.
I'm not a Mourinho fan - Conte seems the opposite.
Hazard back to form. Terry on side but not playing.
Rows with Costa but he stays.
To re-sign David Luiz and make it work. Magic !
Conte gets the best out of most players and JM doesn't !

And Teess. Now that Jack Rodwell has scored - the curse is lifted. GL

[Teessider]

Thanks Roger. Yes Jack Rodwell starting in a winning team for the first time since May 2013. Shame he limped off before the end.
In the premiership sack race Ranieri is now favourite but are Wenger's days numbered?

[Roger]

I've gotta say that IMO this is one of the most interesting EPL seasons.

At the bottom not least - where one win each for Sunderland, Palace and Hull could see ALL of them jump ahead of Swansea, Leicester and Middlesboro.
A new bottom 3 possible in 1 week !  I see Hull, Leicester and Middlesboro actually going down. IMO there are signs of life at Sunderland and Swansea and Sam just won't let Palace fall.

At the top, Chelsea are now odds on despite their dreary start and only Spurs and Man City look in any form to have a chance to catch them. So we are going to see an almighty scrap between drooping Arsenal, losing Liverpool and ascendant Man Utd for the 4th place.

I was talking to my Arsenal friend about Wenger - I have long thought that talk of replacing him was wrong but now, after more glittering and disappointment, time for a new start maybe. Sometimes it doesn't look like Ozil and Sanchez want to be there - in their hearts they know they can't win a League medal - like forever at Arsenal. And Teess, yes poor old Ranieri is looking a bit forlorn.
I bet Vardy wishes he'd gone to Arsenal for the big time when we had the chance.

And come on Torquay Utd !

[Roger]

I don't know if 'Keith' a Guy in Korat, reads this Forum. He is a BIG Leicester fan, who although, not a youngster any more, flew back to catch the last few games last season. I thought this was a searching article about the LCFC predicament. It's not just about the admirable Kante.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/feb/10/ngolo-kante-leicester-champions-relegation-premier-league

[Teessider]

Is it all over? Chelsea 10 points clear, Sunderland, Boro and Hull adrift at the bottom. Palace, Leicester and Swansea resurgent with new managers. Arsenal struggling, Ibrahimovic set for ban, Tottenham dangerously relying on Kane, City and Liverpool inconsistent. Ibrahimovic was rubbish against Bournemouth missing 2 sitters and could have been sent off before he should have been sent off.

[caller]

Is it all over? Chelsea 10 points clear

I hope so! 

[Roger]

BTW the LCFC fan I mentioned before is over 80 I believe. Top Fan ! And good to see LCFC back on track a little.

Caller - The potential hiccup for CFC progress IMO was the Costa wrangle but that seems well resolved and CFC look more than set fair - the self-revered JM is languishing 14 ? points behind with Man Utd. Man City and Spurs with Kane on fire, might still put them under pressure but it looks to be in the bag !

Sorry to say Teess but Sunderland need miracles now. Middlesboro and Hull were widely mooted as relegation candidates - sad for the NE to lose all 3 teams if it happens.

Glad I'm not an Arsenal fan - it looks like they must face up to giving up on their hero Wenger ! Costa and Ozil know they have no chance of EPL or Champions League triumph and they would be highly valued elsewhere.
Some other AFC players can't play to form - IMO Wenger has to go now.
Wenger is 70 and loaded - he looks forever tortured on the bench.

[caller]

Arsenal don't have any balls! Too many players in a comfort zone. A writer in the Guardian said this about them a few days back:

Arsenal have a squad full of lost boys, promising young stars who never quite grew up and operate in a Neverland of unfulfilled potential.


Sums it up for me and Wenger is to blame for that, plus never sorting out his defence. Man City and Liverpool might have an interest in some of Arsenals back four, as theirs are equally poor, but Utd, Chelsea and the spuds wouldn't. It's another groundhog season for the Arse and there's little point in Wenger continuing. A new face would lift the club and that's needed, but I for one, would be happy for Wenger to stay for more of the same!

[jivvy]

WHO SAID FOOTBALLERS AREN'T INTELLIGENT?

My parents have always been there for me, ever since I was about 7." - David Beckham

"I would not be bothered if we lost every game as long as we won the league." - Mark Viduka

"If you don't believe you can win, there is no point in getting out of bed at the end of the day." - Neville Southall

"I've had 14 bookings this season - 8 of which were my fault, but 7 of which were disputable." - Paul Gascoigne

"I'd like to play for an Italian club, like Barcelona." - Mark Draper

"I'm as happy as I can be - but I have been happier.” - Ugo Ehiogu

"Leeds is a great club and it's been my home for years, even though I live in Middlesbrough." -Jonathan Woodgate

"I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel." - Stuart Pearce

"I took a whack on my left ankle, but something told me it was my right." - Lee Hendrie

"I couldn't settle in Italy - it was like living in a foreign country." - Ian Rush

"Germany are a very difficult team to play. They had 11 internationals out there today." - Steve Lomas

"I always used to put my right boot on first, and then obviously my right sock." - Barry Venison

"I definitely want Brooklyn to be christened, but I don't know into what religion yet" - David Beckham

"The Brazilians were South American, and the Ukrainians will be more European" - Phil Neville

"All that remains is for a few dots and commas to be crossed." - Mitchell Thomas

"One accusation you can't throw at me is that I've always done my best." - Alan Shearer

"I'd rather play in front of a full house than an empty crowd." - Johnny Giles

"Sometimes in football you have to score goals." - Thierry Henry.

[Roger]

Jivvy. Wonderful ! ATB

[Roger]

As Chelsea, Tottenham, Man City and Arsenal line up in the FA Cup semi-finals, it seems the much complained about rotation of squad players used in many Cup games, may be off the mark.
Unusual for all 4 semi-finalists to come from the top 5 EPL teams ?

Torquay born Kieffer Moore was sitting on the bench at Forest Green Rovers in the National League and then joined Torquay on loan, scoring 5 goals in 4 games before returning to the Forest Green bench. Torquay tried to sign him but Championship Ipswich Town snapped him up for a £10,000 fee and wages that were EIGHT times what Torquay could offer. He sits on the Ipswich bench now.

In a different world - an £89,000,000 transfer fee paid for Paul Pogba, £100,000 a week being shunned by Romelu Lukaku at Everton and £500,000 a week being offered to Zlatan Ibrahamovic by L.A.Galaxy !

Well done Leicester City for making the Champions League quarter finals - can they surprise the football world again ?

Love football !

[Alfie]

Torquay born Kieffer Moore was sitting on the bench at Forest Green Rovers in the National League and then joined Torquay on loan, scoring 5 goals in 4 games before returning to the Forest Green bench. Torquay tried to sign him but Championship Ipswich Town snapped him up for a £10,000 fee and wages that were EIGHT times what Torquay could offer. He sits on the Ipswich bench now.

I saw Kieffer Moore play for Yeovil once (3 or 4 years ago). He was poor, totally unsuited, IMO. Obviously the manager saw potential in him, and some of the players at that time bigged up some of his performances, but my take on it was that he was cheap (coming from Dorchester Town) and Gary Johnson hoped he'd found a bargain future star. Not a chance. I'm surprised Mick McCarthy signed him.

[Roger]

Alfie, Moore is 24 now, so he was just a youngster then.
7 goals in 50 appearances for Yeovil.
After returning to Forest Green at the end of his loan last December, he played in the Boxing Day/New Year fixtures.
Torquay won home 4-3 and the away was 5-5.
Guess who didn't score and missed some blinders - Moore !
So he continues as a Fan's favourite at Plainmoor.
He may be rubbish but he's good enough for some teams . . .

[jivvy]

He may be rubbish but he's good enough for some teams . . .

Rumour has it he is off to the Swatcats soon

[Alfie]

Alfie, Moore is 24 now, so he was just a youngster then.

He was 21 at the time.

He may be rubbish but he's good enough for some teams . . .

I hope he does well. Perhaps Yeovil will buy him back in Division 2 next season after Ipswich realise he's not yet good enough for the Championship.