 | Forum
Reply | Potential points deduction
at 15:50 30 May 2024
No, I think they're all obliged to file at the same time, but some don't.
It seems pretty clear that City and Chelsea and perhaps Newcastle have leaned on wealthy owners who have responded with inflated "sponsorship" deals which are way over the market rate.
Liverpool, Man U, Spurs have all had - by their standards - average seasons because they have been unable to recruit top names.
Perhaps the best example of how to have a good team and stay in the rules is Arsenal.
The PL will find a fix. Literally a fix. Clubs like the above will all get a free pass whereas "smaller" clubs will be sacrificed. |
| Forum
Reply | Jack Stephens
at 09:31 30 May 2024
Sometimes teams need a player who may not be the best technically, tactically etc but whose presence lifts the other players.
Certainly at amateur level where abilities are often way apart, having that unifying type of player who will run for 90 minutes, tackle, encourage, cajole and generally drive the team is a valuable asset.
I would say that the same applies in the professional leagues but with diminishing importance as the leagues get "better".
Jack is that sort of player and when the team stuttered toward the last few games in the season, I can see why RM wanted him on the pitch. He wanted somebody who believed where others may doubt.
Most Saints CB's over the years have been good for at least one error in top division games. The present crop are no different. It is therefore perhaps unfair to point out JS errors and not those of Bednarek and THB and others. Even KWP (who I think is perhaps our best player) is prone to error and his positioning sometimes is truly shocking.
The question really is can you carry a player in the PL who is perhaps - on occasion - a little less effective than others? Can you devise a system in which that player can perform the role above without reducing the overall quality of the team?
JS may well find himself compromised by being played out of position. Not good enough for either CB or midfield.
I think RM was looking at how John Stones plays that sort of advanced CB position. Stone is lucky in having such good players around him and usually facing teams who are scared of being too adventurous. We do not have that luxury.
My overall view is that if JS is first on the team sheet then we need a different tactical system. |
| Forum
Reply | Potential points deduction
at 09:19 30 May 2024
I think Leicester, Everton, Forest and City all have potential points deductions waiting to be applied.
That puts the PL in a bind.
They will not blink to throw the first three under the bus but they know that tangling with City will be a long, expensive and damaging affair.
What would the other leagues think if the PL applied say a 30/40 point deduction that saw City relegated?
What would happen if City decided to leave the PL and set up a European Super League (inevitable in my view)?
What message would be sent to other oil rich sovereign funds looking to buy reputation in Europe?
I can already smell a whiff of compromise and perhaps even corruption in which the PL "reset" the P&S rules and forgive all past transgressions. |
| Forum
Reply | Reality v Russell
at 09:14 30 May 2024
I have to agree with Mr ifonly here.
The ball played into Smallbone was decent enough but the Leeds defender made an error in trying to shut him down quickly and he was forced into shifting the ball on quickly.
You can argue that he saw AA and the opportunity and it was a touch of genius. You can argue that it was instinctive, that AA called for the ball, that the inspiration for the goal was AA spotting the opportunity and Smallbone was just a conduit. Frankly I don't care.
What it was not however was a demonstration of how possession based football creates a platform to score from. |
| Forum
Reply | Reality v Russell
at 15:37 29 May 2024
Last season is done and frankly nobody cares about its statistics, cherry picked or dug raw from the mud.
The fact is that we struggled against the top two home and away and in the PL, they will be among the weaker teams.
We therefore need to prepare and with a transfer budget limited by the present finances and P&S rules; a forward line that looks a little lightweight; a midfield that is missing a true defensive element and a defence that suffers from constant fiddling, we need a plan - fast.
Possession based tactics, even if a platform to other plans, is not going to be the cake walk it was against 20+ teams in the Championship. Can't see PL teams allowing that to happen. Quite the opposite.
We need to become a team which can hold the ball when required (not 25 yards from our goal please) but can also shift it forward quickly if we see possession tactics adopted against us.
It's a big shift and I really hope RM does not start believing his own publicity and think that his "way" can continue in the PL without changes. |
| Forum
Reply | Am I odd?????
at 15:25 29 May 2024
I think if you are an owner of a club, then the prospect of an additional £125m of income over the next 12 months is a comfort to you when you wake at 3am.
They are not too concerned over the performance on the pitch and finishing 17th every season = success.
So their trick is to keep investment to a minimum to keep the gravy train rotating.
If you are a player, then a few seasons in the PL should be enough to make you financially secure for life (if you're sensible) and again, finishing 17th is fine.
If you are a TV company, then the prospect of a new fan base to tune it and buy subscriptions (which I won't) is great and they could not care less if you stay or go.
If you are the PL, then new blood upholds the pretence of being part of the pyramid and they care only for the top 6/8 clubs and their very rich owners and nothing about the lower reaches of the table.
The only people who really care about being in the PL and where we finish, is the fans who obviously want bragging rights and prestige.
If the risk is that we have a season in which wins are few and high points fewer, then that takes the polish off getting to the PL.
Like the OP, I'm nervous about next season. I think Leicester will be hit with a points deduction and that will make their survival difficult. If Ipswich continue their form, it will be remarkable but with a rich owner - who knows. I think Everton have problems as do Forest and Brentford.
Getting the PL is only sensible if there is a plan to build and stay for a decade. I've yet to see that plan and I know that when we do, the dreams, hopes, pockets of the fans will be largely irrelevant. |
| Forum
Reply | Reality v Russell
at 10:21 28 May 2024
According to the statements he made post season/match he claims that possession gives us a chance to be the best we can be.
That's a meaningless statement on its own. You could argue for instance that having the majority of the ball denies the opposition a chance to bring their strengths to bear. Just depends on your point of view.
The reality is that we will not have the ball as much in the PL and therefore the bedrock of the RM way as expressed above, is unlikely to be a valid strategy.
We will therefore need to be more like the team we saw in the play offs which displayed some strength but left some questions.
Ryan Fraser at left wing back? Was that really sensible given that Manning was available?
Equally the flexibility across the back line was good.
For me the most worrying aspect was that without the ball, the team struggled to transition from defence to attack. The midfield seemed to be limited in which areas of the pitch they operated and that stifled our forwards and robbed them of service.
That said, I was pleased that Edozie came on for Brooks rather than asking AA to move wide and bringing on Che which would have unbalanced the team.
Edozie is however a very lightweight defender and is not a PL class forward. I think he may be a casualty this summer.
After all the noise has died, it is obvious that the RM "way" next season has to be closer to what we saw in Sunday because playing for 60/65/70% possession is just not possible against the better sides.
And we were third best - the facts don't lie.
(Very strange to get a huge cup for third?) |
| Forum
Reply | 2024/25 predicted PL table, and guess what…?
at 09:43 28 May 2024
The PL is not about football but rather it's a club for sovereign funds and billionaires to further sports washing their brand or showing that they have more money than the rest of us.
It's a place where fairness is lost in the blizzard of money; where the powerful can rely upon the administrators to shield them from the rules that the "little people" have to follow; where the rules make it very difficult for newbies to create a platform to stay in the league.
And the worst thing is that all the owners want to be there.
The football industry has many problems which are arguably damaging the game we love and this is evident even to the extent of village leagues. When I was a teenager, I could have played for any one of perhaps four or five village teams near me. Some of them had two teams. Now there is one team covering that whole area.
And why? Many reasons but a key one is lack of funding for this grass roots level as more and more money is sucked into the PL.
The PL is not a level playing field and never will be.
If City ever get a points deduction of any meaning - 15 points plus - it will be a cue for endless legal appeals and a contest between who can afford the better lawyers, the PL or City -and I know where my money would be. |
| Forum
Reply | I wonder what J W P honestly thought at 17.00 yesterday.
at 09:18 28 May 2024
Do we know that JWP wanted a transfer or was it the club who needed the money and asked him to move?
He certainly had a very good first half of the season at WHU - the second half perhaps not so consistent.
He would have fitted in well with the RM "way" but equally we played him in a deeper role which meant we were not getting the best out of him. WHU played him further forward which suited him and the team. Would RM have done that and would he do that if he came back to us? Who knows?
Ultimately however he is a professional player selling his skills for the best price. He may have a lingering loyalty to Saints but there is no place for that in the ruthless world of professional sport. I venture he was pleased for us but would not bother himself too much beyond that. |
| Forum
Thread | Reality v Russell
at 09:11 28 May 2024
First, RM did change the way we played (even though he claimed he didn't) for the Leeds game and it worked. It frustrated Leeds and nullified their best attacking options and for that RM deserves some credit.
Equally I thought KWP played Summerville out of the game and when he was subbed off it was all over for Leeds.
Second, I've said all season that I thought RM would stumble at the last and he didn't and we were indeed the third best team in the Championship this season.
Third, he seems to have gotten carried away in interviews after the game claiming that it was "his" way which got us there and that next season "his " way will be enough to give us a decent PL season. I have my doubts on both statements. |
| Forum
Reply | Russell Martin Sunak
at 11:31 23 May 2024
I agree that Blair did many things that were for the benefit of the country. I agree that he always comes across as smug. I hate the way he - even now - tells anybody who will listen that he's always correct and some sort of visionary. He is his own biggest fan and would give RM a run for his money in the Ego Stakes (3:15 at Kempton this weekend).
I cannot however forgive him for lying to the British people over Iraq and contributing to a campaign which has led to probably millions of dead, injured, displaced people.
And for what?
To please the Americans? To bolster his own popularity at the polls? To prove that his vision was visionary?
He contributed to making the world a more dangerous place and his party was too weak or in awe of him to stop it. |
| Forum
Reply | General Election called for Thurs 4th July
at 11:24 23 May 2024
I've not made up my mind and probably won't until I vote.
The Tories have shown a fanatical capacity to sabotage their own party. They had the liar in chief Johnson because he "was popular in elections". They had the lunatic Truss who single handedly destroyed the economy and we're still recovering. Now we have Rishi who seems to be ignored by half his party and barely accepted by the other half.
Labour has the amazing invisible man as a leader. Does anybody know what he really believes or what his plans are? He has a bunch of wannabes at his heels who have little experience and whose ideas as they been allowed to disclose them, are at best hopelessly optimistic and at worst unachievable. If they get into power, it will need at least three years to sort the wheat from the chaff and have a Cabinet even vaguely fit for purpose.
LD and the others are either the option for the undecided or single issue parties. Do I think the Greens for example have the bandwidth or expertise to run the economy? No.
We look in incredulity at the two candidates for the US president role but are we really much better? |
| Forum
Reply | Leedz pre match chat.
at 10:01 23 May 2024
I think I'd go with Bednarek, THB and Manning.
I'd allow KWP to move forward and ask Downes to play in left midfield in front of Manning who has never impressed me going forward but is solid enough if limited to defensive roles.
I agree that I would not start Brooks. He has not really done enough for me after the first game or two. |
| Forum
Reply | General Election called for Thurs 4th July
at 09:33 23 May 2024
This election has been triggered by a piece of economic news which at face value points towards some improvement but does not really move the dial in terms of pointing toward an improvement in our every day lives.
Elections are always about the economy but this one more than most.
Headline inflation is 2.3%. However service sector inflation is close to 6% and shows little sign of falling soon. So the cost of the can of beans in the shop is going up less quickly, but the cost of getting it there is going up more quickly.
It's also a fact that the key driver to the 2.3% value is reducing oil/gas prices. The Gov't has done absolutely nothing (and do nothing) to influence that price, driven as it is by geopolitics. Claiming credit for a fall in energy prices is pretty desperate.
So would Labour do any better?
Some of their headline economic promises are little more than squalid attempts to capture attention which in practice would be very difficult to achieve.
For example, they want to privatise rail/energy/water without compensating the shareholders. Do they really think that said owners will not fight that? (And no, I don't own any shares in any of those companies).
The also promise a "Value for Money" office and a "Covid Corruption" campaign. The first seeks value for money for taxpayers. Gov't has had something like this for perhaps a century and it's staffed by Civil Servants all afraid to make commercial calls. I've experienced this first hand and I cannot believe that Labour will find the people to make this work within two terms of Gov't let alone one. Covid corruption? That money is long gone and if Labour (or tory) Gov;t recovers more than 25% of it, I'll buy 10 season tickets and give them away.
Headline grabbers without substance - all of the above.
For me it comes down to whether I think the Tories can get rid of their lunatic fringe and bring some stability and longer term planning to the table and Labour who think that they have got rid of their extreme leftie elements (and various discriminatory elements) but do I think they have?
It may also be that in my constituency the only credible opponent of the Tory is the Lib Dem. I would consider voting LD on a tactical basis if I decide that I don't want a Tory as an MP. However in the last election the Tory got 67% of the vote and the LD 17%. That's a huge gap to close.
All the parties however will struggle to break down the "always have" bloc of voters. These are people who "always have" voted Tory/Labour/LD/other and regardless of history, plans, promises, credibility, personal charisma, the good of the nation, etc.
Going to be an interesting ride. |
| Forum
Reply | Che Adams Scared Of Missing Euro's ?
at 09:09 23 May 2024
My two penn'th is that he became a pro football player because he has a modest talent backed by a strong drive and ambition. He has always tested himself at the best level he can find and always wanted to play.
A good showing on Sunday (a hat trick in the first 20 minutes) and he is a sure fire starter for Scotland in their first game. |
| Forum
Thread | Push me- pull you
at 14:15 22 May 2024
I've been struggling with an issue here.
All season I've been saying that RM is, in my opinion, a few percent short of what we need in a manager to get us promoted. He missed out on a top 2 place of course but we are now literally 90 (or 120) minutes from promotion.
I very obviously hope that we win on Sunday but I do worry that RM will feel that he has been vindicated when in my opinion, he will have been lucky.
Lucky because the division this season has had few teams of any quality so his preferred style of play has worked. When we met teams in the second half of the season who had had a chance to work us out, we saw some real problems. RM's fixes for those problems (Captain Jack in midfield, inverted full backs, AA on the wing) have failed to convince.
He needs a Plan B and perhaps several players if we do win on Sunday and then will have a real test in the PL. I am not looking forward to that. |
| Forum
Reply | Russell Martin Sunak
at 13:57 22 May 2024
It's an interesting point.
RM is not just RM. He is the manager of a club and as such has obligations to represent the club. That includes putting what is best for the club over his personal position. If he cannot do that, then he needs to consider his position.
Rishi is also a post holder, one of a long line of them and in due course he will hand over that obligation to another (usually unwillingly). We can respect of the office and role of a PM regardless of the individual.
It has to be observed however that some individuals do their best to abuse the post of PM (Johnson, Truss, Blair in my memory). Does that or should that reduce or remove our respect for the post? Probably not, but we're humans and often separating person and office is not an objective decision we make in real time.
We have other celebrity fans. Would RM refuse to meet them I wonder?
For me this is more about RM's view of himself and putting his ego above the club and - in this case - the PM. Am I surprised? Not really. |
| Forum
Reply | Leedz pre match chat.
at 10:01 22 May 2024
Leeds are a very front foot team. Their strength is in their forward line and even though the manager changed things a little for the games v Norwich, he will still be looking to play on that strength.
They are also fast starters and many of their games see them scoring early. Games in which they don't don't early seem to go into long periods of stalemate with perhaps a few purple patches.
Their forwards are quite "traditional" in that Bamford/Piroe are not going to be making runs into wide places and will rely upon their quicker wingers to do that.
In my view we should take a positive approach here and apply a press to stop the "out" ball to the wingers. Believe in ourselves as being the better team and not worry too much about them. A press probably means outnumbering them in midfield which in turn sort of points to a back three and full backs helping out in midfield.
If that works and we get ahead, then reverting to back four is easy enough.
RM does need to avoid some of the mistakes he's made this season.
If we are a goal up with 20 minutes to go, don't put on a forward (esp, not Mara) but rather a midfielder or defender.
Don't start with Captain Jack in front of a back 3 or 4. He might be decent enough there against lesser quality teams but not Leeds. Bring him on in the last 20 by all means but as a CB.
Start AA in the middle., not on the wing. |
| Forum
Reply | So Russell martin Does Have A Plan B
at 12:00 20 May 2024
So those of us advocating a change to something like he used v WBA have now understood all season how to avoid some of the issues his favoured 4-3-3 system created for this group of players, but when he changes, literally in the Last Chance Saloon, he's a "tactical genius".
Total puff piece without a hint of remorse. |
| | saint901
|
Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 100 | | Comment Votes: | 43 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 143 |
|
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.