Premier League 2019/20

[Colly]

God, the worst game I've ever watched at Newcastle was home to Bolton just after Sam got sacked by us and Megson was their manager. Two Allardyce teams ignoring the ball for 90 minutes before the inevitable 0-0 final score.

[The Lusophone]

No idea what the BBC is thinking with one inclusion in their 'team of the season', but it's pissed some people off royally and that's fun.

Spoiler

 

[Baddar]

Aye, how the fuck is Henderson there? 👀

[METALMAN]

Yeah it's a bit weird to extend the "big six" backwards as if it has always existed given that Man City have been outside the top flight for a while and Tottenham were pretty bobbins until the late 2000s (and may, of course, be returning to their natural position). 

But yes, Alan Shearer, though he won the league with Blackburn and finished top four with Newcastle a bunch of times, has got to be the best player not to have played for *that* top six, without question. I'd also be inclined to toss in Nigel Martyn, although he obviously played for a very good Leeds team.

Edited May 7, 2020 by metalman

[The Lusophone]

4 minutes ago, Baddar said:

Aye, how the fuck is Henderson there? 👀

[Lineker]

Quote

Watford have joined Aston Villa and Brighton in voicing objections to the Premier League’s plan to play out the season at neutral venues on police advice, claiming it would be unfair to relegate clubs on the basis of a competition that “bears no resemblance to the one that was started”.

Sitting just above the bottom three when the league was suspended and uncomfortably aware Villa could leapfrog them if they play and win their game in hand, Watford were due to play five of their remaining nine fixtures at Vicarage Road and feel that being deprived of home advantage could affect the number of points they gather.

The club chairman and chief executive, Scott Duxbury, will tell representatives of other Premier League clubs at a conference call meeting on Mondaythat several clubs are unhappy at the prospect of finishing the season under new conditions.

“I absolutely accept that we cannot have supporters in the stadium in the present situation, but being unable to play our remaining home games at Vicarage Road, with the familiarity and advantage that brings, could end a small club like Watford’s time in the Premier League. Would that be fair? Or have any resemblance of sporting integrity? Of course not.”

No vote is expected to be taken on Monday, but one is likely to be held a week later. Under Premier League rules a minimum of 14 clubs must be in favour of any proposal for change, so it would take at least seven dissenting voices to prevent the so-called Project Restart plan being adopted. Every club would prefer to play the remaining home games at their own stadiums, though most are willing to bow to police advice and health considerations.

The principal advantages of neutral venues from a policing point of view are that supporters are less likely to congregate outside, and several games can be played in succession at the same ground, thereby speeding up the rate at which the remaining 92 games can be completed and reducing the burden on supervisory and safety staff.

While only three clubs having gone public with their concerns, it is feasible that the present bottom six, if not more, will share Duxbury’s fear of being relegated through an artificial process. West Ham were initially thought to be in favour of scrapping the season and relegation with it, though the chief executive Karren Brady now says that while clubs on the brink are understandably concerned about giving up home advantage, “everyone will need to make compromises”.

Duxbury is hoping some of the higher-placed clubs will sympathise with Watford’s position, even though he clearly has a robust understanding of the league’s realpolitik. “There is no altruism in the Premier League, there are 20 different vested interests,” he said. “That is why some clubs are happy to sign up to Project Restart because arguably there is only an upside for most. It means Liverpool can win the title and others can book their place in Europe.

“But when at least six clubs – and I suspect more – are concerned about the clear downside of playing in a distorted nine-game mini-league, then I believe the Premier League has a duty of care to address those concerns. To wave aside all the fears is too simplistic, the season must be ended safely and fairly.”

Relegation fears apart, Brighton’s technical director and former Football Association planner, Dan Ashworth, believes many clubs in Leagues One and Two will struggle to survive if, as expected, those seasons are scrapped in coming weeks. “If there is a shortage of money everybody will have to cut their cloth accordingly,” he said. “It may be necessary for clubs to groundshare, for example.

“One of the things we explored during my time at the FA was the concept of B teams, strategic loans clubs or partner clubs. In this sort of crisis we have to look at ways of sharing resources and helping one another and maybe ideas like that come back on the table.”

[Lineker]

[The Lusophone]

Imagine not including a single player from before 1988.

[Colly]

"Of the Premier League era".

[Gazz]

I remember when they invented football in 1992. Little eight year old me made myself a football out of the back of my parent's leather sofa, took it down the garden, dribbled around a few plant pots and then blooted a strike straight through one of the greenhouse windows. That was the end of my Premier League dream...

[METALMAN]

Also the aware was very different before the 90s. Only Europeans could win it. The President of Liberia was the first non-European to win I think.

[Colly]

The confusing bit for me is going for the Ballon D'or rather than the FIFA World Player of the Year or whatever. They do tend to correlate, and there's the 6 years where they're the same thing, but an interesting choice.

[gunnar hendershow]

Ballon D'Or sounds more prestigious because it's in French even if it literally translates to Golden Ball which doesn't sound prestigious at all.

[Malenko]

Not just before the 90s. It was like that up to and including 1994.

 

26 minutes ago, Colly said:

The confusing bit for me is going for the Ballon D'or rather than the FIFA World Player of the Year or whatever. They do tend to correlate, and there's the 6 years where they're the same thing, but an interesting choice.

I think it's fair. The ballon d'or was always awarded by football media, people who actually have to watch the game. It has always been the only relevant award in European football.

 

FIFA world player of the year besides being created in the 90s when the balon d'or had been around for more than 30 years, was the result of a vote between national team managers in the first few years.

I don't want to sound disrespectful but whoever Tonga's manager was at the time would get a vote and he didn't even need to have watched any european football the whole year. He probably did, but still. Balon d'or votes came from people who are literally paid to watch all the most important leagues and cups. It will always be subjective but at least it's an opinion based on something that you've seen and followed the whole year.

There was even one year the Saudi Manager voted for 3 Saudis on his top 3. It was always a popularity vote rather than an award based on ability and performance.

There was a clear tendency to see guys doing well on the FIFA award the year after they had done well in the balon d'or award and sometimes the second year wasn't even a great year for them.

[Gazz]

9 minutes ago, Malenko said:

I don't want to sound disrespectful but whoever Tonga's manager was at the time would get a vote and he didn't even need to have watched any european football the whole year. He probably did, but still. Balon d'or votes came from people who are literally paid to watch all the most important leagues and cups. It will always be subjective but at least it's an opinion based on something that you've seen and followed the whole year.

Is it?

Because last year, the Cameroon vote was five Liverpool players and Sri Lanka's was TAA, Auba, Greizmann, Lewandowski and ter Stegen. Hugo Lloris was on one person's ballot and he hasn't had a good game this side of his drink driving conviction.

[Malenko]

The rules have changed of course and I don't mean to say people don't know who they're voting for, but the fact is they don't "need" to. 

Also, I'm assuming you disagree but I won't comment on those ballots, sorry. I wouldn't risk naming the top 5 players in the world right now because I definitely don't watch enough football anymore, so I'm just assuming you meant national team managers have better selections than sports writers.

I won't comment on the last couple of years but if we're taking into account the whole premier league era, I feel it's fair. I don't mean there's a huge difference or anything. I don't mean one's perfect and the other's garbage, I just feel it's fair to pick that one considering its history and rules.

[Colly]

1 hour ago, damsher hatfield said:

Ballon D'Or sounds more prestigious because it's in French even if it literally translates to Golden Ball which doesn't sound prestigious at all.

Says you.

[Lineker]

Quote

The Premier League faces a week of chaos after hopes of government direction on Project Restart were dashed by the prime minister.

A week ago expectations for a green light had been high after positive noises from senior politicians on the return of sport. But as the league convenes another extraordinary meeting of its 20 clubs on Monday morning, it is no closer to being given clearance to resume playing.

Addressing the nation on Sunday night, Boris Johnson did not mention professional sport or its resumption. This despite remarks from the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, two weeks ago that the Premier League should return “as soon as possible”, a remark that had raised the hopes of officials.

The league has always insisted it would be led by government on any resumption. It is understood that government guidance on the return of professional sport, from a working group led by the UK Sport chief executive, Sally Munday, is still being written.

A virtual meeting had been scheduled with clubs for last Friday, the day after the government was expected to review lockdown restrictions. When the prime minister confirmed an address for Sunday the Premier League agreed to convene on Monday.

The meeting will take place with no new information bar a general instruction from the prime minister that people should “work from home if you can … but you should go to work if you can’t work from home”. The only mention of the word sport came with reference to playing outside with “members of your own household”.

Dowden later tweeted: “In the least risky outdoor environments, we can imminently allow some sports activity like golf, basketball, tennis, fishing – solo/in households,” adding “guidance to follow”.

Monday’s meeting will bring together clubs increasingly at loggerheads over several problems. First among the concerns remains the safety of players, staff and all those associated with plans to play the remaining 92 fixtures of the 2019-20 season.

The league’s medical protocol remains unfinished but a draft is expected to be presented to clubs for their consideration before further discussions with the League Managers Association and the Professional Footballers’ Association later in the day.

The plans are likely to come under more intense scrutiny after Brighton, one of the clubs most outspoken against the proposed return, revealed that a third member of their squad had tested positive for Covid-19. The news came as there were also positive tests amongst players in Germany and Spain, leagues which are further along the path to resumption.

If the medical protocol is agreed it will likely be put to a vote later in the week, with the timescale assigned to Project Restart requiring a return to group training by 18 May.

It is not the only problem expected to provoke fierce debate, with players’ contracts and the use of neutral venues also set to take centre stage in what is expected to be a lengthy meeting.

[Benjamin]

21 hours ago, Malenko said:

I wouldn't risk naming the top 5 players in the world right now

It’s easy. You follow the Cameroonian’s vote 

[METALMAN]

I’d be hesitant to name the current top five players, but it’s pretty obvious Ally McCoist is going to be there somewhere.