Official Premier League 2010/11 thread

[stokeriño]

Cue a thousand paranoid "Rafa Benitez to Chelsea" fears from our fans.

[Baddar]

My mate just told me that a thread was created over at F365 titled "FAO Liverpool fans" - here's what was inside;

[therockbox]

Very witty.

[brenchill]

I know they're not the most fashionable side but I don't know how anyone can say Wigan are "undeserving." When they first came up they were every bit the darlings of the league that Blackpool were this season only difference being they managed to stay up.

They lost fewer games than Liverpool this season who finished 6th, for that alone they deserved to stay up. Credit where credit is due.

Except they couldn't fill their stadium and they played awful football, no they weren't the same as Blackpool. People use the word undeserving for the want of a better word, quite clearly they do deserve to be in the Premier League as they won promotion fairly and have managed to stay in the Premier League fairly, but the point is they're punching well above their weight and it's really annoying. Plus Dave Whelan's a cunt.

They finished 16th, I'd hardly say they were punching above their weight. The only thing they managed to punch above was the rest of the dross in the league, and that was probably their goal at the beginning of the season.

[Gazz]

That's quite clearly photoshopped, the two guys on the left hand side are the same person.

[Baddar]

Very witty.

Yeah. I thought so too.

[GoGo Yubari]

That was pretty dumb.

[IAceI]

It almost looks fake, looks like the cover art for an album or a DVD or something. ¬_¬

[britneyspearsisgod]

Don't worry - Liverpool exact their revenge next year

[Lineker]

Stupid, stupid Chelsea.

[stokeriño]

Stupid, stupid Chelsea.

+1

[Sam]

I'm hoping they hire Avram and he makes it a hat trick of relegations

[Adam]

I know they're not the most fashionable side but I don't know how anyone can say Wigan are "undeserving." When they first came up they were every bit the darlings of the league that Blackpool were this season only difference being they managed to stay up.

They lost fewer games than Liverpool this season who finished 6th, for that alone they deserved to stay up. Credit where credit is due.

Except they couldn't fill their stadium and they played awful football, no they weren't the same as Blackpool. People use the word undeserving for the want of a better word, quite clearly they do deserve to be in the Premier League as they won promotion fairly and have managed to stay in the Premier League fairly, but the point is they're punching well above their weight and it's really annoying. Plus Dave Whelan's a cunt.

And apparently Andre Villas Boas is the front runner for the Chelsea job, assuming Hiddink doesn't want it. Will Abramovich really trust a young manager who's never even managed in the Champions League to spend a lot of money?

Size...of...crowds...does...not...matter. Thought even Leeds fans were starting to understand this?

I quite like Wigan. Martinez goes about things the right way and I'm glad they've stayed up for another year. They've done remarkably well to retain top flight status for 6 years now.

[Baddar]

The only thing I like about Wigan is Martinez, really.

But, agreed on the "crowd size does not matter" thing - I mean, Man City find it hard to fill their stadium unless the fans see that it's against "Manchester United".

[Summers]

Ancelotti wants to stay in England? He's welcome at the Villa.

[Dynamite]

Don't understand people saying Wigan are 'undeserving' of their place in the Premiership. They got more points than Blackpool over 38 games therefore deserve to be ahead of them in the league. It doesn't matter that Blackpool played 'the most entertaining football', they also went from 8th place on New Years Day to finishing 19th. I'd fancy them to get relegated next year if N'Zogbia and Rodallega leave though.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Is it 'bad' to grind out a draw from the second half onwards if you manage to achieve a point that keeps you up?

If so, then why are top-whatever teams so utterly defensive whenever they play each other? And why is it somehow less 'bad' if Arsenal and Manchester United slog it out to a draw where no-one bothers to attack after 70 minutes, but horrifying if one of those teams was Stoke?

Often I'll see people talking about how if Blackburn had attacked more when they were drawing with Manchester United then they'd have been able to win the game. This point is often talked up by Manchester United fans who accuse Blackburn of spoiling the gamesmanship. In reality, if Blackburn had began to attack then they'd have been mercilessly ripped apart on the counter. Then you see the true intentions of why a Manchester United fan would want to see the opposition attack more.

I like attacking football and I'd like to see more attacking teams... but at the end of the day if a defensive team manages to stay up ahead of an attacking one, then it's not really a case of them being less deserving competitors.

(And yes, I am aware that loads of other teams fans do this, but it's just a recent example that I can remember. Most of these sorts of matches end up being pretty forgetful for some reason or another...)

[britneyspearsisgod]

It's a bit like wrestling - on the technicalities, yes Wigan have edged others to stay up. But on constant performances from Wigan, they are the chicken-shit heel who squeezes out a win right at the death. I'm not bothered about the supporters (or lack thereof). What bothers me is that even with their resources, they still don't do shit and amaze me that they still manage to stay up.

Alright, my earlier choice of words were incorrect. Who deserves to stay up and who doesn't is pretty much reflected on how the season actually finishes. But given Birmingham won the League Cup, qualified for Europe and lost, whilst Blackpool took the game to many top level teams and were unlucky to leave with a loss against Man Utd today, how Wigan manage to get spanked by half the teams in the league at times and survive is beyond me.

But hey, maybe they'll surprise me next season and actually start performing.

[9 to 5]

Cue a thousand paranoid "Rafa Benitez to Chelsea" fears from our fans.

he has been the clear favourite to be the next manager of our lot for yonks now.

[IAceI]

Beckford putting a strike out for a throw-in and then later scoring an absolute peach. wow