The Barclays Premier League thread 2015/2016

[FLiam]

The North London derby has suddenly become most likely the biggest North London derby in history.

Even bigger than those times we won it there. Twice I think it was.

Just seen a replay of Drinkwater's tackle on Ramsey as well. An absolute shocker, not sure how he didn't see red for that. Ramsey came within a whisker of having a second leg break.

[METALMAN]

Pretty much every other year I would have thought it would have been a nice change for a team like Tottenham to be challenging for the league. But if they win it this year and ruin it for Leicester I won't be happy with them at all.

[Cheeky Hughes]

I'm just here for the obligatory 'it was the ref what did it'

[Lineker]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/14/aston-villa-liverpool-premier-league-match-report

Quote

A team supposedly fighting for its life rolled over and died at Villa Park. To add insult to injury, the Villa defender and fan Joleon Lescott tweeted a photo of a top-of-the-range Mercedes S63 shortly after the final whistle (below right), later claiming he had done so by accident as “it happened whilst driving and my phone was in my pocket”. The sense it left, however, is that he is detached and uninterested, just like Villa’s defending.

Sure Joleon, super easy mistake to make.

[Steeb]

Guy's a fucking joke. That's up there with Kim Kardashian's 'North managed to Instagram this photo of me, she's so clever, lol' bullshit. Collymore can fuck off with his defending of it too. Mistake or not, he deserves to be called out in the harshest terms for it.

The whole team are a shambles at the minute. Not a man looks like he gives a shit. They seem happy enough to just grab the paycheck, clock in, and stand around essentially.

It's just depressing talking about Villa at the moment. I can't see any other outcome than dropping like a stone through the leagues at the minute.

[Benji]

8 hours ago, Lineker said:

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/14/aston-villa-liverpool-premier-league-match-report

Sure Joleon, super easy mistake to make.

I... what? Does he have a phone from 2003 or something?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Maybe he should spend more time considering that it's very likely he'll be playing two league games against BURTON later this year.

[Whisper]

So if we could sack LVG soon that'd be greeeaaattt.

Honestly don't know what the board are waiting for at this point. I was his most ardent defender last season/earlier this season, but you can't spend as much as he has and fail to improve on last season.

The best part is 5th actually flatters us at the moment. We deserve to be much lower that that, and probably will be once the thrilling Thursday night trips kick in.

Either bring Mourinho in and give him the rest of the season to settle in/prepare for next season, or just give Giggs a run until the end of the season. At least get a good feeling back around the club.

Personally, I would just get Jose in now. Who knows, the short term 'new manager effect' could at least bring about a decent run in the FA Cup or Europa League. With LVG in charge we will no doubt go out of both with a whimper.

[FLiam]

Isn't LvG staying for as long as possible the best possible option though? Please?

[DavidMarrio]

I can't wait for Mourinho to go to United and fuck off after 2/3 seasons when things don't start going his way

[Baddar]

I just can't see the benefit in keeping LVG until the end of the season now. We aren't getting 4th. It's not happening. Mathematically, sure, it's possible, but we're far too inconsistent to make up the gap. His "philosophy" seems to work fine against big teams for the most part, but his stubbornness to change things up against teams we should be taking it to is costing us big time.

[Benji]

I suppose there's the issue of not "tarnishing" Giggs for one day being the big boss man if he has a bad run, as little a concern as that probably is.

Admittedly there's very little recent history to go on, but it doesn't seem like a Man U thing to do to let a manager go without seeing the season out.

[Whisper]

14 minutes ago, David Marrio said:

I can't wait for Mourinho to go to United and fuck off after 2/3 seasons when things don't start going his way

If his first 2 seasons are as successful as they usually are, then I'm sure most fans would take that in a heartbeat, over what we have right now.

[stokeriño]

If United are going to bring Mourinho in, the sooner the better I say. That way it will give Mata a few months to remember what it was like and he can come back to us in the summer.  

[Whisper]

7 minutes ago, stokeriño said:

If United are going to bring Mourinho in, the sooner the better I say. That way it will give Mata a few months to remember what it was like and he can come back to us in the summer.  

This is actually my one major worry with Jose (likely) coming in.

I bloody love Mata, Jose's contract needs to include a "keep Mata forever" clause.

Wonderful man.

[stokeriño]

I have my 'MATA 10' shirt from 2013 just waiting to reemerge from the wardrobe...  

[Benji]

IT DOESN'T MATA WHAT YOU WANT.

Sorry

[stokeriño]

If Physics has taught us anything, it's that every particle has an opposite so a Universe which contains Mata was always going to contain Anti-Mata (Jose) as well.

[Noah]

1 hour ago, Whisper said:

So if we could sack LVG soon that'd be greeeaaattt.

Honestly don't know what the board are waiting for at this point. I was his most ardent defender last season/earlier this season, but you can't spend as much as he has and fail to improve on last season.

The best part is 5th actually flatters us at the moment. We deserve to be much lower that that, and probably will be once the thrilling Thursday night trips kick in.

Either bring Mourinho in and give him the rest of the season to settle in/prepare for next season, or just give Giggs a run until the end of the season. At least get a good feeling back around the club.

Personally, I would just get Jose in now. Who knows, the short term 'new manager effect' could at least bring about a decent run in the FA Cup or Europa League. With LVG in charge we will no doubt go out of both with a whimper.

As unrealistic as I feel top 4 is now, Mad Jack still technically had a point before. City lost and even though Arsenal and Spurs are further out of reach, we are still really no further back from that top 4, than we were going into the weekend.

The people that make the decisions would currently be thinking "Why sack him now? We're still only 2 games back and City have a hard run home, with a few extra games in various competitions to tire themselves out in. So clearly Van Gaal can still do it and if he does we don't have to admit we were wrong."

[Lineker]

Manchester United will honour Sir Bobby Charlton by naming Old Trafford’s South Stand after the England World Cup winner.

Charlton, who won three league titles, an FA Cup and the club’s first European Cup, in 1968, joined Manchester United as an apprentice in 1956 and went on to play over 758 times, scoring a club-record 249 goals. He also won the Ballon d’Or in 1966.

The stand’s new name will be unveiled at the Everton match on 2 April and will be attended by key figures from Charlton’s life in football.

“This is a great honour and I am very proud – for myself and my family – that the club has chosen to name the South Stand after me. Manchester United has been such an important part of my life and I have so many wonderful memories of this Theatre of Dreams,” said Charlton, a survivor of the Munich air disaster, which claimed the lives of eight of his United team-mates in 1958.

“As a player, I remember the goals and the marvellous players I played with. As a director, I have seen some outstanding matches and players. It is a special place indeed.”

The 78-year-old was England’s all-time leading scorer until Wayne Rooney broke his record of 49 goals last year and was knighted for his services to football in 1994.

United’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, said: “Bobby is quite simply the most iconic figure in English football history. A player, a diplomat, a gentleman and a tireless worker for charity, he represents everything that is good about football and Manchester United.

“It has been a privilege to know him and humbling to work alongside him for the last 10 years. Renaming the South Stand, which contains both the directors’ box and the old players’ changing rooms, is a fitting tribute to all that Bobby has contributed to the club both as a player and a director.”

Manchester United named the North Stand after Sir Alex Ferguson in 2011.