EPL 2024-2025 Discussion Thread

[OakMtn4Bama]

Manchester United moves on to a new manager. Who is the right choice for them going forward?

Joao Pereira from Sporting Portugal. (they hope) What a mess.

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

International break. Liverpool cruising, but it could get interesting if they falter a little.

 

[Windsortide]

Joao Pereira from Sporting Portugal. (they hope) What a mess.

Don’t think he will last long. Long term solution may be Neville, Frank Lampard,or Steven Gerrard.

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

Pep signed an extension. Can't blame him , but I had an idea that he was getting ready to move on. Maybe the financial fair play stuff is going to blow over.

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

Don't closely study Man City, but am wondering what all is up with them? Injuries maybe.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

My son and l attended Brighton and Hove Albion at Ipswich game, five rows behind the goal. Brighton won, 2-0.

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

EPL winding down. Going to be a major dogfight for the remaining CL spots. Chelsea and Aston Villa both have games today.

 

[bravo6]

EPL winding down. Going to be a major dogfight for the remaining CL spots. Chelsea and Aston Villa both have games today.

Villa beat Tottenham.

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

Liverpool wins it
2. Arsenal locked into 2nd with 71 pts.
3.Newcastle 66
4. Chelsea 66
5. Aston Villa 66
6. Man City 65 with a game in hand
7. Nottingham Forest 65

Chelsea plays Forest
AV plays Man United
Newcastle plays Everton
Man City plays Fulham

Doesn't get much tighter than that! They nearly all could be 3rd to 7th in one day.

 

[bravo6]

Really hoped that Forest would hold on to a Champions League spot, but they've had a great season regardless.

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

Really hoped that Forest would hold on to a Champions League spot, but they've had a great season regardless.

If they beat Chelsea, they might well get in.

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

it’s over!
1. Liverpool
2. Asenal
3. Man City
4. Chelsea

What a day. Thought Nottingham would make it. Thought for sure Villa would beat MU. Down to the last day again. A match dropped in August counts the same as today.
Another great year.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

My beloved Ipswich......back to the ECL.

We'll be back.

The difference in the PL and the CL is the last 30 minutes of the game. Time and time again - against MOST foes not named Manchester City, Ipswich was (usually) IN THE GAME for the first 60 minutes.

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

My beloved Ipswich......back to the ECL.

We'll be back.

The difference in the PL and the CL is the last 30 minutes of the game. Time and time again - against MOST foes not named Manchester City, Ipswich was (usually) IN THE GAME for the first 60 minutes.

They will be back

 

[bravo6]

They will be back

They seem to be much better prepared for relegation than Luton was.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

They will be back

The whole thing is sort of weird to me.

I became an Ipswich fan when I lived there in 1975-78. Specifically, I became a fan of them starting in November and - here's an irony for you - the morning after they lost to Manchester City in the League Cup Round 4. Just by chance, 1978 was the year Ipswich stunned everybody by winning the F.A. Cup back when that really meant something.

I recall just three years ago this team was in the THIRD DIVISION (that's what it used to be called) and they got promoted and promoted again...and I knew the PL was going to be a tough row to hoe.

1) We needed a goal in stoppage time to DRAW Southampton in September.
2) Lousy officiating cost us three points at Brentford (that's 3)
3) Leicester City tied us in stoppage time (that's 2 points)
4) Bournemouth scored two goals in the last four minutes (that's another 3)
5) Fulham tied us in the final minute (that's another 2)
6) Southampton beat us the second time with 3 minutes left (that's 2)
7) Crystal Palace beat us, 1-0, with a goal 8 minutes from the end
8) Both Wolves goals in the rematch were after the 70 minute mark
9) Chelsea tied in the rematch with 11 minutes left


Now - even if we had gotten the ten points above, that would not have ensured our avoiding relegation; however, maybe just maybe if we aren't gone in April, we don't play as poorly or lose as badly down the stretch, either.

But I figured out in the first two matches that the difference in the PL and the ECL is the last 30 minutes of the game and the depth to win those contests. Once we got dunked by Liverpool and Man City, I figured we'd have to run up the points with wins over Southampton, Leicester, Wolves, and Fulham.

We actually gave Southampton one of their two wins.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

 

[bravo6]

The whole thing is sort of weird to me.

I became an Ipswich fan when I lived there in 1975-78. Specifically, I became a fan of them starting in November and - here's an irony for you - the morning after they lost to Manchester City in the League Cup Round 4. Just by chance, 1978 was the year Ipswich stunned everybody by winning the F.A. Cup back when that really meant something.

I recall just three years ago this team was in the THIRD DIVISION (that's what it used to be called) and they got promoted and promoted again...and I knew the PL was going to be a tough row to hoe.

1) We needed a goal in stoppage time to DRAW Southampton in September.
2) Lousy officiating cost us three points at Brentford (that's 3)
3) Leicester City tied us in stoppage time (that's 2 points)
4) Bournemouth scored two goals in the last four minutes (that's another 3)
5) Fulham tied us in the final minute (that's another 2)
6) Southampton beat us the second time with 3 minutes left (that's 2)
7) Crystal Palace beat us, 1-0, with a goal 8 minutes from the end
8) Both Wolves goals in the rematch were after the 70 minute mark
9) Chelsea tied in the rematch with 11 minutes left


Now - even if we had gotten the ten points above, that would not have ensured our avoiding relegation; however, maybe just maybe if we aren't gone in April, we don't play as poorly or lose as badly down the stretch, either.

But I figured out in the first two matches that the difference in the PL and the ECL is the last 30 minutes of the game and the depth to win those contests. Once we got dunked by Liverpool and Man City, I figured we'd have to run up the points with wins over Southampton, Leicester, Wolves, and Fulham.

We actually gave Southampton one of their two wins.

I read an article on that a couple of days ago on one of the British sports sites that I follow. My favorite team seems to always find a way to lose in the last 10 minutes plus stoppage time, so without new ownership, we are stuck in the Championship indefinitely, because it's been a glaring issue for a few seasons now, even with new management.

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

In the EPL the difference between the best team and the worst is usually a superhuman striker that can score in the clutch. The defenses outshine any other league. You have to fight and claw for 90 plus minutes, no matter whom you are playing just to have a chance.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I read an article on that a couple of days ago on one of the British sports sites that I follow. My favorite team seems to always find a way to lose in the last 10 minutes plus stoppage time, so without new ownership, we are stuck in the Championship indefinitely, because it's been a glaring issue for a few seasons now, even with new management.

I don't think we're Luton, and McKenna appears to me to be a bright up and comer.

But I want you to look at what happens when you WIN at Ipswich:

1) In 1955, Ipswich had been relegated to the Third Division (they'd never been top flight at that time) and hired Alf Ramsey. Two years later, they were promoted to Second. Three years after that, they finished first in the Second and got promoted. THE VERY NEXT YEAR (1961-62), Ipswich became the first team ever to win the Second Division and get promoted and then win the FIRST Division their first season in the league.

So what happened?

"If you can do that at Ipswich, you can manage the national team." And Alf Ramsey became the England national coach and they won the 1966 World Cup. Ipswich, meanwhile, went back to nearly as bad as they were. Ramsey took over England in May 1963 and Ipswich were relegated at the end of 1963-64 back to the second division.

2) Bobby Robson came to town in 1969 as the new manager. They'd just been promoted back to First and Manager Bill McGarry just walked out one day and took over at Wolves. After building the infrastructure for a team, Ipswich became one of the best clubs - without any hardware - in England.

1973 - 4th place, won Texaco Cup
1974 - 4th place
1975 - 3rd place, lost FA Cup Semi-Final after having two goals disallowed and a replay.
1976 - 6th place
1977 - 3rd place
1978 - fell to 18th mostly due to injuries but won the FA Cup. (Seriously - almost every starter including the goalie missed time with injuries and their lead scoring threat missed 1/2 the season).
1979 - 6th place
1980 - 3rd place


1981 - won UEFA Cup, 2nd place (by 4 points)

In 1981, Ipswich were leading the league on March 18, but because they won the UEFA Cup and advanced to the FA Cup semi-final, they faced a backlog of rescheduled games in the final seven weeks of the season. Worn out, Ipswich collapsed in the league and lost 7 of their last 10 league games to finish four points behind Aston Villa.


OH.....and then England chose Bobby Robson.



Every time Ipswich gets really good, someone takes their manager.