Premier League 2020/21 Thread

[Wymsey]

16 minutes ago, Vacamion said:

 

Clubs in the lower reaches of the Premier League, brace yourselves:

 

 

 

 

Palace?

[StanSP]

42 minutes ago, Innovindil said:

It's possible to be disappointed for not finishing top 4 yet happy at the direction the club is heading imo.

 

We've come up short again and it sucks, but this is the second most successful season in our history. There's bigger teams out there (and plenty of smaller ones!) who would kill to have had the season we've had. 

 

39 minutes ago, Babylon said:

We were only 5 points clear of 5th 6 weeks ago and just lost two of our three best players of the season to injury, and everyone knew we had a difficult run in and others an way run in.

 

Sounds to me like some people got ahead of themselves and are now disappointed. Perhaps there is a lesson to learn there.

Coming in here with your perspective. Pfft! 

[don_danbury]

big sam cant take that relegated heat

[Corky]

Five seasons out of 29 in the Premier League that the Big Six has finished as the top six.

 

 

[LCFCbwoi]

Unlike others, I really don’t think it’ll be the end of the world if we don’t get Champions League football, although of course it would be nice.

 

I still think we’ll be able to attract good enough players. We’ve been able to attract Fofana, Castagne and Tielemans without it and as you know, there are enough hidden gems out there in the World of football if we continue to recruit as we have.

 

With the likelihood of the 4th seed there’s no guarantee we’d make it out the group and you’d be lucky to get the away days our fans could of got. Braga, Athens, Prague etc.

 

We’ll be able to continue to focus on the league, as I’m sure we’ll rotate our squad in the Europa, because there is no way our fans would let Rodgers do that in the CL.

 

I’m saying all this and we’ve still got a chance to get CL football, lighten up lads.

 

 

 

 

[Blarmy]

41 minutes ago, ARTY_FOX said:

Genuine question. 

 

Do some of you seriously not take joy from the cup win if we don't finish fourth?? Does that 'spoil' it for you? 

For me they’re separate - but it works both ways. Not finishing fourth won’t detract from my cup win enjoyment one little bit. But likewise, winning the cup isn’t going to stop me feeling hugely disappointed that we’ve capitulated again in the league. 

 

This is because they’re two different competitions with very different rewards.  
 

I don’t get either side of the argument to be honest, and I didn’t get all the “which would you rather get, FA Cup or top 4” talk either.  They’re not mutually exclusive, and neither are my resulting emotions. Chuffed to bits we won the cup, gutted we more than likely won’t get CL.

[foxes_rule1978]

1 minute ago, LCFCbwoi said:

Unlike others, I really don’t think it’ll be the end of the world if we don’t get Champions League football, although of course it would be nice.

 

I still think we’ll be able to attract good enough players. We’ve been able to attract Fofana, Castagne and Tielemans without it and as you know, there are enough hidden gems out there in the World of football if we continue to recruit as we have.

 

With the likelihood of the 4th seed there’s no guarantee we’d make it out the group and you’d be lucky to get the away days our fans could of got. Braga, Athens, Prague etc.

 

We’ll be able to continue to focus on the league, as I’m sure we’ll rotate our squad in the Europa, because there is no way our fans would let Rodgers do that in the CL.

 

I’m saying all this and we’ve still got a chance to get CL football, lighten up lads.

 

 

 

 

Exactly we aren’t going to change our targets just because of CL, we won’t be suddenly going in for Haaland, Kane, Sancho and the like. 

[RoboFox]

Some weird polarisation going on here.

 

You’re allowed to be absolutely fvcking buzzing City have won the FA Cup AND properly miffed that we’re likely to miss out on the Champions League.

 

The two aren’t mutually exclusive.

[Wymsey]

Was hoping @Finnegan's prediction of a 0-3 Liverpool win was going to be jinxed..

[Always Next Year]

2 minutes ago, Corky said:

Five seasons out of 29 in the Premier League that the Big Six has finished as the top six.

 

 

Funny how the so called punishment for the SL breakaway clubs seems to have died, football authorities all mouth and no action, these clubs must be pissing themselves 

[foxile5]

3 minutes ago, Always Next Year said:

Funny how the so called punishment for the SL breakaway clubs seems to have died, football authorities all mouth and no action, these clubs must be pissing themselves 

Oh I said as much last month. Need to stay mad else it's forgotten about. 

 

A bit of a protest and some Champions League final flights paid for and every one has brushed it away. 

[Kendal Fox]

1 minute ago, Blarmy said:

For me they’re separate - but it works both ways. Not finishing fourth won’t detract from my cup win enjoyment one little bit. But likewise, winning the cup isn’t going to stop me feeling hugely disappointed that we’ve capitulated again in the league. 

 

This is because they’re two different competitions with very different rewards.  
 

I don’t get either side of the argument to be honest, and I didn’t get all the “which would you rather get, FA Cup or top 4” talk either.  They’re not mutually exclusive, and neither are my resulting emotions. Chuffed to bits we won the cup, gutted we more than likely won’t get CL.

This is it for me too. 

The reason we appointed Rodgers was so we could treat the various competitions separately and with the consideration required to succeed as a legit, top-flight team, capable of winning things on a routine basis.

 

I'm not sure finishing 5th, 2 years in a row, after almost 3 seasons with him is what most had in mind (if they are being honest) when he was first appointed. It's very frustrating and given the fact we won the PL, just 3 years before he arrived, I don't think it's being ungrateful or unrealistic to expect better by now.

[Corky]

6 minutes ago, Always Next Year said:

Funny how the so called punishment for the SL breakaway clubs seems to have died, football authorities all mouth and no action, these clubs must be pissing themselves 

Was never going to be anything serious.

 

The biggest way they'll be affected now is no European football and the money that comes with it.

[Fightforever]

27 minutes ago, Foxin_Mad said:

Going to lump on Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs double chance Kane to score anytime, that way if the worst happens I have some spending money. I am the shittest unluckiest better ever so nailed on not to be that scenario

****ing hero

[Guest Col city fan]

53 minutes ago, Costock_Fox said:

On shit, how do you edit posts again?

FAOD

😉

[Hoopla10]

13 minutes ago, don_danbury said:

big sam cant take that relegated heat

He had a go, got a bit paid and showed his face in the premier league. Pretty tidy few months. He'll sit on his yacht and wait for the relegation bat signal to go up and rinse and repeat. Nice job if you can get it.

[don_danbury]

1 minute ago, Hoopla10 said:

He had a go, got a bit paid and showed his face in the premier league. Pretty tidy few months. He'll sit on his yacht and wait for the relegation bat signal to go up and rinse and repeat. Nice job if you can get it.

i think it was a mistake from them to let billic go. palace would be my guess but they're in a bad situation imo. they'll end up with either him or lampard and both could end up in relegation 

[Hoopla10]

3 minutes ago, Kendal Fox said:

I'm not sure finishing 5th, 2 years in a row, after almost 3 seasons with him is what most had in mind

I'm curious, what was it people had in mind? (I also noticed you missed out winning the FA cup from that) 

 

It is unrealistic to expect us to finish consistently in the top 4. The fact we've even managed to spend so long in the top 4, even if it's painful that's not where we've finished is insane. We are in no way in a position to compete financially with those clubs that DO consistently finish in the top 4. They finish their for a reason. Money. And us winning the title doesn't change that. Yeah I'd 100% take us finishing in 5th every season with the occasional cup thrown in. I'd bite your hand off to guarantee that. 

[casablancas]

3 minutes ago, Hoopla10 said:

I'm curious, what was it people had in mind? (I also noticed you missed out winning the FA cup from that) 

 

It is unrealistic to expect us to finish consistently in the top 4. The fact we've even managed to spend so long in the top 4, even if it's painful that's not where we've finished is insane. We are in no way in a position to compete financially with those clubs that DO consistently finish in the top 4. They finish their for a reason. Money. And us winning the title doesn't change that. Yeah I'd 100% take us finishing in 5th every season with the occasional cup thrown in. I'd bite your hand off to guarantee that. 

Sense. Thank ****ing you

[Corky]

12 minutes ago, Kendal Fox said:

This is it for me too. 

The reason we appointed Rodgers was so we could treat the various competitions separately and with the consideration required to succeed as a legit, top-flight team, capable of winning things on a routine basis.

 

I'm not sure finishing 5th, 2 years in a row, after almost 3 seasons with him is what most had in mind (if they are being honest) when he was first appointed. It's very frustrating and given the fact we won the PL, just 3 years before he arrived, I don't think it's being ungrateful or unrealistic to expect better by now.

Given we'd finished 12th, 9th and were 13th when he was appointed, getting in the top six was a huge ask. We've done that twice and added a trophy to the cabinet.

 

I understand the frustration at falling away again but let's not change history- we've made huge progress from when he took over.

 

Winning the Premier League (with almost a totally different squad to the one he arrived to) made the teams at the top spend a lot more and make it harder for the likes of ourselves to break in. We are competing with serious businesses here.

[Hoopla10]

4 minutes ago, don_danbury said:

i think it was a mistake from them to let billic go. palace would be my guess but they're in a bad situation imo. they'll end up with either him or lampard and both could end up in relegation 

I agree with you about Billic. I'm not sure about Lampard, I can see him packing it in. It's not a bad move for Palace tbh. Sam has a knack of using the transfer market and they need to inject new players into the team. But it's a big project and whether he can be bothered to put that kind of energy in I don't know. If Palace are serious about progressing personally I'd hire Eddie Howe.

[jammie82uk]

19 minutes ago, Blarmy said:

winning the cup isn’t going to stop me feeling hugely disappointed that we’ve capitulated again in the league. 

Have we really Capitulated? We have had a decent season on the whole, we have broke into the top 5 again, back to back European qualification, 2nd best points return in our history, our longest losing run is 2 games, all this in a crazy truncated season 

 

[Kendal Fox]

4 minutes ago, Hoopla10 said:

I'm curious, what was it people had in mind? (I also noticed you missed out winning the FA cup from that) 

 

It is unrealistic to expect us to finish consistently in the top 4. The fact we've even managed to spend so long in the top 4, even if it's painful that's not where we've finished is insane. We are in no way in a position to compete financially with those clubs that DO consistently finish in the top 4. They finish their for a reason. Money. And us winning the title doesn't change that. Yeah I'd 100% take us finishing in 5th every season with the occasional cup thrown in. I'd bite your hand off to guarantee that. 

My bad, I've acknowledged my satisfaction with the Cup win on several other threads if you want to check.

 

But I'm just not sure that Cup win won't be a slight consolation/excuse for Brendan to get out if the likes of Arsenal offer him a huge deal, with the kind of financial muscle you allude to that we don't have.

 

As for what people had in mind, I'd say at least a sizeable amount thought that if we spent 90% of the time in the Top 4, 2 seasons in a row, we'd at least have the drive to get ourselves over the finish line, the 2nd time of asking, especially with Rodgers at the helm. I agree we don't have the strength in depth of the trad, top 6, but we already proved the mental toughness aspect of the game is just as important when we won the league with a modicum of the value of players we have now. So, we should have at least been able to clinch top 4 this time and I don't think that should be viewed as ungrateful or unrealistic.

[Tom12345]

1 hour ago, Hoopla10 said:

I'm curious, what was it people had in mind? (I also noticed you missed out winning the FA cup from that) 

 

It is unrealistic to expect us to finish consistently in the top 4. The fact we've even managed to spend so long in the top 4, even if it's painful that's not where we've finished is insane. We are in no way in a position to compete financially with those clubs that DO consistently finish in the top 4. They finish their for a reason. Money. And us winning the title doesn't change that. Yeah I'd 100% take us finishing in 5th every season with the occasional cup thrown in. I'd bite your hand off to guarantee that. 

I think many are disappointed not because we spent so much time in the Top 4 but because of the way Rodgers bottled it. We have the players who are capable and doing well. We feel we bottled it because of team selection and tactics. If we lost to the Big Six along the way and dropped out - fine. But the frustration came in because we have beaten them. We have been there with a good lead over fifth. Then we lost to or drew against mid table and bottom half teams at crucial stages because in the main Rodgers couldn’t get the team firing with his conservative approach and mindset.  We lost to Newcastle. We drew against 10 men Southampton by playing slow build-up possession football. We scored 3 goals against WBA in first half, but Rodgers didn’t like it and loved the second half where we “controlled” the game but created next to nothing. Against Chelsea, we were screaming for Rodgers to start in form Nacho with Vardy to stretch Chelsea up down the pitch and also to play 4 at the back to stop Chelsea keep dragging Fofana and Soyuncu out wide to expose us through the middle. They were slicing us open because of Rodger’s tactics.  We lost because of that. It wasn’t the players.

 

So the point is that we have the squad to finish the job, but in my view Rodger’s approach stifled us. 

 

We got a chance last year but bottled it.

 

This year, same. This year, Liverpool were severely affected by injuries. Chelsea were transitioning after Lampard and the transfer ban. Arsenal still rebuilding. Covid. We will likely not get another chance before our squad gets picked on by others because we cant offer CL football.

 

To me this is on Rodgers (to clarify, I mean in terms of the bottling; overall I still prefer him to be coach but really hope that he can learn that having a go and keeping up with winning mentality is very important (ask Ferguson, Guardiola and Klopp) and attacking is the best way to defend (so many times when we do a negative sub we invite pressure)).

Edited 19 May 2021 by Tom12345

[Kendal Fox]

28 minutes ago, Corky said:

Given we'd finished 12th, 9th and were 13th when he was appointed, getting in the top six was a huge ask. We've done that twice and added a trophy to the cabinet.

 

I understand the frustration at falling away again but let's not change history- we've made huge progress from when he took over.

 

Winning the Premier League (with almost a totally different squad to the one he arrived to) made the teams at the top spend a lot more and make it harder for the likes of ourselves to break in. We are competing with serious businesses here.

Oh absolutely. I just feel we should have had enough to drive ourselves over the finish-line to CL football. this time.

And whilst the team is 60% plus different to the title winning side of 2016, it is very worrying to me that we don't seem to have even 25% of the mental toughness we had that year. I really thought we'd turned the corner earlier this year but no.

Nobody is more angry about the almost illegal amounts of money that the bought teams are allowed to get away with, the obvious bias in favour of them by the media and referees, etc. It is so unspontaneous when they fill the top spots and they will never understand the essence of the meaning we created when we won in 2016.

 

But the fact is we have the most technically proficient manager in our history and technically, much more gifted players, if a little selfish, than 5 years ago, so we should be at least securing 4th place by now. 

 

 

Edited 19 May 2021 by Kendal Fox