The premiership

Aurelien · Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 9:46 am Post subject:

Yeah, it's a weird name. Baggies ... I wonder why they don't play in baggy pants. That'd suit their name. Har har har ... I iz so funny </sarcasm> hehehehe. I think I only like Jason Koumas there (is he even still there btw? Not really following those darn baggers).

Andy Johnson should try to join Boro so they could have a decent striker (and especially great penalty taker .. though the one he missed was against Charlton earlier that cost them the precious point T__T ) while Johnson could taste the European competition. How much do you reckon he's worth? I wouldn't go anywhere higher than 6 million poundsterling. He's not really *that* proven yet, and it's quite a fact that he scored 10 goals on penalty (so that's *only* 12 goals not from penalty). But we'll see. Hopefully he'd gain some playing time during the England US tour and showed what he's really all about.
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Exile · Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 9:53 am Post subject:

Aiyegbeni Yakubu is supposedly heading to 'Boro for Â£6.5 million, so that would rule out Johnson unless they failed to get him.

Dowie says it's not certain that he'll go but that seems to be wishful thinking, none of the other relegation teams in the past have kept their best players, why should Palace be different in this case?

I think the possibilities are numerous for him, 12 is still a decent goal scoring total, Hasselbaink got 16 through the year and he's a pretty proven prem striker having finished right near the top for goalscoring for several years. Johnson's pretty young and in some ways I hope he stays at Palace, it would be nice to see some loyalty in football but that would hurt his England chances I suppose and I want him to have the opportunity there too. I suppose it all remains to be seen anyway, it will be interesting to see where the chips fall.
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Aurelien · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 1:12 am Post subject:

Yeah, Yakubu has officially joined Boro for 6.5 million poundsterling. Johnson would have no need to move there then =( okay maybe join Bolton if they failed to get Diouf on permanent deal? Who knows.

While yeah, 12 goals is still a decent number, I just don't think that it's as good as the total of 22 (if you count the 10 penalty goals) that would make him join the "20+ goal/season" kind of player (as if he's on par with the likes of Henry, RVN, Owen a few years ago).

But I hope that Andy Johnson would keep on improving because at the moment, England has either "big forward" (ala Heskey and Crouch if he got in) or "small speedy" forward (ala Owen, Defoe, Vassell) or "play behind the forward" forward (ala Rooney) That's not good, they need to have someone in between that isn't too big, but not too small either that could play up front. Hopefully Andy Johnson would be the answer to that.

EDIT: And how about David Moyes winning the Manager of the Year? I personally think that it's a load of bollocks. While yes what he achieved (being fourth and practically a qualifying spot on Champions League) with a tight budget, losing their best player (Wayne Rooney and then Thomas Gravesen) is something big, it doesn't really show his greatness.

Everton were only able to finish fourth because of the inability of the chasing pack to leap over them. In a sense, they're just the least crap out of the craps. We're talking about the team that got beaten 7-0 by Arsenal a few weeks ago, then beaten once again 2-3 by 10-man Bolton at the end of the season a few days ago.

How he deserves the Manager of the Year title ahead of Jose Mourinho really flabbergasted me. It doesn't really make sense. Mourinho is in Chelsea for the first time. First season, and he gave the club 2 trophies (Premier League, and League Cup) and making it to the Semi Final of the Champions League. How is that rated under David Moyes' Everton that being fourth is their only achievement?

Yes, quality of the players you might say. But isn't that the point of you trying to have the best players in your team? Is Mourinho being punished because his team is "too good"? Are we supposed to change it into a "let's see who can do the best with crap players" contest rather than finding out the best team/manager?
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Exile · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 5:36 am Post subject:

Aurelien · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 6:56 am Post subject:

Well I personally hope that Mourinho and Chelsea would continue get success next year so he could get what he deserved this year by claiming the Manager of the Year title.

And upon further debate in my brain, I find it a bit hypocritical Moyes ended up ahead of even the likes of Arsene Wenger, Alex Ferguson, and Rafael Benitez considering the achievements of those three are still more than what Moyes got. They might have failed to achieve what they wanted (I bet all of them were aiming to win the EPL), but Arsenal and Man Utd were both in the FA Cup Finals this year while Liverpool got to the Finals of League Cup and Champions League (could win it). They finished 2nd, 3rd, and 5th in EPL respectively. I don't see how they were beaten by Moyes whose achievement is only being fourth in EPL .... totally ridiculous.

As for Bolton bidding for Crouch, I think it'd be quite a good move if Crouch really showed what he's really all about during his stint with Southampton this season. Kevin Davies hasn't been as good as he was last year. Henrik Pedersen just seemed to not get full 90 minutes often enough, and Diouf (as good/bad as he is) seemed to play more to the wings. So it could be a good thing that Crouch could join Bolton. He got the height for sure (and we know Bolton loves to pump the ball to the air) but he might be able to do something nifty with his foot too.

Whether Crouch is good enough for England or not, well that's quite a bit tough to answer for me. Full team strength, yes he's not good enough (I think he's behind Owen, Rooney, Defoe, Vassell, Heskey, Smith, and Johnson), but for the USA tour, he's definitely good enough and it'd be the perfect chance for Eriksson to try out his second or even third string to see how they could do in a full game and in positions that they like (what a load of crap to play Johnson wide on the right before, Mr.Eriksson).
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Exile · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 9:34 am Post subject:

Benitez while good in cups was dissapointingly inconsistent in the league that rules him out for me. Ferguson, well it's a waste of a season for him or Wenger, we'll find out which one gets it in the end. He'll have redeemed himself partially for a 3rd place finish if he beats out Wenger's Arsenal for the FA cup. Still Manchester United are a good team with plenty of youngsters, they'll be going strong for years to come, I'm not sure I can say the same for Arsenals crop of younger players, in the words of the music legend Shania Twain, they "don't impress me much."

Moyes on the other hand, they were written off for relegation but made the champions league, that's a cinderella story and a half, I still think Mourinho should have gotten it but he's the second best option to me, to overcome losing two of the best players on your team that's supposed to be relegated and end up in 4th is mighty impressive and he's been a class act as well this year has Moyes. That might have been the determining factor you know, alot of people have something against Mourinho for being so outspoken, perhaps that's why the quiet compared Moyes was the choice. I don't really know for sure though.

Crouch, I mean really? Crouch? I suppose he needs to be given a chance at the USA tour and he'll come back into the prem with someone taking a chance on him I suppose. I guess we'll see if he was just playing on adrenaline under the threat of relegation or if he's really got something to contribute to the better sides in the premiership.

Johnson on the right...well he was never going to score from there, he hangs on the last defender and breaks quickly usually, that's his forte, that and scoring penalties. When you compare his goal totals to Ruud Van Nistelrooy I'll take a moment to remind you he was the penalty taker for manchester united (I'm really talking about last season more since he was injured so much) as well. Anyway it's not like it's his fault he can put away the penalties, poor guy probably feels punished for being good at them!
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Goldy · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 10:01 am Post subject:

The self confessed "Special One" and his over sized ego should have won the Manager of the Year award. What other manager has come into the premiership and won the title (and the league cup) in their first season?? Ferguson? Hell no! Wenger? Cant remember, if he did that just throws my point right out the window :)
Yeah Moyes has done a great job and i suppose he deserves the award but was it a better job than Mourinho? You could agrue the point about Mourinho having the much stronger squad but what use is a strong squad if you dont get the best out of them, they just needed that little extra push that Ranieri (sp?) didnt give them.
Personally i think Mourinho is a breath of fresh air to the premiership and i hope to see just how good he really is, will he become only the second manager of a premiership team to retain the title?? Being a Manchester United fan i hope not!

Exile · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 10:10 am Post subject:

Heh, I could list plenty more who haven't won it in their first year.

The real question is, did they get the manager of the year trophies when they did that though? My guess is yes, while I'm not certain. If they did it just throws your point right out the window ;)

Just playing, Ranieri wasn't all that good to be honest Valencia even got fed up of him in under a year. I don't think he would have won the title this year, Arsenal would of retained it I suppose in that case but we'll never know that for sure.
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Goldy · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 11:06 am Post subject:

Did Valencia get rid of Ranieri??

Exile · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 12:12 pm Post subject:

Yes, I'm trying to find who their current manager is, their coach is a man called Antonio Lopez and he used to be the assistant to Benitez before he headed to Liverpool, he seems to have the job that most resembles being their manager on the official site then again my spanish isn't good, it's non-existant.
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Cry woe, destruction, ruin, and decay -
The worst is death, and death will have his day.

Aurelien · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 5:22 pm Post subject:

PF, I think I agree that Liverpool were inconsistent, but in the end, Everton was just as inconsistent as Liverpool (if not more). At the end of the season, the difference between the two was that Liverpool had 1 more loss than Everton, while Everton had 1 more victory than Liverpool. What showed that Everton was more inconsistent to me is the fact that Everton finished the season with a negative goal difference. And we're not talking about a team that played ultra defensively btw.

While yes Everton were indeed a half Cinderella story, it's still not a real Cinderella story. I realize that Everton lost their two best players in Rooney and Gravesen, but if you think about it, Liverpool also lost their best players in form of Cisse and Xabi Alonso for most of the season. With Baros constantly injured too, Liverpool didn't really have their full team for this season. Compared to Everton who practically played full team week in week out.

So in a sense, Liverpool were almost as good as Everton in EPL, but MUCH better in Cups. I still don't see how Moyes ended up in front of Benitez. If the parameter of the Manager of the Year is purely what happened in EPL (so we exclude all the national and continental Cups), then Mourinho should've got it miles ahead of everyone else. Finished first, record of most point in a season, record of conceeding the least in a season. What more can you ask for?
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06.06.2004 - 20.01.2008

Exile · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 9:30 pm Post subject:

Liverpool were inconsistent and underperformed though, that's the key difference, Everton were inconsistent but they got the results they had to to achieve something a bit special, at least that's my opinion on that.

Add in the records Mourinho managed to get he should have been the surefire winner really I think.

Edit: I had more to say on this but I forget what it was now, I was rushed into leaving.

Not the premiership but my home town team Southend United have made the league two playoff finals today with an unconvincing 1-0 win over Northampton. They won it with a dubious penalty (I was out of the room when it happened so I don't know how dubious) anyway I just felt that was an interesting side note and I'd share it with you other suiko-soccerites out there. Come on you shrimpers!

More Editing: Not that any of you have begun to care since the last time but Southend got promoted! Come on you shrimpers.

So basically they're in League one, my flatmate's pretty happy being a Sheffield Wednesday fan since they got through the playoffs and are now into the Championship and to finish on the list of playoff winners we have West Ham making their triumphant return to premiership football, good for them, shame for Preston.

I will just finish by saying...

Sea, Sea, Seasiders!
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Cry woe, destruction, ruin, and decay -
The worst is death, and death will have his day.

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