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Post by Razzle Dazzle on May 5, 2016 9:15:05 GMT 1
And my home town Shildon won the league woop
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on May 7, 2016 16:54:27 GMT 1
Villa relegate Newcastle again?
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Robbie
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Post by Robbie on May 7, 2016 18:54:39 GMT 1
Villa relegate Newcastle again? They've certainly pushed us closer to the trap door... If Sunderland beat Everton on Wednesday then they stay up and both Newcastle and Norwich are down. If Sunderland draw then Newcastle will only stay up if on the final day of the season Sunderland lose away to Watford, we beat Spurs at home and added to that, Norwich fail to win both their remaining games or if they do win both and we beat Spurs we have a better goal difference. Basically Sunderland just need two points to stay up. It was going so well at one point today, Chelsea were twice in front against Sunderland and had that remained the case then a point against Villa would have put us two points clear of the relegation zone. But well done to Sunderland, they put in the performance when they needed to.
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Post by o on May 7, 2016 21:13:33 GMT 1
Stags 5 County 0, what a weekend! Think our players thought the season had already finished. All in all a disappointing campaign and the only promise for next season is that we finally have a manager that has an idea what he's doing. Can't say the same for most of the players though. And that manager has now gone to Forest Green!!!
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Tom
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Post by Tom on May 8, 2016 18:05:01 GMT 1
Some thoughts on Leicester – apologies in advance for the Reading references! Watching the Leicester-Southampton game last month reminded me of Reading in 2006. Delighted that they won the title, whenever Reading’s 2006 promotion at Leicester gets discussed the part the Leicester fans played that day often gets mentioned. It does feel that a decade on this is their moment of glory. Monday night brought back memories of that 2006 promotion day, must admit a small part of me started to get emotional. What Leicester have achieved far outstrips what Reading did (and that 106 season was amazing), but from my experience it won’t properly sink in for the Leicester fans for some time. I think I appreciate 2006 more now than ever.
I thought there’d be a come down yesterday but thought the party atmosphere would just about see them celebrate the title with a win. The early goal helped but it reminded me again of 2006 when Reading celebrated promotion with a 5-0 home win over Derby which clinched the title and where all the goals came in the last half hour or so during which time we also hit the post. Wasn’t there to see it unfortunately, but a surreal day which may be what some Leicester fans thought yesterday.
The best thing Ranieri did at the start of the season was to keep Nigel Pearson’s assistants and not to change too much. Given how well they started it does rather diminish what Pearson did last season for me!
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Tom
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Post by Tom on May 8, 2016 18:38:29 GMT 1
As for Gillingham (League One), they need to win their remaining fixtures to get back in the play-offs, they were pretty solid at the start they were at top of League One at one point. They'll be disappointed with how the season ended having been Top 6 all season up until recently. Can't say I'm too surprised though sadly. Saw them a couple of times this season, the first in a Sky game up at Wigan (in Jan IIRC) where they threw away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 with an injury-time goal. The defeat was harsh on them but it was a dreadful result for a side challenging for automatic promotion (Dominic Samuel, Reading striker on loan had a good game though). That confirmed to me that it was only because of their home form that they were challenging for automatic promotion. Then saw them on a bitterly cold day in late Feb (mainly thanks to the wind, sitting opposite the main stand near the very front was the worst place to be!) where they lost 2-1 at home to Chesterfield. They finished the game well and could have nicked a draw at the end but as the lady near me said they were shocking up until then (stunning goal which ended up being the Chesterfield winner though). Samuel also had a poor game and was subbed after about an hour. I knew then that they faced a battle to stay in the Top 6 and unfortunately they never recovered after that. I am perhaps a bit surprised how bad the slump was though, ended up only finishing 9th.
Justin Edinburgh has a big job in the summer, can see key players going, think they rejected bids for both John Egan centre-back and Bradley Dack (voted best player in League 1) from Championship clubs in Jan. I definitely expect Dack to go to a Championship or PL club. Apparently Reading have shown interest, hope that's true, would love him to come to Reading! Would be gutted if he went to another Championship club without us even making a bid. Dominic Samuel will be returning to Reading as well and hopefully he may persuade Dack to choose Reading, I think they've combined for a lot of goals this season and I'd be more confident of Samuel being a success at Reading if Dack was around.
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2016 23:24:09 GMT 1
BT Sport are still debating whether to show the Champions League final on YouTube, which would give the flagship match a bigger audience reach and provide a valuable database of potential subscribers.
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Robbie
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Post by Robbie on May 11, 2016 22:16:06 GMT 1
Sunderland 3 Everton 0
A Sunderland win means that both Newcastle and Norwich are relegated.
Well done Sunderland, they deserve to stay up as they wanted it more than Newcastle who, despite some half decent performances in recent weeks, were woeful last saturday against Aston Villa.
Last time we were relegated we bounced straight back but we had some players in the team who were battlers and who were up for the challenge. This time around I fear we may not get straight back into the Premier League. Fingers crossed we do though.
I hope Mike Ashley doesn't put the club up for sale this summer though. As much as I want rid of him, this is not the right time for him to be looking to sell as it would mean we wouldn't be able to buy in any players while a new buyer for the club was being sought.
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Post by o on May 12, 2016 7:37:34 GMT 1
I'm pleased for Big Sam, but disappointed for all Newcastle fans. Everton to follow next season is if they carry on this form?
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Post by o on May 12, 2016 7:40:07 GMT 1
I still remember my next door neighbour, an Everton fan saying at Christmas that the table would get back to "normal" soon, it never did which is great for football as a whole, but not good for those fans of "big" teams. Do we think Chelsea and Liverpool will be back higher next season?
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on May 12, 2016 8:46:49 GMT 1
Yeah. Chelsea went from 6th the year they won the champions league to winning the league before so they are know to have a blip and a full season of klopp will have them both 10/15 better off next season. City under Guardiola, a strong young Spurs team plus Arsenal and Man U possibly with a new manager and half a billion spent over 2 seasons by the start of next season I can't see anything but some kind of order being restored. Hope I'm wrong
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Post by Earl Purple on May 12, 2016 9:52:20 GMT 1
Crystal Palace the obvious team to go down based on second half of the season form, but you never can tell because teams make mid-season signings.
I once asked why a team can never bring their "great escape" form into the next season (in particular Wigan who went down in 2012-13 having shown great form the end of the previous season, and Sunderland who did very well at the end of 2013-14 but were struggling in 2014-15 albeit they didn't go down).
Perhaps this time, Sam Allardyce can improve Sunderland enough to be safe mid-table next season but I can't see them doing a Leicester or even matching Southampton's achievements this season.
Those coming up will always be among the favourites to go down again, but I reckon also second-season syndrome for Bournemouth and Watford, as well as Palace to most likely struggle next season.
At the start of the season I listed 3 teams alongside those that got promoted: and they were Aston Villa, Newcastle and Sunderland...
I think I predicted mid-table safety for Leicester but never expected them to win it!
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on May 12, 2016 12:24:08 GMT 1
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Post by Shireblogger on May 12, 2016 12:46:08 GMT 1
I think I predicted mid-table safety for Leicester but never expected them to win it! You are right on the second point - you didn't predict they would win the league. Ok, the obvious first: Leicester: We know great escapers never seem to carry it forward. Second season syndrome perhaps and they may have to hope there are enough worse teams than them.
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Post by Shireblogger on May 12, 2016 12:50:09 GMT 1
At the start of the season I listed 3 teams alongside those that got promoted: and they were Aston Villa, Newcastle and Sunderland... Wrong again. You predicted Leicester, WBA and Sunderland would be the 3 in contention, alongside Norwich, Watford and Bournemouth. And you picked out Norwich as the most likely of the 3 promoted clubs to stay up. West Brom, Sunderland: The most likely of the long runners to get sucked into a relegation battle. Bournemouth, Watford, Norwich: Something tells me Bournemouth are here for the ride. They lost a crucial game, Norwich were very unlucky with a bad refereeing decision but still those are the games they need to be winning. Watford surprised everyone and it's a good point but still 2 dropped given how late Everton equalised. Could be all 3 going up last season go down again unless one of Leicester / Sunderland / West Brom prove simply worse in which case one of these could amount a "miraculous" escape, and probably Norwich are the best equipped to do that.
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Robbie
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Post by Robbie on May 12, 2016 15:41:50 GMT 1
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Post by o on May 13, 2016 19:05:41 GMT 1
Notts County under a transfer embargo as they haven't paid certain clubs monies owed for ticket sales! One of which is the Stags, they owe us 20k! Peanuts to most clubs, but not to us, bloody cheek!
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Post by Robin on May 13, 2016 20:48:01 GMT 1
I know, it's a complete shambles down the Lane at the minute
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frag
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Post by frag on May 14, 2016 10:56:26 GMT 1
Yeah. Chelsea went from 6th the year they won the champions league to winning the league before so they are know to have a blip and a full season of klopp will have them both 10/15 better off next season. City under Guardiola, a strong young Spurs team plus Arsenal and Man U possibly with a new manager and half a billion spent over 2 seasons by the start of next season I can't see anything but some kind of order being restored. Hope I'm wrong I certainly think Chelsea and Liverpool will be better off next season. For Leicester it could be a bit like Blackburn, who never finished top 5 again after winning the league - and they had a better run-up to it, bankrolled by Jack Walker and challenging the season before they actually won. Suddenly being the team to beat after being fairytale underdogs will have an effect. As for Arsenal, we won't get a new manager, and need serious investment to compete. Who knows if we'll actually get it... Xhaka could be a good start, from what I've read he could add some much-needed leadership and steel to midfield. Could help us not roll over in so many games. We've let in at 21 goals away vs the top half this season (clean sheet vs Stoke/Swansea but 2+ per game vs the rest - ranked 15th), and just 15 in the other 28 games. Leadership needed? Better defence? Better tactics?
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Post by o on May 14, 2016 12:37:41 GMT 1
I know, it's a complete shambles down the Lane at the minute For such a big club, they don't seem to have a lot of money swilling around...
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