frag
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Post by frag on Jul 31, 2008 17:38:54 GMT 1
Just nine days to go until the league season starts! So who will go up? Who will go down? How will your team do?
Or for a real laugh, where will everyone finish?
Starting on Saturday 16 August PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal Aston Villa Blackburn Bolton Chelsea Everton Fulham Hull Liverpool Man City Man Utd Middlesbrough Newcastle Portsmouth Stoke Sunderland Tottenham West Brom West Ham Wigan
Starting on Saturday 9 August CHAMPIONSHIP Barnsley Birmingham Blackpool Bristol City Burnley Cardiff Charlton Coventry Crystal Palace Derby Doncaster Ipswich Norwich Nottm Forest Plymouth Preston QPR Reading Sheff Utd Sheff Wed Southampton Swansea Watford Wolverhampton
LEAGUE ONE Brighton Bristol Rovers Carlisle Cheltenham Colchester Crewe Hartlepool Hereford Huddersfield Leeds Leicester Leyton Orient Millwall Milton Keynes Dons Northampton Oldham Peterborough Scunthorpe Southend Stockport Swindon Tranmere Walsall Yeovil
LEAGUE TWO Accrington Stanley Aldershot Barnet Bournemouth (-17, subject to possible appeal) Bradford Brentford Bury Chester Chesterfield Dag & Red Darlington Exeter Gillingham Grimsby Lincoln City Luton (-30) Macclesfield Morecambe Notts County Port Vale Rochdale Rotherham (-17) Shrewsbury Wycombe
SPL Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Utd Falkirk Hamilton Hearts Hibernian Inverness CT Kilmarnock Motherwell Rangers St Mirren
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Post by Maximo Mark on Jul 31, 2008 20:04:29 GMT 1
Here are my Premiership predictions using current squads:
I can't see past Chelsea for the title this year, last year they finished two points behind despite Cech, Carvalho, Terry, Lampard, Ballack, Essien, Kalou and Drogba all spending lengthy periods out. This year they've got a decent right-back which was their weak position and a manager who seems to want to play differently, more to their players strengths whereas it looks like Man Utd's major signing will be someone they've already got. Relegation is so hard this year I think now. I did think Fulham and Bolton would be in contention with the three promoted clubs however they've both spent a lot and bought fairly well. I think Newcastle, Boro and Blackburn might be watching over their necks this season. Can't see it being Everton and Villa being the two nearest the big 4 either unless they invest a lot.
1 Chelsea 2 Man Utd 3 Liverpool 4 Arsenal 5 Portsmouth 6 Spurs 7 Man City 8 Wigan (bit of a gamble but i really think they might. they looked very good once steve bruce had settled in properly - hard to play against and few conceded. made some shrewd signings too) 9 Everton 10 Sunderland 11 Villa 12 West Ham 13 Bolton 14 Newcastle 15 Fulham 16 Blackburn 17 Middlesbrough 18 West Brom 19 Hull 20 Stoke
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Post by Earl Purple on Jul 31, 2008 20:31:58 GMT 1
1. Chelsea 2. Man Utd 3. Liverpool 4. Arsenal 5. Tottenham 6. Aston Villa 7. Portsmouth 8. Everton 9. Man City 10. West Ham 11. Newcastle 12. Blackburn 13. Middlesbrough 14. Wigan 15. Bolton 16. Fulham 17. Sunderland 18. West Brom 19. Stoke 20. Hull
Sunderland could suffer 2nd season syndrome which is why I put them so low. They're the only team that can. Keegan will be fired by November.
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Post by Panda on Jul 31, 2008 23:13:13 GMT 1
I reserve the right to change any of these subject to any subsequent transfers
1. Man Utd I only put them here because I don't really want them to win it again. 2. Chelsea It should be fun seeing if Scolari can win it in his first season. It could go right down to the wire again... 3. Liverpool If they manage to get Gareth Barry they could be right in the mix, but even without him, they should be closer than they've been for a few years. 4. Arsenal I predicted them to finish 5th last season and they nearly went and won it so I hate to put them this low but I can't see them getting closer to the top 2 than last season. 5. Tottenham Some big spending should see them back in the top 6, especially if they keep hold of Berbatov. 6. Aston Villa If Barry stays... 7. Everton Should be there or thereabouts again. 8. Portsmouth Capable of top 6 but Europe could prove a distraction. 9. Man City Missing out on Ronaldinho could be a blessing in disguise but Hughes might need another year to make a big impact. 10. Newcastle Rumours of unrest behind the scenes (no change there) but the team can finish in the top half if the players' minds are on football rather than money and kicking the s*** out of people. 11. Middlesbrough Boro have their strongest team in a long time and are capable of finishing in the top 10 but will probably fall just short. Most of the summer spending was done during last season and Alves could be set for a huge season. The goalkeeping position remains a worry but Southgate is adamant in his faith in the ones already at the club. As a Boro fan, I'm looking forward to the season a lot more than I was 12 months ago. 12. West Ham I don't quite understand why Curbishley is favourite to be the first manager sacked. They had a lot of injuries last season. That said, I'm not sure they can improve unless they bring in some new faces. 13. Blackburn Good to see Paul Ince get the job but unless they spend the Bentley money wisely, they'll be in the bottom half. 14. Sunderland Stayed up fairly comfortably last season and trying to buy the Spurs team should ensure another lower-mid-table finish. 15. Wigan Steve Bruce turned them around last season and should be able to see them clear of the drop again. 16. Fulham Needed a miracle to stay up and somehow managed it. Hodgson's been busy during the summer and they should survive again. 17. West Brom They have a fantastic manager in Tony Mowbray and that might be what separates them from the bottom 3 come May. 18. Hull Have been busy during the summer as they try to make a solid effort in the top flight but I think their ageing squad will run out of steam in the second half of the season. 19. Bolton Stayed up the ugly way last season and teams will have grown wise to their style. Their time could be up. 20. Stoke Have shown they mean business by signing Kitson but is the rest of the team up to the job?
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Post by Panda on Aug 4, 2008 12:51:42 GMT 1
Four Four Two predictions: 1. Chelsea 2. Man Utd 3. Arsenal 4. Liverpool 5. Aston Villa 6. Tottenham 7. Portsmouth 8. Everton 9. Man City 10. West Ham 11. Middlesbrough 12. Newcastle 13. Fulham 14. Wigan 15. Sunderland 16. Blackburn 17. West Brom 18. Bolton 19. Hull 20. Stoke
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Aug 4, 2008 15:06:00 GMT 1
Out of interest why's this been put in here? Only came across it by chance. It normally gets put in the main forum doesn't it?
Premiership
Same Top 5 as mrh but i think Chelsea will win the title, sadly. It could be close between Spurs and Arsenal but i think Arsenal will finish just ahead. As for the bottom, Stoke and Hull to go down for sure, along with either West Brom or Bolton. I think Fulham will be ok with the signings they've made, but Boro could be in trouble and i think Blackburn will finish in the bottom half. Villa, Pompey, Everton and Man City to be pushing for a Top 6 place, everyone else stuck in the middle. I actually think Sunderland could do fairly well and finish around 11th/12th with the signings they've made, but as i overpredicted them last season thats probably too optimistic. Certainly can't see them going down though.
Championship
Reading - Last season had similarities to the 04-05 season when we missed out on the playoffs so this season is going to be a struggle. But as the Championship is weaker now than it was then, and as this is the best squad we've had in the Championship apart from the 05/06 title winning team (finishing 4th, 9th and 7th in the 3 seasons prior to that, and we overachieved in that first season) we should finish in the Top 6. If everyone's firing then Top 2 isn't out of the question either. Finishing outside the playoffs would be disappointing, but finishing in the bottom half would be a disaster.
Apart from us it'll be between Brum, Wolves and QPR i think. Can't see Derby finishing in the playoffs although surely they'll improve on last season. Apart from that, haven't got a clue! The Championship is predictable for being unpredictable.
League 1 - Surely Leeds for the title this season.
League 2 - Gillingham will be aiming for the playoffs but unless they can sort their away form out i think they'll miss out and finish mid-table. Luton surely haven't got a hope of staying up, although i think Bournemouth will be ok, leaving Rotherham (in financial trouble themselves?) to fill the other place.
SPL - Hope Hearts can finish top half this season, last season was their first bottom half finish for years, but think they're more likely to be in a relegation battle, though i'd be surprised if they went down.
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Post by Panda on Aug 4, 2008 23:16:29 GMT 1
but Boro could be in trouble Why do people here expect Boro to struggle? I don't get it. We have a much better team than at the start of last season, and we stayed up reasonably comfortably despite being sh*te. In Alves, we have a striker who's going to score goals and Digard could be one of the signings of the summer. I tend to be pretty honest in my assessment of Boro and last season I was worried. I thought we'd struggle but end up 13th due to there being enough teams worse than us. That's exactly what happened. This season we will be looking towards the top 10 rather than over our shoulders.
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Post by Maximo Mark on Aug 5, 2008 19:19:01 GMT 1
The thing is everyone is much better equipped than they were previously. You look at the teams who finished behind you Sunderland have spent and improved their squad more, and Wigan, Bolton and Fulham only really got going towards the end of the season, after their new managers managed to put their stamp on their teams. Now they have a full season I think they're going to be better. I think maybe my prediction of 17th was harsh, but I honestly don't see you beating last seasons 13th.
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Post by Panda on Aug 5, 2008 21:44:22 GMT 1
The thing is everyone is much better equipped than they were previously. You look at the teams who finished behind you Sunderland have spent and improved their squad more, and Wigan, Bolton and Fulham only really got going towards the end of the season, after their new managers managed to put their stamp on their teams. Now they have a full season I think they're going to be better. I think maybe my prediction of 17th was harsh, but I honestly don't see you beating last seasons 13th. Sunderland have signed a load of players deemed surplus to requirements by the team that finished 11th last season plus a player who is best remembered for spitting at some fans. I don't feel the other 3 teams you mentioned have done enough to overtake us and I think we can pick off a couple of last season's top 10 as well. Boro were improving their squad throughout last season. So much so that the team that finished the season was very different to the team that started it. We've only made 2 signings during the summer but they both look like being good buys and the likes of Alves and Mido will be like new signings considering we saw so little of them last time (for different reasons). I also feel Tuncay could be a very important player for us now he has a year of Premier League football under his belt. Only time will tell of course but I would massively disappointed if we didn't improve on 13th, compared to last season when I was just happy with survival.
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Post by Panda on Aug 5, 2008 22:33:59 GMT 1
Various odds for the Premier League...
To win the title: 6/4 Man Utd 15/8 Chelsea 5/1 Arsenal 8/1 Liverpool 66/1 Tottenham 250/1 Aston Villa, Everton, Man City 500/1 Newcastle, Portsmouth 1000/1 Blackburn, West Ham 1500/1 Middlesbrough 2500/1 Sunderland 5000/1 Bolton, Fulham, Wigan 7500/1 Stoke, West Brom 10000/1 Hull
To be relegated: 4/11 Hull 4/9 Stoke 5/4 West Brom 14/5 Fulham 3/1 Bolton 7/2 Wigan 11/2 Sunderland 9/1 Middlesbrough 10/1 West Ham 12/1 Blackburn 22/1 Newcastle 33/1 Man City, Portsmouth 66/1 Aston Villa, Everton 125/1 Tottenham 2000/1 Arsenal, Liverpool 5000/1 Chelsea 10000/1 Man Utd
To finish in the top half: 1/1000 Chelsea, Man Utd 1/100 Arsenal 1/50 Liverpool 1/6 Tottenham 4/11 Everton 2/5 Aston Villa 8/15 Man City 4/7 Portsmouth 5/6 Newcastle 11/8 Blackburn 6/4 West Ham 5/2 Middlesbrough 3/1 Sunderland 9/2 Bolton, Wigan 11/2 Fulham 13/2 West Brom 11/1 Hull 12/1 Stoke
Top scorer: 4/1 Torres 7/1 Ronaldo 9/1 Drogba 11/1 Adebayor 14/1 Berbatov 16/1 van Persie 18/1 Defoe 20/1 Rooney 25/1 Anelka, Keane, Tevez 33/1 Bent, Santa Cruz, Yakubu 40/1 Afonso Alves, Crouch, Owen 50/1 Jo 66/1 Ashton, Benjani, Lampard, McCarthy, Saha
Stadium with the most goals: 8/1 Old Trafford 9/1 White Hart Lane 10/1 Anfield 11/1 Emirates Stadium 14/1 Stamford Bridge 16/1 The Hawthorns, Villa Park, Britannia Stadium, Goodison Park, KC Stadium 18/1 City Of Manchester Stadium, Riverside Stadium, JJB Stadium, St. James' Park 20/1 Craven Cottage, Ewood Park 22/1 Fratton Park, Reebok Stadium, Stadium Of Light, Upton Park
First manager to leave post: 5/1 Curbishley 9/1 Keegan 10/1 Hodgson, Megson 12/1 Brown, Ince, Mowbray, Pulis, Southgate 14/1 Moyes 20/1 Benitez, Hughes, Redknapp 22/1 Bruce 28/1 Keane 40/1 Scolari 50/1 O'Neill, Ramos 100/1 Ferguson, Wenger
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Post by Maximo Mark on Aug 6, 2008 19:46:32 GMT 1
The thing is everyone is much better equipped than they were previously. You look at the teams who finished behind you Sunderland have spent and improved their squad more, and Wigan, Bolton and Fulham only really got going towards the end of the season, after their new managers managed to put their stamp on their teams. Now they have a full season I think they're going to be better. I think maybe my prediction of 17th was harsh, but I honestly don't see you beating last seasons 13th. Sunderland have signed a load of players deemed surplus to requirements by the team that finished 11th last season plus a player who is best remembered for spitting at some fans. I don't feel the other 3 teams you mentioned have done enough to overtake us and I think we can pick off a couple of last season's top 10 as well. Boro were improving their squad throughout last season. So much so that the team that finished the season was very different to the team that started it. We've only made 2 signings during the summer but they both look like being good buys and the likes of Alves and Mido will be like new signings considering we saw so little of them last time (for different reasons). I also feel Tuncay could be a very important player for us now he has a year of Premier League football under his belt. Only time will tell of course but I would massively disappointed if we didn't improve on 13th, compared to last season when I was just happy with survival. I definitely think Sunderland will improve on last year. Their main signings may have been Totenham rejects but their main weakness was they couldn't stop conceding and only one is a defender, who's not that bad and certainly better than what Sunderland have got. They should also have a full season with Reid and Richardson too, who've looked amongst their best players. If they can sign a striker to cover and then partner Jones too I can't see them not finishing higher. I do think Megson has (unfortunately, I have to say) reinstalled that mentality that Bolton always played with under Allardyce back into the team. They looked far better once they had some half-decent defenders and who they've bought in close-season is again much better than who's gone. I also think Wigan will do a lot better too. I rate Steve Bruce and I think they have decnet squad. They became hard to beat towards the end of last season and again have made decent signings, they might lack a striker though. West Ham, Blackburn and Newcastle could well all fall down though.
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Post by Earl Purple on Aug 6, 2008 21:45:53 GMT 1
championship though I don't really know who has signed who:
QPR Birmingham Sheff Utd Reading Derby Nottm Forest Crystal Palace Wolverhampton Charlton Ipswich Burnley Bristol City Watford Plymouth Cardiff Swansea Preston Norwich Barnsley Blackpool Southampton Sheff Wed Coventry Doncaster
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Post by Panda on Aug 7, 2008 20:58:15 GMT 1
Predictions for other divisions:
CHAMPIONSHIP Promoted: Birmingham, Reading Playoffs: QPR, Crystal Palace, Sheff Utd, Wolves Relegated: Barnsley, Blackpool, Coventry
LEAGUE ONE Promoted: Leeds, Leicester Playoffs: Carlisle, Southend, Huddersfield, Colchester Relegated: Cheltenham, Walsall, Bristol Rovers, Hereford
LEAGUE TWO Promoted: Rochdale, Bradford, Gillingham Playoffs: Darlington, Shrewsbury, Wycombe, Port Vale Relegated: Luton, Chester
CONFERENCE: Promoted: Torquay Playoffs: Stevenage, York, Ebbsfleet, Wrexham Relegated: Altrincham, Lewes, Weymouth, Northwich
SPL: Champions: Celtic Relegated: Hamilton
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Aug 8, 2008 17:24:40 GMT 1
but Boro could be in trouble Why do people here expect Boro to struggle? I don't get it. We have a much better team than at the start of last season, and we stayed up reasonably comfortably despite being sh*te. In Alves, we have a striker who's going to score goals and Digard could be one of the signings of the summer. I tend to be pretty honest in my assessment of Boro and last season I was worried. I thought we'd struggle but end up 13th due to there being enough teams worse than us. That's exactly what happened. This season we will be looking towards the top 10 rather than over our shoulders. Mark pretty got much got it spot on really. Other sides below you have improved their squad while you seem to have stagnated over the summer. You yourself have said you're worried about your two goalies that you have left. My cousins' flatmate is a Boro fan, and apparently my cousin takes the mick out of Boro quite often, he was saying to me that they're a club that are hanging on and one thats waiting to be relegated. I always thought Boro were too good to go down (and i would still be surprised if they went down) but im starting to think he has a point actually.. I genuinely would be surprised if you finished above Sunderland. Whatever you may think of the Spurs players they signed, Malbranque in many Spurs fans eyes was one of their best players last season, im actually surprised that a) Spurs were willing to let him go, and b) he was happy to join Sunderland. He was certainly one of their best players when they played us in our final home game of last season. Chimbonda didn't do a bad job in his time there either (and up until last season he was a fans favourite) and is surely better than what they had before as well. Im thinking more and more that in Hodgson's 1st full season and after their amazing form at the end of last season, combined with their new signings that Fulham could do surprisingly well. Certainly think they'll stay up. Apparently theres unrest about Ince already at Blackburn, and having sold two of their best players in Bentley and Friedel i think they'll struggle, possibly more than Boro, though I don't think they'll go down. Forgot to mention Forest in the Championship. Think they'll finish top half and may push for the playoffs. Will know more after Sunday
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Post by Panda on Aug 8, 2008 18:00:21 GMT 1
But as I've already said, the squad was evolving throughout last season, and it was only beginning to gel towards the end of last season.
We have Alves, who only played the last couple of months of last season and still managed 6 goals. He's now ready to start his first full season in the Premier League. No stagnation there.
We have Mido who arrived last season, unfit, having played little football the previous season. He then suffered an injury that prevented him from running, so he never played at anything close to full fitness, resulting in the nickname "Midough". During the summer he's lost over 30lbs, and is pushing for a starting spot alongside Alves. Given his problems last season, he'll be like a new signing. Stagnation?
After years of sheer effort, George Boateng has finally moved on. He was great in his day but his legs went a couple of years ago and we've done very well to get £1m from Hull for him. Even better is we've replaced him with a hungry young defensive midfielder called Didier Digard, a French U21 international. So we've replaced a 32-year-old nearing the end of his career with a 22-year-old who has attracted interest from several clubs in England and France. Stagnation?
We've also brought in Marvin Emnes, an exciting attacking player who can play as a winger or striker. He was a sprinter before he turned to football and was Sparta Rotterdam's fans' player of the year last season. Stagnation?
And this before I've even mentioned the academy.
I mentioned the goalkeeping situation but only time will tell. Southgate has faith in what we have and given the success of Joe Hart at Man City, you can't blame him for wanting to give one of the young keepers a chance. If they don't get a chance, you'll never know how good they can be.
Luke Young leaving is disappointing but shouldn't have much effect on the team as we have a capable replacement in Tony McMahon, with Seb Hines breathing down his neck for a place, too. Stagnation?
I hate to go on and on but sometimes it seems like people just look at the transfers in/out page and base their judgement on that...
Sunderland have marginally improved their squad, enought to survive again, definitely, but I don't think they'll make a significant jump up the table. I remain totally unconvinced as to whether Malbranque is still a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League.
Fulham have signed as many players as possible but most are either past their best (Schwarzer, Gera) or have never quite fulfilled their potential (Johnson, Zamora).
Wigan were very good in the second half of last season but even then, they couldn't catch Boro, who were never that far ahead of them... In fact, they only scored 2 points more than Boro in 2008.
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Thor
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Why can't this moment last forever more?
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Post by Thor on Aug 8, 2008 18:13:59 GMT 1
I think people pick Boro because they never seem to be moving forward and therefore there's only one way they can go! I don't really rate Southgate either.
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frag
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Post by frag on Aug 8, 2008 18:17:03 GMT 1
My football league/SPL predictions...
CHAMPIONSHIP 1. Birmingham 2. Crystal Palace[/color] 3. Reading 4. Ipswich 5. Sheff Utd 6. Wolverhampton 7. QPR 8. Cardiff 9. Charlton 10. Watford 11. Derby 12. Preston 13. Bristol City 14. Nottm Forest 15. Burnley 16. Norwich 17. Swansea 18. Coventry 19. Doncaster 20. Barnsley 21. Sheff Wed 22. Southampton 23. Plymouth 24. Blackpool
LEAGUE ONE 1. Leeds 2. Leicester[/color] 3. Carlisle 4. Brighton 5. Huddersfield 6. Oldham 7. Peterborough 8. Northampton 9. Colchester 10. Leyton Orient 11. Southend 12. Scunthorpe 13. Milton Keynes Dons 14. Hartlepool 15. Millwall 16. Bristol Rovers 17. Swindon 18. Tranmere 19. Crewe 20. Stockport 21. Walsall 22. Hereford 23. Yeovil 24. Cheltenham
LEAGUE TWO 1. Bradford 2. Gillingham 3. Chesterfield[/color] 4. Darlington 5. Lincoln City 6. Port Vale 7. Rochdale 8. Wycombe 9. Morecambe 10. Aldershot 11. Shrewsbury 12. Bury 13. Brentford 14. Grimsby 15. Notts County 16. Exeter 17. Macclesfield 18. Barnet 19. Accrington Stanley 20. Dag & Red 21. Rotherham (-17) 22. Bournemouth (-17) 23. Chester 24. Luton (-30)
SPL 1. Celtic 2. Rangers[/color] 3. Dundee Utd 4. Aberdeen 5. Hibernian 6. Motherwell 7. Falkirk 8. St Mirren 9. Hearts 10. Kilmarnock 11. Inverness CT 12. Hamilton
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Thor
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Why can't this moment last forever more?
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Post by Thor on Aug 8, 2008 18:25:58 GMT 1
Why are people so down abotu Chester? Any particular reason?
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Post by Earl Purple on Aug 8, 2008 18:30:59 GMT 1
Chester were 2nd at November last season then just beat the drop. Thus they had the worst form. But they do at least have a 17 point start over 2 of the other relegation rivals and 30 over the 3rd one. So that might help them.
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Post by Panda on Aug 8, 2008 18:46:56 GMT 1
I think people pick Boro because they never seem to be moving forward and therefore there's only one way they can go! I don't really rate Southgate either. They've been like that for 10 years! Most clubs would love to just get to a 3rd season, let alone an 11th. The jury's out on Southgate and I think this season will be make or break for him. His critics will point to "Black Sunday" (the FA Cup rollover against Cardiff) whilst his fans will point to the fact that whilst some clubs would've died after that game and gone into freefall/subsequent relegation, Boro responded by picking up difficult points at Villa and Arsenal and were unlucky not to win both games. This is really the first season with HIS team, rather than what he inherited from McClaren.
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