*Official* English Football Season 2008-2009

[superkingdave]

Geez, there's gonna be a lot of ugly kids born in 9 months time.

 

[cpr]

Heh aye, big cry of lock up your sisters around those parts tonight.


Gotta say that this is one sweet weekend. Best mates a geordie, so crying the demise of his wonderful club. Somehow I doubt he'll be speaking to his next door neighbour anytime soon, who happens to be a certain Mr Caldwell the Burnley captain

 

[GIMH]

It is great to see a club like Burnley promoted. Okay, I know they actually have won a championship etc, but relatively it is an inspiration to clubs like mine and shows us that money is not the be all end all. I hope they stay up next season.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

While Chelsea and Everton fans + two LMS tippers are waiting for the FA cup final, a quick refereeing quandary from Norway.

highlights (scroll to 1:30 for the situation)

Basically, fairly clear penalty shout (not the Chelsea v Barca ref this time around...the Arsenal v Barca ref from a few years ago in fact) as the keeper rushes out and impedes the blue player. However, the referee doesn't bother to play the advantage, which is a tad stupid because the ball ends up in the net (admittedly off an offside player, so it shouldn't count, but let's disregard that as it could have gone in anyway). Now, at half time, the ref's decision is explained by "an UEFA decree" saying that "you don't play advantage inside the penalty box". Wtf is that about? Anyone have a reason for why they'd come up with such a decree?

 

[Uppercut]

While Chelsea and Everton fans + two LMS tippers are waiting for the FA cup final, a quick refereeing quandary from Norway.

highlights (scroll to 1:30 for the situation)

Basically, fairly clear penalty shout (not the Chelsea v Barca ref this time around...the Arsenal v Barca ref from a few years ago in fact) as the keeper rushes out and impedes the blue player. However, the referee doesn't bother to play the advantage, which is a tad stupid because the ball ends up in the net (admittedly off an offside player, so it shouldn't count, but let's disregard that as it could have gone in anyway). Now, at half time, the ref's decision is explained by "an UEFA decree" saying that "you don't play advantage inside the penalty box". Wtf is that about? Anyone have a reason for why they'd come up with such a decree?

Right decision IMO. The ball looped in off the grounded player's backside- it was hardly a better scoring opportunity than a penalty would have been.

The important thing to remember is that in football, unlike rugby, you can't bring play back once you've played an advantage. The referee has to judge whether the scoring opportunity is greater than the penalty would be (i.e. an advantageous position) or the penalty would be of more benefit to the side. Such decisions are difficult, rare and could lead to referee's receiving abuse regardless of their decision, so UEFA have decided that it's for the best if they just give a penalty every time. Very, very seldom will a goalscoring opportunity greater than a penalty develop.

What they definitely can't do is have a situation where the referee lets the attackers have a shot, then awards a penalty if they miss.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

What they definitely can't do is have a situation where the referee lets the attackers have a shot, then awards a penalty if they miss.

Hm. Suppose I've watched too much rugby recently and my brain's got addled with that way of thinking.

Can at least see that he would probably have been flamed for not giving the penalty if the shot hadn't gone in or called the offside.

 

[Johnners]

Burnley in, 3rd piece in the evil puzzle of Dr Maroonandblue imo.

 

[Craig]

I wonder if Burnley/Blackburn will be as "friendly" as it used to be?

Will it be wise to have a bet on what there is more: red cards or goals?

 

[Johnners]

Burnley in, 3rd piece in the evil puzzle of Dr Maroonandblue imo.

Be ashamed of yourself.

In other news, an interesting comment on the domination of the Big 4, and it's detriment to the overall quality of the EPL.

Football365.com - The Premier League Weekend Winners And Losers - F365 Opinion - Football365 News

Losers

The Premier League
It is a concerning and depressing reflection on the depth of quality in the Premier League when a side playing in front of their own fans and in need of at least a point to guarantee survival can then survive despite being beaten by a fourth-string side.

In its own minor way, the game at Hull was a salient pointer towards why competing against the league's elite has become so difficult for the rest of the best. Because the Big Four horde so many players and remain such an attractive destination for young-and-upcoming hopefuls, the rest of the league is deprived of players who would walk into most first-teams while United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal remain enabled to keep fighting on numerous money-spinning fronts. With their continued participation in the Champions League proving so lucrative, this perpetuating stranglehold becomes tighter with every passing year and the gap between the haves and have-nots inevitably widens.

This year's particularly miserable relegation fight was the accident waiting to happen; as the Big Four progress and improve, the rest of the league will surely continue to shrink and decline.

 

[luffy]

I've had this discussion many a time.

Sure, the top 4 dominate, but it won't always be like that.

I mean, look, the top 6 has been the same the last two years. Everton for example have shown in the FA Cup this year that they can beat any of the top 4 teams. One of them has a bad season, misses the top 4 and Champions Trophy, they'll lose massive amounts of money, whilst the team that scrapes into the top 4, should improve after making more money.

Sure it's a lot easier said in theory, but look at some of the teams that have dominated in the past. Look at Leeds, Wolverhampton, Nottingham, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland, etc, etc.

Sure it is unhealthy now, with the top 3 teams being part of that "top 4" for the last 6 seasons, but times are changing.

 

[The Sean]

Speaking of F365 - I'll be honest and say that I don't know how common a name Hakon is in Norway, but I wonder if the following letter (which can be seen on the website as we speak) was contributed by our own Mr Vimes?

What A Difference Nine Months Make
For the second season in a row, ManU open the league campaign at home, ending up by merely drawing. They then go on to win both the league and the Champions League (come on, you know they will).

And what about the team so happy to start the new season by claiming a point at the ground of the reigning champions? They end the season by going down to the Championship.

This is all getting rather boring and familiar, and it's almost like you want ManU to win the opening game next season. Almost.
Hakon, Oslo

 

[Craig]

I was thinking about the EPL and other European leagues and I thought of Wolfsburg winning the Bundesliga for the very first time, would the best English example would be Aston Villa or Everton winning the EPL?

 

[luffy]

To be honest, I don't reckon Wolfsburg are as consistent as Everton and Aston Villa have been the last couple of years. It'd be more like comparing Wolfsburg winning the league to Bolton winning it. Just both teams are inconsistent and haven't proved themselves over a long stretch.

 

[GIMH]

That would be worse than the ****ing earth exploding, don't even suggest stupid things like that

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Speaking of F365 - I'll be honest and say that I don't know how common a name Hakon is in Norway, but I wonder if the following letter (which can be seen on the website as we speak) was contributed by our own Mr Vimes?

What A Difference Nine Months Make
For the second season in a row, ManU open the league campaign at home, ending up by merely drawing. They then go on to win both the league and the Champions League (come on, you know they will).

And what about the team so happy to start the new season by claiming a point at the ground of the reigning champions? They end the season by going down to the Championship.

This is all getting rather boring and familiar, and it's almost like you want ManU to win the opening game next season. Almost.
Hakon, Oslo

Well spotted, but no. The chap clearly has his head screwed on right, though.

Sure, the top 4 dominate, but it won't always be like that.

Sure it's a lot easier said in theory, but look at some of the teams that have dominated in the past. Look at Leeds, Wolverhampton, Nottingham, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland, etc, etc.

You can't draw conclusions from that age: when Nottingham dominated success didn't guarantee you massive amounts of money. You got some prize money and a couple of lucrative home ties in the European Cup - if you won 4-5 games, not always guaranteed - but the main financial source was attendance in the ground. And that wasn't enough to overcome shrewdness and a bit of luck with young players (admittedly, without the Bosman ruling players were pretty much locked in to the club, too): Man Utd, despite their fanbase, even had to take a trip down into the Second Division.

 

[Uppercut]

Nah, agree with luff. You'd be a fool to think the current era of big-four domination will last forever.

 

[luffy]

You can't draw conclusions from that age: when Nottingham dominated success didn't guarantee you massive amounts of money. You got some prize money and a couple of lucrative home ties in the European Cup - if you won 4-5 games, not always guaranteed - but the main financial source was attendance in the ground. And that wasn't enough to overcome shrewdness and a bit of luck with young players (admittedly, without the Bosman ruling players were pretty much locked in to the club, too): Man Utd, despite their fanbase, even had to take a trip down into the Second Division.

Yes, but you get my gist of it don't you?

Prize money and sponsorships will continue to rise, but all it takes is one bad season for it to be all rocked, and we'll see than if they continue to generate money through their "fans".

 

[Magrat Garlick]

I was thinking about the EPL and other European leagues and I thought of Wolfsburg winning the Bundesliga for the very first time, would the best English example would be Aston Villa or Everton winning the EPL?

Blackburn in '95 is probably the best example. Volkswagen have invested rather heavily in Wolfsburg recently, which is part of the reason for their success. When an Italian national team defender leaves the Serie A for an industrial town in cold, flat, grim northern Germany you know money has to be involved.

Any team drawing them in the CL should be rubbing their hands vigourously though. Fairly hefty rumours Dzeko will leave, Misimovic might join him, Grafite's the typical Bundesliga-Brazilian who pours in goals and then goes missing on a bigger stage and in any case he's 31 already, the manager has already gone to Schalke...so they're left with Barzagli as the only real class player.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Nah, agree with luff. You'd be a fool to think the current era of big-four domination will last forever.

Chelsea will fall out once Roman tires of his games or gets arrested in Russia, but apart from that...it would take some gross economic mismanagement á la Ridsdale. The income potential is just so much greater when you're shown on TV all across the world every single week of the year. Look at Italy, where Juventus are right back into the top three despite having degraded to Serie B for a year - that's much worse economically than finishing fifth and getting UEFA Cup matches on ITV as well as the PL contract still intact.

We've now had ten seasons this century. Only seven clubs have been in the top four, and only five since the dawn of Abramovich. That's a joke.

 

[GIMH]

Newcastle were amongst the 'big 4' at one point, though. Nothing is certain.