English Premiership - Played 30 Review

redspider

English league: P 30 review

As we have reached the 30-games played mark for many of the clubs in the English Premiership, it is a useful time to review whats been going on. The league standings at this stage in both last season and this season are as follows:
(Note: its not yet complete as not all teams have played 30 games. * =p29, ** =p28)

2004/2005          2005/2006
Chelsea     77     Chelsea     75	
Man U       66    *Man U       63	
Arsenal     64     Liverpool   58	
Everton     51     Tottenham   52	
Liverpool   47     Arsenal     50	
Bolton      46     Blackburn   49	
Charlton    43   **Bolton      48	
Middlesboro 42     Wigan       46	
Tottenham   42     Everton     43	
Aston Villa 38    *West Ham    42	
Newcastle   38     Man C       40	
Man C       36     Charlton    39	
Birmingham  35     Newcastle   39	
Fulham      33    *Middlesboro 34	
Blackburn   32     Aston Villa 34	
Portsmouth  31     Fulham      32	
Southampton 27     West Brom   27	
C Palace    26    *Birmingham  24	
West Brom   24     Portsmouth  24	
Norwich     20     Sunderland  10

Chelsea are more or less at the same level as last season, as are Man Utd. Liverpool and Arsenal have exchanged positions, although Liverpool are not doing as well as Arsenal were last season. Also of interest is that Spurs and Everton have exchanged positions with Spurs now fighting for 4th, although with Bolton having two games in hand this picture could change.

The difference in points between this season and last at this same stage is as follows:

Blackburn   +17	
Liverpool   +11	
Tottenham   +10	
Man C        +4	
West Brom    +3	
**Bolton     +2	
Newcastle    +1	
Fulham       -1	
Chelsea      -2	
*Man U       -3	
Aston Villa  -4	
Charlton     -4	
Portsmouth   -7	
*Middlesboro -8	
Everton      -8	
*Birmingham -11	
Arsenal     -14	

The fans of the clubs at the top of this comparison table will feel that there has been a marked improvement, while those at the lower end will (should) feel that its a bad season. For the likes of Chelsea its hard to improve on their near-invincibility. Liverpool fans will feel its better, Man U are the same as last season, but for Arsenal, CL aside, its a disaster. They are in a fight for 4th place, although slightly better positioned than Liverpool were last season and at the moment confidence is high and recent results are good. This will need to continue for it to have a happy ending.

Spurs are doing like Everton did last season and are really challenging for that 4th spot. But it remains to be seen if they or any of the other teams in this fight, Blackburn and Bolton, will be good enough to keep off Arsenal.

Here is the table that shows the form of each club in the 21-30 games (*) section of the season along with the 1st and 2nd sections of the season:

Club       1-10              11-20             21-30
Chelsea     28    Liverpool   28        Everton     23
Wigan       22    Chelsea     27        Chelsea     20
Charlton    19    Man U       26        *Man U      19
Tottenham   19    Tottenham   18        Blackburn   19
Man U       18    Arsenal     17        *West Ham   16
Arsenal     17    Blackburn   16        Arsenal     16
Bolton      17    Bolton      16        **Bolton    15
Man C       17    Newcastle   14        Tottenham   15
Liverpool   16    Aston Villa 13        Liverpool   14
West Ham    15    Everton     13        Newcastle   13
Blackburn   14    Wigan       12        *Middlesbor 12
Middlesboro 12    Fulham      11        Aston Villa 12
Newcastle   12    Man C       11        Fulham      12
Aston Villa  9    West Brom   11        Man C       12
Fulham       9    West Ham    11        Wigan       12
West Brom    8    Birmingham  10        Charlton    11
Everton      7    Middlesboro 10        Birmingham   8
Portsmouth   7    Portsmouth  10        West Brom    8
Birmingham   6    Charlton     9        Portsmouth   7
Sunderland   5    Sunderland   1        Sunderland   4

A slump for Liverpool, going from 28 to 14. Everton doing very well, back to their best of last season. Chelsea's hiccup is clear, but is unlikely to be enough to make a difference to the destimation of the title, as Man U as also spluterring. Blackburn continue their improvement, West Ham recover, and Arsenal's tepid season in the general scheme of things continues.

The final run-in will probably see:
1 Chelsea, 2 Man U, 3 Liverpool, 4 Arsenal

and relegations for Sunderland, and I'll predict West Brom and Birmingham, with Harry 'Houdini' Redknapp escaping once again.

redspider

Chardee MacDennis

redspider wrote:

The final run-in will probably see:
1 Chelsea, 2 Man U, 3 Liverpool, 4 Arsenal

and relegations for Sunderland, and I'll predict West Brom and Birmingham, with Harry 'Houdini' Redknapp escaping once again.

redspider

i have a good feeling united will slip up and liverpool may take 2nd and i think (and kina hope) the bottom 3 will stay the same...

p.pete

Call_me_al wrote:

i have a good feeling united will slip up and liverpool may take 2nd and i think (and kina hope) the bottom 3 will stay the same...

It'd need to be a big slip by united for liverpool to overtake them. I fancy Liverpool to finish strongly but to also finish 3rd.
Portsmouth seem to have started clicking, I can see them scraping survival. Shame for West Brom if that holds true.

Rikand

Call_me_al wrote:

i have a good feeling united will slip up and liverpool may take 2nd and i think (and kina hope) the bottom 3 will stay the same...

the last 3 looked a certainty for the longest time till that crazy russian took over portsmouth. had a bet running with my friends from the start of the season that Sunderland, Portsmouth and Birmingham would be the teams relegated...my bet out of the 12 of us is the only one still alive as they all picked wigan amongst their 3....looks like no-one is going to win now though

plus, i really like west brom, so hopefully they can do us all proud and stay up and show money + harry /= safety, lol

besty

Call_me_al wrote:

i have a good feeling united will slip up and liverpool may take 2nd and i think (and kina hope) the bottom 3 will stay the same...

No chance al. Lets say United win and draw their games at hand, thats still 6 points clear with 8 games left. If anything, Fergie knows how to handle these situations and run ins. They will not slip up, I guarantee it.

Chardee MacDennis

besty wrote:

No chance al. Lets say United win and draw their games at hand, thats still 6 points clear with 8 games left. If anything, Fergie knows how to handle these situations and run ins. They will not slip up, I guarantee it.

just a feeling, but we'll know by may 7th.

regarding relegation i really like west brom and wouldnt like to see villa or boro go down and i cant stand the three at the bottom, more so sunderland and portsmouth than birmingham. but i hope portsmouth go down, harry stays with them and southampton tear them apart in the championship!!

Ruskie4Rent

This is very interesting stuff. Thanks redsprider.

redspider

Btw, Here is the ladder view, which can help put things into perspective.
I'll update it when all teams have played 30 games:


Ladder - Played 30 (* game in hand)

75 Chelsea
74
73
72
71
70
69
68
67
66
65
64
63 *Man U
62
61
60
59
58 Liverpool
57
56
55
54
53
52 Tottenham
50 Arsenal
49 Blackburn
48 **Bolton
47
46 Wigan
45
44
43 Everton
42 *West Ham
41
40 Man C
39 Charlton, Newcastle
38
37
36
35
34 *Middlesboro, Aston Villa
33
32 Fulham
31
30
29
28
27 West Brom
26
25
24 *Birmingham, Portsmouth
..
10 Sunderland



redspider

Ruskie4Rent

The biggest gap is at the top. eep!!!

PHB

redspider, you're too nice to Sunderland After seeing the gap at the top, I was looking forward to scrolling all the way down for Sunderland :P

Shaque attack

dont think liverpool will reach 2nd tbh. even if we win all our games from now on,a very big if, utd will will only have to beat birmingham, west ham, sunderland, m'boro, and charlton all at home and draw one game from their other four games to finish ahead of us.
not very likely imo

mike65

Red Spider must have had a quiet morning at the office!

I fancy Bolton (cough!) for 4th place, the game in hand is the one that'll do it for them I think. So far Liverpools season has been ho-hum/great/ho-hum we just need another 'great' for the end!

Mike.

redspider

mike65 wrote:

Red Spider must have had a quiet morning at the office!

No, not as quiet as I would like - although I consider boards.ie posts as leisure time. I'm sure you must have had a few quiet moments to post 15,000 odd posts - kettle calling the pot black perhaps (cough) ?!?! ;-)

4th place is hard to call .....

redspider

Lemlin

17 points ahead of last year really shows the impact that Hughes is having. Now I'm only left wondering what might of been if Bellamy had been fit all season...

Still, I'm happy enough as it is. Last year Rovers' fans spent the entire year worrying about relegation, not whether we'd get into Europe.

BaZmO*

Ruskie4Rent wrote:

The biggest gap is at the top. eep!!!

Are you sure about that?

redspider

Lemlin wrote:

17 points ahead of last year really shows the impact that Hughes is having. Now I'm only left wondering what might of been if Bellamy had been fit all season...

Yeah, a very succesful season for Blackburn no matter what happens from here on. A good platform to do what Bolton are doing and be a safe team in the top-flight.

Bellamy is a very talented player, which was proven at both Newcastle and Celtic and now Blackburn, but is difficult to control manage, etc, so Hughes has done well to get the best out of him. Blackburn have a few difficult players, such as Savage, and there is a lack of star quality in comparison with what they had in the team of 1995(wasnt it?). Players like Pedersen are good finds but again not world class, and it remains to be seen how the club can progress. I have no idea on the youth being developed there, but it is clear that a run in Europe or several could see the club make strides. Success begats money, which begats succes, etc .....

redspider

elurhs

Can't see Liverpool taking second, but the points tally is much better than last year, and the overall consistency has greatly improved. Liverpool at home have the second best record in the league (after Chelsea), it's the away form letting them down.

Interesting how ManU were widely slammed after their CL exit, but have actually played extremely well since. The latter half of the season was always their strong point, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

When you look at the teams Ferguson and Wenger assembled with much less resources than Mourinho, it makes you wonder. Fergie might not always have a great eye for a mid-price player, but his few big money buys have been excellent. What's more, he's always played a balanced type of football, unlike Mourinho.

Chelsea are unlikely to slip up enough over the last few games for ManU to win, but I hope the other teams in the league wake up to the fact that Chelsea are very beatable. They're unlikely to hammer you like Arsenal or ManU could in their prime. I think next year could be very interesting. There's a reason the three-in-a-row has only been acheived four times, and only twice post-war.

PHB

It just goes to show again, that if United could hit the ground running, we'd be able to compete with Chelsea. This will be helped by automatic qualifcation, which in a world cup year, is a huge bonus. What i'm worried about is that we won't be able to buy anyone pre WC, and after it, everybody will have gone up in price.
That said, if RUud is going to be sold, the WC is the best thing for us, since he probably will get top scorer

Chardee MacDennis

i think the champions league plays a huge part in league form - i dont think its any coincidence that liverpool last year and arsenal this year have done well in the cl and let their home form slip quite badly, obviously having a squad that is as thin as liverpool and arsenal's you cant sustain the form in both competitions, if ya get my drift.

i think Man Utd being knocked out of the cl in the group stages has helped their league form and i dont seeing them being 2nd or at least holding such a gap over liverpool had they been in the 2nd round.

Bodhidharma

This is the worst season i can remember. There is no real hierarchy after the top 4 teams. The season is so unpredictable, all the teams outside the top 4 are as s**t as each other.

To quote Johnny Giles there all "a much of a muchness" ( i think thats the phrase - crazy ol John). Basically all the teams are rubbish, the football is shocking, and there are no entertaining players ( not to mind teams) outside the elite.

The "Elite" are no great shakes either. Very unpredicrable, Chelsea haven't ruined the league but they are doing it a disservice with their negative attitude and constant whinning.

At least Utd and The Arse were entertaining with good players.

Week 30 grade - D.

Dont be at yourself

No heirarchy outside the top 4?

You'd struggle to name the top 4, with so many teams jostling for the 4th spot at the moment.

Bodhidharma

Thats exactly my point.

Spurs & Arsenal, fair enough they play good football, the rest though are just a bunch of mullickers. Bootin the ball in the air and bein overly physical. The fact that these teams are aimin for a champs league spot says it all.

Blackburn, Bolton, Man city, west ham, wigan. there all crap and on any given week can beat each other. Unpredictable.

Jivin Turkey

Bodhidharma wrote:

Thats exactly my point.

Spurs & Arsenal, fair enough they play good football, the rest though are just a bunch of mullickers. Bootin the ball in the air and bein overly physical. The fact that these teams are aimin for a champs league spot says it all.

Blackburn, Bolton, Man city, west ham, wigan. there all crap and on any given week can beat each other. Unpredictable.

Yes, give me the days where I know exactly where every team will finish before the season kicks off.

Now that is football :rolleyes:

You are listening too much to the likes of Giles and Dunphy and their anti-Premiership agenda.

Bodhidharma

I do not have an anti - premiership agenda. I only mentioned Giles cos he's funny, he's supposed to be an analyst and he doesn't even know players names.

Anyway, i dont want a predictable league, i want good matches involving those who aren't directly challenging for anything.

The truth is the league this year is crap. Too many teams aren't good enough to keep a sustained run going.

Dont be at yourself

Is that because they're running up against quality opposition or they're not good though?

I think that over the past 5 or 6 years the number of good quality teams has risen in the Premiership - all of which are capable of taking points off each other. Would you prefer a 2 horse league like the Scottish Premier?

Jivin Turkey

First this

Bodhidharma wrote:

Blackburn, Bolton, Man city, west ham, wigan. there all crap and on any given week can beat each other. Unpredictable.

then this

Bodhidharma wrote:

Anyway, i dont want a predictable league, i want good matches involving those who aren't directly challenging for anything.

The truth is the league this year is crap. Too many teams aren't good enough to keep a sustained run going.

so you want a predictable league that is unpredictable. Ah right.

What exactly are the likes of West Ham and Wigan challenging for? Or Fulham or Boro? On their day all of these teams can produce quality football.

Ruskie4Rent

Yeah, every team has either performed way worse or way better than expectations this year, apart from chelsea. It's annoying the way that quality teams have just not performed...when I think about it this was such a boring season.

Lemlin

redspider wrote:

Yeah, a very succesful season for Blackburn no matter what happens from here on. A good platform to do what Bolton are doing and be a safe team in the top-flight.

Bellamy is a very talented player, which was proven at both Newcastle and Celtic and now Blackburn, but is difficult to control manage, etc, so Hughes has done well to get the best out of him. Blackburn have a few difficult players, such as Savage, and there is a lack of star quality in comparison with what they had in the team of 1995(wasnt it?). Players like Pedersen are good finds but again not world class, and it remains to be seen how the club can progress. I have no idea on the youth being developed there, but it is clear that a run in Europe or several could see the club make strides. Success begats money, which begats succes, etc .....

redspider

Yes, it was 1995. That was a team when Rovers had Shearer and Sutton scoring goals for fun with Ripley and Wilcox providing the ammunition from the wings. Kevin Gallacher wasn't bad back-up in attack either. The back four included Le Saux, Hendry and Berg with Flowers in goal. Dave Batty was a real scrapper in central midfield with Sherwood too. However, that was the team that Jack built. Rovers will have nowhere near the funds they had back then again.

Blackburn do have difficult players, like Neill, Savage, Todd and Bellamy. Hughes seems to be able to keep them happy though and is getting the best from the squad. An example of this is Steven Reid. Just look at his performances now compared to when Souness was there.

I think, with the addition of a decent left-back and backup central defender, that Rovers could do very well next season. I'd also like to see a new right winger unless Bentley or Emerton make that position their own soon. Reid is far more effective in a central role.

A new striker is also needed. I'd love to see Pongelle doing well but he isn't working out. Liverpool fans said that all he needed was a decent run but he's now started six games and has only one goal. I'd prefer to see Kuqi or Dickov start up front tomorrow against Sunderland.

As for Pedersen, 9 goals and 9 assists this season is good enough for me

mike65

The form league table since Jan 1 and not including this weekends games.

RANK TEAM P W D L F A PTS
1 Everton 10 7 2 1 17 8 23
2 Blackburn 11 7 1 3 17 12 22
3 Liverpool 13 6 3 4 16 12 21
4 Chelsea 10 6 2 2 15 10 20
5 Man United 9 6 1 2 18 12 19
6 Arsenal 11 5 2 4 21 8 17
7 Bolton 10 4 5 1 16 10 17
8 West Ham 9 5 1 3 18 17 16
9 Tottenham 10 4 3 3 14 10 15
10 Fulham 11 5 0 6 17 22 15
11 Newcastle 11 4 2 5 12 14 14
12 Charlton 12 3 5 4 11 14 14
13 Boro 10 4 1 5 16 21 13
14 Man City 10 4 0 6 12 13 12
15 Aston Villa 10 3 3 4 11 12 12
16 Wigan 10 3 3 4 10 12 12
17 Birmingham 10 3 2 5 10 12 11
18 West Brom 10 2 2 6 8 16 8
19 Portsmouth 10 2 1 7 9 20 7
20 Sunderland 11 1 1 9 5 18 4

Mike.

redspider

mike65 wrote:

The form league table since Jan 1 and not including this weekends games ...

Hi Mike,

That form table has an unequal number of matches for each club, so its an apples to oranges comparison. Its close to the 21-30 tables which I've listed above, and which now needs to be updated. I'll update it later today.

I would prefer if the English FA could keep the teams more closely aligned as what happens by and large in the other big leagues in Europe, so that there isnt a 3 week gap between one club playing 30 games and the laggard club.

redspider

redspider

Lemlin wrote:

Yes, it was 1995 .. that was the team that Jack built. Rovers will have nowhere near the funds they had back then again.

Blackburn do have difficult players, like Neill, Savage, Todd and Bellamy. Hughes seems to be able to keep them happy though and is getting the best from the squad. An example of this is Steven Reid. Just look at his performances now compared to when Souness was there.

A new striker is also needed. I'd love to see Pongelle doing well but he isn't working out.

Yeah, Blackburn now have to do it the hard way like most clubs (ie: by not having a source of burnable cash). Hughes is doing well, and better than Souness. I'm also impressed by Reid since he's come into the centre of the park. Many ex-wingers can play better in the centre.

Pongolle is a dilemma for both of us. He had his chances at Liverpool and seldom delivered. He's a funny sort of player. Like Garcia, he could do with playing off another striker and perhaps coming inside more rather than being put out on the wing as he was at Liverpool. Bellamy and Pongolle in the same attack force does not compute. Pongolle and Kuqi perhaps. But Bellamy just has to be played imo. I'd say Rafa will either off-load him in the summer, depending on who else joins Liverpool and I'd say Hughes wont be buying him. He probably suits someone like a WBA or just above that.

redspider

mike65

Pongo would be wasted at such a club in my view.

Mike.

Lemlin

redspider wrote:

Yeah, Blackburn now have to do it the hard way like most clubs (ie: by not having a source of burnable cash). Hughes is doing well, and better than Souness. I'm also impressed by Reid since he's come into the centre of the park. Many ex-wingers can play better in the centre.

Pongolle is a dilemma for both of us. He had his chances at Liverpool and seldom delivered. He's a funny sort of player. Like Garcia, he could do with playing off another striker and perhaps coming inside more rather than being put out on the wing as he was at Liverpool. Bellamy and Pongolle in the same attack force does not compute. Pongolle and Kuqi perhaps. But Bellamy just has to be played imo. I'd say Rafa will either off-load him in the summer, depending on who else joins Liverpool and I'd say Hughes wont be buying him. He probably suits someone like a WBA or just above that.

redspider

He didn't even feature in the squad at the weekend and AFAIK he isn't carrying an injury. I think it was an experiment Hughes wanted to try but it hasn't worked out. Bellamy would benefit much better from Dickov pestering the opponent's defence or Kuqi knocking down balls. Pongelle had his chance and I don't think we'll be seeing much of him in the remaining games.

redspider

With all teams except Bolton (p29)now having played their 30 games, here is the updated Game 21-30 table:

Everton   23	
Man U     22	
Chelsea   20	
Blackburn 19	
West Ham  19	
Arsenal   16	
*Bolton   15	
Middles   15	
Tottenham 15	
Liverpool 14	
Newcastle 13	
A Villa   12	
Fulham    12	
Man C     12	
Wigan     12	
Charlton  11	
Birmingham 8	
West Brom  8	
Portsmouth 7	
Sunderland 4

redspider

WhiteWashMan

jaysus, how did villa manage to get 12 points out of their last 10 games!