Villa V 'pool, a veritable six pointer.

Mr Alan

Dave! wrote: »

Oh you guys and your fourth place battle !

/runs away

You'll be involved soon enough yourselves

dannydiamond

Villain wrote: »

Why should I take a breather

Because you're talking about luck,missing players,a win from 3 weeks ago and assist statistics ffs!

Villain

dannydiamond wrote: »

Because you're talking about luck,missing players,a win from 3 weeks ago and assist statistics ffs!

and?? this is a soccer forum have a look at 100 random posts and see how many talk about luck, missing players or previous wins???

Spiritoftheseventies

dannydiamond wrote: »

Because you're talking about luck,missing players,a win from 3 weeks ago and assist statistics ffs!

Yes just took a look at table. Games are coming thick and fast. Spurs away next. Another veritable six pointer. I bags the next thread opener.

Mr Alan

the difference between the treatment of the press with o'neill and rafa is insane. o'neill must have an awesome pr team behind him.

Villain

Mr Alan wrote: »

the difference between the treatment the press dish out for o'neill and rafa is insane. o'neill must have an awesome pr team behind him.

Or it could be he is just a Nice likable Irish fella

bayviewclose

bayviewclose wrote: »

Yes just took a look at table. Games are coming thick and fast. Spurs away next. Another veritable six pointer. I bags the next thread opener.

Spurs at home.

Spiritoftheseventies

Mr Alan wrote: »

the difference between the treatment of the press with o'neill and rafa is insane. o'neill must have an awesome pr team behind him.

I guess playing in that Forest team of seventies and early eighties gives him a bit more credence with press some of whom would probably have known him from back then.

Bandit12

All bull**** aside do Villa fans hand on heart think they have a better chance than Liverpool of finishing top four? Honestly now. I'm not trying to start an arguement but i'm far more worried about Man City now they have a half decent manager at the helm and even think you will struggle to finish ahead to Spurs. Imo Villa will do well to finish top six unless they get a top striker into their ranks.

Helix

Mr Alan wrote: »

the difference between the treatment of the press with o'neill and rafa is insane. o'neill must have an awesome pr team behind him.

hes best mates with most of them in the media, and those he isnt good mates with, he sues regularly

K-9

Villain wrote: »

Who talked about Pressure?, thats for tyres.

I would have thought Portsmouth was a very winnable game tbh so I don't think any games can be called "very winnable" this season

Indeed. We've 6 out of 6 from the last 2 games, I'd have taken 4. If we take even 8 from the next 12, I'll be a lot happier come the end of January.

BERBA

bayviewclose wrote: »

Yes just took a look at table. Games are coming thick and fast. Spurs away next. Another veritable six pointer. I bags the next thread opener.

Lost that one on opening day !

Villain

Bandit12 wrote: »

All bull**** aside do Villa fans hand on heart think they have a better chance than Liverpool of finishing top four? Honestly now. I'm not trying to start an arguement but i'm far more worried about Man City now they have a half decent manager at the helm and even think you will struggle to finish ahead to Spurs. Imo Villa will do well to finish top six unless they get a top striker into their ranks.

Nope said Pool were favourites 2 weeks ago and still do but this league is like no other its very open and its going to be a close call.

Spiritoftheseventies

BERBA wrote: »

Lost that one on opening day !

Sorry Spurs at home. head still spinning after that win. Still bags the next thread opener

flahavaj

Mr Alan wrote: »

the difference between the treatment of the press with o'neill and rafa is insane. o'neill must have an awesome pr team behind him.

In fairness, at the start of the season the expactation of Rafa was that he'd be challenging for the title and getting to the latter stages of the CL.

And at the start of the season the most optimistic expectation of O' Neill was that he's be challenging for a top 6 place.

At the moment, by those criteria, one manager has underachieved massively, while the other is probably doing slightly better than hoped.

Bandit12

Bandit12 wrote: »

All bull**** aside do Villa fans hand on heart think they have a better chance than Liverpool of finishing top four? Honestly now. I'm not trying to start an arguement but i'm far more worried about Man City now they have a half decent manager at the helm and even think you will struggle to finish ahead to Spurs. Imo Villa will do well to finish top six unless they get a top striker into their ranks.

They have equally a chance of top 4.

I think City are slight favourites tbh.

Jesus Wept

curry-muff wrote: »

Im not trying to wind anyone up, its just everyone here seem to think that because of the victory today Liverpool are back at their best. That certainly is not the case. If they play like that again id expect everyone in the top ten to beat them.

5starpool wrote: »

Show me where 3 people have said that Liverpool are back to their best because of this result? If 'everyone' is saying it, then 3 clear examples should be too difficult to produce.

curry-muff wrote: »

Couldnt be bothered looking for any more, these were the ones before I first posted

The-Rigger wrote: »

<season starts here comment>

sarchasm ('sär-"ka-z&m) : The giant gulf (chasm) between what is said and the person who doesn't get it.

m83

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

Did you not post this already? Tourets?

No and you spelled "tourets" wrong.

ctrl-alt-delete

Bandit12 wrote: »

All bull**** aside do Villa fans hand on heart think they have a better chance than Liverpool of finishing top four? Honestly now. I'm not trying to start an arguement but i'm far more worried about Man City now they have a half decent manager at the helm and even think you will struggle to finish ahead to Spurs. Imo Villa will do well to finish top six unless they get a top striker into their ranks.

I'm not a Villa fan, but the way the league is, there are no indications of anyones finishing position, top or bottom.

Villa were unlucky tonight, they had a number of decent chances that on another day would have went in.

They are still in with a big shout of top 4.

Bandit12

bayviewclose wrote: »

Sorry Spurs at home. head still spinning after that win. Still bags the next thread opener

Either way another huge game. Win that and hopefully we will be building up a head of steam to take us into a decent finish to the season.

The-Rigger

The-Rigger wrote: »

sarchasm ('sär-"ka-z&m) : The giant gulf (chasm) between what is said and the person who doesn't get it.

Jay Fullmer, 38, yesterday became the first American to get to grips with the concept of irony.
"It was weird" Fullmer said. "I was in London and like, talking to this guy and it was raining and he pulled a face and said, "Great weather eh?" and I thought - "Wait a minute, no way is it great weather".
Fullmer then realised that the other man's 'mistake' was in fact deliberate.
Fullmer, who is 39 next month and married with two children, aged 8 and 3, plans to use irony himself in future.
"I'm, like, using it all the time" he said. "Last weekend I was grilling steaks, and I burned them, and I said "Hey, great weather."

magma69

rarnes1 wrote: »

They have equally a chance of top 4.

I think City are slight favourites tbh.

No way. Man City won't be able to get consistent wins on the trot. They have won 3 in a row now and everyone thinks they will hardly ever drop points. They still are a team of individuals and they will crumble in some games when things don't go their way. Liverpool have been in a similar situations before and can get the results when badly needed. Liverpool are still heavy favourites for fourth spot. It is a toss up between the other three teams who finishes fifth imo.

flahavaj

rarnes1 wrote: »

They have equally a chance of top 4.

I think City are slight favourites tbh.

Liverpool clear favourites IMO, well used to doing it, its not the big deal to them that it is to the likes of City and Spurs.

None of their rivals for fourth can boast difference makers like Torres and Gerrard in their teams. Those kind of players afford you the luxury of playing badly and still winning, like tonight.

You know City will find some way to make a balls of it. City always make a balls of it.

Mr Alan

flahavaj wrote: »

In fairness, at the start of the season the expactation of Rafa was that he'd be challenging for the title and getting to the latter stages of the CL.

And at the start of the season the most optimistic expectation of O' Neill was that he's be challenging for a top 6 place.

At the moment, by those criteria, one manager has underachieved massively, while the other is probably doing slightly better than hoped.

O Neill has blank cheque the last number of years and was running away wit 4th last year-until a quite extraordinary bad run which makes liverpools pool performance this year look not too bad at all. Helix can fill ya in on the blanks but i'd hazard a guess you could count the amount of games that villa won on one hand in the second half of last season. Yet not a glimmer of negative press for him. And with the money spent at villa the last number of years, top 4 is the target this year.

Bandit12

Mr Alan wrote: »

O Neill has blank cheque the last number of years and was running away wit 4th last year-until a quite extraordinary bad run which makes liverpools pool performance this year look not too bad at all. Helix can fill ya in on the blanks but i'd hazard a guess you could count the amount of games that villa won on one hand in the second half of last season. Yet not a glimmer of negative press for him. And with the money spent at villa the last number of years, top 4 is the target this year.

Villa settled for a nil nil when they brought on Sidwell. No mention of that from sky? Downing moaned like an old woman at being taken off (just imagine Rafa had bought Torres off and Liverpool lost)... no mention of that from sky???

Am i surprised by this, am i ****.

Villain

Mr Alan wrote: »

O Neill has blank cheque the last number of years

Can't say I think that is true especially when you compare us with City or Chelsea

flahavaj

Mr Alan wrote: »

O Neill has blank cheque the last number of years and was running away wit 4th last year-until a quite extraordinary bad run which makes liverpools pool performance this year look not too bad at all. Helix can fill ya in on the blanks but i'd hazard a guess you could count the amount of games that villa won on one hand in the second half of last season. Yet not a glimmer of negative press for him. And with the money spent at villa the last number of years, top 4 is the target this year.

There were very few people expecting Villa to be doing as well as they have when City went on their spending spree.

If anything O' Neill is doing great to be achieving parity with them by your logic of comparing expenditure.

Rafa's getting the criticism he deserves for how massively liverpool have undershot the expectations that you and every other liverpool fan had for them this season. And rightly so IMO.

O' Neill is doing slightly better than expected. Even if top 4 was expected of him pre season (which I really don't think it was) hes doing exactly that, challenging for it.

argosy2006

Next four in league are games liverpool need to win and should win ,top four, meh,, can get back in race for title if we can hit some form,
aqualani hopefully improves ,
rafa wants lusas , masch in team, so what happens when masch back,

dannydiamond

All this talk of the top four place and you all seem fairly certain that the top 3 is crystal.

I'm not so sure, I can see Arsenal getting dragged into a fight too tbh.
That'd leave, Liverpool,Arsenal,Villa,Spurs and City fighting for 2 spots in theory.

The title race could lose alot of glory to this battle imo, it's certainly more interesting.

One Cold Hand

dannydiamond wrote: »

I'm not so sure, I can see Arsenal getting dragged into a fight too tbh.
QUOTE]

Ha! Good one.

Bandit12

One Cold Hand wrote: »

dannydiamond wrote: »

I'm not so sure, I can see Arsenal getting dragged into a fight too tbh.
QUOTE]

Ha! Good one.

Might not seem so funny come April/May tbh. Alway's makes me laugh when people seem to decide who the best team/teams in the country are in December. Long long way to go yet don't ya know

flahavaj

argosy2006 wrote: »

Next four in league are games liverpool need to win and should win ,top four, meh,, can get back in race for title if we can hit some form,
aqualani hopefully improves ,
rafa wants lusas , masch in team, so what happens when masch back,

dannydiamond wrote:

All this talk of the top four place and you all seem fairly certain that the top 3 is crystal.

I'm not so sure, I can see Arsenal getting dragged into a fight too tbh.
That'd leave, Liverpool,Arsenal,Villa,Spurs and City fighting for 2 spots in theory.

The title race could lose alot of glory to this battle imo, it's certainly more interesting.

Thread was going grand, now its getting silly.

dannydiamond

One Cold Hand wrote: »

dannydiamond wrote: »

I'm not so sure, I can see Arsenal getting dragged into a fight too tbh.
QUOTE]

Ha! Good one.

Not being funny at all.

Chelsea and United will fight it out imo.

That leaves the rest,while Arsenal have a small cusion at the moment,they are in the fight as much as the other teams I mentioned,make no mistake.

dannydiamond

flahavaj wrote: »

Thread was going grand, now its getting silly.

What's getting silly?

Straight fight between Chelsea and United,imo.

The rest will have to fight.

curry-muff

As much as I dislike Liverpool, I don't see why they can't yet fight for 3rd place.

ShoulderChip

The last few posts on the thread are a bit circle-jerky tbh.

Bandit12

dannydiamond wrote: »

What's getting silly?

Straight fight between Chelsea and United,imo.

The rest will have to fight.

With the way both Chelsea and United are playing at the moment i would'nt rule out City as an outside chance dependent on January signings. I think they will surprise a few people. Money buy's title's and by jesus they have money to spend.

flahavaj

dannydiamond wrote: »

What's getting silly?

Straight fight between Chelsea and United,imo.

The rest will have to fight.

Arsenal go above United if they win their game in hand and within 1 point of Chelsea if they win their game in hand. Can't be written off yet and certainly a class above anything beneath them.

flahavaj

ShoulderChip wrote: »

The last few posts on the thread are a bit circle-jerky tbh.

Funny the first time.;)

Sir Gallagher

Bandit12 wrote: »

With the way both Chelsea and United are playing at the moment i would'nt rule out City as an outside chance dependent on January signings. I think they will surprise a few people. Money buy's title's and by jesus they have money to spend.

I can't see it, not with that defence.

Bandit12

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

I can't see it, not with that defence.

Like i said it depends on the January window. Opps off topic. Goodnight

flahavaj

Bandit12 wrote: »

With the way both Chelsea and United are playing at the moment i would'nt rule out City as an outside chance dependent on January signings. I think they will surprise a few people. Money buy's title's and by jesus they have money to spend.

They'll do well to get fifth. This is City we're talking about, even if they were 9 points clear with 3 games to go they'd find some way to mess it up.:pac:

jesus_thats_gre

Bandit12 wrote: »

4 Downing moaned like an old woman at being taken off (just imagine Rafa had bought Torres off and Liverpool lost).4

Noticed this myself. Tis funny how it works alright.

Mr.Nice Guy

dannydiamond wrote: »

All this talk of the top four place and you all seem fairly certain that the top 3 is crystal.

I'm not so sure, I can see Arsenal getting dragged into a fight too tbh.
That'd leave, Liverpool,Arsenal,Villa,Spurs and City fighting for 2 spots in theory.

The title race could lose alot of glory to this battle imo, it's certainly more interesting.

I find this an extraordinary comment.

You're not seriously suggesting that a battle for fourth place is more compelling than the race for the title? You don't win any medals for finishing fourth, regardless of the financial incentives. A year from now no one will care about the current battle for the top four. There is NO glory to it.

It is a battle that is driven by money.

flahavaj

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I find this an extraordinary comment.

You're not seriously suggesting that a battle for fourth place is more compelling than the race for the title? You don't win any medals for finishing fourth, regardless of the financial incentives. A year from now no one will care about the current battle for the top four. There is NO glory to it.

It is a battle that is driven by money.

And the desperate need to hold onto one's job.:pac:

dannydiamond

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I find this an extraordinary comment.

You're not seriously suggesting that a battle for fourth place is more compelling than the race for the title? You don't win any medals for finishing fourth, regardless of the financial incentives. A year from now no one will care about the current battle for the top four. There is NO glory to it.

It is a battle that is driven by money.

You're forgetting the fans involvement and the hype surrounding it.

Have you not seen this already and it's not even January?

If,and it's obv a big if,Chelsea and United draw clear,then we will and already do have the closest bunched chasing pack for years since the inception of the so called 'big four'.

Chelsea and United fans may largely ignore this,but it would make for an awful lot more interest than previous seasons for the vast majority of premier league fans.

Glory or not, more fans will have a vested interest in this than the title race imo.

mayordenis

This shouldn't be talked about in here anyway but, United have no reason to think they'll be ahead of Arsenal by the time they've both played 20 games, so to say Arsenal are going to drift down is disrespectful, the attacking options at the emirates are sick, Nasri, Walcott, Arshavin, Fabregas, Rosicky, Van Persie, Eduardo, Vela, Bendtner - the only problem I see down there is fragility, that's it, get players fit and they should not be written off by any means.

Mr.Nice Guy

dannydiamond wrote: »

You're forgetting the fans involvement and the hype surrounding it.

Have you not seen this already and it's not even January?

If,and it's obv a big if,Chelsea and United draw clear,then we will and already do have the closest bunched chasing pack for years since the inception of the so called 'big four'.

Chelsea and United fans may largely ignore this,but it would make for an awful lot more interest than previous seasons for the vast majority of premier league fans.

Glory or not, more fans will have a vested interest in this than the title race imo.

Surely though the interest is only because most fans are sick of the top four's monopoly in recent years?

And the fact that the struggle to break up this monopoly could be viewed as more interesting than the struggle to win the title is a pretty sad reflection on the Premier League itself.

There was a discussion on this on Sky a few weeks ago about how nowadays the race for the top four is taking precedence over glory in cup competitions when at the end of the day you win nothing for finishing fourth. As Andy Gray said in his day the aim in your career was to win a medal whereas nowadays a lot of players will look back on their career and point to the top four finishes they achieved.

Don't you find that a pretty depressing reflection on the modern game? I do.

flahavaj

mayordenis wrote: »

This shouldn't be talked about in here anyway but, United have no reason to think they'll be ahead of Arsenal by the time they've both played 20 games, so to say Arsenal are going to drift down is disrespectful, the attacking options at the emirates are sicknotes, Nasri, Walcott, Arshavin, Fabregas, Rosicky, Van Persie, Eduardo, Vela, Bendtner - the only problem I see down there is fragility, that's it, get players fit and they should not be written off by any means.

I may be mistaken but I dont think any United fans have said this?

Also FYP.:)

everdead.ie

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Surely though the interest is only because most fans are sick of the top four's monopoly in recent years?

And the fact that the struggle to break up this monopoly could be viewed as more interesting than the struggle to win the title is a pretty sad reflection on the Premier League itself.

There was a discussion on this on Sky a few weeks ago about how nowadays the race for the top four is taking precedence over glory in cup competitions when at the end of the day you win nothing for finishing fourth. As Andy Gray said in his day the aim in your career was to win a medal whereas nowadays a lot of players will look back on their career and point to the top four finishes they achieved.

Don't you find that a pretty depressing reflection on the modern game? I do.

When was the last time a team has pushed for the title without being top 4 the previous year fact is you can't attract certain players without champions league football. That is why 4th is so important for every team involved in it.

Thought Villa looked the better team (in the highlights i saw i cant judge on anything else) a very cruel way to lose a game