Race for 4th

K-9

Manchester City

rossie1977 wrote: »

if losing less games meant anything liverpool would have been champions last two seasons. ffs villa have lost the same number of games as utd, city have lost one less, surely that means they are title challengers

Ach it's Liverpool. The criteria to slate them changes from season to season.

Spiritoftheseventies

Manchester City

yeah was watching sunday supplement on sky sports the other day and hacks mentioned that this was probably best chance teams like city villa and spurs would get to claim a top four spot given pools awful season to date. Would tend to agree. Dont think a repeat of this season will be tolerated again.

Pepe LeFrits

Best chance for Villa, Spurs, Everton etc but I don't think City are anywhere near their ceiling yet. They keep spending and they'll break the top 4 sooner or later.

me-skywalker

Manchester City

Dont worry about Pompey the worst that will happen is they will go into admin and play out the season and be deducted 9pts so all games pending will still be played.

I really think Liverpool have momentum and are solid enough now to grab 4th, altho City have the quality to be close at the end. I hate Harry Redknapp so I hope he gets a few years for this tax fraud him and Gadamak got caught in. Martin O'Neill and VIlla are the perennial under/over achievers all in 1 season so hard to see how they are gonna do again on the run in.

I think they're mathc against United summed them up perfectly, they dont have that killer instinct to go and get the win. At home and up 1 man witha full strenght squad they really should ahve done better.

Columbia

me-skywalker wrote: »

Dont worry about Pompey the worst that will happen is they will go into admin and play out the season and be deducted 9pts so all games pending will still be played.

Don't know about that mate, the upcoming court case does not have the authority to put Portsmouth into administration, it is a simple matter of whether they will be placed in liquidation or not. The two are very similar, but the difference is that in administration the club are allowed to continue operating, whilst in liquidation they would be required to immediately cease all activities and in doing so go out of existence. If Pompey can satisfy the taxman they will continue to operate, if they can't they will be permanently shut down, those are the only two scenarios in this case. (Unless Pompey survive the court case and then place themselves into administration in the Summer)

Frankly it doesn't look at all good for them, I had a lot of stuff written out on why but then I realised this is a thread on the top 4. The case could very well turn out with most of the clubs in the league being deducted between 1 and 6 points.

me-skywalker

Manchester City

Columbia wrote: »

Don't know about that mate, the upcoming court case does not have the authority to put Portsmouth into administration, it is a simple matter of whether they will be placed in liquidation or not. The two are very similar, but the difference is that in administration the club are allowed to continue operating, whilst in liquidation they would be required to immediately cease all activities and in doing so go out of existence. If Pompey can satisfy the taxman they will continue to operate, if they can't they will be permanently shut down, those are the only two scenarios in this case. (Unless Pompey survive the court case and then place themselves into administration in the Summer)

No you are wrong the court CAN put them into administration. This is the worst case scenario for their creditors and debtors as they would only get a small percentage of their money back. But once this is done and the administrator has wiped clean the company of its assest to get the best money available then they can restart up again as another company eg. Pompey 2010 ltd or something like that.

It has happened to loads of clubs. Where one day they go into admini.tration and the next day they are back operating with a new trading name

Smegball

Manchester City

City to make a balls of it and Liverpool to sneak it, predictable as they come unfortunately.

Columbia

me-skywalker wrote: »

No you are wrong the court CAN put them into administration. This is the worst case scenario for their creditors and debtors as they would only get a small percentage of their money back. But once this is done and the administrator has wiped clean the company of its assest to get the best money available then they can restart up again as another company eg. Pompey 2010 ltd or something like that.

It has happened to loads of clubs. Where one day they go into admini.tration and the next day they are back operating with a new trading name

"The court would not have the power to put the club into administration, which would have allowed the club to continue trading and protect it from its creditors. Instead, what we are talking about is the wholesale destruction of Portsmouth as a football club."

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/HMRC-To-Push-For-Portsnmouth-Football-Club-To-Be-Wound-Up-Over-Unpaid-Taxes/Article/201002215546018?lpos=Business_First_Buisness_Feature_Teaser_Region__0&lid=ARTICLE_15546018_HMRC_To_Push_For_Portsnmouth_Football_Club_To_Be_Wound_Up_Over_Unpaid_Taxes

me-skywalker

Manchester City

Columbia wrote: »

"The court would not have the power to put the club into administration, which would have allowed the club to continue trading and protect it from its creditors. Instead, what we are talking about is the wholesale destruction of Portsmouth as a football club."

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/HMRC-To-Push-For-Portsnmouth-Football-Club-To-Be-Wound-Up-Over-Unpaid-Taxes/Article/201002215546018?lpos=Business_First_Buisness_Feature_Teaser_Region__0&lid=ARTICLE_15546018_HMRC_To_Push_For_Portsnmouth_Football_Club_To_Be_Wound_Up_Over_Unpaid_Taxes

Well thats funny all day on sky sports news the were reporting this as an option. Oh well. Fingers crossed they dont after this adjournment.

OPENROAD

Well after todays results, (while not crucial) which saw Liverpool and City drop points, what do people think, a good weekend for spurs and villa.

magma69

Manchester City

OPENROAD wrote: »

Well after todays results, (while not crucial) which saw Liverpool and City drop points, what do people think, a good weekend for spurs and villa.

I still cannot see either keeping pace with City and Liverpool. Liverpool have a nice run of games from here on in and I expect them to begin to pip City to the post. Maybe I will be wrong but Villa and Spurs will drop too many points. They have not the experience to get it together when the going gets tough.

CHD

Spurs

Jordonvito wrote: »

suprised city arent running away with this poll, they have stoke and liverpool next at home, both of which i think they will win, im a united fan, and in a perfect world neither of these would be 4th, but id prefer city to get it, and watch liverpool fall to peices in the summer haha

....

therecklessone

magma69 wrote: »

They have not the experience to get it together when the going gets tough.

And City have what experience exactly?

Odd thing to say tbh.

K-9

Manchester City

OPENROAD wrote: »

Well after todays results, (while not crucial) which saw Liverpool and City drop points, what do people think, a good weekend for spurs and villa.

Surely Villa fans would have wanted Pool to lose? Would have been a point ahead with a game in hand. City would have been 3 ahead, but they play Chelsea next away and Villa would have a game in hand on City after that.

JPA

K-9 wrote: »

Surely Villa fans would have wanted Pool to lose? Would have been a point ahead with a game in hand. City would have been 3 ahead, but they play Chelsea next away and Villa would have a game in hand on City after that.

I'm happy with the draw. A point doesn't help either that much.

Columbia

therecklessone wrote: »

And City have what experience exactly?

Odd thing to say tbh.

Don't be daft. As recently as 1999 they won the Second Division. Play-offs. Against Gillingham. On penalties.

You can't buy a rich history like that, lad.

Kold

Villa

Aaron Lennon to get us to 3rd please.

Mr Alan

Manchester City

Torres to win us the title please

L'prof

Manchester City

Mr Alan wrote: »

Torres to win us the title please

I thanked because you made me laugh

Spiritoftheseventies

Manchester City

jasonorr wrote: »

I thanked because you made me laugh

Yeah Villa had a good day yesterday. But on plus side and its a big plus we got Torres and Benny back.

everdead.ie

You should try using the BBC predictor and see what you get and stick it up here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/predictor/default.stm
I did but it was incredibly spurs biased :P

Morzadec

Manchester City

everdead.ie wrote: »

You should try using the BBC predictor and see what you get and stick it up here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/predictor/default.stm
I did but it was incredibly spurs biased :P

I did it there and I have Liverpool in 4th, but was surprised to see Villa in 5th with only 37 games played and only 2 points behind :eek: Anyone know who their yet to be scheduled match is against?

Perhaps I was harsh on City but in my table they've ended up being passed out by Everton (who seem to have a nice run of end of year fixtures).

Chelsea win the League, but United and Arsenal are with them til the end, only 2 points in it. Wolves, Hull and Portsmouth go down, but Bolton and Burnley also have dismal points tallies and are very close to relegation also.

From what I can tell of the fixtures for the battle for 4th, City have some very tough games and are going to have to improve if they want to take 4th.

Spurs have a couple of tough games also, and will need to beat the likes of Arsenal (which they never do) to maintain a challenge.

Liverpool's fixtures are pretty nice and are full of games that we have been expected to win this season but ultimately haven't. The likes of Burnley, Hull City, Wigan away. If we can grind out away wins against these oppositions (or even win 2 out of 3 with a draw) I think Liverpool will squeeze 4th, but it will be very, very close with Villa (who have pretty nice fixtures) as the main contenders.

*Did this pretty quickly without too much thought so could well be well off the mark.

therecklessone

Kold wrote: »

Aaron Lennon to get us to 3rd please.

I'd settle for him making an appearance before the end of the season in fairness...

Warper

Manchester City

4 average sides - it's not whoever plays well as none of the 4 are playing well but more like whoever fcuks up the least will get it. Love to see Everton passing all of them out and snatching it.

L'prof

Manchester City

Warper wrote: »

4 average sides - it's not whoever plays well as none of the 4 are playing well but more like whoever fcuks up the least will get it. Love to see Everton passing all of them out and snatching it.

I think with Torres and Benayoun coming back, that will give Liverpool the necessary push to take it.

JimsAlterEgo

jasonorr wrote: »

I think with Torres and Benayoun coming back, that will give Liverpool the necessary push to take it.

I am not sure, some of pools bad results where with Torres in the team

L'prof

Manchester City

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

I am not sure, some of pools bad results where with Torres in the team

He's not the messiah or anything but, he'll get them goals and win them matches, Benayoun is key too!

L'prof

Manchester City

jasonorr wrote: »

He's not the messiah or anything but, he'll get them goals and win them matches, Benayoun is key too!

Haha, made me think of this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjz16xjeBAA

Time Magazine

Morzadec wrote: »

I did it there and I have Liverpool in 4th, but was surprised to see Villa in 5th with only 37 games played and only 2 points behind :eek: Anyone know who their yet to be scheduled match is against?

Hull, which you'd expect to be 3 points, putting Villa 4th by a point

carlop

Manchester City

I have United winning by a goal from Arsenal, with both one point ahead of Chelsea. Liverpool a good 3 points clear in 4th ahead of Villa. Wolves, Burnley and Portsmouth relegated.

Unfortunately, I think I was too harsh on Chelsea and they will win out in the end, but I do expect Liverpool to come fourth. Looking at those fixtures Spurs will really need to do something special to hang onto 4th place. Everton will also be right in contention by the end of the season.

Morzadec

Manchester City

Time Magazine wrote: »

Hull, which you'd expect to be 3 points, putting Villa 4th by a point

Lol!

It will be close then! In my table I have Hull needing a win from their game in hand to tie with Burnley for the final relegation spot. A 2-0 win would see them safe. So in my imaginary table they will be well up for this game (although I suppose it depends when the game comes).

It will be interesting to see how Villa and Pool fair against some of these teams scrapping for their lives, and as I said before whoever is consistent in picking up points in these games will probably take 4th. Although 'consistent' is a word that can't really be said about any of these teams...

The optimist in me still reckons Liverpool will snatch 4th (despite my prediction table seemingly saying otherwise!). If we can play anywhere near the level we did from March onwards last year with a fit Torres and Benayoun, then I think we're favourites.

But it's hard to be overconfident about Liverpool this year, and it's hard to know how we'll fair in those away games against the bottom-half teams.

Whoever takes it will need at least 65 points I reckon, possibly pushing onto 70.

JPA

Time Magazine wrote: »

Hull, which you'd expect to be 3 points, putting Villa 4th by a point

It's Wigan away isn't it?

Morzadec

Manchester City

JPA wrote: »

It's Wigan away isn't it?

Different story then! I fancy Wigan to snatch a point. I had them down as taking a point off Liverpool as well.

JPA

Morzadec wrote: »

Different story then! I fancy Wigan to snatch a point. I had them down as taking a point off Liverpool as well.

They were awesome yesterday!

Morzadec

Manchester City

JPA wrote: »

They were awesome yesterday!

Ha true, they weren't the best...

I just figured that it's way too optimistic to expect 15 out of 15 points in fixtures such as Blackburn (H), West Ham (H), Hull (a), Burnely (a) and Wigan (a). We're going to slip up somewhere and I went for the Wigan game as I figure on their day they're the best of the teams we have to face away.

Obviously Liverpool go into all these games as firm favourites but we will almost certainly drop points somewhere. I would gladly take 13 points from these fixtures. Hard to predict where we'll drop points but Wigan is as good a guess as any I reckon.

JimsAlterEgo

the way they are currently palying they are as likely to drop points against wigan as chelsea

SantryRed

Morzadec wrote: »

Ha true, they weren't the best...

I just figured that it's way too optimistic to expect 15 out of 15 points in fixtures such as Blackburn (H), West Ham (H), Hull (a), Burnely (a) and Wigan (a). We're going to slip up somewhere and I went for the Wigan game as I figure on their day they're the best of the teams we have to face away.

Obviously Liverpool go into all these games as firm favourites but we will almost certainly drop points somewhere. I would gladly take 13 points from these fixtures. Hard to predict where we'll drop points but Wigan is as good a guess as any I reckon.

I think you'll get 10 points from these games. Win both home games. But away from home yous are just poor, personally think Hull will beat you. A win at Burnley and a draw at Wigan.

K-9

Manchester City

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

the way they are currently palying they are as likely to drop points against wigan as chelsea

You could say that about City and Spurs too. Everton are a dead cert then!

I actually had Everton 3 points behind Pool with a game in hand, which I think is City. Didn't really put much time into it though.

Royale with Cheese

Manchester City

Just did the predictor there. I have Spurs taking 4th. Better not happen.

everdead.ie

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Just did the predictor there. I have Spurs taking 4th. Better not happen.

Nice although i think that puts you in minority I think City and spurs have the hardest run in with villa and Liverpool with the easiest of the four but I think if we can get Lennon back he'd offer a lot more upfront with his pace

SantryRed

Have Villa 4th Liverpool 5th myself.

rossie1977

on paper villa have the easiest run-in

Morzadec

Manchester City

rossie1977 wrote: »

on paper villa have the easiest run-in

Yeah agreed. Liverpool's isn't bad either. On paper you're right, it looks like it's between Liverpool and Villa. But end of the season games against bottom of the table teams can be tough and there will be more than a few surprises I'm sure.

bUILDERtHEbOB

I have Liverpool coming 4th by 4 points, with Villa 5th and City 6th, and Wolves and Burnley being relegated, with Chelsea winning the league.

Heres hoping anyway...

MementoMori

Manchester City

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

I am not sure, some of pools bad results where with Torres in the team

Yup but this was when the defence were conceeding goals for fun.
Liverpool have conceeded 1 in their last eight games and have Torres back.
Would be shocked if they don't get fourth.

everdead.ie

I had Utd winning the league on the last day with all four teams within 3 points of each other villa have two games in hand spurs one and city two

PHB

Manchester City

I'm wondering are people beginning to change their minds
I think the last 6 form table is pretty interesting.

Spurs - WDDLWW
City - WLWDDW
Liverpool - WWLDWL
Villa - DDWDDW

I must say, I think Villa's defensive style will ultimately not allow them to get 4th. However defense gets you league points, and no losses in 6 games is a pretty decent run. However, with Stoke, Wigan, Wolves and Sunderland coming up next, if they put together a decent run there, say 3 wins, they'll be in a driving position.

everdead.ie

I wonder how many people had wigan down as a win for liverpool in the bbc predictor:pac:

rossie1977

i still think villa will get 4th, i still believe 66 points will get you fourth

its funny last night to see liverpool fans saying that they would need to win all 9 remaining games to get 4th, thats not the case, that would put them on 75 points a total by which the premier league has been won in the past, the standard hasn't improved that much where a team finishing on 75 points scrape just 4th place.............surely not

rossie1977

everdead.ie wrote: »

I wonder how many people had wigan down as a win for liverpool in the bbc predictor:pac:

about the same number that thought city would win at chelsea