Race for 4th

flahavaj

Manchester City

Onecoolcookie wrote: »

Rafa is undoubtedly a talented manager his record at Valencia and Liverpool proves that but he has completely lost the plot this season and I feel a few of the senior players are starting to turn against him, just look at gerrard's reaction when torres was subbed today. With the current ownership at the club it would be difficult to attract a truly top class manager but surely they can do better than benitez ?

Name names. Realistic ones.

Onecoolcookie

I was afraid you were going to say that, ok Slaven Bilić could be an option, talented young manager who has already expressed a desire to manage in the premier league

Headshot

Manchester City

Pellegrini

flahavaj

Manchester City

Onecoolcookie wrote: »

I was afraid you were going to say that, ok Slaven Bilić could be an option, talented young manager who has already expressed a desire to manage in the premier league

He gets a big meh from me to be honest.

Little or no club management experience, not to mention is a bit of a loose cannon.

noodler

Manchester City

flahavaj wrote: »

For all the abuse Liverpool fans give Rafa, I can't think of a manager who'll do a better for them under the current financial restrictions than he. Straight up.

Its just being too kind on him.

This season is the absolute best we can expect anyone to do with that group of players then?

Mr Alan

Manchester City

Onecoolcookie wrote: »

I was afraid you were going to say that, ok Slaven Bilić could be an option, talented young manager who has already expressed a desire to manage in the premier league

a man with no real experience of club management is a better option than Rafa Benitez?

flahavaj

Manchester City

Headshot wrote: »

Pellegrini

Actually not a bad shout.

But is what he achieved at Villareal any better than what Rafa has done with Valencia and in his years at Liverpool?

Mr Alan

Manchester City

noodler wrote: »

Its just being too kind on him.

This season is the absolute best we can expect anyone to do with that group of players then?

no one is saying that.

i'd expect HIM to do a lot better with them next year.

flahavaj

Manchester City

noodler wrote: »

Its just being too kind on him.

This season is the absolute best we can expect anyone to do with that group of players then?

Far from it. But there are factors outdide his control at play here as well.

But if you look at his 5 years overall at Liverpool he has done a remarkable job given the way his hands have been tied and the strength of the opposition hes had at the top of the premiership.

Hes had a bad year, but I think sacking him isn't justified and he deserves at least another season at the helm.

And for those that do want him sacked I say again:

Who betta than Rafa? (little inside ref for PW posters there.:pac:)

Onecoolcookie

Mr Alan wrote: »

a man with no real experience of club management is a better option than Rafa Benitez?

Surely he deserves to be given a chance, he managed to turn Croatia into a solid young team, playing good football

Headshot

Manchester City

flahavaj wrote: »

Actually not a bad shout.

But is what he achieved at Villareal any better than what Rafa has done with Valencia and in his years at Liverpool?

of course he hasnt because he did get the chance but now he's doing a fine job at madrid but Marca always get their way

he hasnt won anything but did a great job to get a small club like Villarreal to finish third in the league and qualify for the CL and reaching the semi finals

flahavaj

Manchester City

Onecoolcookie wrote: »

Surely he deserves to be given a chance, he managed to turn Croatia into a solid young team, playing good football

Oh he deserves a chance alright, I just think he shouldn't get that chance straight away at a club that has title winning aspirations like Liverpool.

A smaller club to start is more realistic for Bilic.

flahavaj

Manchester City

Headshot wrote: »

of course he hasnt because he did get the chance but now he's doing a fine job at madrid but Marca always get their way

he hasnt won anything but did a great job to get a small club like Villarreal to finish third in the league and qualify for the CL and reaching the semi finals

Still not better than what Rafa has done at Liverpool and Valencia though.

As I said a better shout than some of the suggestiosn I've heard.

Onecoolcookie

flahavaj wrote: »

Oh he deserves a chance alright, I just think he shouldn't get that chance straight away at a club that has title winning aspirations like Liverpool.

A smaller club to start is more realistic for Bilic.

Fair enough point, I just feel that liverpool need a change of manager sooner rather than later if they are to have serious aspirations of getting a champions league place next season

Bukman13

Helix wrote: »

why have you left villa out of that, out of curiousity?

As flahavaj said realism, but partly down to the extra effort.

Remaining Fixtures:

Date|Spurs|Liverpool| Man City
11th Apr||Fulham (h)|Birmingham (h)|
14th Apr|Arsenal (h)|||
17th Apr|Chelsea (h)||Man United (h)|
19th Apr||West Ham (h)||
24th Apr| Man United (a)|Burnley (a)| Aresnal (a)|
1st May| Bolton (h)| Chelsea (h)| Villa (h)|
5th May| Man City (a)||Spurs (h)|
9th May|Burnley (a)| Hull (a)|West Ham (a)|




Liverpool - Liverpool can only reach a Max of 70pts now, so anything other than 5wins and they can't get to 69pts. Liverpool's problem has been their away form this season (just 4wins) but their 2 away matches are against Hull and Burnley so you would make them favourite for those. In contrast their home form has been excellent so you would give them a good chance of winning their 3 home games with Chelsea being the toughest.

Spurs - Anybody backing Spurs had them down for a win against Sunderland, and after that result they now need 4pts rather than 1pt from their next 3 games against Arsenal (h), Chelsea (h) and United (a).

City - City were obviously the huge winners over the weekend and are now favourites for 4th. They have a few tough games (Spurs, Arsenal, United and Villa) but have an advantage given that 4 of their last 6 games are at home.

The Spurs V City game is both sides game in hand so Liverpool fans can rest a little easier, as at least 1 side can't gain full pts from their game in hand.

Also the 3 teams fighting against relegation (Burnley, Hull and West Ham) will host the 3 teams fighting for 4th on the final day of the season.

K-9

Manchester City

Bukman13 wrote: »

As flahavaj said realism, but partly down to the extra effort.

Remaining Fixtures:

Date|Spurs|Liverpool| Man City
11th Apr||Fulham (h)|Birmingham (h)|
14th Apr|Arsenal (h)|||
17th Apr|Chelsea (h)||Man United (h)|
19th Apr||West Ham (h)||
24th Apr| Man United (a)|Burnley (a)| Aresnal (a)|
1st May| Bolton (h)| Chelsea (h)| Villa (h)|
5th May| Man City (a)||Spurs (h)|
9th May|Burnley (a)| Hull (a)|West Ham (a)|



Liverpool - Liverpool can only reach a Max of 70pts now, so anything other than 5wins and they can't get to 69pts. Liverpool's problem has been their away form this season (just 4wins) but their 2 away matches are against Hull and Burnley so you would make them favourite for those. In contrast their home form has been excellent so you would give them a good chance of winning their 3 home games with Chelsea being the toughest.

Spurs - Anybody backing Spurs had them down for a win against Sunderland, and after that result they now need 4pts rather than 1pt from their next 3 games against Arsenal (h), Chelsea (h) and United (a).

City - City were obviously the huge winners over the weekend and are now favourites for 4th. They have a few tough games (Spurs, Arsenal, United and Villa) but have an advantage given that 4 of their last 6 games are at home.

The Spurs V City game is both sides game in hand so Liverpool fans can rest a little easier, as at least 1 side can't gain full pts from their game in hand.

Also the 3 teams fighting against relegation (Burnley, Hull and West Ham) will host the 3 teams fighting for 4th on the final day of the season.

I feel better now! Our Away form is crap but we should be beating Burnley and Hull.

On a more realistic note, looking at the bottom 4 games, Burnley will be relegated. It may come down to Hull and West Ham needing a result on the final day.

matrim

Bukman13 wrote: »

As flahavaj said realism, but partly down to the extra effort.

Remaining Fixtures:

Date|Spurs|Liverpool| Man City
11th Apr||Fulham (h)|Birmingham (h)|
14th Apr|Arsenal (h)|||
17th Apr|Chelsea (h)||Man United (h)|
19th Apr||West Ham (h)||
24th Apr| Man United (a)|Burnley (a)| Aresnal (a)|
1st May| Bolton (h)| Chelsea (h)| Villa (h)|
5th May| Man City (a)||Spurs (h)|
9th May|Burnley (a)| Hull (a)|West Ham (a)|




Liverpool - Liverpool can only reach a Max of 70pts now, so anything other than 5wins and they can't get to 69pts. Liverpool's problem has been their away form this season (just 4wins) but their 2 away matches are against Hull and Burnley so you would make them favourite for those. In contrast their home form has been excellent so you would give them a good chance of winning their 3 home games with Chelsea being the toughest.

Spurs - Anybody backing Spurs had them down for a win against Sunderland, and after that result they now need 4pts rather than 1pt from their next 3 games against Arsenal (h), Chelsea (h) and United (a).

City - City were obviously the huge winners over the weekend and are now favourites for 4th. They have a few tough games (Spurs, Arsenal, United and Villa) but have an advantage given that 4 of their last 6 games are at home.

The Spurs V City game is both sides game in hand so Liverpool fans can rest a little easier, as at least 1 side can't gain full pts from their game in hand.

Also the 3 teams fighting against relegation (Burnley, Hull and West Ham) will host the 3 teams fighting for 4th on the final day of the season.

laziness I understand , but realism I don't. If you include liverpool then Villa have just as good a shot

Date|Spurs|Liverpool| Man City| Villa
11th Apr||Fulham (h)|Birmingham (h)|
14th Apr|Arsenal (h)|||Everton(h)
17th Apr|Chelsea (h)||Man United (h)|
18th Apr||||Portsmouth(a)
19th Apr||West Ham (h)||
21st Apr||||Hull(A)
24th Apr| Man United (a)|Burnley (a)| Aresnal (a)|
25th Apr||||Birmingham(h)
1st May| Bolton (h)| Chelsea (h)| Villa (h)|City(a)
5th May| Man City (a)||Spurs (h)|
9th May|Burnley (a)| Hull (a)|West Ham (a)|Blackburn(h)

K-9

Manchester City

matrim wrote: »

laziness I understand , but realism I don't. If you include liverpool then Villa have just as good a shot

Date|Spurs|Liverpool| Man City| Villa
11th Apr||Fulham (h)|Birmingham (h)|
14th Apr|Arsenal (h)|||Everton(h)
17th Apr|Chelsea (h)||Man United (h)|
18th Apr||||Portsmouth(a)
19th Apr||West Ham (h)||
21st Apr||||Hull(A)
24th Apr| Man United (a)|Burnley (a)| Aresnal (a)|
25th Apr||||Birmingham(h)
1st May| Bolton (h)| Chelsea (h)| Villa (h)|City(a)
5th May| Man City (a)||Spurs (h)|
9th May|Burnley (a)| Hull (a)|West Ham (a)|Blackburn(h)

City will decide it and hopefully you'll get a draw, snuff each other out. Well capable of that.

Ye need to get 9 points at home, ideally, not a cert.

matrim

K-9 wrote: »

City will decide it and hopefully you'll get a draw, snuff each other out. Well capable of that.

Ye need to get 9 points at home, ideally, not a cert.

We're definitely not favorites, but still with an outside chance. I think we'll have to win at least 4 (and get at least 2 points from the other 2) to have a chance. It's do-able but very tough

Bukman13

matrim wrote: »

laziness I understand , but realism I don't.If you include liverpool then Villa have just as good a shot

Haha:)!!!

matrim wrote: »

We're definitely not favorites, but still with an outside chance. I think we'll have to win at least 4 (and get at least 2 points from the other 2) to have a chance. It's do-able but very tough

I will be pleasantly surprised if Villa manage to clinch 4th. But from what i've seen of them they have look shattered recently and look just as likely to lose as they are to win a match.

I don't think 4wins and 2 draw will be enough for Villa. 14pts gives you 68pts, Your goal difference is such that you're hoping for City to pick up 8pts or less from their remaining 6 games, very unlikely IMO.

City should easily take 4th imo.

3 wins and a draw might be enough as I think Villa and Spurs will drop a fair few points.

Liverpool aren't capable of winning all their remaining games.

Prufrock

Spurs

Bump....I can't choose between City, Spurs and Pool. Every games a cup final from here.

SlickRic

Prufrock wrote: »

Bump....I can't choose between City, Spurs and Pool. Every games a cup final from here.

no disrespect meant, but are you mad?

Liverpool, barring a miracle collapse, of a magnitude similar to that of Jericho's walls falling down, are out of it now.

City and Spurs in it now, with City the odds-on favourites IMO the way they are playing.

joe123

Liverpool are out of it. We should pick up wins in our remaining games bar the chelsea one.

And if Torres is out for any of the remaining games then we could easily drop more points as we are useless without him.

PHB

Manchester City

Spurs are in a bit of a slump of late, but in a way, its lucky for them they are playing Arsneal, because it will bring out the best in them.

SuprSi

Manchester City

I think yesterdays result will have a huge impact on Wednesday nights game against Arsenal though. Palacios suspended for 2 games and the lads have to raise themselves after 120 minutes on a really crap pitch. Plus, Spurs haven't beaten Arsenal in the PL since its inception, and although Arsenal are missing key players, I can't see that record changing this week. To make matters worse for Spurs, I think City will beat Utd this weekend.

Helix

Bukman13 wrote: »

As flahavaj said realism, but partly down to the extra effort.

villa are 2 points behidn liverpool with 2 games in hand on them, you cant realisitically include pool and not include villa. especially considering the fixtures city and spurs have left

L'prof

Manchester City

Helix wrote: »

villa are 2 points behidn liverpool with 2 games in hand on them, you cant realisitically include pool and not include villa. especially considering the fixtures city and spurs have left

Villa definitely have a chance but beating Bolton 1-0 doesn't mean they've overcome their annual end of season slump. Liverpool are gone at this stage for me.

Helix

jasonorr wrote: »

Villa definitely have a chance but beating Bolton 1-0 doesn't mean they've overcome their annual end of season slump. Liverpool are gone at this stage for me.

we come out of the slump once march is over lol

absolutely HUGE game for us on wednesday, if we beat everton i think we're back in the mix, and itll come down to the city game second last match of the season to see which team gets 4th imo

i expect both city and spurs to pick up very few points between now and the end of the season. spurs will lose a lot, but i think city will pick up 3 or 4 draws

L'prof

Manchester City

Helix wrote: »

we come out of the slump once march is over lol

absolutely HUGE game for us on wednesday, if we beat everton i think we're back in the mix, and itll come down to the city game second last match of the season to see which team gets 4th imo

i expect both city and spurs to pick up very few points between now and the end of the season. spurs will lose a lot, but i think city will pick up 3 or 4 draws

Out of the three teams that are left in contention (imo), I would love to see Villa do it but, it won't be easy! Last year the slump didn't end after March but, let's hope it does this year!

Helix

jasonorr wrote: »

Last year the slump didn't end after March but, let's hope it does this year!

actually youre right, checked it there and we only won 2 after march

in fact, we only won 2 from mid feb to the end of the season. jesus we really threw 4th away last year

PHB

Manchester City

Since the league is over anyway, I'd love if United beat City then lost to Spurs

Helix

PHB wrote: »

Since the league is over anyway, I'd love if United beat City then lost to Spurs

im hoping for about 15-0 to united in each of those

Tusky

Manchester City

I think Spurs and Villa will drop points and City will finish comfortably in 4th.

4.Man City
5.Liverpool
6.Spurs
7.Aston Villa

karma_

Spurs

Obviously a ways to go yet but it's there for City to lose. We are hitting a great run of form, we are hard to beat at home and as much as we have some hard games, so does everyone at this stage of the season. I'm optimistic but not overly so. That might change if we can beat utd this weekend, which we can do in fairness.

Warper

Manchester City

City getting 4th spot will have serious ramifications for the League. They will be able to attract top players due to qualification to the CL. They have cash and they will go after everyone they can. Their current squad is very similar in quality to Chelsea's before Mourinho came in. With the addition of a couple more players they could be challenging on all fronts next season.

Helix

Warper wrote: »

City getting 4th spot will have serious ramifications for the League. They will be able to attract top players due to qualification to the CL. They have cash and they will go after everyone they can. Their current squad is very similar in quality to Chelsea's before Mourinho came in. With the addition of a couple more players they could be challenging on all fronts next season.

i honestly dont think CL qualification will make any difference to the players city can bring in in the summer, for that reason i hope they dont get it. if someone else finishes 4th besides city or liverpool youre potentially looking at 6 teams who can bring in CL standard players during the summer

Bounty Hunter

I think Liverpool are out of it, City should win it, Spurs will be in the middle of this pack and Villa have the potential but need the others (City in particular) to mess up. A win against Everton for Villa would change the whole complextion fo this race esp seing as Villa still play City but I think Tevez and co will be in the CL next year atm.

Helix wrote:

i honestly dont think CL qualification will make any difference to the players city can bring in in the summer, for that reason i hope they dont get it. if someone else finishes 4th besides city or liverpool youre potentially looking at 6 teams who can bring in CL standard players during the summer

Ive said similar before, no offense to City fans but i hope you mess up as i want to see the top of the prem shaken up not just City replacing Pool in the "big 4" which is what i fear would be all that would happen if this happened given their pulling power (money) already

Xavi6

Spurs

We can do it, but if we pick up a few injuries in the next game or two we're screwed. Apart from SWP and RSC, the other five subs yesterday were all academy players with less than 10 games between them.

Including injuries and players out on loan, here's what was missing yesterday -

---

HART

---

--ZABBA---RICHARDS

---

LESCOTT

---

BRIDGE--

---

VIEIRA

---

SYLVINHO

---

---

JOHNSON

---

IRELAND

---

PETROV

---

---

ROBINHO

---

Helix

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

I think Liverpool are out of it, City should win it, Spurs will be in the middle of this pack and Villa have the potential but need the others (City in particular) to mess up. A win against Everton for Villa would change the whole complextion fo this race esp seing as Villa still play City but I think Tevez and co will be in the CL next year atm.

if we beat everton we might be able to afford the draw against city, depending on other results obviously, but if united beat city (which id expect) and we manage to get 6 from our next 2, we'll be 2 points behind city both having played 34, and spurs having arsenal, chelsea and united in their next 3 games

Mitch Connor

Manchester City

Helix wrote: »

if we beat everton we might be able to afford the draw against city, depending on other results obviously, but if united beat city (which id expect) and we manage to get 6 from our next 2, we'll be 2 points behind city both having played 34, and spurs having arsenal, chelsea and united in their next 3 games

Don't know why you are expecting United to beat City, have you not seen the games vs Munich (twice) Chelsea and Blackburn? Playing terribly at the moment and City are scoring for fun.

Just read Pompey are trying to get to play in Europe next season, appealing to the PL. If they win the appeal (they probably won't) then only to 6th spot would get a Europa League place, so more pressure on the teams in that group to make sure they do not slack off

karma_

Spurs

Helix wrote: »

if we beat everton we might be able to afford the draw against city, depending on other results obviously, but if united beat city (which id expect) and we manage to get 6 from our next 2, we'll be 2 points behind city both having played 34, and spurs having arsenal, chelsea and united in their next 3 games

I think we just need to let the last few games play out, just look at this poll for example, so many thought Liverpool could do it! We will get a better picture of things after the next 2 games, could definitely be down to a 2 horse race depending on how things fare, or City could cement it.

MementoMori

Manchester City

Helix wrote: »

i honestly dont think CL qualification will make any difference to the players city can bring in in the summer, for that reason i hope they dont get it. if someone else finishes 4th besides city or liverpool youre potentially looking at 6 teams who can bring in CL standard players during the summer

I think it might make a difference on the managerial front.
Could well see them shafting Mancini and bringing in Mourinho for CL football.
The only fly in the ointment is how little time Mancini has been there.
If Hughes were still at City, I'd say the Mourinho would be a shoe-in.

City have to be favourites now given Spurs form and fixtures.
Liverpool and Villa too far behind unless a massive collapse by both sides.

Really can't see UEFA doing a U-turn on letting Portsmouth into Europe given all their talk about fiscal responsibilty, so would be shocked if theire weren't 7 European places in the league.

Assuming UEFA tell Pompey to forget it, then coming 5th would be the same as coming 6th [in terms of where both clubs would enter the Europa League] but there could be a bit of a scramble to avoid coming 7th as that round of the UEFA starts at the end of July and I can't see too many of the clubs wanting to start their competive season that early. [Chances are MON won't have even considered buying anyone by then ]

Warper

Manchester City

Helix wrote: »

i honestly dont think CL qualification will make any difference to the players city can bring in in the summer, for that reason i hope they dont get it. if someone else finishes 4th besides city or liverpool youre potentially looking at 6 teams who can bring in CL standard players during the summer

The CL is the pinnacle of soccer and is where everyone wants to play. I think it has a big bearing in whether a world-class player joins the club or not. Villa havn't a hope of getting fourth spot imo.

RandolphEsq

Manchester City

Warper wrote: »

The CL is the pinnacle of soccer and is where everyone wants to play. I think it has a big bearing in whether a world-class player joins the club or not. Villa havn't a hope of getting fourth spot imo.

I agree, and City would have the guff to make a huge bid for the likes of Torres and Gerard who couldn't but be tempted by the money and CL football for next season

Helix

MementoMori wrote: »

City have to be favourites now given Spurs form and fixtures.
Liverpool and Villa too far behind unless a massive collapse by both sides.

right now, i dont think villa are too far behind. obviously we need to do everton on wednesday, and pompey on sunday, but if (huge bloody if) we do, imo its down to a 2 horse race with us and city. i honestly cant see spurs taking more than a point from their next 3

obviously though, by sunday night city could be pretty much home and dry

Helix

Warper wrote: »

The CL is the pinnacle of soccer and is where everyone wants to play. I think it has a big bearing in whether a world-class player joins the club or not. Villa havn't a hope of getting fourth spot imo.

i dont think the cl thing matters to city this season, every player in the world can see that theyre gonna be there soon with the money theyve got. there are very few players in world football who wouldnt sign for them in the summer if they finished 5th on the basis of them not being in the CL imo

dunno how you can say villa have no hope though, honestly. its slim, but the next 2 games will be telling. right now its between villa and city, cant really look past them

MementoMori

Manchester City

Helix wrote: »

right now, i dont think villa are too far behind. obviously we need to do everton on wednesday, and pompey on sunday, but if (huge bloody if) we do, imo its down to a 2 horse race with us and city. i honestly cant see spurs taking more than a point from their next 3

obviously though, by sunday night city could be pretty much home and dry

Just can't see Villa having enough to do it, even if the Everton result goes in their favour. Much much more like to fade into the end of the season imo.

City by a country mile, they are the team in form.

I can see them getting at least a point v united too.

Gillington

Spurs

Being a City fan,I'm delighted the way we are playing and ecstatic with 4th but its only for the moment.

A run of

United (H)
Arsenal (A)
Villa (H)
Spurs (H)
West Ham (A)

is our worst nightmare,playing 2 potential league winners,2 teams vying for the same spot we are and finishing off with a team with a massive relegation fight on their hands.Now obviously by the time we play the last 3,the respective promotion/relegation battles could be over but its the Premier League so i wouldnt bank on it.Long story short,my glass is half empty...for now.