The "big 4"

Sizzler

So this season has a gatecrasher, no bad thing for the league it has to be said, congrats to Spurs, delighted for Harry Redknapp, an "old school" manager.

So will the media give them the credit they deserve and are Spurs truly part of the big 4 gang or do Liverpool still hold the mantle purely on club stature?

That_Guy

Top 7.

artanevilla

I don't subscribe to a big four notion myself, if anything it's been a big two for a long time.

Lukker-

The way I see it, 2 teams fight it out for title, 1 team sits comfortably enough in 3rd, always a scramble for 4th with the traditional big 4 team usually edging it (not this season!).

Headshot

welcome spurs to the top 4

hope ye stay there now

mike65

The "traditional" Big 4 has only been so for 5 years previously Newcastle and Leeds were 4 top sides, Everton popped up once and so on. Spurs are a top 4 side for the next season.

PHB

I think long term, Spurs can invest serious money into this team, play attractive football, have CL football and are based in London.

If they buy right, they can step up to the next level, especially with the new stadium on the way. Their squad has some serious depth. If they can buy right, particuarly in defence, they could really be a solid force in the PL next year.

DazMarz

Yah... agree with the above... The Big 4 of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United only really came into being around 2004 or so. And even then, Everton gatecrashed it in the 2004/5 season. And I reckon that it will now be a much more open thing.

As mentioned above somewhere: 2 teams (most likely Man U and Chelsea at the min) slug it out for the title, 1 team (Arsenal the most likely suspect here) takes 3rd fairly handy... 4th is where the pissing match will be. Teams like Liverpool, City, Spurs, Villa and Everton will all be chasing that coveted spot now.

leninbenjamin

artanevilla wrote: »

I don't subscribe to a big four notion myself, if anything it's been a big two for a long time.

The so called big four would have a much larger fan base and revenues though, Liverpool and United are only in the **** they are in because of debt put on the club, they still have very positive operating profits.

This seasons results could upset the balance, but the problem is global growth of football has slowed compared with the 00s. Clubs trying to expand in the 10s will have a slightly tougher time of it because the competition for fans in the global market is much stiffer than previously.

deise48

its great to see a change in the so called big 4 fair play to spurs tonight they came out played and deserved to win it unlike city who played like they had a itialian anager

ShamoBuc

Great to see Spurs there in fourth instead of Citeh but I cannot see them staying there - realistically Pool should be back up there next year if the Yanks finally say goodbye.
It will be really interesting to see how Spurs handle the tag of being a top 4 and POSSIBLY playing in the CL.
How many new players will he buy? Will they gel? So many questions, I cannot wait for the World Cup and then the next instalment of the thoroughly unpredictable EPL

dsmythy

It's more a big five or six now in fairness.

Zonda999

Whatever it was, the big 4, Liverpool are now certainly gone from it IMO, no bad thing for the league at all, its the sign of stronger teams in the upper half although at the other end, its getting poorer so it would appear, not so long ago, 40 points was the benchmark for survival, now its more like 30

Lukker-

leninbenjamin wrote: »

The so called big four would have a much larger fan base and revenues though, Liverpool and United are only in the **** they are in because of debt put on the club, they still have very positive operating profits.

This seasons results could upset the balance, but the problem is global growth of football has slowed compared with the 00s. Clubs trying to expand in the 10s will have a slightly tougher time of it because the competition for fans in the global market is much stiffer than previously.

Yeah, for teams to succeed it's all about the global market, look how big United are in Asia, Livepool advertising in Chinese on Sunday etc etc. Teams like Spurs are going to find it difficult to break into the market, but the CL always helps

Kess73

Lukker- wrote: »

Yeah, for teams to succeed it's all about the global market, look how big United are in Asia, Livepool advertising in Chinese on Sunday etc etc. Teams like Spurs are going to find it difficult to break into the market, but the CL always helps

It does, but if Spurs finish 4th they are still not into the group stages of the CL.

If they get knocked out in the qualifiers during August, like Everton were in 2005, then as with Everton they could be waiting a bit for their next crack at trying to get into the CL.

therecklessone

Lukker- wrote: »

Teams like Spurs are going to find it difficult to break into the market, but the CL always helps

Shirt sponsorship with Asian gambling company Mansion.

Stategic partnerships with San Jose Earthquakes, Hong Kong-based South China, South Africa's SuperSport United and Internacional of Brazil (who've we've signed defensive midfielder Sandro from)

Plenty to build on there, and if people haven't cottoned on yet to the fact that Daniel Levy and his team of suits excel at the business side of things at Spurs (if not the traditional football business) then they never will I suppose.

Lukker-

therecklessone wrote: »

Shirt sponsorship with Asian gambling company Mansion.

Stategic partnerships with San Jose Earthquakes, Hong Kong-based South China, South Africa's SuperSport United and Internacional of Brazil (who've we've signed defensive midfielder Sandro from)

Plenty to build on there, and if people haven't cottoned on yet to the fact that Daniel Levy and his team of suits excel at the business side of things at Spurs (if not the traditional football business) then they never will I suppose.

I don't doubt it and the fact that it's a London based club can only be a positive. Another entry into the race for a London club to win the CL :pac:

Zonda999

Lukker- wrote: »

I don't doubt it and the fact that it's a London based club can only be a positive. Another entry into the race for a London club to win the CL :pac:

Could they be the first?? :pac:

Lukker-

Zonda999 wrote: »

Could they be the first?? :pac:

Everyone knows it gonna be QPR.

greendom

Kess73 wrote: »

It does, but if Spurs finish 4th they are still not into the group stages of the CL.

If they get knocked out in the qualifiers during August, like Everton were in 2005, then as with Everton they could be waiting a bit for their next crack at trying to get into the CL.

Here's hoping - all fingers crossed here.

Harry will surely manage to squeeze more millions out of the Spurs board to fund a Champions League season. He certainly spends their cash pretty liberally already - so as long as he buys wisely they could become one of the top 4.

twilight_singer

therecklessone wrote: »

Shirt sponsorship with Asian gambling company Mansion.

Stategic partnerships with San Jose Earthquakes, Hong Kong-based South China, South Africa's SuperSport United and Internacional of Brazil (who've we've signed defensive midfielder Sandro from)

Plenty to build on there, and if people haven't cottoned on yet to the fact that Daniel Levy and his team of suits excel at the business side of things at Spurs (if not the traditional football business) then they never will I suppose.

Absolutely. Who the f**k else could recoup the 16 mil we paid for Darren Bent?

twilight_singer

greendom wrote: »

Here's hoping - all fingers crossed here.

Harry will surely manage to squeeze more millions out of the Spurs board to fund a Champions League season. He certainly spends their cash pretty liberally already - so as long as he buys wisely they could become one of the top 4.

He's already bought Krankjaer, Crouch, Bassong, Palacious, Defoe. Key players in our season this year.

greendom

twilight_singer wrote: »

He's already bought Krankjaer, Crouch, Bassong, Palacious, Defoe. Key players in our season this year.

True but Harry's never happier than when he's got the cheque book in hand

homer simpson

Lukker- wrote: »

... 1 team sits comfortably enough in 3rd...

thats a joke right Arsenal are looking over their shoulders and havn't been sitting all that comfortable, as far as im aware (if im right in my thinking about the team your talking about finishing 3rd) finished 4th last season....

mayordenis

Just hoping we can see a league where more than 3/4 teams are in the running, would be fantastic to see the 4 teams at the top changing a bit from now on and a legit belief that say if Villa managed to get top or Spurs that it wasn't just a little bit of bluster, even going back 15 or so years, at the start of the season around 6 or 7 teams had realistic hopes of being in and around the League Title (even if it always ended in United Triumph)

Kess73

mayordenis wrote: »

Just hoping we can see a league where more than 3/4 teams are in the running, would be fantastic to see the 4 teams at the top changing a bit from now on and a legit belief that say if Villa managed to get top or Spurs that it wasn't just a little bit of bluster, even going back 15 or so years, at the start of the season around 6 or 7 teams had realistic hopes of being in and around the League Title (even if it always ended in United Triumph)

Would agree with you on that. Would love to see things shaken up a bit.

Rather than seeing a battle for fourth each year and a two horse race for first each year, I would love to see all the top four slots been keenly fought for by 6-8 teams.

I might be a Liverpool supporter, like yourself, and am not pleased not to be in the CL next year, but it makes the Premier League more interesting to have more strong teams involved in the later stages. Spurs, City and Villa added a bit of extra spice this season, and even Everton came close to getting involved despite their terrible first half of the season.

Next season I would love to see something similar again, but with the clubs from 3rd to 7th having an even bigger impact than this season.

inforfun

mayordenis wrote: »

Just hoping we can see a league where more than 3/4 teams are in the running, would be fantastic to see the 4 teams at the top changing a bit from now on and a legit belief that say if Villa managed to get top or Spurs that it wasn't just a little bit of bluster, even going back 15 or so years, at the start of the season around 6 or 7 teams had realistic hopes of being in and around the League Title (even if it always ended in United Triumph)

That is what the Champions League does for you.
Nowadays clubs are almost just as happy when they finish 4th as when they finish top.

Warper

I was hoping City got fourth this season as they have the cash to challenge Utd and Chelsea at the top. Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs dont look like chellenging for the title anytime soon so it it will be a straight race again next season between the Top 2. Spurs will probably fall out of the Top 4 next season as City will invest over the summer. Pity they didnt get in this year as they would be after a higher quality of player than Spurs (or at least more expensive).

helimachoptor

Lukker- wrote: »

The way I see it, 2 teams fight it out for title, 1 team sits comfortably enough in 3rd, always a scramble for 4th with the traditional big 4 team usually edging it (not this season!).

couldnt have said it better myself!

HoPpiE

Delighted for Spurs to make it into the "Big 4", just hope they take their chance now.

Pepe LeFrits

homer_simpson wrote: »

thats a joke right Arsenal are looking over their shoulders and havn't been sitting all that comfortable, as far as im aware (if im right in my thinking about the team your talking about finishing 3rd) finished 4th last season....

In general he's right though, one of the traditional four spends the season in a 4th place dogfight, while one other lingers around the top before settling into third.

leninbenjamin

We actually got 4th last season fairly comfortably with 72 points and 9 points clear of Everton. Go back through the final standings, it was only 2004-2005 (when Everton finished 4th) and 2005-2006 (when spurs decided to pull a sickey and gracefully step aside for their superiors ) that the top 4 last went down to the wire. It's been fairly comfortable for them all for the 3 seasons prior to this one.

therecklessone

HoPpiE wrote: »

Delighted for Spurs to make it into the "Big 4", just hope they take their chance now.

We haven't made it into the "Big 4"

We've guaranteed a top 4 finish this season, but for your claim to be right would require one of the traditional Big 4 sides to have dropped out for good. Nobody knows what next season holds, City will spend, as will Spurs (I hope) but Liverpool with a new owner could push again.

Chickens should not be counted just yet.

HoPpiE

I see the "Big 4" as being the four teams that finish in the top four positions, so therefore IMO Spurs are part of that group until someone finishes above them. Which won't happen until some time next year, if indeed it does happen at all.