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The 2022-2023 Football Thread

Scepticalscribe said:
The thing that would worry me about Southampton - and I like Southampton and wish them well - is that - studying the stats of the table, at the moment - they are on 16 defeats, two more than anyone else in the division. That is a statistic that should cause concern.

The other thing to noet is how closely clustered the bottom six are, as has already been pointed out by others; usually, by this time of the season, two thrids of the way through, two or three teams - or, at the very least, one team - have come adrift of the others. That is not the case this year.

I expect the scrambled fight at the bottom to escape relegation to continue until the very last minute of the last game on the final day of the season.
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Agree. Our last two games are Leeds and Leicester. Not that there are any easy games in the PL, but not too bad a games to have.
Can do ourselves a massive favour by beating Villa this weekend. Especially as it’s City up next.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
The thing that would worry me about Southampton - and I like Southampton and wish them well - is that - studying the stats of the table, at the moment - they are on 16 defeats, two more than anyone else in the division. That is a statistic that should cause concern.

The other thing to noet is how closely clustered the bottom six are, as has already been pointed out by others; usually, by this time of the season, two thrids of the way through, two or three teams - or, at the very least, one team - have come adrift of the others. That is not the case this year.

I expect the scrambled fight at the bottom to escape relegation to continue until the very last minute of the last game on the final day of the season.
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That's where I believe the club has a real advantage.
Saints made a living fighting the relegation battle on the last day for many years. It's why our fans are so...nonplussed is not the right word, but maybe...ambivalent about the prospect of a relegation scrap.

Other clubs - not so much.
 
HandsomeDanNZ said:
That's where I believe the club has a real advantage.
Saints made a living fighting the relegation battle on the last day for many years. It's why our fans are so...nonplussed is not the right word, but maybe...ambivalent about the prospect of a relegation scrap.

Other clubs - not so much.
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We’ve had our turns. I’d hoped we had got past that. Even if we do stay up, we lose Rice in the summer. Can’t see us being a better team without him.
 
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Apple fanboy said:
We’ve had our turns. I’d hoped we had got past that. Even if we do stay up, we lose Rice in the summer. Can’t see us being a better team without him.
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I really thought the Hammers had turned a corner a couple of seasons ago.
Thought you were going to remain a top half club with occasional forays into Europe on a regular basis.
What went wrong?
 
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HandsomeDanNZ said:
That's where I believe the club has a real advantage.
Saints made a living fighting the relegation battle on the last day for many years. It's why our fans are so...nonplussed is not the right word, but maybe...ambivalent about the prospect of a relegation scrap.

Other clubs - not so much.
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Still, while I wish Southampton well, and can only salute that sort of character that can allow a team to salvage something from a season, and escape the trapdoor on the last day, - their stats do not fill me with confidence.

Only three points - between Bournemouth on 21 points, at the very bottom in 20th place, and Leicester, currently lying 15th in the table on 24 points - separate the bottom six teams - they really are clumped closely together, clustered together, at the foot of the table.

Actually, I erred earlier when I said that with 16 defeats Southampton had two more defeats than anyone else in the table (and that would bother me). Actually, while they still have more defeats than anyone else in the table, with 16 defeats, Leicester with 15, come worryingly close.
 
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this announcer is great, he is staying how Brantford is selfless club.
78min
he stated how proud and functional team they are.

we need this "Kudos" about a low money making club and being humble is what sports is all about,
Bravo!
 
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3-1 Brentford now.

I like both of these clubs and it's good to see them both playing well, but Brentford look good on the counter. Really good.
 
Apple fanboy said:
Wish I knew.
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I think that you have felt the departure of Mark Noble, and that you have been unable to adequately replace what he provided you with on the field.

Part of the problem - challenge - with clubs such as Southampton and West Ham is that when their good (young) players are sold on, - often necessary for financial reasons, you nurse them, nurture them, mentor them, teach them, and then they are spotted and snatched by someone richer or better resourced - or poached, they can find it difficult to fill the gaps left in the team by such departures, for they lack strength in depth.

Brentford now lead Fulham by three goals to one.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Still, while I wish Southampton well, and can only salute that sort of character that can allow a team to salvage something from a season, and escape the trapdoor on the last day, - their stats do not fill me with confidence.

Only three points - between Bournemouth on 21 points, at the very bottom in 20th place, and Leicester, currently lying 15th in the table on 24 points - separate the bottom six teams - they really are clumped closely together, clustered together, at the foot of the table.

Actually, I erred earlier when I said that with 16 defeats Southampton had two more defeats than anyone else in the table (and that would bother me). Actually, while they still have more defeats than anyone else in the table, with 16 defeats, Leicester with 15, come worryingly close.
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We've always been known to be frugal and stable off the pitch and wildly unstable on it.
We appear to be unstable both on and off, of late.
I'd really like to see a period of stability, quality and investment, like the Poch and Koeman years. Great memories, but also sad ones, as we've never really recaptured that feeling or form.
I still think we'll get relegated this season. We're too inconsistent.
 
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I am actually in the UK for work this week, in the Carlisle area. I had to miss the match due to work, but my colleague wanted to pop into a pub for a bite and a pint, so I walked in moment before Liverpool scored their 6th. I was gobsmacked (I had been avoiding spoilers) but I had the presence of mind to keep my mouth shut since I didn’t know who the crowd in the pub were supporting. When I saw them wildly celebrating the 6th goal I had to chuckle - just imagine if it had been a crowd of man Utd fans! I would have had to keep my lip buttoned.

One match, even a record derby win, doesn’t fix a season. But it’s still a memorable day.
 
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Silencio said:
Keano and Neville were right to excoriate the players. I was talking more about their interactions with their follow pundits after the match, who were certainly enjoying themselves at their expense. Sometimes you've just got to take your lumps with some dignity — it happens to all of us at some point.

Bruno has some hard lessons to learn. Good captains stand up when times are bad — they don't lose their heads.
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As a football fan I have never and never will agree to that (in bold) because to me a 'real' fan/supporter of their club will show their passion for the club and therefore speak out when they are getting the 'piss' taken out of them. Carragher took the 'piss' and Neville responded in kind by telling him to 'do one', a very just response in my opinion due to Neville not only being an ex United player but also a fan of the club. It was also very obvious to see during the punditry that Souness was goading Neville into a response and again Neville responded in kind. When people start 'trash talking' about a team (making fun of them), I'd expect a fan who is in a position to say something to speak out against those 'trash' talking and that is exactly what Neville did. He is a fan of the club and he stood up against two ex-Liverpool players 'trash' talking about United.

NOTE: Trash talking can be defined by many things but in this post it's defined as 'making fun of'.
 
laptech said:
As a football fan I have never and never will agree to that (in bold) because to me a 'real' fan/supporter of their club will show their passion for the club and therefore speak out when they are getting the 'piss' taken out of them. Carragher took the 'piss' and Neville responded in kind by telling him to 'do one', a very just response in my opinion due to Neville not only being an ex United player but also a fan of the club. It was also very obvious to see during the punditry that Souness was goading Neville into a response and again Neville responded in kind. When people start 'trash talking' about a team (making fun of them), I'd expect a fan who is in a position to say something to speak out against those 'trash' talking and that is exactly what Neville did. He is a fan of the club and he stood up against two ex-Liverpool players 'trash' talking about United.

NOTE: Trash talking can be defined by many things but in this post it's defined as 'making fun of'.
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I'm Old School on such matters, and am in complete agreement with @Silencio.

That means that I think it important to learn to accept defeat gracefully, and - for kids - because this is where I saw (and experienced) such behaviour, I would argue that it is both an important and necessary skill to master.

Even as a child, I loathed what we used to describe as "sore losers", for this was an attitude, a behaviour, that they carried into every walk of life.

Accept a defeat, (with grace and dignity), then pick yourself up, dust yourself off, remedy or address - or, at the least, acknowledge, or recognise - (if possible) the deficiencies or factors that may have helped to give rise to the defeat; and then, you are ready to face the world. Again.
 
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laptech said:
As a football fan I have never and never will agree to that (in bold) because to me a 'real' fan/supporter of their club will show their passion for the club and therefore speak out when they are getting the 'piss' taken out of them. Carragher took the 'piss' and Neville responded in kind by telling him to 'do one', a very just response in my opinion due to Neville not only being an ex United player but also a fan of the club. It was also very obvious to see during the punditry that Souness was goading Neville into a response and again Neville responded in kind. When people start 'trash talking' about a team (making fun of them), I'd expect a fan who is in a position to say something to speak out against those 'trash' talking and that is exactly what Neville did. He is a fan of the club and he stood up against two ex-Liverpool players 'trash' talking about United.

NOTE: Trash talking can be defined by many things but in this post it's defined as 'making fun of'.
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That's all totally fine for the average fan. Professionals, whether active players, coaches, or pundits, should hew to a higher standard IMO.

There is definitely a big difference between former players turned pundits in America. They don the cloak of impartiality once they pick up a microphone, though occasional lighthearted wink-wink banter does sneak in for pundits who were strongly associated with one team or other.
 
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Silencio said:
That's all totally fine for the average fan. Professionals, whether active players, coaches, or pundits, should hew to a higher standard IMO.

There is definitely a big difference between former players turned pundits in America. They don the cloak of impartiality once they pick up a microphone, though occasional lighthearted wink-wink banter does sneak in for pundits who were strongly associated with one team or other.
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Well said.

At the end of the day, they are also role models, - and, as @Silencio argues, this means that they should aim for, adhere to, model - a higher standard of behaviour and conduct - for kids will take examples of how to behave, how to conduct themselves, from these former heroes - who are well reagrded and respected for what they did on the pitch and for their knowledge of the game and insights that they can offer precisely because they were professonal footballers.

There is nothing wrong with showing a preference for one team; for example, nobody will ever expect Roy Keane to be anything other than passionately interested in how Manchester United performs, but one can be passionate (and informed) without being immature, immoderate and intemperate.
 
laptech said:
As a football fan I have never and never will agree to that (in bold) because to me a 'real' fan/supporter of their club will show their passion for the club and therefore speak out when they are getting the 'piss' taken out of them. Carragher took the 'piss' and Neville responded in kind by telling him to 'do one', a very just response in my opinion due to Neville not only being an ex United player but also a fan of the club. It was also very obvious to see during the punditry that Souness was goading Neville into a response and again Neville responded in kind.
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Yes, but remember that the whole thing is a TV performance aimed at making money. Nobody's honor is really being besmirched or anything like that. A lot of the so-called 'analysis' is anything but.

silencio has a good point though - in the US ex-player pundits joke around but do aim at something closer to an impartial appraisal of what they are watching. In the UK, it's far more tribal and there is a great deal of (feigned) heated debate over things like respect and passion and a bunch of other melodramatic terms.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Yes, but remember that the whole thing is a TV performance aimed at making money. Nobody's honor is really being besmirched or anything like that. A lot of the so-called 'analysis' is anything but.

silencio has a good point though - in the US ex-player pundits joke around but do aim at something closer to an impartial appraisal of what they are watching. In the UK, it's far more tribal and there is a great deal of (feigned) heated debate over things like respect and passion and a bunch of other melodramatic terms.
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Here they are not impartial at all!
 
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Apple fanboy said:
Here they are not impartial at all!
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Ah, yes.

I do remember that.

When she had her mind, her memory and her marbles, Mother used to watch MOTD (often with Decent Brother) and thoroughly enjoyed it, offering intelligent, informed and impartial observations (in marked contrast to the grim and tense silence emanating from the adjoining room, my study, where my father - also watching MOTD on a second TV - used to agonise over Manchester United); anyway, at one stage, she rather liked Ruud Gullit (as a man, an example of a male physique she appreciated and as a footballer), and - I rather suspect that she would have found how Gary Lineker chose to mark Leicester's Premier League title (a promise redeemed) absolutely hilarious.
 
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