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The 2022-2023 Football Thread

Apple fanboy said:
Well it might not be good for his career, but it certainly won't do his bank balance any harm.
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And don't forget the £87m they paid for Mykhailo Mudryk when they snatched him from under our nose earlier in the year (I'm beginning to wonder whether we actually dodged a proverbial bullet, there).

They have spent an astonishing - stratospheric - sum of money over the course of the season.

Potter wasn't given time (granted, no Chelsea manager ever is, these days); I'm glad that his payout will numb the pain, and, as you so rightly remark, his bank balance will be exceedingly healthy as he contemplates the state of being without gainful employment.
 
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Silencio said:
That job has been a poisoned chalice for a long time. Doesn’t seem like new ownership made any difference there. No clue what their plan is, other than blindly throw money at other clubs’ top transfer targets.
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Very much a poisoned chalice, agreed, and - as things stand - an almost impossible job.
 
The off-field business activities of the league have become a much more bizarre narrative than the football itself.

The money involved is so colossal it's hard to wrap one's head around it...If I were Potter today I'd simply be laughing maniacally, and filling a bathtub with Krug whilst singing 'You don't know what you're doing' and 'Potter Out'. :oops::oops:
 
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Right.
Who's going to join Saints in the Championship?
I don't think they have played anywhere near good enough to stay up, despite how close it all is down there.
Before this weekend, I had Forest, Everton and Bournemouth going down, with Saints scraping just out of the zone, but I don't see it happening that way now.

The other two places are pretty tight but I will be watching Championship football next year with Saints, for sure.

Leicester and Everton are pretty dire, but Dyche will likely get Everton out of the muck, with gritty and unattractive football that just works.

Anyone from 12 down could still make the drop at this stage...
and anyone (even the abysmal Saints) could theoretically make themselves safe with a couple of good wins, if the games around them work out.

1680479653869.png
 
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The other problem for Everton is they may be facing a points deduction due to potential FFP violations. That would seal 2 out of the three relegation places (sorry, Saints). Forest and Bournemouth are objectively weaker teams than Leicester City is, but we'll have to see how the Foxes respond to their interim manager.
 
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HandsomeDanNZ said:
Right.
Who's going to join Saints in the Championship?
I don't think they have played anywhere near good enough to stay up, despite how close it all is down there.
Before this weekend, I had Forest, Everton and Bournemouth going down, with Saints scraping just out of the zone, but I don't see it happening that way now.

The other two places are pretty tight but I will be watching Championship football next year with Saints, for sure.

Leicester and Everton are pretty dire, but Dyche will likely get Everton out of the muck, with gritty and unattractive football that just works.

Anyone from 12 down could still make the drop at this stage...
and anyone (even the abysmal Saints) could theoretically make themselves safe with a couple of good wins, if the games around them work out.

View attachment 2183504
Click to expand...
Depends on if Leicester get a new manager and a good honeymoon period. If not I think they are going to struggle.
 
The relegation battle will go down to the last day for about 6 teams because it will stay very very close in my opinion. Man United will lose 4th place because they are in too many competitions as their squad does not have enough depth in quality to secure them 4th place and Klopp could leave if Liverpool do not secure a least 6th place because anything less would be a disaster for Liverpool cn my opinion considering the season they had last year. I think Chelsea will go for the sacked Bayern manager.
 
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Sal09 said:
Potter gone.
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Potter lasted for 7 months with the club in 12th position in the league, Moyes lasted 10 months at Man United with the team in 7th position when he was sacked and even to this day many football critics consider Moyes to be one of the worst managerial picks, therefore I wonder what people will be saying about Potter's legacy at Chelsea.
 
HandsomeDanNZ said:
Right.
Who's going to join Saints in the Championship?
I don't think they have played anywhere near good enough to stay up, despite how close it all is down there.
Before this weekend, I had Forest, Everton and Bournemouth going down, with Saints scraping just out of the zone, but I don't see it happening that way now.

The other two places are pretty tight but I will be watching Championship football next year with Saints, for sure.

Leicester and Everton are pretty dire, but Dyche will likely get Everton out of the muck, with gritty and unattractive football that just works.

Anyone from 12 down could still make the drop at this stage...
and anyone (even the abysmal Saints) could theoretically make themselves safe with a couple of good wins, if the games around them work out.

View attachment 2183504
Click to expand...
At this stage, I think that Southampton are in serious trouble.

They are two points adrift of the next lowest team, and a win will not lift them to (temporary) safety, it would only bring them to 18th place, at best, periously perched in 17th, depending on their goal difference (which isn't healthy).

Also, their stats are truly disturbing.

Their goal difference isn't good; they have been defeated more times (18) than anyone else in the table, and that number of defeats far exceeds (with the possible exception of Leicester, who have 17 defeats this season to their name) the numbers in that column for their fellow strugglers.

At this stage, if looking for hope, or grasping at straws, I tend to take a look at the number of draws a (struggling) team has achieved to date; this is where teams such as Nottingham Forest (nine draws to date), Leeds (with eight), and Everton (who have also managed eight) offer some small grounds for optimism; a large number of draws suggest that the team is difficult to defeat.

Leicester's stats are also horrific; 17 defeats, and only four draws. Their only saving grace - and they are in the relegation zone - is that they have secured one more victory than have Southampton, but I think that they are also in deep trouble. For the remainder, they are fortunate that there is only one remaining place.

Actually, this is probably the worst time of year to play a team threatened by relegation - they are fighting for their very lives, after all, and, moreover, their players may wish to put themselves in the shop window with a couple of really good performances in advance of a possible relegation when suitors may come calling and the club may need to sell them to reducd costs.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
At this stage, I think that Southampton are in serious trouble.

They are two points adrift of the next lowest team, and a win will not lift them to (temporary) safety, it would only bring them to 18th place, at best, periously perched in 17th, depending on their goal difference (which isn't healthy).

Also, their stats are truly disturbing.

Their goal difference isn't good; they have been defeated more times (18) than anyone else in the table, and that number of defeats far exceeds (with the possible exception of Leicester, who have 17 defeats this season to their name) the numbers in that column for their fellow strugglers.

At this stage, if looking for hope, or grasping at straws, I tend to take a look at the number of draws a (struggling) team has achieved to date; this is where teams such as Nottingham Forest (nine draws to date), Leeds (with eight), and Everton (who have also managed eight) offer some small grounds for optimism; a large number of draws suggest that the team is difficult to defeat.

Leicester's stats are also horrific; 17 defeats, and only four draws. Their only saving grace - and they are in the relegation zone - is that they have secured one more victory than have Southampton, but I think that they are also in deep trouble. For the remainder, they are fortunate that there is only one remaining place.

Actually, this is probably the worst time of year to play a team threatened by relegation - they are fighting for their very lives, after all, and, moreover, their players may wish to put themselves in the shop window with a couple of really good performances in advance of a possible relegation when suitors may come calling and the club may need to sell them to reducd costs.
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The worst thing about relegation is losing all your best players. You also don’t get as much money for them.
If we were 6th or 7th and sell Rice in the summer, we’d probably get £100 million plus.
If we get relegated that figure would be close to £50 million.
 
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laptech said:
Potter lasted for 7 months with the club in 12th position in the league, Moyes lasted 10 months at Man United with the team in 7th position when he was sacked and even to this day many football critics consider Moyes to be one of the worst managerial picks, therefore I wonder what people will be saying about Potter's legacy at Chelsea.
Click to expand...

I don't blame Potter for Chelsea; they were a dysfunctional poisoned chalice - with surreal spending power - approaching £600m since last summer, which is insane - and what is an even greater lunacy, this binge doesn't seem to have benefitted them as a team - before he was appointed.

Actually, I'm not sure anyone could have redeemed Chelsea this season. What is clear that is Potter - a patently decent man who did very well at Brighton - was possibly out of his depth at Chelsea, and I'm not entirely sure that he had the authority (let alone the experience or confidence in his own judgment) to do what he may have felt needed to be done.

Since the enforced departure of Roman Abramovich from Chelsea - and I do wonder at his somewhat tainted legacy - it is unclear just who actually runs things there, who makes (and enforces) decisions at the club.

Chelsea have long preferred throwing money at problems, real and perceived, rather than nurturing and mentoring and guiding talent; how many players have left Chelsea better players then when they arrived?
 
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Apple fanboy said:
The worst thing about relegation is losing all your best players. You also don’t get as much money for them.
If we were 6th or 7th and sell Rice in the summer, we’d probably get £100 million plus.
If we get relegated that figure would be close to £50 million.
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Somewhat akin to a closing down sale, one where opportunistic vultures are busily circling.
 
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The Guardian reported that Potter - even though he had queried the need for the purchase - and, especially at that price, reportedly around £106.8m - of Enzo Fernández, among others - "was not the one with the final say on transfers" at Chelsea and had made it clear that he didn't actually need a bloated squad.

And, then, of course, there was the purchase of Mudryk, - who has never settled - snatched from under Arsenal's nose, for around £88m.

In a paragraph that I find hilarious, the Guardian have written: "It was a reminder that splashing the cash is no guarantee of success. Potter had even warned against bringing in too many players, pointing out that he did not need a bloated squad. Of late there has not been much space in the first-team dressing room. It is understood that there is not enough room for all the players to get changed in there at the same time."
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
The Guardian reported that Potter - even though he had queried the need for the purchase - at that price, namely £106.8m - of Enzo Fernández among others - "was not the one with the final say on transfers" at Chelsea and had made it clear that he didn't actually need a bloated squad. And, of course, there was the purchase of Mudruk, - who has never settled - snatched from under Arsenal's nose, for around £88m.

In a paragraph that I find hilarious, the Guardian have written: "It was a reminder that splashing the cash is no guarantee of success. Potter had even warned against bringing in too many players, pointing out that he did not need a bloated squad. Of late there has not been much space in the first-team dressing room. It is understood that there is not enough room for all the players to get changed in there at the same time."
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This reminds me of the Fernando Torres debacle where Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich wanted him but the Chelsea manager did not but yet Abramovich bought Torres. He had a torrid time at Chelsea. Would seem owners of Chelsea do not learn from past mistakes.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
The Guardian reported that Potter - even though he had queried the need for the purchase - at that price, namely £106.8m - of Enzo Fernández among others - "was not the one with the final say on transfers" at Chelsea and had made it clear that he didn't actually need a bloated squad. And, of course, there was the purchase of Mudruk, - who has never settled - snatched from under Arsenal's nose, for around £88m.

In a paragraph that I find hilarious, the Guardian have written: "It was a reminder that splashing the cash is no guarantee of success. Potter had even warned against bringing in too many players, pointing out that he did not need a bloated squad. Of late there has not been much space in the first-team dressing room. It is understood that there is not enough room for all the players to get changed in there at the same time."
Click to expand...
Being a Benfica fan and knowing the unsettling it caused on the team, schadenfreude doesn't even begin to describe it.
 
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Approaching half-time, Chelsea v Liverpool are currently scoreless, at nil all.

Other scores at half-time:

Then, there is Bournemouth v Brighton, where Brighton lead by a goal to nil.

Leeds lead Nottingham Forest by two goals to one.

And Leicester - another struggling club - are currently equal with Aston Villa, with a goal apiece.
 
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