The imaginatively titled Premier League 21/22 Thread

[weasel]

Mike Dean is a wanker. He thinks every game is put on just so people can see him referee. He ruins most of them too.
However, he is also a huge Tranmere fan. He is regularly spotted at their games.

As for the woman who scoired the hat-trick. It gets even better, it was a perfect hat-trick, right foot, left foot, header! #Legend!

 

[edd_jedi]

I mean it's obviously understandable for officials to support football teams, but surely there has to be some pretty rock-solid impartiality checks in place by the FA?!

 

[Cazza]

I think he's celebrating the fact he gave advantage and it turned out to be a great decision. He's still a complete dickhead, either way!

 

[theforceuk]

Yeah I saw that hat trick was left foot, right foot and header. 2 goals in first 6 minutes as well. One of those days!

 

[edd_jedi]

No words. I would honestly have preferred Spurs to lose against City, and beat Burnley. Is a bit of consistency too much to ask for!?

 

[edd_jedi]

Very worrying headlines from Conte this morning. Is he the problem? No I don't think so, this is nothing new for Spurs. I do genuinely think we have more than our fair share of bad luck - has any other team been in 20 odd finals and semi finals in the last decade and not won a single one of them? Has Jose ever managed another club without winning a trophy? Has Conte ever lost 4 out of 5 matches before? These are all anomolies that cannot easily be explained. Even blind luck should win an average squad something now and again - Portsmouth, Leicester, Wigan, Chelsea and Arsenal have all won trophies in recent years while being the underdog. I don't believe in curses, but struggling to think of any other explanation!

I do want Conte to stay though. The holes in the squad are obvious, but come on how can we lose to teams like Wolves, Southampton and Burnley when not a single player from any of their teams would make it into our squad

 

[lejackal]

Very worrying headlines from Conte this morning. Is he the problem? No I don't think so, this is nothing new for Spurs. I do genuinely think we have more than our fair share of bad luck - has any other team been in 20 odd finals and semi finals in the last decade and not won a single one of them? Has Jose ever managed another club without winning a trophy? Has Conte ever lost 4 out of 5 matches before? These are all anomolies that cannot easily be explained. Even blind luck should win an average squad something now and again - Portsmouth, Leicester, Wigan, Chelsea and Arsenal have all won trophies in recent years while being the underdog. I don't believe in curses, but struggling to think of any other explanation!

I do want Conte to stay though. The holes in the squad are obvious, but come on how can we lose to teams like Wolves, Southampton and Burnley when not a single player from any of their teams would make it into our squad

I do think Wolves are a tough nut to crack, best defence in the league bar Man City isn't a fluke.

On the Conte front I'm not sure I would want him after his recent erratic remarks. Best squad ever to weakened in the transfer window to playing HK with one leg and then everything he said last night. He's almost angling for a payoff

 

[edd_jedi]

I agree, but I think his tone has changed because losing to the dross mentioned above is very different to losing against top competition. He said it will take time to challenge the best clubs, everyone knows and expects that. What is not comprehensible is the joint best striking partnership in PL history failing to score against the bottom club. I think that's why he's now panicking, if I was him I would also be thinking "hang on, this doesn't make any sense."

 

[weasel]

Surely beating the best side in the league and then losing to one of the worst is just very very Spurs!?
I don't mean that in a bad way, just Spurs have a habit of doing the exact opposite of what you expect. They lose 3 games on the spin, then turn into world beaters to take 3 pts off City, then revert to shite to lose to Burnley. I haven't seen the game or the highlights but the radio reckoned Spurs did well but just didn't take their chances, the opposite of the City game where they had 3 chances (see that attacking graphic a few posts back) and scored them all.

Conte to Spurs was a strange appointment, it may just be frustration on his part that they are losing games they should win, or it could be the start of the break-up of that arrangement. Hard to say.

Wolves are a good side though. They are a team, they all know their roles and they execute them well. No stars but a good team. Kinda the opposite of Man Utd. No shame in losing to Wolves. Possibly in the way you lost, I can't remember the game, but losing to them is not quite THAT bad. They gave Pool and ****ing good game.

Looks like Utd got lucky last night, I only saw bits if the game, but from what I hear 1-1 flattered them hugely. Lindeloft at RB too. Ragnick goes "full Pep"

As for Leeds, JESUS, Pool carved them open soooooo easily. There were 3 or 4 times were a Pool midfielder had 10 yards of space and an easy straight pass to an unmarked forward who was in on goal. I mean "easy" as in the kinda pass I could have made. Leeds were that poor.
They have real problems. Granted they have Bamford and Philips injured but their current form, along with Everton and Brentford, means it's now 3 from 7 and the 4 at the bottom have better form than the three I just listed.

 

[edd_jedi]

So, that great defensive team Wolves put the ball into their own net in the 95th minute

 

[theforceuk]

That was a lucky win for Arsenal, have to say they're favourites for 4th out of spurs, Man Utd, West Ham and Wolves. I think Man Utd will be pretty much out of the top 4 race by the end of March.

 

[edd_jedi]

That was a lucky win for Arsenal, have to say they're favourites for 4th out of spurs, Man Utd, West Ham and Wolves.

Yeah it's quite an impressive turnaround, a month ago they were the least likely out of those teams (perhaps excluding Wolves) but West Ham, Spurs and United all seem to be trying their hardest to give Arsenal the 4th spot on a plate. With 12 games to play there's very little room for error from anyone now, and I just know those 12 dropped points in the last month from Spurs are going to cost us

 

[edd_jedi]

Apparently this isn't a handball. But if the ball hits your shoulder from behind, it is

 

[edd_jedi]

Bielsa sacked by Leeds, not surprising really, conceding 60 goals in 24 games is quite an achivement, 17 in the last four! They seemed OK going forwards but even worse than Spurs at the back

 

[weasel]

Apparently this isn't a handball. But if the ball hits your shoulder from behind, it is

Yeah, compare that to the penalty City got at Wolves (to win 1-0) where it hit yer man in his armpit, his arm was raised and it smacked straight in to hit pit. That was a pen, but Rodri does that and it's play on.

VAR really is a shambles. Those two decisions, assuming City wouldn't have gone on to score anyway against Wolves and that Everton would have scored their pen, have given City 4 pts, cost Wolves and Everton a point each. And in both occasions anyone watching bar the retard who did VAR could see it was not a pen (at Wolves) and as clear as you get at Everton. The referees in the PL truly are appalling.

On the subject of appalling, Kepa, son, what are you doing!? Treating it like a goal kick is fine, but FFS hit the target! Not sure either side deserved to win/lose yesterday but once you get down to keepers taking pens....
Still, Kepa was doing his best with all his gamesmanship BS of standing on the 6 yard line and trying to put people off, so **** him. I'm glad he missed.

 

[edd_jedi]

Yes I was pleased Chelsea lost last night, they've fluked enough trophies in recent years already (considering they haven't been a PL title challenging team for 5 years.) Here's hoping all this Russia business takes them down a peg or two.

 

[edd_jedi]

The PL have apologised to Everton. That's funny, usually you get fined or a ban if you call out **** refereeing. So what happens if City win the league by 2 points?

 

[weasel]

I did wonder what the **** the point in Everton asking for an apology was, and why it was given? If City win the league by 1 or 2 points (and, yes, I know Everton would probably have missed the pen or City could have gone on to score again, but that's besides the point for the moment) is it suddenly ok, cos the refs have apologised? Like wise if Everton go down by a point, is it all shits and giggles cos the ref's boss apologised?
Is. It. ****. Their incompetence could well decide who goes down and who wins the PL. The clubs and players take a huge hit, as do fans and refs get what? NOTHING. The idiots who ****ed that up will be down to blow games this weekend.

I understand referees can be out of position and can miss things, no issue there. The problem is VAR is supposed to help them and all too often it compounds the mistake. That Everton non pen, the pen City got at Wolves, the goal Utd scored against WH (last season) where it was 6 yards out play on the sideline and VAR did FA, the knee snap on VVD, the list goes on and on.

I don't count players being given offside by half a pube, or the daft decisions we got on handball (the Spurs one away to Palace was a joke), as those are issues with the rules and how they are/were interpreted but the rest are clear as day and any non biased football fan would say, no pen for City at Wolves, pen for Everton, throw in for WH not a Utd goal, and a Red card for Pickford.

VAR is actually ok, it's the morons who work it that are the problem.

Ps, I won't mention last night's game @edd_jedi

 

[edd_jedi]

Ps, I won't mention last night's game @edd_jedi

I mean, what is there to add?! We are a joke OK, anything can happen in the FA Cup and some other half-decent sides like United and Arsenal were already knocked out by "inferior" competition, but come on! It's your one chance at a trophy for the season, and you can't even turn up to that. We were a bit unlucky as Son nearly scored about three times, but no argument that they deserved to win and were the better team last night.

 

[weasel]

I suspect that Spurs result will only be judged at the end of the season. IF, and with Spurs that's a huge "if", they can now concentrate on top 4 and they end up making it, then the FAC defeat could be seen as a blessing in disguise. Alternatively, if they continue to be as consistent as shite and finish 5th, 6th, 7th, then the FAC defeat is clearly just an early indicator of a side with problems, at least in terms of playing to a similar level week in week out.

Big few weeks for Spurs, Arsenal, Utd and probably WH too. 4th place is a big achievement for 3 of those 4, and probably the bare minimum that the 4th side (Utd) would have taken at the start of the year. Given the difference in prize money for each competition, it gets harder and harder for the other 3 to catch the CL sides each year.

Though if Abromovich sells Chelsea, here's hoping the new owner takes a leaf out of the Glazier's handbook and bleeds that hateful plastic club dry.
I noticed auld Roman said he was waiving the debt, so kind. Yet he wants £4 billion quid for the club. Just double what it was estimated to be worth last year. And would you believe it, the difference is just slightly more than the debt Chelsea had to him. What a strange coincidence.

Anyone else think he is selling them cos he knows he is going to be sanctioned soon and that he won't be able to when that happens?
It would be interesting to see what happens to Chelsea if he is sanctioned, I don't think anyone knows what the implications would be. Chances are he will get it sold before that happens mind.