Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

sussexpob wrote:Nah, UEFA closed that loophole threatening the big league sides now, so Newcastle go straight to the groups irrespective of 3rd or 4th place. They basically created a system that guaranteed the top leagues will always have the most teams in the group. Oh, and if USG win the belgian league in two weeks, we dont go into the group.... despite having more results co-efficient points this year than any other league under the top 3 scorers managed in the 6 year qualification period, UEFA decided our champion is not worthy of entry. Ukraine and Belgiums champions play another match to decide which goes through.

The scoring system is designed in a way that its virtually impossible for smaller nations co-efficient to exceed a big league. They made all the big leagues get 4 teams in the groups, and then award the most points available for qualifying for the group....

So if Bruges won the Champions League as Belgians only entry, winning every game, they would get less points than 4 English teams being knocked out instantly.... so they would then finish behind England, and ergo its impossible to overtake them regardless of results. They essentially changed the rules once all the big leagues were inside the top rankings, and made sure that would stay like that forever.

All getting a bit nervy at SJP after battering Leicester for 85 minutes, hitting the post 3 times, but not scoring despite 23 efforts on goal

Full time, though. Newcastle get CL football, Leicester give themselves half a chance on Sunday and Klopp gets to go *modded* himself

sussexpob wrote:Got to love UEFA.

they do like to follow the money

good to know about 3rd/4th place

Leicester nearly bloody nicked it right at the death, forcing what sounded like a brilliant save from Pope after spending 90 mins with his newspaper doing the crossword

the only shot they managed all night and they nearly nicked it

somebody said that the heat map in the Newcastle box was so cold they could have put their viennetta in it

Gingerfinch wrote:Arsenal - Palace tonight. Reckon Arsenal will be top tonight!

Anyway here's my end of season league table prediction

Liverpool
City
Chelsea
Spurs
Arsenal
Utd
Villa
Newcastle
West Ham
Everton
Forest
Leicester
Palace
Brighton
Wolves
Fulham
Brentford
Southampton
Leeds
Bournemouth

Liverpool for the title, Chelsea top four? Oh dear!

Leeds, Southampton will be going down, so I'll have two out of three.

Arsenal, Brighton, Fulham and Brentford have exceeded my expectations.

mikesiva wrote:

Gingerfinch wrote:Arsenal - Palace tonight. Reckon Arsenal will be top tonight!

Anyway here's my end of season league table prediction

Liverpool
City
Chelsea
Spurs
Arsenal
Utd
Villa
Newcastle
West Ham
Everton
Forest
Leicester
Palace
Brighton
Wolves
Fulham
Brentford
Southampton
Leeds
Bournemouth

Manchester United sixth? After losses to Brighton and Brentford, I think they're relegation zone material.

He of little faith, Mike

A cant see Everton dropping points at home to a Bournemouth team with nothing to play for, so I think Leicester and Leeds are in big trouble after failing to overtake them. Destiny no longer in their own hands.

I'd be happy enough for Everton to stay up. I can't think of any of their players that I'd like Newcastle to rescue. Leicester, Leeds and Southampton all do have those sorts of players

I suspect it won't be that simple on Sunday. There'll be a lot of squeaky bums in those teams. The pressure will surely have its say at several points in that final round of games

Brighton holding the champions after 66 mins. Sounds like it's been an entertaining match

Manchester United 4-0 Chelsea

Four qualifiers for champions league now decided.

Manchester City
Arsenal
Newcastle
Manchester United

Frank Lampard's managerial stats in 2022/23, across both Everton and Chelsea, all competitions:

P32, W5, D7, L20.

Highlights include being knocked out of the FA Cup and Champions' League at the earliest possible opportunity for the teams he was in charge of, taking Everton to the brink of relegation (they might escape, no thanks to him), and Chelsea's worst ever season in the Premier League.

I know I don't always believe the manager has that much influence, but this guy should never work at elite level again. I was going to ask if there had ever been a more wretched managerial run in the top flight (even Southampton this season have managed 11 wins across all competitions), but then I remembered Derby County's 2007-08 season which will probably never be topped for how dire it was - admittedly it was across two managers though, who scraped two wins between them the entire season (one P/L, one League Cup).

Whilst I don't disagree with any of that, I will say that the Chelsea owner has to take the blame for Chelsea's season. Hoovering up players and breaking the bank in the kind of scattergun approach that highlights the juvenile reasons behind the owner buying the club in the first place. Lampard is a hopeless manager, but I think he deserves a little bit of credit (just a little bit) for taking over the reins of a club that had been undermined by the owner at every available opportunity. He will have been well rewarded for doing such a poor job, but I do think he took the temporary role on, not for the money, but because he genuinely loves the club and tried to do his best (poor though that is) to help at a time when the owner had left the club directionless and rudderless. If the owner was going to sack his second manager of the season, then he should only have done it once he had lined up a permanent, quality replacement. Instead he asked Lampard to come in and help in on a temporary basis to tide him over until the end of the season, knowing that he had the affection of the fans who worshipped him as a player and would perhaps be less likely to go into open revolt at the dreadful, dreadful damage done by the owner to their club

But yes....... terrible manager

The winners list in the big five European leagues makes for interesting reading.

EPL
2018 Man City
2019 Man City
2020 Liverpool
2021 Man City
2022 Man City
2023 Man City

Bundesliga
2018 Bayern
2019 Bayern
2020 Bayern
2021 Bayern
2022 Bayern
2023 Bayern

Ligue 1
2018 PSG
2019 PSG
2020 PSG
2021 Lille
2022 PSG
2023 PSG

La Liga
2018 Barcelona
2019 Barcelona
2020 Real Madrid
2021 Atletico Madrid
2022 Real madrid
2023 Barcelona

Serie A
2018 Juventus
2019 Juventus
2020 Juventus
2021 Inter
2022 AC Milan
2023 Napoli

Man City dominating, the way Bayern and PSG dominate their leagues. At least it's harder to predict the winners in Spain and Italy now.

Leeds losing and even the fans are singing about them going down

Everton still drawing despite dominating

Leicester have just scored putting them in the safe spot for the moment

Southampton have come back from 2-0 down to 2-2 against Liverpool

Man Utd have equalised at OT

I can't work out this Man Utd team this season. They seem to be pretty much the worst Man Utd team in years and years and yet they've won the League Cup, made the FA Cup final and finished top 4 for a champions league slot. I guess this match against Fulham kind of sums up their season..... They went a goal down, then conceded a penalty which was fluffed by MItrovic and then Fulham hit the bar, before Sancho scored. They could have been 3-0 down at one point, yet somehow it's 1-1 heading into the break

Dubravka saves to prevent a second own goal by Newcastle. Not sure where Pope is, but I do know that Newcastle have 8 players out with injury for this final game