Epl 2015/2016

[NeverFeltBetter]

If Manchester United win the FA Cup, would that save LVG's job? Surely not right? Even just on a financial basis, it wouldn't outweigh a failure to get back into the Champions League.

[DeLorean]

I'm not even sure top four and the FA Cup would save his job. I wouldn't rule them out of the former yet either, they've Aston Villa at home on Saturday with Man City travelling to Stamford Bridge. If they can reduce the gap there you wouldn't know what'll happen and City are bound to get a bit distracted by the dizzy heights of the Champions League semi finals. City appear to have the tougher run-in also, with 4/6 of their matches away whereas United have 4/6 at home.

[OwlsFan]

Agreed, taunting deaf fans isn't acceptable in this day and age.

It's nothing to do with the mores of the action: it's the tempting of fates.

CL and FA Cup would probably save VG's job. Can't really see Mourinho at OT but then again I thought Ranieri would be a failure at Leicester. Was talking to a Leicester supporter over the weekend (Irish friend living in Leicester for the past 25 years). He doesn't think this is a flash in the pan and that they can build on this.

[NeverFeltBetter]

If Mourinho does end up at Old Trafford, it will signify that Alex Ferguson's influence there is over. Which might not be the worst thing for the club.

[KK77]

Handy win for City there. Won pulling up.

[DeLorean]

Klopp correctly identified that Liverpool's fans are fuelled entirely be raw emotion, and that pandering to them will insulate him when the team aren't doing well.

I see Klopp has banned his players from touching the 'This is Anfield' sign until such time as they've won a trophy. I think this fits in well with what you've said above, the whole 'Klopp really gets it' kind of thing. He really has them eating out of his hand with this sort of stuff, the fans that is. I suppose it could be seen as extra motivation for the players too, or maybe added pressure. It'd be kind of funny if they're still not allowed to touch it in three or four years though.

[OwlsFan]

Didn't see the Leics vs WH game but saw the highlights and ref seemed to get all the major decisions correct, except perhaps the first booking for Vardy. To me Carroll deliberately knocked the Leics player off the ball for the peno. Who'd want to be a referee?

[BonnieShels]

Didn't see the Leics vs WH game but saw the highlights and ref seemed to get all the major decisions correct, except perhaps the first booking for Vardy. To me Carroll deliberately knocked the Leics player off the ball for the peno. Who'd want to be a referee?

You're right about all that. Can't remember anything that was too contentious at all. I thought the ref had a decent game. So much so I haven't even had him in mind at all at any point.

I thought his handling of West Ham's penalty was great refereeing. He repeatedly warned Huth and Morgan about wrapping their arms and pulling shirts and indicated that if it happens again it will be a penalty.

[DeLorean]

My take-

-The first yellow for Vardy was never a booking.

-The 'dive' was a yellow card offence and Vardy can only blame himself, it's not like he didn't know he was already on a yellow, even if he shouldn't have been.

-I don't see the point in warning players about pulling, maybe give a heads up before the game that it won't be tolerated, but it's a bit of a cop out to catch them doing it, and then warn them not to do it 'again'.

-He ended up giving a penalty for the softest incident of the lot, minimal contact and a massive exaggeration from Reid. Not for me, warning or no warning.

-He denies Leicester a more obvious penalty moments later for the pull back on Huth. The fact that he hadn't warned the West Ham defenders previously is irrelevant I think, it's either a foul or it's not. And it was.

-Carroll is a bit rash and silly, it was a strong enough shoulder. I'd imagine he'd have got away with it nine times out of ten though and the referee was swayed by what went before.

-Overall I think the referee made life difficult for himself.

[jbyrne]

My take-

-The first yellow for Vardy was never a booking.

-The 'dive' was a yellow card offence and Vardy can only blame himself, it's not like he didn't know he was already on a yellow, even if he shouldn't have been.

-I don't see the point in warning players about pulling, maybe give a heads up before the game that it won't be tolerated, but it's a bit of a cop out to catch them doing it, and then warn them not to do it 'again'.

-He ended up giving a penalty for the softest incident of the lot, minimal contact and a massive exaggeration from Reid. Not for me, warning or no warning.

-He denies Leicester a more obvious penalty moments later for the pull back on Huth. The fact that he hadn't warned the West Ham defenders previously is irrelevant I think, it's either a foul or it's not. And it was.

-Carroll is a bit rash and silly, it was a strong enough shoulder. I'd imagine he'd have got away with it nine times out of ten though and the referee was swayed by what went before.

-Overall I think the referee made life difficult for himself.

agree with pretty much all of this. vardy took a dive but did the west ham player not have his hand on vardys shoulder from behind? how much shoulder touching is allowed before its a foul??

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I haven't seen anything to suggest they can't get a minimum of 4 points from those games.

[Stuttgart88]

Man United away won't be easy especially with United chasing 4th. I can easily see them losing, but wouldn't bet on it.

Swansea is a must win. Chelsea will be up for Spurs, but Spurs are looking super-strong right now. Suspiciously strong. #canofworms

[DeLorean]

I thought Chelsea would be up for Man City too although I know it's a different kind of rivalry.

[Stuttgart88]

Arsenal show their lack of teeth again.

Emphatic by Leicester. United next up is a huge game for them. United chasing 4th and have every chance. Hiddink says Chelsea fans are desperate to prevent Spurs winning it. I still think it's closer than the 8 points currently indicates.

[pineapple stu]

I still think it's closer than the 8 points currently indicates.
Definitely. I can see Spurs winning all four - that means Leicester need five points. Six (two wins) may be easier than five (one win and two draws)

United have one of the best home records in the league - only 7 goals conceded all season. And as you say, chasing fourth.

Everton have actually only lost three away games, but they look to be in freefall and would expect a straightforward win there.

Then away to a mundane enough Chelsea side, but still, it's away to Chelsea.

Spurs v WBA should be a gimme. They've Chelsea away as well of course, and Newcastle away on the last day is looking to be more and more interesting. Any slip up now and you'd imagine it's over.

Interesting that in the past five weeks, Leicester have played before Spurs four times. I don't know if that gives either side a bit of an advantage, like in a shoot-out?

Interesting to note the points dropped by Leicester through missed penalties (four v Bournemouth and Villa) and red cards (arguably five v Arsenal and West Ham)

They've only used 23 players in the league all season; 8 of those have 5 league starts between them. Amazing stuff.

[KK77]

Spurs have Southampton at home as well. While you would expect them to win that game it could be tricky all the same.

[pineapple stu]

True, though the form they're on at the moment, it'd be a big surprise if they dropped anything there.

This weekend will tell a lot. If Leicester can match Spurs' result, they're there. If they lose and Spurs win, it'll be brick-****ting time. Anything else, and it'll be very, very tight.

[OwlsFan]

Had to laugh at Sky when they said that Leicester ONLY needed 5 points from their last 3 games to secure the Premiership and then up come the fixtures of Man U, Chelsea and Everton.

[pineapple stu]

So much for a gimme at the Lane. West Brom equalise and spurs seem to be bottling it after a great start. Would surely be all over if it stays this way.

[pineapple stu]

1-1 result.

One win all that's needed now.

Gary Lineker cursing on Twitter he's so excited.

Incredible stuff

[Stuttgart88]

Never saw that happening. Spurs hit the woodwork twice, three times in first Half?

Funny thing is, Spurs are barely above 2 points per game. That would never be enough to challenge for the league in the last decade I reckon.

And Spurs are said to have had a super season. City and Arsenal have been terrible, yet there are only 5 points between them. Maybe the new normal is a much more competitive league but one season isn't evidence of that yet.

[pineapple stu]

I guess Spurs are having a good season because they're second and finishing strongly. Didn't they have an iffy start?

I wonder is the 25-man squad limit having any effect this season? Only thought of it after noting Leicester had "only" used 23 players all season (though it's still impressive that only 15 have really contributed)

[thischarmingman]

I guess Spurs are having a good season because they're second and finishing strongly. Didn't they have an iffy start?


Dropped the ball a little early on:

Leicester City 1 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur 0 - 0 Everton
Sunderland 0 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur

Anyway, Leicester could clinch the league at Old Trafford next week.

Leicester could clinch the league at Old Trafford next week.

Leicester could clinch the league at Old Trafford next week.

[KK77]

Just shows you never know in football. A lot myself included thinking Spurs would win the last four and a case of Leicester slipping up but Leicester have hardly slipped up all season so credit to them. I suppose if they win it now Spurs could look at that late goal Leicester got at the lane and also allowing a ten man Arsenal back in when 2-1 up on them. Still a great season for Spurs no matter what.

[pineapple stu]

A couple of interesting articles on football odds. It seems Leicester at 5000/1 is the most unlikely event ever to happen in bookmaking (not counting accumulators and match-rigging).

Greece were 150/1 to win Euro 2004.

Amazingly, Hungary were 500/1 to win in Wembley in 1953, as were the US to beat England in the 1950 World Cup.

Mali were 1000/1 to beat Angola when 3-0 down with 16 minutes to play.

A Finnish league game was won 8-0 at odds of 8787/1 last year - the losing club and their manager were both fined, though no firm evidence of rigging was found.

Couple of links here (http://www.theguardian.com/football/2005/aug/31/theknowledge.sport) and here (http://buzz.ie/bookies-leicesters-league-run-could-lead-to-longest-odds-payout-ever/).

[OwlsFan]

ONLY in the Premier League apparently, according to a downcast Souness, would a mid table team with nothing to play for put up such a performance (doh, like Swansea at Leicester for instance??). This "only in the Premier league" from Sky is enough to (almost) spoil what was an entertaining game. When the ball starts bouncing off the post and WBA are not put away, you always believe something could happen and nerves take over. After the equaliser you could actually hear the WBA fans singing "Ally Ally Ally Ohhhhhh Ally Ally Ally Ohhhhhh..." - so repetitive that I went to bed and couldn't get the bloody song out of my head but whether they enjoyed helping their midlands rivals taking a step towards the League title, who knows.

McLean played very well defensively and worked really hard - hats off to him.

[DeLorean]

And Spurs are said to have had a super season. City and Arsenal have been terrible, yet there are only 5 points between them.

Expectation levels are everything. Tottenham's improvement has been fairly radical also. For Tottenham, finishing above Arsenal is a super season, let alone finishing above Arsenal, City, Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea. For City and Arsenal, finishing below Tottenham and Leicester is catastrophic really.

[DeLorean]

A couple of interesting articles on football odds. It seems Leicester at 5000/1 is the most unlikely event ever to happen in bookmaking (not counting accumulators and match-rigging).

I remember thinking when Japan beat South Africa in the Rugby World Cup that it has to be up there with the biggest shocks ever in sport. Leicester winning the league, should it happen, would dwarf it I think, given it's over 38 games and not one.


ONLY in the Premier League apparently, according to a downcast Souness, would a mid table team with nothing to play for put up such a performance (doh, like Swansea at Leicester for instance??).

Just two days after 16th place Rayo Vallecano put Real Madrid to the pin of their collar in Spain, going into a 2-0 lead in the first half before eventually losing 2-3 with minutes remaining. Not to mention mid-table Valencia winning at the Nou Camp two weeks ago, etc., etc.

[pineapple stu]

I remember thinking when Japan beat South Africa in the Rugby World Cup that it has to be up there with the biggest shocks ever in sport. Leicester winning the league, should it happen, would dwarf it I think, given it's over 38 games and not one.
33/1 apparently. The equivalent in football would be longer I guess - maybe twice as long - because the odds of drawing are much smaller in rugby.

Of course, an individual match is always going to have shorter odds than a 38-game season. Even then, Japan were 1000/1 to win the World Cup before beating South Africa.

[Stuttgart88]

ONLY in the Premier League apparently, according to a downcast Souness, would a mid table team with nothing to play for put up such a performance (doh, like Swansea at Leicester for instance??). This "only in the Premier league" from Sky is enough to (almost) spoil what was an entertaining game. When the ball starts bouncing off the post and WBA are not put away, you always believe something could happen and nerves take over. After the equaliser you could actually hear the WBA fans singing "Ally Ally Ally Ohhhhhh Ally Ally Ally Ohhhhhh..." - so repetitive that I went to bed and couldn't get the bloody song out of my head but whether they enjoyed helping their midlands rivals taking a step towards the League title, who knows.

McLean played very well defensively and worked really hard - hats off to him.Yeah, the "only" things drives me nuts. The Times put it better and more modestly today: a mid-table team putting it up to a title-chasing team is what helps make the PL popular around the world, which I think is largely true.

La Liga, despite Rayo at the weekend, just isn't as competitive. Look at the points per game of the big 3. Look at their goal differences too. Look at the gap between 3rd and 4th.

It's funny because during years of relative certainty of outcome and dominance of big / rich teams, and consequent financial irresponsibility, the EPL resisted any calls for financial regulation citing quality rather than competitive balance as a key factor in the league's global commercial success versus, say, Germany. Now, after introducing financial regulation and seeing a bizarre unpredictable outcome about to unfold, they bang on about how the unpredictability is what makes it so great!

I suppose the pre-regulation era helped build the brand(s), now the product's commercial life cycle has moved on to a different stage.

On McClean, Danny tweeted a good comment: McClean was picked in The Telegraph's EPL's worst XI of the season but as a left back. Is it a case of his politics influencing their selection? Telegraph is notoriously right-wing, pro-Establishment. By no stretch of the imagination could he be called a left-back, even if he has played there a handful of times.

[DeLorean]

33/1 apparently. The equivalent in football would be longer I guess - maybe twice as long - because the odds of drawing are much smaller in rugby.

33/1 was very stingy I think.

The odds of drawing would be smaller in rugby alright, but it's easier to cause a shock in one-off football games I would say, as scores are much more difficult to come by.

[DeLorean]

Is it a case of his politics influencing their selection?

100% - regardless of where he was selected. He's clearly had a very decent season. Sad ba$tards.

[BonnieShels]

Cheering for Chelsea is weird. Cheering for Chelsea to help Leicester to win the league is weirder.

EDIT: How Spurs have managed to end this manage with 11 I dunno. Absolute filth.

[DeLorean]

No, I couldn't do it. Would have liked Spurs to have brought it to Saturday instead of giving that shower any happiness. And the filth was kind of refreshing in a mad way, total throwback.

[SkStu]

Wow. Congrats Leicester.

[BonnieShels]

No, I couldn't do it. Would have liked Spurs to have brought it to Saturday instead of giving that shower any happiness. And the filth was kind of refreshing in a mad way, total throwback.

I enjoyed it to a point. But it got ridiculous towards the end and Rose, Walker and Dembele should have seen the line.

In saying that it was a cracker of a match!

[DeLorean]

Not condoning it a such it's just football has gone so soft and timid it was great to see a bit of filth and Chelsea being on the receiving end probably helped, even if they were happy out. Spurs should have definitely had three reds at least. It was counter productive for Spurs though really as they would have surely created another chance or two to win it had they kept the heads.

[DeLorean]

Rose, Walker and Dembele should have seen the line.

Dier could have got two reds! Well obviously he couldn't but you know what I mean.

[nigel-harps1954]

The team with the fourth lowest wage budget in the league, playing with a first 11 that cost a QUARTER of the fee paid by Real Madrid for Gareth Bale just won the Premier League.

Let's just savour that for a moment.

The money men were beaten by a group of nobodies.

Fan-fu*king-tastic.

[pineapple stu]

Not condoning it a such it's just football has gone so soft and timid it was great to see a bit of filth
Absolutely. Thought it was a great game and the aggression made it better. 9 yellows for Spurs without a red is amazing though; were they taking it in turns to hack Chelsea down?

If you can't win the league yourself, I guess seeing Spurs throw away a 2-goal lead is the next best way!

Saw a stat that the last time Hazard scored at home in the league, it was to decide the 2014/15 league season.

Delighted for Leicester though.

[BonnieShels]

Not condoning it a such it's just football has gone so soft and timid it was great to see a bit of filth and Chelsea being on the receiving end probably helped, even if they were happy out. Spurs should have definitely had three reds at least. It was counter productive for Spurs though really as they would have surely created another chance or two to win it had they kept the heads.

That's what really annoyed me. It was frustrated aggression. Not proper old school aggression. There was a tackle that Costa made at the end when he ran after a lost cause and "won" a corner (not given) making a remarkable tackle. Chelsea looked like they were trying to win the lague at the end. It was bizarre. Spurs have had so many opportunities to win this league the last month and bottled it each time.


Dier could have got two reds! Well obviously he couldn't but you know what I mean.

Uh huh. Yup. And even Mason at the end.


Absolutely. Thought it was a great game and the aggression made it better. 9 yellows for Spurs without a red is amazing though; were they taking it in turns to hack Chelsea down?


Delighted for Leicester though.

I love aggression in a game but it got a bit comical toward the end. 9 players getting a yellow on one team is a record in a game in the EPL.

I'm raging Chelsea didn't try to score the last free though just to rub it in. Spurs lost me tonight.

[pineapple stu]

Another trivia question - when was the last time a team won the English league for the first time?

Was it Forest?

[BonnieShels]

Another trivia question - when was the last time a team won the English league for the first time?

Was it Forest?

It was indeed.

Only team to have more European Cups (2) than League titles (1). That's my favourite piece of Forest trivia.

[TheBoss]

There is no doubt that Leicester utterly deserved it, they've been top virtually from the start. Spurs completely collapsed in their last 2 games going in front in both but could not show the courage needed to hold on to their leads.

Speaking for Forest Trivia, now that Aston Villa are relegated, it will the first time that former European Club Champions will play each in the 2nd tier of a league.

[BonnieShels]

I'm trying to do an assignment and I keep getting distracted by reading stuff about Leicester. I still can't get it into my head.

Man City had a similar path to winning that first Premier League title coming from Division 2 in 1999 to eventually be champions. Nah, I'm kidding, this is just remarkable. I've watched a heap of Leicester matches this year (cos they're always on it seems) and they were like watching football that I grew up loving; soaking up pressure and counter attacking. Couple that with the Dortmund and Atletico sides now I'm being spoiled with my favourite types of soccer.

Even when the players are interviewed they just seem so grounded. Tonight, they just won the league and anything that's been released from a player has been one of complimenting team-mates above the self. It's wonderful.

[DeLorean]

I think this talk about Spurs 'bottling' it is nonsense. They've been brilliant and were the only team that made it any bit of a race in the end. They had a number of very tough fixtures in the run-in, coming from behind to draw at Anfield, blowing Man Utd away and winning 4-0 at the dreaded Britannia. They hit the post two or three times against West Brom before conceding fairly late. Even last night in a high pressure game they went and did their stuff until it unravelled. Okay they probably lacked a bit of experience as they haven't been in this situation before, they could definitely have controlled the last ten minutes of the game last night, and of the West Brom game, a lot better. They are the youngest squad in the league after all.

I just hate this default notion that if a team falls short then they've bottled it. They dug pretty deep to stay in it at all, they were never favourites and they never led, so in a sense they had nothing to bottle. The television generated schedule was ridiculous too I thought, having Leicester play first every single time in the run-in.

Great result for football though, insane really. It would be fantastic if it was the start of something, but surely normal service will resume next season? I suppose the likes of Wigan, Swansea and Birmingham have all won big cups in recent seasons too, so a few teams are having a day in the sun, but obviously this is an achievement from another universe compared to those.

[pineapple stu]

I think they did bottle it against West Brom - they were cruising, and then maybe for the first time realised where they were. West Brom came more and more back into the game and Spurs couldn't do anything about it.

But that shouldn't take away from their season overall - or even from their title chase, where they put in some bloody good performances, as you say. And if course, they were the only challengers in the end.

Worth noting Leicester's Mark Selby won the World Snooker Championship last night as well. He won the 2014 world title on the same day Leicester got promoted, and won last night 11 minutes after the final whistle. So he essentially missed both occasions.

[Stuttgart88]

Stu thanked because of the Selby comment, not the bottling comment. I'm not sure Spurs bottled it either. In fact they played some great stuff against WBA and hit the inside of the post twice. They came up short and the most notable thing is how well LCFC played out their last 10 games.

I read a couple of weeks ago that since Arsenal beat LCFC in February, LCFC scored 13 goals and got 21 points. In the same period Arsenal scored 21 goals and got 13 points (or fewer - I can't remember the exact numbers)!

If anyone bottled it this season it was Arsenal. No ability to rise to the occasion. Top of league, lose 4-0 at Southampton. Lost at home to Swansea after being 1-0 up. Drew 0-0 at home to Southampton despite battering them. Last minute equaliser conceded at Anfield. Didn't even turn up for an hour at Old Trafford, and so on. All in a critical spell of the season.

Worth noting that Spurs' points haul is unremarkable by previous seasons' standards.

[pineapple stu]

In fact they played some great stuff against WBA and hit the inside of the post twice.
This is true - but then the game started to fade away from them, and they lost confidence.

You certainly can't label them bottlers overall because (a) they were the only team challenging in the first place, (b) they never led the table I think (or if they did, it was for one day or something) and (c) Leicester were so consistent anyway.

But I think at some stage in the West Brom game, they became aware of what they were doing and forgot how to do it.

[osarusan]

I wouldn't be too critical of Spurs in general as their form has been good.

But after WBA equalised, that was one moment when the chips were really down They had about 15-20 minutes to save their hopes of winning the league, and produced next to nothing.