Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

After the takeover by Glazer, I would guess money is not quite readily available as it was prior to the takeover, having said that, the Glazer's will need to speculate to accumulate and not just rely on the public to raise revenue, after all, success breeds success.

We might just see the next "class of 92" come through this season, with the likes of Ewbanks Blake, Rossi, Eagles, Timm, Richardson. If this does not work out, the Glazer's might then have to dig deep to compete with the likes of Chelsea.

Arsenal have done very well with their prudent sales & purchase technique over the last two season's, but I think it will all fall flat as time moves on.

This coming season's front runner's will be, 1. Chelsea. 2. Man Utd. 3. Arsenal. 4. Liverpool. 5. Newcastle, but not necessarilly in that order :D

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

My point exactly.

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

I feel the first few years since 1992 were prudent for man utd but after that they were just spending in a league of their own, my argument is based on the fact that by having a very large squad man utd can rest key players at good times so when they do play hey have more energy.

How well do you think man utd would have done with a squad of under 20 players?

I am not comparing to chelsea I am comparing to the rest of the premiership 19 other teams.

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

Um - Chelsea are avidly signing the best young talent in Europe - Mourinho may be a deeply unpleasant sod but he's no fool, and we may find ourselves playing a team with infinite money and a top youth set up in a couple of years. They also share with Arsenal the bonus of being a top club in London, which makes it easier for them to attract players from abroad. I don't think you can win the league with young British players any more - the Man Utd late 90s team is ancient history, the rate the game moves on.

Anyway, here's some stats on CL/Premiership fixtures to shove down the throats of Jose and Sir Alex:
Since 1998/9

Arsenal
Played 64
34 home - 30 away
53% at home

Manchester United
Played 87
47 home - 40 away
54% at home

Chelsea
Played 40
22 home - 18 away
55% at home

So statistically no team has the post-CL fixtures rigged in their favour, and in fact Arsenal have had slightly the worst of it, though within rounding up error. What this seems to prove is that Jose is a lying git* and Sir Alex is an old fool who doesn't check his facts when it comes to Arse-bashing time.

*But we knew that already.

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

Part of Arsenals fixture list for this season:

13/14 - CL Matchday 1
Mon 19 - Everton (H)

27/28 - CL Matchday 2
Sun 2 - Birmingham city (H)

18/19 - CL Matchday 3
Sat 22 - Man City (H)

1/2 - CL Matchday 4
Sat 5 - Sunderland (H)

22/23 - CL Matchday 5
Sat 26 - Blackburn Rovers (H)

6/7 - CL Matchday 6
Sat 10 - Newcastle Utd (A)

So five matches out of six after a champions league game for Arsenal is at home. I think Ferguson and Mourinho do have something to complain about.

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

No they don't.
1) They've not offered any evidence that having the game following a CL game at home helps you win things.

2) The quality of the opposition matters as well as the location

3) In the light of the lack of evidence in 1), you can make an equal case that having the *previous* CL game at home helps, in which case Arsenal are obviously being discriminated against, since they have 5 out of 6 away, and doubtless some will be on a Sunday before a Tuesday CL game, which leaves you two days to recover. Which is baloney as well.

4) Picking statistics carefully to support your 'case' doesn't prove anything other than ability to read a fixture list - you have to look at these things over a whole season, which we can't do for 2005/6*, but we can do for every season since 1999, which amazingly enough proves that JM and AF are talking out of their orifices.

5) In order for them to have something to complain about (unless they're complaining about the actions of chance, in which case they should be addressing their concerns to God, or whoever invented mathematics) they have to put up some evidence that someone is fixing the fixtures. Instead we get idiotic and ill-informed conspiracy theories about David Dein, who is elected by all 20 clubs to the FA, and has nothing to do with Premier League fixtures, which are set, er, by the Premier League, not the FA. It's like complaining that the holes in the road are the fault of a Masonic conspiracy. If you met a geezer in the pub who started on like that you'd assume paranoid schizophrenia and try and move away quietly.

6) You're assuming that matches never get moved, which they do, particularly around European games or late in the season due to cup ties. You can only draw firm conclusions from matches already played, which as we've seen shows that there's no bias in favour or against any team.

*Or can we? Assuming Arsenal get through the group stage again, when are the next six matchdays?
www.uefa.com has 21/22 Feb and 7/8 Mar

Currently Arsenal have these matches scheduled around then:
25/2/06 - Blackburn (A)
11/3/06 - Liverpool (H)

After that it's 28/29 Mar and 04/05 Apr
1/4/06 - Aston Villa (H)
8/4/06 - Man Utd (A)

After that it's 18/19 Apr and 25/26 Apr
22/4/06 - Tottenham (H)
29/4/06 - Sunderland (A)

So three at home, three away, and two of the home games are tricky ones, plus we get to go to Old Trafford after a European trip again, if we get to the quarter finals.

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

I think they should both stop moaning and get on with it, chelsea and man utd both have massive squads and will cope anyway. Personally I find the relegation battle more exciting then the championship race.

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

I wasnt agreeing totally with what Mourinho and Ferguson said, i was just pointing out that Arsenals fixtures after Champions League games are mostly at home. I dont think Dein had anything to do with it, its just that compared to Chelsea and Man utd, Arsenal have a favourable fixture list. For example after one Champions league match United and Chelsea face each other and United have a game against Liverpool after one of thier other Champions League matches.

I dont think Mourinho and Ferguson were complaining about the fixtures because it would affect thier champions league campaigns but because of their Premiership title hopes, which is why i dont agree with what you said about matches before champions league games are just as important. The players after Champions League games will be tired, especially after away games, and in Chelseas and Uniteds case they will have to travel away from home where it will be more difficult to rest palyers compared to playing at home and away games are always much more difficult than home games.

I was just using what information was availabile at the current time to show what Mourinho and Ferguson were talking about and they werent picked 'carefully' they were the statistics that the two managers were talking about.

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

what you keep forgetting is if there's one thing football managers like to do it's moan.. whatever fixture list they get they will complain..

if are you good enough then a fixture pile up shouldn't be a problem.. if you loose the team, and the squad, haven't performed on the day..moaning about past matches etc is just an excuse for a bad performance

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

Well it had to happen sooner or later........

http://storage.msn.com/x1pNWjjkHJ3o_...mzSibTjTP9uoVg

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

Q. Why will Man City players have to wash their shirts more often next season.


A. They will spend most of it carrying Cole around.:D



Also rumoured that they are after Mark Hughes and Eric Cantona.:)

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

sorry i don't get the joke.. it mentions washing and then the answer seems to be about spending money

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

Is that another joke? :erm:

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

This makes a refreshing change to all the bickering about transfer fees ;)

Link
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Also, can we have a separate thread for news about transfers etc, as they tend to get lost?

It's just that this thread has just turned into one big bicker. It's not even football banter. Just my :2cents: :)

Re: The Football Thread 2005/2006 Season
 

Edited for clarity.:)