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That's the issue I see. None of the teams that are capable of paying the salary he would demand would be willing to because of that. Would love to see it happen though. Would have loved it even more if it happened 5-10 years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by War Machine Dawg
Well your Fox Overlords are once again 7 points clear after a 1-0 victory over Southampton in King Power Stadium. We are indeed one weekend closer to your Fox Overlords claiming our rightful spot at the top of the table at the end of the year and hoisting the Premier League trophy at Chelsea (being that we travel there on the final weekend). Then we shall parade through Leicester with the trophy in hand, down to Filbert Way, and into King Power, to where everyone will have a beer on the owners. Also...everyone in attendance for this weekend's game received a Krispy Kreme donut courtesy of the owners. So yeah...our owners are awesome. They give free beer and donuts. BEER AND DONUTS, PEOPLE.
Next stop for the Foxes? The Stadium of Light to face off against Sunderland, who are currently sitting in the relegation zone.
Chelsea just announced a three year deal to make Italy's Antonio Conte head coach. Going to be interested to see if chelsea goes to a back 3 like Conte ran for Juve and Italy or if he changes his philosophy
Arsenal did an Arsenal today. After dominating the majority of the first half and going up 2-0, the Gooners allowed Andy Carroll to hit the hat trick in the span of about 15 minutes. Carroll got two quick goals to equalise just before the half then scored about 10 minutes into the second half. Koscielny got the equaliser for the Gunners, salvaging a point.
I'm slowly beginning to think it really is time for #WengerOut. This team needs a serious infusion of attitude and toughness. A legit world class striker wouldn't hurt, either. Winning the race for Granit Xhaka would be a damn good start, though.
ALL HAIL YOUR FOX OVERLORDS!!!
The Foxes went to the Stadium of Light and got a good two goals by world-class Jamie Vardy. One in the 61st minute and one in stoppage time. Both of these allowed the Foxes to gain another 3 points, extending their lead over Tottenham Hotspur to 10 points as the Spurs face the Reds of Manchester United right now. The Foxes have officially qualified for no lower than the Europa league, which will be their first appearance in international play since 2000-2001 UEFA Cup (What the Europa League is now). Three more wins and the Foxes are GUARANTEED to be chanting "WE WON THE LEAGUE! WE WON THE LEAGUE!" for the final two matches. With the final being against defending champion Chelsea on foreign turf. You've gotta know that it would kill Chelsea fans to have to watch lowly Leicester City raise the trophy on their pitch as their team makes the ring of honor.
With Tottenham's 3-0 victory over Manchester United, the Leicester City Foxes are guaranteed a Top 4 finish, which means the Foxes are headed to the Champions League!!!!
FREAKING EPIC!!!!!!!!!!! Liverpool 4 Dortmund 3 Remarkable comeback from 4-2 down in the 57th minute. Comeback goals from Coutinho 66th, Sakho 77th, and Lovern in a desperation 92nd minute. It wasn't quite Istanbul but that was something. That game will take it's place in the extensive pantheon of famous European nights at Anfield.
That was unreal!!! I kept checking in via Twitter and couldn't believe they came back and won! YNWA!Quote:
Originally Posted by Liverpooldawg
Devastating loss for Norwich City today. Had they won that they would have had a great shot at staying up. They are in the thick of it now.
Newcastle beat Swansea to close the gap to 3 points. We have to finish ahead of Sunderland too though. Both Newcastle and Sunderland have a game in hand on Norwich. Problem is our game in hand is against Man City.Quote:
Originally Posted by Liverpooldawg
Things still look bleak for Newcastle, but I guess we've kept ourselves alive for another weekend
Your Fox Overlords were only able to get 1 point from West Ham United via a 2-2 draw. Vardy was sent off for diving in the box.
He has been charged with misconduct for his response to it. That could mean an additional game or two beyond the one game automatic one. Not a good time for that.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheRef
Arsenal continues to Arsenal. After essentially dominating the day and leading 1-0 for most of the second half, the Gunners gave up a late equaliser to Yannick Bolasie. Arsenal remains 4th on the table and aren't entirely safe from missing out on the Champions League with Man United only 4 points back in 5th.
Also worth noting, lots of empty seats at the Emirates on Saturday. The announced attendance indicated a near sellout, with only about 300 unsold tickets. It seems as though Arsenal fans are beginning to vote with their feet with the future of Arsene Wenger. For you guys who have followed the EPL longer than me, what's your opinion of Wenger? I'm always interested in various opinions.
In other news, Hull City got a crucial 3 points by defeating Wolverhampton on Friday. The Tigers sit 4th on the Championship table by merit of goal differential. They seem to be firmly in the Promotion Playoff, 4 points ahead of 6th place Sheffield Wednesday and nearly 10 points ahead of 7th place Cardiff. The bad news for Tigers fans is they're out of the automatic promotion hunt, barring an absolute miracle. They're currently 10 points behind 2nd place Burnley. Dudy, rejoice, for your Foxes are set to return to the EPL next season. Middlesboro tops the Championship table and leads Burnley by just 2 points.
Well 17 me...Vardy couldn't get out of his own way.Quote:
Originally Posted by Liverpooldawg
The Sun is reporting thousands of Arsenal fans are planning to boycott the WBA match tomorrow. Tickets have been put on general sale due to lack of interest. In related news, Arsene Wenger came out within the last 24 hours and said he won't quit.
In an injury update, Jack Wilshere looks set to return against Sunderland on Sunday. Going to be interesting to see if he starts, and if so, who makes way for him. Really like what Elneny has brought and can't imagine sitting him. And he and Coquelin have been a very effective CDM pairing, so I don't know why you'd break that up.
$&@"€?#* Toffees just broke Origi's leg, the *#%€??. 5 goals in 5 games and this happens.
We were up 2-0!at the time and his replacement Sturrige has since scored, 3-0. The bluenose that did it was sent off. He should be banned for a LONG time.
4-0 final. Initial reports are now saying a badly sprained ankle for Origi. That could be as bad as a break. Horrible challenge.
It isn't broken. No word on how bad the sprain is yet.
Origi has ligament damage in the ankle. He is done for the year. The bluenose should be banned for a while.
Newcastle got 1 point against Man City on Tuesday. But I've got to say we should have won that game 1-0 and gotten all 3. Their goal was an Aguero header from a free kick. The only problem is he was 3 yards offside when he headed it. To make it worse, he was never onside in the entire build up for the free kick. He stood offside for a solid 3 minutes while the ref sorted things out and what not then proceed to stay offside and score, from an offside position. That horrible non-call could cost us 10s (100s?) of millions of dollars. AND HE WAS NEVER EVEN CLOSE TO BEING ONSIDE.
I had never given replay in soccer a serious thought, but after that game I'm a believer in it. Someone on a monitor could watch the replay and call offside well before the players get done celebrating and the game resumes. Same for red cards and penalties. A replay official could review it during the time that players are arguing and the ref is sorting things out and confirm/overturn the call. All without pausing the game for a second more than it would have been anyways.
This is the third time this season we've conceded an offsides goal. By far the worst of the 3, but there was another one earlier in the season that was pretty bad. The problem is, it hasn't evened out like the pundits claim it does (where we score an offside goal). To make it worse we've been screwed out of goals twice this season where we were actually onside.
ETA: Newcastle has done a million things to deserve relegation and I am in no way blaming the refs for our doom. It just sucks to have points taken from us by the ref this late in the season in such an important game on such an obvious offside. And I don't like the "it'll even out" mentality that people seem to have over there, when the solution really won't effect the flow of the game at all.
Arsenal destroyed West Ham in another London Derby matchup yesterday. Alexis Sanchez got a first half brace and that was all the Gunners would need, finishing with a 2-0 win. The win sees Arsenal move back into 3rd place ahead of City. Thanks, Newcastle!
Also looks like we may have gotten an answer as to what Wenger will do when Wilshere returns to the lineup on Sunday. Aaron Ramsey started over Coquelin yesterday with Elneny retaining his starting spot. I'd guess we'll see something similar on Sunday with an Elneny-Wilshere pairing. The bad news for Gunners fans is Olivier Giroud replaced Welbeck in the lineup. And predictably, he was horrible. I'm not sure Welbeck is a long term striking solution for the Gunners, but he's damn sure better than Giroud. Mertesacker also returned to the starting lineup yesterday, replacing Kieran Gibbs.
Reports flying everywhere that the Gunners and Granit Xhaka have agreed to personal terms, effectively ensuring Xhaka moves to the Emirates next season. It appears it's down to haggling with Monchengladbach over the transfer fee. They want 35M pounds and Arsenal's initial offer was 24M. Word is Gladbach would like 32M and that Arsenal has increased their bid, but think they can get Xhaka for a little less. I'm guessing it'll wind up somewhere in the neighborhood of a 30M transfer fee when it's all said and done.
Now the fun part: Seeing if 1) Wenger makes it to the final year of his contract and 2) assuming he does, will he bring in a CB and striker? Those are the two positions most in need of an upgrade with the Xhaka deal looking like it'll happen. Lots of talk about a possible bid for Morata at Juve, which would certainly help the striker issue. Also looks like we'll see Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, and Gibbs sold during the upcoming summer window. Wouldn't be surprised to see us shop Sacker and/or Giroud, either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by War Machine Dawg
I originally "drew" Burnley but I have found myself following Arsenal. I like their style of play and just like the kits and the freaking Cannon.
The kits and badge are definitely badass. Did you see the uproar over the potential leak of next season's kits? They had blue shorts and Arsenal has worn white shorts since something ridiculous like the 1880s. Needless to say, that hasn't gone over too well with the fans. Hopefully the leak isn't accurate or it was a "weather balloon" leak to test the climate of such a big change and the actual kits will stay with white shorts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tbonewannabe
Reds start out strong this morning with Sturridge banging one home 68 seconds into the match with Newcastle. Newcastle is bound for relegation.
Obviously I spoke too soon - terrible second half by the Reds. I also had no idea that Newcastle had lucked into getting Rafa Benitez as manager. That may help them stave off relegation. Newcastle Looked like a totally different team in the second half.Quote:
Originally Posted by BrunswickDawg
We picked up Benitez about a month too late. We've played fantastic the last 3 games but I think it's too little too late. Sunderland has two games in hand on us and play Stoke, Everton, and Chelsea. All three of which have nothing to play for and/or are melting down at the moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by BrunswickDawg
Bad day for Liverpool and therefore a terrible day for Norwich City.
Leicester on the brink. This is one of the best sports stories of my lifetime.
Sunderland's draw with Arsenal means Norwich are in the drop zone.
Congrats Ref - your Foxes have done the improbable. Now, get something done in the Champions League!
Still need a win to clinch the league. Whomever we get the win against, the next opponent will have to form the honor guard to watch us lift the trophy. So if we win at Old Trafford, then Everton will watch us lift the trophy. If it takes until the next week, then Chelsea will have to form the honor guard to watch us lift the title they won a year ago.
Arsenal continued to Arsenal yesterday. Another nil-nil draw, this time against Sunderland. The point saw Sunderland move out of the drop zone, just ahead of Norwich. Good news for USMNT fans, DeAndre Yedlin looked really good. He's become one of the regulars for Sunderland. It'll be interesting to see if he can force his way into the Tottenham first team next season.
Wilshere returned but didn't start. He subbed in for Ozil with about 10 minutes left. The draw saw Arsenal fall to 4th and they're still in a battle to secure a Champions League spot with Man U only 5 points back. And they could still miss out if Man City wins the current CL season or if Liverpool wins the Europa League. Needless to say, I'm rooting hard against City & Liverpool in Europe and Man U in the EPL the next few weeks.
With yesterday's draw, I've decided the time has come at Arsenal for #WengerOut. He's lost the team and the fans. The more I read, the more certain I am that it's best for everyone if he moves along. I'd prefer it to happen by his choice so there aren't any hard feelings. He's done way too much for Arsenal. But I'd be fine if he has to be sacked. The question is who would replace him? We've missed our shot for Pep, Klopp, and Conte. Looks like Mourinho is headed to the other Manchester. Personally, I'd try to grab Eddie Howe from Bournemouth. But I don't think he's a big enough name for most and Bournemouth might be his dream job. Didn't he play for them?
Ref, congrats to your Foxes. It's unreal what they've done. From outhouse to penthouse in a year in the most competitive club league in soccer. Unbelievable. And to think Arsenal did the league double over them. Hope you guys kick some ass in the CL next year. *Kneels before our Fox Overlords*
JUSTICE!
Well done Everton.
http://www.evertonfc.com/news/2016/0...rough-families
I love that this is still thriving on this board. Thanks guys!Quote:
Originally Posted by Tbonewannabe
We will start a new thread for the 2016/2017 season. And dammit I'll love being able to actively participate in UCL talk with the Foxes being in there. I'm so giddy!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawg61
Really is absurd they won the league this year. I can't equate it to anything else in sports history off the top of my head. Assuming they don't collapse here.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheRef
Passion over money. And that's the truth in this. Leicester City gives hope to those smaller teams going against the Man Us and Barcas of the world. It proves that you don't have to spend extravagant amounts of money to win a championship. Just have to have the right blend of talent and desire by the team, along with a good cohesiveness between the manager and club.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawg61
Maybe we could do a transfer window rumors thread during the offseason? There'll also be the Euro Cup during the break. Anyone watch MLS?Quote:
Originally Posted by TheRef
I watch a little MLS - mainly big matches like Sounders v. Timbers. When Atlanta United comes on line I will watch them regularly. I grew up in the "first wave" playing youth soccer and going to clinics run by Atlanta Chiefs players, so the chance to have a top tier team in the ATL again is awesome. Takes me me back to the days of Graham Tut, David Byrne, and Brian Kidd kicking it in the NASL!Quote:
Originally Posted by War Machine Dawg
I would be okay with an offseason / transfer window thread for this year. Could get interesting with even Managers up for grabs.Quote:
Originally Posted by War Machine Dawg