2018-2019 EPL thread.....

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

Chelsea still have plenty of talent but something isn't right there. The manager has been saying the team isn't motivated and he cant motivate them. He won't last long but that's a big indictment of the locker room culture. They may be on the way back to what they used top be. Abromavich isn't spending like he used to since the Brits denied his entry visa in the wake of the poisoning in Salisbury.

Should have sold Hazard for an incredible amount over the summer. I'm not convinced he's not a cancer in their squad at this point. Now they'll lose him over the summer to Real anyways and their top youth guy who was slated to fill his spot, Callum Hudson-Odoi (sp?), is demanding to be sold to Bayern over lack of opportunities at Chelsea.

[Liverpooldawg]

We gave up the lead, dang Toffees. City's lead is 1 point.

[Tbonewannabe]

Should have sold Hazard for an incredible amount over the summer. I'm not convinced he's not a cancer in their squad at this point. Now they'll lose him over the summer to Real anyways and their top youth guy who was slated to fill his spot, Callum Hudson-Odoi (sp?), is demanding to be sold to Bayern over lack of opportunities at Chelsea.

Is it due to the current manager or is Hazard dead set on going to Real? I might actually go to London next year so maybe I can catch a Premier League game somewhere if the wife is ok with it. She like the Atlanta United game we went to but doesn't want to watch soccer on TV because it is "boring".

[Liverpooldawg]

It looks like the title race is going to the wire. There will probably be an unexpected turn or two but the games to watch: Chelsea @ Liverpool; City @ United; and Spurs @ City. My guess is City takes it, they are playing really well right now...Liverpool not so much.

[Liverpooldawg]

Fulham were relegated today. They join already relegated Huddersfield.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

Is it due to the current manager or is Hazard dead set on going to Real? I might actually go to London next year so maybe I can catch a Premier League game somewhere if the wife is ok with it. She like the Atlanta United game we went to but doesn't want to watch soccer on TV because it is "boring".

He's been very open about wanting to go to Real for a while, so I think its a him thing. It will be interesting to see what happens now that Chelsea has a two-window transfer ban though. With the mega-clubs, UEFA/FIFA usually tend to delay the ban by one window and give the clubs a chance to position themselves to weather the punishment, but they didn't do that for Chelsea so they wont be able to make any new deals to acquire players this summer or next winter. Hazard's contract runs out at the end of next season, so if they hold on to him and he refuses to sign a new contract, they could lose him for free. But if they sell him this summer, they won't be able to replace him.

Catching a game would be awesome though. If Premier League club tickets are too expensive or impossible to find, it seems like Fulham is universally acclaimed by both the English and Americans as a really good stadium/experience, and they'll be in the 2nd tier next year.

[Liverpooldawg]

Mo and Hendo back amongst the goals today! City still has the inside track but I think we are going to force it to the wire. Rationally City wins it.............Come on you Reds!!!

[TheRef]

Honestly, I'm surprised we are as high on the table as we currently are. COME ON YOU FOXES.

[Liverpooldawg]

Honestly, I'm surprised we are as high on the table as we currently are. COME ON YOU FOXES.

Tough one for you today...……….but vital for Raffa and Newcastle. They are probably my third EPL team this year behind Liverpool and Palace because of Raffa. Now next year it looks like Norwich will be up. I spent a few days in Norwich a few years ago. It's maybe my favorite city ANYWHERE. When they come up, they go to second behind Liverpool.

[Liverpooldawg]

Liverpool 2 Chelsea 0 It's going to the wire.

[War Machine Dawg]

Arsenal back into the top 4, beeches!!!! Ugly win, but who gives a damn? We needed it. And a road clean sheet? Oh hell yeah!!!! What Emery has done with this group is a relative miracle. Can't wait until we can sell a few of them in the summer and bring in some new blood.

Really keeping an eye on the Championship nowadays. No chance of Hull coming up this year, as they're stuck in mid-table and in ownership hell. 5 points off the final playoff spot isn't insurmountable, but I doubt they sneak into it. Don't see much changing, in fact it'll probably get worse, until the Allams finally sell. But who knows when the 17 that'll be, as the greedy bastards are asking way more than anyone is willing to pay and selling off all the playing assets.

Looking like Norwich & Leeds could get the automatic promotion spots. Sheffield United, West Brom, Villa, and Bristol City currently sitting in the playoff spots, but Boro is just one point back of Bristol and Derby County 2 points back. And Sheffield United is just 3 points back of Leeds for the 2nd auto promotion spot. Should be a helluva battle for promotion. Really rooting for Leeds to come back up, if I'm honest.

[Liverpooldawg]

So, as of about 8 AM our time City did not have a sell out for their Champion's League second leg at home against Spurs. Pep was interviewed yesterday and he was begging the fans to show up and create an atmosphere. It seems they didn't want to chance it. There is video of them testing crowd noise over the PA in an empty stadium today. They also placed plastic flags on every seat. If UEFA ever decides to actually enforce the FFP rules City will be relegated.

[Liverpooldawg]

All of City's desperation to somehow manufacture an atmosphere didn't help. That must have been some game. The Liverpool vs Barca semi is really no surprise. The Ajax vs Spurs one though! Who saw THAT coming? Barca will be tall order for us. It's doable though. The trick I think is to keep it within striking distance for the return leg at Anfield. Nicking an away goal would really help. I wish city had gone through. They have a definite advantage in the league now.

[Tbonewannabe]

So, as of about 8 AM our time City did not have a sell out for their Champion's League second leg at home against Spurs. Pep was interviewed yesterday and he was begging the fans to show up and create an atmosphere. It seems they didn't want to chance it. There is video of them testing crowd noise over the PA in an empty stadium today. They also placed plastic flags on every seat. If UEFA ever decides to actually enforce the FFP rules City will be relegated.

I am a newbie to EPL so what is the FFP rules? I don't follow EPL closely but I do watch when it is on and I am a casual observer. One of my friends lived in London for around 3 years and lived by the Chelsea stadium so I have kind of adopted them as my team. I don't have any particular attachment to any other team otherwise.

[Liverpooldawg]

I am a newbie to EPL so what is the FFP rules? I don't follow EPL closely but I do watch when it is on and I am a casual observer. One of my friends lived in London for around 3 years and lived by the Chelsea stadium so I have kind of adopted them as my team. I don't have any particular attachment to any other team otherwise.

Financial Fair Play. A club is actually supposed to support itself without massive injections of non-debt serviced outside cash. It was a response to Chelsea to begin with. They were never much till Abromovich started throwing money at them. As he has pulled back, they are receding. Currently PSG and Man City are the best examples. Both have been caught.....and slapped on the wrist. City are under investigation again. Milan is awaiting punishment.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

I am a newbie to EPL so what is the FFP rules? I don't follow EPL closely but I do watch when it is on and I am a casual observer. One of my friends lived in London for around 3 years and lived by the Chelsea stadium so I have kind of adopted them as my team. I don't have any particular attachment to any other team otherwise.

Financial Fair Play. A club is actually supposed to support itself without massive injections of non-debt serviced outside cash. It was a response to Chelsea to begin with. They were never much till Abromovich started throwing money at them. As he has pulled back, they are receding. Currently PSG and Man City are the best examples. Both have been caught.....and slapped on the wrist. City are under investigation again. Milan is awaiting punishment.

It was also in response to smaller clubs running up a huge debt in attempt to either stay in the Premier League or to try to get promoted to the Premier League, then pay off the debt the next season. When it didn't work the club would then have an impossible amount of debt to pay off and basically put themselves on the verge of bankruptcy. Portsmouth is the most extreme example but teams like QPR and Leeds also went down similar paths.

From the perspective of non-major clubs, FFP looks more like the implementation of a glass ceiling, or like the major clubs are pulling the ladder up behind them and ensuring no one else can get to their level. All of the big clubs can basically spend what they want and do shifty accounting work to make the numbers check out, then if they still get caught, its a slap on the wrist. But if you're in the Serbian second division and you break FFP, be prepared to get hammered. Similar to the jokes about how the if the NCAA catches Alabama committing a recruiting violation then some D3 softball team is about to get hammered with violations. Man City is basically waging war with FIFA/UEFA over FFP, so it will be fun to see how that plays out.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

Tough one for you today...???.but vital for Raffa and Newcastle. They are probably my third EPL team this year behind Liverpool and Palace because of Raffa. Now next year it looks like Norwich will be up. I spent a few days in Norwich a few years ago. It's maybe my favorite city ANYWHERE. When they come up, they go to second behind Liverpool.

He'll be gone in the summer, presumably.

[Liverpooldawg]

It was also in response to smaller clubs running up a huge debt in attempt to either stay in the Premier League or to try to get promoted to the Premier League, then pay off the debt the next season. When it didn't work the club would then have an impossible amount of debt to pay off and basically put themselves on the verge of bankruptcy. Portsmouth is the most extreme example but teams like QPR and Leeds also went down similar paths.

From the perspective of non-major clubs, FFP looks more like the implementation of a glass ceiling, or like the major clubs are pulling the ladder up behind them and ensuring no one else can get to their level. All of the big clubs can basically spend what they want and do shifty accounting work to make the numbers check out, then if they still get caught, its a slap on the wrist. But if you're in the Serbian second division and you break FFP, be prepared to get hammered. Similar to the jokes about how the if the NCAA catches Alabama committing a recruiting violation then some D3 softball team is about to get hammered with violations. Man City is basically waging war with FIFA/UEFA over FFP, so it will be fun to see how that plays out.

Yes, that too. Leeds were in the Champion's League semis about 15 years ago and were challenging Man U for the title. They almost went under. They DID have to sell their stadium. They now rent what they used to own. It nearly happened to Liverpool. We were about a week away from being liquidated when FSG bought us. The previous owners nearly ruined us, it was almost a Rangers type thing. Rangers are an even more extreme example than Pompey. The current Rangers are technically a completely different club than the one that last won the SPL under that name. They WERE liquidated. The current club is a new one that bought the assets of the former club, including the name and the stadium at what amounted to a bankruptcy sale. They were forced to start out in the Scottish 4th division. Many purists thought they should have been forced to start out non-league and work their way up from there. I think those were all Celtic supporters though! Anyway, Rangers prove that it CAN happen to a big club.

[Liverpooldawg]

He'll be gone in the summer, presumably.

It looks that way. He has worked wonders with what little he has to work with. Newcastle needs new owners. Newcastle is one of the sleeping giants of English football. Newcastle is sort of an "in" town. They have a massive stadium by English standards. They have a wonderful and extremely loyal fan base. They have it all but the right ownership.

[Tbonewannabe]

It was also in response to smaller clubs running up a huge debt in attempt to either stay in the Premier League or to try to get promoted to the Premier League, then pay off the debt the next season. When it didn't work the club would then have an impossible amount of debt to pay off and basically put themselves on the verge of bankruptcy. Portsmouth is the most extreme example but teams like QPR and Leeds also went down similar paths.

From the perspective of non-major clubs, FFP looks more like the implementation of a glass ceiling, or like the major clubs are pulling the ladder up behind them and ensuring no one else can get to their level. All of the big clubs can basically spend what they want and do shifty accounting work to make the numbers check out, then if they still get caught, its a slap on the wrist. But if you're in the Serbian second division and you break FFP, be prepared to get hammered. Similar to the jokes about how the if the NCAA catches Alabama committing a recruiting violation then some D3 softball team is about to get hammered with violations. Man City is basically waging war with FIFA/UEFA over FFP, so it will be fun to see how that plays out.

So would it essentially force a small team like Kansas City Royals to have a smaller payroll of say 70 Mil whereas the Yankees and RedSox have 150Mil to spend? Kansas City wouldn't be allowed to buy players to get to that level of payroll? Trying to put it in terms I understand.

Man City is more financially successful so they can spend more in payroll than someone like Leeds.