Paul Merson Still Not Convinced

I watched Southampton last week and I was disappointed. Everybody is telling me how great they are. I hadn’t seen them play before and I watched the Villa game and they didn’t look like a second-placed team to me. I said on Soccer Saturday they will finish seventh or eighth and I’m not going to change my mind from Monday’s performance. I didn’t think their attitude was great and I think they thought they just had to turn up and that wasn’t the case.

I think they’ll be better against City, but how do you stop Aguero? I don’t see how you can stop him; he’s up there with the best in world. City are a great team to watch at the moment because if it goes to form, and Chelsea beat Sunderland, they have to win - draws are no good. We know they’re going to finish in the top four but they’ve got to go out every week and try to win.

PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1

Not really surprising is it. Everyone telling him how great we are but Paul, that was just code for "you're a ****ing cock"

"I hadn't seen them play before the villa game"

You are supposed to be a fecking pundit, how are you supposed to be credible if, eleven games in, you haven't watched the team in second place

What a cockend

I concur with most of what he says there. Lots of people on here getting way ahead of themselves.

PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1

Well given it's a home game, that means he's predicting us a win. Thanks Paul!

Based on one game he is right. Last Monday's game was poor. Hopefully that was an aberration and we will revert to our previous excellent form.

How can he not have seen us play at all, given his actual job???

Who cares? Why are people getting themselves at it about what an illiterate junkie alcoholic thinks?

Who cares? Why are people getting themselves at it about what an illiterate junkie alcoholic thinks?

**** them all

How can he not have seen us play at all, given his actual job???

His shtick is to be as ignorant and partial as the average fan. Unfortunately for Merse, Gary Neville has somewhat raised the bar when it comes to football punditry, and viewers are becoming less tolerant of asinine comments and general stupidity. Yo days is numbered, Merse! Shape up or ship out!

He's just a thick Skate bastard.

I don't like the bloke but to be fair he is right about the Villa game.

We played like we expected an easy game and nearly came a cropper.

But the one big mistake he is making is forming his opinion on the only game he has seen us play. If he was doing his

job properly he should spread his game viewing over all the prem teams rather than just watching wall to wall Arsenal.

Imo the Villa game is the worst we've played all season but mug Merson assumes that is how we have played all season so far.

Does this joker actually think we've got to 2nd place playing like that? If so, he shows either incredible bias or complete stupidity!

He is right.

We didn't look like a second place team in that game.

We aren't the quality of a team who will finish second.

We will likely finish 7th.

He is right.

 

We didn't look like a second place team in that game.

 

We aren't the quality of a team who will finish second.

 

We will likely finish 7th.

I'm stating the bloomin obvious here, but you could take any one Man City game where they didn't perform well and say the same. Which is why a league isn't decided on the back of one performance.

I can't believe that was the first time Merson had watched Southampton this season. Does the guy even like football?! What an embarrassing thing to admit.

I don't think we were that bad against Villa, we weren't at our best, yet we were still far better than Villa who only scored thanks to a cock up by our keeper. Other than Chelsea which other teams have played like a top two team. Man city hardly looked quality struggling against QPR or losing to Stoke did they?

Does this joker actually think we've got to 2nd place playing like that? If so, he shows either incredible bias or complete stupidity!

Had it been Arsenal playing villa, he would have wrote the following, They should have won the game easily with that sort of domination, they just struggled a little bit in the final third, but as we have all seen before if you play badly and can still get a result then that says a lot about the team, and history shows us that they will probably go on and win the premiership.

Had it been Arsenal playing villa, he would have wrote the following, They should have won the game easily with that sort of domination, they just struggled a little bit in the final third, but as we have all seen before if you play badly and can still get a result then that says a lot about the team, and history shows us that they will probably go on and win the premiership.

I doubt it, he's a bit of a legend to villa fans.

Lets see how we get on through this little period before Xmas shall we ? That'll show us roughly what shape we are in for a top 4 challenge

Those complaining that he said he hasn't seen Saints play should remember that at 3.00pm Saturday he is usually watching other games. Should all pundits watch every single premier league game. This was one of our first televised games this season so it's not surprising this is that was the first time he'd seen us.

Well he's definitely seen us play as he done our game against Swansea on Soccer Saturday when he moaned about Wanyama's celebration.

Those complaining that he said he hasn't seen Saints play should remember that at 3.00pm Saturday he is usually watching other games. Should all pundits watch every single premier league game. This was one of our first televised games this season so it's not surprising this is that was the first time he'd seen us.

Hmm i dunno bout you, but if I was sky tv pundit I would prob watch most games. I would prob get recordings from Sky TV and watch them at home. It wouldn't be all gravy, watching Stoke vs Burnley or whatever, especially when I already know the result, but I would do it. I would call it 'working'.

Hmm i dunno bout you, but if I was sky tv pundit I would prob watch most games. I would prob get recordings from Sky TV and watch them at home. It wouldn't be all gravy, watching Stoke vs Burnley or whatever, especially when I already know the result, but I would do it. I would call it 'working'.

Not sure that would help him get into character, Bear. The "Paul Merson" we all adore is built on the relentless attention to detail to achieve that bloke-in-the-pub know - nothing persona.

I'd say it takes a heck of effort to avoid that much information when so much is out there in today's multimedia world. If anything the man should be applauded.

The guy cannot even pronounce half the premier league footballers names correctly and thats if he even recognises them.

He can't even remember that he has actually covered the saints game against Swansea as Saints Foreva mentioned.

Regardless whether he is anti saints or pro saints or if he is an ex skate, Merson should do his homework if he is a football pundit and have some knowledge

of his subject matter.

City, Arsenal, Utd.....We should find out how good you are within the next week or so. It is nice to have a new face near the top. As a neutral I'm looking forward to these games as they are all being televised i believe.

Hi Bloo,

Good away win today. Coming staight back up?

True.

City, Arsenal, Utd.....We should find out how good you are within the next week or so. It is nice to have a new face near the top. As a neutral I'm looking forward to these games as they are all being televised i believe.

Hi Bloo,

Good away win today. Coming staight back up?

I can't see it to be honest but we're just below the play off places now so who knows. We've got a solid, hard working team but I haven't seen enough to be overly optimistic about promotion. Always live in hope though;)

Well we're odds-on with the bookies to finish in the top 6, so if you really do think its actually likely we'll miss out on that then get your money on.

Trouble is that I think Merson will probably end up being right, football is becoming more and more stratified and I think within the next decade fans of the smaller clubs will begin to really grow restless on a fairly large scale, although whether or not that'll result in some kind of a more restrictive financial fair play system I have no idea.

I have a very large bet on with a friend of mine, placed at the start of last season, that at least 8 of the next 10 Premier League titles will be won by either Chelsea or Manchester City. Its fair to say that our bet is now 6 of the next 8 after this seasons over.

Well we're odds-on with the bookies to finish in the top 6, so if you really do think its actually likely we'll miss out on that then get your money on.

 

Trouble is that I think Merson will probably end up being right, football is becoming more and more stratified and I think within the next decade fans of the smaller clubs will begin to really grow restless on a fairly large scale, although whether or not that'll result in some kind of a more restrictive financial fair play system I have no idea.

 

I have a very large bet on with a friend of mine, placed at the start of last season, that at least 8 of the next 10 Premier League titles will be won by either Chelsea or Manchester City. Its fair to say that our bet is now 6 of the next 8 after this seasons over.

good stuff

bit like the 80s when livepool won it 8 times.

I wonder if he thinks Chelsea can possibly win the title after their draw at Swansea?

I wonder if he thinks Chelsea can possibly win the title after their draw at Swansea?

Sunderland. But yes commented we didn't play well and drew but said when Chelsea don't play well they win. Logically should finish with maximum points. He is a moron.

And was highlighting Schneiderlin's passing but was just saying look at that but most passes were accurate.

Does any one care what Merson thinks??..........sorry he has to have a brain to think..........

Hmm i dunno bout you, but if I was sky tv pundit I would prob watch most games. I would prob get recordings from Sky TV and watch them at home. It wouldn't be all gravy, watching Stoke vs Burnley or whatever, especially when I already know the result, but I would do it. I would call it 'working'.

If Sky wanted him to watch all the premier league games they could easily put it in his contract. I doubt hardly any, if any at all, ex pro football pundits watch all the games. It's not in their contract and they don't get paid to. From listening to a range of them, I can't think of any that sound like they watch every game rather than just the ones they are payed to watch and those on TV. Most pundits are hired for their personality rather than their knowledge and personality amongst ex-pros, especially in front of a camera, is very rare. On a show like Soccer Saturday which goes on for hours, the ability to talk twaddle at least semi entertainingly and have an opinion on everything, no matter how ill informed, is much more important than being able to say someone's name right. It's what has made the show a success and Merson's 'moron' schtick has been a part of it.

And until every pundit is entertaining and informed/watches every game, there will always be a place for him. I can't see that happening soon so it's probably not worth getting your knickers in a twist.

there's always the 'rise above it, his opinion is not important' approach but don't think many are posting in order to get justice. Commenting on pundits and journalist's articles is the lifeblood of this place.

Agree they know what they are doing and he can be entertaining on the panel when he spouts his nonsense.

there's always the 'rise above it, his opinion is not important' approach but don't think many are posting in order to get justice. Commenting on pundits and journalist's articles is the lifeblood of this place.

Agree they know what they are doing and he can be entertaining on the panel when he spouts his nonsense.

My comments were not so much aimed at the people who are angry at his comments, although it is rather pointless. It's the same as reading Heat magazine and *****ing about them. However that is the way of the world.

My comments were more aimed at those who were moaning about him not doing his job properly by not watching premier league matches. Just by getting a thread on here moaning about him as a pundit, show he is doing exactly what a pundit should be doing. He's got peopled reading/listening to his comments and talking about them whether they agree or not.

Surprised no one has commented on this, seems like Merson actually thought we'd do better than we did.

Games against Man City, Spurs and Liverpool showed us were we're really at...sadly a step back from last season

Games against Man City, Spurs and Liverpool showed us were we're really at...sadly a step back from last season

I blame the kit, how about you?

Games against Man City, Spurs and Liverpool showed us were we're really at...sadly a step back from last season

We were competitive against Liverpool and spurs and could have easily won those games on another day. City showed us what the next level was - when they play well they will beat most teams.

If you think we have taken a step back, then you are a clown / skate / wum.

Games against Man City, Spurs and Liverpool showed us were we're really at...sadly a step back from last season

We are 3rd. Had you not noticed? Why are you only on here when we don't get a result? Moan all summer and when we lose but no comment when things go well. Skate?

We are 3rd. Had you not noticed? Why are you only on here when we don't get a result? Moan all summer and when we lose but no comment when things go well. Skate?

He is talking b01110cks, but worth noting that we were (still) 2nd this time last year.

May have heard wrong but did merson just say on ssn that Arsenal would finish 20 points ahead of Saints. Surely not. know they will probably overhaul us but 20 points.

May have heard wrong but did merson just say on ssn that Arsenal would finish 20 points ahead of Saints. Surely not. know they will probably overhaul us but 20 points.

He most certainly did, then modified his statement to say Arsenal would finish between 15 and 20 points clear of Southampton. MLT didn't seem to impressed!

He most certainly did, then modified his statement to say Arsenal would finish between 15 and 20 points clear of Southampton. MLT didn't seem to impressed!

He then backtracked on his revised "15-20 points ahead" saying that that was too much. Finally got some realism at the 3rd attempt! MLT, on the other hand, wisely kept his mouth closed!

He's a bit of a fool, but I imagine that he might be closer than most give him credit for.

He is talking b01110cks, but worth noting that we were (still) 2nd this time last year.

Worth noting The9 that you are making stuff up!

This time last year, 1 December, after 13 games, we were not 2nd. We were 7th.

Do you still think last year is a good model for this? Do you reckon we will drop one position again, and so finish 4th?

Last year after 13 were 7th with 22.

This year after 13 are 3rd with 26.

After tonight, when everyone has played 14 the worst we could be is still 3rd on 26

Being a sad statto, I do find it interesting when people say our squad isn't as strong as others, therefore we do worse from now on, to look at how teams did in latter part of the season last year.

I don't think anyone would argue that we dropped off, or that Liverpool went on an impressive run late on, or that Man U, spurs, Everton used their squads to finish stronger.

There are 24 games left. If these more established squads use their strength as they did last year, and we drop off as we did, this is how the table will finish;

(3 options for teams still to play 14th game)

Chelsea 85/86/88

Man C 85/86/88

Man U 67

Liverpool 77

Arsenal 65/66/68

Spurs 65/66/68

Everton 62/63/65

Saints 60/61/63

West Ham 51

Swansea 46

Newcastle 46

Clearly a lot changes, but personally found the comparisons with Liverpool, spurs, Everton and arsenal interesting.

Liverpool had an amazing run in, don't look anywhere near the side that they were, but even that form would only see them with 77 points - find it hard to see them reaching 70.

Spurs, Everton and Arsenal finished well (45 from last 24) and the sort of strength we are meant to be short of. But again, if they match this (despite all looking weaker this year) they will be in mid 60s.

So a 6 point improvement on last years final ⅔ of the season could keep us in the battle for 4th/5th/6th.

If we pick up points in the hard games ahead we should do well. If we lose them all, it will be about confidence, but 65+ points should still be achievable.

Just hope Spurs, Liverpool, Everton and Arsenal drop points, do worse than last season, and so struggle to reach 60!

Does anyone else imagine NickG lives in a room full of pie charts ?

That's okay, Paul, I'm not convinced about your beard.