Non-Saints Games - 24/25

[Turkish]

12 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Under BBC Klopp fawning headline of "no one expected this"

"If you had asked Liverpool fans back in August would their team win the Premier League, most would have said no," says former Reds goalkeeper Sander Westerveld.

Jurgen Klopp was always going to be the hardest of acts to follow as manager.

Turns out it was pretty easy. A bloke who’d never managed outside of the Netherlands did it

tou can also make the case that with and aging Salah and Van Dijk, along with the uncertainty of those two and “Trent” along with being handed a bit of dud in Nunez this was one of the weakest Liverpool squads since Klopp arrived. He certainly got the first two back to their best 

Edited Sunday at 22:07 by Turkish

[Sarnia Cherie]

9 hours ago, Turkish said:

Turns out it was pretty easy. A bloke who’d never managed outside of the Netherlands did it

tou can also make the case that with and aging Salah and Van Dijk, along with the uncertainty of those two and “Trent” along with being handed a bit of dud in Nunez this was one of the weakest Liverpool squads since Klopp arrived. He certainly got the first two back to their best 

Liverpool had a charmed season. No major injuries and the remainder of the Big Six, City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs and United have all had an average to awful season. 

[Saint_clark]

9 hours ago, Turkish said:

Turns out it was pretty easy. A bloke who’d never managed outside of the Netherlands did it

tou can also make the case that with and aging Salah and Van Dijk, along with the uncertainty of those two and “Trent” along with being handed a bit of dud in Nunez this was one of the weakest Liverpool squads since Klopp arrived. He certainly got the first two back to their best 

Scouser I work with is so easy to wind up by telling him that this season has proved Klopp was holding them back. 

[East Kent Saint]

City were pretty boring in their semifinal all tippy tappy , even Grealish has been coached out of any self expression . Got a couple of dives in though 😄

Forrest were more entertaining although they had Saints disease of failing to score any chances . Not expecting a great cup final really unless Palace repeat their semi performance but we know semi finals often are the best matches.

[S-Clarke]

Winning the league is a good achievement and all, but it needs to be put into perspective in relation to the standard of the league.

It's similar to when Leicester won it, which was amazing, but the only reason they won it was because all the top clubs that year were new levels of horrific, we even finished a point off of Champions league football! This season is incredibly similar in terms of how the top sides have underperformed, probably even more so.

There has simply not been a title race, one of the worst PL seasons for quality in my lifetime tbh.

Edited Monday at 19:20 by S-Clarke

[Turkish]

12 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Winning the league is a good achievement and all, but it needs to be put into perspective in relation to the standard of the league.

It's similar to when Leicester won it, which was amazing, but the only reason they won it was because all the top clubs that year were new levels of horrific, we even finished a point off of Champions league football! This season is incredibly similar in terms of how the top sides have underperformed, probably even more so.

There has simply not been a title race, one of the worst PL seasons for quality in my lifetime tbh.

and we finished bottom of it by some distance 😢

[trousers]

43 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

It's similar to when Leicester won it, which was amazing, but the only reason they won it was because all the top clubs that year were new levels of horrific, we even finished a point off of Champions league football!

// MLG MODE

3 points

Edited Monday at 20:03 by trousers

[Lighthouse]

If the Blades don’t win the playoffs, and I can’t see it not being them, then whoever does is going to get an absolute walloping next season. As bad as this season’s promoted teams have been, we (and Leeds) were in a sub-league above the likes of WBA and Norwich last year.

[East Kent Saint]

6 hours ago, trousers said:

// MLG MODE

3 points

Scored 59 goals as well , those were the days ........

[LiberalCommunist]

Superb times. And they can't take that away, so lets be thankful. 

(surprised VAR doesn't wan to go back a re-ref it!)

[Football Special]

10 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

If the Blades don’t win the playoffs, and I can’t see it not being them, then whoever does is going to get an absolute walloping next season. As bad as this season’s promoted teams have been, we (and Leeds) were in a sub-league above the likes of WBA and Norwich last year.

I think other teams would approach it much more pragmatically than we did, Luton would be a better example, still go down but gain more points than us. 

[Football Special]

14 hours ago, East Kent Saint said:

City were pretty boring in their semifinal all tippy tappy , even Grealish has been coached out of any self expression . Got a couple of dives in though 😄

Forrest were more entertaining although they had Saints disease of failing to score any chances . Not expecting a great cup final really unless Palace repeat their semi performance but we know semi finals often are the best matches.

I thought Palace were excellent on Saturday and think they set up the right way to give Man City a good game, have lost interest in the Cup final last few years but think I'll make the effort to watch this one 

[BarberSaint]

14 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

If the Blades don’t win the playoffs, and I can’t see it not being them, then whoever does is going to get an absolute walloping next season. As bad as this season’s promoted teams have been, we (and Leeds) were in a sub-league above the likes of WBA and Norwich last year.

 

We want them to go up to reduce the competition. The circus will be strong as will the Brummies. Ipswich will be best-placed to go straight up and Leicester may be if they aren't hit financially/with a points deduction or transfer embargo. 

We should easily make the play-offs. Most of the teams left behind look poor now.

[skintsaint]

1 hour ago, BarberSaint said:

The circus will be strong

Cant see it, they are not exceeding Pompey's or Derby's points total from last season and look how they have fared coming up. Birmingham will be in the top 10 for sure as their owners are spending big. Wrexhams are not (so far) comparatively. Can see Vardy ending up at Wrexham as their big signing but his legs are gone.

[east-stand-nic]

If Bristol city or Millwall somehow go up.... either one of them would have a season as bad as ours. The gap is getting bigger. All it takes is one really poor team to fluke the play offs and our 11 points will seem good. 

Edited yesterday at 12:55 by east-stand-nic
Spelling

[East Kent Saint]

7 hours ago, Football Special said:

I thought Palace were excellent on Saturday and think they set up the right way to give Man City a good game, have lost interest in the Cup final last few years but think I'll make the effort to watch this one 

It would be good to see Palace do well in the final , unfortuately finals don't always live up to the hype.

I really enjoyed it when Wembely was closed for reconstruction and England played around the country . Time for the semi finals of the FA Cup to have separate venues again with just the final at Wembely ( shit place) ie the area around the ground that is .

[Football Special]

24 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

It would be good to see Palace do well in the final , unfortuately finals don't always live up to the hype.

I really enjoyed it when Wembely was closed for reconstruction and England played around the country . Time for the semi finals of the FA Cup to have separate venues again with just the final at Wembely ( shit place) ie the area around the ground that is .

Completely agree, greed has ruined it, FA don't want the cost of paying to use someone else's ground, plus the Club Wembley corporate memberships include all England games, league cup final, fa cup semi finals and final, they don't want to dilute that income. 

Palace v Villa should have been at Emirates or Tottenham, Man City v Forest perhaps Elland Road or Hillsborough 

[Football Special]

3 hours ago, skintsaint said:

Cant see it, they are not exceeding Pompey's or Derby's points total from last season and look how they have fared coming up. Birmingham will be in the top 10 for sure as their owners are spending big. Wrexhams are not (so far) comparatively. Can see Vardy ending up at Wrexham as their big signing but his legs are gone.

I think Wrexham will go for it, have a shot of giving Disney the Premier League fairytale and their sponsorship deals dwarf those of others in Championship,  in fact if it wasn't for parachute payments their income would probably rival ours. They'll make a fortune playing out in U.S pre season again and have big international deals. 

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, Football Special said:

Completely agree, greed has ruined it, FA don't want the cost of paying to use someone else's ground, plus the Club Wembley corporate memberships include all England games, league cup final, fa cup semi finals and final, they don't want to dilute that income. 

Palace v Villa should have been at Emirates or Tottenham, Man City v Forest perhaps Elland Road or Hillsborough 

It’s not FA greed. They need the money to pay for its construction.

[Football Special]

46 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

It’s not FA greed. They need the money to pay for its construction.

It is greed. There's plenty of other events at Wembley throughout the year 

[Whitey Grandad]

39 minutes ago, Football Special said:

It is greed. There's plenty of other events at Wembley throughout the year 

Not enough. Although the original debt has recently been paid off.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c9w8xzvxz1lo

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

What's all this 'North London Forever' stuff before Arsenal games these days?

Is it new? Sure I'd never particularly heard it until a few months ago, and now commentators seem to have a little spunk every time it's sung. It's like a shit(ter) YNWA knock-off.

[dsrdorset]

3 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

It’s not FA greed. They need the money to pay for its construction.

It's all been paid for now

[dsrdorset]

2 hours ago, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

What's all this 'North London Forever' stuff before Arsenal games these days?

Is it new? Sure I'd never particularly heard it until a few months ago, and now commentators seem to have a little spunk every time it's sung. It's like a shit(ter) YNWA knock-off.

Yeah I was thinking the same. This was never a thing before. Absolutely embarrassing!!

[CB Fry]

6 hours ago, Football Special said:

Completely agree, greed has ruined it, FA don't want the cost of paying to use someone else's ground, plus the Club Wembley corporate memberships include all England games, league cup final, fa cup semi finals and final, they don't want to dilute that income. 

Palace v Villa should have been at Emirates or Tottenham, Man City v Forest perhaps Elland Road or Hillsborough 

It's not 1986 anymore.

Hillsborough is an absolute toilet and will never host anything resembling a FA Cup semi final ever again.

[Gloucester Saint]

6 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

It's not 1986 anymore.

Hillsborough is an absolute toilet and will never host anything resembling a FA Cup semi final ever again.

Having been there to watch Saints, it’s still got the bones of a major stadium, tunnel for the coaches under the main stand etc. North Stand a stunner of it’s era.

But the away end is monsterously dated, dangerous and basic, even without its chequered history, pure 1970s with asbestos roof, Kop has pillars in it and the blocked off corners. It would need £100m spending minimum to renovate it to that standard for SFs/Euro matches. In the 1990s, it and Villa Park were peers and the latter could still host a cup semi once the old North Stand is replaced and capacity up to 50k. That’s what 20 years plus in the second and third tier wilderness does. 

Edited yesterday at 21:53 by Gloucester Saint

[Badger]

Even if you take Hillsborough out of the equation there are still sufficient grounds capable of hosting FA Cup semifinals.
 

Initial thoughts on options: Emirates and Spurs in London (plus West Ham perhaps), Old Trafford, Etihad, Everton as of next season, Stadium of Light (but might question the location), and Millenium Stadium. 

[Saint Neil]

3 hours ago, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

What's all this 'North London Forever' stuff before Arsenal games these days?

Is it new? Sure I'd never particularly heard it until a few months ago, and now commentators seem to have a little spunk every time it's sung. It's like a shit(ter) YNWA knock-off.

The guy who wrote it is the son of one of them out of Birds of a Feather.

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

7 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Villa Park were peers and the latter could still host a cup semi once the old North Stand is replaced and capacity up to 50k. That’s what 20 years plus in the second and third tier wilderness does. 

I'm going a bit MLG on you here but they're only expanding the upper tier. It will be wider and deeper with new seating on each side and at the front as they're also doing away with the double-decker corp boxes - and adding a new roof.

But to show how the gap is widening between the top dozen or so clubs in England and the rest of us, even once Villa Park increases to 50K there will still be 8 larger stadiums in the PL, 10 once Chelsea and Leeds expand.

You could fit 8 Dean Courts inside Man U's proposed new stadium.

Edited 17 hours ago by TheAlehouseBrawlers

[Give it to Ron]

11 hours ago, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

What's all this 'North London Forever' stuff before Arsenal games these days?

Is it new? Sure I'd never particularly heard it until a few months ago, and now commentators seem to have a little spunk every time it's sung. It's like a shit(ter) YNWA knock-off.

It’s a song by Louis Dunford called The Angel an Arsenal fan. Some decent lyrics in some of his songs like When we were hooligans

[Gloucester Saint]

2 hours ago, TheAlehouseBrawlers said:

I'm going a bit MLG on you here but they're only expanding the upper tier. It will be wider and deeper with new seating on each side and at the front as they're also doing away with the double-decker corp boxes - and adding a new roof.

But to show how the gap is widening between the top dozen or so clubs in England and the rest of us, even once Villa Park increases to 50K there will still be 8 larger stadiums in the PL, 10 once Chelsea and Leeds expand.

You could fit 8 Dean Courts inside Man U's proposed new stadium.

It does look a bit lopsided with the existing smaller lower tier and widened and higher upper, but still a big improvement on what is there now having been in that stand when the lower tier housed away fans https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2025/april/24/aston-villa-announce-redevelopment-of-the-iconic-north-stand/

Leeds have plans for a second tier on the Revie End but I suspect that’s subject to survival next season and a prolonged PL stay.

Hillsborough by comparison has had virtually nothing spent on it since the main stand renovation for Euro 96. In the 1970s it was miles better than most Division One grounds despite Sheff Weds languishing in the second and third divisions. The Leppings Lane was a problem by the 1980s but poor policing played its part too as other SF venues eg White Hart Lane, Highbury, had ends that were dangerous.

[Gloucester Saint]

9 hours ago, Badger said:

Even if you take Hillsborough out of the equation there are still sufficient grounds capable of hosting FA Cup semifinals.
 

Initial thoughts on options: Emirates and Spurs in London (plus West Ham perhaps), Old Trafford, Etihad, Everton as of next season, Stadium of Light (but might question the location), and Millenium Stadium. 

St James Park for all-northern games even pre-renovation let alone post. Villa once North Stand expanded/renovated, Brum’s new stadium if they build it. 

[ant]

On 29/04/2025 at 13:26, skintsaint said:

Can see Vardy ending up at Wrexham as their big signing but his legs are gone.

That's as maybe - and I fully agree he's at the end of his career. Even then, this season he's scored more PL goals than Onuachu and Archer combined. 😬

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, ant said:

That's as maybe - and I fully agree he's at the end of his career. Even then, this season he's scored more PL goals than Onuachu and Archer combined. 😬

Mind you, Jeffrey Archer would’ve been more of a threat to defences than Cameron’s been.