I Love Relegation Battles

[ice4277]

I have a feeling Everton will be lucky to get through the qualifying for the CL.

[ISiddiqui]

Yet they beat ManU 2-0 a few weeks back, so what does that say about the Red Devils?

[21C]

Originally Posted by Critch

Not relegation battles, but promotion battles. This is the schedule for Setanta's coverage of the forthcoming English lower division playoffs

Get your mother-loving promotion talk out of this thread.


I do enjoy the battle for a promotion spot but it's just not the same as a grafting arm-wrestle to stay in the top flight. You don't get ( as many ) fans leaving the ground emotionally shattered.

I just checked the tv guide here and we'll be getting the Southampton-Man U game live with the Fulham-Norwich one straight after on tape delay. I'm sure I won't be up to watching the second game ( apart from it starting at 2am here ) since they'll probably keep us updated with the other games' scores as they happen. That's the other thing I love about the last week - all the games get played at the same time. You'll hear groans or cheers from the crowd as news of goals scored at other grounds filters through.

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Yet they beat ManU 2-0 a few weeks back, so what does that say about the Red Devils?

Well, obviously they suck

[condors]

I hope the doomsayers of Manchester United are being a little sarcastic. Anything can happen in the summer but i do think Rio, Heinze, Ronaldo, Rooney, and RVN will all be back they do need some players in the midfield this year and most people will say a keeper (i am partial to Tim Howard though).

Anyways Chelsea and Arsenal aren't finished and Liverpool if Gerrard and Alzono (i like them two guys in the midfield) Morientez settles in they could be very good next year (could they get Diouf a brain? technically he is their player and is a heck of a talent)

Anyways i won't be rooting for Southampton this weekend even though i think highly of Harry Redknapp, he will be fine and if they stick with him they will be back. I think Rupert Lowe is a wennie.

WBA was my pick to stay up before the season started so i will be rooting for them. I wouldn't have a problem with Norwich or Crystal Palace(i was a pseduo fan of there a few seasons ago when Brian McBride played for them on loan)

can't wait for the weekend games!

[Katon]

Certainly United are in better shape than some of the doomsayers would have you believe, but even apart from Glazer there is cause for concern. Their scoring problems (relative to their glory days) and inability to stay in the top two are both long-term trends rather than one-offs. They've finished third three years out of four now, and their goals scored total has dropped substantially (I think, don't have the figures to hand) each of those four years.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by condors

WBA was my pick to stay up before the season started so i will be rooting for them. I wouldn't have a problem with Norwich or Crystal Palace(i was a pseduo fan of there a few seasons ago when Brian McBride played for them on loan)

Yay! WBA need help, though. They gotta win, the team currently avoiding the drop needs to lose, and the two in between can do no better than draw, otherwise it's straight back down to Division 1 for the Baggies.

[RPI-Fan]

Norwich or Crystal Palace(i was a pseduo fan of there a few seasons ago when Brian McBride played for them on loan)

I don't think McBride played for either of these sides ever. However, I still strongly encourage you to root for Palace!

[SirFozzie]

Norwich! Go you Canaries!

[Critch]

I'll be cheering for Southampton because if they stay up it'll involve them beating Man Utd on the last day of the season. With the Glazer news today, a defeat on Sunday could drive them into a frenzy of whinging, moaning, and teeth gnashing.

[21C]

Halftime in most games.

Current scores:

HT	Charlton Athletic	(1)	1	0	(0)	Crystal Palace	[details]
HT	Fulham	(2)	2	0	(0)	Norwich City	[details]

HT

Southampton

(1)

1

1

(1)

Manchester United

[details]

HT

West Bromwich Albion

(0)

0

0

(0)

Portsmouth

[details]

The table as it currently stands - including the live scores above

17	Southampton	38	6	15	17	45	65	-20	33
18	Norwich City	38	7	12	19	42	73	-31	33
19	Crystal Palace	38	7	11	20	39	61	-22	32
20	West Bromwich Albion	38	5	17	16	34	61	-27	32

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Yay! WBA need help, though. They gotta win, the team currently avoiding the drop needs to lose, and the two in between can do no better than draw, otherwise it's straight back down to Division 1 for the Baggies.

That's excatly what's happening at the moment with 30 minutes to go!

[AlexB]

Ok - that didn;t last long: what a surprise, Palace take the lead with an Andy Johnson penalty...

[Crapshoot]

And Palace are tied! West Brom in the lead right now!!!!!

[AlexB]

Charlton equalise against Palace - WBA are back in 17th spot!

(I don't support any of the four, and my personal preference to stay up would be Southampton, then Norwich, followed by WBA and Palace last of all - one thing I can't stand in football is cheating, especially diving and Andy Johnson is one of the worst: so with 10 minutes to go I'm rooting for Charlton as as long as they can get a result against Palace, Johnson's season-long cheating will get it's just rewards - nothing.)

[andy m]

wanted west brom down. boring team and bryan robson is a cock. oh well.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by andy m

wanted west brom down. boring team and bryan robson is a cock. oh well.

boring ? they run their heart out, and he starts with 3 strikers - how many people have the balls to go to Old Trafford with a 3-4-3 ?

[AlexB]

Charlton hold on & WBA stay up!

[andy m]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

boring ? they run their heart out, and he starts with 3 strikers - how many people have the balls to go to Old Trafford with a 3-4-3 ?

3 "strikers". they're all pretty terrible.

i was more referring to them as a club rather than their style of play. west brom just go up and down, up and down, up and down. you could get motion sickness following them. whats the point of a team like that being in the premiership? none.

[21C]

That was an amazing finish to the season. Every one of the four teams spent part of the day in 17th spot. The supporters of each of those teams would have experienced the highs of the day ( well Norwich's until their team ran on to the park ) but WBA finished the day in the Premier League for another season.

FT	Birmingham City	(0)	2	1	(0)	Arsenal	[details]
FT	Bolton Wanderers	(0)	3	2	(1)	Everton	[details]
FT	Charlton Athletic	(1)	2	2	(0)	Crystal Palace	[details]
FT	Fulham	(2)	6	0	(0)	Norwich City	[details]
FT	Liverpool	(2)	2	1	(0)	Aston Villa	[details]
FT	Manchester City	(0)	1	1	(1)	Middlesbrough	[details]
FT	Newcastle United	(1)	1	1	(1)	Chelsea	[details]
FT	Southampton	(1)	1	2	(1)	Manchester United	[details]
FT	Tottenham Hotspur	(0)	0	0	(0)	Blackburn Rovers	[details]
FT	West Bromwich Albion	(0)	2	0	(0)	Portsmouth	[details]

The table as it currently stands

		P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
C	Chelsea	38	29	8	1	72	15	+57	95
2	Arsenal	38	25	8	5	87	36	+51	83
3	Manchester United	38	22	11	5	58	26	+32	77
4	Everton	38	18	7	13	45	46	-1	61
5	Liverpool	38	17	7	14	52	41	+11	58
6	Bolton Wanderers	38	16	10	12	49	44	+5	58
7	Middlesbrough	38	14	13	11	53	46	+7	55
8	Manchester City	38	13	13	12	47	39	+8	52
9	Tottenham Hotspur	38	14	10	14	47	41	+6	52
10	Aston Villa	38	12	11	15	45	52	-7	47
11	Charlton Athletic	38	12	10	16	42	58	-16	46
12	Birmingham City	38	11	12	15	40	46	-6	45
13	Fulham	38	12	8	18	52	60	-8	44
14	Newcastle United	38	10	14	14	47	57	-10	44
15	Blackburn Rovers	38	9	15	14	32	43	-11	42
16	Portsmouth	38	10	9	19	43	59	-16	39
17	West Bromwich Albion	38	6	16	16	36	61	-25	34
18	Crystal Palace	38	7	12	19	41	62	-21	33
19	Norwich City	38	7	12	19	42	77	-35	33
20	Southampton	38	6	14	18	45	66	-21	32

[Ryan S]

I am glad to see Southampton go down, they should have been relegated years ago.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by andy m

3 "strikers". they're all pretty terrible.

i was more referring to them as a club rather than their style of play. west brom just go up and down, up and down, up and down. you could get motion sickness following them. whats the point of a team like that being in the premiership? none.

Basically replacing one boring team, Southampton, with another. I really wanted Norwich to stay up, but it's obvious they don't deserve it if 0-6 is the best effort they can put forward with eveything on the line. Crystal Palace would have been my next choice.

[ISiddiqui]

In the game for the last UEFA cup spot, Fowler missed a penalty for Man City which cost them a win and the UEFA cup spot... I have a feeling that Fowler is the 2nd most unpopular man for Manchester tonight (the first being Glazier, of course ).

[SackAttack]

Baggies! YAY!!

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Basically replacing one boring team, Southampton, with another. I really wanted Norwich to stay up, but it's obvious they don't deserve it if 0-6 is the best effort they can put forward with eveything on the line. Crystal Palace would have been my next choice.

What a heartbreaking day.

Now the battle is keeping AJ, Kiraly, and perhaps even Dowie around to move right back up.

Soooooooooo frustrating that I won't be able to see Palace on TV for at least 500 days or, so, minimum, though.

[finkenst]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

What a heartbreaking day.

Now the battle is keeping AJ, Kiraly, and perhaps even Dowie around to move right back up.

Soooooooooo frustrating that I won't be able to see Palace on TV for at least 500 days or, so, minimum, though.

FA Cup play...

[Sharpieman]

Every team in the bottom four were in the safe zone at one point or another during the day. What a great last day of the season.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

In the game for the last UEFA cup spot, Fowler missed a penalty for Man City which cost them a win and the UEFA cup spot... I have a feeling that Fowler is the 2nd most unpopular man for Manchester tonight (the first being Glazier, of course ).

I had to endure around an hour of ranting from my wife over that (she's a City fan) .....

Robbie Fowler is definitely off her xmas card list this year

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Sharpieman

Every team in the bottom four were in the safe zone at one point or another during the day. What a great last day of the season.

I felt sorry for Norwich, while they didn't deserve to stay up with their final day performance they have played nice football all season and been a good team to watch imho.

Dean Ashton is also a great prospect and deserves to be playing in the Premiership imho.

[Critch]

I watched the Southampton v Man Utd on ppv, Man Utd played a weakened team but still never looked like losing, sad to see Southampton's 27 years in the top division fade away like that. They had no ideas left when Man Utd went ahead. Lawrie McMenemy wouldn't have let them go down without a fight At least they didn't crash and burn like Norwich.

I was hoping WBA would go down, but I've got faith in Bryan Robson to mess them up next season, he'll spend all their cash and get nothing for it if his previous management spells are anything to go by. Happy Crystal Palace went down though, if they'd have stayed up this year it would have been down to Andy Johnson's undoubted skill for falling over in penalty areas.

So now we'll see the vultures swoop in, I guess. Dean Ashton and Huckerby will be linked with teams in the Premier for the next 10 weeks. Kiraly, Johnson, Niemi, Crouch, there'll be rumors of all of them moving to teams that are staying up, or coming up. Nobody should touch Lundekvam though, have your defence based around him and you're going straight down.

Since I've been plugging Setanta on DirecTV over and over, I'll do it again. West Ham v Ipswich in the Championship Promotion Playoffs on Saturday morning was one of the best games I've seen in a while, well worth the monthly Setanta fee. Brentford v Sheff Wed (Division One Playoff, second leg) this afternoon promises to be a good one too.

Sorry for mixing some promotion talk into the relegation thread there...

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

I felt sorry for Norwich, while they didn't deserve to stay up with their final day performance they have played nice football all season and been a good team to watch imho.

Dean Ashton is also a great prospect and deserves to be playing in the Premiership imho.

yeah- good to see Ashton and Earnshaw both make the step up to the Premiership without failing- I'm still shocked that Norwich was the only side to make a move for Ashton, given the 2.5 million price was fairly cheap.

[21C]

I watched the Premier League highlights show where they showed the relegation matches highlights as they developed. Like Southampton's goal as Fulham scored their first against Norwich - and just as Man Utd went up 2-1, WBA took the lead against Portsmouth. They kept showing the fans' delight and anguish as fortunes changed in a few minutes.

Every year they do this has exactly the same effect on me - I start tearing up as I feel for the fans of the relegated teams. My wife cries at every sad thing she watches and it never affects me at all. I even get a chuckle at her as the sad music starts. But put the torment of a "life-and-death" sporting struggle and I turn in to a ( near ) blubbering mess.

[Critch]

My wife was laughing at the pictures of Southampton fans in tears with their heads in their hands, she thought it was pathetic grown men crying cos their team lost.

Just doesn't understand, I guess

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by andy m

3 "strikers". they're all pretty terrible.

i was more referring to them as a club rather than their style of play. west brom just go up and down, up and down, up and down. you could get motion sickness following them. whats the point of a team like that being in the premiership? none.

What have West Brom done to piss you off? Earnshaw is not a bad striker (admittedly Campbell and Horsfield are crap) and they have a few exciting players like Gera and Richardson.

If you haven't noticed it's football with relegation and promotions, and that's the name of the game. What else were Palace or Norwich going to do... get into the top half next year? Why aren't Sunderland and Wigan and whoever else goes up also boring, because they are more than likely going straight back down
Much rather see a team going up and down than Southampton... 27 years in the top flight and the past 15 of them just out of the relegation zone. What did have they ever added to the league recently?

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Critch

My wife was laughing at the pictures of Southampton fans in tears with their heads in their hands, she thought it was pathetic grown men crying cos their team lost.

Just doesn't understand, I guess

Bring it up next time she tears up at a movie.

Maybe it's just me, but I find it more pathetic to cry as a result of what some fictional character is doing .

[fantastic flying froggies]

Originally Posted by Critch

English Football League "Championship" Promotion Playoffs
---------------------------------------------------------

Preston North End vs Derby County

Can anyboby tell me how Preston NE did?

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by fantastic flying froggies

Can anyboby tell me how Preston NE did?

They beat the Sheepshaggers 2-0 at Deepdale: return leg to come.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Bring it up next time she tears up at a movie.

Or an Oprah show

[fantastic flying froggies]

Originally Posted by Jari Rantanen's Shorts

They beat the Sheepshaggers 2-0 at Deepdale: return leg to come.

Thanks. Is the return next week-end?

[AlexB]

Thursday 19th 7.45pm UK time: (away goals don't count extra, in case you didn't realise this - I was unaware until this season)

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by Jari Rantanen's Shorts

They beat the Sheepshaggers 2-0 at Deepdale: return leg to come.

Clarification requested on what a "Sheepshagger" is.

[ZXTT]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Clarification requested on what a "Sheepshagger" is.

I take it you haven't seen the Austin Powers movies...

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Clarification requested on what a "Sheepshagger" is.

In this usage, it refers to the hated Derby County, or their fans (due to their emblem and nickname of 'The Rams')

There is a triumverate of hate in the East Midlands between Leicester, Derby & Forest: our chants are simple -

'Sheep, sheep, sheepshaggers' against Derby, or the equally lyrically deep

'We hate Forest We hate Forest, We hate Forest We hate Forest, We hate Forest We hate Forest, We are Forest haters!' (brings a tear to the eye... sniff!)

Like most trios, we all have our solo projects outside the main group dynamic:

Forest have a big local rivalry with Notts County obviously, and Sheffield Utd I think
Derby despise Leeds (probably trying to outdo each other in the dirty scab status I would imagine)
We loath Coventry, Wolves, and Villa: they're the main ones, there's loads more on a secondary level - I forget who it was but they summed up Leicester as having a reason to hate more clubs than any other he knew!

For example Blackburn and Swindon are more recent additions to the traditionally hated clubs due to a striker of each taking a voluntary tumble in the (same) Wembley penalty box in the early 90's to claim an undeserved play-off victory and deny us a place in the Premier League

(The Swindon game is the only game at which I have cried: we went 3-0 down and were being mullered, only to score three goals in about 15 minutes in the second half to get back to 3-3 before some nobody called Steve White threw himself to the floor and Roger Milford gave a ridiculous penalty in his last game (at which he had stated that he hoped to make an impact) which gave them the victory. Surely one of the greatest games ever at Wembley, and even know when I see a video of Stevie Thompson scoring the equalising goal it sends a shiver down my spine... The memory of that goal is my all-time favourite football moment, greater than the goals in the two cups we won, or the winners in the two play-off finals we did win, even the one against the Sheepshapggers, which brings us full circle!)

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Clarification requested on what a "Sheepshagger" is.

Or for the short answer it's someone who fucks sheep...

[RPI-Fan]

Good to see Eddie Lewis might get a run in the Prem next year. He really is a good footballer - basically the only American who plays an English-style game at a high level.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Clarification requested on what a "Sheepshagger" is.

Sheepshaggers are people who love their pet Sheep just a little too much ...

(leaves full explanation to imagination ..)

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by ZXTT

I take it you haven't seen the Austin Powers movies...

I had, but I didn't know that it was a joke nickname for the team. I thought that was their real name.

[ISiddiqui]

I'd seriously question a team that had that as their official nickname .

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

I'd seriously question a team that had that as their official nickname .

Well I figured maybe it meant something like Sheep Catchers.

[AlexB]

Just to add to the 'Sheepshagger' description, just been sent this joke by a fellow City fan!




A Leicester van driver used to amuse himself by running over every Derby fan he would see strutting down the side of the road in their ubiquitous black and white colours. He would swerve to hit them, there would be a loud "THUD" and then he would swerve back on the road.
One day, as the driver was driving along, he saw a priest hitchhiking. He thought he would do a good turn and pulled the van over. He asked the Priest "Where are you going, Father?"
"I'm going to say mass at St. Joseph's church, about 2 miles down the road" replied the priest.
"No problem Father! I'll give you a lift! climb in!"
The happy priest climbed into the passenger seat and the van continued down the road.
Suddenly the driver saw a Sheepshagger walking down the road and instinctively swerved to hit him. But, just in time, he remembered the priest, so at the last minute he swerved back to the road, narrowly missing the bastard.
However even though he was certain he missed the glory-hunting shite, he still heard a loud "THUD". Not understanding where the noise came from, he glanced in his mirrors and when he didn't see anything he turned to the priest and said "I'm sorry Father, I almost hit that Derby fan,"
"That's okay" replied the priest. "I got the fucker with the door"