Administrator Stan Posted December 24, 2018 Administrator Share Posted December 24, 2018 Nearly halfway through the season, there's a plethora of teams battling it out to grab the title of 'best of the rest'. For Sky it's mainly all about the top 6 but they sometimes forget there's 14 other teams that play in the Premier League too. Of those 14, currently Watford sit on 27 points in 7th and Brighton sit on 21 points in 13th. Funnily enough, nearly all of these sides have had a good chance to break in to the elusive echelons of the top 6 but no one has ever found any consistency to do it. Bournemouth ironically have had their best ever start to the season despite being in very poor form recently. Many others can't string more than 2 or 3 wins to capitalise or take advantage on other teams that lose around them. They say anyone can beat anyone in this league. So far... Leicester beat Watford. Watford beat West Ham. West Ham beat Everton. Everton beat Brighton. Brighton best Wolves. Wolves beat Bournemouth. Bournemouth beat Leicester... So who's it gonna be? It could even be Utd but that looks unlikely with Solskjaer in charge now so won't include them specifically in the poll. It may even be Crystal Palace who could find a good run of form and challenge the other sides too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Artful Dodger Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Everton have a run of 5-6 games now were they should be looking to win each game, obviously unlikely they'll win them all but 4-5 victories and I think they'll be back sitting in pole position for 7th but if they struggle I think one of Wolves or Leicester will take it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted December 24, 2018 Subscriber Share Posted December 24, 2018 It was a toss-up for me between Wolves or West Ham but I will go with the hammers, they have a good manager in Pellegrini who was doing well at City until they decided to give him the boot so I think he will have a point to prove and get the hammers into Europe and the EUROPA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 7th? Why not 8th or 9th? Anyway...I'll go for Everton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted December 24, 2018 Subscriber Share Posted December 24, 2018 2 minutes ago, SirBalon said: Why not 8th or 9th? That won't get you into the EUROPA, finishing 5th, 6th or 7th will? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 1 minute ago, CaaC - John said: That won't get you into the EUROPA, finishing 5th, 6th or 7th will? I think that women are right for criticising men for being rather odd to be honest. So we're talking about qualifying for a competition that most spend half the time complaining or even joking about for an abundance of reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan Posted December 24, 2018 Author Administrator Share Posted December 24, 2018 1 minute ago, SirBalon said: I think that women are right for criticising men for being rather odd to be honest. So we're talking about qualifying for a competition that most spend half the time complaining or even joking about for an abundance of reasons. The sides that are regularly in the Champions League don't like it so I can appreciate your disdain for it. Other clubs may also not like it but perhaps tolerate it. It can be a hindrance but after tasting CL couple seasons ago I wouldn't mind playing in Europe again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan Posted December 24, 2018 Author Administrator Share Posted December 24, 2018 Also, you missed my point about being the best of the rest. It's not even entirely about Europe. Just the highest anyone can be outside the top 6th... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 4 minutes ago, Stan said: The sides that are regularly in the Champions League don't like it so I can appreciate your disdain for it. Other clubs may also not like it but perhaps tolerate it. It can be a hindrance but after tasting CL couple seasons ago I wouldn't mind playing in Europe again. I don't have disdain for the Europa League at all... I've always said its a wonderful competition and that it is a European trophy in all its rights. It's football fans here that constantly criticise it from having to play on Thursdays to just basically saying its a Mickey Mouse competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 4 minutes ago, Stan said: Also, you missed my point about being the best of the rest. It's not even entirely about Europe. Just the highest anyone can be outside the top 6th... I was just being facetious mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted December 24, 2018 Subscriber Share Posted December 24, 2018 15 minutes ago, SirBalon said: I don't have disdain for the Europa League at all... I've always said its a wonderful competition and that it is a European trophy in all its rights. It's football fans here that constantly criticise it from having to play on Thursdays to just basically saying its a Mickey Mouse competition. I loved it when United won the EUROPA but I don't like Thursday night football the same as Friday night or Sunday afternoon/evening or mid-week evening football matches, I remember the good old days when it was a Saturday afternoon 3 pm kick-off but I guess tv (Sky etc) rule the roost nowadays and we all have to go with the times, god, I am getting old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honey Honey Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 I went other. Man Utd. It's hard to call as they are all so inconsistent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 1 hour ago, CaaC - John said: I loved it when United won the EUROPA but I don't like Thursday night football the same as Friday night or Sunday afternoon/evening or mid-week evening football matches, I remember the good old days when it was a Saturday afternoon 3 pm kick-off but I guess tv (Sky etc) rule the roost nowadays and we all have to go with the times, god, I am getting old. You’re just anti-Thursays by the looks of things mate... You like every other day of the week. Since we’re into leaving things, maybe THURSXIT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted December 24, 2018 Subscriber Share Posted December 24, 2018 1 minute ago, SirBalon said: You’re just anti-Thursays by the looks of things mate... You like every other day of the week. Since we’re into leaving things, maybe THURSXIT? Na, just old-fashioned buddy, I guess old age is creeping up on me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 18 minutes ago, CaaC - John said: Na, just old-fashioned buddy, I guess old age is creeping up on me Apparently it’s old people why we’re in the mess we’re in mate! Only joking... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted December 24, 2018 Subscriber Share Posted December 24, 2018 Wolves. But having said that I think it will be 6 - 10th that battle it out. The wash of success wears out quick at that level and old habits become more consistent. We also haven't gotten to my favorite part of the entire season aptly titled "Desperation". If you're not 4+ points clear of the team below you then you really have to buck up before February because that's when teams start to do the impossible and topple even league leaders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ Posted December 24, 2018 Subscriber Share Posted December 24, 2018 United should get 6th now. We should still get 7th as much as there's no massive pressure to do so this season, but I still believe we have a bit more quality than Wolves, Leicester, etc. It will be close though and ultimately meaningless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJPWORTHING Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 It should be between Wolves, Everton, West Ham and Leicester but they are all too inconsistent at the moment to really pull away from midtable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 On 24/12/2018 at 22:25, CaaC - John said: Na, just old-fashioned buddy, I guess old age is creeping up on me This is the point in the debate where I traditionally bring up how great Friday night football is in the AFL in Australia. Normally it's in Melbourne on a Friday at 7.30pm and played between two Melbourne based teams. Huge TV audiences but also fantastic to finish work on a Friday and head straight to a pub for a few beers and then on to the grounds to catch the game live. They tend to be highly attended and highly watched games so basically a win win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ Posted January 3, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted January 3, 2019 Well after Evertonians beginning to kick off about our recent run of form, the next day we saw Watford and Bournemouth continue to prove how erratic and random they are too with a 3-3 first half followed by a goalless second half, Wolves follow up victory at Spurs with a home defeat to Palace and West Ham scrape a home draw to Brighton after going two goals down. Leicester were the only team in this race to have a good fixture this time around but this comes just after their utterly predictable home defeat to Cardiff after beating Man City and Chelsea. Pick a name out of a hat folks because now that United have returned to the top six, this mad little sub-plot below them will rumble on until the end of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted January 3, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted January 3, 2019 West Ham have climbed into 10th with a 3 point differential to 7th. Madness will ensue here as picking any team is a lottery for that spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Blue Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 manU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted January 3, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted January 3, 2019 2 minutes ago, Happy Blue said: manU They'd need some kind of monster breakdown in their system to get to 7th won't they? Plus they meet all the top 6 contenders in big gaps so its quite improbable (not impossible) that they'll have 6th place sealed by March Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Blue Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 1 minute ago, Mel81x said: They'd need some kind of monster breakdown in their system to get to 7th won't they? Plus they meet all the top 6 contenders in big gaps so its quite improbable (not impossible) that they'll have 6th place sealed by March I had them for 8th place at the start of the season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted January 3, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted January 3, 2019 3 minutes ago, Happy Blue said: I had them for 8th place at the start of the season Surprised you hadn't ear-marked them for relegation the way things were going at the club at one point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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