The fine was reduced to €10 million. So even a bigger joke.
2019-20 English Premiere League Thread
- Thread starter jeffbear
- Start date
The fine was reduced to €10 million. So even a bigger joke.
That’s more like a near miss than even a slap on the wrist. Pitiful
in the Championship, West Brom lost to Huddersfield, so Leeds clinched an automatic promotion spot. West Brom is only 1 point ahead of Brentford with an inferior goal difference so they could easily lose the other spot. The Bees were 10 points behind the Baggies when the season resumed but they’ve won 7 straight. A dropped point by Brentford against Stoke tomorrow or a Leeds win or draw on Sunday against Derby will clinch the championship for Leeds. Besides those 4, Fulham clinched a spot in the playoffs and can finish 2nd by winning out if West Brom and Brentford lose out. So, unlikely.
Watford continue to show they are the worst managed club in the Prem. With 2 matches to go, and on the verge of safety, manager Nigel Pearson and assistant Craig Shakespeare have been sacked. Pearson was the 3rd permanent manager of the season; Javi Garcia was sacked in September, his replacement Quique Sanchez Flores was sacked in December.
Bournemouth’s 6 year run in the Premier League is pretty much over. They lost to Southampton today, leaving them on 31 points with 1 match to go. They need to beat Everton on Sunday and Watford to lose out, which is possible considering they’re playing Man City and Arsenal. And even if that happens, they’re 4 goals behind. Is it possible? Sure. Man City could well put a 8-0 hurting on Watford on Wednesday; after losing to Arsenal in the FA Cup yesterday they‘re going to be looking to prove a point.
Leeds getting back to the Prem is HUGE and a wonderful way to celebrate their 100th season. Seeing a club with their history make a seemingly permanent home in anything other than the top flight of English football has been borderline ridiculous over the last 20-ish years. Yeah, they deserved to spend some time in purgatory for their financial sins, but 2001 was a LONG time ago. IMO the Prem needs the major secondary markets in Yorkshire, Northumbria and Birmingham to be strongly represented to balance out the three headed monster that is London/Liverpool/Manchester. It's nice to see the smaller markets like Leicester and Burnley and the south coast clubs rise up from time to time, but real competition will only come from bigger markets, big stadiums and big fan bases.
OK, I had to drag out my atlas to see where Northumberland was. No club from that region has ever been in the Prem or even the old first division. The farthest north the league has gone on the East coat is Tyne and Wear. Carlisle United in Cumbria, east of Northumberland, was in the first division as recently as 1975 for a 1 season appearance, but since then, no club north of Burnley/Blackpool in Lancashire has been represented. Leeds give another representative in the north and the West Midlands will probably swap West Brom for Villa. And Birmingham City hasn’t been in the Prem since a 3 season spell ended in 2011. We could get another London club (or 2) if Brentford or Fulham are promoted. Brentford has been out of the top division since 1947.
Gotcha. Didn’t realize Northumbria extended that far south. I used to work with a guy from Middlesbrough, but he sounded like a Scotsman to me. The Londoner I was with picked it out as far northeast. I had also worked with a Glaswegian and could have listened to her talk all day and he sounded like her.
Yeah ... there's not a ton of difference between the hard Geordie accent you find in Sunderland, Newcastle and Middlesboro and the regional accent you find in Glasgow and the Clyde valley. Weirdly, although Edinburgh features a very soft Scots accent, the Fife region just north of the Forth is almost back to full Geordie ... with completely different slang. Most Americans seem to have a hard time understanding any of those aside from the Edinburgh lilt, so good on ya for not needing a translator.
A massive win for Villa over my Gunners. Their defending was reminiscent of what Arsenal did to Man City on the weekend in the FA Cup. Watford’s loss to Man City earlier wiped out their goal differential advantage. Villa climb out of the relegation zone on 34 points, tied with Watford but 1 goal better. So there are 3 clubs for 2 sports:
17. Aston Villa - 34 points, -26 goal differential. At West Ham
18. Watford - 34 points, -27 goal differential. At Arsenal
19. Bournemouth - 31 points, -27 goal differential. At Everton
Bournemouth need a win by a big number to survive. Watford is going to be facing a rather upset Arsenal, losers to Villa after consecutive wins over Liverpool and Man City. West Ham have nothing to play for except possibly move up to 15. Tune in Sunday at 11 am, all matches start at the same time. If NBC does what they’ve done since winning the contract, they’ll all be on an over the air station. But they do have their new streaming service to feed, so who knows?
17. Aston Villa - 34 points, -26 goal differential. At West Ham
18. Watford - 34 points, -27 goal differential. At Arsenal
19. Bournemouth - 31 points, -27 goal differential. At Everton
Bournemouth need a win by a big number to survive. Watford is going to be facing a rather upset Arsenal, losers to Villa after consecutive wins over Liverpool and Man City. West Ham have nothing to play for except possibly move up to 15. Tune in Sunday at 11 am, all matches start at the same time. If NBC does what they’ve done since winning the contract, they’ll all be on an over the air station. But they do have their new streaming service to feed, so who knows?
StormChaserBH
Well-known member
5 OTA stations plus Peacock + Sports Gold according to the broadcast today.
Where in the living heck have those goals been from Trezeguay? If that brother had found his shooting boots a bit earlier they wouldn’t be sweating bullets in the Midlands. Down to a death match with West Ham and hoping that Watford have quit on their ownership ... as would be appropriate
Well, West Ham and Man United just wrapped up the 37th set of fixtures with a 1-1 draw. That probably guarantees Hammers safety since they're 3 points clear of the drop point with a huge goal diff advantage over both Villa and Watford. They've got Villa next and I'm hoping they'll be satisfied enough to take their foot off the gas a bit. Villa could really use a point out of that one, if not three. It's unlikely that Watford get themselves together enough to get a point against Arsenal, but dumber things have happened. Meanwhile Man United, Leicester, and Chelsea have all to play for to grab the last UCL spot ... with Wolves lurking to maybe nick the Europa League consolation prize with their goal diff advantage. Lots on the line on Relegation Day.
Oh, and congrats to Spurs for avoiding St Totteringham's Day again. I mean, it's something.
Oh, and congrats to Spurs for avoiding St Totteringham's Day again. I mean, it's something.
West Ham are 4 points clear after the draw. They have nothing to pay for except the battle for 15th place with Brighton, tied on 38 points. Chelsea can clinch a UCL spot with a win today (as Man U could have with a win over West Ham), but they’re down 4-3 to Liverpool in the 75th minute, clawing back from a 4-1 deficit. If they lose, we could have pandemonium on Sunday. A Leicester win against Man U puts them in the UCL. In that scenario, Chelsea need at least a draw against Wolves to stay 4th. If Chelsea and Man U tie on points, Man U finish ahead on goal differential with a 15 goal advantage.
Since I don’t get a St. Totteringham’s Day for the 4th straight year, my hope is that Spurs lose to Palace and stay 7th in the table and Arsenal steal their Europa League spot with a FA Cup Final win over Chelsea. Regardless, an Arsenal FA Cup win will see them and the 5th place team straight into the Group Stage and the 6th place team into the 3rd Qualifying Round. A Chelsea win will see the 7th place team get the Europa League spot but have to come through the 3rd Qualifying Round with the 5th and 6th place clubs going to the Group Stage. So the Europa League spots are TBD until the FA Cup Final on August 1.
The Championship wrapped up today. West Brom held on to 2nd for the automatic promotion with a draw against QPR. Brentford could nicked it with a win but lost to Barnsley, which pulled them out of relegation. Wigan only managed a draw against Fulham where a win would have seen them survive after their 12 point deduction. Hull and Charlton follow them down.
The playoff matchups are Brentford v. Swansea and Fulham v. Cardiff. Swansea grabbed the last spot by beating Reading while Nottingham Forest lost to Stoke.
The playoff matchups are Brentford v. Swansea and Fulham v. Cardiff. Swansea grabbed the last spot by beating Reading while Nottingham Forest lost to Stoke.
Here is the Premier League TV schedule for Sunday. The relegation and Champions League battles are on TV, the others go behind the paywall.
Arsenal v. Watford, 11am ET, Golf Channel
Burnley v. Brighton, 11am ET, Gold/Peacock
Chelsea v. Wolves, 11am ET, USA
Crystal Palace v. Tottenham, 11am ET, Gold/Peacock
Everton v. Bournemouth, 11am ET, CNBC
Leicester City v. Man United, 11am ET, NBC
Man City v. Norwich City, 11am ET, Gold/Peacock
Newcastle v. Liverpool, 11am ET, Gold/Peacock
Southampton v. Sheffield United, 11am ET, Gold/Peacock
West Ham v. Aston Villa, 11am ET, NBCSN
Arsenal v. Watford, 11am ET, Golf Channel
Burnley v. Brighton, 11am ET, Gold/Peacock
Chelsea v. Wolves, 11am ET, USA
Crystal Palace v. Tottenham, 11am ET, Gold/Peacock
Everton v. Bournemouth, 11am ET, CNBC
Leicester City v. Man United, 11am ET, NBC
Man City v. Norwich City, 11am ET, Gold/Peacock
Newcastle v. Liverpool, 11am ET, Gold/Peacock
Southampton v. Sheffield United, 11am ET, Gold/Peacock
West Ham v. Aston Villa, 11am ET, NBCSN
I hate that Brentford lost to end up in the playoff. They play an aggressive, fast, attacking brand of football that I always like to see rewarded instead of the caution-first same old, same old we get from so many clubs. If the can battle out of the playoffs, then the three highest scoring sides will gain promotion. I have a hard time seeing that as a bad thing. And I absolutely hate what happened at Wigan. Those guys fought valiantly to overcome ownership idiocy and came SOOOOO close. Hull and Charlton can pack sand, but those guys don't deserve the drop.
This really has to do with 2020-21 season but whatever. The Premier League has set the dates for next season. It will start on September 12 and end on May 23. If any Premier League clubs make either European final, they’ll only have 17 (UCL) or 19 (Europa League) days between the final and the start of the season.