Football Focus

[south_tyne]

11 hours ago, Gareth Collier said:

...but realistically Newcastle looks the only winnable game on paper. Squeaky bum time

 

That point yesterday could be hugely important. You have got goal difference on your side too. You don't seem to be able to buy a goal though! 

 

There is still a lot of love and respect for Hughton up here on Tyneside but I don't know whether that stretches to giving Brighton an easy ride! The Toon are actually playing quite well at the moment but you have got to be targeting that game; one more point may be enough for you. 

 

11 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Well I hope we can give you a hand tomorrow! 

 

No offence to Cardiff but I'll be happy to see the back of Colin (AKA Neil Warnock). Can't stand the man.

 

 

Jason

 

It's funny, I used to quite like Warnock but I have really gone off him this season. Principally, for the rhetoric he has been spouting on political issues, but we won't get into that here......

 

What you can't dispute though is that he is an effective manager, playing a certain type of football but getting the best out of his players. Looking at the Cardiff squad, there is no way in the world that it is of Premier League quality, not just in terms of strength and depth but they don't even really have any 'stand out' players either. I don't think there will be a rush from other PL teams to pick off any of their players if relegation does come. 

 

He can create a seige mentality and 'us against the world' outlook that clearly works though. Give him credit, he has performed a minor miracle to have led Cardiff to a position where they still have a chance of surviving with a handful of games left. 

[caradoc]

I'm not a great fan of Neil Warnock and his rants either, but I have to say that in the recent home game with Chelsea he had every right to be furious at the refereeing, and that dropped point (or even three) could prove to be crucial at the end of the season (Of course there are other debatable decisions which may have lost, or indeed gained, a team points during the season, but close to the end lost points become much more difficult to recover from).

[south_tyne]

22 minutes ago, caradoc said:

I'm not a great fan of Neil Warnock and his rants either, but I have to say that in the recent home game with Chelsea he had every right to be furious at the refereeing, and that dropped point (or even three) could prove to be crucial at the end of the season (Of course there are other debatable decisions which may have lost, or indeed gained, a team points during the season, but close to the end lost points become much more difficult to recover from).

 

Very true. If it is that decision that sends them down then it will be cruel. Saying that, they will have had 37 other games to pick up points, but fate and fortune have a habit of kicking you when your down. 

[Gareth Collier]

Solskjaer getting the job on a permanent basis seems to be working wonders

[south_tyne]

4 hours ago, Gareth Collier said:

Solskjaer getting the job on a permanent basis seems to be working wonders

 

So maybe it wasn't all the fault of the evil Mourinho after all!?! 

 

Liverpool have done you a favour this afternoon......

[Gareth Collier]

2 hours ago, south_tyne said:

 

So maybe it wasn't all the fault of the evil Mourinho after all!?! 

 

Liverpool have done you a favour this afternoon......

And if Palace play like they did against Arsenal....

[south_tyne]

Looking forward to another big day of Football League and non-league action. It's great that the Premier League takes a back seat, like on Good Friday, and the Championship and below can take the limelight. 

 

Fight for that second place in the Championship continues to prove fascinating, as does the position at both the top and bottom of League One. Title fight in the National League is also going down to the wire so it should be another interesting afternoon in our division. 

 

With my Ipswich hat on, I don't know whether I will be able to cope with Chris Sutton's gloating if Norwich win the title today..... It's been bad enough over the last few weeks with his relentless teasing of the Tractor Boys.... 

[brenn]

21 hours ago, Gareth Collier said:

Solskjaer getting the job on a permanent basis seems to be working wonders

It's not Solskjaer that the problem it's the players........

 

As a Arsenal fan mugging you guys off with Alexis was brilliant business on our part. He is a talented player but a complete mercenary and the Perm is full of such players ..........Chelsea have the same problem.........The players just down tools if they don't like the management knowing that they'll get them the sack and then have a little bonce when the new guy comes in.

 

Not enough development of academy or Championship players is happening to develop teams with a bond. You can see it in all the top teams and it no surprise that the 2 most cohesive teams are head and shoulder better than the rest.

 

 

B    

[Hobby]

1 hour ago, brenn said:

the Perm is full of such players

 

Rather and amusing and very appropriate spelling mistake if the hairstyles on view over the weekend are anything to go by!

[D.Platt]

1 hour ago, brenn said:

It's not Solskjaer that the problem it's the players........

 

As a Arsenal fan mugging you guys off with Alexis was brilliant business on our part. He is a talented player but a complete mercenary and the Perm is full of such players ..........Chelsea have the same problem.........The players just down tools if they don't like the management knowing that they'll get them the sack and then have a little bonce when the new guy comes in.

 

Not enough development of academy or Championship players is happening to develop teams with a bond. You can see it in all the top teams and it no surprise that the 2 most cohesive teams are head and shoulder better than the rest.

 

 

B    

Watching premier league football is a mugs game !!  It’s like a designer label ,a brand that people have to have !! so break free and get yourself to a non league match and see lads playing just for the enjoyment of playing.

[brenn]

1 minute ago, D.Platt said:

Watching premier league football is a mugs game !!  It’s like a designer label ,a brand that people have to have !! so break free and get yourself to a non league match and see lads playing just for the enjoyment of playing.

Maybe...but they were my boyhood local club, My tribe, part of my life and I will take the good and bad as it comes......you cant just trade that...........and before you say it we get mugged for that loyalty as fans.

 

B

[Stanley Melrose]

Still smiling when I see in my mind's eye those 4 excellent goals at Goodison yesterday.  Glad to be there just 3 days after the 70th anniversary of watching Everton for the first time on my 5th birthday.

 

Stan

[south_tyne]

2 hours ago, D.Platt said:

Watching premier league football is a mugs game !!  It’s like a designer label ,a brand that people have to have !! so break free and get yourself to a non league match and see lads playing just for the enjoyment of playing.

 

2 hours ago, brenn said:

Maybe...but they were my boyhood local club, My tribe, part of my life and I will take the good and bad as it comes......you cant just trade that...........and before you say it we get mugged for that loyalty as fans.

 

B

 

I just love football. Football at all levels. I am a non-league fan - I have a season ticket at Gateshead and then try to visit as many Northern League grounds as possible during each season on the 'other' Saturday. However, I really enjoy watching MOTD, despite my team being nowhere near that level, and can admire and appreciate the high-level of skill and ability on show. I also love keeping up to date with The Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A etc, catching up with highlights whenever I can. I then also love the Football League; Ipswich are my second team (for family reasons) and I also want Sunderland to do well as a local team. The Championship is such an exciting league, in my opinion more interesting than the PL. 

 

So it is possible to enjoy football at all levels. Indeed, I manage to do this without any Sky/BT Sport etc, just relying on bog-standard terrestrial TV. Following and watching football at any level is not more virtuous or worthy than any other. It's all about enjoying our wonderful game!!

 

[D.Platt]

10 hours ago, brenn said:

Maybe...but they were my boyhood local club, My tribe, part of my life and I will take the good and bad as it comes......you cant just trade that...........and before you say it we get mugged for that loyalty as fans.

 

B

 

I did trade it , when my boyhood club that I had followed since 1964 became the worlds greatest franchise !! I left it behind and started following a new non league club and fell in love with the non league game , we became a proper club today following our first relegation !!

[br2975]

On 20/04/2019 at 22:05, Steamport Southport said:

 

Well I hope we can give you a hand tomorrow! 

 

No offence to Cardiff but I'll be happy to see the back of Colin (AKA Neil Warnock). Can't stand the man.

 

 

Jason

Talk to supporters of teams Warnock has managed........you will find very few who will criticize him, that only comes from supporters of teams he's never managed.

.

Warnock came to Cardiff after the disasters that were OGS and Trollope, when Cardiff were destined for Division 1, and a bookies cert.

.

Warnock turned that team around, and took them to the Premiership, a place the team had no right to be.

.

Cardiff, unlike Fulham and Wolves have spent little or nothing, but reached the Premiership using a bunch of rag tag journeyman and cast offs, no big names, no inflated egos, all motivated by the man you love to hate, Warnock. Cardiff will most likely return to the Championship, and people like you will gloat, because "no one likes us" and no one likes Warnock, even though most of what he says is correct..........

.

At this point in such a discussion, Warnock's detractors will usually trot out the old cliche "he's never succeeded in the Premiership !"

.

Correct, because he has taken unfashionable clubs to the top flight, clubs with little or no cash and owners and boards unable or unwilling to spend the grossly inflated prices for foreign players. .......after all, home grown academy talent is a rarity, with kids from Premiership academies eventually playing for C hampionship clubs.

.

so, when teams like Man Utd pitch up at your ground, and in one player, say Pogba, who cost Its £90million, more than the cost of the whole Cardiff squad,  coaching staff and club employees rolled into one, there is little chance of Warnock making it in the Premiership with clubs like Cardiff.........the reality of UK football, not the bottomless pits at The Etihad of Old Trafford where success is bought at any price, by the owner of the new plaything.

Edited April 23, 2019 by br2975

[br2975]

11 hours ago, D.Platt said:

Watching premier league football is a mugs game !!  It’s like a designer label ,a brand that people have to have !! so break free and get yourself to a non league match and see lads playing just for the enjoyment of playing.

My season ticket at Cardiff City has just been renewed, at the same price as last season.

.

£149 - if we stay up, that's Premiership football at around £8 per game, Championship football at less than £7 per game........either way, the ticket costs the same as a new 00 gauge loco.

.

Those of us who watch football regularly (50yrs in my case), supporting unfashionable clubs, don't see our Premiership team as a "brand" or view ourselves as "mugs".

[brenn]

2 hours ago, br2975 said:

My season ticket at Cardiff City has just been renewed, at the same price as last season.

.

£149 - if we stay up, that's Premiership football at around £8 per game, Championship football at less than £7 per game........either way, the ticket costs the same as a new 00 gauge loco.

.

Those of us who watch football regularly (50yrs in my case), supporting unfashionable clubs, don't see our Premiership team as a "brand" or view ourselves as "mugs".

Gosh that less than the price of a single premiership game at Arsenal!!!

[D.Platt]

8 hours ago, br2975 said:

My season ticket at Cardiff City has just been renewed, at the same price as last season.

.

£149 - if we stay up, that's Premiership football at around £8 per game, Championship football at less than £7 per game........either way, the ticket costs the same as a new 00 gauge loco.

.

Those of us who watch football regularly (50yrs in my case), supporting unfashionable clubs, don't see our Premiership team as a "brand" or view ourselves as "mugs".

Can’t knock that,  Cardiff’s prices are cheaper than most non league clubs 

[south_tyne]

Just now, D.Platt said:

Can’t knock that,  Cardiff’s prices are cheaper than most non league clubs 

 

Agreed, I think that's incredible value. Bear in mind my season ticket at Gateshead costs almost double that!

[south_tyne]

8 hours ago, br2975 said:

Talk to supporters of teams Warnock has managed........you will find very few who will criticize him, that only comes from supporters of teams he's never managed.

.

Warnock came to Cardiff after the disasters that were OGS and Trollope, when Cardiff were destined for Division 1, and a bookies cert.

.

Warnock turned that team around, and took them to the Premiership, a place the team had no right to be.

.

Cardiff, unlike Fulham and Wolves have spent little or nothing, but reached the Premiership using a bunch of rag tag journeyman and cast offs, no big names, no inflated egos, all motivated by the man you love to hate, Warnock. Cardiff will most likely return to the Championship, and people like you will gloat, because "no one likes us" and no one likes Warnock, even though most of what he says is correct..........

.

At this point in such a discussion, Warnock's detractors will usually trot out the old cliche "he's never succeeded in the Premiership !"

.

Correct, because he has taken unfashionable clubs to the top flight, clubs with little or no cash and owners and boards unable or unwilling to spend the grossly inflated prices for foreign players. .......after all, home grown academy talent is a rarity, with kids from Premiership academies eventually playing for C hampionship clubs.

.

so, when teams like Man Utd pitch up at your ground, and in one player, say Pogba, who cost Its £90million, more than the cost of the whole Cardiff squad,  coaching staff and club employees rolled into one, there is little chance of Warnock making it in the Premiership with clubs like Cardiff.........the reality of UK football, not the bottomless pits at The Etihad of Old Trafford where success is bought at any price, by the owner of the new plaything.

 

I agree with almost all of that. If Warnock keeps Cardiff in the Premier League it will be an incredible achievement, akin to what Wagner did at Huddersfield last season. 

 

This is no slur on the club at all, but Cardiff have a squad of Championship players. There may be a handful that are capable of remaining in the PL but very few. So to be in a position where you can stay up with three games left is remarkable. You could have gone for broke like Fulham but look where that has got them.... you will be on a more sustainable footing if you do get relegated. It's the approach Burnley took, going down and learning from the experience before bouncing back, and they haven't looked back. 

 

Warnock is marmite but you would rather have him on your side fighting your corner than battling against you! He's clearly a master of man-management and can ring out every last bit of ability from his players. 

 

 

[kevinlms]

Doesn't ANYONE want the 4th place in the Premier League? Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea all failed to collect 3 points!

[brenn]

3 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Doesn't ANYONE want the 4th place in the Premier League? Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea all failed to collect 3 points!

Lets see if Spurs drop more points tonight, but it's going to go to the last day and Arsenal have, on paper, the easiest run in....I am a little bit biased:)

 

It's good to see the 2 best team still slugging it out.....I think Man City will beat Utd tomorrow and that should the finish off Liverpool's challenge. City are the best team in England at the moment. Spurs will lose to the Dutch but Liverpool may pull off the CL yet. Let face it they done it before.

 

B 

[Hobby]

You are more confident than I 're tomorrow's manchester derby! I will go with Spurs in the CL final and Liverpool knocked out in the semi though

[brenn]

Spurs are up against a very very good Dutch team....can't see them doing it with the players they've got missing and the only team that can beat Man City is Man City...

 

Utd have still got Chelsea as well.....Arsenal are looking the most likely for third if they can defend like they did against the Italians. We just need to grind out 9 points with the game we have left. 3 point at Wolves will be massive for us. There are so many games left where any team can slip up with the added factor of games running out and the pressure that brings. It's fun:)

 

BW

 

B

[EddieB]

4 hours ago, south_tyne said:

Warnock is marmite but you would rather have him on your side fighting your corner than battling against you! He's clearly a master of man-management and can ring out every last bit of ability from his players. 

 

As far as I'm concerned, he's more than welcome back at Queens Park Rangers.