c4countdown

It's that time of year again which all football fans nationwide and worldwide look forward to and that is the start of a brand spanking new Premier League season. This topic is suited for those who want to make their PL predictions on which team will win the coveted PL title and those three teams that will be relegated come May. Alternatively, some general banter about your team's hopes and dreams for this season and/or other teams chances can be discussed here to

Champions: Chelsea
Runners-up: Manchester Utd.
Relegated: Portsmouth, Hull City and Burnley

I would hope for nothing less than a top half of the table finish from my beloved Bolton Wanderers

Champs: Chelsea
Runners-Up: Manchester City
Relegated: Burnley, Hull City & Portsmouth

So my team, the mighty Terriers of Huddersfield Town (once we get promoted from League One (which we will do this season)) will be making trips to Turf Moor, The KC Stadium & Fratton Park next season.

P.S. After we give Newcastle a good stuffing in the Carling Cup in 12 days time

Champions: Chelsea
Runners-up: Liverpool
Relegated: Portsmouth, Hull City and Birmingham.

Although Burnley won't be threatening the top 8 this season it might be wise not to write us off too quickly. For those that weren't paying attention last season.... Chelsea - drew 1 (won on pens), Arsenal - won 1 lost 1, Spurs - won 1 lost 1, Fulham - won 1, Wolves - won 1 lost 1, Birmingham - drew 2, (West Brom - won 1 drew 1).
And that in a season of 61 games with only 19 players playing more than 90 mins in the league.

The fixture list has almost guaranteed that we'll be bottom after 5 games so it's how we react after those games that will be key.

Champions:Newcastle
Runners up:Wolves
Relegated: Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool

"So my team, the mighty Terriers of Huddersfield Town (once we get promoted from League One (which we will do this season)) will be making trips to Turf Moor, The KC Stadium & Fratton Park next season.

P.S. After we give Newcastle a good stuffing in the Carling Cup in 12 days time"

Agreed with you James - I'm at the game tomorrow vs Southampton - promotion definitely on the cards.

Chelsea will probably win the title. Getting relegated will be Portsmouth, Burnley & Wolves.

19th & 20th - Portsmouth and Hull, in either order.
18th - Birmingham, Wolves or Wigan.
17th - Burnley.

That'll do for me.

At the top, although it would be tempting to pick the mighty Clarets (as it's the 50th anniversary of last time we won it), I think I'd have to go for Liverpool, as long as Torres stays fit and Benitez doesn't get stupid with squad rotation. (Last year, Graham Alexander spent more time on the pitch than any two of Arsenal's midfielders. And he's 38. If footballers get tired, it's all in the mind.)

David Roe wrote:I think I'd have to go for Liverpool, as long as Torres stays fit and Benitez doesn't get stupid with squad rotation.

Err yea.

So basically you've gone for a team that would need two precision meteorite strikes to stand a realistic chance and then included two provisos, one involving another long shot regarding Torres staying fit and then an impossibility to finish. Maybe if the Premier League started including penalty shootouts Liverpool would stand a chance.

David Roe wrote: (Last year, Graham Alexander spent more time on the pitch than any two of Arsenal's midfielders. And he's 38. If footballers get tired, it's all in the mind.)

Denilson made 51 appearances, Alex Song made 48, a total of 99, compared to GA's 58. Fabregas and Walcott picked up major injuries that meant they were both out for months. Squad rotation is there to keep players at an optimum level and try to reduce the risk of injury, not because the players are tired. Bigger clubs can afford to rotate and any other club would do if they were in the same position. Arsenal play in four major tournaments, regularly travel great distances and the majority of the squad also play internationals throughout the year, not to mention WC or EC every other year. To try and use the same players in every game would be madness at that level. I don't know too much about Burnley (other than that they knocked us out of the Carling cup!) but i'm guessing that if your manager had adequate cover for Alexander, he probably would have liked to have been able to rest him from time to time.

Portsmouth will go down almost certainly. I was thinking maybe Fulham would be a good bet to go down as well. Chelsea for the title with Man United a close second.

Champions: Arsenal (It has to be this year!)
Chelsea 2nd, Manure 3rd, Liverpool just edge City for 4th.
Hull, Birmingham and Wolves to go down.

Champions : Chelsea
Runners-up: 2nd - Man Utd, 3rd - Man City, 4th - Liverpool
Relegated: Burnley, Portsmouth, Birmingham (in no particular order)

Craig Beevers wrote:
So basically you've gone for a team that would need two precision meteorite strikes to stand a realistic chance and then included two provisos, one involving another long shot regarding Torres staying fit and then an impossibility to finish. Maybe if the Premier League started including penalty shootouts Liverpool would stand a chance.

Presumably to take out the two teams they beat four times in the league last year, one of which they finished ahead of overall and the other 4 points behind? I'm a United fan but I think it's a touch blinkered to dismiss Liverpool, hate to say it but they played some fantastic stuff towards the end of last season. Besides you'd only need one meteorite strike if they happened to be playing each other at the time.

It's one of United, Chelsea or Liverpool for me, really can't see much between them. Wouldn't completely write off Arsenal, but they'll need a lot of planets to come into alignment, and City have bought fairly unimpressively given their level of investment.

Relegation: Hull, Wolves, Birmingham

Craig, what are you on about? Liverpool played better football than anyone last season, scored more goals, and the only reason they didn't win the title was because of a period of draws in the winter as well as the fact that Manchester United received a string of nonsense refereeing decisions, notably in the run-in such as a Michael Carrick penalty when they were 2-0 down against Spurs and had no way back into the game.

However, though Liverpool were statistically speaking the best team last year, I think their chances of winning it this year are slim because they have lost Alonso, and Aquilani probably won't be good enough.

Man City should be able to break into the top 4 soon, Arsenal will probably drop down to 5th or 6th, mainly because they have the most overrated player in the world in the shape of Cesc Fabregas.

Ronaldo got so many crucial goals for Manchester United last season and the season before, so on the face of things they can't survive without him, but I think they will adapt their system and return to their more traditional system of play, which could be successful with an out-and-out striker like Owen so I think they will still be a threat for the title. But Rooney will also need to begin actually scoring goals, like strikers are meant to.

Richard Brittain wrote:Craig, what are you on about? Liverpool played better football than anyone last season, scored more goals, and the only reason they didn't win the title was because of a period of draws in the winter as well as the fact that Manchester United received a string of nonsense refereeing decisions, notably in the run-in such as a Michael Carrick penalty when they were 2-0 down against Spurs and had no way back into the game.

Ah, that old chestnut. Liverpool weren't robbed by a succession of largely imagined refereeing blunders, rather their late season form obscured the fact they were clunky and uninspiring for much of the rest of the year.

As for United, Ronaldo is undoubtedly a big loss (Tevez less so IMO) but I'm hopeful we'll return to a more exuberant style of football, as happened when Van Nistelrooy left, a situation which in many ways parallels the current one. Time will tell.

Paul - Liverpool were top for most of the first half of the season. They spent more weeks at the top than anyone last season. Their best form was for the first 18 games of the season. They then went through an indifferent period of about 10 games, which lost them the title. You're right in saying they played very good football in the last 10 games of the season, but this wasn't their best period of the season. This was the only part when they were getting real publicity, more so than Chelsea, so that's probably why you think they only played well in that part of the season.

Richard, I beg to differ! Liverpool did play some decent football in the early season, but in the opening weeks in particular they were laboured and scraped some results they didn't especially deserve. Even the most blinkered of my Liverpool mates thought the same. This, combined with the stuttering starts of United, Chelsea and Arsenal, helped them to the top for a bit, but I don't think they had the same consistency in terms of results or performances as in the last two months.

I think the big questions for Liverpool are how they cope with the departure of Alonso, finding a way to grind down the weaker teams with greater consitency (they're unlikely to take 14 pts off the rest of the top 4 again), and whether they can sustain the intensity with which they finished last season for longer periods.

I refuse to indulge the possibility that Liverpool are capable of winning the Premier League, at least not while Benitex is still in charge. Richard, your comment that they were 'statistically' the best team last year is nonsense; the League is a measure of consistency and over 38 games the deserving team usually comes out on top. To attribute United's success purely down to refereeing decisions is just sour grapes.

It'll be our toughest title defence yet but it's not Liverpool I fear, rather Chelsea.

I'm not actually a Liverpool fan. I'm a Celtic fan and I don't really support any team in the Premier League so I'm giving a totally objective opinion. I saw about 90% of Man Utd's games and about 80% of Liverpool's. I actually started the season as leaning more towards Man Utd than Liverpool as a general fan, but by the end of the season I found myself greatly admiring Liverpool's class, strength of vigour and stylish attacking verve. I don't recall actually seeing one Man Utd game that made me think 'Wow, good team'. They are definitely a good team, but it always seemed to be about 'How can we win a free kick which Ronaldo can power in', or 'Let's try and get a corner and give Vidic a header or scramble in a goal' and I grew tired of their functional, bullish, scrappy style of winning games rather than the more honourable and classy way I saw Liverpool playing. By the end of the season I was thoroughly won over by the Reds, but I still wouldn't call myself a fan. Interestingly, Johann Cruyff agrees with me about Man Utd's style of play last season and basically echoed my exact sentiments about them before the Champion's League final. From an objective point of view, in my opinion the best 3 teams last season were:

1. Liverpool
2. Chelsea (who I hate)
3. Man Utd

I thought it was an interesting season.

Richard Brittain wrote:I saw about 90% of Man Utd's games...I don't recall actually seeing one Man Utd game that made me think 'Wow, good team'.

Are you sure you were watching the right sport?

There's never gonna be a thread on an internet forum about football where at least 50% of the people aren't talking utter shit. Craig takes this to another, comical, level.

Richard Brittain wrote: Arsenal will probably drop down to 5th or 6th, mainly because they have the most overrated player in the world in the shape of Cesc Fabregas.

Fabregas scored 2 and had 2 assists as Arsenal win at Everton 6-1. Just thought i'd mention it.

I watched the game. He played awful.

Richard Brittain wrote:I watched the game. He played awful.

What a ridiculous post. He played awfully.

Jimmy Gough wrote:I was thinking maybe Fulham would be a good bet to go down as well.

For what reason? Admittedly the Europa League might stretch us, but if you compare our side to others then it's abundantly obvious we're stronger than at least 3 teams. Hodgson has built a structured, resilient unit that are slick and confident at home and very hard to break down away. In Schwarzer, Hangeland and Hughes we have a defensive core arguably better than some of those in the top 4, and if we can sign a decent target-man and a few squad players we'll probably be around the higher reaches of the bottom half.

Pompey and Brum are certs for the drop, probably to be joined by one of Hull, Wolves, Burnley or even Blackburn. Chelsea for the title, with United and Liverpool interchangeable for second and City to break the top 4 due to Arsenal still refusing to sign an absolute beast or scrappy runt of a player a la Adams, Campbell, Vieria or Parlour to bring some steel. Vermaelen is a step in the right direction, keeping Gallas is not.

Richard Brittain wrote:I watched the game. He played awful.

I hope he plays awful(ly) every week then!

Jeffrey Burgin wrote:

Jimmy Gough wrote:I was thinking maybe Fulham would be a good bet to go down as well.

For what reason? Admittedly the Europa League might stretch us, but if you compare our side to others then it's abundantly obvious we're stronger than at least 3 teams. Hodgson has built a structured, resilient unit that are slick and confident at home and very hard to break down away. In Schwarzer, Hangeland and Hughes we have a defensive core arguably better than some of those in the top 4, and if we can sign a decent target-man and a few squad players we'll probably be around the higher reaches of the bottom half.

Pompey and Brum are certs for the drop, probably to be joined by one of Hull, Wolves, Burnley or even Blackburn. Chelsea for the title, with United and Liverpool interchangeable for second and City to break the top 4 due to Arsenal still refusing to sign an absolute beast or scrappy runt of a player a la Adams, Campbell, Vieria or Parlour to bring some steel. Vermaelen is a step in the right direction, keeping Gallas is not.

I used to see Fulham occassionally because I got free tickets from the kids coaching I used to go to. I joined the junior fan club (whatever it's called) and ballboyed once against Crystal Palace on New Years' Day. Since I no longer get free tickets and that I started to watch AFC Wimbledon (who beat Kettering 2-1 today), I've stopped going. Despite this, I still like them the most out of the premier league teams and believe they will definitely stay up because of the reasons Jeffrey stated. I think it is vital for them to keep hold of Hangeland because he is an extremely solid player.

My longest post in ages

Jeffrey Burgin wrote:

Jimmy Gough wrote:I was thinking maybe Fulham would be a good bet to go down as well.

For what reason? Admittedly the Europa League might stretch us, but if you compare our side to others then it's abundantly obvious we're stronger than at least 3 teams. Hodgson has built a structured, resilient unit that are slick and confident at home and very hard to break down away. In Schwarzer, Hangeland and Hughes we have a defensive core arguably better than some of those in the top 4, and if we can sign a decent target-man and a few squad players we'll probably be around the higher reaches of the bottom half.

I just think that being such a small club without great depth they're always likely to get dragged into the relegation battle, and having such a fantastic season last year you can get pretty good odds on them going down. I wouldn't say they're one of the three most likely teams to go down but, yeah.

Steve Durney wrote:Denilson made 51 appearances, Alex Song made 48, a total of 99, compared to GA's 58. Fabregas and Walcott picked up major injuries that meant they were both out for months. Squad rotation is there to keep players at an optimum level and try to reduce the risk of injury, not because the players are tired. Bigger clubs can afford to rotate and any other club would do if they were in the same position. Arsenal play in four major tournaments, regularly travel great distances and the majority of the squad also play internationals throughout the year, not to mention WC or EC every other year. To try and use the same players in every game would be madness at that level. I don't know too much about Burnley (other than that they knocked us out of the Carling cup!) but i'm guessing that if your manager had adequate cover for Alexander, he probably would have liked to have been able to rest him from time to time.

There's an Arsenal site somewhere that shows each player's minutes on the pitch, analysed by position. Adding up the minutes on the pitch for your two longest-plaing men came to less than Alexander.

Alexander = 61 matches (I think you might have forgotten the play-offs) @ 90 minutes = 5490, plus 3 extra times = 5580, less 33 minutes off the field when substituted = 5547. Were either of your boys substituted, perhaps?

I'mcidentally, even lowly clubs like ours have international players. Alexander played 6 times for Scotland. And as for cover, Kevin MacDonald didn't start a game in the second half of the season - you'll remember him, he's quite useful.

David Roe wrote:There's an Arsenal site somewhere that shows each player's minutes on the pitch, analysed by position. Adding up the minutes on the pitch for your two longest-plaing men came to less than Alexander.

Alexander = 61 matches (I think you might have forgotten the play-offs) @ 90 minutes = 5490, plus 3 extra times = 5580, less 33 minutes off the field when substituted = 5547. Were either of your boys substituted, perhaps?

I'mcidentally, even lowly clubs like ours have international players. Alexander played 6 times for Scotland. And as for cover, Kevin MacDonald didn't start a game in the second half of the season - you'll remember him, he's quite useful.

I'm not sure how many minutes either of them played, nor can I be arsed to find out, but I think it was the full 90 in the vast majority of the games. MacDonald and Alexander didn't seem particularly useful today. Welcome to the Premier League.

Sod the Premier League, the Championship is where it's at. Well done to the mighty Leicester City with 4 points from their first 2 games!

So by Beevers Logic (TM), Spurs are looking good for a 19th-place finish this season, a few points ahead of Liverpool.

Gotta love Liverpool fans, next they'll be telling us Steven Gerrard really was innocent. Anyone with an accent like that should just be sentenced without trial really.

Craig Beevers wrote:Gotta love Liverpool fans, next they'll be telling us Steven Gerrard really was innocent. Anyone with an accent like that should just be sentenced without trial really.

Absolutely. And wearing a light blue jumper for a night on the town. In Southport.

What surprises me is that the blame is put on a Liverpool jury. This comprises five people with no interest in football except that they despise all footballers and their lifestyles, one Manchester United fan who lives his life in fear, three Evertonians who question the parentage of Gerrard's daughter every time they see him, and three Liverpool fans, one of whom has never forgiven him for flirting with Chelsea. If you're looking for guilty men, look at the judge who said that, having heard and seen all the evidence, he agreed with the jury's verdict, and the prosecuting counsel, who said pretty much the same.

I really think it's time that

BURNLEY 1 MANCHESTER UNITED 0

was mentioned on here. (Sorry for shouting, It just seems to come naturally.)

+1

Darren Carter wrote:Sod the Premier League, the Championship is where it's at. Well done to the mighty Leicester City with 4 points from their first 2 games!

Sod the Premier League and the Championship, League One is where it's at! What kind of division has 2 7-1 results in the first 10 days of the season

And I'm just so happy that the mighty Terriers got one of them

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 7 - 1 BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION

Long Live The TERRIERS

David Roe wrote: BURNLEY 1 MANCHESTER UNITED 0

Another stunning result for Liverpool.

Still it is the best thing that could happen to them, might finally get rid of Benitez.

James Robinson wrote:

Darren Carter wrote:Sod the Premier League, the Championship is where it's at. Well done to the mighty Leicester City with 4 points from their first 2 games!

Sod the Premier League and the Championship, League One is where it's at! What kind of division has 2 7-1 results in the first 10 days of the season

And I'm just so happy that the mighty Terriers got one of them

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 7 - 1 BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION

Long Live The TERRIERS

I'd have to sort of agree with that, League One was a good laugh for us last season, especially after completely pissing on everyone from start to finish - including Huddersfield twice if I remember correctly.

Darren Carter wrote:I'd have to sort of agree with that, League One was a good laugh for us last season, especially after completely pissing on everyone from start to finish - including Huddersfield twice if I remember correctly.

I went to both Town v Leicester matches, last season and even though you won them 3-2 and 4-2 respectively, Town didn't make it easy for you on either occasion.

In the first match, you let a 2 goal lead slip, before winning with that Dyer fluke goal and in the second you were twice behind by goals from 2 relics frankly (Phil Jevons & Keigan Parker) before winning with an offside goal and a bit of luck, frankly

I don't suppose Burnley are a popular team in the Countdown studios just now. First Man United, now Hartlepool.

I draw the following conclusion.

Those who predict relegation for Hull City are of course WRONG.

Those who do not predict relegation for Hull City are of course SPOT ON.

Easy, innit?

How did this turn out?

Juat looking at the first prediction in this thread:

JasonCullen wrote:Champions: Chelsea
Runners-up: Manchester Utd.
Relegated: Portsmouth, Hull City and Burnley

I would hope for nothing less than a top half of the table finish from my beloved Bolton Wanderers

I only he'd kept quiet about his beloved Bolton Wanderers Jason would have had 100% for this post. He even got the three relegated clubs in the correct (reverse) order.

May look at the later posts in this thread later

Had a quick browse through remaining posts now.

Some of the predictions are a little vague, but a reasonable order is:

83% Jason - five correct out of six predictions
80% James - 4/5
75% Tom & Jimmy - each 3/4
67% Jeffrey - 2/3
60% Phil & David - each 3/5
57% Stewart - 4/7
33% Paul - 1/3
14% Steve - 1/7
0% Eoin - 0/5

One further comment. In response to

James wrote:What kind of division has 2 7-1 results in the first 10 days of the season

I can only reply: one with crap defences.

Good times, thanks for the round-up. Maybe we should have a new topic for this season.