Rejects of the Premier/Football League

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 27 Apr 2013, 19:00

As the Title suggests any rejects of the Premier League

2007/2008 season: Derby County: If Paddy Power bet on them being relegated after just 5 games that says a lot about how bad their season was

2011/2012 season: Venky's chicken: Made Steve Kean an unpopular man made Blackburn a shadow of their former selves and the Chicken episode combined with relegation was a load of farce

2005/2006 season: Sunderland: You know you are in trouble when your top scorer(s) only has 3 goals to their name

For IIPOTRPL (Infinite Imprombility Performance of the Premier League) 2003/2004 it just has to go to Arsenal for the Invincibles season

Post by **Londoner** » 27 Apr 2013, 19:11

1995/1996 - Newcastle United - Were top of the league by a ridiculous margin at the start of 1996 (12 points ahead)...and yet blew it completely, handing the title on a plate to Ferguson and co. :lol:

1996/1997 - Graeme Souness - Signed Ali Dia. And then used him as a substitute for an injured Le Tissier. Hilarity ensued. All together now: "ALI DIA IS A LIAR!" :lol:

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 28 Apr 2013, 13:21

2001/02 - Ipswich Town - Went from finishing 5th and fighting for 2nd in 2000/01, earning UEFA Cup football in the process, to relegation the following season.

2003/04 - Leeds United - Up until the season before, Leeds were regularly a top Premier League team, until a financial crisis caused relegation.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 28 Apr 2013, 16:35

2006/07- Manchester City. You know your in trouble when you score less goals at home than Watford.

Dishonourable mention- The Tevez/Mascherano saga.

gnrpoison · Post by **gnrpoison** » 28 Apr 2013, 22:18

92/93: Nottingham Forest, Relegation ends Clough's legacy at the City Ground a mere 12 years after double European Cup winners
93/94: Swindon Town, 5 wins all season 100 goals conceded in 42 league games
94/95: Should go to Cantona for kicking a fan in the stands(regardless of the reason) but perhaps Manager stability as 15 of the 22 clubs changed managers during the season. Maybe even George Graham for the circumstances around his departure from Arsenal
95/96: Im tempted to say Blackburn, last seasons winner, could barely get a result in the European Cup and finished 7th and 21 points behind from the team they beat the season before with virtually a similar side to the previous season.
96/97: Middlesborough: Spent millions on players, lose both domestic finals and were deducted 3 points for not being able to play a fixture. Then relegated when without the deduction would have been safe.
97/98: Had Gregory not took over Villa, would have been a candidate as tipped as title contenders but Collymore signing unsettled team that was in relegation places at christmas before a reversal of form saw a Uefa Cup spot. Perhaps going to Newcastle United runners up last two years could only manage 13th and a defeat in the FA Cup final to Arsenal. Maybe even 96/97 promoted teams, only season all 3 went back down in the PL era.
98/99: Blackburn Rovers, champions to second tier in 4 years
99/00: Wimbledon, start of a decline that would see the team go out of existence and become MK Dons.
00/01: Coventry City: 34 years of non stop top flight football comes to end and they have not returned since.
01/02: Can't argue with the Ipswich mention, weirdly despite being relegated still got a Uefa Cup spot through the FairPlay system.

Thats the first 10 years will post the next soon from what I think should be.

gnrpoison · Post by **gnrpoison** » 28 Apr 2013, 22:50

02/03: The teams that play in Claret West Ham and Aston Villa
Villa because of a dismal away record of 1 win in 19, eclipses a brilliant home form of 11 wins and 2 draws in 19 games. With only 1 of 6 home losses being by 2 - 0, the rest all 1 nils nearly relegates the side and it ended 7 years of top 10 finishes (Over half being top 6). West Ham, a brilliant side of James, Defoe, DiCanio, Cole, Carrick and several talents were relegated, manager Roeder had to step down during the season as well due to health issues.
Dishonourable mention for Sunderland's form
03/04: Leeds United for already mentioned reasons, a top side, European football the previous year and Champion Leagues Semi in 01/02 (I think) doomed to relegation of which have not returned.
04/05: Newcastle, Champions league the previous two seasons could only manage 14th, long term manager sacked early on and two players (Bowyer and Dyer) sent off in a match against Villa for fighting each other later on in the season.
05/06: Sunderland made their 02/03 season look good with 3 wins all season and setting a then record of 15 points achieved.
06/07: Charlton Athletic, ends a run of top flight football and have not been back
07/08: Derby County if Sunderland in 05/06 can be bad we can do better with 11points and 1 win. Managed to have 9 games out of 38 that were not defeats
08/09: The North East Clubs, Boro relegated yet to return, a talented Newcastle couldn't be bothered and go down leaving a Sunderland team in 16th as the regions top performing team.
09/10: Portsmouth, no premier league club had ever entered Administration in the top flight ever, until now
10/11: Villa, 3 top 6 finishes the previous 3 seasons, a messy divorce with ex manager, fighting relegation only to end up midtable due to a good last 6 games and teams around them taking points off each other.
11/12: Villa again, record lowest Premier League haul, loss of captain due to cancer scare and top striker to injury. Barely scrap over the line and a whole club, fans, owners, players, manager not united.

Post by **Ataxia** » 28 Apr 2013, 22:59

takagi_for_the_win wrote:2006/07- Manchester City. You know your in trouble when you score less goals at home than Watford.

Dishonourable mention- The Tevez/Mascherano saga.

That's mainly because they wasted far too much money on sub-par forwards. They spend £6m on Samaras the winter before, and Corradi's only two goals came in one game against Fulham. (and pulled the corner flag out to "knight" his team-mates in celebration.)

I'd vote West Ham for 2002/3 as well. Considering they'd spent quite a bit of time in and around the top 10 in seasons prior, and had a group of immensely talented players they just couldn't get any form going. Although Sunderland had the lowest points tally at the time (before outdoing themselves in '06) they didn't have quite the depth of talent that the Hammers did. Kevin Phillips and Marcus Stewart were a VERY good pair of front men, but the rest of the squad was pretty average. Matt Piper's injury didn't help either...

As a last addendum, although Leeds went to ruin in 2003/4 financially it didn't help that their players had pretty much given up. Mark Viduka and Alan Smith had served Leeds well upfront over the past couple of years, but Viduka pretty much downed tools after having a couple of transfer requests turned down (I believe he was linked to Inter Milan or somewhere else in Italy) and Smith didn't have the support any more. Dodgy loans didn't help either.

Post by **Ataxia** » 29 Apr 2013, 17:04

gnrpoison wrote:99/00: Wimbledon, start of a decline that would see the team go out of existence and become MK Dons.

Sorry to double post, I take a little bit of issue with this. Wimbledon had been punching above their weight for some years and relegation wasn't ever really out of the question. Especially as John Hartson was also injured most of that season.

I'd prefer to go for Southampton, who despite having a pretty good squad were still well down the table. They also handled the Dave Jones child-abuse case really poorly (Jones later said that he wished he'd had the support of the board in the matter), especially as the allegations later proved unfounded. Matt Le Tissier wasn't on form that year either.

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 29 Apr 2013, 19:45

Joey Barton - because he is, and always will be, a complete and total tosspot.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 29 Apr 2013, 20:25

Ataxia wrote:I'd vote West Ham for 2002/3 as well. Considering they'd spent quite a bit of time in and around the top 10 in seasons prior, and had a group of immensely talented players they just couldn't get any form going.

There's one reason for this. He's called Glenn Roeder - the man who thought it was a genius move to never play Paolo.

Post by **Ataxia** » 29 Apr 2013, 21:38

Barbazza wrote:
Ataxia wrote:I'd vote West Ham for 2002/3 as well. Considering they'd spent quite a bit of time in and around the top 10 in seasons prior, and had a group of immensely talented players they just couldn't get any form going.

There's one reason for this. He's called Glenn Roeder - the man who thought it was a genius move to never play Paolo.

The thing is with Roeder, he had an impressive first season and his purchases in the transfer market were pretty good. However, seeing as Michael Carrick spent most of the season injured and Tomas Repka was suspended half the time, I guess they were missing a few key players. But they still had Joe Cole, David James, Jermain Defoe, Fredi Kanoute and Di Canio...so they weren't exactly without a decent squad.

However, checking their buys in 2002/03 they didn't exactly replicate their success in the market of the previous season. In fact, I feel that all of their summer transfers in 2002 were rather poor and none of them brought anything new to the squad. I don't ever think players like Sofiane or Rahim ever even played, and the signing of the aging Van der Gouw was pointless considering they already had James and Bywater. I guess, with the same squad as 2001/02, they got "found out" a bit in a tactical sense.

gnrpoison wrote:07/08: Derby County if Sunderland in 05/06 can be bad we can do better with 11points and 1 win. Managed to have 9 games out of 38 that were not defeats

I never remember thinking that Derby would stay up at the time, but the fact that they were so poor was crazy. I don't think we'll see a lower points tally for a long time, unless another team enters administration.

Firstly, the transfers to build a PL-worthy team were a bit suspect. Yeah, Robert Earnshaw had a proven track record but he failed to integrate properly into the squad. Looking at the squad list, there was nobody really noteworthy and the ones who were the better players were getting on a bit. The reason why teams like Norwich and Southampton have managed to stay up is because although they buy from lower leagues, the players they bring in are young and hungry to succeed. Derby's 07/08 squad just looks like a collection of Championship players and players who have just been put out to pasture (ie. Stubbs, Savage, Edworthy, Lewis, and Todd and maybe Moore and Michael Johnson).

I also remember from watching MOTD that Dean Leacock was nowhere near PL standard. I guess you could say he was a mainstay in the defence, but he was never quick enough for the cut and thrust of the Premier League. He plays in League One now...go figure.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 29 Apr 2013, 22:18

gnrpoison wrote:07/08: Derby County if Sunderland in 05/06 can be bad we can do better with 11points and 1 win. Managed to have 9 games out of 38 that were not defeats

Way to make a 19th place finish with a measly 35 points look respectable.

gnrpoison wrote:10/11: Villa, 3 top 6 finishes the previous 3 seasons, a messy divorce with ex manager, fighting relegation only to end up midtable due to a good last 6 games and teams around them taking points off each other.

I'll actually nominate Birmingham for 10/11 ROTS, went from 9th place and the longest unbeaten run of the season in 09/10, to relegation, something that winning the Carling Cup didn't quite make up for. I blame the Carling Cup win for our relegation, we went on a very bad run of form.

gnrpoison · Post by **gnrpoison** » 29 Apr 2013, 22:23

It is a shame with Derby, simply because I think they got promoted too early. As I believe Billy Davies had a 3-4 year plan to get them in the Premier League and he did it within the first year so it meant they could not cope. I would also agree Wimbledon were punching above their weight but the previous seasons had seen them do well. The 99/00 season saw them go through a new board if I remember, a comedy manager that were wellies all the time(thats my memory of him), a set of players that were still capable of doing the job. If it was not them for it then perhaps Sheffield Wednesday as they took some hammerings that season. I had forgotten about Southampton that season but they always seemed to be around the bottom without actually going down.

Oh and Redbulljack I could not put Blues in simply because you won a trophy and your first major domestic honour since 1963. Any team that does that regardless of the league form doesn't in my mind make it rejectful hence why I went with my team Villa because the last few years have been rejectful in the spirit of the award and expectations before the season.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 29 Apr 2013, 22:41

gnrpoison wrote:Oh and Redbulljack I could not put Blues in simply because you won a trophy and your first major domestic honour since 1963. Any team that does that regardless of the league form doesn't in my mind make it rejectful

Fair enough. I just assumed people were only taking league form into account, based on the thread title.

And yeah, first major trophy in 48 years, our trophy room consists of 2 League Cups, 2 Football League Trophies and a few lower division titles, but that's it.

gnrpoison · Post by **gnrpoison** » 29 Apr 2013, 22:55

Its cool I did think just on league form but sometimes it doesn't tell the whole story, for example Wigan could be relegated but are in a FA Cup final and could win the thing, so would that be rejectful as it was surely above expectations at the start of the season. E.G. Villa this season we expected it to be up and down, but we got a semi final out of it despite the performance but if we go down then we deserve it for this year simply because there has been rejectful moments. With expectations for 2010/11 we thought Ireland would add to the squad, Dunne and Collins would still play well and we would get top 10. Again we did but only because we brought Bent in the January, a swap of Milner for Ireland plus money hadn't worked out(still hasn't in my mind), having to play the kids a lot before Xmas and Houllier's embarassing gaffe against Liverpool and surrendering a cup tie were rejectful. As well as going through 4 people in charge in one season (O'Neill, KMac, Houllier and MacCallister) with Houllier having to step down due to health problems we all expected when he signed equals one very rejectful season. Funny thing as our last games were Arsenal away and Liverpool at home I thought if we were not 6 points ahead of the drop before those games we would probably go, what happens we win both and the strong finish, (think we got 3 wins and 2 draws in our last 5 games). Ah its Villa for you if we screw it up, we do it in style.

David AGS · Post by **David AGS** » 30 Apr 2013, 09:58

Im a big Gunners fan,

can I mention Tottenham? (Well too bad, I did!)

Seriously, Arsenal themselves had some many rejectful moments. In 2002-2003, should have won the title. Was 6 points clear with 3-4 games to go, only for the Gunners to draw v Utd and Liverpool (on memory), and lost to Leeds 3-2 at Highbury (Very mixed emotions for an Aussie with Kewell and Viduka scoring).

Similar story in 2007-2008, was like 9 points clear in February, Eduardo got injured and fell to third in April.

You can also do Reject Transfers of the Premier league:

Torres? Asamoah Gyan, Mutu, Morientes, Veron, Jose Reyes? Pavluckenko, Rebrov, Rasiak (last 3 Spurs!)

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 30 Apr 2013, 21:18

Ataxia wrote:However, checking their buys in 2002/03 they didn't exactly replicate their success in the market of the previous season. In fact, I feel that all of their summer transfers in 2002 were rather poor and none of them brought anything new to the squad. I don't ever think players like Sofiane or Rahim ever even played, and the signing of the aging Van der Gouw was pointless considering they already had James and Bywater. I guess, with the same squad as 2001/02, they got "found out" a bit in a tactical sense.

It was only about 4 years ago that I bought a PS2 and I picked up loads of old games on the cheap, including the LMA Manager game for that season. Imagine my shock when looking at the West Ham squad and realising that I only knew about two thirds of the players!
Yes, Sofiane was in the game and just as rubbish as in real life. Edoard Cisse was brilliant though - in the game. I have no memory of him playing for us, though apparently he did. About 20 times!

There were other time-wasters around at that point too - Vladimir Labant, Ragnvald Soma, Laurent Courtois (all left-sided players, never a happy area for us)

Van der Gouw wasn't so weird - there have been many occasions where we've got aging keepers and stuck them on the bench for a whole season. See also Gerry Peyton and Richard Wright.

Worst of the lot though, by a mile, because he was a disgracefully lazy footballer, was Gary ****ing Breen. I will NEVER forget the 6-0 mauling by Man Utd we got on national TV that season where it couldn't have been more obvious that he didn't give a shite. One of the few occasions where I, as someone who proved that I was useless as a defender in my 45 minutes for the school second team, looked at the massacre in progress and thought "I really couldn't do any worse than that idiot".

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 30 Apr 2013, 21:53

Barbazza wrote:
Worst of the lot though, by a mile, because he was a disgracefully lazy footballer, was Gary ****ing Breen. I will NEVER forget the 6-0 mauling by Man Utd we got on national TV that season where it couldn't have been more obvious that he didn't give a shite. One of the few occasions where I, as someone who proved that I was useless as a defender in my 45 minutes for the school second team, looked at the massacre in progress and thought "I really couldn't do any worse than that idiot".

Nope. Not accepting that :lol:

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

andrew2209 · Post by **andrew2209** » 01 May 2013, 18:38

Barbazza wrote:It was only about 4 years ago that I bought a PS2 and I picked up loads of old games on the cheap, including the LMA Manager game for that season. Imagine my shock when looking at the West Ham squad and realising that I only knew about two thirds of the players!
Yes, Sofiane was in the game and just as rubbish as in real life. Edoard Cisse was brilliant though - in the game. I have no memory of him playing for us, though apparently he did. About 20 times!

I miss the LMA series. Had 2002,2005 and 2007. 2002 was actually the most challenging, seeing as on 2005 and 2007 you'd always seem to get a massive budget increase if you promoted, which allowed you to loan in ridiculous amounts of players. I got Doncaster Rovers promoted twice from League 2, to League 1, to the Championship, and was top of the table when I lost the save data. On another game save, my supported club Watford now play in a 50'000seater, and are mid-table in the Premier League, due to a random budget increase.

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 01 May 2013, 18:43

andrew2209 wrote:I miss the LMA series. Had 2002,2005 and 2007. 2002 was actually the most challenging, seeing as on 2005 and 2007 you'd always seem to get a massive budget increase if you promoted, which allowed you to loan in ridiculous amounts of players. I got Doncaster Rovers promoted twice from League 2, to League 1, to the Championship, and was top of the table when I lost the save data. On another game save, my supported club Watford now play in a 50'000seater, and are mid-table in the Premier League, due to a random budget increase.

The LMA series was one of the best games of my childhood. Well, LMA 06 I think it was. I had it on the old Xbox and used to play it with my dad, who taught me a lot of experience in playing the game if that makes sense.

The best team I had won every competition they were entered in and won the Premier league with over 105 points. I had the money cheat on but we'll graze over that one..... *shame*

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 04 May 2013, 20:31

Slighty off topic but i'm going to nomiate the rejects of this football league season

Premier League (Whatever Happens): QPR: If Tony Fernandes can't succeed at Caterham with his spending ways then he's not going to succeed at QPR with the same approach either. They have been godawful all season only 4 wins all year and the only thing stopping this season being on a par with Sunderland 05/06 or Derby 07/08 is the 13 draws they have

Championship: Bristol City: Just to show how tight the championship has been this year Bristol City would have stayed up last season with this season's tally of 41 points which makes the 14 point difference from safety a bitter pill to swallow. Honorable Mention to Middlesbrough for dropping like a brick in the 2nd half of the season.

League 1: Tranmere Rovers: Portsmouth's the easy way out for this award Hartlepool regained their respectability and Bury were always going to struggle. But Tranmere dropped like stones down the order and their last 8 weeks of the season were just as pathetic as Middlesbrough's. Falling from 1st to 11th is not a good thing to do.

League 2: Barnet: They have been League 2's version of Wigan Athletic for some time now and it was a case of one relegation battle too many for the bees. To stay in League 2 for 8 years is still respectable but they had to let go at some point.

Conference Premier: AFC Telford: Went on a 30 something streak without a win and only ended it by taking Ebbsfleet down with them out of the league

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 05 May 2013, 13:03

Kimi-ICE wrote:Conference Premier: AFC Telford: Went on a 30 something streak without a win and only ended it by taking Ebbsfleet down with them out of the league

I resent this :evil:

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 05 May 2013, 13:20

A team that loses 30 matches in a row is always destined for this award barring some ridiculous event off the pitch

Post by **Ataxia** » 05 May 2013, 17:18

Kimi-ICE wrote:Championship: Bristol City: Just to show how tight the championship has been this year Bristol City would have stayed up last season with this season's tally of 41 points which makes the 14 point difference from safety a bitter pill to swallow. Honorable Mention to Middlesbrough for dropping like a brick in the 2nd half of the season.

That's not really fair by any stretch. Steve Lansdown (the chairman) had to cut the wage bill a lot over the summer, and Derek McInnes was tasked with just staying up. However, the finances were very restrictive and thus O'Driscoll had to come in to steady the ship. Yes, they went down, but O'Driscoll did get the team playing a little better.

I think Wolves are a far more appropriate nomination considering they suffered their second successive relegation with still a few key members of their PL squad.

Fun fact: this means that Stephen Hunt has now been part of a relegated side four times (Reading, Hull, 2x Wolves).

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 05 May 2013, 17:22

AARRGGHH i totally forgot about how pathetic Wolves were this season. If Bristol City's away form had been better (Only 3 wins and only 7 games out of 23 that weren't defeats) they would have had a better chance of staying up

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 05 May 2013, 19:48

Wolves has to be ROTS for Championship. It's embarrassing that they done the double on us, not just because they were our main rivals in that division.

David AGS · Post by **David AGS** » 06 May 2013, 10:51

Kimi-ICE wrote:
League 2: Barnet: They have been League 2's version of Wigan Athletic for some time now and it was a case of one relegation battle too many for the bees. To stay in League 2 for 8 years is still respectable but they had to let go at some point.

Yet Barnet had arguably the best second half of the season in the league. Edgar Davids took full control after the Bees took just 3 points from first 10 games or so and their form improved big time!

Svenko Wankerov · Post by **Svenko Wankerov** » 06 May 2013, 11:09

Stoke City should be nominated every season as long as they continue to employ and support Tony Pulis and his merry band of rugby trash.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 06 May 2013, 13:03

Svenko Wankerov wrote:Stoke City should be nominated every season as long as they continue to employ and support Tony Pulis and his merry band of rugby trash.

Last time I checked, Stoke played football, not rugby... :roll:

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 06 May 2013, 13:24

takagi_for_the_win wrote:
Svenko Wankerov wrote:Stoke City should be nominated every season as long as they continue to employ and support Tony Pulis and his merry band of rugby trash.

Last time I checked, Stoke played football, not rugby...

And to suggest otherwise is an offence to rugby

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 14 Apr 2014, 20:36

Time for a bump considering the season is almost over

Norwich for not scoring goals and taking chances or Sunderland who've been dire under di canio and since they got into the league cup final

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 14 Apr 2014, 22:43

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Norwich for not scoring goals and taking chances or Sunderland who've been dire under di canio and since they got into the league cup final

David Moyes called. He said he wants to win something this year, and this fits the bill.

gnrpoison · Post by **gnrpoison** » 14 Apr 2014, 23:13

I think it would be wrong to give it to Moyes as whoever was going to follow Ferguson, was going to have trouble as he pretty much got them the title on his own. It feels like a similar situation to what happened when Matt Busby left, as he had hung around for a bit when his successor took over and it damaged the club. So I have wondered perhaps the players would have responded better if Ferguson was not at matches or still performing a role at the club would they be different. I wonder this because it is still really his players and his methods that he has installed at the club, it is going to be sometime before that changes. See Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and other clubs for what happens when your most succesful manager leaves after a longtime at the club. I feel sorry for whoever has to replace Wenger when he leaves Arsenal as that is going to be tough if it is someone with a different idea when it comes to football. Regarding reject I wonder if my teams (Aston Villa) home form could be it as we have lost 10 matches already at home by some pretty pathetic scores, otherwise I would nominate the Hull City naming fiasco or Paulo Di Canio's reign at Sunderland or West Brom

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 15 Apr 2014, 08:16

takagi_for_the_win wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Norwich for not scoring goals and taking chances or Sunderland who've been dire under di canio and since they got into the league cup final

David Moyes called. He said he wants to win something this year, and this fits the bill.

I was trying to avoid giving it to Moyes because this level is all he'll ever be at even if he had Suarez in his team

There have been other more dire teams this season even by their standards

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 15 Apr 2014, 11:05

Rejects of the (Scottish) Premier League 2014: HIBERNIAN

I have no qualms nominating my own team. I got so sick of how terrible they've been this season I literally moved house from Leith to Gorgie.

Hearts are down and out, no money, no hope, they can't be ROTY because their fate was sealed before the season started. Hearts are basically playing an U21 squad against everybody in the league. Hearts have beaten Hibs twice this season in the league, Hibs lost to Hearts in the League Cup at Tynecastle, and they'll face off one more time, as the league split for the last 5 games means Hibs and Hearts are in the same group.

Hibs are the richest team in the bottom half of the division. With Rangers gone and Hearts about to vanish too, this was supposed to be Leith's time to challenge Parkhead for supremacy. Instead we're staving off relegation again. Only 4 points above the relegation play-off spot. And quite frankly, if Hibs do end up there, I'll be supporting Hamilton Accies. This team is a joke.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 16 Apr 2014, 10:38

I, for one, am all for giving it to Moyes this season. I mean, sure it was a very hard job, but he did made it even harder. First, he chose inexperienced staff at this level which is became more glaring as he decided it was apparently best to do without the support of any of the staff Ferguson had for what was clearly a transitional year. Then he follow it with one of the worst transfer market displays I've seen in years (one which was not self inflicted, right Mr Wenger?) following targets that everyone knew wouldn't be coming in, failing to buy a player at a cheaper price he ended up buying anyway while preventing said player of having a good settling in pre-season. Oh and he also did some insulting transfer offers. Perhaps worst than this was his insistence in one dimensional football while playing with some very good players out of their position. This last one includes buying one of the best attacking centre-midfielder in the premier league and proceed to play him out wide. Maybe it was his excuses and post-game conferences when he said silly things like Manchester United wanting to be Manchester City. Or perhaps was his pre-historic 4-4-2. Or it was simply Manchester United-Fulham. For whatever angle we see it, this year showed that Moyes is a solid and reliable manager, good for a midfield team and that he is anything but a winner (maybe this can be learned but I doubt it). The fact that Everton will, barring any disaster, finish ahead of Manchester United and maybe even achieve Champions League football says it all really. Everton wasted 11 years with Moyes. Manchester United is preparing to do the same.

Enforcer · Post by **Enforcer** » 16 Apr 2014, 18:58

95/96: David Moores, for telling Roy Evans there was no money to buy a defender and then dropping £8.5m on Stan Collymore who Evans hadn't asked for. Liverpool proceeded to look like a team that were an £8.5m defender short of winning the league for the next 2 seasons.

00/01: Peter Risdale. "Hey David, here's book of signed cheques, just go spend. Mortgaging the club on future earnings? Nah, I'm totally not doing that!"

02/03: Gerard Houllier. "My team came within a gnats hair of winning the league last season. I know what I should do now: Spend a total of £17m on Diouf, Diao and Cheyrou and finish 5th."

05/06: Djibril Cisse. How someone can be a professional footballer with only the ability to run very fast and hit the ball very hard is mind boggling. Whilst he was definitely quick and his striking technique was quite tidy, he didn't have the close control or intelligence to back it up. He found the net 19 times in all competitions, but, as he also set records for most offsides and most shots smashed straight at the goalkeeper in 1v1s, he probably could've had 30+ goals that year.

08/09: Mike Ashley. For appointing Joe Kinnear and Alan Shearer as manager in the one season, and the inevitable result: Relegation.

10/11: Tie. Ian Holloway & Sky Sports. The former for being pathologically unable to shut the hell up. And the latter for treating him like a 'breath of fresh air' because he criticised Rooney's wage demands. Wow. So did everyone who ever watched a football match. Well done, Ian. Gold Star.
He wasn't a breath of fresh air, he was a classless whiner who enjoyed the sound of his own voice too much. At least when Mourinho and Mr Ferguson whine, they have the trophies to back it up.

David AGS wrote:Im a big Gunners fan,
You can also do Reject Transfers of the Premier league:

Torres? Asamoah Gyan, Mutu, Morientes, Veron, Jose Reyes? Pavluckenko, Rebrov, Rasiak (last 3 Spurs!)

Reject Transfers:
Dia, Boogers, Rebrov, Mutu, Veron (x2!), Dundee, Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson, Taibi, Luque, Pavyluchenko, Diouf, Diao, Aquilani, Jeffers, Bogarde, Carroll, Lamela, Radiciou, Bullard (£5m and a 5 year deal at £50k a week for a 31 year old is silly for a top club. For Hull it was utter lunacy), Flo (to Sunderland), Balaban, Grabbi, Bianchi, Adam, Alan Smith... could probably think of a few more if given a while.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 16 Apr 2014, 21:30

Enforcer wrote:Reject Transfers:
Aquilani, Lamela,

I blame the clubs. Lamela has completely lacked the required playing time to integrate into this Spurs squad. He is a quality player and will show it when he inevitably returns to Serie A. Aquilani has already done so, he has been nothing short of fantastic for Fiorentina. Because he's a quality player as well. I'd have both in my Starting XI, no question.

watka · Post by **watka** » 17 Apr 2014, 22:05

Roman Pavlychenko was hugely underrated in my opinion. He was built up to be some kind of world beater just because he scored twice against England (not hard) and inevitably fell short of those inflated expectations.

I'm sorry but David Moyes has got to be ROTY. Fergie always made Man Utd greater than the sum of their parts, but surely the least they expected this season was 4th? Instead, they're miles off that and nobody is scared of them. What seals the deal though if how well Martinez has done with Everton. Martinez had exactly the same task as Moyes, to take over a team that had been built up by and reliant upon a long-standing manager (Moyes himself) and have notably improved the team.

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 17 Apr 2014, 22:20

watka wrote:Roman Pavlychenko was hugely underrated in my opinion. He was built up to be some kind of world beater just because he scored twice against England (not hard) and inevitably fell short of those inflated expectations.

I'm sorry but David Moyes has got to be ROTY. Fergie always made Man Utd greater than the sum of their parts, but surely the least they expected this season was 4th? Instead, they're miles off that and nobody is scared of them. What seals the deal though if how well Martinez has done with Everton. Martinez had exactly the same task as Moyes, to take over a team that had been built up by and reliant upon a long-standing manager (Moyes himself) and have notably improved the team.

No. It just has to be Spurs this season because of one, having AVB as manager. Two, selling Bale to Real Madrid. And 3, swapping the midfield around all the time meaning that there is no continuity within the team. In fact, its a bathpluging miracle that spurs are in the top 6 or 7.