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Made as big thanks to all the workers of the Spanish national healthcare system, and to all those people who are giving their all in this fight against coronavirus. Equally I hope it can be a message of support for the British National Health system. Strength to everybody - and especially to all those people infected with this cruel virus.
We offer this transcription of cello duo recorded at distance - any possible benefit would go entirely to the Madrid Public Health System.
Please help the cause by sharing this freely please!
As most of you know, I do quite a lot of inter-forum stuff, but I always try to be neutral when I'm not on for Reading FC matters. So ... the Sunderland admin lady on the Black Cat Chat forum has asked me if I could reproduce this on more forums ... so please do take a read and go to the link underneath. Any spare pennies would be really welcomed... but equally a message on any social network would be a good help too.
Here it is:
"Bradley Lowery is a Sunderland mad lad who loves his footy. Unfortunately, Bradley also suffers with a rare form of cancer called neuroblastoma, which can only be treated in the USA. In order to get there, Bradley's family need to rase more than £700,000, and we intend to help him get there and to help him continue to roar the Lads on for many more years to come! If ever there was a young lad deserving of your help and ours, then Bradley is that young lad. We aim to do our bit to help get this young boy the treatment he so richly deserves. Please, help us to help Bradley. Any and all donations are welcome."
As most of you know, I do quite a lot of inter-forum stuff, I always try to be neutral when I'm not on for Reading FC matters. So ... the Sunderland admin lady on the Black Cat Chat forum has asked me if I could reproduce this on more forums ... so please do take a read and go to the link underneath. Any spare pennies would be really welcomed... but equally a message on any social network would be a good help too.
Here it is:
"Bradley Lowery is a Sunderland mad lad who loves his footy. Unfortunately, Bradley also suffers with a rare form of cancer called neuroblastoma, which can only be treated in the USA. In order to get there, Bradley's family need to rase more than £700,000, and we intend to help him get there and to help him continue to roar the Lads on for many more years to come! If ever there was a young lad deserving of your help and ours, then Bradley is that young lad. We aim to do our bit to help get this young boy the treatment he so richly deserves. Please, help us to help Bradley. Any and all donations are welcome."
As always, friendly greetings from daib0, some of you know me a fair bit by now from Inter-Forum games! Onto our game together on Thursday - and I wondered if I could get a bit of chat going once again to report back to the guys and gals on my forum. Respect always given as our previous collaborations have always proven, so here goes, a few pointers here but any comments (that are reproducible!) always welcome!:
A] How was the summer period? Any useful new incoming talented players this season? Could you mention a few of your hot talents to inform the RR members?
B] Hardly anything between us so far, both clubs aspire to do bigger things but at the moment just sitting off the pace. Has the season gone to expectations so far? Where do you see yourselves finishing — both head and heart?!
C] We Royals are blowing a bit hot and cold but we fans certainly have been a bit wounded by Steve Clarke nearly doing a ‘runner’ to your Fulham neighbours. Confidence in our man has undeniably plummeted. So from a neutral, any thoughts of the Royals of recent times, where are we right now?
D] Looking ahead to the game — even if you’re leaving a prediction elsewhere, could you give me just a quick indication of how you see the game going? I would have thought that it might go any way … perhaps I myself would go for a very narrow 1-0 Royals win being at home, shoot me down if you wish!
As always, I promise that any snippets used will be credited by reference to your forum, and the individual member in question (chance of Thames Valley fame!). And I can say that as a mod myself on RR, it’s always promised no ‘wind ups’ on our forum. Our match presentation here proves that: http://royalsrendezvous.co.uk/topic/10388837/1 In fact, any questions for us in return, just get back and I’ll do my best lads …
My friend Clyde (admin on “Royals Rendezvous”) is petitioning the FA and Premier League to require Premier League club to offer fans free away travel to matches - before hopefully expanding to the Football League and cup competitions. The main aim is that the increased TV money isn't spent on player's wages. [url= http://www.change.org/p/football-association-give-free-travel-for-away-fans]See here[/url]
Recently, the Premier League announced a new television deal showing an increase of 71% on the previous deal. With this massive increase in revenue for the clubs - they should be able to offer away fans free travel to away matches without increasing ticket prices.
Ticket prices are already too high and put people off travelling to the games. Including the travel with the match ticket would enable more people to be able to travel to matches - especially younger people, who may not be able to travel to matches otherwise.
In Germany, away travel is included as part of the match ticket - and is subsidised by the clubs.
Some Premier League clubs, such as Stoke City, have already implemented a free away travel scheme for their supporters. Stoke started the scheme for the 2013-14 season and saw a 26% increase on away attendances for like-for-like matches when compared to the previous season. This shows how well this can work. Additionally, the increased away ticket money would offset the cost of the transport to the games.
The Premier League should force clubs to offer free away travel - as part of the rules of the league. This could, later, be expanded for Premier League sides playing in the FA and League Cups, as well as Championship sides.
My friend Clyde (admin on “Royals Rendezvous”) is petitioning the FA and Premier League to require Premier League club to offer fans free away travel to matches - before hopefully expanding to the Football League and cup competitions. The main aim is that the increased TV money isn't spent on player's wages. http://www.change.org/p/football-association-give-free-travel-for-away-fans
Recently, the Premier League announced a new television deal showing an increase of 71% on the previous deal. With this massive increase in revenue for the clubs - they should be able to offer away fans free travel to away matches without increasing ticket prices.
Ticket prices are already too high and put people off travelling to the games. Including the travel with the match ticket would enable more people to be able to travel to matches - especially younger people, who may not be able to travel to matches otherwise.
In Germany, away travel is included as part of the match ticket - and is subsidised by the clubs.
Some Premier League clubs, such as Stoke City, have already implemented a free away travel scheme for their supporters. Stoke started the scheme for the 2013-14 season and saw a 26% increase on away attendances for like-for-like matches when compared to the previous season. This shows how well this can work. Additionally, the increased away ticket money would offset the cost of the transport to the games.
The Premier League should force clubs to offer free away travel - as part of the rules of the league. This could, later, be expanded for Premier League sides playing in the FA and League Cups, as well as Championship sides.
I’m happy to forward this to you all — I believe fans should help each other for the benefit of all. I’m a Reading fan, as many of you know, but I write regularly on many different forums, and feel that I know the ins-and-outs of many. I also help to organize inter-forum games and competitions.
Right now the overwhelming majority of Blackpool fans need YOU to sign their big petition - please help! The following should help to explain everything. If you still feel you need more info as good as any: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Oyston
from Blackpool Supporters Trust
Hi All,
Any assistance that you can give in supporting our petition would be greatly appreciated. You may already have heard, but our club chairman Karl Oyston has been in the press this week for insulting a fan by text. The press has focused on the use of language which could be considered offensive including use of the term "Retard" and the comment "Enjoy your special needs day out", which have been widely condemned, due to the offence it may cause to the disabled, their families and indeed decent society. Football is supposed to be inclusive and clearly the use of such language cannot be tolerated.
However Oyston has not only insulted those with disabilities, he also appears to believe that normal everyday working people are also somehow beneath him and in doing so has widely insulted football fans across the country.
Here is one example of a text sent to a Blackpool fan by Karl Oyston...
"So let me get this straight, you think that despite knowing and being friendly with other chairman in the FL and PL, venture capitalists, bankers, entrepeneurs, very successful businessmen, government ministers, MP's and a whole host of notable worthies, that I should single out a fat flaccid painter and decorator/consultant whose crowning achievment is taking his poor family on holiday to Orlando for three torturous weeks a year? really? I suggest you slip discreetly back into whatever foul pond you emerged from. Crack on as I am enjoying myself. you are on toast and are too simple to realise it. In fact you have cheered me up no end and made me realise I am right to completely ignore the influential fans so cheers." Karl Oyston.
Karl Oyston is, as you may be aware, also on the Football League Board and therefore has an influential role in the decisions that may affect your football club. We firmly believe there is no place in football for anyone with such a dismissive attitude towards us, the fans. Blackpool Fans also believe that Oyston should be removed from his position on the Football League board.
Club President Valeri Belokon has called upon all Blackpool fans to support a petition for Club Chairman Karl Oyston to step down from his position with immediate effect.
Blackpool Supporters Trust would ask that our members , Blackpool fans and indeed all in the football community support Mr Belokons request and sign the attached petition that requests that Mr Karl Oyston step down from any position of influence in Blackpool FC immediately. This petition will be submitted to the FA and Football League as well as to Blackpool Football Club owner Mr Owen Oyston.
As many fans will be aware, Karl Oyston has recently been in the national and local media, having engaged in a series of abusive text exchanges with Blackpool supporters, which has further sullied the good name of Blackpool FC through association.
The attitude displayed by Mr Oyston, not only in regard to the unacceptable references to disabilities and ' special needs ' but in his general attitude towards hard working Blackpool fans in general makes him in our view unsuitable to hold a position of influence within our famous community football club.
For some time the relationship between Club and its fans has been strained and it is our firm belief that many of these issues are a direct result of Karl Oyston and his confrontational approach to the fan base. This latest outburst from Mr Oyston is simply a very public demonstration of an attitude that as has no place on football and decent society and which in addition has had a negative impact on relations between Karl Oyston and numerous managers , board members , members of the Press , players , fans and of course, Mr Belokon himself. When one individual manages to sour relations with so many other people, then the source of the problem becomes patently obvious. Karl Oyston seems incapable of managing everyday relationships without conflict and that cannot be good for Blackpool Football Club.
The time has come for Blackpool Football Club to move on into a new era of cooperation between Club and its fans and the wider community and for us to build upon the success that Valeri Belokon's substantial investment had brought about. Blackpool Supporters Trust call upon Mr Owen Oyston to remove Karl Oyston from any position of influence with immediate effect and re-establish a working relationship with Valeri Belokon, with a view to making positive progress, placing football first, investing properly for the success of the team and to start treating the fans and community of Blackpool with the respect that they deserve from the ambassador of our historic club.
Please sign the online petition detailing your full name & email address, together with any comments that you feel are relevant.
I'm wondering if you are able to answer a few questions about your season so far, we are doing a similar thing on many championship forums to get a general inter-forum idea of the nearly half-way mark:
*What was your best game of the season so far? *Who has been your best player? *Who has been your underperformer? *Who has been your best signing? *Do you believe you are underperforming, overachieving or are performing how you expected at the start of the season?
The questions are always the same for each club so it’s never personal! I'll get a general vibe from the members or I'll do an average.
It'll just help with a write up we’re doing for the Tilehurst End site and the Royals Rendezvous forum - where we’ll mention of course which forums were asked for the various categories.
This fun game has got lost from view with the reform of the structuring of this site, but don't worry, I think all entries are correctly saved ...
Just a reminder, the game is already well established, several seasons running now. And dead easy! You simply guess ONCE (now!) what you think will be the final league positions for the Premier League 2013-14 (that’s all teams, in order 1st to 20th), leave them on this thread, and then sit back and enjoy!
This game will initially take you a couple of minutes, and then enjoy without having to make updates at all, all season. Here right below are the current 20 Premier teams in alphabetical order — simply COPY these onto your PC and re-arrange them in YOUR finishing order come the end of the 2013-14 season:
Arsenal Aston Villa Cardiff City Chelsea Crystal Palace Everton Fulham Hull City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Norwich City Southampton Stoke City Sunderland Swansea City Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United
(USE THESE SPELLINGS please if at all possible, it's automated, if not the Sunderland computer goes bananas if Aston Villa isn't A for Aston, Tottenham starts not with T but with S for Spurs etc. ...)
482 guesses / from 36 forums (with 31 of these included in the forum average game too, having got the 5 minimum necessary) coming from:
HULL CITY — Not 606 Hull board 40 (42, but includes 2 incorrect at present = 40) SWANSEA — Planet Swans 34 LEICESTER — Foxes Talk 26 WATFORD — WFC Forums 25 CARDIFF — Cardiff City Forum 24 NORWICH CITY — Not 606 Norwich Board 24 CRYSTAL PALACE — Holmesdale Forum 19 DERBY — DCFC Fans Forum 18 DONCASTER — Viking Chat Forum 17 LEEDS — Dirty Leeds forum 17 NEWCASTLE - The Toon Forum 17 FULHAM — Friends of Fulham 16 LEEDS — LUFC Talk 15 QPR — Not 606 QPR Board 15 BARNSLEY — Talk of the Tarn Forum 13 READING — Royals Rendezvous 13 BRIGHTON — North Stand Chat 12 LIVERPOOL — Liverpool FC Forum 12 BLACKPOOL — Back Henry Street Forum 11 NEWCASTLE UNITED — Vital Football Newcastle 11 WBA — BaggiesZone 10 CHELSEA — Chelsea FC Forums 9 EVERTON — ToffeeTalk Forum 8 PETERBOROUGH — The Official Posh Forum 8 TOTTENHAM — Tottenham Hotspur Unofficial Supporters Site 8 Talk Of The Terrace (National Forum) 7 BLACKBURN — Roverstalk 6 MANCHESTER CITY — MUFC Forum 6 WBA — WBAZone 6 Individual Non-affiliated Entries 6 BURNLEY — The Longside 5 WIGAN — This Northern Soul 5 -------------- not yet forum entry (minimum 5) below: CRAWLEY TOWN — CTFC Net 4 WEST HAM — Cockney Boys Forum 4 NOTTINGHAM FOREST — The A Block 3 SUNDERLAND — Black Cat Chat Forum 3 Media & Communication 3 MANCHESTER UNITED — United Lounge Forum 2
Next weekend, last weekend before the Premier League kick-off I’ll have the national average selection and your forum average entry once more … For now though, you might be interested to see the proposed table by Oddschecker, who have made averages from 24 different betting firms. From all of those, you’d get this average:
Manchester City Chelsea Manchester United Arsenal Liverpool Tottenham Hotspur Everton Newcastle United Southampton Aston Villa West Bromwich Albion Swansea City Fulham Sunderland West Ham United Stoke city Cardiff City Norwich City Hull City Crystal Palace
--------------------------------
Generosity! Anyone can change their selection up to day before kick-off. If you wish to change opinion in the light of transfers etc, but can't remember your selection, write on this thread and I'll gladly remind anyone.
Hey guys, you'll know I'm a Reading fan, but we've been linking up with Sunderland and Liverpool fans of late to do match previews and a league placings game too.
I thought you might be interested in a pre-match assessment by 'Wolfy', RR's own resident Liverpool fan ... any comments back (sociable please!) I'd happily hand back to him, if reproducible!
So here goes:
Match: QPR v Sunderland
Date: 9th March 2013
Time: 15:00
Competition: Premier League
Form: QPR - WLLDD Sunderland - DLLLDD
Last Meeting: QPR 0-0 Sunderland
Despite me thinking Sunderland just need a few wins to safety, I think both these sides are in the relegation scrap. Sunderland have had so many decent fixtures to bring them up to mid-table but haven't won in the last 6 and sit just 6 points off the drop zones. If they lose this one, they are in trouble. I think at this stage of the season, they don't need to look ahead any further than the next 2 games, which are crucial. After this game, they play Norwich at home. If they take 2-3 points they should be happy but if they lose both or pick up just 1 point then they could be even further down the table. They do have a fair bit of quality in their side which could be the deciding factor in this game. The likes of Sessegnon, Flecther and Adam Johnson are very good players who can win a match on their day. Without any assists from penalties, they are the top 3 scorers in the league at Sunderland with only Gardner ( 5 goals, 3 penalties) breaking that trio. They have 19 goals and Sessegnon and Johnson have 7 assists between them. If they can keep hold of them is another matter but first, they need to secure safety first. In a game like this, the first goal is vital. Fletcher has scored the first goal 6 times while ALL of Gardner's strikes have been first goals. Sunderland are without star performer Danny Rose once again and his injury has been key to recent results while Lee Cattermole is still out. I expect QPR to try and exploit Sunderland while Rose is recovering from his injury and that's where Sunderland need to be careful. With just 3 away wins this season, this game will be very difficult for Sunderland to get 3 points.
I personally expected a bit more of a 'revival' by QPR under Harry Redknapp. But fairytale stuff aside, he has a big job on his hands keeping them in the Premier League. But despite just 3 wins this season, they are just 4 points from safety and a win here will go a long way. They are getting harder to beat, particularly at home with 0-0 home draws against Norwich, Tottenham and Man City. They needed wins though and last week's away win at Southampton was crucial because it has dragged Southampton down into the mix too. They have Aston Villa away next win so there is a good chance they could be out of the bottom 3 next week which would be quite amazing really. So, if you look at it in detail, Harry hasn't done a bad job. I don't think have any stand out players to be honest, with maybe Taarabt and maybe new signing Loic Remy the top 2. Taarabt's 4 goals have also all been goals (bar 1) which have been the first goal for his side in a match so he might be worth a shout for first scorer. Remy has 2 goals in 4 games and should profit more from being the main man up front. If he can stay fit and on form, then his goals will keep them up. QPR just need to keep their heads, because I think this is a game they should win. Their worst 5 disciplined players have a total of 28 yellow cards and 2 reds compared to just 21 yellows at Sunderland.
Both teams have not scored enough goals this season and I don't expect a thriller, but I think it'll be a home win. Close but still a home win. 2-1 to QPR.
Inter-forum FA Cup Upsets Game (3rd Rd) One-off Weekend Game
Happy new year guys and lasses! Have fun on the FA Cup Upsets game - this is now becoming a well-loved feature! For the 2nd Round we had over 120 entries, and 21 forums finally took part — amazing, but let’s beat that this time! And it’s dead easy to play, and it’s open absolutely to all …
Have a look at the paired teams for the 3rd Round on the following post - there are Premier, championship, League 1, League 2, Conference (Blue Square) Premier and even lower included on the list below. I'd like to invite you to call for FIVE matches where you see a possible upset on the cards! By upset, it must obviously be a lower league side winning (or at least drawing) against a higher league side. You haven't got to give any score at all or call a draw or win, simply guess which will be the successful 'lower tier club' or ‘minnow’ teams on the day! If you get it wrong doesn’t matter at all, you simply don’t get awarded points for that game or games — and will surely apply to all of us in some of the games.
So … how do you get points?
If in your selected games a lower league side does indeed win you have 3 points. If the lower league side force a replay then it is 1 point (doesn’t matter if they later lose the replay, just the initial game is taken into account). But ... bonus - if you choose a real ‘upset’ — a team from a league TWO tiers OR MORE lower than their opponents (according to the levels below) then those points are DOUBLED. This is the real betting man's stuff - the more you risk with tier difference the more points you get, but there again, an upset is much less likely!! So you need to weigh things up!!
To help you, see the leagues written in after each team (in next post) to make an easier selection: PR = premier league CH = championship L1 = League Division 1 L2 = League Division 2 CPr = Conference Premier C-Lwr = lower than Conference premier level ** as an extra help, two tier (or more) differences are shown with double asterisks.
THE GAMES TO CHOOSE FROM:
Sat 5 Jan 2013 Brighton (CH) V Newcastle (PR) Aldershot (L2) V Rotherham (L2) (prediction not valid; two teams from same league!) Aston Villa (PR) V Ipswich (CH) Barnsley (CH) V Burnley (CH) (prediction not valid; two teams from same league!) ** Macclesfield (CPr) V Cardiff (CH) Blackburn (CH) V Bristol City (CH) (prediction not valid; two teams from same league!) Bolton (CH) V Sunderland (PR) Charlton (CH) V Huddersfield (CH) (prediction not valid; two teams from same league!) ** Crawley (L1) V Reading (PR) Crystal Palace (CH) V Stoke (PR) Derby (CH) V Tranmere (L1) Fulham (PR) V Blackpool (CH) Hull (CH) V Leyton Orient (L1) Leeds United (CH) V Birmingham (CH) (prediction not valid; two teams from same league!) ** Leicester (CH) V Burton Albion (L2) ** Luton (CPr) V Wolves (CH) Man City (PR) V Watford (CH) ** Middlesbrough (CH) V Hastings Utd (C-Lwr) Millwall (CH) V Preston (L1) Nottm Forest (CH) V Oldham (L1) Oxford Utd (L2) V Sheff Utd (L1) Peterborough (CH) V Norwich (PR) QPR (PR) V West Brom (PR) (prediction not valid; two teams from same league!) Sheff Wed (CH) V MK Dons (L1) Southampton (PR) V Chelsea (PR) (prediction not valid; two teams from same league!) Southend (L2) V Brentford (L1) ** Tottenham (PR) V Coventry (L1) ** Wigan (PR) V Bournemouth (L1) West Ham (PR) V Man Utd (PR) (prediction not valid; two teams from same league!)
Sunday 6th January 2013 Swansea (PR) V Arsenal (PR) (prediction not valid; two teams from same league!) ** Mansfield (CPr) V Liverpool (PR)
Monday 7th January 2013 ** Cheltenham (L2) V Everton (PR)
Honorary prizes: gold medal/s, silver medal/s, bronze medal/s and diploma/s of honour, for all those on the highest points totals. You play at both an individual level — for personal glory! — and for your forum; forums will be also be classed according to the average mark of its posters (but a minimum of 5 entries is required of each forum to make this a fair average).
How did the 2nd Round go? — the overall winner was Disorganised1 of the Coventry — Sky Blue Talk (incredible, scooping maximum points available as well!), with the runners-ups Royal Crisp (Reading - Royals Rendezvous) and Rhys Lighting 63 (Fulham — Friends of Fulham) also doing excellently. There were quite a group in the bronze position … Top team forum boards were the Hemel Hempstead — Tudor Talk, followed by runners-up Barnet — The Beehive, 3rd Manchester City — MCFC Forum, 4th Swansea — Planet Swans and then in 5th spot my own board Royals Rendezvous.
Have fun - answers on this thread please — remember to simply name FIVE games where an upset might occur in your opinion (and please you all five options up, it’s in your and your forum’s interest!). CAREFUL closing time: 11.59am SATURDAY mid-day - that's because the Brighton v Newcastle game kicks off at 12.30 pm, and I need over half-an-hour of checking grace. Points and placings for this one-off weekend game will be published within 48 hours of the last game of the round to be played (Wednesday latest). In case of postponement, sorry, bad luck, you lose that game — but in case of abandonment we take the score at stopping moment as valid …
A warm hello to all Rangers fans as always — for those who don’t know me, it’s a Royals fan 100% in peace here. And, as regulars might know, we on ‘Royals Rendezvous’ always do a very detailed match presentation, and our next match is here: http://royalsrendezvous.co.uk/topic/9748761/1
The fullest respect is shown to Queens Park Rangers with full information produced equally for both sets of fans — but in all honesty far, far more on your team. Apart from current form, there are also sections on your ground, your manager, your part of London, and rivals and famous fans. Feel free to add any comments on here, always great to hear your opinions. In particular, I’d like to sound you out on the following general points -
A] How is the squad developing now — for example, who is showing most confidence and which players feel most under pressure? B] It’s been a most disappointing start for both of us if we’re honest; indeed I had QPR to finish in 5th/6th place on our forum’s league positions competition! — so what do you think is the chief reason it hasn’t clicked for you so far this season? C] Realistically, all we in Reading were hoping for was a 17th place comfortable finish to guarantee premiership football again next season. From your experience last season, can you offer the Royals any advice to stop us biting our fingernails?! D] How strong do you see the general level of the premier this season, and who’s going to finish right at the top?
If anyone would like to do a slightly longer piece, fantastic, just get in touch with me by PM or directly check out the ‘Rivals, but Friends’ section where you can see other examples...
Although I’m a Reading fan, I admit we’ve hardly set the premier alight since coming up! You’re probably favourites for this game as you’re at home, although the Royals are drawing half the games. As I always say to our own members: “no whinging if we lose, and careful not to gloat if we pull off a win”. With that in mind, here’s to a good game, all comments welcome!
A warm hello again to all Rangers fans … look, just to let you know we’ve prepared a very detailed match presentation on the Q.P.R. v Reading game from our Reading forum, and the fullest respect shown to Rangers from our friendly site with full information produced equally for both sets of fans — but in all honesty far, far more on your team.
It would be really interesting for us to have any comments underneath from you. I know some people don’t particularly like other fans producing a shopping list of questions to answer, and I perfectly understand that, so I leave any comments freely and totally with you. But if you like, these following points might be used as a very basic guide in case you’d like to write to something slightly longer, but don’t feel at all pushed to go along this road if it doesn’t suit you:
A] What are currently the strongest areas of YOUR squad, and how do they click together? B] Who should Reading specially look out for / fear most of your squad? C] Any young stars coming through the academy that we should keep an eye on, now or in the future? D] Realistically, where do you hope Rangers might finish if all goes more-or-less well? E] How strong do you see the general level of the premier this season? F] Any general opinions of Reading FC - either for or against (you can be honest!)
All this of spending big or not this summer’s transfer window — there are worries and complaints on most premier forums to be honest. It depends what sort of figures one uses. If you take and add up EXPENDITURE for new players and simply DEDUCT money when you sell your players off I think that’s the most reliable way of doing it, as all clubs ALSO release players. Therefore, on the table below the highest spenders (after balancing incoming & outgoing) appear first, those who sell more than buy will be near the bottom then …
How does it come out? Well, very surprising for some!!:
Chelsea FC -90.948.000 £ Manchester United -47.163.600 £ Manchester City -35.112.000 £ Southampton FC -33.176.000 £ Liverpool FC -28.292.000 £ Aston Villa -19.562.400 £ Queens Park Rangers -16.794.800 £ West Ham United -15.967.600 £ Stoke City -14.291.200 £ Sunderland AFC -13.728.000 £ Norwich City -9.213.600 £ Reading FC -5.192.000 £ Newcastle United -3.489.200 £ West Bromwich Albion -2.200.000 £ Everton FC +748.000 £ Tottenham Hotspur +1.742.400 £ Wigan Athletic +2.257.200 £ Swansea City +5.693.600 £ Arsenal FC +11.484.000 £ Fulham FC +17.318.400 £
Does second season syndrome actually exist? I thought it did, I must admit, perhaps from the days when we Reading ‘Royals’ poo-pooed it in our second season and it finally came to haunt us on the last day of the season. Is the case that after one successful season, complacency sets in — “we belong here now”? And does anyone superstitious really believe in it as a curse? Well, I was going through the premier tables for the last decade, and I’ve come to the conclusion that if you can survive the first season, then you have every reason to look forward to an interesting premier career …
Here are they clubs that have been promoted (+ year) from the Championship — and alongside the PLACING they were for TWO seasons later:
2003-04 Norwich — relegated 1st season WBA — 19th [2nd SS] Palace - relegated 1st season
2004-05 Sunderland - relegated 1st season Wigan — 17th SURVIVE West Ham — 15th SURVIVE
2005-06 Reading — 18th [2nd SS] Sheff Utd - relegated 1st season Watford - relegated 1st season
2006-07 Sunderland — 16th SURVIVE Birmingham - relegated 1st season Derby - relegated 1st season
2010-11 Q.P.R. ? (survived 1st season) Norwich ? (survived 1st season) Swansea? (survived 1st season) 2nd Season ? Let’s wait and see … !
So, in the last 7 seasons only FOUR teams have suffered the supposed ‘SSS’ — yet TEN teams could not stay up in their first season. From this, the obvious yardstick should be ‘First Season Syndrome’ and not ‘Second Season Syndrome’!
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