Thoughts on this season?

It was a bit shit

Originally Posted by magic_cantona

All of what Sparky said and both of these. City and VAR are killing it (the old meaning, not the new hip one).

I watched Madrid vs City because I was desperate for Madrid to end Citys double Treble dreams. They dis, marvellous.

I watched Everton vs Liverpool in the hope Everton would finally end Liverpools title hopes. They did, marvellous.

Not sure how many other non United games I watched with any kind of excitement and I'd usually watch anything. The excitement has gone because of VAR, no question.

And I've never known a final day to be less exciting. City winning it generated zero excitement or entertainment - just apathy. Nobody cares because of how they've got to where they are. It's not a fairytale, it's predictable and boring. And it'll only get worse.

Then there's teams like Brentford, Palace etc who, as soon as they're 'safe', stop playing because what's the point. You hear commentators saying "Palace will really want to win this because even moving up a single place in the table, means millions to the club" - AS IF THE PLAYERS CARE

It's been tedious (made worse by how utterly shit we are).

Don't want to be that guy, but Palace won 6 and drew 1 of their last 7 games...

Originally Posted by Whip Hubley

The PL is drowning in its own greed. The city affair will simply speed it up and it's stuck between a rock and a hard place; sanction it's greatest asset properly,

That's the 2nd time I've read that in the past 24 hours. City is the Premier League's greatest asset? Really? Do people think that?

Originally Posted by sweetleftfoot

Don't want to be that guy, but Palace won 6 and drew 1 of their last 7 games...

yeah shocking example choice from maggers there, though I sort of get his point.



And PS yes, VAR is absolutely shite

Originally Posted by the heathen

That's the 2nd time I've read that in the past 24 hours. City is the Premier League's greatest asset? Really? Do people think that?

In terms of my post I simply meant the most successful side of recent times, which they are. Obviously they don't have the fanbase, history or otherwise of United, Liverpool, Arsenal, and half the other £#%&!ing sides in the league but they're the team that are front and centre because they've won 6 out of the last 7 titles.

Greatest is a poor choice of word, maybe most prominent? Anyway you catch my drift

It's been shit

The quality of football is shite. Don't believe a word of what Carragher and Neville spout - the football being served up is dull. No flair players in the game anymore, everything is robotic and formulated.
How many players go on a mazy run these days (you can't count players running through our entire team because we're shit) and get you off your seat?

City are clearly the best of a bad bunch. Every English club has failed in Europe - Villa, who are now in the Champions league got SIX put past them by Olympiakos. They would struggle to stay in the prem

As for United - it's been as bad as it's been for decades. The football is dull as £#%&!. We are clueless and I'm delighted the season is over. I'm just hoping for a Cup Final miracle. But it's rare the underdog wins them anymore.

The only good thing about the season was the pre/post match pints with the pals. Everything else can £#%&! off

Originally Posted by wiganste

It's been shit

The quality of football is shite. Don't believe a word of what Carragher and Neville spout - the football being served up is dull. No flair players in the game anymore, everything is robotic and formulated.
How many players go on a mazy run these days (you can't count players running through our entire team because we're shit) and get you off your seat?

City are clearly the best of a bad bunch. Every English club has failed in Europe - Villa, who are now in the Champions league got SIX put past them by Olympiakos. They would struggle to stay in the prem

As for United - it's been as bad as it's been for decades. The football is dull as £#%&!. We are clueless and I'm delighted the season is over. I'm just hoping for a Cup Final miracle. But it's rare the underdog wins them anymore.

The only good thing about the season was the pre/post match pints with the pals. Everything else can £#%&! off

We won the semi tbf

Agree with most of what's been said.

It's a media driven conspiracy about what an entertaining league it is.
Every game is fantastic and better than the previous one, with more and more false excitment drummed up.

VAR is £#%&!ing disgusting for the game.
One bloke dressed in black making an error of judgement during a game is just how it's always been, some you win some you loose.

Now they have taken away the ability of the ref to make a decision and farmed it out to a committee of idiots, non of whom seem to be able to make a decision, let alone a consistent one.

Add to this the blatant financial doping of club that is a "group of multiple clubs" (how does this not even get pulled up?) so they can move figures around to make it look like the "jewel" in their crown is playing on a level field, when every sponsor is owned by the same guy that owns the club. Add to this these £#%&!ers have already been found guilty of cheating.

It's Jimmy Saville levels of noncery in plain sight.

But it doesn't really matter and you can't blame the players, or the manager, who's reinvented football into what resembles watching a bunch of robots playing, 'cos again, the message is, it's the bestest ever.

Best league in the world.
I'll say it again, isn't even the best league in the country.


And to top it all off, we've been exceptionally shite, bar 1 or 2 moments.
However, I want TenHag to do well and it will be even sweeter when we come back.

Probably the worst season of football I can remember tbh. Just £#%&!ing boring all round.

Originally Posted by sweetleftfoot

Don't want to be that guy, but Palace won 6 and drew 1 of their last 7 games...

Well yeah, but they downed tools and got their manager sacked before that. There's a cluster of teams that were at it tbf.

The myth that every team is desperately slogging their arses off down to the very last minute is quite fanciful.

VAR itself isn't really the issue - it's the morons who can't use it properly. Giving even more power to the substandard officials to £#%&! up even more decisions was always going to be a mistake. The questionable lack of consistency between decisions for very similar situations, sometimes by the same officials, is the real problem.
When you have complete clowns drawing arbitrary lines for offside decisions while at the same time subjectively deciding when the ball was kicked that's a recipe for farce. The version of var used for offsides in particular is complete nonsense and is probably deliberate to provoke drama and hype. They seem to use a more automated offside version in European competitions and other leagues and the decisions seem to be much quicker and less controversial.
Also the likes of Neville etc chiming in with their own verdict in realtime before the official decision is made is ridiculous and lends weight to the idea that some of the actual var officials could be influenced by their verdicts.

With regard to the season itself - the standard keeps dropping as already said. The hipster coaches are trying to fully automate the game with 11+ robots following strict instructions. The entire game now seems to be based on physical attributes rather than skill etc. Also the current trend of phasing out the most famous position in the history of the game - the centre forward - is very depressing. The ultimate aim of Guardiola and his ilk seems to be 90%+ possession of the ball and the complete stifling of any chance of a competitive game breaking out. Aided and abetted by the officials turning a blind eye to their tactical fouling without which their entire 'philosophy' would be exposed.

Originally Posted by poppy

I'm the opposite with regards VAR. Initially opposed to it, I'll hold my hands up and admit I got it wrong. I thought it would take all controversy out of the game, and the resulting interest that follows. Post-game phone-ins were 50% moaning about the officials. Now they're 80% raging at VAR. Then there's the resulting conspiracies. It's belting stuff. Table tennis or badminton would love that sort of pull. Cricket, rugby, golf, boxing, and darts too. They'd all love a slice of the football pie.

As a lad, the back pages would be largely cricket in the summer, and football the rest of the year. No more - football dominates year round. I thought VAR would hurt that a little. However, it's had the opposite effect. It's that farcical, with the fans more steamed up and confused than ever before, it dominates in the media even more than pre VAR. I don't buy it that it's affected the popularity of the game. As Floyd once said - "love me or hate me, you're gonna watch me".



Be honest now, how many times have you tuned into a random FA Cup/League Cup tie on the box and felt a slight tinge of disappointment when the commentator points out there is no VAR for the game. It's not the same. Unless it's your team on the receiving end, the current £#%&! ups and bemusement only enriches the soap opera that is Premier League football. And the more they incorporate technology to rule on subjective calls, the more farcical it will get.

And at the end of the day, the best side still wins the league. Even if they are cheating bastards.

I don't feel a tinge of disappointment at all. In fact, the opposite. Football is great without VAR.

Originally Posted by Hank Scorpio

VAR itself isn't really the issue - it's the morons who can't use it properly. Giving even more power to the substandard officials to £#%&! up even more decisions was always going to be a mistake. The questionable lack of consistency between decisions for very similar situations, sometimes by the same officials, is the real problem.
When you have complete clowns drawing arbitrary lines for offside decisions while at the same time subjectively deciding when the ball was kicked that's a recipe for farce. The version of var used for offsides in particular is complete nonsense and is probably deliberate to provoke drama and hype. They seem to use a more automated offside version in European competitions and other leagues and the decisions seem to be much quicker and less controversial.

They also urgently need to sort out just what the hell is handball and what isn't. It's all over the place. Incidents like Wan Bissaka's v Coventry were ignored various other times throughout the season. That one we didn't get at Spurs was probably the worst I've ever seen.

Obviously handball is always a tricky one to call but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

Originally Posted by Glenn Lodbrok

I don't feel a tinge of disappointment at all. In fact, the opposite. Football is great without VAR.

This. It's brilliant when I put a match on and there's no VAR.

Originally Posted by magic_cantona

Well yeah, but they downed tools and got their manager sacked before that. There's a cluster of teams that were at it tbf.

The myth that every team is desperately slogging their arses off down to the very last minute is quite fanciful.

Good point. Palace have been brilliant lately but they didn't exactly bust their balls for for Hodgson.

You only have to look at City's run in to the title. They won 9 games in a row againt Villa, Palace, Luton, Brighton, Forest, Wolves, Fulham, Spurs and West Ham. Not one single team gave them a challenge. None. In fact apart from Spurs, West Ham and Forest they put at least 4 goals past everyone else. In those near on 1,000 mins of football they were losing for a total of 10 mins.

Originally Posted by Zorg

They also urgently need to sort out just what the hell is handball and what isn't. It's all over the place. Incidents like Wan Bissaka's v Coventry were ignored various other times throughout the season. That one we didn't get at Spurs was probably the worst I've ever seen.

Obviously handball is always a tricky one to call but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.



This. It's brilliant when I put a match on and there's no VAR.

Yeah they should probably take handball away from var except when a goal is scored or saved directly by an offending hand.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

Good point. Palace have been brilliant lately but they didn't exactly bust their balls for for Hodgson.

You only have to look at City's run in to the title. They won 9 games in a row againt Villa, Palace, Luton, Brighton, Forest, Wolves, Fulham, Spurs and West Ham. Not one single team gave them a challenge. None. In fact apart from Spurs, West Ham and Forest they put at least 4 goals past everyone else. In those near on 1,000 mins of football they were losing for a total of 10 mins.

Yeah, conpare that to how teams used to play against us when we were winning

Remember we be were steamrollering teams week in week out and winning the league with 90 points. Remember when City fans and Liverpool fans said we were ruining the game and we laughed and called them pathetic £#%&!ers? I do.

Our season hinges on Saturday

If we can somehow pull this off, it changes everything IMO. It wouldn’t be the same as Louis winning the FA Cup, because that was final we were expected to win.

Saturday, we’re massive underdogs. It would be a huge achievement and something to really hang our hat on in terms of progress.

I do think INEOS don’t want to sack ETH if they can help it. If we lose and lose badly, I don’t think they’ll have much choice. If we win, we’ll be on such a high, I don’t see how they can sack him. I think it’s that much of a gap between winning and not winning on Saturday.

Originally Posted by believe

Remember we be were steamrollering teams week in week out and winning the league with 90 points. Remember when City fans and Liverpool fans said we were ruining the game and we laughed and called them pathetic £#%&!ers? I do.

Ah, here he is. Right on cue.

Your takes this season have been AIDS in word form, pal. Literally contrary about everything.

We've got 90 points 3 times in Premier League history. 92, 99 and 08/09.

In 92 we had Villa push us until the second to last game but everyone was still desperate to beat us. In 99, we only won the league by scoring a goal in the second half against a Spurs side who had nowt to play for but still scored first. I genuinely don't remember anyone not turning up for a game against us, especially away from home. Or are you imagining this shit yet again?

City have got over 90 points (and 100) on numerous occasions in consecutive years. Liverpool have too (not consecutive). Chelsea and Arsenal both have twice or more - I don't recall anyone on here once saying they were ruining the game (data mine all you want).

People are saying City are ruining the game because they are. Are you comparing our domination to Citys? Really? They've cheated, or are you going to debate that too now? £#%&!ing odd ball.

Originally Posted by believe

Remember we be were steamrollering teams week in week out and winning the league with 90 points. Remember when City fans and Liverpool fans said we were ruining the game and we laughed and called them pathetic £#%&!ers? I do.

oh look, it's contrary bellers being contrary


If i recall correctly, the vast majority of our success was done with home grown players and we didn't break financial rules to the tune of £50m a season to do it. in fact, astonishingly, I believe we used money that was generated by the club to do it, as opposed to having a nation state plough £2bn in and getting a free stadium off the council.



But hey, whatever floats your boat.

Originally Posted by magic_cantona

Ah, here he is. Right on cue.

Your takes this season have been AIDS in word form, pal. Literally contrary about everything.

We've got 90 points 3 times in Premier League history. 92, 99 and 08/09.

In 92 we had Villa push us until the second to last game but everyone was still desperate to beat us. In 99, we only won the league by scoring a goal in the second half against a Spurs side who had nowt to play for but still scored first. I genuinely don't remember anyone not turning up for a game against us, especially away from home. Or are you imagining this shit yet again?

City have got over 90 points (and 100) on numerous occasions in consecutive years. Liverpool have too (not consecutive). Chelsea and Arsenal both have twice or more - I don't recall anyone on here once saying they were ruining the game (data mine all you want).

People are saying City are ruining the game because they are. Are you comparing our domination to Citys? Really? They've cheated, or are you going to debate that too now? £#%&!ing odd ball.

We played 42 games in 92 too.

If Bellers is trying to say we ruined the game like it is now, he's just a wumming jug eared @#%&! I'm afraid