Futbol Talk

[panda]

Burn it down. Build from youth. Find a development manager. Accept that you're going to sell a ton of players including Kane.

As a Liverpool fan, I too agree that the club should utilize their world famous youth academy to rebuild the squad 😂😂

[brewcity77]

Gutted this morning as a Reading fan. Looked to be safe from relegation to start April, then the EFL handed down a 6-point penalty that pulled the Royals back into the relegation fight. After a managerial change, they grinded out some tough points against the top of the table, but the teams they are competing with have games against teams with virtually nothing to play for, and as a result, Reading is almost certainly headed down to League One. Cheering for a Championship side has been bad enough, but at least some of those games are played on ESPN+. Now barring a miracle, I won't even get that.

[tower912]

Holy crap, what a finish.

[panda]

Interesting perspective from a prominent long time Tottenham fan.

https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente/status/1652727984636174336?s=46&t=el-XnIMOEDcxAw3lmg3L5A

[panda]

Citeh steam rolls west ham further cementing their title.

[The Sultan]

Sorry brew.

[brewcity77]

Sorry brew.

Thanks. I accepted it last weekend. Knew it was pretty much inevitable. I just hope they bounce right back, because if they don't, Reading may be a long time outside the top-two leagues.

[Its DJOver]

Good for Napoli. Let's see if Dortmund can get there too, just to see something different.

[The Sultan]

Liverpool fans boo during God Save the King when it was played pre-game "in honor of King Charles."

At least no one kneeled though.

[panda]

Lots of bad history between Liverpool and England/government/monarchy. Can't believe the prem required them to do it frankly.

[MU1in77]

Attached is an article Bill Simmons (previously on ESPN) wrote about picking an EPL team to cheer for.  The article is at least 15 years old but is still pretty interesting.

https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060719

[brewcity77]

Attached is an article Bill Simmons (previously on ESPN) wrote about picking an EPL team to cheer for.  The article is at least 15 years old but is still pretty interesting.

https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060719

Yeah...as Reading gets relegated to League freaking One this past week, this part stood out:

Goal No. 6: Pick a team that's successful enough to crack Channel 613 from time to time and will avoid the ignominy of getting kicked out of the EPL. And by the way, that can happen. At the end of every season, the bottom three teams are relegated to the second division, with the top three teams from the second division getting called up. (Imagine if baseball did this?) You don't want to be stuck with a team that gets relegated. So that factored in more than anything else.

All my early loyalty to a team that prized itself on having Yanks in the lineup, from Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey to Danny Williams, Matt Miazga, and Marquette's own (sort of) Andrija Novakovich, without being the Fulham bandwagon everyone else was jumping on, and here we are in League freaking One. Bollocks.

[Hards Alumni]

Yeah...as Reading gets relegated to League freaking One this past week, this part stood out:

Goal No. 6: Pick a team that's successful enough to crack Channel 613 from time to time and will avoid the ignominy of getting kicked out of the EPL. And by the way, that can happen. At the end of every season, the bottom three teams are relegated to the second division, with the top three teams from the second division getting called up. (Imagine if baseball did this?) You don't want to be stuck with a team that gets relegated. So that factored in more than anything else.

All my early loyalty to a team that prized itself on having Yanks in the lineup, from Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey to Danny Williams, Matt Miazga, and Marquette's own (sort of) Andrija Novakovich, without being the Fulham bandwagon everyone else was jumping on, and here we are in League freaking One. Bollocks.

Pick a new squad.

[JWags85]

Yeah...as Reading gets relegated to League freaking One this past week, this part stood out:

Goal No. 6: Pick a team that's successful enough to crack Channel 613 from time to time and will avoid the ignominy of getting kicked out of the EPL. And by the way, that can happen. At the end of every season, the bottom three teams are relegated to the second division, with the top three teams from the second division getting called up. (Imagine if baseball did this?) You don't want to be stuck with a team that gets relegated. So that factored in more than anything else.

All my early loyalty to a team that prized itself on having Yanks in the lineup, from Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey to Danny Williams, Matt Miazga, and Marquette's own (sort of) Andrija Novakovich, without being the Fulham bandwagon everyone else was jumping on, and here we are in League freaking One. Bollocks.

In a less dedicated version, but painful nonetheless...

In the aftermath of the 1998 WC, my buddies and I truly got into the Premier League.  The Michael Owen explosion onto the scene in France lead my best friend and I to Liverpool in continued awe of him.  We knew Liverpool had a ton of history but they hadn't won a title in a decade and were never more than 3rd or 4th as of late, so we didn't feel like front runners. 

Our other friend didn't want to root for the same, so he did some research and settle on Coventry City, as Coventry was the street he grew up on and he liked the elephant on their crest.  And he preferred blue clubs to red.  Solid club with a ton of history and a First Division pedigree, not a yo-yo club.  Any older Premier League fans know where this is going...

99-00 was the first season truly being all in.  Coventry City scuffled around a bit.  He ordered a kit towards the end of the season and was pumped for 00-01.  Then CC sold Robbie Keane after just a year going into the season.  Then Coventry finished 19th and was relegated for the first time in almost 40 years.  They havent sniffed the PL since and ended up plummeting to League Two. 

He stuck with them awhile and then defected to Everton during the Tim Howard years.  As Everton has been a house of poorly ran horrors for awhile now, as of a few years ago, he was just a general EPL fan and gave up supporting a club.  Brutal, especially as around the same time, for the first time in 15 years (except 2005), Liverpool supportership was paying dividends to us.

[The Sultan]

And now Coventry is in the playoffs and Everton might get relegated.

Anyway I am just a general fan. I can't really root for a specific team. All the teams I root for, including Marquette, I've been rooting for my entire life as a sports fan. I just can't decide to root for a team I haven't followed in a similar manner.

[21Jumpstreet]

In a less dedicated version, but painful nonetheless...

In the aftermath of the 1998 WC, my buddies and I truly got into the Premier League.  The Michael Owen explosion onto the scene in France lead my best friend and I to Liverpool in continued awe of him.  We knew Liverpool had a ton of history but they hadn't won a title in a decade and were never more than 3rd or 4th as of late, so we didn't feel like front runners. 

Our other friend didn't want to root for the same, so he did some research and settle on Coventry City, as Coventry was the street he grew up on and he liked the elephant on their crest.  And he preferred blue clubs to red.  Solid club with a ton of history and a First Division pedigree, not a yo-yo club.  Any older Premier League fans know where this is going...

99-00 was the first season truly being all in.  Coventry City scuffled around a bit.  He ordered a kit towards the end of the season and was pumped for 00-01.  Then CC sold Robbie Keane after just a year going into the season.  Then Coventry finished 19th and was relegated for the first time in almost 40 years.  They havent sniffed the PL since and ended up plummeting to League Two. 

He stuck with them awhile and then defected to Everton during the Tim Howard years.  As Everton has been a house of poorly ran horrors for awhile now, as of a few years ago, he was just a general EPL fan and gave up supporting a club.  Brutal, especially as around the same time, for the first time in 15 years (except 2005), Liverpool supportership was paying dividends to us.

Fell in love with the Prem in the early 90s when we saw a few games on tv. I also fell in love with Wednesday. Had it in the bag this year to finish top two then shat the bed against poor competition down the stretch. Playing very well heading into the League 1 playoffs, I'm feeling good.

My family tree starts in Lincolnshire, so I was like cool Sheffield is close. Went through the fall, the massive points deduction, painfully close to Prem promotion and gutted when relegated to League 1. WAWAW!!

[JWags85]

And now Coventry is in the playoffs and Everton might get relegated.

Anyway I am just a general fan. I can't really root for a specific team. All the teams I root for, including Marquette, I've been rooting for my entire life as a sports fan. I just can't decide to root for a team I haven't followed in a similar manner.

Yep, its amusing.

And I hear you.  Liverpool is really the only sports team I got into past childhood.  And even that was in my teens.  As Ive gotten more into European soccer and leagues get TV deals, I watch plenty of Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, etc... matches, but don't have more than a passing investment in any one club, and that can often change year to year.  Same with some other global sports Ive grown to enjoy.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

After growing up a Bears and Cubs fan, went to MU, changed baseball teams to the Brewers, I decided to suppoet Tottenham.

Why can't I pick a winner for once? FML.

[MarquetteDano]

Yeah...as Reading gets relegated to League freaking One this past week, this part stood out:

Goal No. 6: Pick a team that's successful enough to crack Channel 613 from time to time and will avoid the ignominy of getting kicked out of the EPL. And by the way, that can happen. At the end of every season, the bottom three teams are relegated to the second division, with the top three teams from the second division getting called up. (Imagine if baseball did this?) You don't want to be stuck with a team that gets relegated. So that factored in more than anything else.

All my early loyalty to a team that prized itself on having Yanks in the lineup, from Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey to Danny Williams, Matt Miazga, and Marquette's own (sort of) Andrija Novakovich, without being the Fulham bandwagon everyone else was jumping on, and here we are in League freaking One. Bollocks.

Spent a fair bit of time in Reading for a customer.  Was always surprised at the apathy for the club.  Was not expecting the kind of crazy Northern fandom (a Liverpool supporter myself) but even so called Reading supporters seem to follow other teams more.

[jesmu84]

After growing up a Bears and Cubs fan, went to MU, changed baseball teams to the Brewers, I decided to suppoet Tottenham.

Why can't I pick a winner for once? FML.

Should they make Mason full time?

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Should they make Mason full time?

No.

Not yet.

[Its DJOver]

If Spurs were smart they'd grab Arne Slot.  They're not, so I don't expect them to.  Maybe they'll surprise me.

[brewcity77]

Spent a fair bit of time in Reading for a customer.  Was always surprised at the apathy for the club.  Was not expecting the kind of crazy Northern fandom (a Liverpool supporter myself) but even so called Reading supporters seem to follow other teams more.

I feel like a lack of natural rivals has stifled the fanbase. Swindon and Oxford are probably the biggest rivals, but I'm not sure they feel the same and they've rarely been in the same league of late. The London clubs all have each other, as do the southern Coastal clubs. Feels like kind of an odd no man's zone they're in.

Also hasn't helped that their promotions to the Prem haven't lasted. 2006-07 was great and they flirted with qualifying for Europe, but missed it on the last day. As a result, the club wasn't really strengthened in the offseason and then was relegated on the final day of 2008. Got one more top flight season since, but it's been a decade since they've been back.

Since Madejski sold the club, it's been a string of inconsistency, with only three top-half finishes and one playoff appearance in 10 years. 16 different managers, including caretakers, and none lasted even 2 years. We've had more point deductions due to financial mismanagement than playoff appearances. I get the apathy...it's a tough club to support. Especially with so many more successful clubs in relatively close proximity.

[The Sultan]

I get the impression that a lot of the younger fans in England root for a local team, or the team their parents rooted for, but then also root for one of the big teams because they know they'll never be at the same level and will rarely play one another.

[The Sultan]

Fell in love with the Prem in the early 90s when we saw a few games on tv. I also fell in love with Wednesday. Had it in the bag this year to finish top two then shat the bed against poor competition down the stretch. Playing very well heading into the League 1 playoffs, I'm feeling good.

Sorry to you as well.