English Football Reports: 10 and 20-game (incl. 5 Yr Overview)

redspider

A few weeks ago I posted a 30-Game Report on the this years English Premiership (see this posting: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=151615)

There were 31 downloads of that report so hopefully some of you found it of some interest.

I’m now posting previous reports for this season, for the 10-Game stage (which also includes a synopsis of the final standings from last season as well as a 5-Year Overview), and the 20-Game stage. See attachments.

Here are some excerpts from the 10-Game report:
Before I start on this season, lets recap the end of last season and the final table. At the 30-game stage last season, the title race was between Arsenal and Man U with the latter on better form. Indeed, they carried that form through for the final 8 games and won with 5 points to spare as Arsenal faltered. Liverpool had shown volatility throughout the season and continued to misfire in the last 8 games. Their whole season was balanced on a “have-to-win” winner-takes-all away match against Chelsea - unfortunately they faltered under the pressure and lost. Not getting that crucial Champions League (CL) qualification spot is of course a huge financial blow for Liverpool. Their failure has been Chelsea’s opportunity not only getting the CL money but as a consequence a large wad of Russian “privatisation” money. Newcastle achieved their 2nd CL qualification in a row.

…

The main talk of course is the flow of money into Chelski and the large investments they have made. It’s a strange type of investment as in the long run Abramovich may lose out big time, but there aren’t any Chelsea fans quibbling about that and Ken Bates is happy. The summer transfer market was very lack-lustre overall, Chelsea apart. As a result, most of the teams this season have the same players as last. Liverpool grabbed a good player in Kewell and got him cheaply. Without him Liverpool would be doing even worse. I suppose we have to mention Beckham. Clearly, a financial loss to Man U in marketing terms, and probably a loss in footballing terms too. Given that Real Madrid are Man U’s main competitors when it comes to winning the CL, it’s sending a signal out that Man U are not interested in it. It looks as if they have given in the towel before the competition has started. Ferguson’s coup this year was the way that C.Ronaldo fell into his lap at the last moment. I cant begin to mention the list of Chelsea signings, but well done to Duff for being signed and also for playing most matches so far (and being useful) as well as Hasselbaink for staying on.

So, what is likely to happen? Well, you don’t have to have the visionary capability of Nostradamus to guess that Arsenal and Man U will be in the running. At the pace they have set off, they are both likely to be the top-2 again. Once you realise that the duopoly has been running since 1997, it is not without reason to draw a conclusion that the english league is becoming predictable, at least in terms of outcome and success. This is a pity and it’s a pattern that is duplicated across all the main leagues in Europe, as success begats money, and money begats success.

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Have a read at your leisure and feel free to comment, disagree, banter, etc ….

-redspider

redspider

and the 2nd attachment (20-game report):

redspider

Folks, I'm just posting a note here to update this thread's timestamp so that
it wil rise in the ist and people can see it on the first page of the forum and
hence have the opportunity to Download the rReports. There wasn't any
feedback so far (12 downloads) so perhaps members think they are useless.

One idea might be that (if the mods would oblige), people could lodge reports
on a single sticky thread. Do people think this is a good idea?

I also suggest that we should have as few stickies as possible. Maybe
the current ones can be merged and the reports could b added to one
of the approved stickies ......

-redspider