Thought we ought to have a thread for the CL and Play Off final. Should be two cracking matches. Really looking forward to the Dortmund Bayern match. Some real needle there. I thought Dortmund had a really good chance but they are hampered by the loss of Gotze with a hamstring injury. That should give Bayern the edge. In the Play Off final on Monday I have a sneaky feeling that Palace will edge it. Watford are clearly the better side but Holloways play off experience I think will give Palace the win. Thoughts?
Looks like I am going to miss out on both! The missus is down for the first time in like a month as she has now finished Uni and on Monday evening I may have a 5-a-side football game Can see Bayern winning the Champions League final, I'm going to say 2-1, like you said Gotze's injury will hurt Dortmund. I'm in an office full of Palace fans so I would like to them to come up so that there can be a bit more banter in the office next season! Not sure if they will overcome Watford though. If Watford come up, can they actually sign anyone in the summer? The players they 'transferred' from the owners other clubs would stay I presume? As they are transfers and not loans? They would still need to invest in some more players outside the club surely if they came up!
I can't see Gotze's injury affecting Dortmund too much, they have plenty of quality to be able to cope without him. I wonder if he really is injured or if it's a move to protect common interests as he will be a Bayern Munich player next season. It's an odd situatuation for player and both clubs, so to have him not involved would make things a bit more diplomatic.
Uni summer ball is on the same day as Champs League Final. My pals and I will be crowding round the big screen, drink in hand, all suited and booted. Student life eh.
This weekend is just the best for me. CL final, F1 at Monaco, Indy 500. I'm aiming to cram all my revision into the afternoons so I can watch them both
I don't understand how anyone could not be backing Watford after their ridiculous journey to the playoff final. It'll be such an anticlimax if they don't win. Bayern for the CL final. I reckon they'll do it with relative ease as well.
Bearing in mind that many people thought we'd go straight back down, what do you think about the chances of Hull, Cardiff and Palace/Watford are? I haven't been following the Championship so am not too clued up on how these teams have been doing, though Cardiff have been threatening to come up for a while. I suppose Cardiff have the best chance of staying up, but don't know about the others.
I don't think Watford are even allowed to sign players this summer. Honestly, I think it's the weakest batch of promoted teams we've seen for a long time. I think all three will struggle.
I kind of feel like we owe Palace after we took Clyne for about 20% of what he is actually worth. Can see them all struggling though, just looking at all their points totals only Cardiff would have troubled last year's promoted teams (and still finished 3rd). Hull would be 8 points behind auto promotion, and Palace outside the play offs. So they're starting from a worse position, and the only one I can imagine having a geniune shot at pulling a top 17 squad together is Cardiff. And they still have a whole lot to do, the Reading survival strategy clearly will not work.
Agree with you Joe. Cardiff have the best chance if they splash some cash but I would worry for the other two.
Cardiff will no doubt spend big so they'll have a good chance of staying up, however, we have just witnessed QPR's demise so it's proven to be a risky strategy. I think Hull and Watford/Palace will struggle. However, every year there seems to be a surprise package when it comes to newly promoted teams. We've seen it in the past with Wigan (10th in 2005/06), Reading (8th in 2006/07), Stoke (12th in 2008/09), Birmingham (9th in 2009/10) and West Brom (11th in 2010/11), In the last two seasons, we've seen even more newly promoted teams exceeding expectations with Swansea (11th) and Norwich (12th) in the 2011/12 season. And last season, both West Ham (10th) and Saints (14th) finished comfortably too. Of those that are already in the Premier League, I think Stoke, Norwich and Sunderland will struggle next season. Everton and Fulham could well be sucked into the dangerous waters as well.
I'd like to think Norwich are okay, on the basis that I really like Hughton as a manager. Fulham have already made some smart signings too, and you can't help but feel Everton will be fine.
When the pundits were asked this question a season ago, about Saints, etc.., someone mentioned about game changing players. One of the reasons why Reading were deemed to go back down was that they had not brought in a player or two who could turn a match in the PL. And so it proved. Southampton were predicted to be relegated or not depending on the faith an individual pundit had on Rickie Lambert. West Ham were deemed to be strong enough and in Andy Carroll they had an England striker, so they were predicted throughout to survive the first season. As soon as Rickie proved himself, the pundits generally confirmed their opinion that Saints would survive too. And so it was a point well proved as it turned out. Given that all the promoted teams will be workman-like and relatively solid, it will count for little if they don't have a player or two each that cannot turn a game at PL level. None of them can afford to stay pretty much as they are, a la Reading, and hope that the present crop of players will do well enough next season by simply raising their present game. I feel Watford FC might have the best chance, should they get through their play-off final and the football clubs vote in favour of retaining the present loan system rules this summer, because they are set up to exploit the system superbly, and could draft in some great players if required, without spending a packet.
Can Watford actually sign anyone in the summer? They might be set up to abuse the foreign loan rule, but are they allowed to sign anyone in the summer window? I thought they had an embargo? Edit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21829894 "The embargo will last until the end of the summer transfer window on 31 August."
