Football Season 2023.

[DaleMC]

All charges against Mason have been dropped why is he leaving, i know they say its mutual but it sounds a bit fishy to me, was he any good?

The charges were categorically not dropped. The witness, his girlfriend, pulled out of cooperating with the enquiry so therefore the prospects of conviction were deemed too low to pursur (at this time - the case actually remains open). Domestic abuse and violence are incredibly complex and it appears the victim is back with the accused... The recordings and images were pretty damning in their own right, but without witness corroboration doubt can be introduced in court.

He'll likely head to Saudi Arabia or somewhere else where his character is less of an issue.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

So as the evidence is not in the public domain he has not been convicted and they are back together why didn't United stand by him I cannot imagine him going to the boss and saying I want to leave he has obviously been pushed.

 

[DaleMC]

So as the evidence is not in the public domain

The evidence is in the public domain you can google and hear a recording of his girlfriend refusing sex and him violently forcing himself on her (it is uncomfortable to hear). And images of bruises she said he caused. He's probably made £7.5M in the period that he hasn't been available for selection and received a healthy pay off to aboid court action.

I absolutely would want the arsehole out of my club if he played for them. I don't anticipate any club in the UK would touch him.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

. I don't anticipate any club in the UK would touch hi

Having read your last post I would say i agree

 

[Nashbrew]

Having read your last post I would say i agree

Rumour is he will end up at Roma

 

[JockyBrewer]

My (late) preview of the season - I'm interested to see where people disagree with this!


At the top of the table it's hard to look past Man City, they're probably stronger than last season.
Arsenal are likely to follow them, although their strength in depth is a concern which is what ultimately cost them last season.

Liverpool should be the other good team. I'd have them better than Arsenal, but they have let go some senior players that played a lot of minutes for them last year and I'm not sure about the replacements.

The 4th Champions League place will be an interesting race, although Man Utd should squeak it. They're likely to be in a fight with Newcastle and Tottenham. I think Newcastle might be a bit distracted by the Champions League this year. Tottenham look good even without Kane.

Aston Villa did extremely well once binning Gerrard last year, and look stronger again. They're going to have an issue in a year or two with a team full of peak age players, but that's not this season's problem. They could even be up in the fight for 4th.

Bookies favour Chelsea to be up there, but while I think Pochettino should be able to do something with some of the thousand players they have, who really knows what. Losing Nkunku in the close season was a blow.

Brighton will be up in the top half but I think the loss of some key players will be hard on them, especially while also playing in Europe.

Palace finished strongly last season, and despite the loss of talisman Zaha will likely be solid this season, but not strong enough to pick apart the top teams.

Brentford were good last season, and have strengthened, so I like them. I think West Ham will do better in the league than last season, but may still be distracted by Europe again so not finish as high as they could.

Bournemouth look like they've taken last season's near miss to heart and have strengthened, although losing their player of the season Lerma will be a problem for them.

Everton are bad, but Dyche will make them effective enough with lump and squish tactics to stay out of a terrible bottom group. Fulham are the same - although they did well last season, virtually every roll of the dice went their way and now Mitrovic has buggered off, so I don't see it happening again.

Out of the relegation contenders Forest should stay up again because there are teams worse than them and they've strengthened, but some bad luck (and good luck for others) might change that.

Burnley seem the most likely of the three promoted teams to stay up. They seem to be doing good things, sustainably.

Wolves have huge ownership issues and have sold a bunch of big players as well as losing their manager. They're my unfortunate team to go down in lieu of Burnley.

Which leaves Sheffield Utd and Luton at the bottom, both of which look so far away from this league. Of course you never really know but I think they'll need to be busy before the end of the month to build something with a chance of staying up.

Winners: Man City
2: Arsenal
3: Liverpool
4: Man Utd
5: Tottenham
6: Newcastle
7: Aston Villa
8: Chelsea
9: Brighton
10: Crystal Palace
11: Brentford
12: West Ham
13: Bournemouth
14: Everton
15: Fulham
16: Nottingham Forest
17: Burnley
18: Wolves
19: Sheffield Utd
20: Luton

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I think Everton are very lucky that there is probably only one place available in the relegation spots for them and as you say they should be able to stay up, but they are very very poor.

 

[JockyBrewer]

I think Everton are very lucky that there is probably only one place available in the relegation spots for them and as you say they should be able to stay up, but they are very very poor.

Yep, the simultaneous events of Southampton's squad suicide, Leeds failure to transition from Bielsaball and Leicester's entire squad collectively shrugging at life have made things considerably weaker at the bottom of the table.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Being a city fan i would never say they will win it this early, i honestly think Newcastle may upset one of the teams above them in the list.

Winners: Man City
2: Arsenal
3: Liverpool
4: Man Utd
5: Tottenham
6: Newcastle

 

[JockyBrewer]

Being a city fan i would never say they will win it this early, i honestly think Newcastle may upset one of the teams above them in the list.

Winners: Man City
2: Arsenal
3: Liverpool
4: Man Utd
5: Tottenham
6: Newcastle

They certainly could. I've mentally categorised teams into the groups below, but I'll say that Liverpool, Newcastle, Chelsea and Brighton have big uncertainty around them. Liverpool could be worse, Brighton and Newcastle could be a lot better depending upon how distracted they are by Europe. Chelsea could go either way.

The "I just can't see a way past them" team:
Man City

The "good but don't have City's depth of squad" teams:
Arsenal
Liverpool

The 'flawed Champions league chasing' teams:
Man Utd
Tottenham
Newcastle

The 'if we keep it together we could easily be in the top 6' teams:
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Brighton

The 'incredibly mid table, season effectively over in March' teams:
Crystal Palace
Brentford
West Ham

The 'have serious issues, and probably thankful for a weak bottom half' teams:
Bournemouth
Everton
Fulham
Nottingham Forest

The 'need some luck to avoid relegation' teams:
Burnley
Wolves
Sheffield Utd
Luton

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I'm certainly thankful for a weak bottom half. Went to Forest v Sheff Utd on Friday, and had my first ever experience of beer served in a paper cup. Makes Plastic seem luxury. 3 points for us, so I don't mind too much

 

[allotment_fox]

it will all come down to the games between the bottom 4/6 clubs these games are always these are big 6 pointers. Everton comming back to draw at Leicester from from 2-0 down, Bornemouth winning at Leicester put them down last season

 

[Chippy_Tea]

 

[AnimatedGIF]

2-0 up at Old Trafford after 4 minutes was always too good to be true

 

[Chippy_Tea]

3 minutes of extra time at Brighton so i think these results for today will stand -

 

[Chippy_Tea]

 

[Chippy_Tea]

• 18 Foderingham
• 15 Ahmedhodzic
• 12 Egan
• 19 Robinson
• 2 Baldock
• 8 Hamer
• 16 Norwood
• 21 de Souza Costa
• 23 Osborn
• 11 Traoré
• 32 Osula

Substitutes​

• 1 Davies
• 5 Trusty
• 6 Basham
• 9 McBurnie
• 17Coulibaly
• 20Bogle
• 27Larouci
• 34Marsh
• 35Brooks

 

[Chippy_Tea]

 

[Rodcx500z]

Liverpool were very lucky today, they dug deep and stuck at it and got the points

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I couldn't believe our luck today 80% possession, 9 shots on target and 30 total it just wouldn't go in, fair play to Sheffield they could easily have got a point.