Barclays Premier League 13/14 Thread

[GSC]

First topic message reminder :

It was always going to be hard for Hughton.

The Norwich family never really took to him as one of their own

[J.Benson II]

I don't really agree with your use of the term average.  Mid tier Premier League clubs are not average.  Unless you only watch Premier League football of course and never take any notice of any of the lower leagues.

Obviously, these terms need to be used in context. For instance, a team like Aston Villa are pretty average by PL standards but would easily be top team in the Championship and below. The majority of their players (barring a few like Benteke) are average PL players but would be top players in a lower league.

[Guest]

Average in the sense that they are fairly pedestrian players in the PL that are best suited for average, mid-tier clubs.

Olly, I personally also think Holt deserved a place in the 2012 squad.

Using that as the yardstick for 'average', Anichebe is dreadful. He's not fit for the Championship, never mind a team that finished 8th in the PL last season.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Average in the sense that they are fairly pedestrian players in the PL that are best suited for average, mid-tier clubs.

Olly, I personally also think Holt deserved a place in the 2012 squad.

You're a good man Benson  

[J.Benson II]

Average in the sense that they are fairly pedestrian players in the PL that are best suited for average, mid-tier clubs.

Olly, I personally also think Holt deserved a place in the 2012 squad.

Using that as the yardstick for 'average', Anichebe is dreadful. He's not fit for the Championship, never mind a team that finished 8th in the PL last season.

That's the thing though. Some good PL teams more have a couple average or below average players, and vice versa.
However, the majority of the time, the quality of the overall squad will be reflected by the team's finishing position.
For instance, the vast majority of Palace's squad is below average by PL standards, and that reflects their current position in the PL.

[mystiroakey]

average pl standard palace players

Bolaise
williams
gayle
Dikagacoi
ward
campana


above average(only just) pl standard players

jedanick
speroni
murray

below average pl standard players

puncheon
j. thomas
c jerome
mariappa
hunt



the rest are championship standard- and many only average at that

[mystiroakey]

When i look at teams like stoke, or west brom or norwich play. 

There are stock full of decent players.. 

all it takes is for 4 of our average or above average players above to get injured(as they have been and are) for us to turn into a team that literally has no chance competing week in week out.

This was clearly why holloway bought so many players- to have that squad depth of ok ish players(below average pl players)

however he/we(as a club) got mugged off, the players we bought aren't what was described..

Trading standards time.

[NickisBHAFC]

average pl standard palace players

Bolaise
williams
gayle
Dikagacoi
ward
campana


above average(only just) pl standard players

jedanick
speroni
murray

below average pl standard players

puncheon
j. thomas
c jerome
mariappa
hunt



the rest are championship standard- and many only average at that

Bolaise
williams
gayle
Dikagacoi
ward
campana

Apart from Williams and Gayle i think the others are just good Championship players, not Premiership players.

[westisbest]

For Villa, I would say Premiership players,
Benteke
Guzan
Agbonlahor
Weimann
Vlaar
Delph
Luna
Lowton.

The rest would be average prem players, or championship players.
A fair few of our signings have come from the championship or below.

[mystiroakey]

average pl standard palace players

Bolaise
williams
gayle
Dikagacoi
ward
campana


above average(only just) pl standard players

jedanick
speroni
murray

below average pl standard players

puncheon
j. thomas
c jerome
mariappa
hunt



the rest are championship standard- and many only average at that

Bolaise
williams
gayle
Dikagacoi
ward
campana

Apart from Williams and Gayle i think the others are just good Championship players, not Premiership players.

the point is though dude we have to try and base it on the actual average in the prem. there are plenty of players worse than bolaise,dikgacoi,ward and campana in prem squads(and not just from palace!!)

As we also know there are many better players in the championship teams as well(qpr, forest, wigan, etc)

so its a tough gage.. But what is clear is that in the majority of the prme squads and a few championship teams they have more average 'PL' players than palace.

[CFCNick]

There isn't plenty of players worse than Bolasie. Just a handful.

[mystiroakey]

There isn't plenty of players worse than Bolasie. Just a handful.

I hope your joking mate 

There is 20 at palace to start with!!

[Crimey]

I think Crystal Palace is seriously devoid of any Premier League talent, I'm not sure any would get into any other first eleven in the league and only a couple would even make the match day of squads of most. It will be a learning curve for a lot of the younger players and it's good for Palace if they do get relegated as their players will have more experience at a higher level but are unlikely to be torn apart by having to sell all their players.

[CFCNick]

There isn't plenty of players worse than Bolasie. Just a handful.

I hope your joking mate 

There is 20 at palace to start with!!

Obviously if you count reserve/youth players there are a lot worse. But if you just count legitimate starters and bench players Bolasie is very low down the totem pole for me.

He looked like a fish up a tree (to quote Paul Merson) against Fulham.

[mystiroakey]

No we are talking squad players..

[mystiroakey]

Murray , speroni and jedanick would easily start at a handful or more pl clubs.

Palace are however going down..

[NickisBHAFC]

Mysti name teams where Murray, Speroni and Jedinak would walk into then and name the players they would replace? Im intrigued.

[mystiroakey]

Research it your self if you are intrigued. It's pretty obvious though..

[NickisBHAFC]

Hmmmmm name me a club Murray would walk into and replace and start up front then? Same for The other 2.

[Crimey]

I seriously don't think there is any club.

[mystiroakey]

A few of top of my head that I wouldn't have over a fit Murray that has started many games this season would be Gary hooper,Jozy Altidor, and Danny graham. I could probably think of a lot more if I thought about it.

[Crimey]

I think choosing Murray as an example is not going to work though as he is totally unproven in the Premier League, Altidore was a beast in the Dutch leagues, Gary Hooper in the Scottish yet both have struggled, Murray could very well be another name added to the endless list of players who are excellent at Championship level struggle to make the step up.

[mystiroakey]

Yes it's speculation .Murray is very similar to those two players in the fact that all did well last season.. But at least he hasn't proved to be out of 'his league' yet.

[mystiroakey]

And I would rather have jedanick over Fellani   

Nah. Not really.. But on form .  Yes!!

He has actually been the player that has made us so hard to beat.. 

The one player that hasn't looked out of his depth so far.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Hooper's played like 2/3 games for us after injury, one would say it's a tad too early to be judging him, he was actually very good against Cardiff baffling why he was taken off

[mystiroakey]

Yes I may have been harsh on him however Murray is no different in regards to what he has done before, and you wouldn't get many palace fans replacing him with Murray !

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

I'll judge Murray once I've seen him kick a ball in the Premier League, at the moment he's just a good Championship striker to me

[westisbest]

I don't think Palace will Beat Derby's record of 11 points, but think they could struggle to get 20.

[Duty281]

I think Palace will stay up. Still.

[kingraf]

No offense Mystir, but the continuous discussion revolving around how irretrievably bad Crystal Palace are, is getting quite monotonous.

[mystiroakey]

its not exactly me bringing it up all the time is it. You want to talk about something else- then feel free!

[kingraf]

I know it isnt you who generally brings it up. I just said no offence because you're a Palace fan, so I didn't want it to be seen as a snipe.

Even if I were to bring something else up, it generally takes two pages for Palace to pop up from that.

[mystiroakey]

Its funny isn't it.. Whenever someone starts something of with "on offence but...."

many take a bit of offence before they have even read anything else!

[hampo17]

On this weeks podcast we are discussing who is the better strike force at the moment, Rooney and RVP or Sturridge and Suarez? 
 
So that Kingraf doesn't fall asleep reading this thread ;)what are your views? I'll try to read a couple out on this weeks show.

[CFCNick]

Both are better than Gayle and Chamakh.   

[mystiroakey]

Naughty glory hunter Nick!!

Both strike forces are quality.

Individually Suarez is possibly the best of the  lot, then rooney and RVP are pretty much spot on  equal then sturridge.

Individually I would have to say man u are better.

As a unit though. Thats a tough call.

I dont think RVP is getting on to well at united at the moment. 

Sturridge and Suarez look like best mates out there and are linking up well. Rooney and RVP are linking up well, and have had many combined goals(assist and goal) but not as well as the other two.

Current form and link up SAS wins..

Potential wise is a much tougher ask and I would probably go with R&R

[CFCNick]

I don't think it's a fair debate. Rooney and RVP have never really been a unit. There's always one playing in the hole. Not a real partnership. I struggle to think of a top club other than Liverpool that play two strikers together as actual strikers.

[mystiroakey]

OK Nick, who would you rather have at chelsea- the RVP and Rooney duo or the sturridge and suarez duo..

Both would fit into chelsea and improve upon it however they play.

[CFCNick]

There isn't much either duo would do to improve Chelsea. We've scored two more than United and one less from Liverpool and have a much better defence than both. If I had to swap Torres and Eto'o though I'd pick Sturridge and Suarez. They'd fit with the system better. But Suarez might not make it out of the first training session alive when Brani sees him.

Striker is a difficult position for Chelsea. Apart from Drogba we've never really relied on a 30 goal striker.

[mystiroakey]

Torres will come good. The signs have been there since the end of last season. He may not be scoring bundles- but he is scoring important goals.

[MIG]

As much as it hurts to say it I think Suaridge on current form are a step ahead of everyone else at the moment.

[compelling and rich]

now i know im biased but think rooney and rvp have proven it over a longer period. thing that lets Liverpools partnership down is that im not convinced sturridge is on par with the other 3. certainly on current form playing very well against what has been a pretty easy run of fixtures for liverpool. but i have yet to see him sustain it for a whole season, last season he started brightly then faded, his best season of scoring so far is 11 goals im sure he will beat that this season but does show he's been previously inconsistent

[mystiroakey]

I think sturridge is thriving at the moment and fingers crossed has turned the corner into becoming a truely good consistent striker.

At the start of the season he proved what he can do without suarez, and now that suarez has come back (and in top form) he is still not in the shadow and seems to be buzzing off the rivalry..

sturridge 2 years ago would have gone into his shell after Suarez's weekend performance , however it seemed to spur the sturridge of today on and he ended up hitting the bar with a wonderful solo move and then that audacious chip that strikers only go for when they are on top form.

[compelling and rich]

time will tell mysti, think the key for sturridge now is how he copes when he has a few games not scoring and his confidence drops abit

[Hammersmith harrier]

I think either duo would massively improve Chelsea but as a United fan I wouldn't swap in anybody for RVP and Rooney.

[TopHat24/7]

I think either duo would massively improve Chelsea but as a United fan I wouldn't swap in anybody for RVP and Rooney.

Not even Ronaldo?

Not a player in United's squad I wouldn't swap out to have him back......

[mystiroakey]

I think that player could just about swing it!!

[Guest]

Like the term "Suaridge" Think I'll use it along with "Van Pooney"

[MIG]

I think "Suaridge" will go on to be as good as "Corke".  Not so sure about "Van Pooney" though.

[CFCNick]

I think either duo would massively improve Chelsea but as a United fan I wouldn't swap in anybody for RVP and Rooney.

They wouldn't because striker isn't a big position at Chelsea. They'd flop like every other striker. Drigba was the exception to this.

[TopoftheChops]

SAS is the best because they are always at the right end of the pitch. Rooney tends to drop deep which leaves RVP more isolated up front which makes their connection not as strong. Like the others say Sturridge is on form but Sturridge off form is not good for the team. Liverpool with Coutinho back could be a right handful

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