Your Team - The Half Way Point - How they doing - Discuss

[Loki]

So we are just coming up to the mid point of the respective league campaigns, time to rate how your teams are doing. Are they doing better than expected or are they likely to be a Xmas Turkey in Febuary. Which player has impressed you most and who has been the big let down. Where do you think they will end up compared to your start of the season predictions ?

Team Manchester United

After last seasons failed experiment, of David Moyes, confidence across the club was at an all time low, shattered and broken. The players were drained of it and it showed in a lot of early games. At the moment we're sitting in third and have put a run of 8 games together unbeaten. So I have to be pretty happy with that. We seem to have a bit of swagger back. A lot of this has to goto LvG for giving the players the belief.

Footballing wise I think were pretty easy on the eye. Despite 'results' against Liverpool and Arsenal, and a couple of games where we have dominated and scored a few, i'm still waiting for that performance where you come away and battered a team 4-0 and think **** that could have been 8 or 10.

Since September, it has been steady progress so no complaints.

The Gaffer Not a lot needs to be said. The Iron Tulip has restored confidence. You can see that in his press conferences the way he has the pressers in knots

Most improved Player Difficult one this given last seasons shennaigins . Are some players showing their true level of skill and ability or have they vastly improved. No real players stand out in terms of vastly improving, for me it's the level of consistency that some players are showing. Ashley Big Dave and Ashley Young have been consistent performers for us. Probably get hung drawn and quartered for Young but again it goes back to Confidence.

The Christmas Turkey Difficult one this with so many players only putting in a run of 4 or 5 games before getting injured. I guess for me RvP until very very recently was underperforming

End of Season Predictions
In the Season Predictions Thread, I said

1st Chelsea
2nd City
3rd Utd

FA Cup Utd

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=26733768&postcount=42

Don't think I am going to go against that at this stage. For all the talk of a title challenge, there is still too much naievety in defence at Utd compared to the two teams above us. Just look at the penalty we gave away agains Newcastle. It's conceding goals like that cost you points later in the season.

 

[semi-pro waster]

Since you've put the effort with that first post in I thought someone should respond even if none of you are going to care about my team since few are interested in Scottish football and even fewer are going to want to know about the second tier of it.

Team Heart of Midlothian FC

Relegated to the Championship last season after a 15 point deduction for going into administration. Perversely this may help in the longer term as we should get onto a firmer financial footing (first club in the UK to pay a living wage to all staff which is not a shabby claim) and it also meant the previous chairman moved on which is a bit of a blessing as he was certifiable. Currently top of the table, 15 points clear of second place and the only team in the UK leagues yet to have lost a league game at this point - difficult to see how I could possibly be unhappy with that provided there isn't a catastrophic collapse and the team manages to get promotion this season.

The Gaffer Robbie Neilson - new to management but with an experienced manager as Director of Football to offer advice if needed. He seems to be doing brilliantly so far though and if he keeps this up it won't be long before other clubs come looking for his services.

Most improved player a tricky one to answer given they've got a very new and young squad but some of the younger lads seem to be improving with every game.

Christmas turkey can't think of anyone who fits into that category at the moment as it's been a series of good team performances.

End of season predictions 1st with the automatic promotion that entails so I really hope they can keep a good run going, I don't expect them to remain unbeaten for much longer but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. I suspect Rangers will just about hold on for 2nd place although today they got thumped by their biggest rivals for that spot in the form of Hibernian - they've also still got serious financial troubles and may be bought over by one Mike Ashley so the future is looking uncertain for them right now. Provided Hearts claim the automatic promotion place then that means at least one of Hibs or Rangers stays in the Championship for another season and potentially both of them do depending on the play-off games or whether another team pips them to that spot, either way I doubt I'll be mourning them too much...

 

[Derek W]

^^ I can beat that with a 'Rest of the World' Team in the third tier of Scottish Football

Team Brechin City

After last season's near miss at Relegation we've been a lot more stable although conceding goals in the last 5 minutes of matches have been our downfall. Stranraer away being the worst as we lost a goal with the last kick of the game direct from the corner! If we'd held on in this match, Peterhead and Morton and taken the chance against Dunfermline on the opening day we'd be top of the league. Unbeaten in 10 games just now and with today's postponement due to frozen pitch we're still sitting in 5th.

The Gaffer Ray McKinnon - After joining us from the SFA in a coaching role, he led us to promotion playoffs after being in the relegation playoffs after taking over from Jim Weir. In his first full season he made a few mistakes in terms of transfers not working with the squad we had and finished just above relegation. This season he brought in a few good signings and shored up our defence. We just need a bit more belief in killing off a game and we'll be sorted.

Most improved Player Bobby Barr - Last season had some good and bad performances but with a lot of the team lacked a bit of confidence. A month into the current season the manager took him to one side and 'had a word' and he's a changed player. Set up and scored a few goals and causes chaos down the wings as we all know he is capable of.

The Christmas Turkey Steven Jackson - Brought him in last season for a fee set by the tribunal and in the first match scored a corking overhead kick against the new rangers but since then has been in and out of the team and currently loaned out to a junior team. Manager says he's great in training but he gets a bit of stage fright during a match but he's only 20 so got time to mature.

End of Season Predictions
Hopefully promotion place this season after a disappointing season last year. Will be tricky with 2 full time teams in Dunfermline and Morton and conversely Forfar and Stranraer doing very well for the part time teams.

 

[Frankiemac]

Team West Ham United (yes there is more than one)

Good buys and far more attractive football have made us a pleasure to watch. Stats can 'prove' anything as far as long ball goes, despite Southampton and Swansea playing more !

I was one of the ones who wanted Allardyce out last season, simplky because the football we were playing was utterly atrocious, the worst in all my years of attending and watching.

This year however he is playing the type of exciting football I grew up with and apart form one game at home to Southampton where were terrible, we have really well in every game.

Chelsea game was annoying as the ref was proper bottler. It wouldn't have changed the result but when you have a player get booked for a fair tackle and then one on the other team didn't get one depsite his blatent diving, persisitent fouling and one near the end I have seen reds given for never mind a yellow, you wonder what chance any team has at Shamford Bridge playing against 12 !

Song has been a revelation and Sakho works really hard for the team and has scored good goals, all different types too.

I hope we can finish in Europe, Chumps League is a tall order but would ruffle a few feathers if the Hammers made it.

Crowds self depreciating humour has been first class this year, every time we take the lead we have been singing 'Gonna win the League' and 'Barcelona we are coming for you'.

Shame most of the mike monkeys on TV seem to get its a joke.

The Gaffer Fat Sam is an arrogant sod but the players are behind him and so are the board. If he plays good football like this then I hope he signs a new deal.

Most improved Player Stewart Downing. Back to the form at Villa, where he played in the middle... see that Mr Rodgers.

The Christmas Turkey Ravel Morrison.


End of Season Predictions

1st Chelsea
2nd Man City
3rd Arsenal

FA Cup West Ham United

 

[The Running Man]

Xmas turkey has to be falcao?

 

[toshj]

Team Brentford. No one really knew what he plan for this season was. We got promoted whilst playing a strong brand of football in League One, and entire on a great unbeaten streak for almost 20 games. The general feeling was that we could take a few teams by surprise and perhaps hit the heady heights of mid-table. That said, most fans would have taken 21st place at the start of the season.

That's all gone completely out of the window. After a few undeserved losses earlier in the campaign, we picked up 7 wins out of 8, beating the likes of Derby County, Nottingham Forest, Wolves, etc. and looked unstoppable for a period. A couple of losses recently has seen us slip to 5th, but that's an incredible achievement so far seeing as we've only just got promoted. We play a fluid 4-5-1/4-3-3, with all players pushing forward at certain times (our holding midfielder already has 5 goals at the midway point). We also play with very attacking full backs getting to the by line, whilst our wide attackers operating as inside forwards and cutting in off the flank on to their favoured foots.

Excellent transfer activity has seen us pick up some genuinely exciting players - we paid €1.5m for Jota from Celta Vigo, who'll likely hit double figures by the end of the season from out wide, £600,000 for Andre Gray from non-league who is already in double figures and Alan Judge, the top midfielder in the league stat-wise for an incredible £300,000. We're surprising teams and opposing fans alike, and it's been incredibly fun so far

The Gaffer Incredible to see how Warburton is getting on. He'd never managed a side before taking over a year ago, and is now one of the highest rated managers in the football league. Has the best ever win % of any. Brentford manager and has taken us t our highest league position since the 1940's. He's a breath of fresh air, plays fluent attacking, passing football. Has also instilled a self-belief in the side which has played a massive role in us being in the play-offs.

Most Improved Player Hard to choose as many of our players are new signings. Jota has added Spanish flair to our attack, whereas Jonathan Douglas a 33 is still dominating opposition midfields. I'd probably say David Button has improved the most, and whereas our opponents play with ten players and a goalkeeper, Button's superior distribution counts as having eleven outfielders and a keeper!

Christmas Turkey Unfortunately has to be Nick Proschwitz. Strangely we've scored more and conceded less when he's on the pitch than any other player, but he's ungainly, awkward and unconvincing.

End of Season Predictions
1st - Bournemouth
2nd - Ipswich Town
3rd - Derby County

Us - Play-offs would do nicely

 

[NooBish AbbZ]

After witnessing the embarrassment that was David Moyes I'm very happy with LVG. Especially how there is nobody other than him that is controlling press conferences/interviews.
I looked at the league table today and if we'd have beaten Aston Villa last week, and then Spurs today (didn't watch the match but apparently we should've been out of sight by the end fot he first half) we'd have been within just 6 points of Chelsea.

I can certainly see us finishing 3rd, but it feels much too long since we've had a good cup run, so that would be nice, FA cup preferably.

As is obvious, we need to spend even more money unfortunately, but on the defence, this time. Interested to see if anything happens over the January window, but with LVG at the helm, things are certainly looking much better than they did 12 months ago.

 

[Pighardia]

Team- Brighton

Gaffer - none

Most improved player - none

Christmas Turkey - everyone

End of season prediction - league one.

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Team: Liverpool

Gaffer: Rodgers - A fantastic attacking coach but not a great manager yet. He's unable to learn from his mistakes and doesn't understand the defensive side of the game which has been highlighted more than ever this season. Until he accepts that all out attack is unlikely to prosper in the long run we won't win anything with him in charge of us.

Most Improved Player: None, they've all been ****.

Christmas Turkey: Lovren - In terms of price vs performance he's possibly the worst defender we've ever had. He's slow, positionally inept and very poor in the air but a guaranteed starter because Rodgers spunked £20 million on him.

Prediction: 6th

Chelsea
City
Man United
Arsenal
Spurs
Liverpool

 

[Ephemera]

Team Southampton. Massively surprised. Thought it would take at least six months for the team to gel after the arrivals/departures but I couldn't have been more wrong. Good offensively and a really sturdy defence has seen us 4th after 19 games.

Manager After the summer of nightmares he's done very well. Thought he did a good job at Benfica so was pretty happy with his appointment and has so far shown good tactical knowledge. Tadic and Pelle settled into the team immediately, as have loanees Alderweireld and Bertrand. Would think it's unlikely but we must try everything we can to buy Alderweireld.

Most Improved Player I'd say Bertrand after seeing him play for Villa last season. As for an actual Saints player it's probably JWP who is starting to find the consistancy to his game that he was lacking last season.

Christmas Turkey Tough one but probably Gardos simply because he hasn't played all that much. Mayuka and Osvaldo would be ahead of him but they don't count as they've been here for a year and done nothing.

Prediction Nope. All I can say is that's it's going far better than expected.

1st - Chelsea
2nd - Man City
3rd - Man Utd (If they had a decent CB pairing then this season could've been much different)
4th - Arsenal

 

[Azza]

Team - Everton. Awful, like really really bad. No one has any drive, power, pace, passion, determination. We're just flabby it's a joke. Defenders and Barry have too much posession and when they have it are just too slow. Midfield are just not creative enough, wingers are not attacking their defenders with the ball, it's constantly extra pass pass pass.


Manager - Main thing Wigan couldn't do and that was defend and we can't defend now either! Main thing Wigan fans complained about with Martinez is no plan b and he just stuck to his methods. Unfortunanatly when you don't have the players that work in the tactics things go wrong. Jags, Distin can't pass the ball for ****, Alcaraz is too slow and makes random decisions. Joel Robles can't catch a football at all. Barry should not be the person controlling our tempo or where the ball goes.

Thankfully after last nights display the media, pundits, analysts, other fans are finally seeing this and what a blert this guy is. It'll be hard to turn our League season around with big money being spent in Jan on the right players and I can't see next season being any better if we don't spend money.


Most Improved Player - Errmmm they've all be ****e. So I guess Kone because he has actually managed to start a match and even score which is a Christmas miracle!!


Christmas Turkey - Everyone, Howard, Distin, Martinez, Barry. But I'll go with Gareth Barry just based on how good he was last season. Absolutely awful this season and even worse since he come back from getting injured. He needs to be doing what Matic does at Chelsea but Martinez is allowing him too much of the ball.

Prediction - Top half finish would be nice but I'd be amazed if that happened.

 

[omnomnom]

Team: Liverpool

Gaffer: Brendan Rodgers. He doesnt know his first team, he's chopping and changing the defence all the time. A couple of poor results away from getting the chop imo...

Most Improved Player: Given Rodgers has been dire i'd probably say Sterling. 19 when he started the season and shoved up front on his own for Liverpool FC....that's pressure and although he's had patchy...patches he's still a shining light at the minute.

Christmas Turkey: Can i have a three bird roast ? Lovren, Jones and Mignolet.

Prediction: 4th

Chelsea
City
Man United
Liverpool
Arsenal
Spurs

 

[Newbie007]

Team - Liverpool. Utter disaster of a season - no cohesion, no leadership, no defence and no attack.

Manager - Brendan Rodgers, Jesus where to start. Firstly how stupid do those fans proclaiming him to be the 2nd coming of Shanks look now. Lucked out hugely with the form of Suarez and Sturridge last season and didnt look to replace or even have any sort of plan to cope with the loss of ol bitey when any one could see he would be off in the summer. Over 100 million spent and the team are worse than they have been for a long time. Gone is the fast paced, high press of last year and in its place we have the same ****e we were served up in the the 1st 6 months of his tenure and the 1st 2 months of 2013/2014.

He doesn't have a clue defensively, keeps playing his favourites to the detriment of the team, terrible in the transfer market and should leave end of the season.

Most Improved Player - None.

Christmas Turkey - Rodgers, see above,

Prediction - Who knows, the league is terrible. Probably the worst its been for a very long time. Wouldnt surprise me to see us finish 3rd or 10th. Awful.

1st - Man City
2nd - Chelsea

 

[Tute]

Team Manchester United

The Gaffer Happy with him at the moment. My only concern is making the new 3-5-2 system stick and if it all ended up going down the pan would his ego allow him to move back to a back four or would he just persist. But there does seem to have been improvements with the formation after a few months of headless chicken mode.

Most improved Player Tough one but I'm going to go with DDG. One of the best keepers in the world right now, he seems to have made the step from very good to brilliant and we need to hang on to him.

The Christmas Turkey I can't really single anyone out as injuries have prevented anyone from having a decent run. So I'm going to say the 5-3 loss to Leicester - but then again without that terrible penalty decision it could have gone either way.

End of Season Predictions

1st Chelsea
2nd Manchester City
-GAP OF 10-15 POINTS-
3rd Manchester United
4th Arsenal

We're still nowhere near the two at the top and I think they will open out an unassailable lead by about the end of February. But I think we'll get third fine barring an Arsene Wenger epiphany in the January transfer window.

Then in the summer it's into the market for a commanding central defender, a commanding central midfielder, and possibly a winger and/or striker depending on how things go with Falcao and RvP.

All in all, if you'd have offered me 3rd at the halfway point back in August I'd have taken it without question.

[Edit] I'm not even going to try and predict the FAC winner. Consistency just totally goes out the window in that competition, it's what makes it fun. Certain teams turn up for it, and certain teams just don't. I would say United will have a decent run, probably to the QF, but then go out.

 

[Tummy]

Sheffield Wednesday.

Team

Sheffield Wednesday. Started strong, stopped scoring, drawn too many games already but good in defense throughout. Sheffield Wednesday are good defensively, organised and strong despite Liam Palmer. Slow, unimaginative and forwards who are not scoring in attack. A midfield that is competent but often exposed. Sheffield Wednesday are going through the ‘rough’ form that almost every professional club appears to experience at some point throughout the season. Sheffield Wednesdays problem was not some horrific collapse of either form or leaking goals it the ability to score goals that completely evaporated the team. Eleven games without a victory (or goal) was ended with a 2-1 victory over Wigan and then built upon with another 1-2 win against Blackburn. Losing two games consecutively after but plugging the rot with a boxing day win against Blackpool. The last ten games Sheffield Wednesday have played is a very good microcosm of the season in general, played 10, won 3, lost 3 and drawn 4. Sheffield Wednesday’s problem is scoring goals and finishing teams off, if they could do this many of the numerous draws would have been transformed in to wins and the position much more representative of the quality of football played at times.

The Gaffer

Stuart Gray. Undoubtedly a very good coach, motivator and tactically astute manager. His limitations seem to be the financial state of Sheffield Wednesday, unable to operate in the transfer market to real effectiveness, and leads a very small, poor, backroom and coaching staff. Has a win percentage of around 38%. There is a saying in sports that you win so many games, you lose so many games and it is what you do with the rest that counts, it would appear for Stuart Gray and Sheffield Wednesday that these games are games to be drawn.

Most improved player

José Semedo. There was a long period for Semedo where he looked not only out of favour but out of his depth in the Championship, however, this has long since passed and he has become a capable holding midfielder again.

Atdhe Nuhiu. ‘He’s got a good touch for a big man’. Case in point, Atdhe. My nickname for him (which gets some ridicule from the people with whom I sit) is ‘Baby Zlatts’. Every aspect of his game has improved since last season and his technical ability, hold up play and his vision remains a joy at times.

Keiren Westwood. Keiren Westwood is deserving of a mention too. I have no idea why he is not plying his trade at a higher level or higher status club. Fantastic goalkeeper. The only slight on his game seems to be his mixed distribution at times. Westwood has made some absolutely outstanding saves and is a large reason why Sheffield Wednesday remains so strong and organised in defense. Despite his diminutive height he is proving to be a colossus in goal.

The Christmas turkey

Liam Palmer. Undoubtedly has the potential to improve. More Glen Johnson than Daniel Alves this season, and no full back wants to be compared to Glen Johnson. Palmer is quick, strong and proficient enough with the ball, and as an attacking full back always eager to push forward even despite his poor delivery or finishing. Suffers from the positional sense of a blind penguin and is often lazy at tracking back, pressing attackers and tepid in his tackling. Often beaten by a wide player who can cut inside.

Jacques Maghoma. Creative, attacking, flair, forward, four words which do not apply to the attacking midfielder Maghoma. As the season has progressed, Maghoma’s attacking threat has diminished. His inability to release a ball quickly or pass the ball forward mean that attacks are often slowed down and instead of Sheffield Wednesday facing an advantage in the attack, they are met with a defensive that has been given time to organise and draw more players back.

Kieran Lee. I might be a little harsh, but his form has been woeful since the start of the season. A busy, industrious midfielder who can operate in a deep lying playmaker type role normally, but has been suffering from some sort of memory loss which means he just rushes around quite a lot in the middle of the pitch.

End of season predictions

Mid-table. Hopefully.

 

[Caseh]

Team- Sheffield United

Gaffer - Nigel Clough. Has his good points, but is mostly ruining them by being awfully stubborn. Continues to try and play the same way each week, with seemingly no plan B. Does well in cup matches, but seemingly unable to beat the epic teams of League 1.

Most improved player - None. No player is playing better now than they were last season under Clough.

Christmas Turkey - Paddy Mcarthy. Experienced centre half brought in for organisation and leadership. Doesn't even train with the club, he trains down in London still at Palace.

End of season prediction - League one.

 

[rossk26]

Team: Newcastle United

It's the same old story with Newcastle "the unpredictables", we had a good month in November, partly due to forced team selection, which inevitably found some of our hidden gems (Perez).

The Gaffer
Pardew - for the moment. It's always a love hate relationship with this guy. Somehow he manages to get results, I can't remember the last time we actually played decent football and got a emphatic win. His tactics and team selection and substitutions sometime baffle a lot of fans, and rightly so. He seems to want to prove a point with a lot of the players (Cabella).

Most improved Player
Difficult one, as the obvious standout performer is Perez, but nobody knew how good he would be anyway. Obertan was a different player in the few games he played before injury. Dummett has also impressed a few time this year, and I'd say when played at centre back has found his best position alongside Colo.

The Christmas Turkey
Hatem Ben Arfa, the lad has so much talent and ability, but clearly is missing a few cogs up their. Seems it was a wise decision to offload him to Hull, where he couldn't even make an impact there. He needs a team built around him, but unfortunately he just isn't good enough to have that.

End of Season Predictions
Top 10 finish should be achievable, but I can see a slippery downhill slope for us now. With a few being sold in January, and Cisse, Abeid and Tiote of to AfCoN, we'll really struggle with squad numbers.

I'll be happy if we can keep our stars (Krul, Jaanmat, Sissoko and Perez), finish mid table, and in the summer get a quality manager and some good signings to push for that top 8 top 6 finish next season.

 

[Tunney]

Team - Tottenham Hotspur

The more things change, the more they stay the same. We had a terrible start to the season but it looks like we're slowly turning the corner. After a lot of experimenting, it looks like Poch has found his preferred set-up and team now. The football isn't great to watch but it hasn't been great since 'Arry left.

The Gaffer - He's said a few odd things about the size of the pitch but I'm happy with him. As a Spurs fan, I try not to get too attached to managers though.

Most Improved Player - England's saviour, Harry Kane. It's easy to see why he's a fan favourite - local lad, works hard, runs at defenders, has a surprising amount of skill and seems like a nice chap too. I think he's the real deal.

The Christmas Turkey - Daniel Levy for suggesting that we play two seasons in Milton Keynes and for realising that our scouting network is terrible after spunking £100mil up the wall.

End of Season Predictions - Europa League place and trip to Wembley.

 

[Illgresi]

Team - Aberdeen

In a word; superb. Two points behind Celtic at New Year is practically unheard of. Most fans now think we can push Celtic all the way, and with good reason. We've taken 4 more points off the other ten clubs than they have, and have been seriously unlucky (read cheated) in both matches against them thus far. Added to that, we've managed to get most off our best players signed up at least until 2017, which should hopefully help prevent the historic old firm tactic of putting in derisory offers for the best players in their closest rivals in order to unsettle them.

Great news off the park also, with the announcement that the club has managed to write off our £15m debt. Next up is the delivery of a world class training facility.

So much for the 'armageddon' predicted following the extinction of Rangers! The only clubs negatively affected are Celtic and the new club.

The Gaffer - Absolute legend. Has helped to revolutionise the way the club works on and off the park. His signings in the main have been excellent, but any turkeys have been quickly discarded. He's instilled a fierce competitiveness in the squad, and most importantly, managed to get the players to buy into the future of the club.

Most Improved Player - They've all been great, but Ash Taylor had a rough start, and has quickly become the dominant aerial presence at the back we were hoping for.

The Christmas Turkey - Robson. Brilliant in his day, but the legs have gone.

End of Season Predictions - Minimum: Second place and retain the league cup. Dreaming: Win the league

 

[Derek W]

^^ Jamie Masson has been decent on loan to us for the first half of the season. Shame Aberdeen didn't let us use him in the cup till you got punted out by Dundee Not sure if he's staying on or returning in January though.