The Top Five have separated themselves from the league after Sunday’s draw at Stamford Bridge. Ciaran Clark’s stoppage time equalizer means five points separate fifth place Chelsea from Sunderland, the Black Cats’ win over Blackburn vaulting Steve Bruce’s charge over Bolton, into sixth place.
On today’s recording of the EPL Talk podcast, we’ll talk about that ever-tightening title race (one which Manchester United seems intent to keep interesting), Joe Cole’s defibrillating goal at Anfield, and the sinking prospects of four of last year’s Europe contenders: Everton (13th), Villa (15th), Fulham (18th), and Birmingham City (19th). We’ll look back at the year that was and pass out some plaudits, and we’ll look forward to the mid-week action in our ever-busy Premier League.
That’s all on today’s EPL Talk Weekend Review Show, a production set to hit “record” at 10 p.m. BST, 5 p.m. EST, a broadcast where we desperately need your help. If you are a regular listener to the podcast (thank you), you know the show is much better when you’re involved. So let us know what’s on your mind. Use the comments below to give us your thoughts, questions, and prompts on the week that was in England, send me your emails, Tweet `til you tips turn teal, or come back at show time and chat us up in the UStream chat room were we’ll be watching to see what you say during the live show.
On today’s show, myself, Laurence and special guest Jesse Chula will be revealing out XIs of 2010, Player and Young Player of the Year, as well as our pick for 2010’s best Manager and Moment. Feel free to share yours, and we’ll try to work it into the show.
Audio player and chat room after the jump, both of which will start seeing activity near 9:30 p.m./4:30 p.m.
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NotTheNoob
January 9, 2011 at 8:15 pm
Did any of you catch the fun moment during Manchester United v Liverpool
http://bit.ly/ManUsupporterHeader
priyavrat
January 2, 2011 at 7:47 pm
gaffer,
i want to ask one question actually it came suddenly in mind…
is beckham really going to join spur? and if yes, then when we can see him in action?
on 12th or later, maybe on 15th or 16th, when????
reply me gaffer
cheers,
The priyavrat
May
January 2, 2011 at 9:42 pm
I think I read that he might be available to play against Charlton next weekend in the FA Cup.
We’ll see. Should be interesting.
priyavrat
January 2, 2011 at 6:01 pm
hey gaffer,
i am your big fan and of this site too….
but i want to know why u did not update this site on 1 jan..
reply me
bye, gaffer
The Gaffer
January 2, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Priyavrat, I was away for the weekend celebrating the New Year holiday with my family and without Internet access. We’re back full-time today and moving forward.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
priyavrat
January 2, 2011 at 7:39 pm
thanks for my reply, i have to ask many of my unsolved questions regarding epl and cl, i hope u would not dissapoint me..
i will ask u after 5th jan because after that my exam will be over…
i only tell u now that i am from india i love soccer very much where all other just keep on saying cricket cricket and cricket….
byeeee
US Stoke Fan
January 2, 2011 at 4:16 pm
As long as you are looking for input also. Will Man City simply loan out the full squad in reserve that they don’t have spots to play but are paying them the equivalent salary of an entire top half team? Should this strategy be legal? If they loan talent to 3 or 4 bottom half teams that they won’t be competing with aren’t they essentially making it that much more difficult for the teams they are competing with for the title/champions league to win since those players will only be available when they play their rivals?
Add: Shaun Wright Phillips, Viera, Bridge, Adebayor, Jo, and Roque Santa Cruz to the bottom 4 or 5 teams on loan at discounted rates could cost have a significant impact on the table.
Richard Farley
January 2, 2011 at 4:37 pm
Wow. Another great point. OK – we’ll bring it up.
Joe
January 2, 2011 at 5:30 pm
That seems almost too sinister to be real. If Man City actually did that, the league would have to impose some sort of sanctions.
US Stoke Fan
January 2, 2011 at 4:09 pm
Big Fan of the Podcast. Why is there not more January Transfer window buzz considering that nearly half the league is within potential range of the relegation spots? How difficult is it going to be to be a consistent premier league member if the sides being promoted next year have the potential to be top division mainstays(QPR & Leeds come to mind).
Richard Farley
January 2, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Great question, US Stoke Fan. I’ll bring it up. My feeling, though, I’ll share now: I’m not sure who both has money and the ability to stay within the FFPR regulations.
As far as QPR and Leeds, I would love to see them both back up and consistently competitive, but it’s a great point: Who gets cut? Who do you think? I see a number of clubs that could do down an never come back up, becoming the new Sheffield clubs.
US Stoke Fan
January 2, 2011 at 5:03 pm
In terms of who will get relegated I’m a big believer in goal differential at this point. Right now the three worst teams are Wolves, Wigan, and Villa. Of those three teams Wolves and Wigan don’t have the resources to overhaul their squad. Villa has the funds to improve their team however I don’t believe their manager will be there 6 weeks from now so those fixes may not prove worthwhile.
Beyond those three there are a number of teams that could collapse. Full credit to Holloway but can Blackpool really keep this up? Birmingham City can’t score and realistically Blackburn should probably be punished for sacking Allardyce since he got the most out of a terrible squad.
If I had to pick three: Wolves, Wigan, and Blackburn. Blackburn’s new ownership may not have deep enough pockets to dig them out either if they get relegated. Wolves and Wigan will have major issues digging themselves out of the Championship especially if they sack their managers.
Andrei
January 2, 2011 at 4:06 pm
What about Lee Bowyer’s “recent” thuggery? He was lucky enough to escape red card for his challenge on Darren Gibson mid-week and his antics in the game against Arsenal were nothing short of disgrace.
dsm9412
January 2, 2011 at 3:51 pm
Any chance Chelsea misses Champions League this year? This poor stretch has gone on too long for it to be simply dismissed as a slump.
Joe
January 2, 2011 at 4:09 pm
As a Spurs fan I’d love Chelsea’s slide to continue, but something tells me they’ll slowly claw their way back into form and at least be competitive for that last Champions League spot. I worry about Spurs keeping their run of good play going when Champions League resumes – they had some problems dropping points during the fall after mid-week CL games.
Richard Farley
January 2, 2011 at 4:32 pm
I completely agree, Joe. I can see Chelsea finishing 5th, but I can’t seem them not fighting for 4th. I think a title challenge is more likely than a complete capitulation.
Then again, I don’t know what’s going on at Stamford Bridge. My feeling is that options are being considered.
Richard Farley
January 2, 2011 at 4:31 pm
Yeah, DSM. I agree. I mean, this could be a slump, but as you say, it’s gone on for too long to be dismissed as one.
Could Chelsea miss Champions League? Not to be too simplistic, but they seem worse than 2009-10 while everybody above them seem a little better.
Chris
January 2, 2011 at 2:58 pm
What is the story Regarding David Moyes resigning from Everton? Jesse Chula was Tweeting about it yesterday. I only heard about it on twitter.
Richard Farley
January 2, 2011 at 3:32 pm
A Liverpool supporter tweeted something like ‘David Moyes has resigned.” Paul Tompkins retweeted. Fun ensued.
That supported, within 30 minutes, said “I hit send too soon. I meant to say ‘David Moyes has resigned himself to [something like] rough rough new year.'”
Edward C
January 2, 2011 at 2:23 pm
Chelsea! What’s wrong with Chelsea? And I hear rumors out of England that Hodgson is unemployed now and Dalglish is the caretaker-manager at Liverpool. Probably just a rumor, but rumors are usually not far from the truth…
Richard Farley
January 2, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Thanks, Edward.
What are your thoughts on each?
Regarding Chelsea, we just might be at the end of an era. This team’s been together for a long time. You rarely, across all levels of footy, see a team stay that good for that long without major changes.
On Roy, I hadn’t heard that rumor. That would be strange timing. Is this like yesterday’s rumor that Moyes had resigned? 🙂 That was fun. If anybody wants to regale us with that story, feel free. I’m going to go into it on today’s pod.
Edward C
January 2, 2011 at 4:43 pm
I would go with age, injury, WIlkins and all that, but they seemed to be sublime one week and the very next week, tosh. A bit too sudden, I think.
Richard Farley
January 2, 2011 at 4:49 pm
An sometimes you see those fluctuations within a single match. Lately they’ve been having bad halves, then bursts, then lulls.