[tidy]

Are we seriously getting upset at getting beat at Anfield by the best team Liverpool have had for the last decade?

Just how many teams are going to go to Liverpool and 'outplay' them this season? Not many, I reckon.

[Salopbaggie]

We will never solve the current situation in football as long as money talks and subsequently the richest teams get all the best players. How to change it, I do not have a clue. Possibly the Americans have it someway right with the draft system, which is far easier to implement when the vast majority of players all come from or study in the same country. It may have some benefit in making teams a little more even, even if it only applied, as I suspect it would to UK based players.

For those unfamiliar with the way the draft works here is a link which explains the basics: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sp...014105.stm or if you fancy a bit more relaxation with your news, the movie Draft Day starring Kevin Costner, I am told is pretty much the way things work.

[St Charles Owl]

We will never solve the current situation in football as long as money talks and subsequently the richest teams get all the best players.  How to change it, I do not have a clue.  Possibly the Americans have it someway right with the draft system, which is far easier to implement when the vast majority of players all come from or study in the same country.  It may have some benefit in making teams a little more even, even if it only applied, as I suspect it would to UK based players.

For those unfamiliar with the way the draft works here is a link which explains the basics: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sp...014105.stm or if you fancy a bit more relaxation with your news, the movie Draft Day starring Kevin Costner, I am told is pretty much the way things work.

The US draft ststem in sport is something I see get mentioned with English football every so often but there seems to be two main reasons why it can't currently work in England.

First is over here every player in the draft has come up through the school, then college (University) system, so has no affiliation with any of the professional teams. There is no real academy system at the pro level, its all done by the colleges. This is completely opposite to our system where all the younger players are snapped up by the academies at the clubs themselves, so the clubs own the rights to these players. This would render a draft useless or it would destroy the academy system if there was no way even the top clubs could make their own decisions on who they keep and who they don't.

Secondly, the fact that there is no relegation or promotion from any of the major leagues over here means the system of what order players are picked is determined by the finishing record the previous season, where the worst team gets to pick first and the best team picks last in each round of picks. This is not a compatible system where we have different divisions with vast differences in quality of player simply because technically the team finishing bottom of the 4th division would get to pick the best players first, when the best young players are capable of playing at a higher level.

[4evaabaggie]

Are we seriously getting upset at getting beat at Anfield by the best team Liverpool have had for the last decade?

Just how many teams are going to go to Liverpool and 'outplay' them this season? Not many, I reckon.

Tidy, I don't think anybody is upset about losing to Liverpool, it's more the way we lost, we defend and make no attempt to win any game against any opposition ..... a draw will do. We struggle to pass to each other and more often than not make the wrong decision. We have some good players, they are better than the system we are playing ....... Not a boxing fan but as an analogy do you see a boxer, for the first thirteen rounds, do nothing but protect their head and soak up punishment, before punching once or twice in the closing round in the hope that one lands and you nick a win. Because that's what we do ..... and we get several black eyes for our troubles ...... no disrespect intended, Bournemouth away, Stoke without a win, we nicked a draw, Sunderland without a win or confidence another draw, Boro, newly promoted another draw. To be fair the tactic of getting our head punched in almost worked against Spurs. Don't be cavalier but try and play try to give the fans something.

[valpayne]

Don't understand how anyone can run tiki-taka down. Barcelona are beautiful to watch, and yet some prefer 1950s boot-it-upfield football.
Give me Tony Mowbray's relegated team anyday over Pulis' work-hard any-draw's-a-good-point-home-or-away shite.
Yes. I'd rather get relegated if that's what it takes. What's so fecking special about the Prem, when we get bored to death, and everyone else hates us as they STILL do Stoke.

sorry TS but I think your point of view is pure bollox. Relegation? Really? You think the championship would be preferable to watch then you got a screw loose mate. Look at whats happening to Villa and think on your sins. Others on here have a more realistic POV and that is the prem is utterly devoid of real talent. Its full of ,mostly bog average foreign players coining it in and living the dream whilst serving tripe up week in week out. Real english football was hard work and long balls and endeavour played on mud heaps with passion and pride by local lads who cared about wba preston leeds man united..... cos they were from these areas and it meant the world to them because it was true loyalty about the area they were from. since the premiership began it has become saturated with money grubbing tossers who fill their pockets, break the law, cheat, dive, lie steal and worse yet because they don;t have proprietary morals and ethics. I'm sick to the back teeth of footballers and all that comes with it I was in exile for 20 years and i wish I'd stayed there. FYI there are many pundits now spouting that teams have forgotten to defend full backs want to play out from the back but they don;t have the skill to achieve it and they would be better to start learning to defend again like the old days Ironically like Pulis does. No Its not pretty but nor are any of the prem teams anybody watch man u yesterday They went for it at chelsea didn't they? -4 goal average is the last thing we need. and while I'm ranting F*** You BT sport and F*** you sky this season is dreadful I can't afford to watch my team anymore and as soon as my contract is up Im ditching my pointless SS subscription and I shall sign off with this hilarious news story. Does anyone really need to work out why people are losing interest DURRR! https://www.theguardian.com/football/201...otball-off

---

PS I saw bolton V bury tonight league 1 Now weren't Bolton a prem side just a few years ago? Didn't they beat us in the play offs around 2000? The football on display tonight was utter rubbish Neither team could string passes together it was embarrassing and then a pundit mentioned how amazing it was that Bolton were back in business as they had debts of 197 million pound recently and that some mug has taken that on in the hope they get them back to the prem where they belong (quote) really? where you belong? If any of us ran a business into debt to the tune of 197 million we'd been doing porridge not football its a f****g joke and a criminal one at that. I'm going to bed before i lose it big time

[BaggieSteve]

Don't understand how anyone can run tiki-taka down. Barcelona are beautiful to watch, and yet some prefer 1950s boot-it-upfield football.
Give me Tony Mowbray's relegated team anyday over Pulis' work-hard any-draw's-a-good-point-home-or-away shite.
Yes. I'd rather get relegated if that's what it takes. What's so fecking special about the Prem, when we get bored to death, and everyone else hates us as they STILL do Stoke.

sorry TS but I think your point of view is pure bollox. Relegation? Really? You think the championship would be preferable to watch then you got a screw loose mate. Look at whats happening to Villa and think on your sins. Others on here have a more realistic POV and that is the prem is utterly devoid of real talent. Its full of ,mostly bog average foreign players coining it in and living the dream whilst serving tripe up week in week out. Real english football was hard work and long balls and endeavour played on mud heaps with passion and pride by local lads who cared about wba preston leeds man united..... cos they were from these areas and it meant the world to them because it was true loyalty about the area they were from. since the premiership began it has become saturated with money grubbing tossers who fill their pockets, break the law, cheat, dive, lie steal and worse yet because they don;t have proprietary morals and ethics. I'm sick to the back teeth of footballers and all that comes with it I was in exile for 20 years and i wish I'd stayed there. FYI there are many pundits now spouting that teams have forgotten to defend full backs want to play out from the back but they don;t have the skill to achieve it and they would be better to start learning to defend again like the old days Ironically like Pulis does. No Its not pretty but nor are any of the prem teams anybody watch man u yesterday They went for it at chelsea didn't they? -4 goal average is the last thing we need. and while I'm ranting F*** You BT sport and F*** you sky this season is dreadful I can't afford to watch my team anymore and as soon as my contract is up Im ditching my pointless SS subscription and I shall sign off with this hilarious news story. Does anyone really need to work out why people are losing interest DURRR! https://www.theguardian.com/football/201...otball-off

---

PS I saw bolton V bury tonight league 1 Now weren't Bolton a prem side just a few years ago? Didn't they beat us in the play offs around 2000? The football on display tonight was utter rubbish Neither team could string passes together it was embarrassing and then a pundit mentioned how amazing it was that Bolton were back in business as they had debts of 197 million pound recently and that some mug has taken that on in the hope they get them back to the prem where they belong (quote) really? where you belong? If any of us ran a business into debt to the tune of 197 million we'd been doing porridge not football its a f****g joke and a criminal one at that. I'm going to bed before i lose it big time

Val, whilst I'm sure none of us want to see the Albion relegated, neither do I think all of us believe that staying in the Premier League and watching this dross is the be all and end all. I just don't agree that it's all about the Premier and that, if you are relegated, it means the end of your club. You can rightly point to clubs like Bolton and particularly Leeds and Blackburn, who were badly mismanaged, and see them floundering in the lower leagues. But you can also look at teams such as Southampton, Watford and, of course, Leicester who gave, in recent years, returned from the Chamionship as stronger sides. I think it comes down to the approach each specific club takes if/when they are relegated. I live in the Scottish Borders and have a friend who's an STH at Newcastle. Last season was relegation doom and gloom but this year the ground is buzzing. Yes, they're in the Championship but they are seeing their team play well and winning..and they are still getting 50,000 through the gate.
I don't want to see us go down, absolutely not, but I don't believe we have to play in such a negative way, just to give ourselves a chance of staying in this league. There is a middle way.

[talkSAFT]

I KNOW what I wrote sounds bollox, Val.
I've moved 250 miles away, and only get to 4-5 matches a year now; but this last year I've sat amongst silence; the Smethwick sound like the Halfords Lane; and Away following has dropped through total apathy.
I actually enjoyed our Promotion Years, and the ground was always rocking when we put up a fight but still got relegated. As Steve says, Newcastle fans are having a ball this season, and going home with a smile on their faces. I watched a pathetic display against Boro in my last game, and we walked back down B'ham Road to my car: nobody on either side of the Road was saying a word, just looking down at their feet. There are a couple of thousand STHs who probably won't renew even if we stay up, because they're bored to tears, and the whole Day Experience is depressing. Most of us on here are hooked but, like fags and drugs, you only need so many bad trips to come off them entirely.

[Worldclassalbion]

Every season under Pulis has been the same. We start ok ish, win a couple, draw a few, then the losses start happening. We start off around 9th/10th then can't seem to get past it and then we slowly start to drop every week until we end up around 16th and hovering above the relegation zone. I'm already starting to look below us because its coming.

The man has no other way and is so stubborn. I'm fed up of the 'We haven't got players like them', 'The lads put in a shift', 'We didn't support Salomon enough', 'the wide players didn't get wide', 'The opposition work really hard for their manager' BLAH BLAH BLAH.

The next big decision is does the new owner stick with Pulis and his brand of football through another transfer window OR do they re assess our situation at the beginning of December (as its no good doing it at the end) and:

A) Keep TP and give him money to spend in January, knowing their is a good possibility he will spend too much money on average players and let them rot in the stands

OR

B) Get rid and get a new man in and give them more money to spend.

C) Keep TP and give him no money.

I think you all know where I stand on it.................................B

I have never known a more divisive Manager in all my 45 years of going up The Albion. Never been relegated, I think that's more down to pure luck than nous and managerial skill apart from that freak season he was at Palace.

Nice bloke maybe, Good man manager.....Don't Know, Good manager.....i'll let you decide

[Stathemwasthebestever]

Every season under Pulis has been the same. We start ok ish, win a couple, draw a few, then the losses start happening. We start off around 9th/10th then can't seem to get past it and then we slowly start to drop every week until we end up around 16th and hovering above the relegation zone. I'm already starting to look below us because its coming.

The man has no other way and is so stubborn. I'm fed up of the 'We haven't got players like them', 'The lads put in a shift', 'We didn't support Salomon enough', 'the wide players didn't get wide', 'The opposition work really hard for their manager' BLAH BLAH BLAH.

The next big decision is does the new owner stick with Pulis and his brand of football through another transfer window OR do they re assess our situation at the beginning of December (as its no good doing it at the end) and:

A) Keep TP and give him money to spend in January, knowing their is a good possibility he will spend too much money on average players and let them rot in the stands

OR

B) Get rid and get a new man in and give them more money to spend.

C) Keep TP and give him no money.

I think you all know where I stand on it.................................B

I have never known a more divisive Manager in all my 45 years of going up The Albion. Never been relegated, I think that's more down to pure luck than nous and managerial skill apart from that freak season he was at Palace.

Nice bloke maybe, Good man manager.....Don't Know, Good manager.....i'll let you decide

Spot on! Lets do B otherwise this just drags on and on. The questions is who?

[Salopbaggie]

Theoretically we could be in 16/17 with one loss against City, unlikely yes but that would be down to other teams saving our bacon by being worse than we are. Bottom line is we we have an half decent team, but only if they allowed to play football instead of safeball, if points were accumulated on running around doing very little other than defend we would be top of the league hands down!!!