[Football] 'Top flight needs Villa vibrancy' Stan Collymore.

[Thunder Bolt]

Do you consider Chelsea to be a Surrey club? That would be wrong too.

It's not very far from The Oval.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Good post.

I’ve read several times that even Everton and Spurs fail to make real inroads into markets such as Asia and North America. So IMO the Albion would be wasting effort trying to make themselves a commercial force outside of the UK. Just do everything in their power to stay at the PL table and keep minting £100m of additional income per annum.

We're starting to make inroads into India, with the live screening in Bangalore, and Calde.

 

[Weststander]

We're starting to make inroads into India, with the live screening in Bangalore, and Calde.

Calde was one of my favourite right backs. Nice beard too.

 

[lancyclaret]

The purchase of Andre Gray the second time around did you no harm.

If you are implying Burnley "bought" promotion second time around, you are mistaken. True, we spent up to £9 million on Gray but that was only after being forced to sell Danny Ings (£8 million to Liverpool after tribunal), Trippier (£3.5 million to Spurs - ridiculously low release clause) and Shackell (£3 million to Derby). These 3 were replaced by Gray (£9 million with add-ons), Matt Lowton (£1 million from Villa) and Michael Keane (£2 million from Man United after successful loan spell).

Sales = £14.5 million.
Purchases = £12 million.

Transfer profit gave Dyche the opportunity and wages to make his key signing - Joey Barton on a free transfer.

 

[lawros left foot]

If you are implying Burnley "bought" promotion second time around, you are mistaken. True, we spent up to £9 million on Gray but that was only after being forced to sell Danny Ings (£8 million to Liverpool after tribunal), Trippier (£3.5 million to Spurs - ridiculously low release clause) and Shackell (£3 million to Derby). These 3 were replaced by Gray (£9 million with add-ons), Matt Lowton (£1 million from Villa) and Michael Keane (£2 million from Man United after successful loan spell).

Sales = £14.5 million.
Purchases = £12 million.

Transfer profit gave Dyche the opportunity and wages to make his key signing - Joey Barton on a free transfer.

Could say Barton rubber stamped your promotion

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I object to the idea that Nottingham Forest are in any way, shape or form a 'big club'. They came tenth last season in Championship attendances, below mighty Norwich. And apart from an FA Cup in the 19th century and another in 1959, every single thing they have ever won came during the Brian Clough - Peter Taylor era. We talk about our chums up the road being a one-man team but Forest are a two-man club. And neither of them is Stan Collymore.

The Premier League doesn't need them any more than it needs Sheffield United, Ipswich or Wigan.

 

[lancyclaret]

Could say Barton rubber stamped your promotion

Good one He certainly deserved his Player of the Year awards (both fans and team-mates) plus his place in the PFA Championship Team of the Year. Barton's attitude was best summed up in the promotion race run-in when he berated a couple of team-mates after hearing them say they would "settle for second place".

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Good one He certainly deserved his Player of the Year awards (both fans and team-mates) plus his place in the PFA Championship Team of the Year. Barton's attitude was best summed up in the promotion race run-in when he berated a couple of team-mates after he heard them say they would "settle for second place".

Yet, he was the one who didn't get the medal.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Good one He certainly deserved his Player of the Year awards (both fans and team-mates) plus his place in the PFA Championship Team of the Year. Barton's attitude was best summed up in the promotion race run-in when he berated a couple of team-mates after he heard them say they would "settle for second place".

What did he do, stub his cigar out in their eyes?

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

True. The Medway Towns add up to a large conurbation.

I’ve always assumed that there’s a quite lot of support for Charlton and Millwall out that way.

Gillingham shot themselves in the foot rather spectacularly a few years ago when they banned the local paper, who decided to carry match reports of (then) Premier League Charlton instead. And since Charlton were running express coaches from the Medway towns to The Valley, all Gillingham achieved was to drive potential supporters into a rivals' ground.

 

[Beach Hut]

I guess when Stan decided to beat up Ulrika was the time he started becoming a total cock

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

The Villa team of the 70's were a delight to watch.

Esepcially when we beat them 3-1 in the league. First game on MOTD. Div 3. I was there. Cracking.

 

[portlock seagull]

Esepcially when we beat them 3-1 in the league. First game on MOTD. Div 3. I was there. Cracking.

Division 3...! Such a Big club, Villa...

 

[BN41Albion]

There's always been so called smaller clubs in the top flight though so his argument is redundant. Just had a quick look at the 91/92 season for example - last season before the Prem. It included Oldham, Luton, Notts County, Wimbledon, amongst other smaller clubs like Palace, QPR, Coventry, Norwich.

Smaller clubs hitting the big time and causing a few upsets is part of the beauty of football, surely?

 

[Simon Morgan]

This kind of attitude makes you look like a dick if you win, but makes you look like an absolute **** if you lose. See also: Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds. It's not about where you are in the table, it's about taking 273,000 to Burton on a Tuesday night.

 

[Spanish Seagulls]

I know I'm a late comer to this party but can I just add "Wanker". There'd be no reason to actually play if only the so called big sides were in the PL

 

[lancyclaret]

Collymore's (and most pundits) attitude to "so-called" smaller teams sucks, but this is also what Scudamore and his PL pals want - less Burnleys, Huddersfields, Watfords, Bournemouths.

If these teams overstay their welcome, the PL have other ways to "handicap" them - giving them more than their fair share of the worst refs, rigging the fixture schedule in favour of the big clubs etc..If that fails, I can foresee the Premier League being reduced to 18 teams.....and then 16.

The "weeding-out" process has begun.

 

[Perry Milkins]

Collymore's (and most pundits) attitude to "so-called" smaller teams sucks, but this is also what Scudamore and his PL pals want - less Burnleys, Brightons, Huddersfields, Watfords, Bournemouths.

If these teams overstay their welcome, the PL have other ways to "handicap" them - giving them more than their fair share of the worst refs, rigging the fixture schedule in favour of the big clubs etc..If that fails, I can foresee the Premier League being reduced to 18 teams.....and then 16.

The "weeding-out" process has begun.

Is it not effectively 6 teams...the media darlings?

I have amended your post for honesty matey...

 

[neilbard]

Stan who? He sounds like a ****.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Collymore's (and most pundits) attitude to "so-called" smaller teams sucks, but this is also what Scudamore and his PL pals want - less Burnleys, Huddersfields, Watfords, Bournemouths.

If these teams overstay their welcome, the PL have other ways to "handicap" them - giving them more than their fair share of the worst refs, rigging the fixture schedule in favour of the big clubs etc..If that fails, I can foresee the Premier League being reduced to 18 teams.....and then 16.

The "weeding-out" process has begun.

Is it not effectively 6 teams...the media darlings?

I have amended your post for honesty matey...

I would suggest that it's probably more likely that the 'weeding' will occur from the top with the formation of a European Super League, and we lose the top 5 or 6 forever, which I think would be a MASSIVE plus for English football, with a much fairer structure and the chance for many more teams to actually win the league.

Having typed that I wonder, if this did occur, how they would determine which teams 'qualified' for the Super League? Would they just say, the top 6 at the end of this season qualify, or would they exclude the 'over-achieving' smaller clubs, like Burnley and Leicester (over recent years) and use some sort of average?