I feel like Pep will end up at Manager of the Season given City will end up winning the league by a decent margin and his success in the CL will bleed over. Arteta, De Zerbi, and Emery all have really good arguments but I think they may split the non-Pep vote.

But I'd be really happy if Pep didn't win it. Doesn't even need to be my boy Arteta. I would love to see Emery win it.

In reply to jeffk I would agree were it not for the fact that he's English and a legend therefore he absolutely will be offered a job that he doesn't deserve.

https://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/premier-league-wage-bill-ranking-arsenal-newcastle-man-utd-city-liverpool/

Thought this was interesting. My takeaways...

Woodward may be gone but his asshattedness in regards to contracts still remains.

LOL Chelsea. 2nd highest wages for a mid-table finish.

LOL Leicester. 7th highest wages and you're going to get relegated.

Once again, proof that what Brighton are doing right now is simply amazing.

In reply to Dre_00 Players absolutely matter… but so does coaching and organizational health.

Interesting note I saw this morning. 3/4 of last years Top 4 were replaced this year. While that's good for the table and the league I just wish my team was that 1/4.

In reply to ChipFTAC01 Crazy to think how much has change in the last 15 years. Used to be that the Top 4 were always Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea in some form or fashion. Then Man City got unlimited funds and broke through. Tottenham was always on the edge and broke through. So then you had the Big 6 so to speak. Then Leciester wins the league out of nowhere and you gain another competitor for a few years (although they're gone now). Now Newcastle have unlimited funding and advanced quicker than anyone anticipated. Brighton and Villa have been very competitive this year (although I think Brighton may be about to get poached in the offseason).

League has never been more competitive. City are the only ones that are really there to stay unless something happens with FFP, but the other 3 spots are going to be hotly contested.

In reply to wangus12

wangus12 said:

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GrapevineAg said:

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Nothing surprising about Astros fans defending Man City's cheating.

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Lol unlike City, the Astros were simply caught doing something that every team was doing in some form or fashion. City on the other hand are playing with a massive advantage that no other team can match

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How's that? There are plenty of saudi oil funded and russian oligarchy funded teams that have had deep pockets.

In reply to Thunder18 No one cares about silly rules to keep out new money and protect old money teams except old money team fans.

In reply to Texaggie7nine

Texaggie7nine said:

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No one cares about silly rules to keep out new money and protect old money teams except old money team fans.

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[citation needed]

In reply to wangus12 I was pondering this morning...next season is going to test just how big the "top __" group can be. It used to be top 4. Then top 6. Now top 7. I don't think the group can have 7 members for more than a year or two.

The bigger that group gets, the harder it is to maintain because it means the likelihood of an individual club missing out on CL football for multiple consecutive seasons, increases. And that sustained failure to qualify for the CL will have an exponential impact on a club's finances and ability to attract players. A massively wealthy club can throw money at the problem and significantly dent the impact. There will always be elite players who will come play in the Europa League for you if you pay them 5x what they are worth. But even slightly less wealthy clubs are going to suffer the larger that group gets. Throw in the fact that there are 2nd tier clubs like Brighton, Brentford, and now, Villa, who seem to have the organization to consistently punch above their weight and regularly take points off the top 7 and you have a very challenging environment to maintain that group of 7.

All of which is to say that I think Tottenham could be in severe trouble and will be the one that falls away bringing us back to a top 6. It might not be them. It could be any club that isn't exponentially wealthy. But they seem the most likely at the moment. They appear to have nothing going in their favor at the moment. Their leadership is laughable. They have no manager and no direction. Their on-field talent is slowly eroding away and looks like it will continue to do so. They are financially solid but they can't compete with the money that City, Newcastle, United, and Chelsea throw around (even if 2 of those clubs throw it very poorly).

TL;DR...I think Tottenham is on the verge of returning to perennial mid-table finishes.

I don't disagree with that but I also fear the same thing could happen to Liverpool.

In reply to Dre_00

Dre_00 said:

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Texaggie7nine said:

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No one cares about silly rules to keep out new money and protect old money teams except old money team fans.

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I love how you portray City's sovereign wealth as a noble attempt to break through the glass ceiling that "old money" teams imposed on you.

Hilarious. Just top notch comedy.

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Well the glass ceiling wasn't very noble, so why should breaking it be?

In reply to ChipFTAC01 I think there are risk factors for any team in the top 7 not named City, Newcastle, or Chelsea (Boehly has already proven he'll pay stupid money to make stupid decisions...as long as the stupid money keeps flowing, they'll eventually make at least somewhat better decisions and be fine. Maybe as soon as next year).

Liverpool's margin of error is slim but they have a much better organization, at the moment, than Spurs do. I would put Arsenal in a similar position as Liverpool except they don't have the longevity of Liverpool. Similar financial situation...but not quite the history of intelligent decisions form an organizational perspective. United are more than willing to pay stupid money like Chelsea but, new ownership (oddly) is a risk. The only thing worse than a Boehly or a Glazer who makes stupid football decisions is an owner who makes the same stupid decisions but spends half on wages. Plus United have only recently started making decent footballing decisions so they haven't proved themself, in any way, to be a competently run organization...yet.

In reply to Dre_00 There's a lot of truth in this. Tottenham is the most vulnerable and it has been exacerbated by terrible decisions by ownership for at least 5 years. That said, money has changed the game and for as much as the sporting decisions have suffered, the infrastructure has been put in place that makes this very unlikely.

Teams like Brighton are hitting on all decisions now but eventually you miss on one, no matter how good the organization, and they'll drop back down, like Leicester and many others before them. Villa is the only true threat and are years away. In '22, Spurs revenue was 75% above any of the non Big 6 (West Ham) and that's only growing. They are very much staring at the possibility (likelihood) of a few rough years but the shear difference in income almost assures over the longer horizon Spurs stay in that top group.

That said, I could see that top group stratifying with Spurs squarely on the bottom. It is a very real possibility that the Champion's League frequency of the last 10-15 years is never replicated.

Late to the game but I'm so happy we made Champions League. Unreal to see the turn around of the club. There is a restoration of pride that hasn't been around since the Shearer days under Keegan. Or the one bright season under Padres. Eddie Howe has done a phenomenal job at developing the talent he was given. Really points to what could have happened under Mike Ashley had he actually invested in the club. I'm a proud Geordie. Hope we can beat Chelsea to cap off a marvelous season.

Steps off soap box so y'all can blast away at the owners.

In reply to KCup17 If you don't mind, how'd you come to follow Newcastle? I'm genuinely interested.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrQp0gaOyZQ/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

In reply to KCup17 Cool deal. Thanks!

Out of curiosity, are there any other Brentford fans out there in Texags land?

In reply to 59 South

59 South said:

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Out of curiosity, are there any other Brentford fans out there in Texags land?

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You live in west London, right?

In reply to ChipFTAC01 Yes

Everton holding on for dear life.

Ha! West Ham fans started spreading that Bournemouth had tied (they havent)

Nm

Lol someone hit the infinite pictures in picture button

In reply to Aston94

Aston94 said:

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Wanna know how I know you are a ManU fan?

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Cause I vocally say I hate Liverpool and City and have blind support for United? Wow, you're a real Sherlock Holmes.

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I'm coming back for my crow. Please cool it medium with an egg on top, please.

If you believe this, then it's like the season didn't actually happen...

Which club will come out on top next season?#MyPLMorning pic.twitter.com/NlpVgB6eik

— NBC Sports EDGE Betting (@NBCSportsBet) May 28, 2023

When does Manchester united get bought this summer and which sovereign wealth fund from the middle east will it be?