(04-30-2019 08:20 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(04-30-2019 07:38 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(04-29-2019 03:36 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(04-29-2019 03:13 PM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  

(04-29-2019 02:30 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  If Leeds lose to Ipswich and WBA beat Derby in the final day it would be the first round of the playoff....and the first match would be at Villa Park.

Derby are playing for a spot in the playoff though (depending on how their match with Swansea goes tomorrow), so I doubt it'll be an easy win for West Brom.

I really just want Leeds back up...their seasons in the late 90s were part of the first few overseas years that I really started tracking soccer as a viewer, and before they started hitting significant debts, they were incredibly fun to watch and competed at some of the highest levels. Hell, less than 20 years ago, they were in the Champions League Semis and only 3 points away from the PL title...kind of crazy how far they fell. Plus, their away kits this year are styled to hell...love them.

The PL is a better place when the biggest clubs are in it. Its fun to see clubs like Brighton, Bournemouth, etc in the PL but its better when you have Leeds and Villa, etc

Couldn't agree more...I mean, how there aren't teams from Leeds, Sheffield, and Nottingham in the Prem (4th, 5th, and 7th largest cities in the UK) is beyond me. Plus the history from all of the clubs in those cities (outside of Wednesday) is so great that they really deserve to be back up...at least one will be joining this season though, and it'll be nice to see the Blades up.

Is the reason we haven't seen these clubs in the PL due to ownership issues?

Leeds, absolutely. They narrowly avoided full default in the early 00's by selling all of their top players (Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Keane, David Batty, Olivier Dacourt, James Milner, etc.) to pay back debts, but it cost them essentially two straight relegations, and they were stuck in League One/Championship cycle ever since.

Sheffield United are way different...they were the kings of the old First Division from the late 1800's (they're one of the oldest organized football clubs in England), but their roster was ravaged by the Wars, and they never recovered when other teams did in the 60's because most Sheffield youths were poached by the "Other United" (Manchester). Couple that with their unprecedented bad luck in (made 7 promotion playoffs since 2000 and haven't won one), and that's why they are where the are.

Nottingham are a crazy case in player ambition killing clubs. From 77-92, they were arguably the second best club in Britain, winning the First Division once, along with two runners up and 4 third place finishes and 4 League Cups paired with their European (and English Members after the Heysel Distaster) success of 7 cups won in that time frame. The issues cropped up when the big clubs started consolidating earnings as this was before the standard revenue sharing, and went after their players in droves. First to leave was Teddy Sheringham then Nigel Clough, Roy Keane, and Des Walker once Brian Clough retired as manager...and after he left it was all downhill. They've been solid for awhile in the Championship, just haven't been able to put the right team together to break from the mid-table.

Minus the Clough years, neither Derby or Forest have really been consistent First division clubs. We think they are bigger than they actually are because of how great their glory years were under Clough.

We talk about Sir Alex and how great he was but pound for pound Brian Clough is the greatest manager in the last 40 years on English football(Post Shankly Era).