arrrgh!!! how many more times?

[Web Team - Vince 0]

Just caught the end of Five''s Football Night. Who are these people? No, don''t answer that. But they reel out the same old same old... It''s funny but so frustrating at times.

''... Norwich haven''t spent much in the transfer market, Palace have the right idea...''

''... Norwich haven''t got a 20-goal striker, all these teams coming up need a 15/20-goal striker to stay up...''

''... team spirit counts for nothing if you''re losing'' (OK, a fair generalisation)

(and the best) ''... Everton''s form may help all these promoted clubs''.

Oh well, less than 38 hours until kick-off.

But I can imagine it next week - ''Norwich did better than everyone expected, but they were playing another newly-promoted side''

[AJ 1,218]

i agree, but atleast were getting some media attention!

You have to agree with some points:

Yes, Norwich havnt spent much in the transfer market BUT if we were to come down we would have that money to cover us. And palace wouldnt (this mistake was made by ipswich i believe

Norwich may not have a 20 goal striker, but so what? we score as a team, we dont have goal hoggers!!!

Team spirit is no problem to norwich.........

Everton and man City are the ones to watch out for slip-ups

Yep expect to see stuff likes "Norwich Suprise (someone)" or "Canairy fall off perch with suprise"

oh well, prehaps we should just enjoy it while it lasts.....

(thats not positive)

COME ON YOU YELLOWS!!!!!

(thats better :D)

[0Amarillo<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>ddMMyyyy0Falseen-US<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>True 0]

Can any stattos out there find out how many of last year''s Prem teams had a 20 goal striker? I''d hazard a guess that its less than half. Top scorers from each team anyone?

[Pete Raven 276]

Taken from the excellent PinkUn away guide:

[link]http://www.pinkun.com/Content/ncfc/fanzone/Premiership/Premiership.asp[/link]

Arsenal - Henry (39)
Aston Villa - Angel (23)
Birmingham City - Forssell (17)
Blackburn Rovers - Cole (11)
Bolton Wanderers - Nolan (11)
Charlton Athletic - Euell (10)
Chelsea - Hasselbaink (18)
Crystal Palace - Johnson (32)
Everton - Ferguson/Rooney (9)
Fulham - Saha (13)
Liverpool - Owen (19)
Manchester City - Anelka (25)
Manchester United - van Nistelrooy (30)
Middlesbrough - Juninho/Szilard Nemeth (9)
Newcastle United - Shearer (28)
Portsmouth - Yakubu (19)
Southampton - Beattie (17)
Tottenham Hotspur - Keane (15)
West Brom - Hulse (13)

[Temp the Revelator 0]

So that''s five then (I''m not counting Palace). Interesting!

And only another six with 15+. So only just over half the teams in the Prem have a 15+ striker in the team - that blows that theory out of the water a bit, doesn''t it?

[a1canary 0]

That''s a very good point Amarillo - and well answered Pete. Shows that a grand total of 5 strikers achieved that landmark (not counting Johnson in Div1) - all seasoned international superstars all worth many millions:
Henry
Angel
V Nistelroy
Anelka
Shearer

Wish someone had pointed that out to the muppets at CH5.
"So, if every team needs a 20 a season striker, how is it 12 teams survived last year without one?"

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

I can see your frustration Vince, but look at this way: Nobody expects us to stay up. If and when we DO stay up we''ll get all the plaudits and a million and one pundits will be swallowing their words. That''ll be pretty sweet. I''d rather have no presssure than the pressure West Brom have. They''ve spent money and many expect them to at least challenge some of the bottom clubs in the Premiership. If they cock up, they will look well stupid!!

Keep the faith

[machoman 0]

a1 canary - may be this will answer your question. I used the stats provided on www.soccerage.com and 4thegame.com. If you take the top 6 teams 5 have a 15+ goal man, but their top 3 goalscorers averaged 42.6 goals over the season. On average they scored 59.8 goals and conceded 35.3 or +24.5. Of the middle 8 teams only 3 had a 15 goal a season man and their top 3 scorers averaged 24.75 goals. They scored an average of 51.1 goals and conceded 47 or -4.1. The bottom 6 teams were very similar - only 1 had a striker of 15+ goals, but again the top 3 scorers in each team averaged 24 goals - the real cruncher is that although these teams scored an average of 47.8 goals, they conceded 65.1 or a goal difference of -17.3. The worse 3 were not surprisingly the relegated teams whose top 3 scorers managed 23 goals on average, but whose goal difference was -31 or nearly double the rest of the bottom teams. Thus a very simplistic guide to the premier league is - to be in the top 6 have a good striker, good backup and concede fewer goals. To be mid table have a better minus goal difference than the bottom 6. To survive it seems to me the crucial thing is not to concede - Leeds, Leicester and Wolves had 3 scorers who got as many goals as the mid table sides - they just gave away too many at their end.

[a1canary 0]

hence the majority of our team stregthening has come, and has still to come, at the back! And to sure up the back you need lots of experience. So Worthy must agree. It all makes sense, and with a bit of analysis and research it''s easy to see we have a better chance of survival than those pundits realise or even begin to understand. They should all be sacked!!

[0Amarillo<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>ddMMyyyy0Falseen-US<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>True 0]

I know its a well worn cliché, but I think its so true: strikers win games but defenders win championships.

That''s why its no coincidence that a defender won player of the season for us, despite us having the most potent attack we''ve had in many years. Despite that, we also had the meanest defence.

So to take on your point, machoman, survival in the Prem is mainly about defence, not strikers. For softer evidence, look at Birmingham... well known in their first season up for being ''hard to beat''. Whereas Wolves leaked goals all over the place. And ask any binner!

I guess it doesn''t matter whether you score 0,1 or 2 if you concede 3 or 4. But if you can keep a clean sheet, you only need to score 1 goal.