The 'top six clubs' in the Premiership....

[standishclarets]

....most people would agree are - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man U and Spurs.

When the fixtures come out, like nearly everyone, I look to see who we play first, is it at home, who on Boxing Day and then the last day. This coming season we are at home for the first and last games. Brill.

Now, its which of these 'top six' do we play in our last 5 games. Last season was a bummer - Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal. This coming season there is only one - Liverpool.

So, what about the other teams in the Prem? 3 teams have three matches (no-one has more) against 'the top six' - Crystal Palace, Leicester, Newcastle.
Now, for two teams its different! Man City don't play any of these top teams in their last 6 games. And one team, who we all appreciate do need a bit of a 'helping hand,' don't play any in their last 8 games ! That team is - Man U! Seems a bit like 'its not what you know, but who you know'!

[Quickenthetempo]

The fixtures guy openly speaks about the plan to avoid big matches at the end of the season. Might even be on police advice.

[Ashingtonclaret46]

I would argue that those are not the top six clubs in the Premiership.

[IanMcL]

More games 'worthy' of TV worldwide, if the 'Top Six' are apart.

Burnley in the Champions League will be fun.

[standishclarets]

Fine, but who would you say are the top 6 clubs over say the last 10 years on league positions?

[KRBFC]

I would argue that those are not the top six clubs in the Premiership.

Is there even an argument to make? if so, i'd love to hear it......

[KRBFC]

I actually think Arsenal have to be very very careful, with the lack of financial backing and some progressive, forward thinking, wealthy clubs just behind them they could quite easily fall out of that top 6 bracket, very soon. Everton, Wolves, Leicester, Newcastle all have excellent managers and look a real threat (Newcastle if the billionaire takeover happens).

[Vino blanco]

Can't believe the mighty Leed's aren't in there.

[dsr]

Is there even an argument to make? if so, i'd love to hear it......

I suspect the argument is that it's called the Premier League.

[dsr]

We have to play the other 19 teams twice each. So does everyone else.

There's no point second guessing about the order of fixtures. If we had played Liverpool etc. sooner, we may have been still in the relegation scrap with 4 games to go. Would that have been better?

[Foulthrow]

In some respects it may have been a bonus to have such difficult fixtures at the end of the season. It meant that we had more winnable games at a time when there was less pressure. If we went in to the last six games desperate for points, and had been waiting on this fixtures as on opportunity for points, the pressure might have been too much and we might have lost.

One thing I have noticed it that points on the board early doors is really important. Takes all the pressure off. If you take Brighton as an example last season they seemed to lose all the time towards the end of the season yet managed to stay up simply on the basis of points accrued before Christmas. There doesn't tend to be much difference between teams that finish 13th/14th and 17th/18th - couple of wins at the most.

[KRBFC]

I suspect the argument is that it's called the Premier League.

Ah we're nit picking that bad? got ya

[Ashingtonclaret46]

Ah we're nit picking that bad? got ya

Not nit picking at all --just being correct ---my musician's mentality kicks in.
Premiership in Scotland and also Premiership in Rugby Union but not football in England, just as there is no Division One, Two etc. ---it is we oldies who get accused of not being up to date by you young whipper snappers but you don't like it when we are.
Anyway, an accusation of nit picking from yourself is rather amusing

[KRBFC]

Not nit picking at all --just being correct ---my musician's mentality kicks in.
Premiership in Scotland and also Premiership in Rugby Union but not football in England, just as there is no Division One, Two etc. ---it is we oldies who get accused of not being up to date by you young whipper snappers but you don't like it when we are.
Anyway, an accusation of nit picking from yourself is rather amusing

Fair enough you are factually correct, I must point out, it wasn't me who called it the Premiership.

[SGr]

Said on the original thread fixtures have been decent in terms of timings this year. Tough start after Southampton mind, but if it’s going to take time for us to get going better to have certain sides out of the way.

[Down_Rover]

I don't think the order you play at this stage has any bearing.

You need to be lucky, ie avoid all their good streaks of form.

If you play the top six when they are having a wobble or lower teams when they are on a losing streak you get lucky

If you play either of them when they are on top form you get unlucky

There is no way of knowing right now who will be in or out of form at any time of the season

[Spijed]

In some respects it may have been a bonus to have such difficult fixtures at the end of the season. It meant that we had more winnable games at a time when there was less pressure. If we went in to the last six games desperate for points, and had been waiting on this fixtures as on opportunity for points, the pressure might have been too much and we might have lost.

One thing I have noticed it that points on the board early doors is really important. Takes all the pressure off. If you take Brighton as an example last season they seemed to lose all the time towards the end of the season yet managed to stay up simply on the basis of points accrued before Christmas. There doesn't tend to be much difference between teams that finish 13th/14th and 17th/18th - couple of wins at the most.

Getting points on the board early didn't do the Brighton manager much good though!

[Tricky Trevor]

In this day and age the fixtures should be set in stone based on league finish. No need for arguments then. It could all be balanced that you play a mix of top6, bottom6 and middle7 on a regular rotation.
Police interference and season interruptions, Europe weeks & international breaks, stop this happening

[GodIsADeeJay81]

In some respects it may have been a bonus to have such difficult fixtures at the end of the season. It meant that we had more winnable games at a time when there was less pressure. If we went in to the last six games desperate for points, and had been waiting on this fixtures as on opportunity for points, the pressure might have been too much and we might have lost.

One thing I have noticed it that points on the board early doors is really important. Takes all the pressure off. If you take Brighton as an example last season they seemed to lose all the time towards the end of the season yet managed to stay up simply on the basis of points accrued before Christmas. There doesn't tend to be much difference between teams that finish 13th/14th and 17th/18th - couple of wins at the most.

Brighton stayed up because 3 other teams were more **** than they were....

Hudders collapsed, Fulham got their transfer strategy hilariously wrong and Cardiff left it just a little to late to pull their fingers out and get on with it, whilst also being distracted by the death of one of their own until it came to payment time...

[GodIsADeeJay81]

In this day and age the fixtures should be set in stone based on league finish. No need for arguments then. It could all be balanced that you play a mix of top6, bottom6 and middle7 on a regular rotation.
Police interference and season interruptions, Europe weeks & international breaks, stop this happening

What about the other leagues in England, or are you ignoring those?
They do play a large role in when PL fixtures are held...

[Tricky Trevor]

What about the other leagues in England, or are you ignoring those?
They do play a large role in when PL fixtures are held...

Not sure what your point is. This can be done through every division. The clubs are just shown as promo1, promo2, releg1,etc.,
The NFL fixtures were done this way many years ago. As soon as the season was complete you knew the next seasons schedule.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Not sure what your point is. This can be done through every division. The clubs are just shown as promo1, promo2, releg1,etc.,
The NFL fixtures were done this way many years ago. As soon as the season was complete you knew the next seasons schedule.

No relegation or promotion in the NFL, so it's hardly rocket science to set the fixtures each season

We've got the top 4 divisions, plus all the non-league ones which all require additional resources to ensure they go ahead, promotion, relegation, some clubs are shut down etc.
From the championship alone you could have a team from the north east promoted or relegated along with a team from the south so the differences in fixtures, police requirements and avoiding clashes of fans from certain clubs is a lot more complex.
It's a little bit more difficult than setting the fixtures for a league that doesn't change its teams all that often....

[Tricky Trevor]

No relegation or promotion in the NFL, so it's hardly rocket science to set the fixtures each season

We've got the top 4 divisions, plus all the non-league ones which all require additional resources to ensure they go ahead, promotion, relegation, some clubs are shut down etc.
From the championship alone you could have a team from the north east promoted or relegated along with a team from the south so the differences in fixtures, police requirements and avoiding clashes of fans from certain clubs is a lot more complex.
It's a little bit more difficult than setting the fixtures for a league that doesn't change its teams all that often....

Fair point but fixtures shouldn’t be based on location or you would play all your derbies in Winter to save those long pointless journeys for a postponed match.

[dsr]

Not sure what your point is. This can be done through every division. The clubs are just shown as promo1, promo2, releg1,etc.,
The NFL fixtures were done this way many years ago. As soon as the season was complete you knew the next seasons schedule.

Not true. The NFL have a different system to us in that they don't have promotion and relegation but not every team plays every other. So as soon as the season is over, you know exactly who your 8 home and 8 away opponents will be, but not when you will play them. Rather like in England, in fact - as soon as the play-off final whistle blew, we knew who our 19 opponents would be.

In the NFL, just as in our league, there is a wait to find out when each fixture takes place. In the NFL, it is about 3 months delay, to the end of April. (They don't announce the date in advance, in case they can't get it done on time - it is that complicated.)

If fixtures were just decided on position with no thought for any other factor, what would happen on days when Burnley and Blackburn were at home the same weekend? Or Liverpool and Everton? Or Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, West Ham and Millwall? Or Aldershot and Farnborough Air Show?

[Steve1956]

The way things are going at Man yoo i can see them quite easily dropping out of the top six,it will be super funny when they do.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Fair point but fixtures shouldn’t be based on location or you would play all your derbies in Winter to save those long pointless journeys for a postponed match.

Did you miss the part where I said if a team in the north east was replaced in a league by a team in the south then it creates other issues...