20 Myths of the Premier League - Fact or Fiction.

AFC Bournemouth - EDDIE HOWE FOR ENGLAND

I personally am a big fan of Eddie Howe. A young, enthusiastic, English manager who has done great things at the seaside club with very limited resources. If the FA MUST hire an Englishman, Howe is my pick. But if the manager of a side 13th in the Premier League table is the man for the job, we as Englishman need to re-evaluate our expectations. Don't hire an Englishman just for the sake of it.

Verdict - FICTION

Arsenal - THE INVINCIBLES ARE THE BEST ENGLISH TEAM OF ALL TIME

I have actually compiled an entire article on this point recently which was published by Clickon Sports. So if you want more details feel free to find it either on this site or on Clickon (Re-named as 'The Versed') . But to make it short and sweet for the sake of busting the myth. Did the 03/04 Arsenal side reach a record points total? No. In fact when Premier League champions are concerned, five sets of champions recorded more points. Goals, they scored loads right? Nope. In the last decade, eight of the ten champions of England scored more then the Invincibles. But they did go unbeaten right? Yes, in the league, but they actually lost their biggest game of the season to Chelsea in Europe. But going unbeaten is an incredible achievement. Fact, but do the maths - you can go unbeaten in the Premier League season and still get relegated. Please go an read my piece I wrote on this, I can't stress that point enough!

VERDICT - FICTION

Brighton & Hove Albion - A GOOD DAY OUT 

I was struggling to find something to say about Brighton, they have only returned to the first tier of England this season after a long hiatus. Their fans are nothing to shout about, but yet are also nothing to be embarrassed about. The try to play decent football, but also are known to try and grind out a result. So what what can I say? You know you'd love an away day at Brighton. A lovely sea-side town, one of the warmer places to go in England. And when it comes to the football, your side always have the possibility of bringing home three points from the Amex. No one really hates Brighton, because how can you hate them?

VERDICT - FACT

Burnley - THE GINGER JOSE MOURINHO 

Dyche's nickname isn't quite as memorable as 'the special one' but it's perhaps as complimentary. Burnley are a side who, time after time, upset expectations. I can speak for everyone who wrote the claret and blues off this season (I predicted them to finish dead last!) But Sean Dyche's side currently find themselves in 7th place, and been flirting with the top 6 for much of the campaign so far. Where as last season they were virtually unmatched at home, this time around their away record is exemplary. There is always something with the side from Turf Moor, they find a way to scratch and claw themselves to where they want to be. Not quite total football, but football none the less. masterminded by the ginger Jose Mourinho.

VERDICT - FACT 

Chelsea - "I'VE BEEN A FAN SINCE THE 90'S"

Any fan of the blues that claims to have been a fan before the Russian money came in. Ask them one simple question. "Who is Jesper Gronkjer?" If they can not tell you that Gronkjer scored the winner in the last game of the 2002/2003 Premier League season. The goal which secured Champions League football and secured that Roman Abramovic invested his fortune in Chelsea instead of going across London to Spurs. If they can not answer this question, the were likely, not chanting blue is the colour before 2003.

Verdict - FICTION

Crystal Palace - THE BEST FANS IN THE COUNTRY 

Crystal Palace fans, like most fans in England, will claim to be the best in the country. But unlike most, they make a real go of it. Claret and blue flares burning, flags waving, and songs singing throughout most games at Selhurst Park. And they have earned a reputation for being extremely supportive to their side. Maybe not the popular or obvious choice, but the case is very much there for Palace fans. However, the fact is, the noise coming from Selhurst is significantly lower at times of turmoil then it is when things are looking up. Where as this is the case for most sides, I personally do not believe the 'best fans in the country' would let their support drop off when their club is struggling for form. A bit harsh yes, but this is my article so I'm going with it.

VERDICT - FICTION

Everton - THE OTHER SIDE FROM MERSEYSIDE

Do the Toffee's have the rich history of Liverpool? No. Do they have the current attacking power of Liverpool? No. Do they have the world wide support of Liverpool? No. But to call Everton the 'other side from Merseyside' would be a disservice. Particularly in the 1980's, Everton were as good as any side in Europe - winning one FA Cup, one European Cup Winners Cup, and two English league titles. However the Heysel Stadium disaster, which lead to a ban of English clubs from European competitions saw Everton lose their chance to compete for more top prices across the continent. And much of the title winning side moved on as a result. A history worth shouting about, which could have been so much more if it wasn't for outside events.   

VERDICT - FICTION

Huddersfield town - THEY'RE JUST HERE TO ENJOY THE RIDE

The Terriers just seem happy to be here. The fans, the players, even the manager and the board. I think it's fair to say that very few people would expect Huddersfield to still be a Premier League side in 5 years time. This is no dig on the Yorkshire side, they simply are not a big enough side to compete with the riches of the biggest league in the world. The only other Premier League sides of a similar size to Huddersfield are Brighton and Bournemouth, both of which have a financial backing that simply is absent for the Premier League first timers. It will be fun while it lasts no doubt however to anyone involved with the club.

VERDICT - FACT

Leicester City - CRISPS

Now this one really did make me laugh, but how can it not be crisps! Their best player of all time? Arguably Gary Lineker. As his Twitter bio will tell you - "Still flogging spuds." In reference to his glistering career as a representative for Walkers crisps.  Speaking of Walkers crisps, the famous old ground, Filbert Street, was replaced in 2002. And in it's place we got, the Walkers stadium. Crisps through and through.

VERDICT - FACT

Liverpool - THE HISTORY CHANNEL 

Now this one hurts (I'm a Liverpool fan if you are new to this site!) Liverpool football club have, without a doubt, the most storied and successful history in English football. 18 League titles. 5 European Cups. 7 FA Cups. And 8 League Cups. An incredible tally. But then, you realise there has only been one trophy won by the reds in the last decade (A league cup in 2011.) And even more painful reading for Liverpool fans, they haven't won the league title in the last 28 years. 1990. And yet Liverpool fans claim to be following one of the biggest sides in Europe. In terms of prestige, no doubt, Liverpool are up there with Barcelona and Real Madrid. But how can a claim be made for Liverpool to be one of the world's biggest sides, without a league title in 28 years?

VERDICT - FACT 

Manchester City - OIL MONEY HAS BOUGHT SUCCESS

Can you really argue with this? Manchester City were a mid table side, dwarfed in size by their cross city rivals United as recently as the mid 2000's. When one of Sheikh Mansour's investment companies acquired City the amount of money that was being thrown around was unheard of, even by fellow Premier League side Chelsea, the most recent team to benefit from foreign money. Although I would argue that 'Pep has bought the title' in this most recent season is a floored argument, you can not say with any confidence what so ever that City would not have won two Premier League titles in the past five years if it wasn't for Mansour's cheque book.

VERDICT - FACT

Manchester United - THEIR FANS DON'T LIVE IN MANCHESTER  

No matter how much I'd love to claim that the 20 times champions of England have no Manchester based fans, they do sell out Old Trafford every week. They are, at the end of the day, one of the most well supported sides on the planet. So the fact that you always see someone representing the red devils when you go on holiday is not exactly surprising. A pretty staggering statistic is that, out of every ten adults ON THE PLANET, there is on average of between one or two United fans amongst the bunch. Now United's clear use of signings from certain countries to indulge their foreign fans *cough cough* Kagawa *cough cough* is a story for another time, and although United do have a huge amount of fans outside of Manchester, this is down to their immense support more then their lack of Manchester based support.

VERDICT - FICTION

Newcastle United - THE BIGGEST CLUB IN ENGLAND 

Try and have a conversation about the current state of Newcastle United with a Newcastle fan right now. It's almost a certainty that you will hear your fair share of shouting and swearing. And this frustration is built from the incredible last of success lately for a club the size of Newcastle. Now during the 90's, the Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish era, Newcastle were a very good side. Kind of the way Spurs are a very good side now. But did they win anything? You know the answer to that. In fact, they haven't won a trophy since 1955. Maybe it's time those expectations are lowered a tad.

VERDICT - FICTION 

Southampton - LIVERPOOL'S OUT OF TOWN ACADEMY 

Since 2014 the Saints have sold a grand total of 6 first team players to the red half of Merseyside. Most recently Virgin Van Dijk for a Liverpool record £75 million. Sadio Mane, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Nathaniel Clyne and Rickie Lambert have also made the switch in the last four years. It's not all doom and gloom for Southampton however, as they have received over £170 million in transfer fees from these players and aren't massively worse off in their league position. But calling Southampton Liverpool's out of town academy? It's easy to see why!

VERDICT - FACT 

Stoke City - A COLD TUESDAY NIGHT AT STOKE

No one looks forward to an away day at Stoke. The generic statement thrown around by fans since Stoke joined the English Premier League. Under Tony Pulis the Potters were a hard to beat, well drilled, tough tackling side that loved a good old long throw. When Pulis was replaced with Mark Hughes the crunching tackles were replaced with tricky wingers, the Welshman trying to change the ideology of Stoke. 'Stoke-alona' however didn't last long, and now not only are this Stoke side not hard to beat at home, the style Hughes tried to implement never really saw the light of day.

VERDICT - FICTION

Swansea City - THE WELSH BARCELONA

When Swansea City were promoted to the Premier League in 2012, they brought with them a certain style of football, which drew the attention of many fans. A slick, passing style, seemingly implemented by the manager Brendan Rodgers. I say it was brought in by Rodgers as when he left to Liverpool, he took the style with him. Now, it wasn't an immediate change in style, under Michael Laudrup the Welsh club did win the League cup in 2013. But over time, the Spanish like tika-taka football has been replaced with a style much more expecting from a side battling relegation.

VERDICT - FICTION 

Tottenham Hotspur - HARRY KANE WILL BREAK THE PREMIER LEAGUE SCORING RECORD

At the time of writing this Harry Kane has scored 99 Premier League goals. Alan Shearer, the record holder, ended his career with 260. That leaves Spurs' Kane with 161 goals to hit before he ties the great Shearer. Now Kane is 24, Shearer retired at 35 so lets assume Kane does the same. That's potentially 11 Premier League seasons left in his career. That would mean Kane would have to score an average of 15 goals a season for those 11 years to beat the record. This isn't impossible, the Englishman has scored 20+ Premier League goals for the past four seasons. But to keep that sort of form up for the rest of his career? That is one tough ask. And we haven't even factored in the possibility that some of the world's biggest clubs are after the Englishman. Say... Real Madrid? Virtually any time away from the top tier of English football would make this an impossible task. Sorry Spurs fans, you'll have to win a real trophy!

VERDICT - FICTION

Watford - MANAGERS JOB IS A 12 MONTH GIG

The fact is Watford have not had a manager last over a year in charge since 2012. Eight managers since then have taken charge of the Hornets to varying levels of success. It does make you wonder who is in charge of the hiring and firing at Watford with especially the last three gaffers - Quique Sanchez Flores, Walter Mazzarri and Marco Silva. All relieved of their day to day duties despite not doing a poor job at all. Their must have been a bet placed somewhere by the Watford board. 'Most managers hired and fired in ten years.'

VERDICT - FACT

West Bromwich Albion - YO YO CLUB

This one is simply just facts. Between 2002 and 2010, West Brom fans watched four promotions to the Premier League and three relegations back down to the Championship/Division one. To their credit, since 2010 West Brom have retained their Premier League status, in an attempt to shake their reputation as the yo-yo club of English football. But they aren't quite there yet.

VERDICT - FACT

West Ham United - THE WEST HAM WAY

The West Ham way. An idea that West Ham United fans demand a certain quality of football to be played by their team. With managerial appointments of recent times seemingly beating this idea into the ground, modern football fans are all too familiar with a very different West Ham way. (100%, I stole this one from Paddy Power.) The West Ham way - Win a trophy every 35 years, sign players you don't actually own, sign players who are never fit, BUBBLES.

VERDICT - FICTION

How on earth do you spend £147 million?

So... Barcelona finally got their man. £147 million is what it took for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp to finally let go of their number 10. The 'little magician' Philipe Coutinho. Now the Merseyside club find themselves with a huge transfer kitty but without their best player.


However, the month is still young. With 24 days left until the transfer window slams shut, Liverpool have to act fast. But simply, how do you spend £147 million in just over three weeks?


Step one - Thomas Lemar.


Despite a deceivingly average first half of the season, the French midfielder has bags of ability. And he contains plenty of the same traits as the man he would be replacing. Excellent on the ball, with a technical prowess unmatched by his team mates at Monaco, it's easy to see why Klopp has been so keen to get him in. A brilliant eye for a pass, as well as a keen ability to shot from range, Lemar is Coutinho if the Brazilian was French. One more plus point is the Frenchman's ability from dead ball situations, a trait of Coutinho's that will perhaps be missed the most. So the addition of Monaco's number 27 could go a long way to filling the hole at Anfield.

Reports are coming out now saying that the club WON'T try to sign Lemar in January. This appears to be down to Monaco's insistence that they will not sell. However, that doesn't rule out a pre contract agreement. £70 million and a sell on clause could persuade Monaco to let him sign for Liverpool on July 1st.


 Persistence is key in this market to get the man you want. Much like Barcelona's constant attempts to sign Coutinho, Liverpool should employ similar tactics to bring in Lemar.


 £147 million - £70 million = £77 million remaining.


 Step two - A NEW number one.


 Simon Miglonet and Loris Karius. Both keeper had shown signs of greatness before signing for LFC. And both keepers appear to have lost it almost instantly. It's time for change between the sticks and  anyone involved with the club can clearly see, if there is one position Liverpool can't compete with the other top 6 teams in. It's in goal.


 So where, and more accurately, who is the money invested in next?

 Roma's Alisson and Atleti's Oblack both are rumoured to be targets. Now if LFC stuck the whole £77 million left from the sale of Coutinho on Oblack, it MIGHT be enough for Atleti to sell. I haven't seen enough of Alisson to compare him to Oblack, but he looks far and away better then what Klopp currently has at his disposal. And much like Ederson to city, could be a wise investment. Around 30 million seems like a sensible price as that is the current record signing fee for a goal keeper (Ederson from Benfica to Man City in the sumer of 2017.)


 Also reports that Mignolet could be used as part of a swap? The addition of the Belgian keeper to the deal would see the asking price fall and get a big wage bill off of the books. Let's say then the club pay £25 million + Mignolet for Alisson.


 £77 million - £25 million (And Mignolet) = £52 million remaining.


 Step three - Van Dijk's centre back partner.


 With £52 million left after the signings of Lemar and Alisson, you could argue the remaining money could be invested in two or three players to help boost the squad. And to this point I say. Liverpool need another centre back. VVD looked completely comfortable and at ease during his debut against Everton in the FA Cup. But, frighteningly better then his partner, Joel Matip. Now the likes of Matip, Klavan or Lovren would make for suitable rotation players, but no more then that. If Klopp is to take his team to the places he sees, Van Dijk needs a partner up to his standards.

Now this is tricky, as over the last six months the only defender talked about joining Liverpool was VVD, with other names and rumours being turned aside almost instantly. Klopp set on getting his man and refusing a plan b. However one name sticks on the head. Koulibaly.


 Napoli (in the summer) were reportedly looking to offload the defender, for a fee of around £57 million. Now while they challenge for the title in Italy, I imagine they would not be looking to sell Mane's international team mate. And i'm sure, with January very much being a sellers market, Napoli would be in no rush to change their minds again. However though. Much like Mignolet being part of the deal to bring Alisson to the club, maybe Klopp could persuade Napoli with a name. Dejan Lovren. Dejan. With the signing of a new centre back, in the eyes of most at least, would fall to AT LEAST fifth choice centre back. Behind the likes of VVD, Matip, Klavan and of course the new addition, in this case, Koulibaly. And this is without taking into consideration the rapid improvement of youngster Joe Gomez, which, by the summer, could see Lovren as Klopp's sixth choice.


 An offer of £45 - £50 million for Koulibaly, with Lovren added for good measure, could be enough to tempt Napoli into selling.


 £52 million - £50 million (And Lovren) = £2 million remaining.


 That does actually leaves £2 million, which we'll just say FSG can keep. So for the £147 million the club will make for Coutinho, Klopp gets: his first choice replacement in Lamar; a potentially world class keeper in Alisson; and solid partner for VVD in Koulibaly.


As well as two big wages bills off of the books in Mignolet and Dejan and FSG still turn a profit. Then January ends, February begins and the club push on. Right now, Liverpool are in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League next season, a competition they are still in this time around, facing FC Porto in the round of 16. Klopp's side are also still within a shot of winning the FA Cup, Liverpool being one of the favourites at this stage.


 And then, just like that, the season ends. The world cup happens over the summer, and then it all starts over again. But in this scenario, Klopp has HIS team, a side he has built, and a side he will mould to go on and do great things.


 (Or they'll just blow the whole £147 million on Southampton players like Liverpool did with the Suarez money!)