# 2015-16 Barclays Premier League Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 3, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837 "2015-08-03T01:08:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/402 "2016-03-21T19:23:06Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > Tim Howard announced he will be returning to the US next season, playing for Colorado. > Fine player and ambassador for the game, who has unfortunately finished up his time here in a real nadir - he has been dreadful all season. To the point where he’s been getting sarcastic applause for catching simple balls - from the home fans. Bad way to finish, but he’s been a good Blue. > > Don’t know where this leaves him for the national team - New environment will put a smile back on his face and might put him in contention for a couple more seasons. The club are just as much to blame - it was obvious two seasons ago that he was past it and they should’ve been looking for a replacement, but they procrastinated and now the change in keeper is forced upon them mid-season. For many years though Howard was perennially the 4th or 5th best keeper in the Premiership. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/403 "2016-03-21T19:55:25Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > My own insanity. I would know it was just something I made up, not the same. > > Also, that’s a year old third team Jersey and would require lot of legwork to track down. It’s possible I overstated my desire for one. I know what you meant, and you obviously remember Harry’s very short career as a goalkeeper. My mum could have stopped that free kick with her Zimmer frame… Mind you, he had already scored a hat trick 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/404 "2016-03-21T20:22:20Z")
> [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > The club are just as much to blame - it was obvious two seasons ago that he was past it and they should’ve been looking for a replacement, but they procrastinated and now the change in keeper is forced upon them mid-season. For many years though Howard was perennially the 4th or 5th best keeper in the Premiership. Although he’s form has dropped, two seasons ago he was outstanding for The USA in the 2014 World Cup. Is he finished or is it just a loss of form? ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/405 "2016-03-21T20:27:17Z")
> [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > The club are just as much to blame - it was obvious two seasons ago that he was past it and they should’ve been looking for a replacement, but they procrastinated and now the change in keeper is forced upon them mid-season. For many years though Howard was perennially the 4th or 5th best keeper in the Premiership. That is very true - it takes time to bed in a keeper, particularly a young one, so it’s not a position you can replace at the drop of a hat. Martinez spends 1% of available brain power thinking about defence, though, so ruthlessness in that area was never going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/406 "2016-03-22T13:26:59Z")
As I recall Tim Howard was excellent for the USA in the 2014 World Cup. After that he seemed to be mentally fried, and did not have a good 14-15 for Everton. It should be said that the entire defense for Everton was a shambles that year. Last year Howard was playing OK, but not great. When he got injured mid-season, Joel Robles came in and arguably did much worse that Howard. When Howard returned, he was doing OK again, perhaps better than early in the season. This year, he was doing OK again. Since replacing Howard, Robles has been playing surprisingly well. Since Robles is much younger than Howard, it was pretty obvious that Howard was expendable. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/407 "2016-03-22T13:41:15Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > Although he’s form has dropped, two seasons ago he was outstanding for The USA in the 2014 World Cup. Is he finished or is it just a loss of form? :dubious: There was the game against Belgium, but otherwise, I can’t think of him as anything but solid. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/408 "2016-03-22T14:35:57Z")
Maybe it is me, but as a Spurs fan I don’t a flying @uck about the Europa League - as somebody else stated - especially once the Champions League also-rans got it as a consolation prize. To be honest though, once Group Stages were introduced into the European Cup to make it the Champions League I really lost patience with it. It is generally boring football being played anyway - why should we care? No doubt others will come on saying that it is easy to take that attitude if you don’t regularly quality for CL but really the only thing it is good for is to attract and retain players, and for the income. Do Arsenal appreciate all their CL appearances without having ever got close to winning it? Only for the income to pay off their Library Debt. I would much prefer it if both competitions went back to a straight knock out and the income did not outweigh the domestic leagues - but that horse has long bolted. The game is all about money now, not glory. Danny Blanchflower must be spinning in his grave. As for all this talk about coefficients? Total ballcocks - given only the League Champs and the Cup winners should be in each competition in the first place, why should I care how many Clubs qualify? The League really should be the be all and end all every year. The FA Cup will keep us happy every decade or so but it is about time we went and won the big one again. We’re the underdogs and that is the way I like it - nobody is talking about us considering it’s been 55 years… ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/409 "2016-03-22T17:30:42Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > This year, he was doing OK again. Since replacing Howard, Robles has been playing surprisingly well. Since Robles is much younger than Howard, it was pretty obvious that Howard was expendable. He’s not been doing OK - seriously, do you really think that based on watching him with your own eyes? He’s been corrosively dreadful all season. A co-architect of our defensive mis-fortunes, spreading panic and confusion amongst the back four as no one trusts him to make the right decision anymore. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/410 "2016-03-23T21:22:49Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > He’s not been doing OK - seriously, do you really think that based on watching him with your own eyes? Assuming you’re talking about Howard, was there anything you think that triggered off this loss in form? > [@](#): > > He’s been corrosively dreadful all season. A co-architect of our defensive mis-fortunes, spreading panic and confusion amongst the back four as no one trusts him to make the right decision anymore. We had the same thing at Spurs with Gomez. A few high profile mistakes and his confidence was shot. Players looked scared to pass back to him. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/411 "2016-03-23T22:04:16Z")
I guess that’s the difference being a very good goal keeper and a truly great one. Every goal keeper has an off day, or makes the occasional mistake. The great ones have the mental fortitude to bounce back right away; the only very good ones get inside their own heads, and their bad days multiply. ETA: well, also everyone gets old eventually. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/412 "2016-03-24T02:48:18Z")
It’s strange that Howard would have declined so rapidly though. It makes me wonder if something else is going on. Keepers usually age better than that I had thought. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/413 "2016-03-24T07:26:26Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > It’s strange that Howard would have declined so rapidly though. It makes me wonder if something else is going on. Keepers usually age better than that I had thought. He’s been on the decline for several seasons - there were a lot of Everton fans clamouring for Robles to replace him a couple of seasons ago. It’s a combination of the fact he’s declined, he’s had a bad season and he doesn’t have the distribution and foot-skills to play the sweeper-keeper role that top modern keepers are expected to play. MLS have signed him on a big-money multi-year deal. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/414 "2016-03-24T09:37:02Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > Assuming you’re talking about Howard, was there anything you think that triggered off this loss in form? Nothing special - he’s just getting on a bit, like the others have said. No Everton defender has improved under Martinez [aside from Stones, which is more to do with coming of age to play], which won’t have helped, but things really fell apart this season for him. Nice piece in the Guardian on Howard [here,](http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/mar/22/tim-howard-everton-colorado-rapids-mls-usa-soccer) ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/415 "2016-03-24T15:10:27Z")
> [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > MLS have signed him on a big-money multi-year deal. Well, Colorado has. They were awful last season and its suspected they’ve signed Howard because they don’t have any big name stars and wanted to bolster attendance. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/416 "2016-03-28T11:41:02Z")
Whilst we await the return from international football, here is an interesting article in the Economist about relegation, promotion and Aston Villa. [Link](http://www.economist.com/blogs/gametheory/2016/03/surviving-drop?force=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/howtocopewithrelegationfromtheelnglishpremierleague&mc_cid=6a1d5d6c77&mc_eid=0a6d52e19c) ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/417 "2016-03-29T09:49:16Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Whilst we await the return from international football, here is an interesting article in the Economist about relegation, promotion and Aston Villa. > > [Link](http://www.economist.com/blogs/gametheory/2016/03/surviving-drop?force=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/howtocopewithrelegationfromtheelnglishpremierleague&mc_cid=6a1d5d6c77&mc_eid=0a6d52e19c) Villa seem like lower level Championship quality at the moment, utterly shorn of their bollocks - rare to see such supinity in the prem. On the sort-of-bright side - relegation may (must?) precipitate a change of ownership. A clear out of the Lerner regime has to be a priority - without that it’s hard to see them coming back any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/418 "2016-03-29T14:11:54Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Well, Colorado has. They were awful last season and its suspected they’ve signed Howard because they don’t have any big name stars and wanted to bolster attendance. I suspect being back in the U.S. will bolster Howard’s confidence, and we’ll see a (perhaps modest) return to form, which would help the Rapids quite a lot. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/419 "2016-04-06T18:02:26Z")
Being, through years of experience, a pessimistic Spurs fan, I’ve come up with a new nightmare scenario: Leicester come top, The Woolwich come second, Citeh win The Champions League and Liverpool win The Europa Cup. That’ll see us busy on Thursday nights again… ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/420 "2016-04-06T18:34:47Z")
UEFA have officially increased the maximum number of teams from one country allowed to participate in the Champions League, from four to five. Liverpool got special dispensation to be the fifth English team in 2005, as Champions League winners (and, in any case, Everton lost their qualifier to Villareal that year, so there were only four English clubs in the tournament’s Group Stage). ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837/421 "2016-04-07T16:23:09Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > UEFA have officially increased the maximum number of teams from one country allowed to participate in the Champions League, from four to five… West Ham third and Spurs fourth then. I grew up thinking that optimism was getting your eyes tested… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-16-barclays-premier-league-thread/726837.md?page=22)