Probably paying a lot more attention to the Prem this season for obvious reasons, but I can't help getting the feeling that it is polarising more and more toward two separate divisions. I know it's been said for a while about it being two leagues in one, but the gap seems to be still widening. Obviously money buys the best players - ergo, clubs with it in abundance should always do well, but there's often someone who can break the mould and cause problems for the big boys most seasons and it doesn't seem to be happeneing. To be fair, our next opponents Southampton have given it a go so far, but they've spent pretty big on Waynama, Osvaldo and Lovren, and seem to be falling off the pace recently dropping out of the top 8. Nothing wrong with having ambition in this league, but the best that anyone outside that top 8 can realistically hope for is being in the division the following season. Finishing as high as possible in the table to maximise the Prem finish money dished out is an incentive, but more for the owners than the supporters. At least there still appear to be some variety with around 8 clubs in the (English) Prem who have a chance of doing something, whereas it's been a two or three horse race in La liga and Serie A for many years now. Just hope it doesn't polarise any further toward that situation over here - most supporters would like the opportunity to challenge for something rather than just survival.
I agree Sparkey, some of the football played by the " 2nd string " is dire with all thoughts on survival Until some new blood get's into the top 7 for more than one season it seems that this will get more prevalent.
While Southampton have given it a good go I don't think they have the depth of squad to sustain it as shown by their fall away in recent weeks. Also, their fan base and ground are relatively small compared to the other teams and this will always be a restricting factor going forward. I suppose the one team who have broken into the top 8, if for the time being, are Newcastle. They have the ground and fan base to remain competitive but, for some reason, they seem to climb the ladder every few years before self imploding and sliding back down the snakes. Overall they have done well bearing in mind we were playing them in the Championship only 3 seasons ago. Also, they have a mega rich owner who, providing he has his head on the right way around and doesn't tire of supporting them, can continue to splash the cash to take them forward. For others to break out of Prem Div 2 and join the elite is really the $100 million question. The likes of Villa, West Ham (especially once they move to Stratford) and Sunderland have the off field makings to achieve it but never seem the have the right manager/players and, most important of all, luck to get them there and stick. If we can survive this season our next step will be to get to the upper echelons of Prem Div 2 and be regarded as mainstays, not temporary interests, of the division.
Southhampton are a good example of why the positions only really matter after 38 games. A great away win at Anfield aside they have had a serious 'evening up' of fixtures in the last 7 or 8. Our period like that starts at Arsenal and once we get to Feb we shouldn't have too many other periods where we are on a hiding to nothing. It's also why I think our current points total and league position is better than we should have expected at this point. We had jacks who said we wouldn't win a game before West Brom at home and our fixture meant that wasn't as much of a wum as it first appeared. We also had jacks claiming they were CL contenders this year so maybe they're just full of ****
