Which EPL Team Should I Follow?

[Naco]

Unlike the "which London club should I follow" guy, I have no ties in England. My only "pre-requisites" are the following:

Middle-of-the-road team (not likely to be relegated, but lucky to get into Europe)
Nice stadium
Interesting History

Thanks for the info.

[Joe E]

Unlike the "which London club should I follow" guy, I have no ties in England. My only "pre-requisites" are the following:

Middle-of-the-road team (not likely to be relegated, but lucky to get into Europe)
Nice stadium
Interesting History

Thanks for the info.

the mighty tottenham hotspur meet all three conditions.

[Boro_lad]

Unlike the "which London club should I follow" guy, I have no ties in England. My only "pre-requisites" are the following:

Middle-of-the-road team (not likely to be relegated, but lucky to get into Europe)
Nice stadium
Interesting History

Thanks for the info.

would say Boro would meet your "pre-requisites"

[Realwood]

the mighty tottenham hotspur meet all three conditions.

I believe he said "not likely to be relegated", so that crosses out the Spuds.....


I would also say Boro. Give them a try, they might get lucky and get into Europe this year.

[musicl]

Support Spurs. Great History, one of the best English teams ever, class stadium, new manager, could be good season.

[Mancityfan81]

I am a Man City fan myself, so I am a little biased, but you should, if your an American new to the beautiful game, base your favorite team partially on similarity to a favorite baseball, basketball, hockey, or American football team, like so:

Boston Red Sox= Newcastle United, whose record of self-destruction is just as bad as the Sox
Chicago Cubs, White Sox, Bears= either Liverpool or Everton, the teams of England's third city, whose histiories are just as eventful as the Chi-town teams
Minnesota Twins= Charlton Athletic, 'we don't need no stinking payroll, we are just better run'
L.A Lakers= Chelsea, nuff said
L.A Clippers= Crystal Palace,since you have to be a comedian to root for the Clip-joint too
Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators= Norwich City or Ipswich Town, two regional rivals who are the only game in town
New Jersey Nets= Fulham, who, like the Nets, are forever in the shadow of stronger neighbors
New York Yankees= Manchester United, nuff said
Any Florida team= Portsmouth, Southampton,Brighton and Hove Albion, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, or Plymouth Arygle when thier winning everybody cares, when thier losing ,nobody cares because thier too much to do elsewhere in town.
New England Patriots=Arsenal, well-run winners with a badd-@@s nickname and rivalry with the another major city's big teams to boot
St.Louis Cardinals= Leeds United, regional standard bearers who nobody except thier own fans seem to like
:cool:

[salmacis]

Chicago Cubs, White Sox, Bears= either Liverpool or Everton, the teams of England's third city, whose histiories are just as eventful as the Chi-town teams


Er..Liverpool is a long way from being England's third city. That honour belongs to Manchester. (After London and Birmingham.) I would guess that Sheffield, Leeds and Bristol come next.

Anyway, the original poster wanted a team to support. Here's what I reckon.

Big clubs, forget these: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool
Traditionally big, but mediocre these days: Aston Villa, Newcastle
Traditionally big, but poor these days: Man City, Tottenham, Everton
Traditionally middling: Birmingham, Southampton, Middlesbrough
Small clubs who won't last: Charlton, Bolton, Blackburn, Fulham
Forget if you don't want a relegated team: Crystal Palace, West Brom, Norwich, Portsmouth.

Don't forget there are some reasonably big teams in the Coca Cola, who will be back in the Premiership someday: West Ham, Sunderland, Wolves, Sheff Utd, Sheff Wednesday, Leeds etc.

[Joe E]

I believe he said "not likely to be relegated", so that crosses out the Spuds.....


I would also say Boro. Give them a try, they might get lucky and get into Europe this year.

oh the wit. yeah, boro with all their exciting history. utter mediocrity for their entire lifespan, with the worthington cup last year their first ever trophy.
:rolleyes:

[Joe E]

Support Spurs. Great History, one of the best English teams ever, class stadium, new manager, could be good season.


:D i love this guy...

[The Double]

New Jersey Nets= Fulham, who, like the Nets, are forever in the shadow of stronger neighbors


Not that it means anything, but have you been seeing what the Nets have been doing to the Knicks these past couple of years? Didn't we sweep them in the play-offs?

[Naco]

I'm not new to the beautiful game by any means, but I recently am able to watch the EPL (2-3 games epr week), and want to decide on a team to support. It looks as though it will be between the Spurs and 'Boro. Thanks for all your help. I'll report further when I make a decision.

[sendorange]

Wait.

If you're a fan of Ekelund, you could go with Southampton, one of his former clubs I believe. They might be in a bit of turmoil this season though as Sturrock is apparently likely to be sacked and James Beattie may be sold. They are a steady club though, moved to a new stadium and have gone from relegation strugglers to solid mid-table over the years, very decent youth setup as well so they could keep growing.

Man City were another one Ekelund played for, very large and dedicated fanbase and some class players in midfield and attack, but they are in financial trouble and are an outside bet to go down.

For a non-Ekelund team there's Aston Villa, 6th place last year, best youth setup in the country for producing first team players over the past few years. Good team, large fanbase.

You're very welcome to go with Tottenham if you want, just giving you more options :cool:

[Naco]

Well, since I'm not a Barcalona fan, I already ruined the "Ekelund" tie. Aston Villa is an option, as well as Bolton Wanderers, most because I am Spanish, and love any side with Ivan Campo and Hierro starting for them, the old men that they are.

[Naco]

I have decided to go with Charlton Athetlic, for the following reasons:

They are coming up on their centenary, which shows they have been around for quite some time.
They seem to be up-and-coming, with the likes of Dennis Rommedahl and Danny Murphy coming in.
Most importantly, I can listen to every one of their matches online att bbc.co.uk, which is something that is very important to me.

Once again, thanks for all the help, and Go Addicks!

[Boro_lad]

oh the wit. yeah, boro with all their exciting history. utter mediocrity for their entire lifespan, with the worthington cup last year their first ever trophy.
:rolleyes:

ignorance in its finest form...

during my life time the team has pretty much gone out of existance, to then come back and become bigger and better than anyone could have imagined, to win trophies, to build a new stadium which then influenced half of the teams in the league to follow suit, relegations, promotions, cup finals, winning and losing them, play offs, great players and some bad.

[655321]

during my life time the team has pretty much gone out of existance, to then come back and become bigger and better than anyone could have imagined, to win trophies, to build a new stadium which then influenced half of the teams in the league to follow suit, relegations, promotions, cup finals, winning and losing them, play offs, great players and some bad.

All good points, no doubt...now how about them just being really f#cking boring??

[Boro_lad]

All good points, no doubt...now how about them just being really f#cking boring??

boro were not a boring team last year, we just had some serious problems in finnishing the ample number of chances the midfield created, now this year we have 2 proven strikers and a midfield that will create openings for them, so how about being quiet :P

[billydane]

Hello there...

I would go for Charlton Athletic.

They have a great history...this year is their 100th anniversary and they underwent a tremendous fight in the 80s to secure a move back to their spiritual home - The Valley.

They have a great manager in Alan Curbishley.

They have a reputation for caring for their fans - i'm pretty sure they always have a fan rep on their board.

They have made some great signings - Jeffers and Murphy - who might help them get the euro place they just missed last season.

I'm not a Charlton fan. But i admire the club. And I reckon many football fans in England do.

BTW - if anyone is looking for an entertaining read on Athens 2004...my bro is over there www.athens2004blog.com