Edward wrote:Ipswich Town FC.

When I was but a wee lad, I lived in Suffolk where my father was stationed at RAF Bentwaters.

My goodness there are a few tractor boys here.. Who would have guessed insomnia and reading the funny shit on this forum would lead me to ITFC supporters. In the states no less. Nice..

Sly Bug wrote:I believe the new season will be complicated for OGC Nice.

Our best players have been sold:
- The goalkeeper Hugo Lloris (8.5 millions €) and Ederson (14 millions €) to Lyon,
- Florent Balmont (2.3 millions €) to Lille,
- Bakary Koné (14 goals last season - 10 millions €) to Marseille.

The recruitment hasn't been convincing so far...

Hmmmm, that's a lot of selling of quality players... but with €34.8m in the bank you should be able to buy some good replacements, right?

I can be had for €20m + a weekly wage of €50,000. Should I put you in touch with my agent?


With regards to pre-season wheeling and dealings, there have been some interesting movements, for sure. I've lost track of what's going on with that little flurry of goalkeeper swapping. Who does what for who now?... I'm worried about Arsenal without Flamini and Hleb. That's a real blow for them.... Sunderland have done well for themselves, they're looking like they've almost got a half-decent squad.... Liverpool landing Keane will be good for them - Keane and Torres is a pretty damn sharp front pairing - but as for them winning the league - nah. Benitez can't do it - he doesn't know how.

The relegated teams will be Hull, Stoke, West Brom. Straight up, straight down. Actually, I'd give West Brom half a chance, depending on how rubbish Bolton/West Ham are. Blackburn?! Are you crazy, Sleepkid? Have to say old boy, I completely disagree with you about Ince. Gut feeling he'll be damn good. Still, time shall tell!

sleepkid wrote:Robbie Keane going to Liverpool was an interesting move.
Tottenham need to hold on to Berbatov at all costs now.

Keane going to Liverpool was much more of a disaster for Spurs than Berbatov leaving. Berbatov is a wonderful player but he sits out periods in games and he will be disgruntled if he doesn't leave get a move. Keane is a pro and works his socks off. He will do well at Liverpool. I wish he had stayed.

Liverpool have consistently had a strong squad under Benitez and been disappointing in the league. He is an excellent tactician on his day but I think he overthinks his rotations for the prem.

The OGC Nice fan at work is never particularly optimistic and is even less so at the moment.

simmo wrote:
The relegated teams will be Hull, Stoke, West Brom. Straight up, straight down. Actually, I'd give West Brom half a chance, depending on how rubbish Bolton/West Ham are. Blackburn?! Are you crazy, Sleepkid? Have to say old boy, I completely disagree with you about Ince. Gut feeling he'll be damn good. Still, time shall tell!

West Brom have done quite a bit to bring in new players. Bednar, Carson, Ce ch, Zuiverloon, and Moore. I don't think they'll light up the Premiership but I think they can survive the relegation battle.

I know I'm going out on a limb with Blackburn, but I have a feeling it's all about to go pear shaped for them. Ince was a great player, but as a manger he's only managed Macclesfield and MK Dons. So, I have some doubts as to his ability as a top flight manager. All teams go through a bit of a shake up when they get a new manager. McCartney, Santa Cruz, and Gamst Pederson are really the only players of outstanding quality left at the club now that Bentley is gone. Savage? No. Tugay? Retire him. Paul Robinson? Great on his good days, but when was the last time he had one?
It's a scrappy line up at best, and they've done naught in the transfer market to improve it. The season is yet to start, so it could be improved upon.

aldofarian wrote:Keane going to Liverpool was much more of a disaster for Spurs than Berbatov leaving. Berbatov is a wonderful player but he sits out periods in games and he will be disgruntled if he doesn't leave get a move. Keane is a pro and works his socks off. He will do well at Liverpool. I wish he had stayed.

I'll agree that Keane leaving Tottenham is quite a loss (and Liverpool's gain.) I personally thought that Keane and Berbatov would really take Tottenham places this years. Keane's work rate and ability to score scrappy goals and Berbatov's class. I still think Tottenham need to keep Berbatov and pair him with someone who has a good work rate. (As an interesting side note, both Berbatov and Keane finished with 23 goals each in all competitions last season.)

My only worry for Keane is that Benitez will play him as a winger or in some other position he isn't suited for. Benitez seems to have the inability to let players play in their best positions, (perhaps because if they do then he doesn't get any credit for their success as a player, since they are just doing what is natural for them.) I will agree that the biggest reason Liverpool haven't won the league (and if they don't again this season) is because of Benitez. He's had his moments, but I don't have much confidence in him. He thinks himself more clever than he really is.

Kris K wrote:a lot of stuff

Welcome to the forum. Maybe the Tractor Boys will make it back up this season, but I kind of doubt it. They seem to be a fairly solid upper mid table championship side at the moment.

Please feel free to join our Fantasy Premier League. Details on how to join it are just a few pages back. PM me if you have questions or problems.



...and continuing my interest in Fulham's potential season, it looks like they're set to sign Andy Johnson from Everton. Now if they can just learn how to win penalties, they'll have a golden boot winner... and be relegated.

sleepkid wrote:
I know I'm going out on a limb with Blackburn, but I have a feeling it's all about to go pear shaped for them. Ince was a great player, but as a manger he's only managed Macclesfield and MK Dons. So, I have some doubts as to his ability as a top flight manager. All teams go through a bit of a shake up when they get a new manager. McCartney, Santa Cruz, and Gamst Pederson are really the only players of outstanding quality left at the club now that Bentley is gone. Savage? No. Tugay? Retire him. Paul Robinson? Great on his good days, but when was the last time he had one?
It's a scrappy line up at best, and they've done naught in the transfer market to improve it. The season is yet to start, so it could be improved upon.

Robbie Savage left for Derby in January.

I think Blackburn have a pretty solid team. Chris Samba and Ryan Nelsen are a good pairing at centre-half, Steve Warnock developed pretty well last season into a good full-back, Brett Emerton is a decent player, David Dunn may produce the football he's capable of...

I think they'll finish safely in mid-table.

I agree. Same with West Ham and Boro. Lower mid-table for the lot of them. Villa will struggle compared to last year, especially if Barry leaves. Tottenham should have the season they should have had last year if they hold on to Poyet. It's a shame about Keane (and possibly Berbatov) but they'll still be alright. Top half for sure. West Brom might survive but Stoke and Hull have no chance. They aren't as good as Reading or Birmingham were last year and look where it got them.

I'm going to be interested to see how Sunderland, Newcastle and Manchester City do early on. Can't see Hughes inspiring much in his first season and who even knows if he'll get a second chance. Keane has brought in some good players and I don't think Sunderland will be troubled by the relegation battle this year. Especially considering the newly promoted minnows. Newcastle seemed to turn a corner at the end of last year but was that just because everyone else was winding down? Kev was right though, they'll never trouble the top four.

Not sure about Everton. They rode their luck last year. Towards the end they didn't seem to have the stamina and fight for the finishing line. Pompey and Spurs are both in for a good season though. I feel like they've spent well, even if they have lost decent players in return.

Has to be Chelsea this year though. Scolari + $$$ + Scum rattled by losing their coach = Big win for the Chelski.

Nico Adie wrote:
Robbie Savage left for Derby in January.

I think Blackburn have a pretty solid team. Chris Samba and Ryan Nelsen are a good pairing at centre-half, Steve Warnock developed pretty well last season into a good full-back, Brett Emerton is a decent player, David Dunn may produce the football he's capable of...

I think they'll finish safely in mid-table.

That's right. Savage left. Good.

I like David Dunn, but he'll do his hamstring again and then spend the rest of the season trying to get fit and then pulling it again. (However, maybe he won't. He did play most of last season, didn't he?) I kind of feel that David Dunn is the new Daren Anderton.

tommydski wrote:Has to be Chelsea this year though. Scolari + $$$ + Scum rattled by losing their coach = Big win for the Chelski.

Apart from Bosingwa and Deco I haven't seen big Phil make any big moves yet. There's a lot of talent at Chelsea, but it all seems a bit jaded.

Really, as long as anyone but Man U win the title, I'll be happy.

It should be an interesting season. A lot of the mid table teams (Villa, Portsmouth, Tottenham, maybe Newcastle... maybe) could really trouble the big 4 this season.

...and last...

some journalist wrote:The about-face has occured due to Juande Ramos's targeting of Arshavin. Ramos didn't want to let Berbatov leave without finding a like-for-like replacement. And he believes he has found his man in the Euro 2008 star.

Stop the fucking madness. From what I've read the price tag on Arshavin is something like £20 million.

He's only ever played for Zenit St. Petersburg, and he's not even an out and out striker. He's an attacking midfielder. And he's supposed to be a like-for-like replacement for Berbatov?

Berbatov is 6 ft. 2, an out and out striker, and has 121 goals in 273 appearances at top level (in the Bulgarian league, Bundesliga, and Premier League.)

Arshavin is 5 ft. 7 , not really a striker, and has 47 goals in 217 appearances in the Russian Premier League, which uses ice skates.

Arshavin had a great Euro. Wonderful. Really. You know who else had a great Euro at one time? Milan Baros. And he was always pretty much rubbish in the Premier League and wouldn't look up even if you flounced a chorus line of naked girls above his head.

I'm not saying Arshavin can't play. But you'd have to be mad to sell a proven goal scorer to one of your rivals in the league, and then take a £20 millon gamble on some guy who's never played in any of the top leagues of Europe.

Shevchenko can play, and look what happened to him.

Nico Adie wrote:

sleepkid wrote:
I know I'm going out on a limb with Blackburn, but I have a feeling it's all about to go pear shaped for them. Ince was a great player, but as a manger he's only managed Macclesfield and MK Dons. So, I have some doubts as to his ability as a top flight manager. All teams go through a bit of a shake up when they get a new manager. McCartney, Santa Cruz, and Gamst Pederson are really the only players of outstanding quality left at the club now that Bentley is gone. Savage? No. Tugay? Retire him. Paul Robinson? Great on his good days, but when was the last time he had one?
It's a scrappy line up at best, and they've done naught in the transfer market to improve it. The season is yet to start, so it could be improved upon.

Robbie Savage left for Derby in January.

I think Blackburn have a pretty solid team. Chris Samba and Ryan Nelsen are a good pairing at centre-half, Steve Warnock developed pretty well last season into a good full-back, Brett Emerton is a decent player, David Dunn may produce the football he's capable of...

I think they'll finish safely in mid-table.

I'm with Sleepkid. i reckon Blackburn will go down. The guv'nor really doesn't have any experience. OK, half a season with a league two side in trouble, turned them round and kept them up. good motivator, the players probably just needed a change, someone who believed in them. Then a full season in charge of the richest side in league two. If they hadn't gone up he'd have been sacked. They were 7/4 to go up last season, and it wasn't because of his managerial expertise.

I can't believe he's been given a Premiership job. It's ludicrous.

Tatty bye guv.

Only six people in the League of Slackers so far.

Come on chaps, only a couple of weeks to go.

I'm in. Damn that was hard! It's so much more expensive this year. Had to leave Ronaldo out - hoping he'll be crap anyway.