Football 2007-08

[Jonno]

It's August, a new season approaches, and it's time to open the annual PS footie thread!

I boldly predict that Spurs will win at least one trophy this season, and will finish above Arsenal!

[Dave Tudor]

I reckon even West Ham will finish above Arsenal, all the players they've been bringing in!

Sadly, I can't see Everton doing much this season, and I doubt that they will finish as high as they did last time round. Once again, they've not done much in the transfer market, which is rather worrying, especially with a UEFA Cup campaign to think about. I'd like to proven wrong, but I think they will struggle in Europe.

Typical, isn't it? We've just had a pretyy good season, and yet I think it's in the genetic make-up of every Evertonian not to feel positive about a new campaign!

[Dave Lewis]

Sorry Jonno, but even though Spurs look better and better each year (and add at least one or two talented young British players each season), I still think fifth is the best you'll do this season... last year's top four will still be the top four come next May. If I was a pragmatist, I'd say in the same order as they did last time round, too. However, balls to pragmatism! Here's my tips for this season's Premiership...

1. Liverpool
2. Manchester United
3. Chelsea
4. Arsenal
(I'm living the dream a bit here, but these will be the top four teams... just not necessarily in this order...)
-----------------
5. Tottenham
6. Portsmouth
-----------------
7. Aston Villa
8. Sunderland
9. West Ham
10. Blackburn
11. Manchester City
12. Newcastle
13. Bolton
14. Middlesbrough
15. Reading
16. Everton
17. Fulham
-----------------
18. Birmingham
19. Wigan
20. Derby

[Lissa]

The PFA want FIFA to outlaw third party ownership of players. I'm of the opposite view - we need proper regulation (for example the third parties must be based in the UK and contracts need to be standardised) but it it could be of great benefit to the game. Take Carlos Tevez - he's worth 30m in today's market. How many clubs can afford 30m? Probably two, maybe three in Britain. But Tevez is at United for 5m per season. How many clubs can afford 5m? Everyone in the Premiership. By removing the huge upfront costs of world class players, it could lessen the gap between the top clubs and everyone else.

A counter argument would be that all this money is going to agencies rather than clubs in England but most transfer money goes abroad anyway these days. Football isn't a closed system - most money comes from outside so it doesn't bother me that it goes outside.

[Captain Tancredi]

The concern over third party ownership is, as far as I can see, that players might find themselves contracted to a front for one of these Malaysian betting rings or something similar and under undue influence to throw matches, etc. As far as I can see, however, there would be nothing to stop somebody buying a middle-sized Championship club (let's say Crystal Palace), buying a squad full of 1-2m rated players and proceeding to use the club as a shop window with a view to making a profit in the transfer windows, rather than as a football club.

FIFA like interfering for the sake of interfering, though. Football would be much more sensibly organised if national associations had total control of internal competitions, UEFA and the other continental associations full control of the Champions League and European Champonships (or the equivalent) and FIFA just ran the World Cup and the World Club Championship.

Meanwhile, this time next week I shall be watching Tranmere v Leeds and musing on the fact that they could beat us 48-0 and we still wouldn't be bottom at the end of the day...

[duncan]

Hi all.

Even though relegated, I went back for more punishment today as Charlton played their one and only home friendly match against FC Bragga. They are a Portugese UEFA cup side managed by former Charlton defender Jorge Costa. (Remember our back four a few years ago? YOUNG, FISH, COSTA, FORTUNE. Well it made us laugh).

Anyway, we lost 2-1 and we looked very ordinary. I didnt recognise the team as we have lost most of our premiership squad. (Thanks for the 16.5 million Spurs. We must have seen you coming!) We are hot favs for promotion and the bookies have us at 6-1 to win the title. The problem is, that we now have a Championship squad and I think taking the title is highly optimistic. The last time we went down, we did win the title, but only Danny Mills jumped ship, so we won it with a Premiership squad.

Today, we lacked ideas, pace and any fire power up front. I know it was a pre-season friendly, but these games are needed for players to work hard and earn the place. It was a disappointing display!

[Paul Clement]

Things may change in the coming weeks, depending on any late transfer activity, but as things stand:

1. Man Utd
Last season, I viewed United as, not so much a spent force, as one who had failed to match the new impetus Chelsea had brought to the Premiership. I was wrong, and United went on to win the trophy. My biggest doubt about Man Utd's ability to retain their crown came from the weakness of some of their squad players and their need to have the big three up top (Giggs, Ronaldo and Rooney) playing to really look effective. Their signings of Nani, Anderson, Hargreaves and Tevez has meant that they have increased the depth of the squad. This will allow some of last seasons stars to have a rest without the team looking noticeably weakened. I still think their depth of defensive cover is their weak point, but they still have enough their to win them the Premiershiop again.

2. Chelsea
For a team who's only real weaknesses seemed to be a poor back up defence and a far too large reliance on Drogba, Chelsea's summer transfer policy has been nothing if not odd. Tal Ben Haim is the only new defender and that means the right back slot is still their weak link in the first team. The signing of Malouda is a positive step, but only if they keep Robben and have more competition for places. The signing of Sidwell reminds me a little of the Shaun Wright Phillips and Scott Parker captures. Big fish in little ponds, but I think Sidwell will end up being a bit part player at Stamford Bridge and suffer as a result. Pizarro has the ability to take some of the weight off of Drogba's shoulders, but another top class striker and the departure of spent-force Shevchenko would have meant them being more of a force this season. Second place, but with a bigger gap on United than last season.

3. Liverpool
I think that this will be the season when Liverpool finally start closing the gap on the big two. Their only real weaknesses last season were a strikeforce that wasn't up to winning the Premiership and the need for better wingers. Torres and Voronin alongside Crouch and Kuyt mean that they have a strikeforce that can deal with a variety of attacking styles. Benayoun could be a useful signing, and could play out on the right, leaving Gerard free to play in his preferred centre midfield. The strength of the defenders outside of the main back four is a little weak, but I think they have what it takes to push Chelsea close for second this season.

4. Tottenham
If Tottenham had been able to defend a little better last season, they could have probably got the fourth place position, or at least been a lot closer to it. With Ledley King being injury prone, and Y. P. Lee being ineffective at left back, it was important for Spurs to strengthen the back line this summer and the signings of Bale and Younes Kaboul have done that. The signing of Kevin Boateng will give another option in an already fiormidable midfield. Although, I would have liked to have seen a natural left midfielder come in to the squad. Of course, the big signing of the summer was Darren Bent. Overpriced, he was, but with Defoe, Keane and Berbatov in the squad, goals shouldn't be in short supply and there should be enough in the team to finally break the top four.

5. Newcastle
Perhaps a controversial choice for fifth place, but I believe that Sam Allardyce has the ability to get the best out of players while building a good team spirit at a club. His ability to get a mediocre set of players at Bolton into a top half, pushing for Europe, team was phenomenal, and I think he'll continue this tradition and improve on it at Newcastle. He quickly highlighted the defence as the weak point of the team and brough in a couple of players to deal with this problem. Geremi's versatility and the new lease of life Barton will feel, having left Man City will be a big part of their seasons success. If Owen stays fit, he could build an impressive partnership with Obafemi Martins, and if not, the recent signing of Alan Smith or Mark Viduka playing alongside Martins should help them stay up the business end of the table.

6. Arsenal
A few people I know have said that Arsenal performed well without Henry for large periods of last season. Perhaps they did, but for other parts of the season he scored vital goals and created many more. Da Silva isn't ever going to be a direct replacement for Henry, and the two main men, Van Persie and Adebayor have never looked particularly prolific. Goals could be their biggest problem this season, and I think they'll win a fair few games 1-0 and get too many low scoring draws. Their biggest success of the summer was keeping Fabregas after Henry's departure. If they had lost him too, they would have struggled to get even as high as sixth.

7. Everton
Everton haven't made any great waves in the transfer market this summer, but what they have done is sign a very solid defender in Jagielka who will help to keep them one of the tightest defences in the Premiership. As last year, the star players will be Johnson and Arteta. They'll win a lot of tight games and will concede few goals along the way. Their European season may end up being short again though. A new striker looks like a priority after the sale of Beattie though, as Anichebe and Vaughan aren't good enough to be ongoing replacements for Johnson should he get injured.

8. Blackburn
The biggest transfer coup of Blackburn's summer was keeping hold of Benni McCarthy. If Berbatov hadn't been playing as well as he did last season, I think people would have taken more notice of the great job the South African was doing in his first season in English football. With the signings of Maceo Rigters and Roque Santa Cruz, Blackburn have even more options up front. Otherwise is the same solid Blackburn that we've seen for pretty much the last two seasons.

9. Portsmouth
Wheeler-Dealer Redknapp has been a little quieter in the transfer market than usual this summer, but he has strengthened things up with the signings of Distin and David Nugent. Last season, the goals were spread pretty evenly amongst the team. This season, I expect the bulk will come from Nugent. Redknapp's biggest job this season will be to capitalise on last seasons form and fight off the challenges of the host of teams who now have much more money at their disposal.

10. West Ham
Last season must have come as quite a shock to West Ham fans after the heroics of the previous season. Curbishley's January buys smacked of desperation to escape the relegation zone, but his summer buys seem far shrewder. Ljungberg is a big capture for them, and will mean that the club won't miss Benayoun too much. Scott Parker is a direct replacement for Reo-Coker, but he is a player who always gives 100%, something West Ham's midfield maestro of last season often failed to do. Up front, the signing of Bellamy could be quite good for them. He was never good enough for one of the big clubs, but seems to thrive when he is seen as a bigger player at a small club. If Ashton remains fit for the season, they could create a prolific strikerforce between them.

[Paul Clement]

11. Aston Villa
I'm basing my opinion of Villa on what they have done so far this summer. They've sold a lot of players who weren't good enough to help them progress, but their only signings so far have been Reo-Coker and Harewood from West Ham. Their squad looks very light at the moment and I expect Martin O'Neill to make another two or three signings at least before the season starts. As it stands, they only have six defenders in their squad, seven if Gareth Barry was to drop back into left back. In Agbonlahor and Luke Moore, Villa have some really good prospects up front. Carew and Harewood will play a lot of the games though, and that's a tme when they may struggle.

12. Middlesboro
The loss of Viduka will be a problem for Boro this season. Aliadiere has joined from Arsenal, and although he has potential, he was never all that convincing in the Arsenal League Cup run last season. They've been generally quite quiet on the transfer front, with Luke Young their only other major signing, and I think in the long run, this will be the clubs biggest problem. They will have to rely on the youngsters who have come through in recent seasons in a big way again, and although Cattermole, Morrison and co are good players, I they'll probably lose as many games as they win.

13. Sunderland
Sunderland certainly look the strongest of the three sides who have come up from the Championship, and I very much doubt they'll slump like they have the last two times they came up. If nothing else, I expect Roy Keane would shoot them if they played that badly. Kieran Richardson, although vastly overrated (how he ever played for England, I'll never know) could be an inspirational signing for the North East club. Keane knows what he's all about, and I think the lack of a run in side hasn't helped him show his full potential. He looked at his best the season he was on loan with West Brom, and I think this move will be of real benefit to him. Keane hasn't really bought flashy players, preferring solid reliable footballers with a strong work ethic. Michael Chopra may get a few headlines this season and I think he'll take his chance to show Newcastle that they were wrong to sell him a few years ago.

14. Man City
Sven's been a busy boy in his short period in charge of Man City. The players he's brought in are all good in the league where they came from, and I'd expect most to adapt to life in the Premiership. The problem Man City will have this season, is I suspect the team will be virtually made up of new players as Sven continues his rebuilding plans, meaning that they probably won't be a cohesive unit at the start of the season. I expect them to start off slowly but improve in the latter stages of the season. They are another of the clubs who's position is dependent on who else they get in though, as I expect Sven will make at least a half dozen more signings before the transfer window closes.

15. Fulham
Sanchez has been quite shrewd in the transfer marker this summer. The players he's brought in have, for the most part, got a lot of premiership experience and are players he knows well from his days as manager of Northern Ireland. He got that group of players over achieving and I expect he feels he can do the same thing with them again. David Healy could have a good first season with the club if Sanchez can help him to rekindle his international form at domestic level, and Diomansy Kamara was one of the best players in the Championship last season and will be keen to show he's good enough at the next level. What they lack is real flair in midfield. They need a player who can open up defences and as yet they haven't got one. They'll grind out results, and though they'll probably finish at the lower end of the table, I don't think that they'll be mired in the relegation dogfight again.

16. Bolton
Last season, Charlton found that a change of manager can have a significant impact on how virtually the same team can perform, and I think Bolton will face the same problem in the post Allarydyce era. Another blow for them is that the teams they battled against last season have all invested heavily while they have had to do their annual purchasing on the cheap. I think they've been quite fortunate to hold onto Anelka, but if things go badly for them early in the season, I could see him demanding a transfer come the January sales. Their best signing could well be Wilhelmsson, who a number of clubs were after, and Bolton surprisingly got. Sammy Lee is also my prediction for first managerial casualty of the season.

17. Wigan
Wigan escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth last season, and I predict that they will do the same thing again. They've added Mario Melchiot and Titus Bramble to their backline and the former player, with a wealth of Premiership experience, could save them conceding a lot of goals this season. Unfortunately, as Newcastle found out, Bramble will often have the opposite effect. Michael Brown, Jason Koumas and Antoine Sibierski make up the remainder of the clubs summer spending and although all three are good players, they don't have enough about them to help Wigan further up the table.

18. Reading
Sidwell's gone and Shorey has turned down a new deal. On top of that, the club have only managed to sign one player so far, and that is one with no Premiership experience. It's a shame, as they did really well last season, but as Wigan found out prior to the start of the last season. One successful season does not ensure that quality players will want to come to the club. They're still a Championship team in most respects, and although team spirit and a few good individuals got them a fine season last time out, I don't think they have enough about them to do it again.

19. Birmingham
Birmingham haven't bought enough expereince to stay in the Premiership. It's been bad luck on thier part as they wanted Hossam Ghaly and Mido, and those two players could have helped them scrape past the relegation places come the end of the season. As it is, I expect them to go straight back down, but their new signing Daniel De Ridder will attract the attention of bigger clubs with some very good displays.

20. Derby
Their the Watford of the upcoming season. Almost everyone expects them to come last, as I suspect a lot of the people involved in the club expect them to as well. Their signings for the new season have been Robert Earnshaw and Tyrone Mears, and I think that pretty much sums it all up. They'll be looking at how to get promoted in the 2008-2009 season by Christmas but will be battling gamely to the very end.

[Larry]

The PFA want FIFA to outlaw third party ownership of players. I'm of the opposite view - we need proper regulation (for example the third parties must be based in the UK and contracts need to be standardised) but it it could be of great benefit to the game. Take Carlos Tevez - he's worth 30m in today's market. How many clubs can afford 30m? Probably two, maybe three in Britain. But Tevez is at United for 5m per season. How many clubs can afford 5m? Everyone in the Premiership. By removing the huge upfront costs of world class players, it could lessen the gap between the top clubs and everyone else.

A counter argument would be that all this money is going to agencies rather than clubs in England but most transfer money goes abroad anyway these days. Football isn't a closed system - most money comes from outside so it doesn't bother me that it goes outside.

the sad thing is this whole 3rd party thing has been blown out of all proportion when you actually look at the finer details of it it was only West Ham this deal could possibly have effected. We did not match fix or bribe officials yet the way Mcabe and the media go on you'd think we had committed the worst crime ever known to man.

As for the new season I'm not going to get to carried away with all our spending power and the players we have bought in after last season for any body to be expecting a top 6 finish is ridiculous. Next season we need to consolodate and look to a comfortable mid table finish this will give us some thing to then build on for the future. Also I'm not yet convinced Curbishley is the right man for the job yes he did well last season and at Charlton but he has never had huge amounts of money to spend or managed big name players.

As for premier league winners I can't see any futher then Manchester Utd, with the signing of Tevez, and with Rooney, and Ronaldo they will be unstoppable when they are in top form,.

2nd and 3rd place will be between Liverpool and Chelsea, as for 4th I do feel Arsenal are slipping futher behind the top 3 and will I think start to struggle to hold onto 4th spot. West Ham, Man City, Portsmouth and Villa all have huge amounts of money to spend and unless Arsenal get taken over they will start to catch them up.

I don't think that will happen next season and of the chasing pack I have to say Spurs at the moment look the strongest team to take that 4th spot.

Relegation youi have to say Derby - they don't seem to ob been hugely active in the transfer market and you can't see their squad being strong enough. tFor obvious reasons the 2 teams I want to see go down are Wigan and Fulham.

[Captain Tancredi]

I think I know what Ronnie Moore is trying to say about Chris Shuker here, but it probably didn't come out the way he intended...

Tranmere manager Ronnie Moore told the club's website: "Chris signing a new deal is a massive boost before the start of the season.

"He is an exciting player who can change a game in a second. He is one of the few players I would pay to watch."

[Paul Clement]

Everton have made a very astute signing in Leighton Baines, and there back line of Lescott, Yobo, Jagielka and Baines looks pretty solid. I'm even more convinced than I was before that Everton will let in very few goals this season.

[Larry]

Everton have made a very astute signing in Leighton Baines, .

godd signing for Everton bad loss for Wigan.

[Captain Tancredi]

I suspect Dave Whelan is starting to get disillusioned with his pipe dreams of turning Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors into a great sporting franchise- after the RFL deducted points from Wigan he seems to be courting bids for the rugby club, and even with a man manager of Paul Jewell's quality, building up a club like Wigan Athletic probably takes more time and money than even Whelan is prepared to put in.

[Paul Clement]

and even with a man manager of Paul Jewell's quality, building up a club like Wigan Athletic probably takes more time and money than even Whelan is prepared to put in.

Paul Jewell left at the end of the season.

[Captain Tancredi]

Just back from watching Tranmere lose to dirty Leeds- not a bad performance but it's the usual problem of trying to play football against a talentless bunch of hoofers who then foul their way to victory. Leeds played more like a team that had come up from League Two than come down from the Championship and to be quite frank, used every trick in the book. Four yellow cards does however suggest that their indiscipline may come back to haunt them.

It's given me something to think about, though- I haven't celebrated a goal as much since the League Cup Final in 2000- and I have to ask myself what this tells me about living and working in Leeds, and whether it isn't time to think about a change of scenery again.

[duncan]

Welcome to The Championship!

Charlton get a rude awakening by being held by Scunthorpe Utd. If we cant beat a team like Scunthorpe, then what hope promotion?

[Larry]

Welcome to The Championship!

Charlton get a rude awakening by being held by Scunthorpe Utd. If we cant beat a team like Scunthorpe, then what hope promotion?

duncan, it what's called a rude wake up call, and it's a good thing as the vast majority of fans of clubs who have been relegated from the premiershipship start the season with the arrogant attitude that this is going to be easy and we'll walk this league. As we were to find out very early on there is nothing easy about the championship and it's bloody hard to get out of.

As for West Ham, new season money spent same old crap we were bloody awful City totally out played us on the pitch and Sven outclassed Curbishley in all departments another performance like this next week and the preassure is going to be on Curbishley.

[duncan]

I certainly dont think we will walk this league as what I posted a few days ago still stands. We dont have a Premiership squad anymote. But, on paper, we should have easily beat Scunthorpe yesterday.

[Captain Tancredi]

Hmm, so having lost out to a physical Leeds side on Saturday we now compound that by losing to flipping Stockport (although at least we can say we lost on a Premiership ground). Obviously we haven't hit first gear yet, although with three of our next four League games away, the breakthrough needs to come soon- ideally taking at least a point from Gillingham on Saturday and beating Brighton the week after- otherwise we could go into freefall. And after tonight's results I don't even fancy our Johnstone's Paints tie against Morecambe in a few weeks...

[Dave Tudor]

Five goals, six points out of six, and top of the table? That'll do for now.

(Sorry, Jonno and Paul.)

[Dave Lewis]

I'm more concerned about the Champions League than the Premiership today... Toulouse a game against the third best team in France would be unthinkable for the Reds...

[Larry]

I am f**k**g sick and tired of hearing Sheff Utd and Mcabe constantly bleating on about fairness and justice when this action to sue only confirms what I've been saying since day 1 that it is all about money.

Both he and every Sheff Utd fans are utterly incapable of understanding that Tevez never was illegal and it's about time this parasite stopped blaming West Ham for their relegation and got it through his thick skull that the only people to blame for their releggation is them selves.

[Pip Madeley]

Least Tevez is in a better place.

I'm doing the Premiership Fantasy League this season... I'm currently 11th out of 12. Half my team were in Europe during the week.

[Larry]

I'm doing the Premiership Fantasy League this season... I'm currently 11th out of 12. Half my team were in Europe during the week.

well over all i have 56 pts in 694,653rd place

[Dave Tudor]

It's all happening at Premiership leaders Everton* this evening - as well as finally signing Portuguese midfielder Manuel Fernandes, who made quite an impression during a short loan spell last season, it looks like Yakubu is on his way to the club from Middlesbrough. I must admit, I know he gets the goals, but other than that, I don't really know much about the player - is he any good? More to the point, is he worth the 11m it looks like we're going to be paying for him?

In addition, the club have suspended Dutchman Andy Van Der Meyde for failing to turn up to training, and it seems that his Everton career is now over. He's never really made much of an impression in his time on Merseyside, and has often come across as a rather hapless figure, what with a couple of drunken shenanigans and having his car and his dog stolen (scousers, eh!?). I may be biased, but I think Everton have a pretty strong squad now, and Van Der Meyde was probably the only weak link, so I'm afraid he won't be missed.




*Oh, go on, indulge me - I may not get the chance to say that for very long!