Football 2009-10

[Paul Clement]

Burnley:

Burnley had a phenomenal 08/09 season, witgh promotion through the play-offs the icing on the cake following two cup runs that included wins over a number of Premiership clubs. This season will be like 38 cup matches for them, and that creates a strain in the players that will strecth them to breaking point. The club have strengthened in readiness for the new challenge ahead of them, but there financial capability is probably the lowest of all Premiership teams and the clubs profile won't allow them to get any top class signings.

Brian Jensen will continue to play between the sticks, while untested youngster Richard Eckersley joins the club from Man Utd as one of three new defensive recruits. Tyrone Mears was a part of the Derby side that went virtually the whole season in the Premiership without a win, and will hope that his new side fares much better, while David Edgar joins from Newcastle, a team that had great difficulty avoiding conceding goals last season. The signs don't look good for Burnley at the back.

The midifeld has one of the players of the Championship last season in Chris Eagles, and Burnley will be hoping that he will be just as effective in the Premiership. The side like to get the ball on the ground and pass it, but the step up may be a little too much for some of them. Expect them to play good football, but the end product may not be there.

Steven Fletcher has joined the club from Hibernian, and will provide another attacking option. Martin Paterson, Steven Thompson and Robbie Blake were all able to get goals in the Championship, but other than Robbie Blake, there is no experience in the Premiership in the strikeforce, and Blake himself wasn't a prolific scorer.

The signs don't look good for Burnley. They have some flair, but the end reult will be missing. I'm sure they will enjoy their sojourn in the Premiership, but I can't see it lasting more than this one season.

[Paul Clement]

Hull:

The 2008/2009 season was a game of two halves for the Hull team. When the season started, Hull took a lot of clubs by surprise and raced into the European spots quite early on. Their form past Christmas had relegation candidates all over it, and if it hadn't been for their excellent opening to the season, they would have gone down. Since then, Phil Brown has cleared the decks somewhat. A lot of players have come off of the wage bill, with Sam Ricketts the only sale that the club would have wished to avoid. What Phil Brown has founbd this close season though, is that making improvements to the Hull squad isn't easy. The club missed out on Zamora, Daryl Murphy, Darren Bent and Fraizer Campbell as their close season became more and more frustrating. Signings have now started to come in, but there is a feeling that the players that are now coming into the club have been the third or fourth choice options and don't have enough about them to really improve the squad.

Sam Ricketts departure could be followed by that of Michael Turner, who has recently been linked with amongst other clubs, Liverpool. If Turner were to go, it seems hard to believe that Hull could sign a like for like replacement considering their transfer difficulties thus far. Mouyokolo has been brought in from small Frech side Boulogne as the only defensive addition to the club, so more pressure will be placed on Zayate, Gardner, Turner, Dawson and Mendy to perform. Mendy himself has been the subject of a great deal of transfer speculation, and this is another deal that Hull cannot afford to happen.

The midfield will rely heavily on the experience of Boateng, Bullard and Kilbane, while Barmby will probably be used as an impact player to an even greater degree this season. In Halmosi and Geovanni, the club has some good creativity about it, while new signing Olofinjana will be keen to prove a point to Stoke for letting him leave following an unsuccessful spell.

Hull play nice football, but despite this, last season goals proved hard to come by, especially in the latter stages of the campaign. Cousin was brought in to beef up the attack, and initially he was successful. The fact that Phil Brown has been targetting strikers, although unsuccessful so far, highlights that he is aware of the teams deficiency in this area, but with a number of strikers bought and sold already this close season, the truth is, Ethere isn't a great deal left available to Hull. A search outside of England may be required, but the type of player that Hull could attract would be a gamble as to whether they would be a success in the Premiership, which is a different experience to any other league.

Hull have a mountain to overcome in the shape of the loss of confidence they suffered towards the end of last season, and I cannot see them gaining anywhere near the amount of points they did in the first three months of the season last time out. The squad isn't strong enough, and Phil Brown must be pulling his hair out at his lack of success in the transfer market so far. Indeed, he is already talking about the January transfer window and his need to bolster the squad then. The trouble is, by then it could be all too late. I see them struggling to get wins this season, and as much as I'd like to be wrong, I can't see them finishing anywhere but last.

[duncan]

Fantastic! For the 4th year in a row, Charlton are dumped out the League Cup by lower league opposition.

I'll give Parkinson another 6 games at the most. Useless twat!

[Paul Clement]

Gills have beaten Championship Plymouth 2-1 with another goal by Simeon Jackson (four goals in two games) and one from Andy Barcham. Role on the next round.

[Paul Clement]

Duncan, Parkinson seems intent on holding on to Chris Dickson and has said he would only left him go to the Gills in exchange for Simeon Jackson. Now, he is obviously certifiably insane as Jackson is at least a £1million rated striker while Dickson should be about 250K at most. Has Dickson got into the squad in the two games so far? Perhaps if Parko goes soon, we might get Dickson after all.

[duncan]

Dicko hasn't started so far and was an unused sub against Wycombe at the Valley last weekend. he didn't make the squad at Hereford. The problem is that even though he isn't rated at the club we are thin on the ground for strikers this year. But I don't see why Parky won't release him and bring in someone else.

Oh, and Parky IS certifiably insane.

[duncan]

100% record with a great away win for us today. Let's hope this good start continues.

[Paul Clement]

The Gills lost in one sounds like a good game against Tranmere. The final score was 4-2, but The Gills came from behind twice in the game, with Tranmere's final goal coming in the 90th minute as Gillingham pushed for a third equaliser.

[Captain Tancredi]

When we scored in the fifth minute, I had visions of it ending up like the meeting a couple of years ago when we threw away a 2-0 lead (including Chris Shuker scoring direct from a corner). Last week's defeat at Yeovil had a lot of people worried, but it looks as if we have a few goalscoring options and should be tighter at the back once our first choice central defenders are match fit and available.

[Larry]

good start to the season for West Ham, a solid and proffesional performance in what could of been a very tricky game away to Wolves.

[Larry]

My predictions for the coming season:

Premiership:
1. Man Utd
2. Chelsea
3. Liverpool
4. Man City
5. Arsenal
6. Everton
7. Aston Villa
8. Tottenham
9. Fulham
10. West Ham
11. Blackburn
12. Wigan
13. Sunderland
14. Bolton
15. Stoke
16. Wolves
17. Portsmouth
18. Birmingham
19. Burnley
20. Hull

i'd pretty much agree with those for the most although personaly I think either Liverpool or Chelsea will win the title and my three teams to be relegated are Portsmouth, Hull and Burnley.

As for the champions league history is certainly against Barcalona in the last 30 years only Nottm Forest in 1979 and 1980 and Ac Milan in 1989 and 1990 have successfully retained the cup.

[Larry]

West Ham:

Gianfranco Zola is starting to impose a playing syle into the club that is reminiscent of his own playing style. So far, he is falling a little short, due in the main to the fact he cannot attract the quality of player he would like to the club. Despite this, the club is playing attractive and partially successful football.

.

not so much that he can't attract the players to the club and more to do with the simple fact we have no money to spend if we were able to go out and spend £30m on several players then because of Zolas reputation we would be able to attract those players.

[Paul Clement]

I'm not so sure they would even be able to get the sort of players Zola would ideally prefer even with 30million to spend. Those sort of players are going to the likes of Man City at the moment, or to clubs in the Champions League. Zola then has to make to with players who are at the next level down. Spurs are having a similar sort of problem, with players that Redknapp has been keen on going elsewhere or staying where they are, such as Robben, Barry and Huntelaar.

[Paul Clement]

Just watched Man Utd beat Birmingham 1-0. United weren't at their best, but still managed to get the result they wanted. Rooney looked on good form, but the midfield seemed to have less creativity in it once Nani went off. Now that Ronaldo has gone, and with Giggs and Scholes likely to have less input this season, the midfield looks like it needs a bit more flair. Nani could be the one to provide it if he can deliver on the promise he has so far only shown in glimpses.

[Paul Clement]

An excellent start to the season for Spurs.

After 8 games last time out we had less points, and to get our opening day win against a team as strong as Liverpool was an even bigger bonus. Assou-Ekotto's goal was amazing, and we had a lot more chances, mainly for Robbie Keane, that could have given us a comfotable victory if those chances had been taken.

2-1 Come on the Spurs.

[Dave Tudor]

I'm appalled.

Before yesterday's shambles, I would have said that Everton should keep onto Joleon Lescott. But, judging by his sorry, shameful performance yesterday (and to be fair, he wasn't the only one to blame), he obviously doesn't want to be there. So they should get whatever they can out of Moneybags City, and try and sign a few players before it's too late.

For a team who came 5th, and were FA Cup finalists, that was unacceptable. It has to get better.

[Larry]

An excellent start to the season for Spurs.

After 8 games last time out we had less points, and to get our opening day win against a team as strong as Liverpool was an even bigger bonus. Assou-Ekotto's goal was amazing, and we had a lot more chances, mainly for Robbie Keane, that could have given us a comfotable victory if those chances had been taken.

2-1 Come on the Spurs.

enjoy it while it lasts your at the Bolyen on Sunday and we're long over due a win against you.

[Larry]

I'm appalled.

Before yesterday's shambles, I would have said that Everton should keep onto Joleon Lescott. But, judging by his sorry, shameful performance yesterday (and to be fair, he wasn't the only one to blame), he obviously doesn't want to be there. So they should get whatever they can out of Moneybags City, and try and sign a few players before it's too late.

For a team who came 5th, and were FA Cup finalists, that was unacceptable. It has to get better.

well I certainly wasn't expecting that I'm no fan of Arsenal, but when they play like that they are a joy to watch and i'd certainly be worrying if I were a Celtic fan.

[Paul Clement]

Excellent result for Burnley, but for Man Utd,

Spurs are sitting top of the table following their 5-1 victory over Hull. Now, I'm under no illusions about us staying there, but when you consider that we had 10 games last season before we reached 6 points, this season is an enjoyably marked improvement.

[Pip Madeley]

A blip.

[Paul Clement]

Probably, almost most definitely.

However, Man Utd do look a little devoid of creativity when I watch them play now. Ronaldo has been a much bigger loss for them than Ferguson will ever admit. Apart from his goals, there was also his general link up play, and the fact he was absolutely phenomenal at pulling off a tight, defence splitting pass. The only players left who can do that is Rooney, and he's generally too far up field to do this, or if he drops off, the intended recipient is gone, and Scholes can do it, but not to the same degree as what they've lost.

[Captain Tancredi]

The thought that occurred to me was that last season with Ronaldo and Tevez, United turned around a lot of games which were drifting away into 0-0 draws or 1-0 defeats. Even with all the money in the world to spend, any team would struggle to find another player to cover everything Ronaldo did for United, and combined with Tevez's ability to just plug away relentlessly, it's a lot to lose all at once.

[Dave Tudor]

Much better result last night for Everton in the Europa League last night (with Joleon Lescott watching from the stands, rather than the pitch), and it looks like Louis Saha's goals are going to be pretty vital this season - let's hope he can stay fit and keep up this form. Also looking like Jack Rodwell is shaping up to be a great young player.

Now for Sunday, and Burnley...

[Larry]

very dissapointed with yesterdays game as our recent awful record against Spurs continues and yet again Harry, remains unbeaten against West Ham since he was sacked. was out for most of yesterday so I didn't see the game but it dose seem Spurs were rather lucky to win as both their goals were gifted to them by a couple of pieces of bad defending.

[Pip Madeley]

Probably, almost most definitely.

Indeed.