The new season kicks off soon and I thought it would be good to hear some predictions and thoughts on the new season.
Personally predicting Man City to be the new champions whilst Man Utd get relegated.
Just post anything football related,

If you want a one horse race each year due to a Russian billionaire using it to launder money then nothing lol

No I don`t want a one horse race.

The league needs to be evened out to give the "lesser" clubs a better chance.

This deal helps West Ham - good - much better than helping ManU, Liverpool or Arsenal. If one or two of the "lesser" clubs can finish in the top four then that will be good for the Premiership.

Im happy to see Chelski reign champions, but remember a few years back fundamentalist when Man Utd won 3 titles in a row - everything changes and no doubt the one horse race will too. Chelsea have the made the league a better one - every top club now plays at a higher level because Chelsea have raised the standards, not to high for city though who were the first team to beat them after mourinho, just look at how far English teams have gone in europe the last few years.

G D Potty: every top club now plays at a higher level because Chelsea have raised the standards

This is, of course, a joke.

Do you not recall the flare with which Arsenal graced the field long before anybody had ever heard of Abramovic! Even Man U can stake a claim at raising the standard of the English game long before Chelsea get a mention. And (I hate to admit) but I believe that it was Spurs who first brought foreign nationals to our green shores.

GD

surely you have enough brain cells to appreciate the way the change is happening is bad for football.

Chelsea are clearly controlling players who do not belong to their own club and have several agreements with other clubs being drawn in all the time.

If you think top flight footie is better for the fans now than 5 or 10 yrs ago (or more) you are clearly deluded

Theres an even bigger problem at championship level now. The rewards of even a single season in the premiership are so great, that managers are under stupid amounts of pressure to get promotion. This is resulting in a very competitive league being full of teams terrified to lose. result is 5 across the midfield and a dour battle to see if you can nick 3 points on the break. Far too risky to put 2 up front and go for it, because an 8 figure sum rests on getting through to the play offs and too many entertaining losses = no job.
Perhaps a limit on squad sizes in the premiership may be an answer. My glorious Leeds team of the 1970's did it with a squad of 16, playing more matches, in worse conditions and with worse equipment and training. It would certainly result in the highest quality being spread more equally and the premiership also rans could be at Championship clubs, raising their quality.
Who knows?
Alan

Do not worry. Tesco will takeover Roman`s empire b4 too long.

Starfrog didn`t Charlton have a foreign national b4 Spurs? Eddie Firmani ???

alan

thats how about a dozen of the prem sides approach each week with survival their only target

Blueman - Gosh, that's going back a few years (I must admit I had to google him). I was thinking of Ozzie and that other guy. But here's another for you - Hans Jeppson (Swedish) playing for Charlton in 1951.

Anybody have any earlier foreign players?

First Black bloke was called Johannson and played for Leeds.
You know. That team famous for its racism???
Alan

My initial thoughts of Roman being behind the WestHam deal have chnaged!

West Ham will soon be owned by MSI (who are not contrary to some rumurs controlled by Roman). The players will then be permanently owned by West Ham ro sold to fund the growth of West Ham!!

i wonder how pardew feels about this.........

West Ham United manager Alan Pardew has hit out at Arsene Wenger's selection policy.

Pardew believes that Arsenal rely too much on foreigners and that The FA should introduce a rule which stipulates the minimum number of Brits in a team's line-up.

Over 700 minutes of football have passed since Wenger last fielded a British player and even Real Madrid had more Englishmen than Arsenal in their squad during Wednesday's UEFA Champions League tie.

"I saw a headline saying Arsenal are flying the flag for Britain in the Champions League but I had to wonder where the British involvement was when I saw the team," said Pardew.

"There was a big commotion when that first happened and it shouldn't be washed under the mat again.

"Every English club should carry at least three British players in the first team. The foreign players have added massively to our game, but the soul of the club is the home-grown players and they should be integrated into that team.

"It is important we don't lose sight that this is the English Premier League and English players should be involved.

"I know it is difficult to buy British players because the market is expensive and only Chelsea are in a position where they can pay over the odds to bring in those players.

"But we have had to search through the lower divisions to do that and Dean Ashton was the only player we had to pay top money for."

SOURCE: SKY SPORTS

Premiership Predictions: -

1. LIVERPOOL
2. Chelsea
_______________________
Huge gap in points.....
_______________________
3. Manchester United
4. Arsenal
_______________________
Small gap in points.....
_______________________
5. Aston Villa
6. Tottenham Hotspur
7. Bolton Wanderers
8. Wigan Athletic
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Championship: -

1. West Bromwich Albion
2. Derby County
3. Crystal Palace

Arsenal's lack of English players include:

Ashley Cole (well, at least at the time of posting)
Justin Hoyte
Gavin Hoyte
Theo Walcott
Matthew Connolly
Kerrea Gilbert
Lee Butcher
Ryan Garry
Paul Rodgers
Mark Randall
Jay Simpson
Marc Elston
Rene Steer
Joe O'Cearuill
Abu Ogogo
Kieran Gibbs
James Dunne

Plus a couple out on loan. Enough to make a team I would think.

OK, so you don't recognise them all. They are not all first team members - most play regularly in the reserves (and win!). And this is precisely what makes Pardew's comments so well uniformed. Arsenal have more English players in their reserve squad (the next generation) than any other nationality and more than a great number of other 'so-called' English teams. So it appears that Arsenal actually nuture home grown talent - but that wouldn't make a great sound bite, would it!

Starfrog, if you read it properly you will see he clearly states 'First Team' players and it is reasonably hard to find three week in week out english players in that list - Cole could be off - Theo plays part and Justin is just waiting to be axed.
Well I have no memorable recognition of how exciting the premiership was ten years ago but I do enjoy it very much now and so cannot, although I would very much like to, knock your suggestions flat on the floor.
Just as a little token though , in 2005/2006 the top three highest goalscoring teams were Chelsea with 91, Man Utd with 83 and Liverpool with 82 compared to the 96/97 season in which Man Utd scored 75, Newcastle and Arsenal 68. So it seems we score quite a few more goals now.

Starfrog - Ex German paratrooper Bert Trautmann played for Man City in the early 50`s.

He played in The F.A. Cup Finals of 55 and 56 and also won the footballer of the year award. I believe he also played for the Football league team - selected from all players in the English leagues.

He also won the poll as best Manchester player in the Manchester "Football Pink" newspaper and this was with the famous Busby Babes in full cry.

A truly great player and no coincidence that the season after he retired City were relegated!!

Imagine all this about ten years after World War II - He HAD to be good.

G D Potts - 31 Aug 2006 18:03 - 51 of 52:

"Starfrog, if you read it properly you will ..."

Yes, yes, but the implication is that Arsenal are somehow destroying English football by not nurturing home grown talent. My point is that the club has a great amount of homegrown talent coming through.

"... if you read it properly ...", "... I would very much like to, knock your suggestions flat on the floor ..."

Er, what suggestions did I make? (Touch

lol

blueman - I think you are probably a winner with Bert. He also received an OBE.

I get sick of hearing the old saying that International managers come out with. "There is no such thing as an easy game in international football".
Come on, Steve. Admit it. There is, and its today!!!

Starfrog all I can say is MCFC 1 ARSENAL 0

Touche

The mighty Citizens playing in reading tomorrow - Sky Sports 1 i think or could be prem plus. What a result for Everton !!
Good old newcastle managed to loose again which is good.
Any thoughts on Tevez and Macherano - I heard that the owner of Corinthans had sold them well below their market price as he intends to buy West Ham in the not to distant future, but both great players even so.