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– After romping through last year’s single ‘Teenager’ and more recent…
Yes I'm Leaving
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Solo work and low-key collaborations quietly dominate this week’s roun…
Ha, random!
Wild predictions?
4.United
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Liverpool coming 20th, that is
Arsenal to win it.
Norwich, West Ham and Stoke to go down.
Bit harsh on Liverpool, first aim is to finish above Everton.
Prediction: Tevez vs Balotelli on-field fracas
Man City to buy every registered professional player in Europe, forcing every other club to scrap sides together from their season ticket holders.
City to come a shock second to a United side led by Bobby Charlton on a zimmer frame.
Chelsea have agreed a fee of 38mil pounds for Hulk
those are two very big signings they've made already.
And beginning to look like Sigurdsson hasn't actually put pen to paper at Swansea yet after all, despite everything being agreed.
He's ''gone on holiday'' without signing the contract.
Lol. Looks like Liverpool might get him then? Wonder how Stevie G might feel about that!
Prediction: Roman to get a manager and then sack him.
(Bonus points if he sacks him within 55 hours, a divorce like Britney!)
For the first time in a while as a Chelsea fan, I've not felt that same cringe when we start forking out big money for players. Fact is, that's the reality of even remaining midly competitive in the current Premier league (which is admittedly mainly our own fault).
Hazard, if and when he formally signs, will add some much-needed quality into that part of the pitch. Hoping Hulk does sign too- he seems robust and talented enough to cut it (although I'm not convinced that alone justifies a 38m pound price tag).
Can't quite figure out who is going to be managing us - certain it won't be Di Matteo- but I hope whoever it is, they set up the team based on the strengths of our squad. Sick of these rigid formations that don't accomodate our best players.
Prediction: Citeh to finish 1st, Arsenal 5th, us to win another cup or two and Liverpool to huff and puff into mid-table obscurity.
Well, well, well, well, well.
Looks like we'll be finding out whether Di Matteo is up to the Chelsea job afterall.
My view is he'll probably not reach the levels that mad russian demands.
Could be even if he wins everything in sight, he'll have only kept the seat warm for peppy g.
redknapp to be replaced by moyes?
Redknapp is leaving Spurs?
according to the guardian, levy might sack him cos he won't quit. he blames him for missing out on champions league qualification.
Hahahah. As an Arsenal fan, this indeed makes me laugh.
Levy and Redknapp don't particularly get along, which has been a pretty open secret for some time - spendthrift loudmouth overseen by a very cerebral, thoughtful fellow. they were never going to have an easy relationship.
however, I'm in the minority of Spurs fans in thinking that this isn't that great a move if Levy pulls the trigger. missing out on the Champions League next year is a bit of a freak occurrence (okay, Spurs collapsed, but Arsenal have done the same thing for years without any real complaint against Wenger - and they were lucky enough to get away with it time after time) what with Chelsea's mugging of Barca and Bayern.
he's finished fourth twice with our highest points totals since Burkinshaw. I'm not sure anyone would do much better with the Spurs squad, and I'm not convinced Moyes would move to Spurs - whatever the circumstances around his contract at Everton, he is very much attached to the club and isn't one to chase the money.
I think the only thing that would stop Moyes taking the Spurs job would be a hint that Ferguson is quitting in the next year or so.
He appears to be among Fergie's top choices as a successor.
Otherwise, I think he could easily go to Spurs without being accused of chasing the money.
I don't think it's accurate to compare Wenger and Redknapp. Arsenal may be prone to collapses, but they've still consistently made the champions league without spending anywhere near as much as their top four rivals.
I respect Moyes. I'd hate him to move to Spurs.
it's not really the point, and you know it. but anything for a cheap dig, eh?
Redknapp's finished within the Champions League places twice at three times of asking (his first season was spent undoing Ramos' mess, so it doesn't really count). on one occasion Chelsea happened to win the thing after finishing sixth and being a pile of turd all season, so Spurs didn't qualify. bang on about the 10 point gap all you want, the point is it's not uncommon for a side to struggle to maintain a decent points league over the second half of the season: ask the United side of 92, Newcastle of 95, Liverpool between 96 and 99, Arsenal the past few years. that's a challenge every manager struggles with at one point or another.
given Spurs are solvent and haven't spent nearly as much money as any of the clubs that finished above them (don't be fooled by transfer fees - Arsenal are well run but they still spend a lot on wages, much more than Spurs) as well as Chelsea and Liverpool, I'd say Redknapp's done fine. this isn't to put him on the same level as Wenger - he clearly isn't. but when a great manager like Wenger struggles to keep his side competitive over an entire season, it's a little rough to judge a lesser manager more harshly for doing the same thing.
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I'd be interested in everyone's review their own climb and what they think needs to happen in the transfer window even if others aren't...
Own club*, damn autocorrect!
current Arsenal team is not a serious premiership contender, that is plainly obvious to everyone
hopefully there are some decent moves as promised in the transfer market (this has been promised for a long time now). i still think finishing fourth has been a great effort this season, to bounce back from where they were, plus the calibre of player that has gone out the door, well done i say!
personally, i really wanted Arsene to step down, it's well and truly time, a job in the office for sure, the man has an unquestionable eye for talent. But it's just not going to happen with him now i feel, there needs to be a new spark to the club. open the cheque book and let rip!
I remain hopeful - they really need one or two more world class players though - 20+ goals season striker and maybe another tough defender. Allegedly they have $107 million to spend on players.
If they can play like they have in the backend of the season, then yeah. They finished 2 points off Chelsea, and five off City. Yes, realise United ran away with it but the reason I remain hopeful is that Arsenal, as a team, seem to be working well together. They've managed to concede the second least amount of goals in the league (only City conceded less) for the first time in yonks - and that's a good sign. The defensive errors that have plagued the team for the past 6 or so years are looking to have been eliminated from the side.
However, I think next season, assuming Spurs can keep Bale, it's going to be tight once again at the top.
Gordon might see things differently, but I think that was a superb season for Spurs - highest ever points tally in the Premier League for the club, the highest ever tally for a fifth placed side in the 20-club Premier League (Leeds took 73 back in the 22-club league in 94), and would only have missed out on the Champions League on two occasions since its expansion to four English teams. but for a superb run from Arsenal in the last three months, remarkable given they didn't lose since we dicked them in the derby, I wouldn't be saying any of the above. the club missed two of its best players for the bulk of the season (Sandro and Kaboul) and its strikers underperformed dismally. it's frustrating, but when you look at it that way, they've done wonderfully well.
I'm impressed with Villas Boas and think he fits the club really really well and all the 'Arry boosters in the press and British TV can shove it. where's he now? oh, that's right, the Championship.
signings? a goddamned striker. look at the statistics: if Spurs had a decent one with a good conversion rate, they would have finished well within the Champions League places.
Spurs and Swansea also join West Brom, Blackburn and Charlton as clubs to not be awarded a single penalty in a whole season of Premier League football.
Chelsea positively revelled in penalties by contrast.
odd.
I think this is key for many reasons.
I used to feel that whilst Sandro is among the best tacklers not just in the league but in the whole world that his sometimes woeful passing made him replaceable especially with Parker around and his performance last season. But our standard of play dropped when we lost him due to his ability to break up play. He also makes life so much easier for the centre backs. I certainly don't think Mirallas or Ramires would have scored with him about and there are probably plenty more. Huddlestone played well off the bench against city but is otherwise just too slow.
We need Kahboul for corners alone. Both offensive and defensive. We won way more than we conceded but I'm sure we let in more than we scored from. And apologies for the digression but Adebayor should not be allowed to defend set pieces. You'd rather have a height mismatch than a free player.
No, like Liverpool fans, we have to accept that our team is nowhere near as good as it used to be and adjust our expectations accordingly. Currently top four is as good as it gets and it will be a long time before they are genuine title contenders again. As long as Wenger is there, this will continue, money won’t be spent bringing in title-winning quality players and the most we can hope for is another top four finish, a FA Cup and a decent CL run.
Nick Miller at Football365 has pointed out there's likely to be instability among this season's top 3 with changes of management, which Arsenal (and possibly Spurs) could profit from.
interesting, if not necessarily something I agree with entirely.
I see people talking abut getting rid of Wenger again.
I don't see how getting rid of Wenger will necessarily mean better performances from the team unless there is someone better available. What I really wouldn't want to happen to arsenal is to see the kind of managerial circus at clubs likes Chelsea and Liverpool and City.
It's just hard to defend Wenger these days - numerous flop transfers while refusing to buy big, inability to keep the best players at the club, overseeing the decline of the team and no silverware in nearly 8 years - he has to take responsibility for that. Arsenal are still a huge club playing Champions League football and so should be able to attract world-class managers - I'm not sure who the replacement would be but I feel it's time to let someone have a go at it.
I agree. Surely stability and experience will be an asset in the coming season given the shake up amongst the top three. I'd give Arsene the benefit of the doubt with such opportunity looming.
Chelsea have to be in the top 4 with their squad - regardless of who comes in. I reckon even Steve Kean could mange a top 2 finish.
Man City need to bring in fresh ideas and piss off a few of the divas.
Man United may really struggle - not the best group of individual players by a long shot - I think fergie's true genius has yet to be recognised here. plus you've got 25 years where winning things is perceived as a god given right. If it takes moyes a while to get results the sooking will be immense.
I'm really excited to see what happens with united.
Heard a stat the other day: since Wenger last won a trophy every single League club (91 of them I think) has changed their manager.
well done Spurs.
how did everyone fare in the Fantasy EPL league we had going here... pending some kind of points re-calculation... Owlerton have done a Wenger and snatched 4th.
I did much shittier this year and came 7th on 1,933 points (I smashed way over 2,000 pts last year) - if we're talking about the 'Get on It' League.
Northside from Mess and Noise took it out on 2,190 - convincing victory.
Came 3rd on 2,087. If only I'd used my wildcard about a month sooner, I might have closed that 103 point gap to Northside.
Yeah, right.
ha.
if true, expect the English press to have a tanty of epic proportions given their mission to move Bale on to more glamorous things has to wait 12 more months, including an almighty strop from Barney Ronay declaring that Bale 'just can't be all there' for staying at Spurs.
and in more predictable news, Jose leaves Madrid.
the possibility of him not becoming Chelsea manager is about as remote and Dagenham and Redbridge playing in the Champions League this decade.
Well, I've heard these types of things from AVB before - from Wenger. I'll believe it when he signs :D
it's not from AVB - Bale's representatives and Levy's media rep will have briefed the press. Sam Wallace, who is pretty close to quite a few people at Spurs is writing as if it's a done deal, which is pretty firm. not conclusive, but much firmer than Wenger droning on in a press conference.