2006-2007 English Premier League Thread

I thought, seeing how we had a ton of people posting in the WC thread, this might be a good idea, seeing how the season is little under a month away.

It's interesting now, with everything that's happened in Italy (for those who aren't in the know, Lazio, Fiorentina and Juventus have been relegated and Milan have been docked points, all from match-fixing allegations), and it looks like there'll be a huge exodus, with talk already of people like Cannavaro going to Chelsea or Man Utd.

My issue is, what this'll do for the league itself. There's already a huge gulf growing between the top four (Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool) and the rest, and with all these players either going to Spain or here, I fear it will just make the gulf bigger. Hell, Chelsea seem to be buying players willy nilly without even wondering where they'll play - Shaun Wright-Phillips is evidential of this, and I still feel had he played regularly last year, he would have been in the WC squad for sure.

Well, we have our first managerial casualty of the season, and the season hasn't even started yet!

From Sky Sports:

I'd be lying if I said this was a huge surprise. Frankly, I've never liked O'Leary as a manager, and he's been very rude and unbecoming to managers and players in the past, but I think the next person to go should be the real villain of the piece, Ellis. This is the worst thing about football, that managers can come and go at the drop of the hat, but if you have an awful chairman, your club can be fucked for life (see Freddy Shepherd at Newcastle, Rupert Lowe at Southampton).

Ade, I figured the Premiership would be the main one, but there's always room for the lower divisions. I think especially now, where the footballing world is ruled by jillionaires, the smaller clubs are forgotten, and it's a shame. Also, I have to get my fix of my hometown club, Boston Utd, in somewhere!

In terms of teams, I'm Newcastle all the way. The chairman sucks and we seem to fail to do anything every year, but I'm devoted to them all the same.

In terms of a radio matchday, BBC Five Live is the one I always listen to. It always has main commentary coverage on a premier league game, plus comprehensive reports from every game in the country.

Because Newcastle need all the help we can bloody get!

Although finally, we seem to have signed someone! Damien Duff has agreed a contract, so it's just down to a medical, which is good news as he's a fine player. We just need a new entire back line and two strikers now!

The papers today have rumours about us maybe signing Klose. That would be a good deal.

Well, we're strengthening the squad. Don't forget, we were plagued with injuries all of last season to so many key players, and that coupled with Souness' dire approach was a big low until Roeder came along and lifted us. I mean, with some of the players we have - Shay Given, the best Goalie in the UK, Scott Parker (who should have been in the WC squad), Emre, Owen, Charles N'Zogbia, Steven Taylor, Solano (in the top 3 all-time Premiership assists, and now Duff - we have a solid base which, while perhaps not challenging for honours, are nevertheless a good base for us to get back to trying to do that. Forgive me if I think saying we'll lucky to be top eight sounds like it's coming from a Spurs fan bitter that Duff didn't go to them.

Would anyone be interested in a fantasy league this season?

If we get more than five people interested, I'll start putting a league together, either using the Telegraph or Sun (it's an awful rag but damn does it have a good fantasy league) newspapers.




Also, something for us Magpies to officially celebrate today. And a big surprise: He only cost us five mil!

Hey, the emotional rollercoaster is what football is all about.

Owen

I had a dream we signed someone from West Ham. But I don't think he really exists.

I think Luque is a guy that has talent, but I see him more as a winger than a striker. But he's done well in pre-season up front, so he could change my mind easily. I think we need two more strikers, cause with Owen out for the rest of the year and Chopra gone, we desperately need the cover, and I've never been convinced that Ameobi is going to be a 20-a-season goalscorer. We've never done as well as we did when we had Ferdinand and Shearer up front, so I'd like us to find two players like that, obviously not an easy task, but two strikers that can play together and that can supply us with forty or fifty goals a season.

In terms of our midfield, I'm unsure. I think Parker and Emre should be the central midfield, but I'm also not totally convinced by Emre as a playmaker. I can see Roeder playing 4-5-1 if he does buy Gravesen, but I think we do need the strength in depth, and I don't rate Butt and Amdy Faye at all. But I agree that we should go for defenders and strikers before any more midfielders.

It's also desperately clear that we need to sort out this injury deal. While I couldn't stand Souness, we underachieved so much last season due to players being out, and while Roeder did a great job - although I'm not 100% convinced he should be in the manager's chair - his run came at a time when we started to get players back.

Yeah, they're just to get players match-fit again and ready for the season. I shouldn't read too much into them. It's also notable that they're playing teams they wouldn't usually play - unless they come up in European competitions - for example, Liverpool played Kaiserslauten, Newcastle played PSV and have Villareal tomorrow.

Although it was still funny to see Man U get beaten by Preston.

For posterity:

It's hard to say, to be honest, although Fergie seems to be losing the plot a bit in recent times, especially with Van Nistelrooy. Losing your best striker like that, especially for the price he went for - and especially compared to how much Carrick cost - doesn't really indicate the best bit of business, either financially or for the benefit of the squad.

Five Live is brilliant. And yes, they do cover all of the playoff games.