If by some miracle, Pool finish fourth at Utd's expense I will have ******* field day with all those glory hunting Utd fans who have been melting my head for the last few months.
Premier League 22/23 Thread
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lejackal
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Yep, Mike Ashley bought it from the administrators when Wasps went bust and the club changed hands recently as well (not to Ashley). They just signed a five year lease.
this game never ceases to amaze! Great weekend of results for Liverpool and Spurs though
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lejackal
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Bizarre- looks like the Guardian hasnt updated
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If Liverpool do finish 4th it will be because Man Utd have bottled it. That said unless Qatar buy Man Utd Liverpool will still be a much better run club. I see they have a new director of football and that McAllister from Brighton is close to signing. Liverpool may well miss out on the UCL next season but this season had been a bit of a transition period for them and they are taking the right steps to improve for next season with a relatively low budget.
I watched the West Ham game yesterday and yes West Ham deserved the win slightly I would say. Man Utd from a front 3 or 4 just seem to think the ball is a time bomb that they must kick away as for as they can as soon as the goal is in sight. So many times we were one decent pass away from creating a much better chance and Rashford or Bruno or who ever just opted to smack it in the general direction of the goal.
Sunderland did come sixth.
Luton or Coventry for me from the play offs. New blood and clubs who haven't been anywhere near the PL for a long time (ever in Luton's case but I remember them in the old Div 1) .
**** knows what happened to Brighton. I saw the first half of that and it should have been four. Everton tore them apart, and Everton are ******* *****.
Saints just gone two down to Forest. Bye bye Saints. Sad to see them go, they always struck me as a well run club, but they just have not been good enough.
Luton or Coventry for me from the play offs. New blood and clubs who haven't been anywhere near the PL for a long time (ever in Luton's case but I remember them in the old Div 1) .
**** knows what happened to Brighton. I saw the first half of that and it should have been four. Everton tore them apart, and Everton are ******* *****.
Saints just gone two down to Forest. Bye bye Saints. Sad to see them go, they always struck me as a well run club, but they just have not been good enough.
I agree 100% with the first sentence, and I still expect Utd to cruise it. Wolves and Bournemouth up next for them. That's six points and from there they need 2 more to be mathematically safe AND that assumes Liverpool keep winning.
Utd do look tired, and they have played a **** tonne of games. I am laughing at all the Utd fans using that (legitimately) as an excuse but when Pool played 497 games last season 'tiredness' was just 'poor squad use' or a complete nonsense. Football fans are hypocrites…..who would have guessed lol.
Utd are some what hamstrung by the Greenwood issue removing one of their main attacking options. But like Pool and their midfield issue they knew that at xmas and didnt do much. Weighorst doesn't really count. He's little more than a competition winner.
Saying that Utd are a work in progress and they are undoubtedly on the right path atm. Give ETH another window or two and then judge him. I expect to see three or four new signings this sumer and more deadwood shifted on. Plus a few who can't play the style that ETH wants, DDG and Fat Maguire probably fit in there. Martial, Phil Jones, Brandon Williams, AWB, Dalot etc the first category.
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I can't see Man Utd signing 4 players this summer, Glazers will go all in on Kane for £100 million and that's pretty much the budget gone. And besides does anyone genuinely think adding 4 players to that squad next season will make a big difference? I think Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and even Newcastle will be better than they were this season. The squad still needs at least 8 players, Ronaldo and Cavani haven't been replaced, 2 or 3 midfielders, 2 or 3 defenders and whatever happens with the goalkeeper. DDG still on for golden glove this season, so whatever Ten Hag wants to do with the keepers I trust him.
We've had a good season because of Ten Hag and despite the Glazers.
We've had a good season because of Ten Hag and despite the Glazers.
Crazy! Who saw that Everton result coming?!
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Yes unbelievable Jeff!
I suspect the Board have finally realised they need to do what the manager asks rather than simply insist he pick certain players (hello Harry). For that reason I can see Fat Maguire and Martial etc getting flogged this summer. They won't comand the fees Utd paid, you'll do well to get half your money back, but they will bring in money. Assuming the sale goes through, and surely it has to soon, that should add more money to transfer budget. You'd don't need to pay big money to sign good players, Mane and Robertson were cheap. What did Mahrez cost Leicester 200k? I know that is a fluke find but if Utd had any half decent scout they could have identified a few bargains. Rather than spending the summer chasing whatshisface at Barca......again.
And, "no" you won't catch City. No one will. But you can take steps to securing a top four spot
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Harry Maquire, £200k a week and two years left on his contract. So we need someone to pay him £100k a week for 4 years and pay us £20-£30 million for him.
Martial, think he's on £200k a week, may be £250k not sure and only has one year on his contract. Would be lucky to get £20 million for him. That's £50 million towards purchases if you can do the business?
I agree we should be looking to Europe and South America for talent, forget Rice and Kane. Also if the sale goes through it has to be Qatar, they have the money for new stadium and training ground without borrowing. 17 years of being run into the ground will still take a while to recover financially but it's possible within 5 years. By then Man City will have done 3 trebles.
. My point is Ten Hag is ahead in the rebuild of the team IMO and top 4 next season would be a good season without a complete overhaul of the squad.
Martial, think he's on £200k a week, may be £250k not sure and only has one year on his contract. Would be lucky to get £20 million for him. That's £50 million towards purchases if you can do the business?
I agree we should be looking to Europe and South America for talent, forget Rice and Kane. Also if the sale goes through it has to be Qatar, they have the money for new stadium and training ground without borrowing. 17 years of being run into the ground will still take a while to recover financially but it's possible within 5 years. By then Man City will have done 3 trebles.
. My point is Ten Hag is ahead in the rebuild of the team IMO and top 4 next season would be a good season without a complete overhaul of the squad.There are others who will be sold, Greenwood could easily fetch 50m (seeing the case was dropped so 'legally' he isn't a rapist) it would probably have been a lot more but I suspect no English side will touch him, or be allowed to, so that leaves continental sides and they aren't as flush as PL sides. Throw in Lindeloft, Dalot, and whoever else is replaced (McFred possibly) and you have enough for another player or two. Freeing up the wages will also help. Getting shot of the walking ego has saved you about 26m this year.
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Greenwood is probably going to Juventus on loan, I would keep lidaflop, actually plays really well with Shaw, Maquire makes him look crap and he's good back up. What I think is besides the point and you could get £30 million for him. Think Ten Hag wants to keep Dalot but if not yeah that's another £20 million in the pot? Fred is out of contract next month. McTomany could be be another £30 million so it adds up, I'm not disagreeing with you, trust me I've been through the squad in my head, it depends hugely on if we can sell them. Will be fascinating if they do start getting sold who comes in. We currently owe about £300 million on players bought in the last 3 seasons. Financial fair play will certainly play a part at some stage regardless of who owns us. All that said £100 million out on Kane and another £100 million in from selling players which is unlikely, doesn't strike me as a good transfer window, unless we find the next Messi, Iniesta and Allison for that amount.
As for Ronaldo going and saving us £26 million, that went to the Glaziers in dividends.
As for Ronaldo going and saving us £26 million, that went to the Glaziers in dividends.
You gotta love the Glazier's, if ever there was a set of owners for Utd that us Pool fans would pick, it's them!
It's kinda hard to know who Utd will sell as that depends on who they can get in and who they get offers for. I think we all know ETH will happily sell Fat Maguire, but if the only offers are loan/10m or from the likes of Luton (say), Utd won't take them, or Maguire won't go in Luton's case.
I didn't realise Fred's contract was up. He's not the worst player in the world. Not worth what you paid for him, but for free someone will do alright.
I also saw Spurs are looking at Kelleher from Pool for 20m. That is a ******* bargain if they get him for that. I know I am biased but he does look like seriously good keeper in the making. He's still young so you may get a few mistakes, but ehhh Hugo Lloris lol, even at that on the occasions he has stood in for Allison he has not looked out of place or over awed at all. You can see the Pool defence have complete faith in him too, and I'm not sure there's a much bigger compliment considering they are used to playing in front of one of the best (if not the best) keepers in the PL.
It's kinda hard to know who Utd will sell as that depends on who they can get in and who they get offers for. I think we all know ETH will happily sell Fat Maguire, but if the only offers are loan/10m or from the likes of Luton (say), Utd won't take them, or Maguire won't go in Luton's case.
I didn't realise Fred's contract was up. He's not the worst player in the world. Not worth what you paid for him, but for free someone will do alright.
I also saw Spurs are looking at Kelleher from Pool for 20m. That is a ******* bargain if they get him for that. I know I am biased but he does look like seriously good keeper in the making. He's still young so you may get a few mistakes, but ehhh Hugo Lloris lol, even at that on the occasions he has stood in for Allison he has not looked out of place or over awed at all. You can see the Pool defence have complete faith in him too, and I'm not sure there's a much bigger compliment considering they are used to playing in front of one of the best (if not the best) keepers in the PL.
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I stand corrected @weasel Fred, Rashford, Shaw and Dalot have all had the 1 year extension triggered on their contracts, so they all expire June 2024. DDG contract is up next month and I'm hearing he's been offered a 2 year deal with only £200k a week.
What's this I've heard about 5 UCL spots for next season for English clubs?
What's this I've heard about 5 UCL spots for next season for English clubs?
lejackal
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Starts in 2024 when they expand/change the competition
Nice, Spurs will finish 6th no doubt
100%. That's why they had Richard Wright and yer ex Arsenal boy (I think) for years and years. They never played but counted as English/home grown and that was all that mattered.
I hadn't heard about the increased number of spots for the PL, but given they are ruining it by expanding it and making it 2 groups of 97 teams. I guess it stands to reason there would be more PL sides in it.
Between UEFA ruining the CL, the EL already being a ******* joke with CL sides dropping in, the Euro Champs having been ruined by the expansion, and now the WC being ruined by expanding it. It really goes to show, like we needed to be shown, that UEFA and FIFA literally only CARE about money. No club/country/fans were calling for the competitions to be enlarged (European super league nonsense aside) but now we get groups where 3rd place gets you through (in the WC and Euros) and that NEVER leads to teams playing not to lose and dull as **** games. And now we get a CL with a group of 10 teams and you playing half the sides at home and half away. We all know some poor bastards will get Real, Bayern and City away, with Club Brugge, Feyenoord, and AIK Solna at home. Very fair. Still as long as UEFA and FIFA get more money to hide in their Swiss bank accounts, who gives a **** about the clubs/countries/players or fans. Every fan wants more meaningless games, don't they!? I mean who doesn't like seeing Real/City/Bayern/Barca/PSG/Pool/Utd making 6 changes before playing Anderlecht and still winning 3-1?
I've always thought the CL is a bit of a joke competition anyway, winning the Scottish league is the equivalent of winning the National League in England. If they really wanted the best of the best sides playing each other, it would be Real, Barcelona, Bayern, and then 10 PL clubs. I get they are trying to be "fair" but honestly what's the point of Celtic getting whipped every year? Have they ever not come bottom of their group?!
@edd_jedi Celtic beat Barca, back when Barca were bloody good. Granted twas a fluke and they still didn't make the knock out stages but they did beat a very good Barca.
Agreed on the EL and the variety in it. I remember the old UEFA cup and what a great competition that was. There were so many sides who were evenly matched, it was quite hard to get a decent run in. Well, back when the PL sides had only been allowed back in to European comp for a few years (and the standard of the PL was dung). Then along came the money, both from PL TV rights and from UEFA giving more and more to the CL and more places in the CL to the big leagues. That has just exacerbated the discrepancies between countries. Back in the UEFA cup days a Russian side was a bloody tough draw, now PL sides cruise past them. And Russia is a big country, imagine how the small european nations feel. I heard someone say that they heard Celtic were after a player, no idea who, and he turned them down as he was offered more money by a league one side. League one. No chance Celtic, or any other 'smaller' european nation side can compete with that.
I agree a 'best teams of Europe league' would be 50% PL, probably four from Spain, Bayern, Dortmund, PSG, maybe 2 from Italy and one or two from Portugal. A Dutch side might sneak in, depending on how big the league was, but they would struggle.
The way European football is set up, it exacerbates the gulf in finances/class. More places for the big countries, means more chance of their sides going further, which means more money for them, which allows them to cherry pick the best players, which strengthens their coefficient, which means they continue to get more places (or not lose places) and the circle continues. Cherry picking the best players from the weaker leagues also allows them to strengthen their domestic league's appeal to TV companies as well as diminishing the attraction of the smaller countries' leagues and that makes it even worse.
There's no realistic way to fix it. It's gone on too long now and UEFA don't give a **** anyway. It's a shame. Albeit I would be more pissed if I supported a non PL side
Agreed on the EL and the variety in it. I remember the old UEFA cup and what a great competition that was. There were so many sides who were evenly matched, it was quite hard to get a decent run in. Well, back when the PL sides had only been allowed back in to European comp for a few years (and the standard of the PL was dung). Then along came the money, both from PL TV rights and from UEFA giving more and more to the CL and more places in the CL to the big leagues. That has just exacerbated the discrepancies between countries. Back in the UEFA cup days a Russian side was a bloody tough draw, now PL sides cruise past them. And Russia is a big country, imagine how the small european nations feel. I heard someone say that they heard Celtic were after a player, no idea who, and he turned them down as he was offered more money by a league one side. League one. No chance Celtic, or any other 'smaller' european nation side can compete with that.
I agree a 'best teams of Europe league' would be 50% PL, probably four from Spain, Bayern, Dortmund, PSG, maybe 2 from Italy and one or two from Portugal. A Dutch side might sneak in, depending on how big the league was, but they would struggle.
The way European football is set up, it exacerbates the gulf in finances/class. More places for the big countries, means more chance of their sides going further, which means more money for them, which allows them to cherry pick the best players, which strengthens their coefficient, which means they continue to get more places (or not lose places) and the circle continues. Cherry picking the best players from the weaker leagues also allows them to strengthen their domestic league's appeal to TV companies as well as diminishing the attraction of the smaller countries' leagues and that makes it even worse.
There's no realistic way to fix it. It's gone on too long now and UEFA don't give a **** anyway. It's a shame. Albeit I would be more pissed if I supported a non PL side
I guess that's what the Super League was supposed to be and nobody liked the idea. You're right though, no idea how you fix it now, the domestic leagues aren't even fair. Not sure how they can implement a Formula 1 style budget and power/specification cap to keep it competitive.
