Premier League 2020/21

[Gazz]

Everton are Dolph Ziggler. Been around forever without actually going anywhere. Flashy (with finances) but never in danger of ever actually winning anything. Nowhere near as good as they think they are, but not in danger of ever slipping down the card.

[GA!]

Oooo I like this game.

Chelsea are Randy Orton. Always up there, sometimes get a random championship reign no one remembers, coasting along, and hasn't attracted any new fans since about 2010.

[FLiam]

Dean Henderson has signed a new six-year deal with Manchester United, with a reported £120,000 per week wage.

[METALMAN]

2 hours ago, Bobfoc said:

My first thoughts were that Le Tissier's too into the conspiracy theory scene for my liking. He hasn't gone full Peter Ebdon yet, but I still don't want to see him on television.

woooooooooooot?

[Colly]

5 minutes ago, metalman said:

woooooooooooot?

This is his pinned tweet. He's full tin hat.

 

[METALMAN]

Wow.

And I guess with football fan devotion being what it is, he's taking the entire city of Southampton with them. The team's new cryptocurrency sponsor suddenly makes sense. 

[Twist]

3 hours ago, stokeriño said:

Chelsea and Brighton have decided to have a friendly match this weekend, 2 weeks before they play each other in their opening league game.

What.

 

Apparently they’re trialling having fans.

[Colly]

Could they trial having less racist fans?

[Lineker]

 

[Lineker]

Quote

Gareth Barry has retired from football at the age of 39 after ending his three-year spell with West Bromwich Albion.

The midfielder made a record 653 Premier League appearances, scoring 53 goals, and also earned 53 England caps. Barry developed as a youth player at Brighton before joining Aston Villa where he made his senior debut, going on to make 365 appearances in defence and midfield for the club.

After 11 years at Villa Park, Barry joined Manchester City for £12m in 2009 and won the FA Cup and Premier League in his five-year stay. Barry then moved to Everton, initially on loan in 2013 before joining permanently a year later. He was named the Merseyside club’s player of the season in 2015-16.

Barry faced the prospect of retirement last summer after undergoing knee surgery, but decided to play on for another season with the ultimately successful aim of winning promotion with West Brom. “I didn’t want to finish my career on an injury,” he said in November of last year. “Any player would want to finish on his own terms.”

A tweet from the Baggies read: “An extraordinary, record-breaking career. All the best in retirement, Gareth Barry.” City and Everton also posted tributes, with the Aston Villa account tweeting: “more than a decade of service at Villa Park … wishing Gareth Barry all the best in his retirement, and congratulations on a wonderful career!”

Barry was first called up for England by Kevin Keegan, and was an unused squad member at Euro 2000. He rarely featured under Sven-Göran Eriksson but returned to international duty under Steve McClaren. Barry’s only other tournament trip was to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, though. England failed to qualify for Euro 2008, and injury ruled him out of Euro 2012.

 

Quote

Aaron Wan-Bissaka will miss the start of Manchester United’s pre-season training on Wednesday because he faces a 14-day quarantine after a holiday in Dubai.

The Guardian has contacted the club to clarify whether Wan-Bissaka had permission to travel to Dubai and whether, even though the bulk of the squad are expected back on Wednesday, the defender was among those given extra time to recuperate after last season.

Wan-Bissaka has posted pictures of himself undergoing fitness sessions in Dubai, which is on the list of places from which people returning to the UK have to self-isolate for 14 days.

Dubai was on that list before United’s final match, the Europa League semi-final defeat by Sevilla on 16 August.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær has encouraged his players to take as refreshing a break as possible given United’s 2019-20 season was a year and a week long because of coronavirus. United open the new campaign at home to Crystal Palace on 19 September.

 

Quote

Chelsea’s pre-season plans have run into complications after it emerged that a number of Frank Lampard’s players are in quarantine.

Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic and Fikayo Tomori are self-isolating after returning from their holiday to Mykonos, and four other players are believed to be staying away from the training ground under Covid-19 guidelines.

Mykonos is not on the list of places from which people must self-isolate on their return to the UK.

The development poses a potential headache for England’s manager, Gareth Southgate. Abraham and Mount are in the England squad for the Nations League matches against Iceland on 5 September and Denmark on 8 September.

Chelsea returned to training last week and continue their preparations with a friendly at Brighton on Saturday. Their first competitive game, also at Brighton, is on 14 September.

The club are close to confirming the signing of the centre-back Thiago Silva after his release by Paris St-Germain, having on Wednesday announced the arrival of the left-back Ben Chilwell in a £50m move from Leicester.

 

Quote

Everton must overcome objections from Unesco, Historic England and The Victorian Society to build a new stadium on Liverpool’s waterfront after the organisations raised concerns over plans to fill in Bramley-Moore dock.

Everton have continued preparation work on the proposed 52,888-capacity stadium during the Covid-19 pandemic and spent recent months responding to planning queries from Liverpool city council, among others. As a result, the club will submit revised designs next month – a new full planning application is not required – and expect a decision from the council’s planning committee in December, two months later than originally anticipated.

The main changes are the addition of a stepped plaza overlooking the River Mersey, the removal of a multi-storey car park and a reduction of the roof height to meet world heritage site guidelines. As expected, however, the council has received objections from several heritage groups regarding Everton’s plans to fill in what is currently a disused and inaccessible Victorian dock.

Historic England, which has had input on the stadium design and landscaping, ICOMOS, a heritage body acting on behalf of Unesco, and The Victorian Society all oppose infilling a dock on what is a world heritage and conservation site. Everton’s proposals include restoring several heritage features at Bramley-Moore, such as a Grade II listed hydraulic tower and tramlines. They would also preserve the dock walls under the stadium so that the site could be reverse-engineered back into a dock should the club ever leave.

Colin Chong, Everton’s stadium development director, responded: “While we understand the position of these organisations, we also know that local politicians, the more than 60,000 people who took part in our public consultations, our business community and third sector stakeholders all have a different view and fully support our proposals. The local public has told us – in huge numbers – that they believe the public benefits of our plans far outweigh the suggested level of harm to the heritage assets.

“That is not to say that the public do not appreciate the heritage of Liverpool’s world-class waterfront. They do. It is just that they would prefer to see our project come forward at Bramley-Moore Dock and see history and heritage showcased through a new vibrant development which respects and reflects our dockland history.”

Chong added: “We strongly believe this development represents a vital economic and social catalyst for the north of the city at a time when it has never been more needed, while, at the same time, celebrating and showcasing the heritage of the site and the surrounding area.”

Everton estimate the scheme will be worth £1bn to the economy and generate up to 15,000 jobs, making it a key part of the city region’s post-Covid recovery plan. The club has appointed JP Morgan and MUFG to arrange funding for the estimated £500m project but financing will be secured only when planning permission is received. If government intervention is not required, and planning secured in December, Everton hope to be on site in early 2021. The construction is expected to take three years.

 

[Gazz]

Pogba and Ndombele have both tested positive for COVID-19.

[Colly]

The Times are saying the 3pm blackout won't apply while COVID measures are in place, so all Premier League games are likely to be televised.

[Lineker]

 

[Tigerstyle]

Maguire has total daily mail sad face in the front cover shot of his piece with the BBC, zero sympathy

[DavidMarrio]

The picture Dan Roan tweeted made it look like Maguire was gonna announce he can't sweat and that he can't have been in Greece as he was in Pizza Express at the time 

[Colly]

"Yeah so I've got this medical condition"

[TCO]

So they were "battering his legs"? Why is he wearing shorts and his legs don't have a single bruise on them or have any injuries of any kind?

[FestiveJack]

This happened 9 years ago today.

[METALMAN]

With a mdifield of Nani, Tom Cleverley, Ashley Young and Anderson. Crazy.

[FestiveJack]

2 hours ago, metalman said:

With a mdifield of Nani, Tom Cleverley, Ashley Young and Anderson. Crazy.

Arsenal's bench for that game was something else. Lansbury, Chamakh, Miquel, Ozyakup, Sunu.