Official Premiership 2008/09 thread

[nabeel]

That's funny

[Thrilla]

Brilliant

[Matt]

It's case by case, I know, but SWP must feel slightly hard done by after Bosingwa got away with what he did. Fair enough, Bosingwa didn't go in with much malice, but he knew what he was doing, and the shuds were showing...not just as a mark on Benayoun's back, either.

Bosingwa was seen by (and apparently dealt with ) a linesman though and therefore under the FA's bullshit rules he can't be further disciplined.

[-A-]

A Manchester United groundsman has revealed how he once found one of the club's stars sunbathing on the pitch under the UV lights used to help the grass grow at the Theatre of Dreams. (The Sun)

Fucking hilarious. I imagine he was making a joke, but I prefer to believe Ronaldo can't go more than 3 hours without high strength artificial tanning.

[The Future]

so Ronaldo runs on solar power?

[-A-]

It all falls into place

[TheArsenal]

Sky Sports says Gerrard is out for three weeks.

So that would means he misses Portsmouth (away) and Man City (home) in the league, and possibly Real Madrid (away) in the Champions League, plus the time with the England squad.

Edited February 5, 2009 by TheArsenal

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I would guffaw if Portsmouth and Man City weren't two teams that Tottenham need to be outperforming at the moment.

[TheArsenal]

Gerrard has been so important to Liverpool (and they have been so inept) recently that I could see both Portsmouth and City taking at least some points off of them. I reckon he'll come back for Madrid though. If he doesn't Madrid will beat them.

[Baddar]

They've been on a good run since Ramos took over. And Robben looks every bit as good as Messi lately. It's just a shame he (Robben) is always injured.

[stokeriño]

We had the January Transfer Window auction for my work's Fantasy Football league last night. Not much on offer of course (since all the very good players were already owned by people), but it was clear that my ranks were lacking in STOKE and WEST BROM players, so I bought:

Matthew Etherington (STO)

Ricardo Fuller (STO)

Roman Bednar (WBA)

Now that's just the kind of firepower that will propel me back up the league in the coming months.

[-A-]

Sky have won the bidding for a 5th package of Premiership matches for the next 3 years. Good news for me since I don't have Setanta and don't plan on getting it. I hope it's the Monday night game, I miss Monday football.

[R.W.]

Well, it looks like our unbeaten run will come to an end this weekend, unless Brad feels benevolent upon his return to Ewood.

[Scott McFly]

Sky have won the bidding for a 5th package of Premiership matches for the next 3 years. Good news for me since I don't have Setanta and don't plan on getting it. I hope it's the Monday night game, I miss Monday football.

So what does that mean compared to what's being shown now? Is it currently 4/2 with Sky/Setanta and from 2010 or whenever it is it'll be 5/1? Basically more live games for Sky and less for Setanta?

[Matt]

Sky have won the bidding for a 5th package of Premiership matches for the next 3 years. Good news for me since I don't have Setanta and don't plan on getting it. I hope it's the Monday night game, I miss Monday football.

So what does that mean compared to what's being shown now? Is it currently 4/2 with Sky/Setanta and from 2010 or whenever it is it'll be 5/1? Basically more live games for Sky and less for Setanta?

They could end up with all 6, unless they've already done the bidding for the other as well, but yeah as it stands Sky have 5 and the other is up for bidding.

I thought they could only have 4 though, unless they've changed the rules.

[-A-]

Yup, exactly. The packages are split up by (usual) kick-off time, so Sky has the Sunday 1pm and 4pm kick-offs (or whatever they are) and the midweek game, for example. Setanta definitely has the Monday night game and one other, possibly another midweek or a late Saturday one too.

EDIT: The rule is that they can have 5 out of the six packages. The 6th package is confirmed to be Setanta's, even though ESPN was pretty actively going after it. For Setanta to lose both packages would have been a genuine disaster for them.

EDIT2: Prices up 5% apparently. Credit crunch my arse.

Edited February 6, 2009 by -A-

[Scott McFly]

Apparently this means Sky will have 115 live games for those 3 seasons compared to 92 at the moment. Hopefully they'll all be on Sky Sports and it won't lead to the return of this "pay per match" thing they had a couple of seasons ago where you get a discount if you get a "season ticket".

So if the packages are all the same as they are now and Sky have got the same 4 plus one of Setanta's it means 23 less games for Setanta from 2010.

[Baddar]

It's all good, but I long for the day when we can watch a 3PM Saturday game on Sky each week.

[Crybaby Bunting]

I long for the day that we'd be able to watch a 3PM Saturday game on the BBC, but that will never happen >_<

[-A-]

It's all good, but I long for the day when we can watch a 3PM Saturday game on Sky each week.

I can't see UEFA changing their rules. Maybe that's a FIFA regulation as well. Do they still show a 3pm Saturday kick-off on Setanta Ireland on Sky?

EDIT: Excellent, Sky have the Monday night fixture back and Setanta have kept the late Saturday match. Perfect.

Edited February 6, 2009 by -A-