Official Premiership 2008/09 thread

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Seriously, where is the problem with players voicing their opinions? It's pathetic that they can get into trouble for doing so.

Also, come on Newcastle.

[Matt]

Seriously, where is the problem with players voicing their opinions? It's pathetic that they can get into trouble for doing so.

Also, come on Newcastle.

Most sensible thing Johnny's ever said. 3 sentences I agree with.

[MGW]

People are alowed to voice there opinion if their name is Alex Fergeson.

Edited April 27, 2009 by MGW

[Dont Fear The Reaper]

Match is over, whats everyones opinion on the game?

Edited April 27, 2009 by Dont Fear The Reaper

[therockbox]

Newcastle playing 4-3-3 just seems like Shearer hoping one of those front three are going to pull off something special, or Owen gets a lucky break. Against my better judgment I watched the entire match and Newcastle just seem completely aimless, there doesn't seem to be any strategy when they're attacking whatsoever. Just 'give it to Viduka and hope he can knock it onto Martins or Owen.' I can't see them scoring, let alone winning.

Although having said that they'll go and get a truckload against us on Sunday.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Didn't watch the game personally, but shame Newcastle couldn't snatch the game. I guess the plus side is that they really need to win or get something out of every game left and they've still got to play Liverpool, so I can hope for a Newcastle miracle there. Really a shame though, I'm hoping they don't go down to be honest. If they stay up though, they really need to sort their fucking team out big time. And if Owen cant find any form or fitness, he needs to retire.

[The Future]

Can't seem them surviving after this, hoping they pull off a miracle and hold Liverpool.

The lad Carrol needs to play when he's on the the pitch at least they have someone to aim for instead of just giving it to Viduka and hoping he pulls something off

[Matt]

When did Mark Viduka become a target man? He's one of the most skilful players there is, hoofing it up to him is a waste of time, possession and his ability.

[Ben E.]

So, a lot of the pointless black and white cards nearly ended up on the pitch. Turns out, Newcastle fans can't throw very far, or make decent paper planes.

The bloke that sings Blaydon Races at the start of the game gets the crowd into it, even if he is a bit ridiculous.

The team started well, but I think that was more them reacting to the crowd being so loud, and catching Portsmouth off guard. About 30 minutes in it was back to typical Newcastle. Martins was lazy as fuck too. Later in the game, Portsmouth just cut our defense to pieces. The referee was clueless too, but thankfully none of his decisions made too much of an impact on the game.

Liverpool next, dear god.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Four games to play...

MIDDLESBROUGH:

Man Utd

Newcastle (A)

Aston Villa

West Ham (A)

'Boro are in trouble for me. I can't see them getting anything off Man Utd or West Ham. I can see a draw against Newcastle and I can see them beating Villa. That would give them 4 points to put them on 35pts.

NEWCASTLE:

Liverpool (A)

Middlesbrough

Fulham

Aston Villa (A)

....and I said 'Boro were in trouble! Newcastle will get nothing from Liverpool or Villa and only draws against 'Boro and Fulham. 2 points puts them on 33. They're down for me.

HULL:

Aston Villa (A)

Stoke

Bolton (A)

Man Utd

Hull will lose against Villa, Bolton and United which means that survival depends on the Stoke game. Their goal difference will be worse than 'Boro's come the end of the season so they need a win. I don't think they will - 1 point from their remaining four games will see them go down will West Brom and Newcastle. I don't see West Brom getting seven points from their last four games.

That would mean that incredibly I see 35 points seeing a team home safe as the bottom clubs aren't really stepping up to be counted as the season runs to a close.

[EddieG]

God damn I hate my stepdad and his football arguements.

1st he seems to be the only person I know who's consistently saying it WAS a penalty..

2nd of all he's saying oh yes but the smaller relegation fighting teams always end up winning against the bigger teams. Yes, but Newcastle's not a small team. They're not used to a relegation battle.

.. god damn I hate him.. plus the fact.. he does support United and I support Liverpool so y'kno

[therockbox]

Anyone seen this? :lmao:

A lovely lady from Hull flashes her bits to Kuyt

Poor Yossi doesn't notice, but Masch does

[9 to 5]

Aye I saw that on MOTD 2, that was fantastic!

And I think if Hull beat Stoke that could well be the end of for Boro, Newcastle and WBA.

[Crybaby Bunting]

What the fuck? Man City are in negotiations over Eto'o? £40 Million?

Do these guys realise that once they're out of Europe... no-one with any integrity will come to their club... and once that happens, they'll end up just buying players that don't want to be there?

[9 to 5]

The only reason Eto'o would go there is for money, and really, would he really need the money? If it was Man Utd or Chelsea bidding yeah I could see he might want the change but a mid-table side? Nah. Man City need to build more slowly rather than just splash out on 'name' players and hope it all comes together. Didn't win Real all that much.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Not sure they'll get him, but I'd love to see it happen and see the guy in the Premiership. People said the same with Robinho and then said mid season that he'd be leaving, which doesn't seem so what so ever. I cant see them wanting to do things slowly, because they've got the money and if they don't do something with it, people will become impatient. Striker is needed and all, but fuck they need to look for a top class defender as well.

[Matt]

God damn I hate my stepdad and his football arguements.

1st he seems to be the only person I know who's consistently saying it WAS a penalty..

2nd of all he's saying oh yes but the smaller relegation fighting teams always end up winning against the bigger teams. Yes, but Newcastle's not a small team. They're not used to a relegation battle.

.. god damn I hate him.. plus the fact.. he does support United and I support Liverpool so y'kno

That's nothing this morning I had a scum fan telling me that Leeds deserved -15, Bourno & Rotherham deserved -17 and Luton deserved the -20. I asked him if he even knew why those points were deducted and his response was "no, but they deserved it".

[Adam]

Well, he just sounds retarded.

If Hull & Newcastle both go down I'm down a tenner, if only one goes down I'm evens with my mate. So I'm hoping for Newcastle down and Hull to stay up, but Hull need to figure out how to win games soon!

[9 to 5]

Football365's Top Ten Worst Buys of the season:

10) Nicky Shorey (£2.5m to Aston Villa)

To be fair there are a few candidates for this list in the Villa squad as Steve Sidwell and Carlos Cuellar have hardly set the Premier League alight for their combined £12.8m, but we at F365 have been particularly amused by Shorey's move to Villa to provide cover and competition for the injured Wilfred Bouma. He was so underwhelming in the role that the manager preferred to play two players out of position (including Luke Young on the left) rather than call on the former England international. He's back in the side now, but we don't think Bouma will be too worried.

9) Fabricio Coloccini (£10.3m to Newcastle)

Hands up who thinks that the player who was given an absolute (if we were Alan Pardew we would say something different here) shoeing by Liverpool in a five-goal mauling in December, or was made to look like an amateur by Chelsea earlier this month, was a sensible £10m-plus investment. Nobody? Not even Dennis Wise? The Argentine has been rescued time and time again by the inexpensive Sebastien Bassong all season and undoubtedly he will slope off back to Spain in the summer as Newcastle prepare for a season in the Championship.

8) Borja Valero (£4.7m to West Brom)

A promoted club obviously has limited funds so that money has to be spent wisely and sensibly, usually on experienced campaigners. Unless you're West Brom, of course, who broke their transfer record to spend £4.7m on a relatively unknown 23-year-old Spaniard who had plied his trade exclusively for Real Mallorca. Unsurprisingly, it has not gone brilliantly well and Valero was last seen being urged by Jonathan Greening to stay and learn his trade in the Championship. How well do we think that suggestion will go down?

7) Robbie Keane (£20m to Liverpool)

Keane would be higher up this list had Liverpool not recouped a good whack of that money already, but the Anfield club still paid around a £1m a month to have Keane in their ranks for half a season. We haven't got space here to go into the whys and wherefores of the deal (did Rafa ever want him? Did he ever get a real chance?) but the upshot is that Liverpool paid £20m for a striker who did not deliver, and that makes him a shoo-in for this list.

6) Dave Kitson (£5.5m to Stoke City)

"I hold my hands up - it was my fault. I made the decision to go to Stoke, I didn't have to, no-one forced me to go, and it was a bad decision," sayd Kitson, who ended the season back at Reading on loan with no goals and a new nickname (Dave S***son) the only thing he had to show for his sojourn in Stoke. It had been a disaster for both club and player, though Tony Pulis more than made up for his mistake when he spent less than half the that club-record amount to sign James Beattie - a striker far, far better suited to Stoke's style.

5) Andrea Dossena (£7m to Liverpool)

Apart from bringing him off the bench during a rout to score a cracking goal in a 'look how bad you are, even Dossena can score against you' stylee, it's difficult to see what value Dossena brings to Liverpool for his £7m. Just like the majority of the F365 editorial staff, the Italian looks 'prone to fat' and has struggled with any semblance of pace. Rafa Benitez may be a master tactician, but paying £7m for a third-choice left-back proves that there are still things he needs to learn.

4) Deco (£8m to Chelsea)

Hands up, we were among the media bods saying back in September that Deco might well be the missing piece in the Chelsea jigsaw after he set off at a canter for the Blues. We should have listened to followers of his career in Spain who warned that he would soon lose interest and the old, lazy attitude would return. Fast-forward a few months and the Portugeezer is just a bit-part player - his last 'bit' was his cameo off the bench when Bolton almost came back from a 4-0 deficit - and he's quite likely to be moved on again in the summer. Probably not for £8m, mind.

3) Jimmy Bullard (£5m to Hull)

As a statement of intent and a PR exercise, it's easy to see Hull's logic in doling out big money on one of England's favourite footballers. But spending £5m on a 30-year-old player - with reported £45,000-a-week wages over a massive four-and-a-half year deal to boot - with a history of knee problems looks frankly a bit mental. Ths sum total of his efforts for Hull so far? 38 minutes of football in a battle for survival that the Tigers could very well lose.

2) Jo (£19m to Manchester City)

If we'd done this list back in January, we might have speculated that Jo was unsuited to Premier League football. We might have lumped him in with Afonso Alves as the most recent examples of Brazilian strikers who fail to adapt to English football. But David Moyes would have made us look as foolish as Mark Hughes, who failed to coax more than one goal out of a player who has already scored five for the Toffees. Manchester City's owners may not care a jot about the money - after all he only cost about a tenth of a Kaka - but they probably care that their manager looks a tad daft.

1) David Bentley (£15m to Tottenham)

Oh lordy, where did it all go wrong? The move to Spurs was supposed to cement his place as England's first-choice right-winger, and instead the only team he's guaranteed to play for is Tottenham's reserve side. To be fair, he's clearly found his level because he's been in fine scoring fettle for the stiffs, but that's probably not what Daniel Levy had in mind when he signed a cheque for a massive £15m last summer. Harry Redknapp said back in January that if "we can get him going we can have a terrific player again". As he's since played 19 minutes of Premier League football, we assume that 'Arry's plan has backfired somewhat.

I am in pain, but I had to laugh. Not bitter or anything.

[Matt]

Deco being a lazy bastard makes me sad, he can be a good player Guess we've seen now why Barca got shut.