Official Premier League 2010/11 thread

[Lineker]

Chris Hughton is set to be appointed as WBA manager.

[stokeriño]

Good choice. But with Robbie went the only reason I ever had to like West Brom. So, well, fuck 'em.

[brenchill]

West Ham need a loan of a reported £100m to buy the Olympic Stadium. No wonder this country is in such a mess.

[Thrilla]

Shefki Kuqi. A player whom when he played for us, I tried to pretend he simply didn't exist. >_>

Awesome celebration he has mind you.

Although he's more like this these days....

[Colly]

If we do bring in Kuqi its very much cover for Best and Ranger, not a Carroll replacement as witty red tops might try to make out. We're short Shola already for the best part of two months, so covering our two remaining big strikers is essential. Scoring from midfield isn't a problem with Cheick 'Thunderbolt' Tiote.

[Thrilla]

And while I'm glad West Ham won the bid, I really don't want to hear any more from Karen Brady.

[Szumi]

I know the feeling. I'm a West Ham fan and even I can stand that nasty troll. If Andy Gray wants to blast any woman in the footballing world, he can have a right go at her, and I'm sure everyone would agree that Karren Brady is a worthless cunt.

[9 to 5]

Kuqi was awesome for us!

My pain about him comes from a Sheffield Wed fan mocking me that we had to sign their cast-offs.

[britneyspearsisgod]

Saying that though, look at Sheffield Wednesday now. So who's winning that argument?

[Starvinho]

Talk this morning of Roy Hodgson being the new front runner for the WBA job because the Chris Hughton deal hit a snag over a bonus clause. I think Hughton wants stupid money if he avoids relegation this season.

[Starvinho]

Qatar Amir close to buying Manchester United

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is understood to have made a bid for Manchester United.

According to the Daily Express, Manchester United's owners, the Glazer family, are "only haggling over details" with a deal to sell the club to Qatar Holdings virtually done at 1.6 billion pounds.

If that deal is sealed, then Malcolm Glazer and his sons will have doubled their money in six years since they paid 790 million pounds for the club in the summer of 2005.

It would also bring to an end a massively unpopular regime among United's huge fan base.

Manchester United have consistently denied they are interested in selling since Qatar Holdings, the business investment branch of the Qatar Royal family, were first seriously linked with the club just before Christmas.

Last month, secret talks were believed to have stalled over the price.

The club publicly dismissed the notion that any discussions with the Glazer family had even taken place.

But sources close to the talks disclosed that even the Qataris baulked at a demand for two billion pounds.

"The deal is pretty much done and they are only haggling over details," a well-placed source said.(ANI)

Hopefully this goes through, I've never liked the Glazer's and was pissed off they put us so much in debt. Not too happy that they will doubling their money either, but atleast this means we'll have an owner with big money, which will hopefully mean more big signings eventually.

[stokeriño]

I don't care if you're Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Jesus Christ's personal team of footballing of angels (with Uriel and Saraqael up front). £1.6 billion is stupid money for a football club.

[brenchill]

Sky Sports News are reporting that Roy Hodgson is now the favourite to take over at West Brom.

[stokeriño]

The question is, are they talking about betting odds or about the real world.

[Starvinho]

I don't care if you're Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Jesus Christ's personal team of footballing of angels (with Uriel and Saraqael up front). £1.6 billion is stupid money for a football club.

£1.6 billion is excessive, but I'd definately say United's worth is in the billions, maybe £1.0 or £1.1 billion? €350 million revenue per year plus hands in many markets throughout the world, pretty much makes the club a money making machine.

[Starvinho]

Roy Hodgson named WBA manager until Summer 2012 according to SSN.

[therockbox]

[stokeriño]

Just had the following possibility painted for me by a Manchester United fan...

Tuesday 26th April 2011

Chelsea vs Manchester United (Champions League Semi Final 1st Leg)

Wednesday 4th May 2011

Manchester United vs Chelsea (Champions League Semi Final 2nd Leg)

Saturday 7th May 2011

Manchester United vs Chelsea (Premier League)

Tuesday 10th May 2011

Chelsea vs Manchester United (Premier League)*

Saturday 14th May 2011

Chelsea vs Manchester United (FA Cup Final)

* - rescheduled December fixture after current 1st March date moved again for FA Cup

No need to mention all the thousands of reasons why this won't happen - but Jesus, that would be hell.

Unless of course it could be arranged as a Best of Five - winner takes all 6 points, the FA Cup and the CL final spot.

[HailtotheYo]

I don't care if you're Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Jesus Christ's personal team of footballing of angels (with Uriel and Saraqael up front). £1.6 billion is stupid money for a football club.

£1.6 billion is excessive, but I'd definately say United's worth is in the billions, maybe £1.0 or £1.1 billion? €350 million revenue per year plus hands in many markets throughout the world, pretty much makes the club a money making machine.

So we're going to forget the literal billion dollar debt ? Well, they paid off roughly 220m of it, so we're looking at 750m+ in debt at the moment. This summer the debt was as high as 1.1 billion. As recent as 2009-2010 this was the case:

"United actually recorded an operating profit of £100m during the 2009-10 season, but once interest repayments on the Glazer's debts, one-off financial charges relating to the family's bond issue earlier this year, and other expenses are taken into account the overall result was an £83.6m loss."

That's well below your 350m Euro amount.

So you're actually saying that the club is worth close to 2 billion then ? You take into account the debt when valuing a club, which you've set at about a billion dollars ...

Sorry, don't see it.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

2 billion yen maybe...