Official 2012/13 Premier League thread

[Jimmy]

Good for him. He got his deserved FA Cup win and now can now show what he can do at a bigger club.

[stokeriño]

Good for Martinez and (probably) Everton.

Next Wigan manager...maybe Di Matteo?

[Matt]

I'd think Di Matteo would want a premier league job.

[Hobo]

And thus Everton will take the Wigan role in the Premier League.

[brenchill]

Di Matteo to Wigan? Fuck, I hope not. That would be a massive step back for him.

I'm sure his CL win could get him a much better job any where in Europe.

[Ant]

I can see Pulis going to Wigan.

While i do think Martinez is over-rated, i do think he is a Premiership level manager. Not top 4 though.

[brenchill]

I forgot about Pulis. The Wigan would players would not know what had hit them if he walked in and just told them to start playing the percentages instead of attempting to play football.

First thing he would want to know is "who has the longest throw?"

[Summers]

Back to badge talk, Villa evolution caused a lot of flack from fans too.

Fans didn't like our new one at all.

[Matt]

Pretty much every badge change posted so far, I prefer the latest one. Fans just think that change = losing tradition, somehow.

And no way will Pulis go to Wigan, they're not going to overhaul their playing style. Fuck knows where Pulis will go, Sheffield Utd maybe but I doubt he wants to drop to that level.

[brenchill]

He could restore the glory days at Wimbledon.

[Ant]

I love how a week or two ago, Whelan stated "Everton are not big enough for Roberto" and now he says "they are the perfect fit and tailor made"

Muppet.

[brenchill]

Last week he said Roberto will stay at Wigan until a top four side came in for him or one of Europe's top clubs.

[Baddar]

Everton, noted top European club.

[Dan]

Guillem Balague:

The future of Luis Suárez

This is the kind of story Liverpool fans don’t want to hear, but it has happened before and will happen again –it is law of football and a consequence of the stage the club is in, progressing but not at the level where they can expect their best player to ignore interest from other more successful clubs. Liverpool Football Club are resigned to lose Luis Suarez and are preparing life without him. They are aware of the interest from top clubs in Europe and Liverpool feel they have done as much as they can to convince him to stay, and everything is now in the players’s court.

He is happy in Liverpool, the club has looked after him and he feels settle for the first time since he left his home in Uruguay. The family atmosphere has helped him grow and he feels the club has done everything that it was required so he could focus in his game. We all have read the interviews, I have heard him say it himself. But…

At this stage of his career, he would like to test himself in the biggest stage, the Champions League. He hoped Liverpool could provide that but it hasn’t been the case. He expects the progression of the team will take them to the top four at some point but he has heard there are clubs like Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Juventus (he is preferred to Higuain), even Chelsea that have shown interest. No offer on the table yet but there will be more than one put during the summer.

His parents in law live near Barcelona and his wife tends to spend time there. Spain is then their preferred destination.

He has a buy out clause which some sources put at £35 million and others at more than £40m. Liverpool will demand the totality of the buy out clause to release the player. There will be clubs willing to pay that. And then it will be all up to the player.

Notice, I DID NOT SAY HE IS GOING TO GO. I am saying, the club is resigned to his departure if he decides to go. And he is aware there is interest from top clubs and is considering his future. That is the stage the situation is in.

[Nerf]

We heard all this about 12 months ago...

[MDK]

I hope the door doesn't hit him on the arse on his way out

[Lineker]

Manchester United first team coach Rene Meulensteen is the favourite to succeed Roberto Martinez at Wigan, reports the Manchester Evening News.

[MJB]

Phelan gone and now Rene going?

[EddieG]

Rene has already left.

[Hobo]

When asked on Twitter about the Suarez story Balague reported James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo replied to "I've been told it's not true". It just seems like a "THIS IS A THING THAT COULD HAPPEN MAYBE" story.

And on the subject of other potential outs: Pepe Reina has said Barca have not been in contact with him and he's happy at Liverpool.

On the subject of badges, last season some Hillsborough groups were angry at the loss of the Hillsborough flame from the badge on the Liverpool shirts but I actually like the way put two flames on the back of the shirts with "96" between them.

Although, the club still uses the other crest (the one that's essentially been the club badge since 1992, which got a bit of an upgrade around 2001 or so), I like the minimalist one on the shirts more.