Premiership - 13th August 2011

[Guest]

First topic message reminder :

Today sees the return of the premiership! (about time, It's a nightmare during the summer with no footy)

Today's matches:

Blackburn v Wolves 15:00
Fulham v Aston Villa 15:00
Liverpool v Sunderland 15:00
Newcastle v Arsenal 17:30
QPR v Bolton 15:00
Wigan v Norwich 15:00

How do you see the games going today?
And don't forget to join the v2 prediction league, 96 in so far!
https://www.606v2.com/t10360-prediction-league-partnership

[Guest]

haha king kenny shocking result after such a big build up. As for challenging Sir Alex lol! delusional. henderson is appaling £20m is a disgrace. Top 4 would be a great achievement for liverpool this season but a few injuries to centre backs and you are in big trouble

[Guest]

hahaha do one liverpool fans, big urself up and look what happens. Flip off dalglish n as for enrique 'i can win everything here' - delusional money grabbing dog

Excellent input written in fabulous Shakespearean fashion. Well done.

[Crimey]

haha king kenny shocking result after such a big build up. As for challenging Sir Alex lol! delusional. henderson is appaling £20m is a disgrace. Top 4 would be a great achievement for liverpool this season but a few injuries to centre backs and you are in big trouble

Sounds pretty bitter to me...

I think we can cope with injuries to our two main centre backs of Agger and Carragher.

[AberdeenSteve]

And who do you support John?

If from what your first comment says, I am correct in guessing you are a Newcastle fan then you are in no position to be slagging off Liverpool as a club.


Anyway; teams for NEWCASTLE V ARSENAL.

Newcastle: Krul, Coloccini, Steven Taylor, Ryan Taylor, Simpson, Barton, Cabaye, Tiote, Gutierrez, Shola Ameobi, Ba.
Subs: Forster, Williamson, Lovenkrands, Gosling, Best, Obertan, Sammy Ameobi.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Gibbs, Rosicky, Song, Ramsey, Arshavin, Gervinho, van Persie.
Subs: Fabianski, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Djourou, Jenkinson, Frimpong, Chamakh.


Guesses on the score?
I have Arsenal winning 2-0.

[Guest]

And who do you support John?

If from what your first comment says, I am correct in guessing you are a Newcastle fan then you are in no position to be slagging off Liverpool as a club.


Anyway; teams for NEWCASTLE V ARSENAL.

Newcastle: Krul, Coloccini, Steven Taylor, Ryan Taylor, Simpson, Barton, Cabaye, Tiote, Gutierrez, Shola Ameobi, Ba.
Subs: Forster, Williamson, Lovenkrands, Gosling, Best, Obertan, Sammy Ameobi.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Gibbs, Rosicky, Song, Ramsey, Arshavin, Gervinho, van Persie.
Subs: Fabianski, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Djourou, Jenkinson, Frimpong, Chamakh.


Guesses on the score?
I have Arsenal winning 2-0.

1-1 for me Steve. Just can't see the Gunners keeping a clean sheet.

[Guest]

the toon are getting dominated

[AberdeenSteve]

I think the use of 'wiv' rather than 'with' says it all to be honest.

[Crimey]

I had 1-1.

[Thomond]

Ah the annual "this is our year" feeling comes from Liverpool fans. They have bought a lot of overpriced talent and are not good enough to win the league and probably won't qualify for the CL

[Crimey]

I don't think there are many Liverpool fans who genuinly believe we can win the league, I certainly don't even think we'll put up a major challenge, but I do believe we can get into the top 4, that is not an unrealistic aim.

Can I ask did you actually watch the game Thomond? I think you would have seen our signings performing very well in the first half, a poor second half performance cost us, but it looked extremely promising, I certainly think you're writing us off far too quickly.

[Thomond]

I didn't see the game but I think that Liverpool have wasted money this summer on players who are overated and over price. Henderson and Downing are not worth 20 million and they got a decent price for Adam but I don't know if he is as good as people think.

[Guest]

Ah the annual "this is our year" feeling comes from Liverpool fans. They have bought a lot of overpriced talent and are not good enough to win the league and probably won't qualify for the CL

I don't quite get this notion that Liverpool fans in general believe 'this is going to be our year' myself. I might be wrong but I don't think there has been one post on these boards from any Liverpool supporter suggesting that they are going to sweep all before them and win the title come what May.

There is however a biased imbalance of opinion from a number of posters against Liverpool's chances due to the fact that the club have paid, in their opinion, way over the odds for certain players. It's not wrong for any Reds supporter to expect vast improvement and with it a serious title tilt due to this spending.

I'd love to know what the outcry would be if the impossible were to happen and Liverpool did indeed win the Premier League? I would expect something boorish along the lines of 'they brought the League' etc etc.

[Thomond]

I wouldn't say they bought the league because they didn't bring in anyone very good during the summer. United learned with Bebe that spending money on potential can be a waste of time.

[Guest]

I wouldn't say they bought the league because they didn't bring in anyone very good during the summer. United learned with Bebe that spending money on potential can be a waste of time.

Every signing carries a potential risk. If you don't buy potential what do you buy? There is not a manager in world football that has got it right every time.

[Thomond]

Henderson is a huge gamble in my opinion especially for that kind of money. You should be buying players of quality who you know can perform week in week out.

[Guest]

Henderson is a huge gamble in my opinion especially for that kind of money. You should be buying players of quality who you know can perform week in week out.

Give me an example.

[Thomond]

Man Utd signed Berbatov as he had proved he could cut it in the premier league. I think that if Liverpool are ambitious they should be looking for the real top players,they seem to be buying British guys for extraordinary prices.

[Guest]

Man Utd signed Berbatov as he had proved he could cut it in the premier league. I think that if Liverpool are ambitious they should be looking for the real top players,they seem to be buying British guys for extraordinary prices.

I'd say Luis Suarez, one of the outstanding players of the last world cup, was in the top quality bracket. Everybody with the slightest degree of footballing knowledge was waxing lyrical about Andy Carroll when he made the step up from Championship level to Premier League level with Newcastle 12 months ago. Okay he came at a astronomical price but that's the way the market works these days. As soon as he signs for Liverpool he's suddenly become a bad player and as I have said in previous posts he can't win either way.

Blackburn Rovers undertook the same transfer strategy 16/17 years ago, ironically under Kenny Dalglish, and it didn't do them any harm which resulted in a Premier League title winning season. To me there just seems to be this continuing trend of Liverpool bashing that will probably never let up.

[Thomond]

Freek,the premier leagues has improved a lot since Blackburn last won it. The Suarez deal was great business and I applauded Liverpool for it at the time. I don't Liverpool bash I just believed they were overpaying for British talent. Carroll is good but like most English players(this is the medias fault not the fans) he is a tad overated,hope he justifies his price tag as he has ability no doubt.

[Guest]

Freek,the premier leagues has improved a lot since Blackburn last won it. The Suarez deal was great business and I applauded Liverpool for it at the time. I don't Liverpool bash I just believed they were overpaying for British talent. Carroll is good but like most English players(this is the medias fault not the fans) he is a tad overated,hope he justifies his price tag as he has ability no doubt.

At the end of the day only time will tell. I refuse to stop dreaming!!!

[Crimey]

Man Utd signed Berbatov as he had proved he could cut it in the premier league. I think that if Liverpool are ambitious they should be looking for the real top players,they seem to be buying British guys for extraordinary prices.

Berbatov set them back £30 million though and still has a lot of doubters whether or not he's good enough for United's level, hardly a huge success.

Henderson didn't cost £20 million.

English players are always going to cost a lot in the league, especially now with the Homegrown rule and I am happy with all our signings to be honest, they've all improved the squad and surely that's all that matters? I think our squad is the best it has been in a very long time so I am excited for the season ahead.

[Guest]

Barton was a disgrace today.
Pretending to be punched when he only got slapped.

Admitted, Gervinho should not have slapped Joey, but for Barton to make out he was punched and rolling about on the floor like a baby was shocking to watch.

[Liam_Main]

Happy with a 0-0 draw although Barton let the side down how he didn't get sent off is beyond me.

[Guest]

Same with Song, Liam, for stamping on him earlier.
In all, it was a poor game. Arsenal had most of the possession and did nothing with it. Toon lack an out and out striker.

Obertan looked pacey when he came on and raised the crowd, but 0-0 was the correct result.

[AberdeenSteve]

Very, very poor game.

Arsenal look completely lost with what to do when in possession. They look like they are going to seriously struggle if Wenger doesn't sign a big name player who is established.

Why is Wenger so ignorant to the fact he needs two or three new and established players to even consider challenging for the title? He'll need two more if Cesc and Nasri go.

[Guest]

Very, very poor game.

Arsenal look completely lost with what to do when in possession. They look like they are going to seriously struggle if Wenger doesn't sign a big name player who is established.

Why is Wenger so ignorant to the fact he needs two or three new and established players to even consider challenging for the title? He'll need two more if Cesc and Nasri go.

I have always put his reluctance to spend down to his egotism. He wants to build a title winning side on peanuts just to say 'I told you so'.

[Guest]

Gervinho was their best player prior to the sending off. He is a good prospect but got caught up with Mr Barton today.

Where Newcastle go from this, I don't know. They desperately need a new striker.

[Liam_Main]

We need a player who will score us 20 goals a season, none of the Strikers we have right now will.

[Liam_Main]

New signing Cabaye had a quiet game also.

[AberdeenSteve]

It's just the fact too that Wenger knows he is untouchable at Arsenal. He won't lose his job because he somehow continues to make his teams challenge but then see them fall flat on their faces.

I just don't understand why somebody upstairs hasn't told him to wise up. You can understand why the big name players want to quit, they aren't going to win anything at Arsenal.

[Crimey]

We need a player who will score us 20 goals a season, none of the Strikers we have right now will.

Not many strikers score 20 goals a season in the Premier League, last year 20 was the top amount anybody scored and that was from Berbatov and Tevez.

[JohnnyH]

As an Arsenal fan i was very pleased with the game today!

No Fab, no Nasri, no Wilshere, yet we played a decent team, away from home, totally dominated, and, defensively looked very compact...Overall, considering all the doom and gloom, and "club in crisis" rubbish...pretty good!
Better than a draw at home!

John

[Thomond]

Saw the highlights a second ago. A few things Liverpool faded badly in the second half and were caught napping for the goal. A five on three and they still lose out, Flanagan was poorly positioned,a cracking finish though. Flanagan looked poor enough to me,he was at fault for the goal and gave away the ball which lead to another good chance for Sunderland.

[Crimey]

I agree that Flanagan looked a bit dodgy at right back, but at his age it's expected for him to have a few bad days every now and again. I think Martin Kelly should have definetly started at right back, I'd be much more comfortable knowing Kelly is there rather than Flano, although Kelly is less of a threat going forward. My big worry is that as Dalglish has started the season with Flanagan that he will be the main cover at right back and that he is gone off Kelly. The other possiblity is that Kenny has decided he's moving Kelly into centre back now, which is still slightly dissapointing as it means Kelly is unlikely to get a decent run in the side despite his impressive performances last year.

[Guest]

I think it's unfair to call Barton a disgrace, at the end of the day Gervinho raised his hand and made contact. Any player is going to do his best to get the other punished- it's not like he was in the ref's face calling for the red card.

Game was pretty poor from a Newcastle point of view, I only saw the second half, but it didn't look as if we were likely to make anything happen.

My prediction of Sunderland winning wasn't far off today, from what I've seen and heard the signings were alright. Henderson and Carroll were quite poor from what I gather- Carroll had 6 shots off target in the match, the most any player has ever had.

[Crimey]

To be fair, in the second half everybody seemed really poor for Liverpool. I think Henderson was just very nervous, he was making his debut against his old club so I think that's fair enough, he looked alright in the first half.

I don't think Carroll played that bit, not excellent by far, but he was getting into all the right positions and particuarly in the first half defenders just don't know how to defend against him, especially as they always have to keep half an eye on where Suarez is going. That was probably the main reason we got our goal was because everybody was trying to keep Carroll busy, he dropped off and all the defenders completely forgot about Suarez.

None of his six off target shots were particuarly good chances, so I'm not worried too much about that.

[Guest]

We need a player who will score us 20 goals a season, none of the Strikers we have right now will.

I'm assuming you're a Newcastle fan - apology in advance if you're not

In response, I think your biggest loss this summer was Nolan. Was always a rock for you and popped up with some welcome goals.

[John Cregan]

Churchill,
It's always valid to call Barton a "disgrace". It's always valid to call him "vile" and..................it must never be forgotten what a disgusting human this man is.................................

[AberdeenSteve]

Barton is a disgrace Churchill. Yes, Gervinho raised his hand but he barely touched Barton who then proceeded to hit the deck like he had been shot. The way he pulled up Gervinho also was totally uncalled for and I hope the FA re look at the situation.

He had the audacity to tweet about Gervinho going down to easy. Hypocrite is the only word that springs to mind. Complete moron.

[Guest]

You could see him talking to RVP and Barton clearly said "He punched me"
Idiot.

[Thomond]

Barton is a great player but a complete langer. I love that he wants to be seen as this hard man and he goes down that soft. Having said that,Arsenal could do with someone like him.

[Guest]

Team news for Stoke v Chelsea:

Stoke

01 Begovic
04 Huth
17 Shawcross
39 Woodgate
06 Whelan
12 Wilson
16 Pennant
24 Delap
26 Etherington
09 Jones
19 Walters

Substitutes

29 Sorensen,
05 Collins,
28 Wilkinson,
30 Shotton,
14 Pugh,
15 Diao,
18 Whitehead

Chelsea

01 Cech
03 A Cole
17 Bosingwa
26 Terry
33 Alex
07 Ramires
08 Lampard
12 Mikel
15 Malouda
09 Torres
21 Kalou

Substitutes

40 Hilario,
02 Ivanovic,
19 Ferreira,
10 Benayoun,
20 McEachran,
11 Drogba,
39 Anelka

[AberdeenSteve]

Is Torres even fully fit?

Villas-Boas has made a big mistake not starting Drogba against Stoke. The Britannia is a terrible place to go, especially in your first match in charge. Stoke are going to be pumped up and are known to be very physical which would have suited Drogba a lot more than it will Torres.

I honestly see Stoke getting a draw here and maybe even sneaking it.

[Liam_Main]

We need a player who will score us 20 goals a season, none of the Strikers we have right now will.

I'm assuming you're a Newcastle fan - apology in advance if you're not

In response, I think your biggest loss this summer was Nolan. Was always a rock for you and popped up with some welcome goals.

Yeah I am, he was our top scorer last season so of course he'll be a massive miss to us. Enrique was also a big loss, on paper our defence looks a bit shaky.

[Gregers]

Good performance from Chelsea today, Torres looked 99% back imo.

Stoke away is probably one of the hardest fixtures to have on opening day.

MOTM for me Begovic, he was brilliant in goal today.

[AberdeenSteve]

WEST BROM v MAN UNITED

West Brom: Foster, Reid, Tamas, Olsson, Shorey, Brunt, Scharner, Mulumbu, Morrison, Tchoyi, Long.
Subs: Fulop, Dorrans, Jara Reyes, Dawson, Thorne, Cox, Fortune.


Man Utd: De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Fabio Da Silva, Young, Cleverley, Anderson, Nani, Rooney, Welbeck.
Subs: Lindegaard, Jones, Evans, Berbatov, Giggs, Park, Carrick.

[GSC]

Welbeck should've scored that header.

[Gregers]

From a chelsea fan, man u are playing really good football atm.

[Fernando]

west brom equalize through shane long on his debut after poor keeping from david de gea

[Gregers]

De gea has done nothing to convince that he's worth what united paid for him...

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