Europa League? where are you?

[salkster2102]

Normally i'd say he's one of the worst Prem refs around but he had an excellent game today. Don't think i've heard before of anyone being given a second yellow card for diving before until it happened on Friday night in a Scottish playoff game. In that case the decision was wrong but fair play to Anthony Taylor for having the balls to make that decision in the FA Cup Final of all matches. Normally the referee bottles it and just plays on but to do what Anthony Taylor did takes some bottle and will have earned a lot of respect. Think it will be the start of a trend in the coming seasons now especially now video technology is coming in soon.

One of the best FA Cup Final matches i've seen since we beat West Ham. Chelski guilty of being complacent after their terrific season thinking they would walk this. Despite where Arsenal finished they were one of the form teams over the last few months and showed it from the first minute. They really will miss Sanchez who showed how much of a quality footballer he is. So good to see a big name player live up to his name in a cup final as well not often seen enough these days. I hope Wenger stays if just to **** the people off who want him out. If anyone ever deserves a chance it is him.

[git2thachoppa]

2 hours ago, salkster2102 said:

I hope Wenger stays if just to **** the people off who want him out. If anyone ever deserves a chance it is him.

Isn't over a decade a really fair chance?

[BenArsenal]

I think Wenger will stay. I hope Europa League football gives us a wake up call, and ignite the hunger in the team once again. We're the only one of the top 6 not to be in the Champions League next season so that will be stinging, but we need that kick up the backside.

Our defence played an immense game yesterday, and were truly brilliant throughout. Ramsey too played probably his best game all season, and his winner was well-deserved.

If we can show such commitment all season (if only) then we can go places.

[salkster2102]

6 hours ago, git2thachoppa said:

Isn't over a decade a really fair chance?

I think he deserves another year to try and repair the damage. No one will be hurting more than he is right now and the abuse he's received has been way over the top and gone too far at times. He's kept the club stable over an extremely long period of time and kept the champions league income to pay for the stadium move. It would be easy to pay £50M everytime for a player and have the club end up where the likes of Leeds and Forest are now. This is an extremely competitive league now especially the top 6 mini league. Arsenal had to fall out of the top 4 eventually with how much the other teams are progressing. Records like the 20 year run in the top 4 are there to be broken. I'd argue he's got something to fight for now instead of knowing they will always comfortably finish in the top 4. I saw plenty of fight still left in him yesterday and a result like that shows he can still compete at the top level. Conveniently enough I didn't hear Wenger out at all yesterday....

[git2thachoppa]

1 hour ago, salkster2102 said:

I think he deserves another year to try and repair the damage. No one will be hurting more than he is right now and the abuse he's received has been way over the top and gone too far at times. He's kept the club stable over an extremely long period of time and kept the champions league income to pay for the stadium move. It would be easy to pay £50M everytime for a player and have the club end up where the likes of Leeds and Forest are now. This is an extremely competitive league now especially the top 6 mini league. Arsenal had to fall out of the top 4 eventually with how much the other teams are progressing. Records like the 20 year run in the top 4 are there to be broken. I'd argue he's got something to fight for now instead of knowing they will always comfortably finish in the top 4. I saw plenty of fight still left in him yesterday and a result like that shows he can still compete at the top level. Conveniently enough I didn't hear Wenger out at all yesterday....

How much damage has to be done before he doesn't get years to repair it?

All that relative penny pinching is all well and good except it turns out everyone was gonna be swimming with money anyway. With the TV deal, Arsenal instantly fell behind and the money-saving was for nothing.

What you've said is very defeatist, perhaps indoctrination from Wenger. You talk about other teams getting better and Arsenal dropping below like it was an inevitability. That of course other teams will get better than you. Tell that to Alex Ferguson, who had the same kind of job as Wenger. Except his belief was when you reach the top, you strive to stay top next season, and every challenge is surmountable.

Take 2004, Arsenal finished undefeated, incredibly. Then they finished 12 points behind Chelsea with Man Utd the very next season. Then the following seasons they finished 20+ points behind in 4th regularly while Man Utd closed the gap and went 3 seasons in a row as champions. Then fast forward to 2017. Chelsea: champions and stinking rich. Man Utd: improving again, got a couple of trophies, stinking rich. Arsenal: 5th, talking about wise investment in the era of billions in TV money, charging fans the price of a sultan's hairy ball for tickets, but won the F.A. Cup at least, and saying he deserve yet more chances because NOW Arsenal have something to fight for - getting us back to the top...

...four!

[CFuller]

Arsenal offer a new two-year contract to Wenger... after Luis Enrique and Thomas Tuchel have become available.

I really do hope the Arsenal board know what they're doing, but I can't say I'm optimistic about the immediate future.

[tenthreeleader]

United dismissed Louis Van Gaal for a season remarkably similar to the one Wenger has just endured with Arsenal.

That said, we in the States have watched Stan Kroenke run his teams (Denver Nuggets NBA, Colorado Avalanche NHL, and Colorado Rapids MLS,) pretty much into the ground, with the latter two dead last overall in their respective leagues, and on top of that become the second owner to move an NFL team out of St. Louis after making demands of the city for stadium improvements that had to be seen to be believed.

So it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that Kroenke would be tone-deaf.

[CFuller]

That's why I really hope Alisher Usmanov can take full control sooner rather than later. Surely he cannot be more apathetic than Silent Stan.

Mind you, now that Wenger's got his new two-year contract, we Arsenal fans need to unite and rally behind him. And I'm saying that as someone who wanted a clean break from the Arsene regime.

A repeat of this season's ArsenalFanTV/Piers Morgan-esque demonisation of the greatest manager in our history will not do anyone any good.

[tenthreeleader]

I find it interesting, the interplay between Wenger and Sir Alex in recent weeks. Time heals all wounds, it seems.

To give you an idea of how cold Kroenke can be: he was named for two of the greatest players in the history of baseball's St. Louis Cardinals (Enos Slaughter, from whom Kroenke gets his actual first name, and Stan "The Man" Musial, iconic to that club) -- and still moved one of the city's two major teams out of the city.

[tenthreeleader]

Some of you may have seen this in the Guardian if you read that publication, but the Washington Post ran a piece last week on Christos FC of Baltimore -- a pub league amateur team which reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup and played DC United of MLS -- scoring first but eventually losing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/this-amateur-soccer-team-headquartered-in-a-liquor-store-never-practices-and-rarely-loses/2017/06/12/ed86d150-4f9a-11e7-be25-3a519335381c_story.html?utm_term=.9bd39ab3a6a1

It's a great read.

[neilhoskins77]

Has anyone noticed that the view counter seems to be out of action on our section of the Boards? Both Chris and Mark have started new stories, but both have a view total of zero.

[CFuller]

I think it's a forum-wide issue, Neil. All recently-started topics have 'zero' views, and the view counts for existing topics seem to have frozen.

This has been reported by me and another user in the Forum Feedback sub-forum.

[tenthreeleader]

I'll monitor the mods' forum because sometimes these issues are discussed there as well.

[CFuller]

Ruben Neves was wanted by Liverpool, Chelsea and Juventus this summer.

He's signed for Wolves. In the Championship. That's Jorge Mendes for you.

I'm honestly struggling to make sense of how professional football works nowadays. The money being bandied about has just become obscene. An increasing number of players are making transfers influenced more by the wages offered than their own career ambitions, even though they arguably earn more than enough to secure their families' futures.

To be truthful, the last couple of years have seen me become more engrossed in virtual football (i.e. FM) than in the actual sport itself. And if the Neves deal is an indicator of what real football's going to be like from hereon in, then I want out of it. I hoped I would never write that.

[git2thachoppa]

5 hours ago, CFuller said:

Ruben Neves was wanted by Liverpool, Chelsea and Juventus this summer.

He's signed for Wolves. In the Championship. That's Jorge Mendes for you.

I'm honestly struggling to make sense of how professional football works nowadays. The money being bandied about has just become obscene. An increasing number of players are making transfers influenced more by the wages offered than their own career ambitions, even though they arguably earn more than enough to secure their families' futures.

To be truthful, the last couple of years have seen me become more engrossed in virtual football (i.e. FM) than in the actual sport itself. And if the Neves deal is an indicator of what real football's going to be like from hereon in, then I want out of it. I hoped I would never write that.

Perhaps he felt at the other clubs, especially Chelsea, he would just be an 'investment' who would get loaned out everywhere for years, or worse sitting on the bench, then possibly sold anyway, while at Wolves he's playing every week under a manager he trusts. A few years ago, he would've taken the big club offer because of the money, but now Wolves can compete financially.

Perhaps a good thing to come out of all the money is that it can now push the Championship and football league to a higher level of quality.

[CFuller]

Didn't Ruben Neves captain Porto in the Champions League at some point last season? If Antonio Conte wanted to bring him to Chelsea, I'd imagine that he would become an established first-teamer rather quickly.

Also, just what would Neves gain from swapping annual meetings with Benfica, Sporting CP and teams like Bayern Munich and Barcelona for the occasional Tuesday night trip to Burton Albion or Barnsley?

This Wolves move is surely only going to be a one-season thing. Even if Wolves do go up, you can bet that he'll move on to a club more worthy of the huge talent he'd be wasting at Molineux.

[mark wilson27]

Just a quick note guys, I have updated the Archives with some more of your excellent work. However if you think I have missed anything please feel free to PM me and let me know.

I have also started to sort out some of the categories for the FMS Awards.  Some time at the start of next month i'm going to put the preliminary round up for the Story of the Year award

[salkster2102]

11 hours ago, CFuller said:

Ruben Neves was wanted by Liverpool, Chelsea and Juventus this summer.

He's signed for Wolves. In the Championship. That's Jorge Mendes for you.

I'm honestly struggling to make sense of how professional football works nowadays. The money being bandied about has just become obscene. An increasing number of players are making transfers influenced more by the wages offered than their own career ambitions, even though they arguably earn more than enough to secure their families' futures.

To be truthful, the last couple of years have seen me become more engrossed in virtual football (i.e. FM) than in the actual sport itself. And if the Neves deal is an indicator of what real football's going to be like from hereon in, then I want out of it. I hoped I would never write that.

Football lost it's soul a long time ago mate and I think you are feeling now how I felt about 5 years ago. Back in my younger days I would follow football madly and would resort my life around it but now I barely even know my teams fixtures I follow it that loosely now. It's another reason I watch non league football as there is a lot more soul and less money but even that is slowly becoming more corrupt every year.

I used to spend a lot of time doing voluntary work for my local club Stocksbridge Park Steels (where Jamie Vardy started his meteoric rise) and got to know a lot of the players personally. I can say there are some real thick footballers out there and i've no doubt this is even at the highest levels as well. It would be quite easy for agents to persuade footballers to do whatever financially benefits them the most and the perfect example of that has come up with Lukaku.

Now I'm going off what has been reported but Lukaku seems set to join Man Utd despite his preference being to rejoin Chelsea who won't pay the over inflated agent fee. I never thought I would say this but well done Chelsea!! I don't know how all the transfers lark truly works but surely the player has the final say on these matters. So if he really wanted to rejoin Chelsea he'd tell his agent to do one and sign for Chelsea if it's what he really wanted despite what was better for his agent.

People like these agents are the true poison in football and all the people providing the tv money. Footballers themselves can't be blamed for all the money problems. If someone gives you a contract of more money you aren't going to turn it down. To hell is that not the reason many people change jobs? And then those same people moan about footballers having no loyalty

[git2thachoppa]

I think I only watched one Match of the Day last season, which was the last day. Though I'm sure I'll be watching them all now Brighton is there. I'm not sure it was the money though, there's always been lots of money, it's just now there's lots more of lots of money in England (and there are a few countries that can pay Crap League Tax to get stars to increase the marketability of their league).

Certainly a few years ago what was offputting was the FIFA corruption (long before Qatar and when the criminal Blatter finally got justice... no wait, I mean temporarily suspended for financial issues, not banned for life or for rigging elections and ending careers), the bad FA attitude and dated rules that turned me off.

Not much desire watching if the best team who scores the most goals doesn't actually win the match or trophy, while an old white man wearing a money suit sits atop a throne made of dead slaves laughing with 18 year old hookers on his lap.

[BenArsenal]

The money that has been pouring into football, and English football in particular, is absolutely corrupting the balance of things. And the rate at which it has been doing so is simply shocking.

I remember being utterly stunned when Sunderland paid 6 million pounds for Kenwyne Jones (someone who I felt was never worth that much). That was exactly 10 years ago, and today we don't blink an eyelid when players move for 10 times as much.

To put things in perspective, between 1996 to 2006, the record went from 15 million (Shearer) to 30 million (Shevchenko). From 2006 to 2016 that amount tripled to 90 million (Pogba). It's absurd.

[BenArsenal]

And I see that Wayne Rooney has rejoined Everton...

[CFuller]

3 hours ago, BenArsenal said:

And I see that Wayne Rooney has rejoined Everton...

Good move for him, I reckon. Even though he's not the quickest of forwards anymore, he still has plenty to give to a club like Everton for the next couple of seasons.

I feel that Rooney has been judged very harshly by large numbers of England and Manchester United fans, largely because his recent performances have been somewhat underwhelming. That may be true, but as I see it, he will still go down as one of the greatest footballers this country has produced, certainly in my lifetime. He just didn't quite hit the heights many of us expected him to reach when he was still a teenager.

That said, United paying £75million up front (potentially £90million in total) for Romelu Lukaku - a very good PL striker who goes missing far too often in big games - sums up just how ridiculous the transfer market has become since the new TV rights deal kicked in.

[git2thachoppa]

Fergie getting him to stay when he just wanted money and doubted Fergie's integrity was a huge mistake, it was a real sign of weakness and very unlike Sir Alex. It wouldn't be the last time he's said he wants to leave but will stay for even more money. After that season of discontent, only one title was won, and it was when Van Persie won it by himself.

[salkster2102]

23 hours ago, CFuller said:

That said, United paying £75million up front (potentially £90million in total) for Romelu Lukaku - a very good PL striker who goes missing far too often in big games - sums up just how ridiculous the transfer market has become since the new TV rights deal kicked in.

More so than United letting Rooney going for free and agreeing to pay part of his wages whilst at Everton? Everton are laughing the way to the bank with these two!

[BenArsenal]

Definitely. Everton got a damn good deal there, and I believe Rooney still has plenty to offer in the tank yet (despite his recent seasons).

[mark wilson27]

Just a quick note, the new Fantasy Football season is upon us. I have pinned the info to the top of the page. 

[BenArsenal]

I feel like sitting out because I'm always so ***** every year. But...

Oh what the heck. 

[CFuller]

Silly season continues. In the space of about a week, Manchester City have bought TWO right-backs for a total in excess of £70million.

Danilo's a relative steal at £26.5million from Real Madrid, but it makes City's world-record purchase of Kyle Walker even more bemusing. It now seems to me that City have bought Walker mainly so Tottenham can't have him. That makes me sad, really.

This mass spending by Premier League clubs just isn't sustainable. I wouldn't be all that surprised if one or two of them - perhaps including a member of the 'big six' - did a Leeds/Portsmouth and went into complete financial meltdown in the near-future.

[git2thachoppa]

9 hours ago, CFuller said:

Silly season continues. In the space of about a week, Manchester City have bought TWO right-backs for a total in excess of £70million.

Danilo's a relative steal at £26.5million from Real Madrid, but it makes City's world-record purchase of Kyle Walker even more bemusing. It now seems to me that City have bought Walker mainly so Tottenham can't have him. That makes me sad, really.

This mass spending by Premier League clubs just isn't sustainable. I wouldn't be all that surprised if one or two of them - perhaps including a member of the 'big six' - did a Leeds/Portsmouth and went into complete financial meltdown in the near-future.

Presumably Pep wants two for every position. We've seen what happens with England goalkeeping positions when you only have 1 person for a position.

If they care, maybe FIFA will step in like the Chinese did in their country.

I don't think the highest transfer fee by 2017 in my FM 2007 game is even £40m. The most I ever spent on it was a £100m player, which was in a deal the equivalent of Real Madrid buying Neymar today.

[CFuller]

9 minutes ago, git2thachoppa said:

Presumably Pep wants two for every position. We've seen what happens with England goalkeeping positions when you only have 1 person for a position.

If they care, maybe FIFA will step in like the Chinese did in their country.

I don't think the highest transfer fee by 2017 in my FM 2007 game is even £40m. The most I ever spent on it was a £100m player, which was in a deal the equivalent of Real Madrid buying Neymar today.

As far as I can remember, nobody in my FM13 save has gone for more than £47million. (My star defender currently has a £60million minimum fee release clause, but I suspect nobody will come close to meeting that. ) The biggest transfer I'd seen prior to FM17 was some Spanish regen in CM00/01 who went for £60million.

In terms of my current FM17 save, there've been a few obscene transfer fees paid out, but not as many as in real life. For instance, Man City only had to pay a maximum of £23.5million for Michael Keane in the first January window.

[neilhoskins77]

Morning all. Just a quick note to say I'll be a lot less active on the boards writing wise over coming weeks.

On Saturday night I suffered a stroke at my home, and was rushed into hospital, where they found a bleed on my brain. My motor skills on the right of the body are being slowly built back up, but playing the game etc is too much at the moment. I hope to continue my story in due course. In the meantime, I'll still be reading some of the other fabulous work on our Boards.

[CFuller]

I'm so sorry to hear that, Neil.

Just take your time to recuperate, and only come back to writing when you are ready to.

[neilhoskins77]

2 minutes ago, CFuller said:

I'm so sorry to hear that, Neil.

Just take your time to recuperate, and only come back to writing when you are ready to.

Cheers Chris. Was a bit of a shock. 

[CFuller]

From my family's experience, my grandmother on my father's side suffered a stroke about 14 years ago and had to have a brain tumour removed. She's now 84 years old and still going strong.

Health crises like these can really shake you up and make you think of your own mortality. These last few years have been quite difficult for me in that respect, what with my uncle dying suddenly in 2015, my mother having a cancer scare in the middle of last year, and various scares involving all four of my grandparents (all of whom are, thankfully, still alive today).

[mark wilson27]

Sorry to hear that Neil, take your time getting yourself better. We'll of course make sure you have plenty to read as your recovering. 

[neilhoskins77]

Chris, it definitely sounds like you and your family have been through the ringer with medical issues. 

Thanks Mark, I'll certainly have my feet up reading what's happening in everyone else's stories.

[BenArsenal]

I'm so sorry to hear that Neil. Best wishes and hope you recover to full health.

Suffering a stroke sounds really scary and not something I would wish upon anyone.

Take care mate.

[neilhoskins77]

4 hours ago, BenArsenal said:

I'm so sorry to hear that Neil. Best wishes and hope you recover to full health.

Suffering a stroke sounds really scary and not something I would wish upon anyone.

Take care mate.

Thanks very much Ben. It wasn't much fun, but I've been very lucky compared to a lot who have one. Cheers for the kind words mate.

[oche balboa]

On 8/1/2017 at 08:47, neilhoskins77 said:

Morning all. Just a quick note to say I'll be a lot less active on the boards writing wise over coming weeks.

On Saturday night I suffered a stroke at my home, and was rushed into hospital, where they found a bleed on my brain. My motor skills on the right of the body are being slowly built back up, but playing the game etc is too much at the moment. I hope to continue my story in due course. In the meantime, I'll still be reading some of the other fabulous work on our Boards.

I'm sorry to hear this. Very best wishes mate

[mark wilson27]

Just to let you guys know, the Preliminary Round voting for the Story of the Year has been pinned at the top of the page and dont forget the Predictions and Fantasy Football Leagues

[neilhoskins77]

On 04/08/2017 at 09:23, oche balboa said:

I'm sorry to hear this. Very best wishes mate

Thanks very much Oche. Much appreciated mate.

[CFuller]

The new Premier League season starts on Friday (even though it feels like the football never stopped). Some of us did our final table predictions in the build-up to last season, so I thought I'd set the ball rolling for this campaign. Here's where I reckon the teams will end up...

1. Manchester City - This HAS to be City's year. If Pep can get the likes of Aguero, De Bruyne, Jesus and the Silvas in full flow AND shore up the defence, the rest of the league will do well to catch them.

2. Manchester United - Many will no doubt expect another second-season peak from a Mourinho team. I just have too many doubts about Pogba and Lukaku in big matches.

3. Liverpool - Sometimes they play rock 'n' roll football; sometimes they are more like Haircut One Hundred. But Klopp has made some encouraging signings this season, and I reckon they'll make the top three.

4. Chelsea - All is not well at the home of the champions. Conte may be a tactical genius, but unless he adds more depth beyond his starting XI, I reckon he'll be gone by January.

5. Tottenham Hotspur - This is more down to the Wembley factor than anything else. Based only on talent and team spirit, Spurs should be champions, but I reckon they'll struggle a lot at home while White Hart Lane is being rebuilt.

6. Arsenal - We've finally got a proper striker in Lacazette, and we still have Sanchez and Ozil (for now), but the defence still looks very suspect. The Gunners can forget about challenging for the title for the next three seasons at least.

7. Everton - Koeman's made some shrewd buys in the summer (and spent £30million on Jordan Pickford). I would love to see the new-look Toffees crack the top four soon, but I can't see it happening this season.

8. Southampton - I keep losing track of who's managing Southampton and which of their players haven't yet joined Liverpool, but a top-eight finish has become a constant. Expect another strong defensive season from the Saints.

9. Leicester City - The 2016 champions are now a solid mid-table team. Iheanacho should get goals aplenty, while I look forward to seeing if youngster Gray can fill the wantaway Mahrez's boots.

10. Newcastle United - The Championship champions are back where they belong. In Rafa the Geordie Army rightfully trust, but until Mike Ashley sells up, this is probably as high as the ambitious Magpies can fly.

11. West Ham United - The Hammers' big signing of last summer was a massive bust... but I'm not talking about Simone Zaza. Bilic needs to make the London Stadium feel like the Boleyn Ground somehow... and sign a proper right-back as well.

12. West Bromwich Albion - Tracksuit Tony will get Albion up to 40 points with plenty of time to spare. Then Pulis' players will go on their summer holidays in March, as per usual.

13. AFC Bournemouth - "DEFENCE, DEFENCE, DEFENCE" is something you will never hear chanted at Dean Court. Eddie Howe must sort his backline out... and wrap Callum Wilson in cotton wool between matches.

14. Crystal Palace - After the reigns of Pardew and Allardyce, Palace have gone Dutch. Ronald De Boer's brother has some underrated players at his disposal, so I don't think the Eagles will have to worry about the drop too much.

15. Brighton & Hove Albion - Football's newest fairytale story comes from the south coast. Hughton has somehow snared Mat Ryan from Valencia, so I don't expect the Seagulls to concede many goals... but creating them could be an issue.

16. Stoke City - Take Jack Butland out of the Stoke team, and City have an average age of around 46. Creaking legs, a schizophrenic Shaqiri, and an aversion to scoring goals spells trouble for Sparky at the Bet365 Stadium.

17. Swansea City - Everybody's second-favourite team Swanselona have been replaced with just another American-owned car-crash club. If Gylfi goes and Clement isn't given enough time to mould his own team, the Championship beckons.

18. Burnley - A good ol' fashioned British-owned club with good ol' fashioned British players and a good ol' fashioned British manager. Sadly, I strongly doubt that Sir Sean Dyche and his Clarets will stay up beyond a second season.

19. Watford - I admire Marco Silva as a manager almost as much as I despise how Watford is being run like an airport terminal, with foreigners flying in and out in droves. The Hornets have no stability, and no long-term future in the PL.

20. Huddersfield Town - David Wagner could be Jurgen Klopp's younger brother... but he doesn't have anywhere near as much quality in his team. Enjoy the ride while it lasts, Terriers fans, before you crash back down to terra firma.

[salkster2102]

My two pennies for what it's worth.

1st. Man Utd. Can't believe i'm saying this but i'm expecting United to be very strong this year. Mourinho has built his team now and will be very hard to beat next season. Pogba will be much better this season and I expect bully boy Lukaku to turn all the draws they had last season into wins. Whether they can do it in the big games is the question but Matic will once again prove to be a big signing.

2nd. Man City. Guardiola was a tactically naive last season and I believe he will have learnt some lessons. Still expect him to make a few mistakes too many. If they can sort their goalkeeper out and keep Kompany fit then could be the difference between 1st and 2nd. Expect them to finish up just short.

3rd. Liverpool. Whether we challenge for the title or not depends on if we can keep Coutinho. If we do then we have a chance but it looks like he's going sadly. Picking us to finish top of the 3rd-6th mini league.

4th. Tottenham. If they wasn't playing at Wembley then i'd say they could challenge for the title but they will be just too inconsistent. Their away form last season wasn't that good either but I think their first 11 is good enough to scrape top 4.

5th. Chelsea. The loss of Matic to a rival will hurt them and then the self implosion of kicking out Costa and Terry will hurt them more than they will want to tell. Morata I don't think will be that good a signing he was clearly second choice to Lukaku. I expect teams to figure out the same tactics as last season and Conte will be gone by Christmas.

6th. Arsenal. If it wasn't for the amount of injuries they get and being in the Europa League I would have said 5th but for those reasons I will say 6th and then Au revoir to Wenger.

7th. Everton. Best of the rest. Will take a bit for all the new signings to gel and I really can see them persisting with Rooney too much.

8th. West Ham. Think they will improve this season and the signing of Hernandez could prove a shrewd buy. Just need to improve the home form.

9th. Leicester. Comfortably safe but not strong enough to challenge the elite.

10th. Bournemouth. I like Eddie Howe but I can't see how much further he can take Bournemouth. Think he will stay one more impressive year and move on next year.

11th. Stoke. Plenty of experience here they shouldn't have any problems.

12th. West Brom. The safe card Pulis will once again boringly stay up bla bla bla bla.

13th. Palace. Decent enough squad should just stay above relegation lot.

14th. Newcastle. Welcome back Newcastle. Rafa been in this game long enough and I expect the rest of the league to give them more respect than Brighton or Huddersfield.

15th. Southampton. Just think they are due a bad season and when Van Dijk goes that's a massive hole they won't be able to fill.

16th. Swansea. Will struggle again and if they stay up relies on them keeping Sigurdsson.

17th. Brighton. Will have a bright start and then fade away towards the end and just scrape to safety.

18th. Watford. Don't remember them being that good last season and even though I think Marco Silva did alright at Hull they are due a bad season.

19th. Burnley. I like Sean Dyche but they will have second season blues.

20th. Huddersfield. Great fairytale having little old Town that is close to me in the Prem but wow are they going to be well overmatched.

[git2thachoppa]

I can't do a full table due to pretty much not watching anything last season or having the inclination to look at all the teams right now, but I'm surprised at the lack of faith in the champions and expecting a sacking after half a season. Not that it would be surprising, but I'm guessing the news media have been saying they're a disaster now.

Every year could be Man Utd's year, but I wouldn't be surprised if Lukaku turns out to be a relative success. It reminds me of Drogba. He came in and everyone wondered what the hell Mourinho was doing signing this average striker for so much. Transfers have just been such a disaster, especially with Van Gaal. It doesn't help that he got rid of my favourite players (Di Maria, Hernandez, Kagawa) but the guy thought he could buy a star-studded team, but by the end of his reign the best United team were mostly youngsters. He didn't need to buy many of the players he did. Then Mourinho came in and got rid of them anyway. And Hernandez going to West Ham now is a horrifying thought.

Brighton need experienced heads. A team will always generally be on an upward trajectory with Hughton in charge (and given that names like Pardew, Shearer and Gary Neville were mentioned during the Allardyce saga, it shows the narrow-mindedness of the average football media expert that someone like Hughton, who is more successful and reliable than all of them, never got mentioned... let alone Bielsa, given all the Wenger mentions too). But Brighton have choked a few seasons in a row during the squeaky bum times. In the Premier League, this will be when nearly all the relegation-threatened teams decide to start trying and pick up loads of points, while Brighton will be losing and drawing. So I'm hoping that doesn't happen. At least they are spending money, but wisely.

I'm waiting to see what Spurs do about selling Walker. I guess they had no real option if he wanted to go, but as far as I know that leaves them with one right wing-back, and in today's game... heck, in the year 2000's game... you need two players for every one position in the XI, or 10 and an above-average keeper anyway.

[mark wilson27]

Remember that their is a Friday game in the predictions league guys

[BenArsenal]

Why has the forum suddenly all gone bold?

My predictions to come in a bit.

[BenArsenal]

Here then, are my thoughts for the upcoming season

1. Manchester City - I'll actually be a tad cautious about backing them, because they were tipped to do well last season too and look what happened. But Pep has bought decently and has probably learnt his lessons, so they might just come out on top. Just.

2. Chelsea - I don't think they'll be as bad as the media have made them out to be. There will definitely be some more additions before the window is shut, and they have too much quality to fall off too drastically. Unless of course the squad self-combust again (but the bad influences, i.e. Terry and Costa, have already left, or are going to leave anyway).

3. Manchester United - I think they will struggle, because the general spirit of the team is no longer the formidable one of the Fergie years. Also, Mourinho's dour style has been found out in the past two seasons, and unless he somehow changes tack, they won't be anywhere near the top. Lukaku will score plenty to push them into the top four however.

4. Arsenal - Lacazette is a huge signing, and miles better than Giroud. It looks like Ozil and Sanchez might stay too, and if the trio can work well together, Arsenal can be near unstoppable. We still need some reinforcements in defence, but Arsenal's problems now are mostly mental and not physical.

5. Liverpool - I like Klopp's style, and on their day they can be a match for anyone. But they've not really moved forward much, and standing still is moving backwards (cliche alert). Salah I still have my doubts about, while Solanke is talented but still raw.

6. Everton - Yes, shocker, but Koeman has bought excellently. Rooney, while not quite the same as his peak, can still be an inspiration to the team. Klaassen is a massive coup, and if the inevitable deal for Sigurdsson goes through, Everton will be one hell of a dangerous team. They'll probably still need one good striker to complete the business though.

7. Tottenham Hotspur - They have a good team, yes, but they haven't bought anyone at all, and have lost Walker to Man City to boot. If everyone is fit they will challenge, but all it takes is one serious injury to Kane/Alli/Dier/Eriksen and it will come badly off the rails for Spurs. They will struggle at Wembley too, absolutely.

8. Southampton - I find it amusing that they're now onto their second Argentine manager called Mauricio P. He'll probably lead the Saints to relative success (i.e. top half, impressive performances) for a couple of years, before leaving for a big club. And repeat cycle. 

9. West Ham United - They've actually done some decent business, with Zabaleta and Hart notable additions to their defence. Hernandez and Arnautovic provide some quality firepower up front, and I should hope that they're done with their Olympic Stadium housewarming hangover. Bilic is a good manager, and they'll do well.

10. Leicester City - I have a feeling that anything can happen with this lot. So I'll put them firmly in mid table. Probably have too much quality to go down (ooh, hopefully I don't regret that), but not quite enough to challenge for Europe.

11. Newcastle United - Benitez is a good manager, but I think they're a bit thin on quality. Unless they can add in a few more good players before the window ends, they'll probably be firmly entrenched in the middle.

12. Huddersfield Town - Every year there'll be one promoted team that defy the odds and do well, and my choice this season will be Huddersfield. I think David Wagner will bring a style that will surprise quite a few teams. At least enough to stay clear of relegation.

13. Bournemouth - They really shouldn't be here, but Eddie Howe has been incredibly shrewd with this team. Chelsea additions Ake and Begovic are quality, and while Defoe is getting on a bit now, he still has some goals in him yet.

14. Watford - Not many may agree with the club's methods, but Watford do have quality, and if Marco Silva can get a hopeless Hull almost out of relegation, he'll probably do a fair bit better with this lot.

15. Stoke City - Fan favourites Whelan, Walters and Arnautovic have all left, and even if there is still some quality in the squad left, the fan backlash could have an effect on performances. Mark Hughes has plenty to do to get this team into shape.

16. Swansea City - Paul Clement is a decent manager, but he can only go so far with a limited lot. He has to hope that Tammy Abraham can score in the Premier League the same way he does in the Championship. Otherwise they're doomed.

17. Crystal Palace - De Boer brings quality, but he has a patchy record. They've also not strengthened their squad by much (so far), so I'll predict more struggles rather than success at Selhurst Park

18. West Bromwich Albion - The Tony Pulis train will come unstuck at some point, I believe. Or more realistically, he gets fed up, leaves, and West Brom appoints someone woefully inadequate. They'll go down by the thinnest of margins, but their time at the top is up.

19. Brighton & Hove Albion - I honestly do think that this season's relegation battle will be much tighter than most will expect. Brighton will perform bravely, shock a few teams, but ultimately not quite have enough to stay up.

20. Burnley - Brave, brave Burnley. They'll have a right go at it, but Michael Keane and Andre Gray will be huge losses. They'll regroup and get promoted again however.

[mark wilson27]

2 hours ago, BenArsenal said:

Why has the forum suddenly all gone bold?

My predictions to come in a bit.

They've had a forum software update and certain things have changed like the font etc.......

[BenArsenal]

1 hour ago, mark wilson27 said:

They've had a forum software update and certain things have changed like the font etc.......

Looks weird. May need a while to get used to...

[git2thachoppa]

Nothing's changed for me, just when I go to my post history to see new posts it says something about indexing being slow at the moment. (Though that 'Content I Posted' page always takes ages to load.)

Brighton's success will definitely depend on these new signing. The promoted team would probably get relegated quite easily, so Chris is buying foreign players from second-tier or recently relegated clubs. So this will be a big indicator of the club's scouting.