12/13 Football Thread

[Captain Clarkie]

Wales had better be sure that FIFA keep their word because the English FA have put their independence at risk.

I suppose the SFA are lucky Pearce didn't pick the players they made available.

[king mob]

I suppose the SFA are lucky Pearce didn't pick the players they made available.

Partly but seeing as how Scottish football is on the verge of a total collapse I think he's done us a favour by not adding to our problems/

[Captain Clarkie]

Partly but seeing as how Scottish football is on the verge of a total collapse I think he's done us a favour by not adding to our problems/

Two for one then.

[Walsh06]

Southampton have a great set-up, and a pair of quality strikers who can score goals. West Ham will be fine, even if they'll be horrible to watch. Reading are thin on the ground and I'm not convinced they'll score enough goals, or keep enough goals out. Wigan have played well but they're using up a stream of luck that's amazing to watch. While I'd just love to see Stoke go down because Pullis is a vile little man, but they probably won't but we can but wish.

Ok lets go through that statement. You think West Ham and Southampton wont concede too much (a regular rate) but you think well concede more. This is based off of what?? The fact that we went a month without conceding a single goal last year. You also dont think we can score goals. Even before Pograbnyak joined we have a great set of strikers between Roberts, hunt, ALF, Church, Manset and hopefully Shepard. And pograbnyak is only going to help things. Next we have added Guthrie into the midfield which is going to help get the ball to the strikers. Finally we have two great attacking threats outwide and a good free kick taker. Im not promising that well be amazing I just dont see how the comprehensive champions are singled out as bad.

[Alan Lynch]

The best you can come up with is "newly promoted teams often struggle". Surely you can do better than that. And at least dont say it regarding the team who swept the championship last year. You could go for one of the others.

You seem to be under the impression that I said Reading would get relegated. I was just defending Mob's right to think so.

Ok lets go through that statement. You think West Ham and Southampton wont concede too much (a regular rate) but you think well concede more. This is based off of what?? The fact that we went a month without conceding a single goal last year. You also dont think we can score goals. Even before Pograbnyak joined we have a great set of strikers between Roberts, hunt, ALF, Church, Manset and hopefully Shepard. And pograbnyak is only going to help things. Next we have added Guthrie into the midfield which is going to help get the ball to the strikers. Finally we have two great attacking threats outwide and a good free kick taker. Im not promising that well be amazing I just dont see how the comprehensive champions are singled out as bad.

First off: stop being so bloody defensive. It's going to be a long season if you react to any reasonable discussion of Reading in such an arsey way.

And nobody said that Reading are "bad". Read what Mob says - that your squad isn't that big and the current players you have could struggle to step up. Le Fondre looked terrific as a sub last season, but too often in the games I watched you toiled without him. Jason Roberts made a huge impact when he joined but he's not been nearly as effective in the Premiership IMO. Noel Hunt is...okay. A pest player, but not the goalscorer you need; and I'm a fan of him. He was linked with Celtic before leaving Dundee Utd and it was a signing I'd have been happy with.

Pogrebnyak could be a superb buy, and I've sung Guthrie's praises before. So we'll wait and see. But please could you stop picking fights with folk who think Reading might have a bit of a fight to stay up?

Right, the SPL are delaying their vote on Rangers despite most of the clubs already stating how they'll vote. Is this some desperate effort to convince Sky not to dump them? The idea of signing a contract based on which clubs are in the league is akin to match fixing, so I wish someone would tell them to do one.

[Alan Lynch]

England have risen to 4th in the world. Risen. To 4th. Eh?

[Puma]

Right, the SPL are delaying their vote on Rangers despite most of the clubs already stating how they'll vote. Is this some desperate effort to convince Sky not to dump them? The idea of signing a contract based on which clubs are in the league is akin to match fixing, so I wish someone would tell them to do one.

as someone who only sees limited SPL matches I much prefer to watch matches that don't include Rangers or Celtic (which is damn rare).

[Alan Lynch]

as someone who only sees limited SPL matches I much prefer to watch matches that don't include Rangers or Celtic (which is damn rare).

I imagine you're not the only one. It's hard to tell living up here exactly what interest there is in the non-Old Firm games. There are teams in the SPL who do play some genuinely nice football (not that it'd get them far against better opposition you understand). And you could argue that greater coverage would bring in more money and improve these other clubs. Instead we've got people running the game bowing to Sky/ESPN's whims. It's ugly.

That said, the SPL have finally voted. Rangers oot. It's the SFL's turn now. Watch the pressure on them increase.

[Walsh06]

You seem to be under the impression that I said Reading would get relegated. I was just defending Mob's right to think so.

First off: stop being so bloody defensive. It's going to be a long season if you react to any reasonable discussion of Reading in such an arsey way.

And nobody said that Reading are "bad". Read what Mob says - that your squad isn't that big and the current players you have could struggle to step up. Le Fondre looked terrific as a sub last season, but too often in the games I watched you toiled without him. Jason Roberts made a huge impact when he joined but he's not been nearly as effective in the Premiership IMO. Noel Hunt is...okay. A pest player, but not the goalscorer you need; and I'm a fan of him. He was linked with Celtic before leaving Dundee Utd and it was a signing I'd have been happy with.

Pogrebnyak could be a superb buy, and I've sung Guthrie's praises before. So we'll wait and see. But please could you stop picking fights with folk who think Reading might have a bit of a fight to stay up?

Right, the SPL are delaying their vote on Rangers despite most of the clubs already stating how they'll vote. Is this some desperate effort to convince Sky not to dump them? The idea of signing a contract based on which clubs are in the league is akin to match fixing, so I wish someone would tell them to do one.

Im not being too defensive. Just normal defensive when people say things about my team that arent true or arent backed up. Your reply is quite good and I appreciate that you actually showed you know what you are talking about. But saying random statements means nothing and thats what annoyed me. Also I actually didnt realise you were not the original poster so I apologise for that.

Its like when a person writes a review of a film and their reason for not liking it is "it sucks" and thats it. If you are going to say something you have to be ready to explain it. Its something that annoys me and when its directed towards something I like well Im going to do my best to either 1) prove you wrong or 2) get a proper reply from you.

Honestly saying we are going to be relegated didnt even bother me that much, I was just joking with the reply. But its the fact that people are just saying random stuff is the reason I got into the debate.

[mcgaffer]

Premier League-Man City
Relegated-Swansea, West Brom, Southampton

Championship-promoted-Bolton, Birmingham, Leicester
Relegated-Barnsley, Sheff Wed, Peterborough

League One-Promoted-Crawley, Sheff Utd, MK Dons

League Two-Promoted-Bristol Rovers, Wimbledon, Gillingham, Fleetwood

SPL - Celtic
Spain-Barcelona
Italy-Inter
Holland-PSV
Germany-Bayern

Champions League-Man City
Europa League-Arsenal (long shot, but I reckon a third place finish in their CL group then they win this)
Scottish Cup-Celtic
FA Cup-Man Utd
League Cup-Aston Villa

Player of the Year-Torres
Wanker of the Year-Tie between Abramovich (after he sacks Di Matteo halfway through the year to get the big name manager he really wanted) and Redknapp (after he probably accepts the Chelsea job)

Financial collapse of the year-Tottenham (there's more behind Redknapp leaving then failure to get in the CL)

[mcgaffer]

Rangers will not play in the Scottish Premier League in the coming season.
SPL chairmen met at Hampden to vote on the Rangers newco's application to replace the old club in the top flight.
And, afterwards, an SPL spokesman said: "SPL clubs voted overwhelmingly to reject the application from Rangers newco to join the SPL."
The reformed Ibrox club are now expected to play in the Scottish Football League but it is not clear which division they will enter.
And there is also uncertainty about who will replace the old Rangers in the SPL - Dunfermline, who were relegated from the division last season, or First Division runners-up Dundee.

[mcgaffer]

Tottenham have beaten Liverpool to the signing of Hoffenheim midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, who had a spell on loan at Swansea last season.

AC Milan are interested in signing Liverpool striker Andy Carroll. Pier Silvio Berlusconi, the son of Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi, has been acting as a transfer consultant for the Italian club and has identified Carroll as a potential signing.

Everton are keen on signing Oscar Cardozo after Benfica put a £16m price tag on the striker. Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, PSG and an unnamed Premier League side are also tracking the Paraguayan, 29.

Tottenham are ready to back new manager Andre Villas-Boas in the transfer market to the tune of £50m this summer. The Portuguese is keen to bring Marseille striker Loic Remy, Ajax and Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen, Hoffenheim midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, CSKA Moscow and Russia midfielder Alan Dzagoev and Birmingham keeper Jack Butland to White Hart Lane.

Villas-Boas wants to launch his reign as Tottenham manager by signing Brazilian attacking midfielder Oscar from Internacional. The 20-year-old is priced in the £20m bracket by his club.

Sunderland, Stoke and Fulham are all interested in Wolves' Steven Fletcher, but the Midlands club have warned any suitor will have to pay £10m to sign the striker.

Everton boss David Moyes is considering making a move for out-of-contract former Wigan striker Hugo Rodallega, 26.

Italian side Napoli are looking to push ahead with a move for Chelsea midfielder Raul Meireles after seeking talks with the player's agent.

Chelsea are closing in on a £6m deal for Inter Milan full-back Maicon, 30, with the Brazilian's agent due in London later this week for talks.

Manchester United and Chelsea are both interested in Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel after Benfica revealed that they are ready to cash-in on his talents this summer.

Malaga and Galatasary want Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner as the Denmark international closes in on a move away from the Emirates Stadium. Bendtner's agent Jesper Lynghus told Denmark newspaper bold.dk last month: "The interest is overwhelming, just as it should be after the way Nicklas performed at Euro 2012."

Asamoah Gyan will finally leave Sunderland in a £7m move to United Arab Emirates side Al-Ain.

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert wants to sign Rennes' £2.5m-rated midfielder Yacine Brahmi, 22.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has broken his silence over the future of captain Robin van Persie by vowing to keep the striker "at all costs". The two men are expected to talk over the phone this week as Van Persie continues to stall on a new three-year deal worth £130,000-per-week.

The Arsenal boss has also turned down the opportunity to coach the French national team following Laurent Blanc's resignation.

Incoming manager Gianfranco Zola could face a player backlash at Watford following the the sacking of Sean Dyche.

Former Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka has been involved in an ugly confrontation with an irate Shanghai Shenhua fan, who questioned the Frenchman's poor performance and refusal to perform a traditional end-of-match bow.

[king mob]

Ok lets go through that statement. You think West Ham and Southampton wont concede too much (a regular rate) but you think well concede more. This is based off of what?? The fact that we went a month without conceding a single goal last year. You also dont think we can score goals. Even before Pograbnyak joined we have a great set of strikers between Roberts, hunt, ALF, Church, Manset and hopefully Shepard. And pograbnyak is only going to help things. Next we have added Guthrie into the midfield which is going to help get the ball to the strikers. Finally we have two great attacking threats outwide and a good free kick taker. Im not promising that well be amazing I just dont see how the comprehensive champions are singled out as bad.

Bloody hell, climb down off the pulpit.

I've given what I think as reasons they might go right back down, and not wished the club, city and people of Reading to die painfully of the Black Death. Well, not until I've seen The Cure at the festival then let the bombs fall.

[king mob]

England have risen to 4th in the world. Risen. To 4th. Eh?

I have no idea. Brasil are something like 13th. It's mental.

[king mob]

Im not being too defensive.

Yes you are. Wind your neck back in,

Just normal defensive when people say things about my team that arent true or arent backed up.

At the start of every season we make predictions. It's a wee bit of fun and if I was being spiteful I'd stick Man Utd in the bottom three along with Stoke and West Ham, but I don't think they'll get relegated and I think Reading will, or at the very least find it incredibly hard.

Your reply is quite good and I appreciate that you actually showed you know what you are talking about. But saying random statements means nothing and thats what annoyed me. Also I actually didnt realise you were not the original poster so I apologise for that.

See, this is why you need to wind your neck in.

Its like when a person writes a review of a film and their reason for not liking it is "it sucks" and thats it. If you are going to say something you have to be ready to explain it. Its something that annoys me and when its directed towards something I like well Im going to do my best to either 1) prove you wrong or 2) get a proper reply from you.

Honestly saying we are going to be relegated didnt even bother me that much, I was just joking with the reply. But its the fact that people are just saying random stuff is the reason I got into the debate.

You didn't debate anything. You went off in a ranting mess. Chill. You might even stay up.