2015/2016 Barclays Premier League Thread

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by devo22

Charlie Austin to Southampton for only £4m. What a great buy!

one of his knees is held together by half a ligament and hope

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

one of his knees is held together by half a ligament and hope

I'll let Charlie himself address your completely unfounded claim.

“I feel I have no option but to address the inaccurate, misleading and uninformed innuendo about my physical condition that has been raised today by an individual who is not privy to my personal health history. “It is one of a number of inaccurate reports about my so-called injury problems which have been made over the summer.
“For the record, there is nothing wrong with my ‘ligaments’, as has been suggested. My strength and performance in pre-season has been excellent and with two goals in my last two games I don’t think there is any doubt that my match sharpness is as good as ever.
“I scored 18 goals in the Premier League last season, which would not be possible were I feeling discomfort or pain.
“Like many professional footballers, I have the legacy of injuries picked up over my career but the effect on my day-to-day training and on matchday is non-existent.
“For a senior figure at a Premier League club to insinuate that I could break down at any moment is an outrageous slur on my professionalism and the work that has gone into making me the footballer than I am today. I am fit, strong and looking forward to Saturday’s home game against Rotherham.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...-question.html

[d_phaneuf]

it was more of a joke based on the Sullivan comments, but he does have what most people think is a ticking time bomb with his knees

Even Southampton admit it

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...ie-Austin.html

The club’s sports scientists believe that they can manage Austin’s knee issue – which has not been a problem so far – as he approaches his peak years.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Thoroughly undeserved lead for United. Fellaini finally useful and Rooney scores again.

[devo22]

Van Gaal should buy some lottery tickets. With all his luck I'm sure he'd win.

[Locke]

We just cannot buy a goal. I cant wait until this season is over, players get healthy and Klopp can turn this into his team rather than the seemingly random assortment of whomever happens to be available being tossed onto the pitch in the vain hope of producing some sort of miracle.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

it was more of a joke based on the Sullivan comments, but he does have what most people think is a ticking time bomb with his knees

Even Southampton admit it

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...ie-Austin.html

Holy crap. You say it was just a joke then you follow it up by business as usual saying his knee is a ticking time bomb? What evidence have you to back that up and who are these "most people" you talk about? Or, are you joking again because it sure is hard to know?

His scans show abnormalities in his knees which have had zero impact on the first 26 years of his life. In fact if it wasn't for the scans there would be zero conversation on his knees because they have never been an issue.

Steve Bruce said Hull made a huge mistake when they when they pulled out of a deal to sign Charlie Austin in 2013. Bruce had lined up a £4.5m move for the striker, then with Burnley, following the Tigers' promotion to the Premier League.
The move appeared to be well advanced, until a medical highlighted concerns over a knee issue.


That Austin has not suffered any significant knee problems since Hull passed on him resonates with Bruce, who had a similar problem before joining Manchester United only for Sir Alex Ferguson to sign him anyway to great success.
"Going back 30 years, I failed my medical with a knee injury I didn't know I had, at Manchester United.
"They signed me on my playing record and the belief that I'd never had a bad knee.
"It went back to something when I was a kid, at the age of 12. Incredible. The sad thing (for Austin) is he probably never knew he had a funny knee, or something wrong with his knee."

http://www.skysports.com/football/ne...charlie-austin

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Holy crap. You say it was just a joke then you follow it up by business as usual saying his knee is a ticking time bomb? What evidence have you to back that up and who are these "most people" you talk about? Or, are you joking again because it sure is hard to know?

His scans show abnormalities in his knees which have had zero impact on the first 26 years of his life. In fact if it wasn't for the scans there would be zero conversation on his knees because they have never been an issue.

http://www.skysports.com/football/ne...charlie-austin

I forget where I heard the ticking time bomb about his knees last year but did you miss the quote? Southampton admit there are knee issues they think they can monitor

if there was no issue with it, it wouldn't be something they would ever talk about and they wouldn't say they believe they can manage it, it would be a non-issue

[Bagor]

Yes, I read the quote. An issue that has not been a problem so far. Has never been a problem and the only reason it is an issue is because some mouthy uninformed owner decided to mouth off on a fan podcast.

Only reason it's being talked about is because Sullivan made it a talking point and folks latched on to the whole omg, his knee's going to explode hysteria based on ..... absolutely nothing.

[Slava]

I guess Liverpool signed Mignolet to an extension. I would love to post some of the twitter replies to that signing, but they're not quite PG-13! Apparently dropping one to your bitter rivals and signing the extension the following day is poorly received.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Slava

I guess Liverpool signed Mignolet to an extension. I would love to post some of the twitter replies to that signing, but they're not quite PG-13! Apparently dropping one to your bitter rivals and signing the extension the following day is poorly received.

Hm. That was in the works for a long time, its been going on for weeks.

I dont see the issue really, I like Mignolet and we sure as hell do not have a viable replacement (see: Bogdan, Adam = Terrible).

As I stated earlier, this season is a total wildcard. I want them to do their best, and if they can snag a CL spot I'll be over the moon, but otherwise its a writeoff.

[cam_wmh]

‏@PragmaticFrog surprised he didn't drop the pen...

[devo22]

I don't think Mignolet is that terrible. He obviously isn't as good as De Gea, Courtois, Lloris, Hart, Forster or Butland, but he's solid enough. Lots of Liverpool fans seem to have made Benteke and Mignolet their scapegoats for everything, but the main problems lie somewhere else. Somewhere in the hamstring area, I presume.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by devo22

I don't think Mignolet is that terrible. He obviously isn't as good as De Gea, Courtois, Lloris, Hart, Forster or Butland, but he's solid enough. Lots of Liverpool fans seem to have made Benteke and Mignolet their scapegoats for everything, but the main problems lie somewhere else. Somewhere in the hamstring area, I presume.

No, he isnt a top-echelon goaltender by any means. Hes just good enough for right now.

[Mightyfire89]

Meh, Migs is decent enough. The main problem in defence is with the CBs. Even when healthy, what they have back there is not good enough. That needs to be a priority in the summer, along with getting a quality striker that isn't made of glass.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by Mightyfire89

Meh, Migs is decent enough. The main problem in defence is with the CBs. Even when healthy, what they have back there is not good enough. That needs to be a priority in the summer, along with getting a quality striker that isn't made of glass.

I don't think CB is nearly as much as a problem as its being made out to be, especially if the reports of Matip signing on a free this summer end up being true. Lovren has improved by leaps and bounds under Klopp, and between Skrtel, Sakho, Matip, Gomez, and Ilori there is a nice blend of experience and potential.

I think the defensive issues come from a keeper who can't command his area, a LB who can't defend, and the lack of a defensive presence in midfield. Can looks like he could fill that role in time, but he is still quite raw at this point. Danny Ward just returned from a really successful loan spell, so hopefully he can actually push Migs for the #1 keeper spot.

What we really need this summer is a player who can control the midfield, and an attacking player or two who can create and score goals. Unfortunately those are the two most difficult and expensive positions to fill.

[Mightyfire89]

I agree with you on the midfield. I don't think Can is going to solve any problems there. He doesn't think the game well enough. He panics and makes poor passes when he's in a defensive role. You're right though, he is raw. Maybe Klopp can turn him into something.

[d_phaneuf]

Bale's transfer document leaked, interesting to read

http://as.com/descargables/2016/01/2...a599bbccd8.pdf

total transfer was 87m Euros if paid up front, 100m if they chose installments

Also, it wasn't known before but Spurs have the opportunity to match any sale to a PL Club until summer 2019

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

Bale's transfer document leaked, interesting to read

http://as.com/descargables/2016/01/2...a599bbccd8.pdf

total transfer was 87m Euros if paid up front, 100m if they chose installments

Also, it wasn't known before but Spurs have the opportunity to match any sale to a PL Club until summer 2019

And they'd be absolutely bonkers not to match it if it happens this summer.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Say United buys him for £80 million, he agrees to go, Spurs invokes the clause...can't he just say "Yeah not interested anymore"? So I look at that clause more as a way of blocking anyone else in the EPL from getting him more than anything.