2013/2014 English Premier League Thread

[FlameZilla]

Sooo... enough arguing about Cantona's ban 18 years ago please fellas. There's some really interesting stuff going down in the EPL.

How about Tottenham this season and the squad they've built using money selling one player. They've broken their signing record 3 times this summer and are looking like title contenders, even without their talisman.

Selling: -Gareth Bale for £78 to £86 million (not yet finalised)
-Parker, Huddlestone, Caulker for £20 million

Buying: -Erik Lamela as a direct replacement for Bale(upgrade some might argue) for £30 million
-Roberto Soldado for £26m
-Paulinho for £17m
-Etienne Capoue for £9
-Vlad Chiriches for $8.5
-Nacer Chadli for $7

THAT ladies and gentlemen is how to rebuild a sports franchise.

[Fusebox]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

Sooo... enough arguing about Cantona's ban 18 years ago please fellas. There's some really interesting stuff going down in the EPL.

How about Tottenham this season and the squad they've built using money selling one player. They've broken their signing record 3 times this summer and are looking like title contenders, even without their talisman.

Selling: -Gareth Bale for £78 to £86 million (not yet finalised)
-Parker, Huddlestone, Caulker for £20 million

Buying: -Erik Lamela as a direct replacement for Bale(upgrade some might argue) for £30 million
-Roberto Soldado for £26m
-Paulinho for £17m
-Etienne Capoue for £9
-Vlad Chiriches for $8.5
-Nacer Chadli for $7

THAT ladies and gentlemen is how to rebuild a sports franchise.

Well, I think you have to wait and see how all of these new players click. Typically it takes a couple of seasons for the squad to gel when you bring in a bunch of new guys.

Some great signings on paper though, I would definitely agree. It must be an exciting time to be a Spurs supporter. I wish we could turn Suarez into a half dozen quality new signings at Liverpool.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

Sooo... enough arguing about Cantona's ban 18 years ago please fellas. There's some really interesting stuff going down in the EPL.

How about Tottenham this season and the squad they've built using money selling one player. They've broken their signing record 3 times this summer and are looking like title contenders, even without their talisman.

Selling: -Gareth Bale for £78 to £86 million (not yet finalised)
-Parker, Huddlestone, Caulker for £20 million

Buying: -Erik Lamela as a direct replacement for Bale(upgrade some might argue) for £30 million
-Roberto Soldado for £26m
-Paulinho for £17m
-Etienne Capoue for £9
-Vlad Chiriches for $8.5
-Nacer Chadli for $7

THAT ladies and gentlemen is how to rebuild a sports franchise.

add in Dempsey for 6m too

so just in Sales (assuming Bale is 86) that's 112 with potentially more to come

and they have spent as you have above (plus 8m£ for Eriksen) 105.5

so the summer is still a net gain, I've said it before but Baldini might be the signing of the summer, Levy was always a great negotiator in selling players, but because he drives such a hard bargain buying was an issue in the past

With Baldini and AVB it doesn't seem to be an issue anymore

[Bagor]

Time will tell.

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

THAT ladies and gentlemen is how to rebuild a sports franchise.

What's the latest on the new stadium? Seems to have stalled, No?

[d_phaneuf]

http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk...adium_project/

completion scheduled for 2016, so likely 3 more seasons at WHL

[Bagor]

The news seems to go dead after that (2012). That article is for the supermarket phase of the development with mention of the stadium build to go to tender but I can find nothing since.

Even on the official site. Nearly a year with no updates.

http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/the-...stadium-plans/

[d_phaneuf]

Levy talked about it last June in his message to the fans he does every year

“A large capacity stadium is fundamental to the ability to raise revenue and achieve future growth and success within FFP. Our 36,000 seater stadium has continued to sell out and our waiting list is now in excess of 42,000. Our new stadium plans are progressing and we are applying the same energies to delivering this hugely complex scheme as we did to the delivery of the new Training Centre.”

an official announcement is expected in the next few months once they secure funding

Keith Mills who is on the Executive board and thought to be in charge of Stadium business (he was deputy chair for London 2012) said a few weeks ago

The new stadium can only go ahead when £350m funding is secured. To do that, the club need to sell the naming rights. “We don’t have that in place and that’s an integral part of the financing,” says Mills. “Once we get that, it’ll open up the rest of the funding.”

With Middle East organisations keen to attach their names to British sport, Levy has travelled to the region but all Mills is willing to says is: “There’s been some interest.”

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foot...s-8747976.html

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

Levy talked about it last June in his message to the fans he does every year




an official announcement is expected in the next few months once they secure funding

Keith Mills who is on the Executive board and thought to be in charge of Stadium business (he was deputy chair for London 2012) said a few weeks ago



http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foot...s-8747976.html

I'm going to WHL tonight for the Europa League match against Tblisi. Should be a good opportunity to see the youngsters get a run-out.

I'll be sad to see White Hart Lane go, but a new stadium is definitely needed. WHL is in pretty bad condition...

The construction site next door (where the new stadium will be) has been cordoned off for at least a year and a half, and there are always rumours that they've finally broken ground on it, but it's impossible to know. The graphic they have on the walls around the site features a stadium straight out of some Sci Fi series, with loads of fans walking around wearing Robbie Keane, Gareth Bale (number 3) Luka Modric and Ledley King shirts. How things have changed on the pitch!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

Liverpool drawn away at United in the next round of the league cup

bitey's first game back from suspension

I can hardly wait to see who he bites next. Seriously, isnt this the second or third time hes bitten someone? Its going to happen again, I just hope it doesnt happen in a Liverpool jersey.

It would be hilarious if he took to the pre-match warmup in a Hannibal Lecter mask.

In all seriousness though, I'd love to know what was said to get him to decide to stay, and we'll see in his play whether or not hes happy about it.

[cam_wmh]

Has Mourinho chosen Eto over Ba, Lukaku & Torres?

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by Locke

I can hardly wait to see who he bites next. Seriously, isnt this the second or third time hes bitten someone?

Biting someone is the Uruguayan way of handing in a transfer request.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by kdogg

Can anyone recommend any soccer apps with match great match coverage (commentary, lineups, and stats). I'm looking for an app to help me follow games when I'm not by a TV / computer.

Livescore is great for near real time scores, but doesn't have any match details.

The Score (as Fusebox has already mentioned) is a good one for EPL, plus you can also have a list of favourite teams from other leagues like NHL, MLS, CFL, etc, receive alerts before, after, and/or during the matches, and it has standings, match reports, and other nice features.

The Score Mobile FC is an older app that still had the old Score Mobile interface (read: a little dated), but this lets you track lower divisions in all of the main soccer countries, plus lots of cups and that sort of thing. It also has alerts, but the interface is less polished than the main Score app. Worth installing though.

And this one still surprises me: TalkSport Live is an iPhone app that lets you listen to live audio commentary for every single EPL match. Free and legal. I guess TalkSport (a UK radio station) owns the rights to live audio outside of Europe, and this app lets you access it.

I use TuneIn Radio for my iPhone radio listening, and they actually have a partnership with TalkSport too. If you search for TalkSport within TuneIn, you'll see 10 channels for English (usually only 6-8 are in use at any given time, obviously, with the exception of the final day of the season), plus 10 in Spanish and 10 in Mandarin. So you can catch every single EPL match in three different languages. I have all of the TalkSport channels saved in my TuneIn favourites in a special folder, so any game I want is within a couple of taps.

[Jimmy Stang]

All of this Eric Cantona bickering talk has reminded me of a strange time. In 1995 I was 15, I broke my arm fairly badly (radius and ulna) playing soccer. I had to spend a few days in the hospital and they put some metal in me to hold my forearm bones together. The day after surgery, I was drugged up in the hospital when good old Soccer Saturday came on. I was able to stay awake long enough to see highlights of Cantona's infamous kick, have a brief "WTF moment", and then passed out again for a few hours.

Mostly off topic, obviously, but whenever I hear Cantona's name it takes me back to that period in my life. One of those personal "where were you when?" moments.

[d_phaneuf]

I still think Cantona's kick was justifiable

[Bagor]

A new season and Liverpool's PR department as clueless as ever.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

I still think Cantona's kick was justifiable

I think more fans should be dropkicked. There should be like a '3 dropkicks per season' quota for the PL.

[Bagor]

Apology issued.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...h-air-disaster

[valo403]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

I'm going to WHL tonight for the Europa League match against Tblisi. Should be a good opportunity to see the youngsters get a run-out.

I'll be sad to see White Hart Lane go, but a new stadium is definitely needed. WHL is in pretty bad condition...

The construction site next door (where the new stadium will be) has been cordoned off for at least a year and a half, and there are always rumours that they've finally broken ground on it, but it's impossible to know. The graphic they have on the walls around the site features a stadium straight out of some Sci Fi series, with loads of fans walking around wearing Robbie Keane, Gareth Bale (number 3) Luka Modric and Ledley King shirts. How things have changed on the pitch!

Just snagged tickets for the match against West Ham in October, Upper North Block 50 Row 3. Any recommendations, either inside the stadium or for pre and post game?

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

Sooo... enough arguing about Cantona's ban 18 years ago please fellas. There's some really interesting stuff going down in the EPL.

How about Tottenham this season and the squad they've built using money selling one player. They've broken their signing record 3 times this summer and are looking like title contenders, even without their talisman.

Selling: -Gareth Bale for £78 to £86 million (not yet finalised)
-Parker, Huddlestone, Caulker for £20 million

Buying: -Erik Lamela as a direct replacement for Bale(upgrade some might argue) for £30 million
-Roberto Soldado for £26m
-Paulinho for £17m
-Etienne Capoue for £9
-Vlad Chiriches for $8.5
-Nacer Chadli for $7

THAT ladies and gentlemen is how to rebuild a sports franchise.

Wait a minute. What if Real is low balling Levy now? They see how leveraged they with their purchases thus far.. and now they're lowing their bid? Perhaps not using that language, but it sure does put Totts in a precarious position none the less.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Wait a minute. What if Real is low balling Levy now? They see how leveraged they with their purchases thus far.. and now they're lowing their bid? Perhaps not using that language, but it sure does put Totts in a precarious position none the less.

Except that Bale and Madrid have no leverage here. Levy has a set price. If Madrid won't meet it, then Bale doesn't go. If Bale refuses to show up for training and games, he loses his wages and rots on the bench. Sure Spurs will lose some money but not nearly as much as Bale and his agent stand to lose.