2017/2018 THE Premier League Thread

[devo22]

what a load of horsecrap. City have one of the biggest wage bills in world football ... if Pep ever is sick of football ehe should consider a career in comedy.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Sounds like Sturridge to West Brom on loan. Not sure why Liverpool aren't looking to sell seeing as he doesn't appear to have a future there.

[devo22]

pretty good FA Cup draw for the big teams.

1 Sheffield Wednesday v Notts County or Swansea City
2 West Bromwich Albion v Southampton
3 Chelsea v Hull City
4 Leicester City v Sheffield United
5 Huddersfield Town or Birmingham v Manchester United
6 Millwall or Rochdale v Newport County or Tottenham Hotspur
7 Brighton and Hove Albion v Coventry City
8 Wigan Athletic v Manchester City

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by devo22

what a load of horsecrap. City have one of the biggest wage bills in world football ... if Pep ever is sick of football ehe should consider a career in comedy.

Or maybe he should try winning something without needing 22 of the top players with at least 2 at every position.

[d_phaneuf]

Rob Harris

@RobHarris
“Klopp claims Liverpool FA Cup tie was cut short on broadcaster’s orders”
An undermining of the integrity of the referee - could see Klopp charged by the FA

He's a bigger whiner than Mourinho

[Locke]

Originally Posted by d_phaneuf

He's a bigger whiner than Mourinho

I dont even understand what hes complaining about? He thinks there should have been more extra time? Doesnt matter really.

Seems odd.

[devo22]

from BBCs David Ornstein (Arsenals twitter god):



simply amazing. You can see the levels of desperation when Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea are that willing to make deals with each other ... and Arsenals window in general has been quite amazing in terms of offering and agreeing swap deals. Those things never happen, but apparently Arsene was bored one day and decided to try out those trade thingies that North American sports league like. Certainly entertaining stuff.

[Slava]

I don’t know about desperation on the part of Spurs. They would swap Llorente for Batshuayi, who they tried to buy a couple summers ago. Llorente hasn’t been good for Spurs, to say the least. Basically, Levy is happy to swap these strikers to screw Chelsea (a move I fully support!)

But this is the issue for Spurs. We need a good back up for Kane, but of course no one of quality wants to sit there and particularly in a WC year.

[Senator Clay Davis]

You got your Kane backup, just recall Janssen from his loan...lol.

[Slava]

Hey it’s your favourite team that tells us we need 22 top players.

I was too excited for Janssen actually. After his scoring for the Netherlands I thought he was a great addition. It’s just really hard to find these guys and a difficult adjustment to the PL.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Really you should be seeking a long term Kane replacement. I would guess he leaves by next summer so gotta start preparing.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Really you should be seeking a long term Kane replacement. I would guess he leaves by next summer so gotta start preparing.

Alright, let’s pretend that you’re right. How can you really prepare for it a year and a half in advance? We’ve already seen that bringing in cover isn’t easy or likely. Strikers who are good aren’t going to sit on the bench and watch Kane score goals every week.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Well ideally you'd find someone young. And assuming you can get £175 million or so for Kane, you should be able to find someone (or a few guys even if you're lucky). Depending on who buys Kane you could work in a player swap for someone worthwhile as well. Or hope you develop the next guy. But they need to assuming he will leave and then at worst he stays and you have two quality strikers, or he leaves and you're ready.

[rubecube]

I'm not sure about Kane leaving. He seems pretty hell bent on breaking Shearer's record and there's no way Levy sells him within the PL. Obviously money talks and it'd be hard for him to turn down Madrid but it wouldn't shock me if he stuck around for a few more years.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Just like there was no way Wenger was ever selling to United again after Van Persie. With the new stadium cost predictably well over budget, a £200 million cash injection is gonna be tough to turn down. Kane will be 26 by next summer, at some point he's gonna wanna win something in his prime. We'll see what Spurs can do to convince him that can happen there.

Speaking of Arsenal it does look like Aubameyang is gonna get done, their fans were stalking his flight and car but he's at the training ground.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Just like there was no way Wenger was ever selling to United again after Van Persie. With the new stadium cost predictably well over budget, a £200 million cash injection is gonna be tough to turn down. Kane will be 26 by next summer, at some point he's gonna wanna win something in his prime. We'll see what Spurs can do to convince him that can happen there.

Speaking of Arsenal it does look like Aubameyang is gonna get done, their fans were stalking his flight and car but he's at the training ground.

Keeping Kane pays way more than the cash you get from selling though. It's not even close. All the ticket sales, cross promotion with the NFL (which is enormous, given that they are wanting an actual London franchise), and just marketing in general is way more than a couple hundred million. A lot of the "Kane is leaving" talk seems like wishful thinking on the part of rival fans.

And let's see how things shake down before we go too far with the "Spurs have to win things" line of thinking. Last time I checked they were still in the FA Cup, still in the CL and still in the mix for a CL berth for next season as well. It's not out of the realm of possibility that they win something this year, and everyone knew that this was going to be a difficult one because they had their "home" games at Wembley.

Unfortunately though, selling is just part of the game now. Both Sanchez and Coutinho moved this month and there are players being sold by both PSG at this point and if the rumours are true Real Madrid this summer because they need cash. I wouldn't describe those clubs as traditional "selling clubs", but here we are.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Slava

Keeping Kane pays way more than the cash you get from selling though. It's not even close. All the ticket sales, cross promotion with the NFL (which is enormous, given that they are wanting an actual London franchise), and just marketing in general is way more than a couple hundred million. A lot of the "Kane is leaving" talk seems like wishful thinking on the part of rival fans.

And let's see how things shake down before we go too far with the "Spurs have to win things" line of thinking. Last time I checked they were still in the FA Cup, still in the CL and still in the mix for a CL berth for next season as well. It's not out of the realm of possibility that they win something this year, and everyone knew that this was going to be a difficult one because they had their "home" games at Wembley.

Unfortunately though, selling is just part of the game now. Both Sanchez and Coutinho moved this month and there are players being sold by both PSG at this point and if the rumours are true Real Madrid this summer because they need cash. I wouldn't describe those clubs as traditional "selling clubs", but here we are.

I see the 'Kane Scenario' quite differently.

Most of the time when players are getting poached by Real or Barca is because its been their dream to play for those teams, you dont see that as often with British players as you do with Continental players or South American players. They dont have that same love for Spanish teams.

Especially because they're going from growing up in a Spanish-based culture to a bit of a shock in England, and playing in Spain is a pretty sweet gig especially once you consider their laughable wages.

Kane probably grew up dreaming about playing for Sheffield Wednesday on a rainy afternoon on the South Coast or something equally preposterous.

[devo22]

looks like Mahrez is close to joining Man City for around £55m.

poor Pep.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by devo22

looks like Mahrez is close to joining Man City for around £55m.

poor Pep.

Jesus...really? There are definitely days I wish I were a City fan.

The runaway League leaders are adding a guy like Mahrez. Sure the money is high but fans dont care about that if the team is winning.

Thats a pretty good buy.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by devo22

looks like Mahrez is close to joining Man City for around £55m.

poor Pep.

What a miracle worker he is to make things come together with those budgetary constraints.