Official Premiership 2008/09 thread

[-A-]

Spurs made a profit this summer, they didn't spend a penny.

[Colly]

Its not so much the amount that Sunderland have spend though thats bizarre. Its the fact they've spent £75m on about £40m worth of players. £5m for 'I'd be an alright Championship striker' Michael Chopra who they've now forced out of the side, and the big bulk deal with Spurs where you'd expect a discount but actually spent more than the value of those three players...

[-A-]

Who decides what a player's worth? Just accept that the market is getting ever-more expensive. When the latest TV deal is announced people don't say 'but football is only worth half of that!' - football is big business and the clubs have much more money so the value of players goes up.

Edited September 18, 2008 by -A-

[alldaws1]

Spurs made a profit this summer, they didn't spend a penny.

Technically, but you could also argue most of the players we sold were just dead weight. We've made a big investment in new players, regardless of what we've sold and there's nothing to show for it yet. Of course with such a hefty change there's bound to be a settling in period, but since we finished 5th in the league two years in a row there's been tremendous expectations on us to do well, break into the top four and the team's been given almost no time to get used to things. That's why Martin Jol was fired, far too early considering the players that were brought in and that Jol had little to no control over who was actually bought. I just hope our fans and board give Ramos and the new players time to gel and work together properly. If we're still down near the bottom of the table near Christmas perhaps look into some emergency measures in January but Ramos needs to be given at the very least until the end of the season.

Slightly off-topic rant there >_>

Edited September 18, 2008 by AD

[-A-]

It's not really off-topic, but it didn't seem to be much to do with what I said Sunderland have been throwing money around left, right and centre and Spurs have simply re-configured the squad, with a net profit. Sunderland fans can't accuse Spurs of spending more money than them because they haven't. The biggest net spenders have actually been Aston Villa, with something like a £32m outlay. Spurs made a profit. Simply looking at the total value of the players that have come in is totally pointless, really.

Spurs have done great business this summer, I wasn't accusing them of failing to invest. It's fairly obvious that Levy wanted to keep hold of Berbatov and that would have left the squad looking seriously dangerous. As it is, Berbs went at the last possible moment and a suitable replacement couldn't be bought. If they'd been able to bring in a top quality defensive midfielder then I think they'd be seriously competing for Champions League places, but I think this present squad has significant weaknesses - unproven strikers, no defensive midfielder and a first choice centre back pairing that's horrendously injury-prone. There are incredibly talented attacking midfielders and fullbacks, it's vital that there be some kind of defensive balance. It seems like Spurs are set up to create dozens of chances, miss them all and then concede a couple to boot. If Hutton comes back and Corluka can be moved into defensive midfield and he flourishes then things will look better, but he strikes me as more of a solid roving fullback than a defensive player and there's the serious possibility that he'll spend a lot of the season deputising for King or Woodgate in central defence.

If Spurs can settle into some decent form they can be a very good side, but I don't see them competing for CL places this year unless they immediately gel and then sign a big player in January - a defensive midfielder if Corluka doesn't work out or a striker if he does.

[TheArsenal]

So... Man United shirts, before and after this week.....?

[Colly]

Like it. Especially the fact that in the wake of that and XL most people now have to stop mickeytaking Newcastles Northern Rock.

[IAceI]

DOO DOO DOO-DOO... MICHAEL CHOPRA DOO DOO DOO-DOO

[ONO]

He truly is the best player I've ever seen.

[IAceI]

DOO DOO DOO-DOO MICHAEL CHOPRA DOO DOO DOO-DOO

x2

[Hobo]

Blah, Alonso is having one of his shit days again. We should be 1-0 but Gerrard has a perfectly good goal disallowed. We're destroying Stoke but just can't actually score.

[IAceI]

Is that the one when Kuyt apparently ran for it, missed it but was deemed active because he attempted to make a play on the ball?

[therockbox]

Nobody was offside anyway, was a perfectly good goal.

We'll score eventually. Stoke are copying Andorra's tactics and have had 10 players in their own box for most of the half.

Edited September 20, 2008 by therockbox

[-A-]

Gerrard to score a screamer to win it then.

[stokeriño]

Skrtel off a corner pls kthxbye.

Edited September 20, 2008 by stokeriño

[Hobo]

Only offside if he interferes with play, Kuyt didn't touch it and no other player was anywhere near being deemed offside. It was a really bad call by the linesman. If Liverpool do get a goal in this match, I could see Stoke conceding a few.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

1. On the longest current run in the Premier League without of victory of five matches; drew one and lost four since prevailing 0-1 against Reading at the Madejski on 3 May 2008.

2. Won one of 11 Premier League outings.

3. Won 10 of 31 top-flight matches under Juande Ramos.

4. Conceded the opening goal in all four league games this term.

5. On the longest current run in the Premier League of 11 matches since scoring more than a single goal in a game; the 2-0 home win over Portsmouth on 22 March being the most recent.

6. Lost the last three Premier League games at White Hart Lane; picking up two points out of 18 at home since beating Pompey - their only maximum in eight on home soil.

7. Failed to score in one of the last 17 league outings, and one in 27 home league games; the 0-2 loss to Liverpool on 11 May being the exception.

8. Conceded two goals in each of their last three home league games, and not managed a clean sheet in six.

9. Winless in seven Premier League games against North-West clubs, since a 2-1 home victory over Manchester City on 9 December 2007. That was also their last home win against clubs from the region.

Hmmm thanks for cheering me up BBC.

Still at least we've got Wigan at home tomorrow. If we lose then we deserve to be in exactly the trouble we're in.

[therockbox]

Skrtel off a corner pls kthxbye.

Haha, have you ever watched us play? We're fucking useless from corners, we might as well just let the other team have a goal kick.

[IAceI]

Only offside if he interferes with play, Kuyt didn't touch it and no other player was anywhere near being deemed offside. It was a really bad call by the linesman. If Liverpool do get a goal in this match, I could see Stoke conceding a few.

You don't have to touch it to interfere with play.

But if he wasn't offside in the first place then it renders the whole thing pointless anyways and it should be 1-0 to Liverpool.

[-A-]

I think you do have to be interfering with play, but you can do that just by being in a position to distract the keeper, for example.

3-0 West Ham, lovely.