James

No they are not, copyright and all that.

Newcastle United is the club where dreams come true, only you wake up just before fulfilment.

Arda Turan

The apparent ousting of Smith shows that time and time again, Keegan knows what the club needs.

I'm optimistic Dave.

Paul Dickov mk II IMO

Johnson's main attribute is how he speculates, he'll always make the right run into the box off the ball in case the right supply comes in, and he'll try to beat his man in the penalty area/around the box to win a penalty if there are no non-conservative passing options. Owen already does that though, and is a better all round player, so we didn't need him. Besides, Johnson wanted to go back to London for personal reasons.

Derdiyok was a substitute in the Swiss league not that long ago, he'll cope.

There's only one Coloccini, One Coloccini, Walking along, Singing a song, Walking in a Colo Wonderland

I liked Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures.

this reminds me of the Paul Dickov thread of yesteryear...

Remind me who finished 5th & 6th last year? Been weakened since. How? Villa have lost a centre half granted, but gained a far superior goal keeper, are on the verge of getting a decent rightback (which they didn't have last year) & signed Shorey & Sidwell. Seriously mate, what an absolute load of rubbish James, can I have an answer to this? Should have made clear that the main focus of that was at Everton, who have lost Fernandes and Johnson. Aston Villa haven't improved much in my opinion, and if Barry goes it is back to square one. Are you willing to put some money on that? Nothing OTT, just something friendly, say if Everton finish last out of that lot I'll donate another £20 here http://www.justgiving.com/thesirbobbyrobsonfoundation and if they don't finish last out of that lot you do?? If I win, you can put the proceeds here I won't, simply because I'm anticipating a cash flow problem next year as I'm paying for my own MSc. My arguments are all based on individual ability rather than other important factors such as fitness and team organisation. Put it this way looking at when we were in an even better position than Everton - beating Juventus 1-0 with Griffin, Bernard, O'Brien and Bramble in defence, all thanks to a superb manager and the way he motivated and organised our team. Moyes isn't at Robson's level, but he is very good. Everton would fall apart without him though, just like we fell apart.

Remind me who finished 5th & 6th last year? Been weakened since. How? Villa have lost a centre half granted, but gained a far superior goal keeper, are on the verge of getting a decent rightback (which they didn't have last year) & signed Shorey & Sidwell. Seriously mate, what an absolute load of rubbish James, can I have an answer to this? Should have made clear that the main focus of that was at Everton, who have lost Fernandes and Johnson. Aston Villa haven't improved much in my opinion, and if Barry goes it is back to square one.

Milner > Petrov? Easy that one, you know I'm talking about Stylian Petrov the Villa central midfielder who plays on the right hand side, who Villa fans want to replace with Milner.... Sorry, got confused there for a moment. But it does beg the question why City aren't being considered since they have the best left winger (Petrov), some exceptional defenders (Dunne, Richards & Ben Haim), some solid midfielders (Fernandes & Johnson), a very highly rated new striker (Jo), and a proven Premiership goalscorer (Benjani). Must admit I forgot about Man City at the time. Conversely, I saw Jo play for the first time today, I thought he was not up to Premier League standard.

I think some people, in particular stozo need to reread the opening post.

I honestly think Everton are just a bunch of well managed, average to good players, and that you've only got by recently because of chaos at other clubs.

Carew, Viduka and Crouch better Yakubu in terms of overall play, and Viduka and Crouch would get more goals if they played the same number of games as Yak.

Remind me who finished 5th & 6th last year? Been weakened since.

Milner > Petrov? Easy that one, you know I'm talking about Stylian Petrov the Villa central midfielder who plays on the right hand side, who Villa fans want to replace with Milner....

Anywhere you like. where are they from dude? My opinion.

Same here. Let's just say the rankings are very debatable. Go on, I want a debate.

Anywhere you like.

One way of looking at it could be to rank each position, and score points accordingly: Goalkeepers 1. James (5pt) 2. Friedel (4pt) 3. Given (3pt) 4. Howard (2pt) 5. Gomes (1pt) Right backs 1. Beye (5pt) 2. Hutton (4pt) 3. Glen Johnson (3pt) 4. Hibbert (2pt) 5. Luke Young (1pt) Left Backs 1. Lescott (5pt) 2. Bale (4pt) 3. Enrique (3pt) 4. Shorey (2pt) 5. Hreidarsson (1pt) Centre Backs 1. Coloccini (5pt) 2. King (4.5pt) 3. Woodgate (4pt) 4. Distin (3.5pt) 5. Campbell (3pt) 6. Yobo (2.5pt) 7. Laursen (2pt) 8. Davies (1.5pt) 9. Taylor (1pt) 10. Jagielka (0.5pt) Right midfield 1. Bentley (5pt) 2. Pienaar (4pt) 3. Milner (3pt) 4. Utaka (2pt) 5. Petrov (1pt) Left midfield 1. Young (5pt) 2. Modric (4pt) 3. Kranjcar (3pt) 4. Gutierrez (2pt) 5. Arteta (1pt) Central Midfield 1. Barry (5pt) 2. Diarra (4.5pt) 3. Huddlestone (4pt) 4. Bouba Diop (3.5pt) 5. Barton (3pt) 6. Reo-Coker (2.5pt) 7. Guthrie (2pt) 8. Jenas (1.5pt) 9. Neville (1pt) 10. Rodwell (0.5pt) Attacking midfielder/second striker 1. Owen (5pt) 2. Defoe (4pt) 3. Agbonlahor (3pt) 4. Bent (2pt) 5. Cahill (1pt) Target man 1. Berbatov (5pt) 2. Crouch (4pt) 3. Viduka (3pt) 4. Carew (2pt) 5. Yakubu (1pt) Final totals: 1. Tottenham 39 pts 2. Portsmouth 36.5 pts 3. Newcastle 35 pts 4. Aston Villa 28.5 pts 5. Everton 20.5 pts So yes, Spurs do have the greatest comparative strength, but if they lose some players and others keep theirs fit, other teams can topple them.

OK, assuming every player is fit, happy, motivated and well managed, which team on paper is the best?

They've got good players, but most are flawed, and this can breed inconsistency, that a team with good spirit and an inkling of abilty, such as Everton or Villa last season can beat.