leffe186

The commentator was talking complete and utter bollocks from start to finish .

Very tidy player. Trouble is, we have a ludicrous number of young CMs coming through. Bentaleb, Mason, Winks, Carroll, Alli, Ward and Onomah, plus others like Veljkovic, Sonupe & Pritchard. Poch can't play them all - we've already had to sell Luongo (another excellent CM) because we just had too many. The fear is that the ones we let go will turn out to be the better players in the long run. We're crying out for 433, but Poch is fixated on 4231.

Unless you mean only this season. In which case, probably fair enough, although Kane is still very well-priced for somebody who is pretty much guaranteed to be a lone striker every game. I usually try to keep at least three. Last year it was Lloris, Kane and Eriksen for the most part. This year is definitely tougher. I have Trippier, although there's still a danger Poch plays Walker. Most of the players are at least 0.5 overpriced, although my top tips are Alli, and Pritchard after he gets over the ankle injury.

You didn't have Kane at all last year? You're insane.

Have you really been so bad in pre-season that you were hoping to bury the evidence?

What happened to the "Other Games Today" thread?

Scratch that. Apparently it was "Are You Watching Pompey Scum?" .

Heavy user, etc etc.

Found him Did you find LVG too?

Is it true that Southampton were singing "Are You Watching Tottenham?" at some point?

They've been playing "behind closed doors" games.

I'm pretty confident there will be at least two more good 'uns in soon. If Adebayor goes that frees up loads of wages, plus I'd hope at least three more will be leaving. We're looking for a CF, a forward who can play a bit wider and a defensive CM. I'd be surprised if we didn't get a couple of those, maybe all three.

Enjoying this. Only downside is that we're obviously completely fucked if Kane gets injured.

Good first half - happy with that considering it's our first proper pre-season game. Kane should be on a hat-trick already.

Meh. I've got no idea if pre-season performances are a decent indicator of early season performances - the one we always refer to is the pre-"two points from eight games" where we looked ace, culminating in beating Roma 5-0. What gets me about your pre-season is how appallingly amateurish the whole thing has been. The timing, the choice of opponents, the communication. Pre-season is primarily a preparation for the new season (integrating new players, trying out new tactics, building fitness) but is more and more an opportunity to build the brand - generating money in the short and long-term. Those two are often at odds, but at least friendlies typically do one or the other, if not both. I just don't have the faintest idea what your guys were thinking.

I still think their defence looks fragile. Fully expecting to get gubbed first match of the season though.

I've got Man U v Barca on, is this live? Nice soft corner goal for Man U. Fairly predictable pattern to the game so far.

Genuinely couldn't have been any better if we'd picked it ourselves .

What happened to that kid from the Ivory Coast they signed? Never really kicked on. He scored a couple against Inter's U21s when we beat them 7-1 a couple of years back, but then we loaned him to some smaller Italian club and he pretty much disappeared. He's supposed to be back in England looking for a club. Interested? Edit: Wiki says he's at Peterborough.

Generally those who emigrate tend to be more cultural, educated people than those who don't. You don't often find people who emigrate to be against immigrants and and people with different ethnicities. Well I say that but fare few of these Brits who go and emigrate to the Costa's will do their best to prove me wrong. Leffe and SEMTEX like this.

A few young 'uns back from loans too. Pritchard is the one I hope will play a major part.

Trippier and Wimmer to bulk up the defence too. Nobody noticed, because we finally got our arses in gear early, rather than after the transfer window SLAMMED SHUT. We still need a CF and an attacking wide(ish) man by my reckoning. Still some more deadwood to clear out too.

Like the man said, I was going to wait, but my predictions last year were Godawful so I may as well... Premiership Winners: Manchester City Runners Up: Chelsea 3rd-6th: Arsenal, Man U, Liverpool, Spurs. Relegation: Bournemouth, Norwich, Watford Overachievers: Newcastle U Underperformers: West Ham Top Goal Scorer: Aguero Break Out Year: Alli, Pritchard Season to Forget: Sherwood & Delph PFA Player of the Year: Aguero PFA Young Player of the Year: Sterling Manager of the Year: Pellegrini First manager to quite/be sacked/'mutual consent': Slaven Bilic Newcastle United Where will we finish?: Eighth Top Goalscorer?: Mitrovic/Austin/Kane/whoever you sign How will we do in the cup competitions?: Lose FA Cup Final, Quarters of the League Cup How will we do in the derby games?: Win both 5-0 Domestic Championship Promotion: Middlesbro, Leeds, Burnley Championship Relegation: QPR, MK Dons, Brentford League One Promotion: Sheff Utd, Coventry, Peterborough League One Relegation: Blackpool, Doncaster, Rochdale League Two Promotion: Barnet, Leyton Orient, AFC Wimbledon. Fat chance of any of that, but that's who I actually want. League Two Relegation: Morecambe, Luton. Or two of the above three. FA Cup: Sunderland beating you guys. Naah, it'll be Arsenal. League Cup: Liverpool Johnstone's Paint Trophy: Chesterfield Europe La Liga winner: Barca Serie A winner: Juve Bundesliga winner: Bayern Champions League winner: Barca Europa League winner: Marseille World Player of the Year: Messi Other: How will Bournemouth fare in their first outing in the Premier League: 18th When will Crystal Palace fans start to resent Alan Pardew: Never How many goals will Balotelli score this season: 3 in the league. How will De Jong get injured this season: Meteorite.

Where would that leave you guys re: homegrown players? Genuine question - i don't know if there have been any rule changes because we've got ourselves in a really good position.

Yeah, plenty, at a complete guess I'd say about half. My team's the Browns, and we play on grass. As for the mighty Spurs; apparently we're up for Wembley but Chelsea offered more cash. Rumour is that we now need two years somewhere else, and that's looking more and more like MK Dons. We were also rumored to be trolling West Ham by making them share with us.