Premier League 2010/11 general thread

[abigsmurf]

Good fixture list, bad fixture list, somethings always stay the same.

Next year being Liverpool's season, Arsenal being effectively knocked out of 3+ competitions in the space of 2 weeks in the Spring, Chelsea getting Barcelona or Man U in Europe (Man U have replaced Liverpool for us it seems).

[hudson]

Next year being Liverpool's season

Eh? Whatchyou talkin' 'bout, Willis?

[EJG1980]

Jamie O'Hara has left Spurs to join Wolves, fee is supposedly around ?5 million. Probably one of the least surprising transfers of the summer!

[Baseley09]

If Sunderland spend ?6 million landing Craig Gardener from the ?20 million they got for Henderson, they've done the better business there.

[abigsmurf]

Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy all look set to leave Arsenal. Next season could be pretty grim for them if they can't find quality replacements.

[prinnysquad]

Craig Gardner's wikipedia page currently contains this information:

Birmingham City
He was the club's top goalscorer in the 2010?11 season with eight League goals, ten in all competitions,as Birmingham were relegated to the Championship. He moved to Sunderland on the 30th June where he signed a 3 year contract for an 'undisclosed fee' believed to be in the region of 30 silver pieces.

Personal Life
Gardner said he was a lifelong Birmingham City supporter. He had previously claimed (while playing for Aston Villa) to have been a Villa fan since childhood. His younger brother Gary also played for England at youth level and turned professional with Aston Villa. He recently claimed after signing for Sunderland that he grew up supporting Sunderland and is a life long fan.

Heh.

[abigsmurf]

Gary Gardner? His school life must've been fun...

[prinnysquad]

Quite impressed with Fatty's signings tbh.

Gardner gets goals from midfield - sorely lacking is recent years for us.
Larsson on a free gives a mobile option in midfield - got a fair few assists last season.
Westwood is highly rated, and on a free can hardly be worse than Hannah Gordon, who should be shipped out.
Ji Dong-won is just a squad player, but hopefully will make as big an impact as Park and Lee.
Wickham is a huge risk, but could be amazing. Another development project, but this time, he's on our books (rather than Welbeck who got the first team chance with us, shone, then went back to the parent club)

The rumour mill/itk turds suggest that a move could be being made to get Hutton back here permanently. Some bloke even suggested Quinn was going for Defoe, as Spuz need to flog forwards to buy forwards. Other guys linked include Dann and/or Johnson would replace Mensah at the back nicely. I'm not sure what would happen to that story if Brown and/or O'Shea came, plus there's the Gibson bid to resolve.

That only leaves a left back (which we haven't had for years - maybe O'Shea?) and an experienced forward to bring in, to complement Gyan. Plus, the Insomnia mystery needs to be solved, and Welbeck is a possibility for another loan, perhaps.

Can't imagine Short is pleased with these wholesale changes - again - but the Bent and Henderson money is funding a lot of these moves. Bruce seems to have given up on crap South Americans this year, and realised that loan signings should complement a squad, not form the core of the first team, otherwise you can't build.

[Baseley09]

Why has Clichy signed for Man City, surely last summer they paid around ?16 mil for Kolarov.....I'd rather see Gibbs playing at Arsenal, I think this is smooth business.

[merf]

Clichy no loss for me, he gives away the ball and has gone backwards in recent seasons, he constantly bombs on to deliver nothing then is caught exposed and out of position.

maybe a change of scene will do him good, not the first i'd want out the door but not shedding a tear. Now to get rid of diaby, rosicky, denilson, squillachi, almunia, bender,

[toythatkills]

Leave Bendtner alone. I'll be gutted when he goes

[merf]

I've always maintained that given a run of games for a decent team that Bender is good for 12-15 league goals per season. His probs at Arsenal is coming off the bench stone cold in usually a desperate situation and being expected to do something straight away, he's not that kind of player (as the miss against Barca showed in the away leg that would have put us through).

I see him as a Europa league challenging team level, somebody like Villa or Everton where he'd be the bigger fish his ego demands.

[abigsmurf]

Tevez has put in a transfer request at City

[Flabio]

And it's expected Fabregas is going to do the same at Arsenal today.

It's going to be a *very* different looking Arsenal side next season, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[toythatkills]

I've always maintained that given a run of games for a decent team that Bender is good for 12-15 league goals per season. His probs at Arsenal is coming off the bench stone cold in usually a desperate situation and being expected to do something straight away, he's not that kind of player (as the miss against Barca showed in the away leg that would have put us through).

I see him as a Europa league challenging team level, somebody like Villa or Everton where he'd be the bigger fish his ego demands.

Bendtner is brilliant, and given a chance in his proper position in the Arsenal team would score 25-30 goals a season, easy. He'd miss as many, probably, but the guy has a positional sense that I've seen in very few players before. When he plays up front he is always in the right place at the right time which is why he gets chance after chance. And he's so confident that even when he fluffs some, it doesn't affect him and he'll still be there next time to take another chance. He won't go missing for seasons at a time like Torres did. I genuinely believe he's one of the best players Arsenal have got and I'll be gutted if he leaves. It's not a popular opinion, but I think he'd be a lot harder to replace than Nasri would. Or at least he would be if Wenger had allowed us to get used to him playing as a centre-forward.

It's the one thing that really pisses me off about Arsenal, more than the lack of trophies. Watching young players develop into having so much potential, and then Wenger playing them out of position until they feel like they have to leave if they want to play where they're best. Wherever he goes, he's going to score tons.

And it's expected Fabregas is going to do the same at Arsenal today.

It's going to be a *very* different looking Arsenal side next season, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

It'll be different in that there'll only be three players from last years side, and come the start of the season Wenger will still be trying to sign somebody.