Football 2015/16

[TheGayTent]

That's utter lunacy

[sdvruxk]

Being young and English obviously multiples your price tag by 2.

[TheGayTent]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/richardbeech/thats-liquid-football#.qdNd39Pd3

Good little game - I ran out of miles on level 5. It was the Scots ones that did for me!

[Celery]

Stones to Chelsea? £20m bid rejected, mail saying they will come back with £26m, mirror reporting both Manchester clubs may enter the bidding pushing the price up further.

£20m is more than a fair price but not surprise they rejected it. We did take them for £28m for Lukaku!! Would be a great move for Stones (and England). The one position we seem able to develop players in is defence. 

[kingcrawler]

dreadful buy I reckon.

 

I've seen a quote by him in the last few weeks, basically saying "if they think I'm getting transferred and a pay cut, Spurs can do one".

 

You might get 5 matches out of him before he goes missing.

 

You're forgetting this...

 

 

I agree though, not a fan of Adebayor at all and don't think he'd be a good signing for the wages he'd be on.

 

Could be a trip to Scotland or Romania...

...if we get through of course !

 

Can't see Inverness getting a result in Romania but I really hope they do. They've been great the last few seasons and it was hard not to enjoy their cup run last year (especially a certain handball incident in the semi final!). They lost a few key players over the summer though so playing a fairly decent team in Astra was always going to be a struggle.

[Wooderson]

Delph. Gobshite.

[thetime]

£20m is more than a fair price but not surprise they rejected it. We did take them for £28m for Lukaku!! Would be a great move for Stones (and England). The one position we seem able to develop players in is defence.

Would be a daft move for Stones at this stage in his career. Is he going to get in ahead of Terry and Cahill? Not a chance.

Better to stay at Everton another 2 years.

[thetime]

Delph. Gobshite.

Suarez cough cough, footballer talks shit shocker.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/dec/20/luis-suarez-signs-long-term-liverpool-deal

Edited July 17, 2015 by thetime

[lost]

We did take them for £28m for Lukaku!! 

 

If the phones rings again Everton should bring up the David Luis fee

[Celery]

Would be a daft move for Stones at this stage in his career. Is he going to get in ahead of Terry and Cahill? Not a chance.

Better to stay at Everton another 2 years.

Terry is old and Cahill is average at best. He'll get a decent amount of games, play for a manager who knows how to coach defenders and play top level football. Everton under Martinez is not a good place to develop as a defender

[Celery]

If the phones rings again Everton should bring up the David Luis fee

 

Really? I'd say Stones at £20-24m and Luiz for £40m is pretty comparable. Also, we didn't buy him for that so it's pretty irrelevant what we sold him to PSG for. No way Chelsea would pay near £40m for Stones. 

[lost]

Really? I'd say Stones at £20-24m and Luiz for £40m is pretty comparable. Also, we didn't buy him for that so it's pretty irrelevant what we sold him to PSG for. No way Chelsea would pay near £40m for Stones. 

 

I may be biased by that world cup semi but I think Luiz is terrible. Not looking a good summer for Everton though, Mccarthy (rightly) pissed that cleverly has come in on alot more than him.

[Gucci Piggy]

As soon as Terry's time's up they've got Zouma to come in. Stones should stay at Everton for a couple of years until he's good enough to replace Cahill.

Surprised City don't really seem to have been in for him. They're desperate for homegrown players and their centre backs aren't great (and am I right in thinking they only have three senior ones - Kompany, Mangala, Demichelis?).

[Wooderson]

Stones is better than Luis. The Ev should take them to the absolute cleaners there.

[pink_triangle]

£20m is more than a fair price but not surprise they rejected it. We did take them for £28m for Lukaku!! Would be a great move for Stones (and England). The one position we seem able to develop players in is defence.

 

I think its possible the English centre back well has run dry, I seem to remember the likes of Jagielka and Lescott starting for England in recent tournaments. I personally felt the English centre backs (Rio at their peak excluded were a little overrated) the last gasp tackls/headers look great as tv drama, but the lack of ball playing ability often just resulted in giving the possession straight back to the opposition.

 

Can't see Inverness getting a result in Romania but I really hope they do. They've been great the last few seasons and it was hard not to enjoy their cup run last year (especially a certain handball incident in the semi final!). They lost a few key players over the summer though so playing a fairly decent team in Astra was always going to be a struggle.

I have a soft spot for Inverness after watching them last season. I knew quite a few of their players as lower league/conference English players and I think the manager has done a miracle with that group of players, so wouldn't count them out.

[pink_triangle]

Stones is better than Luis. The Ev should take them to the absolute cleaners there.

Im not sure how good Stones is. To me the top centre backs perform in the really big games and I cant remember Stones playing in many. If he was French or from Belgium Im not sure I would think of him as more than a decent prospect. 20 million is great value for an unproven player.

[kingcrawler]

 

I have a soft spot for Inverness after watching them last season. I knew quite a few of their players as lower league/conference English players and I think the manager has done a miracle with that group of players, so wouldn't count them out.

 

To be fair it was Terry Butcher and his scouting team who brought that squad together before he left for Hibs. However, John Hughes took them to a new level last season. The most impressive thing is that he signed about two players all season and one of those was in February, yet managed to make the team play a completely different style of play. Under Butcher it was very much quick, direct football but ultimately successful. Hughes turned them into a short passing, possession based team which given he had a midfield more used to being ball-winners and not the core part of the team is a brilliant achievement. Add that to finishing third in the league and winning their first ever Scottish Cup and it's clear to see why John Hughes won manager of the year!

 

Since then they've lost their captain from last season and probably best player in Graeme Shinnie to Aberdeen and their main attacking threat Marley Watkins to Barnsley, which given they sold Billy McKay in January means they're much weaker now than they were at the start of last season. They've only brought in one player so far, a guy from Cowdenbeath who were relegated from the league below, and by all accounts he's an alright player but not really top six standard. Then again, most people would have said that at most if not all of their recent signings. 

 

I hope they do get a result in Astra but looking at their squad I'm not sure who's going to score for them bar maybe Christie or Doran.

[pink_triangle]

. They've only brought in one player so far, a guy from Cowdenbeath who were relegated from the league below, and by all accounts he's an alright player but not really top six standard. Then again, most people would have said that at most if not all of their recent signings.

Theres a lot to be said about teams who are greater than the sum of their parts. They are obviously able to mould some pretty limited players in to a squad. I have noticed in recent years more English lower league players going to play in the SPL. I can see the appeal as it offers potential cup wins and European football rather than making up the numbers. Wrexhams best player has left us to join Motherwell, I will be interested to see how he does.

[thetime]

Chris Smalling is th best defender in this country, no question about that. Smalling will be United and England Captain after rooney. The guy is a total beast since LVG went there, dont be surprised him getting player of the year this year.

 

Hopefully the beer has not blurred my judgement..

Edited July 17, 2015 by thetime

[Gucci Piggy]

Yeah Smalling was quality last season and should be starting for England now (dunno if he is, haven't paid attention to our recent games).

[kingcrawler]

Theres a lot to be said about teams who are greater than the sum of their parts. They are obviously able to mould some pretty limited players in to a squad. I have noticed in recent years more English lower league players going to play in the SPL. I can see the appeal as it offers potential cup wins and European football rather than making up the numbers. Wrexhams best player has left us to join Motherwell, I will be interested to see how he does.

 

I wouldn't say their squad is full of limited players, more players who've spent some time in the English lower leagues but haven't really been noticed. Two of the players I mentioned, Watkins and McKay, hadn't done anything special in their careers before Inverness yet they were both great for them and moved on to bigger clubs. I think when most of their starting 11 leave it will be to Championship/League One teams.

 

Yeah European football is a big bonus for moving up here, as well as games being shown on tv every week. It's easier to stand out up here than in the English lower leagues given how many teams, players and games there are down there.

 

I know Motherwell had a poor season last year but they finished 3rd, 2nd and 2nd in the three years before that so are a club with potential to do well. It's a good move for Moult, if he does well then the big league one teams/championship teams will be after him and if he struggles he'll still be able to drop back down to Wrexham's level. I think he got a 3 year deal too so I guess he'll get some time to settle in.

[kingcrawler]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jul/17/manchester-united-pedro-22m-barcelona-release-clause?CMP=twt_gu

 

Pedro to Man Utd now apparently. I think he'd be a great signing for them.

[pink_triangle]

I wouldn't say their squad is full of limited players, more players who've spent some time in the English lower leagues but haven't really been noticed. Two of the players I mentioned, Watkins and McKay, hadn't done anything special in their careers before Inverness yet they were both great for them and moved on to bigger clubs. I think when most of their starting 11 leave it will be to Championship/League One teams.

I have only seen Inverness once, so possibly the players I weren't aware of were at that level. Admitedly game was againt celtic and a poor one to judge. However I have seen plenty (know some are squad players) of Raven, Tremarco, Devine, Vincent, Draper and Foran doing the lower league rounds and I would be amazed if any of them got close to a championship side. Although some players do peak later than others. I have to admit these players surprised me being competitive against Celtic.

Edited July 17, 2015 by pink_triangle

[kingcrawler]

I have only seen Inverness once, so possibly the players I weren't aware of were at that level. Admitedly game was againt celtic and a poor one to judge. However I have seen plenty (know some are squad players) of Raven, Tremarco, Devine, Vincent, Draper and Foran doing the lower league rounds and I would be amazed if any of them got close to a championship side.

 

Ah was that the 1-1 game?

 

Yeah, perhaps most was a push. I think Christie, Williams, Tansey, Meekings and Warren could all play at high league one level, Meekings and Christie in a couple of years time could definitely play in the championship. The others you mentioned weren't regulars last season bar Raven and Draper, though with Foran it was purely down to him being injured all season. He'll be a regular this season and he'll be an important player for them. Draper's not any worse than some of the midfield cloggers you get in the Championship. Admittedly I didn't see him play in England but I've got no doubts he's a much better, more all rounded player than he was down there. I think he could get a game at a bottom 6/8 team. I'll give you Tremarco though, he's really not very good at all and I'm not sure how he's still there.

[ThomThomDrum]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jul/17/manchester-united-pedro-22m-barcelona-release-clause?CMP=twt_gu

Pedro to Man Utd now apparently. I think he'd be a great signing for them.

Would be a great signing. I would be surprised if Chelski "allow" it...