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2008-09 Football Thread

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Jaffa Cake said:
I'm awaiting squad number release day with great anticipation. :D
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I really do think you need to spend some time in a darkened room!

Brown has made some good signings and I like the way he is picking players that he has either worked with before or have worked with other players / coaches in the squad. I think the only 'unknown' player so far is Geo.

One month from now it will have all kicked-off, quite literally.

I am now trying to sign up to the Hull City membership scheme (at a cost of £40) but I did not use my customer reference number last season so they said if I want to join I need the ticket stubs! And if I want to join myself and my brother, we need both the ticket stubs!

I am going to write a very nice letter asking if they could accept me even if I don't have those stubs.

Anyone got any spare tickets to Hull City this season??????
 
Jaffa Cake said:
That's the thing, Brown looks like he's being very sensible in the transfer market and not going bonkers as some newly promoted managers do. Another plus point is that quite a few of these players are free transfers and all the others aren't exactly mega-money purchases, so if reinforcements are needed in January then we should have the funs for a new face or two.

I'm awaiting squad number release day with great anticipation. :D
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The worrying thing is the fact that this was a completely unexpected promotion at the start of last season - like Derby the year before. I've created Hull on my PES6 game and I'm struggling for players - highlighting the fact that there may be an issue with the overall quality of the squad. Brown is Allardyce educated tho' and he did well with cheap transfers. I'm just aware that even clubs like us are spending £10-15million to finish mid table.
 
MOFS said:
The worrying thing is the fact that this was a completely unexpected promotion at the start of last season - like Derby the year before.
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Indeed, although there are very few parallels between our situation and that of Derby, other than that we both went up by virtue of the play-offs. And Craig Fagan. :D

We do need to get quality players in, that's for sure – of the promotion squad I'd say there's maybe half-a-dozen who may prove to be what you might call 'Premier League standard' and that's nowhere near enough. But with our signings I'm actually confident we can give a decent chance of staying up – yes, it will be a long hard season and it won't be pretty at times, but I reckon we can give a good account of ourselves.

We just need to find another centre-back and a good striker or two, and we're sorted. Make it happen, Mr Brown. :)
 
If you look at the team that won the play-off final who is Premiership quality:

Myhill - I think so, if he can get a better command of his area
Ricketts - Yes, he looked very good at times last season, needs to work on his defensive duties a bit more
Turner - Yes, he is young and improving all the time, not sure how the Premiership refs will like him putting is arms all over defenders
Brown - No sure, organises the defense well but too slow
Dawson - Not really, good but not good enough I fear
Garcia - Good squad player in the Premiership I think
Marney - Again, good squad player
Ashbee - This is a step to far for him, but try and stop him leading out the Tigers against Fulham
Barmby - Got the skill but not the legs
Windass - Same as Barmby
Campbell - Outstanding talent, only problem is that he is not ours at the moment!

So on that I think, as you said, 4 - 5 players are good enough to make the step up but we do need another 3 - 4 players, two defenders with Premiership experience and quality and at least one striker.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Indeed, although there are very few parallels between our situation and that of Derby, other than that we both went up by virtue of the play-offs. And Craig Fagan. :D

We do need to get quality players in, that's for sure – of the promotion squad I'd say there's maybe half-a-dozen who may prove to be what you might call 'Premier League standard' and that's nowhere near enough. But with our signings I'm actually confident we can give a decent chance of staying up – yes, it will be a long hard season and it won't be pretty at times, but I reckon we can give a good account of ourselves.

We just need to find another centre-back and a good striker or two, and we're sorted. Make it happen, Mr Brown. :)
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Well I'd heard about Myhil before certainly - he was at one point in the season rumoured to be a transfer target for us. And you do seem to be being much more proactive than Derby (who just took the money and ran IMHO). I think a quality defence, striker and keeper would keep you in the league. Hopefully you'll be sorted by the start of the season.
 
és: said:
Wow, he's done well to only put on a stone a year since then :D

My prediction...

Windass will score no more than 6 premier league goals. Fat, Slow, Old...

Bet he scores against some of the top teams, though.
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Windass has been fat, slow and old for the last 20 years!
 
MOFS said:
Its a decent bit of business for both sides. TBH not many tears will be shed for him leaving - he's been on the decline since the UEFA Cup final 2 years ago. A bit slow a clumsy now IMHO, but should do ok for you guys. At least Hull are being proactive in overcoming their shortfallings, unlike Stoke, who don't seem to have grasped that buying Scott Carson will keep you in the Premiership. Look at what happened to Charlton.:eek:
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yeh, I know what you mean about Boateng but a fresh challenge will do him good, but I got the impression that a lot of the Boro squad have been shirking for the last couple of years and hence, Southgate is having to rebuild, seems to be doing a good job on the quite so far, only time will tell.

I got the impression Scott Carson was waiting for a ‘bigger’ club to come in, Stoke got knarked with this and changed their minds.
 
B&Wtoon said:
yeh, I know what you mean about Boateng but a fresh challenge will do him good, but I got the impression that a lot of the Boro squad have been shirking for the last couple of years and hence, Southgate is having to rebuild, seems to be doing a good job on the quite so far, only time will tell.

I got the impression Scott Carson was waiting for a ‘bigger’ club to come in, Stoke got knarked with this and changed their minds.
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Apparently its the Baggies who are favourites to get him, though how that fits into his definition of a bigger club I don't know.:confused:I reckon they do have a better chance of staying up - though again with a useless defence.
 
MOFS said:
Apparently its the Baggies who are favourites to get him, though how that fits into his definition of a bigger club I don't know.:confused:I reckon they do have a better chance of staying up - though again with a useless defence.
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I think I would prefer the Baggies too, but I reckon he’s holding out for ‘bigger’ still, Blackburn? Boro?
 
és: said:
Wow, he's done well to only put on a stone a year since then :D

My prediction...

Windass will score no more than 6 premier league goals. Fat, Slow, Old...

Bet he scores against some of the top teams, though.
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You never know, if he keeps it up maybe one day he'll come close to the immense girth of Jan Molby. :D

I think we'll see less of him next season (Windass that is, not Molby, about whom the words 'see less' have probably never been used). Playing consecutive games was getting a little too much for him towards the end of the season, and he'd be substituted at around the 60-70 minute mark to make way for fresher legs.

I'm expecting to see him used sparingly, perhaps as an impact substitute late on in games where his lack of pace won't be as much of an issue against tired defenders. He might not be as prolific as he once was, but he does have a tendency to score important goals when it matters. Underestimate him at your peril...
 
Windass, come on who you kidding?



You’d think he’s still capable of scoring the winning goal at Wembley in the biggest game in domestic football :D
 
I remember big fat Jan, what a guy. Back in the early 2000's when Jan was the city manager the club trained at fields near Cottingham Golf Club where I am a member. One day he came into the car park down the long entrance road going so fast he couldn't stop for the speed hump, flew over that and almost took me out, fat idiot had a go at me for being in the way!
 
Jaffa Cake said:
You never know, if he keeps it up maybe one day he'll come close to the immense girth of Jan Molby. :D
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Big Jan, what a legend. I was awestruck on the one occasion that I saw him off the pitch. I couldn't even bring myself to go up to him and talk. I'm older than a lot of the players now and have seen them on the field many times so don't really get awestruck by them. Molby however, I only saw him play a handful of times and he was a complete idol to me, so I was like a kiddy in a sweetshop.

I saw him on play in one of the charity events on the telly recently and I'm surprised there wasn't a world shortage of red material.
 
Well, if he's good for 40-odd goals a season he sounds pretty useful. Even if he's a locker-room cancer, if anyone can keep him in line it will be Sir Alex...
 
Hey, whatever works.

Although, United certainly don't need him - especially since they are picking up Berbatov. If they do keep Ronaldo, it will turn a massively talented team into an obscenely talented team....

With a rumored valuation of 70 million it's hard to say that even the best footballer in the world is indispensable. It is a business first, after all.
 
My feeling is that it will end up being a business decision. At some point the asking price is too high to dismiss it, and the owners have well-known debt issues. If they basically swap Ronaldo for Berbatov, they come out ahead financially and are still the favorite for the EPL title in 2009.

I have the feeling that the top teams are waiting for each other to move. After the first one, the others will react. If Berbatov moves, Man U will feel more secure in selling Ronaldo. Liverpool would have to pay a higher price for Keane because Spurs would have even fewer options. Chelsea would feel more pressure to do something about Drogba and Lampard.

New rumors today that Spurs are about to sell four players to Sunderland. Not that any of them individually are major losses, but who replaces them in the lineup? Ramos' makeover seems to be getting bigger all the time.

There are also rumors that Barcelona is bidding for Berbatov as well, but hard to tell what's going on there.
 
aloofman said:
My feeling is that it will end up being a business decision. At some point the asking price is too high to dismiss it, and the owners have well-known debt issues. If they basically swap Ronaldo for Berbatov, they come out ahead financially and are still the favorite for the EPL title in 2009.
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This seems the viewpoint that most people are coming around to - nobody is bigger than the shirt, and with Berbatov on the way would Ronaldo's exit be THAT big of a loss, especially with the breathtaking amount of money he's worth? With that said, Berbatov AND Ronaldo together (and let's not forget Nani and Tevez and the troll with the big ears) could really light up the league, not that I want to see that happen...

If Berbatov's transfer makes Keane cost more Liverpool are sunk...but I'll be really peeved if we end up without either Barry or Keane by the transfer deadline. Drogba has whined about leaving for months but now finds that nobody wants him. Lampard needs to go - he's been offered a spectacular deal and refused it. What on earth does he want? A five year deal at his age? Ryan Giggs wasn't even offered one of those.
 
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