EPL 2012-2013

[Gatehawk]

So while watching the Arsenal-Sunderland match this morning the announcers commented that starting this season the PL was requiring all pitches to be the same size. Anyone know why they made that change?

This is the first time I've heard about that.

 

[Hawkspur]

Bad result, bad not a bad start for Spurs. We restricted one of the league's best front lines to 2 goals from about our only mistakes in the game. We should have scored more, but such is life. The result highlighted our need to get the Modric nonsense over with and buy a striker and another midfielder. Defoe had a good game but I'd be happier with him coming on as an impact sub and we I'd prefer if we didn't need to start with Livermore too often at this stage.

 

[Gatehawk]

That was a great strike by Demba Ba

 

[Hawkspur]

Yeah, it was. He's a good player alright. Newcastle have quietly assembled a whole lot of them.

 

[theENGLISHseahawk]

Pleased to see Fulham thumping Norwich today to chants of, "Are you watching Clint Dempsey?"

Too many players spit the dummy out when they don't get their own way. If you sign a contract, it's the clubs perogative to turn down offers for you. Well played Fulham.

 

[Gatehawk]

3 things I learned from the Arsenal-Sunderland match today:

1. The team isn't going to have a problem distributing the ball.
2. There wasn't enough action for the defense to have a definitive opinion on where they stand.
3. We are going to hear the RVP excuse for EVERYTHING and it isn't going to be Arsenal using it. Examples: If Arsenal missed a shot, "if that was RvP they would have scored". If Arsenal drew or lost, "If they had RvP, that would have turned out differently."

 

[SussexSeahawk]

Watched Match of the Day last night and it was a great opening day; unfortunately for Spurs, Newcastle looked good, but if Spurs had another Striker other than Defoe, i'm not sure this would have been the result; however Ba and Cabaye are definately quality players!
Swansea, well, stunned by their play, and Fulham aswell!
Rodgers and Liverpool? Teething problems possibly, but not helped by the crap defending; if something doesn't improve there, I can certainly see him losing the fans, though not necessarily his job but I'm thinking if Hughes has a few more days like that with the super hoops, he'll be making my prediction of him being the first one for the chop come true; I just don't see Tony Fernandes being THAT patient with his investment; he looked so pissed off when the camera cut to him on the stands! I personally don't see QPR as ever being good enough to be more than relegation dodgers/bottom half at best, but I think the Chairman does, so Hughes will be a gonner with either a few more results like that, or they're not top half later on in the season, rightly or wrongly!

Early days though, but i think it's going to be a good season

 

[Hawkspur]

Sussex - how are Brighton's prospects this season?

Gate - What you say about people's lazy comments about missing RvP is undoubtedly true, but....RvP would have scored. Gervinho and Giroud got loads of great service but couldn't finish it off. Of course you can't guarantee that RvP would have scored, but I'm certain he would have threatened more than Gervinho did.

 

[Gatehawk]

Sussex - how are Brighton's prospects this season?

Gate - What you say about people's lazy comments about missing RvP is undoubtedly true, but....RvP would have scored. Gervinho and Giroud got loads of great service but couldn't finish it off. Of course you can't guarantee that RvP would have scored, but I'm certain he would have threatened more than Gervinho did.

I think Gervinho's main problem is that even he doesn't realize how fast he is and that he tries to do too much.

 

[SussexSeahawk]

Sussex - how are Brighton's prospects this season?

Gate - What you say about people's lazy comments about missing RvP is undoubtedly true, but....RvP would have scored. Gervinho and Giroud got loads of great service but couldn't finish it off. Of course you can't guarantee that RvP would have scored, but I'm certain he would have threatened more than Gervinho did.

@Hawkspur..........Early days but I honestly think play offs this year; there's a few signings coming soon according to Mr Poyet, so i'm hoping they'll be good ones

 

[Gatehawk]

Hmm, I wonder what happened to Man United today. They bought Van Persie to aid in scoring goals. Instead they started him on the bench and they couldn't score. When they brought him on, they still couldn't score. They just flat out couldn't score even when Howard was caught out of goal. They better hope this is just a blip and not a sign of things to come.

 

[InSuarezWeTrust]

He hardly played in the preseason, give him a few games to get rolling. Everton isn't a pushover either especially at home.

 

[Hawkspur]

Looks like Sahin is off to Arsenal on loan. It's strictly 1 year, though, as Mourinho has once again absolutely refused to consider any possibility that the deal could become permanent.

I think Llorente could be on his way to Chelsea. Boo.

 

[Hawkspur]

I made the mistake of turning on the radio when, arguably, the two biggest idiots in sports (Andy Gray and Richard 'Smash It' Keys - if they're not the most idiotic they're certainly the most odious)) were in the midst of declaring that Everton will probably finish in the top 4! Talk about knee-jerk. Pretty much sums up that particular station though, I guess.

 

[Gatehawk]

This is actually the hypocrisy of the move, I can't mock Van Persie cause he isn't "match fit" while it's alright for people to mock Olivier Giroud, who had virtually the same amount of preseason action, for missing really the only shot he got against Sunderland. I wasn't taking anything away from Everton, they were obviously the better team yesterday.

 

[Gatehawk]

I made the mistake of turning on the radio when, arguably, the two biggest idiots in sports (Andy Gray and Richard 'Smash It' Keys - if they're not the most idiotic they're certainly the most odious)) were in the midst of declaring that Everton will probably finish in the top 4! Talk about knee-jerk. Pretty much sums up that particular station though, I guess.

Andy Gray's always been a muppet. Everton looked well against United, but I don't think a top-4 finish is on the cards.

Everton's got about a snowball's chance in hell to finish Top 4, qualifying for the Europa League is probably their finish at the most this year.

 

[Hawkspur]

Who mocked Giroud? all reports I read said he looked pretty good.

Probably the Arsenal 'fans' who were all over twitter saying that they hoped van Persie contracted AIDS after signing with United.

 

[Gatehawk]

What reports have you been reading? And Hawkspur, get your head out of your ass, Arsenal fans just want RvP injured in some form, they haven't criticized Giroud.

 

[Hawkspur]

Busy day at the Lane today. Levy seems to have cashed in on two 5-0 thrashings on the weekend by offloading our surplus centre backs to Norwich (Bassong) and QPR (Dawson) respectively. It'll be sad to see Dawson go but I couldn't see his style of play suiting AVB's high-line, ball-playing defensive style. Apparently the fee agreed for Dawson is £9 million too, which would be nothing short of mind-boggling.

Adebayor is back as well. Reports about the fee vary but £5 mil seems to be what City have received. The BBC are reporting that City will continue to pay the majority of his wages for the next 2 years too, which, if true, would be incredible business for Spurs, and quite frankly serves City right for driving up wages by paying ridiculous amounts, seemingly to anyone who asks for them.

If all these fees are true (and the Dawson fee goes through) we'll be in profit for this window with the Modric deal still to come. I have my fingers firmly crossed for some exciting signings in the next 10 days.

Striker, playmaking midfielder and winger please!

 

[Gatehawk]

Daily Mail is reporting that the Nuri Sahin deal has been completed, with a clause that will allow Arsenal to make the move permanent for £14 million at the end of the season. Sky Sports, on the other hand, is reporting that the deal is almost complete. If this true, We should expect the deal to be confirmed by the end of this week

AC Milan is reportedly after Nicklas Bendtner and are prepared to offer Philippe Mexes as part of their bid for the Danish striker.

Fernando Llorente's agent has stated that there are two EPL clubs that have made their interest in the Spanish striker, one in Manchester and one in London. We all know who the Manchester club is but the London club may be either Arsenal or Spurs, not so sure about Spurs after Adebaywhore's completed move.