Barclay's Premier League discussion '13-'14

A thread to discuss anything and everything related to the Barclay's Premier League season 2013-'14.

Can also be used for Football League discussion, mostly the Championship, I suppose. Which, by the way, kicks off already tomorrow on 3 August!


Look, here's a picture and everything:




In two weeks it shall begin!!!

Best league in the world  

Gomis will transform us from relegation candidates to top half certainties

So you'll go with the Ancelottian 4-3-1-2 ?

Ben Arfa behind the strikers  

I hope so but i fear not.

It suits the team as well; all our players prefer central berths, we have no width, we have attacking fullbacks.

No point trying to force something that isn't there, but i'm kind of expecting 4-4-2

S'land to finish above Newcastle.

They shouldn't do but i fear it due to Pardew's idiocy.

Had a chat the other day with a Magpie.

I joked that Newcastle will finish the season with 'Arry as the manager. He had the biggest smile on his face. Surely Pardew is not that bad???

What are folks' relegation candidates? Crystal Palace and Hull seem so likely to go straight back down that we might not get an exciting relegation battle like during the last few seasons... Fulham my surprise bet to get relegated.

something-red wrote:Had a chat the other day with a Magpie.

I joked that Newcastle will finish the season with 'Arry as the manager. He had the biggest smile on his face. Surely Pardew is not that bad???

Its not that he's bad its that he has no clue how to use this team.

For example when we finished 5th we had a team which was more suitable to him, now its all been taken away.

Gomis will likely help him though, someone to hold the ball up will be a start.

Michu-Bony partnership have been really promising in the pre season. Think if they click properly, they will easily score 25+ goals between them.

Also Hooper and Van Wolfswinkel is another one to watch. Hooper should have left SPL years ago, too good for it ( no disrespect). And now with RVW, he can form a good partnership.

Bony is the only signing from 8th down i'm truly envious of.

The rest i don't think will be anywhere near as good as people think.

Hopefully Gomis will be better

Gomis will make you pull your hair out at times. But normally he is reliable.

I'm used to that with every striker since Shearer retired

As long as he holds the ball up and allows the rest of the team to get into good attacking positions i'm good.

yea he is good at that.

Art Morte wrote:What are folks' relegation candidates? Crystal Palace and Hull seem so likely to go straight back down that we might not get an exciting relegation battle like during the last few seasons... Fulham my surprise bet to get relegated.

Hull and Palace for me, too. Both squads just look short on quality for this level. Koren and Boyd are good players for Hull and I think they'll do well, and Graham's a good striker for that level, but I'm not convinced they've got the quality at the back, while Palace just look this year's Reading.

At the moment, I think the third team will be Cardiff, but they seem willing to throw some money about and might make some good signings by the time the window shuts, so they may end up with a better chance of staying up.

Other possible candidates in my view are Stoke and Norwich.

I think it'll be a very interesting battle for 7th this season. I fancy Swansea right now, but it could easily be Everton or Newcastle. West Brom would be my possible dark horses.

Championship-wise, it's going to take some doing to top this from last season:

I watched a few championship matches last season and it's actually quite enjoyable, Watford played some really nice football.

If Crystal stay up i'll eat my hat, they are nowhere near good enough for BPL.

It will be interesting to see how Norwich go, I'm backing Hooper to score a few goals but I don't know if their midfield/defense can cop it.

GoonerJay29 wrote:

Art Morte wrote:What are folks' relegation candidates? Crystal Palace and Hull seem so likely to go straight back down that we might not get an exciting relegation battle like during the last few seasons... Fulham my surprise bet to get relegated.

Hull and Palace for me, too. Both squads just look short on quality for this level. Koren and Boyd are good players for Hull and I think they'll do well, and Graham's a good striker for that level, but I'm not convinced they've got the quality at the back, while Palace just look this year's Reading.

At the moment, I think the third team will be Cardiff, but they seem willing to throw some money about and might make some good signings by the time the window shuts, so they may end up with a better chance of staying up.

Other possible candidates in my view are Stoke and Norwich.

I think it'll be a very interesting battle for 7th this season. I fancy Swansea right now, but it could easily be Everton or Newcastle. West Brom would be my possible dark horses.

Championship-wise, it's going to take some doing to top this from last season:

i watched the video like 20 times right after it happened, amazing stuff....."Football...Bloody Hell" - SAF

If. If. If only it was Martin Tyler. If only.

GoonerJay29 wrote:

Art Morte wrote:What are folks' relegation candidates? Crystal Palace and Hull seem so likely to go straight back down that we might not get an exciting relegation battle like during the last few seasons... Fulham my surprise bet to get relegated.

Hull and Palace for me, too.

At the moment, I think the third team will be Cardiff.

I'd find it kinda sad if it were the three promoted clubs all going straight back down. With the new TV deal increasing the Premiership clubs' revenues yet again there's the fear that those who have established themselves in the top flight will stay there while those coming up from the Championship will just straight away get pushed back down. That would be sad. So if I got to choose, I'd actually like all three of Palace Hull and Cardiff to stay up, just to allay those fears.

Art Morte wrote:What are folks' relegation candidates? Crystal Palace and Hull seem so likely to go straight back down that we might not get an exciting relegation battle like during the last few seasons... Fulham my surprise bet to get relegated.

Stoke City, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace

Stoke City, Palace and Hull for me.

Aston Villa will surprise a few. They'll finish mid-table.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

something-red wrote:Had a chat the other day with a Magpie.

I joked that Newcastle will finish the season with 'Arry as the manager. He had the biggest smile on his face. Surely Pardew is not that bad???

Its not that he's bad its that he has no clue how to use this team.

For example when we finished 5th we had a team which was more suitable to him, now its all been taken away.

Gomis will likely help him though, someone to hold the ball up will be a start.

How many players did you lose after you finish 5thed? You went from over-achieving to under-achieving lol. You'll finish top half this year, but around 8th or 9th imo. Think that's around right too.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Bony is the only signing from 8th down i'm truly envious of.

The rest i don't think will be anywhere near as good as people think.

Hopefully Gomis will be better

Swansea will finish above Everton. They'll fight for Europe. They've very good signings and look very good in pre-season. Bony, Michu and Shelvey will be fun to watch.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Bony is the only signing from 8th down i'm truly envious of.

Cornelius

something-red wrote:
How many players did you lose after you finish 5thed? You went from over-achieving to under-achieving lol. You'll finish top half this year, but around 8th or 9th imo. Think that's around right too.

Swansea will finish above Everton. They'll fight for Europe. They've very good signings and look very good in pre-season. Bony, Michu and Shelvey will be fun to watch.

No one of any importance, we sold the likes of Guthrie, Best and Lovenkrands etc etc.

Problem wasn't who we sold it was who was coming in and how the fabric of the team changed....

For much of the 5th season we played like this....


Thanks to signings of Anita, Cisse, Debuchy, Yanga-Mbiwa, Haidara, Sissoko and Gouffran coming in for the loss of Ba its a team that requires different things and has different strengths and weaknesses.

Not to mention for much of that season Santon and Ben Arfa were not used and now when fit they start.

There is been quite the massive turn over in players and a lot of them Pardew doesn't know how to get the best out of.

Maybe the likely signings of Gomis and Remy will help who knows.

As for Swansea i 100% agree i really like what they are doing and expecting them to finish 7th.