England - Premier League

If it really a choice between Gerrard or Benitez then it was only ever going to go one way. I agree with you Taib about how poor Gerrard has been compared to his usual standards, plus I am never convinced he does anything to shout about for England. The problem is imaging the fans if the hated owners ever sold SG, there would be a bigger uproar than we have ever seen.

Rumours abound about loads of ex players, Dalglish has even been mentioned again! Maybe they should have got rid of Benitez earlier and poached the Special One before he chose Madrid

Ed wrote:

If it really a choice between Gerrard or Benitez then it was only ever going to go one way. I agree with you Taib about how poor Gerrard has been compared to his usual standards, plus I am never convinced he does anything to shout about for England. The problem is imaging the fans if the hated owners ever sold SG, there would be a bigger uproar than we have ever seen.

Rumours abound about loads of ex players, Dalglish has even been mentioned again! Maybe they should have got rid of Benitez earlier and poached the Special One before he chose Madrid

Yeah, with Benitez gone I have to wonder what now for Torres? Give it a few days and it will probably come up. Or after the World Cup. I think he will leave as well.

To be fair to Gerrard on the England front, I do not think many of the players do anything to shout about for England. Certainly they do not play to their club level and we have been saying that for years. Lampard comes to mind straight away.

It was a case of damage limitation I think. The owners would have been screwed if Gerrard left but equally no doubt the owners will get the blame for "forcing" Rafa out even though Rafa has done a mediocre job at Liverpool.

The season before the one that just finished Liverpool finished second having recorded their biggest ever Premiership points total. Now, they are a club in £350 million debt, managerless, a reported very low transfer budget and got no Champions League. How it is all change. No wonder a lot of ex players are rumoured to take over.

Good to see Benitez leave. Long overdue.

Hope Gerrard and Torres both stay but that will be difficult given the debt the club is in and no CL football next season.

It will be interesting to see who takes over now, but like you guys have mentioned Dalglish looks likely. Maybe Souness? O'Neill would be interesting and I move I would like to see. I wouldn't be surprised if someone like Spalletti joins them to be honest. He has become 'hot property' over the last few weeks and was linked with Juventus and Inter.

Finally Liverpool got rid of Benitez. I can't stand him. I disliked Liverpool just because of him.

Hopefully Hodgson takes over.

Hodgson looks very likely to take over at Liverpool and may be unveiled within the next few days. if reports are to be believed. He does however want an assurance that he will be given a decent transfer budget to work with over the transfer market. Sven-Goran Eriksson is rumoured to take over at Craven Cottage. Good moves for both sides IMO.

Bolton have signed Martin Petrov from Manchester City on a free transfer till 2012. Very good signing for Bolton. Hopefully Martin regains his top form and stays injury free for both his new club and the NT. If he does, then he is definitely one of the world's best left sided wingers IMO and without doubt my favourite Bulgarian player.

Yaya Toure looks set to sign for City, Schwatzer with Arsenal, Bennyoun has signed for Chelsea and Real Madrid have supposedly bid 42.5 mil Euros for van Persie! I dont get why Arsenal didnt sign Joe Hart for 6 mil pounds, seems like a great deal compared with a 37 year-old for 4 million. Also, I just cant see City launching a great title bid. Too many big names and not enough of a team mentality. Their club is turning into a hollywood team that cares more for glamour than winning football matches.

Schwarzer is a good keeper but I agree with you that they should have signed someone like Hart. For me he is England's best keeper at the moment and will surely be the national team's #1 in a few years time.

Manchester City are assembling a good team and I think they'll push for a top 4 finish, but I don't see them winning the EPL this coming season. Give them a year or two. Yaya Toure would be a terrific signing. I'm still gutted at seeing him leave Barcelona. He's a top player, hard worker and team worker. Players like him would definitely benefit any side but the likes of Robinho don't help a teams mentality, but rather add to the glitz and glamour. Hope Santos or whoever buys him. I've always liked City (before they got super rich) so I'll always have a soft spot for them.

I think Schwarzer is just what Arsenal need - experience to hold together the defence of a young team. Think about when van der Sar went to Manchester United, people thought he was too old already but he gave them a stability they lacked before, same with Friedel at Aston Villa. For a few years Schwarzer can do a great job, then they can go for a more experienced Hart after Manchester City offload him to buy the latest big money goalkeeper!

Anyone else reckon Yaya Toure at around 30mil Euros is completely ludicrous? It's not as if Manchester City aren't well covered in defensive midfield - de Jong has been one of the best holding players at the World Cup. I know they will always pay over the top money for everyone but to me that is an absurd signing even for them. Barcelona know a thing or two about players and they were leaving him out in preference of Busquets who is the new kid in their team - I reckon they are laughing to have got such a huge fee for a reserve, it will pay off most of the Villa bill!

Don't bet on Silva being a success either, look how many lightweight wingers fail miserably in the Premiership.

I agree about Schwarzer for Arsenal being better than a Hart deal. English 'keepers are poor and Hart reminds me more of a Kirkland than a Seaman. Foster was hyped up to be the next big thing and he has proved thus far not to be. So, get what you know in and trust in it.

Arsenal are 2-3 signings away from a league title. If Van Persie and Fabregas are set to leave for a combined 100mil roughly then Wenger can build the best side in England in 3 years time. They are the ones to watch.

United and Chelsea are flailing in a Liverpool kind of way. They need to be astute to remain at the top because their aging squads were found out in the CL and the World Cup.

Watch out for Spurs; the money should be there, the manager and team already is and they were not a million miles off the pace last season. Let's see how they handle European competition.

Arsenal need a keeper for more than 1,2 seasons because I'm pretty sure that Schwarzer won't be around for more than 1,2 years and then he'll go somewhere like USA, Qatar or Australia to finish his career. The "Gunners" need a younger keeper (maybe around 25,26) who can become something like the new David Seaman.

I'm not saying Schwarzer is a bad choice. Not by any means. He is still a quality keeper and will be perfect for 2-3 seasons and provide experience, but at 4 million I don't know. Hart has really impressed me over the last few seasons and I think he is reliable and solid enough right now to join a bigger side (no disrespect to Birmingham City)./

As for Yaya Toure, if the 30 million deal is correct then that's a very good deal for Barcelona. That money will help refund the Villa deal. For me however, Yaya is better than Busquets and every single Barca fan I know agrees. Busquets is younger and with time can become a terrific central/defensive midfielder but currently I'd pick Toure over him. A close friend of mine (Barca supporter) told me the reason Guardiola preferred Busquets in most games, rather than Toure, is because Pep and Sergio's father are very close friends.

30 million for Toure is a lot. He is a great player but I think Barce will be happy to get that kind of money for a potential rotation player next season. I will never doubt Wenger signings as history shows he can turn almost anyone into a top player but his refusal to sign a defensive midfielder, putting all his hope into Alex Song who obviously had a good year last year but is no were near world class and that new French defender signed for around 15 million, a guy who played in the 3rd division in France a few years ago, along with the Schwazer signing doesn't seem the best use of Arsenal's 45 million they have to spend.

EPL is in trouble.

Fulham have requested that head chairman of the whole league, Dave Richards, be removed from his duties over the "help" he gave in the transfer of Peter Crouch from Portsmouth to Tottenham.

This is going to escalate into a corruption scandal in no time.

West Ham have signed NZ's Winston Reid from his Danish club for 8.7 million. Brilliant for Winston and NZ football!

Bobbi wrote:

West Ham have signed NZ's Winston Reid from his Danish club for 8.7 million. Brilliant for Winston and NZ football!

Oh yeah, he's that Danish guy?

Sorry, couldn't resist. I heard that yesterday but my oh my, didn't hear the transfer fee. Extravagant imho.

Caxi wrote:

Bobbi wrote:

West Ham have signed NZ's Winston Reid from his Danish club for 8.7 million. Brilliant for Winston and NZ football!

Oh yeah, he's that Danish guy?

Sorry, couldn't resist. I heard that yesterday but my oh my, didn't hear the transfer fee. Extravagant imho.

What do you mean by that 'Danish guy' Caxi?

He's Auckland born and fully Kiwi. He moved to Denmark with his mother and Danish stepfather at the age of 10. Represented Denmark up to U-21 level (along with the more well known club teammate Simon Kjaer), but never played for the senior team, thus making him eligible to play for NZ under the new FIFA rule passed last year was it (?).

Maybe I misunderstood the transfer fee. NZ News said "hes signed for a fee worth around 8.7 million". Maybe this will be his salary over the 3 years he's contracted there? If it isn't, and its the transfer fee. then I agree its definitely over the top. I like Reid and he is a very promising young player, and suits the EPL, but not worth that amount at the moment.