Tuesday, August 25, 2009 Premier League openers – what have we learnt?

Pause for breath – two weeks of the Premier League are down and already we have had our fair share of headlines. But what have we learnt so far? Here are a few things I have noticed.

Arsenal may do better than many predicted

A flying start if there ever was one; the Gunners charged out of the blocks with that massive 6-1 win at Goodison Park. Goals continued against Pompey as well as that win over Celtic in the final round of Champions League qualifying. The only question mark maybe over the squad depth, does Wenger need to strengthen before the deadline?

Key player – Thomas Vermaelen. The ‘Verminator’ is already a cult figure with the Arsenal fans after a great start to his Gunners career.

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UK Soccershop competition - win a £20 gift certificate!

I told you another PMP comp would be round the corner didn't I??

This time the lovely people at www.uksoccershop.com, the leading UK online supplier of official football kits, have provided me with a £20 gift certificate for you to spend on their website.

All you need to do is to send me a message using the form on the right sidebar with the answer to the following question:


Who scored Everton's first Premier League goal of the 2009/10 season?

The competition closes at midnight (UK time) on Sunday 6th September. The winner will be selected at random and informed within 48 hours.

Good luck!

What Is Going On At Portsmouth?

It is a collapse of almost Leeds United proportions.

Just over a year ago Portsmouth were parading around Wembley with the FA Cup, a squad packed full of international stars, an ambitious chairman with deep pockets, the promise of a new stadium and optimism for a bright future.

Fast forward to today and almost every foundation upon which Pompey's future was built upon was been ripped from underneath them.


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PMP World Cup competition

Thanks you to all who entered my Sony Ericsson World Cup competition.

The winner has now been informed and a brand new Sony Ericsson is on it's way to them.

I thank you all for taking part, sorry if you didn't win this time, there will be more PMP comps on their way so watch this space.....

New season, same old story

So the footy is back, and not before time to as the endless transfer speculation was really starting to get to me.

But picking through the pieces of the Premier League’s opening weekend, as well as the second round of games in the football league, I’ve noticed that some things just don’t change.

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Football Filtered

A look back at the week's major football headlines

Click here to read.

My season predictions (looking shaky already!)

The waiting is over, are you ready?

The 2009/10 season is upon and with the World Cup at the end of it it promises to be an exciting year. But what will happen in the Premier League? Well I'm going to get my crystal ball out and make a few bold (if almost certainly inaccurate) predictions:

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Premier League back with bang

After 10 long weeks the football is finally back and eagerly awaited as ever. On Saturday the Premier League kicked off a campaign that began at Stamford Bridge and will end in South Africa for the World Cup finals.

But what can we glean from the opening set of fixtures?

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Premier League set to go -but do we already know the score?

After a tedious international tournament free summer the footy is back and after the tasty starter dished out by the football league this weekend the main course, the Premier League, begins in earnest on Saturday.

But do we already know what will happen?

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My Premier League predictions

After a long arduous summer the Premier League is back. The first day of the season is always one full of optimism as each team starts with a clean slate and dream of success over the next nine months. But where will they finish? I have put my neck on the line here and gone for my predictions:

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Senderos on way in, Lescott on way out?

Not the most inspired signing but in this transfer starved summer we should be grateful for anyone coming in to to boost our threadbare squad.

To be fair to Phillipe he is an experienced international who Champions League experience and a spell at AC Milan under his belt. Plus in World Cup year we could squeeze that extra 10% out of him as he battles for a place on the plane to South Africa. But I still sense it is another one of those 'In Moyes we trust' moments.

I hope he is merely a back up for our first choice pairing of Jags and Lescott, if so I think it is a good deal, if not I want the Lescott deal to be done sooner rather than later and a replacement bought in.

Again in our under privileged position as mere fans we do not know the political ramblings that have taken place between royal blue and sky blue camps this summer.

But the latest murmurs from the Everton camp is that Lescott has asked Moyes for a transfer (how these requests are 'leaked' I don't know - political manoeuvring on the side of Everton perhaps, deliberate leaks to the press in order to turn the heat on Lescott rather than them??)

Either way that will give City the incentive to come in with another bid, probably 1 or 2 million above their second bid, despite their billions.

People say that Moyes holds all the aces, that Lescott is on a 3-year-deal and will be forced to stay (and perform if he wants a World Cup place)if Moyes wants him there.

But the reality is the players have all the power these days and if he wants to go, he will go.

He and his agent will kick up a fuss, City and the increasing irritating Mark Hughes will have their say (he wants to join us etc etc..) and in the end Moyes will have to give in rather than have a unhappy camper in the ranks.

Either way it needs to be done now so we don't get stuck in a 'Rooney' situation with millions in the bank come the 1st September and a gaping hole in the defence.

I thought last summer was bad but this is up there, here's hoping things can come to a head this week and we can all look forward to actually talking about football come the 15th.

Bent - Ill advised twit

What was Darren Bent thinking?

I wrote a blog a few months ago suggesting some of the more comical (and fictional) ways Twitter could have been used to report recent footballing events. I never thought it would be used in such a childish way in real life (though maybe I have underestimated the thought processes of modern day footballers?)

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Germany and Holland head big European kick-off

It maybe mid-summer but two of Europe’s biggest leagues are already underway for the new season.

In Holland the Eredivisie kicked off while in Germany the season started with the domestic cup competition, DFB-Pokal.

Both countries had unlikely league champions last season with AZ Alkmaar upsetting the odds in Holland and Wolfsburg winning their first ever Bundelsliga title.

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Barca and Bobby

It is testament to his achievements in his career that sadness at the death of Bobby Robson will reach far beyond the boundaries of his beloved North-East or even the shores of Great Britain. Robson’s skills as a player and manager as well as his gentle and welcoming manner, meant he was respected and much loved across the footballing world.

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The haves and the have nots

Sorry to talk about Manchester City and Real Madrid again but their super-spending has only highlighted the polarisation between those swimming in cash and those with barely a penny to their name.

While City parade their latest superstar and flaunt their money spare a thought for Livingston fans. The Scottish League division one club, who have substantial debts – including £30,000 to the local council, have begun the process of being wound up after the club’s owner, Angelo Massone, rejected an offer from the administrator to take the club off his hands (though since this story was written a rescue deal has been agreed - just). This is just three years after a five year spell in the Scottish Premier League came to an end.

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