English Premier League

By: Rob | 22 Comments

A big shout out first of all to Jack at the Chelsea offside, who put this beast together, with a little help from his friends, to compliment my own epic prediction post. I’ll hand over to him:

The Premier League season overview
Brought to you by the bloggers of the EPL Offside

The Premier League has returned. Thank you 8 pound, 6 ounce, newborn baby Jesus.

With the season’s return comes predictions – oh so predictable predictions. They’re everywhere. Sure, here at the EPL Offside, you’ll get another dose of them. However, only here will you have the glorious opportunity of finding out what our crack team of bloggers think is going to transpire in England this season. Not just one person mind you (no offense, Rob), but many of the Premier League Offside bloggers you’ve grown to love – and hate – have contributed to this mega-post.

Such infamous names as Ed (Liverpool Offside) and Martin (Arsenal) – yes, they were among the crowded roundtable. Matilda (Bolton), Thad (Manchester City), Chris (Spurs), Martin (West Ham), Ryan (Villa). Even the notorious lothario, Ethan Dean-Richards (West Brom), was involved.

The idea was simple: compile your table, average the results. What follows is how this esteemed group of prognosticators see the 2010-11 season playing out in the English top flight. Presented in alphabetical order for your enjoyment – and ridicule.
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By: Rob | 2 Comments

Fair warning, the Season starts on Saturday, so this is probably your last chance to sign up to the EPL Offside Fantasy Football game, in which every week you’ll be paired with another player and have to beat them (by scoring more points) and win the league. If you do, you’ll get a post all about you at the end of the season which you can cut out and keep forever.

Also fair Warning, the West Brom Blog is taking it very seriously.

The code for the league is 12531-5022 and the website is HERE

By: Rob | 8 Comments

The race is on then, for Aston Villa to get a new manager. The season is just days away, and having lost Martin O’Neill due to “Not sharing a vision on how to go forward” (Translation “He wanted more money than I was prepared to give him, without selling any players either”), they need to find someone who can share that vision. Below are the bookies tips for who will be in the dugout, and whether they’d be any good for Villa/likely to join them in reality.

Bob Bradley is currently the bookies favourite. Known as the USA coach, he has expressed a desire to come and coach in Europe, and rumours are helped by the fact that Villa chairman Randy Lerner is also American. If he can tear himself away from international football he could be a good bet, although I have no idea what his club management is like – the Prem would be a world away from the MLS anyway, just in terms of how things operate.

I do know all about the bookies other favourite, who has also thrown his hat into the ring – Sven Goran Eriksson. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Rob | 6 Comments

So yeah, the peace lasted a long time at Eastlands. Shay Given has today said that if Joe Hart starts ahead of him at the weekend, he’ll seriously consider walking away from the club. Hart has already stated he is not content to sit on the bench either as his career reaches a vital impass. Roberto Mancini has a serious decision ahead as it seems he’ll probably lose one of his keepers. Which is great news for Arsenal, who are in the market for one.

If I was Mancini I would stick to Hart. I know Given is well liked in the Premier League and is perennially cited as an underrated keeper (although I raised questionmarks about that here) but not only did Hart look brilliant last season, he’s young. He’s also English which will help from an image point of view (and from an England point of view, I am praying he gets a whole season under his belt somewhere).

Obviously this just highlights the bigger problem that Roberto Mancini has, its going to be a bit of a struggle to keep so many stars happy. But as long as he can keep the ones that play happy, he’ll probably be okay.
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By: Rob | 7 Comments

After a week’s holiday, I’m back. And judging by that news about Martin O’Neill, so is the Premier League. Anyway to make up for my abscene, here is an epic, epic guide to the new season (hastily edited in the case of the Villa entry). Team by Team I’m going to run through each of the sides in the Premier League and preview exactly what they can look forward to in the new season.

Its also traditional at this point (in that I’ve done it for the last two years) for me to make predictions for where everyone is going to finish in the upcoming season. I have done this, but first I have to put a disclaimer, for the first time in years, I have absolutely no idea. My top four features the two clubs from Manchester, last seasons champions and Arsenal, but I genuinely think they could finish in any order, and any of the teams directly below them could crash the party.

If Arsenal buy a goalkeeper, I think they are genuine title contenders again. If Man City’s players gel, its pretty tough to look past them. And Manchester United and Chelsea’s title credentials are obvious.

So at the top, it could easily be the most exciting season of a generation. And at the bottom, the same is posibly true, with any one of at least half a dozen teams looking over their shoulder and staring relegation to the Championship in the face.
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By: Rob | 1 Comment

Wow, I did not see that coming. I was just in the middle of writing an epic season preview (including a bit where I mentioned that O’Neill looked really bored of Villa. Maybe I did sort of see it coming) as an apology for being away for a week, and BAM! Here comes the first shock managerial move of the season.

On the eve of the season, Martin O’Neill has walked away from Aston Villa.
“I have enjoyed my time at Aston Villa immensely. It’s obviously a wrench to be leaving such a magnificent club. I would like to pay tribute to the Villa players, my coaching staff and the Villa supporters for all the support and encouragement they have given both the club and me personally during my time as manager.” – Came his official statement.
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By: Rob | 13 Comments

*Based on average attendance last season.

Interesting story in todays Independent, which comes via those guys at France Football, about who the best supported team in Europe is. Now its not a flawless study obviously as it just takes the average number of supporters that went through the turnstiles (not taking into account things like, ticket cost – which of course helped the German sides on the list and ground size – Chelsea might fill Stamford Bridge but they still would struggle on the list etc) but it is an interesting list. I’ve got the full list below, or you can click here (but you have to cycle through a bunch of photos).
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By: Rob | 10 Comments

Manchester City are, reportedly, prepping an astonishing £70m transfer for Liverpool frontman Fernando Torres. Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has said he can do nothing more to convince the Spanish striker to stay, so it looks like it’ll come down to the player himself.

Like Tevez, Adebayour and Robinho before him, if Torres did decide to join City, he’d get a heck of alot of stick, with suggestions that he’s only in it for the money and so on. But the time might be right for Torres to make the biggest transfer of the summer.

And here’s why:

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By: Rob | 11 Comments

A lot of talk over the last couple of days about who exactly the title contenders will be. Harry Redknapp has claimed Spurs are in with a shout. Ryan Giggs has said that Liverpool and Manchester City shouldn’t be written off. If these are true, then its going to be the most open title race in the history of the Premier League. So probably time to take a closer look at the top teams, and see if they are likely to make a title push.
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By: Rob | 4 Comments

Thought you’d heard the last about vuvuzela’s? Uh-uh. The real battle has just begun. Yesterday, Spurs became the first club to say they will allow no Vu-Vu-Voom at White Hart Lane, making up some nonsense about security warnings. Arsenal quickly followed suit (which is a shame considering the notoriously quiet Emirates).

Newboys Blackpool however, have announced that fans will be encouraged to bring the plastic horns to games.

Obviously the reasoning of the clubs is obvious – Spurs and Arsenal are worried about TV people who hate the horns for irritating viewers en masse during the World Cup. They made up some stuff about how it affects Security measures, but that was absolute nonsense.

Blackpool meanwhile can obviously see it as a formidable weapon. If they can make it their own, then travelling to Bloomfield Road will be a nightmare scenario for fans who hate the horns, and so give the home team an advantage.

But how are other clubs going to play it?
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