Official Premiership Thread

Holy shit Arshavin's goal was amazing! I'm dissappointed Bendtner didn't score today because he was excellent, he did everything right except bloody score!

Also I've been saying it for two years, but United defence aren't half as good without Vidic. He makes that defence, and without him they don't hold up nearly as well.

WOO-AH-OH! ARSHAVIN
WOO-AH-OH! ARSHAVIN
WE SIGNED HIM IN THE SNOW
HE'S BETTER THAN DEFOE

Looks to me like Wenger's going to play Arshavin in the role Hleb played in last year, just behind the striker, so that Theo and Nasri can stay out on the wings with Fabregas and probably Diaby in the centre, and then stick with the 4-5-1 in Europe with Van Persie in that role.

He's scored one goal, ok it was a great one, but I think you might what to calm down.

He may have only scored one goal but he's also got a few assists to his name and he's given solid performances in each game, even when not fully fit.

All the cocky Villa fans have migrated from the Arsenal board on 606 all of a sudden... now why could that be?

JK wrote:Aaaaaaaand 4th. Never thought I'd say this but come on Spurs!

You called?

7th here we come!

Woohoo! And the irony of a Jenas goal helping us this time was not lost on me either!

Rosicky's injured again... he must have sneezed awkwardly.

Manchester United full-back Rafael has revealed he and twin brother Fabio were approached by a scout claiming to represent Arsenal.

The incident occurred three years ago when the talented duo were in their homeland and on the books of Fluminense, but had already travelled to train with the Red Devils.

While there is absolutely no suggestion the mystery scout was connected to Arsenal or acting under their instruction, the duo found the incident upsetting.

Rafael told The Sun: "We were not happy with the way he approached us. The scout said he was from Arsenal and invited us to come and train.

"At that time we had already been to see Manchester United and train once with our club's permission.

"But this man wanted to take us to England and say nothing to Fluminense. We disagreed with that principle. Fluminense was where we started and they looked after us."

Fabio revealed how their mother advised them to ignore the scout and stay loyal to Fluminense before the Brazilian club reached an agreement with United for their services.

He added: "It was upsetting. We could have signed there and then and taken all the money and Fluminense would have got nothing.

"But our mother said 'No, Fluminense have been good for you. I want you to do everything right'."

Arsenal trying underhanded methods to steal away promising youngsters from their clubs, well I never!

IOV wrote:

Manchester United full-back Rafael has revealed he and twin brother Fabio were approached by a scout claiming to represent Arsenal.

The incident occurred three years ago when the talented duo were in their homeland and on the books of Fluminense, but had already travelled to train with the Red Devils.

While there is absolutely no suggestion the mystery scout was connected to Arsenal or acting under their instruction, the duo found the incident upsetting.

Rafael told The Sun: "We were not happy with the way he approached us. The scout said he was from Arsenal and invited us to come and train.

"At that time we had already been to see Manchester United and train once with our club's permission.

"But this man wanted to take us to England and say nothing to Fluminense. We disagreed with that principle. Fluminense was where we started and they looked after us."

Fabio revealed how their mother advised them to ignore the scout and stay loyal to Fluminense before the Brazilian club reached an agreement with United for their services.

He added: "It was upsetting. We could have signed there and then and taken all the money and Fluminense would have got nothing.

"But our mother said 'No, Fluminense have been good for you. I want you to do everything right'."

Arsenal trying underhanded methods to steal away promising youngsters from their clubs, well I never!

Reading's good m'kay.

Read between the lines JK, this scout is obviously the James Bond of his profession going undercover in foreign countries under the instruction of Arsene Wenger to steal away any promising youngsters. Knowing that if he is ever caught Arsenal will deny all knowledge of him ever existing. Unfortunately like Bond he likes the fame and notoriety too much and couldnt hold his water!

Arsene's not that stupid as to let his scouts actually approach them. No manager is.

I thought thats what scouts do, they watch the player, report back and if told so they approach the player. Thats how a few of the guys I know got offered trials (ofcourse none of them made it because drnking on a Friday night is more important than fame and fortune or so they would have me believe)

This is truly disgraceful. Disgusting conduct.

because, you know, Manchester United never tapped up any.....

Nah, I'm sorry. I tried to say that with a straight face but it just ain't happening

Could Tottenham sell a player, wait 6 months and unsettle him before signing him at a reduced rate Hotspurs please stay out of this

IOV wrote:Could Tottenham sell a player, wait 6 months and unsettle him before signing him at a reduced rate Hotspurs please stay out of this

As opposed to to Tottenham sell a player, wait 12 months and then unsettle him and pay more for him than they sold him for?

JK wrote:

IOV wrote:Could Tottenham sell a player, wait 6 months and unsettle him before signing him at a reduced rate Hotspurs please stay out of this

As opposed to to Tottenham sell a player, wait 12 months and then unsettle him and pay more for him than they sold him for?

Huh?

I dont get it, didnt Spurs sell Keane then unsettled him when it didnt work out at Liverpool and sign him back for a reduced rate?

And it was pretty much the same story with Defoe although they agreed a £15 million price they wouldnt be paying anywhere near that because of Portsmouth owing them so much from the original transfer. Maybe im mistaken

1. You're both right. Keane was resigned for so little it actually covered both times we signed him, Defoe was resigned at a loss, however theyn still owed us much of the transfer fee for him and Kaboul so the fee was actually much lower in reality.

2. You're both wrong.

Defoe's "unsettling" was started by the press declaring the day Redknap arrived that we would be going back to sign Defoe as he was one of "his players". It was a while before anyone from Tottenham was quoted, when Redknapp stated that he was only interested if Pompey wanted to sell - The press unsettled him, not us.

Keane's "unsettling" was pretty much done by Rafa tbh. Again, the press also came in and after unsubstantiated rumours for a few weeks solely based on the fact we anted a striker and he wasn't playing much, they asked Redknapp whose response was to say that "anyone would want a player of that quality". That's like asking Abramovic if he'd like Chelsea to sign CR and accusing him of unsettling him when he says that he'd be "interested if the chance arose". It's just a statement of fact regarding the players ability, not a statement of specific interest. The only time we actually moved for Keane was on the last day of the window when Kenwyne Jones/Craig Bellamy/assorted euro srikers had fallen through.If we'd consciously tried to unsettle him, we wouldnb't have waited until we almost ran o0ut of time before actually bidding.

3. My comment was aimed at a club who have an ADMITTEDLY TAPPED-UP PLAYER in their recent past - Jaap Stam. There were multiple accusations over the "Fergie's Fledglings" team as well, a couple of cases actually being investigated, but none were ever proven so we'll let them slide.

Anyway...record profits, boys. Something all the top 4 would love!

-----------------------------------

To change the subject, this "european superleague" rumour...there's a simple answer.

Simply declare the competition unsanctoned, and any team or player who take part ineligible for sanctioned competition. Then just offer a cheaper package for the CL/Europa competitions and chuck money at them for a few years.

At UEFA level, that would mean no-one involved would be able to represent their country at the Euros, which would make involvement in the World Cup unlikely as you could't build a team around them (remove "friendly" weeks as well to limit chances for them to play). A large number of the European players would see that they could still earn big money AND play at a high level AND represent their country and would jump ship.

Plus TV channels would look at the cheaper competitions and declare that woould fit their budgets better. They'd have to decide whether something like Everton v Villa pulling in similar audiences to their usual match-day levels at a budget-friendly cost would be betterthan Man Utd v Lyon at a higher cost but with not much higher an audience (because they're already achieving their usual levels). It'll be a long time before they start chucking cash about at recent levels again for their own protection.

So players would switch, money would not travel, and clubs would have to risk not being allowed back when it inevitably failed.

Add UEFA declaring they would not side with unsanctioned clubs in any matters such as plaer contract disputes (essentially supporting the players who want to abandon the blacklisted teams) would just accelerate things - they couldn't be sued as they'd still have no legal requirement to protect the club.

Besides....Newcastle would be involved. Any remaining cred would be lost right there.

Garibaldi wrote:2. You're both wrong.

Defoe's "unsettling" was started by the press declaring the day Redknap arrived that we would be going back to sign Defoe as he was one of "his players". It was a while before anyone from Tottenham was quoted, when Redknapp stated that he was only interested if Pompey wanted to sell - The press unsettled him, not us.

Keane's "unsettling" was pretty much done by Rafa tbh. Again, the press also came in and after unsubstantiated rumours for a few weeks solely based on the fact we anted a striker and he wasn't playing much, they asked Redknapp whose response was to say that "anyone would want a player of that quality". That's like asking Abramovic if he'd like Chelsea to sign CR and accusing him of unsettling him when he says that he'd be "interested if the chance arose". It's just a statement of fact regarding the players ability, not a statement of specific interest. The only time we actually moved for Keane was on the last day of the window when Kenwyne Jones/Craig Bellamy/assorted euro srikers had fallen through.If we'd consciously tried to unsettle him, we wouldnb't have waited until we almost ran o0ut of time before actually bidding.

You're a fool if you think the media were solely to blame the Defoe stuff, a fool and a liar! I know at times they throw around stuff with no substance to see if it sticks but normally they give up after 2 maybe 3 days at the most unless they hit a nerve. Redknapp clearly used the media to turn his head, which is ok because Fergie has been doing it for years, its a part of the modern game not a very savoury part but a part none the less and has been for the past 20 years probably more. Before Spurs it was Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Leeds and so on.

An assault charge against England footballer Steven Gerrard has been dropped.

The Liverpool midfielder still faces a charge of affray in connection with an incident at a nightclub in Southport.

Big Dave wrote:

An assault charge against England footballer Steven Gerrard has been dropped.

The Liverpool midfielder still faces a charge of affray in connection with an incident at a nightclub in Southport.

Theres a shock

Such a twat.

Oh what a huge surprise that is.

No doubt it was a case of mistaken identity caused when the sun shining out of Gerrard's arse reflected off the water he was walking, bounced back up onto his Halo and blinded his accuser temporarily.

Walcott's injured again... although I'm keeping an eye on this one because the timing seems somewhat convenient. Some sources are reporting that he's out for the season but I have to wonder if Wenger's pulling a Rafa...

Garibaldi wrote:Anyway...record profits, boys. Something all the top 4 would love!

I think you'll find our profits were quite healthy too, and up from the same period last year Basic accounting: long term liabilities due more than a year away don't affect the profit/loss figure for that period. You'll learn that when you buy your new stadium.

I suspect it's the same at Man Utd and 'Pool. Indeed I suspect the only ones who will have their profit/loss account in the red will be Chelsea because of their stupid wage "structure." Especially with their tiny stadium which they can't even fill...

LMAO! What was Scholes doing there?

Shocking handball!

Just got worse! 2 nil and Rooney is off as well. From the reports I have heard Gera's goal is a bit good.

I just hope Liverpool and Chelsea dont take advantage of this

Ah the Vidic, or lack of Vidic effect strikes again.

At least I won't be getting as much grief from Man Utd fans about losing to them earlier in the season. Fulham are an odd team, they really are. You expect them to be crap and suddenly they pull everything together.

Doesn't surprise me that Rooney got sent off. Two monumentally stupid bookings. Pulling someone over and the other for throwing the ball away.

You know this is probably the first time for a long time that Man Utd have had two players sent off AND a penalty given against them and there's absolutely nothing Fergie can bitch about!

Maybe the league run-in can be exciting after all, but it would still require a magnificent bottle job from Man Utd... and that's our speciality not theirs.

IOV wrote:

Garibaldi wrote:2. You're both wrong.

Defoe's "unsettling" was started by the press declaring the day Redknap arrived that we would be going back to sign Defoe as he was one of "his players". It was a while before anyone from Tottenham was quoted, when Redknapp stated that he was only interested if Pompey wanted to sell - The press unsettled him, not us.

Keane's "unsettling" was pretty much done by Rafa tbh. Again, the press also came in and after unsubstantiated rumours for a few weeks solely based on the fact we anted a striker and he wasn't playing much, they asked Redknapp whose response was to say that "anyone would want a player of that quality". That's like asking Abramovic if he'd like Chelsea to sign CR and accusing him of unsettling him when he says that he'd be "interested if the chance arose". It's just a statement of fact regarding the players ability, not a statement of specific interest. The only time we actually moved for Keane was on the last day of the window when Kenwyne Jones/Craig Bellamy/assorted euro srikers had fallen through.If we'd consciously tried to unsettle him, we wouldnb't have waited until we almost ran o0ut of time before actually bidding.

You're a fool if you think the media were solely to blame the Defoe stuff, a fool and a liar! I know at times they throw around stuff with no substance to see if it sticks but normally they give up after 2 maybe 3 days at the most unless they hit a nerve. Redknapp clearly used the media to turn his head, which is ok because Fergie has been doing it for years, its a part of the modern game not a very savoury part but a part none the less and has been for the past 20 years probably more. Before Spurs it was Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Leeds and so on.

Nope. It does go on but it was the press's refusal to give up on it this time despite a complete lack of facts which sparked the move. They took three things and made their minds up based on them - Defoe's history with Redknapp, his refusing to celebrate when he scored against us and Pompey's clear need for funds. They printed the story repeatedly and then, when Redknapp didn't out-and-out deny interest when pressed a few days later - he said he would only go in if Pompey said they were interested in selling - took that to be proof we were unsettling him.

It's actually come to light a month or two ago that Pompey were desperate to sell him back to us to raise funds and clear debts. They approached us, not the other way round. Defoe himself said from day one he didn't want to leave last year but had to for his career, which is why he was happy to come back, but has himself said that Pompey approached him to say we were interested, not us.

And don't you love watching United self-destruct...

JK wrote:At least I won't be getting as much grief from Man Utd fans about losing to them earlier in the season. Fulham are an odd team, they really are. You expect them to be crap and suddenly they pull everything together.

Doesn't surprise me that Rooney got sent off. Two monumentally stupid bookings. Pulling someone over and the other for throwing the ball away.

You know this is probably the first time for a long time that Man Utd have had two players sent off AND a penalty given against them and there's absolutely nothing Fergie can bitch about!

Maybe the league run-in can be exciting after all, but it would still require a magnificent bottle job from Man Utd... and that's our speciality not theirs.

He won't bitch about it anyway cause he won't come down to do an interview. Biggest sore loser.