Premier League 2013-2014

[BaaBaa.]

Thanks, BaaBaa - my day wouldn't have been complete without seeing this.

It's Rafa's wife on her Facebook page.

[BaaBaa.]

As we are still on page 1 which will be easy to find at the end of the season perhaps we could put our predictions for the top 6. All the usual names I suppose but for me :-
Chelsea, ManU, Arsenal, ManC, Spuds, Liverpool.

Until we see the summer signings it's hard to say but I'll go Chelsea, City, United and any of the others in 4th.

Arsenal favourites as they've done it loads, I'd honestly take Spurs squad over United's and Liverpool are a bit of an unknown quantity, we've been brilliant since Coutinho and Sturridge come in., top 4 form since January but can be bossed by a physical forward and implode.

Looking forward to it.

PS: what gives you the impression you'll finish above City Arcadian? Them or Chelsea have the best squads in the league and they'll go blow a load. Thank god for Monaco and PSG.

[BaaBaa.]

no need to worry about badges just where we finish

I'd be worried to.

your lot will no doubt spend 100m plus in hope for CL place and fail yet again

Go on, educate me, we nearly went bump through a leveraged buyout under 2 years ago, sold Torres for 50'000'000 and since then have have signed, at the time, the biggest Sponsorship in Football and biggest Shirt deal.

We've also massively cut the wage bill, I hate the term, but it's kind of been a year 0 for us.

Our last owners spent £40'000'000 on paper work for a none existent stadium. 7th was pretty good all things considered.

Liverpool are compared to arguably the biggest Club in the world revenue wise, 2 Sugar daddy clubs and a financially sound club with a manager who's been there for 20 years. Everton class it as an achievement to finish above a club that nearly went bump.

Not slating Everton, but let's have a bit of reality. Enjoy it until August.

[arcadianagain]

Thanks, BaaBaa - my day wouldn't have been complete without seeing this.

It's Rafa's wife on her Facebook page.

Sign of a true fan, reading the facebook of an ex-managers wife.

[PeteC]

We're missing some things here:

1) Benitez is off to Naples.

2) Martinez is leaving Wigan...probably for Everton.

3) Toure going from MC to Liverpool.

[dtaai-maai]

Don't be silly, Pete - we're all far too busy following Rafa's wife on Twitter...

[caller]

And it appears Bale has started the process of preparing to leave Spurs.......

What about Hughes to Stoke? That's interesting in a sort of Stoke way.

Interesting that there were no takers for Benitez in England, or at least those he deemed at the level he wants to be at. Fair enough.

And it could well be that Toure will replace Skrtel as back-up at Liverpool.

[GLCQuantum]

And it appears Bale has started the process of preparing to leave Spurs.......

Nah...

We've got a 30 million squid strike force coming in. They go by the names of David Villa and Damiao. How do I know this?.... The Sun told me.

For sure Real are deploying their usual grooming tactics to lure him in but it aint gonna happen this year. If we get nowt next year then, for sure, he'll be off to better himself. The beauty is... we're not gonna get nowt next year. I actually fancy us for the title if we get said strike force.

[caller]

Suarez and Bale to Real Madrid - interesting!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22712272

[blue05]

Go on, educate me, we nearly went bump through a leveraged buyout under 2 years ago, sold Torres for 50'000'000 and since then have have signed, at the time, the biggest Sponsorship in Football and biggest Shirt deal.

We've also massively cut the wage bill, I hate the term, but it's kind of been a year 0 for us.

Our last owners spent £40'000'000 on paper work for a none existent stadium. 7th was pretty good all things considered.

Liverpool are compared to arguably the biggest Club in the world revenue wise, 2 Sugar daddy clubs and a financially sound club with a manager who's been there for 20 years. Everton class it as an achievement to finish above a club that nearly went bump.

Not slating Everton, but let's have a bit of reality. Enjoy it until August.

now you did quite well to finish 7th? what a change from last seasons comments, for example "we will def finish above Everton"

also to state the club ould have went bump is just nonsence, plenty of buyers were about and waiting

Also the same club that sold torres for 50m as you point out bought a yard dog from Newcastle for 35m

also your main kit deal is 20m a season, Uniteds new training kit deal is 22.5m a season, hardly in the same league

you constantly change opinions to cause rucks but fear not I will bite

[Dannie Boy]

So what's the betting on Suarez still being a Liverpool player next season? Reported on BBC News:

Liverpool's strongly worded response to the public agitation of Luis Suarez is as predictable as the apparent exit strategy being utilised by their world-class striker.
Suarez is anything but predictable with a football at his feet - but the timing, location and excuses used in announcing his discontent with life in England all fall into that category.
“
Blaming the media is going straight for the cheapest option, a flimsy fig leaf to disguise what most suspect are his true intentions
”
Liverpool reacted pointedly and swiftly to interviews given in his native Uruguay this week in which the 26-year-old sent some less-than-subtle coded messages to his club and also to potential suitors.
They insisted that if Suarez was unhappy with his life in Liverpool, stretching his credibility to breaking point by suggesting he is the victim of torment by a cruel media, it is not a complaint he had registered directly with them.
Liverpool also reminded Suarez that he has a contract to honour at Anfield and, with some code of their own perhaps, added that they remain "supportive" - just as they have when he inflicted some fairly hefty blows on their global image.
Suarez, however, does seem set on engineering his departure from Liverpool and is following a well-worn track to do so. Returning to his Uruguay homeland, where he is worshipped and guaranteed a sympathetic hearing, he paints a picture of a poor soul whose life is being made a misery by a British media intent on hounding him, even suggesting the paparazzi make it impossible for him to go into his garden or visit the supermarket.
Nonsense of course.
The trouble Suarez has had since his arrival in England from Ajax has largely been of his own making as he was banned for eight games in December 2011 after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra and suspended for 10 games - a punishment will stretch into next season if he sticks around - for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic at Anfield in April.
It may come as a surprise to Suarez that his life might have been a lot quieter, and his media profile a lot lower, had he not been involved in those two incidents, as well as refusing to shake Evra's hand when Liverpool then met United at Old Trafford.
Luis Suarez's Liverpool controversies
December 2011 - Given eight-match suspension and fined £40,000 for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra.

February 2012 - Refuses to shake hands with Evra at Old Trafford and is described as a "disgrace" by Sir Alex Ferguson.

October 2012 - Accused of diving by Stoke manager Tony Pulis.

November 2012 - Accused of stamping on Dave Jones by Wigan manager Roberto Martinez.

January 2013 - Mansfield chief executive Carolyn Radford says Suarez "stole" their FA Cup tie when he scored after using his hand.

April 2013 - banned for 10 games by the Football Association for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic.

This was his doing, not the media - although his use of these reasons may make selling him a little easier and more palatable for Liverpool. Suarez's words make a decidedly hollow sound.
The reality, however, may be that it has dawned on Suarez that he is the stellar performer in a Liverpool team that shows no current signs of returning to the Champions League and reported interest from Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Juventus will give him the sort of platform his talent deserves.
Make no mistake, for all his obvious flaws, this is a magnificent striker who would grace any football team anywhere in the world. Judged on his natural gifts alone, he deserves a place on the biggest stage.
It is the excess baggage he carries with him that means he as likely to be remembered for his unsavoury deeds on the pitch as much as what he offers as a player.
And as Liverpool and their supporters, most of whom have also pledged blind loyalty to Suarez despite his track record of poor behaviour, wrestled with the dilemma now facing them you suspect they might have sympathised if he had simply said he wanted to play in the Champions League at a more successful club.
They may not have liked hearing it - but they might have understood.
Blaming the media is going straight for the cheapest option, a flimsy fig leaf to disguise what most suspect are his true intentions.
In the days after Suarez's bite on Ivanovic, Liverpool were again hugely supportive of Suarez. Everyone at Anfield knows how vital he is, how he was almost single-handedly their main threat until the cavalry arrived in January in the shape of Daniel Sturridge.
Suarez in numbers

Scored 30 goals in 44 appearances for Liverpool last season

Since joining from Ajax, in January 2011 for £22.7m, has scored 51 in 96 appearances

Hit 49 goals in 48 games for Ajax the season before joining Liverpool

Has scored 31 goals in 62 caps for Uruguay

This is why they will not countenance that Suarez wants to leave until they hear it from him. And of course they are hardly likely to suggest he is for sale - there is the price of a £40m asset to protect.
Suarez, in truth, owes Liverpool. They stood by him, wrong-headedly at times, during his troubles and might expect some gratitude in return. Modern football, however, does not work that way - and of course clubs are just as willing as players to manoeuvre a parting of the ways when it suits them.
Liverpool do not need this to be a summer-long saga. They need to clarify Suarez's intentions quickly and then act accordingly.
If this is simply a temporary period of unhappiness (very much the glass half-full option) then they can move the scenery along. If he wishes to leave they need to go about securing the best deal as soon as they can - not simply to rid themselves of an unhappy player but also to give manager Brendan Rodgers the time and money required to somehow replace the loss of one of the best strikers in world football.
These are the days plenty at Liverpool feared when he was given a 10-match ban by the Football Association. Now they must give Luis Suarez their full attention once more.

[Zidane]

Its very sad that Suarez wants to leave the club after all Liverpool have done to help him....
But more worrying for us forum members is who Baa Baa will have as his avatar as Suarez's replacement ?
The poor chap must be beside himself with worry (thats Baa Baa not Suarez,by the way)

Wayne-Rooney.jpg (23.68 KiB) Viewed 646 times

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[GLCQuantum]

Its very sad that Suarez wants to leave the club after all Liverpool have done to help him....
But more worrying for us forum members is who Baa Baa will have as his avatar as Suarez's replacement ?
The poor chap must be beside himself with worry (thats Baa Baa not Suarez,by the way)
]

You have to give Baa Baa a little more credit Zidane. He's consistent and sticks to his gun. On that note I'm gonna go for this as his next avatar.




Edit : Wacked a bloody Kevin Keegan picture in instead of Kenny Dalglish
Sorry Baa Baa...

[arcadianagain]

As we are still on page 1 which will be easy to find at the end of the season perhaps we could put our predictions for the top 6. All the usual names I suppose but for me :-
Chelsea, ManU, Arsenal, ManC, Spuds, Liverpool.

Until we see the summer signings it's hard to say but I'll go Chelsea, City, United and any of the others in 4th.

Arsenal favourites as they've done it loads, I'd honestly take Spurs squad over United's and Liverpool are a bit of an unknown quantity, we've been brilliant since Coutinho and Sturridge come in., top 4 form since January but can be bossed by a physical forward and implode.

Looking forward to it.

PS: what gives you the impression you'll finish above City Arcadian? Them or Chelsea have the best squads in the league and they'll go blow a load. Thank god for Monaco and PSG.

Baa Baa, are we the only ones daring enough to predict the top places for next season? Arsenal are the only club in the top 4 with a long-term manager, in fact the other 3 all have, or will have new managers. Pelligrini is already under pressure from the sheiks who want 5 trophies in 5 years, will he last that long? Will Moyes be able to control the egos of Man U? If Jose joins Chelsea will the circus that follows distract the players? Will AVB get a new coat and learn not to mumble at press conferences? Will Suarez be allowed to leave England and all the nasty journalists who reported his many "mistakes"?
An exciting season awaits.

[caller]

I suspect most of us are waiting to see what activity there is in the summer and in particular the frenetic finale of transfers in August!

Predictions so far: Bale and Suarez to leave. Bankers I would have thought?