Bloody Football!

[Laphroaig]

Well, less than a week to the start of the new season, any predictions?

I think Chelsea are still the team to beat and the top 4 will be the same as last year (maybe not in the same order). Transfer window isn't over yet though and I suspect there are still a couple of big signings to be made which could alter the picture.

[JenniferParisHusband]

Wow, this thread is actually active again!

Predictions for the Prem
Chelski wins the league.
Man City finish 2nd, 9 points behind.
Liverpool fire Brendan Rodgers by Christmas, but still finish top 5.
Jurgen Klopp stays retired and does not come to the Prem.
Man U(re) finish 3rd, and Arsenal 4th.
Stoke and Southampton look great for the first ten weeks, then reality sets in.
Everton fire Mancini less than 2 months into the season.
All three of the teams that came up will go back down.
Falcao, and Costa both spend a lot of time out, due to injuries.

La Liga Predictions
Barca are unstoppable, and have the league wrapped up with a month to go.
Atletico Madrid will win both meetings against Real Madrid

Ligue 1
PSV have already won the French league
Marsellies will finish 2nd, Lille probably 3rd.
LOrient are the team from last season who will drop in quality the most, near relegation, if not going down.

UEFA Champions League
This is Barca's year. They will beat a German team, probably Bayern, in the finals and win 2 in a row.
No England team will make the final 4.
Juventus will not make the final 4.

[Laphroaig]

Man City's season will strongly depend on a) Kompany and Toure regaining their form, b) Silva and Aguero remaining fit, and c) the speculation about Guardiola not getting to Pellegrini. I've already given my opinion on the infuence of their new signings (nil) and can easily see them finishing 4th. If another club like Liverpool or Tottenham can get their act together and put in a strong season then they could drop out of the top 4 altogether.

I'm fairly sure Costa wasn't fully fit when he arrived at Chelsea and it will be interesting to see if he can keep fit for a full season. Falcao could be a masterstroke by Mourinho or he could be another Torres. Mourinho likes to play one up front but potentially the pair together could be unstoppable.

Arsenal have made a great signing in Cech, but as usual look a couple of players short of a title winning side. That could yet change.

Man Utd have made some good signings but need to improve defensively and find their best line up before they can be taken seriously as title contenders.

I agree with you about the likes of Stoke and Southampton and that it's a make or break season for Rodgers. Don't think he'll be sacked before Christmas though.

"Everton fire Mancini less than 2 months into the season."

If you mean Martinez then I hope you're wrong. Or was that just the wishfull thinking of a liverpool fan.

I don't know enough about the other leagues to make predictions but I do think that (big) if, Falcao is a success and they can tighten up defensively then Chelsea have a chance of European glory. It will take a big effort by any team to dethrone Barca though.

[JenniferParisHusband]

"Everton fire Mancini less than 2 months into the season."

If you mean Martinez then I hope you're wrong. Or was that just the wishfull thinking of a liverpool fan.

Well, that could be a little bit of both. Meant Martinez, had City on my mind.

The other leagues, it's getting harder to watch them here in the states, not sure how it is in Scotland. I think the Bundisliga is probably the most entertaining league in the world right now. But it works a little bit like the Scottish league used to when Celtic and Hearts were the two big clubs. You knew one was going to win each year, with an occasional 3rd sneaking into the conversation, but the matches were quick and never lacking for energy. Germany is that way right now. Bayern Munich and Dortmund are the two big teams, and everyone else is playing catch-up. There are some dark horses there this year, like Wolfsburg. They are a dark horse to get far along in the Champions league. But last year they were fun to watch, and have made some acquisitions that make them look pretty good this year.

I don't get a chance to see the German, Portuguese and Italian leagues like I used to, so no predictions there. Everything in the US is going to the pay channels except the Prem. If I lost my Liverpool games, there would be an uprising. We have the Al Jazera sports thing (BeIn Sports) and then Fox Sports has lousy coverage to begin with, doesn't air all the games for their leagues, makes you pay for them, and then has the internet feeds blocked so you can't see them on the internet. If you want to see Valencia or LOrient play, you've pretty much got to wait a week after the match, and then look for highlights. (One more in a long list of reasons to hate Rupert Murdoch!) I watch the other leagues at my local. It's small, but the price I pay for a beer more than makes up for their fees for the matches.

Stoke will be interesting. I think this first match against Liverpool will really determine how their season goes. If they win, they'll be competing for the Europa League. If they lose, and I think they will, they will still be competing, and may even make top 5, but will start to drop come October, maybe even December.

Arsenal always seem to look like they're a few players short. Yet somehow they seem to always keep that 4th spot. I don't get how it happens. Good points about City, I agree about the form an fitness issues. As much as hate City, if they replace with Pep, I think that team is done. Mancini is a long term coach, who is almost always in the mix for the league title. He'd stay another 10 years if he could. Pep doesn't last very long when he goes somewhere. He wins, but he'd leave in three years, and then it would be like David Moyes or something trying to replace him. I have that feeling about Klopp too. I like him, and I think Liverpool would win if he came there, but he wouldn't last very long and then be off for a vacation, or to some other team when he gets homesick for Kraut-land.

I'm pretty sure if Costa and Falcao aren't injured at the same time, Chelsea will survive, and actually do quite well. They've got a Brazilian 19 year old named Kenedy, who I see great things in. Plus it seems strange that Loic Remy is third in line at the forward spot. If both stay healthy and find their form, I may have underestimated how fast they claim the league. But I think they both will be out at least 7 games this season. Costa still looks off, but that first goal he scored just screamed confidence. So, I don't know.

[Laphroaig]

Firstly just to clear something up, Mancini left City a couple of years ago and is now managing Inter (for the second time, after a spell at Galatasaray). Current City Manager is Pellegrini, who was supposed to have been a "long term project" but long term seems to be relative at City.

I do agree with you about Guardiola, and as Mourinho has failed to stay at any club beyond 3 years it will be interesting to see how long his second spell at Chelsea lasts as well.

Remy was always signed as a back up player, in the same way Demba Ba was. He's had his injury problems as well and if you remember, his move to Liverpool collapsed after a failed medical. Hmmm, that means Chelsea have 3 injury prone first team strikers. Never heard of Kennedy but he sounds like someone they will send out on loan (as happened to Lukaku) to gain more experience.

Most of the big European leagues are available here via Sky, if you are prepared to pay the extra for the sports channels. I'm not, so I'm stuck with whatever leftovers the BBC and ITV can pick up.

The Scottish League is dire at the moment. Realistically, Celtic have the title wrapped up already and it's just the race for second place...

[Laphroaig]

Forgot to add, Celtic and HEARTS!!! Hearts last won the Scottish league over 50 years ago. They have however, just been promoted having won the Championship. Even better, Motherwell won last years play off, thus condemming Rangers (who I assume you meant to say) to (at least) one more season outwith the top flight.

[JenniferParisHusband]

Again, you're right. This is why you don't post at 2 am after working all day. The mind wanders to strange places when tired. Are Rangers still trying to work their way into the EPL? I haven't heard about that for a while. Not a chance in the world of it happening, but I was wondering if they were still trying to push for it. I don't know if they could compete against the big EPL teams for revenue, but there is a part of me that kind of likes the thought of Scottish teams competing across England the way Welch teams do.

[Laphroaig]

The attempts by Rangers and Celtic to get into the English leagues has stopped for now but I'm sure once Rangers reestablish themselves in the top division, the topic will eventually rear it's ugly head again.

Rangers (and even moreso Celtic) are huge global brands with fans all round the world. Both (when in the top flight) can regularly attract home crowds of over 50,000. Celtic's average home gate last season was around 44,000. Not many English Premiership clubs can beat or even match that. There's no doubt that in terms of attendance and the global fans they attract, they would both be an asset to the English league.

What holds the Scottish game back is the lack of TV money and as a direct result a lack of big sponsorship deals. At the moment Scottish football lags way behind the English game. But, hypothetically, either club, given the support they have and with access to the kind of funds available to the EPL could easily compete in the top 10. It would take a few years to build the teams up to that level though.

The rules over which leagues clubs can play in are somewhat "murky". For example Berwick Rangers (based south of the border in Berwick upon Tweed) have hapily played in the Scottish leagues for years and of course, you've mentioned the example of Welsh teams playing in England. Of course (rightly so) objections by the clubs that they would ultimatly replace in the English league are likely to scupper any plans.

[JenniferParisHusband]

The only thing I ever really worried about with the talk of them joining the EPL was the Champions League. England already has 4 spots, I think Scotland has 1, for the top team, and the second is Europa? Not sure on that, but it sounds right. The Scottish teams would get a bit more exposure, even in the Championship, but that spot would go to Spain, or Germany or something.

[Laphroaig]

I won't even pretend to understand how UEFA allocates the European places. It's all to do with each countries "coefficient".

At the moment Scotland has 1 champions league place but the club winning it has to play (at least) 2 qualifying ties to get to the proper group stages. Celtic play Malmo next to get to the league stage.

There are 2 europa places, 1 to the runners up and 1 to the cup winners. Both have to play (at least) 3 rounds before reaching the group stage. St Johnstone were knocked out at the first hurdle and Aberdeen lost last night in the 3rd round.

To be honest, things couldn't get much worse than they already are...

How are Gerrard and Lampard getting on in the MLS?