[kurtsimonw]

QPR are in a different situation, they can spend all they want, but it's hard to attract any decent players to the Championship. Once they get promoted they can get some good players, and once they get into Europe that's when they'll start really throwing the money around. There's stupid amounts of money in England at the moment.

1. Man City: £600bn-£800bn
2. QPR: £47bn
3. Chelsea: £11bn

That's just stupid amounts of money, how can anybody compete with that? Then you have United, Liverpool, West Ham, Portsmouth, Villa and Newcastle who's owners have excess of £1bn. Arsenal and Spurs are hardly poor either. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[acid911]

Crazy numbers. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Funny how the 11 clubs you mentioned combined only have one more CL title than Milan.

[kurtsimonw]

Yep, well, 2 actually. Though I think that'll be changing. Liverpool will almost certainly fall out of the picture, but in a few years time there will be United to compete with as well as two Chelsea's. I'm still trying to get to grips with it, they have more money than.. realistically possible!

This post has been edited by kurtsimonw: Sep 2 2008, 02:21 PM

[LaPalma]

QPR are in a different situation, they can spend all they want, but it's hard to attract any decent players to the Championship. Once they get promoted they can get some good players, and once they get into Europe that's when they'll start really throwing the money around. There's stupid amounts of money in England at the moment.

1. Man City: £600bn-£800bn
2. QPR: £47bn
3. Chelsea: £11bn

That's just stupid amounts of money, how can anybody compete with that? Then you have United, Liverpool, West Ham, Portsmouth, Villa and Newcastle who's owners have excess of £1bn. Arsenal and Spurs are hardly poor either. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

When I read this it sounds a bit absurd that the fans in Germany go mad about Dietmar Hopps Hoffenheim. Anyway...this owner thing in the EPL. It's not a good thing for football if you ask me.

[Habitant]

Hart, Dunne, Ireland, Johnson, Petrov, Robinho, Elano, Wright-Phillips are all good players. Sturridge is probably the best young player in the Premier League right now.


Top 4 this season? Very possible. All they have to do is keep in touch with 4th place by January first, and when that transfer window opens they'll go mad with spending. Look at it this way, their new owners were in charge for one day.. and they managed to get Robinho.

Their representative was interviewed live on SSN and said: "We're not here just to make Man City a good team, we want Champions League football, we want the Premier League title, we want to be Champions of Europe. To do this we will spend any money to buy any player that we think will help us acheive that.

It seems Chelsea have a rival. They do have more money than Chelsea, but I don't think they can become bigger than United/Chelsea, the same level, yes. But not bigger.

In other news: Keegan has left Newcastle. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
EDIT: On TalkSport this morning: One of the guys that tookover has been quoted in saying they've identified 10 players they wan in Januar. Two names that were mentioned were Liverpools Fernando Torres and Arsenals Cesc Fabregas. Maybe this could be a kick up the *** for Wenger, if he doesn't start spending money, players will want to leave, Cesc will be the first.

a perfect example of why "great" most players fail as managers.

keegan is just to emotional, you need a certain amount of stability to succeed as a manager. to succeed a s manger of newcastl... i dont know (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[kurtsimonw]

Good for football? Nope. Good for English football? Yes. Every year it's the same teams finishing in the top, because they keep doing is, they keep getting much more money than the rest of the league and the gap has continued to widen. But now 'the rest' have a way of bridging that gap through Man City. One of Liverpool and Arsenal won't be finishing in the top 4 next season, which is fantastic for this league.

As for Keegan? They have the worst owner in football. He completely goes against whatever Keegan wants. Kegan stated Milner would be the last player he wanted to leave.. then Mike Ashley said we can have him. Whoever goes to that club is foolish, you can't succeed. For a club with such a poor history and no success, the expectations are very high. I feel sorry for KK.

This post has been edited by kurtsimonw: Sep 2 2008, 02:34 PM

[Tennie]

Gosh. So the first change in managers of the season has happened after...what, 3 weeks? Any news on who will replace him?

[LaPalma]

Good for football? Nope. Good for English football? Yes. Every year it's the same teams finishing in the top, because they keep doing is, they keep getting much more money than the rest of the league and the gap has continued to widen. But now 'the rest' have a way of bridging that gap through Man City. One of Liverpool and Arsenal won't be finishing in the top 4 next season, which is fantastic for this league.

The problem is that this development pushes the prices on the transfer market to an abnormal level. Over 40 million for a guy like Berbatov....can't find words for that madness. The fact that more and more financiers enter the stage doesn't exactly lower the prices. Plus...most of these guys know nothing about football.

[Zed.D]

I heard the Robinho news on the car radio and all I have to say is... R U KIDDING ME? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[I_Rossoneri]

Gosh. So the first change in managers of the season has happened after...what, 3 weeks? Any news on who will replace him?

Probably Dennis Wise (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Oh dear...

[Zed.D]

38M/euros for a almost-28 yo player.

Madness.

Madness? I'd say dumbness! I don't care if they're the richest club on earth, they're dumb!

[I_Rossoneri]

And LOL @ man city for paying so much for robinho - if he wasn't Brazillian no one would be interested in him.

[I_Rossoneri]

Gosh. So the first change in managers of the season has happened after...what, 3 weeks? Any news on who will replace him?

They haven't officially confirmed his sacking yet, Sky are just speculating that he will be gone.

[kurtsimonw]

The problem is that this development pushes the prices on the transfer market to an abnormal level. Over 40 million for a guy like Berbatov....can't find words for that madness. The fact that more and more financiers enter the stage doesn't exactly lower the prices. Plus...most of these guys know nothing about football.

I don't disagree with you.

The reason I'm saying this is good is because this league has 4 teams and 'the rest'. No other league has 4 teams that're pretty much guaranteed to finish in the top 4 every year, so they don't feel the effects of it as much. But here, all the CL money, year after year, goes to say the same 4 teams, these teams are just becoming so much more richer than the rest every single year. At least that is now over, this is the end of the 'big 4'. Disappointed it's not my team that's ended it, but I'm just happy it's over, maybe not this season, but next for sure.

£32m for Berbatov? Hmm. It seems people are quick to point this out when it happens in England, forgetting Crespoe moved around for this price in Italy, twice.

[Tennie]

Thing is, Kurt, that the CL money doesn't actually make the big 4 rich. It covers their loan payments. So the money thing is, to an extent, an illusion. I do agree that some of the sums being tossed about recently are just nuts. Maybe I'm being old and grumpy but I always rather enjoyed football as a sport, not as a product.