FOOTBALL SEASON 2010/11

[Jonny Whizz]

If anyone's interested, the Premier League squad lists have been shown on the BBC Sport website. Not all clubs have listed 25 players and not all have listed eight home-grown players (though that's fine if they've not named a full complement).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 960853.stm

Jonathan Woodgate was left out of the Spurs squad. Not surprising really, he's injured and Harry Redknapp said it was likely that he wouldn't be included. Anyway, they have King, Dawson, Bassong and Kaboul who can play in the centre of defence, so it's as though it leaves a major gap in their squad.

Overall there aren't many surprises in the list - few clubs left any senior players out of their squad. The clubs who haven't named a full 25 man squad now will have an advantage in January because they will be able to add more players without being forced to remove existing players from their squad.

[steelclaw]

Can't watch Spurs anymore 1 sending off and 2-0 in 10 minutes, looks like I'll be watching Masterchef.

At least Bale got a hatrick.

[Jonny Whizz]

The Inter Milan away match was probably the toughest game in your Champions League group, and scoring three goals away from home is pretty impressive. I think you've got a fair chance of progressing if you get some decent results in your remaining games.

I read that Harry has said that he thinks that Spurs are only two or three players away from challenging from the title. I think one of them is a world-class centre forward, I'm not sure what the other player he reckons they need is (maybe a defender). Spurs already have a strong squad though, it's certainly better than Liverpool's at the moment.

[Digifiend]

They say the league table doesn't lie. Liverpool will need serious squad investment from the new owners come January.

[chrissmillie]

Manchester United 0-0 Rangers
Rangers 1-1 Valencia
Celtic 1-3 Rangers
Rangers 1-1 Inverness

I'll settle for that company

[steelclaw]

I was thinking the same thing actually, they can beat Werder Bremen and FC Twente, but will struggle against Inter Milan. If that's how it happens, they'll probably be second place in the group.

Spurs to win the Champions League Cup, after beating last years winners.

[Digifiend]

lol, guess I underestimated them.

[steelclaw]

lol, guess I underestimated them.

Actually you and me both.

[Phoenix]

Spurs to win the Champions League Cup, after beating last years winners.

Not after what I saw this afternoon, steelclaw. I stand by my earlier stated view that Spurs are simply not good enough. Just for the record, the score was Bolton Wanderers 4 Tottenham Hotspur 2. Mind you, Spurs have never won at the Reebok in the Premier League so what's new? Oh, and, Gareth who.......?

[steelclaw]

Your right Phoenix Spurs are crap, more like relegation candidates.

[Jonny Whizz]

I saw the game on television earlier. As a neutral, I thought it was a great match, both teams went for it at different points and there were some superb goals - Pavyluchenko's strike was a goal of the season candidate in my opinion.

Bolton are a good team, and will do well this season. I think Owen Coyle is a good manager and the team is settled - they've named the same eleven for most of their games this season (Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Lee Chung Yong, Muamba, Holden, Petrov, Elmander and Davies), though they also have some decent options on the bench, such as Taylor (good at free kicks) and Klasnic (offers a goal threat).

As for Spurs, they have a very strong team, and their squad depth is fairly good. In particular, the midfield is excellent - I think Bale, Modric and Van Der Vaart are top class, and Huddlestone and Lennon are very good. However, I think the forward options could be improved (as I've mentioned previously), as Spurs' slightly disappointing goal tally for this season so far suggests. Especially as, IIRC, Pavlyuchenko is their only striker to score in the league this season (though that's partly down to Defoe's injury).

[Digifiend]

Did anyone see the score in Glasgow today? Celtic 9-0 Aberdeen! You don't see a team get thrashed by that margin very often.

[Jonny Whizz]

Yes, I read about it. Gary Hooper and Anthony Stokes scored hat-tricks for them.

For me anyway, the result sums up the state that Scottish football is in. The continued dominance of the Old Firm, and the fact that English Championship standard players (such as Hooper and Stokes) can become first choices in the Celtic and Rangers teams, plus the financial situation - Dundee are in real trouble, on and off the pitch.

I know Robbie Savage is not everyone's cup of tea but I agreed with him when he said that the SPL wasn't even as good as the Championship, let alone the Premier League, supported by Middlesbrough's poor season so far in the Championship, with half a dozen or so Scottish players, which also shows how weak the game is in Scotland now.

Still, it's churlish to criticise a team that scored nine, and as Sir Bobby Robson once said, 'Well, we got nine, and you can't score more than that'.

[chrissmillie]

I don't really agree about the Boro/Scotland thing. McManus and Robson have been two of Boro's best players. Thomson and Flood - inbetween their many injuries - have also done well. In my blog http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/blog.php?u=138316, I spoke about the folly of playing both McDonald and Boyd in the same team. Ian Rush and Gary Lineker might be two of the best strikers the UK has produced but I'm not too sure they'd do well together. Best pairing one with Dalglish or Beardsley. I'm not trying to imply Boyd and McDonald have that quality, but the point remains.

Boro's problem is they sold their wide players without adequate replacements. Strachan would have been far better spending the money on Thomson buying someone like Craig Conway or Chris Eagles.

You could never really compare the SPL to English football. Teams like Hamilton and St Mirren are probably English Division 1 standard. But they play in a league with multi-millionaires. Perhaps Rangers and Celtic aren't as good as they were a few years ago (when they would be EPL title contenders) but still EPL quality. There's also various other teams, some Championship standard (for me, Hibs are the 3rd best team in the league, so I don't know why they're so low in the table*), some lower. I guess, if the SPL could be translated to England, then the EPL would be made up of teams such as Man U, Arsenal, Sunderland, Derby, Notts Forest, Darlington, Notts County, Plymouth etc

I'm not saying Rangers are as rich as Man U (not any more at least) but, resources comparatively wise, the Man U v Notts County match happens every week in the SPL.

*(actually I do, but that's another story)

[steelclaw]

Yes Spurs have some good players but they don't seem to have that killer instinct, I dread the first 20 minutes of a Spurs match as they nearly always go 1-0 down.
If Spurs arn't good enough to get in the top four this season then I don't know who is, if you look at the Premier League it's really close if Liverpool win today they can end up around 7th.