EPL 2012/2013

[Adelaide Celt]

New thread for the upcoming season. Plenty of activity around the clubs already.

-Chelsea sign Eden Hazard. Linked with Hulk, Maicon, Victor Moses

-Man Utd sign Shinji Kagawa

-Spurs sack Harry Redknapp and replace him with Andre Villas-Boas

-Robin van Persie has just annonuced he will not be renewing his contract with Arsenal.

Plus much more. Discuss...

[Who]

Tottenham are screwed (in the short term at least) with Villas-Boas.

After seeing how much he struggled to adapt to the Premiership last year with Chelsea, I just have no confidence in his ability to help Tottenham in the short term.

[Who]

I think Man Utd and Man City will be up at the top of the pile again.

I am a bit nervous about Roberto Di Matteo in the league. I thought he did great last year in the cups but he wasn't great in the league + managing the team full time is very different to being an interim coach. Chelsea should be one of the top three teams in the league (and a genuine title contender with that) but I'm waiting and taking a "prove it to me" stance first.

I think Arsenal will finish fourth. Strong squad but not good enough to be a title contender. Liverpool, I am thinking will be fifth behind Arsenal. I think they are Arsenal's main competition for the final Champions League spot but they have a new and unproven (at that level) manager so I am going to take Arsenal's proven ability over them. Newcastle will be another one in the running for that fourth place. They should be strong again next year.

Then probably Tottenham, Sunderland and Everton.

Fulham and Stoke on the next level down. And after them ... I lose interest.

I don't know enough about the promoted to sides yet to pick my favourites for relegation yet.

[Who]

-Robin van Persie has just annonuced he will now be renewing his contract with Arsenal.

Oh, that was a typo. Will not be renewing his contract with Arsenal.

Ahh, darn it. I thought that was good news. I was hoping Van Persie would stay. Oh well.

That will certainly put Arsenal's hopes back down a notch if they decide to sell Van Persie. At least this time around, it'll be early enough in the summer to properly re-invest the money if Wenger decides to do so. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. Just made a small signing to plug a hole and then look to replace Van Persie at some point in the future.

Anyway, have to wait and see. I'll tentatively keep Arsenal as my favourite for fourth place for now.

[Adelaide Celt]

-Robin van Persie has just annonuced he will now be renewing his contract with Arsenal.

Oh, that was a typo. Will not be renewing his contract with Arsenal.

Ahh, darn it. I thought that was good news. I was hoping Van Persie would stay. Oh well.

That will certainly put Arsenal's hopes back down a notch if they decide to sell Van Persie. At least this time around, it'll be early enough in the summer to properly re-invest the money if Wenger decides to do so. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. Just made a small signing to plug a hole and then look to replace Van Persie at some point in the future.

Anyway, have to wait and see. I'll tentatively keep Arsenal as my favourite for fourth place for now.

Sorry, fixed now.

[Who]

-Robin van Persie has just annonuced he will now be renewing his contract with Arsenal.

Oh, that was a typo. Will not be renewing his contract with Arsenal.

Ahh, darn it. I thought that was good news. I was hoping Van Persie would stay. Oh well.

That will certainly put Arsenal's hopes back down a notch if they decide to sell Van Persie. At least this time around, it'll be early enough in the summer to properly re-invest the money if Wenger decides to do so. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. Just made a small signing to plug a hole and then look to replace Van Persie at some point in the future.

Anyway, have to wait and see. I'll tentatively keep Arsenal as my favourite for fourth place for now.

Sorry, fixed now.

Appearently, Van Persie met with Wenger and Ivan Gazidiz and decided to leave after disagreeing with their plans for the team's future. Van Persie must have wanted them to shell out big bucks for some proven stars instead of continuing with their youth policy. And they must have refused. He said it wasn't financial, it was about the direction of the club (his reason for not signing an extension).

Van Persie did say he'd talk more with the pair in the coming weeks. Maybe the situation can still be salvaged. It would be great if they could keep hold of him.

That said, if they got a big offer of $50 million, they may be better of selling him. Van Persie has had more than his share of injuries in the past. 29 years old. 

[Palumbo7]

Thanks for sharing.

[ederson]

MU needs some serious talent transplant but Sir Alex is not very active... :-(

[Adelaide Celt]

MU needs some serious talent transplant but Sir Alex is not very active... :-(

Few articles today saying that Ferguson is keen on getting van Persie and they will be competing with Man City to get him. Can't see that happening though, been hearing for a few months now that van Persie would be going to Man City.

I'll be absolutely stunned if Robin van Persie ends up anywhere other than Manchester City.

[Rondooooooooo]

van persie to man city would absolutely blow for man u. kagawa was a nice addition but robin would make it just that much harder to win the table next year after they stole it from us this year

[Who]

MU needs some serious talent transplant but Sir Alex is not very active... :-(

Few articles today saying that Ferguson is keen on getting van Persie and they will be competing with Man City to get him. Can't see that happening though, been hearing for a few months now that van Persie would be going to Man City.

I'll be absolutely stunned if Robin van Persie ends up anywhere other than Manchester City.

I am hoping he goes abroad. Real Madrid or Juventus. Barcelona maybe.

Juventus are meant to be in the market for a big-name striker and are willing to spend big money. That looks like a good fit.

I wouldn't like to see Van Persie go to a domestic rival.

[ederson]

I don`t think RVP is the answer to MU`s problems ... Giggs and Scholes can`t still be the most skilled midfielders .... They need a playmake like Modric and someone to keep him back like Papadopoulos from Schalke
On the other hand if you can get a talent like RVP you simply can`t ignore it !!

I don`y think you would be a good pick for Juve. Serie a too slow paced for him.

[Who]

Arsenal about to wrap up the signing of Santi Carzorla for £15.6 million. That will be a nice bit of business. I could see him having a Juan Mata like impact for Arsenal.

They landed Podolski and Giroud earlier in the summer. Wilshire is back from injury. If they can hang onto Van Persie, Arsenal will have had a really good summer.

I'd still love to see them add a top class center half though. Someone that can give them a bit more of a backbone defensively. A genuine replacement for Sol Campbell who they still haven't adequately replaced.

I like Arsenal to hang onto that final (4th place) Champions League spot.

[ACF]

TP for saving me (or celticmaestro or Who or...) the time 



Glory, glory!

[Who]

£24 million = Robin Van Persie moves from Arsenal to Man Utd