06/07 SEASON FOOTBALL THREAD

[Steve]

i've been laughing all Day since i read that.

Mandaric hasn't even left yet and no way will the new owner be putting that kind of money into the Club.

 

 

Got this from an Arsenal forum I go to. I don't have the link to the source as they sometimes copy and paste stories from the net:

 

Reports in Portugal have suggested that Benfica's Manuel Fernandes is set to become a Portsmouth player.

 

The 20-year-old midfielder is rated extremely highly and Benfica are not prepared to part with him lightly, but Pompey's spending power could see them table an irresistible offer. Pompey have a budget of almost £200 million pounds but the trick is to find players who want to join their club.

 

Boss Harry Redknapp is looking to turn the south coast club into a major Premiership force, and is pulling out all the stops this summer to bring in some big-name signings.

 

Fernandes, touted as the new Patrick Vieira, is right up there at the top of his list and is believed to be keen on challenging himself elsewhere.

 

He is currently in Switzerland but is set to meet with Benfica officials next Tuesday for decisive talks.

 

Rumours have it that a deal could be struck for a fee in the region of ?12 million (£8.3 million).

[Steve]

sayjann said:

but that's my point.

you BUY a lot of young Players but not many are coming up through the ranks like in the old Days.

 

Arsenal buy tons of local youth. One example is Ash Cole who's been with the club since he was 14. Wenger buys not only young foreign players but Arsenal have a very aggressive local youth acquisition program. Take a look at our carlling cup side and you'll see several London area youth. Walcott is the most expensive 16 year old, although he's not from London. He paid for a record fee for Pennant as well. AW has always been committed to getting the best young english talent he can get.

 

Arsenal (and other london clubs) have a unique problem in building a bigger youth program because of the FA rule that limits the area you can get youth. I can't recall the distance but its not that far away from where your club is located. Take into account that London and the home counties are home to a plethora of clubs all chasing the same players. Chelsea have the most money and that inhibits us as well. Its very very difficult getting the cream of the youth crop when you've got scum just down seven sisters road as well as West Ham, Chelski, Fulham, Palace, Millwall, Charlton as well as Watford and MK Dons around as well.

 

I've been to a reserve match and see reserve matches on Arsenal TV and there are a lot of locals there. A guy on one Arsenal forum (steve gleiber forum, screen name hodd gooner) is a youth coach and has told us a lot of extensive info on our youth policy and the difficulties, etc.

 

I think Arsenal are better than most of the top clubs in England in giving local youth a chance to come through the ranks. Sad fact is that a lot of their foreign counterparts are just plain better than they are. But I think they benefit because they become better and we've supplied a lot of clubs with our local youth who don't make it. Sidwell comes to mind but there are others.

[Steve]

teddy said:

Here are the latest rankings:

 

http://europeancups.altervista.org/rankings/team%20ranking%202006.htm

 

My how far the mighty have fallen...I see Man Yoo are hanging on to 9th by the tips of their fingers. ::

[sayjann]

you may sign up many locals but how many actually get to appear regularly in the Arsenal Team?.

last Season 13 Players who came through the MU ranks appeared in the 1st Team.

that is a good number and more will come through this Season.

and don't forget the Players who are loaned out to Teams in England,Belguim and Holland.

these number around 25 at the moment and some are that good that their loan Clubs want to sign many of them.

Fergie is a master at sending the youth away for a Season or 2 so that they can gain experience.

[sayjann]

'My how far the mighty have fallen'

 

but as i said before the list is not a true reflection of Europe.

only the last 5 Years.........

 

if you were to take into consideration the entire history of the CL i think you would see a different table.

look at the times MU have had to quakify for the CL proper,they still got seeded.

Liverpool won in 04/05 but were not seeded last Season,whereas MU Were.

why if they are currently higher in the rankings?.

 

it's like saying Chelsea are the best Team in the PL given all Teams performances over the past 5 Seasons.

given that Scenario then either Chelsea or Arsenal would be top.

but include all PL Seasons and you will find MU way ahead of the following pack.

[Steve]

I must have seen just about every one of Man Yoo's league matches (unfortunately our footie channel is cluttered with their matches) and I can't recall seeing13 new faces during the season unless I'm missing something.

 

Rankings....shmankings...Man Yoo have digressed in the competition (CL) and the league...bottom line. Man Yoo used to be a perrenial quarter finalists in the CL and that is gone. Man Yoo didn't even make it out of the group stages. Man Yoo have gone backwards in the competition. No other way to slice that cake. Same in the league. Before 2002 Man Yoo had never gone more than a season without winning the title, never been worse than 2nd and for the last 4 seasons, onlly 1 title and 3rd twice. Young players are choosing other english clubs over them nowadays.

Man yoo will be a force in the league for the next few years. However, Chelsea has eliminated their one main advantage they had over the league and that is the deepest pocket.

 

Unless the info I read was wrong, it does appear Pompey have 200 mil to play with.

 

Arsenal have their problems as well. Every club goes through a transition and Wenger is building anther team and he's now armed with the funds that the new stadium will do for our purse. I'm excited frankly at the upcoming season.

[Zaad]

CS,

 

On another note...IMO Arsenal is too dependent on Henry.

A bad day for Henry is a bad day for Arsenal. And whom to blame for that?

You clearly have the players but the system sucks. Wenger has little alternatives left for when Henry's out.

Teams should be able to switch tactics anytime, depending on availability of the players in a squad.

 

That's IMO why Arsenal won't be champ next season.

I say Chelsea is ahead of all, followed by Man U and Liv who'll fight for second spot...and Arsenal...they need to keep the rest off from 'their' 4th spot. I think that's as much as they gonna get coming season.

[The_Munchmaster]

Zaad said:........ and Arsenal...they need to keep the rest off from 'their' 4th spot. I think that's as much as they gonna get coming season.

And Villa? 4th from bottom?

[Zaad]

Probably so if they don't improve themselves.

 

Does it give you a hard-on to compare your Arsie with my Villa?

 

You need to compare yourself with the best Munchie if you're going to call yourself a title contender, so I stated THE reason why Arsenal ain't going to make it IMO.

Villa obviously has other aims in mind since it's a smaller club.

[sayjann]

555

you fell for that one.

i never said that 13 NEW Players played last Season,just that 13 Players who rose through the ranks appeared for them.

i was including Giggs,Neville,Scholes,Brown,O'Shea in the number i mentioned.

i wonder how many other Teams in the PL can boast of having former Youth Players still in the 1st Team after 10 Years or more?.

how many can Arsenal boast of?.................

yes Youngsters are choosing other Clubs over them these Days,but we like to try and develop our own and not go out and buy them and then waste their careers for a few Years before selling them off.

 

Pompey.

chatting to a close Neighbour of mine called Fred Dineage.

some in the UK might know him because of his endless Years on the TV but he is also a Director at Pompey and he was when i asked him about a budget of 200 Mill.

he knows and i know it's nothing like that.

even Redknapp has admitted it is around 25 Mill.

but as i said before Players are not keen on going down to Fratton.

no matter how much Money you have,if the Players don't fancy it then they won't go.

Tony Adams has just become Assistant Coach and now they are trying to persuade Sol Campbell to sign............i would be very surprised to see him.

the current highest wage earner at Pompey is on 12,000 a Week,can you see Sol signing for that type of Money?.

 

i'm not disputing the fact that MU's standards have slipped in the last few Years.

last Season was a bad one in the CL and the PL has seen poor finishing places for a while.

but i'm saying that to judge a Team over 5 Seasons out of 12 is not accurate.

in the CL Arsenal and Liverpool are now ranked higher because they reached the Final in the last 2 Seasons.

but surely you can admit that if the whole history was taken into account then MU would be ranked higher.

same as the PL,MU would be above Arsenal,Chelsea and Liverpool if the entire history is taken into account.

so should we forget that Arsenal won a couple of Titles because it didn't happen in the last 5 Years?.