Dog's Football Thread #8

[Trapper John]

Arsenal's new coach and transfer committee have decided their summer buying is complete but are prepared to push it a little further if the right player comes along - that right player is said to be Boca Juniors forward Cristian Pavon.

Having already secured the signatures of Stephan Lichtsteiner, Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi for the full squad, extended contracts of existing players and signed some youngsters for the future, Arsenal have had a satisfactory transfer window.

However, the Gunners are in talks with Boca Juniors and Pavon's representatives and if an agreement can be reached he will be added to the summer signings.

A hitch developed when the Argentinian club upped Pavon's release clause to £37million amid interest from elsewhere and their desire to keep him. Arsenal are still said to be in the driving seat though as Juniors are keen to sign Arsenal's keeper David Ospina and it's thought he could be used to sweeten any deal.

[Trapper John]

AC Milan's new owners, an American hedge fund, have targeted Arsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis as they man they want to head the Italian giants.

They can have him, he's just a number cruncher thats all.

[Punk]

Chelsea players continue their habit of getting rid of managers they don't like with the dismisal of Antonio Conte who never returned to their Cobham training ground for the new season, with owner Roman Abramovich finally sacking the Italian.

The Russian owner has now spent a little under £90million getting rid of managers and backroom staff since taking over at the West London club.

Ex Napoli coach, Maurizio Sarri, is expected to replace him in the next few days.

Smart money will be on Chelsea to won the Premiership and him to be sacked the season after.

[Guest]

Chelsea players continue their habit of getting rid of managers they don't like with the dismisal of Antonio Conte who never returned to their Cobham training ground for the new season, with owner Roman Abramovich finally sacking the Italian.

The Russian owner has now spent a little under £90million getting rid of managers and backroom staff since taking over at the West London club.

Ex Napoli coach, Maurizio Sarri, is expected to replace him in the next few days.

Smart money will be on Chelsea to won the Premiership and him to be sacked the season after.

Don't thinking he'll be greeting all that much about it -

Conte has a clause in his contract that guarantees him a pay-off, thought to be £9m, for the final year.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44820563

[Punk]

Chelsea players continue their habit of getting rid of managers they don't like with the dismisal of Antonio Conte who never returned to their Cobham training ground for the new season, with owner Roman Abramovich finally sacking the Italian.

The Russian owner has now spent a little under £90million getting rid of managers and backroom staff since taking over at the West London club.

Ex Napoli coach, Maurizio Sarri, is expected to replace him in the next few days.

Smart money will be on Chelsea to won the Premiership and him to be sacked the season after.

Don't thinking he'll be greeting all that much about it -

Conte has a clause in his contract that guarantees him a pay-off, thought to be £9m, for the final year.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44820563

Like most payoffs they are trenched payments, depending if Mr X gains employment by such and such date. Chelsea in their stupidity left it so late that he might not be employed by the start of the season, thus triggering more money.

[Trapper John]

With the World Cup about to reach it's climax, attention will return to the transfer circus which has largely gone unnoticed but hasn't lost any of it's usual vigour. This year it will close earlier than before with deals to be completed before the new season starts.

For the top six Premier League sides, here are the bigger deals already done and some possibilities which have more legs than just rumours.

Arsenal:

Lucas Torreira 22 - Uruguay/Spain - Defensive Midfield - UC Sampdoria - Fee £27.00m
Bernd Leno 26 - Germany - Goalkeeper - Bayer 04 Leverkusen - Fee £22.50m
Sokratis 30 - Greece - Centre-Back - Borussia Dortmund - Fee £14.40m
Mattéo Guendouzi 19 - France/Morocco - Central Midfield - FC Lorient - Fee £7.20m
Stephan Lichtsteiner 34 - Switzerland - Right-Back -Juventus FC - Free transfer

Chelsea: Have yet to make any signings whilst they wait for new manager Maurizio Sarri to arrive. Strong links surround Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard going to Real Madrid with Gonzalo Higuain arriving from Juventus. There will be more I'm sure.

Liverpool:

Xherdan Shaqiri 26 - Switzerland/Kosovo - Right Winger -Stoke City - Fee £13.77m
Naby Keïta 23 - Guinea - Central Midfield - RB Leipzig - Fee £54.00m
Fabinho 24 - Brazil - Defensive Midfield - AS Monaco - Fee £45.00m

The Manchester clubs have been quiet though not surprising with the amount spent last summer and in January.

Manchester City:

Riyad Mahrez 27 - Algeria/France - Right Winger - Leicester City - Fee £61.02m

Manchester United:

Fred 25 - Brazil - Central Midfield - Shakhtar Donetsk - Fee £53.10m
Diogo Dalot 19 - Portugal - Right-Back - FC Porto - Fee £19.80m

Spurs: Like Chelsea, have not made any signings with just failure Vincent Janssen returning to Fenerbache. Unlike Chelsea, there are few if any rumours of 'Ins & Outs' linked with them.

No doubt there will be a flurry of activity from Monday onwards, with many more comings and goings and some big names involved, I'll keep the moves updated when they happen.

[Trapper John]

I can't wait for the new Premier league season to start in little under a months time. The World Cup has been a welcome diversion in a summer normally bereft of football but the league and club football is what real fans crave.

Personally, I'm excited to see an Arsenal under a new manager, a new approach and a hatful of new players, it's been decades since I've seen that, in fact I can't remember a time like it.

This new season has all the makings of being one of the best yet with any one of 6 or 7 clubs capable of winning the league, everyone is strengthening with summer signings or consolidating with players coming in from an unusually busy January window.

The gunners open with a home game against the champions Man City and with a plethora of new men wearing the Arsenal red and white, it's going to be an interesting game for everyone. Bring it on.

[Red Okktober]

TJ - have you seen this 17 year old 'wunderkind' Emile Smith-Rowe? I don't usually get too excited by friendlies, but we're looking good early on and will be ready for City. It was good to see the team playing under the new manager in yesterday's 5-1 thrashing of PSG. The youngsters all look better - maybe a natural progression, or possibly Emery is getting more out of them already? In particular Smith-Rowe though - he's getting rave reviews and is being likened to.....Kevin de Bruyne! I hope he stays part of the first team squad, and doesn't get farmed out like AW would have done with him. Guendouzi was impressive as well, he needs a fucking haircut though, he spent half the game brushing it out of his eyes!

A benefit of having a shit season last time, is that most of our players didn't make the WC and are rested up (Spurs players played 50 hours more at the WC than ours), so I'm hopeful of a good start, despite two tough opening games.

I was looking at the bookies odds, 25/1 for the title seems a bit overpriced, so stuck a few quid on as a fan bet. I think we have a similar chance to both Spurs and Chelsea, who are 12-14/1 shots, so 25s is value, but unlikely. In all honesty I'll be happy to get back in the top 4. However, something that caught my eye was Aubameyang at 7/1 to be the PL top scorer. The fox in the box will be settled in now, and has had the summer off, unlike the bookies fav Harry Kane, who looked out on his feet in Russia. Kane at 2/1 and Auba at 7/1 seems a big discrepency to me.

Chelsea in Dublin on Weds night - I think it's the most I've ever looked forward to watching a friendly!

[Dean]

Does anybody have a bet on who will win the leagues this season? I usually do an English bet (Prem, champ, LG1 and 2) and a European one (Spain, England, Italy, Germany and France). You can get some cracking odds at the start of the season, there’s also the top scorer charts and cup winners markets...

I’ll have a good look later I think and throw a few quid away!

[Dean]

Man City 4/6 fav
West Brom 8/1 second fav
Sunderland 3/1 fav
Lincoln 8/1 third favourite

£10 pays £5,400!

[LordRaven]

Does anybody have a bet on who will win the leagues this season? I usually do an English bet (Prem, champ, LG1 and 2) and a European one (Spain, England, Italy, Germany and France). You can get some cracking odds at the start of the season, there’s also the top scorer charts and cup winners markets...

I’ll have a good look later I think and throw a few quid away!

That is not a bad idea, a bit of fun but one that could pay dividends

[VelvetCat]

The Championship season started last night with Reading vs Derby, Frank Lampards first match as manager and they won. Not the greatest of matches, but good to have league football back.

The mighty West Brom start their Championship campaign against Bolton at The Hawthorns later on. Hoping for a win and a good start to the season.

[LordRaven]

The Championship season started last night with Reading vs Derby, Frank Lampards first match as manager and they won. Not the greatest of matches, but good to have league football back.

The mighty West Brom start their Championship campaign against Bolton at The Hawthorns later on. Hoping for a win and a good start to the season.

Come on you Leeds!!! With so many dreadful seasons we have got to come good sometime, please for the love of god make it this year
We're shit and we know we are

[LordRaven]

Chelsea v Man City tomorrow 3pm. Given I am not far from Stamford Bridge I feel duty bound to support Chelsea but I do feel they will have their work cut out if they are to win against the current Man City team.

[Guest]

Saturday afternoon football is back! It’s that time again to throw away good money on silly bets!

Today’s selection are...

Middlesbrough
Preston
Barnsley
Southend

A 4 fold accumulator pays just shy of 20/1 at Skybet.