The Premier League Thread

Spurs were Champions League finalists just two season ago. And they’re in Europe this season, technically.

 

Newcastle might well reach CL levels in a few years, presuming they stay up. They might also get relegated this season...even with an orgy of January spending, it's just not easy to build a club overnight.

Where it gets interesting is in the increased competition for the top places, and in turn for the revenues to be had with the top places. It's already quite a bit more variable now than it once was, and adding another team into the mix creates a credible possibility of one of the bigger sides getting squeezed out. Arsenal would seem like the most likely victim there; they haven't made CL since 2015-16 and don't exactly look like they're heading there this season. Their commercial revenues haven't suffered to date (and in fact have continued to grow), but one wonders how long they can go without European competition before that starts to change.

It's entirely possible that there's just so much commercial revenue sloshing around that it can be parceled out between 7-8 PL teams without really abating. Clubs won't lose their overseas audiences (which are the biggest drivers of commercial income) overnight. But a lot of that support, particularly with younger fans, isn't necessarily rock-solid either, and a period of sustained mediocrity could easily see of the traditional big clubs turn into, I dunno, current-day West Ham or something.

 

There are some good points here. I think that the interesting scenario in the Premier League is those teams like Leicester who have been hugely successful without being particularly fashionable. You would have thought that they would have picked up a large , foreign following but it is interesting that we have seen so called " Big Four" clubs diminish in potential. Man Utd keep threatening to come good but it does not seem to be happening. I think Arsenal are actually in a worse position and I cannot see how they can ever catch up with teams like Man CIty, Liverpool and Chelsea. Arsenal are nowhere as good a team as Leicester. What always intrigued me was how popular Arsene Wenger's Arsenal was in France - not so much because they were full of French stars and managed by a Frenchman, but because there were many there who actually preferred them to French teams.

As for Newcastle, I think they may threaten top 6 or top 7 yet their potential is really no better than either Villa or Everton who have both under-acheived. in my opinion, their identity is too parochial to muster much support outside of the North-East. I see this morning that the newpapers are mooting sometop names to take control at St James yet I doubt if an English team in relegation trouble will be immediately popular.

 

The relegation issue may be a problem but the ambition, transfer budget and wages will be an incentive.

 

There's a bit of chatter in the papers this morning about Newcastle going for Zaha and Ward-Prowse in the January window.

Now obviously it's just chatter (though it was in The Times, so possibly not 'loose' chatter, but would suspect informed guessing).

Question is, if Newcastle came in with a nuts bid, let's call it £70m. Are you happy to thank James for his service and let him go?

 

I'll start. Yes.

 

100% - I don't think Newcastle will be spending quite that much but if, for some strange reason, they valued JWP at £70m then we would be fools not to sell him!

 

I wasn’t against selling him to Villa for the right fee in the summer, and £70m definitely falls into that category.

With the usual caveat that the money is spent on players/wages.

 

Looks like Eddie Howe is close to the Newcastle job. Great opportunity for him but not without risk - they are pretty crap and there is no guarantee they will buy their way out of trouble with just 1 transfer window.

 

Those are the sort of signings that I would expect Newcastle to be going for initially.

Players like Phillips, Neto, JWP, Zaha, DCL etc. The better players from the teams outside the top 6.

 

Yes.

 

All depends. If we have more than 22 points by Dec 31 then maybe we can afford to let him go. Anything below 22 and I’d say no. They can have him next summer.

 

This would please me immensely, if only to stop people talking about him coming here.

 

Can anyone explain why Dean only gave a yellow card for a McArthur tackle that was ten times worse than JWP's mistimed effort? Why did VAR not intervene in what was an obvious error?
Mikel Arteta says On James McArthur's foul on Bukayo Saka: "It's a clear red card. No intention to play the ball. I don't know how with VAR he hasn't been sent off."
Will he get a charge for that remark?

 

Premier League clubs have had an emergency meeting and have voted 18-2 to stop Newcastle’s new owners from agreeing big money sponsorship deals.
It’s a temporary ban on deals involving existing business relationships, will be in force for a month and will apply to all 20 clubs, many of whom want it to become a permanent rule.

The Toon legal advisors say this is unlawful, and I am sure that nobody will be surprised to learn that the only other club that voted against it was Manchester City.
All other 19 clubs have raised questions as to why the purchase of the club was signed off and discussed the financial implications of having “such a wealthy regime” as rivals.

 

Tick 10 agree 100%. It was a savage scythe deserving a straight red.

 

Just had a look at the McArthur foul on Saka. It was a deliberate kick. It doesn’t, IMO, even register as a late or poor challenge because he wasn’t in a position to challenge for the ball without going through Saka.
I suffered a broken fibula from a less severe kick than that, when I was 17 years old, when my weight was fully on my left leg - ref didn’t even give me a free kick - and to put it into context had Saka’s foot been unable to lift from the turf, during the contact, he too could have ended up with a broken fibula.
I know red cards can be reduced to yellow, post match. Does it work the other way, or does the failure of the VAR officials to bring it to the match ref’s attention mean the end of it?

 

As I understand it, if the ref has taken action in real time and VAR hasn’t changed it from yellow to red, that’s the end of the story.

 

It's a hypothetical scenario that is very unlikely to happen but we couldn't turn down that kind of silly money as long as we have time to reinvest it that is.

 

Wouldn't have been in the days of Terry Hurlock and a few others if it had been a Saints player chopped.