Where do you think all the movement in the table will be this year? Will everybody be chasing Chelsea this year again? Who do you think will beat them?
I think it’ll be the same as last year, possibly with Arsenal + Man Utd swapping positions, Liverpool may well challenge, but I’d imagine it’ll be Chelsea to win, and then Arsenal or Utd, then Liverpool. I predict a finish for City of between 6th and 8th, minor progress on last year. There’s actually very little between the top 3, Aresenal will be weakened by Viera going, Utd are going to be weaker ‘cos Keane is fucked, he’s about a year past his best, and they have no natural replacement. So you’d conclude it’s Chelsea again, especially if they get Essien. It comes down to depth, look at Chelseas midfield options alone, Lampard, Geremi, Cole, Robben, SWP, all top quality players.
I don’t think Chelsea will go unbeaten, they may start strong, but at some point they will be beaten, probably Arsenal, Liverpool or Man Utd, they are just to strong in depth to be beaten regularly. But when the season progresses, and the CL is in full swing, they’ll save players and put out weakened sides, then they may lose a game.
One of things I miss most from home is a drop called Monteiths Summer Ale. It is god’s nectar. Full of spices and honey, it is amazing. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.
Hoegarden is nats p** my dear northern wuss....try a glass of (and you’ll like this) Busch which is about 12.5% hardly a wuss drink. Or maybe a Kwak which comes in about 8.5% or more popularly a Duvel which is around 8.5%. Its strong stuff but if you can afford it about as good as it gets. Have a look at their glasses too, they are fantastic. The bottles themselves are almost collectable. You do need to be able to handle your drink though.
CM - Excuses, excuses continue to fly....we don’t quite see sports in such a one eyed fashion as you Kiwi’s. I remember the commonwealth games in Auckland when the Kiwi Television directors where concentrating on their runner in lane six (coming about sixth) and totally ignoring the frontrunners. Its like your always in the shadow of your Australian cousins. We know we are generally crap at sport but still manage (with the exception of the press) to be quite realistic. Tennis, absolute garbage I will agree. Henman is a good pro but not top rank. The press and the henmania grannies come out once a year in hope but most of us have a laugh as he stumbles from one flop to another. As for football, well that is a truelly global sport unlike your nations obsession - rugby. So the likelyhood that we should win it is reduced. That does not excuse the inept performances of many england teams who where rich with talent but like your all-blacks could not live up to exspectations.
Like your observations on the soap by the way and the blocked bog....how about the broken lock in the bog?
I’m not sure how “we were beaten by a better team” is an excuse ! And one only has to read the vitriol in this thread to laugh at your statement that “we don’t quiet see sports in such a one eyed fashion as you Kiwi’s”. We have nothing that gets anywhere close to that in NZ. You have proven the opposite.
Commonwealth Games - yeah well that sounds pretty retarded indeed. No idea what that was about. Cringe !
Always in the shadow of our Australian cousins ? Well we are 1/5 of the size (in terms of population), so being in the shadow is an undisputable fact. But because Aussie are so good as sport, it means we strive to excel in many sports so that we can at least compete (and sometimes beat them). But I’ll always support Aussie in anything where NZ aren’t playing.
Ah so it’s the fault of the press in the UK, but in NZ the unrealistic pressure comes from the whole country. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
As for the rugby v football World Cups in terms of competitiveness, I would say there would not that many more countries that could realistically win the football world cup than there are that could win the rugger world cup.
Don’t assume those die-hard NZ rugby freaks at your rugby forum represent NZ as a whole. These days we celebrate all our sporting achievements (not just rugby), as we acknowldge how hard it is for a small country with limited resources to compete in todays sporting world where professionalism is everywhere.
What’s the deal CM with New Zealand? A number of people I know said its a great place to see but you would not want to live there? Is this due to unemployment, the weather, lack of night life or what. Seems a beautiful country to look at. I heard that they were looking for more people to move to New Zealand, is this true?
Its not the rugby fan I’m talking about in regard th the one eyed approach it is the response of reporters and journalist in the sporting arena. They have found that their is hardly any balance in they way sport is covered down under. Australia to be honest probably are not much better.
Your world cup comparisons are ridiculous. The more competitors there are the more competition there is. You can have 4 world class players in a spine of a football team and achieve an awful lot. Camaroon proved this in 1990. That would never happen in rugby, if you dont have a strong pack and no pace on the wings then you have no chance. Football is the greatest team sport in the world (Basketball is up there) played by people at all levels. Rugby by comparison is a small sport mainly played by commonwealth countries. Ask the French, ask Argentinians, Rumainians and Japanese what sport they prefer and it will not be rugby.
Wow could you generalise any more in a single post ?!
Whats the deal with New Zealand ? Well it depends who you are talking to. I’m having a great time living in London, but more and more I’m looking forward to moving back home. I’m from Auckland, a city of a million people and a city I love. I was back there for 2 weeks in February, and realised how much I did like it then (I was a little scared I’d hate it to be honest). But really, it depends what you are into.
Umemployment - second lowest in the western world at the moment (3% or similar). Weather ? No worse than here. Doesn’t get as cold, doesn’t get above 30 degrees. Bit too much rain, but you cope with it. Lack of night life ? Well, not in the major centres. Auckland has a million people, with bars/clubs/restaurants that come with a city of that size.
I think someone has worked out that if we had a million more people we’d experience many more economies of scale, and we’d have the ‘push’ to sort out public transport. But things are not expensive. It’s a good place to do business. No farming subsidies.
Most Kiwis in London are here for a good time, but most go back to New Zealand when they get sick of the things that you do get sick of in London (too many crazy people, too many people in general, crime, dirt, traffic, crowded tube). Many go back to raise kids. If I were to have a child there would be no comparison in terms of where to raise him/her.
“Its not the rugby fan I’m talking about in regard th the one eyed approach it is the response of reporters and journalist in the sporting arena. They have found that their is hardly any balance in they way sport is covered down under. Australia to be honest probably are not much better.”
Who said that ? Stephen Jones in the Sunday Times ?! Certainly no worse than here. You got examples ?
How many hard games do you play to win a World Cup (in both sports) ? Probably the same.
“Ask the French, ask Argentinians, Rumainians and Japanese what sport they prefer and it will not be rugby.”
Depends who they are ! If you mean that football is a larger sport in those countries, you would be right.
yes but if you decided to move there on a permanent basis....what are the laws on UK residents moving to New Zealand? Australia for instance only takes people from the UK who are professionals, i.e doctor’s etc.
As for rain...are you sure...it’s pretty bad here?
yes but if you decided to move there on a permanent basis....what are the laws on UK residents moving to New Zealand? Australia for instance only takes people from the UK who are professionals, i.e doctor’s etc.
As for rain...are you sure...it’s pretty bad here?
Arse, I am sure you’ll be fine, I am sure New Zealand has black cabs as well as London. ;-)
yes but if you decided to move there on a permanent basis....what are the laws on UK residents moving to New Zealand? Australia for instance only takes people from the UK who are professionals, i.e doctor’s etc.
As for rain...are you sure...it’s pretty bad here?
Well I’m a NZ’er so I can move back when I like. As for English people, I believe it has been loosened up a bit, but I don’t know the specifics.
Yep, about the same in terms of rain. Although it’s more four-seasons-in-one-day stuff. It often rains for an hour or two, but it bright sunshine and warm for the rest of the day. Gotta plan for both at all times.
yes but if you decided to move there on a permanent basis....what are the laws on UK residents moving to New Zealand? Australia for instance only takes people from the UK who are professionals, i.e doctor’s etc.
As for rain...are you sure...it’s pretty bad here?
Arse, I am sure you’ll be fine, I am sure New Zealand has black cabs as well as London. ;-)
No dodgy mini-cabs though, which is probably more his thing.
No footie there though England...imagine the Premiership on the other side of the world...I could not bare it
Yes I’m really going to miss football when I do go back. It’s going to suck. Local rugby just doesn’t do the same for me I’m afraid. And local soccer ? Forget about it. Auckland has a team in the Aussie competition (D Yorke is playing for Sydney). But even that is crap quality. Wouldn’t be even Championsip level.
We do get the premiership games on telly (same coverage as here). Although it’s in the middle of the night , there are sometimes “breakfast replays” like they do with southern hemisphere rugger here.
I can’t believe Spurs have got Davids on a free. I know he’s 32, but he’s still a class player. Why weren’t City in on this, he’s EXACTLY the sort of player we need. Are Spurs a better proposition than City?
That means we will finish below spurs now. Wenger has come a complete circle. He has to go. George Graham broke my heart when he sold Rocky Rocastle but he knew that his knee had gone. Wenger has no such excuse for selling Patrick. He must put his head on the block for putting us in this mess and D.Dein should join him. Acouple of season’s of dross and they will be lucky to get 40,000 in the new ground.
I think Dein want’s to break up the ‘French Mafia’ at Arsenal, it all came out with the Cole affair, with Pires and Viera it looks like he’s starting. It’s the same as Real, Raul runs the place, and it’s not healthy. Especially when you consider they kept Raul over Morientes, and Real are starting to suffer. It’s all backroom politics.
If Cole had signed a long term contract i would believe all this french mafia stuff, but as he has only asked for a one year extention I think that was just an excuse he came up with. Arsenal miss Parlour a lot, he made a real difference to Arsenal. Part of me would not mind a nosedive because I would be able to see Arsenal in the flesh again (there is a 5 year waiting list for a season ticket). I also would be able to travel to away games which I would love. With the latest events that could happen sooner rather than later. It’s pretty depressing at the moment.
Davids is a missed opportunity for Arsenal to plug the gap, another sign of Wenger’s idiocy
5 year waiting list? Christ, that’s a while. Mind you United ‘allegedley’ had the same problem, yet when all this Glazer stuff hit the fan, they realised they might have a shortfall.
I don’t understand how Spurs got Davids, it’s really beyond me, he’s world class, Spurs aren’t. He could have gone to any of the top 5 clubs (probably excluding Chelsea, they aren’t short in that department), yet he chose Spurs, bizzare.
Basically spurs have dealt with a major weakness in their team. They have a manager who confronts weakness. We have a clown who creates weakness. Henry tells Arsenal fans to trust Wenger? Sorry the evidence points to me not trusting him whatsoever. He states that Arsenal want to challenge for all competitions? Not with the present bunch Arsene...thanks for all the promises of major purchases....boy I could not care less about the new season now I have had that Davids news added to the mix.
As a Charlton supporter with not much to offer up, I’m really looking forward to seeing Davids playing in the Premiership.
My grandad, a man born in Tottenham and life-long fierce Spurs fan, would have been very happy with this news.
I wonder if Davids and Bono swap glasses on occasion ?
