Carling Cup Draw

The draw for the second round of the Carling Cup has been made with several Premiership teams facing tricky opposition. Roy Keane returns to Notts Forest for the first time in a competitive fixture. Quite sad in a way to think that Utd never played Forest in all Keane’s time there, for such a great club it’s brilliant to see some excitement back at the City Ground. They have added the perennial Championship goalscorer Robert Earnshaw to their ranks and he scored twice in their first round win over Morecambe last night.

                          

With the Premiership teams in European action not added until the third round stage, giantkillerswill be lurking to topple some of the clubs who could do with a good cup run.
West Ham reached the FA Cup Final against Liverpool two years ago and would love another crack at Wembley. They host Macclesfield in the second round. Newcastle face a tricky trip to Chris Coleman’s Coventry, for whom new signing Clinton Morrisson got off the mark with a goal last night. Newly promoted Premiership side Hull face a tricky trip to Roberto Martinez’ Swansea while Mark Hughes will kick off Man City’s campaign away to Brighton.

Draw in Full with Premiership teams in Italics….

Ipswich v Colchester
Coventry v Newcastle
Hartlepool v West Brom
West Hamv Macclesfield
Huddersfield v Sheffield United
Cardiff v MK Dons
Swansea v Hull
Rotherham v Wolves
Brighton v Manchester City
Reading v Luton
Blackburnv Grimsby
Wiganv Notts County
Leeds v Crystal Palace
Crewe v Bristol City
Middlesbrough v Yeovil
Fulham v Leicester
QPR v Carlisle
Nottingham Forest v Sunderland
Burnley v Oldham
Southampton v Birmingham
Bolton v Northampton
Watford v Darlington
Preston v Derby
Cheltenham v Stoke
Ties to be played week commencing 25th August

Pre-Season Predictions

The Premiership season is set to get underway next weekend and thefc100 is sticking its neck on the line as it attempts to accurately predict the entire Premiership table….

1: Chelsea
2: Man Utd
3: Liverpool
4: Arsenal
5: Aston Villa
6: Tottenham
7: Portsmouth
8: Everton
9: Man City
10: Newcastle
11: West Ham
12: Sunderland
13: Fulham
14: Blackburn
15: Middlesbrough
16: Bolton
17: Wigan
18: West Brom
19: Stoke
20: Hull

Setanta Live Premiership Fixtures Aug-Dec 08

Setanta have revealed details of their live fixtures up until December of this year. They include live Premiership games at 3pm on a Saturday (there is a god) and there are some crackers thrown in for the first few months. Although Setanta seems to try and cram as many Liverpool/Man Utd games in as possible, the fact is Sky get the pick of them so a lot of the games will be very one-sided. That said there are the likes of Spurs-Everton, Man City-Chelsea and Newcastle-Villa to look forward to as well as some of the bigger games including Spurs-Liverpool and Villa - Man Utd.

Overall, a satisfying lot so far…..

August16: Middlesbrough V Tottenham - 3pm
Sunderland V Liverpool - 5.30pm

August 23: Liverpool V Middlesbrough - 3pm
Fulham V Arsenal - 5.30pm
August 24: Wigan V Chelsea - 1.30pm

August 30: Everton V Portsmouth - 3pm
Arsenal V Newcastle - 5.30pm

September 13: Blackburn V Arsenal - 3pm
Man City V Chelsea - 5.30pm
September 15: Tottenham V Aston Villa - 8pm

September 20: Liverpool V Stoke - 3pm
Bolton V Arsenal - 5.30pm

September 27: Man Utd V Bolton - 3pm
Arsenal v Hull - 5.30pm

October 4: Man City V Liverpool - 3pm
Blackburn V Man Utd - 5.30pm

October 18: Liverpool V Wigan - 3pm
Man Utd V West Brom - 5.30pm

October 20: Newcastle V Man City - 8pm

October 25: Tottenham V Bolton - 3pm
Blackburn V Middlesbrough - 5.30pm

November1: Man Utd V Hull - 3pm
Tottenham V Liverpool - 5.30pm
November 3: Newcastle V Aston Villa - 8pm

November 8: Man City V Tottenham - 3pm
Liverpool V West Brom - 5.30pm

November 15: Man Utd V Stoke - 3pm
West Brom V Chelsea - 5.30pm

November 22: Liverpool V Fulham - 3pm
Aston Villa V Man Utd - 5.30pm
November 24: Wigan V Everton - 8pm

November 29: Tottenham V Everton - 3pm
December 1: Liverpool V West Ham - 8pm.

Spurs get a shiny new Bentley…

Ramos shows off his Bentley

David Bentley (right-winger, not car, despite what that clever headline made you think) has signed for Spurs in a deal worth £17 million to the Lancashire outfit.
The former Blackburn midfielder has been on the look-out for a new club since Mark Hughes left to join Man City earlier this summer. By signing for Spurs, the England man will have disappointed the likes of Liverpool, Aston Villa and Man City, where Hughes would no doubt have been keen to reunite with the player.

The former Arsenal man has become hot property and may well have made himself England’s number one by signing for the London club. If Spurs can replace Robbie Keane and Berbatov, should he leave, they will have a squad which will look at the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal and believe they can genuinely compete against them this year.

The arrival of Bentley could also signal the departure of Aaron Lennon. Two seasons ago Lennon was one of the best players to watch in the Premiership and earned a call-up to the England squad. However a dip in form last year has led to the belief that he too will be off-loaded this summer by Spurs who are facing into the season with an almost entirely reshaped squad.

You don’t win anything with kids…

                                    

No, seriously Arsene.
Arsenal have ’swooped’ for another talented youngster, Portugal Under-21 midfielder Amaury Bischoff from Werder Bremen. The 21-year-old midfielder has signed for the London team after rejecting a new contract offer from the German side. With compensation yet to be agreed, Arsenal may have to go to a tribunal to determine how much needs to be paid.

Wenger’s famous youth policy continues, with his main summer signing Nasri from Marseilles still a teenager and now Bischoff brought i, it seems, to replace Mattieu Flamini who left to join AC Milan in the summer. No doubt we’ll come to regret this when the Portugese is named young player of the year, but isn’t it time Arsene started looking for a few more experienced players? If the wisest man in your squad is young Fabregas then something is wrong. Obviously we don’t have to defend that statement seeing as Gallas made an absolute mockery of the captain’s armband in the premiership last year. Plus everyone’s favourite grandad at the club, Jens Lehman, has sought pastures new. (Give it up Jens, what are you 50?)

Could be another tough season for Arsenal. With Adebayor making noises about leaving, Fabregas having reached the final of Euro 2008 and barely got a moment’s rest before lamping back for training and one or two of their best players, Flamini and Hleb, having left, times are still looking tough…..

Ben Haim to City

Rooney and Ben Haim will renew acquaintances in the Manchester derby

Well it’s official, Man City have an abundance of cash and are happy to fork out over the odds on, pretty much anyone. You have to feel sorry for the fans who will certainly be feeling blue today (or not as the case may be, man that was a confusing play on words) after dreams of Ronaldinho went with his transfer to AC Milan, only to see the most -unlike-Ronaldinho-type player in the Premiership sign for them.

No doubt, Ben Haim is a handy player. There is also no doubt he was being linked with a £2 million switch back to Bolton a few months ago. Unless he’s putting in three times as much effort these days, it’s hard to jutify that kind of fee. Chelsea have done well from signing a player for free, realising he’s no good enough and making back a bit of wasted money on Shevchenko.

 It’s also strange that Hughes would choose to sign a player in a position where he’s possibly got his best two players in Dunne and Richards. Maybe Richards will be going back to right-back or maybe he’ll be going altogether. A club like Arsenal could do with him at the moment and he would certainly suit their style of play.

So Chelsea have recouped most of Deco now. Sobering thought isn’t it? I always wonder why it is that managers come in with an ‘everyone starts with a blank slate’ attitude, only to farm out the player that got left behind last season. Do the coaches tell the incoming manager, hey, listen, that Ben Haim is a pile of shi**…..?

So Man City have a strong central defence now, time to get moving on the forwards Hughesy. With the likes of Dunne and Johnson set to plede their future to the clubs, Man City fans only need a type of Ronaldinho to get their dreams going for the season ahead….

Sky Sports Live Premiership Fixtures 2008

It’s back folks, and this time it’s personal.

Ok, it’s not really personal but it’s definitely emotional. Imagine, if that’s how long it is without football when there’s a Euro 2008 to enjoy, what are we supposed to do next year with no football at all??? Scary prospect. However, we’ve got the live fixtures for the first few month of the 08-09 season and there’s some delicious games in store.

If, like thefc100, you have been trying to find live commentary on pre-season friendlies on the net, scouring the internet and papers for a sniff of a transfer rumour and generally counting down the minutes till it kicks-off, you’ll be delighted to hear we kick off with Arsenal V West Brom at 12.45 on August 16. Fantastic. A 5-1 thrashing after West Brom take an unlikely lead and the glory of Saturday at 3pm is back. No live games maybe, but games nonetheless. Chelsea V Portsmouth and Man Utd V Newcastle should be reasonably interesting. That’s assuming Scolari hasn’t slapped the shit out of Drogba and Keegan has been given a defence for his birthday.

Chelsea V Spurs and Villa V Liverpool on August 31 wrap up the month quite nicely. Liverpool V United follows in September and we’re well underway. To be honest, even Hull V Man City seems attractive to us at the moment….

Robbie Keane to Liverpool

Keane arrives at Anfield

Irish International Robbie Keane has become the second most expensive signing for Liverpool in the club’s history.
Hmmmm. 28 years old. £20 million? He’s a good signing definitely, but whether a £20 mil investment is a good one remains to be seen. There’s no doubt splashing out on the right striker is important. Especially for Liverpool who now have a third option for goals apart from Torres and Gerrard. The fact that Keane can score will also free up room for the likes of Babel and Benayoun to get more goals. It’s easier to mark two players than it is three.

And Robbie Keane is tough to mark. He drags defenders out wide, leaving Torres and Gerrard nearer the box. He can score from long-range meaning defenders have to go to him, they can’t leave him any space. It’s certainly a clever signing, and Keane has had very few problems with injuries until this point.

However Benitez has brought in strikers who hven’t worked in recent years. With a £20 mil fee, Benitez can’t afford to flog him off after a year as he did with Bellamy and as he may yet do with Voronin. Keane’s signing is vital, but Liverpool are still a striker short, unless Ngog can step up immediately, a prospect Benitez doesn’t seem to convince on: “Normally he will be available for the first team next season. He is a player who wants to improve quickly, so he will learn and then settle down”

Thefc100

Due to being very busy and important thefc100 is on a small break and will return soon…..

Carling Cup Final

                    

Chelsea meet Tottenham at Wembley today as Juande Ramos and Avram Grant look to earn their first trophy for their respective clubs.
Chelsea are most people’s favourites, however Ramos has a terrific record in cup finals having won the last two UEFA Cups with Sevilla, while Grant has yet to experience that level of pressure in a cup final.
The big debate surrounds whether or not John Terry will start the game. As club captain it would be expected that he would, however Avram Grant has done nothing to quell the rumours of Alex patnering Carvalho at the back for the Blues.
For Spurs, Ledley King is desperate to be fit however his lack of match practise may count against him.
Spurs’ defence is the big question-mark on their chances of winning the cup with Didier Drogba having scored in cup finals against Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal.
Despite all this the game is likely to be an entertaining one. Spurs play with a reckless abandon at times, while Chelsea are used to winning and the likes of Anelka and Cole are in great form going into the game. Likewise Keane and Jenas for Spurs, who I just fancy to nick it, possibly in extra-time.

Prediction: Spurs 3 Chelsea 2