EPL 2008-09 : Know Your Clubs

Here i'm bringing one of the best article on English Premier League Clubs who are participating in 2008-09 season. So to all the readers this is the best thing to know the clubs like who they are, what they are and what they did and more...


Stoke City



Stoke is the second oldest club in the league which being founded in 1863 (under the name of Stoke Ramblers) placing them after Notts County in 1862 but before Nottingham Forest in 1865, Sheffield Wednesday and Chesterfield in 1867. Stoke has promoted to the Premier League after 23 years. The clubs nickname is THE POTTERS. The club is currently owned by Kidsgrove Road Ltd, a division of Bet365.

Stoke play their home matches in Britannia Stadium, a 28000 all seater stadium. Prior to this Stoke played their home matches in Victoria Ground for 119 years.

Stoke's major trophy was won in 1972 League Cup. Stoke has won Football League Trophy on two occasion in 1992 and 2000.

Stoke City's current manager is Tony Pulis.

Some of the greatest players were played for the club such as Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Geoff Hurst, Gordon Banks, Peter Shilton.

Jamaica international Rudolph Austin has also signed subject to a work permit but he was prevented from making his debut in the club's pre-season friendlies. The Potters will undoubtedly make the most of that quota but they cannot rely on other teams doing them favours anymore and need to heavily strengthen in each and every area of the field. Ryan Shawcross, Liam Lawrence and Ricardo Fuller will be capable of stepping up but there are question marks over the majority of their current team-mates, particularly in defence and attack.

The record breaking fee for Kitson, suggests that Pulis and Coates are prepared to pay for quality. However, evidence from TP's teams in the recent past suggest that the final Stoke squad should be greater than the sum of it's parts.

Maybe the other players we sign won't have Kitson's pedigree but every player in the squad will fight to the final whistle and give his all for the cause - we won't do a Derby.
We'll have height and strength right down the middle of the side. We may not have have a 20 goal a season striker but Pulis will compensate for this with goals from midfielders like Lawrence. And of course, we'll have goalscoring centre backs - 16 goals came from that position last season!

Once we were a team which never scored from corners, now the corner, the wide freekick and the long throw are amongst our most potent weapons. Pulis will attempt to recreate a "mean" defence - something which was, surprisingly, missing last season.

Will this approach bring success? Well, we won't have the best squad of the teams in the bottom half by a big margin. But then we didn't have the second best squad in the Championship last season!

However, I fully expect us to be competitive in that mini league of six or seven clubs who will be scrapping to avoid relegation. Like most Stokies, I will regard 17th as a success.
Pulis has never managed a relegation side and my hunch is he will retain that record - just!

Hull City FC

Hull City FC is based in East Yorkshire. Founded in 1904 and this is their first ever English Premier League debut. The highest position Hull City have finished is 3rd in the old Second Division in 1909-10, a feat they repeated in 2007-08 when they gained the promotion by beating Bristol City by 1-0 in the play-off. Tyheir greatest achievement in cup competition in 1930 when they reached the semi final of the FA Cup.

Hull City play their home matches in KC Stadium in Hull. Earlier they were playing in Boothferry Park. Hull City were called as THE TIGERS.

Here is some of the major highlights of this club :

1. Andy Davidson holds the record Hull City league appearance, having played 520 matches. George Maddison is standing second, having played 430 matches.

2. Chris Chilton holds the record for goals scored in the League-193, FA Cup-16 and League Cup-10.

3. Hull's widest wining margin is 11-1 against Carlisle United (Division 3) in 1939. Heaviest defeat in the league was 8-0 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1911.

4. Hull's record home attendance is 55,019 for a match against Manchester United in 1949 at Boothfrey Park.

5. The highest transfer fee received for Hull City player is 1.25 million Pounds from Crystal Palace in 2006. The highest transfer fee paid for a player is 2 million Pounds to Plymouth Argyle for Peter Halmosi.

Hull City's current manager is Phil Brown.

So far, midfielder Craig Fagan is the only confirmed signing but having spent last season on loan from Derby he is already familiar to fans. As i concerned, to have a realistic chance of surviving more than one season in the top flight, the Tigers need to strengthen in virtually all areas. With the exception of evergreen pair Dean Windass and Nick Barmby, City are short on Premier League experience.

Chimbona arrived to Stadium of Light...

Pascal Chimbonda has completed his move from Tottenham Hotspurs to Sunderland called as "Black Cats". Chimbonda signed 4 year deal. Sunderland manager Roy Keane was delighted by bringing him to Stadium of Light and he is going to debut against Liverpool.

After the signing Keane explored that Chimbonda is rare defender who can play anywhere across the backline. Before signing to Sunderland he played for two English clubs like Wigan Athletic and Tottenham Hotspurs. He is 29 years old French defender and played only 1 international match for France. More commonly he plays at Right Back. In his first ever Premiership season he voted as the Best Right Back in English Premier League in 2005-06 ahead of Gary Neville, Steve Finnan and Paulo Ferrira. After one season with Wigan he was sold to Tottenham for 4.5 million Pounds.

Eto'o Rumour...

Two days ago, L’Equipe published a long interview of Jean-Michel Aulas, where he talked about numerous subjects, such as next season’s title race, the future stadium, the Champions League, and yes, Eto’o.

All of sudden, Barcelona want to swap Eto’o for Karim Benzema, possibly even offering cash as part of the bargain. Not only that, but Barca are saying that the only way Lyon will get Eto’o is if Benzema is part of the negotiations. (Or, depending on which newspapers you read, Lyon are actually interested in Didier Drogba).

But just hold on a second.

Aulas never said that Lyon are specifically interested in buying Eto’o. That’s just the media taking things totally out of context. What he really said was that he didn’t think it was a good idea to have a player whose salary far exceeded that of his other teammates. But if Puel decided that in order for Lyon to win the Champions League, he would need a player like Eto’o, Aulas promised that he would do everything within his power to sign such a player, even though they aren’t really within Lyon’s reach.

And that’s it. Not terribly exciting, right?

But let’s pretend for a moment that these rumors have some substance to them. It’s no secret that Aulas is a big fan of Eto’o and has been after him since his Mallorca days. In fact, Lyon almost signed Eto’o four years ago, but the negotiations were so protracted (Aulas negotiated too hard) that Barca eventually signed him right under Aulas’s big French nose. It’s also well known that Eto’o has a soft spot for Lyon and thinks highly of the club. Eto’o’s close friend, Jean II Makoun, recently confirmed that he had spoken about Lyon to Eto’o, though he denied they spoke of transfers.

First, let’s examine the problems associated with Eto’o coming to Lyon:

1. His wages. When French taxes are taken into account, Lyon would have to pay a lot of money. This isn’t necessarily the obstruction though. Lyon could manage his wages if they really tried, but what Aulas said was true - his salary might cause resentment in the locker room. Lyon are still a small club in the sense that they don’t have the allure of bigger clubs, so the players won’t accept the huge wage discrepancies that they would otherwise tolerate in a more prestigious club.

2. Lyon are in France. No matter how much Eto’o might admire Lyon, I doubt he feels the same way about the league. No matter how you dress it, L1 is a step down from La Liga.

3. The interest of other clubs. He’s currently being followed by several of them, most notably Real Madrid, Valencia, Inter Milan, and Tottenham. Besides Valencia, the other three are far wealthier. Oh, and there is that club in Uzbekistan.

4. The decision is not up to Aulas. One of the perks of being general manager is that Puel has the final say on transfers. And Puel is a very smart man who will not only see the inherent dangers of signing Eto’o but will actually go by his good judgment.

Next, let’s look at the even more improbable swap deal that Barca are supposedly demanding.

1. Lyon don’t want a swap. They want to pair Eto’o with Benzema. Currently, Lyon operate with a lone striker, but coupled with Benzema’s flexibility as well as Puel’s open-mindedness about formation, it is possible that a two striker lineup could be found to accommodate them both.

2. Aulas isn’t stupid. Eto’o is an oft-injured 27 year old who may be on the decline. He’s also known to be a locker room cancer. Whereas Benzema is only 20 and hasn’t even begun tapping into his potential.

3. Benzema isn’t going anywhere. He’s said emphatically that he doesn’t want to leave Lyon this summer and may stay next summer as well.

4. Lyon are trying to become more competitive in Europe. Getting rid of Benzema for Eto’o won’t improve the team. In fact, it might even weaken them. But having both of them will obviously be a definite improvement.

Not to be a party pooper, but I just don’t see this happening. I know most of you agree with me. I think one of two things are happening. Either Aulas is throwing a red herring out there, trying to distract everyone from Lyon’s real target (Diego Milito or Frederic Piquionne). Or Aulas is pulling his usual stunt in which he promises to sign a big player but tells us in advance how it probably won’t happen, then fails in his attempt, and then tells us he “tried.”

Game Called off : Juventus & Borussia Dortmund

Dammit, I was looking forward to this one. Juventus and Borussia have played each other seven times in the past, and have quietly been building up a little competitive rivalry amongst them. Not to mention, recent preformances from both clubs had me convinced that today wouldn’t have been any different. Anyways, it looks like they’ve already officially rescheduled the game tomorrow on the same Signal Iduna Park pitch that couldn’t be used today. Bunch of sissy’s! If these hot models can play football in those conditions why couldn’t they? Enjoy!

Guti - A Clean Shaved (Interview)...

Here is an interview with Guti to kick this post off:

José María Gutiérrez ‘Guti’ knows that the most important thing to do in order to stay at the top of one’s game is to be excited and to be motivated about winning titles.

Does Real Madrid need Cristiano Ronaldo?

Real Madrid needs good players and I think we currently have a great squad. I think Cristiano is the best player that could join any team nowadays. We would naturally be delighted if he came here.

Are you tired about all the speculation that’s been surrounding his possible signing this summer?

Signings like this are always complicated. If think it’s natural for the press to talk about great players like him.

Does the squad talk about it?

No, we are pretty relaxed about the whole matter. We have a great group of players, similar to the one we had last year but with the additiion of young players who were loaned out to other teams last season. We are waiting to see if more men join us, but we are strong to face the upcoming campaign if none arrive.

A newspaper in Barcelona says Schuster may be interested in Samuel Eto’o… What do you think about the possibility of sharing a dressing room with him again?

I did so once and the truth he is one of the great players around. We are very good friends. He is a great person and a fantastic player. I think he could do much for Real Madrid. He will work well wherever he is. He is a great footballer and Real Madrid should always sign great players.

How do you think the fans would feel about it?

Our fans are understanding and I think we will all be happy if he joins and scores goals for us. This is all speculation nevertheless.

Do you think you have greater chances of playing for Spain now that Vicente del Bosque is the national coach?

I had zero chances before, so I guess there is a smaller chance now. It’s hard anyway because the team just won the Euro 2008 and has a young squad that I think he will continue to have faith in.

He was very open when he was asked about your chances of making the cut…

Vicente trained Real Madrid and knows the Club’s youth system very well. Any Spanish player, including myself, who does a good job has a chance. Judging from how well I know him, I believe I have a chance.

Do you think the departure of players like Ronaldinho and Eto’o will weaken the league?

I don’t think so. New good players show up when others leave. Barcelona are making good signings. The Spanish league has always seen great players being replaced by other greats. I’m sure the competitiuon will continue to be rather good and competitive.

Do you think the Premiership and the Italian league are stronger?

I think the Premiership is probably one of the strongest competitions around. Practically all of the Champions League semifinal spots of the last few years have been taken by English teams. We have to try to change this.

What are your personal goals for your 14th season at Real Madrid?

I want to enjoy much playing time, help the team and win titles. I think the greatest challenge for a Real Madrid player is to win titles.

How is Robinho feeling?

Has he told you guys what he intends to do?I think he is very happy. He wakes up every morning at 8, turns on his music and dances… I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him. He hasn’t told us anything, but it looks like he wants to stay here.

This is one of the few summers in which the Club isn’t looking to build a new team… Is that strange for you?

I must be very old for this… it is quite strange (laughs).

Is winning the Champions League the team’s greatest goal this year?

The greatest goal is to reach as far as possible in the competition. Winning our tenth European Cup will be hard, but we will all give it a try. We want to at least be one of the three best teams in Europe this season. We will have chances to win the title if we achieve that.

Do you think this team, without any new signings, may win the Champions League?

I think we’ll have chances as long as we don’t sustain many injuries. We were badly hurt when more was at stake for us last year; many of our most important men were injured. I think we will need some new signings because we are a very aggressive team, but we are very happy with what we have. It would nevertheless be nice to receive some reinforcements to give us greater chances to win both La Liga and the Champions League.

Which position do you think needs strengthening?

There are many alternatives, but I think this Club requires the team to have great players in attack. I think the team is more solid in other aspects of the game.

Raúl believes Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival wouldn’t break the good vibes on the team. What do you think?

I think the same. I’ve talked to people who know Cristiano and they’ve all said he is a great person and an excellent team worker. I think everyone works hard to win as many titles as possible.

Is he enough to win a Champions League?
No, but he is a very unsettling player capable of winning a match practically on his own. Decisive players are those who have more chances of winning titles.

You’ve been on the team for 14 years. How do you motivate yourself at the start of every season?
Wearing this shirt is enough to motivate me. The challenge is to keep it up, especially on such an important team. I hope to play much and to be important for the team this year.

Can you imagine an entire season going by without the Bernabéu crowd getting angry at you?
That’s impossible! No, I’m just kidding… Things have changed these past few years and I am very happy with the fans.

Can you imagine an entire season going by without you having to prove you can be a starter on this team?
I imagine myself playing several minutes, knowing that we have a large squad and that we all must enjoy some playing time.

Some insight into the first team is always nice, as Raul, Guti and Salgado have all said that the team unity will not be broken by the addition of one player, that they like Ronaldo but are not desperate for him and that Robinho seems happy and wants to stay. Players have a tendency to adopt the same approach as their coaches do when dealing with the media, so when Bernd Schuster uses mixed words and euphamisms, they will to. But when Bernd is blunt and frank, they will follow suit. Here, we have some pretty honest answers, no disecting needed, and Im happy with what Guti had to say.

The particular highlight is the discussion of Etoo. We all know he used to play for us, we also know he now plays for the “more than a club” crowd now. And I hope no one forgot what he said after Barca won its first title in some years in 05. Guti says they are friends, and he may be hoping Real picks his up from the clutches of Uzbekistan or wherever. But I say this, FUCK YOU ETOO. No way in hell will the asshole come to this club. Its bad enough we have Saviola sitting in the stands all season long, now we take back a player we sold to the Nemesis. Dont think so. He isnt Luis Figo, he isnt Bernd Schuster, and obviously he isnt Di Stefano. They were in their prime, on the cusp of greatness, ready to lead Real to important titles, which they did.
Etoo has been inured, off-from and severly lacking in a proper attitude for some time now, so thanks but no thanks. Id rather take Cristiano Ronaldo

Messi Turmoil...

Just as the final decision by the board will be made on whether or not to let Leo Messi join Argentina’s push for another Olympic victory, I thought I would weigh in this complicated business of club vs sorta country.


Let’s start with the overarching themes involved in this discussion:

1. The Olympics are a U-23 competition with 3 age exemptions. That means that you can select a squad of 20 players who are 23 and under and 3 players who are over 23 (or any combination not exceeding the 3 over-23 players).

2. The Olympic competition is not a FIFA-sanctioned tournament and is thus time is not allotted for it under the FIFA calendar. This is, for example, in direct contrast with the World Cup, meaning that World Cup qualifiers force club competitions to stop or deal with the absence of their players during that the days allotted for WCQs.

Those are the essential points involved. Technically, according to FIFA regulations, clubs do not have to release their players to compete in the Olympics, but most do because those players are not vital to their opening few matches, which are generally friendlies due to when the Olympics take place. That this year’s Olympics takes place in August is no different than any other time (except Sydney 2000 which took place starting on Sept 1 due to the location), but the general trend towards pushing the club season further into August has put tremendous pressure on teams who are forced to qualify for various European tournaments. Barcelona is one such club, obviously.Failure to qualify for the Champions League would be regarded as a major blow to the club’s season even before it really started. Thus the ever-increasing importance of young players, who clubs rely on more and more as the years go by, and the ever-increasing attempts by clubs to keep their young players out of non-sanctioned competitions.

The cases of Rafinha and Diego in Germany could very well determine Barcelona’s approach to “el caso Messi”. In those cases, the German Football Association (DFB) sided with the clubs attempting to keep their players, as did UEFA. The Spanish FA has given tacit approval of Barcelona’s attempt to keep Messi out of the Olympics. Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, insists the players must be allowed to leave.

Soccernet quotes him in an article as saying, ‘”The release of players below the age of 23 has always been mandatory for all clubs. The same principle shall apply for Beijing 2008.” The fact that this tournament is not included in the co-ordinated international match calendar “does not mean that there is no release obligation for the relevant clubs,” he added.’

I imagine that lawyers could argue both sides until blue in the face, but the fact remains that it is not part of the match calendar. That’s a big deal and it’s one that Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen are going to argue intensely. The “spirit of the rules” may be invoked by FIFA and they may win in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but it will, in the end, be a pretty monumental case — at least until FIFA changes the rules and puts the Olympics on the official calendar.*
Then there’s the point of basic human decency on the part of the clubs. Do you let a player go who says he wants to play in the Olympics almost as much as he wants to play in the World Cup? You only get a few years in which to participate (sometimes just one chance, depending on when you become a pro), so shouldn’t clubs, especially rich ones, let players go? It’s good for morale and it might even be good for the development of your team because your second string players will get more serious competition under their belts before the return of the stars. Certainly it’s good to get some more experience for the younger players if they’re not starters (think Royston Drenthe or even ManU’s Anderson), but what of teams that are vying for the aforementioned European spots and will be losing important pieces of their squads to a competition that isn’t even on the FIFA calendar?

You can go either way on this one and I’d like your opinions on the matter, but, first, here’s mine: I do not want Lionel Messi to go to the Olympics. It’s not because I think that the clubs should win out over country, but rather because the season is far too long as it is and “club vs country” loses its sting as an argument when you’ve got 10 competitions to choose from throughout the year. Olympics, Euro2008, Copa America, Confederations Cup, World Cup qualifiers, etc. And that’s just the internationals. Champions League, Copa del Rey, Copa Catalunya, La Liga, to name just the ones Barcelona is involved in (you can add a couple more if you’re an English team). That amounts to too many games over too short a period of time. But if you’re going to have that many club competitions, cut down on the number of internationals. Or vice versa. There’s too much overlap and too much wrangling on everyone’s part to either keep their players or be allowed to play.

I personally don’t care for the Olympics because the whole idea of a unity competition was lost years ago in the Cold War when it became an “I’m better than you at sports, thus my country is better than yours” pissing contest. China has reinvigorated that ethos this year in an attempt to establish itself as a true world superpower, which is just dumb. The Olympics have lost their shine and I, for one, will be watching very little of them, as much as I love a myriad of sports going on at once. Thus, I do not support Lionel Messi leaving his club to compete in a silly tournament for kids. He’s above that in skill, so why bother? A gold medal? Not as cool as a Champions League trophy in my eyes.

But what do you think?
*They may not be able to do so because it’s a U-23 competition, but I’m not sure how that works.

Ranieri : A Tough Test against German Borussia Dortmund

«Borussia are already League-fit. I watched the game they won against Bayern: they were like possessed, they sprinted, they pressed... They're ready for the League, whereas we're still preparing. It'll be a good test». This is how Ranieri introduced the game against Borussia Dortmund; the Bianconeri's upcoming opponents have just won the German Super Cup and they're a particularly tough team at this stage, as Juve still need to find their rhythm: «You only get it by playing –Ranieri explained – these games are important to “amass minutes”. I saw a good Juve in Copenhagen. After ten minutes we loosened up and we tried to play those combinations that allowed us to do well last year. Sure, there were a few mistakes, but in any case I saw a solid team. We'll need the same solidity in Germany».

Talk then switched to single players. First of all Sissoko: «He was supposed to recover just in time for our trip to England, and I'm already playing him. We mustn't rush, though; he's young, he wants to show how good he is and even in training I often have to hold him back».

On Mellberg: «I liked him a lot. You can see he's an experienced defender, solid, good with his head... it's difficult to go past him».

And then Amauri: «He's doing well, but he's not fit yet, just like the others. In any case I wasn't expecting him to start off like this».

And finally, Ekdal: «He has a lot of personality despite his 19 years of age. Are we going to send him somewhere on loan? I don't know. I will tell the Club what I think we should do at the end of the pre-season training, and then they will decide».

Trezeguet deserves a chapter all for himself, as the papers in the last few days have been saying he's not happy, creating a bit of controversy. Ranieri was inevitably asked about it, and he answered sarcastically, making it clear where the truth lies: «Do we have a Trezeguet problem? Please bear with me, but I can't answer these types of questions. I talk about football».

Finally, the Manager clarified the young players’ situation and the Club's plans: «At Juventus they ask you to win and to make the young players debut at the same time, whereas they go to the other clubs to grow. It's normal. It'll be up to them to fight for a place in the team now, knowing that they have a Manager who has no preclusion towards them and isn't scared of making them play».