Gribz

Strange ongoings with Bale and Real Madrid. Zidane being outspoken about letting him leave. Yet with Bale on 650k a week he is wise to just keep his head down.

Yes. Or Gent. Legia warsaw woukd be the side id want to avoid. Bring on wolves though.

Used to enter my head weekly! To be fair i was in my early 20s then and used to run up. My best mate at the time was a 16 stoner and i just used to wait for him at our seats.

Used to have my season ticket up there. If you are within the pitch lines and not far back then its awesome views but there is a lot of restricted viewing the further wide you go. The climb is a bit of a trek though especially if a few shandys is had.

Jocky Bjorkland signed around the same time as Albertz.

Thanks chaps. I was just using phone during the night reading and wondered.

You beat me to it, It was your usual bollocks ;-) Albertz signed in 96. Laudrup though....I still remember the first game of the season v Motherwell and his solo to set up Big Duncan Ferguson for the winner. Best ever Ger for me.

I just wonder if its a year too earlier than predicted but I do fancy us to win it this year. But we have to get our form in order and not drop silly points and that will be the difference. Like some have mentioned - Rodgers leaving is big plus the fact he has been replaced by Lennon is only a backward step for Celtic. Im tipping us for 55 this season. (rush to the bookies)

Just wondered - does anyone use this for the forum on their mobile and is it any good for reading?

Lukaku to Inter rejected for 54m. Man Utd are mad not to take that he is awful. He is a big lump.

Defoe will be an important player this season, I think he will get 15-20 goals. Even at his age he has kept himself in great shape and should breeze this league.

How embarrassing for them! They will really struggle this season without Clarke.

Pretty sure new owners would have a clause saying no appointment. His Sheff Wed contract will be interesting, its likely he has a clause saying he cant go into management after resigning within a time limit which means Newcastle will have to pay up. Yet clubs are quick enough to sack managers so it works both ways. I was going to back Sheff Wed to go up this season with Bruce. A big club there for the taken for someone.

Liam Ridgewell linked today on a free, it was mentioned on Talksport. 34 year old freed by Hull.

De Ligt goes to Juventus from Ajax for 67million. The Ajax side will be broken up but they will have a good few quid in the bank. Its not a bad method yet Id like to see a side like Ajax be back in with the elite of Europe, yet playing outside England, Spain, Italy or Germany dents that nowadays.

I think Bruce will do OK so long as the fans dont get on this back. Its a big backwards move from Benitez but Allardyce would have been a final straw for the Toon Army.

Got to be all about players getting full match fitness and a bit of gelling with the new faces. A good few goals will go down well also. It will be interesting to see who SG goes with.

As for the Bruce stuff. He has maybe just done a Harry Redknapp (i.e resign before getting the job). Sheff Wed are a huge club and have mass potential to get back up but I suppose Bruce isnt going to turn down his own club yet there are reports of the former Lyon manager getting the job.

How have you been up all night working that out? West Ham are spending bit in the transfer market. I think its Arsenal who are Poundland at the moment. Chelsea are relegated from Next to Gap.

Plus Tripper is moving to Atletico Madrid. A good move for him. He was one of Englands best players at WC 18 yet had a bit of criticism last season.

McGregor Tavernier Goldson Helander Flanagan Davis Kamara Candieas Aribo Ojo Morelos I like Katic but I can only see Helander being signed as a start. I havent see too much of Barisic so Ive pit Flanagn in for now. In midfield its harsh on Arfield to not be in this team and I think SG will play him but Davis still has that class and Kamara will only get better in that role. Going forward that 3 could cause havoc with Aribo being box to box. Im a massive Kent fan but if we dont get him back this team still looks good. Upfront Defoe would score for fun in that team but Morelos is still the best striker in the country.

If Palace lose Zaha aswell as the full back then they are going to need strong reinforcements, I cant see it. West Ham HAVE to start punching their weight away to the likes of Wolves and if they get a goalscorer then they could be awesome. Defence and Midfield is solid.

I'll do a short club by club prior to the first matches.

Maybe a tad early to start the predictions but 4 weeks is super fast these days and then the most entertaining league in the world starts again - (noted entertaining and not best nor competitive). This can be the thread where me, Scott, Compo and Buster (with a few others) make a bum of ourselves with terrible weekly predictions. Until the transfer window shuts its hard to judge where teams will be. However as it stands I think we could have a shift in the top 6. For me - at the moment Arsenal would drop out the top 8. Their away form is relegation form and they are only weaker to date. I see a horrendous defensive and no creative midfield and therefore Leicester, West Ham, Everton and Wolves are all better on paper and would go above Arsenal. Man Utd are really interesting from a neutral perspective right now. I keep actually expecting them to turn a corner but they still have issues. Pogba is obviously a bad apple and Ive never seen the fascination of him as a player either, he couldnt lace Hazard, De Bruyne or David Silvas boots. But management wise they still havent got it right. OGS failed at Cardiff and has only had Molde. His honey moon period went away and they looked awful again. The only good thing for Man U is compared to Arsenal they actually do have players on paper who can win things. Rashford, Martial, Lingard, Mata, Sanchez on their day is a frightening 5. If I was a betting man - As it stands id go. Man City Liverpool Tottenham Chelsea Man Utd Leicester Wolves Everton Arsenal West Ham Watford Southampton Bournemouth Crystal Palace Norwich Burnley Aston Villa Newcastle Brighton Sheff Utd

Like Tannoch says we seem to be a team who need that first goal before taking absolute charge. But the scare is over and the second leg should be all about match fitness and hitting up a cricket score.