This is just to say…

… that there will be no Premiership Predictions this week.

I’m taking on the jetset lifestyle of a pro-footballer tomorrow (when I usually write them), flying AUCK-WGTN to play in a Cup Final and then flying back tomorrow evening. I leave very early in the morning (very early) and what time I do have, I’m saving for breakfast. I’d hoped to get them written today instead but somehow, there’s never enough time. Forgive me.

If you got the literary allusions in this post, bonus points.

Premiership Predictions

Week two of the Premier League season and my predictions got off to a pretty inauspicious start last week. Some pretty interesting results were had though and I get the feeling that this season is going to be just as tough as ever to predict. This weekend sees Manchester City and Liverpool continue their tough starts to the season on Monday night and each will be keen to add to their opening day draws, while Arsenal face Blackpool in a match that has the makings of a classic if the newly promoted sides play as they did last time out.

Saturday fixtures, kick-offs 3pm unless stated.
Arsenal vs. Blackpool
Blackpool signalled their intentions to give the Premier League a real go with their emphatic destruction of Wigan last week, and it’s great to see. It would easy for a team to go ‘the Stoke route’ and try to physically force their way to survival, so Blackpool should be commended. However, any team that tries to out-football Arsenal will be facing an uphill struggle and I think at home and with the likely return of Captain Cesc, Arsenal should triumph here in relative comfort.
Prediction: 3-1.

FFA to blame for France shambles?

The French squad in South Africa - the root of the problem?

As an England fan during the summer’s World Cup in South Africa, one of my few consolations while watching Capello’s ment falter quite completely, was that at least we weren’t the laughing-stock of world football. That honour went, unanimously, to France. Their problems at the tournament were well documented: with player revolt, the sending home of Niclas Anelka and a boycott of training in protest from the remainder of the squad.

Coupled with their abject performances on the field of play which resulted in their failing to win a match and coming bottom of their group, 2010 wasn’t a roaring success. One could argue that this was the player’s fault – they’re a talented bunch, so maybe their attitude was questionable. That is certainly what the FFA seem to believe, and have punished them accordingly – with Anelka and three other players handed international bans. Yet this simply demonstrates, at least as far as I am concerned, that the problem is the FFA themselves.

Premiership Review

It was an opening day to remember for Blackpool fans.

New for this season They Think It’s All Over… brings you a weekly Premiership Review to complement the traditional Predictions post. Matilda Hankinson, a fervent Bolton Wanderers and England fan (who also writes for The Offside about the Trotters) will bring you, each week, a handy summary of the weekend’s Premier League action. I will eventually get a proper post-header graphic etc built up or this but due to recent computer issues that will have to wait for now! Over to Matilda…

Saturday fixtures
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester City
For me this was one of the tastiest fixtures of the weekend. Both teams have very good squads and great managers, so it was sure to be good. However good City looks on paper, they still don’t look much like a team on the pitch. They owe their 1 point mostly to the stunning performance of Joe Hart. Hart made 3 brilliant saves and looked confident throughout the whole match. If he gets consistent playing time I have no doubt that his name is going down in history as an amazing keeper. While City looked better in the second half, Spurs probably should have won this one. City showed that they still have a lot of work to do, and Redknapp showed that he’s not finished yet.
Result: 0-0.

Guest Blog: The 25-Man Squad Rule

Hi everyone, I wrote a guest blog for World Football Commentaries the other day and that has now been posted, you can read it by clicking the post ‘topper’ above. I thought the start of the season was the perfect time to have an in depth look at the Premier League’s new 25-man squad rules that have been introduced, and investigate just how much difference this will make to the future of English football.

Click through to read my guest blog on the 25-man squad rule…

Technical Difficulties

The death of my laptop was much less exciting than this...

Hello everyone, just a quick one to let you know that my laptop (i.e. my world) died this morning. That means that until I can replace it – and achieving this most likely necessitates my robbing a bank – my ability to update the site will be severely limited! I shall do my best though.

Over and out.

Blackburn 1-0 Everton: Match Analysis

I wish I could blame that ridiculous shirt for Everton's defeat...

Well, I suppose you can always count on the opening day of the season to bring your pre-season optimism crashing down to earth can’t you? After a great pre-season Everton lost 1-0 to Blackburn today, dashing our hopes of getting off to a good start in the League for the first time in a long while. On the bright side, I suppose it’s better than last season’s 6-1 loss to Arsenal, and not as bad as Wigan, West Ham or West Brom’s starts, but with such high expectations before the match, it’s a bitter pill to swallow.

Obviously, it is not the end of the world though. This was the first game of a long season and many teams will get beaten by Blackburn at Ewood Park this season. However, if Everton are to have the superb season that we need to have, and that this squad has the potential to deliver, we need to change the way we approach matches like this. We weren’t at our best today, and Blackburn defended well, but I would have liked to have seen more ambition from Moyes going into this match.

Premiership Predictions

The big kick-off is finally here: the 2010/11 Premier League season starts today and as usual, They Think It’s All Over… is here to bring you match previews and predictions to get you in the mood. It’s that time of the season where every team is full of burgeoning optimism, and when we’re not quite sure which teams are going to fire and which are going to struggle, with new signings, new managers and new tactics, that means predicting results is harder than ever. But here goes…

Saturday fixtures; all kick-offs 3pm unless stated.
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester City (12.45pm)
Much of the talk surrounding this new season has been focused on Man City’s big spending summer antics. They’ve brought in a host of new faces who all promise to add quality to what was already a string squad. However, they also look likely to add to City’s internal disharmony as many top players will be left frustrated for playing time, and such a new squad will also take time to gel. Spurs on the other hand, haven’t made wholesale changes and will be determined to repeat last season’s success, with the prospect of Champions League football leaving them full of confidence. Home win.
Prediction: 2-1.

Who will win the Premier League? (Part 1)

Who will emulate Chelsea's success from last season?

Less than a week to go until the Premier League gets under way for the 2010/11 season, and things are shaping up nicely. Starting at the bottom, Newcastle and WBA are familiar faces back for another crack at the Premiership while last season’s bottom half strugglers will hope Blackpool are the minnows they appear to be. At the other end of the table, the ‘big four’ seems to be disbanding – do we now have a big eight or a top two/three with six/five teams close behind? Only time will tell.

The big question at the start of every season though, is who will be champions come May next year? It’s a very difficult question to answer – as proved last season when many “top” pundits couldn’t look past Liverpool who had a woeful season. I myself – without sounding too smug – got it spot on last year, predicting Chelsea would finish top of the pile in my Season Preview. Can I repeat the trick this time around?

Man City: The club we love to hate.

Robinho: the embodiment of the 'Man City problem'

Everyone hates Man City right about now, don’t they? Well, aside from the City fans that is, but deep down, they’re wondering what happened to their club. The club with fight and spirit that went all the way down to Division 2 (in old money) and still attracted a full house to Maine Road, and the club that bounced back again. I wonder what those fans, the fans I saw when I went to watch City against Burnley (don’t ask me why) during those dark days, make of their beloved club now.