Entertainment For Lively Minds
Your Hope/Dreams for the new football season.
Posted by Steve Hill on 9 August 2010 - 10:10am.
I know there is quite a number of football fans amongst the massive. What team to you support and what are your hopes/dreams for the new season?
Speaking as a Swansea City fan I believe that we will attain a comfortable mid-place position in the Championship and would like to see a long run in one of the cups.
What about yourselves?
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The (currently not so) Mighty Reds
Hopes - new owners and keeping Torres
Dreams - qualifying for the Champion's league, and maybe a cup.
Nightmares - Lucas has already captained LFC. The nightmare is us selling all our good players until he is left as permanent captain...
As a West Ham fan I hope...
We stay in the league
We beat a few big teams
We win more than one away game all season
We keep hold of Cole and Parker
And I dream of finishing higher than Tottenham (highly unlikely, but you've got to have a dream)
Being a Manchester City Fan
Hopes the team gels quickly and a top four finish, question can Mancini keep all his players happy ?
Dreams to finish above United because if we do we could win the league
Nightmares To lose our first two games against Spurs and Liverpool and finish 7th Mancini sacked and to replace him with a returning Sven
Another City fan writes...
What he said.
To Keep Tevez
To finish in the top four again and to have a good run in the Champions League oh and keep Tevez.
Shouldn't be a problem
How many clubs of the few that can afford him, want him enough to shell out? None of them are anywhere near Argentina. Tevez is going nowhere unless he overrules his agent and takes a pay cut.
Bristol Rovers
Hopes - Play offs and a televised FA cup game in Dubai.
Dreams - Promotion and a JPT final.
Nightmares - Bristol City promotion and a recall for David James.
Baggies
Hopes - Mid-table and being able to relax from March til end of the season.
Dreams- Not to be the last game on Match of the Day most weeks.Also beating the Villa - its been sooo long (1985)
Nightmares -The dreaded R word again.
Millwall FC...
Consolidation (an ugly term) would be enough for me, but we are a hard team to score against and probably surprised a lot of people on saturday. Top 15 would be a great achievement as most teams in the Championship have probably played in the top flight and have a lot more money to spend on wages. God knows how much Bristol City are paying David James but it didn't seem to help much at the weekend.
YDFMDB
.
Scunthorpe United
... that they retain Championship status
... that they don't embarass themselves
... that the internet in France continues to be trouble-free and pipe live commentary to me on matchdays
They didn't embarass themselves
on Saturday Tippy, don't worry about that, embarrassed us more like!
That chap Forte you've got looked good, is he up for sale?
Please, Retro Man....
.... take him. During the last couple of years (or however long he has been with us) there have been innumerable puns on his name: as in "I wonder what his actual forte is, because he can't f*cking play football".
Not what I wanted to hear...
as he made our defence look worse than England's!
I was hoping to get some positives out of our defeat, such as never mind, it was just a blip, that Forte is the new Victor Moses, no one can defend against him!
Having now seen the highlights...
... courtesy of that there tinterweb thingy, our first goal was a delicately furry peach of a move, our second a classic defender's opening-day effort (ie. a mission statement which he will fail to live up to)... but yours was the goal of the game.
Off to a good start
3-1 away at Boro is a good result by anyone's standards and a few quality signings this week ought to see us ok. Nice to see the Budgies getting stuffed on friday night, btw.
Leeds
Top half of the Championship with a creep into the play offs would be ok. Saturdays performance was ok considering it was a defeat - we created enough chances despite Snodgrass, Gradel and Paynter not being available.
I am worried about our defence though - Schmeichel looks a great keeper though.
I don't care about the cup at all. I have learned over the past 35 years that we are not a cup team and our little run last year nearly derailed the league.
All in all its good to be out of League 1 any kind of momentum will be good provided its forward.
Seconded, though I'm worried
Seconded, though I'm worried we need Snoddy and Gradel back asap if disaster is to be averted. I'm not Becchio's biggest fan (how many times in every match can one player end up on his arse?) but he's done well in pre-season so maybe this is his chance to come good. And yeah, thank god for Schmeichel eh?
Kasper Schmeichal
Saw him at Ibrox when he was on loan to Falkirk and it was him and him alone that stood between a defeat and serious caning! It was like watching his dad!
One of the few times I've seen an opposition player being applauded off the park.
Also Leeds United and was kind of freaked hearing
"there is only one Schmeichel" being chanted - strange times indeed !!
I had little hope prior to Saturday - the signings do not inspire and our deficiences have not been addressed; all of the defence and we need a big player in midfield not confidence players like we have at the moment. It was always going to be difficult to replace Beckford so judgement must wait on the attack although once we get Snodgrass back we ought to be a lot more creative, but we just look too vulnerable and not strong enough to sustain anything this season. Bates obviously needs to spend rather than being spiteful and whingeing but that's too much to hope for.
On a wider note, it would be good to see dose of reality about the game in England starting to emerge amogst the journos and other hanger-ons who do so well out of the game. But don't hold your breath.
Finally, I would like to see a footballer tattoo their forehead - that I could respect but not back of the neck or behind the ears.
At least you've got rid of Andy Hughes...
how we laughed when Norwich paid us half a million for him, and then how we nearly choked on our bovril when we realised Leeds had signed him! Hunter, Cantona, Bremner, wee Gordon, Giles, McAllister and...Andy Hughes!
No we haven't,
he's still there sitting on a nice little contract extension, though he's almost Terry Cooper like compared to the two clowns who played on Saturday.
Please retro man, do not mention Cantona in the same sentence with true legends !
Surely,
Consolidation as with Norwich and Millwall should be good enough this term. Wasn't it the "big club" belief that you have a right to be higher than you are what caused a lot of problems in the first place.
I know Bates has talked about play-offs but all that does is put ridiculous pressure on a manager and team that does not need it.
Nope,
it wasn't that that caused the problems, it was gross incompetence and messing up from a position of strength that has done for the club. It was employing charlatans like Venables and paying players over their true worth, never mind court cases. It's in the club's DNA to mess up. I don't think it's wrong or misguided for Leeds United fans to regard themselves as a big club, certainly bigger in terms of resources, support, past achievements than most currently wallowing in the lower reaches of the Premier League. Still, as we like to sing about ourselves these days "we're not famous anymore" and I much prefer antipathy to indifference.
Play Offs
I think is a sensible aim for Leeds. That's not saying they should get there but you do have to aim a little above your expectation. That's all Bates is doing.
I get a sense that Grayson has a good relationship with Bates - in as far as anyone can have a good relationship with Bates.
Reading FC season ticket holder
Hopes: To lose gloriously in the Play-Offs - not sure I want to go back to the Premier League again, it was a nasty, seedy, destroyer of innocence!
Dreams: Can't afford dreams in the lower leagues
Nightmares: Having friends that are Millwall fans and realising I promised to go the Den with them next time we ended up in the same division - yikes!
edit: Oh, luck with Rodgers Steve, he can always call Mourinho you know?!
Rodgers
Cheers Retro for the good luck comment. To be honest as long as he gets us playing "the Swansea way" (attacking football, lots of tippy tappy passing coupled with the occasional comedy defensive lapse)the fans will be very happy. Last season was a strange one under Sousa, admittedly we had a besy finish since 1983 - didnt concede many goals, but only scored 40 league goals all season. Basically we were tight at the back and boring going forward. If we can get a striker to score double figures I think we may suprise a few....
Well Steve, I'd like to be proven wrong...
but we had the tippy tappy passing - it ws just across the back 4 and goalkeeper, he forgot the attacking part.
Actually, it was a bit of a shame as he was Reading through and through, as they say, and it could have been his dream job, it probably came too soon for him.
I think it was his Blairite spin and failure to admit "we were rubbish" along with his talk of a "world class model" of playing football that just made him a bit of a laughing stock.
Anyway, I hope he does a decent job for you.
Rodgers
Oh and Steve, watch out for Rodgers claiming that he's 'a man of integrity' and will be loyal to your club for giving him the chance. This will mean he'll be leaving Swansea for another club within the week.
...and tapping up Tommy Smith
along the way.
Agree with Hopes etc
To add a couple more:
- to keep Sigurdsson in January. And Adam Federici - whilst I don't highly rate him as a keeper (we've been spoilt in the past - Death, Hislop & Hanneham (Boris Myhailov?))) he's the best we've got and need to keep him playing at Reading.
- That Brian McDermott's performance as manager last season wasn't a fluke
Gylfi Sigurdsson has Gone
That's one hope dashed
Good business business, but not good football business
I'm not happy about that...
best player I've seen at Reading for ages - young, product of the academy and all that, real shame he has gone as I was looking forward to seeing him play more. Still, it's rumoured we got about 6 million for him so I guess it did make good business sense.
Never mind, we've signed a 53 year old left back from Carlisle to replace the useless left back we bought in the summer from Scunthorpe and are currently "looking at" 49 year old Lee Hendrie - who is out of contract after having failed at Brighton, Sheffield United, Derby and Blackpool...
Glory days are here again!!!
Siggy
If I may be so impertinent as to use a nickname, given that I've never met the guy, he looked a class act when on loan to us a couple of years ago (the mighty Railwaymen in case you're wondering).
Everton
Hopes: That the first team squad stays injury-free, in which case we are good enough and strong enough to challenge the big boys.
Dreams: Top four and/or a cup are within our grasp this season.
Nightmares: Injuries or loss of form leads to another 'nearly' season, at the end of which Moyes realises he's taken Everton as far as he can and buggers off to pastures new. Ditto Arteta, Fellaini, Rodwell and Jagielka.
Thanks Paul
That's my list too. You've saved me some typing.
To add to dreams I'd say that although part of me savours our independence I realise we're not going to really compete unless we get a big injection of capital from an overseas buyer. So if we get bought by someone who won't interfere with DM, but is happy to put the cash in and see success follow. I'll be happy.
Very worried...
It's a real shame that, having assembled our best squad in years, the likes of Man City effectively buy a higher league placing. Everton's recent relative success has been built on all the things that genuine fans like to see: we haven't spent a fortune, we've displayed good team-work and have a top manager.
This summer, we've only spent £1 million and grabbed a couple of free transfers. I really fear that Moyes will have had enough by the end of this season, as every year we have less and less to spend, while the likes of Stoke are looking at £10 mill players.
Without further investment, we'll be fighting relegation within 3-4 seasons.
Luton Town
Hopes ; having now seen my club play in 5 divisions , escaping from the Conference is the obvious wish
Fears :Its a tough one to get out of
- only one automatic promotion , and then a play off lottery
- a real mixture of sides / styles with many content to play for a point at a (relative) "big club "
So the big worry is another top 3 finish and a play off failure .
Realistically : After recent seasons having a club at all is pretty close to a miracle ( puts the over hyped nonsense of the Premiership into some context)
Come on Your Hatters !!
I Echo
everything you have said bilko6.
The hope and the dream is to see the Hatters back in the Football League.
A better start this season and it is a realistic prospect.
First game for me is Tamworth away on the 28th August.
Come On You Hatters!
Another Hatter agrees
To add to the Fears - the EDL seem to be getting a stronghold among the away support.
And to Hopes - that the new signings continue their fine pre-season form, with Matthew Barnes-Homer looking transformed from last season too.
Hartlepool United
Hopes: Stay in League One - but let's not let it go down to the last game of the season. Now that the rumoured takeover isn't happening, the current owners keep up their investment in the club.
Dreams: With Adam Boyd & James Brown, we have two of the most skillful strikers in this division. If Boyd can keep away from 'extra-curicular' activities and Brown stays fit, plus we cut out the silly defensive mistakes of last season then a play-off place might just be possible.
Nightmare: We don't learn from last season, and the owners still keep Chris Turner as a manger.
Northampton Saints
After 2 really good seasons, it's time to land one of the Big Ones: the Premiership or the Heinekin Cup. Oh... you're talking about the other football...
The world cup team
to tour every league ground apologisng in person to every England fan and buying free pies and bovril for a year would be a good start. I see Rooney has got over bottling it in South Africa, turns out to be a jumped up park player not the "world's best player" TM (UK sporting press).
Apart from that a nice cup run for Barnsley and perhaps we could maintain our traditional mid table spot without too many 4-0 canings from poxy teams like QPR.
Aberdeen
Hopes: Top six and challenging for European place
Dreams: 3rd or 4th and a place in Europe...and a couple of wins over the Old Firm. Maybe a cup final appearance
Fears: Relegation
tempting fate but ... relegation?
with st mirren and killie in the SPL?
Increasingly Fearful Killie Fan Here
My dreams and ambitions amount to one thing and one thing only.
Survival. We currently have one, and only one, striker on our books - a hulking, square headed ogre called Conor Sammon - yet our only signings have been David Da Silva (no, not that one) and Momo Sissoko (no, not that one either. It reminds me of that joke that ends "Lionel Blair?", "Thats right") one a defender and the other a winger.
Our pre-season tour included a 7-1 and a 16-0 win. Which sounds impressive until you hear these results were acheived against Didsbury (?) and Torrington (????). Luton just beat us 2-0 at home.
If we can somehow scrape enough of a team together to remain in the league despite what looks very much like disaray then I'll be happy.
sadly true
Skybet has Killie and St Mirren down as relegation faves at 15/4 ...
Good point.
.
I am hoping that Ryan Giggs has a good season...
and continues to show young kids what being a footballer should be about.
Giggs is class.
Paul Scholes too. And I'm a Liverpool fan.
Nice of you to say that...
I think certain footballers transcend club rivalries and stand for something good - Giggs and Scholes are two such players. They have enormous heart and play the game for the right reasons. No diamond-studded earrings for them (yes, I'm alluding to you, Kieron Dyer).
Giggs agreed
but Scholes has to be dug out of opponents rather too often for my tastes.
Quite!
Giggs is a model pro, but scholes does some awful tackles.
Joe Cole is a great signing....
....for Liverpool. Would've liked to have seen him at United but he'll get more games for the scousers. I think Woy will work out better for Liverpool than the new Inter manager.
Ditto
They're so highly regarded because they're so unusual. World class contemporary football players without tattoos or haircuits and whose wives' names we do not know.
Well he certainly did
Well he certainly did that...
Hmmmm
He did, didn`t he?
A pay cut all round
and a return to sanity.
The German 3rd division is well underway
And my team – SpVgg Unterhaching – are not only yet to win, but have also failed to score a single goal in four games (three of which I've had the misfortune to see).
You realise
that we will now have to follow closely their fortunes until they get a win!
Shall we be waiting long?
So at game #5 of the season
We finally managed to not only score a goal but actually win a game.
Buoyed by this optimism, we go away to Hansa Rostock the following weekend and get hammered 7-2.
Munich. ..
so that's where you are Brookster. (May I refer the right honourable gentleman back to the fare thread?)
SAFC
Europe here we come!
Sothampton
will do well to qualify for Europe from Division Three.
Oh you mean the Mackems...almost as deluded as the average Geordie.
Dundee
Promotion from the Colditz that is the Scottish 1st Division.
A Scottish youth cap for m'youngster (female)
Man Yoo fan ere......
.....would like to regain the premiership. But ultimate goal would be another Champions League victory.
Would like to see Spurs do well in the C.League as most of my mates and my wife support them.
Would like to see Man City come unstuck somewhere along the line. Pretty sure they'll make the top 4 but still would like it to be close. Maybe if they get this Balotelli guy from Italy who's a bit of wild-child, they might come unstuck. We'll have to see.
And Liverpool to finish mid table. At least they have a likeable manager now. But thats the only thing I can like about that club.
Basically just want a good season with some cracking goals.
Yawn....
As usual a ManUre fan has to see a question asking for your hopes for the season as an opportunity to spit bile about other clubs.
When your obsession with LFC subsides and you can celebrate your own clubs success rather than singing about how much you "hate scousers" (actually heard during the European Cup Final!!) your fans may be less universally despised and god forbid earn some respect.
The main thing people,sometimes grudgingly,"like about that club" is that when needed we know how to create an atmosphere and get behind our team rather than spit the aforementioned bile in the direction of all and sundry (before anybody responds, yes I know we have been far from perfect towards ManUre but our songs with very few exceptions are about LFC not bonfires of Citeh and scousers etc).
No wonder even your own manager seems embarrassed by your poor atmosphere at Old Trafford.
Steady on.....
.....was just a bit of light hearted banter. You really ought not to be quite so sensitive.
Tsk!!! :o)
Famous atmosphere!
football cliche no.1 lfc & da macdonalds kop famous atmosphere/twelth man/mickeys salt of the earth
I confidently expect Mark Hughes...
... to lead Fulham to Premiership glory, win a domestic cup or two and lead us into Europe. Again.
It's a big ask, I know. We've got a mountain to climb, but at the end of the day it's a game of two halves and it would be nice to put some silverware in the trophy cabinet this season.
Inverness Caley Thistle
Hopes - staying up (Although SFL1 was fun, unlike the SPL)
Dreams - putting the Old Firm to the sword (Thus allowing a rerun of the Sun's most glorious football headline ever - Super Caley Go Ballistic Celtic Are Atrocious)
Fears - going down (Nobody likes a yoyo)
Tottenham season ticket holder
I hope...
We beat Young Boys and qualify for the Champions League (not a sentence I thought I'd ever be writing)
Build on last year (which won't be easy)
Pav turns out to be the world class striker I see hints of now and then
Luka turns on the style
Dawson carries on improving
Ars*n*l win nothing again (and carry on whining - "teams kick us", "it's not fair","we want our ball back" etc etc)
Seconded
I join in your hopes Johnny T., I'll be keeping track with the occasional television showings of Spurs games we get here in Ohio. Only made it to White Hart Lane to see them twice, but I've been following them since 1979. Was thrilled to see such a great season last year, and hope for another one this year!
Thirded...
I think top four will be tricky for us again, but I'd like to see a decent effort.
I'd like to see Everton do well, as Moyes is nothing short of a miracle worker considering the means available to him.
I will enjoy Ian Holloway in the Premier League.
On a personal level, I hope that my love of football starts to return, as I've really lost it in the last two or three seasons. Still, there is a slim possibility that I'll be going to Switzerland to see Young Boys (again, a sentence I thought I'd never utter) and so my love may come back there, one never knows.
Also on a personal level, I'd like to see Gareth Bale have a haircut (and keep on playing well, obviously).
My second team is Bristol Rovers, so a good cup run and some London fixtures would be good.
At last
A Tottenham fan who realises that they haven't actually qualified for the Champions Leagus yet.
We have now
Just got back, wet and happy. COYS
Electric atmosphere at the Lane tonight!
And I got absolutely drenched walking down to Seven Sisters!
Bring it on! Barcelona please.
Sheffield Wednesday
Hopes: That it's not an embarrassing season, again.
Dreams:Er, to bounce back to the Championship.
Another Wednesday Fan here
Came on to say pretty much the same.
Please let the football be better than our last stay in this Division.
As a Hartlepool United fan...
... it's nice to see you again.
We Poolies do remember your 'We'll never play you again' chants at the Millenium Stadium, mind... ;)
In all seriousness, if your fans & more importantly the players genuinely understand it's going to be a tough season - then you should go back up straight away.
You found that out last time you dropped into League One,and Leeds & Nottingham Forest found that out too in their time in this division.
Älmeboda/Linneryd already played 4-1 against Växjö BK
So I´m happy. The rest is just bonus.
GAIS is my Swedish team...
remember the saying...IFK is disco - GAIS is rocknroll!
But rock´n´roll is more successful than disco around here
so I´m not sure I get the metaphor... :)
yeah, well I suppose it's a metaphor than entirely depends...
on whether you think success is cooler than heroic failure or whether you believe disco is cooler then rocknroll!
I prefer rock´n´roll to disco
But there is a certain beauty to heroic failure. I wouldn´t say it´s cooler than success, but it ain´t over until the fat guy in the kaftan sings, right?
Oxford Utd...
...are back with the big boys of Barnet and Accrington, yippee!! Be good to see their goals (or lack of) on the excellent Football League Show every week. In fact, that's my dream for this and every season, that they'll be on this show each week. Means we're not in the Blue Square or out of business. Isn't that the ambition for most clubs these days?
Oh, and this forum was fun until the humourless Man U- Liverpool sniping started. Give it a rest, lads, life's too short.
Oxford again...
Hopes - that they stay up by continuing to play (and score) like they did on Tuesday.
Fears - Chris Wilder leaving
FC Cologne..
yes folks, Bundesliga's about to start too.
Hopes: A good solid season with plenty of honest football and home wins for the fantastic crowd. And a huge improvement from everybody's favourite, local boy Podolski.
Dreams: Another good whacking for the team you love to hate (Bayern Munich) would be nice.
Redmen
Hopes: Torres stays injury free, and Roy brings in an additional forward to help shoulder the burden. Some of the youth players: Kelly, Robinson, Spearing et al. play more regularly.
Dreams: The FA Cup, and a one way plane back to the USA for Hicks and Gillett. Club stability.
Bury season-ticket holder
(In fact my avatar is Brian Williamsd, our youngest-ever player who's also my uncle).
Hopes
To escape the basement. We've been here since 2002 and could do without that trapdoor to the Conference always being in sight, no matter how high up the league we are.
Fears
Losing Alan Knill.
Dreams
Cup run, promotion, financial stability, commercial awareness off the field.
speaking as an exile
admittedly only in Staffordshire...
Brian Williams - I have signed pic of him somewhere. 1974 team photo. Dereck Spence, Andy Rowland, David Holt, Jimmy McIlwraith, John Forrest. Happy days
Hopes...promotion back to the dizzy heights of L1...or division 3 as I prefer to call it. Automatically please - I can't cope with the playoffs again. For the Shakers to actually win when I make my all too infrequent visits to Gigg Lane.
Fears...I'm with on losing Alan Knill. That would be a disaster. 1st round exist in most cup competitions.
Dreams...Bishop and Lowe to score 25 goals apiece. Bury drawn away to Wolves in the FA Cup. Win 1-0 and then away to Man U = financial stability for another year. Win the Johnsons piant trophy or whatever the hell its called. Its the only thing that would get me to Wembley.
Perhaps should have put
Perhaps should have put 'Cameron Belford not being good enough' under fears after yesterday'scalamitous performance.
a bit thin on the goalie front
...I wasn't at Gigg yesterday. Had to resort to "watching" the match via text on the BBC website. He certainly looked culpable for a couple of Gillingham goals in the highlights last night.
still...Bishop and Lowe look in good form. Bish's first goal was especially hilarious
Bishop looked hungry
Bishop looked hungry yesterday, he had the sharpness that was there in pre-season. Lowe is a class act in our division, purely and simply.
Seeing as you have that pic from 1974, did you ever read my page in the programme where i used to interview former players on one of your infrequent visits back?
Losing Alan Knill? Pah,
Losing Alan Knill? Pah, what's the problem with that?
As far as England are concerned
Winston Churchill in a prediction of Nostradamian proportions said in 1940...
For more than 30 years I have marched with you and I am marching still along the same road. We must just make the best of things as they come along. Here in London our people are bearing up unflinchingly.
All Europe will be reduced to one uniform Boche-land, to be exploited, pillaged and bullied. Good night then: Sleep to gather strength for the morning. For the morning will come. Brightly it will shine on the brave and true, kindly upon all who suffer for the cause, glorious upon the tombs of heroes. Thus will shine the dawn.
Liverpool
I'd be more than happy with some attractive football and a good run in one of the cups.
Birmingham City season ticket holder
My hopes that our neighbours lose their manager and go into freefall seem to have come just in time for the big kick off!! In case that is mistaken for bile i will be serious. Big hope is that McLeish signs his contract before season opener and that we sign a striker, a left back and possibly a right back before window closes. Left back is a must, right back needs to be a young up and coming player that can eventually step into Stevie Carrs boots.I would take a repeat of last season and a bit more balls in the FA Cup but fear second season syndrome a la Reading.
The other Birmingham City season ticket holder
Can't argue with anything you say Steve. Johnson and Dann should just get better, but the full back pool is thin.
Ex-Vile Tony Cascarino tipped us for relegation in The Times today, with all 3 promoted clubs staying up.
The resignation of O'Neill is just the funniest thing ever.
The Gooners
Hopes: That Jack Wilshire gets a good run in the team and that our major players stay reasonably fit for the first time in many seasons.
Obviously a bit of silverwear would be great and would shut up some of the critics, especially the fans of other teams who can only dream of seeing such brilliant football regularly at their ground (Man Utd & Barcelona excluded)
Dreams: Champions League Winners 2011 please...Well it is the only cup I have not seen the boys win and once in my lifetime would be great.
Looking Forward to: Tootenham's 50th Anniversary Celebrations for the last time they won the League (see Pathe News for footage) and their quick entry into the Europa Cup
Nightmares: Almunia/Fabianski/Mannone playing the whole season...It's hard enough to win anything as it is, without playing these clowns in goal chucking them into the net. Sort it Arsene please!!
Newcastle...
just don,t get relegated again....although with the squad we,ve got now it,s going to be hard. And an Arsenal/Man City/Spurs dogfight at the top would shake things up a bit.
Middlesbrough.
I had hoped that the wholesale changes by Wee Gordon would reap benefits straight away, a spanking at home by the tractor boys however put paid to that. It is hopefully a wake up call for us and we can dig in and play like a team rather than a bunch of strangers. We really need to be promoted this season or I fear we will be in the lower divisions for a while.
I dream of us promoted as champions, waving patronisingly at Newcastle and Sunderland heading the other way....
As long as we beat dirty Leeds... :)
Totally agree
Saved me some typing there.
Huddersfield Town
Promotion, hopefully automatic. The quality of our football deserves this. I hope we go up with Wednesday and Leeds come back down while hopefully going bust.
Ipswich Town
I dream of a happy team playing wonderful football and having an untroubled romp to the EPL - becoming champions before April and losing a few meaningless games in May.
A good FA Cup run would be nice - and I have no interest whatsoever in the Carling Cup (never have).
However, I expect that we will struggle to secure a mid-table berth.
Port Vale fan and Espanyol season ticket Holder
Hopes-
Vale to go up via the play-offs. More cash you see.
Espanyol UEFA cup place
Dreams-
Vale to win the division
Espanyol beat Barça home and away and Platini kickes em out of the Champions League for being in debt or they get caught bribing refs.
Fears-
Mickey Adams leaves and takes Lee Collins with him. we go bust.
Espanyol .the fear is always relegation but also we sell Javi Marquez and Victor Ruiz both better than all the much vaunted Barça youngsters of the same age.
Everton
To win the FA cup.
QPR
Hopes:-that we can hang on to our manager for more than a season .
Dreams :- we have an amazing season and finish with over 100 points.(OK top six then)
Nightmares :- Warnock goes by October and Dennis Wise is interested ...
Wise words...
Last couple of years I've had my adopted home town team (Newcastle) and my ancestral one (QPR) going through periods of being utter laughing stocks, sometimes simultaneously. I hope that this season for QPR will be less like an episode of Minder - its tough when the club appears to have loads of money and is hated as a result, but is shite at the same time....
Frankly, I'll be happy if
Frankly, I'll be happy if QPR does OK, keeps Warnock, stays up and gets to consolidate for the following year...
Seconded ..
slightly worried at the moment though, by the lack of purchases ...
Barnet
Win more than they lose with a few more goals down Underhill.
Top half maybe?
An F.A. Cup draw against a Premiership team in the driving rain in January would be interesting as well.
Also, I hope that all my local non-league clubs are still in existence come May.
Seriously, though, there's only one thing in football that invades my every waking hour and that is....
'Who on earth will finish fourth in the Premiership this season'.
As I write, the excitement is almost too much for me to control.
My friends and I always make
My friends and I always make the effort to go to Underhill every season and we'll be there on the 28th. The barmaid in the pub next to the away end is tremendous.
You're not wrong
The blonde at the Red Lion?
Not wrong there.
Haven't seen her for a while though.
Hope she's still there to serve my Country Ale needs.
As a fan of FC Utrecht
I will be hoping that we can stuff the words of Neil Lennon back down his throat. He hasn't heard of our players? What like the Dutch international goalkeeper, one of the stars of the last African Cup of Nations, a couple of great young players already called up for their countries and a large selection of other internationals.
At least he's done the pre match talk for Utrecht. To quote Jim Telfer "They don't rate us, they don't respect us". Celtic are definitely favourites but Utrecht will be a lot better than anyone they face in the league this season bar Rangers.
Here's hoping
you overturn the 2-0 from the first leg and piss on ra Poop's bonfire.
Fantasy League
I wanted to draw any interested party's attention to this in case they missed it -
http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/word-massive-fantasy-league-roll-r...
Watford
Hopes: to stay up - simple as that. Oh, and to hold on to Scott Loach (who everyone will be sniffing around if he gets on the pitch for England tonight)
Dreams: see above. There's no point dreaming of promotion to the Premiership, as that's screwed our club up twice in the past decade and brought us to the brink of ruin. A good run in one of the cups would be nice, though.
Nightmares: if we get a few injuries, we'll have to call on players who have to fit in training alongside their GCSE revision. We've plenty of talented youngsters, but they haven't (yet) got that much experience
How was it for you?
How did the 'first' (copyright SKY) day go for you?
Barnet v Burton was an increasingly poor 0-0 in the driving rain in front of an alarmingly low crowd of 1,655.
Played well for the first eight minutes though.....
Forest
Will genuinely take good football leading to comfortable mid/table and a decent FA Cup run (too late for the League Cup already...). A couple more signings though and we might recapture some of the joy of last season . I think I'd rather come 7th than end up in the play offs again...
Football
My dream was that none of this season's footie would be shown on TV written about in newspapers or discussed in cafes/works canteens/blogs etc. at all.
Most unlikely, I know, and already the grotesque game is raising it's Jordan-ugly silicone-enhanced heads everywhere, but maybe one day, in my dreams...
My dream would be to beat Man City 1 nil
with a penalty in the last minute of injury time. Oh! Mission accomplished :)
I think that my hopes for the season ARE coming true!
Hey! now it looks as if Rooney's out.
This Copello fella just might be the luckiest English manager in history.....Beckham, Ferdinand, Terry, Lampard, James; they're falling like nine-pins.
Now if only Cashley would fall down the sort of hole the council digs in my street Copello will virtually have (Gerrard aside) a six-times loser/celebrity culture free side!
They say some managers are lucky, don't they?!
Ashley Cole
The best left-back in the world and the only England player to do himself justice in South Africa. Why do you want him out?
Don't agree
(a) He says he doesn't like playing for England anyway.
(b) The only moderately talented Hungarian winger twice (Cole hadn't learnt from the first occasion) cut inside him and left him for dead.
(c) When the defence was getting hammered v Germany I didn't see or hear too much from the multi-capped Cole in the way of steadying the ship, and
(d) He is part of the losing culture, all he knows is defeat in tournament football.
Response
(a) When did he say this? In fairness, I bet most of the England players don't enjoy it at present. Doesn't seem to affect Cole's performances though.
(b) I didn't see the game on Friday, so can't comment. However, Dominic Fifield in the Guardian had this to say:
Ashley Cole 8 (out of 10)
Combined superbly with Rooney at times, especially for England's early goal, which owed much to his calm persistence. He may still attract murmuring discontent in the stands, but he remains one of this side's gems.
(c) It's a team game. I wouldn't expect him to carry the whole defence on his shoulders. He couldn't be singled out as one of our worse players in that game.
(d) The vast majority of players, English or otherwise, know only defeat in International tournament football.
Who would you replace Cole with, if you did drop him?
Rooney - Where's Your Trousers?
Just when you thought things were looking up! The soft lad decides to give the red tops a free shot with his trousers off/lady of easy virtue type scenario. Wayne lad, you,ve got the lot (well not looks obviously) so keep it in your trousers.
Relax
He was only sharing a room with that girl to save money.
Hopes & dreams
1)- Same as last year - Everton win the FA cup
2)- Everton find a very rich, benevolent buyer.
3)- Chelsea, MU, & LFC all get relegated.
Treading carefully, what with it being the SPL and all...
The new owner at Rangers to get a 20 minute honeymoon period before the fans realise he can't outspend Celtic. Ibrox to implode in a frenzy of legal actions, recrimination and eye-watering tax demands because of a certain inventiveness when dealing with HMRC, dating back to the Sir David Murray years. The stadium to be dismantled and the scrap metal sold to the Chinese.
Celtic to receive no IEDs through the post this season and to at least *try* to retain a dignified silence about the SFA, the referees and the ongoing conspiracy (Orange, Presbyterian, Masonic, right wing, anti-Irish, not military but certainly post-industrial) that has denied Scotland's richest club a thousand year reich of rebel glory etc etc (cont p94). Sadly keeping their mouths shut ("It's a fucken disgrace man, a fucken joak...") will cause their heads to explode. Aneurysms. Force five, sanctimony later.
Hearts. Ah lovely lovely Hearts. The domino effect making paupers of the Irish, the Greeks, the Portuguese and goodness knows who else finally hits the Baltic, specifically Lithuania. Jambo owner Vlad Romanov and his Ukio Bankas make a little fiscal pop as their notional capital vanishes like a pixellated balloon on a 1988 computer game. Some baffled creditors from across eastern Europe try to make sense of the fact that they own a second-hand submarine and a professional football club in Edinburgh with enough debt attached to fund a Pentagon team-building day.
Everyone else: skint, occupying SPL positions 4-12.
easy
Be careful, now. The last time anyone posted comments like that about Celtic, the thread was closed down ;)
My hopes for this season:
1. Scotland to get second place in their group and qualify for the Euro play-offs (that might just happen).
2. Anyone apart from one of the Ugly Sisters to win the league. I'm not holding my breath.
My hopes 2011/12 (Liverpool)
I hope the bouyant Dalglish-inspired vibe continues. Liverpool felt like Liverpool again in the second half of last season.
I also hope to get to more games. Only managed three last year (2 x LFC and 1 x EFC).
Barnsley
Mid table mediocrity after the customary relegation tip by every newspaper hack, 4th or 5th round of FA Cup with "battling Barnsley" being subject to a creditable home defeat to a big Premier League side.
Sheffield United to continue their hilarious slide down the league.