Or not
Letâs use your Arsenal example, Bob. If there are no significant injuries or suspensions, on any given matchday, Iâd expect three or four UK players to be in the team: Ramsdale, Rice, Saka and White (if Iâm being generous).
Pre-PL, it would have been nine or 10 players. Two or three of those would have been Scots.
And thatâs without getting into ownership, coaching and ancillary staff. By those measures, itâs a foreign league that happens to be based in English (and occasionally Welsh) cities. And that happens only because of the obscene amounts of funny money, and dodgy accounting that wouldnât hold up for a moment in most other businesses.
Of course youâre correct but things have improved immensely in my opinion there was a time under Wenger that our starting 11 featured not a single U.K. born player.
I think it might be the Saudis trying to unsettle him ahead of the Newcastle game on Sunday.
If so, I hope it worksâŚ
Really think Ponch should rethink Gallagher and Fernandez, I just donât see the value.
Chelsea starting to get it together tonight. Big worry for those teams hoping for 2nd 3rd or 4th position this season, like Arsenal.
I know youâre just just trying to wind up the part-time Arsenal fan, but Chelsea were playing a team almost certain to be relegatedâŚ
Sterling. Always rated him.
Anyway, marching on. Lots of London derbies to contend with this season mind, already Arsenal, Wets Ham, LutonâŚ
Well the part time Arsenal supporter happens to agree with the Champagne and Prawn Newcastle fan on this one
ÂŁ800,000,000 spent and forget all that net spend nonsense Chelsea have spent almost a Billion pound in a single season so they and Sterling are entitled to beat Luton, isnât that Pochâs first win?
I wouldnât recommend any Chelsea fan get too excited after beating us 3-0 yesterday. Yes, we are expected to be the whipping boys this year and us fans know this but oursâ were the only voices that I could hear throughout the game and the team got a real show of respect from the fans at the end. We know how difficult it is and our first two games have shown this. We are playing our Championship defenders in the Premiership and the gulf is evident from the two sloppy goals that took it to 2-0 then 3-0 but up to that point we were certainly in the game and asking a few questions.
As I posted earlier, we will enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts and the fans will back the team to the last - they know what it has taken to get here. Chelsea have some talent (for the money spent they certainly should - the difference in spend is massive!) but we have not âboughtâ a team and other teams will provide a better measure of how good Chelsea are. Sterling & Jackson were the standouts yesterday; not sure about the rest. West Ham next and I am not sure that Kev is shaking in his boots.
Paul it was an incredible achievement to make the PL this season and I hope you all enjoy the ride however do not right yourselves off just yet itâs a long, long season and Iâm sure your players will grow into it.
The Championship is an incredibly competitive league and to get out of it means youâve got a side who can play some football so stick with Iâm sure you will start to pick a few points up and of course there is always Arsenal we love dropping points against teams we are supposed to beat and of course youâve got The Spuds to come who now have Harold from Neighbours in charge he wondered off again and people thought heâd drowned only to turn up at The Spuds.
Thanks Bob, I have both Arsenal and Spurs as a guaranteed 6 points We will certainly learn, grow and adjust but there are some definite positive moments. It is difficult to play our physical, pressing game when you canât actually get near the opposition
Iâm more of a Guinness man, Robert
Me too.
I remember being sent down to the Off- Licence every Thursday by my Grandad back when a 10 year old could do such things because the shop keeper new you and your family Iâd be given a bottle of Jamesons for my Nan and her pal Scotch Anne who always complained about the shi** Irish Whiskey (yet drunk it all the same) and four bottles of Guinness for my Grandad.
It wasnât until years later that I discovered those Guinness bottles where the Foreign Extra Nigerian variants after my Uncle PĂĄdraig who still lives in the house he was born in back in 1954 dismantled part of the wall my Grandad had built out of the empties. Those Foreign Extras are beautiful drunk ice cold though heâd have called me a heathen for doing so but they are 7.5% so approach with caution, Jamaican Dragon Stout is similar and just as nice.
My Nan and Scotch Anne would polish off the Jamesons my Nan would have hers with Red Lemonade but Scotch Anne took hers neat but with a glass of tap water on the side brilliant memories Iâd endure endless whiskey smelling kisses because Scotch Anne would always slip me a 50p coin an absolute fortune back in 1979 would get you a can of Cream Soda, a Twix and a packet of Golden Wonder crisps.
Sorry for the drift.
A nice story. The Guinness has gone up to ÂŁ6.80 at St Jamesâ Park this season. And itâs only those surge can thingies. Still, I guess we have to pay for Tonali somehow!
You guys were loud at Brighton too !
Wow ! Looks like KissGate in SpainâŚ
I donât think money for Tonali came from Guiness sales. Surprised alcohol hasnât been banned from ground