[Geo_Ipe]

Originally Posted by Axe77

I’m a big Kompany fan. Will be exciting to follow him in EPL in his new role.

Agree 100%!
However, the Premier League, and football in general, of late has been ruthless to managers. If Burnley are bottom after 8-10 games, won't be surprised to see Kompany getting sacked.

That being said, promoted teams have done pretty well in their first season up! Fulham has been splendid this season - who'd have thought!? Bournemouth & Forest also have done a more than decent job, even though the latter is still not out of the relegation zone yet.

Originally Posted by kavensri

Those who follow EPL, can you predict which two teams out of LEE, LEI, EVE and NOT will get relegated this season?
I have been following EPL since more than 20 years now, but still I am unable to predict this time!

I see Leeds & Leicester going down. Everton absolutely deserves to go down, but Sean Dyche might just pull them through.

[Arsenic]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Those who follow EPL, can you predict which two teams out of LEE, LEI, EVE and NOT will get relegated this season?
I have been following EPL since more than 20 years now, but still I am unable to predict this time!

Leeds and Leicester look like the likely candidates right now. Dyche seems to have worked out how to get the most out of Everton, and I don’t think Forest will go down without a fight.

Leeds and Leicester, on the other hand, look hapless, toothless and miserable, and quite frankly both teams deserve to go down. Jesse Marsch, while a very talented manager, would never have been the right replacement for Bielsa and to downgrade to Big Sam from him in one season is incredible and brilliantly illustrates LUFC’s fall. Similarly for Leicester, who kept backing Brendan Rodgers for eons when the results just weren’t coming, and there’s not much that Dean Smith can do now (although I can definitely see Maddison, Tielemans, Soyuncu etc. getting big Prem transfers this summer).

One the topic of transfers from relegated sides, one should also consider that James Ward-Prowse and Romeo Lavia, two excellent players for Southampton this season, could potentially have have big moves on the cards which means that Southampton will have a hard time next season in the Championship if the right signings aren’t made - they’ll be competing with this season’s relegated teams + two excellent sides in Sunderland and Middlesbrough who got dumped out the Championship playoffs.

Speaking of Championship playoffs, I’ve been keeping a keen eye on them and the final is quite interesting - Coventry City, who were last a PL team in 2001 versus Luton Town, a team who have never been in the PL and were even a non-league team in the 2010s! Both sides were in League Two as recently as 2018, so this will be a real cracker of a game with either side being a really intriguing addition to the Prem next season.

[HTC]

SAFF championship- match between India and Pakistan is scheduled on 21 june in bengaluru.

Any idea where to buy the tickets?

[Axe77]

Finally!!!!!

Take a bow Manchester City. Finally the elusive champions league trophy comes home. As does the treble.

Honestly, not their best day by a mile but the ultimate score line is all that matters.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by Axe77

...

Honestly, not their best day by a mile but the ultimate score line is all that matters.

Classic Champions League finals are hard to come by, irrespective of the quality of teams involved. After getting so far, everyone just wants to get over the line on the day.

2019 had two epic semi-finals, both Liverpool & Tottenham winning in spectacular 2nd legs but the final was a damp squib.

The last epic final I remember (at least for entertainment value if not outright quality) is the Madrid derby when Ramos scored in injury time, then Real rolled over an out-on-their-legs Atletico in ET, prompting a taunted Simeone to run onto the pitch to fight.

There's of course the 'Miracle of Istanbul', the classic underdog Vs. giant story that'll likely never be surpassed, and United doing Bayern a half decade prior, for the English treble City equalled yesterday.

Yesterday was a snooze except the last few minutes Lukaku missed a sitter, but City earned the Big Ears over the season, congratulations to them.

[kavensri]

For a person who does not like Manchester United FC, I have been waiting since 1999 for one of my favorite English clubs (CHE or MCI) to match their record (treble). Now, I want either of these teams to go and beat the number of premier league titles (13) owned by United.

[vamsi.kona]

I believe the near misses in the last few years had the entire City team pretty nervous and as such probably pushed them to be more cautious. They seemed to be more worried about not comitting mistakes than showing their natural flourish and take risks. With the cup in their kitty now I believe they might be more adventurous next time around.

It was the case with Messi and Argentina all tbese years till they won the Copa. That seems to have removed a big burden from their shoulders, especially Messi. The way they played in the world cup, especially in the finals when they were drawn back into battle even as they were within the grasp of the cup, suggested that even in such pressure they were willing to fight and had lot of belief in themselves. I believe we will see the same with City, at least as long as Pep is there.

[am1m]

Had a question about how transfers work.

Now it looks like Mbappe is ready to leave PSG. And if I understand correctly from the news reports, the club will try and sell him, otherwise he will be free to leave for nothing after a year, according to his contract.

So, now why would another top club bid this year, when they can wait for a year and have him for significantly less? And going by his red-hot form, he's likely to break the transfer record again. Obvious reasons would be another top club won't want to wait a year when other clubs can snap him up by paying now. Who knows what his form will be like in a year/injuries. And a year is just too long to wait to start showing results for a club with the money to spend. Plus Mbappe probably won't wait around for a year more at PSG, even if it's for a club he really wants to move to.

Still, might be worth some back-channel negotiation with the player, just to knock so many million Euros off the transfer fee! Highly unlikely though I guess. Wonder where he'll end up, Real most probably.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by am1m

Now it looks like Mbappe is ready to leave PSG. And if I understand correctly from the news reports, the club will try and sell him, otherwise he will be free to leave for nothing after a year, according to his contract.

So, now why would another top club bid this year, when they can wait for a year and have him for significantly less? ... Who knows what his form will be like in a year/injuries.

I have understood that "free transfer" is not really free for the club who is signing a free agent. A player like Mbappe will demand and get a good chunk of money as a sign-on bonus. "Free" players also demand more in wages, since the club saved money while signing them. So I guess the question facing the other clubs is what is the difference in cost between signing players for a fee now vs signing them for "free" a year later and if they can somehow make up the difference, in sporting terms and/or financial terms. So if Real sign Mbappe for a fee now and he helps them win the league and/or CL next season, I guess they will consider it money well-spent. Especially since Benzema has now left the team. Not to mention revenue from shirt sales, perhaps more sponsors coming on board etc.

I guess Benzema's move is what triggered this now. Based on what Mbappe is saying he had indicated his decision not to extend already last year a couple of months after he signed the last renewal!!

Mbappe says PSG were first told on 15 July, 2022 of his decision to reject the extension.

Official correspondence has followed to that effect this week, with Mbappe saying the "only aim of the letter was to confirm what had already been spoken about".

He has now merely confirmed it to the team again(!), and somehow the story has made it to the press this year.

My guess is PSG desperately wanted him to be their player while Qatar 2022 was on (along with Messi and Neymar), and they always knew they will lose him sooner rather than later.

[Chetan_Rao]

Football contracts are terribly complex these days: transfer fees, signing-on fees, agent fees, commercial image rights, performance-based add-ons, there's probably a few I don't remember right now.

The numbers we see bandied about when these transfers are announced, are often a fraction of the total 'deal' value, sometimes even a fraction of just the 'transfer' value.

Mbappe was rumoured (unconfirmed, of course) to have been paid 150 million Euros to sign his last extension at PSG.

[vamsi.kona]

If ever there is a club which has as much ego as a top notch player, at least in the last 2 decades, it is RM. By club it is obviously the president. If I were RM I would simply wait for Mbappe to become a free agent or at least not show desperation to sign him immediately. It is also a fact that Mbappe ditched RM last time around when they genuinely made efforts and almost thought they signed him. As it is very few clubs can afford Mbappe right now so it's not like other clubs will swoop in once he is a free agent. City won't touch him under Guardiola. I am not sure Mbappe wants to go to Chelsea or ManU, the other two big clubs which can afford him. So it's RM in the pole position. We have to remember that RM paid Bale salary by keeping him on bench than allowing him to go to China (or was it some other league?).

[PreludeSH]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66106345

Sunil Chhetri is now 3rd highest international goal scorer among active and 4th all time scorer Kudos to him.

I had a high regard for Leander Paes when he excelled in Davis cup matches.