Monday Morning Managers

Is this Bolton's third-choice left back?  It'll all make sense if you keep reading.

Your two fearless managers expound on Premier League news and build our teams before your very eyes... in classic roundtable style.

Warning: This is the better part of two days worth of conversation and covers a lot of topics without the courtesy of a segue.




Session Start: Fri Aug 06 08:40:21 2010 -0700
Jeremy Spitzberg: 2K! [ed. note: we passed 2,000 Facebook fans/likes. Thanks!]
Jeremy Spitzberg: and player/price updates
Neal Thurman: nice
Jeremy Spitzberg: so that puts me at...
Jeremy Spitzberg: kirkland, kolarov, figueroa, bale, dsilva, mpet, floma, henderson, boselli, chamakh, drogs
Jeremy Spitzberg: with just under $2 in the bank
Jeremy Spitzberg: wondering if i reach for n'zog
Neal Thurman: I'm at EvdS, JBoat, Kos, Kolarov, MPet, DSil, JCole, Eth, Chamakh, Roonaldo, Yayga right now with 1.1 in the bank
Neal Thurman: the Eth pick is still up in the air (but will be much happier about it if Remy ends up at Stoke)
Jeremy Spitzberg: ha
Neal Thurman: JBoat could become a ManYoo defender depending on what happens with the LB position this weekend
Jeremy Spitzberg: yeah... fabio at newbie price
Jeremy Spitzberg: fabio, stam...
Jeremy Spitzberg: fig to either of those gives me $4 to spend
Neal Thurman: lots of options
Jeremy Spitzberg: enough to be dangerous to myself
Neal Thurman: have to think Ferreira is a good value as well if he continues to start
Jeremy Spitzberg: esp with their matchups over the first few weeks
Neal Thurman: he's definitely in for Charity Shield
Jeremy Spitzberg: ivanovic over carvalho at center back?
Neal Thurman: could be bumped if Alex is back at CB
Neal Thurman: yes, Ivanovic over Carvalho according to Ancelotti
Jeremy Spitzberg: 4-3-3?
Jeremy Spitzberg: could be the week for it ;-)
Neal Thurman: 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 depending on how you consider Kalou and FloMa
Jeremy Spitzberg: don't make me suffer through a week of will he/won't he with drogs
Neal Thurman: too late
Neal Thurman: looks like there will be a week of it with Drogs, Cech, and Alex
Jeremy Spitzberg: sigh
Jeremy Spitzberg: other things i would like cleared up:
Jeremy Spitzberg: nani v. giggs
Jeremy Spitzberg: gibson?
Jeremy Spitzberg: citeh's plans
Jeremy Spitzberg: how will bolton use their wingers?
Jeremy Spitzberg: how will liverpool use their attackers?
Jeremy Spitzberg: will blackpool be able to field a full bench at wigan
Jeremy Spitzberg: (actually don't care too much about that)
Jeremy Spitzberg: where will bale play?
Jeremy Spitzberg: are sunderland any good?
Neal Thurman: that looks like a posting to me
Jeremy Spitzberg: getting there ;-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: is rooney still any good?
Jeremy Spitzberg: do we have to have wolves/stoke or can we just skip past it?
Jeremy Spitzberg: how will everton line up their 17 middies
Jeremy Spitzberg: and is there any value there beyond arteta?
Neal Thurman: (there's no value in Arteta at the current price)
Jeremy Spitzberg: but is there value BEYOND him?
Jeremy Spitzberg: bily?
Jeremy Spitzberg: etc
Neal Thurman: didn't you read the Everton preview?
Jeremy Spitzberg: i did, but you left of pnev so it doesn't count
Neal Thurman: HA but that has been corrected
Jeremy Spitzberg: am i really betting the farm on Wigan?
Neal Thurman: no, you're not betting the farm on Wigan, you're betting the farm against Blackpool which sounds a lot more palatable
Jeremy Spitzberg: ;-)
Neal Thurman: btw, how is it possible that ACole is still only 29?
Neal Thurman: he's been around forever
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Neal Thurman: so do both new CBs end up starting for Wigan? Stam and Alcaraz? Fig on the left and Caldwell on the right?
Neal Thurman: does Boyce keep one of the two newbies out of the starting XI?
Jeremy Spitzberg: stam is a right back
Jeremy Spitzberg: ronnie, not jaap ;-)
Neal Thurman: for some reason I thought I had read something about him being a CB but I stand corrected - guess it will be Fig/Boyce/Alcaraz/Stam across the back with Caldwell the utility man
Jeremy Spitzberg: i would swap boyce and caldwell
Jeremy Spitzberg: but we'll see
Jeremy Spitzberg: they also have an Amaya, but I don't know what his story is
Neal Thurman: seems like the definition of a squad player - 27 years old, played 2nd division in Spain for 6 years, couldn't break into the Wigan first team last season
Jeremy Spitzberg: sounds like he's martinez's brother in law or something
Neal Thurman: something like that
Neal Thurman: Gohouri seems more likely to get a run after getting 5 appearances at CB toward the end of last season
Jeremy Spitzberg: even scored a goal
Neal Thurman: 2 from Boyce/Caldwell/Gohouri/Alcaraz
Jeremy Spitzberg: good for them to have options
Jeremy Spitzberg: b/c whatever they had last year didn't work
Neal Thurman: agreed and if you can get money for Titus Bramble you definitely have to do it
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Neal Thurman: ok - time for some food - back in a afew
Jeremy Spitzberg: chow
Neal Thurman: heh
Neal Thurman: new Sports Guy all about fantasy but nothing too applicable other than the overall theme that Yahoo, et al have been missing - need to shake things up from time-to-time
Jeremy Spitzberg: yeah... started reading...
Jeremy Spitzberg: ended up skimming
Neal Thurman: not that great
Jeremy Spitzberg: too much blah, blah, blah...
Neal Thurman: yup
Jeremy Spitzberg: the backlash in full swing
Jeremy Spitzberg: back swing?
Jeremy Spitzberg: speaking of wild swings...
Jeremy Spitzberg: fig/dsilva/chamakh...
Jeremy Spitzberg: to...
Jeremy Spitzberg: ferreira/n'zog/ngog
Jeremy Spitzberg: cmon...
Jeremy Spitzberg: how much fun would it be to have nzog and ngog on the team for a week?
Neal Thurman: HA
Neal Thurman: buying in to the Liverpool era of good feelings?
Jeremy Spitzberg: sucker for the scored in a friendly guy
Jeremy Spitzberg: get all excited
Neal Thurman: it was a "real" match wasn't it? Europa Cup qualifier or something like that?
Jeremy Spitzberg: for ngog?
Jeremy Spitzberg: y. 3 goals in 2 qualifying games
Jeremy Spitzberg: not sure how "real" they were though
Neal Thurman: right
Jeremy Spitzberg: overthinking the "new guy with a lousy matchup on the road" thing with Chamakh and Silva
Neal Thurman: yeah - hard to imagine either of them not being well worth the investment at their current prices - hard to see N'gog all of a sudden being good in the Prem
Neal Thurman: against Top 3 opposition even if it is at home
Jeremy Spitzberg: but for week 1...
Jeremy Spitzberg: sigh
Jeremy Spitzberg: as usual i'll overthink the first few weeks...
Jeremy Spitzberg: dig myself a hole
Neal Thurman: come roaring back...
Jeremy Spitzberg: claw back a lead by obsessing over everything for the next few months...
Jeremy Spitzberg: yup ;-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: then crap the bed at the end of the season
Neal Thurman: and then the question is whether you'll have the energy to sustain it for the last 3 months
Jeremy Spitzberg: and thus ever it was
Jeremy Spitzberg: or some other yoda type shit
Neal Thurman: most seasons you do but last season, not so much (plus the Bale thing killed you)
Jeremy Spitzberg: spurs had a terrible run of games
Jeremy Spitzberg: bae was coming back
Jeremy Spitzberg: bale was up to 5 bucks or so
Jeremy Spitzberg: etc
Neal Thurman: plenty of solid logic in your decision - yet it still killed you
Jeremy Spitzberg: *nodding*
Session Close: Fri Aug 06 13:45:40 2010 -0700

Session Start: Mon Aug 09 08:33:51 2010 -0700
Neal Thurman: wow, MON resigns at Villa
Jeremy Spitzberg: just blogged it
Neal Thurman: nice
Jeremy Spitzberg: Manager: Martin O'Neill (since August 2006). Odds on being first out of a job: 16-1 10th favourite.
Neal Thurman: some people made some nice money on that one I'm guessing
Jeremy Spitzberg: over Milner, you think?
Neal Thurman: seems likely - or use of funds that are going to be received for Milner
Neal Thurman: maybe they said he couldn't use all of the $$
Jeremy Spitzberg: that seems likely
Neal Thurman: maybe I'm putting too much faith in Ireland's 2008/09 campaign but I'd be very happy with Ireland and another player or two over Milner
Neal Thurman: maybe management is contemplating cashing in on AY as well (rumors of Spurs interest)
Neal Thurman: (although why Spurs would want to add another expensive left-sided/left-footed midfielder is beyond me)
Jeremy Spitzberg: thing is MON is the manager who could get value from BFDB [ed. note: Blog Favorite David Bentley]
Jeremy Spitzberg: move downing to his natural left side
Jeremy Spitzberg: actually makes a lot of sense
Neal Thurman: agreed
Jeremy Spitzberg: though your ceiling is Hughes' rovers team
Neal Thurman: which = last year's Villa team
Jeremy Spitzberg: which isn't that bad, i guess
Jeremy Spitzberg: like you wrote, not many options for a club not named che, ars, liv or have manchester in the title.
Neal Thurman: honestly, Villa are going nowhere unless they get some more investment to increase the size of the squad - they need about 3 players while keeping the talent on hand
Neal Thurman: pretty much, and IMO Liverpool are on the edge of that conversation (but Spurs are in it as well if they can break through in their Champions League season)
Neal Thurman: if the LIV takeover happens then that changes it up and puts them firmly back in the conversation...
Neal Thurman: btw, Eth to N'zog over the weekend
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Jeremy Spitzberg: join the dark side
Jeremy Spitzberg: btw, great job on the previews
Neal Thurman: thx
Neal Thurman: and JBoat to Fabio
Jeremy Spitzberg: did you watch the comm sheild?
Neal Thurman: yup
Jeremy Spitzberg: i only got through the first half
Jeremy Spitzberg: fabio shouldn't have gotten through the first half
Neal Thurman: no, although he was definitely the best LB on the field
Neal Thurman: ACole looked TERRIBLE
Neal Thurman: (with full Bill Walton voice)
Jeremy Spitzberg: loved how valencia body checked acole within the first minute
Neal Thurman: which was about Cole's best move of the day
Neal Thurman: Terry looked extremely old yesterday as well
Jeremy Spitzberg: manu cut them apart for the goal(s)
Neal Thurman: they really did - I rarely say this these days but Scholes looked exceptional
Neal Thurman: better than I've seen him in a few years at least
Jeremy Spitzberg: ha
Neal Thurman: even in mid-season form with his terrible tackling
Jeremy Spitzberg: knee high on essien, was it?
Jeremy Spitzberg: or floma
Neal Thurman: yup
Neal Thurman: Essien
Jeremy Spitzberg: who also faced fabio's studs
Jeremy Spitzberg: no nani = worried jeremy
Neal Thurman: Nani came in 2nd half and had a nice assist on Berbs' clincher
Jeremy Spitzberg: just what i need though...
Jeremy Spitzberg: another will he/won't he
Neal Thurman: Elk looked like he though Dominech was still on the sideline
Neal Thurman: you figure he should be nice and rested ;-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: however valencia is surely rising on the list of players bought
Neal Thurman: I'd think - although this has always been his MO - great match and then...nada
Jeremy Spitzberg: true indeed
Neal Thurman: just call him Lucy
Jeremy Spitzberg: that works
Neal Thurman: hmm, how cheap is Nicky Shorey?
Jeremy Spitzberg: likely not cheap
Jeremy Spitzberg: seemingly not in the system
Neal Thurman: very odd
Jeremy Spitzberg: he was on villa's books, right?
Jeremy Spitzberg: not released
Neal Thurman: interesting - F365 speculating that Djourou starts the year starting for ARS next to Verm
Neal Thurman: going to be difficult to be ManYoo heavy since they don't play until Monday
Jeremy Spitzberg: gonna be a long week
Jeremy Spitzberg: no meetings today so i can keep my team on constant churn
Neal Thurman: lucky you
Neal Thurman: Ireland/Pienaar for Milner - seems a no brainer to me (assuming that Villa can make the latter happen with Citeh cash)
Neal Thurman: Then EVE uses their money to go get Lando
Jeremy Spitzberg: dominos ;-)
Neal Thurman: why is this so difficult?
Jeremy Spitzberg: vp of common epl sense
Neal Thurman: so it would seem
Neal Thurman: SuperKev on the shelf for an "extended period"
Jeremy Spitzberg: dbent a doubt
Jeremy Spitzberg: ibanez out
Jeremy Spitzberg: but who cares about WBA
Jeremy Spitzberg: dear god that's worse than i imagined
Jeremy Spitzberg: really?
Neal Thurman: I was worrid that you meant Raul Ibanez was out for the Phillies ;-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: pablo, sorry
Jeremy Spitzberg: ok, team at the moment...
Neal Thurman: wow, we hit 2000 likes and have blown through that to 2029
Jeremy Spitzberg: basically your team
Jeremy Spitzberg: evds, kolarov, ferreira, fabio, mpet, floma, henderson, gera, boselli, ngog, drogs
Neal Thurman: not even close to my team after 3 of the back 4
Jeremy Spitzberg: uh oh
Jeremy Spitzberg: then i'm in trouble
Jeremy Spitzberg: everyone shopping for a left back and jlloyd samuel still stuck at Bolton
Jeremy Spitzberg: *sigh*
Neal Thurman: evds, kolarov, koscielny, fabio, mpet, jcole, nzog, dsilva, chamakh, roonaldo, and yayga
Neal Thurman: koscielny a bit of a doubt after I read the F365 article this morning
Neal Thurman: but feeling pretty good about the rest
Jeremy Spitzberg: i wouldn't worry about the rumour
Jeremy Spitzberg: i would worry about the 5 goals allowed at the weekend
Neal Thurman: lol
Neal Thurman: or the fact that there's every chance that RvP, Cesc, and Song don't play this weekend since they haven't played yet in the pre-season
Jeremy Spitzberg: just getting to the F365 article
Jeremy Spitzberg: interesting that they have chamakh pencilled in as cover only
Neal Thurman: agreed - and with Theo taking a starting spot
Neal Thurman: I still like my line-up better than what they suggest :-)
Neal Thurman: RvP out to the right, Chamakh centrally and Arsh on the left
Neal Thurman: Cesc/Song as fixtures in midfield with Wilshere, Nasri, Diaby, and Denilson rotating in the final midfield spot
Neal Thurman: Walcott cover for RvP, Vela cover for Arsh, and Bendtner (eventually) as cover for Chamakh
Neal Thurman: Sicky in his typical position in the trainer's room
Jeremy Spitzberg: what about going back to a 4-4-2?
Jeremy Spitzberg: or does that not work b/c you have to accomodate Cesc?
Jeremy Spitzberg: is he best in a 4-2-3-1?
Neal Thurman: that formation seems to fit their personnel best
Neal Thurman: and who plays a 4-4-2 anymore
Jeremy Spitzberg: so who's the 4th CB that left?
Jeremy Spitzberg: senderos, gallas, silvestre...
Jeremy Spitzberg: ?
Jeremy Spitzberg: and isn't djourou hurt?
Jeremy Spitzberg: and...
Neal Thurman: Campbell
Jeremy Spitzberg: and...
Jeremy Spitzberg: campbell... thank you.
Neal Thurman: :-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: ars really have an easy sched after liv
Jeremy Spitzberg: @liv, blackpool, @bla, bolton, @sun, wba
Neal Thurman: should give them some time to figure things out (and acquire the two new players they need and get them integrated as well)
Jeremy Spitzberg: how will the citeh keeper situation shake out?
Jeremy Spitzberg: and will it have larger implications?
Jeremy Spitzberg: discuss
Neal Thurman: I'd expand that excellent question to a broader discussion of "what happens to the displaced players at Citeh?" and "which of them can/will make an impact elsewhere this season?"
Neal Thurman: RSC at FUL? Stoke? Bellamy at Spurs? FUL? other? Given/Hart? SWP? Onuoha? MRichards?
Neal Thurman: Tevez?
Jeremy Spitzberg: they're crazy rich
Jeremy Spitzberg: but not stupid rich
Jeremy Spitzberg: re: tevez
Jeremy Spitzberg: one would think
Neal Thurman: lots of talent that could be available if they decide to sell and with so few clubs having purchased anything of significance yet, there is more than enough need
Neal Thurman: Oh, I was just thinking out loud at who might exit - not sure where they'll all go
Neal Thurman: would have been posting for hours with all the possibilities
Jeremy Spitzberg: ha
Jeremy Spitzberg: cesc in MX City on Wednesday!?!?
Jeremy Spitzberg: Good thing LIV is on Sunday, but still...
Neal Thurman: yeah, don't think Cesc will play this weekend or if he does it will be as a sub
Jeremy Spitzberg: so if it weren't @liv we'd all be looking at nasri
Neal Thurman: pretty much and I'm not sure we all still shouldn't be - seems to me that there's a lot more attacking talent than defending talent in this particular match-up
Jeremy Spitzberg: yeah, but it's not like LIV were porous last year
Jeremy Spitzberg: especially at home
Jeremy Spitzberg: i guess the same cesc questions can be asked of reina
Jeremy Spitzberg: though it's diff for keepers
Jeremy Spitzberg: even if cesc doesn't play much in MX
Neal Thurman: yeah - I'd feel much more comfortable about Reina than Cesc but less so about old Carragher, attack-oriented GJohnson, attack-oriented Aurelio, and want-away Masch as the majority of my D if I were Woy
Jeremy Spitzberg: they still have insua
Jeremy Spitzberg: lucas/gerrard the likely starters anyway
Jeremy Spitzberg: can agger play at fullback?
Jeremy Spitzberg: probably not
Jeremy Spitzberg: they should get jlloyd
Neal Thurman: they should go out and get a guy who can't start for Bolton?
Jeremy Spitzberg: ;-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: free jlloyd
Neal Thurman: and if Lucas replaces Masch in the above scenario, doesn't that strengthen rather than weaken my case?
Jeremy Spitzberg: well, gerrard replaces hime
Jeremy Spitzberg: him
Jeremy Spitzberg: not that THAT negates your point
Neal Thurman: which, defensively speaking, enhances my case even more
Jeremy Spitzberg: J-Lloyd... isn't he on Jersey Shore?
Jeremy Spitzberg: wait... never mind
Neal Thurman: ha
Neal Thurman: ok, I'm headed out - will try to get to a few more previews this evening
Jeremy Spitzberg: sweet
Jeremy Spitzberg: i'll have the "roundtable" up
Neal Thurman: cool - maybe i'll have all the previews done before I have to crank out TWA :-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: i don't know if i'm ready for that
Neal Thurman: TWA?
Jeremy Spitzberg: too final
Neal Thurman: lol
Jeremy Spitzberg: i want to set my week 1 lineup on next Tuesday
Neal Thurman: let me know how that goes
Jeremy Spitzberg: will do
Jeremy Spitzberg: would make for a fun MMM
Neal Thurman: MMM as TWA
Jeremy Spitzberg: need to figure out an acronym for ARGH ;-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: or the reverse of an acronym
Neal Thurman: ok, on that note, I'm out
Jeremy Spitzberg: ciao
Neal Thurman: signed off at Mon Aug 09 15:06:24 2010.