On the Eve of the new Season...

It's not too late to come back, Mankie!

More Premiership On TV in USA Than UK

If you've listened to previous episodes of the EPL Talk Podcast, you may remember that celebs such as Paul Oakenfold, Bobby McMahon and others have mentioned how we in the States get to see more Premiership matches here than in England.

Well, here's the proof. For the first week of the Premiership, these are the matches that will be shown on SkySports, who currently hold the exclusive rights to show the Premier League in England:

ENGLAND

Saturday
Sheffield United v Liverpool, 12:45pm BST, live, Sky Sports One
Bolton v Spurs, 5:15pm BST, live, PremPlus (PPV)

Sunday
Man United v Fulham, 1:30pm BST, live, PremPlus (PPV)
Chelsea v Man City, 4pm BST, live, Sky Sports One

Wednesday
Charlton v Man United, 8pm BST, live, Sky Sports Two

UNITED STATES

SATURDAY

4:30 AM PST â?? Sheffield Utd v. Liverpool (Live Setanta)
6:30 AM PST â?? Arsenal v. Aston Villa (Live Setanta)
7:00 AM PST â?? New Castle v. Wigan (Live FSC)
9:00 AM PST â?? Bolton v. Tottenham (Live FSC)
11:15 AM PST â?? Reading v. Middlesborough (Delayed FSC)
11:30 AM PST â?? West Ham v. Charlton (Delayed Setanta)

SUNDAY

5:30 AM PST â?? Man Utd v. Fulham (Live Setanta)
8:00 AM PST â?? Chelsea v. Man City (Live FSC)

TUESDAY

12:00 PM PST - Watford vs. West Ham (Live FSC)
12:00 PM PST - Tottenham v. Sheffiled United (Live Setanta)

WEDNESDAY

12:00 PM PST - Middlesborough v. Chelsea (Live FSC)
12:00 PM PST - Man Utd v. Charlton (Live Setanta)

its my first year with fsc, and it was pretty awesome last weekend

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
its my first year with fsc, and it was pretty awesome last weekend

Yep - I love the first weekend of the premiership. Only boxing day is a better day in my eyes.

I was up early and watched every match except West Ham/Charlton. Liverpool were lucky, Arsenal were not as impressive as their new stadium, New Castle were thorough and effective, Tottenham were abysmal, Reading were scrappy, Man Utd and Chelsea were dominant.

If your cable compnay doesn't offer Setanta, ITVN (Broadband TV)just cut a deal to offer Setanta for $15 a month. That's an incredible deal (it costs $12 a month with D*TV). They even wave the hardware charges ($99) if you sign up for a year.
http://www.itvn.com

i only caught the newcastle/wiggan match. kinda what i expected: good midfield play, horrid defense (not as bad as expected), good in goal with ameobi being the wild card. ought to be interesting how the attack changes with martins coming in looking like a reality

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
i only caught the newcastle/wiggan match. kinda what i expected: good midfield play, horrid defense (not as bad as expected), good in goal with ameobi being the wild card. ought to be interesting how the attack changes with martins coming in looking like a reality

While most of the focus of the last 18 months was replacing Shearer (likley having done that with the addition of Owen up until the injury), I have been amazed at the lack of attention paid to helping the back four. Shea Given will be busy all season and he'll have to perform like that every week if New Castle are to get back into Champions League football. Lots of holes and I'd guess Wigan are disappointed to not get at least a point out of last weekend.

What are you ever going to do with Nicky Butt?

With the subject line and the creator of the topic I thought this was OC related…sigh.

Originally posted by vansmack:

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
i only caught the newcastle/wiggan match. kinda what i expected: good midfield play, horrid defense (not as bad as expected), good in goal with ameobi being the wild card. ought to be interesting how the attack changes with martins coming in looking like a reality

While most of the focus of the last 18 months was replacing Shearer (likley having done that with the addition of Owen up until the injury), I have been amazed at the lack of attention paid to helping the back four. Shea Given will be busy all season and he'll have to perform like that every week if New Castle are to get back into Champions League football. Lots of holes and I'd guess Wigan are disappointed to not get at least a point out of last weekend.

What are you ever going to do with Nicky Butt?

watch him get injured? he or someone will blow out a hammy. i like how he played for 5 minutes or so with double vision

supposedly boumsong is sold and they are still trying to get wayne bridge, and still have fantasies about graveson for some reason

Originally posted by Fico:
With the subject line and the creator of the topic I thought this was OC related…sigh.

Check back in Late October/Early November…

If you had to choose between Setanta and FSC, which would you take?

Originally posted by xcanuck:
If you had to choose between Setanta and FSC, which would you take?

Really good question, but I lean towards Setanta.

Nearly every Champions League match and most UEFA cup games are broadcast on Setanta from the group stages on. That alone seals it for me.

They also have Coca-Cola Championship matches, more International Matches (Euro 2008 Qualifiers), and a deal with United and Chelsea to play every match through MUTV and Blues TV (and random classics which I love to watch) - so even if I didn't get United live (although no longer a possibility this year), I'll get the game within 48 hours.

They broadcast French matches (whatever) as well as Dutch matches (awesome). They also have Rugby and GAA if you're into that.

FSC has taken a more US-based approach with the EPL, Mexican and Argentinian Leagues, MLS, and USL, although I still think they have the England International matches first rights. I'm not sure if anybody broadcasts Bundesliga any longer.

i think goltv does. they have serie a too i think, la liga and arse and liverfool tvs. bunch of south america stuff too. both this and fsc came with the 'sports package' for $5

Originally posted by vansmack:

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
its my first year with fsc, and it was pretty awesome last weekend

If your cable compnay doesn't offer Setanta, ITVN (Broadband TV)just cut a deal to offer Setanta for $15 a month. That's an incredible deal (it costs $12 a month with D*TV). They even wave the hardware charges ($99) if you sign up for a year.
http://www.itvn.com

Smackie - I had a look at this and it seems great. One question I have is that I alreayd have a cable modem and router in my basement but I'd be putting this upstairs w/ the good tv - should I just get a second cable modem to run between the itvn box and the wall?…..also do you have any idea what the picture looks like on a HDTV?

I have purposely forgotten that Gol TV exists in my sports package. Smackette would make me watch Real Madrid every week if she knew they were on…

Originally posted by brennser:
Smackie - I had a look at this and it seems great. One question I have is that I alreayd have a cable modem and router in my basement but I'd be putting this upstairs w/ the good tv - should I just get a second cable modem to run between the itvn box and the wall?…..also do you have any idea what the picture looks like on a HDTV?

There is a wireless option that some users have had success with, but I've recommended to my brother-in-law that he use a wired option. Not sure of your distances, but I think the second cable modem would be the last option - try wireless and maybe running a network cable if it's feasible.

Unfortunately, I'm not reconfiguring his setup for his big screen in the other room until Sept 9 when I visit LA, so I won't get to see ITVN in action until then. I'll likely test everything from wireless to running a cable to moving the modem. There is some feedback here, however.

Vansmack….thanks for the great reply. I'd prefer to watch the English and Spanish leagues so it looks like Setanta is the way to go. Besides, FSC means giving Rupert Murdoch more money.

Originally posted by xcanuck:
Vansmack….thanks for the great reply. I'd prefer to watch the English and Spanish leagues so it looks like Setanta is the way to go. Besides, FSC means giving Rupert Murdoch more money.

No sweat. For matches that are on FSC that you can't get on Setanta, I used to download those from the fbtz.com forum. About 300-400 MB per half so they take a little while, but you can start watching the first half while downloading the second.

And I won't post any EPL spoilers for those of you that are watching the matches when you get home this evening, but it was great night! I will tell you that Copenhagen eliminated Ajax from the Champions League today in a shocker!

I hope those interested in the games today will know already the scores. I was surprised to see Chelsea's final score. It might be too early, but a loss in the second game is strange given how superior they have been in the last couple of years, do you think that this year is not going to be so easy for Chelsea? If so, what other teams? Manchester United has started very strong, but again it is still too early, Arsenal, Liverpool, any other?

Here we go again…

Champions League Draw


â?¢ The draw process took place in Monaco on Thursday August 24.


Group A

Barcelona
Chelsea
Werder Bremen
Levski Sofia

Group B

Inter
Bayern Munich
Sporting Lisbon
Spartak Moscow

Group C

Liverpool FC
PSV Eindhoven
Bordeaux
Galatasaray

Group D

Valencia
AS Roma
Olympiakos
Shakhtar Donetsk

Group E

Real Madrid
Lyon
Steaua Bucuresti
Dynamo Kiev

Group F

Manchester United
Celtic
Benfica
FC Copenhagen

Group G

Arsenal
FC Porto
CSKA Moscow
Hamburg

Group H

AC Milan
Lille
AEK Athens
Anderlecht

i haven't decided who to support in the champion's league yet. stupid nonqualifying cork city

Originally posted by Barcelona:
I hope those interested in the games today will know already the scores. I was surprised to see Chelsea's final score. It might be too early, but a loss in the second game is strange given how superior they have been in the last couple of years, do you think that this year is not going to be so easy for Chelsea? If so, what other teams? Manchester United has started very strong, but again it is still too early, Arsenal, Liverpool, any other?

Chelsea has not looked good in the three matches I've watched them play. That's the problem with high turnover - assuming all the pieces will just fall into place overnight. Sure, they will get better, but how long is it going to take? If it takes too long, the ego problem will set in with guy on the bench and the team losing. I think this is a bigger test than Mourhino thinks it is.

Arsenal will plod along, but like United with Keane, they miss their strong midfield presence in Patrick Viera. I forgot how much he could control a game until I saw him again in the world cup. Thierry Henry cannot do it all by himself.

Liverpool on paper have few holes, but Peter Crouch is not creative enough to carry the team. I really think Dirk Kuyt is the wild card here. He's creative and can score goals in Holland, but can he score at this level? Fowler and Bellamy, when not kiling each other, will wreak havoc on others, but they're past their prime. Oddly, a lot of injuries early, which doesn't bode well for a long campaign.

New Castle, poor New Castle. Just when they solve their problem up front, they lose him for the season. Adding Martins is of small consolation. A brilliant midfield (way too many options in my opinion), but a weak back four and a suspect front two make for a long season for New Castle fans. Moments of brilliance, moments of despair all season. Not enough to win the premiership for sure.

Tottenham are slowly discovering the value of Robbie Keane. Without him 0-2 loss. With him, 2-0 win. It's not what he does inside the box, it's what he sets up outside the box that is his true value. I would have sold Carrick for 18 Million pounds too, but they don't seem to have the proper replacement. Plus they're Tottenham, which guarantees frustration all season. Glad I only like Keane.

That leaves United. Without Hargreaves, I think Fergie rotates the middlefield until he finds a combination that works. Nobody can fill Roy Keane's roll, but that won't stop United from trying. Fergie went through 11 keepers trying to replace Schmeichel before finding Van Der Saar. That's just the way he is. The back four, when healthy, will likely be as strong as ever - Heinze is undervalued in my opinion. The real problem will be a strong, tough defensive midfielder and scoring goals when Rooney's out. Saha has never played a full season, Smith is coming off an awful injury, and Rossi is unproven, to say the least. Ole Gunnar Solskjær to the rescue? I don't put it past him, but I'm not putting any money on it either. Yes, 8-1 in the first two matches, but consider the competition. I will say this - this team has been playing together for a few years now, and the first two games it has really shown. That might be the difference between Chelsea and United this year.