8 Captains Blog

On the eve of the season opener I thought it would be a good time to start my season blog. To be honest what I am going to write in this blog I have no idea, but as always at Girton the banter is such that I am sure there will be plenty to talk about as the weeks unfold.

Already we have seen an influx of new talent, with a record number of players at training. Then there has been a change of manager with the German invasion (for want of a better word) that has stirred up the reserve team, if first impressions are anything to go by then the rezzies should be in safe hands.

And then there is the broken arm suffered by midfield dynamo Joe “ankle biter” Waller, not the start to the season he was looking for, nor is it the start Matty Mee was looking for, with my four game suspension looming in the not too distant future the manager will be without the two midfielders who started the cup final back in May. On a positive note the manager has added numbers to the squad and not only numbers he has added quality that will only increase the competition for places. The customary return of Will “I am made of glass” Celentano (how long will he last this season) always adds an element of class to the team and we also got a glimpse of player of the year Simon Pawley, ok it was only once but in Pre-Season that is unheard off. (I wonder if the Patrick trainers will make an appearance for the 9th season!)

So on to tomorrow and Cherry Hinton away. One has to think the FA’s fixture computer is broken as this is the same fixture as last year but I shouldn’t complain it could have been Chatteris away on a Wednesday night. Last seasons opening day fixture ended in stale mate, so this year we hope to go one better and reproduce the form that served so well through the back end of last season, squashing the Cherries both home and away in cup and league. Both games were extremely tight and I expect nothing different tomorrow night. Bring on the season!

Now I would like to turn my attentions to the Premiership season, underway on Saturday with the usual suspects, minus my beloved Liverpool winning, who for the fifth season in a row started the season away from home and came up against a mildly impressive Yid Army, thank god for Robbie Keane, a shadow of the player Benitez bought this time last year he managed to squander chance after chance in a first half where Liverpool forgot how to pass the air filled leather sack around a bit of green grass, surely it’s not that hard?!? I say but even the mighty Girton sometimes find it hard to string passes together, in the end it was Tottenham’s defence who won the day.

The City of Manchester got off to a flier with a 2-0 win at Blackburn, new signing Emmanuel Adebayour (queue the Spurs fans chant…) and last seasons most improved player Steven “remember me when I had that silly beard” Ireland notching, but like most I am wondering if they will be able to sustain a challenge.

Salford United also managed to scrape three points with a largely unimpressive 1-0 over newly promoted Brum and Arsenal smashed six past the hapless Toffee men, but it was Wigan who impressed me and so many others most. In danger of becoming a feeder club (No Galbo it’s not that kind of feed, so don’t be switching your allegiance to Wigan just yet), each season they lose player after player and this year they lost the manager too, but in came Roberto Martinez, a former Wigan favourite and recently manager of an eye catching Swansea side and once again they manage to turn up and put on a performance. The victims and in my view a team that will struggle to push f or top six this year were Aston Villa, Martin O’neill warned in his pre match press conference that Wigan would still be dangerous and boy was he right as the Latics took the spoils with a convincing 2-0 win. There were other results but none we particularly care about. Oh yeah, I think the Maccum’s won 1-0 with a goal for am I really worth £10 million Darren Bent. (Just for you Brownie).

So like any well respected pundit, columnist and footballer I think it is only right I finish with my predictions for this years league tables (feel free to add your own in the comments section).
Premier League Winners

Liverpool

Premier League Runners Up

Chelsea

Championship Promoted

Middlesbrough

Cardiff

Sheffield United

Spain Winners

Barcelona

Spain Runners Up

Real Madrid

Italy Winners

Juventus

Italy Runners Up

Inter Milan

Germany Winners

Werder Bremen

Germany Runners Up

Bayern Munich

France Winners

Marseille

France Runners Up

Lyon

Portugal Winners

FC Porto

Runners Up

Benfica

Holland Winners

PSV Eindhoven

Holland Runner Up

AZ Alkmaar

Greece Winners

Panthanaikos

Greece Runners Up

AEK Athens

Turkey Winners

Besiktas

Turkey Runners Up

Fenerbache

Austria Winners

Sturm Graz

Austria Runners Up

Salzburg

Belgium Winners

Anderlecht

Belgium Runners Up

Standard Liege

Denmark Winners

Odense

Denmark Runners Up

FC Copenhagen

Finland Winners

HJK Helsinki

Finland Runners Up

TPS

Norway Winners

Rosenborg

Norway Runners Up

Molde

Sweden Winners

Gothenburg

Sweden Runners Up

AIK

Switzerland Winners

Young Boys Berne

Switzerland Runners Up

St Gallen

Wales Winners

Airbus UK

Wales Runners Up

Bangor City

Ireland Winners

Bohemians

Ireland Runners Up

Shamrock Rovers

Northern Ireland Winners

Glentoran

Northern Ireland Runners Up

Linfield

And finally my favourite league…..

Kazakhstan Winners

Aktobe

Kazakhstan  Runners Up

Astana

Also as I know so much about this league I think the top scorer will be Murat Tleshev who plays for 2003 champions Irtysh and the player of the year will once again go to Samat Smakov as I predict he will lead Aktobe to a third consecutive title.

Now I am off to think about my prediction for the Russian League Moscow.