The Return

We’re back…After almost a year’s hiatus due to this blog becoming overly time-consuming, we’ve decided to return – Possibly for a one off blog, possibly longer, quite frankly we don’t know at this point in time. What we will say is that this edition of the blog and potential future editions will have a somewhat different complexion to the Football Circus you once knew. Gone will be the Balotelli updates (his HILARIOUS madcap antics gave us a laugh but a weekly report on a player whose career continues on a downward trajectory, was a strain to say the least). Also gone will be the Italian Football Story of the Week and the Artist’s Impression of the week. Instead, whilst we will continue to scour the internet and media for stories which confirm our fears that football has indeed gone completely bonkers, the blog will focus more on opinion.  And now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s proceed to the first edition of Football Circus since October 2015.

Clown Quote of the Week

“They’re all just headphones!” – Chris Waddle after England’s Euro 2016 exit.

2015/16 Season Predictions Review

As the 2016/17 season grows nearer, we feel it only right to take a look back at our predictions for last season to see how we fared. 

1. Manchester United fail to reach the Champions League proper, then finish outside the top 4  in the Premier League, resulting in Louis Van Gaal's sacking.

- Well we can feel quite smug about this one. Nail on head.

2. Arsenal to win the Premier League.

- Nope. Had we any inclination that Leicester City would go on to win the Premier League we would now most likely be being lauded as descendants of Nostradamus. Due to Spurs’ end of season capitulation, Arsenal ended up second. Nearly there never won the (title) race however and it certainly didn’t do our overall predictions score any favours.

 3. Juventus to win Serie A.

- Perhaps not our most outlandish prediction but we definitely got this one right as Juve strolled to another Serie A title victory.

4. Barcelona to win La Liga.

- Again, we could hardly be seen as visionaries for this one but right again.

5. Bayern Munich to win the Bundesliga.

- See above.

6. PSG to win Ligue 1.

- And see above again.

7. Pep Guardiola to be gone from Bayern Munich by June after again failing in the Champions League, but he will not go to Man City.

- Hmm. It’s hard to argue with the first part of this prediction but after leaving Bayern, Guardiola was swiftly announced as the new City manager. Shame on us for doubting red top rumours. We’ll give ourselves half a point on this one.

8. Mario Balotelli to leave Liverpool in the last week of the transfer window but will again fail to make an impact wherever he goes.

- Left Liverpool to join AC Milan on a season long loan. Check. Date of transfer, 27th August 2015. Check. Brutal showing in Serie A. Check.

9. Nicklas Bendtner to score at least five goals.

- “Lord” Bendtner only managed a measly return of 4 goals for the season. Muppet.

10. Zlatan Ibrahimovic to get sent off at least once this season.

- Ibra managed to keep his temper relatively in check in his last season as a PSG player. Not a single sending off, unfortunately for us.

11. Rafa Benitez to be gone from Real Madrid by June, but the team will reach the Champions League final nonetheless.

- Correct on this one. Real went on not only to reach the Champions League final, but to win it. Meanwhile Benitez moved to Newcastle where he failed to save the club from relegation.

12. Jose Mourinho to fall out with Roman Abramovich again, blame his own shortcomings on anyone and everyone but himself and be gone from Chelsea by June.

 - No doubt about this one.

13. Ravel Morrison to wow Serie A.

 - Eh…No.

14. Harry Kane to have a difficult season and fail to reach the heights he did last season.

- Young Harry proved us totally wrong and fair play to him. We hope for Spurs’ fans sake however that his poor form at the Euros doesn’t continue into the 2016/17 domestic season.

15. A frustrated Cristiano Ronaldo's form will finally start to decline as age begins to catch up with him.

- This really comes down to a matter of opinion. Down from 56 goals and 22 assists in 2014/15, to a paltry 53 goals and 15 assists in 2015/16. Let’s be realistic. Real Madrid still could not do without him and he still rivals Messi’s best player in the world status. That being said, the common consensus seems to be that Ronnie has lost a certain edge – A downturn in form may be more apparent in the next two years. Nothing to be ashamed of as he’s had a stellar career and cemented himself as one of the all-time greats.  As for our prediction, we’ll give ourselves half a point.

Overall score: 9 (including our two self-awarded half points) out of 15. Not too shabby.

And so, that brings us to the 2016/17 season. Despite Leicester catching us completely unawares with their Premier League triumph last season, we somehow don’t envisage a repeat performance…

2016/17 Predictions

     1. Chelsea to win the Premier League.

     2. Juventus to win Serie A.

     3. Real Madrid to win La Liga.

     4. Borussia Dortmund to win the Bundesliga.

     5. PSG to win Ligue 1.

     6. Liverpool to secure a Champions League spot.

     7. Leicester City to finish in the bottom half of the Premier League.

     8. Arsene Wenger will finally call it a day at Arsenal.

     9. Luis Enrique to be sacked as Barcelona manager.

    10. Joey Barton to be sent off at least twice for his new club, Rangers.

    11. Mario Balotelli to be transferred out of Liverpool again and not be on the books of his new club come the end of the 2017/18 summer transfer window.

    12. Wayne Rooney to lose the captain’s armband for England.

    13. Lionel Messi to come out of international retirement.

    14. Rafa Benitez to be gone from Newcastle by the end of the season.

    15. Football Circus to return in the form of a podcast / video podcast.

Yes you read that last one correctly. We’ve been mulling over the possibility of developing Football Circus into a podcast / video podcast for quite some time. Whether it comes to fruition or not is as good a guess as anyone’s, but it is certainly an avenue we’re eager to explore. Quite whether you would be able to tolerate our voices / mushes, is another issue entirely. As for predictions 1-14, there are few that could be rendered totally audacious, certainly not as audacious as our “Bendnter to score at least five goals” prediction last year, but we’re confident of equalling or bettering our previous tally of 9 from 15.

Football Circus Roundup

Pre-season never fails to throw up a few ludicrous scenarios and once the last ball of the domestic season is kicked, we’re inundated with what is essentially, nonsense. If you’ve clickbaited your way through more transfer rumours than you thought imaginable, fear not. There’s plenty more going on in the world of football to kick your filthy, football-addicted brains ticking over and the red top journalists in employment. For example, here’s Arsene Wenger being presented with a sword, before Arsenal took on Norse side Viking in a friendly.

Over in Italy, a Napoli restaurant, bitter Gonzalo Higuain for joining Serie A rivals Juventus, are offering a €1 pizza every time the striker gets injured for his new club. 

Will Ferrell has told CNN he could play Jamie Vardy in the Leicester striker’s biopic (albeit his “later, fatter years”)…

http://edition.cnn.com/videos/sports/2016/08/03/will-ferrell-happy-to-play-jamie-vardy-interview.cnn

John Barnes seems tohave found a new career by providing in-tube entertainment…

Fallen great Adriano is reportedly back living in the favelas of Brazil…

And Cristiano Ronaldo’s latest fashion statement is eh…painted toenails.

Fantasy Football

Last but not least on this edition of Football Circus, we’re going to delve into the gravely frustrating world of Fantasy Football. Many football fans will attest to the fact that Fantasy Football points can make or break a weekend. At this stage of the season, you’ll find yourself drafting and re-drafting your team, only to find yourself using your wildcard after the first game week. In an effort to alleviate your stress, we’ve scoured through the players on offer to suggest a few potential bargains.

Goalkeepers

Victor Valdes £4.5m – Cast aside by Louis van Gaal and latterly, Jose Mourinho, the ex-Barca shot stopper is a sure fire starter for Premier League new boys Middlesbrough.  With Boro investing heavily over the summer, they’ll be unlikely to get caught in a relegation dog fight, barring a QPR-like disaster. With that being said, their goalmouth could be barraged with shot attempts, increasing Valdes’ potential for saves.

Kasper Schmeichel  £5m – In spite of Ron Rob Zieler’s arrival at the King Power Stadium, Schmeichel Jr. is expected to start the season as Leicester’s number 1. With the majority of higher-ranked keepers being priced at £5.5m, the Dane could prove a shrewd investment at half a million less.

Defenders

Bacary Sagna £5.5m – Luke Shaw aside, starting fullbacks for the top seven or eight Premier League teams appear to cost a minimum of £6m. What differentiates Sagna from Shaw is that he racked up 116 points last season and has a superior injury record. Likely to start for City as well, as Guardiola has spent Sheikh Mansoor’s cash on other areas of the team.

Wes Morgan £5m – Although it would surprise us to see Leicester repeat their 2015/16 heroics and equally surprise us to see Morgan amass the 139 points he earned, at £5m the Leicester captain could be a quite a purchase.

Danny Simpson £5m – See above.

Midfielders

Leroy Sane £8m – After spending £40 million on the Schalke winger, Pep Guardiola would have quite a few questions to answer were he not to start the German. For that reason, we believe Sane could be worth a gamble.

Nathan Redmond £6m – Joining Puel’s revolution at Southamption, Redmond will anticipate a starting berth in the Saints’ lineup. Accumulating 110 points from a relegated Norwich side was no mean feat and if Southampton somehow continue to impress as they have done in the past few seasons, £6m spent on Redmond could be a snip.

Jesse Lingard £6m – This could be a shot in the dark. Lingard’s place in United’s starting eleven is far from guaranteed, particularly with the signing of Henrikh Mkhitaryan. However after the winger scored in the FA Cup final and Community Shield, in addition to him being one of the few United players to impress in pre-season, Jose Mourinho’s hand may forced to play him.

Darren Fletcher £4.5m – A total of 103 points saw the Scot finish last season as West Brom’s top points scoring midfielder. As a guaranteed starter for the Baggies, Fletcher’s £4.5m pricetag makes him a must have as a backup midfielder and will free up much needed funds for the rest of your team.

Stewart Downing £5.5m – Hear us out on this one. When Downing joined Middlesbrough from West Ham last summer we thought it was pipe and slippers time for the winger and he’d taken the easy option by dropping down a division. However he’s only spent one season in the Championship and was a vital part of Boro’s promotion. What’s more intriguing is that in the 2014/15 season, Downing’s Fantasy Football points totalled a whopping 160. On closer inspection, we found that he’d finished six of his nine Fantasy Football seasons on over 100 points. Definitely worth consideration.

Forwards

Divock Origi £7m – Bargains appear hard to come by in the forwards department this year and it seems to be the position which has most fantasy managers scratching their heads, with a lot of untold forces in the mix. Liverpool fans seem to be quite keen on the Belgian striker though. With Daniel Sturridge perennially injured (picking up a knock against Barcelona at the weekend, in fact) and Christian Benteke set to be shown the door by Jurgen Klopp, Origi’s game time could increase at Anfield.

Marcus Rashford £7m – The United youngster burst onto the season in the latter stages of last season but will find it difficult to hold down a starting place at Old Trafford after Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s arrival. With that being said, if Rashford’s form continues, he may see more game time than expected.

Andy Carroll £6.5m – Drafted into many fantasy football team’s towards the end of last season after a scoring streak, Carroll will continue his attempts to force his way into Slaven Bilic’s West Ham team. Should he do so, it will be down to one reason – Goals. Unorthodox he may be, but if he hits a run of form, Carroll could be a great buy at just £6.5m.

Ahmed Musa £7.5m – Brought in by Claudio Ranieri as a partner for Jamie Vardy, Musa looked explosive in pre-season, notching up a brace against Barcelona. Having arrived from CSKA Moscow, Musa would be a gamble as he has not yet proven himself at the top level, but if he hits the ground running his price could sky rocket.

Others

There a handful more potential bargains to be had should certain players be transferred in the coming weeks.

Juan Mata £7.5m – The Spaniard’s time at Manchester United looks to be drawing to an end and were he to move (Everton have been linked), he’d walk into most Premier League teams’ first eleven. At £7.5m, Mata could be worth a punt.

Christian Benteke £7.5m – If Benteke secures a move away from Anfield and replicates the form he showed at Aston Villa, the Belgian striker could be a steal at £7.5m.

Saido Berahino  £6.5m – West Brom seem loathe to part with the stroppy striker but if they do and his new club get the best from him, we could see an influx of goals. He managed 148 fantasy points in 2014/15.

Using some of our suggestions, here’s how your team could look…

Football Recommendation of the Week

- SkySports’ “Manchester Divided” video, featuring friend of Football Circus, Michael J Browne.

Non-Football Recommendation of the Week

 - The Night Of; HBO’s latest offering is quite simply stellar. Originally due to feature James Gandolfini before his untimely passing, then Robert deNiro (until he allegedly fell out with the makers), The Night Of casts John Turturro as lawyer John Stones. While Turturro’s performance alone makes this gritty mini-series worth watching, this thrilling murder investigation will have you hooked from the start.

That’s it from us for this week…keep checking back or follow our Facebook page or Twitter for future editions.