A bumper fifth edition (which I might regret if someone else sneaks some in) with offerings from Steve Davies, Gareth Roberts, Amy Lawrence, Rob Gutmann, Kristian Walsh and a very late entry from Catherine Stewart.

Apologies for the mad formatting on all these.

 

Steve Davies

What do Liverpool still need to do before the window closes?

Buy a decent left back [written 15/8/13], a left sided attacking midfielder, sign Fellaini and put the planning permission in for Anfield’s redevelopment.

Which Liverpool player are you most looking forward to watching?

Oh oh oh he’s magic, you know,
He’s Phillipe Coutinho

What amusement arcade game do you excel at?

 Pacman. Old enough to have played it when it first arrived on these shores at my local chippie.

How many points and what position do you think Liverpool will finish with?

5th with 68 points.

Whose back are you getting on early?

Daniel Agger needs to see a vast improvement on last season’s showing.

What are your drinking plans before the first game of the season?

Water straight from the tap to alleviate the previous night’s hangover.

Who do you think will win the league?

 Manchester City by a country mile.

Who do you think will go down?

Hull City, Crystal Palace and Stoke City.

Who is your favourite player Martin O’Neill has ever managed?

I love a utility player so it has to be defender/midfielder/striker Chris Sutton.

Make three predictions across the league season.

1) Luis Suarez will stay but fail to score 12 league goals.
2) Southampton will win the League Cup.
3) David Moyes will defy expectations and qualify for Europe with Manchester United with a late surge up the table to 6th.

What are you least looking forward to this season?

Mourinho this. Mourinho that. Mourinho the other.

You are DJing to a wedding crowd. The couple are 28. What song are you dropping at around 11pm to make it go right off?

The Tamperer featuring Maya – “Feel It” taking them back to when they were 13 … “what’s she gonna look like with a chimney on her”

What are you most looking forward to this season?

Going to fewer games. Hit my pinch point at the current prices. Support http://www.standamf.com/

 

Gareth Roberts

 

What do Liverpool still need to do before the window closes?

Like the manager said in July, sign some players that improve the first team. I don’t buy for a second that there aren’t gettable players out there. A dominant bastard of a centre half, a hard knock with nouse for the middle who can back up/overtake Lucas and someone for the flanks who can knock in a few goals – that would do me.

Which Liverpool player are you most looking forward to watching?

Coutinho.

What amusement arcade game do you excel at?

 Spy Hunter. One cool game that.

How many points and what position do you think Liverpool will finish with?

65. Sixth.

Whose back are you getting on early?

FSG’s. They seem to be making a hard job more difficult. Love to be proved wrong.

What are your drinking plans before the first game of the season?

Couple of Guinness in the Solly.

Who do you think will win the league?

Chelsea. Mourinho is a bell-end. But he’s a bell-end who knows how to win things.

Who do you think will go down?

Palace, Hull and Stoke.

Who is your favourite player Martin O’Neill has ever managed?

Emile Heskey. He was better for Liverpool than he is given credit for as well. There, I said it.

Make three predictions across the league season.

David Moyes will have match-going Man United fans cringing on a regular basis. Steve Bruce will have a big fat head. Endless debates about being ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ about Liverpool will take place on forums and Twitter.

What are you least looking forward to this season?

Robbie Savage.

 

You are DJing to a wedding crowd. The couple are 28. What song are you dropping at around 11pm to make it go right off?

In my experience everyone at weddings is bladdered at 11pm so I don’t think it matters – I could throw on the shite that is set to compilations of goals by players we don’t sign and no-one would be arsed. That said, I’d like to see ties around heads and pissed-up fist pumping, so I’ll go Seven Nation Army – White Stripes.

What are you most looking forward to this season?

Having a pint and a laugh with my mates before and after the games.

 

Amy Lawrence

 

What do Arsenal still need to do before the window closes?

 *please imagine manic expression of Dreyfus when confronted with Inspector Clouseau*

Which Arsenal player are you most looking forward to watching?

Wilshere with a full pre-season behind him.

 

What amusement arcade game do you excel at?

Apart from the one that gives you change, am having to practice air ice hockey to keep up with the juniors.

 

How many points and what position do you think Arsenal will finish with?

Should have aspired for higher but will have to aim for succeeding in self-inflictedly hardest ever attempt at top four under Wenger.

Whose back are you getting on early?

Stan Kroenke

What are your drinking plans before the first game of the season?

 Am working so will remain steadfastly sober. Post match that may change.

Who do you think will win the league?

 Mourinho

 

Who do you think will go down?

 Palace, Cardiff, Stoke

Who is your favourite player Martin O’Neill has ever managed?

Ian Marshall. Looked like Desperate Dan and was tough as old boots. I interviewed him once. I used to love going up to Leicester’s training ground in those days. Martin was unusually welcoming and happy to talk to us as if we were in fact relatvely normal people. He used to have a mug of tea with us and talk about things like taking his kids to the dentist.

 

Make three predictions across the league season.

Wenger will look bleakly flustered, Hughes won’t do much smiling, some people will lose their minds with excitment the first time Moyes determinedly taps his watch in stoppage time.

 

What are you least looking forward to this season?

 Being at a game that has been brilliant but ‘marred’ by some incident or other which means we have to write reams on the incident and who blasts who and two lines about the actual football. Always find that deflating.

 

You are DJing to a wedding crowd. The couple are 28. What song are you dropping at around 11pm to make it go right off?

 Pistols. Anarchy in the UK. it’s a wedding, right?

 

What are you most looking forward to this season?

 Brazil, at the end of it all.

 

Rob Gutmann

What do Liverpool still need to do before the window closes?

Buy 3 first team players ideally (attacker, left back [written 15/8/13], centre back). Minimum is an attacker (any one but a pure goalscorer/poacher) of top quality.

Which Liverpool player are you most looking forward to watching?

Coutinho

What amusement arcade game do you excel at?

 

None

How many points and what position do you think Liverpool will finish with?

68 points and 5th

Whose back are you getting on early?

Enrique’s.

What are your drinking plans before the first game of the season?

Bottle of wine and 1 pint of smoothflow bitter.

Who do you think will win the league?

Manchester United

Who do you think will go down?

Hull, Cardiff, Crystal Palace

Who is your favourite player Martin O’Neill has ever managed?

Simon Mignolet

Make three predictions across the league season.

The points totals required to get CL will fall.
Same to win league.
Gap between 7th and 8th will close.

What are you least looking forward to this season?

Stoke.

You are DJing to a wedding crowd. The couple are 28. What song are you dropping at around 11pm to make it go right off?

 

Some shit by Lady GaaaGaaa

What are you most looking forward to this season?

 

Liverpool winning the league

 

Kristian Walsh

Before I begin, it is probably worth mentioning my predictions last year were remarkable. I was one result out in Liverpool’s season and said Michu would become king of the world. I was also mocked for the length, so will keep these a little shorter.
What do Liverpool still need to do before the window closes?

Find two first team players who will markedly improve the first 11 – a centre back (though Toure would suffice if needed) and a wide player who can interchange with Coutinho. Rodgers seems to like that idea. I do too.

Failing that, sign Kaka.

Which Liverpool player are you most looking forward to watching?

Coutinho is the obvious answer, isn’t it? I am looking forward to seeing how his relationship with the fans develops. There’s something quite strange about it at the moment; there’s a healthy disconnect between them at the moment. Yes, they sing his name and he applauds, but I don’t think the fans quite know what to make of this 21-year-old Brazilian who plays like something from World Cup ’82 and I’m not sure Coutinho understands why there’s loads of fireworks and smoke bombs every away game.

What amusement arcade game do you excel at?

 

I would say Street Fighter, but I know somebody else is quite good at that too. I was always decent at Virtua Striker 2, despite its naff presentation. GOAL SWEDEN. KICK OFF. CORNER KICK. I always went Sweden. It was wonderfully simplistic: a joystick to move, a button to pass, a button to shoot and a button to play a long ball. The Hodgson of football games.

How many points and what position do you think Liverpool will finish with?

I was one point – and one result – out last season. With that in mind: home form will improve, away form will probably stay the same. Eighteen wins, 12 draws, eight defeats. 66 points. 6th.

Whose back are you getting on early?

The person in front of me when the Kolo Toure first goalscorer bet lands*.
*This won’t happen.

What are your drinking plans before the first game of the season?

I’m a consummate professional and will be in a working capacity in some way. So probably cup of tea at Leaf or Moose (both very good, Google them) before I head to Anfield.

Who do you think will win the league?

I’ve said Manchester City all summer but I’m starting to doubt myself. They could do with another centre back, I’m not sold on Fernandinho and I’m not sure how Negredo and Navas will adapt. Jovetic is a great signing though. In fact, I’m not sure how their strikers work out at all in the 4-3-3 and I’m of the (wrong) opinion that Dzeko is great and should play more.
That being said: United will take time to adapt under Moyes and Chelsea are a complete wildcard with Mourinho. I’ll go with City despite what I’ve said, though Chelsea will run them close and Spurs have a chance if they keep Bale.

Who do you think will go down?

Palace have not really supplemented their squad well enough from last year. They went up because of Murray’s goals and Zaha’s work but the former is injured and the latter has left for good.
Stoke are in trouble – they haven’t exactly added goals to the side and the fans will get on Mark Hughes’ back. Cardiff were my other pick but they have signed Caulker and Medel, and Momo Sissoko is meant to be heading there. I’ll go with Fulham. Or Cardiff. What a terrible bottom half.

Who is your favourite player Martin O’Neill has ever managed?

Muzzy Izzet. The hairy precursor to Jonjo Shelvey.

Make three predictions across the league season.

England or Europe? I’ll go with both.
Real Madrid run away with La Liga and amass nearly 100 points.
Jozy Altidore has a really good season for Sunderland, though only after Paolo Di Canio throws a plasma television at him.
Eden Hazard has a Bale-like season for Chelsea, while Frank Lampard is Player of the Year.
That’s five predictions, I know.

What are you least looking forward to this season?

Football.

You are DJing to a wedding crowd. The couple are 28. What song are you dropping at around 11pm to make it go right off?

 

Raise Your Glass by Pink. If you’ve chosen me to DJ at a wedding, you deserve such ridiculousness.

What are you most looking forward to this season?

Football.

 

Catherine Stewart

What do Spurs still need to do before the window closes?

Well, sort the Bale situation out and if he goes, make sure we have enough attacking talent to make up for it.  We’ve done a good job of clearing out some of the squad players, though I was surprised to see Caulker go out on a permanent deal and now we’ve got a bit of a CB injury crisis.  So another defender would be good and I think we also need another striker.  Not much then.

 

Which Spurs player are you most looking forward to watching?

I went to the Espanyol pre-season friendly and though it’s hard to tell from those sorts of games, Soldado looked like he’s just what we’ve been needing up front.  He got in some great positions, looked sharp and hopefully will hit the ground running.  It’s very exciting to have a player that looks like he might actually be able to get on the end of a corner.  Sandro’s back from injury as well, can’t wait to see him back in our midfield.

What amusement arcade game do you excel at?

 

I won a watch at the bingo at Southport Funland once.  I’m not sure if you can really excel at bingo though?

How many points and what position do you think Spurs will finish with?

It depends on whether Bale stays or goes.  While I think our new signings mean that we’ll get more goals from other places, there’s no question that his ability lifts the team – you only have to look at how many late points we claimed last season.  I’m going with Bale 3rd or 4th, without 4th or 5th.  70ish points.

Whose back are you getting on early?

Defoe.  He’s great when he’s scoring but offers absolutely nothing when he’s not.  He’s never done it consistently for a season anywhere.

What are your drinking plans before the first game of the season?

A few bottles of beer round my Dad’s house for Palace away.  Then something stronger after Palace get a late equaliser from a poorly-defended set-piece.

Who do you think will win the league?

Chelsea, unfortunately

Who do you think will go down?

Hull, Palace and maybe Sunderland

Who is your favourite player Martin O’Neill has ever managed?

Henrik Larsson

Make three predictions across the league season.

Ferguson will be mentioned during every Moyes-focused TV pundit discussion, I’ll get annoyed at the Match of the Day ‘analysis’ and Swansea will do well in Europe.

What are you least looking forward to this season?

Being able to see the Emirates lit up from my flat window on Champions League night.  I can only see a very small part of one of the stands, but it’ll be enough to rub in last season’s disappointment.  Come on Fenerbahce!

You are DJing to a wedding crowd. The couple are 28. What song are you dropping at around 11pm to make it go right off?

Come on Eileen – Dexys

What are you most looking forward to this season?

The whole season really, the ups and downs, the big wins, drama (at other clubs).  And FA Cup third round day / weekend, it’s my favourite weekend of the football season.  Lastly and hopefully, Spurs’ winning day out at Wembley!