Transfers Facts And Figures

Premier League in and outs - Updated 02/09/13

Up till today £629 Million has been spent on 149 players by the 20 Premier league teams.
Biggest spenders are Tottenham having spent over £108 million on just 7 players, and Man City spending £99 million on just 5 players.Crystal Palace managed to bring in 15 players for just under £7 million.

Biggest spenders - Tottenham £108.9m, Man City £99.1m, Chelsea £63.5m, Liverpool £51.8m
Biggest sellers - Tottenham £104.3m, Everton £33.5m, Liverpool £26m, Sunderland £19.5m
Biggest Profits - Everton £10.5m, Sunderland £3.12m, Newcastle £150,000
Biggest Losses - Man City £87.1m, Chelsea £61m, Southampton £36m
Most players in - Crystal Palace 15, Sunderland 14, Hull 11, Swansea 10
Most players out - Chelsea 33, Arsenal 29, Tottenham 22

Arsenal          
In    4    Yaya Sanogo, Mathieu Flamini, Emiliano Viviano (Loan), Mesut Ozil
Out    29    Francis Coquelin (Loan), Johan Djourou (Loan), Chuks Aneke (Loan), Joel Campbell (Loan), Ignasi Miquel (Loan), Andre Santos, Vito Mannone, Sanchez Watt, Andrey Arshavin, Denilson, Jordan Wynter, Craig Eastmond, Samir Bihmoutine, Reice Charles-Cook, Sead Hajrovic, Conor Henderson, Jernade Meade, Nigel Oldfield Spence-Neita, Joshua Rees, Philip Roberts, James Shea, Sebastien Squillaci, Martin Angha, Kyle Ebecilio, Elton Monteiro, Daniel Boateng, Zach Fagan, Gervinho, Marouane Chamakh
          
Aston Villa          
In    8    Antonio Luna, Nicklas Helenius, Leandro Bacuna, Jores Okore, Aleksandar Tonev, Jed Steer, Liam Prynn, Libor Kozak
Out    18    Graham Burke (Loan), Samir Carruthers (Loan), Darren Bent (Loan), Nathan Delfouneso (Loan), Enda Stevens (Loan), Stephen Ireland (Loan), Courtney Cameron, Brett Holman, Derrick Williams, Eric Lichaj, Calum Barrett, Joshua Barton, Daniel Devine, Richard Dunne, Andrew Marshall, Jean Makoun, Stiliyan Petrov, Barry Bannan,
          
Cardiff City          
In    7    Andreas Cornelius, John Brayford, Steven Caulker, Simon Moore, Gary Medel, Kevin Theophile-Catherine, Peter Odemwingie
Out    7    Ben Nugent (Loan), Joe Ralls (Loan), Jese Darko, Nat Jarvis, Stephen McPhail, Elliott Parish, Heidar Helguson
          
Chelsea          
In    8    Marco van Ginkel, Andre Schurrle, Mark Schwarzer, Cristian Cuevas, Stipe Perica, Willian, Samuel Eto'o, Christian Atsu
Out    33    Cristian Cuevas (Loan), Oriel Romeu (Loan), Billy Clifford (Loan), Patrick Bamford (Loan), Marko Marin (Loan), Patrick van Aanholt (Loan), Todd Kane (Loan), George Saville (Loan), Sam Walker (Loan), Thibaut Courtois (Loan), Daniel Pappoe (Loan), Milan Lalkovic (Loan), Wallace (Loan), Christian Atsu (Loan), Romelu Lukaku (Loan), Victor Moses (Loan), Amin Affane, Yossi Benayoun, Abdul Deen-Conteh, Paulo Ferreira, Hilarious, Florent Malouda, Archange Nkumu, Ross Turnbull, Jeffrey Bruma, Ben Gordon, Rohan Ince, James Ashton, Samuel Bangura, Conor Clifford, Tom Howard, Nortei Nortey, Adam Phillip
          
Crystal Palace          
In    15    Elliot Grandin, Kevin Phillips, Dwight Gayle, Stephen Dobbie, Jerome Thomas, Marouane Chamakh, Jose Campan, Florian Marange, Neil Alexande, Jason Puncheon (Loan, Jimmy Keb, Adrian Mariappa, Barry Bannan, Cameron Jerome (Loan), Jack Hunt
Out    10    Ryan Inniss (Loan), Dale Banton (Loan), Peter Ramage (Loan), Alex Marrow, Jermaine Easter, Aaron Akuruka, Kadell Daniel, Bryan Fenwick, Jack Holland, Andre Moritz
          
Everton          
In    7    Gerard Deulofeu (Loan), Antolin Alcaraz, Joel Robles, Arouna Kone, Gareth Barry (Loan), James McCarthy, Romelu Lukaku (Loan)
Out    10    Conor McAleny (Loan), Johan Hammar, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Sam Kelly, Jan Mucha, Phil Neville, Jasper Johns, Jake Bidwell, Marouane Fellaini, Victor Anichebe
          
Fulham          
In    9    Abel Taarabt (Loan), Maarten Stekelenburg, Fernando Amorebieta, Derek Boateng, Sasha Riether, Ange-Freddy Plumain, Darren Bent (Loan), Scott Parker, Elsad Zverotic
Out    16    Ryan Williams (Loan), Dan Burn (Loan), Marcus Bettinelli (Loan), Cauley Woodrow (Loan), Marcello Trotta (Loan), Chris Baird, Simon Davies, Mahamadou Diarra, Thomas Donegan, Corey Gameiro, James Musa, Richard Peniket, Mladen Petric, Mark Schwarzer, Alex Smith, Csaba Somogyi
          
Hull City          
In    11    Curtis Davies, Maynor Figueroa, George Boyd, Ahmed Elmohamady, Allan McGregor, Steve Harper, Danny Graham (Loan), Yannick Sagbo, Jake Livermore (Loan), Tom Huddlestone, Gedo (Loan)
Out    18    Mark Oxley (Loan), Tom Cairney (Loan), Jack Hobbs (Loan), Cameron Stewart (Loan), Conor Townsend (Loan), Corry Evans, Andy Dawson, Sonny Bradley, Danny East, Mark Cullen, Jamie Devitt, Paul McKenna, Seyi Olofinjana, Jay Simpson, Lewis Clarkson, Kealan Dillon, Daniel Emerton, Francis McCaffrey
          
Liverpool          
In    8    Iago Aspas, Luis Alberto , Kolo Toure, Simon Mignolet, Aly Cissokho (Loan), Mamadou Sakho, Tiago Ilori, Victor Moses (Loan)
Out    18    Suso (Loan), Henoc Mukendi (Loan), Conor Coady (Loan), Jack Robinson (Loan), Pepe Reina (Loan), Oussame Assaidi (Loan), Fabio Borini (Loan), Andy Carroll, Michael Ngoo, Jamie Stephens, Jonjo Shelvey, Danny Wilson, Tyrell Belford, Jamie Carragher, Peter Gulasci, Jay Spearing, Stewart Downing, Daniel Pacheco
          
Manchester City          
In    5    Jesus Navas, Fernandinho, Stevan Jovetic, Alvaro Negredo, Martin Demichelis
Out    16    Reece Wabara (Loan), Karim Rekik (Loan), Scott Sinclair (Loan), Albert Rusnak (Loan), Abdul Razak (Loan), Gareth Barry (Loan), Harry Bunn (Loan), Denis Suarez, Carlos Tevez, Wayne Bridge, Filippo Mancini, Ryan McGivern, Roque Santa Cruz, Kolo Toure, Jeremy Helan, Maicon
          
Manchester United          
In    2    Guillermo Varela, Marouane Fellaini
Out    15    Reece James (Loan), Ryan Tunnicliffe (Loan), Sam Johnstone (Loan), Nick Powell (Loan), Reece Brown, John Cofie, Michele Fornasier, Luke Giverin, Luke Hendrie, Luke McCullough, Paul Scholes, Gyliano Van Velzen, Freddie Veseli, Sean McGinty, Scott Wootton
          
Newcastle United          
In    2    Loic Remy (Loan), Olivier Kemen
Out    11    James Tavernier (Loan), Mehdi Abeid (Loan), Michael Richardson (Loan), Shane Ferguson (Loan), Adam Campbell (Loan), JJ Hooper, Steve Harper, Yven Moyo, Danny Simpson, James Perch, Brad Inman
          
Norwich City          
In    8    Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Leroy Fer, Carlo Nash, Martin Olsson, Nathan Redmond, Javier Garrido, Gary Hooper, Johan Elmander (Loan)
Out    17    Declan Rudd (Loan), Andrew Surman (Loan), Grant Holt, Tom Adeyemi, Lee Camp, Olumide Durojaiye, George Francomb, Simeon Jackson, Chris Martin, Ramil Sheriff, Korey Smith, Marc Tierney, Elliott Ward, Jed Steer, Korey Smith, James Vaughan, Jacob Butterfield
Southampton          
In    3    Victor Wanyama, Dejan Lovren, Pablo Osvaldo
Out    14    Jason Puncheon (Loan), Emmanuel Mayuka (Loan), Frazer Richardson, Danny Butterfield, Dan Seabourne, Ryan Dickson, Ben Reeves, Sam Hoskins, Tommy Forecast, Alberto Seidi, Richard Chaplow, Steve de Ridde, Vegard Forren, Danny Butterfield
          
Stoke City          
In    7    Marc Muniesa, Erik Pieters, Alex Grant, Juan Agudelo, Oussame Assaidi (Loan), Marko Arnautovic, Stephen Ireland (Loan)
Out    16    Cameron Jerome (Loan), Michael Kightly (Loan), Ryan Shotton (Loan), Michael Clarkson, Rory Delap, Matthew Gledhill, Jadan Hall, Matthew Lund, Andrew Musungu, Carlo Nash, Michael Owen, George Rigg, Mamady Sidibe, Matthew Upson, Dean Whitehead, Florent Cuvelier
          
Sunderland          
In    14    Vito Mannone, Emanuele Giaccherini, El Hadji Ba, Jozy Altidore, Cabral, Modibo Diakite, David Moberg Karlsson, Duncan Watmore, Valentin Roberge, Ondrej Celustka (Loan), Charis Mavrias, Ki Sung-Yeung (Loan), Andrea Dossena, Fabio Borini (Loan)
Out    14    Danny Graham (Loan), Alfred N'Diaye (Loan), Billy Knott (Loan), Stephane Sessegnon, Ahmed Elmohamady, Simon Mignolet, Titus Bramble, Anthony Callaghan, Wade Joyce, Matt Kilgallon, Ryan Noble, Adam Reed, Ben Wilson, James McClean
          
Swansea          
In    10    Jonjo Shelvey, Wilfried Bony, Alejandro Pozuelo, Jonathan de Guzman (Loan), Jordi Amat, Jose Canas, Gregor Zabret, Alex Gogic, Jernade Meade, Alvaro Vazquez (Loan)
Out    7    Alan Tate (Loan), Gwion Edwards (Loan), Kyle Bartley (Loan), Ki Sung-Yeung (Loan), David Cornel, Mark Gower, Kemy Agustien
          
Tottenham Hotspur          
In    7    Paulinho, Nacer Chadli, Roberto Soldado, Etienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches, Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen
Out    22    Adam Smith (Loan), Tomislav Gomelt (Loan), Bongoni Khumalo (Loan), Ryan Mason (Loan), Grant Hall (Loan), Massimo Luongo (Loan), Alex Pritchard (Loan), Jake Livermore (Loan), Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Loan), Tom Carroll (Loan), Tom Huddlestone, Clint Dempsey, Steven Caulker, Jack Barthram, David Bentley, John Bostock, William Gallas, Jack Munns, Jake Nicholson, Nathan Byrn, Scott Parker, Gareth Bale
          
West Bromwich Albion          
In    9    Nicolas Anelka, Goran Popov (Loan), Diego Lugano, Matej Vydra (Loan), Scott Sinclair (Loan), Lee Camp, Morgan Amalfitano (Loan), Stephane Sessegnon, Victor Anichebe
Out    7    Scott Allan (Loan), Marc-Antoine Fortune, Gonzalo Jara, Romaine Sawyers, Jerome Thomas, James Hurst, Peter Odemwingie
          
West Ham United          
In    5    Andy Carroll, Danny Whitehead, Adrian, Razvan Rat, Stewart Downing
Out    7    Gary O’Neil, Carlton Cole, Robert Hall, Jake Larkins, Jack Powell, Jami Rafati, Eoin Wearen

New Season

I don't think we have a close season anymore?
I thought we'd have a break after the Confederations cup but the Europa league started the week after and now we've got the friendlies in full swing and the Women's Euros.
Under a month till the Community shield and less than 5 weeks till the new season starts.

All change at the top with both Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Everton with new managers meaning next season looks really unpredictable.

Man Utd - David Moyes for Alex Ferguson, Moyes is a good manager but at the moment doesn't have that winning mentality of his predecessor. He inherits a great team but they are going to need strengthening to compete on the bigger stage of Europe. Moyes biggest test will be trying to instill the fear of failure that Fergie did and the expectation of success is something he won't be used to.

Man City - Manuel Pellegrini for Roberto Mancini, I don't know much about Pellegrini other than he's done pretty well in Spain with Villarreal and Malaga and had one good season with Real Madrid before getting sacked. The almost unlimited budget at City should help him settle in (they've already spent 45m) but as Mancini found out eleven top players don't always make a good team and I think they will miss Tevez.

Chelsea - Jose Mourinho for Rafa Benitez, we all know about Jose and like Holloway will always give a good after match interview but has he still got it? Although Chelsea have already spent 26m on 3 players I can't see Abramovich giving Jose the open cheque book anymore so he might have to work with what he's got. Lukaku looked good last season and could be the answer to their striking problems if he gets a chance, Torres if he ever finds his form and confidence could still do it, it looks like Ba is on his way again.
Picking up Mark Schwarzer on a free as goalkeeping back up looks a great move.

Everton - Roberto Martinez for David Moyes, I like Martinez but the bar has been raised and survival is not enough at a club that aims for European qualification on a smaller budget. Worryingly for Everton fans Martinez has already signed 3 Wigan players and Man Utd are sniffing around Leighton Baines.

Stoke - Mark Hughes for Tony Pulis, Don't understand this one? Mark Hughes has really lost his way as a manager since leaving Blackburn and Tony Pulis really over achieved with Stoke, I would be really surprised if Stoke improved unless some multi billionaire came in and took them over.

As for the rest Arsenal are reported to have a big pile of money to spend but nobody seems to want to go there. Liverpool have again spent heavy but recouped most of that with sales and they might make a rare profit if Suarez goes (as looks likely). Tottenham's season depends heavily on them keeping Bale and finding a prolific striker to replace Defoe and Adebeyor who were major disappointments last season.
West Brom probably over achieved last season and I don't think Anelka will be able to replace the hole left by Lukaku, Swansea have bought well and could improve next season as long as no-one poaches Laudrup. Newcastle under achieved last season and should improve as long as Pardew isn't totally undermined by Ashley. Aston Villa should be a better team next season with the young players a year older but Lambert's biggest battle will be to keep Benteke. Norwich have been busy in the transfer market but I was surprised they let Grant Holt go and could struggle this season. Sunderland have also been busy in the market and thanks to Mignolet's transfer have money to spend, but who knows what will happen in DiCanio's mind and I think it could all end in tears. Fulham have a new owner but their stay in the Premier league must be coming to an end soon. Southampton are spending big but mid table is as good as they can expect.
Cardiff, Crystal Palace and Hull will just be looking for survival and I think they will all struggle.
That just leaves West Ham :) Andy Carroll did look good at the end of last season and if he stays fit will give us enough to secure a mid table position, but we need more than that to start competing at the higher levels and missing out on Bony was disappointing, also worrying is that we seemed to be linked with some of the worst players in the Premier league every day. I'm hoping we can find a striker to partner Carroll and fill in for him when he gets injured and if we do sign someone pray Fat Sam will actually give him a game.

Nigerian Football Results

Nigerian lower league game to decide championship

Plateau United Feeders 79 - Akurba FC 0 (HT 7-0)
Police Machine FC 67 - Bubayaro FC 0 (HT 6-0)

Needless to say the teams have been suspended pending investigation. Surely even if the other team stood and watched or kicked the ball in their own net it would still be a struggle to score 72 goals in 45 minutes?

Carlton Cole

Another Hitler spoof, but this one made me laugh :)

Palace Theatre

Congratulations to Crystal Palace for winning the play off final today.
Great to have Ian Holloway back in the Premier league, and possibly a last fling for Kevin Phillips who will hopefully carry on for another season.
History suggests it could be a one season wonder for Palace, but you never know?

Struggling

Biopunk
Really struggling finding a picture of Lampard and Di Matteo from 2001/2.
Please accept this really badly bodged cut up until I find something better :)

Premier Predictions The Final Score

Congratulations Biopunk :)

Just 76 days till next season :)

Premier Predictions (Week 38) The Final

Here we go the last week of the season, 10 games all on Sunday.

As far as the Premier league goes there is only one thing left to sort out.
Arsenal or Tottenham to finish 4th, Tottenham look to have the easier game at home to now safe Sunderland, Arsenal go to the slightly improving Newcastle.

The prediction competition is still wide open, as although I've taken the lead my lack of draws means any of you will overtake me with an outright win :(
So here they are ... good luck all.

Chelsea v Everton
Liverpool v QPR
Man City v Norwich
Newcastle v Arsenal
Southampton v Stoke
Swansea v Fulham
Tottenham v Sunderland
West Brom v Man Utd
West Ham v Reading
Wigan v Aston Villa

----------------

Useless facts from this years prediction competition (so far) :)

3 Pointers (Correct Scores) - Biopunk 43, Paulo 42, Longy 37, Lee 36, Gobshyte 35
1 Pointers (Correct Result) - Lee 136, Biopunk 132, Gobshyte 131, Paulo 123, Longy 119
Highest Weekly Score - Lee 18, Gobshyte 14, Biopunk 13, Paulo 12, Longy 11
Games Predicted - Biopunk + Lee 369, Paulo 368, Gobshyte 363, Longy 345

Premier Predictions (Week 37)

Just 2 weeks of the season left and still a few things left to sort out.
Most importantly our prediction competition which has shaped up nicely with all 5 of us with 6 outright wins so far.
Wigan's defeat in the week means they are in deep trouble and a trip to Arsenal in the week (who are still chasing a top 4 spot) could seal their fate, Newcastle Norwich and Sunderland might only need a point.
Games on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday.

Aston Villa v Chelsea

Stoke v Tottenham
Everton v West Ham
Fulham v Liverpool
Norwich v West Brom
QPR v Newcastle
Sunderland v Southampton
Man Utd v Swansea

Arsenal v Wigan
Reading v Man City

The Championship

So Cardiff and Hull make it up, plus one from Leicester, Palace, Brighton and Udinese reserves.
From what I've seen of them they are all going to struggle next year.
Cardiff have been the best of a bad bunch but will need to spend some serious cash to survive next season, and Hull must already be odds on to finish bottom.
Personally I think Brighton, Palace or Leicester if they go up stand the best chance next year.

Mourinho

Premier Predictions (Week 36)

Just 3 weeks left, and anyone can still win.
Extra games this week with re-arranged games in midweek on Tuesday and Wednesday added to the regular Saturday to Monday games.
Wigan will be desperate to get something this week or they could be down when they play the Cup final.

Fulham v Reading
Norwich v Aston Villa
Swansea v Man City
Tottenham v Southampton
West Brom v Wigan
West Ham v Newcastle
QPR v Arsenal
Liverpool v Everton
Man Utd v Chelsea
Sunderland v Stoke

Man City v West Brom
Wigan v Swansea
Chelsea v Tottenham

Lucky Luis

Premier Predictions (Week 35)

3 Days of games, the titles over but the (non) Champions league spots are still up for grabs.
If City fall apart again under battering ram Carroll they could join the mix?
Wigan are getting desperate and would have prayed Bale's injury flared up again, Reading and QPR get to fight one last week before the inevitable.
Villa must perform better this Monday against Paololand.

Good luck all :)

Man City v West Ham
Everton v Fulham
Southampton v West Brom
Stoke v Norwich
Wigan v Tottenham
Newcastle v Liverpool

Reading v QPR
Chelsea v Swansea
Arsenal v Man Utd

Aston Villa v Sunderland

Chomping At The Bit

I'm starting to like Luis Suarez? yes he's a diving, cheating, racist, horse faced cannibal but his actions give us all a chance to take the piss, and have a go at the untouchable scouses in the process.

Here's the best I've seen of this weeks :)

Say what you like about Luis Suarez but you can't question the lad's hunger, He's shown he still has a great appetite for the game

Liverpool accept £35m bid for Suarez from Borussia Munchonacentreback

Luis Suarez putting the eat into cheat

Liverpool have confirmed they will warm up for their next game in McDonalds uniforms to show support for Luis Suarez

Steven Gerrard says he feels a bit guilty for saying to Luis Suarez in the tunnel "Watch that Ivanovic he's a bit tasty"

It's a good job Luis Suarez didn't play in the Premier League 10 years ago for his own sake.He might of ended up with a mouthful of Seaman

If you'd have offered Luis Suarez a point before that game he'd have bitten your arm off

He cheats, he dives, he'll eat your arms and thighs

Luis Suarez will miss the rest of the season with a ban imposed by the FA, Branislav Ivanovic will miss the rest of the season with rabies

Luis Suarez Great footballer, but sometimes he really makes a meal of things

Luis Suarez has revealed that sinking his teeth into Ivanovic is an affectionate term for mate back home

He was only getting revenge on the Eastern Europeans for making his friends and family into value beef burgers

  What's Luis Suarez's favourite day of the week?
  Chewsday.

  Luis Suarez hopes to play against Bayern Munich one day,
  because he would like to try a shoulder of Lahm.

Paolo Fever

It's nice to see the loveable loony has got Blunderland playing again :)
If anyone else was in charge of them I'd be wishing relegation on them, but I can't bring myself to slag off Paolo.
Weather he will still be there next season is anyone's guess but if you needed someone to kick the players arses to get them going he was the man.
Also glad all the press bullshit seems to have subsided and they can leave him alone, and who knows they might actually start looking at all the dubious characters who are now running a lot of our teams?

Premier Predictions (Week 34)

Straight on with the weekends games, 7 Saturday, 2 Sunday and one on Monday.
All the teams chasing 3rd have tough games so nothing's likely to get sorted.
Much as I like Martinez and the way Wigan are playing lately I hope the Hammers can help send them down for Dave Whelan's sake :)

Fulham v Arsenal
Norwich v Reading
QPR v Stoke
Sunderland v Everton
Swansea v Southampton
West Brom v Newcastle
West Ham v Wigan

Tottenham v Man City
Liverpool v Chelsea
Man Utd v Aston Villa

Premier Predictions (Week 33)

Extra game this week due to the re-arranged games in midweek and the cup semi's.
Arsenal, Everton, Fulham, Man Utd and West Ham play twice.
No games for Swansea, Tottenham and West Brom.
Games on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday

Arsenal v Norwich
Aston Villa v Fulham
Everton v QPR
Reading v Liverpool
Southampton v West Ham

Newcastle v Sunderland
Stoke v Man Utd

Arsenal v Everton

Man City v Wigan
West Ham v Man Utd
Fulham v Chelsea

Wembley Woe

Finally Southend made it to Wembley for the first time, but sadly the team didn't really turn up :(
A combination of stage fright and the fact that Crewe from League 1 were just that bit better on the ball than us meant we needed a big chunk of luck to get anything from this game ... and it never happened.
The referee had a nightmare obviously weighed down with the bung that Crewe must have given him as he denied 3 good looking penalty appeals and disallowed our goal, while giving free kicks to Crewe for minor offences and one really obvious dive (I haven't seen them up close yet so maybe he got some decisions right, but I doubt it).
Crewe's 2 goals were mistakes by us, the first we failed to spot Murphy totally open on the edge of the area and he had plenty of time to tuck it away, the second came after Bilel Mohsni got caught in possesion about 30 yards out leaving us wide open.
Mohsni had our best chance meeting a cross 3 yards out which produced a stunning save from Phillips.
Phil Brown threw on Barry Corr and Reeves and later Freddie Eastwood but none really made an impact, Eastwood made one good run and shot late on but it was blocked.

The crowd was impressive 43,000 turned up of which 31,000 were Southend fans, our end was packed, there's was looking pretty empty.
The Crewe fans were singing before the match "30,000 fans jumping on the bandwagon" and to be honest it was true :(  I'm one of them as I can't pretend to have been a regular at Roots hall for quite a few years.
Our 31,000 was probably made up of 5,000-6,000 real fans about 10,000 part time fans from the area who really support other teams like the Hammers like me, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea and the rest a collection of locals just enjoying the day out.
We should have given the team some brilliant support but the singing never really got going, it's hard when only small pockets of the crowd could be bothered. Crewe's 12,000 were getting behind their team much better and I just missed the sort of atmosphere you get watching West Ham away when the singing hardly stops.
As for new Wembley it's way better than the old one, but it didn't impress me like the Millennium stadium did and £4.70 for a plastic cup of piss flavoured lager is a rip off too far.

A couple of pics, here's the Southend end.

... and Crewe's small but noisy end.

Premier Predictions (Week 32)

7 Weeks left of the season and the predictions competition, and unlike the Premier league anyone can still win this :)
If Man U win on Monday they'll only need 3 points for the title, and Chelsea and Arsenal will be hoping for an Everton win at Tottenham.
Probably the biggest relegation battle is Villa at Stoke, if Villa win Stoke are suddenly right in the mix, QPR and Reading look certs for the drop but could upset Wigan and Southampton.
West Ham go to Anfield and to be honest I've almost given up hope of us winning there as we haven't done it since 1965 and with Carlton Cole leading the line it doesn't look good this time :(

Reading v Southampton
Norwich v Swansea
Stoke v Aston Villa
West Brom v Arsenal

Liverpool v West Ham
Tottenham v Everton
Chelsea v Sunderland
Newcastle v Fulham
QPR v Wigan

Man Utd v Man City