Okay, my head is starting to spin. Not really, but this is going to be another busy and rewarding week for EPL Talk and its readers. First up is tomorrow’s international matches. Unfortunately, I’m predicting that England is going to lose to Croatia. Even with McClaren changing the formation to a 3-5-2, I don’t see where the goals are going to come from.

Then, of course, we have the return of the Premiership this Saturday. I previewed some of the matches on this week’s EPL Talk Podcast interview with Jeff Rusnak, and I’ll include more previews in this week’s EPL Talk Email Newsletter (due out Friday morning). For those of you who haven’t experienced the EPL Talk Chat, give it a try this Saturday. We’ll be there (at the EPL Talk homepage) starting from 7:30am ET.

Other important news happening this week:

  • I’m going to be the guest ‘Fone-A-Fan’ in this Thursday’s show by The 2 G’s. If you get a chance, be sure to listen live at Noon ET or download their podcast.
  • This Thursday night I’m interviewing football writer David Wangerin for an upcoming episode of the EPL Talk Podcast. Although you may not be familiar with him, Wangerin writes for the excellent “When Saturday Comes” magazine and has just published a new book entitled “Soccer In A Football World.”
    • The book chronicles the history of football in America, telling many untold stories about the characters, teams and failures of the sport in this country. If you want to submit any questions you’d like me to ask him, please e-mail thegaffer@epltalk.com between now and Thursday.
    • Interestingly, if you want to help the author on future topics for his books, read his projects page.
  • The winner of the World Soccer Shop for posting the best message on the just-launched EPL Talk Community site is BillEShears. If you want to win your own World Soccer Shop T-shirt, listen for the trivia question on this week’s EPL Talk Podcast. Plus, you have another chance to win a World Soccer Shop. All you have to do is participate in the EPL Talk Chat on Saturday, and we’ll pick one lucky winner.
  • Earlier this week, we spoke with Football365.com columnist and writer John Nicholson. His interview will be featured on an upcoming episode of the EPL Talk Podcast. And this one will definitely be more lighthearted than previous episodes. That said, Nicholson shared many pearls of wisdom. More about that later this week.
  • Now on to the biggest news of the week (are you still with me?!). Well, I can’t announce who it is yet until it’s confirmed, but EPL Talk is on the verge of confirming an interview with the biggest star yet for an upcoming EPL Talk Podcast. As soon as I get confirmation, I’ll let you know on this blog so you can send in your questions ahead of time.

Thanks everyone for your support!