Blackburn Rovers will not win the Intertoto: English football off-season thread

Even better, Daily Record are claiming that Kenny Dalgleish has expressed interest in the Sheffield United job!

BBC are reporting that Leroy Rosenior was fired as manager of Torquay TEN MINUTES after the press conference announcing his arrival. Makes Harry Basset's four days at Palace seem like an enternity.

Looks like an exciting title race in Spain still. Come on Valencia!

BALE TO SPURS BALE TO SPURS BALE TO SPURS

IWELUMO TO ADDICKS IWELUMO TO ADDICKS IWELUMO TO ADDICKS

plus some guy i swear was on our youth academy books but never made the grade. is there no greater admission of defeat than that?

No, Charlton have much greater admissions of defeat than that. About 20 a season.

I've neveer seen Iwelumo play, is he alright?

dammit dom did you actually have to check the tables to see whether we lost exactly 20 games last season (which indeed we did)?

iwelumo will be a decent championship striker, nothing more. he's already 28. varney WAS on our youth books, of that i'm certain.

We (Everton) let Mark Ward go as a teenager and, years later, spent over a million getting him back. He scored vs Liverpool (the Sep '93 game at Goodison where Grobbelaar and McManaman almost came to blows), so that was money well spent. Ward is now in prison, I believe.

ward...prison...it works on so many levels.

20 was actually a guess. I'm quite pleased with myself on that one, though.

xxp

http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article327293.ece

Mark Ward interview

Ward could probably have secured a lesser sentence by naming names. He did not, and never will. "Because of the chance of repercussions," he says.

good man! but pretty heartbreaking stuff.

Good man because he was scared of drug czars? I mean, yeah, makes sense, but why encourage his protection of coke dealers? :/

you'd be crazy to name names for a lesser sentence, you're still going to be inside

sometimes it can be difficult to get away, even if no ones been caught and everythings going good. this can come down to quite low levels of money

will: you don't snitch. ever. on anyone. unless it's a matter of life and death. and even then...

http://www.home.no/nappyduck/goodfella2.jpg

I spent a very enjoyable 15mins yesterday afternoon looking at Gareth Bale clips on YouTube, and got very excited. Dead ball specialist + hopeful solution to the problem left back/left sided problem = 9 more points each season hopefully. And blimey can he strike a free kick.

Okay, I haven't actually seen him defend, but possibly that's because clips of perceptive marking and perfectly-timed tackles don't look as impressive on YouTube.

If we keep Berbatov I'll be very optimistic about leapfrogging Arsenal next year.

Also Derby secure that prized 'bottom of the Premiership 2008' spot. Well done them.

My friend tells me that Taarabt is looking very good on the left wing, as well... Bale and Taarabt working together could sure be interesting!

Man City, Brum and Wigan could be challenging them for that (xp)

Need some experience over there, too, though. I thought I heard rumours of Boa Morte wanting an exit, but I think I was just thinking of Reo-Coker... damn those two-part, 3-letter-then-5-letter names.

someone forgot fulham

Is everyone sure that Sunderland will stay up?

Sanchez can keep Fulham up for at least one more season i reckon. Sunderland might survive long enough for Roy to get the Ireland job (December?).

I think Sunderland will stay up quite comfortably. I also think Roy Keane will take the Ireland job shortly after Dwight Yorke bobs past the Stadium of Light on a flying pig, en route to freezing hell.

Will - I have heard very very good things about Taarabt. Martin Jol compared him to Zinedine Zidane which is probably a tad OTT but when I have seen him play the ball just... sticks to him. Plus I have 100% faith in our youth policy right now.

after having seen bale ply a disastrous 70 or so minutes against us at Croke Park, it's safe to say he's not the answer just yet, but his set pieces alone make him worth his spot on the left.

taraabt has had a few nice touches in sub appearances this season, but then i'm still waiting for the second coming of reto ziegler

Dwight Yorke bobs past the Stadium of Light on a flying pig, en route to freezing hell.

stranger things have happened.

Absolutely. The youth system is top notch at the Lane. On a semi-related (I guess it's Spurs-related) note, how do you feel about the 07/08 kits? I love them MUCH more than last years white and aqua things. But I do NOT love that 125 special edition thing. I wanted to get one of those brown and gold ones, though. Ah well. This year I might buy my first tott'm kit-- that navy one and that gold one, wow.

I think I should make a "favourite kits" thread

i do quite like that navy one, but then i look just sensational in navy.

quite seriously though, wht happened reto ziegler? i always liked the look of him, and i'd rather him to lee any day

He went off on loan, I think to Switzerland or something? I can't remember. Is he not more of a winger than left back, though? I am not sure. Most of my knowledge is from FM07. Don't get to see many games at all in Canada, aside from the occasionally downloaded match or youtube clip :(

we have been subsumed in spurs fans :(

also, DOM, IF YOU'RE LISTENING, the MOMENT Charlton were relegated was the MOMENT you predicted them to stay up, YOU HEAR ME?

either that, or it was the moment we sacked/appointed Dowie (take yr pick)

Bit more speculation required here I think. What are the chances of Pompey lining up with a strike force of Robbie Fowler and Mark Viduka next season, I wonder?

thought viduka was going to newcastle?

Fowler to Rangers?

... in Roy Keane-at-Celtic this-is-how-I-want-to-end-my-career type scenario thang

If we keep Berbatov I'll be very optimistic about leapfrogging Arsenal next year.

And Liverpool, I hope! You were only 8pts behind them too. Of course, they now have billions to spend. Ten Djimi Traores, please.

i thought that was this last 18 months at liverpool..

i'd be very surprised if defoe isn't at newcastle/portsmouth by august.

looking at the points spurs dropped last year w/out king, i think anywhere from fifth to third is reasonable, depending on everton and liverpool's spending

I think Liverpool will finish 2nd next season. Spurs still 5th but this time much closer to 4th than 6th on points.

that would be very nice, i'd definitely take stretching the distance from sixth as progress. but everton do worry me a little.

Dodgy dealings at Leeds United, and a CNN reporter stuggling manfully, but ultimately unsuccessfully, to cope with rowdy British soccer types outside Wembley.

Nani and Anderson?

but everton do worry me a little

They worry me 40-odd times a season. We don't have that much to spend - securing Fernandes permanently would be great but I think he's one loaner we're not going to get to keep. £12m or something. Jagielka is coming, apparently. Nugent for Beattie, please.

If we get through to the post-Xmas knockout stages of the UEFA next season it'll quite an achievement to even stay in the top half with the strain on the squad. Perhaps it's finally time to unleash Bjarni Vidarsson on an unsuspecting Premiership.

plus rotherham have just swooped for tom cahill. oh wait.

i watched a youtube comp of nani's best bits the other month, and he seemed very slight and weedy indeed - not sure how he's quite supposed to be a new ronaldo, or giggs. i'm endlessly surprised no one's gone for that quaresma, he looks tasty.

still, those evil bluffing glazers chucking all that lolly around eh! ooh, they mustve sacked about five hundred tea ladies this summer already.

hammers and spurs duking it out for scotty parker. spurs need him more, i would think?

Another midfielder for United and still no striker - so is it going to be one up front again? Bad news for OT if so I reckons.

Houllier's left Lyon (replaced by Perrin).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/images/400/riseandfall_1.jpg

"i didnt get to where i am today by not signging collins mbesuma"

"Awfully sorry. TGV 11 minutes late. Baby on the line at Mâcon."

I can't find the thread about new shirts, but this is FC United's new one:

http://www.wackrill.co.uk/shirts/shirt1.jpg

Excellent. I think that's pretty much the same as the 'admiral' Man Utd top I got for my birthday in 1981. :-)
I got an e-mail asking me to vote to choose the new top, but I don't think I bothered as I thought all four choices were great (very retro, darling).

i watched a youtube comp of nani's best bits the other month, and he seemed very slight and weedy indeed - not sure how he's quite supposed to be a new ronaldo, or giggs. i'm endlessly surprised no one's gone for that quaresma, he looks tasty.

yeah that youtube is hilarious, if it's the one I saw, this bombastic intro saying "be scared RONALDINHO" and stuff and then it shows Nani scoring a deflected goal and running in a straight line with the ball at his feet, or tapping in from 6 yards.

Lokomotiv will not win the prettiest shirt contest: your favourite soccer... I mean... football kits

haha yeah that was the one

Apparently Anelka on his way to United?

West Ham? Newcastle? Leeds? Dundee?

Rotherham

just watched that vid again, it is almost like it's a joke. he falls over and plays several scrappy low balls that roll into the box.

you'd expect at least some stupid tricks or something, or a 30 yard shot.

So Wigan have given up then.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wigan_athletic/6718427.stm

Squad selector: Would Bramble fit into your Wigan starting XI?

Him or Fitz Hall. It's a toughie.

Can we please have a Nani-style video for Titus Bramble?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgnWpCZfpC0

too easy

best bit: when he takes out team-mate under high ball

or maybe given's face-save

Players who are actually shit when removed from Ipswich:

Bramble
Dyer
Dozzell

you have forgotten about 4 or 5 charlton players

in the interests of fairness, this video mainly consists of a particularly good game bramble had against chelsea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm-u9KVbehE

Dozzell

The lad was nothing but committed in his one season at the Cobblers.

'Poll also accused Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho of "an unrepeatable and disgraceful personal comment," about him and Sir Alex Ferguson.'

The mind boggles.

Which one was the bottom, do you think?

Dozy as 'ell took the royal piss at the cobblers. He was on a fortune at the club, and they paid his bar bill at the hotel he was at too, which often featured drinks bought for a lot more people than Jason.

I'm sure there's a thread somewhere on football books, but I can no longer find anything with the search function. Anyway, I've been (slowly) reading 'The Ball Is Round - A Global History of Football' by David Goldblatt for quite a while now. It's a biiiiiiig, heavy book (just under 1,000 pages and hardback) so not a great one to take with you anywhere. For the first couple of months I would put it down and then not feel like picking it up for a week or so because I just wasn't in the mood to learn more about Austrian football in 1911 or whatever, but since we moved into post-war times it's got a lot more interesting.

The only problem is that since I reached things that actually happened in Britain during my lifetime, i.e. things I can actually remember rather than things I have no idea about, I've noticed several facts that I'm pretty sure are wrong and it's making me wonder whether the whole book is full of errors (and that I might have fallen for lies and half-truths about Austrian football in 1911, etc.).

In the space of just a few pages about 1985 there were several things that seemed a bit dubious. He says "In the aftermath of Heysel, English clubs were banned from European competition for five years and Liverpool were banned indefinitely". I'm certain this is wrong: all English clubs were banned indefinitely with Liverpool given an extra three years on top of whenever the indefinite ban happened to be lifted (though in the event they were kept out for just one more season I think). He talks about a battle between "massed ranks of Luton and Millwall fans" - maybe this is true, but the way I remember it being reported on the news was as Millwall ripping up the seats, invading the pitch and attacking the police, without any mention of Luton fans (who certainly didn't have a reputation for trouble). And he says "On the final day of the domestic season a fan was stabbed and killed at a game in Birmingham" - again, maybe that's what happened, but I'm sure I remember something about a wall collapsing on a boy, nothing about stabbings.

Is it just me or do Liverpool's summer dealings so far (or rumours thereof) have an awful whiff of that post CL winning season where nobody wanted to join them or everything seemed to take forever?

is this just (a) details of Liverpool's transfers are leaked more easily than those of say, Man U (b) Liverpool are constantly wrangling about price and don't have much money (c) Liverpool's transfer negotiator person is really inept.

I know it's only early June, but I do kind of wonder, especially after those stories keep surfacing that actually Gillett/Hicks aren't providing much cash.

I think it's just you - there are wild transfer rumours flying round left right and centre at the moment and only Man United have seen major action in the transfer market thus far.

Plus everyone's EXPECTING Liverpool to spunk a load of cash this season so the transfer rumour-mill's working overtime.

will believe it when I see it.

we all know they'll end up signing darren bent and some random spaniards

perhaps you should list some rubbish footballers here.

Jamie, i am also slowly working my way through the Boys' Big Book of Football, i guess i must be about the same bit you are. i hope it's not full of errors...

Yeah, it's a good read, so it would be annoying if he's just made it up / guessed.

most of the bits i've read in other places (eg birth of the game via "and did those feet", spanish stuff from "morbo") tallies up quite nicely, although i do wonder if their are similar flourishes a la the luton/milwall thing...

sealed knot society
let's see you try do this one
luton town milwall 1985

I think it's just you - there are wild transfer rumours flying round left right and centre at the moment and only Man United have seen major action in the transfer market thus far.

-- Matt DC, Monday, June 11, 2007 8:17 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

erm...

BALE TO SPURS BALE TO SPURS BALE TO SPURS

-- Will M., Monday, May 28, 2007 12:47 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Link

;)

it might just be the fact that the spanish season hasn't finished yet and, malouda aside, all of-liverpool's supposed longterm targets are based there, so everyone's too busy to haggle. but yeah, considering the almighty wobbly rafa threw after the final about slow transfers it does feel like it's dragging on. signing voronin and seeing diego forlan rumours crop up can't be much of a help either.

yeah did consider the Spanish league thing, and it was Rafa's wobbly that got me wondering. Voronin is just a mystery, another one of Rafa's infuriating "give him a go" type signings.

Maybe you should consider top European hitman Fredi Kanoute? There must be so many middling Premiership strikers who could have a ball in La Liga. I'm surprised Milan Baros never tried it.

tuncay to be this year's berbatov? i'm saying yes.

FIXTURES!!!!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6741049.stm

!!!!!!

!

BOLTON VS NEWCASTLE LOL

when scunthorpe take the lead at the valley it will really hit home

Big Boxing Day fixture for Leeds: away to Hartlepool.

It says something about the change in fortunes in the North East that I'm now thinking "ooh, away to Sunderland, could be tricky".

I wonder which manager will be desperate enough to take on the Manchester City job, knowing they will have been third (or more) choice behind Ranieri, Ramos and whoever else is next to turn it down.

I have this awful fear we're going to end up with Coleman, Jewell or - heaven help us - Warnock.

matty taylor to exeter!

lol Team Bath never gets old

also i notice Billy Jones has left Crewe, shortly after Billy Jones joined them...

what is spurs fixture timetable for early september? i'll be in london for first time around then, would really fancy catching a glimpse of christian bale gifting a goal to whatever right winger he's meant to be marking.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/fixtures/default.stm

hehe, north london derby 15 sept!

looks like there might be internationals weekend before though...

SO just put serious kibosh on taking time off while on precious holiday to see her gran.

does gran have sky/setanta though? ;)

um, going to london to watch spurs on telly... not even worth posting a c/d thread for that one.

wow spurs signed batman? no wonder he cost so much.

yeh, i'm gonna do that all season.

liverpool make approach for benayoun.

how is that helping?

wow spurs signed batman? no wonder he cost so much.

Time to deploy my Bat-Swerve on this Bat-Deadball!

Who will be Robin to Gareth's Batman, I wonder? Adel? Gotham City = left flank? No?

Chelsea and dogs. The saga continues.

http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/display.var.1474415.0.chelsea_keeper_sues_former_editor_of_sun.php

Sam Allardyce and 'Arry Redknapp named in Stevens bung report...

Link?

Where's that being reported?

I mean, it's such an astonishing development that one has to take it with a pinch of salt.

Not exactly a shocka, I'll grant you.

It's all over Sky News.

Lord Stevens has named five clubs and seventeen transfers after completing his 15-month enquiry into alleged illegal payments in football.

More details to follow...

THANKS FOR THAT SKY.COM

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2104130,00.html

Woohoo! Italy style multiple relegations ahoy! Including Chelsea!

Seventeen transfers and five clubs have been named in Lord Stevens' findings from his inquiry into alleged illegal payments by Premier League clubs.

Chelsea, Newcastle, Bolton, Portsmouth and Middlesbrough were all named as having breached transfer regulations.

The clubs face a further investigation from the Football Association but it is understood Newcastle and Bolton are viewed as the most serious miscreants.

Stevens has also expressed concern about 15 agents and two managers.

One is Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce, and a conflict of interest with his former agent son Craig and Bolton Wanderers.

The other is Graeme Souness, with with Stevens reporting "inconsistencies in evidence" provided by the former Newcastle manager and Kenneth Shepherd, son of Magpies chairman Freddy Shepherd.

Of the 17 transfers, four relate to Newcastle signings (Emre Belozoglu, Jean Alain Boumsong, Amady Faye, Albert Luque), four to Bolton (Ali Al-Habsi, Tal Ben Haim, Blessing Kaku, Julio Correia), three to Chelsea (Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, Michael Essien), three to Portsmouth (Collins Mbesuma, Benjani Mwaruwari, Aliou Cisse) and two to Middlesbrough (Aiyegbeni Yakubu and Fabio Rochemback) while one transfer has not been disclosed.

Lord Stevens said in a statement: "Many lessons have been learned and strict adherence to and enforcement of the recommendations should ensure that the game and the transfer market can proceed in an untainted and transparent manner."

The Premier League will now send the findings to the FA and Fifa.

An FA spokesman said: "Following the final report of the Premier League's Quest Inquiry, the FA will give full consideration to its contents and the documentation that is due to be passed on by the Premier League and Quest.

"The FA has provided full co-operation and support to the Premier League and Quest and will now go through their information as part of our governance and regulation process. This will determine what action is required."

DJ MARTIAN TO THREAD, STAT

Connection with dogs - we're in the shit...

Blessing Kaku?

Wow, what a lot of money wasted on bungs for such a shower of shit footballers. I am conveniently overlooking the Chelsea trio here.

Well, you wouldn't need a bung to sign a good footballer would you? qed.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40114000/jpg/_40114049_jensen270.jpg

So McClaren did go to Fratton park after all, to make illegal payments for Yakubu

Any guesses as to the unreported transfer? My guess is Eric Djemba-Djemba to Aston Villa.

So, looking at the managers involved:

Emre Belozoglu (Souness)
Jean-Alain Boumsong (Souness and McLeish)
Amady Faye (Souness and Redknapp)
Albert Luque
Ali Al-Habsi (Allardyce)
Tal Ben Haim (Allardyce)
Blessing Kaku (Allardyce)
Julio Correia (Allardyce)
Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, Michael Essien - bet this involved Wille McKay as these were all coming from France, and he's based there)
Collins Mbesuma (Redknapp)
Benjani Mwaruwari (Redknapp)
Aliou Cisse (Redknapp and Bruce)
Yakubu (McLaren and Redknapp)
Fabio Rochemback (McLaren)

Could be something there perhaps to loosen McLaren's contract?

Chris Coleman as Newcastle manager by Christmas, then.

There's something amusingly hopeless about Allardyce moving from Bolton to Newcastle and trying to sign Ben Haim again. He's not exactly distancing himself from things.

http://www.premierleague.com/fapl.rac?command=setSelectedId&nextPage=enNewsLatest&id=1820374&type=com.fapl.website.news.NewsItem&categoryCode=NewsLatestFAPremierLeagueNew

Mainly technical reasons it seems, though there's some good stuff about a horse.

Harry Redknapp has confirmed that this could well have happened though it was a very unsuccessful horse that resulted in no material gain or reward for him.

That made me laugh.

Is that in reference to Aliou Cisse?

It's just funny if you imagine Redknapp watching this horse come in dead last by about 25 lengths in a five furlong race, accompanied by the theme to Steptoe and Son.

I wonder is Harry ever examined the teeth of the animal in question? Then again, he probably didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Holland 1, Crippled Walking Wounded 10-Man England 1, Holland win THIRTEEN FUCKING TWELVE on penalties

Ashley Young and Jehms Mil-noh for the senior squad, they can take penalties - TWICE

Scarborough go under :(

JIMMY GLASS YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO ANSWER FOR

13-12 is an extraordinary result for a shootout between the official two worst countries at penalties in the world.

not when you factor in their misses

It's always the Wags' fault, huh

And yeah sorry to hear about Scarborough

Been coming for 3 years. A new phoenix will arise!

A new team for you to support!

He's got a big heart.

Nah. Just a new team for me to set up.

how has the signing of hossan ghaly not resulted in BMJ being investigated? i'm confused.

lol at Rafa wanting Forlan rumour

henry is going- official

16m bid accepted

Congratulations to Tottenham Hotspur and all their fans on their fourth place in next year's Premiership.

Especially if Wenger goes to Madrid. Or Fabregas goes anywhere.

Boring, we all knew this was gonna happen eventually. The biggest French mover of the day would have to be Yassin Moutaouakil, the country's insanely-talented U21's captain and worthy heir to Lilian Thuram. Of course, this means that Luke Young may have to be offloaded to Villa or Bolton or whatever, but that's no crying matter.

Meeting you with a Moutaouakil?

de Bakker, who to win will need to come out, er, smoking (boom-tish!)

this is perhaps the most awesomely, spectacularly monstrous pun i've seen in over a year. ken c eat your heart out!

-- Just got offed, Saturday, 23 June 2007 10:50 (4 hours ago) Bookmark Link

beaten in just four hours

by monstrous and "ken c eat your heart out" you mean it was a fucking awful laboured pun right?

same thing

The end is truly nigh.

I mean, our board have done some idiotic things of late, but this really finishes it off tbh.

Meeting you with a Moutaouakil?

Marvellous, Darren.

hmmm I wonder if there any other footballers with 007 connections.

The best I can come up with is Dutch Under 21 star Royston Drenthe, who sounds like he ought to be a Bond villain with a name like that. But apart from that...

Next Premiership Manager to Go - Next Manager to Go - In Play Market 1 (Sunday September 30th, 12:00)
Hutchings C 4/1
Lee S 6/1
Wenger A 7/1
Sanchez L 8/1
Davies B 8/1
Southgate G 8/1
Bruce S 10/1
Benitez R 12/1
Mourinho J 14/1
Curbishley A 16/1
Hughes M 16/1
Redknapp H 20/1
Keane R 20/1
Eriksson S 25/1
Allardyce S 25/1
Ferguson A 28/1
Coppell S 28/1
O'neil M 40/1
Jol M 40/1
Moyes D 40/1

Sean Connery was once offered a trial with Man Utd.

xpost

I like that Eriksson is shorter odds than some actual Premier League managers to be sacked.

I like that Eriksson is shorter odds than some actual Premier League managers to be sacked.

isn't he the man city guy now? i don't think i understand what you mean by actual

or is he with man city? i can't actually find evidence of this. maybe wikipedia's unsourced statement is a big pile of codshit.

how is Moyles 40-1 and Benitez 12-1?

Does it count leaving as going?

To be fair Moyles isn't actually a premiership manager yet so I guess they take that into account. I can't see him leaving radio 1 to be honest.

or is he with man city? i can't actually find evidence of this.

He wasn't when I posted that. Apparently now he has agreed "in principle" to take the job. I think Sven's principles have pound signs.

well he'd be stark raving mad to come and manage an English club if he wasn't being offered big money - and there are still plenty of people in football also stark raving mad enough to throw it at him. i think he's quite mad anyway.

he'll put Man City back into the position they were in the season before last (UEFA Cup or at least Intertoto contention) provided both he and the press don't conspire to fuck it up for him within the first 18 months.

Never ones to remain untrue to form in the boardroom even when the form on pitch is proven:

Real Madrid have sacked coach Fabio Capello, 11 days after he led the Spanish giants to their first league title since 2003.

The 61-year-old still had two years to run on his contract at the Bernabeu, but drew criticism for his tactics.

Real president Ramon Calderon told Marca newspaper: "We've laid the foundations, but we need to find a more enthusiastic way of playing."

Getafe's German coach Bernd Schuster is tipped to succeed Capello.

I think he should sue for unfair dismissal.

Moyes...not Moyles, heh, not sure how that crept in. Moyles should stay at Radio 1.

didn't del bosco get sacked after winning the double?

what the fuck does 'more enthusiastic' mean anyway? surely winning 3-2 and 4-3 (as they kept on doing towards the latter end of the season) is exciting enough! the politics involved are cringingly obvious, and i think it would be a PR success if calderon admitted for once that a manager had done an excellent job and would be allowed to continue building the team. as things stand, he can't bear to be upstaged, so anyone who might challenge his status as top dog is getting booted out. maybe calderon himself should give this whole management lark a go. that would amuse me.

Congratulations to Thierry Henry, Barcelona and all their fans on a tremendous achievement in winning La Liga 2007-2008

how is Moyles 40-1 and Benitez 12-1?

Does it count leaving as going?

Presumably so, hence high positioning of Wenger on that list. I can sort of see Rafa throwing his toys out of the pram if he isn't given £50m to spend right away.

meh i reckon valencia might win it next year, or sevilla if they don't get raped this summer

barca are nu-madrid 4real; henry coming already demanded dropping one out of iniesta and xavi, and now they've gone and got yaya toure in as well? i guess they could sell deco, but that would be foolishness.

chivu's a sensible signing tho.

steve bruce at 10/1 looks a good punt. the team's nothing special, and the board hardly seem confident in him anymore.

lawrie sanchez at 8's as well.

Follow all your favourite "Asian" Premier League/Championship footballers (and Mark Viduka) at Viduka ate all the noodles: It's the 2007 Asian Cup Thread

Sadly, even this won't allow me to forget about the latest wacky scheme at City because some games are being played in THAILAND.

apparently, the last words arnesen said to jol were "I'm off to Chelsea. Get Bent".

explaining the desperation for another second rate england international striker to warm our bench. a snip at 16.5m.

So the deal for Torres to Liverpool is done.

And now the worrying that he will be like Morientes can begin.

Well, done according to the Guardian anyhow, BBC not confirmed yet.

torres will do well in the premier league, definitely.

Is this deal said to involve Luis Garcia going the other way?

Well, done according to the Guardian anyhow, BBC not confirmed yet.

It was on BBC radio an hour or two ago. Said offer had trigged contract clause, personal terms still to be agreed blah.

Garcia's not part of the deal as such, but it's helped facilitate it, or something. Maybe he's going to move into Torres' house.
Pah, Garcia was one of my favourites, we could've won in Athens if he was playing. perhaps.

rafl

http://www.teamtalk.com//Images/121158.jpg

Do Spurs really need Darren Bent bad enough to spend 16.5m?

hahaa rafa makes so much more sense all of a sudden

combine that look with the lotus position buddha rafa in the champs league and some horrible reality of zen bullshit middle management emerges

Who's the guy with rafa there?

momo sisqo i presume?

We will when Berbatov leaves at the end of next season. £16.5m is a bit much though, but he's a good signing. He's scored a lot of goals playing on his own upfront for a shit team, remember. He could be amazing, potentially. But he won't get in the first team right now.

Not sure about Torres to Liverpool. Surely managers have realised by now that La Liga isn't the most reliable hunting ground if they want players to adapt to the Premiership?

(xpost to Blueski)

Why will Berbs leave next season? I thought he liked life @ WHL. Does his contract expire? Are we really not going to try and renew it?

Spurs are a good bet for 4th next season, no? He might stay then. If they don't come 4th he'll probably do that Scarface/war criminal glare thing a lot.

Who are we banking on dropping out of the big 4? Arsenal? I suppose that kind of makes sense.

Who the fuck is going to take Mido off our hands? I hope it's nothing like my FM game where nobody will buy him and it's jan 2009 and I still have the guy, even though there are 3-4 strikers ahead of him and he never plays.

rafa looks like a scouser in that pic

Well, maybe Orbafemmy Mort'ns will fire Arsenal to 3rd past Liverpool with their misfiring Spaniard flop striker, who knows.

Obafemi Martins was like my favourite player in the world when he was 18. Nowadays, not so much.

Were you even born then?

http://lep694.gsfc.nasa.gov/lepedu/yes.gif

Mido was looking rather good for a while.

like when he was just on loan?

But seriously. I just can't see how he's worth 1.5x Berbatov.

I reckon Rafa looks a bit like Ed Norton in American History X with that goatee.

the shaking hands with a black man, not so much

are you sure you want to offer mutual termination of contract to mido?

yes no

i remember ron atkinson just would not shut up about martins whenever he was on telly

wonder if that came up in court

yes I remember that vividly.

in one game when he came on for Inter in the last 20 minutes, it was Martins and I think Kallon (was that the guy's name) up front, and Ron was like "oooh Clive I tell you this is gonna be GREAT....they're gonna stick the two big lads up there and really GO FOR IT") etc etc, this was amid lots of jizzing about Martins, I think he might have even said "old fashioned centre forward" or something.

oh RTC i would do that but that's like admitting defeat. i want someone to buy him even if it's for like a pint of lager and a traffic cone or something.

still roffling at "meeting you with a Moutaouakil"

Just because, my new favourite quote ever, from a Birmingham City board:

March 1st 1997 took my son to his first away game, he learned that day what being a Mighty Blues fan was all about, We were loosing 1-0 but won 2-1, Blues fans had a fight amongst themselves, got chased by a mob of grimsby. Then we chased a mob of grimsby. The day had everything.

Another Spurs signing, another non-left-winger...

So, Tevez to Man Utd on loan with an option to buy is what The Times thinks.

I read in The Guradian that Fernando Torres is very intelligent. This surprised me, because I have always thought he was a total dur-brain.

I imagine he will be enjoying a few trips to the cash and carry with the other Merseyside-based Spanish players.

Still no news on the Coco-Rio saga?

More courtroom battles over the Tevez saga?
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2120117,00.html

This is of interest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSrPIcnZbAg

holy fukc

I love Youtube comments:

zicaned (2 days ago)
he looks like the first man in the world

also this one:

he looks funny... hahahahhah fuck west ham
chelsea fucks all

Will - I think extra defensive cover is probably more important than a left winger at this point, surely? A proper commanding central midfielder would be nice though.

I guess that's why the big deal over the Ghetto King or whatever he calls himself.

But really, we need SOMEONE on that left flank! I agree though... we do need that defensive cover.

Jose drops Ballack hint

Good work from Sky Sports

Looks like Bale - Taarabt is the left flank for next season? Bit on the youthful side to say the least but could be brilliant.

There's way too much Tottenham on here these days.

Now that friendlies have started, is it still the off-season? Or should I start a new lower league 07-08 thread to report AFCW's epic 4-1 win over hated local rivals Tooting and Mitcham?

I'm going to the AFC-Dulwich game next week. First live football match of the season - already getting the butterflies.

Somebody needs to get the Fantasy League up and running also.

ILX Fantasy Premier League 07/08

20 character limit on team names deprives me of "Total Fretwork Solutions"

we beat T&M 5-0, and that with only half our squad :P

20 character limit on team names deprives me of "Total Fretwork Solutions"

Totally stealing that for my other Fantasy League team.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6901085.stm

Police raid three football clubs

Police have raided three football clubs as part of an investigation into alleged corruption in football.

Newcastle United is believed to be one of the clubs raided but the other clubs involved have yet to be named.

The operation is not connected to Lord Stevens' ongoing Quest inquiry into the Premiership and was "totally independent", police said.

Search warrants were executed on the club premises and two homes between 0730 and 0900 BST.

A police spokesman said: "We can confirm that search warrants were served at three football clubs and the homes of two individuals in connection with corruption in football and its impact on owners and shareholders."

Souness and Big Sam?

Newcastle,Rangers and Portsmouth are the clubs. So the 2 men could be Souness and Harry Redknapp? or 2 agents.

French coach Raymond Domenech has branded Julien Faubert 'unspeakably stupid' for signing for West Ham. (Various)

haha

I'm really looking forward to West Ham still being shit next season despite spunking cash on anything that moves.

i think they'll come 10th

actually they'll probably just coast along for 9 months, lose twice against Man U and finish only one place higher than last season

They need to have a season preview where Raymond Domenech methodically labels all of West Ham's players "unspeakably stupid" for signing for them.

I'm not sure who of the allegedly Resurgent teams I want to fail most out of Newcastle, Human Rights FC and West Ham.

OK, it's Newcastle, definitely Newcastle, but it's not normally such a close run thing.

I'm not sure who of the allegedly Resurgent teams I want to fail most out of Newcastle, Human Rights FC and West Ham.

The problem with all this is that it's almost making me think favourably of Aston Villa, and that can never be a good thing.

If I did not support Aston Villa I'd feel yr pain, for sure

I feel a little bit conflicted about not having that much to complain about, really

Except for the apparently imminent signing of Marlon fuckin Harewood

Just as long as you didn't buy a season ticket..

oh shi-

Human Rights FC? who is that i'm from canada thanks for yr answer i am from canada.

Sorry Will M, that is how the folks at the humorous "Guardian Fiver" teatime football e-mail have started referring to Manchester City FC, owned as they are by sinister, small-headed former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra.

Ahh, yes. Can you read the Fiver online? I have heard so much about it...

or more accurately, is there an rss?

http://football.guardian.co.uk/fiver/

AFC Wimbledon is pleased to announce that the club has agreed a deal with Cherry Red Records to sponsor the Fans' Stadium. The ground will now be known as "The Cherry Red Records Fans' Stadium."

is there a nice cherry red home strip to match?

I'd quite like that! An away cherry red strip would be good. And of course our boot contract has gone to Dr Martens.

The Premiership war of words has started early, with Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson telling Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho to shut up and labelling him a fool. (Various)

Haha there is an enormous amount of spin on almost every single word of that!

What Fergie actually said

b-b-b-b-but surely you know the premiership war of words!

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