"My client became a YouTube sensation at the age of 12" - rolling off-season/transfer speculation thread 2011

And we're off. Guess who's getting in there early.

Pretty sure the above story is nonsense incidentally, but if it isn't, and Barca and Chelsea have both passed him over, he's clearly either mentally fragile, a cunt, just not that good, or all three.

nowt wrong with a good mentally fragile cunt overlooked by a big club in my book. i mean, we'd probably still be in the championship if arsenal had signed taarabt all those years ago...

qpr's summer is gonna be like this apparently.

or no wait, maybe like this.

and we're gonna sign these dudes.

or maybe these, i dunno.

if you ask me though i'm expecting danny graham, kyle naughton, madjid bougherra and maybe jimmy bullard for starters.

I'm expecting a whole summer of the papers trying to sell Beram Kayal and Emilio Izaguirre to any team that wants them (and several that don't, from Man Utd to Norwich), and for Celtic to sign three Mexicans that no-one outside of Mexico has ever heard of to keep Efrain Juarez company at the cinema now that all his pals have left. The "Artur Boruc back to Celtic" rumours to pick up a bit of momentum before coming to nothing, one out-of-favour EPL player to take over Freddie Ljungberg's place in the clothing catalogue (early money's on Richard Dunne, I believe), at least one Irish international player to be linked (Dunne fulfils this one again - this is the Robbie Keane Effect), and some 16 year old wunderkind from the lower reaches of Scottish football that rocks up, is paraded as the future, and will never be heard of again (this is the Paul Slane Effect).

Oh, and a whole summer's worth of papers will be linking us to James McCarthy until he signs for Norwich (who will, of course, have swooped in and snatched him from under our noses despite us not having actually made a move for him).

Some high-quality comedy players available this summer as well - I honestly have no idea who outside of Qatar or maybe Blackburn would want Michael Owen and Kieron Dyer at this point.

I think Kayal and Izzy will be offered improved deals very quickly to either put people off or drive the price up. If one of them has to be asset managed I'd rather it was Izzy but I think there's enough dead wood in the squad to get rid of first that we'll end up keeping most of our first XI including those two.

Wouldn't be overly upset to lose Cha Du Ri, Andreas Hinkel, Jos Hooiveld, Morten Rasmussen, Darren O'Dea, Niall McGinn, Darren Murphy and probably a few others. Need 1 x striker, 1 x centre half and 1 or 2 x goalkeeper.

Keep hearing Shane Long being mentioned as a Celtic target but I think there are a few English teams sniffing around so probably not gonna happen.

Think a mid table team with aspirations (no I'm not describing LFC) could do worse than go for Papiss Demba Cisse. Second top scorer to Mario Gomez in Bundesliga in an unfashionable Freiburg side. Been impressed whenever I've seen him, strong, good in the air, surprisingly nimble and mobile and leads the line well. In fact I might be selling him a bit short with the mid table thing, he may well be better than that.

jesus gomez got 28 in 32

was linked to madrid even when he was crap so wouldn't be surprised to see a bid

Cha Du Ri, Andreas Hinkel, Jos Hooiveld, Morten Rasmussen, Darren O'Dea, Niall McGinn, Darren Murphy and probably a few others

Wouldn't even notice if they went, tbh (completely forgot Andy Hinkel existed until he sneaked into some of my cup final photos. I keep remembering about him then forgetting again straight after, he's the footballing equivalent of the Silents in Doctor Who the other week). Could lose Juarez an' all I reckon. I had completely forgotten we still owned Ben Hutchinson, so I reckon it's surely time for him to go.

1 x centre half already incoming (Kelvin Wilson), and apparently 1 x right back (Adam Matthews, so that'll be a taxi for at least one of Messrs Hinkel and Du Ri, if we assume Mark Wilson's done enough to remain first choice).

how has Ki been for Celtic?

Jury's still out, I think. I'm becoming more convinced as time goes by, but I wouldn't put him in my first-choice midfield just yet. This isn't a slight on him, it's more that I don't see him as particularly suited to the Scottish game, he sometimes lets the pace of the game pass him by.

Of course, he's looked really good the last few games, and was probably our best player in the cup final, so I basically know nothing.

With everyone fit and on form and available for Celtic, Ki would just miss out on the first XI. I think he's starting to acclimatise to the Scottish game (i.e. he's started kicking cunts and getting booked) and if anyone came in for one of Scott Brown, Joe Ledley or Biram Kayal I'd be quite happy for Ki to take their place in the first team. I wish he'd shoot a bit more - it's clear he has a hell of a shot on him but doesn't seem to have a go often enough.

Think a mid table team with aspirations (no I'm not describing LFC) could do worse than go for Papiss Demba Cisse. Second top scorer to Mario Gomez in Bundesliga in an unfashionable Freiburg side. Been impressed whenever I've seen him, strong, good in the air, surprisingly nimble and mobile and leads the line well. In fact I might be selling him a bit short with the mid table thing, he may well be better than that.

― pandemic, Monday, May 23, 2011 11:07 AM (46 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

amazing that senegal have him and Moussa Sow, leading scorer in France, and they only have 9 caps between them

Oh hooray, didn't take long for the 'Michael Owen to Celtic' rumours to start. Robbie Keane return and the unveiling of Darren Huckerby to follow.

Owen and Celtic could be an excellent fit, actually.

Re: Cissé and Sow, tbf one's played mostly 2nd-div. football in France and Germany, the other had a Ligue 1 scoring record of 12 in 72 until this season. I hope they become a serious force by 2014 though, that '02 Senegal team was awesome and it's unfortunate how far they've fallen.

Demba Ba is Sengalese as well. West Ham could realistically fetch up to $10m based on his short EPL resume 7 goals in 12.

Roman Pavlyuchenko
An exercise to keep us busy over the next 78 days or so: explaining how Tottenham could countenance offloading Pavlyuchenko (ten goals from 18 starts) whilst retaining both Jermain Defoe (four goals in 16 starts) and Peter Crouch (four in 20) without mentioning nationality. Good luck.

i know football365 are just lazy reading most of the time, but this is pretty otm

is bothroyd a free transfer?

spurs should move immediately imo. crouch out. stronger 'big man' option already. then move on to signing a finisher.

bear in mind Bothroyd only performs once every three months oh wait

improvement.

he's a much better target man than crouch, it's a position that could really transform us if filled half-right. lennon and bale must be sick to the back teeth of the current bunch of cross-shy lackspittles, and having crouch ahead of modric is such a waste of the latter's quick though/movement.

Just about to start a thread for the summer poll. A couple questions first though:

Greatest players or favourite players? Or do i just ignore the adjective?
Thinking no nominations thread, just a voting thread where we can also talk about players we have enjoyed, is that cool?
22 players to vote for and 2 managers? Or more? I see it as voting for a game of players, also keeps it to those you really care about voting for. Or would everyone prefer 100 votes of players they enjoyed in the 90s?

favourite, tbh, less baggage
that is cool

bothroyd can be alright sometimes but yeah you wouldnt rely on him or anything. bit of a knobhead too - he's the jermaine beckford of big lads basically. (although i suppose spurs fans would hysterically claim beckford was better than defoe now).

naah

tho beckford/defoe would be a decent everton strikeforce, no?

Atletico Madrid forward Sergio Aguero has asked the Spanish club to release him from his contract.

The 22-year-old Argentine international extended his deal to 2014 in January but his buy-out clause was reduced from £52m to £40m.

"After five intense years a stage in my personal development has ended and I have to move on to a new one," said Aguero on his website.

Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham have been linked to Aguero.

"I said long ago that when I wanted to go, I would say so publicly," added the Atletico striker. "And the time has come.

"So I keep to my word and here I am. I find it hard to leave Atletico. It hurts and saddens me."

Aguero has scored over 100 goals for Atletico since joining from Independiente as a teenager in 2006.

Spurs are being linked with Kevin Gameiro this morning. Given that Harry said yesterday that he'd been over to France in the week to see three strikers and none of them are as good as Pavlyuchenko, i'm not sure much will come of it.

apparently we've already got a figure agreed with Spurs for O'Hara so let's just hope that gets done this week and nobody acts the tit looking at you Mick

oh and please please please let the Karl Henry to QPR story be true. well, anywhere really.

Bothroyd to Celtic then?

It would be nice to have someone knock the odd header in from the 64 thousand corners we invariably waste.

nb "odd"

odd = infinitely more than we currently score. I can't recall a single headed goal from a corner kick in the league this season.

o'hara inevitable, really good signing for ye there.

Fancy keane? Cut you a good deal.

nah i'd pass

unlike Robbie bdum-tish

i guess it's conceivable he could motivate himself for us tbh and Mick likes an Irishman but i don't think we could get near his wage demands

personally think we shd take anything we can get for Jarv too while we're on. Berra can go, wouldn't bother re-loaning Mancienne, need a new back 4 tbh tho Zoob wd be first choice right back if he can stay fit and maybe Mick could try letting that nice young man Mouyokolo have a game seeing as he went to the trouble of buying him

you're in dreamland now.

I can see spurs having to fund keane's wages wherever he goes tbh. But he is a lazy selfish cunt these days so i couldn't recommend

is the cl final tomorrow or saturday?

Saturday night. Stupid idea.

great idea, if only because i'm on a stag in cork

should be 3 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon for the Asian audience.

lol we've pretty much been linked with karl henry every year since he was at stoke. could see it happen i guess, although i'd rather o'hara and i still reckon if we nipped in and dangled london in front of him he might fancy it.

keane was the stephen ireland wig-nicking ringleader wasnt he? not quite sure he'd be the best guy to serve under captain adel tbh.

bassong's come out and said he'd like to stay in london - wouldnt mind him in the slightest.

He added: “I’m happy here and I’m not going back to London. I’m staying here until I know what’s going on.

“I’ve moved out of my house and I’m not planning on going back to London. Moving up here was the best thing we ever did.”

okay nevermind. the pleb!

why are liverpool after friedel...does this mean reina's off? or they just want to pay the big bald man to sit on the bench?

throwin him a pity transfer imo

yeah sorry rtc jamie does seem to be really into it. don't worry tho i'm sure Mick'll change his mind at the last minute or do something else to fuck it up.

i'd stop short of saying i'd want mick at spurs, but epl football for another year, y'know

why are liverpool after friedel...does this mean reina's off? or they just want to pay the big bald man to sit on the bench?

― Suggest Banter (Local Garda), Tuesday, 24 May 2011 11:54 (6 minutes ago)

which one?

i know. i am mad conflicted. couldn't name anybody that i definitely would want to replace him, but am resigned to another season of "why the fuck are Henry and Foley and Ward playing and what happened to that bloke we signed in the summer who had 2 brilliant games then got sent to a reserves camp in Siberia? also ffs stop trying to make Kights happen"

i just thought the midlands would have a similar proportion of ropey club sloshers hissing and spitting at o'hara's bird but hey guess not

well yeah same here to an extent. I suppose it's not consistent to complain that harry's far too patient with cunts like keane, jenas and bentley when you see how he's improved players like lennon, bale and yes BAE using those methods.

Still can't allow his decisions on strikers this season, or the failure to use kranjcar to rest modric/vdv/bale for ten games each.

In Dutch news, it seems PSV are going to make a serious move to get Gomes back from Spurs. The director of PSV has said Gomes "is open to a move back to Eindhoven and we will be discussing it".

I keep hearing conflicting things about what 'Arry wants with Gomes: can he stay or do they want him to go?

i think i know someone who wants him to go

forgot to post this on the prem thread at the time :/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz06R9ztLkg

:D Beautiful

gomes still the best gk we've had in years, but the past few months he's been unacceptably lax at the wrong times.

Like anything else, if there's someone out there better then yeah sure fine, but we're a graveyard for gk confidence so i'd prob favour keeping him and bollocking him every time he fucks up.

Do love the dude, which helps

Wondering how much Blackburn would pay to take Bentley back.

PSV seem to LOVE Gomes. Would offload him asap and try and get Steklenberg before anyone else does. Failing that we've still got Carlo and shouldn't need to panic-buy.

xp ooh look there's a proper video now! youtube.com/watch?v=1ER7dwxL6jE

there's no two ways about gomes, tell him to do one. every keeper in the championship and most likely below is a "good shot stopper", it really doesnt make you a proper keeper

we've still got the quite highly rated pletikosa?

gomes is an *amazing* shotstopper, tbf

i honestly reckon julian speroni at palace does as many ridic saves as gomey easy - drops less clangers too - but doesnt dominate his area etc so there he's stayed and probs will remain til the end of his career

and paddy kenny's better than the pair of them obv

in a way it almost seems worse that gomes comes back and has amazing days after a horrific howler, rather than finishing them forever or taking years to get over it like robinson or carson - like he's too big an imbecile to even really understand the magnitude of what he's doing

now that is otfm

Hennessey has made some ridiculous one on one saves this season, arguably kept our goal difference low enough to stay up, but he still flaps at crosses and set pieces and why the fuck has nobody worked on that with him. old-fashioned defence marshalling goalies are in v. short supply nowadays.

none of em fackin serbs speaks good queens innit

yeah people have really gotta start seeing keepers as like defensive zonal managers; we had lee camp (great shot stopper) raddy cerny (very solid) but once we got kenny in the improvement in the whole unit was instant next level

PSV seem to LOVE Gomes.

― Matt DC, dinsdag 24 mei 2011 13:20 (41 minutes ago) Bookmark

We do. He honestly is the greatest non-Dutch legend of the club. He even tops Ronaldo and Romario, because of his personality, antics in the goal (he rarely blundered at PSV), loyalty to fans, warmth etc. You can't imagine how huge an impact his name still has here, it's insane.

Gomes personifies PSV's last real succes, the CL semis where a last minute Ambrosini goal in a 3-1 won match against AC Milan kept us out of the final. It should have been PSV-Liverpool in Turkey that year, even AC Milan acknowledged they hadn't deserved going through but hey. PSV fielded Jefferson Farfan, Jan Vennegoor of H., Ji-sung Park, Phillip Cocu, Johann Vogel, Mark van Bommel, Young-pyo Lee, Wilfred Bouma, Alex, Theo Lucius, and of course Heurelho da Silva Gomes. Fantastic team. Gomes worked miracles in the CL that year and became an instant legend.

So yeah, we love Gomes.

oh yes that psv team was great. what ever happened to vogel anyway?

He withered away. He went to AC Milan after that, got benched, went to Betis, got benched. And lol, the wiki tells me he was even at Blackburn after that, where his contract was terminated. Going to AC Milan was what effectively did him in.

we've still got the quite highly rated pletikosa?

― ♪♫ hey there lamp post, feelin' whiney ♪♫ (darraghmac), Tuesday, May 24, 2011 7:22 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

pletikosa has said in the press it was a mistake to join spurs, plus i think he was only at the club until the end of this season.

fwiw, i would keep gomes, but apparently he only has one more year on his contract, so levy might be tempted to sell now before he leaves for free.

or sign him on a longterm deal. Hmm yeah not an ideal situation right now, given form

Interesting that Farfán has played for two mid-sized clubs outside Peru, PSV and Schalke, and both made CL semis while he was there.

farfan involved in a beauty of a goal at the weekend in German Cup Final. Jurado on the ball near the halfway line, looks towards the right wing as if to play a square ball and when the defensive midfielder for the opposition starts to anticipate and fill the space Jurado instead plays an angled forward pass behind him into Farfan's feet, Farfan knocks it into Draxler who takes one touch with his left foot to set up a right foot volley from the edge of the box which whistles past the helpless goalie. Just lovely.

I hear that Draxler's the next thing. But there's one of those every other week in the Bundesliga it seems.

barcelona(!)decide a player is too small and weak, so chelsea and spurs give hime a trial
http://www.guillembalague.com/rumores_desp.php?titulo=Spurs+trialling+Barcelona+graduate+Ceballos&id=297

in a way it almost seems worse that gomes comes back and has amazing days after a horrific howler, rather than finishing them forever or taking years to get over it like robinson or carson - like he's too big an imbecile to even really understand the magnitude of what he's doing

There was a period at the start of Gomes's Spurs career, when he was fucking up ALL THE TIME, when he genuinely looked like he was going to kill himself after every mistake. Made it all the more painful.

Amazing shotstopper but yeah, piss-poor decision-maker.

What was Barca's rationale for letting Fabregas go again?

Haircut iirc.

the sure knowledge that one crooked finger gets him back at any stage, iirc

barcelona(!)decide a player is too small and weak, so chelsea and spurs give hime a trial
http://www.guillembalague.com/rumores_desp.php?titulo=Spurs+trialling+Barcelona+graduate+Ceballos&id=297

― mizzell, Tuesday, 24 May 2011 16:06 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Must have used up all their growth hormones on Dwain Chambers Messi.

I like how we've come full circle already. Lock thread?

cudicini signs for another season. hmmmmm
http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/articles/carlo-extends-contract-240511.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=carlo-extends-contract-240511

good. Exactly the type of threat you want hanging over gomes tbh. Steady, solid, bewilderingly gorgeous

i've said too much

Strange career he's had, Cudicini. Was he legitimately second-tier, did he need to be replaced in '03? Wiki suggests he was labeled "world's least ambitious" footballer for not going elsewhere after Cech came in. Missed out on winner's medals for lack of games.

he was the league's second best goalie after cech imo.

Made abt two mistakes the year before, so replaced.

Carlo was amazing, Cech better. I fear he's kinda past-it now but if he's still got it I'd be okay with him in goal for Spurs all season.

What was Barca's rationale for letting Fabregas go again?

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 24 May 2011 16:08 (2 hours ago)

they aren't allowed to sign a contract till 17 in spain so they didn't let him go, they just didn't get there 'first'. same w/ pique iirc. nearly also let messi slip supposedly.

Where did Messi almost slip to?

Arsenal! Or Juve. Have heard conflicting reports over the years.

(Of course Cesc, Merida, Miquel and Torel went to Arsenal instead while Iago and... someone else I can't remember went to Juve).

italian clubs aren't allowed to sign pro contracts until the player has turned 17 either iirc

might even be 18? see macheda, davide petrucci etc

Stoke

daily mail claiming Leonid Slutsky is an outside shout for the Chelsea job. best Slutsky tidbit: Slutsky's playing career was ended at just 19. He retired due to a knee injury, an injury sustained after falling out of a tree to rescue a neighbour's cat.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_m7UxVnhGivc/S56C3iNpXNI/AAAAAAAAAco/dk2tjEjB0MI/s400/Class+of+92.jpg
http://easycaptures.com/fs/uploaded/444/8568558298.jpg

No, No, No, Fuck No, Yeah, No, Not Even if it was between him and Fergie

19 lols for that post nv

de gea 17m to utd

Pirlo to Juve as well, 0m.

Trochowski and Manu del Moral have officially joined Sevilla.

I don't think I've ever watched either of them play.

That's a lotta money for a keeper (especially a 20 year old). Guess this means Utd do have cash to spend though.

lol they quite obviously don't. it means that fergie just doesn't give a fuck what the banks or the owners are saying.

He can't spend money the owners won't give him dude.

Exactly, you think Fergie just siphons off these funds without their knowledge?

Have you guys ever been through a transfer window before?

what does that mean?

i went through a transfer window in nam.

you don't know what it's like to wait, fucking wait, day in day out, in the heat, shitting into buckets, with your friends dying around you, for a letter from your mother that simply reads "anastasi ponders juve switch"

lols

i just mean that since when has logic or superiors stopped ferguson - or most managers - from doing crazy shit

is this guy any good? not seen enough of athletico to have any idea...

Again, i'm not sure whether you think Fergie just pops down the ATM in order to fund his transfers against the wishes of the owners

they would prob ban him for that.

No idea about De Gea's ability to be honest. FWIW Ashley Young is strongly rumoured to be a done deal too, which i'm somewhat ambivalent about.

yeah i can't help feeling that Young's perpetual threat of turning into a great player is gonna stay as just a threat.

Should offer Almunia to Old Trafford as a condition of them taking Nasri, might scare them off.

he was amazing for a season under o'neill

Anwyay, i didn't think Valencia was all that and he's proved a decent buy. Would improve set-pieces which is a real weakness of Utd these days.

i just mean that since when has logic or superiors stopped ferguson - or most managers - from doing crazy shit

Dude if the owners won't sanction the deal, Ferguson can't spend the money. It's the same with every club. Owners are just profligate and/or stupid most of the time.

Bit worried that United suddenly being able to splurge on De Gea and possibly Young means that Fergie might find £30m for Modric.

Wenger not ruling out possibility of buying Benzema apparently. tbf there's probably a whole host of players he hasn't ruled out, but I like Benzema.

De Gea's good but seeing as he's 20 he's bound to make a couple of real howlers, the key will obviously be how he reacts to that. Szczesny has been good in that regard, mistakes don't seem to dent his confidence or concentration any, so far.

ok sorry owners be stupid as fuck

reading that aquilani to juve prob still on, for in and around 15m. good deal for liverpool if it happens.

Does it still count as tapping up when a club reports that a paper reports that the club is lining up a bid for a player? IMO yes it fucking well does. Just when I was starting to warm to Liverpool as well.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/media-watch/liverpool-mull-over-move-for-celtic-left-back

Hope 'arry pulls this off.

omino: real/marca and barca/sport has taught me to be wary over the years

Is he going to sign Gael Clichy and Philippe Senderos as well?

Does this count as tapping up?
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/05/25/2502692/patrice-evra-advises-arsenals-samir-nasri-to-join-manchester

That would be hilarious.

Evra is a grade-A troll

you spelled cunt wrong

(that's as much for his post-henry comments as anything at man u)

Tottenham shop window, according to the Graun: Heurelho Gomes, either Roman Pavlyuchenko or Jermain Defoe, Ben Alnwick, Alan Hutton, Kyle Naughton, Sébastien Bassong, David Bentley, Jermaine Jenas, Wilson Palacios, Niko Kranjcar, Jamie O'Hara, Giovani dos Santos and Robbie Keane.

No Crouch on that list.

Neymar, Van de Wiel and Luakakaka all to Chelsea, despite no manager or DoF? Hmmmm.

Anybody want Jose Boswinga? one eyebrow, hardly used. Comes with a free Ferreira.

Let it go man. The playstation thing was a bit cuntish but he was pretty much right in what he said.

wd take a Kranjcar and a Bassong to go with the Jamie O

The chairman, Daniel Levy, has already stressed the imperative to "streamline" the bloated number but it might be difficult to shift those on big wages, such as Keane, and/or agree fees for players who cost large sums; Levy is notoriously reluctant to accept a loss. He sanctioned fees of £15m for Bentley, £12m apiece for Keane and Palacios, £9m for Hutton, £8m for Bassong and £7.8m for Gomes.

Good luck getting some of those. Who'd pay £12m for Keane now?

i will never let it go. ever x-post

god those are crazy prices...none of them worth more than 5/6m apiece, perhaps a few bags of crisps thrown in

also Levy doesn't seem to have looked at what's happened to the market over the last couple years

what's happened to the market over the last couple years

Torres £50m
Carroll £35m
Dzeko £27m
Bent £24m
Suarez £22m
Luiz £21m

Or did you mean a different market?

LESCOTT £22M

It's a two-tier market in the Premiership. Either Man City and Chelsea competing with one another for ridiculous blockbuster signings, or teams that benefit from that (Liverpool, chiefly) spending the proceeds. The exception is the Bent signing and he at least is a proven Premiership scorer (not £24m worth of one, but Villa were in a relegation battle at the time).

Yer average Premiership player doesn't go for much more than £8m these days. And most of the ones we're putting on the market are very average Premiership players.

Having watched Torres quite carefully over the past few months, I have to ask: has he always been such a melting heart pranny with the face of a drenched spaniel and less guts than a stag beetle?

he was pretty great for liverpool.

Torres has always tended to be a bit sulky when things aren't going his way. Didn't matter when he was scoring but i don't think he reacts well to adversity.

Still think ManU would've done better if they'd bought Stekelenburg. Ajax would've let him go for the same amount or even a bit less. He's the undisputed goalie for The Netherlands, played a WC. I think De Gea is rather young and relatively inexperienced to be ManU's first goalie.

But maybe I'm wrong and he'll be first goalie at Old Trafford for 20 years.

Will Wenger give Gibbs the starting LB spot if Clichy reportedly does want out? He has one year left and has stalled on signing a new deal. I can picture Gael joining Bayern or Juventus for a relatively manageable fee. Emilio Izaguirre, Benoit Tremoulinas, Cheikh Mbengue anyone?

Juventus are on the cusp of signing Gabriel Heinze and Miguel Bastos.

Elmander and Kallstrom have joined Galatassary. Harry Kewell to possibly joining Red Bulls or Galaxy?

Gameiro, Adebayor to Tottenham perhaps?

If RM do sign either Tevez or Aguero then Arsene should snatch up Benzema immediately!

If Clichy goes to Juventus Armand Traore may well come back. Not sure he'd be an improvement over Clichy or Gibbs. I hear that Tremoulinas was a good provider of crosses for Chamakh at Bordeaux so he would certainly make sense.

I think we are going to sell Traore. I think there would be a bit of outcry if Gibbs became our #1 LB and Wenger will buy a replacement if Clichy leaves. Not because of any talent issues, he is a very good young player but because of the 'inexperience' and the 'selling club' thing. This summer is all about good PR and that wouldn't help in anyway. Also young Tom Cruise (lol) is supposed to be very good and if we didn't have scatty fans, a mix of him and Pedro filling in would be a fine back-up to Gibbs.

I've heard the Benzema thing A LOT. Too much to make me believe it'll ever happen - this is Arsenal ffs. Half the fun is the guess work. But yes, he'd be PERFECT. And the combined sales of Bendtner, Vela and Chamakh should pay for him too - leaving Theo 3rd choice and Afobe 4th.

Ah yes the great afobe

lol pat evra is the best.

wish juventus would (could?) get moggi back in charge, i'm well bored of them being crap. (teamwise i mean, not the cheating.) conte and pirlo might be good for starters though.

Wenger's transfer dealings arelacking a little bit of sharpness:

Arsenal have finalised the capture of Barcelona starlets Jon Toral and Hector Bellerin.

That was done in February

Hector B is news to me.

Torel's bezzie mate, couldn't bare be parted from him iirc. Also incredibly talented so it wasn't just throwing them a bone.

Berbatov / Modric swap?

nah he'd never let Berbatov go, better throw Bale in as well

wages a problem, as would be the manner in which he left.

No sign that modric is unhappy so this won't happen

Joey Barton claims he wants to stay at Newcastle United but has not been offered a new contract by the club, who he believes want a "younger, better, cheaper player".

Why wouldn't they exactly?

ha, true

Seeing a surprising amount of rumours linking Stewie Downing with Arsenal to which I say, "Huh?"

too much work ethic for Arsenal surely?

waaay too much end product, and focus of same

downing's pretty fuckin great imo

My dad first saw him at the Wolves a coupla seasons back and said you can't appreciate his game on the TV, so much work off and on the ball.

kinda slated for not being the kinda player that he's not?

yeah, i think so

Aside from the trying and whatnot, that really is quite the left foot he has.

Great piece about Alberto Aquilani:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/soccer/05/30/digby.aquilani/index.html

Reading it, and realising that he aint coming back, makes me want to cry. A Liverpool team built around him and Lucas in the middle would have been a thing of beauty.

i don't think you can ever say that kind of thing with any certainty, Chris. Gerrard was undisputed first choice in one of those spots for aquilani's time at the club anyway, i'd have seen him more in the role suarez is filling pretty capably now.

It's the idea of that combination more than anything. 'Pass and move' players who are comfortable in possession, have great technique, and can move the ball quickly. Aquilani's also improved the defensive side of his game, although he was never really that weak in the first place. If he had a skinhead like Meireles then he'd probably have got an easier ride. Seriously. Notice how little is made of the fact that Meireles is a bit of a wimp, yet Aquilani can't cut it, can't tackle, get's knocked off the ball too easily, and we should get rid.

meireles is a wimp?! I think i too have been fooled by the skinhead

Not great in the tackle tbh. I love him like, but it is interesting to compare attitudes towards him and AA.

i will look out for this in future

He'll be fine next season.

wrt technique, I was watching the French Open highlights before, and it struck me that all the commentators talk about is technique - how they hold the racket, what part of the racket they hit the ball with, what part of the ball they hit, the positioning of their feet. Then there's their body language and their facial expressions. A lot's also made of the evolution of technique - players get coaches in to improve very specific aspects of their game, to improve certain shots, to make very fine adjustments, and to help improve their focus and attitude.

Compare it to football, and yeah you get the odd comment about Ronaldo and Drogba's freekicks, but there seems to be very little emphasis on technique when it comes to analysis. I mentioned Xabi Alonso's tackling technique a few days ago - I love that kind of thing, yet you never hear anyone comment about it. I mean do players actually work on this stuff in training? Or is football somehow different? Obviously you can't rehearse every single possible event - (Gerrard's half-volleyed through ball to Torres v Bolton - can you really practice that? It's like the kind of thing you really are born with) - but... the number of goalkeepers who can't kick the ball out of their hands really pisses me off! You get some keepers who kind of jump in the air after they've made contact, who don't appear to have any control over what they're doing, and don't even seem to care where the ball ends up - they type of kicks that either float in the air for ages, or come down really fucking fast - what's the big man up front meant to do with that?

Brede Hangeland. Good defender, but have you seen how he actually kicks a football? Sort of, I don't know... his arms are somewhere down by his sides one minute, then up in the air the next, like he's never kicked a football before.

Jamie Carragher when he's at his hoofing best. Uusually gets his foot right underneath the ball and floats it in the general direction of the opposition penalty area, and follows through with his right arm in the air and then does a daft skip kinda thing. Didn't anyone ever teach him how to kick a football? Even when he does make a decent pass, his arms end up somewhere, god, I dunno, and he follows through with his foot like 6 feet off the ground.

So yes, technique.

^ repost as op in new thread please, I'm not having that thrown away in here

I think Meireles has been done an injustice upthread, he scored vital goals this season and made a genuine impression, way more than Aquilani did in his first season. It's not about stereotypes, Aquilani just was mostly unfit and ineffectual, apart from in a couple of games. Any hope of him being a success at Liverpool is largely based on achievements elsewhere. On the balance of risk I'd be over the moon if get the 15m the rumours seem to suggest he'll leave for. He's still a gamble, better to use that money for someone else.

You don't actually know that Aquilani will adapt to the Premiership/not get injured at all, I'd take the £15m immediately without thinking about it. He's been great for Juve apparently but that's what you want a failed transfer loanee to go if you're looking to sell.

yeah that's what i think.

God, surprisingly coherent considering I'd spent the evening in the pub.

Re. Meireles. He actually wins a high percentage of the tackles he attempts (he won a massive 7/7 v Man City), but attempts very few compared to Lucas. You could argue that that's not really Raul's game, but there have been times when he's very clearly shirked out of tackles. I'm not downplaying Raul's contribution at all by the way. I do think there is something in the skinhead thing though, as daft as it sounds. AA's a fancy foreigner who can't hack it. Bollocks.

I've been watching some of our games from last season again, and I'm not saying this cos Rafa signed him, or cos of some blind fanboy-ish faith or anything, but AA oozes class, and his assist rate speaks for itself. To me, his contribution to the team was very obvious. Liverpool fans want pass and move, but they don't want pass and move players in the team. Not saying he definitely would have been a success, but I'd have liked to have seen him get a full season under his belt. I'll shut up about him now, I promise. I obviously ♥ Alberto.

struck me as more a spurs player tbph

but saying that, lfc have been playing some great stuff lately, who knows?

Will forever doubt that aa could ever have worked out under rafa

yeah was injured a lot wasn't he

xpost

well, yeah, tbh sam. In potential brilliance, expense, serious doubts, ludicrous outcome, pretty much an archetypal spurs signing saga throughout

david bentley was potentially brilliant?

he could kick a ball in a skip from very far away

AA would never have worked under Rafa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1jJAU0ChvY

bentley was potentially brilliant, tho.

he has like one touch in that vid! or two cos the first one is him fucking up an attempted pass. x-post

eh i cant view yiewtubes at work but tbph i was tempted to posit that i seriously doubted that one was gonna refute my statement in any way whatsoever

Meh, was still a first time pass and shows that he was on the same wavelength, and his movement and awareness and looking around to see what's on was sweet. I just like that video is all.

he's a multimillionaire creative footballer. I'm pretty sure they've all got at least one decent passage of play on youtube.

I think he could've been great but he also might not really fit in to kenny's lfc so taking the money isn't a bad option

I guarantee that Kenny would love to have Aquilani in his team.

I said I wouldn't mention AA again so let's change the subject. Mancienne to Hamburg or something.

he's a multimillionaire creative footballer. I'm pretty sure they've all got at least one decent passage of play on youtube.

does jenas?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ugCABfc7f4

jenas?

jenas' top ten strikes/dribbles would have you panting for him in an arsenal shirt. natural talent is not that lad's problem, if he'd the mental chops then 'lampard or gerrard?' would never have been a question

tbh sam, you should know that as (off the top of my head) at least 3 or 4 of his top ten moments have come against the gunners, and his best all-round display in a spurs shirt was probably the 5-1 in the league cup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWDKbSM1yE4

This dedication to the lumpen stepchildren of Rafa and Comolli is touching but come on more speculation please.

Rafa and Jol maybe.

so Houllier's almost certainly leaving Villa. retirement or sackage?

death

rejected that joke on good taste grounds earlier

tho you'd imagine the purgatory powers that be would hold out for sir alex in the hotseat

Joey Barton to Liverpool doing the rounds.

Did occur to me a couple of days ago. He'd do a job, not sure Liverpool is the place for him though.

fat sam in at west ham

Really? That's not a natural fit at all.

Arsenal should sign Barton.

too obvious

Barton, Given, Parker, Berbatov and a centre back - I'd like to see that Arsenal next season.

i just read samba somewhere

Barton to Liverpool wnt round about a month ago, I stopped short of posting it here in case I got called for trolling.

Ah ffs Owen

Wonder how many brochure art workers will be laid off this afternoon?

?

oh lol nm

This innit

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/06/19/article-1194209-0567D137000005DC-851_148x112_popup.jpg

OptaJoe Opta Sports
1992 - Michael Owen last assisted a Premier League goal on December 17 2005 (Shearer v West Ham), 1992 days ago. Archive.
14 minutes ago

"The truth is that I stayed at the dressing room and watched the Champions League final there, on a TV screen. I was really disappointed. I was ashamed that I was not part of the team and did not want people to see how sad I feel."

Awww

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wayne-Rooney-penalty-spot-Ewood-Park-Blackburn-Rovers-/250828149905?pt=UK_SportsMemorabilia_Football_Memorabilia_ET&hash=item3a6685d491

Own the very spot where Wayne Rooney scored the penalty that gave man utd the 19th record title.

up for grabs is the Darwen End penalty spot from Ewood Park, Wayne Rooney was the last player to score at Ewood in the 2010/2011 season. The turf is in the same conditon as at the time of the match.

I was given permisson to lift the turf by the groundsman to raise funds for a local football team. (Blackburn Rovers are laying a new pitch this summer)

The turf is in a wooden planter ready to plant / transport, it is 100% authentic and will be provided with a letter / certificat of authenticity

All proceeds from this auction will go to a local football team.

This a genuine auction. please treat it with respect

buyer to collect, payment by paypal.

Ah ffs Owen

^ :-(

modric talk kinda hotting up.

He didn't help by publicly stating he's happy to stay, the dirty little scummer

I thought he said he wants champions league football?

no footballer wants cl football, and they will all deny wanting it when asked

Except Gareth Barry to justify his move to Liverpool which didn't happen, then his move to Man City, which hasn't yet provided CL football and almost definitely won't for him when he's sold in the summer.

Modric is being kinda noncommittal at the moment, it's Bale who's been talking about the Champions League. Would rather sell Bale if we have to sell one of them.

if any of the big three goes i'd rather it was bentley tbh

Ian McGarry, who is about the only tabloid hack who seems to have an 'in' at Chelsea, reckons Modric is Bridge-bound.

as long as we get 40m i'm ok with wherever he goes

Lukaku, who is studying public relations part-time at a college in Brussels, is due to sit a geography exam on Tuesday, some four days after the Group A match against Hiddink's side.

"I would like my future sorted out by 5 June because my exams start the following day," he said, "and I don't want any other distractions at that time."

This fella clearly not gonna fit in.

standard in belgium

see what i did there

Hoping we sign Neymar as well, could be bring Balotelli-esque lols to SW6.

Allardyce to West Ham, unexcitingly for almost everyone.

Might've been an idea in January

If you get Lukaku and Neymar, Pete, what do you do with Torres?

and modric

Front 3 of Neymar, Lukaku and Dzeko killed it for me on FM10. £ 'Champions Cup' in a row iirc. There's still time Citeh, just sayin'

£=3 there

how were crouch defoe keane workin out for spurs on that game

Neymar's great already, FM projections not needed.

http://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&_trksid=p4340.l2565&item=250828149905

surely this is people messing, £1m?

'If you get Lukaku and Neymar, Pete, what do you do with Torres?'

Fuck knows, but the club are clearly keen on both. Neymar is prob a replacement for Anelka, and Lukaku clearly seen as a long-term replacement for Drogba. Presumably whoever is in charge of these things thinks Lukaku will play better with Torres than DD, or at least provide a different option.

One rumour is that Lukaku will go back to Belgium for a year anyway.

Modric is intriguing, though don't fancy our chances if it is between us and United unless he really wants to stay in London. No idea what that means for Lampard.

modric to play further back the field than lampard tbh

He's much more of a centre circle player than an attacking player anyway

how were crouch defoe keane workin out for spurs on that game

― ♪♫ hey there lamp post, feelin' whiney ♪♫ (darraghmac), Wednesday, June 1, 2011 2:50 PM (44 minutes ago) Bookmark

Those were the Aidy Boothroyd years for Spurs I'm afraid Darragh, think you went 2nd, 8th, 14th, SACKED.

If I take off my LFC hat for a minute I'd be quite excited to see a Chelsea of Neymar, Lukaku, Torress and Modric tbh

yeah, so still not sure how that midfield would work. Can Modric and Lampard play in the same midfield if there are also three forwards? Lot of work for Ramires/Essien and no space for Mikel.

This figure of five big new signings keeps coming up though, which if true means at least four will have to go.

Didn't realise that Mancienne was nominally still a Chelsea player until yesterday when he went to Hamburg. Wolves must have had him for at least 3 seasons on loan then.

Ramires was v good from what I saw this season, put him ahead of this seasons Essien and Mikel for sure.

mancienne, Bertrand and Cork each played around 150 games at various league clubs and five between them for Chelsea. All moving on this summer. Shocking really. But you'd look at Scott Sinclair and think 'why bother?'. Can't see kakuta getting much time if we bring in Lukaku and Neymar either. We've also got this Brazilian Piazon arriving in Jan.

Ramires is a great little player, had a very good first season in the circumstances.

didn't bertrand break into the first team towards the end of the season? assumed you'd keep him and move zhirkov on. i really rate him anyway. and bruma.

good on mancienne for moving abroad, though i'm not sure anyone was in for him here anyway.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1136/1171230996_4b283de1b4.jpg

12. Coffee & TV
(10 votes, 1 first place, 255 points)

Bertrand played a couple of games and looked good, but think they're going for Patrick Van Aanholt as the junior left back instead. Pretty sure Zhirkov will be sold, along with Ferreira and Boswinga.

Hahaha! Woops. Ignore my bizzarre thread derail.

Pete taking it in his stride like the pro he is.

Thought it was an oblique comment on the Van Aanholt v Bertrand conundrum.

lol. spurs got relegated in 2023 on my fm11 game fyi

xp I thought it was how Paul Scholes plans to spend Saturday afternoons from now on.

Coffee? That's crazy talk.

lol at all of it

what liverpool talk is there? dont tell me the freidel thing is serious

Juan Mata and Stewart Downing are two names i've heard

downing and chasing ashley young with several others

scott dann is a name i've heard

Chelsea also have to fit Sturridge in somewhere...

[waits expectently]

would def have him at spurs

sturridge is at chelsea?

Sturridge will be staying at Bolton on loan I think, had quite a successful loan spell there from Chelsea last season I thought

What's the preferred form of the name - Juan Mata or Juan Manuel Mata? José Reyes or José Antonio Reyes? Is the middle name used whenever the first name is extremely common, even when the surname is uncommon? I don't imagine there are that many Matas out there. Always wondered, sorry for the derail.

Does it mata?

Walked into that one, I guess. I was GIS'ing JM Mata and came across a frightening mug shot for a Texas deadbeat with the same name, first middle and last. Perhaps more common than I thought.

Anyway, you get the impression that the entire Valencia squad is available at the right price. Can they not go one season without selling their best players? I think Mata would be only my third or fourth choice from that team.

Does Soldado play for Valencia, or is he Villareal?

He's Valencia, and tbf I haven't seen any chatter about him. "Entire" prob. an exaggeration.

seen a lot of talk about dann but not so much for roger johnson. bit weird i thought.

van aanholt over bertrand is wrong in my book - the dutch lad might edge it going forward but bertrand's got way more about him defensively. don't think leicester fans really give a shit about him not coming back in comparison to kyle naughton.

like the idea of sturridge at spurs but it's just that bit too sensible for arry i feel.

x-posts. Just playin ;) It totally matas, er, matters btw. José Reyes sounds wrong to me, so I'd go with José Antonio Reyes on that one. Not sure about Mata though.

Mata's good though - I'd have him at Anfield in a heartbeat.

qpr rumour dust seems to be settling on danny graham and craig mackail-smith (pair of hardworking defence botherers, crap carroll/crap tevez if you optimistically like), which suggests we'll play similar to last year and have everyone working their bollocks off carrying the piano for adel. fair do's but us working out a plan b wouldnt go amiss at some point...

ay is Arry gonna use Kyle Walker next season? Prone to disastrous swashbuckling idiocy on the edge of his own area but watching the boy overlap your winger when he was still in his own half three seconds ago is a beautiful thing; He Knows Where The Byline Is

from what qpr messageboard mongs say (including a bloke that works for spurs supposedly) he is a lock for spurs first xi next season yeah

best loan signing in qpr history tbh

god that looks so much more underwhelming than i meant it

roger johnson was the one i read linked with liverpool, but to be honest they've been linked with a load of players...

i meant rather than scott dann...

walker will get games next season alright

rip gerald, heaven needed someone half-sane involved with french heaven football.

ay is Arry gonna use Kyle Walker next season? Prone to disastrous swashbuckling idiocy on the edge of his own area but watching the boy overlap your winger when he was still in his own half three seconds ago is a beautiful thing; He Knows Where The Byline Is

Ah we love one of them.

How's his crossing? That's probably the important issue.

his assist for bent's first against arsenal was one of the better passes i saw this year

Are Liverpool really paying £20M for Jordan Henderson?

palacios out for c. 10m to napoli

The fee's ok, but he's one of only two players that can do that job, and we were without anyone in that role for so long that i'd worry about cover.

Are Liverpool really paying £20M for Jordan Henderson?

since all the news stories say that's not what they're paying, and that they bid 13m and a liverpool source described "a ridiculous asking price" then i would say the answer is "no".

On the bright side, apparently Sunderland want Darron Gibson.

they need to fire bruce

ferguson has offered to throw in several old tvs and a bedbug ridden sofa for an extra 3m

So apparently Palermo have rejected an offer from Chelsea for Javier Pastore

italian clubs more involved than in recent years?

pretty sure i don't pay my licence fee so the beeb can bold and highlight "Ramage signs new contract at QPR" for a pisstake

El-Hadji Diouf could be on his way to West Ham United

An Allardyce Championship team at West Ham is going to be a truly grim prospect.

jack_wilshere Jack Wilshere
Bit of golf with big Gaz Cahill.......trying to convince him to join me at Arsenal haha #gooners

no better than http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/fab-barcelona415.jpg

How's his crossing? That's probably the important issue.

― Matt DC, Thursday, June 2, 2011 11:54 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

gloriously all over the place

anyway, looks like mah boys are about to get 63.2% more thuggish

I look forward to half-heartedly trolling Arsenal fans over whichever of their players Sparky orders Stiliyan Petrov to snap in two, while quietly weeping to myself

fair play league contender sparky hughes

his concerted efforts to not win the fair play league in the last two weeks were a failure, and thus he left Fulham in shame

I guess that's Stephen Ireland player of the year next season though

Bet Fat Sam wishes he'd waited 48 more hours once he'd decided to move to London.

What with the immediate takeover rumour, Sam getting a new job couldn't really be going much more pleasingly.

bit cunty on fulham

guess hughes really was fuming all year about missing the villa job last summer

big Gaz Cahill

norwich agree fee for the never-not-irritatingly-spelled steve morison. hmmmmmmm i'm really not sure this fella can cut it. and james vaughan was already an iffy one.

think blackpool will have a lot to answer for wrt a raft of championship cloggers getting signed.

Oh nevermind it's actually just Carlo Ancelotti, nothing to see here

nah he's a stick-on for roma surely

benitez is the one you wanna worry about

o'neill or jol for fulham

benitez is the one you wanna worry about

most infernal truthbomb

ah i'd like to see jol somewhere like fulham.

I didn't know Kia Joorabchian was Hughes' agent

haven't been keeping up with this thread but

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/england/story/brad-friedel-moves-to-tottenham-hotspur-from-aston-villa-free-060211

Ha

huh

What's Hughes gone and done here? So far as I can tell, all he's achieved is saving his next club the bother of paying a transfer fee for him.

he has a v high opinion of himself.

Sort of think that Hughes and Villa might actually be a decent fit for one another but maybe Lerner has his sights set slightly higher than clogging up the lower top half of the table for a season.

Surely Friedel is past-it now? Starting to worry about Harry's talent spotting now Levy won't let him rely on dubious businessmen with suitcases full of money. Although on the flipside we haven't signed Amdy Faye either.

Villa just feel like a club that Martin Jol should manage though.

'arry to Chelsea, 'ughes to Spurs.

David Moyes standing at the side like a plain daughter in a 19th Century novel.

Boulahrouz to Celtic could be intersting...

http://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/250521/Boulahrouz-on-Celts-wanted-list

Liverpool are closing in on a £30million swoop for two of England’s hottest prospects — Blackburn defender Phil Jones and Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson.

The Anfield giants increased their initial offer of £13m for Henderson, 20, to £15m yesterday and are hopeful Sunderland will compromise on their asking price of £18m.

Liverpool are also ready to make a formal offer to Blackburn for £15m-rated Jones, though they face a battle for him with Arsenal and Tottenham.

The moves are part of Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish’s strategy of buying top English talent, having signed striker Andy Carroll in January for £35m from Newcastle.

The club have also asked about the availability of midfielder Lee Cattermole at the Stadium of Light.

That's the least exciting way to spend £30m I've ever seen.

james milner

at what stage do fees start to go down?

At what stage does potential not yet fulfilled begin to be a drawback rather than a bonus?

Why can't we get rid of jenas and bentley for 5m each if blackburn can sell youth players for three times that?

Because we're asking £10m-£15m for them I suppose.

wages probably has a lot to do with it too

also they're proven shitehawks.

That last q was fairly rhetorical

35m for Carroll a lot more stupid than 30m for Jones and Henderson

Poulsen Shelvey Cattermole midfield tho

Is Brad better than Cudicini?

no

sure? seem to recall thinking at some point that cudicini wasnt the player he was any more, but i forget why exactly.

and yeah it's wages moreso than transfer fees stymieing the market i would say. lol milan jovanovic 120k a week....

Difficult to say really - Carlo did alright in the last few games of the season. Seems like a bizarre transfer unless we're planning to offload Gomes. Otherwise we'll have a goalkeeping situation similar to the striker situation we had last year, three flawed goalkeepers, none of them a clear starter, probably some chopping and changing and undermining of everyone's confidence.

It's pretty much accepted that Gomes is going I think - certainly the papers seem to have been briefed that way.

Even so, Friedel's not a great start to your off-season

Three or four years ago I'd have bitten your hand off for him.

i dunno i think it's alright? spurs defence needs vocal coaching into shape much more than it does relying on a young wonder keeper getting them out of jail all the time

will let mpx4a be the judge tho

35m for Carroll a lot more stupid than 30m for Jones and Henderson

― http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WhiteAmericanFolks.jpg (nakhchivan), Friday, 3 June 2011 14:29 (1 hour ago) Bookmark

dispute this based on what i've seen of the latter two (not exhaustive granted)

like is carroll meant to be shit all of a sudden or what

take into account - whether you admire his style or not - the scarcity of players like him these days too, whereas i'd be pretty confident in being able to get similar or better than j&h for a third of the price abroad

Friedel still has that colossal wingspan one-on-one saving ability that makes him look like a match-winner, but yeah, his save % and decisiveness on crosses is failing him

last season he went the entire season without dropping any crosses, but he's been flapping and conceding daft headed goals lately

― MPx4A, Saturday, 21 May 2011 11:14 (1 week ago)

oh soz

well, nothing you're not used to eh

Those players aren't so rare really

Lukaku is a kid and is already better than Carroll in p much every way except workrate and aggro and is probably going for substantially less

Carroll - not shit, just unavailable for a bit, questionable fitness when he has been available and without a great record behind him. You'll forgive us getting nervous while the £35m is still stacked entirely on the 'awesome potential' square.

Lukaku distracted by his exams though, not a problem for Andy

Jones and Henderson are both good players already

Exams vs court dates

Eden Hazard has a trip to Disneyland booked with his family that he really can't get out of.

Are these Belgian kids playing in the Euro qualifier tonight, anyone know?

lukaku is i think

Actually I wouldn't mind watching Belgium vs Turkey. If only to reassure myself that Eden Hazard exists somewhere other than in my imagination.

Looked it up, Hazard is playing but Lukaku is out.

I saw the game between them in Turkey*, was excellent as I recall. Belgium were on top to start with but not converting into goals, then Turkey turned brilliant and fluid midway through & dismantled them.

* may not have happened, I've watched far too much footy in the past year to have any sort of reliable memory anymore

Saw belgium vs Germany qualifier which was the nadir or apogee of my last football watching phase, thereafter signalling a return to more modest levels of viewing

Iirc hazard was crap but Lukaku good

Belgium are probably the biggest team ever, stoke are liliputian by comparison

carroll is worth (a torres) + (a babel) - (a suarez) so don't sweat it.

15m going rate for british kids that have played a game or two.

Belgium play four centre-backs in their defence, I think. Plus iirc they use Vertonghen as dmid. That kid is great.

again, it's the high earning cunts with 200 games under their belts 'earning' 80k pw that aren't worth a damn.

Lol the bile is real

Bentley never had potential btw

Slow and technically limited

and a cunt

'earning'

pick that out

technically-limited but performed well with what he had for norwich and esp blackburn.

Not a winger tho, prob robbie keane style fwd at best

not a anything

shite player

it's the slight possibility of the likes of bentley and jenas excelling for wigan or whoever gets them for 2m that rankles, i think.

Motivating those guys is pretty much impossible

like championship level

nzog macarthy and rodallega all better than bentley

i agree. but potentially he's the next beckham

Lukaku pulled out the Belgium squad supposedly so he can sign for Chelsea. Not sure how that works.

Hiddink to follow but as manager or DoF?
.

Big four watch - telly just announced the French Open semis as being 'like Man Utd-Arsenal followed by Chelsea-Man City' (meaning they're blockbusters, not that Murray is hapless like Man City)

Nolan btw

better and fatter than Adam

Lukaku couldn't sign for Chelsea like next week or summit? Chelsea got a big game in next few days or what? smh

lol u missed the big geography exam story

cfc fans cribbing up on the belgian education system

Lukaku says he has a bone bruise in his foot. Is a player's facebook page considered reliable these days?

Friedel was also one of Villa's highest earners, so if he's on anywhere near the same kind of money then juggling him with two other keepers would be daft; I guess Gomes is probably on his way out but even then you're kind of relying on two spent forces as your goalkeeping crew

When was the last time anyone tried to sign Shay Given?

Hoping Villa sign Bentley then immediately release him so we can stop being linked with him every summer

'Villa eye bid to bring back Bentley'

assume that friedel's taken a significant wage cut for a 2 year deal tbh

bentley would be great at villa

Yeah makes sense

If the money's reasonable it's probably not a bad deal for a team in loads of competitions, but I think his usefulness as a 38 games a season league goalkeeper is coming to an end. Might be worth just trotting him out vs United twice a season so he can do his customary Man Possessed heroism act

It'll be nice for you to have a goalkeeper who fucks your team over in a relatively insidious, subtle way for once, anyway

worst xpost

i lolled

jesus christ hughes to chelsea is being treated seriously now?

Kia Joorabchian - He's Very Good

how come tevez is still at west ham then

Spurs told to up bid for Leandro Damiao from 10.5 to 17m.

whats he do then

He scores a lot of goals in Brazil.

ah.

How many would crouch score in brazil i wonder

if the squad isnt radically overhauled this summer then i could actually see hughes doing better at chelsea than hiddink would right now (whether it's meaningfully better though i don't know - doubt it). those lads have had too much carlo carrot and are pining for a bit of stick imo.

Periodic episode of handwringing

I know it's on the thread already, but I'm not getting over it so: £120,000 every week this season, that's what Liverpool have given Jovanovic. Six million quid in total. £17,000 every day. Every morning he wakes up and there's another £17,000. Even after tax that's ten grand to do what he likes with. I don't even hate him or it, I'm just bemused as to how this state of affairs has come about.

xp although deschamps would be by far the smarter choice in that vein

Has anyone ever tried to get Moyes? I know everyone thinks he should get a better hand than at Everton, but has anyone ever asked him?

bemusement thy name is forever rafa benitez

newcastle or celtic might have fancifully tried, idk. villa might still do but i'd imagine they'd only offer him a similar brief to what he's already got

i really don't think moyes is up to bigger jobs tbh

He's got to be worth a shot for someone, eventually. Puts together tidy sides who lack stamina and a bit of (uninjured) class up front, these are things a bigger budget can cure.

Periodic episode of handwringing

I know it's on the thread already, but I'm not getting over it so: £120,000 every week this season, that's what Liverpool have given Jovanovic. Six million quid in total. £17,000 every day. Every morning he wakes up and there's another £17,000. Even after tax that's ten grand to do what he likes with. I don't even hate him or it, I'm just bemused as to how this state of affairs has come about.

― Ismael Klata, Friday, 3 June 2011 20:34 (12 minutes ago)

wait wut looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

there are consistent failings with that everton side that i hesitate to attribute solely to budget constraints

but yeah in a fairer more imaginative world he deserves a go somewhere one day

spurs after arry are the only somewhere i can think of really

did jovanovic ever look half decent in a liverpool shirt? supposedly madrid liked the look of him many moons ago. it's hard to imagine he's so awful that even all-inclusive kuddly kenny with half a season of nowt to play for wouldnt give him a fairer shake

i mean how do you even get to 120k a week, surely SURELY that must be inaccurate even on a bosman. there wasnt even anyone else really in for him at the time was there?

the premier league really is just the infamous seth johnson story writ large

I gather those figures are inflated by him getting his signing-on fee spread out across year one so his salary will drop a bit next year, but like that makes it any better tbh

There had been speculation he would renege on the pre-contract agreement that he had signed after Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez resigned in June 2010. Benítez was reported to be anxious to bring the player to his new club Internazionale, but Jovanović confirmed his intention to honour his contract.[5][6][7]

lmao yeah i bet

eagerly awaiting a lovingly-penned paen to jovey's wasted potential from chris btw

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13648196.stm

THAT'S MY BOY

2nd time he's done this fyi

really need to think of some other ways he can act a tit that arent on the pitch to ensure no one else ever fancies signing him. shame there'll always be newcastle though.

Liked the look of him earlier on in the season. Would've preferred to see him at least take Joke Hole's place making cameo appearances off the bench and such. Don't think I'll be gutted to see him go like.

h8 this Joorabchian guy so much

he owns two of tevez's daughters

John Terry has said he would welcome Hughes as the replacement for Carlo Ancelotti as Chelsea manager and Joorabchian said the Welshman would be "honoured" regarding any potential approach. "Mark has aspirations to manage [at a club like Chelsea] – I'm sure that if they approach [him] Mark would be more than happy to speak with them, it would be an honour for him," he said, adding that, if Harry Redknapp left Tottenham Hotspur for Chelsea, Hughes would also be interested in managing Spurs. "These are big clubs – Mark would be more than happy to be manager of any those clubs."

Hughes at spurs would be a very interesting prospect tbh

in a damned united sort of way?

Could address all our usual failings I think.

terry said almost exactly the same about Hiddink. He says it about everybody.

Can't see Hughes at Chelsea though - RA wants a proven winner, with European experience, who plays good football and can deal with egos. Hughes scores nought from four on that scale.

We're also supposed to be about to sign Kevin De Bruyne, another of these here Belgians.

Wenger out

and also Hargeaves - Gunner Stay Put
but not Hernandez - Gunnar Be Great

I am gunner/gunnar incorporate that house style into my everyday writing by making tangential references to Arsenal, Man Utd, the military or Norway where I can

gunner have known

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13644871.stm

Dane Arnesen also stated he will hold talks with another Chelsea defender, Jeffrey Bruma, with a view to bringing him to the Bundesliga, reportedly on a two-year loan deal.

"He is on duty with Holland," Arnesen said.

"Afterwards, we will meet and talk about it. We will look each other straight in the eye. We will decide what is best for Jeffrey Bruma and Hamburg."

Terrifying.

Surely that just makes Taarabt more attractive to potential buyers r/t/c? Don't have to worry about losing him for internationals or Cup Of Nations?

Reports going around that Barcelona are going to sign Alexis Sanchez. Goddammit.

Ha, missed this quote from JT on Hiddink: "I kept in contact on a personal level. That speaks volumes for him."

lol

QPR are preparing a double swoop for Jermaine Jenas and Robbie Keane
QPR are preparing a double swoop for Jermaine Jenas and Robbie Keane
QPR are preparing a double swoop for Jermaine Jenas and Robbie Keane

Ha! When I saw that this morning I thought of you. Should be a buy 2 get one free deal with Bentley as the extra.

that was my exact thought, given that there's already such an air of cheeky street-dealer around the proposal

If Warnock still wants Eboue I'm sure they can throw in Denilson as well.

They can have Jovanovic or/and Konchesky to go with Joe Cole as well. We're sorting them a whole team here, r/t/c will be happy.

League One roundup: next season either Brentford or Rochdale will be managed by Uwe Rosler. Probably.

The Football Pantheon's top 50 European club sides ever

is what I've been loving this evening, despite Man Utd appearing rather more often than I'd have 'em. Normally I'd poll this, but I'm feeling a little bit polled out.

I have no special fondness for Huddersfield or Huddersfield Town but seeing them
on the list of "who missed out and why", I'm sad they missed out. Huddersfield!

Joe Cole's meant to be having a medical at Spurs this week. I guess if we're offloading Jenas, we'll need someone to take his place on the bench.

"Redknapp eyes Joe Cole to replace Modric" is seriously one of the most depressing sentences I've ever read. Hope it's bullshit.

What Redknapp should really be doing, if he can, is to find (and agree terms) with players who are better than our Lennons and Defoes (ie will actually improve the squad). What seems more likely is that he'll replace our Jenases and Kranjcars with Coles and Pienaars ie making no improvement or difference whatsoever.

To be honest, i'd take Jenas and Krancjar over Cole and Pienaar at the moment.

I'm refusing to believe any of the Modric to Utd rumours until the money that they're quoting starts to get more serious. It would be absurd to sell a playmaker we bought for 16.5m to a potential tital rival for 20m.

Unless we can't/won't match his wage demands.

The (clearly bollocks) figure quoted in the Guardian's list is £40m, but by the time you get there you're well inside the top ten transfers of all time. I love Luka, but he's not bringing that kind of commercial clout to the table. I feel like the Carroll figure is totally skewing perceptions of what anyone but the absolute elite might fetch.

also lol you guys remember who 'arry redknapp is right?

Modric has five years of his contract to run. I could see him moving for better wages but it's difficult to imagine Spurs would let their most important player leave for a fee somewhere between the cost of Carrick and Ramires. 40m looks unrealistic. 28m, maybe not.

I don't really get why United would spend that kind of money on Modric when they could get Sneijder for the same or cheaper.

If Harry is on a nod for the England job I wouldn't fancy being managed by him in the meantime. His priority is never really leaving things ticking over nicely for the new guy.

sneijder is almost a support striker behind eto'o these days, and the uk rags are srsly undervaluing him, £40m at least imo

It would be absurd to sell a playmaker we bought for 16.5m to a potential tital rival for 20m.

o_O

With a couple of strikers and everyone else in place, Spurs would/could challenge for the title. By "challenge for" I mean "be in with a chance until January" rather than actually win it. But Man United are going to finish above us whatever happens.

But yeah, £5m profit is not enough for a player who is the difference between challenging for Champions League and being at, say, Fulham level, and I think Levy knows that.

The England striker Darren Bent has pledged his future to Aston Villa and insisted: "I'm tired of moving around."
Villa look like losing the services of Ashley Young – linked strongly with a move to Manchester United – while Stewart Downing is stalling over signing a new deal.
But Bent, signed from Sunderland for £18m in January, has assured fans he is going nowhere despite former manager Gérard Houllier parting company with the club because of health reasons.
Bent said: "They [the fans] don't need to worry about me. I'm tired of moving around. I am at Aston Villa now and I have loved every minute I have been at the club. The people are nice and the staff are nice.

still champions league is a gamble, £5m profit is for certain xp

how the fuck did bent leaving six months after a horribly overpriced move even become a story

maybe a citeh failsafe if tevez leaves and they don't get ibrahimovic or whoever

nb iphone autocomplete for tevez is FECES

joe cole for 3m isn't too bad but he's prob going to req his liverpool wages or thereabouts so prob add a similarly sized signing on fee

has anyone seen anything of this damaio kid saaaaaandro is hyping to the spurs board

joe cole for 3m isn't too bad

yes it is don't lie

you could just not spend 3m on joe cole (+ wages and bonuses!)

Yeah FFS like we need another eye-catching but flaky and injury-prone attacking midfielder.

joe cole is a good player

obv he is 29 and has actually won things and stuff but don't hold it against him

He's not been a good player for three years though.

typical redknapp transfer, buying him as a project player cuz the headline figure is relatively cheap

i'd guess 'now more than ever' he needs to be played centrally so would probably be used as reserve for fellow flaky amid van der vaart and occasionally r/l w appearances

rossi to barcelona probably going to happen

there are a quite a few small skilful fcb ish players trying for moves this summer -- aguero, sanchez, hazard, nasri, tevez etc

^^^^yeah but joe cole is available

sanchez apparently also very close to barca. should be fun

Although Udinese are guaranteed a spot in the playoff round of next season's Champions League, it is evident that the Chile international would relish the opportunity to play for one of Europe's bigger clubs like champions Barca, telling Futbol: "Barcelona would be a splendid destination. The interest of great clubs makes me proud. It means I am doing well."

"I want to progress, play and win important trophies and to do this you need to play for the most prestigious clubs. Therefore I hope to have this chance."

Though Barca are thought to be interested in securing Sanchez's services, it is rumoured that the Spanish champions might be more inclined to try and poach wantaway striker Giuseppe Rossi from Villarreal, with the Italian being seemingly a better fit for Pep Guardiola's current system.

Any word on Barca buying a centre half? Also what does this mean for Bojan/Kerrison/etc.?

bojan may be going to villareal on loan at least if rossi deal goes through. doubt pep know who keirrison is.

3m on joe cole (+ wages and bonuses!)

What bonuses do you earn for sitting on the bench? Oh, I remember, this is the Premier League.

lol keirrison

looks like another guardiola/txiki fuckup getting swept under the carpet like txigrinski, ibrahimovic etc

bojan to villareal possibly

not going to go to england ffs, he's too small for barcelona

jerome boateng to bayern maybe

bojan linked to arsenal and liverpool today...agree it seems unlikely tho yeah. be amazed if liverpool sign anyone besides honest to goodness english lads working their socks off future england star.

maybe some more american history x extras

Trying to get a handle on Dalglish's transfer policy, it's almost like he wants to be the man who revitalises both Liverpool AND England at the same time. Should put in an offer for Josh McEachran if Chelsea persist in not bothering with him.

I mean for ego reasons, not for Scotsman offering England a condescending leg-up reasons.

probably is fenway/comolli influenced too. actually all the players they're linked with sound good i just really want some ludicrous foreign gamble who may turn out to be amazing in addition to half the england u21 team

So Arsenal have signed a "mystery striker" according to The Mirror. The suspense is killing me

Kanu?

i'm guessing 17. pandemic went oooolder. anyone wanna go younger?

Robert Rosario?

Gervinho fits the bill

Gervinho looked good at WC, stupid hair aside, but I don't know anything about Ligue 1 so don't how his club form is.

Yeah i don't really know much about him but he's a winger/striker who plays in the French League and he's been linked with Arsenal in the past

Important part of a league winning team and Jibe/baaderonix give him the thumbs up.

Has looked much more winger than goalscorer when I've seen him for Lille.

Important part of a league winning team and Jibe/baaderonix give him the thumbs up.

― WHO THE FUCK READS THE (a hoy hoy), Monday, June 6, 2011 3:57 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

Ha, yeah I tend to invoke an 'In Jibe/Baaderonix I trust' mindset when it comes to French football.

forums calling bullshit on this or not even acknowledging it. p telling that they have a 'football spy' video that is 10 minutes long and don't start it with this breaking news but instead that samir nasri's contract is a year away from ending. and then that gary cahill could make it to a bigger club. and then ashley young could move. etc.

Mystery Striker should play in a mask like Kendo Nagasaki and only reveal his identity when it's ripped from his face after a Shawcrossing in late March.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1QKed0Gi9DA/TZ3tR8jX32I/AAAAAAAAW6A/I6qLl0at8m8/s1600/Neymar.jpg

This mask, but with Michael Owen behind it imo.

lol

Given to Celtic something of a thing on Twitter today - claims that he was in a Dublin bar last night telling everyone it was a done deal.

Belfast, not Dublin. Getting these details correct is important in adding authenticity to internet rumours.

if you had a shilling for every time an inebriated irish football player has expressed a commitment to moving to celtic in an irish pub, you could buy out paul mcshane's contract and make football's gain shoeshining's misfortune

that's ireland's captain against italy tomorrow you just disrespected. inspirational leader paul mcshane.

The Football Pantheon's top 50 European club sides ever
That was a good read - thanks, IK

Manchester United’s last-ditch hopes of signing Jordan Henderson look to have faltered with the Sunderland midfielder intent on joining Liverpool.

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is eager to bring in United’s Darron Gibson, Danny Welbeck and Wes Brown but will now have to offer cash.

England Under 21 star Henderson wants his Liverpool move wrapped up by Wednesday and the Anfield club have made an improved £18million bid.

Ipswich’s Connor Wickham could also be on his way to Liverpool once they increase their offer to £10m.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1394618/Jordan-Henderson-sign-Liverpool.html#ixzz1OXSFPgM4

what is it with ex man u players signing total fucking dross off fergie?

besides welbeck...who is potentially decent.

If the master rates him he must be good kind of thing?

Jol in!

damnit came here to post those exact two words..

jol out.

http://www.57edfoundation.com/drupal/sites/default/files/image/2009Spring/GoodTimes%20%282%29%20graphics.jpg

Jol said: "I am very happy to join Fulham. It is a club with good, solid foundations, a great fan base and a fucking great statue of Michael Jackson.

"I am looking forward to being part of the Fulham family and thank the chairman for the trust shown in me."

"Also Prince Philip definitely offed Di and Dodi."

I love Martin Jol. I'm so happy he's back.

i been asleep and or driving.

Did we really swap modric for joe cole because i just

modric agent- 'luka stays at spurs, and lol at a price of 20m anyway'

to which i say good, and otm, respectively

xxxp

Wtf

A durshman he dushnt shey definidly he sheys forshure

Can't think why Modric's agent might be interested in driving up the price.

tbh if it's gonna be a thing all summer, then by all means let the public discourse from the player's rep be 'no, and the price quoted is peanuts'.

Don't think we can hope for much more atm

probably is fenway/comolli influenced too. actually all the players they're linked with sound good i just really want some ludicrous foreign gamble who may turn out to be amazing in addition to half the england u21 team

― MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T BE LIVING HERE!! (Local Garda), Monday, 6 June 2011 13:29 (Yesterday)

Someone like Jeffren?

wait what Jovanovic was given £120,000 a week? For a 29-year-old who's done nothing much outside of Belgium? WHY?

free transfer. Write off say a 6m capital cost over however many years et voila.

Tho tbh that still doesnt even nearly add up.

J to the izz-O, V to the izz-A. Would've been the best football song ever. Ah well.

sky saying henderson deal done. n'gog n'gone the other way.

let's just hope we never have to wonder who let n'gog out

apparently so

wash n'go.

young to man u seems pretty likely too. daily mirror reckon they're going to get phil jones also.

liverpool need wingers.

swap ye kranjcar for carroll

christ gilesy's the cut of yerman from gigi these days

Adam, Downing and Enrique to follow, according to my Twitter feed.

20mil + n'gog for jordan henderson . that's a lot of moola. will he play on the wings? is he worth that much? i'm shocked really.

i wonder who jol & hiddink will sign this summer. let's speculate ya'll.

Jol/Fulham:
Mounir El Hamdaoui
Johnathan de Guzman
Kevin Strootman

Hiddink:

Blank check

hoping that london/jol combo could mean us getting rid of a few like jenas/keane tbh

xxp - actually £13m + Ngog as far as I can see. Pretty baffling to still be in for after Adam after that, though: Gerrard, Lucas, Spearing, Shelvey, Adam, Mereiles and Henderson all duking it out for two centre mid places?

assuming we are planning to play henderson on the wing, despite reports to the contrary. and yeah total deal they're saying worth 20m, not 20m plus ngog.

i'd like to think this all means playing gerrard on the wing not in the centre. or just dropping him.

ngog valued at 7m is pretty sweet, if that's how it's worked out. seems you get at least 7m for fucking anybody who's played a season or two in the prem.

imogen thomas joke

Will Gerrard do a job on the wing? Feel like he'll struggle to earn a place in a Liverpool midfield next season but maybe struggling will bring out the best in him.

he must have one or two good seasons left in him. he's been so crap for the last two.

i still think the crapness has been down mostly to not having to work for a place, so i think yeah he might have an indian summer to come

There's a fair bit of noise around Jenas and Keane both going to QPR at the moment.

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/1039/ngog.jpg

Haha why have I never seen this before?

keane, jenas, hutton, bentley, crouch to qpr makes a lot of sense when you think about it.

40m the lot prob good business for both sides/ahoyhoy

this is the worst attempt to work up a buzz ever

stfu i'm trying to work here

I'm not going against the grain here to say: £20m for Henderson, really??? With Young available for £16m? Not that I particularly rate either.

idk about henderson on the wing, he's not that quick

ARSENE SWOOPS.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/reserves-news/carl-jenkinson-joins-arsenal

all gone cold on the sylvain marveaux front

having got rid of n'gog liverpool are even more ethnically homogenous

also a preponderance of skinheads

just sayin

who is carl jenkins son?

18m seems to be the price that's being quoted for Young. And it seems like he wants to be an occasional starter at Utd rather than first choice at Liverpool

£18m is stupid for a good pl winger with a year on their contract

Undoubtedly

and yeah henderson on the wing screams 'two banks of four'

Do United really need another pacy, energetic and direct winger? Like, at all?

Not really no

Like if there's one thing the United squad isn't short on it's dudes who can run up and down the flanks in a straight line and cross the ball reasonably well.

if you add the qualifier ~fast~ then yeah they kinda do, since only valencia fits that description and that's p much ALL he can do

keane, jenas, hutton, bentley, crouch to qpr makes a lot of sense when you think about it.

40m the lot prob good business for both sides/ahoyhoy

― ♪♫ hey there lamp post, feelin' whiney ♪♫ (darraghmac), Wednesday, 8 June 2011 10:29 (51 minutes ago) Bookmark

would be surprised if warnock's got more than 10m to play with. if you lot are desperate to get rid at like 3m max and he fancies taking a drastic paycut then i could see keane coming but otherwise it'll just be naughton for us thanks.

kinda wonder if ferguson's thinking ashley young is the missing piece that will win them the cl final vs barcelona next year

ah, the process of negotiation. Like 9-5 dealing with irish landlord classes didn't involve enough of *that*

just need a lil tweak here and there and hopefully john o' shea in good shape

Some talk on twitter that Phil Jones is having a medical at Liverpool today

Dean Saunders
July 1991
2,900,000
Derby County

Neil Ruddock
July 1993
2,500,000
Tottenham Hotspur

Paul Stewart
July 1992
2,300,000
Tottenham Hotspur

Nigel Clough
June 1993
2,275,000
Nottingham Forest

Mark Wright
July 1991
2,200,000
Derby County

Michael Thomas
December 1991
1,500,000
Arsenal

Mark Walters
August 1991
1,250,000
Rangers

David James
June 1992
1,000,000
Watford

just sayin

18m seems to be the price that's being quoted for Young
Do United really need another pacy, energetic and direct winger? Like, at all?

The conspiracy theorists are saying that Nani is on the way out and Young is being lined up as a(n innadequate) replacement and that no fee will be made public for the purchase of Young but the impression will be given it's about £18 million when it's actually closer to £10 million.

Not quite sure what RTC is saying but it has got me wondering who'll be this era's Rocket Ronny Rosenthal.

So where is Nani off to in this equation? xpost

Abroad somewhere. I don't want to see Nani go - he's a complete twat, but a very skillful player who was badly underused once Valencia came back. I don't want to see Berbatov go either - he's also a very skillful player who adds something to the team that nobody else there can do, and he's not a complete twat.

just that jones & hendo are kinda giving me souness vibes is all xp

I completely agree NBS. I think both Nani and Berabtov were hard done by in the second half of the season and i hope they both stay. I'm pretty confident Nani won't leave though.

just that jones & hendo are kinda giving me souness vibes is all

Lee Cattermole as this generation's Julian Dicks?

jonjo surely

Right, now Sky Sports are saying Phil Jones is having a medical at Utd today

Signed for United for £18 million apparently?

tis the season of overspending on promising English players

lolz.

anyone wanna shove 25m on gibbs?

jenkinson almost certainly means that eboue is going ;_;

eh eboue is cult at best, dont cry no tears for that dude. He's your zokora imo

Probably means Utd have a Johnny Evans going spare if anyone wants one?

We'll throw in a Gibson and Bebe

yeah but if eboue and arshavin go then this squad is just personality free. i guess chesney has potential.

can someone explain to a neophyte fulham fan why martin jol will be a good thing for fulham?

bobby z was apparently shocked at hughes' departure. surely it can't be great for managers to always be coming and going. the players try to play to a system and then they have to learn something different all over again the next season.

jol is a v likeable attack minded manager, opposition fans just adore him.

Narrative would have it that he was sacked after managing spurs to near contention for cl spots despite clueless morons buying all the wrong players for him.

In reality, he's a very decent manager that doesn't believe in defending and doesn't really do anything about endemic underperformance, particularly in fat goalies

It's not like Fulham had any choice when it came to Hughes's departure

Fulham must pay decent wedge to their bosses - Hughes and Jol are bigger names than most clubs would be attracting.

Hughes is a money-grubbing twat with ideas above his station basically.

souness comparison is a bit wild, not least since back in those days nobody bought foreign players. it wasn't the buying english that was the prob, it was buying shit english players.

have to say the english (self) hatred on this board kinda ignores the fact that united have been most successful team largely over the last 20 years and have generally always had more english/irish/scots/welsh than their closest rivals.

There's only one Michael Carrick

mostly homegrown admittedly but still...

i don't think it's self-hatred so much as despair at the inadequacies of player development in England especially. I think you're right about United but they are well-adapted to the EPL and the deficiencies in the English game tend to become more apparent when confronted with European or International football. Granted the EPL has just enjoyed a prolonged period of dominance in the Champions League but you evolve or you die imo whereas we seem to be waiting for European clubs to forget how to play against us or something.

proper discussion that

also i feel like if the FA introduced a "one non-British player only in yr first XI" rule one summer then Sky Sports wd be out of business inside 2 months

Utd would be on about 6 Champions Leagues now if the foreign players rule wasn't in place in the '90s

can someone explain to a neophyte fulham fan why martin jol will be a good thing for fulham?

he signed berba and bale at spurs - has obv eye for attacking talent

o u little shit

Utd would be on about 6 Champions Leagues now if the foreign players rule wasn't in place in the '90s

Come on it's not like they were just a smidgeon away every year. When did the rule end anyway?

utd beating porto 4-0 in 95/96 -i think- was their big entrance as a european force, before then nah they were only there for the experience iirc. Foreigners rule only lasted another year or two.

when fans of championship manager launched a global protest x-post

I was joking, probably

That said, it did affect us. Schmeichel being left out of the 1994 Barcelona 4-0 being one obvious example.

You mean by Barca not being able to field Koeman, Hagi, Romario and Stoichkov?

similarly frustrating "what if" scenario with fletcher in the 09 cl xpost lol

oh yeah that was also terrible that time they enforced the rules with fletcher tbf.

Obviously Barcelona were a much superior team. I'm just saying being without the one of your best players and the guy who marshals your defence is a bit of a disadvantage.

utd beating porto 4-0 in 95/96 -i think- was their big entrance as a european force

96/97, that was. We weren't in the European Cup in 95/96 because we hadn't won the league (Blackburn had) - that season we got knocked out of the UEFA Cup immediately, iirc, by some Russian team with Schmeichel scoring a header near the end.

Rotor Volvograd iirc

or Volgograd even

That goal was really big news because it preserved Utd's incredible 40-year unbeaten home record in Europe - which iirc they then lost straight away to Fenerbahce next year.

so many happy memories of united losing in europe...

Jol will be a good thing for Fulham because he'll sign a lot of exciting attacking talent and you already have a fairly reasonable defence. And he's definitely a good thing if you're not gunning for the Champions League and have a fondness for 4-4 draws.

btw IFK Gothenburg were clear winners of that Utd/Barca group in 1994 - I really miss those days when great teams could come from out-in-the-sticks

nowadays you'd struggle to find a great player out-of-the-sack amirite

Yeah I too miss those days Ismael. A lot more diversity. Like playing against Galatasaray was a far more scary prospect than it is today. Today, the CL draws aren't even up, but you could almost predict the QF.

4-4 draws

sounds like heart attack city, but possibly an improvement on the 1-1 draws we were so enamored of

honigstein raphael honigstein
I always thought Jol was a great manager. then I talked to some Hamburg players/agents... #dontjudgemanagersontheirdealingswithmedia

could have just asked me eh

We weren't in the European Cup in 95/96 because we hadn't won the league.

Those were the days.

Jones-Smalling the new Bruce-Pallister?

Remember the 3 foreigner rule when Chelsea were in the ECWC in 1995 and we had to bring Graham Rix out of retirement. That didn't end well.

know next nothing about jones, but smalling's been v good

I think Jones is better from what I've seen. With the twins at full back, United sorted for the next few years.

rafa in?

Tevez says he's never returning to City. lol at us buying an exciting young englisher but because he's declared for finland instead he costs 15m less than the ones Pool and Utd have bought. Or is that 15m for 1 season of Premiership indifference?

How old is the player Arsenal have bought?

Oh he's played 8 games in League One.

19.

Jones turned down Arsenal and Liverpool which would suggest all 3 clubs were ready to stump up £17m for him. I try never to watch Blackburn if I can help it so no idea if he's any good or not. If both Wenger and Fergie rate him I'd lean towards probably the real deal. Still £17m, phew.

rafa in tho?

In our dreams.

because he's declared for finland instead he costs 15m less than the ones Pool and Utd have bought

it's amazing how simple economics is

oh sorry i never knew henderson had 1 england cap.

let's face it you hadn't heard of this guy yday when you were on your "connor wickham is shit because he may go to spurs or liverpool" tirade.

nah i have no problem with wickham i just find 15m for him ridiculous. and 15m for anyone like him, henderson, jones, jenkinson or almost any under 20 player to be fucking insane.

more insane than 15m for a 30 y o?

and i've never said wickham isn't talented. or jones or henderson for that matter. in fact i really like phil jones. but i think if you were to buy vidic you wouldn't get him for much more than 17m and he's one of the top 5 centre halves in the world.

more insane than 15m for a 30 y o?

― MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T BE LIVING HERE!! (Local Garda), Wednesday, 8 June 2011 18:52 (44 seconds ago)

yes. a 30 year old has experience, has presumably played many times against many different types of players and tactics and knows what he's doing in the professional game while you've also been able to see their mentality, mindset and how they could fit into your team. at 19 you don't know fuck all about them.