"The Championship is not an option" - I Love Football off-season and transfer speculation thread 2012

HE'S READY

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/files/2009/06/owen2.jpg

there's no way di Matteo is getting the Chelsea job, amirite?

Stoke chairman Peter Coates has suggested the club could look to sign Michael Owen this summer.

poor lad won't make it through a training session without a shawXing

I reckon RdM will be offered a coaching staff job while they bring in a higher profile/established manager.

and hopefully he will give them detailed directions on where to stick it

yes, well you'd think he'd have options at the moment

That said, dunno how much Chelsea's success is down to him and how much is down to the entitled arseholes actually trying to play once they got rid of Villas Boas. He'd never struck my as Champs League winning material before*.

*before Saturday night at half nine tbh.

well i'm not saying it's down to him as such but most clubs wd probly let you find out after you'd won them the Champions League

it'll just be supremely, deliciously evil when Roman brings another guy in and then sacks him come December cos Fat Frank doesn't like being told what time he has to turn up for training or something

Villas Boas managed more Chelsea CL games than di Matteo did. It's probably not how he'd've chosen to do it, but he's still matching Mourinho imo. Now to do the same with Inter Liverpool.

That said, I'm hoping PSG get trigger-happy after last night and Ancelotti becomes available.

guess it depends how set abramovich (and the shadowy cabal of hilariously overpromoted bootlicks advising him) really is on revamping the squad and installing a faddish new playing style and whether the cl has wiped his memory of the previous years. if so then no better time to draw a line obv

lol at torres today, the jumped-up past-it cunt really is at the right club

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/21/fernando-torres-chelsea-future

yes - the moaning, whingeing, 'I was ready to throw in the towel', blaming the club rather than admitting he's been rubbish - I was almost shocked by the content of this piece.

I mean

"The ideal for me for next season is if someone tells me what's going to happen," Torres said. "What role will I have in the team? What function? What is expected of me? And then I have to evaluate if it is worth it. You will see me in London celebrating with everyone and then on Monday in Ibiza."

why hasn't the club shown more faith in me, I'm a striker who went 18 odd games without scoring.

your role is CF, your function is to score goals, ideally 25 or so.

we're looking for about 38% of messi's production. can you manage that nando?

Why does he have to tell us he'll be in Ibiza on Monday?

If I were going to Ibiza rather than stuck here working, I'd be telling you all about it too.

Is Ibiza where Spain are having there Euro 2012 training camp? Seems unwise.

he means that despite all the betrayals of him he's still professional enough to respect his duty to the club and its fans to bask in its successes

this will have been appreciated

no different to any other of his teammates brainless and shameless displays of craven undeserved vanity tbf

the trophy lift was just the perfect storm, bosingwa and shirtless flexing kalou simply refusing to shift from centre stage even if it obscured the presentation itself

somewhere that evening a single nostlagic tear rolled down david may's cheek

http://wherearetheynow1.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/david-may.jpg

haha

de Boer turns down an interview with Liverpool. I've got a lot more respect for this guy than for Brendan Rodgers, certainly

How about ... TIGANA?

(for LFC)

xp what in general or for his decision to turn his nose up at you lot

Not a name I'd considered, in fairness. Or a return for Anelka now he's got a bit of experience?

For turning it down in a classier way, namechecking Bergkamp and the project ongoing at Ajax which frankly I'd rather like transplanted to Merseyside. And for winning stuff.

if guardiola deigns to give a rejection speech, you can be sure it will be the classiest

he'll gave those liverpool fans on his lap and he'll tickle their belly and they will coo and ask him again in february

g/have

That's undoubtedly the calibre of rejector to aspire to, though.

But never mind that, here's the big story: Spurs fans round on Saha and Pienaar. Golden chance to raise ilf's profile missed.

caption says Spurs are Saha's 'former team'

I quite like saha's response tbh.

As for Further proof that footballers are totally disconnected from reality... total idiots @louissaha08 & @therealstevenpithe What is this reality of which you speak?

seriously if a 'top, top manager' doesn't go to LFC then why not consider eg

Keegan
Hoddle
Tigana
Sven-Goran Eriksson
Curbishley
Neil Lennon (pretty good fit given relations Celtic - LFC?)

as well as eg AVB, Benitez

I'm not naming McCarthy, McLeish as they've been relegated; and not Strachan, Bruce cos Utd connections; and not Ian Rush cos seems a rehash of Dalglish scenario.

of course Hansen / Lawro would be one kind of dream team in their inability to live up to their TV talk.

questions for LFC fans:

will Carragher be coach?

and: will Stevie G be LFC manager one day?

actually - Jol for LFC! why not?

Carragher - maybe
Gerrard - please delete your post, even the idea of such a notion existing on the interwebs horrifies me.

Carra was yes to perhaps coaching in the future, not yes to managing. Would not even consider anyone on yr list except avb or rafa.

re Stevie G: I don't know why. I have an idea that a year or so ago, lifelong red Stevie T was saying that Stevie G should be the next manager after Dalglish.

I like Stevie G.

re considering people on list: yes, but some people on LFC's list are not considering LFC.

I don't think Jol could win the title or anything, but I think he would produce an exciting attacking team at Anfield and probably win more matches than the last 2 seasons.

Guardiola obv wouldn't consider it, and De Boer said no too. Rodgers said no to the interview process, dunno if he'd turn it down if actually offered the job, but perhaps he would. Would have to be turned down by around 200-300 people before we got around to keegan or lennon imo

Would have to be turned down by around 200-300 people before we got around to keegan or lennon imo

There's plenty of time.

Stevie G player-manager
Carragher assistant
Benitez as DoF -- elder statesman for advice

think you could do worse than that.

I think they could do worse with that.

Would have to be turned down by around 200-300 people before we got around to keegan or lennon imo

Bit harsh on Keegan there.

lol pinefox, how about having Kenny in there in some capacity too?

Kenny - DoF
John Barnes - Manager
Owen - CF
Fowler - PR

Ruddock - fitness coach
Roy Evans - enforcer

I would have said KD as DoF -- lots of people said he should be kicked upstairs.
But the owners were clearly more ruthless than that; he's no longer at the club and I can't see him coming back soon.

I think my scheme is really not bad, except maybe Stevie needs to retire to focus on being manager ... I don't know ... KD didn't, c.1985! Benitez coming back in planning role seems a good plan though maybe he would seek more control.

Grobelaar - GK Coach

I can't believe no LFC fans back my plan. I bet if you look on websites & messageboards, some would be quite keen on it.

xpost those are excellent suggestions, though less serious than mine.

they already tried gerrard, carragher and rafa running the club iirc

no one has mentioned Neil Warnock

supposedly Sheff Utd turned down di Matteo last summer

have to admit, on google I cannot find a single reference to Stevie G as next LFC manager

idk what one would see in gerrard that suggests 'manager', truly. Even on the pitch the intricacies of movement, organisation and teamwork are near enough his weakest points

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2011/10/08/jamie-carragher-will-be-a-liverpool-fc-manager-one-day-says-tommy-smith-100252-29558858/

"Whether he starts out somewhere else and makes his way up as Shanks did, goes onto the staff and comes in as Bob and Joe did, or even steps up quickly like Kenny Dalglish did so successfully in the 80s as his playing days came towards an end, only time and circumstance will tell."

OK, Carragher as manager (not player), Benitez DoF, Stevie stays as captain.

carragher as coach certainly, stevie g might even listen to him

i already remember this off-season in the future with the nostalgia i know i’m bound to feel, long summer days of the ilf massive diligently wiping the drool from the pinefox's maw as he gives the matters of the day the benefit of his senility

The Pinefox - FSG CEO

We're in safe hands at least.

bet he could write us a killer Cup song should we ever make a Final again.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/20/republic-of-ireland-robbie-keane

Kieron Dyer has signed a new one-year contract to stay at QPR.

....................................................

Surely an Owen Hargreaves 'pay as you play' deal? QPR aren't that insane are they?

don't think stevie g's ever seriously been thought of as a future manager, but carragher certainly has. if he turns out to be good then fair enough, but i hate the idea of him just being handed the job in some sort of sentimental nod to 'the boot room'.

he could go somewhere else - Tramere? Huyton Juniors? - to learn the tropes.

no value in pay as you play with the 25 man squad rule, either you've wasted a place or he can't play even if fit

likelihood is some berk negotiated an automatic extension if we stay up, idk

The famous Tranmere literature boot room
xp

ah yeah that sounds a more likely clause r/t/c

http://www.arsenal.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=529324

Bellend of the Season 2012 - Venkys, Steve Kean and the corrupt agents involved.

Fun write-up until one scary reminder: "The truly terrifying thing about the Venky`s is that it could happen to any club."

Daily news-

Joe Cole... might be staying at Lille! :D Rudi Garcia wants to keep him but knows it is Liverpool's decision.

Deschamp seems to have said Thanks But No Thanks to LFC.

[Removed Illegal Link]

And finally, thank whatever diety may exist - Abidal is out of the hospital and seemingly all has been successful so far in treating him.

hey folks you know that previously 4th place team in EPL would have to go through the qualifying stages of champions league (amirite?) who now goes through the qualifying stages, if any?

fuck, sorry wrong thread.

Chelsea, I think.

so looks like the drog's off, to cash in on china. seems a little bit premature in that as a late starter in football he's probably actually got similar, maybe even less, wear and tear than torres has but understandable i guess

i'm guessing they won't go so far as letting lampard go?

could lure him away with a trail of M and Ms

http://twitter.com/#!/1Dev/status/204649529260244994/photo/1

hey noodles seen this

eh a qualifier from a smaller european league must now go through an extra qualifying round iirc

Drog more than good enough to be a league-winning striker imo, but he's had long injury niggles for every season since forever

lolineux. dunno, that picture doesn't look like it's from seat level, but nowt wd surprise me. people wd probably have paid extra to only see half the game this season.

Anticipating a summer in which we are tantalized by all manner of new and exciting tricky Eastern Europeans whose value will rocket and will look amazing until their tenth game in the Premiership.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/21/harry-redknapp-daniel-levy-spurs

silent billionaire

Just talk to Sébastien Bassong who, when on the brink of a transfer to Queens Park Rangers, watched Levy wake up in the morning and double the agreed fee.

mrs bassong was right all along; this had been no way to force a transfer through.

Probably figured it worked for Keane-to-Liverpool.

Keegan
Hoddle
Tigana
Sven-Goran Eriksson
Curbishley
Neil Lennon (pretty good fit given relations Celtic - LFC?)

yeah i mean, they might as well just appoint anyone who actually is a manager, you're right. you forgot dave bassett though and ian branfoot too. and brian robson. fuck it maybe terry phelan can manage, worth a try. or someone from another sport like tim henman or graham gooch.

this morning's news anyway, is that capello is to have talks with FSG

it's psg

f u sg

Ooh - does that mean Ancelotti out? Henry, Henry, sign him up.

All four English sides automatically into the group stages btw xp, darragh's right.

Change the rules and stick 'em in the same group I say.

Darragh's "psg" was a "joke"

f
s
g
when the crowd say booooo
seleeeeeeect martinez

I get my news from ilx, lol me

Robinson became something of a hero for Rovers fans this season as, unlike the rest of the team, he continued to acknowledge their support when the going got tough. However, this 'connection' brought the goalkeeper a lot more credit than his performances deserved. The weekly compilation of Premier League Numbers & Stats caused gasps in F365 Towers whenever Robinson's performances were reviewed in the cold light of day. With the worst saves-to-shots ratio in the division, and by far the lowest passing accuracy, England's former number one has dropped into the level befitting his current ability. The surprising thing is, someone will probably take a chance on him this summer for one last top-flight hurrah.

nah, capello just had smthg against him iirc. The only possible explanation for his exclusion from the national team.

Phil Dowd, one of England’s top referees, is facing a sudden fight to save his career after it emerged on Tuesday night that he has failed a fitness test to continue next season.
The news hit the 49-year-old Staffordshire official within three weeks of his proudest achievement of taking charge of the FA Cup final at Wembley.
Dowd, who became a Football League referee in 1997, has just completed his 12th season in the Premier League. He must work to regain the rigorous fitness standards required of elite referees if he is to make a 13th campaign.
Referees are regularly tested on a series of timed runs in order to meet the strict criteria. Dowd’s bosses want him to continue and there is no question of his age being an issue since the relaxation of automatic retirement rules.
He has always had a naturally stocky build but has never previously struggled to hit the fitness mark. The fact that referees have to take the test in May, immediately on the back of a long and strenuous season, may now be called into question.
Instead of having a chance to recharge his batteries ahead of the test, Dowd will go on holiday knowing his future is under threat more than three months ahead of the start of next season.

Surely you would be much fitter at the end of a season than at the end of summer spent 'recharging your batteries'?

That might not actually be a metaphor. Phil Dowd could be the proud owner of Britain's largest collection of rechargeable batteries and it's only in the off-season that he gets a chance to help them reach their potential.

'reach their potential', clever

As a coach he is known as a slow starter who frequently finds his players needing ample time to grasp his tactics and intent of play. Generally his teams gather results in the second or third season under his coaching

I'm fine with this if it happens, I think. A little wary of having someone so spiky operating above the actual manager, but at the very least worth a go and there's the promise of much entertainment along the way.

I'm talking 'bout Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal to Liverpool as Director of Football btw, that wasn't a great quote to pick.

has there ever been a "Director of Football" job with a UK team that was more than bullshit PR man tho?

Comolli I guess. You have to think this is something entirely different though. What it would do is heavily restrict who the new manager can be - Martinez has got to be a lot more likely if this comes off.

"Torres is Chelsea's future" - says 34-year-old who kept him out of the team before moving to China.

"Torres is Chelsea's future" - says 34-year-old, failing to stifle his giggles, who kept him out of the team before moving to China.

― Djibril Citté (onimo), Wednesday, May 23, 2012 8:25 AM (43 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"Torres is Chelsea's future" - says 34-year-old who is 20 times the player Torres ever has been or will be.

Newcastle United took the latest step in their successful French revolution yesterday when Romain Amalfitano arrived in the North-east to finalise a three-year contract. The Stade de Reims midfielder agreed in principle to move to Newcastle in February, and he returned to their Benton training ground to push through his transfer from the French side, who have just won promotion to Ligue 1.

Newcastle will not end their interest in France with his signing, either, as they hope to buy two further players from Ligue 1 during the summer transfer window.

The club have already been involved in talks with the Montpellier defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa. The 23-year-old has just helped his team land the title in France, for the first time, and there is huge interest in dismantling a side that was put together for very little. Newcastle are aware they face competition for the central defender, but believe they currently lead the race to land Yanga-Mbiwa as he has indicated he is keen to move to the club.

There is also an approach to Lille to sign their full-back Mathieu Debuchy. The 26-year-old bid an emotional farewell to his club's supporters on Sunday following their 4-1 victory over Nancy. That is seen as the surest indication yet that he is ready to end his 18-year association with Lille, whom he joined as an eight-year-old. That Debuchy is such a good friend of Cabaye is seen as a huge advantage to Newcastle, as they search for a new right-back.

i know debuchy and yanga-mbiwa are meant to be the business, anyone (jibe) know the scoop on amalfitano?

double European Cup finalists Stade de Reims

tbh don't know a thing about this amalfitano and i thought they were talking about the one playing at marseille except that one's name is morgan (and upon googling is the elder brother of romain). so yeah sorry don't have a lot to offer on romain amalfitano since i'm too far to actually follow ligue 2 closely.

Time for Ashley to show that lauded ruthless streak and replace Pardew with a proper manager because that's an incredible squad they're putting together.

^^^ shook

I like how that makes Jibe's post look like a mouthwatering endorsement of the lad Amalfitano

Blatter, Fifa's president, was able to announce the appointment of the first woman on to the body's Executive Committee – Lydia Nsekera of Burundi – although even that landmark moment was clouded in confusion as Nsekera declined to speak to the media until she had received written confirmation.

"She's a lovely lady, she's a tough lady," said Blatter. "She's a princess, the daughter of a sultan. She was really the best choice."

"also rocking boobs"

The embattled Blackburn Rovers manager, Steve Kean, appeared to have survived his latest crisis meeting with the club's owners Venky's, the poultry company, in India yesterday, having convinced co-owner Anuradha Desai that he remains the man to lead the relegated club back to the Premier League.

Whether Kean will make it through the summer without losing his job remains to be seen but his efforts yesterday are understood to have centred upon telling the key figures who own Rovers he would be crucial to persuading Junior Hoilett to re-sign for the club.

The Canadian winger, who is highly-regarded by many Premier League teams, is out of contract next month and the club are still trying desperately to persuade him to sign a new deal. While this prospect seems remote in the extreme, Kean has long told the owners Venky's that his future at the club is crucial to how Hoilett regards his own future.

lol idiot

which?

Think what Hoilett is saying is "Kean out".

How good is Hoilett exactly? I get the feeling that if he were all that, Venky's would've flogged him already.

Maybe they don't know about the "Bosman Rule" and think out of contract players can't go anywhere.

Is Kean in one of those jobs where you get to write your own appraisals?

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02224/cech_2224878k.jpg

nyerrrrd

Hoilett looks v good to me, anytime I see him.

How good is Hoilett exactly? I get the feeling that if he were all that, Venky's would've flogged him already.

― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 23 May 2012 11:19 (5 hours ago)

Well he isn't worth a penny, regardless of talent, thanks to his contract being up. Wouldn't mind him to replace Benny Noon tbh

Lille's highly sought after star Eden Hazard has agreed terms with Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea, according to the player's agent.

The Belgian is now deciding which team to join, and will reveal his decision after Belgium's international friendlies against Montenegro and England.
"We are no longer in the negotiations stage," Hazard's agent John Bico told the Telegraph. "We have reached agreement with all parties. There will be no higher bid.

"Eden has already said he wants it to be fixed before June 2. He will decide after the Red Devils' (Belgium) games against Montenegro and England, then go on holiday with peace of mind.
"Eden is in the reflections stage and a decision will be taken quickly. Those who have come forward have a one-in-three chance (of signing him)."

The attacking midfielder has so far been non-committal with regards to who he will join and has dropped hints over the possibility of signing for all three clubs in the past.
However, Chelsea are now understood to be favourites to secure his signature, with the Manchester clubs apparently reluctant to meet his reported £200,000-per-week wage demands.

It is understood that City will only sign the player on wages worth £110,000-per-week as the club's hierarchy believe that, after winning the Premier League title, they do not have to pay over the odds to attract top players.

United, meanwhile, have similar issues over wage demands, and also the £35 million price tag which Lille are likely to demand for their player.

sick to fuck of this cunt already

got eventual Real Madrid player written all over him

Utd also apparently "in talks" with Everton about Baines. Would be delighted with him, Kagawa, plus another midfielder

http://i.imgur.com/bZbw2.jpg

Haha, that's excellent. The headline I mean, not the transfer. Let Everton alone.

oh noes 12 matches without a certain stupid cunt ;_;

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

think of joey while u watch this

sick to fuck of this cunt already

― pet tommy & the barkhaters (darraghmac), Wednesday, May 23, 2012 12:18 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

bears repeating

Who was the last player to come to the Premiership with this level of hype/interminable transfer saga behind him? I'm thinking possibly Arshavin and we know how that worked out.

aguero?

i guess he was more hype than 'transfer saga'

Robinho was a good one, p sure he didn't know who he'd signed for until the press conference

Mata too, I think. He could have easily ended up at 4 different clubs and was crazy hyped.

nah, not really. I know Liverpool were mentioned but it felt like Chelsea kind of snuck in for him

iirc spurs failed with the levy hardball, arsenal didnt get their shit together before his release clause ran out and then he was too expensive, lolverpool thought downing was the way to go, chelsea came in and did it in a day

even still he was hyped but not interminable hazard hyped

Hazard's good. I liked Mata better but it's easier to look exciting playing at the Mestalla imo.

The Suarez deal took ages to get tied up, but I don't recall anyone else showing any interest.

feel like hazard's just gonna be a lot of this in the end

http://i.imgur.com/ldK12.gif

He was fouled more than any other player in Europe this season, but he also lead Ligue 1 in successful dribbles, and assists, and scored 20 goals.

led*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuoQK1EN0O8

i was third in ligue un for dribbles fwiw

would feel more sorry for barton had he done the job properly on aguero.

Yeah, this really seems like something that needs addressing

Referees are set to be subject to drugs tests, Fifa's medical chiefs have revealed.

Match officials now have to pass stringent fitness tests and the world governing body's medical experts say they should also be tested to make sure they are not taking performance-enhancing substances.

Fifa's chief medical officer, Jiri Dvorak, told a conference in Budapest: "We have to consider referees as part of the game.

"We have started to discuss this and this is something for the future which will be discussed to include possibly an anti-doping programme for referees.

"We do not have an indication that this is a problem but this is something we have to look at. The referees are a neglected population."

Michel D'Hooghe, the chairman of Fifa's medical committee, added: "The referee is an athlete on the field so I think he should be subjected to the same rules."

Meanwhile, the World Anti-Doping Agency's director general, David Howman, told the Fifa medical conference that it may change rules to allow players from team sports who are banned for doping offences to return to training – though not playing – earlier. He said: "We are looking for ideas on how reductions for an early return to training can be done."

D'Hooghe said players in team sports were hit harder by drugs bans than individual athletes such as runners, who are still able to train and therefore return to competition as soon as their ban ends.

they should be providing them with complimentary drugs

So the guy in charge of drug-testing has said he needs to be given more work = more responsibility = bigger pay deal? Standard issue politics, but honestly, how exactly does the referee having nandrolone biscuits before every game give anyone a competitive advantage?

I should stop being surprised every time someone from fifa says something idiotic, but I'm not quite immunized against puzzlement just yet. ffs fifa.

Was there anything else on the agenda at this conference?

there was a nice buffet apparently

somebody shd stop Clattenburg dropping acid tbh

There was a sour note to Blackpool's defeat, with Ian Holloway having a screaming row with doping-control officials after the match.

Dave Jones, a loser here with Cardiff two years ago (against Blackpool), made the point in the match programme that as a manager "you have to choose your words carefully [when talking to the team post-match] because it can have an effect when the players come back."

Holloway had similar thoughts as he tried to gather his squad together "to tell them how proud I am of them", only to find Kevin Phillips and Barry Ferguson whisked away for drug tests.

"Don't give me that bullshit," he screamed. "Your rules are just so much bullshit. Use your discretion. I want all my players in one room – now!"

There was a sour note to Chelsea's defeat, with Didier Drogba having a screaming row with offical doping-control officials after the match.

Jose Mourinho, a loser here with Real Madrid two years ago (against Barcelona), made the point in the match programme that as a manager "you have to choose your words carefully [when talking to the referees post-match] because it can have an effect when the players come back."

Drogba had similar thoughts as he tried to gather the referees together "to tell them it was a fucking disgrace", only to find Tom Henning Øvrebø whisked away for drug tests.

"Don't give me that bullshit," he screamed. "Your rules are just so much bullshit. Use your discretion. I want all my referees in one room – now!" Meanwhile John Terry was reported to have put on a Barcelona kit to celebrate with the winning team.

Haha, gold. I've been very disappointed to find out that even Øvrebø thinks he had a stinker that night. I seem to be the only person standing who thinks he not only made the right calls, but that they were the correct decisions too.

be srs

Manchester United skipper Patrice Evra has told Eden Hazard to make the move to Old Trafford.

The Lille star is presently considering offers from United, Manchester City and Chelsea.

It is understood that the highly-rated Belgian has agreed terms with all three Premier League heavyweights.

Evra said: "I'm not his father but, if he comes to Manchester, I assure him that he will win titles. That's if he joins my Manchester not the blue side."

"I'm not his father but I might be his brother; it's hard to keep track."

Can't let myself believe this yet

We may rename a section of the website 'The Daily Eden Hazard' because it seems that everyday there's a new snippet of information suggesting he's closer to joining a certain club over the others interested. Sky Sports News today were still reporting today that Manchester United is his favoured destination and now some outlets in the French media are backing that up.

Le10sport.com, a major football based website in France, claim that Eden Hazard made a decision last weekend to join Manchester United. They cite relatives of the Belgian player as the source and say he was even ready to announce his decision to the wider world.

However, his agents wanted him to hold back as they were still negotiating deals with both Manchester City and Chelsea. Le10 claim that Eden Hazard is prepared to take a lower salary at Manchester United because it's where he wants to play.

They say he is ready to make a 'financial sacrifice' because Manchester United is the 'choice of his heart'. A personal meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson, where the United manager explained an exciting project to Hazard, is said to have made his mind up and if it wasn't for the intervention of his agents he'd have signed a contract already.

Nevertheless they report that an agreement is very close on a five year contract with Manchester United

ive not seen that much of him but he doesnt seem to be a 442 winger at all

sooo

If I were Eden Hazard and I'd made my mind up, I'd be signing before turning out as prime Shawx magnet in Belgium's imminent friendlies.

he doesn't really seem to fit into any of the prospective teams too well. City have Nasri and Silva for that role, Utd have Rooney, and Chelsea have Mata. Don't really care though, getting one of the most exciting young players in world football would be quite a coup. Setting myself up for a major disappointment here i know

hazard behind twp or welbeck would be interesting

the welbeckian pele

yeah and Rooney did alright up top in 09/10, even if he doesn't like it

4-3-3: Jones, Tiote, Carrick; Nani, Rooney, Hazard.

every attacking player who isn't an outright centre forward would like to be a #10 floating around wherever their fancy takes them, most of them need to be told where to fucking play

dog latin wrote this on thread DJs post your mixes for download on board I Love Music on Aug 27, 2008

DJ Dog Latin - Rogue Mix July 2008

http://baldmonkey.co.uk/rogue/dj.dog.latin.-.rogue.mix.july.2008.zip

Tornados - Telstar / Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing / M Beat feat General Levy - Incredible / Gloria Jones - Tainted Love / 50 Cent - In The Club / Elvis Costello - I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea / Nirvana - Scentless Apprentice / Pharcyde - Passing Me By / Sean Smith - Under Me Sleng Teng / Kraftwerk - Autobahn / GZA/Genius - Liquid Swords / Run DMC - My Adidas / Nightmares On Wax - Ethnic Majority / �-ziq - The Hwicci Song / MIA - Paper Planes / Gravediggaz - Bang Yo Head / K7 - Come Baby Come / Beastie Boys - Shake Your Rump / Kid Creole & The Coconuts - Annie (I'm Not Your Daddy) / Cylob - Rewind / INXS - I Need You Tonight / Grandmaster Flash - The Message / Jeff Wayne - Horsell Common and the Heat Ray / La Tour - People Are Still Having Sex / Daft Punk - Da Funk / David Bowie - Let's Dance / Prince - Kiss / Men At Work - Down Under / Grandmaster Flash - White Lines / Queen - Another One Bites The Dust / Belle Epoque - Miss Broadway / Prince - Why'd You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? / Playgroup - Make It Happen (Zongamin Mix) / Lipps Inc - Funky Town / KLF - Last Train To Trancentral / Jeans Team - O Bauer / Afrika Bamaataa - Funky Heroes / Modeselektor - Kill Bill Vol 4 / Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster / The Sonics - Have Love Will Travel / The Rubinoos - I Think We're Alone Now / Sabres Of Paradise - Wilmot / Burial - Archangel / Red Dragon - Compliments On Your Kiss / Battles - Atlas / GTR - Cops / Rotterdam Termination Source - Poing / Praga Khan - Injected With The Poison / Purple Haze - Eden / H.A.Z.A.R.D. - James Brown Is Dead (Gary D Deadly Mix) / Pigbag - Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag / HN Style - James Brown Is Still Alive / Hennes and Cold - The Second Trip (DJ Scot RMX) / Alice Cooper - School's Out For Summer / Johnny Harris and Chrysus - Don't Pigeonhole Me / Tim Taylor - The Horn Track (Luke Slater Mix)

lolling hard at this 'ilx first mention'

i think jones may end up better as a midfielder than a cb or rb, he has a bit of gerrard type density about him

I still don't buy him as a midfielder. He needs to be given a fixed position though

yeah else he'll end up some sort of horrible twp of the back six, careening into challenges all over the place

probably making choo choo or whiaaaaaaaaow or vrooooom noises as he does so

twwp

'When the final whistle went, we didn’t really know what the score at City was. But then we heard the Sunderland fans cheering.

'It was sad to see that because they should be supporting their own team really.

'They didn’t have the best of seasons so for them to be cheering like that was sad.

'It was something myself and a lot of the players won’t forget.'

oh, twpaws

United confirm Glazer is alive after rumours of owner's death Manchester United have announced that rumours circulating on the internet are false

that could be any one of the Utd fans who play for Sunderland

It occurs that Rooney might never have attended a game as a fan; he may genuinely be shocked that fans don't just turn up to cheer their own (see also: Cape Town, 2010)

If hazard goes to Utd, does that mean Kagawa to Arsenal? If he's set on Prem football then we can offer that, well for a season at least.

hazard twp nani
kagawa

cleverley and kagawa in the same midfield would be a bit lightweight

and now thanks to IK I wanna listen to 'Wilmot' by Sabres of Paradise.

It looks like a cracking mix actually, doubt it's still up sadly.

Lol! I didn't even notice that this was on it too:

Elvis Costello - I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea

haha

citeh have nasri and silva
utd have rooney
chelsea have mata

utd have rooney
utd have rooney
utd have rooney
city have nasri and silva
chelsea have mata

and

utd have

rooney

be fair they've got Howard Webb as well

yes they have Rooney, second top scorer in the league last season, ninth in goals and sixth in assists all time

focal point of a 100m attack or w/e, no berbatov/keane at spurs or rvp last season

Also- he plays a lot in a team that wins a lot, regardless of performance level (refers to both)

Also, iirc webb is ahead of him for utd assists

I'd been really looking forward to the close season

but at any rate, cmon silva/nasri/mata these are not valid rooney comparison players? Aside from being talents, like

aye, and Nasri, Mata, and Silva are surrounded by bargain basement tat. Look, i dislike Rooney in a lot of ways (and as an actual Utd fan have more reason to than most of you) but just be leave it

they play in the roughly the same position. That's the comparison

ur persistent stanning for this player is becoming one note and predictable imo

yeah, i suppose we should be talking about real talents like "Thudd" or Krancjar or whoever

anyway, position posmition, ask anyone who's seen em to pick the three similar players out of the four, you know that the pasty fat one without is gonna be left on the kerb crying into his box of maimed kittens

xp

Uh

Is that sarcasm? Cos....

and i never made a comparison in terms of technical ability or style, I was simply talking about where Hazard would fit into the teams.

instead of rooney imo

look, Rooney is a good player who maybe never fulfilled his full potential. He plays for the team who finished level on points with this year's champions and was a major contributor to that. He's a bit fat, not exactly a looker, and he's got a stupid nickname. Do we really need to discuss this any further?

ya

darragh's twp hatin' becoming as stale as #N's stannning.

Grauniad has one of those 50 transfers list things and it is predictably stupid: Suarez will cost as much as Neymar and more than Gotze, Hoilett will cost £10m despite his contract being up etc. Also it isn't exactly surprising but it doesn't care about anyone unless they have been vaguely linked to the top clubs in England (Not even big non-English European transfers are mentioned, like Guiseppe Rossi's eventual move to a big Italian side, nor transfers OUT of England, like how Balotelli may leave). So unless the top 6 (Pool not Newcastle) spend £100m on whole new forward line-ups, I don't see it being weighted in much realism.

otoh it has this picture, which made it worth browsing

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/5/23/1337798987632/Fulhams-Clint-Dempsey-cel-018.jpg

the dempsey to BIG CLUB rumors have quieted down a bit of late

lots of excellent pics in that article actually
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/5/23/1337798993863/Lazios-Anderson-Carvalho--020.jpg

You fuckers, I was going to poll those later! It's Berba vs Skrtel tbh.

darragh's twp hatin' becoming as stale as #N's stannning

this is p unfair on #0 imo, considering i p much always start it

also:

ur persistent stanning for this player is becoming one note and predictable imo

― pet tommy & the barkhaters (darraghmac)

i dunno did y'all read the intent of this post correctly, but it may not have been entirely sincere nor without an element of selfzing

What I like and dislike most about Rooney is his attitude.

I bumped the other thread, this one is for transfer speculation. So either plausibly link TWP to Metallist Kharkiv or take it over there. imo.

fair

i'm internet-challenged at work and busy in the evenings so i've no notion of what's happening

Arsenal are ready to open the bidding for Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud by offering £6.4m, plus Marouane Chamakh, for the 25-year-old.

Transfer rumours very much in character.

I think they might hold out for slightly more.

I think they're just trying to reassure Chamakh that he's still a £20m player.

QPR are set to rush through the permanent £3.2m signing of Samba Diakité after clubs were alerted last night to a possible loophole in his loan deal with Hoops.

Back in France it is understood one of the clauses that triggered an automatic €4million (£3.2m) transfer was a minimum number of games for Rs believed to be 10.

The man who plays internationally for Mali made only nine appearances in a Rangers shirt after a virus cut short his season.

Diakité has made plain his desire to join QPR rather than a switch to Marseille or Lyon when he was made available by Nancy.

But those working on his behalf are set to test the water with other Premier League clubs following the player’s impressive start in west London.

A source close to Nancy said: “The club are happy to sell Diakité to QPR for the agreed amount. Nancy is not a club who can afford to turn down a big money offer. But of course he may be desirable to other clubs as well, and the deal has yet to be ratified.”

fuckkkk i don't like the look of this one bit

if he cried off our last couple games to give himself more options he's a right little cunt

http://twitter.com/DuncanCastles/status/204230346596823041/photo/1

haw

looks like m'vila to arsenal is on after all

http://www.thenational.ae/sport/football/liverpools-owners-want-attacking-football-and-champions-league-qualification

Swansea City's announcement that Brendan Rodgers had declined the offer of an interview followed preliminary discussions about high-profile Dalglish signings he would want moved out of Liverpool, according to a friend of the Northern Irishman.

no mug is our brendan

Celtic striker Gary Hooper has outlined his ambitions to one day play for Barcelona but has stressed he is happy to see out his Parkhead contract.

Good for him. Following in the footsteps of our Henke.

He's the kind of penalty box scorer with good movement and instincts that England could do with btw - except he plays in the wrong country and Hodgson would apparently rather lump high balls up to a guy he outscored in the Championship.

Daily Mail headline writers got the "lol SPL" memo, I see:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2149857/Gary-Hooper-wants-play-Barcelona.html?ITO=1490

yeah that's mean. so how good is he? (saying england could do with his skills leave a lot of room for clarification) any premiership clubs been linked with him?

i like hooper, definitely think he's got the knack

whether that by itself makes a top class footballer is another thing tho

He's decent, and I think would shine in any set-up that provided chances for him.

twitter saying qpr are getting fabio on loan for next season

sounds like a crap signing to me

depends on whether it refers to capello or the model/actor

any premiership clubs been linked with him?

New boys Southampton had a wee bite in January and might have another go. No rumours I'm aware of about anyone else. He's currently being offered a new deal and making noises about having a crack at the Champions League with Celtic but things can change quickly when/if the cash rich EPL comes knocking.

I think he's a better goalscorer than Jelavic but not as intelligent or productive around the box. He's usually as selfish as you'd expect from a penalty box player - excellent knack for finding the far post across the goalie. Uses his body well for a relatively wee guy. Quicker than his awkward running style suggests. His goals per game ratio so far is better than Henrik Larsson's - though imo the league is of a lower quality than it was then so that doesn't tell that much of a story.

As r|t|c* says - he's got the knack. It's something you just see in a certain kind of player. Feed him and he'll score.

* I can't help thinking Rangers Tax Case when I see those letters.

Fabio will be good, and i hope he stays in England when he goes on loan. I like this quote from Berba's agent

"Plus, there has never been a Bulgarian player at PSG, so it could be good."

dunno i'm probably just feeling burnt after macheda the useless cunt

implication he'll be here instead of taiwo is what's unwelcome mainly. if he's to compete with onuoha for rb then fair enough i suppose, saves the pennies

plus sparky's not up sir alex's arse like most managers so i guess it does suggest there's plan to it at least

How much did Macheda actually play? He is shite obviously

didnt dmac say he was gonna start a thread about england b teams or something, yer man hooper's a prime candidate for that

think if defoe wasnt there you'd like to think a football man would see hooper's otherwise rare talents and call him up for a once-over at least

xp i dunno, couple of games? maybe half a game, either way it was immediately apparent he'd be pointless. starstruck warnock signing

WEST HAM BID 7M FOR BAS DOST

Do not let this happen, other 19 members of the Premier League. Although, if he laughed at the idea of going to Villa, i'm not sure spending a year picking up balls rebounding off Kevin Nolan's arse is going to have more appeal.

Time for a Bas Dost thread I say.

BIG SAM SEEKS BAS-RELIEF

is a headline i didnt see today

remind me again why we're forcing the cult thing onto this dude?

Sometimes you just know, y'know? Here's his chance to let us down in record time.

on his way to Utd or Arsenal allegedly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JKRr605voU&

surprised swansea appear to be being given a free run at sigurdsson

It’s been my first full season. I thought I started well and then had some ups and downs towards the end. Overall, I am happy with the way things have gone. From where I was with the injury that I had I think I’ve done pretty well. It was a long season and it was something my body has not been used to. It was quite obvious that I would get tired towards the end. To ask me to play to a high standard week in, week out in the Premier League when you think of the pace that goes with it, was very physically demanding.

People do forget how long I was out of the game and what happened.

?

nice to see italian police wait until the end of the season to arrest lazio captain Mauri and... possibly search the home of Juve boss Conte

I'm seeing conflicting reports on the Conte thing - he has at least been part of the investigation and some say his home was one of the 17 searched.

Liverpool need to slow down on Martinez, Emery could still walk in the shadow of Rafa

Emery, who has already accepted an offer to coach Spartak Moscow next season

ok one day i'll learn to do more than read headlines

hiddink is all but confirmed in DoF role?

Getting the manager/head coach to do press conferences and gee the team up a bit, and the dof to do everything else (tactics, signings, youth set-up etc) seems a smart move to me. If that IS how they're gonna do it.

Van Gaal is it not

https://twitter.com/hazardeden10/status/207052543505858560

"...and you can find out my decision on my live tv special"

Johnny Stokes, voice of the people.

Johnny Stokes ‏@johnny_stokes
@hazardeden10 your a twat. Your not even in england yet and I dislike you. Your not messi or ronaldo.

p sure that tactics fall under coach's remit, essentially the goods are supplied as per yr operational requirements, up to you to then get results.

Traditionally tactics fall under the coach's remit, but I don't see why it necessarily has to. Managers who are good with the press are often not the best actual managers, and the Rafa/Hodgson/Kenny run of poor public faces maybe convinced them to switch it up a bit. I mean, why pay Hiddink an enormous amount of money just to sign players when his reputation is largely based on his tactical nous?

guys, why do you keep saying Hiddink

fair question, i can't answer it tbh.

but, dof role is really designed as a background role providing longterm supply of suitable players and taking the responsibility for transfers out of the hands of a coach that may typically stay in the role for only a few years.

There's an argument for tactics being allied to that role, i suppose, but were you to make that argument then you'd not really be leaving a role for a coach. tactical decisions inform selection, probably have a lot of influence over motivation, and why you'd want someone dealing with the press when they aren't actually answerable for these calls i couldn't say- or, at least, call a spade a spade and just have the pr guy do it and forego the pointless 1st team coach role entirely?

hiddink and van gaal are the same person, NN? Hiddink Van Gaal?

Emery, who has already accepted an offer to coach Spartak Moscow next season

Ooh you are awful... but I like you

Haha Number None, Eden Hazard is acting v Lebron-esque. Shame he's not currently one of the best 2 players in the world.

Dunno whether anything's happening at Liverpool or not, but Brendan Rodgers is now favourite with some bookies. Klopp's odds have also come right in. That run on Hiddink still hasn't materialised though.

Do these betting exchanges accept bets on someone NOT becoming the next LFC manager? If so I would look into re-mortgaging my house to put money on Klopp not taking the job.

Emery, who has already accepted an offer to coach Spartak Moscow next season

Ooh you are awful... but I like you

― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Monday, 28 May 2012 11:54 (49 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha

van gaal dof is going to be a big fat fuckin car crash just you wait

what happened to martinez? thought that was a done deal, having ice cream and all.

also it looks like gylfi is staying at swansea? that makes me happy

http://www.goal.com/en/news/596/exclusive/2012/05/28/3131748/sevilla-in-hunt-for-reo-coker-agent

uh huh

The press still says Martinez to be confirmed tomorrow. I just happened to notice he was no longer favourite and thought it odd. I don't actually know if anyone knows anything tbh, it may all just be Dave Whelan shooting his mouth off.

Just give Van Gaal the manager's job if the alternative is Martinez imo

did not know that bobby martinez has released an autobiography. will have to get myself a copy.

apparently no one wants to sign you Eden because you waited too long. sorry about that Eden you'll have to stay at Lille. Awkward!

http://i.imgur.com/2O3oy.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/2O3oy.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/2O3oy.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/2O3oy.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/2O3oy.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/2O3oy.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/2O3oy.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/2O3oy.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/2O3oy.jpg

http://www.footballfancast.com/2012/05/championship/return-of-pride-will-stop-hammers-going-for-barton

i know picking on random bloggers is fish in a barrel stuff but oh how i lol'd long and hard at this

content tbh

valuable content

oh well

Eden hazard ‏@hazardeden10
I'm signing for the champion's league winner.

Hazard heading to Manchester

Lille star Eden Hazard has confirmed he will be playing in Manchester next season, but refused to say whether it will be at City or United.

Last Updated: 14/05/12 at 21:18

Hazard's future has been the subject of intense speculation for some time with a host of clubs across Europe chasing his signature.

The Belgian international revealed over the weekend he would be quitting Lille at the end of the season after six years at the club.

City and United have both been strongly linked with Hazard having watched him on several occasions this season with reports suggesting City are in pole position to land the playmaker.

The 21-year-old has now confirmed he will be moving to the Premier League and will be plying his trade in Manchester next season after being named Ligue 1's Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

"To Manchester, I've already said," Hazard replied when asked about his likely destination at the end of the current season when speaking at the awards gala.

"The decision will be taken soon."

expect a follow up tweet along the lines of "...the 2013 Champions League winner. Now that I've signed for them."

he sounds like a scummy little cunt

hate this arsehole.

chelsea are just so utterly repugnant, if he had any sort of choice (and it must be supposed he did) then fuck him

cuz yes notionally he has less competition, but the whole club is so badly run that he could experience a similar fate to torres, or to lukaku, or to duff, or to veron, or to cole, or to mutu, or to crespo or even robben or however many other promising/established attacking players were poorly managed there

another wanker on the pile, good to have them all in one place at least

oh the pile spilleth elsewhere tbfttl

Eden Hazard on Liverpool (2010): "I've heard about interest from them & its nice to be linked with the best teams in the world." (Not exact)

Eden Hazard (2011): "My dream is to play for Arsenal or Real Madrid."

Eden Hazard (2011): "Inter & AC made me offers. Every league has its merits, all the big clubs make me dream.

Eden Hazard (2012): "Maybe I'll join Tottenham, they are a great English club with very good players."

Eden Hazard (2012): "Spain is perhaps more my style of game but if I move it must be to either Barcelona or Real Madrid."

Eden Hazard (2012): "Arsenal will always be an option, they have Thomas [Vermaelen] there and they play wonderful style of Football."

Eden Hazard (2012): "The two Manchester clubs are great, I won't which colour I prefer though."

Eden Hazard (2012): "I will play in England next year."

Eden Hazard (2012): "Chelsea winning the Champions League has made things interesting."

Eden Hazard (2012): "It will either United, City or Chelsea."

Eden Hazard (2012): "I don't know I'll join."

After all the shenanigans i'm not too bothered about it. Hopefully a deal for Kagawa gets wrapped up soonish though

i suppose we should expect hulk to end up there this summer too? good luck with that nando

also sturridge will be available now surely

id rather kagawa cuz it woul signify a likely shift to a more advanced possession oriented tactical scheme that might actually pose a threat in europe and vs the big english sides

hazard is just a winger with airs and graces, after all

Phil McNulty ‏@philmcnulty
So is Eden Hazard unable to just say he is joining "Chelsea" rather than "Champions League winner"?

patience will have snapped

Stuart Holden ‏@stuholden
Breaking News: Eden Hazard caught up in long discussions with Lebron James about possible late move to Miami Heat

controversial felid structure the sphinx has long baffled scholars and tourists alike with its riddles

lol stuey

It's come to something when nult bewails obfuscation. Hazard needs to join Steaua or Red Star now, it's the only way to make amends.

this guy is the worst

a hazard, you could argue

i dunno guys, this is WWE-level heeldom already, i'm amused

yeah except he is just trying to be a twitter tart rather than a dioufian antihero

he is playing la salope according to old-school French wrestling custom iirc

look forward to him laying out one of Stoke's CBs with a metal chair to the head next season

hes roman arkadyevich's bitch now

£32m! No wonder Arsenal haven't been mentioned for months.

Not the right move imo - he should've gone to Utd.

i dunno guys, this is WWE-level heeldom already, i'm amused

― Cyders from Mars (Noodle Vague), Monday, 28 May 2012 22:53 (13 minutes ago)

eden hazard is drew mcintyre getting the intercontinental championship because he would rant about "the kids" using their "twitter and facebook", only for no-one to give a shit and for him to end up in tna next year. (p certain i already got excited about one overpriced winger from lille before, can live without seeing another one disappoint next season).

we need more balotelli and barton heels. in football and in wrestling.

xp they've got the best wee amc in the league tho

when tony blair joins the qpr consortium i'm done with it all

mata?

Hazard's pedigree is a little bit more impressive than Gervinho's tbf

'they' referred to utd

Chelsea have beaten off competition from Manchester City — who had been clear favourites to sign the exciting Belgium international but grew frustrated at the negotiations — Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur after becoming the only club who would go close to meeting the forward’s demands.

City are thought to have walked away from the deal last week with Spurs giving up some time ago. Hazard, currently on international duty and preparing to face England in a friendly this weekend, indicated to Chelsea on Saturday that he was set to accept their offer and yesterday took to the social media site Twitter to announce that he had “made up my mind”, adding last night: “I’m signing for the Champions League winner.”

Chelsea will pay a fee of around €40 million (£35.3 million) to Lille, with Hazard having demanded wages of £4.6 million a year net of tax, so around £9  million a year for his new employer. That averages out at £170,000 a week.

In addition his agent, John Bico, who has conducted an aggressive auction has made it clear that he wants a fee of £6 million. If all the demands are met and with Hazard expected to agree a five-year deal, it means the overall cost of the signing, fees and contract will amount to around £78 million which, even by Chelsea standards, is a substantial investment.

Chelsea hijacked City’s deal after receiving a call from Bico on the eve of the Champions League final with the agent telling them that he could persuade Hazard to join them if his demands were met.

so much for abramovich losing interest eh

Ah but Battersea's the big test, and they're way out of the running for that apparently.

swansea in for dos santos, more good stuff from brendan

That would be great.

Spurs have apparently released Saha.

otm, otm

Moyesy kind of merked you with the whole Saha/Pienaar thing

depends on yr pov, 'spose.

We got a very good midfielder we could have used a lot more.

They got a fee for a player who was about to leave on a free, and got him back a couple months later on loan.

His wages prob doubled.

Arry didn't do it for nothing, i'm sure.

One for the scrapbooks, that.

Saha was ok, but i mean we're 451 and he's no 1. didn't cost anything tho.

oh right, i thought there was a fee of some sort for Saha. That's not so bad then

p sure it was a free or a nominal

free

Mrs. van Persie (his wife):

"'Arsenal showed faith in Robin when he was going through a lean time, so we should not repay them by thinking about other clubs.

'Our home life and our children are happy in London.'

Mrs. van Persie (his mum):

"Arsenal love him and that`s a great incentive to stay. Arsenal are a fantastic club, They have no debts and Robin is idolised there."

aww.

Do what you're told, rvi.

he'll sign a four year bumper contract and get a three and a half year injury

well Mrs van P will be glad to have him at home i'm sure

he cd pick the kids up from school or something

Better than him signing a four year bumper contract with someone else and not getting a three and a half year injury. xpost

how!

sell, sell now, before he sols you up the river. You'll still get 20m and his stock can only go down

because he'll score goals and win championships with someone else and i really can't be doing with that again and arsenal don't need £20m as his mother points out.

He's probably getting a lot of "banter" from his team mates about his wife/mother running his life and he'll go to Spain/Manchester out of spite.

deems I get your point re his history of brokenness but getting rid of the best striker in the country because he might get injured seems a tad wrong for a club with any pretence at challenging for anything

20m plus his wages isn't sniffy money tbph

Sell sell sell. We should sell modric. If bale opens his mouth sell him too. Market price pretty much always favours the selling club, get him out get a few players in, what odds?

Ye'll never win anything under wenger again and ye'll never finish outside of fourth, why bother with any one individual player so much? If wenger has proven anything over the past seven years it's that selling key players has no bearing on the mission.

Well yeah, I think this has been the single point I've been labouring the most on this board over the past three/seven years that I've always felt has fallen on deaf ears. But that doesn't mean you actually WANT the best players to leave.

I'm not sure they finish fourth without RVP. Depends on the business of Chelsea & Spurs I suppose - or Man U sinking like a stone.

the russians offered 40m and nasri went for 25m so... selling for 20m does seem unwise

so be it, get price but sell

lol what point on deaf ears? that no player is irreplaceable?

the only question is is wenger capable of replacing departed players the way he once did

£25m is good money but £25m can also buy you mertesacker, santos, random korean bloke, arteta and a bumper new 50k a week deal for djourou

pienaar tbf like kranjcar was never going to be a good squad player the way he is a good player for everton, it's first team main man or nothing

i guess there's an art in spotting your kalous and o'sheas that goes beyond just talent

saha was a decent free but weirdly overused, arry vanity idk?

that 5-0 v newcastle is probably gonna be the high point of arry's life

lol what point on deaf ears? that no player is irreplaceable?

the whole "arsenal are fucked if they lose [insert name of star player that inevitably goes to barcelona/man city]" line that gets rolled out every summer that i've always dismissed on the basis of football being a team game, and that good teams make star players, not the other way round.

yeah... not so much deaf ears as basic simplistic truism that isn't worth acknowledgment

missed all the xps, sorry folks

truism that's tested at arsenal a lot more than's usual, tbf to upto11

i knew i'd stayed out of this thread for a reason.

awww

xp to onimo- not sure that spurs haven't just peaked for a while tbh

Yeah I think so too, I also feel that Man U are in the last throes of holding onto any kind of supremacy over the league, and not just because of City. Chelsea will surely improve. Everything from 2nd-5th up for grabs.

yeah this next year matters

it'll be city v united again far as i can see

arse/spurs/chels may be a bit closer to them but still squabbling amongst themselves ultimately

wenger's arsenal getting relegated after they lost anelka to real shows that they can't just sell their star.

wenger's arsenal getting relegated after they lost anelka to real petit and overmars to barca shows that they can't just sell their star(s).

wenger's arsenal getting relegated after they lost anelka to real petit and overmars to barca adams, keown, dixon and parlour to retirement shows that they can't just sell/lose their star(s).

wenger's arsenal getting relegated after they lost anelka to real petit and overmars to barca adams, keown, dixon and parlour to retirement pires, ljungberg and campbell to their last go around big paychecks shows that they can't just sell/lose their star(s).

wenger's arsenal getting relegated after they lost anelka to real petit and overmars to barca adams, keown, dixon and parlour to retirement pires, ljungberg and campbell to their last go around big paychecks henry to barcelona shows that they can't just sell/lose their star(s).

wenger's arsenal getting relegated after they lost anelka to real petit and overmars to barca adams, keown, dixon and parlour to retirement pires, ljungberg and campbell to their last go around big paychecks henry to barcelona ade and toure to city shows that they can't just sell/lose their star(s).

wenger's arsenal getting relegated after they lost anelka to real petit and overmars to barca adams, keown, dixon and parlour to retirement pires, ljungberg and campbell to their last go around big paychecks henry to barcelona ade and toure to city cesc and nasri in one summer shows that they can't just sell/lose their star(s).

omg arsenal fans are so fucking stupid

how could it be utd?

how?

i mean i know i said this last year and every year since 2003 but how could utd possibly finish in the top four next season with that squad of chumps?

like everyone else is just aggressively opinionated about stuff but this lot don't even understand the question xp

stupid because i am bored of this 'omg but where will they be if they sell rvp' thing? they'll be in the same place, in that good/mediocre/underperforming way they have been since the last year in highbury.

fergie zombie horde man idk. good vibe about kagawa if that happens too

top four would only be mediocrity if wenger ever bought eleven first team players at once- as is, it's v good considering he has a crop rotation approach.

Southampton in for Jay Rodriguez at £7m. I've never seen him play tbh.

I love the yearly predictions of Utd's demise. Bring it on

Yeah, I'm gonna give this up. I'm still staggered that they amassed 89 points last season. My anticipation of their demise will go no farther than predicting that they get 6 pts fewer next season.

I think their squad looks weak at the back (fitness, age, availabilty) and at the front, Rooney aside (Owen and Berbz being replaced by people who get games and score goals might help - or getting more out of Wee Pea).

Don't really see us getting a striker what with Berbatov barely getting a game this season. I can see Will Keane being promoted from the reserves, if only for Carling Cup games and the like. Kagawa coming in (Guardian reporting that a fee has been agreed) mixes things up at the front too. I'm happy enough with the defence although a left-back is needed for sure

SEVEN MILLION!!

SEVEN!!

i did like the look of rodriguez but that's twice what he's worth at most

fockin loco mayne

it does seem a bit steep, but it sounds like there were a couple of bigger clubs sniffing around him too so perhaps that pushed our offer up. he's a good signing anyway and we will definitely have the best strikeforce in the championship 2013-14 season.

does anyone know shit about him?

guessing he is one of those fairly quick champo winger/forwards who dribbles by kicking the ball about 10 yards ahead and runs after it

Odds slashed on Rodgers for LFC now, he's meeting the Swansea chairman for talks this afternoon apparently.

He could have at least brought Sigurdsson with him!

Yes, they were awesome. The way Adam has turned into the most likeable character is pretty amazing

― Number None, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 13:59 (6 minutes ago) Permalink

couldnae resist :(

bit of a stretch

sigurdsson will be good or shit next year, do we think?

nice epitaph for dalglish's liverpool imo

sigurdsson clearly has talent, good sense and a peerless work ethic

hoffenheim selling him for 7m is kinda like ba on a free

sigurdsson will be good or shit next year, do we think?

― pet tommy & the barkhaters (darraghmac), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 15:11 (3 minutes ago)

if rogers is manager or they get a manager who plays similar tactics, he'll be really good imo.

if rogers goes and they get a steady defending-is-all-important type, i think he'll get lost in the shuffle.

ohh, rodgers is new lfc manager. or he's been given permisison to talk to them. depending on who you believe. hi brendan.

Certainly would please me more than Martinez.

i'm torn. i've spent the last few days gazing at pics of bobby and watching interviews, so sure was i that it would be him. he's just so lovely isn't he.

definitely more keen on rodgers.

brendan does have an excellent selection of checked shirts. it's a tough one for sure.

Rodgers is better imo. I'm really uneasy, but then I criticise big clubs for not looking downwards when appointing, so I'll bury it for now.

Is it van Gaal-Rodgers, or just Rodgers?

very interesting appointment, i wish all parties well

u&k q re dof tho

i'n't language wonderful?

no idea if it's van gaal or txiki begiristain.

pep segura from the academy supposedly having more of a say in 1st tema matters too, but no-one seems to know for sure. could still be bobby. who knows? dave whelan probably knows.

any sign of hiddink?

can't see him cause the money in the way

i'm torn. i've spent the last few days gazing at pics of bobby and watching interviews, so sure was i that it would be him. he's just so lovely isn't he.

― Chris, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 15:23 (21 minutes ago) Bookmark

austerity measures biting hard, time was when people would wash your brain for you

bobby to villa then? oh oh oh, or..., bobby to swansea? hmm, i wonder.

villa shurely

hughton to wba

dimatteo to swansea

good managerial possibiities next year imo, so long monkey heid

not ruling out lambo to villa just yet

a lot depends on dimatteo i spose, if he leaves chelsea he'll start august an epl manager tho

rangnick to west brom is the latest rumour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qOeuzeNfQ8

fyi while the 1327th go-around on rvi and rafa was happening, reading have seemingly got a lot lot richer today with their own crazy russian tycoon becoming an official 'fit and propa' owner.

I really liked the look of Rodriguez when I saw us play Burnley last year - very solid all-round striker, proper line-leading type. Old-head-on-young-shoulders sort of player. I'd reckon he's ready for the step up and would be a very good addition to our bunch.

That said... £7million for a guy with no top-flight experience is perhaps a sign to selling clubs that we might perhaps be there for the taking. Summer's gonna be interesting.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Stevebrowne (talk | contribs) at 17:18, 28 September 2001. It may differ significantly from the current revision.

Nintendo was originally founded as a trading card company in the 19th century, a role they still play to some extent, but they are far better known as one of the greatest video game developers. Known affectionately as the big "N" or "Ninty", Nintendo have been responsible for some of the of the most exceptional videogaming software and hardware.

The Hardware

Game & Watch
Nintendo Entertainment System (rest of world) / Famicom (Japan)
Famicom Disk System (Japan only) - a large number of stores in Japan had machines which had many hundreds (thousands?) of games stored upon them. For a set price, a blank disk was bought and games selected and wrote to it, very popular in Japan, suprisingly never seen anywhere else (or was it?)
Game Boy - the original smash hit
Game Boy Advance - the new, more advanced version of the Game Boy
Virtual Boy - not one of the Game Boy family despite sounding like it. The Virtual Boy used a poorly developed 3d virtual reality like system, it was in red monochrome and induced nausea. Games wise it was the worst Nintendo release ever
Super Nintendo aka Super NES (rest of world) / Super Famicom (Japan)
Nintendo N64 - 2d is dead, or is it? the N64 saw Nintendo fully embrace the 3d game worlds that Starfox, Pilotwings, and Super Mario Kart only pretended to be
Pokemon styled
64DD - only released in Japan, this add on system games are on rewriteable disks. Games released include a paint and 3d package, F Zero X, for creating new F Zero tracks and a few others
The Software and Franchises

Mario Brothers etc. - Mario and Luigi, have to wonder about the names though, Mario Mario and Luigi Mario. Seen in countless videogames, on cereal boxes, stickers, t-shirts and even (an awful) movie. As well known as Mickey Mouse
Zelda - a huge and sprawling game world, features hundreds of characters. The main character, strangely isn't Zelda, but Link, the elfin hero of every adventure
Pokemon
Donkey Kong - one of Nintendo's original arcade games, back when they developed for the arcades
Tetris - The killer app for the original Game Boy

interesting, but what does dave whelan think?

potential goal-scorers cost silly money shocker, gambling on paying over the odds for a possible 15-20 a season striker = hell go for it

whoops, I was battered last night and misposted.

Dave whelen strikes me as more xbox kinda guy.

Ledley King becomes a free agent next month but is set to be offered a new 12-month contract at Tottenham when he sits down for crunch talks this week.

Read that at "crutch talks" the first time.

20k per match imo

No wonder Ian Harte's so fucking slow!

It is uncertain, though, that they endured the agonies to which Harte subjects himself, wearing size six-and-a-half boots on his feet which are two sizes bigger. "I know I'll have problems when I'm older – and I am getting on before anybody says it," he said. "But it has always worked with tight boots to get the ball up and down and try and trouble 'keepers."

I'm surprised he can even jog!

iirc ronaldo is a size 9 and wears size 7 boots, which would explain his almost ian harte level free kick taking skills

So if he wore the right size boots he'd be even faster!?

he does have a weirdly ballerina-like running technique i guess

maybe if he wears proper shoes he'll turn into maurice greene with the technique of andy carroll

Depressing me today: that Kagawa-to-Utd is being covered entirely from the perspective of commercial possibilities in Asia

it's a valid concern

there is one school of thought [citation needed] that beckham's move to madrid was one of the worst sales ever (ever) cuz he repaid his fee so many times over with commercial endorsement shite etc

Yeah, I'm with you IK. I think the Guardian went with "austerity signing". As if Kagawa wasn't gonna y'know improve the team which is the point of signing someone.

can't someone design boots that fit for fk takers to wear?

I highly doubt Fergie has ever signed or will ever sign anyone on the basis of "shirt sales". Ok, maybe Dong Fangzhou...

park

come on guys, we all know kit deals are the measure of a club's achievement

Kit Deals, the rangy defensive mid from Trinidad and Tobago

Park is a fucking great player etc. He did a job for most of his time anyway

He also wasn't a signing from out of nowhere, I mean he'd been pretty good for PSV and had CL experience iirc

he's prob the best korean player ye could find, no doubt

it's a bit insulting to park who had been an important player for cl semifinalists psv to say that he was bought for commercial reasons

kagawa is a good signing at the price cuz he only has a year left on contract (srsly dortmund might have got him to longer than a 3yr contract)

but having signed him, his commercial value does become a thing

never thought of Park as a sop to Asian commercial interests, for one thing he seems too low key and for another he genuinely has been a solid utility guy who fits perfectly into Fergie's "mundane cogs in a brutally efficient machine" ethos

lol apposite but unrelated display name

even though Park is kind of a low-key guy he's still something of a god in Korea. But yeah, he's a total Fergie signing

Sure Kagawa's appeal is some sort of factor in going for him (most properly reflected in his price imo). But he's a good player too! The media's making like Utd have signed some sort of prodigiously efficient travelling salesman.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2012/5/30/1338376943545/Leighton-Baines-008.jpg

look at that fucking head

not my fault he's a typical fergie signing, tbh

is he still running his drownedinsound 2004 column on the everton website

"this week i have discovered an exciting new band called Northside"

randle mcmonkey

that small boot thing is insane, i had no idea

esp being like slippers the way they are these days anyway, ballerina otm

Rodgers to be confirmed in next day or so, seems pretty solid, BBC guys tweeting it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18235961

I'll take that, I think.

yeah i'm tentatively pleased.

Him turning down the first interview because he didn't get assurances about shipping out dead wood, assuming it's true and he's stood by it, potentially turns into a massive positive.

idk i would still bet martinez although this whole process has been bizarre

what of sigurdsson? will brendan just leave him as bargain parting gift and then go off to work with charlie adam?

i wouldn't bet martinez because... it's on the bbc?

I'm assuming that if 'dead wood' means anything, it means Charlie Adam

Gerrard

and Adam, tbf

well, we could go on

good in the transfer market and has a long term ethos but if it's gonna be an overhaul i find it unlikely he'll get top 4 immediately

but then this is the moon on a stick fsg will have to deal with not getting from any candidate

I'm curious which Swansea player would be most welcome at LFC if Rogers could bring one with ... suppose Gylfi would be consensus pick? Britton, Sinclair? I quite liked Danny Graham last season.

ok this makes me legit excited about liverpool.

I'm curious which Swansea player would be most welcome at LFC if Rogers could bring one with ... suppose Gylfi would be consensus pick? Britton, Sinclair? I quite liked Danny Graham last season.

― boxall, Wednesday, 30 May 2012 14:21 (1 minute ago)

they could do with ashley williams as a solid 3rd choice centre half.

poor overlooked Seb Coates

Top 4 is unlikely, but not that unlikely imo. Newcastle nearly made it immediately after an overhaul, from a worse position than Liverpool - though arguably the way Bren's going to do it will be a bit more difficult.

... who I've just learned is half-Scottish, and he still couldn't get a match under Dalglish. (xp)

joe allen but then there's henderson ahead, neil taylor a decent back up for enrique

vorm for reina is an improvement too these days tbph

brendan is a maximiser of ability (someone like britton is talented but not outlandishly so) therefore in theory it's what he could get out of what's already there. i do find it a little exaggerated if he's thinking "must get andy carroll out for danny graham"

idk though tbh it's hard to assess swansea given every time they've come to loftus road they've been blown right out the water and the whole thing's felt like a big joke

What on earth is he going to do with Carroll?

They lose Kuyt this summer and Bellamy's getting old for a pacy striker, they should look to get someone in even if they hold on to Suarez and keep AC for the retrograde option.

he's prob the best korean player ye could find, no doubt

We've got one yous can have, Korean footballer of the year. £4m.

Actually we've got two and we'll throw in the other one for free.

I'll get rid of these surplus players yet.

"A lot of players watch videos of others. I'm not scared to say I watch videos of Messi and Ronaldo, I try and inspire myself from them.

"Great players inspire you. The best player I played with was Gervi [Gervinho].

"We didn't have the same qualities, but we both tried to make the difference. He taught me some things. He makes the right runs."

Hazard went on to reject suggestions he is a poor trainer, adding: "What I like best is the nutmeg. I don't go out on the pitch thinking I'm going to do it because it comes instinctively. My left foot's not quite as strong as my right.

'It is very exciting to hear the news. I haven't seen so much of the French football but everyone I speak to says he is a very top player, a very top young player,' Lampard said.

"He taught me some things. He makes the right runs."

Wisely stops at that point in describing Gervi[Gervinho].

everyone I speak to says he is a very top player

Not since David Kelly has a source's identity been so compromised

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmVBtMkN6CQ

Hazard went on to reject suggestions he is a poor trainer, adding: "What I like best is the nutmeg. I don't go out on the pitch thinking I'm going to do it because it comes instinctively. My left foot's not quite as strong as my right.

Was it Davids or Seedorf who liked nutmegging people so much their coach called it a form of masturbation?

Anyway, Rodgers would be cool and if he rates Sigurdsson then maybe all is not over for Aquilani. Poor old Martinez though, fsg would rather give the job to the guy who didn't want an interview. Feel like the first season of the job will be quite nice cos it really shouldn't take much too improve the league form by 12 points or so. Of course that's not gonna make CL but it means the manager can point to progress made.

telegraph says:

The clubs are currently discussing compensation for the 39 year-old, with Swansea likely to receive a payment of between £4m and £5m.

It is also understood that Liverpool will not now be appointing a director of football.

Reports had suggested the club were seeking to install a high-profile figure such as Johan Cruyff or Louis van Gaal, as well as a manager, but it appears Rodgers will be in sole control.

So we had a plan, and then tore up the plan. Nice start.

perhaps the plan was predicated on covering perceived shortcomings of some non-Rodgers candidates

imagine it might have been rodgers' condition

Mohamed Diame, Martínez's former midfielder at Wigan, has revealed he was set on a free transfer to Liverpool until Dalglish was sacked as manager.

The Senegal international, who is out of contract this summer, said: "I met Kenny Dalglish and we talked about next season but God decided to finish this situation. It is true. I was very sad in my head as I was thinking to go there but that is okay as I think I have got other opportunities to go to another club."

ay, you may both be right there
xxp

All these managers Liverpool have been linked with - Martinez, Rodgers, Villas-Boas, they all play broadly the same way and none of them play in a way that will work with Liverpool's existing midfield, so I dunno how much money the owners are planning on throwing at them to sort the problem out.

hope diame doesnt get in trouble for accidentally revealing the shadowy david stern figure ruling over the epl

xp £30m reportedly (but most likely made-up)

Not really sure I agree with that Matt, 3 of the back 4 are decent on the ball and look to pass. The midfield can be guilty of trying difficult passes when simple ones are available but I don't think they lack the ability to do so if instructed?

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Football/Pix/pictures/2012/5/29/1338322889033/Swansea-City-manager-Bren-008.jpg

lol at the paperback now a major motion picture brad pitt edition of moneyball on his desk.

xposts. in theory a midfield three of lucas, henderson and aquilani would be perfect for our bren, but with lucas out for maybe half of next season and aquilani probably on his way that just leaves hendo for the time being. and adam.

plus maxi of course, but he'll be on his way unless some or all of kuyt, carragher, cole and aquilani get moved on. i'd be amazed if we end up keeping all those players taking into account age/wages/contribution to the 1st team etc.

or wait, is that a dvd?

moneyball hey. guess that was the clincher.

haha i missed that. strangely amusing photo even besides

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/brendan-rodgers-the-day-jose-left-chelsea-it-felt-like-someone-had-died-2271087.html

good profile here

That's the same desk as I'm sitting at now, down to the computer, except without the book and internal Swansea report. But mine is more impressive because it's got an extra wheely bit that slides out. So much for EPL riches.

Yeah my ideal team from what we currently have would prob be

---------------reina--------------

kelly-----skrtel--agger-----johnson

----------lucas--henderson--------

---gerrard---aquilani------downing

--------------suarez-------------

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/swansea-city/8541337/Swansea-City-v-Reading-Brendan-Rodgers-Barcelona-model-is-more-than-a-passing-phase.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/11/brendan-rodgers-swansea-city

bellamy >>>>> downing

balague saying swansea have 'prepared reports on managers from la liga in case rodgers was leaving'. pep!

The last few Villarreal managers (Valverde, Garrido, Molina) are available, they'd be a playing style match for Swansea anyway.

think rodgers sans dof is a better package than anyone who was in the frame with dof, that's a plus anyway.

V interesting v interesting indeed.

so who to villa now?

Hughton to wba is on, right?

villa to sail on managerless into the new season like a ghost ship, discovered floating adrift some time around christmas, all souls lost

beeb sticking their neck out and saying rodgers is done now, everyone else more tentative

wba supposedly don't fancy hughton's £2m release and are looking at ralf rangnick which would probs be very shrewd of them

if beeb say it, it's definitely true. they are a billion times more tentative than anyone else.

With Sky confirming that Rodgers is speaking to Liverpool this afternoon, it's just confirmed what I've thought of Brendan big b*****ks for some time. He's a liar just the same as Martinez. The situation has been exactly the same. He's gone to ground just like Judas did as he feels embarrassed that he's been exposed for what he is. I for one never bought his crap about the Swansea Project and feeling at home in Swansea. He should remember that we picked him up off the scrap heap when no one else would touch him.

If he does speak to Liverpool then there's no coming back here for him. The sooner he goes the better. Lying rat. He knows exactly what he's doing to the club by going. We've backed him by putting up seven million for a player. That deal will now fall through and I have no doubt he will come back to try to take more of our top players.

The only thing Rodgers has been interested in all along is boosting his own standing. I wish him as much bad luck as possible. I hope he's sacked by Christmas. That is all

jacks taking it understandably well

lol that reminds me of the Blackburn I saw interviewed the day Shearer left after delivering the league title and 112 goals in 138 games. "What would you say to him if he were here now?" "Good riddance and thanks for nothing"

who is jacks?

Swansea City and its supporters are unofficially known as 'Jacks'. One explanation for this name is that during the 17th century, sailors from Swansea were respected and any 'Swansea Jack' was allowed to join the crew based simply on the town's reputation for good sailors. Many, however, believe that the name originates from the renowned life-saving dog Swansea Jack.

BBC confirming it?

Despite Kagawa's obvious appeal in Asia, United commercial director Richard Arnold denied any suggestion players were signed to boost profits.
He said: "Our popularity in certain countries or regions may depend, at least in part, on fielding certain players from those countries or regions.
"We don't sign players to sell shirts. We are reliant on 25 players and they are all massive stars. We have 25 George Clooneys.

We've backed him by putting up seven million for a player

I guess that's one thing to take away - in the modern football economy, Gylfi Sigurdsson's worth £1.8m more than Brendan Rodgers.

Wild guess - they replace him with Karl Robinson. Or someone else hires Karl Robinson. One of the two.

poyet, zola

you would have to assume sigurdsson is liverpool's now surely

can't have poyet
xp

well they can i guess, but as someone who used to go watch brighton i'd rather they didn't

hoffenheim will prob makes us take babel back as part of the deal
xxp

1829: some prick on twitter: Carroll may as well leave Liverpool this second. He will be lost in Rodgers' short passing approach. Terrible decision

shouldnt gerrard be more worried

is that the bbc's description "some prick on twitter"? I would hope so.

Would love if training consisted of BR yelling "NO!" every time Gerrard attempted a pass over 20 yards long.

Eh, Poyet'd be fun cos the him-Adkins spat is too funny not to bring to the highest table.

(Also - Jay Rodriguez is worth £2m more than Brendan Rodgers)

Zonal Marking's team of the year

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee512/zonal_marking/toty.jpg

the fuck kinda 4-4-2 is that, sort it out

statscock's on the fritz as well, hart conceded way more than 17 in 38

Three-year deal and £5m compensation does trick

^^ <3 this graun subheader ^^

cup of tea just ticket

second-best league in the world

Also, is Milan letting Pirlo go the worst transfer of all time?

no

I like this little profile on the BBC news site (top story in Northern Ireland). One 'County Antrim man' and two 'Carnlough man's in the first five sentences.

that is surely nult

'carnlough man' sounds like one of those celebrated proto-hominid skeletons

the carnlough man will have lain in the loamy soil for some 350,000 years before his excavation by the famed merseysiders

HIS SON IS CALLED ANTON RODGERS

sigurdsson deal done i thought?

i thought they'd agreed a fee, not sure he's actually signed.

lfc could do a lot worse

that'd just be too cruel on swansea though wouldn't it

nyeah fuckem

i think sigurdsson will still go to swansea, perhaps it's more attractive to him. Personally i think he's more than good enough to be a starter for LFC but if he isn't sure of that i doubt he'll take the risk of being a 'squad' player at LFC.

why

why aren't arsenal busting nuts to sign him?

nah it'll happen unless there's an ostentatious display of honour from sig. the whole move would make sense plus they're mutual loyalists, brendan coached sig in the reading yoof system remember

Swansea have agreed a club record £6.8m fee with German outfit Hoffenheim as well as personal terms with the player, but he is yet to put pen to paper on the move.

Sigurdsson was involved in Iceland’s friendly against Sweden in Gothenburg last night and was due for a medical at Swansea later this week before completing the move.

Speaking when he first signed in January, Sigurdsson said: “Brendan was a huge reason for me coming here. We had a quick chat, but he didn’t need to sell the move to me.

“He’s a terrific coach. I respect him as a manager and that’s really important.”

ouch

Best for swansea to asset strip that squad right about now i reckon /jaded

yeah u gotta feel for swansea, today has been one almighty kick in the jacobs

job lot to pool for 40m and the loan of carragher as player/manager imo

get some wingers and No. 9s up in there

which city has the better fishing, Swansea or Liverpool?

hull

Lotna ehf's boats catch lumpfish, cod, catfish and plaice and Gylfi's chairmanship makes him a prominent member of the Icelandic fishing industry.[45]

Lambert out?

the icelandics are a big noise in fishing tbf, maybe second only to the dutch in europe in the big circles, course it's all gone to fuck now, i don't wonder he's keeping the football options open

surely Spain are as dominant in fishing as they are in football right now?

stealin our fish

strictly talking pelagic obv, i only ever remember us, the two mentioned above and the norwegians being worthy of mention tbh, and in terms of fleet the biggest factory ships all tended to be dutch or irish (but built in norway)

Should graph footballing fortunes vs share of eu mackerel quota imo

and yea the spanish were cunts for breaching the 12 mile line so they were actually stealin our fish

By far the largest fishing fleets among the EU Member States, in terms of power, were those from Italy, France, Spain and the United Kingdom; in 2010, the fishing fleets of each of these countries had a collective power of between 0.8 million kW and 1.1 million kW. In terms of tonnage, however, the Spanish fishing fleet was by far the largest (415 000 gross tonnes), which was more than twice the size of the fleets in the United Kingdom, Italy or France.

It is breaking this evening that Paul Lambert has resigned from his position at Carrow Road after furiously reacting to the news that the Norwich City board had refused Aston Villa permission to talk to him regarding the Villa Park vacancy.

whasaaaaaat

xp ya sure, lots of *small* boats

waking up this morning and... the lambert thing isn't being reported anywhere.

Delia Notice

it's a super soaraway sun exclusive so far

whether he formally quits or not doesnt really matter though tbf, villa pay compo either way

Some tactical & training insights on Rodgers/Swansea

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/11/brendan-rodgers-swansea-city

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11669/7787958/Smith-out-of-Reds-running

Gordon Smith has withdrawn his interest in becoming Liverpool's director of football.

uh ok

me too

I'm ruling nothing out.

i guess now liverpool have a manager who ostensibly cares about technical players, joe cole could return maybe

ooooh that's v true

you can prove anything etc

Dan Kennett ‏@DanKennett
In all games: Carroll Starts 29, Win%=55 Points per Game=1.83 | Does not start 22, Win%=36, PPG=1.41

1.83 ppg puts them level with Spurs

In all games vs Ars, Che, MU, MC, NU & Tot: Carroll Starts 10 Win%=60, PPG=1.9 | Does not start 7 Win%=14 PPG=0.86

I've heard it said that he's a big-game player, true. Geat in the latter-stages of the FA Cup, murdered Chelsea recently and Man City (albeit last season), done alright for England.

Maybe he'll have six stormers in the Euros then it'll be off to solve Barcelona's problems.

who's he gonna play the other 3 games for in the Euros?

Rodgers talks about four phases that underpin Swansea's approach when they have the ball. "There is the building and constructing from behind, the preparation through midfield, the creativity to arrive in the areas and then the taking of the goals. These are all areas that we have to continually improve on but that is the basis of our game and it doesn't change."

i'm not much of a tactics wonk but i'm starting to think this football manager thing might not be as hard as it looks

That's all very well, but how long does it take to coach that into players used to Liverpool's more, um, direct approach? I can just see the pool players not blessed with great technique (the usual suspects) getting frustrated, the defense will be in a shambles, and Rogers out by xmas after the fans get on his back. I hope my crystal ball is just being morose.

Lukaku said he had improved in training, was eating far fewer hamburgers and, despite good performances in the matches he had started, had failed to win a regular place in the team. "Chelsea really wanted me last summer and paid a lot for me but after a while I thought are you just throwing money around?" he said.

how much more possession did swansea have than lfc last year? Doubt it was that much more. We're really not talking about the difference btw barca and allardyce era bolton here.

at anfield it was lfc 52.3% - swansea 47.7%. at the liberty, swansea 62.5% - lfc 37.5%

okay, i meant over the course of a season.

swansea's possession was a lot prettier and probing than liverpool's though.

Lukaku prob be best off not bitchin around the place now that drogba's left? His chance is this year, you'd assume.

That's all very well, but how long does it take to coach that into players used to Liverpool's more, um, direct approach?

liverpool played passing football last season, dalglish's approach in the main wasn't long ball.

apparently we were at 55% possession for the season and Maxi was the best passer. We were in the bottom 3 for interceptions though.

Probably in the top one 'til Lucas got crocked

oh and own goal was our 3rd highest scorer. Comolli should get some credit for that signing from Utd at least, on a Bosman too.

it's pace/incision/creativity/width that's lacking. basically everything except possession.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/apr/10/premier-league-possession-battle-tactics

A table of average possession in the Premier League shows a huge gap between seven sides (Arsenal, Swansea City, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool) who all average 55-59% of possession during a game, and the other 13 sides. No other team average more than 50%, and many do not attempt to. When comparing the possession table with the league table, the two greatest anomalies are Swansea (second in possession terms, 14th in the table) and Newcastle United (11th in possession terms, fifth in the table). Their match at the Liberty Stadium was a fascinating clash of contrasting approaches, with Swansea recording an amazing 77% of the ball, but losing 2-0.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4tqyqO3Ts1r3ssh2o1_500.jpg

whole load of lfc stats for the season here http://basstunedtored.com/2012/05/29/liverpool-fc-201112-in-stats/ for those so inclined.

Pace above all. Even incision looks not bad when woodwork is taken into account, though that's pretty much entirely down to Suarez. Moving the ball about quickly is a kind of pace, maybe?

Bramble cleared btw.

That's too small for me. Who did Spurs record 80% against? (and is that 0% possession for QPR and Sunderland there?)

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/05/30/article-2152397-135FAF92000005DC-64_468x387_popup.jpg

I think he still plays for Sunderland unless his contract has run out.
xxp

Lambert's resigned, Norwich have declined to accept.

Was it Blackburn, IK? The match where they didn't have a single attempt on goal?

Long pass into final third: Liv 1049, Swa 614
Unsuccessful long pass into final third: Liv 580, Swa 352

therefore

Successful pass into final third: Liv 469, Swa 262
Long pass into final third success rate: Liv 44.7, Swa 42.7

This short pass good long pass bad shit pisses me off. Sometimes the long ball is the right ball. Sometimes a hundred short passes achieves fuck all.

Not sure what counts as "success" in a long pass into the final third but it sounds like a good thing and Liverpool had lots of them.

long pass more than half of the time means giving the ball away, giving the ball away is always bad

well if a success is the same thing as Andy Carroll "winning" a header, it doesn't count for much

*squints*. I think it might be Bolton, Chris. It also looks like QPR and Sunderland registered 0% against each other in the same match. The post tiki taka age has begun.

giving the ball away is always bad

Nonsense. Attempting to score goals and get in goal-scoring positions requires playing riskier passes, long or short. Many of Barca's 1-2s/through balls/wee lobbed passes fail time after time but no-one tells them to stop giving the ball away.

Giving the ball away anywhere except in the final third is always bad, I'll give you that.

Sometimes hooding it into Row Z is the right thing to do.

hoofing ffs

Lambert's resigned, Norwich have declined to accept.
what a cunt, etc. :)

If he's going to Villa it better be for a fat stack of cash, as career-wise it's a sideways move, and geographically it doesn't get much worse than Birmingham (though, I know, lol Norwich).

A sideways move going from Norwich City to Aston Villa? You're joking, right?

i dunno about it either way, football manager careers can be made or broken in very short periods of time, and fuck-all is going to be achieved at villa in the short term

I don't know, I think they've got a wee bit more potential than Norwich City, don't you?

This short pass good long pass bad shit pisses me off. Sometimes the long ball is the right ball. Sometimes a hundred short passes achieves fuck all.

― a permanent embarrassment and an occasional disgrace (onimo), Thursday, 31 May 2012 15:10 (1 hour ago)

Sometimes a hundred short passes gives players time to get their breath back, especially playing a high intensity pressing game like Barca or Bilbao.

On the Graundiad podcast, someone suggested that Lambert going from an overachieving club to a relative sleeping giant is what he did before at Colchester>Norwich and is what he'll be doing now with Norwich>Villa. He is a smart manager who can get the most from mediocre players, Villa get good crowds, kinda have a City to themselves as a Prem team... but fucking eck the Villa squad is shitty. When your best player is idk James Collins, then shit needs to change.

Then Villa > ?

Villa have loads more potential than Norwich, I don't see how that's even controversial.

Sometimes a hundred short passes gives players time to get their breath back, especially playing a high intensity pressing game like Barca or Bilbao.

Yes, I know. That exact point is in the article I posted upthread re Swansea. I don't think I said anywhere there was anything wrong with short passes. I think there's something wrong with the mentality that says they are always better than long passes (and I'm not stanning for hoofing it up to the big lad all day long). Sometimes a long pass to a big fucker who holds it up and is supported by another forward gives players time to get their breath back.

Swansea's short passing and ball retention and not giving it away etc etc resulted in them losing 25% more goals than Liverpool who apparently kept playing long passes and giving it away. Maybe the stats don't really hold up when you factor in things like players in different teams having differing abilities in attack and defence and strategies taking into account the personnel available idk.

Liverpool have much, much better defenders than Swansea though.

Shitty for Norwich fans obviously, I don't even think that player-for-player than Norwich team is that good so Lambert's worked miracles there.

villa have more potential than norwich, not controversial at all.

Villa are a better fit for paul lambert than norwich, who knows?

Villa will be a safer job for paul lambert than norwich at this delicate stage of his career? Doubtful.

Villa will be happy with a norwich level of success, and indeed have the players to achieve it or the funds to acquire them? Complicated.

seems like lambert had been grousing about his transfer budget this summer so you'd expect lerner's prepared to back him somewhat. unless he's had an abramovich-style change of heart i'm still not really understanding how villa are suddenly flush enough though.

holty at the holte end most likely too i'd imagine?

It also looks like QPR and Sunderland registered 0% against each other in the same match.

I'm just trying to visualise this. Presumably the referee booted the ball straight off the pitch at kick-off, neither team could agree who was supposed to take the resulting throw-in, and forty-five minutes passed with no further action. After a fiftenn-minute break, the same thing happened again.

was warnock still in charge cos that's not implausible

nah that was the late season slump under sparky where sir djib got sent off again for the retarded lunge

didnt see that one but i did the wba game where we supposedly had 60% possession, can assure you it was nothing of the sort

Beeb says Swans are moving for Graeme Jones, Martinez's assistant (from back in the Swansea days too), to replace Rodgers. Which is intriguing.

So Hulk to Chelsea for £38m. So that's £70m on 2 players in a week. I take it Hulk will play on the right of a front 3? Wonder if Sturridge will try to move on?

beware, beware all ye who click on the dreaded graun exclusive

(it probably is on tbf, they're most likely doing a beeb/brendan)

can imagine studge having the ego to sit through another season on the bench before the penny finally drops

-------- cech
ivanovic terry luiz cole
---- ramires lampard
--- hulk hazard mata
------- torres

hmmm. you'd hope that side would be flaky...

hulk surely surely surely plays centre of that

did he used to play on the left bytimes?

no way does lampard make that team ahead of sturridge in some role imo, not going forward (eh not in a footballing sense)

hulk is a left footed target inside-right iirc

idk what ur blithering on about wrt lamps, stick mikel there then

until one of these cunts produces a team sheet you can't imagine yaya toure merrily rampaging down the middle of then it's tuff tits leaguewise tbh

^ this is p much the level of respect i anticipate when posting around here, take note anyone that ever feels inclined to allot me any extra

(it probably is on tbf, they're most likely doing a beeb/brendan)

nah no way, i know i keep harping on this, and i'm not even a beeb stan but i wouldn't believe a fucking thing in the guardian. just from experience, the beeb drills trust into everyone as its entire point of existence. not saying they haven't got things wrong (tho in football i struggle to think of a false story they've broken) but they wait until news is out there to break it unless they are absolutely nailed on sure of a source.

the guardian is full of howlers. the observer led a front page with kaka signs for chelsea a few years back.

yeah no i do believe you, it's just funny how even still a day later no one is saying its done done done like the beeb is

and the crowd roars as brendan rodgers lifts the... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18283519

it is really weird, i agree. especially sky, saying all "big announcement due at 4pm about lfc". usually once bbc says it everyone just follows.

guardian kinda confirming it now, maybe sky just schilling for people to watch ssn...

this fuckin guy is the bane of my ilfe

remember The Guardian's Bale "exclusive"? is that still on

plays the game in what I call ‘The Old Liverpool way’

ah yes that popular coinage

that bale thing was just beyond belief. did nobody at any point think "hmm, how does the internet work?"

i've been out of the loop for much of the close season so far, folks- has there been much in the way of bale speculation?

i think modric will go very soon after the euros, and i think it'll be to utd for a record fee.

whose record?

both, unless i'm forgetting someone past berbatov

We do like paying you lots of money for players. The question is, will he be a dud like Berbatov or go on to become genuinely world class like Carrick?

Rodgers will, however, be the lead part in a sporting director-type model at Anfield and accepted that framework during talks with John W Henry and Tom Werner, Liverpool's principal owner and chairman respectively. Damien Comolli's former duties as director of football are expected to be fragmented into three new roles and further appointments are scheduled for the coming weeks.

Liverpool's new manager will retain a say on transfers although FSG, having paid excessive fees for Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson, does not intend to allow one person to have overall control on transfer policy and fees. A new executive team, headed by Rodgers, will take on that responsibility.

fsg putting the red into tape

carrick was a beautiful deal for us and i crowed at my utd supporting brothers when ye paid over 6m for him

berbatov was worth every penny of the fee, not our fault nor his fault that utd were as well spending it on vintage claret for fergie to piss up against the wall tbh