Jermaine Beckford's Bogus Journey: Football off-season thread 2010/11

google translate says lasprovincias.eu says:

The Valencia has confirmed to the 22 hours that the Barcelona has closed permanently and the signing of Villa for 42 million euros.

The talks were launched at the same time they finished the league and have already been closed for tarata to avoid the 'soap opera' last year and that everything is clear before the tournament.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta will soon end its mandate and its intention is closed off with a few signings before the new president takes office culé entity. Laporta has not hesitated to declare on Tuesday that "negotiations with the Valencia Villa, is in the absence of details to close" .

Fernando Gomez, manager, had said previously unaware of the negotiations , but had modified that''these things''and the president has recognized that Valencia does not rule out more exits .

The Spaniard had been the number one goal for Barca last season, but the management chaos that was engulfing the Valencia and the fact that Eto'o just accept to go to Inter carom that led to the Swedish, the second or third list ("Rooney?), ends up in the Camp Nou.

The arrival of Villa would fit in with the farewell of Henry, apagadísimo this campaign, which was suspected of caring for the World

"suspected of caring for the World" - i too have suffered this calumny :(

co-sign this thread title btw, gotta be better than the stale north london "banter" we'd have otherwise had

Needed to be called Jerlolmaine Becklolford's Boglolus Jlolourney for no reason at all, really.

amend my co-sign, what he said ^

QPR appear to have purchased Jamie Mackie off nasty Argyle.

There. An actual transfer. Some suggestion that Plymouth are in bad financial trouble and administration may be looming, but we'll see about that.

keep yr lower league mickey mouse transfer talk, tbh.

i love football will have room for all of this and more

B-b-but Jermaine Beckford...?

yeah how is i love gobshites coming along darragh? big unveiling must be any day now.

xp, do you rate him tim? (i'm sort of numb to analysing whatever rangers get up to off the pitch these days.) argyle fans seem to have him in the acephalous poultry bracket and are happy to have got rid.

ilg will be a triumph, a triumph i tell you

He was really good for us for about fifteen games in the Conference. I get the impression he's not too bright, but he's quick and he runs and runs and runs and runs and keeps going and going and going and it's always helpful to have one of those in yr team, even when he's not terribly clinical. I'm not terribly shocked to see him being a Warnock player.

Truthfully, I'm most interested in the sell-on clause in his contract.

Ibrahimovic- will Barca need to pay him to leave?

Who sanctioned that deal, anyway?

Unless it's to Man City, the only other club that will pay those wages.

rumors that spurs will sign arda turan from galatasaray with dos santos going the other way. do they need a left winger, ie do people still think that gareth bale will be better as a left back?

The arrival of Villa would fit in with the farewell of Henry, apagadísimo this campaign, which was suspected of caring for the World

http://real.theoffside.com/files/2009/06/1155446493_coming_to_america.jpg

Honestly, Mackie will be a massive improvement over the various on-loan nobodies who've been upfront for the Rs these past few months. Tamas Priskin, the big man who can't head, or play with his back to goal. Marcus Bent, who couldn't even get a game. Jay Simpson at least got goals - but they dried up when Warnock arrived.

i should have more of an idea of arda turan's position, but can someone fill me in?

i think we're all resigned to the idea of bale as first choice left midfielder. what a loss he'll be to the left back trade.

Ibrahimovic will stay, Villa will play left wing. at least that's what Mino Raiola says... honestly though, Ibrahimovic will only leave if he wants to and i can't see him bailing out already because of this

that doesn't mean i'm settling for ekotto, btw!

i saw an interview with harry where he said he thought bale would end up as a left back, though.

arda is a left winger

not sure about that, to be honest.

i still hold out some kind of hope for dos santos, but then i still hold out some kind of hope for taraabt too

Loving Rafa's "I always buy British" statement.

surely i've ranted about that elsewhere today?

maybe it was on email :)

He is on record as having bought somethingsomething Glen Johnson mierda defensa somethingsomething Glen Johnson no impedir somethingsomething Glen Johnson espectador for £18m

yeah spending your entire budget in one year on the only england international you can find isn't the same thing as actually building a british team (which is a load of awld ballocks anyway)

There was Crouchie, who he let go, and Jermaine Pennant, who likes paella.

+ Bellamy, also gone

Scott Carson...

He almost bought Garry Barry.

Wanted to buy Walcott and Ramsey. H'apparently.

Villa turning down £20m for Milner, eh?

― Ismael Klata, Thursday, May 20, 2010 11:04 AM (2 minutes ago)

We already did this in another thread.

My understanding of the Lescott transfer is that City kept making offers, Moyes kept growling "fuck off he's not for sale", and then when Lescott put in a transfer request and started phoning it in they reluctantly cashed in for ahahah £24 million, right?

If it's true that Milner's not actually fussed about a move and will leave it up to O'Neill we might actually see the full extent of how much mental money City are prepared to throw around if they really want someone.

^ yeah

milner's happy enough at villa, in the england team and all that- wouldn't be surprised to see this head north of 30m with ease.

Moyes was a prick over the Lescott transfer, though- worse, he didn't play it smart at all. P Neville's performances in the two games when Lescott 'phoned it in' were much more cause for concern.

Fascinated by the prospect of City accidentally creating a legion of mini-Cities by giving absurd amounts of of money away for quite good players.

trickle down effect works, right wing england rejoices

http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m3/feb2008/0/9/50F8BA98-03A9-62F3-F77EDCF05A3C1597.jpg

Milner might be thinking it's sensible to hold tight and hope than Man United or Chelsea come calling. He's an intelligent, relatively grounded footballer, not a fuckwit like Lescott.

Don't think Lescott had a bad rep until that last year?

As in, let's hold our breath and see.

Rafa's now saying he made a mistake by winning too many trophies in his first couple of years at English football when in reality it takes a few years to acclimatise, which is presumably why he's now rubbish after nearly six years in England.

Yeah, I saw that - every day, a new high watermark for talking bollocks

can't fault the boy's logic

Sometimes I wonder if there's a little truth in that, and sometimes I'd be inclined to wonder whether or not his increasing control over recruitment, transfers, youth development etc are finally bearing fruit.

Rodwell is the one that everybody wants.

Why am I paying £60 to go to Blackpool v Cardiff on Saturday by the way?

For a fight?

Can't tell you how much I want Blackpool to win that by the way. Ian Holloway in the Premiership vs Peter Ridsdale's army of cuddly Welsh thugs in the Premiership. The latter might provide some amusing terrace banter, I suppose.

football withdrawal kicking in reeeeal early?

Dave Jones, wouldn't mind seeing him in the PL, but yeah Holloway all the way

I am in the Blackpool end, mate of mine is a fan (his grandad captained Stanley Matthews).

Last time I saw Blackpool at Wembley they had Trevor Sinclair in the team.

btw would absolutely go to see a playoff final if given the chance, they're always way better than cup finals aren't they?

absolutely stunned by howard webb reffing the CL final

Yeah, the atmosphere should be good as well. Kind of looking forward to seeing the mythical Cardiff monster firsthand.

Cup final wasn't bad, decent first half then it went a bit flat. But atmosphere was poor. Chelsea don't sing and Pompey only have one song and that's a crap one.

they sold to rights to it yesterday actually. sad.

http://dpquiz.co.uk/images/fqq/Dexters_laboratory.gif

"DEEDEE! NOOOOOOOOO!"

Milner 'refusing to commit to Villa' as a result of fairly bland comments, really.

hahahaha swygart

absolutely stunned by howard webb reffing the CL final

― May be half naked, but knows a good headline when he sees it (darraghmac), Thursday, May 20, 2010 11:50 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

~this!!
He's a terrible ref who's had a terrible season.

he'll tear himself apart reffing two big teams, the socksucker

itsadisgrace.gif

I did not have an affair with John Terry says Vanessa Perroncel

hilarious turn

unsurprisingly Avram has walked

http://i35.tinypic.com/34px9tv.jpg

Actual transfer news: Chamakh confirmed at Arsenal

the display name that had to be etc

SAF says berbatov won't be sold
espn says ribery will sign a new contract with Bayern before the CL final.

Grant still not confirmed at West Ham, I don't think
David James sniffing around the Pompey job

SAF says what's with the dorky stripes on the sleeves of this new kit?

http://www.footballshirtculture.com/images/manchester-united-away-10-11-nike-shirt-leaked.jpg

has barcelona signed fibreglass yet?

Dear Jose,

Please don't break my heart and go to the Francoista scum,

love,
Noodle

the reading ambulance service, anders frisk, mario balotelli, pietro lo monaco and now you

Has Rafa given us next year's thread title already?

"Does Liverpool have to win the league, as everybody demands, every year?"

I'm saying yes. Where's that from? He just keeps raising the bar, I can't imagine where he'll be at if he's still in the job come the start of the season.

Daily Mirror.

"Does Liverpool have to win the league, as everybody demands, every year?"

Just once in twenty would be a start.

Maureen wants to take Ashley Cole with him to Madrid. Good luck Chelsea.

I remember that one time Rafa didn't win the league, I was, admittedly, pretty hard on him.

Barca have come to see Eboue

suppose this is the best thread to note relief that Shane Duffy is gonna be ok

Sources close to Mourinho dismissed the possibility of an attempt to liberate Ashley Cole from Chelsea, where he is rumoured to be unsettled. While a tactically intelligent central midfielder is also part of the recruitment strategy, there will be no move for Frank Lampard.....

Other players under consideration for the position include Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard

So yeah, Mourinho goes to Real Madrid, lasts the standard one year in the job, and is in to replace Mancini at Man City by 2012, right?

While Because a tactically intelligent central midfielder is also part of the recruitment strategy, there will be no move for Frank Lampard

Fixed

Mourinho will go to Utd before City.

Possibly in that actual order.

Free Ashley Cole. The Gerrard deal is already done I assume. Anyone know how far in advance these things get sorted? i.e. have Real been lining up Mourinho's team all year?

The thought of Real finishing 3rd with Stevie Me and Cashley on board is pretty inspiring tbh

Gerrard's club career peaked with a fluked 2nd. Calling it.

was hardly a fluke, to be fair

I don't understand you when you say things like that.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Sport/Pix/columnists/2010/5/23/1274634547824/William-Gallas-is-tipped--006.jpg

William Gallas's Bogus Journey

also

“Ancelotti wants me for next season and now everything depends on Liverpool. Chelsea will have to pay some £6m but I believe that in the end I’ll be moving there.” - Yossi Benayoun.

Really bad news. Yossi had earned the right to be a mainstay, instead of rafa pissing him away in cameos.

Now Ancelotti can piss him away in cameos instead.

Gerrard's Liverpool career peaked with a Champions League winner's medal innit.

5 years ago today! Day before my Geography AS Level. Not much revision got done that day.

Day of finishing 3rd year exams in college. Not much of anything got done that day.

Arsenal's official site starts talking about the Gary Cahill rumour? For a website that didn't mention the likes of Arshavin, Chamakh or Nasri until they were holding the shirt (and we'd known of their transfers month(s) in advance), this is... perplexing. Cahill to Arsenal or a very awkward smokescreen?

also peter tiger-wood saying barca have never put in a cesc offer, let alone a satisfactory one in his time at arsenal.

eh, there's a bunch of stuff under that transfer linked heading (as you'll see if you scroll down). If you sign them all, then good work.

huh, guess i just haven't been paying attention as of late. checking arsenal related news at the moment is like walking on a rubbish landmine filled field.

Robbie Keane to Villa for ridic money (15m!!!) was a radio sports bulletin yesterday over here, but there's not a whisper anywhere else. hart is broek.

Arsenal's official site starts talking about the Gary Cahill rumour?

£14m to remove a defender from a northern club make sense - one less leg break per season across the front line.

Thought Robbie Keane was going to Celtic to partner Kris Boyd?

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=keane+villa

whispers everywhere tbh

rumour alone worth 3m imo

15m?

fifteen million?

£15,000,000?

no wonder the majority of clubs are fucked. i think even i have been scammed out of money reading that.

wait most of those are 3 years old. sigh.

i mean if you want a past-their-prime striker, fucking THIERRY HAND OF A FRENCH GOD HENRY is on a fucking FREE. but no, 15m for Robbie fucking Keane.

dude you just linked to a £14m Bolton defender then got all ?????? about an extra mill for the top scorer currently playing in the Premier League.

xxxp

i never said the one i linked to made sense, i was just surprised to see our normally quiet website saying something.

robbie keane is the premiership current top scorer? really? higher than owen, beattie, phillips and rooney? /surprised.

or drogba. or anelka. or lampard. surely that can't be right but then i don't care enough to wiki.

We've got Kris Boyd in a Celtic jersey front and back page of The Sun up here. Nothing makes sense any more.

Keane was second in the 00s list behind Henry so I assume he's first now - didn't think to add 90s guys who can still walk.

That's right.

Hmm well maybe Drogba and Lampard overtook him since his loan.

Owen, Lampard and then Keane.

If Henry moved back, it'd be him, and Anelka, Heskey and Rooney arre coming up fast.

Most WTF name in top 40- Brian Deane

Owen's ahead of Keane (dunno is he's still technically a Premier League player) and Lampard just overtook him a couple of months back while Robbie was away playing in the Disney League.

lampard beats him by 4 if my calculations are correct.

by 8, actually

still, i thought the obscene money was leaving the league (except city oil trickle down etc.)

Owen 147
Lampard 129
Keane 121

Shearer

260

Ref Assists- 150 minimum

You can search for the shortest players each year, BTW. fantastic.

Shearer - Fatalities 126

Gareth Barry- 3rd all-time in the fouls list. WTF?

Anelka, Heskey and Rooney arre coming up fast.

Aye, if Emile keeps up his current rich vein of form and Robbie never kicks another ball he'll catch him in 5 or 6 years.

http://www.statbunker.com/football/ktg/index.php?PL=ktgalltime&Code=EPL&TeamID=&statType=leadingGoalScorers

Ordering this table by strike rate is intersting - Darren Bent is above Robbie Fowler and Cristiano Ronaldo. Robbie Keane next to Dion Dublin. Bellamy > Lampard.

This always strikes me as being like those dudes who knock thousands of runs every season in County Cricket but fail consistently at International level - not comparing like with like

yeah anyone could score 3/5ths of their penalties against spurs.

Nobbie Solano is 6th on the all time assists table!

(taking these stats with a pinch of salt but srsly who'd have put Solano 6 places above Beckham?)

premierleague.com has solano in 14th

berbatov at 16th

giggs, lampard, gerrard top 3 assists,

no mention of beckham?

So if you're frequently injured then you can't get a permanent deal at Liverpool? Or is that just Fabio Aurelio?

Barcelona have made contact with Arsenal regarding Cesc Fabregas, but have yet to make a formal offer for the midfielder.

[...]

The Catalan giants' director general Joan Oliver has now revealed tentative contact has been made with their Premier League counterparts as Barca weigh up their next move.
No hurry

"There is no offer yet," Oliver told the club's official website.

"It's true the player has expressed his wish to play for Barca, perhaps this coming season.

"We have had first contacts with Arsenal in which we made known our intention to talk and that's the current situation.

"We are not in any hurry and you never know how long these operations can take."

Barca waiting to see whether Madrid really do sign Cashley & Gerrard.

The shortest 'longest winless streak' is Barnsley's six-game effort at the start of 97/98. The crappest 'best winning streak' - who can forget Stoke's stunning two-match run last month?

Stoked if the benayoun rumour is true, we should have pounced on him in january but now we are swooping, which is nearly as good.

I love Yossi. Sad face.

That's me with the sad face. Although after last season I'm sure Yossi is somewhat devastated, too!

Everyone likes Yossi, I think. One of very few players in the Premier League that can run and control a football at the same time.

All the sadder if he just gets Joe Cole's seat on the bench. If Liverpool do lose him, Gerrard and Torres, that's going to be one workmanlike team next season.

I'm coming round to the idea that nothing much is going to change at Spurs, Chelsea, Liverpool or United this season.

OTOH - Liverpool without Gerrard or Benayoun, Arsenal without Fabregas. Give or take a serious injury to Rooney, we could be in for a really weak Premiership elite next year.

the level of technique for expenditure is probably at an all time low in the pl right now, and reduced expenditure won't help that

Spurs doing their bit by charging like a motherfucker for the technical players we sell

Is Robbie Keane off to Celtic?

difficult to say for sure but there does seem to be a divergence between the english and (especially) spanish leagues in the sort of football they play

when ppl like mancini talk about how the physical development of football still lags behind technical innovations, you can kinda see how much further there is to go in producing super athletic counterattacking teams w/ highly organized tactical schemes

The buzz yesterday was to Villa, with Jenas- Now that I think of it, some reporter probably just searched and found one of my wishful posts here.

Except for Mourinho xp

inter are kinda an anomaly, they are extremely reliant on counterattacks but they're not rly close to the ideal i think mancini imagines

they have a very technically adept defence, ppl like chivu, lucio, maicon have better technique than a lot of attacking players in top english sides, and they also play with a fairly classic #10 in sneijder

dunga's brazil are slighly closer, and obviously mourinho's chelsea of 2005 even more so

Was thinking of Mourinho's Chelsea specifically- also agree that his defenders are usually technically gifted, moreso than many of his preferred players in midfield/attack

zigic really stoked to join birmingham

http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/design05/images/2010/0501/nikolazigic20100501_412x232.jpg

Happy anniversary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQmO3S2eLPE

Aside from Birmingham, have there been any transfers at all of note?

foster, zigic, chamakh, sandro, villa, drawing a blank after that...

"I will only say one thing. I have great respect for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal Football Club and for the Arsenal fans," he told reporters.

"Sometimes not even in my house I've felt more loved than I've felt at Arsenal.

"I had a long conversation with Arsene and it was probably the greatest conversation I had with someone in my life. I respect him so much and I don't want to say too much about this."

The Gunners boss has told Fabregas to make sure that his full focus is on football ahead of his country's World Cup campaign.

"He told me to concentrate on my football, to concentrate on the World Cup and to leave it in his hands," Fabregas added.

"He will deal with whatever happens in my future and that's what I'm doing - just concentrating on football. It's not up to me anymore.

"It's just now about Arsenal and whoever it has to be and that's it. I don't want to say anything else and I just want to be focused for the World Cup because it's the most important thing.

"The rest is the future and I'm not interested in the future."

---

Guess that is goodbye then, once the cunts from catalonia double their offer.

I can't be bothered to read the other thread, remind us what rash promises you made if this deal goes thru?

I said if he goes this summer for less than something Kaka-transfer-esque I would eat my own testicles.

We'll hold you that then

I'd suggest maybe a light tempura-style batter?

Ed probably has a recipe for it somewhere

1025 BST: Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has held a secret meeting with Barcelona president Joan Laporta in Morocco where he is on holiday recovering from a leg fracture. The Spanish champions have denied that they have an informal agreement with Arsenal not attempt to attempt to buy the 22-year-old this summer.
Full story: imscouting.com

I've been trying to cut down, I really have. I hate been that Arsenal supporter with tl;dr questionable footballing opinions. But I feel a rant coming on.

How the fuck are the press still running with this?

Cesc has said he's not going anywhere like a billion times.
PHW has said we aren't selling him and that anyway, Barca aren't interested in even bidding for him this summer.
The teammates have said that its a non-story.
His fucking dad has come out and said it's a non-story, he's staying.
And most importantly Wenger comes out once a week and says we are in a good financial state and don't need to even think about selling a happy captain who's on a long term contract. Even if Barca did want him, which they don't atm, we wouldn't even consider the bid presuming its under Kaka-esque figures!

So why do the press still run this bullshit story? Are they not sick of it already? It can't be selling them more papers, getting more website hits. Mix it up a little, say Real have decided they can't get Ribery so they are going for Arshavin. Say that Arsenal aren't rapey enough for Robin van Persie, so he's going to hang w/ Anderson and Nani at Utd. Just say something different, you are boring the tits off the population of the world already.

― tart w/ a heart (a hoy hoy), Monday, 19 April 2010 11:06 (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Are you saying he didn't meet with Laporta?

― i would just like to point out that i have been antimony on this thread (onimo), Monday, 19 April 2010 11:10 (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha

― caek, Monday, 19 April 2010 11:11 (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

The day a Barca transfer rumour is actually true is the day I eat my own balls.

― tart w/ a heart (a hoy hoy), Monday, 19 April 2010 11:11 (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Laporta himself isn't even the potential Barca president as of this summer and has said publicly Cesc isn't one of his targets (Ribery, Silva, Vidic), so yeah, I'm saying they didn't meet.

― tart w/ a heart (a hoy hoy), Monday, 19 April 2010 11:13 (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Are you saying that Fabregas will definitely not move to Barcelona this Summer?

Becuase, frankly, I wouldn't be betting against it.

― just darraghmac tbh (darraghmac), Monday, 19 April 2010 11:17 (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Probably just a coincidence that he would decide to take a wee break in Morocco when Laporta was there on business. Maybe they just bumped into each other in a hotel and decided to do lunch.

― i would just like to point out that i have been antimony on this thread (onimo), Monday, 19 April 2010 11:17 (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

gonna bookmark the last few a hoy hoy posts for later use

― maybe rabbits feel the need to play up their 'lynchian' qualities (acoleuthic), Monday, 19 April 2010 11:18 (1 month ago)

^ Gamekeeper turned poacher

game recognise game

I don't think Fabregas will force a transfer, btw. So Arsenal are in a good moment, I think,

:D

still not buying that rumour tbh. last two times our players have been known to meet up with other club representatives we have made a big fucking song and dance to fifa about it (hleb meeting inter for ice cream, ashley fucking cole.)

And, to this day, both are still Arsenal players and proud of it

also lol innocent pre-ribery-hooker-scandal times.

Yeah Hleb was ridiculously good behind Milito in the Champions League final for Inter. Just saying I didn't believe that meet. I'm 100% prepared for Cesc to leave. If this was fm I'd be currently be putting in cheeky bids for Riquelme, Pirlo and Essien.

We'll never sell you Huddlestone, just to save you the time.

10m+Eduardo+Almunia for De Rossi/Toulahan/someone similar.

Also Doyle's just gone up another million after his classy goal last night.

I don't think we could deal w/ thudd tbh, not enough of a 'footballing' team.

De Rossi not moving to anywhere but Madrid.

Toulahan sounds like a tough New York Plays-by-his-own-rules goddamit 1970's cop.

I'm sure there'd be interest in Almunia, he is the best English goalkeeper in the Premiership after all

a summer with no transfers is gonna suck then huh. well until the last day of august when city finally decide 'ok you cunts we will pay 76m for [x] and [y]'

Doyle's gone up another million after another total-centre-forward display tbh

We shd be fine, he's just said he's very happy at Wolves.

Everyone Irish is following Trap to Celtic btw so stop adding millions to them.

Trap can gtf imo

The Tender Process Trap

If there are no transfers, there are still rumours. One of them is that after shamelessly getting Chamakh for free, Arsenal are about to make a 28 million € offer (or something along those lines) to Bordeaux for Gourcuff.

He looks like a decent prospect that Wenger could turn into a real player imo.

Yeah i agree. And tbh he really doesn't have reason to stay in Bordeaux : Chamakh is gone, so is Blanc with whom he got on very well (Blanc who's replaced by Tigana btw). Alou Diarra is probablyleaving too, so really the entire backbone of his team is on its way out. I def see him leaving if there really is an Arsenal offer.

I was kinda kidding!

West Ham not resigning Guille Franco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5uTBsa9Sgs

I'm a bit sceptical wrt Gourcuff to Arsenal seeing that I imagine that, with Cesc gone, Wenger would try to position Nasr as a nr. 10.

plus Gourcuff has had a pretty shitty year so it would probably be unwise for Bordeaux to let him go this summer at a discount price

http://gfx.dagbladet.no/labrador/118/118707/11870777/jpg/active/503x.jpg

"Just Bendtner. 'How are you?'"

"Just walking around without any trousers wearing a shirt that says 'Dong' on it."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVwi5IcQWZo

OMG Rafa.

Just catching up on some light reading:

David Moores' horrible letter to The Times
given what it deserves by James Lawton in The Independent
who also seems to anticipate this UEFA scheme to crack down on spendthrift clubs

I vacillate on Lawton. He's a thundering, often odious rhino, but fairly frequently he thunders at the right sitting ducks

I'm trying to work out the likely implications of the UEFA plan. At first glance it seems to be simply to force clubs to live within their means, with a fairly tight policing period. But surely that's got to favour the clubs: (i) in the top leagues, with (ii) the biggest stadia; i.e. the status quo. It should make for greater financial stability, but don't see that it'll do much to improve competition.

UEFA should concentrate on drawing up a scheme that'll allow Ajax to become a player again, that's crystallised as an important priority for me lately.

It should make for greater financial stability, but don't see that it'll do much to improve competition

Just because it's not a cure-all, doesn't mean it isn't a step in the right direction, though. If it stops clubs living far beyond their means and going bust in the process, that's a good thing. If it makes it unappealing for Glazer-types to carry out hostile takeovers of clubs and promptly saddle them with the debt required to finance the takeover in the first place, that's a good thing. And, arguably, the big clubs living within their means are less formidable than bankrolled medium clubs living far beyond their means: at the time that Abramovich was pumping hundreds of millions into Chelsea they were utterly dominant, breaking the records for points racked up and spending more on players in a couple of seasons than the likes of Manchester United or Liverpool had spent in their entire existence. However difficult it might have been for, say, Aston Villa to win the league pre-Abramovich, it must have seemed ten times more unlikely during that 2004-06 period.

Brown is still the manager of the East Yorkshire club despite being placed on gardening leave in mid-March.

hang on what

also the Mourinho + Materazzi video is genuinely the most amazing thing I've seen all year

so man city bid for higuain and gago.

cya tevez & ?

surely santa cruz and michael twelve bellies johnson

Bellamy is on the way out, if you believe the Mirror. He's going to do his utmost to make sure it happens by... erm... demanding the same wages. The deal hinges on either Man City buying him out of the rest of his contract so he can go on a free, or him going on loan and Man City continuing to pay the majority of his wages. Hmm.

Brown is still the manager of the East Yorkshire club despite being placed on gardening leave in mid-March.

Tony Mowbray is apparently on dis gardening leave ting at Celtic.

Can we please have Craig Bellamy back on loan, with Man City paying the majority of his wages? That'd work as a Robbie Keane replacement.

Bellamy's already played for more premiership clubs than anyone else, I admire his collector's instinct in trying to notch up a full set.

Just trying to think who exactly are the untouchables at Man City - Tevez, Johnson and Given, probably Barry; but everyone else could conceivably get the boot now Mancini's had a good look.

I'm very meh on Barry, and the histrionics over his injury and what it means to England is only increasing that. He hadn't as good a season as Huddlestone, and in terms of form going into this tournament there's not even a contest.

Wait I was under the impression that Bellamy had just had his best season ever at Man City. Why on earth would either side want him to move on? Apart from the fact he's a knob.

I'm very meh on Barry, and the histrionics over his injury and what it means to England is only increasing that. He hadn't as good a season as Huddlestone, and in terms of form going into this tournament there's not even a contest.

Except they're very different types of players.

Yeah, I get that. But not to the extent where the inclusion of played 33 games, scored 4-goals-and-came-4th-playing-the-holding-role-in-recent-victories over Arsenal, Chelsea and City Huddlestone is a disaster when the alternative is I-don't-do-very-much Barry.

Bellamy hates Mancini, Mancini hates Bellamy - it's purely personal from what I gather

Bellamy's also been played out of position all season, and has been complaining about training methods and falling out with staff.

Par for the course, ifyanowhamean

Given his form this season, perhaps Bellamy should consider making that his position and training that way all the time. Although IIRC he was playing better under Hughes.

Wolves are closing in on a £7m deal for Burnley striker Steven Fletcher.
Full story: Daily Mail

^ no comment from noodles on this savage trolling?

Hadn't seen that in the Express & Star

6m + iwelumo, apparently

btw i rate this dude as a pl level goalscavenger

lol we've offered them Big Chris on loan for 12 months as part-ex

Steven Fletcher's a good player

Also Hennessy which cd be alright if Marcus has another good season in him.

No probs with Fletcher at all, I thought the trolling referred to the Brummies' alleged interest.

In fact Fletcher alongside Doyle cd be great assuming we hold on to Doyle, and he's not pushing to leave.

he converted 75% of all chances created, alongside doyle that's a battling chance right there

While you're here - is Molineux a good place to watch football? I remembered it being hailed as some kind of ground of the future when it was built, but I guess that might be a while ago now. It doesn't look that great on tv tbh

unveiled plans for new ground today

Last went to Molineux in early 90s :(

My bruv tells me it's decent enough.

hm well fletcher looked a consummate donkey from what i saw of him but if you guys say so. 7 million squid though.

actually what am i saying, if you lot sign him then you might no longer get in the way of gary hooper's nominative determinist qpr destiny.

Speaking in the Sun, Rodallega said: 'I don't know if I'll stay at Wigan but I do know Arsenal have made an offer for me.'

lol srs wenger you need new centre halves, stop buying strikers

also need a striker who likes shots and doesn't be injured. no harm in it.

Yeah but he might come in useful two months into next season when Van Persie is injured, Chamakh can't adapt to the Premiership, Eduardo isn't let off the bench and Bendtner is rubbish.

(xpost)

I suppose you could play Arshavin as lone centre-forward for a month again just for shits and giggles.

i think the shits and giggles are going to come from only having vermaelan as a centre half.

Not so many of the giggles.

i spent so long reckoning that chamakh was gonna be a lot of fuss over nothing that i'm now pretty sure he'll do really well and be the new adebayor.

adebayor struggled for the first year didn't he?

Fletcher's up there with ilx cult hero Bobby Z in the list of premier league strikers who couldn't hit double figures in the shittiest league we've had for years.

bobby z a better option as scores-a-few-but-mainly-plays-for-others than the current england regular

fletcher? scoring any at all was doing pretty well imo

cant find the freddy sears 'miss' for crystal palace earlier this season that... actually hit the back of the net.

other thread

bobby z a better option as scores-a-few-but-mainly-plays-for-others than the current england regular

It works fine with Emile Heskey. It aint broke, do not even attempt to fix it.

c & p that, it will be lols before july is out

best part of the summer is here http://www.101greatgoals.com/the-101-greatest-goals-of-20092010/55858/

tip of cap 2u. imma pour a large glass of jameson, take off my shoes and just enjoy that link.

My favourites so far:

Claudio Lopez v LA Galaxy goal from halfway line
Eremenko v Kryvbas Krivyi Rig 40 yarder
Rodallega v. Villa half volley

Cangele v Denizlispor even better half volley

lol beckham's legacy, this is the third from the halfway line assuming the wigan one also makes the list

all the halfway line ones- meh usually tbh.

but some absolute beauties in there.

Yeah they've kind of overegged the ones with dudes passing the ball into an empty net from 50 yards because the keeper's so terribly positioned.

Maynor's one is a fucking arrow though.

fwiw the Lopez goal is on KC's home field that is crammed into the outfield of a minor league baseball park, it's tiny and they try shit like that all the time

I'm just saying

The Taraabt one is fucking great too.

yeah i know lol keeper off his line nayem heartbreak but i still <3 them

ridic amount of bicycle kicks, not enough gourcuff/dembele goes past 4 players so far.

the Cangele one is v similar to Lukiewski's in the 6-6

Andorra U21's goalkeeper not covering himself in glory there either

he's the one who deserves a post in the back, not that poor LA Galaxy schmuck

I loled at the goalie blast directly onto Martin Palermo's forehead

Lukiewski's

Jutkiewicz's

ok Jamie Milligan for GOTS just for the celebration music

no wait FUCK that Brana one

jesus christ that is beautiful

like a perfect three-wood

as much as I dislike the Galaxy I enjoy watching Donovan pwn Matt Reis from New Englande

what the actual fuck @ that Bozovic one

HOLY SHIT JESUS GOMEZ

France got Euro 2016, beating Turkey by a single vote. First-round exit for Italy. Kind of feel France needed it the least.

mourinho already lining up his next job after Real

José Mourinho has named Wayne Rooney as the player he would most like to sign for Real Madrid but conceded it would be "impossible" to persuade the England striker to leave Manchester United.

Rooney, however, is the footballer he admires the most, even more so than Lionel Messi of Barcelona, after a season in which the England international striker scored 34 goals for United and won the Professional Footballers' Association and Football Writers' Association player-of-the-year awards.

"I'm going to say it because it is impossible," Mourinho replied when asked to name one player he wanted to work with. "I would like to coach Rooney, as much for his football as for his mentality. But my friend, Alex Ferguson, can relax, because it's impossible."

had forgotten quite how good Fernandez vs Everton was

good fucking lord that Cozzolino goal

yes i think cozzolino was the one that caught my eye out of all of them tbh- right foot volley into top left corner after control/spin?

pat mccourt! hadn't seen that goal until just now on sky.

cozzolino's is similar to one patrick berger hit against charlton a few years ago except right-footed and set up by his own chest

7. From zinja
As a future engineer, I’m interested in this question: if I stand with my feet on the rails, put pantyhose on my head and throw the ends on the wires, will I be able to go as a tram? :)
Arshavin: Look out, the tram can catch up with you and if it does, then you’ll go directly to the crazy house and get a quite different diploma :)

pat mccourt! hadn't seen that goal until just now on sky.

Pretty much every goal he scores (which admittedly isn't many) is brilliant. He's like a footballer from another time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEHa2-VuOJ0

I fucking LOVE Paddy McCourt.

Beckford to Everton btw

fucking HELL I didn't even know anything about him!!! I don't know who he is!!

I came here to say that the Di Maria goal is something ELSE. Didn't see it at first but then shit scales fall from eyes etc

nah that's an easy trick tbh, was my signature move in school once upon a time

6 MORE YEARS

6 MORE YEARS

genius midgets abound

don't worry, he'll be a barcelona player before long.

Nah we sell to Utd, tbh they're an easy dupe.

Darijo Srna is waiting to meet with Shakhtar Donetsk to discuss a reported offer to join Premier League champions Chelsea.

Croatia international Srna has long been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge and reports claim the Blues have made a £14million bid.

Would be a serious acquisition imo

lol chelsea right back curse.

oh i guess ivanovic turned out ok out of position after like forever.

yeah the rb of the season turned out ok

iirc some people still rep for lauren after he got the same award for some reason 8 years ago.

ok yeah well anyway hope he didn't break the curse because chelsea rbs have been pretty lol over the russian years.

i thought the ugly ashley cole was p decent but successive managers lost faith in him.

srna is rly good and can play rw i guess, however

bosingwa - £16m
ferreira - £13m
del horno - £8m :x
boulahrouz - £10m :x
belletti - £4m :x
johnson - £6m :x

del horno, lb

johnson, well i mean yeah i suppose in terms of chelsea-only he was a bit of a disaster.

signing of ferreira that time has all the telltales of a 'here porto have a bundle of my new bosses cash luvya xxx jose'

as opposed to being part of liverpool's wonderful and stable defence.

johnson at chelsea- lol part of an awesome defence

johnson at liverpool- kind of awesome part of a lol defence

oh cool there is an offseason thread where i can vent about us selling benny noon to chelsea.

johnson sometimes looks like liverpool's only creative player. rafa no doubt planning a fight and a quick sale v soon.

swashbuckling benny noon is quality, would like him st spurs but probably don't need him.

that'll be cole out of chelsea for sure then?

yeah so says the paper

I feel it's been x wasted years for him to be honest

mourinho don't like wingers, see duff, d for instance.

Mourinho turned him into a more effective if more workmanlike player, but the last three years or so he's barely featured. He could've been one of those guys who carry a team, like Le Tissier, that'd've been more fun. (Le Tissier's goalscoring record is phenomenal btw, I see from that stats site upthread - matched only by his lethargy record)

i don't think he was ever in the same league as le tissier.

duff's a pretty good comparison, tbh- class, flair, laziness, injuries, benchsitting years, will prob finish somewhere like fulham and play a key role

Le Tissier's career isn't as I remember it - made his debut in 1986, and actually did play for England eight times. I had him down as mostly or even slightly unfulfilled potential, but he did pretty well actually.

passing over le tiss for gazza- wrong genius imo

There was a point about two or three years ago when Joe Cole looked like being one of the five best attacking players in the Premiership, and he was shit when he joined Chelsea. Mourinho made him into a much better player than someone like Duff, who went backwards at Chelsea. I feel he's been massively lucky with injuries and often a scapegoat to be hauled off when things aren't going Chelsea's way, a succession of managers don't seem to know what to do with him and he's never really made a position his own.

If he'd gone to Man United he might have become a legend, who can tell.

Bogus journey over

He looked like being one of the 4/5 best attacking players in the premier league for about 10 games at the end of one season, once.

He wasn't 'shit' when he joined Chelsea.

He's not really a 'much better player' than Duff.

Liverpool fans I know seem to be unjustly down on Benayoun, I can never tell why, given there have been times lately when he's been their only creative force especially if Gerrard and Torres are out. I'm not sure I can see him getting in the Chelsea team week in week out without Ancelotti moving to a diamond formation. Dunno about Joe Cole but it looks like it might be curtains for Ballack.

Would love Yossi at Spurs, Joe Cole as well, but I'm not sure either would get in our team, certainly not at the expense of Modric or Lennon.

Okay maybe not shit but underwhelming and he used to give possession away with alarming regularity. That's why he was always on the bench in his first season at Stamford Bridge.

I cannot comprehend Benayoun to Chelsea at all; if they dont know what to do with Cole what will they do with him? Besides put him on the bench. Also isn't Cole better than Benny or am I just being an anglophile? Unless they just want a cheaper alternative to come off the bench I cant compute it. Looking forward to seeing how many attacking players Liverpool have next season though.

Liverpool with Benayoun as the main creative force looked better than Liverpool with Gerrard as the main creative force this season, really.

Cole's wage demands are rumoured to be a sticking point?

Figures, these greedy englishes, mercenaries they are

I can see Chelsea playing with two wingers next season and Benny and Malouda on either side of Lampard and Essien/Mikel. Maybe poor skint little Chelsea just don't want to spend mad wages on Joe Cole when he might be in the treatment room for half the season.

Malouda's progress this season probably made Cole's position pretty uncomfortable, really.

The Broughton-Chelsea-Liverpool love triangle gets even more interesting.

Cole could be great at Liverpool, how's a swap deal look?

Depends if he's in the England squad. If he's not, then a swap may be more likely. Yossi deal looks likely to happen this week, but Cole's said he won't think about his future till after the World Cup (if he's involved of course).

But could Liverpool even afford his wages? Can't really see anyone of note coming to Anfield for a while.

Actually now I think about it, it doesn't seem that ridiculous that Joe Cole might rock up at Old Trafford next season, given he's a free agent and they'd be able to pay his wages. They went for Owen after all. He'd get in the Man City team too.

wait til august before you predict who would or wouldn't make city's team, i think.

Crystal Palace are on the verge of liquidation, according to the consortium trying to take them over

duff was really good at chelsea initially, he didn't go backwards instantly, he was hugely successful in the first season and mourinho loved him.

^ my recollection

Mourinho, however, did not play Duff in the early part of the 2004–05 season, preferring a more narrow approach. Duff eventually got into the side after four games and, when Robben returned to the side, Duff's versatility saw him move to the right wing and form a wing partnership with Robben. The season proved to be successful for both Duff and Chelsea. He scored ten goals, including a crucial strike in a 4–2 win against Barcelona in the Champions League, while the team won the Premiership title and the Football League Cup in which Duff scored the winning goal in the semi-final against Manchester United.

rly all they were missing was bent up front

Yeah that first season with both Robben and Duff was great, gives lie to the old line that Mourinho teams never play exciting football, he did seem to go downhill after that, and it coincided with the emergence of Joe Cole. Duff's had a pretty good season with Fulham, mind.

Feel like if this rumour about Arsenal going for Joe Cole is true it's only because they're hatching a plan where you'll be allowed to field any amount of players you want up until an overall team height is met. Teams like Stoke/Chelsea having to adjust, midgets run riot etc.

I think he's more direct than a lot of Arsenal's current batch, but yeah wouldn't be my priority if I were Wenger.

An insider added: "How could Rafa possibly do any better than Jose? The only way is down."

That could only be any more ridiculous if it was true.

yeah we are going to see 4000 different 'rafa to [job of the week]' stories until liverpool win the euro millions and can actually afford to fire him, aren't we? no-ones stupid enough to buy him out of the contract. well unless man city want him.

Meanwhile Craig Bellamy is facing a tough choice as to whether he is eliminated in the Champions League qualifying round with Tottenham or Celtic.

Interviewed in French daily L'Equipe, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas said: 'We will sign a strong midfielder which will cost between 15 – 20 million Euros. 'It could be him - for Gourcuff, I saw his contract and he has a get-out clause of up to 25 million Euros. If he wants to leave in August, we will break the bank.'

why are tottenham fans so negative? you rly ought to qualify for the cl, and if you somehow fail no amount of diminished expectations will cover the disappointment

AHH how do you expect arsenal's first choice xi to look in september

gonna wait till i'm drunk and on ilx to go for that one tbh

xp Youthful

Also like they can really do it this time

Until they crumple at the start if the season then have to prove everyone wrong and as soon as they do lose to Stoke

xp to a hoy hoy : honestly dude, I wouldn't take Aulas' declarations too seriously. almost every summer he makes big claims such as this one about other teams' best players. Last year, he had said the same thing about Gourcuff. This year, I think he talked about Gourcuff, Mbia, Niang, Ben Arfa etc. Though it'd be good if he got Gourcuff cause that's exactly the type of player Lyon lacked this season. They've apparently almost reached an agreement with Jimmy Briand (from Rennes). He'd be Govou's replacement since after almost 10 years of saying every season that he'd leave this summer, Govou is apparently really leaving.

I read that as Jimmy Bullard and got a warm feeling inside

Headline writers across the nation rejoice as Wolves sign a Belgian defender called Van Damme.

I read that as Jimmy Bullard and got a warm feeling inside

― Ismael Klata, Tuesday, 1 June 2010 12:36 (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Though it'd be good if he got Gourcuff cause that's exactly the type of player Lyon lacked this season.

how did miralem pjanic do?

He was... well tbh it depends. He was really inconsistent. He had a great period in the beginning of the year around August-September. Since then, he's been very irregular, sometimes very good, sometimes invisible on the pitch etc. There was a real lack of playmaking in Lyon this year, the burden was maybe a bit too much for him this year, he's only 19 after all!

i'd be surprised if gourcuff signed for lyon, seems too much of a lateral move (they were even inferior to bordeaux last year)

arsenal seems a natural choice if fabregas leaves, maybe even manchester utd because they often play 4-3-3 and lack an attacking midfielder of any quality under 35 yrs old

juventus, inter, madrid, barcelona are sorted for playmakers right now

Yeah, I'd be surprised if he signed for Lyon too. But who knows what might happen. There's a strong possibility that Gourcuff is going to leave Bordeaux, so mayyyyybe to Lyon. As much good as he'd do to their midfield, I think in the long term he'd hinder the development of Pjanic which would be regrettable.

Arsenal's Joe Cole won't be joining Spurs:

But Redknapp, Cole's old manager at West Ham, said he would not be heading to White Hart Lane.

"It looks to me someone's going to make a great free transfer, if he doesn't stay at Chelsea," Redknapp told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Man United, I'm telling you. In these straightened times, Fergies loves a proven performer available on a free.

Barcelona have confirmed they are in official negotiations with Arsenal to sign Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas.

The Spanish giants told BBC Sport that talks with Arsenal over a deal for the 22-year-old, who is with Spain's World Cup squad, "became formal" on Tuesday.

"An informal conversation with Arsenal became formal on 1 June and now an official approach has been made to the club," said a Barca spokesman.

Arsenal declined to comment when they were contacted by BBC Sport.

http://flamesgif.com/archive/ate_my_balls/img/hapyhogb.jpg

Off again:

"Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas is under contract with the Club until the summer of 2015. He is a highly valued member of the team and part of our future plans.

"We have followed recent speculation linking Cesc with a move away from the Club but as there has never been any official approach for him, only two informal exchanges, in which we made it abundantly clear that we have no interest in transferring Cesc, we have refrained from publicly passing comment. However, yesterday evening we received an offer from Barcelona for Cesc and in response, we immediately and resolutely told them once again that we have no intention of selling our captain.

"To be clear, we will not make any kind of counterproposal or enter into any discussion. Barcelona have publicly stated that they will respect our position and we expect that they will keep their word."

lol that last sentence

Joe Cole 'to join Arsenal on free transfer after signing three-year deal'

Good to know we can make one awesome player out of Cole+Rosicky+Eduardo

he's only 28?!

Excellent news if true, he's one player for whom I wish nothing but well. Hopefully he can avoid a Shawcrossing.

We signed him yesterday. Well done Metro.

Rafa ;(

Liverpool have attempted to pave the way for Rafael Benitez’s departure by offering their manager a compromise deal to leave the club this summer.

In what amounts to a vote of no confidence in Benitez, the Liverpool board approved a proposal to the Spaniard which would see him depart Anfield with a lucrative pay off worth in the region of £3 million up front.

According to the terms of the five-year contract he signed in March 2009, Benitez is entitled to a £16 million severance package but given their current financial predicament there is no possibility of Liverpool being able to come up with that kind of money, regardless of their desire to bring about a change of manager.

Hope he digs his heels in and tells the board to fuck off.

The Mirror reckons he's gone - http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liverpool-sack-manager-Rafa-Benitez-article446441.html

Looks like it - twitter aflame. That £16m clause, though.

Avram Grant amongst those rumoured to be taking over. Fucking hell.

I should caveat by noting that every single twitterist is citing that Mirror link as the source. Sky are running through county cricket scores right now, so it can't be official yet.

If negotiations *are* still ongoing, surely rafa can just set his compromise price at, say, £15.9m? The board have kind of played their hand now.

If I was Rafa no way would I walk for a penny less than £16mill. Good luck finding a better manager. O'Neill??? FFS!!

Confirmaiton, if it was needed, that there is zero money available for transfers. Club's fucked. Hicks and Gillett can fuck off. Gutted.

Grant's going to the Hammers, I thought.

Was supposed to be a done deal weeks ago, but they're dragging their heels about announcing it.

I'd like to thank the academy

nothing would be more fitting than for him to further drag the club through another public shitslinging match over compensation. Perfect.

give it a rest...he's not a malicious guy.

If I was him and I'd signed a deal (a year ago!) which said I was entitled to £16m, I might give a bit for goodwill but I wouldn't be accepting £3m to walk.

So our new manager will be appointed by a Chelsea fan, Christian Purslow and Hicks & Gillett. You couldn't make this shit up.

It's £3mn up-front, with more in installments, isn't it?

i quite like the idea of hodgson and liverpool. manuel pellegrini might be good too (similar cv to rafa's when he arrived) but there's probably not the time and stability for it to work. all the other candidates in the betting look like disasters in the making.

I guess it must be xp. I genuinely can't think of a stupider deal than that £16m. RBS buying ABN-Amro maybe.

hodgson might be a steadying influence at least. which other candidates have you heard rtc? so far have read van gaal (don't think would be a disaster), jorge jesus (prob a disaster), hiddink (would be great).

Hiddink took the Turkey job right in the middle of heavy speculation linking him with someone (possibly even Liverpool, come to think) - clearly not interested in a proper club job any more. I expect it to be Hodgson, and I think he'd be the right man for it.

Assuming the bold stroke of poaching Moyes is unthinkable.

yeah i agree about hiddink, seems bizarre to have him linked, just sky sports say he is an early candidate or some shit.

http://www.skybet.com/betting/football/manager-specials/t10002896.html

oh i was just looking at that, but it's only the usual suspects. (dunno where that oswaldo bloke's come from.)

i think hodgson would be better than a steadyer - he can maximise what you've got without spending money, has knowledge of the league, and would be comfortable handling big/continental players. also not too far a leap from the rafa martinet mode to have to wait too long for results i imagine.

don't see why van gaal would leave bayern, let's face it - plus he is a familiarly clueless kinda dick generally. too much upheaval.

hiddink i waver on even if he was free - better than most, but still a bit of the received wisdoms about him.

not an o'neill fan.

'take this £3m or we'll fire you and be ordered by a tribunal to pay you up £16m'

maybe hodgson on a 2yr contract w/ option, probably not more than £3m pa and easy to get rid of if new owners want someone else

Sammmy Lee as caretaker until the club is sold. Maybe.

Sammy Lee. Bit happy with the Ms there.

few places saying he's taken a £3m payoff now and gone, perhaps he should have listened to people on internet messageboards then he'd have got 16m.

he shd try to fuck them over as much as possible yes

you should send him an email, you may have info he doesn't.

aw, i'm kinda gonna miss him

it's an ethical thing xp

give it a rest...he's not a malicious guy.

― I see what this is (Local Garda), Wednesday, 2 June 2010 23:34 (Yesterday)

love this btw

why the fuck wouldn't they have just offered him to inter on a free, kind of thing?

this is all smoke and mirrors right now but this probably depends on whether he joins another team v shortly, inter seeming quite likely now capello looks to be staying w/ england

otherwise liverpool could keep him on gardening leave and force inter into paying compensation for him or something? anyway if he does take a lesser compensation it will have more to do with legal issues than sentiment

It just seems strangely pre-emptive to go from a situation where Inter would prob have been willing to make some token payment with, presumably, a very small (if any) payout to Benitez from LFC, to throwing money at him to leave.

Apparently, he didn't have the backing of senior players when they were asked, meaning an immediate move had to be made, the kind of nonsense that really makes you wonder how these guys make their decisions at boardroom level.

lol us soccer media talking about steve nicol jumping from the revs to take over liverpool

and by us soccer media I mean Ives, he'll do anything for more traffic on his site

i can't imagine anyone would care enough for that to drive traffic

why would inter want rafa anyway? is this a thing?

love this btw

oh nice "challops". actually was just pointing out how ludicrous darragh acting like defender of the club's good name is. i don't know what's going on in the negotiations but it's fairly normal for a manager to negotiate a compensation package, not least if the club offered him a huge contract v recently. i don't think it makes rafa some horrible bastard, unless by default everyone in football is a wanker.

i just think this thread yet again is a prime example of people reacting to a scrap of info with a whole load of negative assumptions, just to be the first to post here. anyone who reads the footie threads here is well used to that. nobody knows anything at this point.

if he does take a lesser compensation it will have more to do with legal issues than sentiment

of course it will...would you take a lesser compensation package if you were getting fired? i simply said that doesn't make him malicious, but feel free to assume i'm anointing him a saint if it constitutes more grist to the reaction mill.

sure but yr simply providing the more benign asumptions, ie that it will be a painless transition and that if they try to fuck over rafa w/ the compensation he won't kick up a fuss

probably it will all be solved by him joining inter tho....the last situation i remember like this was mancini leaving inter actually, he was still being paid when he joined city iirc but there was some acrimony w/ inter trying to pay him off with a smaller lump sum

and from what i've read rafa isn't such a terrible person rly, terrible man management and a few awfully misjudged press conferences but some of that can be explained by working in another language and in an environment he never quite got used to

tend to imagine the attraction of england was the level of control he could exert over football matters, something he never got or could expect to get in spain where he had many disputes w/ directors of football and the like

in footballing terms he often seemed a bit alienated, i remember him complaining about how chaotic games became because of the number of long balls/goal kicks etc, hence his enthusiasm for mascherano and later a second, inferior mascherano (lucas) even at the expense of any creativity in his own team

was just pointing out how ludicrous darragh acting like defender of the club's good name is.

Nah nah nah what? I was merely pointing out the inevitability of how this will go given Rafa's previous behaviour w/r/t the club- this time, he's probably right, but it's not like that's mattered in the past.

by default everyone in football is a wanker

^board description, if we ever get one

I'm not providing any assumptions tho! Maybe it will be protracted, maybe it won't, it's certainly not v easy to have any idea what's going on.

Old login, shit just got real

He means business

What's the feeling on Gerrard/Torres/ Whoever- will Benitez going affect their staying one way or the other?

Is Gerrard's position totally based on the value of any bids they get?

If the stories are true, then Hicks and Gillett telling Rafa to fuck off and accept £13m less than he is legally entitled to UNDER A CONTRACT THEY AGREED TO IN THE FIRST PLACE. Rafa is absolutely right to dig his heels in. Malice doesn't come into it.

Yes, give Rafa the readies

Think Rafa should just sit in negotiations and repeatedly say "I am focussed on coaching and training my team" until they hand over the cheque.

Seems to be a toss up between:
Gerrard, Carra, Torres and prospective buyers insist Rafa goes - Kenny D in as caretaker
vs
Broughton, Purslow, RBS insist Rafa goes so they can get on with transfer window fire-sale unopposed before selling the club in the next 12 months

that's why i found it funny, rafa doesn't need to be malicious to pursue this, although a truckload of resentfulness wd help in seeing it thru

no help needed there

What, the guy with the saxophone?

Really, this was all inevitable since he played them into giving him a ridiculous contract last year after a week of 'Rafa out' drama.

Gerrard, Carra, Torres and prospective buyers insist Rafa goes

they're probably more concerned w/ simply leaving, mourinho seems pretty intent on gerrard and chelsea looks most likely for torres

Carra won't go.

Not sure an ageing Jamie Carragher is an important enough figure to be pivotal in any of this.

Where's he going to go? Tranmere Rovers?

England international Jamie Carragher to youse boys.

cross ref with WC thread for brevity- LOL Capello, Capello out, etc

Tom D., are you a Tranmere fan?

"Who needs Mourinho? We've got our Physio..."

That's a yes then? Are you from Birkenhead?

No. No.

Doh.

Goal.com says 'Stressed' Cesc is to pay £29mn to buy out his contract. Nice of Barca to get him to pay his own transfer fee.

Think Rafa should just sit in negotiations and repeatedly say "I am focussed on coaching and training my team" until they hand over the cheque.

"The contract was perfect."

Jamie Redknapp can fuck right off. He just doesn't get it.

Goal.com says 'Stressed' Cesc is to pay £29mn to buy out his contract. Nice of Barca to get him to pay his own transfer fee.

Well, isn't it more a case that Cesc can legally do that and it's non-negotiable? Barca can give it to him at a later stage, and a nice fat wage increase too you'd assume.

If the stories are true, then Hicks and Gillett telling Rafa to fuck off and accept £13m less than he is legally entitled to UNDER A CONTRACT THEY AGREED TO IN THE FIRST PLACE. Rafa is absolutely right to dig his heels in. Malice doesn't come into it.

Completely agree and it's the real reason managers don't seem to walk away into the sunset in a dignified fashion anymore. No idea why clubs think they're going to save money by handcuffing a manager to a ludicrous long-term contract like that. (See also, every England managerial appointment ever.)

xp Think it's more a case of Goal.com making shit up.

xp Completely agree wrt managers on long term contracts- the transfer payments are paltry compared to player release fees, there's no value in tying the club into these deals given that they're completely unenforceable in any case.

"The contract was perfect."

― this skit is ba-na-nas (onimo), Thursday, 3 June 2010 12:16 (56 minutes ago)

haha

just because

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/6/3/1275567261672/Croatias-manager-Bilic-co-010.jpg

^^^ Has Arshavin potential.

playing in the matador role

should have fag in mouth really

RIP Rafa. He just needed more time to turn them into a winning side.

Rafa Out

perhaps it is time to make five year contracts ILLEGAL

Knee-jerkin'

With a five year lead, you would have fancied him to dig out a result with the odd counter attack.

rafa out.

― darraghmac, 19 September 2007 12:32 (2 years ago)

called it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVwi5IcQWZo

Remember him this way.

Nah:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00723/aabenitezold_1C_585_723138a.jpg

Jol in?

Hahaha that would be kind of awesome actually. They probably wouldn't do any better than under Rafa but they'd never be boring again.

RIP the Rafalution. Some great moments, some terrible lows. Istanbul and the 08-09 challenge were highlights of my football fandom; last season a real heartbreaker.

Anxious about the future of the club though. I hope we can keep Torres at least.

Sad to see him go, not cos I don't think it's time, just cos of 2005 mainly, can't hate the manager who gave us that. Feels good to be thinking about a new manager though, even amongst the entire turmoil at the club.

It feels good to be thinking about a new manager? Seriously?

Anyone got the odds on Mark Hughes in at Liverpool?

Opinion seems to be torn on whether they should go for someone who can manage on a limited budget like Hodgson or whether they should go all out for a star name like Hiddink who might stop their big names from leaving.

(xpost - Mark Hughes would be the worst of both worlds surely?)

http://www.football-league.co.uk/javaImages/f6/27/0,,10794~3811318,00.gif

He's ready

http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00024/10_24409t.jpg

"Did someone say readies?"

Fuck it, let's have Steve McClaren.

http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00234/neil-warnock_234404s.jpg

HE'S READY

yeah it does feel good, at least the team might play non negative football and use wingers/full backs for the first time in what, 12 years of rafoullier?

Neil Ruddock.

Houllier : The Man Who Came Back

Maxi's a winger, Glen J's a very good attacking fullback, Insua is promising, etc etc etc.

Riera still exists, even.

Keep forgetting that Liverpool actually have a half-decent attacking first XI lurking in there somewhere.

Riera can fuck off an' all.

you're not really going to argue he has not systematically fucked up or fought with almost every wide/creative player at the club...

x-post see above as regards riera...good player ruined by rafa's freezing out

rip big man, heaven needed someone to focus on the training and coaching of their team

O'Neill touted as favourite...yeah I would welcome this, but does he have a title in him? Or maybe our current objective is just to get back into the CL.

xpost Insua? Thought he was dismal in the games I saw. Wasn't he dropped for Agger at left back towards the end?

Eriksson will probably be free after the World Cup, but I don't know how he'd feel about going into the Liverpool situation so soon after getting burnt at Notts Co.

This makes the club's sale much more likely though.

Insua's still young, shown potential, has a lot to learn though. He was injured towards the end of the season, which is why Agger was playing LB.

There's no reason for O'Neill to consider Liverpool, I don't think

If Eriksson comes I'm forming FC Liverpool.

There's vanity - Liverpool are still one of the biggest clubs in the world, Villa with all due respect are not.

How long d'you think that stuff lasts for, exactly.

Because, that's only good for something if there's a probability of building the club to near that standard again.

Villa are in a better current position, and as it stands they have better future prospects, with a system and players O'Neill has brought in himself.

Yeah I'm clutching at straws here.

O'Neill has been offered big positions before and turned them down. He doesn't seem disloyal, he won't jump a sinking ship.

Apparently Dalglish is caretaker until we find someone properly.

Pellegrini is conveniently available, but mayng o mayng those spanish eagle looking dudes will fuck you over and walk away smiling.

some bullshit here...a good manager could get the current pool side into the top four...with no signings.

into April i still thought Liverpool were gonna bungle to fourth

god knows they blew enough opportunities

Apparently Dalglish is caretaker until we find someone properly.

http://www.danceanddance.com/dancers/John_Barnes.jpg

He might be ready now, Kenny... mibbes aye, mibbes naw?

Guardian are proposing Van Gaal and Rijkaard as foreign picks, although I think there's a widespread clamour from the supporters and just the general atmosphere at the club for either a homegrown manager and/or anyone less cautious tactically.

A good manager like.....?

Current Pool side are not top 4 runners, the current Spurs side won't be once Man City gear up again this summer.

what's Lou Macari up to these days?

xpost As much as they blew opportunities across the season, there was something fundamentally *off* about them from the first game.

my bet is Alex Ferguson

Phil Thompson was respnsible for everything Houllier achieved before iirc, he might be worth a shout.

Phil Thompson looks pretty settled on Gillette Soccer Saturday if you ask me!

anyone less cautious tactically.

Rules O'Neill right out.

Nah, It's Jol for sure.

what was off was mostly rafa's fault, bad motivation etc, practically the same team finished on 86 points previous season

x-post you are joking about Thompson right?

I mean being responsible for Houllier's successes?

How would you feel about Woy?

Would be asking a lot of him to replicate the Fulham achievements, but his teams play good stuff, he can find and motivate players without throwing cash around.

Mourinho. Liverpool bigger than Real Madrid after all, la'

general atmosphere at the club for a homegrown manager

my mistake, it was the official MLS blog that was hyping this: http://mlsinsiderblog.com/?p=2536

dude has repeatedly done a lot with very little over here

xp to ronan

oh, I'M joking but I've got a Rafa-trusting mate that swears this is true.

some bullshit here...a good manager could get the current pool side into the top four...with no signings.

― Ronan, Thursday, 3 June 2010 16:49 (4 minutes ago)
Rafa Benitez is a good manager.

x-post I don't know about it being the same team...as much as I thought Alonso was overrated and barely worth the £30m pricetag, he held the team together as a unit, he was the link between defence and attack. As much as i respect Lucas's effort, he's not up to that role (although he deputised well for Masch). Aquilani looks talented but lacks Alonso's fight, although i'm sure that's been discussed here.

Defence, apart from Pepe, seemed very insecure...Carragher a shadow of his former self. So I feel it was as much player's lack of quality/effort that fucked as in addition to Rafa generally.

xp 60k a week should buy you more than 'good, with no people skills'

xp *f-cked us

Lets go through:

O'Neill: would be v happy, seems like the kind of energy they might need, bit iffy in transfer market but prob better than Rafa.
Woy: can't see any harm in this, would be v stabilising and hopefully buy a few bargains.
Van Gaal: hard to say, couldn't be too upset tho.
Dalglish: obv not
Pellegrini: Too risky and can't risk a settling in season
Rijkaard: again a bit of a risk

x-post yeah he is but i still blame him for the last season...and he is not without flaws by any means.

x-x-post they also did well in seasons where alonso was shit...

Lucas has bags of potential.

Current Pool side are not top 4 runners, the current Spurs side won't be once Man City gear up again this summer.

Think the pulling power of Man City has been reduced considerably for failing to qualify for the CL - they will sign players, probably several of them, but it won't make them a lock for the top four.

pellegrini + enough money for riquelme = smiles

I think Lucas has been improving but is not v creative, him and Masch is a disaster.

x-post not yet Matt but picking off guys like Boateng etc, eventually City are gonna be too strong.

Can see City throwing a load of money at players who happen to do well in the World Cup and then belatedly turn out to be shit/mercenary/unable to adapt to the Prem.

Pellegrini took a bunch of no hopers and made them come above Barca! And settling in season? Real were awesome this season, 96 points!

There's the small matter of the £100m+ that Real spent on two of the three best players in the world. That isn't going to be available at Liverpool.

Settling into the Prem I mean...see Ramos.

also yeah 100m? wasn't it about 200m? and he still won nothing

That's another angle on City, it's true- the players that they sign this summer will be no more than V2 of the players they signed last year- Mercenaries that aren't bothered about footballing achievement (ie no CL) or players with quality but unproven at higher level.

But I think Ronan's right- throw enough shit at a wall, and some of it sticks.

also their stock is rising, even just for the fact that they are now linked with every big player.

tbh i think he would have got 96 pts with sneijder and robben instead of lolinjuredkaka and ronaldo

Yeah they will sign someone Kaka-level eventually.

I can't see that happening without further progress in the interim. Just hope that somebody beats them to it every year, but it's odds against really

Yeah but the absolute top-level player they could get this season would be someone like Tevez. Which is pretty damn high, but I'm not sure they could secure 11 players of that quality and dedication. The top performers in this World Cup will still be looking for a move to Real/Barca/Bayern/Inter/Chelsa/Man U before even thinking about Man City, and if not, could be a Robinho situation.

They are almost definitely going to challenge and could well do it, but at the same time it's not nailed on.

they don't need that many big players tho...they're fairly steadily coming along. i'd lay money down they win the league in the next few years (the exact number would be the nub of the bet)

Tevez definitely would've come to Liverpool if he hadn't been at United first. He would've fit in perfectly.

Damning statement!

What, you think the prospect of offending Man Utd put him off signing for Liverpool?

So darraghmac called Rafa out sept 2007 on the eve of probably our 'best' season as far as level of play goes for over a decade??

xp Haaha was a hopeful statement originally, but that's the gist yeah. Also factor in linking back up with Mascherano.

xp

:D

it's dawnest before dark

it's dawnest before dark

― May be half naked, but knows a good headline when he sees it (darraghmac), Thursday, June 3, 2010 4:17 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

Ha! You actually made me smile. Oh well, farewell Rafa thanks for last season, Istanbul, Pepe, Masch, Torres and Xabi. Oh and for not listening to Andy Gray, Redknapp, Souness and the rest of the fuckers at Sky insisting that Gerrard is a central midfield player in a 4-4-2. As England might discover this Summer if Barry is injured.

RIP this gif ;_;

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f14/snouts/tumblr_krwgslsk641qa52byo1_250.gif

paaandemic otm. Useful right-sided midfielder too...pace, crossing, an eye for goal.

they don't need that many big players tho...they're fairly steadily coming along. i'd lay money down they win the league in the next few years (the exact number would be the nub of the bet)

Yeah I agree. If they'd qualified for the CL this year then it would have been a lot sooner though. They could conceivably have won the league next season, which won't happen now.

But anyone they get of the calibre necessary to improve them will have to be motivated by cash.

That said, it worked for Chelsea I suppose.

It's time we moved on.

Mancini out

Redknapp in ... chokey

in the 08-09 season Rafa/Liv seemed so brilliantly focussed on beating or fighting back against Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal but there was complacency/arrogance against the lower teams (e.g. Stoke, Hull). the latter was far less of a problem last season but their main 3 CL rivals all wised up and Liv only took 3 out of 18 points against them. maybe this season they would've finally got the balance right!

xpost we ironed out our kinks against the (all respect) lower teams after December. The 0-0 draws with Hull and folks were part of the same overachieving narrative of the first half of the season.

We got results above our station in the first half that we justified in the second half, basically.

it wasn't really complacency arrogance in 08/09, some of those games they just hit the fucking bar 5 times and shit...

Rafa should have told them not to, can't you see?

Fletcher is officially a Wolf for £6.5m - I think a good chunk of that goes to Hibs.

Just think, we were half a million quid shy of making him the new Chris Killen an' all.

http://imgur.com/XyIpK.jpg

http://imgur.com/gglag.jpg

Insert your own 'calm down, calm down' quip here.

wonder if they were chanting "allah ackbar"

Ngog is great

Showing their support for the man who captured al-Q'ilani.

will eat my balls if city win the league in the next 4 years tbh.

i forgot to say so the other week, when nasty brutish was defending the % of profits cap and drawing a line of inevitability between chelsea's spending and their period of dominance - you need a mourinho to make that next step happen, and if he hadn't have shown up i could imagine chelsea not having won anything to this day. same goes for city.

some bullshit here...a good manager could get the current pool side into the top four...with no signings.

― Ronan, Thursday, 3 June 2010 16:49

spot on btw. i could even see them challenging for the title with hodgson...

so apparently Yaya Toure has signed for an English club. does that mean Cesc is gone?

yaya touré is a defensive midfielder, so not necessarily.

Regardless of the Touré situation I think that Cesc is definitely headed for Barcelona. He wants to go. Barcelona want him. It will happen.

would prefer touré tbh. one of the best dmfs in the world and Cesc is great but do Barcelona really need more attacking potency (hint: no).

My thinking is that Cesc has wanted to go to Barcelona for a while now, but he'd be fine with one more year at Arsenal with him presumably moving on after next season.

The question is really whether Yaya Toure going to 'an unnamed English club' means he was part of a deal with Barcelona to get Cesc.

cesc has wanted to go to barcelona for a while but isn't this the first time he's came out and said it?

Maybe, but I don't think this means he's desperate to leave like a lot of players who signal the same thing are. Barcelona are only really hard after him because of the elections.

Touré is a pretty fantastic player - would be a great catch for Arsenal. they can just then re-position Nasri to replace Fabregas

nasri is great technically but not nearly as clever as fabregas, it would certainly be a loss in the short term

if they were to get someone like gourcuff, nasri would still have plenty of game on the wings or playing deeper in midfield

Steven Fletcher deal is done, mildly stoked, mildly chagrined that it means Maierhofer will be on his way after not impressing McCarthy despite playing a good 15 minutes of PL football.

Wd like to see us get a left back and some quality in midfield now plz.

I did read somewhere there's a chance you might get Lee Naylor back now that his contract's ended at Celtic...

lol I said a Left Back

I mean God Bless Lee Naylor but we do spend a fair bit of time actually defending

i forgot to say so the other week, when nasty brutish was defending the % of profits cap and drawing a line of inevitability between chelsea's spending and their period of dominance - you need a mourinho to make that next step happen, and if he hadn't have shown up i could imagine chelsea not having won anything to this day. same goes for city.

I think Mourinho is a very good manager, but I think Chelsea would still have won the league under Ranieri if he'd been given another season, but not with the same level of steamrollering dominance. In the same way that if John Smith hadn't died, I think Labour would have still won the 1997 election, but not with a record-breaking landslide.

Nah if it hadn't been for Mourinho then it would have been a second consecutive title for Arsenal that season. And that's without Ranieri's uncanny ability to shoot himself and his team in the foot at crucial moments.

Ngog is great

― Ismael Klata, 03 June 2010 20:56 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Showing their support for the man who captured al-Q'ilani.

― James Mitchell, 03 June 2010 21:03 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

:D

Ranieri wasn't ever gonna win a league

I mean God Bless Lee Naylor but we do spend a fair bit of time actually defending

I thought defending was his strength! It's certainly not crossing the ball. Maybe it's just the bombing down the wing bit in between that he gets right.

yeah that just about sums it up

and he's not that great at bombing back into his position tbf

Yes, he's a bit of a suicidal bomber

how did mickey mancienne work out for you guys? likely to sign on a perm this summer?

I think we've got him for another season on loan. Turned into a good holding midfielder second half of last season, still gets caught out by the ball over the top for a centre half but then that didn't stop Berra getting picked.

Must happen.

His son will be even more insufferable if that happens.

Sky Sports claim Spurs boss Redknapp has emerged as a leading contender for the Reds hierarchy as they aim to bring stability back to Merseyside

Um, isn't there one very obvious flaw in that plan?

Sandra Defoe, 45, told The Mirror: "Everyone always says to me, 'He's only 27, he has plenty of time for all that,' but…I want him to settle down with a nice, homely girl."
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2557/news/2010/06/05/1960246/tottenham-hotspur-ace-jermain-defoes-mum-wants-him-to-find

wait isn't harry redknapp's missus called...

:O

“Although I don't know first hand what goes on in these clubs, I've heard the girls physically stand around, hanging around waiting for whatever."

this is why i prefer to stay at home and do my pulling on the astral plane

Um, isn't there one very obvious flaw in that plan?

Is it that he's being investigated by HM Revenue and Customs and is due to stand trial charged with two counts of cheating the public revenue?

hitzlsperger actually quite a good signing. boo, hiss nu-whu

benetez to inter is lol

Arsenal have told Barcelona: You can have Cesc Fabregas for £50million.

And Arsene Wenger has already held talks with Joe Cole over filling the gap left in the Gunners midfield.

Arsenal insisted skipper Fabregas, 23, was not for sale when they dismissed Barca's opening bid last week.

But the Nou Camp's top brass now claim Arsenal say they will sell... if Barca double their offer.

The Catalan giants are not prepared to do that but the fact Arsenal have named a price suggests there is now room for negotiation.

A Nou Camp source said: "This is the news the men in charge at Barca wanted.

"They now see the possibility of Arsenal cracking and are determined to get their man.

"They hope they can get an agreement at around the £35m mark."

benetez to inter is lol

― tart w/ a heart (a hoy hoy), Sunday, 6 June 2010 15:50 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yeah, a manager with a better win percentage thank Shankly who got a club to 2 Champions League finals and nearly won the title with the 5th most expensive squad in the league when they had no right to finish that high working for 2 pricks of the highest order is hilarious!

liverpool fans is lol

What's so lol?

Come on, Benitez isn't THAT bad a manager, but anyone going to Inter now is going to have an impossible act to follow.

“We must be careful, because from an economic standpoint we are not good," Rosell told reporters two weeks ago.

“We have a stratospheric level of debt. £420million over what needs to be paid for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Dmytro Chygrynskiy.

“We must improve the squad each year, but we must also make sure that we are managing the economic resources that the club needs to survive.”

Refusing to be drawn on a committed financial strategy to lure Fabregas to Barcelona, Rosell confirmed that he would do “everything possible” to have the Spaniard playing in the famous red and blue jerseys in the future while acknowledging that Arsene Wenger is in the driving seat given his player’s long-term contract in London.

“To pay €60-70 million [£49m - £58m] which is what I am reading, is too much,” he told Marca.

"He’s an old cat [Wenger], he knows a lot and is quite capable of protecting his club.

“I know him. He’s not a bad negotiator and won’t be easy to convince."

Barcelona fans will elect their new president on June 13th; two days after the start of the World Cup. It is believed that Fabregas, who is preparing with the Spanish national team in South Africa, will be happy to wait an extra year to return home, accepting that he owes Arsene Wenger a debt of gratitude for handing him the opportunity to become one of the world’s top players while at Arsenal.

The Gunners have been linked with a series of high profile potential replacements in recent weeks but with Fabregas set to stay for another twelve months it appears that the likes of young British duo Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere could be fast-tracked as possible successors.

they'd be much better to go back next year having destabilized things and w/ his contract length/loyalty to arsenal diminishing

not in keeping w/ barcelona's inane holier-than-thou image but then arsenal only got cesc for fuck all thanks to friendly discrepancies in employment law

holier-than-thou with £500m debt. loving this 'but we can't afford him, give us your best player for cheap! plz!' negotiating technique. wonder if i can get a new laptop that way in pcworld.

Try bargaining with landlords for a living iirc.

Interesting article from the New York Times on the youth programme at Ajax, featuring a Martin Jol cameo, and the ILX debut of Délano van der Heyden - the Luca Brecel of 2021.

Inter Milan chairman Massimo Moratti expects ex-Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez to take the reins at the San Siro on Tuesday.

Benitez, 50, announced his departure from Anfield by mutual consent last week and had been linked with a switch to the Champions League holders since.

Speaking to SkySport24, Moratti said: "Probably tomorrow the contract will become official. Certain figures that have appeared in the press will be redimensioned however. It was a normal deal, and rapid enough."

From my point of view I have been linked with dozens of players but I am not in any hurry, there are no moves pending and it's all very quiet for a change, I am not in any moves for anyone.

I know people will say that is not like me, but in the past I have had turned up to inherit crap teams and had to work hard to turn it all around and improve them, which meant a lot of buying and selling. But not now at Spurs, I don't.

wish this thread could be called Turned up to Inherit Crap Teams: Football Off-season Thread

Cannavaro off to UAE

Pavlyuchenko off to Stoke for 11m, apparently. -_-

Benitez will be confirmed as the manager of Inter today, where the question should be settled once and for all as to whether he's the best manager in world football or the most callous incompetent this side of the Irish banking system.

TOP PREMIER LEAGUE WAGE BILLS 2008/09

* Chelsea - £167m (£172m)
* Man Utd - £123m (£121m)
* Liverpool - £107m (£90m)
* Arsenal - £104m (£101m)
* Man City - £83m (£54m)

(2007/08 wages in brackets)

17m rise makes me say he's the most callous incompetent this side of the Irish banking system.

nah, i'm sure you'll find that LFC have the lowest wage bill in the league, and that in fact they have never spent any money on anything. the man's a hero, he barely even scraped by on the 60k a week he was getting to not pick his best players.

http://i45.tinypic.com/120jkv5.jpg

inri rafa we trust

guys will you both take a look at yourselves. you're responding to each other, not anyone else. i've criticised rafa heavily plenty of times but it's fairly obvious darragh just makes casually insane comments about benitez on the reg, and sam i don't see how raising the wage bill to in and around that of your rivals is somehow utterly insane, they did go on to have their best league finish for years that season.

lets see how he does at inter, personally i'm glad he's gone from liverpool but a few days ago sam you seemed to rubbish the idea he'd be manager there despite it being fairly clearly on the cards.

I didn't rubbish it I was just snoop-smh.gif at them hiring such a terrible coach to replace Jose.

Also I was just thinking lol why the rise in wages other than bad management - what was actually added to the team that year? Dossena? Insua? That back-up keeper who let in 4 against Spurs?

EVERYONE ELSE SHUT UP:

FREDDY Adu’s agent has refused to close the door on the American superstar making a shock move to St Mary’s.

Rumours have been circulating online that Saints would like to lure the 21-year-old attacking midfielder, once hailed as the new Pele, to the club.

omfg

btw a good indicator of lol silly season 102 player linked, but only 1 signed so far

well he obv did add to the squad, as pointed out they had their best finish for many years that season.

and actually sam rafa wasn't in charge of wages that summer, it was rick parry. he did make bad signings i agree but you can't blame financial management on him when he wasn't in charge of the finances until the year after.

:) I was only waiting for ya to arrive buck

i know ye're grieving, but look at it our way- our remaining time with rafa is short, he'll be gone soon and we'll only hear the whispers of his beauty on the wind.

let's remember him the way he was.

if the houllier experience is anything to go buy, the minute he's gone he'll be ranked to the dogs and back by most LFC fans anyway.

i think it's pretty simplistic to claim that rafa benitez had no input as to where the wage budget was spent in any year he was at the club.

what is true though, is that the use of the budget available only really went to shit when he got sole control and parry out.

Yeah, I'm gonna miss him. Really need a proper panto villain to replace him or I'll be proper sad.

could still be redknapp, but rly if fabregas goes wenger's descent into despair and madness will be dramatic.

“There’s a lot of interest in the deal (for Toure),” Seluk told Rac-1. “Arsene Wenger likes him and Arsenal are interested.

“If the conditions are good, everything can be finished soon.

“He could come into the Cesc deal and Barca and Arsenal are struggling to come to an agreement.

“Everything has changed with City, because they talk a lot but then afterwards they don’t appear to be a rich club but rather a bankrupt one.”

Yaya Toure's agent saying they won't deal w/ Man City because... they appear bankrupt?

morally

they're being a bit tougher in negotiations than would have been foreseen

silly season was so much more fun when clubs didn't care about going tits up

Pavlyuchenko off to Stoke for 11m, apparently.

Those stories have the scent of massive bullshit all over them. Not convinced we'll be keeping him (although selling him seems like insanity) but there's no way he'd opt to go to Stoke.

Other transfer rumours are that Spurs are offering Villa Robbie Keane as part of any deal for Agbonlahor, which would certainly be interesting.

I think 30-40m + Toure would be fair for Fabregas. I mean, this is the club that paid 60m + Eto'o for Ibra, right? Why wouldn't you hold out for a better deal, that's why you sign players to long contracts you know they'll never fulfill surely?

Pavlyuchenko off to Stoke for 11m, apparently.

Those stories have the scent of massive bullshit all over them. Not convinced we'll be keeping him (although selling him seems like insanity) but there's no way he'd opt to go to Stoke.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 8 June 2010 15:27 (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

a transfer rumour that is bullshit? never!

Yes we should also except the judgements of what a bad bad bad manager Rafa is/was especially as they come from an Arsenal and Tottenham fan respectively. Just look at how successful those teams have been over the last few years. Oh for the glory of an Arsenal fan.

Oh good, we're back on the "fans of one team can't laugh at the shortcomings of another team". My favourite.

There's a rumour doing the rounds that Christian Purslow's been telling people Yaya Toure's on his way to Liverpool.

In other words, it's bullshit.

Yes I apologise for ever paying attention to another team and will become even more focussed in posting only about Arsenal in the future like you want me to do. ilx's football chums will love that.

that's not old-ilx cabbage chris is it.

anyway spurs should go for martin petrov i reckon, great on his day but injured enough/rotatable to not stunt bale's development in the attacking role.

Did you know Rafa won the champions league? In 2005? The last time Arsenal etc.

phil brown's officially off gardening leave now btw liverpool fans

Might bring Jimmy Bullard with him.

Jimmy Bullard and Robbie Keane will be unveiled tomorrow as Neil Lennon's first Celtic signings, along with Darren Huckerby.

Oh good, we're back on the "fans of one team can't laugh at the shortcomings of another team". My favourite.

― ailsa, Tuesday, 8 June 2010 15:40 (15 minutes ago)

xac

m petrov to tottenham cld happens, there were rumours of that a while back, and now he's on a free which wd represent a typical redknapp transfer

We've been linked to Martin Petrov for years, since before he went to Man City, but if he's available on a free it's a definite possibility. That said Levy has been reticent to pay money for perma-crocks who aren't named Ledley, and even then...

Now now, you have to fight off the advances of Rangers, who have approximately no players left and approximately -£100m to attract new ones.

Speaking of Rangers why did no one tell me that Pedro Mendes was in the Portugal World Cup squad?!

You're the one with the sticker book, or was he that unexpected that he didn't even get a sticker? (Pedro Mendes left Rangers in January, btw, so I'm OK with him again)

petrov signing would also pave the way for a tender berby reunion

you guys can keep acting like you're over him, but

niko krancjar to tottenham always looked like an investment purchase, he had 1yr left on contract and harry got one last kick to the shins of pompey by getting him so cheaply late in the last summer transfer window

but w/ bale, modric, lennon and possibly joe cole & others, the attacking mid positions look a bit crowded, so i could envisage krancjar being sold at a 'tidy profit'

the forward positions are more interesting, i'm sure redknapp wd dearly love to have one rly first class cf to play 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 etc but there's very little around

Pedro isn't in the sticker book which is unsurprisingly given that he wasn't in the squad even in 2004 when he won the CL with Porto. Now he has the number 8 shirt. He genuinely might score a legendary World Cup goal.

Can't see us selling Kranjcar this yet, if only because we won't sign Joe Cole. I expect the squad to look much the same as it did this season, give or take a striker or two.

It's going to be so disheartening to see Joe Cole warming the bench for Man City next season

Depends on who else they sign, that Man City team is not exactly overflowing with top-class wingers.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/08/article-1284878-0977A0DE000005DC-15_468x434.jpg

if i were harry i'd probably just plonk the transfer budget down on edin dzeko while everyone else is umming and ahhing and see if he bites

don't feel there's any point left in shoring up what you've already got in the squad with your £12m steven pienaars and whatever

basically i advocate doing whatever martin o'neill would never do