Predict The Number of Petulant, Flouncing Gestures Dimitar Berbatov Will Make Toward The Referee in Tottenham Hotspur's FA Cup 3rd Round Tie With Reading on 5th January 2008

None - busy assisting third goal of Man Utd's 4-1 victory over Aston Villa with outrageous backheeled flick

^^^Money in the bank, gonna shove a pony on it

how about "as many times as he's fouled with impunity?"

although it'd be nice to see him man up a bit and try to carry on after he's brushed by an opponent.

wonder how much we'll get for him?

too busy assisting chelsea's defeat at QPR, surely

Berbetov-Anelka/ Sulkiest strike force ever?

I voted for 'Entire 90 minutes spent with hands on hips in centre circle, glaring at ineptitude of team-mates'. But really, about 50 of those minutes will probably be watching from the bench glaring at the ineptitude of Bent and Defoe.

The assumption seems to be that Berbatov's going to another Premiership club and I'm not sure that'll happen in January unless Chelsea make an offer. I can see Fergie waiting until the summer or maybe opting for Anelka instead, who is surely available at a fraction of the price and would fit more easily into the current squad and system (ie one ahead of Saha in the pecking order). On the other hand, Berbatov is better than every Chelsea striker except Drogba, who will be either injured or in the African Nations Cup anyway.

Hansen's 'sell Berbatov and buy four centre backs' seemed like the voice of reason last night.

sell berbatov and king, buy the two best experienced centre backs that will come to us would be even better.

michael dawson is likeable, but horrifically dim, in other news.

i'm not his biggest fan, but what about springing a cheeky 6 million bid for michael carrick in january? maybe if we offer them 8 million and jenas?

Dawson allegedly stamped on equally nice-but-dim Agbonlahor yesterday, I did not see vee incident myself

i saw it, i didn't think it was deliberate at the time. boateng definitely had a go at young though. the ref let a lot of iffy tackles go early on, and i really thought we'd see a red for berbatov or dawson before the end.

Yeah, I think Matt is right. Chelsea will go for Anelka, Fergie won't sign Berbatov now when his fee is inflated and they don't really need him. And there's nobody else in the Prem who he could move to.

darraghmac - you'd sell King? Yes please.

darraghmac often finds it hard to square 'contrarian' and 'fan'.

see www.tottenhamhotspur.com for more examples. be fair.

Always amusing when a player decides he too grebt a player for the club he's at, tries to pimp himself towards one of the big four and ends up somewhere equally mediocre. Nigel Reo-Coker anyone?

Berbatov'll either leave the Prem or go to Newcastle.

darraghmac - you'd sell King? Yes please.

absolutely. no more hiding behind dawson as our 'second' centre back, with the 'it'll be alright when king is fully fit' attitude. king will not play a full season for the rest of his career, so we're essentially always playing with a second-choice (at best) option in central defence. we should be trying to sign someone to lead dawson and challenge king's long term fitness in the long term.

is that really a radical opinion?

Berbatov'll either leave the Prem or go to Newcastle.

could they afford him? i can see spurs board/ramos getting sick of his posturing, but realistically he'll go somewhere like inter rather than oop north.

although i was thinking last night, aston villa with berbatov would be a genuinely exciting prospect.

you make it sound like Aston Villa with Luke Moore and Marvin Harewood is not a genuinely exciting prospect

Nigel Reo-Coker anyone?

No. Villa are significantly better than West Ham were. Reo-Coker is playing in a different role to his earlier days, and is turning out to be ideal for it.

I'm finding Villa with the Great Danes quite exciting at the moment anyway (x-post) but Berbatov would be a great signing for them if they could land him.

Hansen was saying on MOTD last night that he thought Spurs were the only side capable of breaking into the big 4. WTF? Villa beat them fairly comfortably yesterday and are up to 6th. They look like a side that could potentially displace Liverpool - but not Chelsea - if they can get their defence sorted.

x-post

I know they are now but last season they weren't anything special, especially compared with Chelsea/Arsenal/Man United who he really wanted to join.

Oh come on, even Lionel Messi would not be able to make Aston Villa a genuinely exciting prospect.

What about if MO'N dyed his hair blonde?

it was quite exciting yesterday trying to guess the manner of which luke moore was going to miss each chance on goal.

i agree, messi couldn't, because they have enough wingers. if o'neill gets in a good centre forward, villa will be up there with everton and blackburn as top four challengers.

it was quite exciting yesterday trying to guess the manner of which luke moore was going to miss each chance on goal.

if he had only missed a sitter with his head, he'd have had the perfect hat trick

"We are lacking in some defensive departments and it is something we need to look at" - Juande Ramos

^^^smart guy

Yeah, O'Neill should take a leaf out of Benitez' book and develop beef with his board, I'd like to see him with a goatee and dyed hair sarcastically saying "obviously I'm delighted we've won the geem" for an entire interview

"oh no question, no question"

Beginning to suspect that Villa's "American" owners aren't really so due to lack of insanity emanating from their boardroom. Maybe they're like that curry house waiter who tried to buy Darlington?

Villa are much better than Blackburn, and possibly a bit better than Everton. Thaksin and his cronies are all that separate Villa from a pretty much guaranteed 5th spot.

I dunno, there was that thing where Charlie Krulak basically referred to David Gold as a "pig in shit" and then maintained that he was only referring to "the situation" re: Birmingham charging £45 a ticket as a pig in shit and that he had not said anything offensive

Also, I hear the "Cleveland Browns" didn't make the "playoffs" even though their "quarterback" Brady "Brady Quinn" Quinn is regarded as being one of the brightest prospects in the "NFL"

there isn't a team outside the top three that is 'much better' than blackburn.

Villa have a nasty-ass away run-in and a home run-in where the highest placed team they have left to play is Blackburn, so 5th will be dependent on grinding out Chelsea style away draws against good teams and trying to do a Man City at home, only with more than one goal a game

yeah B'burn have gotta click soon, Roque X is fucking insane and McCarthy's hardly even been playing recently

Isn't Roque X a horrorcore rapper?

i've only watched up to Roque III

contrary to punditry belief, the transfer window doesn't just matter to derby and birmingham- fifth spot will depend entirely on whether or not sven/MON can get that pesky centre forward they're seeking.

i just hope that neither tempt our board with a bid for darren bent, that would be a disaster for spurs.

a spurs fan with a self-deprecating sense of humour.

*applauds*

um, i was actually serious.

which, as i'm self-deprecatingly aware, is much much funnier.

systems thinking was funnier

Also, I hear the "Cleveland Browns" didn't make the "playoffs" even though their "quarterback" Brady "Brady Quinn" Quinn is regarded as being one of the brightest prospects in the "NFL"

It is 2008 now, the year where we try to understand.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Brady_Quinn_at_pep_rally.jpg

Is this what happens when the Plain White T's do roids?

wish lists for january-

in- any two experienced, competent, centre backs. a defensive midfielder with discipline and tactical awareness. a right winger who can pass/cross/beat a man, or any one of the three. a competent, experienced goalkeeper.

out- berbatov, to pay for the above and to show that ramos means business. jenas. young-pyo lee. ekotto. king. robinson. ghaly.

i think that spurs have a good opportunity to genuinely improve their team/squad while making money over the next thirty days. i'd be surprised (but pleasantly so) if ramos is given the freedom to make the changes that at this stage need to happen.

You want to change half of your team during the middle of the season?

are you mark lawrenson in a fat suit or something?

ZINHO

^^^any zinger to be called this

oh yeah, jokes bruv or something..

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

there's as much enthusiasm for this thread as berbatov has for tottenham

I take full responsibility for the failure of this thread, all I can say is lessons are gonna be learned from this and we're gonna address the issues

or else we will pay the ultimate price

"We are lacking in some defensive departments and it is something we need to look at" - Juande Ramos

^^^smart guy

-- Dom Passantino, 02 January 2008 12:44 (7 months ago) Bookmark Link

not really.

looks like palyuchenko's signings finally paves way for mitka to flounce off to old trafford, and a team with wayne rooney in it might just be worth watching again.

God, it was good to see him treat United like that on Saturday.

this goal and celebration, the fifth and his second in a home win vs cordoba, is hightly reminscent of berbatov in its kinetics, context and demeanour

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yQulNhj7lA4#t=323

bollocks, he's not celebrating coz he knows the keeper should of had it

he is celebrating you putz, watch his first goal too which is a fine finish and gets the same response

according to someone on twitter he has now scored more goals with his right foot than his left this season

:D

the touch of course is nigh-on otherworldly

that is just how it goes for messi now unless it's a significant goal or the assist was impressive

does messi need to just keep doing this

argentina form the most important part of his narrative from here on out y/n

i guess if the narrative is 50-goal seasons until 2020 then that is more important than international football could ever be

and by 50 i mean 'anything over 25-30'

ahh all this tiresome 'narrative'. thinking like a sports journalist. not enjoying the moment, ceaselessly hurrying to the death of things. let this be penance.

that is what i used to think, but not any more, unless he goes one better and wins the world cup in 2018, or plays outrageously brilliantly there, in which case that will overshadow the rest

the most important thing now is how he adapts to playing as 'enganche' -- barcelona are now playing (sort of) a traditional argentine formation with him behind two strikers; look at how deep he is playing for the suarez goal

he has lost a little bit of acceleration from his early years, although not as much as sometimes suggested and he is still quick, but this is a role he could play into his dotage, and it's quite distinct from the free floating goalscorer that ronaldo has become

to my mind it is fairly clear now that these are two of the four greatest ever to play the game, and i expect messi to confirm he is the greatest eventually, even in pure playmaking terms he is more efficient than anyone since maradona and he is scoring a goal a game from this deeper position

ronaldo 'free floating' seems wrong, free storming maybe, free vanquishing

messi is the subtler man, going riquelme plus is probably natural

'enganche' sounds absolutely filthy btw - think it has literal sexual connotations - the one who penetrates from deep?

this explains it from one of the best football journalists whose articles seem thin on the ground now

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/nov/30/sport.comment1