Morning everyone. A big day today for all small Non League clubs as they find out who they are going to meet in their first FA games of the season. The draws for the FA Cup Extra Preliminary, Primilinary and 1st Qualifying round are made today likewise the FA Trophy and FA Vase. Team FA Trophy look out for this, likely to be available from around 11.00 this morning.
Elsewhere Chelsea sign Deco for around £8million on a 2 year deal. Decent siging and probably confirmation that Lampard is on his way to Italy. How much will Chelsea miss his goals?
Rumours abound that Robbie Keane has slapped in a transfer request at Spurs.
Darren Bent could be going to Sunderland, Villa or Blackburn.
Roman Abramovich would pay up to £85million for Fernando Torres.
Amaury Bischoff of Werder Bremen looks a step closer to a move to Arsenal.
Middlesbrough's bid to sign Didier Digard has hit a snag and they're also in for Sparta Rotterdam's Marvin Emnes.
Norwich are poised to bid a club record £3.5million for Shola Ameobi.
Hull have offered half that for Plymouth's Peter Halmosi.
Leeds and Leicester are locking horns over Blackpool striker Ben Burgess.
Leeds also want Roy O'Donovan of Sunderland, a guy also wanted by Dundee United.
Matteo Brighi of Roma could sign for Celtic.
Willo Flood will return to Dundee United from Cardiff on loan again next season.
Timothee Atouba is another target for Celtic whilst Evander Sno looks set to sign for Osasuna.
Martin Albrechtsen has joined Derby from West Brom.
Christian Vieri has returned to the club where he made his name, Atalanta.
Falkirk have signed Burton O'Brien.
Barry Nicholson is set to sign for Preston from Aberdeen.
Blackpool are in talks with Barnsley's Martin Devaney.
Now... let us await the FA draws.
I'm so looking forward to today.
Me too
As far as the FA Cup is concerned anyway. FA Trophy we'll be drawn away to Moneybags City and their 20 ex pros on £1500/wk.
Gresley will get some local Leicestershire team and still crash out.
That seems to be the way.
I just hope Dulwich get a home draw in the preliminary round. I'm praying for it.
The Kempster
will have the draws up in 28 minutes.
do C+P it please yeah?
sounds like an office excel version of a dance punk band
Will do.
Hinckley?
I think they're Conference North?
If so, they haven't been drawn yet.
roman abramovich
plz don't buy torres thnx
Are the dates online anywhere?
I was planning to tag along with a friend in his own FA Cup Run but I suspect festivals/life will get in the way.
Trophy:
http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFATrophy/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2008/05/FATrounddates_0809.htm
Cup:
http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2008/06/
Frank Lampard
going to Man Utd, you heard it here first.
Maybe.
Not at all happy about Deco arriving,
particularly if it means Frank leaving.
As mentioned above, Deco will need to score twenty goals a season just to match Lampard. Also, if a player isn't good enough for Barcelona, he shouldn't be good enough for us, particularly as he spent most of last season injured.
I wonder
How long Big Phil has had the job, considering Paolo Ferreira signed a four year contract earlier this year when he has been nothing more than a squad player.
he does get a silly amount of money though
for sitting on his arse, and he has already won most of the big titles.
He's the John O'Shea of West London
I used to rate John O'Shea
but then again I used to like Big Fun.
he nutmegged Figo once
'nuff said.
That's a bit harsh on
O'Shea, really.
ah, but John O'Shea is a 'utility man'
presumably because he's equally useless in every position.
Intertoto is progressing along too
the most pertinent to me is TPS Turku (Finland) beating Lisburn Distillery (Northern Ireland :( ) 6-3 aeg, they'll now play Odense (Denmark - I think I've heard of them? maybe just the city), with the winners playing Villa. Deportivo La Coruna and Stuttgart are also awaiting in the third round, a lot of people's second teams there.
My housemate will destroy me if Odense beat Villa.
I think the Intertoto Cup
is underrated as a competition.
i can't believe people saying it'll ruin pre season training
it's two matches! plus the weather tends to be brilliant. I quite like it too. Although they should probably call it 'THE CHAMPIONS TROPHY' or something.
Maybe 'Everyone's favourite teams' cup' :)
just in case anyone's interested
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Intertoto_Cup_2008
it's a bit complicated though mind. For the 3rd round teams (villa, brega, la coruna, stuttgart, napoli etc) it basically works as qualifying round one of UEFA - if you win your (only) two legged tie, you go straight into UEFA qualifying round 2.
But with the bonus of whoever gets the furthest in the UEFA proper out of the inter totoers, gets the inter toto cup (the worst cup ever - http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41542000/jpg/_41542802_int203.jpg)
also the last year for inter toto apparently
That trophy
looks like something that's just been removed from inside a 30-year-old computer.
the original one was ridiculous too
it was literally the size of a tea mug with two handles. When villa won it, Paul Merson looked gutted "How much champagne can we get in that?"
Dulwich away to Leyton
in the Prelim round of the Trophy.
Should be winnable
even with Leyton taking on Edgware's old squad. What've we got?
Away to Margate
in the Trophy, Away to AFC Hayes, Wembley or Royston in the FA Cup.
Another one round Trophy run then
Yes
As expected.
Guy Moussi
Just signed for us on a 3-year-contract today from a French 2nd Division club called Angers.
Over to you Lyle....
When I first saw the headline, I thought
you'd signed moousee.
FA Cup Extra Prelim Draw
http://www.tonykempster.co.uk/facep.htm
FA Cup Prelim Round
http://www.tonykempster.co.uk/facep.htm
FA Cup 1st Qual Round
http://www.tonykempster.co.uk/fac1q.htm
FA Trophy Prelim Round
http://www.tonykempster.co.uk/fatp.htm
FA Trophy 1st Qual Round
http://www.tonykempster.co.uk/fat1q.htm
"Access Denied"
sorry man, but you couldn't say who Bromley have could you?
They haven't been drawn yet
they come in at 2nd Qual stage of the Cup and 3rd Qual stage of the Trophy.
I see
hardcore fan me
cheers
And then away at Met Police!?
This is the worst draw ever. Even worse than the fact that Gresley appear to be playing Dunkirk in the Cup Prelims. Dunkirk?!
On the plus side
they could meet Oxhey Jets in the Cup. I'm going to be watching them this season rather than paying greedy Ryman clubs a tenner when Hendon are away.
On the plus side
You now don't need to go to Kent very often.
How on earth can you be a hooligan at a match played by policemen?
Ridiculous. The FA have gone too far.
AFC Wulfrunians v Pilkington XXX?
I'm tempted to sack off the run and just go to that.
Either there or to watch Heather St Johns. Sounds like a porn star.
Just base your run off another team
problem solved. For bonus points turn it into an FA Vase run. Although you'll end up getting lost trying to find random fields in the middle of nowhere that way.
Yeah, I've already sacked that off.
I'm tempted to go to Crowborough.
Southam United
have Boldmere St Michaels of Sutton Coldfield at home. Apparently they're the current holders of the 2008 Walsall Senior Cup. :-(
I don't think Chelsea will miss Lampard's goals much
I think they'll probably play a much more productive style of football that will rely less on two or three players.
we will miss his goals greatly..
..but it Ballsack and Deco between them should make up for 75% of them with any luck, hopefully more goals will be contributed from elsewhere. i'm very happy with the signing of Deco, top quality player.
OI!
I didn't think you were posting on here during the day?
surely
Robbie can't leave? :(
You can't expect a player of his quality
to be happy at a lower-mid-table side anymore.
i'm not going
to dignify that with a response.
*takes that response as a victory*
enjoy it
I can imagine you'll experience many once the season starts
Hahaha, you said 'can' instead of 'can't'
This is fast-becoming the best day of my life.
it's just a big day of FAIL for me
Hinckley Downes v Shawbury United
Oh no, why am I still not signed up with Downes, could have got some Fa Cup action.
is the dis fa trophy run still happening?
We need a team meeting.
you should start a thread about it
i'd suggest creating a facebook group but i'm guessing you still don't use facebook.
lets just have a big kick about
followed by pub logistics discussion?
hey, let's discriminate against people who don't live in london!
i didn't say it would be exclusive to attendees!
I just want a game of football is all. Plus those that can should probably meet in the flesh, it's so much more preferable to phone/computer monitor
Godalming Town v Enfield Town
for some more Chuckles action. And to see Ricci Crace and his lightening pace.
when's that?
GODDAMN work filters
Whenever the Prelim Round of the Trophy is
October 4th? Sept 20th? ish.
Oct 4
ta? and ta
I like this idea.
However, here are the stats as I see it:
FA Trophy run starts slightly later, and has slightly less rounds, thus is a bit cheaper. It also seems slightly more exotic and there are less chances of us visiting Stoke. However, it may involve Truro and/or Torquay at some point.
So Trophy>Cup.
Which means we need a starting point. As I see it, some possible starting points are:
Aveley v Ilford
Wingate & Finchley v Ware
Kingstonian v Whitstable Town Crowborough Athletic v Eastbourne Town
Leyton v Dulwich Hamlet
Burgess Hill v Dunstable
i presumed we were starting with dulwich
i'm in favour of an fa trophy run as opposed to a fa cup run too.
Ok, good.
Possible bad points about starting with Dulwich: the next round is likely to be at Met Police, which means Richard will get arrested.
that's a bad point?
Also
Leyton's ground is the biggest shit heap in known football. But their management team are good blokes - I was at Southall whilst their assistant was there. He's just been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.
that's where he went wrong
if he'd ben a dickhead he'd have a 88 year life expectancy.
I think there was a fund raiser at bromley for him recently? maybe it was the polive force at bromley, but i'm sure the more involved/informed guys were talking about this a month or two back?
I know Bromley
held a fundraiser for Ernie Cooksey, I think he's at Grays at the moment and has a malignant melinoma (sp?)
Grays rings a bell
that's probably it
I'm sure I just replied to this.
Oh well. I love visiting a shitheap. And if Rich gets arrested in the next round, it's good blog fodder. Let's get it on! Leyton, here we come!
(also, for anyone else interested in another random visit, if Gresley do play Chasetown in the 1st Qualifying round of the Cup, I'm all over that).
me too!
if not i think i'll be going to kendal v ashton. i need to pick a preliminary round fa cup match to go to. exciting!
Decent bar at Leyton
though, and they've built new terracing behind one of the goals that looks pretty decent (it wasn't open yet when we visited for our infamous 11-1 victory).
It's less of a shitheap than it used to be, even if it is still probably the worst ground in the Ryman League.
I imagine the 'worst ground in the Ryman League'
to still be a palace compared to some of the hellholes I've seen up north.
Or whatevs.
when you say 'may'
i take it you mean 'is a pretty much a nailed on certainty that it will'
Sparky can put us up in Plymouth
and my sister's at university in Falmouth, so Cornish accommodation shouldn't be a problem either.
and I have a car
which may well work out cheaper than bus/train with a full load
it did two weeks ago when it was just me going london-manchester-leeds-derby-london
train would have been about £80 minimum, more like £100, car was about £35
I'm going to investigate those
'family and friends' railcard things. They look exciting. Although I do like the car option for possible Tuesday night replay shenanigans.
does a family and friends railcard
involve some of us pretending to be your children?
Not you. Wifey x
Sweden football extra
19 year old Albin Ekdahl - formerly of Superettan (Swedish 2nd division) side Brommapojkarna signed to Juventus yesterday
He's a midfielder who's only ever played 24 professional matches
must be Mellberg's boyfriend or somthing
How do you see IFK-Trelleborgs going tonight?
IFK ?
the football team is Trelleborgs FF
IFK is their 'athletics union' which includes the handball team, the football team and the athletics team
but I presume you're referring to the Göteborg match at Ullevi?
Easy win for Göteborg. Possibly 5 -0
IFK v Trelleborgs
IFK is how flashscores.co.uk refer to Goteborg. As in IFK Goteborg.
Someone mentioned Gresley Rovers earlier.
What league are they in now? I rememember some good encounters with Dorchester Town in the past and i think we sent them down from the old Dr Martins league a few years back.
At least with Dorchester's reprive it means we still enter the second qualifying round. Still probably wont get to the proper stages. Havnt since 2001.
Sad news about Tony Kempster though.He was diagnosed with bowel cancer last week. His website is the best around for non-league football and is always bang up to date with fixtures and information. Very sad news indeed.
Gresley got shunted
across to the Unibond league about three or four years ago, following the club's first relegation in 54 years in 1998. That was a horrible weekend, you guys survived on the last day if I remember rightly, while I was watching Roverrs capitulate 2-1 at home to Bath the most passionless display I've EVER seen on a football field. Sad times for all concerned. When I look at some of the teams that were in the DMP when Gresley won it two years prior to that, it makes me very sad indeed.
I WON'T get arrested at Met Police
before then?
Yeah, good luck with that.
1/11 D&D
2/1 disturbing the peace
5/1 criminal damage
6/1 sexual harrassment
13/1 driving without due care and attention
100/1 having an annoying voice
sexual harrasment?!
You touch me one more time, and I'm pressing charges.
I SWEAR TO GOD.
You will ruin my chances on the apprentice if you carry on like this.
You are lucky Murdoch bought in DiS, not Sugar
Can I put a million pounds on Rich to be arrested for sexual harrasment?
Those odds are FAR too good.
Shit
http://tinyurl.com/5xudhy
£3million
plus extras is rather a lot for someone who's never played about League 2. Anyone who pays that much is mad. I think he'll stay.
I reckon someone will take him
Shame, but that's quite a nice some to replace him.
As long as Mackail-Smith, Lee, Morgan, Lewis and Whelpdale stay I'm happy
You didn't mention the most important player - Boyd
Gone for an undisclosed fee to Wolves by the end of the week I reckon.
Indeed
How could I forget gorgeous George?!
Wolves buy everyone :-(
Jesus though, 3 million is a bit steep!
So at the moment
the entire spurs strikeforce is rumoured to be leaving. Madness when you consider we have one of the best group of players in the prem to choose from. Especially given that we have spent about 40 million strengthening areas that need it, severely weakening one of our best areas just doesnt make sense.
Its probably all paper talk but nontheless i wouldnt be pleased if Crouch was leading our strikeforce next year at all.
I don't think Keane will go
I think you're best off selling Bent and Berbatov may go of his own accord (he's playing well below his level at Spurs, even most Spurs fans admit and they think they're world class) but from the looks of it you've got some decent targets lined up to replace him. I wouldn't worry too much. Whichever strikers go, you're going to have a much stronger, more balanced side than you did this time last year.
yeah i think a lot of the signings made this year
shouldve been made last summer. But i still dont want us to sell Keane, hes been a great player for us and i dont see why it would make sense to be selling good players when we are improving elsewhere. Bent can go, and if Berbatov does i wont be too bothered, providing of course we sign someone of real quality.