Boards
Wednesday Football Thread
I don't know what to put in it, sorry. Just wanted to draw your attention to this brilliant interview with Brad Friedel: http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/sports-breakfast/120711/friedel-modric-lloris-and-villas-boas-176338? So great to have people like him at the club. Doesn't hurt, either, that he's probably our best 'keeper in 20+ years. Absolutely travesty that fucking Paul Robinson was voted into our all-time Premier League team ahead of him.
I love Paul Robinson
I love Friedel more
I love Gomes even more
Huddersfield sign Joel Lynch from Forest
Another very promising looking signing. Was wanted by some lower Premiership clubs apparently. Very excited about the upcoming season for the first time in ages, we've a good young squad, a man who has grown up on the terraces as the chairman, a manager who has experience of getting teams up to this level and doing well there. Get to go to some new grounds aswell(god was I bored of going to Yeovil).
The dark days of not having a pot to piss in, and getting humped at home by Leyton Orient in front of basically nobody are over for now.
haha we got a town fan here have we?
Guilty as charged officer.
Amazing username
I'm currently sitting a matter of mere feet away from a Boothy mask from his last game. It's unnerving.
One of my biggest regrets
Is not being able to go to Boothys last game. One of those treasured masks could be mine.
Waking up to your Number 9 being shamelessly advertised to everyone is not fun.
How not to treat your record signing: wait until his confidence is high and his form is good, then tell everyone he's available to borrow (which pretty much means, we don't want him but we know none of you want to buy him).
All this as we edge closer to a player who Roma are willing to let go for £11m, maybe Clint Dempsey (Plan B, after Plan A went to Spurs) and the rumoured exit of Craig Bellamy.
It's all just rumour at the minute of course, but Rodgers needs to be very careful here. If he lets Carroll go and Suarez gets crocked, he'll be in a Hodgson-esque position of having only an unproven forward to carry us through four competitions.
Loved this summary from the BBC's gossip column:
"Liverpool are prepared to accept a £20m loss on striker Andy Carroll this summer. However, with little optimism at Anfield that he could command even a price of £15m, a loan deal for the 23-year-old remains most likely." Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
Don't think we need a striker according to Brendan...
http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/sports-breakfast/120703/brendan-rodgers-luis-suarez-and-liverpools-transfer-plans-175723
I think it's a mistake to let Carroll go on loan, especially at this point. He's the perfect plan B (he was never going to be Rodgers' plan A, was he)
Don't know how Robinson beat Friedel on that vote
I reckon it goes Friedel >>> Robinson > Good Gomes >>>>> Walker > Sullivan > Bad Gomes (Cudicini never really played enough, can't remember if Thorsvedt was good or not)
Actually swap Good Gomes and Robinson around
where is ESPEN BAARDSEN
remember Stipe Pletikosa
Who knows?
Who knows
didn't he retire at like 26
to go become a financial advisor in the USA?
If it's the same poll that Arsenal fans hijacked to vote Sol Campbell in
then that might explain Robinson. He's conceded more Prem goals against us than any other keeper, think it's up to 60 now.
It's the same poll
but I think Robinson's selection is explained simply by Spurs fans being stupid.
Also, here's something I've written about high-line defending/David Luiz/Younes Kaboul:
http://aintnosanantonio.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/who-should-partner-jan-vertonghen.html
I realise you're all probably sick of me jagging myself by now, but it has a graph.
It's interesting, but the one thing jumps out at me.
Is it really fair to examine any player so forensically in isolation? I can see why, based on stats, you would conclude that rushing towards the ball is an inherent characteristic. But what about the situations players find themselves in because of the instructions they've been given or the performance of their team mates?
I think Luiz, more often than not but with some exceptions, made seemingly poor decisions on when to press and when to sit patiently because he was so regularly left in lose/lose situations by what had happened (or not happened) further up the pitch- neither Mata or Sturridge pressed the ball to any great effect and AVB's tactics often saw Luiz and Terry pushed out very wide, a good 30 yards away from each other or the nearest midfielder.
You can get stuck with a poor impression of a defender last in the chain of fuck-ups and sold short by those around him in much the same way that people may develop a disproportionately positive impression of a centre-back from a highlights reel.
The consensus seems to be that AVB's higher line failed because he didn't have the personnel for it. Not much thought seems to have been given to the idea that plenty of other PL teams simply have ideal personnel to play against it.
That's fair, and Ibzo basically said the same thing to me when I was 'researching'
It wasn't meant to be a critique of Luiz per se though, and in saying "David Luiz is another player whose decision making is not the best, or at least, a player who can take an excessively zealous approach to defending", I was trying to distance myself slightly from the initial suggestion that his decision-making ability is flawed. The issue is, he had a tendency to rush towards the ball - the reason for that, and the extent to which others were to blame for it, wasn't really a concern. I just wanted to look at the specific impact of it, and how it could create issues if somebody at Spurs did something similar. Kaboul is likely to do something similar, whatever's going on around him (so I argue, anyway).
As for it not being a tactic suited to the Premier League, I suppose the jury is still out? You've seen more of it in practice than me, but it has only been with that one Chelsea team. I think we at least need to see more teams try it before questions about its suitability to the league can be addressed.
That's fair enough, yeah.
Wasn't meant as a critique of your piece, just my immediate thoughts on it- not seen much of Kaboul so I was always going to focus on Luiz.
I wouldn't confidently assert it cannot work in the Premier League. I don't watch enough foreign football to really say if the Premier League's reputation for being particularly fast and physical is fair. I certainly don't watch much Portuguese football. But to turn that on its head slightly, the fact that I hardly watch Portuguese football makes me wonder if descriptions of AVB's Porto as a pressing, high line team are accurate. For me, the idea that AVB has a clear, consistent footballing philosophy is absolute bullshit- I saw no evidence of it at Chelsea, where he regularly changed tactics and formation. Might be thinking of the wrong person but I vaguely recall you remarking how quickly he'd abandoned his supposed philosophy after the game against Valencia. The problem wasn't that he was stubbornly sticking to one method of football. It was that he (and the players, who aren't at all excused) couldn't seem to make a prolonged go of any system. Perhaps he was just as willing to shake things up at Porto- players and managers often get reputations that don't tally up with what they really do simply because it's easy to parrot what someone else has said.
Anyway, that's a bit of a tangent ... I certainly think that the Premier League has a lot of teams willing to sit deep and play long diagonal balls that render pressing quite useless. I just don't know if it has more teams that do that than, say, the Spanish or Italian leagues. It's interesting that the team you pick out as potential evidence that a high line can work at the top are in all likelihood the best club team of all time. They could be the exception that proves the rule.
Apparently Arsenal are switching to Adidas kits after next season
Bloody marvelous news if true, Nike's recent efforts have been an absolute shambles
Andy Carroll transfer update
no-one wants him. more to follow
Nottingham Forest to win the champions league within the next 5 years.
TREES
TREES
TREES
Because we've been taken over by some rich Kuwaiti's
BTW
Nice video of him doing some hunting on SSN just now
new tottenham home and away kits:
https://p.twimg.com/AxcQW1mCAAALhJ_.jpg
https://p.twimg.com/AxcQpBcCEAA6y0x.jpg
Ahahaha
The whole advertising campaign for it is hilarious. How about this: http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/video-teaser-new-tottenham-hotspur-201213-kit/
As for the kit itself: white shorts? :( And the shirt looks a bit... umm... Hummel. I like the away strip though.
Brave Scotty Parker looks like he's boffing himself off
I'm a big fan of VDV's magician pose
http://npinopunintended.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/gob-bluth2.jpg
Today's transfer rumours
Andy Carroll (Liverpool) to West Ham
Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea) to Liverpool or Spurs
David Silva (Man City) to Real Madrid
Hugo Rodellega (free agent, formerly Wigan) to Fulham
Vurnon Anita (Ajax) to Newcastle or Sunderland
Mathieu Debuchy (Lille) to Newcastle
Craig Bellamy (Liverpool) to Cardiff City
Dimitar Berbatov (Man Utd) to Malaga, Bayer Leverkusen or Paris St Germain
Marouane Chamakh (Arsenal) to Fiorentina
André Schürrle (Bayer Leverkusen) to Chelsea
Ki Sung-Yueng (Celtic) to Liverpool
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund) to Liverpool, Lazio or AS Roma
Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle) to Barcelona
Ahmed Elmohamady (Sunderland) to Hull
Carlos Tevez (Man City) to AC Milan
Oriol Romeu (Chelsea) to Barcelona or Bolton
Ivan Ramis (Real Mallorca) to Wigan, Sunderland or Aston Villa
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund) to Arsenal
Kyle Naughton (Spurs) to Reading
Alex Buttner (Vitesse) to Southampton
Cristian Sapunaru (Porto) to Chelsea
Senad Lulic (Lazio) to Chelsea
To Barcelona or Bolton :D
Which numpties are linking Silva with Madrid today?
Seems a bit weird as he's gone on the record three times in as many months saying he has absolutely no intention of playing for anyone other than Manchester City.
Allegedly "a Madrid source" has revealed:
a bid of £35 million is imminent, sanctioned by the Real Madrid board, on the recommendation of Jose Mourinho. "More importantly, [Jose] now believes that David has changed his mind and decided he will not renew his contract at City. That is why the bid will go in."
Here's a thought
Imagine if all the stuff about Oscar going to Chelsea is just a ploy to get us to sell them Modric.
Because it would be ironic, wouldn't it
if we insisted on not selling Modric to Chelsea, lost him to Madrid and then were unable to replace him, because Chelsea had nabbed the man we were looking to replace him with. Which is kind of what I don't understand about this "don't sell to your rivals" policy: if your rivals are as moneyed as Chelsea, they'll only buy somebody else of a similar standard. If they're offering the highest fee, take it.
nah
it's like you've got this incredibly hot girlfriend. the relationship comes to an end (they always do). imagine if your friend starts seeing her, rubbing it in your face and shit. fuck that.
bottom line - the ex needs to leave the country.
or something
Never seen this Oscar kid play, sounds like he's got loads of potential
He's only 20 though isn't he? Huge ask for him to come straight into a new country/league and replace your best player. Everyone loves a Brazilian wonderkid, but wouldn't Spurs be better off going for someone like Moutinho?
Both!
here is Mario Gotze and his girlfriend
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2012/07/10/mario-gotze-gets-a-little-too-excited-during-ibiza-holiday-with-hot-girlfriend/
(might want to check your manager's not looking over your shoulder before clicking)
haha
tbf, that bird is super hot, so the kid has his disclaimer
Spent most of last night watching videos of Shinji Kagawa's girlfriend.
Oooh errr.
United!
*safetywink*
Honestly, though...
credit to him for having a proper hardcore pornstar bird.
not sure i could handle the fact that half of the world's seen groups of men jizz on my girlfriend's face, like.
aye
hard enough with just your mum i guess.
seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to say.
well done.
John Terry Trial *I Used To Be A Contender* Moment of the Day
Terry grilled about why he insulted Paddy Kenny for being `fat'.
DP: you're not fat are you. you are a `supreme athlete'
JT: i used to be
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Observer/Pix/pictures/2010/3/4/1267730782957/raging-bull-001.jpg
also the various reporters in the court room noting that
'Mr Terry says he has been upset by a song Liverpool fans sing about his mother dating a man from Liverpool.'
anyone?
she loves the scouse cooooooooooock
Surely...
when you're a racist, your dad's a coke dealer and your mum's a shoplifter, a half-hearted song from a few unemployed people should be water off a duck's back?
I know it's a really serious matter, but some of the responses have been hilarious.
Prosecution: You're well respected in the football community, aren't you Mr Terry?
Terry: I'd like to think so.
ERM ...
Defence: Why did the penalty appeal annoy you so much?
Ferdinand: Because I'm a winner.
DOUBLE ERM ...
Sounds like they're testing responses for FM13's new *racism trial* feature
Nothing to see here
:D
Back when it was Champ Man one of my players shoved a ref and got a 9 month GLOBAL BAN
Never seen this or anything similar since, are there still little quirks like this hidden in the games?
Legalities mean it can't happen to anyone who actually exists
So nightclub incidents etc can only happen to newgens. I'm not sure if the ref shoving exists at all any more though.
i did not know this
what have i been missing out on
Makes sense, cheers
Shame about the ref shoving being cut, everything went nuts when that happened. For a week afterwards lowly Cheltenham Town were the centre of the pretend football world
Patrick Kluivert got a 12 month ban for punching the ref in one game I had
This must have been a pre-2000 Championship Manager.
One of my mates tried to convince me they had a game where Dennis Bergkamp died in a car crash. I don't think this happened.
I think this happened to me once!
..
Crown to Ashley Cole: 'You used to play for Arsenal, the crowd doesn't make any noise at the Emirates do they?' [LAUGHTER in court]
pff!
Would be interested to hear domgourlay's thoughts on Nott$ Fore$t's takeover....
;-D
Just hope for the sake of Forest fans
That its not another Munto finance job like their neighbours got.
spin.jpg
Also apparently Paladini's involved
God help them
What a cunt that man is.
Obviously, i've no affiliation to QPR (though i'll be eternally greatful for their defence falling over a bit once they knew they were safe on the final day of our glorious title-winning campaign, obviously!) but when i finished watching that (really quite brilliant) QPR documentary my overiding feeling was one of wanting to repeatedly punch that prick in the face.
Truly odious man
Some say he saved the club, but did so by levering our future on a loan with interest so outrageous Tony Soprano would say *That's a bit steep mate*
He then engaged in some very odd things (alleging he was held at gunpoint in the boardroom) and some tosser things (lending himself money from the club interest free). Sacked Holloway stemming from a row of Gianni giving new contracts to players Ollie had released.
When he sold to Bernie and Flavio he managed to stay on handing out outrageous contracts to people he was connected to (ex agent see) which have taken an age to get rid (the players signed after the takeover have just left the club relieving us of an estimated £13m a year off the wage bill).
Then finally well run and at the end of our greatest season since the mid 90s his crooked ways almost have us stripped of promotion.
I've never felt better than when I was booing him when he was announced on the pitch for the trophy presentation
After the disastrous reign of the previous owner
whose high interest loans created a £75 million debt whilst plunging the club into its worst period both on and off the pitch during our entire 147 year history, it will be nice to think we may be able to compete on a level playing field once more.
weird how you can see things sensibly when it's your own club involved, then...
having given a considerable amount of the selling your soul/oil money/$$$ shite out previously.
hmmm, interesting...
uh oh...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jul/10/manchester-united-accounts-share-offer
mauro boselli still plays for wigan
Betting suspended on Hoilett joining QPR
Can already hear South Africa Road declaring him the worst player to ever play football on the first day of the season
I think we've just heard the most offensive put-down in the Terry trial
Crown to Ashley Cole: 'You used to play for Arsenal, the crowd doesn't make any noise at the Emirates do they?' [LAUGHTER in court]
Cole: "Am I supposed to laugh at that?"
Cole: "If you're saying Loftus Road is louder than the Emirates I'd say: 'no, it's not."
:D
what does that even have to do with anything??
They're asking some ridiculous questions.
Don't see the relevance of Terry having to explain the song Liverpool fans sing to him.''My Mum dated a bloke from Liverpool so now they sing 'she loves the Scouse cock''... ''Thanks John, now moving on....''
They're ridiculous in isolation
but make sense- with little concrete evidence, the prosecution need to make Terry seem like someone who was likely to snap at provocation. Even better if they can make him snap at provocation right there in the courtroom.
I see.
Law 101 I guess. This thing really shouldn't be in Crown court.
tbf
I think the CPS and court have been between a rock and a hard place here- allegations of racial abuse must be taken seriously. I'll be pretty surprised if he's found guilty though, unless the prosecution has some kind of smoking gun that they've decided to not mention until their closing statement just for the drama.
...which would be why it's not in Crown Court
Right you are.
I should probably just stop talking about courts and law and stuff.
In fact I *heard*
That they charged him with the lowest possible offence to keep him away from a jury as footballers tend to walk them as they can spend millions on lawyers and people generally like them. The CPS saw a magistrates court as the best way of getting a conviction.
I also *heard* that the footage was leaked onto YouTube by a police officer
Both probably patent nonsense
The complaint was made by an off duty policeman
who watched the game at home so that's actually plausible.
That is offensive
Having been to both LR is much louder #nestor
:D
Tbf I'd imagine Ashley's always found the Emirates to be pretty noisy
Is it just a coincidence that there is a pub on Highbury corner called The Library?
Steffen Freund is our new Assistant Head Coach
Very, very, very, very, very, VERY interesting appointment, for a number of reasons.
Think you're overstating how interesting this is by five to six verys
Number one being
an ITK who called this about a week ago says he hasn't heard anything about Adebayor signing permanently :))))))))
Oh no, AVB has confirmed he wants to bring him back to the club
:((((((((
It's not as if picking a club cult hero as his assistant has ever gone badly for Andre before ...
If you get a chance, have a listen to this interview:
http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/kickoff/120710/jason-burt-why-avb-will-get-it-right-spurs-176325?
I don't know if the stuff talked about - for example, AVB's relationship with Di Matteo - is common knowledge amongst Chelsea fans, but I found it interesting. Too long to transcribe.
Supposedly highly rated as a coach with the German youth teams.
Remember when he used to try to shoot? AMAZING.
Chelsea are buying football again, eh?
I for one am DISGUSTED.
I'm loving the thread on Oscar on the Chelsea forum I use
Monday: Who the fuck is this guy? C'MON ROMAN, JUST BID A SQUILLION POUNDS FOR MODRIC, FFS!
Today: WE'RE GONNA WIN THE LEAGUE, WE'RE GONNA WIN THE LEAGUE ...
I think QPR forums must be unique amongst all football fans
We must be the only fans going *Hmmm, I think we're spending too much*
FAO Reckoning:
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/7888880/?
xxxxxxxxx
probably end up at QPR
Sounds like Lloris prefers a move to Spurs over one to Arsenal.
Surprising. Would've thought he'd be automatic first-choice at the Emirates, but Friedel's still a top-drawer 'keeper.
The Terry-Ferdinand trial seems a bit farcical
Why on Earth are there loads of statements being read out saying John Terry isn't a racist/people have never heard Terry say racist things? It's not really relevant is?*
*I accept that question seems paradoxical given he's on trial for racially offensive comments but the question at hand isn't whether Terry is a racist person but whether he made racist comments on one specific occasion. Surely quotes saying he's not usually racist makes as much sense as having someone popping up at a murder trial saying "I can help prove he's innocent - I've never seen him kill anyone"?
I agree in theory
but having followed the case over the last three days it's become much more obvious. With little tangible evidence, the prosecution's two prongs of attack have been that a) Terry's claim he was merely repeating words is unlikely and b) he snapped under provocation. The natural defence is to demonstrate that Terry is unlikely to have snapped, particularly in such a manner, but pointing to previous incidents and his character more generally- of course it's still possible that someone who isn't 'a racist' would snap and racially abuse someone, but it's far less plausible. At this point in the case it's quite relevant to bring up good character references and previous charitable work.
IT'S CHOWDER! CHOWDER!
Big Andy Carroll Update
Pardew says he was t'rific for us, got a raw deal at Liverpool but we don't want him either.
Lundekvam says he did spot fixing at Southampton
FIFA investigates
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/7889272/
Anyone read the interview with Lundekvam in this month's Blizzard?
Constantly high, drunk or both, Lundekvam took to roaming around in his garden with a huge knife, hunting paparazzi.
DiS swallowed most of that post.
But basically it contains that sentence. Should be enough of a selling point...
Matt Le Tissier already admitted to this in his book
Are you taking le tiss?
le tiss off
nah he said something like he tried to get a throw in in the 9th minute and fucked it up. think he got investigated but nothing came of it.
Pretty sure some West Ham players got in trouble for this too
All bet on first throw in being in the 1st minute, then won the coin toss, kicked off and hoofed the ball straight out of play
There is a team that does this a lot
Can't remember who it is, might be QPR, whenever I have seen them kick off, they hoof it into touch, like a rugby team trying to gain yards.
For legal purposes, I must stress I am not hinting at anything untoward here
Not that anyone saw or cared but Kettering's chairman just got done for making
3000 bets over three seasons. 3000! He must have been following Kik's bash the bookie run
Nah.
He'd have been able to afford a Championship club now...at least!
Taraabt signs a new four year deal
Current one ran out of the end of the impending season.
Getting worried by this constant stream of good news. Expecting Uncle Tony to be outed as a nonce any day now
Can we sign someone, PLEASE?!?
Don't particularly care if we don't need them, ffs, but christ, by our standards this is easily the dullest transfer window in years. I don't think we've even BID for anyone.
Still waiting for someone to pick up Tevez presumably.
He's been sat on the kerb clutching his P.E. bag for a while now. Getting a bit worried.
you'll have to cross your fingers that Big Sam bites for Carroll
leaving Milan short a striker, paving the way for Tevez to move closer to his family in Italy.
I'm starting to get the impression we're not looking to sell Tevez.
...and that the whole player and manager making-up spiel was genuine and not just to get us through the season, or money-related.
He looks pretty happy around the training ground, and Mancini's said nothing to indicate he might be leaving.
If we do sell a striker, i think it's almost certain to be Dzeko, given Balotelli's man-to-boy summer, and the fact that Aguero's the mut's nuts.
If anyone offers 23+ million to take him and his wages off our hands
Mancini will bite their arm off. If nobody does I suppose he can keep on pretending he's fine working with a player who fucked off to a golf course for half a season in the middle of one of the most important matches in the club's history to date on full wages, but it's going to be pretty painful.
Not really.
The lad came back and won us the title, let's not forget that.
Since then, there's not been a peep out of him.
Forgive, don't forget.
Should be be moved on? Yep.
Are we stronger if he isn't? Yep.
see the heading of your post two posts down
I don't think anyone would say that at this point in time...
Tevez wouldn't be in our strongest XI.
That may have not been true several months ago, but now, he most certainly is.
He's better than van Persie. He just is, and he's more proven.
better than Van Persie
http://gifsoup.com/view5/1934694/charlie-murphy-laugh-o.gif
If RVP is your only signing
I'll be quietly confident about next season. Too many £20m+ strikers spoil the broth.
Nice spin.
Doesn't really change the fact that we'd still easily have the best goalkeeper, defence and midfield in the country, though.
You're right, it doesn't change the team that won the league on goal difference last season
That's why I'd be quietly confident. Assuming we sign a CM and LB of course.
I'm sure you'll get some shiny new toys though bro.
joint champions!
;-D
Couldn't share the title with a better bunch of lads!
Where do you need strengthening in your opinion?
Looks like you might be waiting till you've moved some people on before signing anyone new. Tevez obviously, Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz, maybe even Dzeko?.. to make room for a new striker (RVP?) Johnson and Weiss could perhaps move on? Have seen Gaitan linked to you, but he might be a bit similar to Silva and Nasri.
Not sure we could realistically improve our starting XI too much.
For me, it'd just be replacements for Kolarov, Savic and Adam Johnson.
I'd be perfectly happy with, say, Jose Enrique, Coloccini and Anonio Valencia.
If we were to go balls out and sign, say, Javi Martinez & Edinson Cavani, sure, that's be nice, but i'm not sure it's completely necessary.
* spelt right, obviously.
Javi Martinez could potentially be a Savic replacement,
given he played CB for the mighty Bilbao last year. He'd add a bit of class to your ever growing defensive midfield demolisher collection too. I've heard rumours about De Jong moving on? If that happens then Martinez would be ideal (although he's obviously a different player to De Jong.)
Do you see Giudetti and Suarez getting any game time at all next year? Do you think they're ready for it?
Martinez would have to be a first-team regular, given his ability and what he'd cost.
I'd love him here, of course, but it would probably signal the end of Gareth Barry's time as a first-team regular, or failing that, Joleon Lescott's.
Maybe that's just progress, idk, but they're two of our best, most consistant, yet most underrated players. Without the donkey work of those sort of players, we wouldn't be where we are.
I don't even want Andy Carroll for footballing reasons. I just can't get the image of us roaring about on a pair of Harleys out of my head.
wouldnt mind if we went in for Defoe
bit too similar to Bent perhaps but I think Defo gets harshly overlooked
pity the Bent to Liverpool thing has lost it's legs
King Kenny would've paved a fortune for him.
No-one's really mentioned that Bielsa's resigned as Bilbao manager, have they?
Allegedly because he pulled some builders up at the training ground and the club reprimanded him.
Thankfully not true
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=1661972.html
Not exactly, champ.
The incident definitely happened, and he definitely resigned. Seems like the club refused to accept his resignation and have backtracked.
Still, a silly turn of events, really.
something about ayr being a diddy team..
http://dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2171511
Get your Kits out! Get your Kits out! Get your Kits out for the lads!! GET YOUR KITS OUT FOR THE LADS
- Gary, Wallsend, 11/7/2012 16:28
my housemate has just come in wearing an arsenal shirt
with chamakh 29 on the back, and 29 on the shorts
i lol'd
shirt and shorts? what is he, eleven?
nah, as i said, he's 29
andre santos is number 11
AMAZING
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/john-terry-trial-please-please-please-could-you-repeat-that-7936075.html
:D no way did that happen
NO FLIPPIN' WAY
If this actually happened
This could well be the funniest thing of all time.
:DDDDDDDDDD
:')
Dunno what's funnier, the quote or the spin
the quote, mate.
Thank god for that
The John Terry celebrating jokes were just starting to wear thin, so its good to have something to seamlessly take over. If someone could do a mock up of John Terry celebrating while listening to Please please please please let me get what I want, that should be the perfect transition piece.
We not bothering with a new football thread today then?
Rumours abound that we'll confirm the signing of Adebayor this afternoon, but even more rumours abound that we'll be matching his City wages, maybe give or take a few grand. I think that would basically mark the end of the club as a financially prudent business. A lot of investment seems to be coming in, with the aim of allowing us to compete with City, United and Chelsea (I don't think it will quite be at that level, but it'll certainly give us a fighting chance). My interpretation of history is, when Chelsea and (more so) City got their cash injections, they initially spent big on mediocre players while they waited to build the reputations required to attract the likes of David Silva and Sergio Aguero. Adebayor was the embodiment of that; we're now going down the same path, and a year from now, there's every chance we'll find ourselves in the same position as City, i.e. with an expensive white elephant on our wage bill who we can't get rid of. If he were a player AVB had set his heart on, I'd be slightly more open-minded, but I think it's fairly obvious that this is a board-led signing, in the vein of Vertonghen and Sigurdsson. Not that I'm criticising the board for interfering - I think they generally do a very good job with regard to football-related matters - but here, they seem to have been blinded by what was only ostensibly an impressive contribution last season. I do not want to be a supporter of a club that behaves as if players like Emmanuel Adebayor are worth £150,000 or £170,000 a week.
Spurs have always had very wealthy backers...
they've just been scared of spending.
Joe Lewis is worth £4bn, and he's just one of about four backers, isn't he?
Not scared of spending, just don't want to
It's not their MO. As you say, we have Joe Lewis, we have Lord Ashcroft, we have Keith Mills, we have Philip Green, but the philosophy has always been, any money that is spent on the club must (by and large) be money that comes from within the club. And I like that, I've said so before. I think it's the way things should be. Apparently though - and I have no idea how true this is - some people from the Middle East are getting involved who want to invest their cash directly, which may or may not be tied up with the naming rights for the new stadium. From my perspective, that's slightly easier to accept because we've already had Champions League football and we're already somewhat established, so it's not like we're being built up from scratch (no dig intended), but no way, under any circumstances, do I want to see us spending those obscene amounts of money on players like Emmanuel Adebayor or Roque Santa Cruz or Adrian Mutu or whoever else. It's the football equivalent of wearing enormous gold watches or gaudy fur coats - ostentatious, tasteless and embarrassing.
;-D
You're starting to sound like an Arsenal fan.
Good luck competing with them for the Moral Cup next season!
Not really
If we put in a £200m bid for Messi, I'd be ambivalent but I wouldn't complain. This isn't Messi though, it's fucking Emmanuel Adebayor.
I think talk of wage structures is often a bit misleading anyway tbf
Spurs may well have a limit of £70k per week as is broadly reported, but I'd imagine that's just for basic wage. In someone like Adebayor's case, you're supposedly looking at getting him for as much as £10m below his actual value, if you pay him that £10m as a signing bonus paid over 4 years that makes almost £50k per week on top of his basic.
No doubt, and there's a big bonus element to it as well
but I think the argument is, as soon as you up the basic wage of one player, you're putting all your other players in stronger negotiating positions when it comes to signing new contracts, so it can't just be a one-off thing. You're opening the floodgates.
Cotterill's gone.
Pretty sure that means Harry Redknap will be taking charge at the city ground.
Doubt anyone else is still interested beyond pissing themselves if the guilty verdict comes in
but I've found it pretty interesting just how unsympathetic the prosecution have been to Anton Ferdinand- he's not been painted as a victim at all, but a vile abusive idiot (the defence QC has just told the judge that Ferdinand lacked the 'sophistication' to invent a story) who drove Terry to snap. That doesn't seem to have come through in much of the reporting- when the prosecution QC put it to Terry he was the 'victim' in the matter, most write-ups had it down as being mocking in tone. It doesn't seem it was meant that way at all.
mate, let is go, ffs.
Some people find matters of consequence interesting.
Others find making up the fact that they've got exotic friends or have ever attended a football match and then posting a 2,000 essay about their raving fantasies on a music website interesting. Each to their own, I say.
haha.
I don't know why you're finding it so hard to accept that John Terry is sub-human scum.
I just find it a bit sad when people think they have to defend their own club's players at all costs.
Racial abuse is wrong, mate. Let's move on.
In seriousness:
Direct me to where I've defended John Terry, chum.
In not seriousness:
I find it a bit sad when people pathologically lie about their life. Like I said, each to their own.
;-D
I've no idea why you're losing the plot.
I'm saying i think John Terry's a bad person, you're responding with petty personal insults. Makes no sense to me. People are allowed to have opinions on Chelsea, y'know!
Petty insults?
Whoa, slow down there. I thought we were just talking about things that made us sad.
Well, if so...
i find it a little sad that certain people find it so hard to believe that any given person might know someone from another country. Perhaps i just live in a more multi-cultural area than you, or see a bit more of the world, for whatever reason? It's 2012, ffs...but if you prefer to live in a bubble, that's your call, bud, but either way, do we have to carry this on all day, only i've got to be in work for 2pm, and i hate going in on the back of a row, i'll be in a stinking mood with my Dutch, German, Polish, Russian and Slovenian mates.
How many nationalities can you count amongst your friends? 103?
Right. I've got 104 Bosnian friends.
When I did unskilled, low-level jobs like yourself I knew folk from all over Eastern Europe and Africa.
Didn't call them mates though.
I wish i did an unskilled job, mate, i really do.
I've got a bit TOO much money, if anything. It's changing me. Not sure i like it.
You can always ask to go back to the floor if driving the forklifts are giving you a big head pal
The problem with this case
is that it was brought by an 'off-duty policeman' and not Ferdinand. Ferdinand seems to be so cretinous that he didn't even think that he'd been racially abused until someone told him about it afterwards. Which posits a philosophical question along the lines of does a tree falling in a forest make a sound if no one hears it.
As this trial goes along I must admit my opinions of those involved fluctuate wildly as different stuff comes out. What is interesting is that although the defence have had witnesses that come out and say that what was said was either inaudible or ambiguous, the prosecution has not produced anyone who was on the pitch who says that Terry made an offensive comment.
Although they all agree that Paddy Kenny is a bit of a porker.
I've never really held much of an opinion
on whether or not Terry racially abused Ferdinand- it's perfectly possible that he did. Terr's version of events strikes me as equally as plausible.
My only contention has been that the prosecution's evidence is flimsy and I've been intrigued by the machinations of the court. It seems the prosecution knew there was no credible way to portray Ferdinand as a victim so have instead largely made him out to be an abusive idiot that drove Terry to snap and do something out of character because provocation and any claim of justification is irrelevant to what he's been accused of.
No way this will end on Friday/Saturday. I imagine there will be a civil case no matter what the outcome is and sincerely doubt that Terry would take a conviction without appeal.
Something that intrigued me...
...about the prosecution, is that there appears to have been a certain amount of credence given to the idea that it is exceedingly unlikely that someone accused of racially abusing someone would, in defence, assert that they didn't by repeating the phrase that they were alleged to have said.
Doesn't strike me as that unlikely, if I'm honest.
No, nor me.
I'm a layman so won't claim to understand the finer nuances of the law, but the best route to a conviction here seems to be if the judge decides that the use of the term 'fucking black cunt' constitutes a public order offence in itself, regardless of context. From the outside at least the defence seems to have done a good job of creating more than reasonable doubt.
I wonder how common this sort of case is, in general.
Like, people going before the courts to argue whether or not a similar act of saying something with racial connotations which happened in, I dunno... Exeter town centre on a Saturday night is a public order offence.
Be good to see some precedents. Moreover, it'd be good to see some precedents from where the accusor didn't actually hear what the defendant said in the first place... interesting.
;-D
Just re-read that properly, sort of glossed over it before.
Note to self: must spend a day making a nice mosaic of all my season tickets and membership cards to prove that i go to occasional Stamford Bridge bandwaggoner.
hahahaha.
And I'll get a Kaka tattoo.
What a pair we'll make, eh?
Can you two move in together so we can film a sitcom please
Did someone do that?!
I'm torn between really, really hoping someone here did
and knowing that I don't want to see it.
Oh.
I thought he was implying you did it.
Look here.
I can cope with the fact that people, many on DiS, won't like me that much and may think I'm capable of pathetic bellendry like creating some kind of bizarre football ticket stub shrine. But the fact that anyone thinks I'd do that and then reveal it someone, anyone on the internet ... That hurts.
:D
OR
that this would be the first time forzaborza would have brought it up. Would you bother the more softly-softly deliberately obtuse wind-up approach if you had 'football collage wanker' to go straight to? Not sure I'd be able to resist that myself.
This is sad
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/darren-eadie-life-after-football--depression-and-panic-attacks-7936382.html
So basically
it was Scott Parker's fault
so, so brave.
Vertonghen's passed his Tottenham medical.
A little surprised by that given the rumours that have been floating around.
Meh, supposed tests in football aren't too rigourous. Some of them anyway
fit and proper person: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01382/Thaksin-Shinawatra_1382583c.jpg
England U19s play Greece in the semi-finals of the Euro U19 Championship this afternoon
2:30 on Eurosport 2. If billionaires looking for a plaything are ruining football, the fact you can now watch worthwhile games throughout the calendar year almost makes up for it. Team GB's first match next Friday as well, against Brazil.
On a related note, does anyone else find it ridiculous how long the England youth teams' respective managers have been in charge? Noel Blake, I think, took over the U19s around the same time as Capello got the senior side, but he joined the FA as a coach during McClaren's reign and is also in charge of the U18s; Brian Eastick was manager of the U19s before him and is now manager of the U20s; John Peacock - the U17 manager - has been with the FA since 2002; and Kenny Swain has been manager of England Schoolboys since 2004. For all this talk from Gareth Southgate as the FA's 'Head of Elite Development', what's the point of changing anything if there's no unified vision from schoolboy level up to senior level? That's what Germany have. That's what Spain have. That's part of what makes them so good. Refresh the whole coaching staff. Get everyone pulling in the same direction. And then, when Hodgson needs to be replaced, replace him with someone who will continue taking the senior side in that same direction.
People at City sound very excited about a Portuguese lad we've got.
Marcos Lopes he's called, known as 'Rony'. A pacy, left-footed attacking midfielder.
Word is Mancini's earmarked him as the new GazBaz, i shit you not.
Rumours doing the rounds he's going straight into the first-team squad, aged 16.
Yeah, I can see why a pacy attacking pidfielder
would be earmarked as the new Gareth Barry.
I thought you had an okay understanding of modern football tactics, mate?
You're always going on about half-8s, etc.
www.aintnosanantonio.blogspot.com
What happened between September and May (other than, y'know...the 11/12 season)?
I let the football speak for itself
Swindon draw with Bayern Munich* yesterday
*reserves
Still pretty good though!
Arsenal being linked with Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Milan Badelj
Never really heard of him, anybody got any Croatian mates who they can ask?
I've just text my mate Vech (short for Veceslav, Slavic for Wenceslaus)...
I'll let you know what his thoughts are later on, bud.
Hvala, pal
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky
Born 1821, died 1881
Liverpool always sign him on Football Manager
He's like Modric but not as good, if that's to be believed. Which it is.
OH WHAT, HARRY KANE'S BEEN DROPPED
He was our best player against France, ffs.
Is no one talking about/concerned with FIFA & bribery & corruption and all that?
*surprised at all
https://twitter.com/SpursOfficial/status/223406784008826880/photo/1/large
Does this mean Scott Parker is our new captain? Why is Jake Livermore in the photo? :((((
why's cudicini giving the big 'come on, son' gesture?
notable absence of VDV
nice to see Friedel looking like a horrible alien and BAE looking as fired up as he can :D
https://p.twimg.com/AxcQpBcCEAA6y0x.jpg
yeah
not at the official launch though, looks like it might have been pulled for a reason...
lol
I think you're reading too much into it - they've made three different images up. Kyle walker is in the other one, but not the main one - you reckon he's on the way out too?
yes
:(
Why is Friedel depicted as some sort of Buffy the Vampire Slayer bad guy?
Why does Dawson look so grumpy?
Captain or not if I was in charge of marketing Spurs stuff I'd well put Scotty in the front of every picture (maybe not with that pose mind), especially if your angle is "brave".
Also "Under Armour" and "Aurasma" are two of the worst sounding things ever on a Spurs kit. Pony and Hewlett Packard kinda level.
Dawson looks grumpy because Parker has nicked the captaincy off him
as long as it's not because that guy in the VDV photo is inappropriately touching him
I can't work out who it is
But pretty sure Friedel is the spitting image in that shot of some supervillian bad guy who has red skin
Friedel looks like The Undertaker
Today's (i.e. Thursday) transfer rumours
Andy Carroll (Liverpool) to Fulham or Newcastle
Matt Jarvis (Wolves) to West Ham or Stoke
Geoffrey Kondogbia (Lens) to Reading
Andros Townsend (Spurs) to Watford or Birmingham
Demba Ba (Newcastle) to Liverpool, Spurs or Galatasaray
Junior Hoilett (free agent, formerly Blackburn) to Newcastle, Tottenham, Fulham, Everton or Borussia Mönchengladbach
Maxi Rodriguez (Liverpool) to Newell's Old Boys
Jermain Defoe (Spurs) to Reading
Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal) to Zenit St Petersburg
Albert Adomah (Bristol City) to Swansea
Tongo Doumbia (Rennes) to West Brom or Aston Villa
Ignasi Miquel (Arsenal) to Brighton
José Bosingwa (Chelsea) to Lille
Is there something about Junior Hoilett that we don't know about?
Like he's a necrophiliac or scientologist or something? Or has a terminal illness?
He's a free agent, he counts as homegrown despite being Canadian (I think?), and he's looked brilliant at times in a Blackburn team giving him absolutely no support. Exactly the sort of eager winger we could do with at Arsenal, especially if Van Persie and Arshavin go.
But it seems like we haven't even looked at him. What?
He'll go to Newcastle and be brilliant then someone will sign him for £15 million next summer
Could be that he's not that good.
nah, he's decent
seems to have the lot.
I think he's okay- can do a job, but he won't end up anywhere too big.
Not sure I can think of a more pointless and unnecessary club/player combo than Arsenal and Hoillet though.
Bookmarked for when Chelsea sign him next summer
He was a transfer target for Arsenal in May
but it has gone quiet since.
I don't want Carroll
he doesn't really fit into the system of free flowing passing attacking football we've got going on these days.
Why aren't QPR in for him? They seem like the perfect home for overpriced PL journeymen and alsorans these days.
Ross Barkley has really, really good feet
Doesn't look like our striker problems are going to be solved
by anyone from this age group though...
Although as I said, Harry Kane is on the bench
future England regular, for sure
great balance.
Not immediately obvious how he and Wilshere would fit into the same team though
think he'll play the rooney role eventually
ie - in de hole
Like I said...
:')
O ENGLAND
Chalobah looks a bit of a clown in general
Fast and strong, but technically sub-par. I think I'm right in saying he's a centre-back rather than a right-back by trade, but even so, it's a bit depressing that, despite all the promises, players of his ilk are still prospering. Maybe Chelsea fans will be able to say if I'm being unfair, but that's definitely the impression I got from this tournament.
I've seen him in the flesh a couple of times now
He's looked very, very good both times.
At centre-back?
Once at centre-back and once in centre mid.
He was absolutely omnipresent in midfield. Couldn't believe the ground he covered.
And he used the ball okay?
He was generally solid defensively today, just offered very little going forward.
Certainly wouldn't have called him wasteful but he wasn't the most creative player in the world
Think he'll end up being a very good DM (not for Chelsea though given their record with bringing through their own kids)
He got a brace from CB as well (both from set-pieces admittedly)
that Garbutt character had a terrible, terrible delivery
England played ok but didn't play through Greece enough - they were content to get crosses in, which played into Greece's hands
Yup, and Noel Blake was encouraging them to
even though we were playing with a lone striker and the wingers weren't really coming in at the back post. Can't help but feel some English coaches don't quite 'get' 4-3-3 yet. There was also a moment where the co-commentator questioned the wisdom of Greece playing a right-footed player on the left. They didn't even have *one* striker! What's the point of having a player go round the outside and whip crosses in when you have no one in the box?
I'd say he's one of the few youth players of any club who I've seen
hugely out-perform other players in his age group not by virtue of physical attributes. Perhaps he's having a duff tournament.
By 'players of his ilk' do you mean 'not that technically gifted'.
He's a centre-back! Not every centre back has to be like Pique. Chalobah has looked fantastic when I've seen him play for Chelsea.
I mean players who are the result of the "winning is everything" mentality
that has apparently hindered youth development in this country. Don't bother teaching them how to play decent football, just get the biggest, fastest lads you can find out there, and win as many 50-50s as you possible. You say he's a centre-back, and I acknowledge that's a decent enough reason for him to look uncomfortable at right-back, but a lot of the time, players don't settle on a position until around the age he is now, so I don't know how much of an excuse it is for him be lacking in technique - certainly it doesn't excuse those who nurtured him. Will Keane, Eric Dier and Tom Thorpe all looked more comfortable on the ball.
Michael (he's a defender so I've presumed you mean him, not Will) Keane,
Eric Dier and Tom Thorpe are all 19. Chalobah is 17. Sure, they may only just 19 and Chalobah may be on the cusp of 18, but owing to school term time those players have likely had an extra year in the system, which is crucial at such a young age- a direct comparison probably isn't fair at this stage.
I'd add that he's always been a tidy passer of the ball when I've seen him
in Chelsea's youth team.
I think what he especially struggled with
was playing a pass while on the move, which you're likely to do more of when playing at right-back as opposed to centre-back or defensive mid. Sorry, I don't want to knock him, I everyone who played today ends up being brilliant and we win the 2018 World Cup.
Yeah, Michael Keane, whatever, SHUT UP
I don't really know that the comparison is unfair. If we were talking about decision making and positional awareness, sure, but he just looked a bit clumsy. I suppose maybe he could have been a bit overawed by it all, if that's what you mean. I reiterate though, he was out of position and I realise that can have an impact. Tell Dier, Thorpe or Keane to make overlapping runs down the wing and they may well look just as hapless.
Rodallega gone to Fulham
Does that leave Dempsey to join Liverpool? I really hope we don't pay anymore than 5 or 6 million.
Imagine if you paid more for him than we paid for Sigurdsson
Imagine. Are you imagining it?
Yeah, it would be mental to priorities out transfer budget for players in positions that we need
MENTAL
They basically play the same position...
Hmm
https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/media/images/non-decorative/the-team/non-crunch/web/2012-2013-hero/first-team/emmanuel-adebayor.jpg
:(
Darren Ambrose
Crystal Palace have acccepted an offer of £250,000 from Birmingham for Darren Ambrose. I want to cry :(
He only has a year left on his contract, but that is a ridicously low amount. Firstly we sold Sean Scannell on the cheap to Hudderfield for £400k and now this.
I thought he had retired a couple of years back
scoring in his final game.
WAIT I THINKING OF DARREN ANDERTON
I AM A FUCKING IDIDOET
also there's a real Toon mafia building project going on a Birmingham
I bought Scannell for 700k on FM
I've been had.
No you haven't
You've got a bargain. We are being idiots.
Portsmouth
Everyone is going on about Rangers but Portsmouth's plight seems to be worsening. Another 10 point deduction to start in league 1. I think they hav 6 professionals and no goalkeepers. Pompey could be in their way to League 2 at this rate.
tal ben-haim's on £36,000 a week there
JFC.
plenty of other high-earners still there as well (kitson, husklepp, varney, kitson, kanu). gaydamak's expenditure on players and wages was ridiculous for a club of portsmouth's size and their attendances - they were never going to be able sustain that.
*two kitsons? i meant liam lawrence
Kitson and Lawrence
I think the are on both £20,000+ a week? To make it worse they were signed after they came out of administration the last time.
something like that
the lithuanian that bought the club went on another spree bringing in the likes of those guys, husklepp and varney on big money before he had his assets frozen and got arrested
thiago silva and zlatan have gone to PSG for £51 according to twitter
Daylight robbery!
wow. these chumps really are spending big, eh
I think we ought to take a moment to reflect on the Zlatan-Barca deal
I spent so much time searching for the pound sign on my phone, I forgot the 'M'
SORRY GUYS
Everton joining in Nikes big cuff look
http://www.footballshirtculture.com/12/13-kits/everton-2012-2013-nike-home-football-shirt.html
quite like that
Arsenal's away kit is like the cool cyber version of last seasons Man.Utd away kit
http://www.footballshirtculture.com/12/13-kits/arsenal-2012-2013-nike-away-football-shirt.html
It's shite
Looks like something a scabby emo lassie would wear.
Good to know szcszcszcszcny is going to hurt my eyes in more than one way next season
http://tinyurl.com/cbqknag
its so not cool
and the use 'purple reign' to promote it is even more wince worthy
jesus
have kit designers just hired professional trolls to design this season's kits or something. So many shit ones its unreal.
bit needy
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/new-aston-villa-boss-paul-1140961
god I hope they get relegated
I don't understand why...
Milan would turn a €37.5m bid down for Thiago Silva, saying €50m wouldn't get him...then a fortnight later accept a €65m offer for him AND Zlatan, with three-quarters of it allegedly for Ibrahimovic?!?
To free up enough cash to bring in Andy Carroll
Duh.