Space Bandit wrote:
You must have subscribed to the thread by an accident

psketti wrote:
huh... I can see a flag that says 'unsubscribe' now.... think it must be due to my laptop which is now permanently left clicking on everything!

Bad laptop

psketti wrote:
I can see it getting defenestrated very soon.

I'll admit I had to google that

Who let women on this thread?

Where?

I can't see any of those

I think I might have started something here..

It's come to something when Joe Kinnear has conducted business better than Man United. A total and utter embarrassment to the club.
E-war-woo-war should be sacked.... except he's a Glazer puppet.... so maybe he just did what they wanted and spent fuck all.
The desperation at the end of the evening was evident... it was like being steaming at last orders and thinking about having another pop at the 6'4" hairy one.

That is saying something, seeing as he only managed to get one player in on loan..

Got a feeling we'll be seeing a few new faces at Newcastle in January though, but can't see us holding on to Cabaye for much longer either.

Where do you reckon you'll be finishing this years SB?

mild_peril wrote:
I had a feeling Kebab would be off... possibly to Arsenal - but obviously they got Oezil & probably have enough decent midfielders now.
I still think top 3 for Man U. Chelsea didn't look as strong as they should at OT, and Citeh are still blundering about a bit according to what I heard about their game against Hull. Liverpool have started well but I can see them fumbling off into mediocrity again. Arsenal still haven't got a good enough squad to properly challenge, and Spurs should be up there but aren't genuine contenders.
The way I see it is that Man U won the title at a canter last year despite not playing particularly well, and have just about improved the midfield hopefully. All the other teams have strengthened but will it work out for them in terms of their style? They're still essentially playing catch up with United. Just hope Moyes doesn't blow it with tactical ineptitude, or by thinking that Cleverly, Giggs & Young are the way forwards. Can't see us doing well in Europe for sure. It's certainly the most interesting season for a long time.

Rumour has it that Ashley let Kebab sit in on the phone negotiations with Arsenal, and didn't like what he heard as they (Arsenal) apparently baulked at the idea of paying 20 million for a reserve player.

Can't see passed Chelsea for the title this year though, with a toss up between Man U, City, Arsenal and Spuds for the other three places - the usual suspects really - although the Spuds might have trouble gelling so many signings together so quickly.

And Man U's style is going to change quite dramatically this season as well, now that Moyes has brought in Fellaini. I really like him as a player and all that, and would love to see him at Newcastle, but I just don't think he's Man U standard to be honest as he's just not technical enough. Time will tell though..

But yeah, it's definitely shaping up to be one of the most interesting seasons for a while. I would be looking forward to it a lot more if Newcastle had managed to bring a couple of new faces in though, 'cause as soon as injuries and suspension kick in, we could be fucked again.

I was really surprised when Real let Ozil go, when Arsenal were being linked with Madrid players, I thought they might get di Maria, but I couldn't see Real letting Ozil leave. About six of their players have come out and said they can't believe it, Ronaldo is just the latest:

www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/tra...signing-8797944.html

I reckon they had to let somebody go due to the Bale transfer to recoup a reasonable amount of cash - plus, obviously some players might fear for their place, esp with world cup coming up etc. Apparently Oezil left completing the deal until the last minute to see if any other offers came in, as he preferred to go to United. But it was too late by then... United made a last ditch attempt to get him, although they were offered him 2 weeks earlier but they turned him down believing they would secure one of their other targets. FFS! Amateurs!
Ronaldo commented on the Bale transfer, something along the lines of, 'I have my opinion about it, but I'm not going to make it public'.
Doesn't like being upstaged! I reckon there's a good chance he'll be back at United next season. He's refusing to sign a new contract - so he could be frozen out by Madrid as they often do with players who won't sign new deals.... and United could get him on a free! Unless they fuck it up, or he signs a new deal.

Anyone hear Gregg Dyke on the radio earlier?

Greg Dyke sets England 2022 World Cup target
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23963416

There are a lot of aspects of how the game is run that need to be improved but haven't we heard all this before??

I was listening to John Salako being interviewed a while back and he raised the issue of young footballer's wages. As a coach, he believes that the attitude of the youngsters (16-18yr old) is more about status and a belief that earning a great deal of cash equates to having 'made it' in the game.
Did you know that some of these academy teenagers earn over a hundred grand a year?! They get a Merc and a model girlfriend and that is all the ambition they have.
They have no drive to be the best and try their damn fucking hardest to improve because they are comfortable with the level they are at. Almost as if they expect to be fantastic footballers just because they are paid well (i.e. I must be good coz I earn good money) and don't seem to be able to fathom that they have to continue to try and improve.

Plus they tend to be thick as shit. Deity bequeathed ability aside (e.g. Paul Gascoigne) top level footballers are pretty smart lads. You need a certain amount of intelligence to be able to handle the pressure and still be able to think clearly and make quick decisions on the pitch.

I did hear Greg Dyke earlier, and some of what he said had merit. But the Spanish league has foreign players, the Italian league has foreign players, so does every other major league, there are Brazilians and Argentinians all over the bloody world, but they still get together and have a decent team.

It's not that England doesn't produce players, the English game very specifically doesn't produce the type of technical ballplayers that seem to fall out of the trees in Spain and Brazil in particular. I think understanding why not is a bit more complex than blaming it all on the Premier League. Ultimately, any top Premier League team would love to have an English Mata or Oscar or Silva or Ozil or Cazorla, etc, etc. They just don’t exist.

And I don’t think you can put it down to just culture or climate because Germany seem to produce a fair few. Mourinho has said today that Ozil is the best in the world, so that would be one for starters.

Awesome!

Reminded me of footy matches in the school playground.

England.... what a pile of fucking shit! I knew it would be boring & predictable....
why do I do it to myself? Wasted 90 mins of my very important life.
The starting 11 was crap, and it just got worse & worse until it finished.
More often than not, I find international football sucks donkey balls.