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Official Football Thread 2006/2007 (Soccer)

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I guess this means they're going to continue cracking down on Youtube and the like.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fox Soccer Channel today announced it has expanded its partnership with England’s Barclays Premier League (BPL) to include exclusive U.S. mobile and Internet highlight rights for the 2007/2008 through 2009/2010 seasons. Reflecting the BPL’s growing popularity in the United States and worldwide, the new deal marks the first time that the league has made highlights available to U.S. fans via mobile devices or the Internet. Fox Soccer Channel will begin offering BPL highlights, commencing with the new season in August, on its market-leading Internet site – foxsoccer.com on MSN – and through additional mobile and Internet video syndication partnerships currently in negotiation....

The BPL mobile and Internet package includes highlights of all BPL matches, along with a weekend ‘round-up’ and special weekly highlights featuring the league’s best goals, saves, players, and teams. The mobile package also features ‘in-match’ highlights allowing users to get their BPL highlights ‘on-the-go’ in near-real time.

“This landmark agreement will provide American soccer fans access to the world’s best league wherever and whenever they want it, on the devices of their choice,” said David Sternberg, executive vice president and general manager of Fox Soccer Channel. “We are looking forward to extending Fox Soccer Channel’s exclusive coverage of the Premier League to a multitude of new media platforms in the season ahead.”

Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore said: “The demand for Premier League content via new media in addition to traditional broadcast is a sign of the growing popularity of the Premier League in the U.S. We are confident that by continuing to deliver the best league competition in the world, combined with the high-quality and in-depth coverage Fox Soccer Channel offers, we’ll be able to grow our fan base even further across the United States.”
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Link.
 
Cornballer said:
Thanks! I was quoting the article on a US site about the Copa, but I needed a source. :)
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No prob. Btw, Nguyen is neither in US team at he gold cup nor the upcoming Copa, is he? I'd figure that since he debuted in a friendly match, he might be in the US team for one of the tournaments.

Anyway, I'm off to bed. Have to get up in about 6,5 hours. :(
 
Falch said:
No prob. Btw, Nguyen is neither in US team at he gold cup nor the upcoming Copa, is he? I'd figure that since he debuted in a friendly match, he might be in the US team for one of the tournaments.

Anyway, I'm off to bed. Have to get up in about 6,5 hours. :(
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He's not on the Gold Cup lineup, but the more people in front of him that bail on the Copa, the more likely it is that he goes there. Still a bit of a longshot, and we probably won't know until the roster deadline on June 21st.

Sleep well.
 
Arsène Wenger appears to have signalled his willingness to sell Thierry Henry by entering into negotiations with Barcelona for the first time. The Arsenal manager met Ferran Soriano, the Spanish club’s financial director, in Paris this week for preliminary discussions, though both parties remain some distance from agreeing Henry’s transfer.

Wenger wants to sign Samuel Eto’o as part of the deal, but Barcelona are reluctant to allow the Cameroon striker to leave despite his problems at the club this season. Eto’o has fallen out with Frank Rijkaard, the coach, and Ronaldinho, his team-mate, but this week spoke of his desire to stay at the Nou Camp and play alongside Henry, whose arrival would represent a greater threat to the Brazil forward.

Eto’o is a close friend of Henry and the pair have spoken recently about the prospect of forming a new strike partnership. Even if Barcelona were willing to release Eto’o in order to secure Henry’s services, they would demand at least £10 million from Arsenal to complete the deal. AC Milan are also interested in Henry, but Barcelona would be his preferred destination.

Wenger’s surprising decision to speak to Barcelona stems from his realisation that he is running out of options, with Henry eager to take what many believe would be his final opportunity to move to Spain. Wenger may resolve to cash in on an unsettled player in any case, as he did when selling Patrick Vieira to Juventus two years ago.

Barcelona are expected to make a preliminary offer next week of £15 million and with Arsenal’s asking price £20 million, the parties are not too far apart. The negotiation of Henry’s personal terms may not prolong the process as Barcelona have prepared a three-year contract offer worth £6.7 million a year with an option for a further 12 months.

Henry was close to joining Barcelona last summer but changed his mind in the emotional aftermath of Arsenal’s march to the Champions League final in Paris, signing a new contract two days after their 2-1 defeat by the Spanish club. The 29-year-old had cause to regret his decision during a difficult season in which he made only 27 appearances because of various injuries as Arsenal finished fourth in the Barclays Premiership.

Barcelona sources were claiming last night that the transfer could be completed next week, though it may drag on for much of the summer. Henry is on holiday in the United States, watching his close friend, Tony Parker, compete for the San Antonio Spurs against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, and will want to talk to Wenger before making his decision.

The pair have had a close relationship since first working together at AS Monaco more than a decade ago and Henry retains a great attachment to Arsenal after spending eight successful years at the club, though his recent comments on his future have been ambivalent.

“At this moment I am an Arsenal player and in the same situation as I was last year,” he said this week. “Last season people were announcing all over the place that I was leaving. Some people wrote that it would happen for sure but at the end of the day I stayed at Arsenal. It could be the same this year.

“I’ve not taken any decision and my name is not up on any departures board. If something happens, I will tell everybody.”

Jerome Anderson, Henry’s agent, has also said that he will sue France Football magazine after unsubstantiated claims that he met Txiki Beguiristáin, the Barcelona sporting director, to discuss a move.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premiership/arsenal/article1934934.ece

Why has Barca's valuation of Henry halved in a year? I can't get my head round it. Ok, he's a year older, but that year was worth £15m? Was it ****. Even £20m is ridiculous, it's Van Nistelrooy all over again.

EDIT: The Guardian's reporting it too.
 
Others stuff:

- 5 Premiership clubs will be named and shamed (perhaps as early as tomorrow) as part of the bungs enquiry. I think Portsmouth and Bolton might be 2 of the 5 (though I don't know), but outside of that we should probably all be scared that it could be our team. It won't be a police matter, but FIFA and the FA will decide on the punishments.

- The Sun says United want Gudjohnsen, though I'm pretty sure they're just stealing off another paper as they mention a straight swap for Pique and I read that somewhere yesterday.

- Chelsea are fed up of paying floodlight costs:

0,,2007271428,00.jpg
 
Well, if Wenger really is going to talk to Barcelona then its almost as good as a done deal for Henry, but the only deal I see him making is a swap for Eto'o which I would be quite happy with. I think Eto'o would be succesful in the EPL. But seriously, I don't want Henry to go anywhere... He's got to see that if Arsenal stays heathly they have just as good a chance to win the league than any of the top 4.
 
This little summary of an article at The Guardian made me laugh:

Darren Bent has rejected West Ham's offer of a £75,000-a-week contract to hold out for a major European club. Or Tottenham Hotspur.
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:lol :lol Article here.
 
Whats happening with henry is the same thing as whats happening with vieira. The year before he left there were rumours that real madrid would pay £30 million. A year later Juve bought him for £14 million. With henry it was rumoured that barca and real were prepared to pay close to £50 million and now the papers say he's going for £20 million max. How exactly does that work? How can someone's price drop £30 million. We dont know if what the papers say is true, but if wenger is going to sell henry, then he should look to get more from the sale.

The gudjohnsen rumour is interesting. I really like him. He's in his late 20's, but he's still a good player. I wouldnt mind him joining united, but lets not swap pique for him. Pique could become an excellent defender in the future.
 
the reports last year were simply wrong, nobody would have paid 50 or even 40 or 30 million for Henry last year. He had one year of contract left and could have gone on a free after that year, Arsenal most certainly were in a bad position to negotiate. Henry could have gone for 15 to 20 million and we couldn't have complained.

We are in a better position now, since he has 3 years left on his contract - but he's been injured all year. So the price will probably be somewhere between 20 and 25 million in the end.

What is similar to Vieira though is that Wenger is ruthless in these situations: he is certainly not scared of getting rid of big name players if he thinks it's the right decision.

Henry is on the backfoot now by the way - I think he played a game, never really wanted to leave in the end. Now that Wenger is negotiating with Barca it could bite him in the arse.
 
today's rumours:

TRANSFER RUMOURS

Barcelona are ready to offer Eidur Gudjohnsen in a swap deal for Manchester United defender Gerard Pique. (Various)

Ex-Nou Camp youngster Pique spent last season on loan at Real Zaragoza who are expected to table a improved offer after a £7m bid was rejected. (Daily Mail)

United spending spree this summer has seen them make a £10m bid for Sampdoria striker Fabio Quagliarella, according to the player's agent. (Various)

Chelsea have rejected a bid for striker Didier Drogba from AC Milan. (Times)

Keeper Jerzy Dudek did not have his contract at Liverpool extended and will now move to Real Madrid. (Daily Mail)

The investigation into irregularities in the transfer system have cited managers involved in deals which have not been signed off by Lord Stevens, but whether the Premier League will divulge the names is in doubt. (Daily Express)

Arsenal have begun talks over the £20m transfer of striker Thierry Henry to Barcelona. (Various)

Fulham have stepped up their attempts to get West Brom duo Diomansy Kamara and Jason Koumas by offering players-plus-cash. (Various)

The third-party who has a stake in Manuel Fernandes has scuppered a possible move for the winger to the Premiership. (Daily Express)

Former French World Cup-winning skipper and ex-Juventus boss Didier Deschamps is another in the frame for the Manchester City job. (The Sun)

Charlton striker Darren Bent is a target for Liverpool and Tottenham after turning down West Ham. (Daily Mirror)

West Ham being spurned will see them now target Shaun Wright-Phillips. (Daily Mirror)

Wolves and Norwich are battling it out for Southend striker Freddy Eastwood. (Daily Mirror)

Celtic will splash out £5m to bring Gennaro Delvecchio and Massimo Donati to Scotland from Serie A. (Daily Record)

OTHER GOSSIP

Sheffield United want £20m from the Premier League if they are not reinstated back into the top flight. (The Sun)

Chelsea sporting director Frank Arnesen has turned down the chance of a switch to Valencia, who offered him more money. (Daily Mirror)

AND FINALLY

David Beckham is set to miss out on a knighthood but can console himself in the fact that England boss Steve McClaren has told him he will keep his international place while at LA Galaxy if his form does not drop. (Daily Mail)

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/6755383.stm

Published: 2007/06/15 06:15:20 GMT

© BBC MMVII
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hadareud said:
Celtic will splash out £5m to bring Gennaro Delvecchio and Massimo Donati to Scotland from Serie A. (Daily Record)
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What???? Donati for only £5m? I really hope that we don't sell him.
 
It seems like Curbs is the reason Bent turned us down yesterday, he has described working under curbs again as "his worst nightmare".

It makes a little sense to me because there have been some whispers around West Ham that while Curbs looks like a mild mannered kind of coach he actually keeps the players on a bit of a mental knife edge, he knows what gets his players going and he's prepared to act on it. Even if it means constantly putting them down (this has been his approach with Anton Ferdinand). Bent seems like a lethargic kinda character who would constantly need motivating to be performing at his peak, so I'm guessing he turned us down in the hope of an easier ride elsewhere.
 
Today the big player linked with milan is sheva. Apparantly berlusconi is 80% confident on getting him. It would be great for milan and sheva if it did happen, but I doubt chelsea are too happy to let him go unless they sell him and use that money to buy another striker. I guess that work work well for mourinho, but I dont think abramovich wants him to go and even if he was sold, would abramovich let mourinho use the money generated from his sale to buy another striker?
 
psycho_snake said:
Today the big player linked with milan is sheva. Apparantly berlusconi is 80% confident on getting him. It would be great for milan and sheva if it did happen, but I doubt chelsea are too happy to let him go unless they sell him and use that money to buy another striker. I guess that work work well for mourinho, but I dont think abramovich wants him to go and even if he was sold, would abramovich let mourinho use the money generated from his sale to buy another striker?
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I'd like to see Sheva back at AC, where he belongs. I was disappointed when I found out he was moving to Chelsea. I'm sure he is too now that they won the CL.
 
Dudek has been offered a contract by real madrid! If he does go he's going for the money and commiting career suicide. He's never going to get ahead of casillas.
 
hadareud said:
the reports last year were simply wrong, nobody would have paid 50 or even 40 or 30 million for Henry last year. He had one year of contract left and could have gone on a free after that year, Arsenal most certainly were in a bad position to negotiate. Henry could have gone for 15 to 20 million and we couldn't have complained.

We are in a better position now, since he has 3 years left on his contract - but he's been injured all year. So the price will probably be somewhere between 20 and 25 million in the end.

What is similar to Vieira though is that Wenger is ruthless in these situations: he is certainly not scared of getting rid of big name players if he thinks it's the right decision.

Henry is on the backfoot now by the way - I think he played a game, never really wanted to leave in the end. Now that Wenger is negotiating with Barca it could bite him in the arse.
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I'm confused. Are contracts not honoured anymore? Is that like a standard thing, to be able to get out of a contract even only after one year has been fulfilled?
 
h0pper said:
I'd like to see Sheva back at AC, where he belongs. I was disappointed when I found out he was moving to Chelsea. I'm sure he is too now that they won the CL.
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I hope he goes back too. He was such a good player with milan and Im sure he realises that it was a big mistake for him to leave in the first place. He had everything at milan.
 
h0pper said:
I'm confused. Are contracts not honoured anymore? Is that like a standard thing, to be able to get out of a contract even only after one year has been fulfilled?
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that's why we have transfer fees.

Obviously that fee also relates to the length of the contract left.

Example: Henry last year

1 year of contract left. If he wouldn't have renewed the contract with Arsenal we would have had to sell him - since after the contract runs out there's no transfer fees.
That also brings the fee down in the first place, because the player can rightly say either you sell me now and get some money for me or I'll sit out my contract and you get nothing.
 
I doubt Chelsea will let Shevchenko go, lots of players have bad opening seasons in the Premiership. He needs another season to show whether he can cope or not.

If Chelsea did let him go they'd need another striker, and in line with their apparent no spending policy, they could maybe swap him for Gilardino. They might even be able to get some cash thrown into the equation too if Milan want Shevchenko badly enough.

I don't think United should swap Pique for Gudjohnsen, if that rumour's true. That'll leave them an excellent young defender down, and a decent older striker up. There's nothing wrong with getting Gudjohnsen, but not for Pique. Sell Heinze, Richardson and Smith and they'd have more than enough to buy Gudjohnsen outright, or some other striker they're looking at.
 
I think Chelsea would be willing to let him go. I don't think they were very satisfied with his performance even though moving to the EPL from Serie A is a big change. They didn't seem to have any sympathy. I'm sure if Chelsea can get some money for him, he'll go back to AC.
 
If chelsea did a swap with sheva and gilardino, chelsea lose out. Gilardino is a poor mans sheva really. Its worth keeping sheva and hoping that he does play better next season than swapping him with gilardino. I doubt chelsea will let him go, unless mourinho will be allowed to sign anpother top class striker like tevez, but that seems unlikely. I reckon we're going to see a much better performance by sheva next season; its just taken him time to adapt. People have called hima flop because everyone expected him to do wonders in his first season, but like a lot of players, it does take time to adapt to a new league.

As I said before, gudjohnsen for pique is a bad idea. Its not worth doing it.
 
h0pper said:
I think Chelsea would be willing to let him go. I don't think they were very satisfied with his performance even though moving to the EPL from Serie A is a big change. They didn't seem to have any sympathy. I'm sure if Chelsea can get some money for him, he'll go back to AC.
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I dont think mourinho has full control over sheva's future. Abramovich is the main person who wants him to stay. Chelsea would only let him go if mourinho will be allowed to buy a new striker, but the free transfers suggest that mourinho has no money to spend, even if he can generate some from sales.
 
psycho_snake said:
If chelsea did a swap with sheva and gilardino, chelsea lose out. Gilardino is a poor mans sheva really. Its worth keeping sheva and hoping that he does play better next season than swapping him with gilardino. I doubt chelsea will let him go, unless mourinho will be allowed to sign anpother top class striker like tevez, but that seems unlikely. I reckon we're going to see a much better performance by sheva next season; its just taken him time to adapt. People have called hima flop because everyone expected him to do wonders in his first season, but like a lot of players, it does take time to adapt to a new league.

As I said before, gudjohnsen for pique is a bad idea. Its not worth doing it.
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Gilardino for Shevchenko is absurb and shouldn't even be considered lol. Gilardino is a decent player. He can score when he's set up, but I've seen him botch more than his share of goal attempts. He is nowhere near the level of skill that Andriy Shevchenko is. I don't think Mourinho would even acknowledge a transfer for Gilardino.
 
Well based on last season's performance I think Chelsea might actually be better off with Gilardino, but then again he might not adapt either (though it is easier when you're younger and quicker).

I don't think it's a big issue though, they can just keep Shevchenko and if he's poor again they've got Drogba and Pizarro to partner.
 
Mama Smurf said:
Well based on last season's performance I think Chelsea might actually be better off with Gilardino, but then again he might not adapt either (though it is easier when you're younger and quicker).

I don't think it's a big issue though, they can just keep Shevchenko and if he's poor again they've got Drogba and Pizarro to partner.
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Yeah, it's not like Chelsea are weak up front without Sheva. With or without him they will score goals and win games.
 
It's funny to look at Shevchenko's recent(ish) stats:

03/04

41 games, 28 goals, 1 goal every 1.46 games

04/05

38 games, 23 goals, 1 goal every 1.65 games

05/06

39 games, 28 goals, 1 goal every 1.39 games

06/07

51 games, 14 goals, 1 goal every 3.64 games
 
As an Irishman - Cheers for John O'Shea

As a Chelsea fan - I don't necessarily like what's happening this offseason.

One thing worries me, and that's the talk of Robben being sold. We've already lost Duff, SWP might be on his way out, and if Robben is sold, that leaves us with Cole as really the only true wide midfielder (and one who likes to cut inside anyway.)

Say what you will about Robben, he's a big threat on the flanks and a huge X-factor in games. If we sell him and don't bring in a wide player like Malouda, I'll be bummed.

Also- I don't know too much about Pizarro. Comments?
 
Pizarro had a good goalscoring record for Munich, and I generally consider the Bundesliga as closer to the Premiership in style of play than Italy or Spain so I think he'll do fine.

I'm 99% certain you'll keep Robben. I don't think W-P will go either, he's started getting games more regularly at Chelsea, but if he does it's not really a big deal, he's behind a few other players as it is.
 
Lakitu said:
Has Henry left to the most beautiful and best club in the world yet?

Hint: I support them.
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who are you and what have you done to Lakitu?

edit: have you ever participated in the Eurovision song contest?
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6755991.stm

Seventeen transfers and five clubs have been named in Lord Stevens' findings from his inquiry into alleged illegal payments by Premier League clubs.

Deals involving Chelsea, Middlesbrough, Bolton, Portsmouth and Newcastle are named as having breached regulations.

They may face a further FA probe but there is no evidence of irregular payments to club officials or players.

Stevens has also expressed concern about 15 agents and managers Sam Allardyce and Graeme Souness.

There was a perceived conflict of interest with Newcastle boss Allardyce and his former agent son Craig and Bolton Wanderers.

Stevens also reported "inconsistencies in evidence" provided by the former Newcastle manager Souness and Kenneth Shepherd, son of Magpies chairman Freddy Shepherd.

Of the 17 transfers, four relate to Newcastle signings (Emre Belozoglu, Jean Alain Boumsong, Amady Faye, Albert Luque), four to Bolton (Ali Al-Habsi, Tal Ben Haim, Blessing Kaku, Julio Correia), three to Chelsea (Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, Michael Essien), three to Portsmouth (Collins Mbesuma, Benjani Mwaruwari, Aliou Cisse) and two to Middlesbrough (Aiyegbeni Yakubu and Fabio Rochemback) while one transfer has not been disclosed.

Lord Stevens said in a statement: "Many lessons have been learned and strict adherence to and enforcement of the recommendations should ensure that the game and the transfer market can proceed in an untainted and transparent manner."

The Premier League will now send the findings to the FA and Fifa.

An FA spokesman said: "Following the final report of the Premier League's Quest Inquiry, the FA will give full consideration to its contents and the documentation that is due to be passed on by the Premier League and Quest.

"The FA has provided full co-operation and support to the Premier League and Quest and will now go through their information as part of our governance and regulation process. This will determine what action is required."
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The two I said would be are there, and oh oh spaghettios for Chelsea.
 
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