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[Osorio]

It was a great day for Australian football on Saturday as the two A-League teams from Australia's two biggest cities played at the Telstra Dome to make the largest regular season crowd in Australian football history. Melbourne Victory defeated Sydney FC 3-2 in front of a crowd of 39,730.

http://www.a-league.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=4908&pageid=11

I hope good things come to the A-League as it has to compete with Aussie Rules, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Cricket, and Basketball for people's time and money. It kind of draws some parallels to the MLS.

 

[hadareud]

I agree with most you say mama, but it's not quite that easy. Of course Gallas didn't keep quiet after he left - he didn't get on with Moureenyoo and he couldn't resist saying so in an interview.

He did not release an official statement.

Also, he is a footballer - and does not have to be politically correct. Chelsea are supposed to be a professional football club, their statement reads like a bitter teenager crying to their ****ing mother:

His claims he wanted a new challenge were just a smokescreen to cover up the fact he was hawking himself to the highest bidder

i mean, what the ****?

Don't get me wrong, if he did do what they claim he did, it doesn't fill me with confidence over his character. Childish and ridiculous.

Then again, if he did act like this - why would you let a person like this get his way and go to one of your rivals, why not suspend him, or better, have him sit in the stands for the rest of his contract?? Or is it because they wanted Ashley Cole and every shady way to get him was good enough for them?

For me there is no reason to believe a single word coming from Mourinho or any other person associated with this football club.

edit:
Gallas responds:

Gallas denied Chelsea's allegations, saying: "I am surprised and shocked by these claims.

"I never said that I would score own goals if I had to play for Chelsea again.

"I was firm about my wanting to leave, that is true, and I will explain in due time why I wanted to.

"But I never went that far. But if people want to hide behind false accusations in order to give a reason for why I left so they can calm down the club's supporters then they can."

I am looking forward to this now. Who to believe?

In other Chelsea news, they felt the need to release another press statement.

Mourinho backed over Makelele row
Jose Mourinho
Mourinho was unhappy with Makelele's call-up by France
Chelsea have defended manager Jose Mourinho for comments he made in the row with France coach Raymond Domenech over his selection of Claude Makelele.

Domenech reacted angrily after Mourinho accused him of treating Makelele "like a slave" by refusing to accept his retirement from international football.

Chelsea responded in a statement, saying: "Jose Mourinho was correct in giving strong backing for our player.

"Comments on 'slavery' were purely a metaphor to illustrate the problem."

Domenech had claimed Mourinho's use of the word was "staggering and insulting", while France defender Lilian Thuram felt the Chelsea coach said it to be purposely offensive.

The full Chelsea statement read: "Ill-considered comments regarding Claude Makelele's international career continue to come from the French camp, in particular Lilian Thuram, and the French national team coach, Raymond Domenech.

"Jose Mourinho was correct in giving strong backing for our player, and he was fully supported by Chelsea on this.

"Thuram and Domenech appear not to appreciate a manager's support for his player.

"They also fail to understand Jose Mourinho's comments regarding 'slavery' which were purely a metaphor to illustrate the Makelele problem, a figure of speech rather than a literal comparison with slavery as a social and political issue.

"As a result of their failings, deliberately inflammatory comments will only cloud a problem which is on its way to being resolved.

"Claude, Chelsea, and the French Football Federation hope to have a resolution after the current round of international matches."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/5314434.stm

Now, I find the whole thing of calling up Makelele against his will a joke and unbelieveable. Almost as unbelievable as this statement. What kind of club is this?

 

[Mama Smurf]

Also, he is a footballer - and does not have to be politically correct. Chelsea are supposed to be a professional football club, their statement reads like a bitter teenager crying to their ****ing mother

I don't know if footballers don't need to act as professionally as clubs should, but certainly neither did.

Then again, if he did act like this - why would you let a person like this get his way and go to one of your rivals, why not suspend him, or better, have him sit in the stands for the rest of his contract?? Or is it because they wanted Ashley Cole and every shady way to get him was good enough for them?

There's nothing really shady about exchanging a player. As for letting him rot in the reserves, that's what they wanted to do, but they also wanted Ashley Cole. Seems to me it's the letting him rot in the reserves and missing out on a player you want which would be petty and childish, letting him get his way to get the player they want shows more maturity.

It's not like I think Chelsea are a upstanding side doing everything right, but at the same time I do think they're unfairly attacked/dealt with frequently. Other teams' fans, other clubs, football's governing bodies...all seem to hate them. And I get why, the money is scary and they're not exactly a friendly club. Unfortunately, what they haven't realised yet is they can sit there in silence, keep winning things and pay their fines without a word for anything bad they do....and keep doing those things and paying fines. That's the way to get to those who hate them, completely showing no reaction to the provocations and sitting on their money pile smiling smugly. Instead they explode in indignation everytime they're given a small prod.

EDIT: Where does it say they're suing? The bold part just refers to the whole retirement issue, so that Makelele can retire without being suspended.

 

[hadareud]

It's not like I think Chelsea are a upstanding side doing everything right, but at the same time I do think they're unfairly attacked/dealt with frequently. Other teams' fans, other clubs, football's governing bodies...all seem to hate them. And I get why, the money is scary and they're not exactly a friendly club. Unfortunately, what they haven't realised yet is they can sit there in silence, keep winning things and pay their fines without a word for anything bad they do....and keep doing those things and paying fines. That's the way to get to those who hate them, completely showing no reaction to the provocations and sitting on their money pile smiling smugly. Instead they explode in indignation everytime they're given a small prod.

I can agree with this. I did however hate Chelsea long before they got their hands on money (I say this at the risk of sounding like a prick). I always hated them more than Spurs (I don't actually hate Spurs, they don't actually cause any feelings with me), I honestly don't know why. Of course my hate grew stronger over the last few seasons.

I don't know if footballers don't need to act as professionally as clubs should, but certainly neither did.

Of course a footballer should act professionally - they are being paid alot of money to behave in a certain manner on and off the pitch.
However, I'm sure you will agree with me that one person saying a few lines in a newspaper interview and a suposedly professionally ran football club releasing an official press statement whining about one of their former players are two different things entirely.

There's nothing really shady about exchanging a player. As for letting him rot in the reserves, that's what they wanted to do, but they also wanted Ashley Cole. Seems to me it's the letting him rot in the reserves and missing out on a player you want which would be petty and childish, letting him get his way to get the player they want shows more maturity.

I didn't mean to say that the exchange itself was shady, of course it wasn't. What I meant to say was that they were exploiting this situation in their favor only to then go on record to accuse Gallas of doing the very same thing.

As for maturity, I think this word and Chelseas behaviour do not really go well together.

edit:

EDIT: Where does it say they're suing? The bold part just refers to the whole retirement issue, so that Makelele can retire without being suspended.

obviously misunderstood this completely. Sorry about that, I will edit.

 

[Mama Smurf]

However, I'm sure you will agree with me that one person saying a few lines in a newspaper interview and a suposedly professionally ran football club releasing an official press statement whining about one of their former players are two different things entirely.

Not really. Nowadays anything any footballer says to any journalist is broadcast just as wide as a press release would. It's just more usual for a company to issue press releases for things and a player to make a comment himself. Gallas knew full well how far his comments would get when he said them.

 

[hadareud]

Not really. Nowadays anything any footballer says to any journalist is broadcast just as wide as a press release would. It's just more usual for a company to issue press releases for things and a player to make a comment himself. Gallas knew full well how far his comments would get when he said them.

fine, then don't agree :lol

Well, I don't know about that. I think saying something in some interview in the heat of the moment and releasing an official statement that you had time to think about can't be judged the same way.

Also, he hardly said anything really negative. He said that Mourinho was fickle and that he didn't enjoy working with him amongst a few other harmless things. This is hardly as serious as Chelseas claims, that are out to completely destroy Gallas's reputation.

Of course I am hardly unbiased, as you will have noticed by now.

 

[Shinobi]

All I have to say about this latest wrinkle is this: December 10.

As far as the Baptista deal goes, this is my understanding of it. Being on loan means he's still technically employed by Real Madrid, which means his home base is still in Spain. As a result he's able to continue his task of getting a European Visa, which requires living in or working out of one country for five years (this is part of the reason why he rejected Arsenal for Real Madrid last year). Once that stretch has been completed (should be sometime in the new year), he'll get his Visa and then be free to put his name on Arsenal's four year extension that I assume they've already agreed to verbally (of course Ashley Cole would tell you that might not mean much :lol). So this will be a permanent deal in time.

 

[jamesinclair]

It kind of draws some parallels to the MLS.

Except the MLS actually gets more people


[spolier] and the teams dont suck as much [/spoiler]

 

[Osorio]

Except the MLS actually gets more people


and the teams dont suck as much

Well they're only in their 2nd year of operation in a country with 20,000,000 as opposed to 300,000,000.

A-League average attendance: 11,627
MLS average attendance: 15,108

Give em some credit.

I expect them to improve just like I see the MLS is improving.

 

[Shinobi]

Well...it's official. Arsenal/Chelsea is now England's number one glamour rivalry. Of course there's been nothing glamourous about the way these two have been going at it for the last 18 months. But I don't think Arsenal/Man U in their worst moments got this silly with each other. And we're still three months away from their first fixture. :lol

The one thing I find hilarious about Chelsea's statement (aside from, you know, actually making one) is their belief that Gallas left them to join Arsenal for more money. I'm struggling to see how the person who put this spin piece together was able to complete that part with a straight face, but I think most rational people can figure out that Arsenal couldn't outbid Chelsea in much of anything these days. Besides, didn't they just get Cashley Mole for the same reason? Why's it okay for him, but bad for Gallas?

Chelsea's got their own issues...a defense that hadn't allowed a goal in their first three months of play last season has already been breached twice in three games, and their depth in the centerback position is razor thin. So what better way to distract from that glaring weakness then issuing this petty statement. It almost works too, till you read the piece with your brain.

Gallas isn't innocent by any means mind you, and I wouldn't be surprised if he mentioned the own goal thing in a fit of rage. But you'd think he would've been either fined, suspended or sold off the moment he made that statement, instead of being kept around in some vain attempt to get him to re-sign. Far as I know nothing was done. But four days after he was swapped, and analyists have commented on how Arsenal may well have got the upper hand on the deal due to their cover at left back and the possibility of now boasting the best centerback tandem in England (and maybe even Europe), now this stuff comes out? Eh...coming from this particularly outfit, it just rings a little hollow.

 

[hadareud]

my thoughts exactly Shinobi, unfortunately I couldn't convey it as eloborately, with English not being my forst language and all.

Anyway, like you said - bring on December 10th.

I hope I'll be able to get tickets, so far I've been quite lucky and got tickets for 2 out of 3 games. I guess it won't be quite as easy getting tickets for an away game though.

 

[Mama Smurf]

The Wales - Brazil game is starting in 15 mins for anyone who has BBC3 (and, I assume, various other channels around the world). Baptista, Kaka and Ronaldinho are playing, but I really want to see if Bellamy can mess with that defence.

 

[OnkelC]

Just for the record:
San Marino 0:13 Germany in '08 qualifier.

 

[Hooker]

^ I was waiting on some German guy to post that

 

[Frenck]

Holy crap!

Lehmann was about to do the penalty kick but he went back into his goal when he realized how unsportsmanlike it was. Poor San Marino.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

France is getting revenge.

A revenge that rings hollow, but one that rings nonetheless.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Good win for England. I thought we played well generally, it's a difficult place to go, but we do have a tendency to spend too long defending leads against teams who aren't complete pushovers. I mean, we're very good at it (we did it for most of a game and all of extra time with 10 men against Portugal), but I don't see why we need to spend the last half hour on the back foot. We can just keep the ball, be patient and keep playing how we were. Then maybe in the last 10 minutes if it's still only 1 goal difference we can defend it.

Can't believe Defoe missed that chance in the first half. Crouch again. Downing is very lazy in his touch and passes.

Even better (well...) Croatia and Russia drew with each other! Perfect result for England.

France is getting revenge.

I'm not surprised. They were the better team in the final, just couldn't get the goals, a replay was always likely to go their way. Especially with home advantage.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Just lookign through the scores and N. Ireland are beating Spain 3-2 with a few minutes to go :O

Portugal drawing with Finland is probably the only other noteable result.

 

[Cornballer]

Holy crap!

Lehmann was about to do the penalty kick but he went back into his goal when he realized how unsportsmanlike it was. Poor San Marino.

That's crazy. 13-0 seems a bit unsportsmanlike to begin with.... At least he backed off and didn't take it.

 

[Shinobi]

I'm not surprised. They were the better team in the final, just couldn't get the goals, a replay was always likely to go their way. Especially with home advantage.

To be fair to the Azzurri, much of the team hadn't played a lick of football heading into Saturday since the final, so most if not all of that squad were way down on fitness. You could see that in the second half where France simply controled the game with possession. It was a fun game to watch though, a lot more interesting then the England game, though I thought England did a solid, workman-like job to secure the three points. It's funny though...a year ago that Crouch strike bounces down on the other side of the line and is declared no goal. Dude was so snakebitten he couldn't buy a goal with a gold Visa card. Now he's on a scoring pace that borders on the ridiculous.

The Germany/San Marino farce is another example of why these lesser teams shouldn't even be involved at this stage of the tournament. And San Marino were the hosts for the ****'s sake...how ugly is it going to get in the return match at Berlin? :lol It's embarassing and pointless. Germany's got every right to run up the score mind you, since everyone else has to play 'em and will no doubt do the same thing (goal difference is obviously key at the end of the day), but we shouldn't be seeing this situation in the first place.

Good day for a lot of Gunners...Gallas with another solid game, Henry was simply terrific with a goal and several created chances as he looks to finally be back on form, Van Persie had a couple markers to help lead the Dutch to victory, and Walcott scored the opener for the England U21 squad as they were able to squeak by the Swiss to get into the playoffs. Don't know WTF happened to Fabregas and Spain though. :lol

 

[brooklyngooner]

i dont like chelsea

 

[hadareud]

i dont like chelsea

:lol

 

[Ryck]

i dont like chelsea

Hell Chelsea fans don't even like em. *looks at attendance numbers*


Also Ruud is all over the news saying that Fergie stabbed him in the back by not starting him or playing him in the Carling Cup...forget that Louis had scored a goal in every game leading up to the final or that the team played much better when he was watching.


I guess van Basten is stabbing him in the back as well.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Blackburn have resigned Henchoz on loan for the season. We can do that because he'd been released by Wigan so didn't have a club.

I find it quite strange that we've been able to get him. He's only 32 and was part of a pretty successful Wigan defence last year, particularly early on in the season. I would have thought one of the promoted sides or a Championship club would have snapped him up in the transfer window for a free.

Still, even if that might indicate that he's past it, he's a great player to have as he's going to be like...cover for our cover. I reckon our defence is pretty strong now:

RB

Neill
Emerton
Ooijer

LB

Gray
Neill
McEveley

CB

Nelsen
Ooijer
Khizanishvili
Todd
Henchoz
Neill
Mokoena

We have a couple of other defenders too, most notably Matteo, but as they couldn't even get in the team during the defensive crisis towards the end of last season, I won't bother listing them. I know I repeat players, but that's just to show the cover we have. You probably won't know who McEveley is, he's a 21 year old who was once a very bright prospect, representing England (and Scotland) at youth levels, but has kind of lost his way a bit more recently. I remain hopeful.

Liverpool have been given permisson to build a new 60,000 seat stadium. They don't have funding yet as they needed the permission first, so I doubt it'll be ready for at least another 3 years.

I assume this picture from a BBC news article on it is the planned stadium:

Well that doesn't look at all like the Emirates Stadium!

 

[Ghost]

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney was involved in an incident at a restaurant with Blackburn defender Michael Gray on Saturday, according to his spokesman.

England striker Rooney, 20, was out with fiancee Coleen McLoughlin in Manchester when Gray, 32, is reported to have approached the group.

A spokesman for Rooney claimed that Gray made offensive remarks to female guests of the England international.

"Wayne asked him to go several times. It was a brief incident," he said.

Rooney is suspended from club duty and has only just completed an international ban for his dismissal during England's World Cup quarter-final defeat to Portugal.

He was out at the Panacea Bar and Restaurant in Manchester with his fiancee and some friends.

The spokesman added: "Wayne and Coleen were enjoying a night out with three other couples when Michael came up to their table uninvited."

But he added the incident was now forgotten: "As far as Wayne is concerned, he bears no ill-feeling towards Michael."

A Blackburn spokesman told the BBC: "Michael took steps to make manager Mark Hughes aware of it.

"Michael had the opportunity to make a comment but he doesn't want to get involved in it."

Greater Manchester Police confirmed that no incident was reported.

BTW 'Incident' apparently means Rooney punched Gray in the mouth after he said something rude about coleen.

 

[psycho_snake]

It was reported that rooney punched gray whilst sitting down. That means that roonye has got incredibly long arms or gray must have been very close to them.

I just hope tbhat his idiocy doesnt get him banned for even longer. Everytime he gets of the back pages for the wrong reasons he is involved in something else. I can understand him wnating to punch gray, but there were better ways of geting rid of him. he could have asily gone to the maneger of the restaurant and complained.

 

[psycho_snake]

Also Ruud is all over the news saying that Fergie stabbed him in the back by not starting him or playing him in the Carling Cup...forget that Louis had scored a goal in every game leading up to the final or that the team played much better when he was watching.


I guess van Basten is stabbing him in the back as well.

I cant believe ruud said that. He might be a very good footballer, but he has got a shit personality. he cant talk about being stabbed in the back because he was the one that handed in a transfer request at the end of the 2004/05 season. Saha had been scoring in every carling cup game so he had every right to play in the final. Saha couldnt have done anything more. He was given the chance, he proved himself and he deserved his place in the team. . It would have been so unfair on saha if he didnt play that game. Ruud cnt expect to play in the first team if others are playing better than him.

Im glad he has gone. Saha has better movement and skill that ruud does. When ruud was in our team we had to adjust the way we play to suit him, whilst when saha is in the team we can play good attacking football like we cdid during our glory years. If ruud wasnt happy about being left on the bench then its better that he went.

 

[Gibbo]

Hey guys, which are some of the better sites which stream live EPL matches for free? I'm currently out of my home country (and will be for the next 3 months) ... so I'll need a cheaper alternative than going to bars, etc

 

[Blablurn]

Today's Van Bommels first match in the dress of the FC Bayern Munich! Furthermore I hope that Podolski is able to repat his 4 timer from the San Marino match.

Munich is playing against St. Pauli in the first round of the German national cup!

 

[Shinobi]

i dont like chelsea

:lol Nothing more needs to be said really...

 

[hadareud]

well, I'm off to the emirates soon. Can't wait to see my first premiership game in the new stadium. It takes me ****ing ages (and alot of money) to get there since I moved out of London, but it's well worth it. I wonder if both Baptista and Gallas start today. And hopefully he'll play the Perse upfront with Henry. I'm ****ing excited already. 7:0

Gibbo, try sopcast. You'll even get English commentary there at times - www.football4less.com is a good source to find out where you can watch what games - I prefer sopcast.

 

[Shinobi]

Gallas is starting at left back (that'll piss off the Chelsea fans I'm sure :lol), while Baptista will at least be available. Walcott is being rested, which is a shame. Still, three points is all that matters, and I reckon the Gunners are good for it ahead of next week's monster clash at Old Trafford.

 

[psycho_snake]

Everton are beating Liverpool 2-0 at half time with goals from cahill and johnson. Both goals were down to very poor defending from the Liverpool defenders, they were a complete mess.

Gallas is starting at left back (that'll piss off the Chelsea fans I'm sure :lol ), while Baptista will at least be available. Walcott is being rested, which is a shame. Still, three points is all that matters, and I reckon the Gunners are good for it ahead of next week's monster clash at Old Trafford.

Gallas and Baptista wont make a difference next week shinobi, we'll still beat you like we always do at old trafford. Since we are playing so well we might be able to beat you 6-1 like we did a couple of seasons ago

Man Utd vs Arsenal games are not what they used to be. We had such an amazing rivalry, a lot of it thanks to keane and vieira. Since both of them have left the games have never realyy felt the same. It'll still be an amazing game even though there will be no viera vs keane, no neville brothers trying to amputate reyes and no arsenal players pushing around van nistelrooy.

 

[Batongen]

I never thought of this before, but why is there so many X360 characters in the Everton team?

 

[psycho_snake]

3-0 to everton thats to reina's idiocy. What a terrible mistake :lol

 

[Osorio]

Liverpool have been given permisson to build a new 60,000 seat stadium. They don't have funding yet as they needed the permission first, so I doubt it'll be ready for at least another 3 years.

I assume this picture from a BBC news article on it is the planned stadium:

Well that doesn't look at all like the Emirates Stadium!

Actually it looks more like the Reebok than Emirates.

 

[Wes]

Everton 3-0 Liverpool now. :lol :lol :lol :lol You guys have got to watch the third goal on the highlights reel tonight, I have no idea what the goalie was thinking :lol :lol

 

[Ghost]

Anyone remember when Reina was good?


Seems like so long ago.

 

[navanman]

3-0 to everton thats to reina's idiocy. What a terrible mistake :lol

So so good for my fantasy football. I have Cahill and Johnson..

 

[psycho_snake]

I hope people will stop saying Liverpool are title contenders. Ive never understood all the hype surrounding them, they are the 4th best team in England. Sure its still early days but I doubt liverpool will closer to winning the title than they did last year.

 

[psycho_snake]

So so good for my fantasy football. I have Cahill and Johnson..

Shit I forgot to make changes to my fantasy football team. School started last week and Ive been busy with that so Ive not had much time for anything else. Its nothing to worry about though, my team is still good.

The liverpool defeat doesnt help my fantasy football team but its put a massive smile on my face. I hate liverpool, maybe even more than I hate chelsea. I hope that they will keep playing shit like they've done so at the start of this season. They are ina big mess at the moment. They've got 4 points out of 9 and they are playing chelsea at stamford bridge next week. If Chelsea win today and beat liverpool next week then Liverpool can certainly forget about any title challenge.

 

[Wes]

I hope people will stop saying Liverpool are title contenders. Ive never understood all the hype surrounding them, they are the 4th best team in England. Sure its still early days but I doubt liverpool will closer to winning the title than they did last year.

Liverpool's strength have always been they've been a gutsy, solid unit that mash out good results.

The problem is that the class of many mid-table teams such as Everton, West Ham, Aston Villa (had to add them ) can also be categorised as such. They just don't have the bigger names of say a Gerrard at their club.

I think this is going to be one of the most open and closest premierships for years with teams on lots of similiar points, battling it out for european places and trying to avoid the drop.

 

[psycho_snake]

You pointed out their problem wes. They've got a good depth in squad, but its not all quality. They dont really have any other players that are the same class as gerrard. During the transfer window liverpool only added depth to their squad, they didnt add any better quality then what they already had.

 

[radioheadrule83]

You pointed out their problem wes. They've got a good depth in squad, but its not all quality. They dont really have any other players that are the same class as gerrard. During the transfer window liverpool only added depth to their squad, they didnt add any better quality then what they already had.

I think we should review your title contender comments in about 20-or-so games time
I don't think we know the full extent the transfers have brought change to the squad yet. If we find our form in defence again and work out what we're doing up front, we'll be dangerous.

I don't think Liverpool city center is going to be much fun tonight. Never is on derby day. I'm staying at home methinks.

 

[BatiGOOOOOOL]

Arsenal's fancy play is way too exaggerated. It's great to see and it might give them results at times, but they need to mix it up a bit. They need more blue collar workers in there giving the team a whole lot more strength. Maybe Bpatista can help them out a little.

I still can't believe Capello thought loaning Woody was a good idea. He looks to be in great shape and it's playing fantastic football so far.

 

[Luna104]

nm

 

[Osorio]

****ing hell. Vaz Te put the ball in the net and was clearly onsides, but was called offsides because of Diouf even though he clearly wasn't interfering.

 

[Wes]

Brad Friedel has saved 3 penalties today. What a legend

 

[Osorio]

Bolton did to Watford what they did at Manchester City away last season. 1-0 victory after a penalty in the 96th. I like the 3 points, but man does it suck that it had to come down to that.

 

[ElyrionX]

I don't get it.

In midfield, we've got Giggs, Park, Ronaldo and even Fletcher. In defense, we've got Evra, Heinze, Silvestre, Brown and maybe even O'Shea.

Richardson. Useless in defence, ineffective in attack. Average pace, weak on the ball, shoots worse than a monkey, concedes penalties and tackles like a pussy.

So why the hell is he even still on our squad and let alone getting first-team football. WTF. Offload him to some Division 1 team already.