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[psycho_snake]

Buffon has said that he would rather saty in Italy, but he did say that he likes london a sa possible destination. The fight for Buffon seems to be between Inter and Arsenal, no other big club really needs him because they've good no problems regarding goalkeepers. Inter do have Cesar and Toldo, but knowing how they go about buying players they will certainly go after buffon especially now that they know he would rather stay in Italy.

Despite Milan playing in Serie A next season it doesnt look like all their players will stay. Gattuso said that he will need to discuss his future. This is surely soething that Ferie will be keeping a very close eye on. We desperately need a defensive midfielder and Gattuso is one of the few players who play that position very well. He's 27, there are younger options like Hargreaves, but gattuso is better and more experienced.

There are rumours that pirlo could be on his way off. Supposedly his preferred location is spain. It would be a good buy for real madrid. Thbey dont have any world class central midfielders and its certainly an area they need to strengthen. If they can get him and emerson they will have a very solid central defence.

kaka has also said that he's interested in a move to real. he said that he will only go if milan are happy with the price that real madrid pay for him. They wont let him go very easily, the rumoursd are that kaka will be sold for £34 million.

 

[hadareud]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/5187760.stm

Senderos is out for at least 3 months. Now we definitely need at least one more centre back. Come on, get Thuram.

 

[Mama Smurf]

You mean you don't want Curtis Davies for £10m? Well, your loss...

 

[psycho_snake]

Here is a strange confession by wayne rooney in his upcoming autobiography.

"I not only like to have the TV and light on to help me sleep, but also a vacuum cleaner. Failing that, a fan or a hairdryer will do. I've ruined so many hairdryers by letting them burn out. So far I haven't set fire to anywhere."

........

 

[Ghost]

Further proof Coleen is only in it for the money.


Seriously is he 5 years old?

 

[psycho_snake]

He seems a bit wierd. Rooney might be an amazing football player, but he looks like shrek, he's got ears the size of micky mouse's and he's got some really wierd habits. He probably gets coleen to read hima bedtime story but he's just too ashamed to admit it.

 

[hadareud]

You mean you don't want Curtis Davies for £10m? Well, your loss...

:lol

I can't believe they want 10m for him. And people wonder why everyone buys young foreign players.

I wouldn't mind Curtis Davies to be honest, but 10 million for a 21 year old that still has to prove himself?

Could he not record a vacuum cleaner/hairdryer or something? Doesn't sound very safe.

The first thing I thought, but then again - Rooney and Coleen might not think that far. Not that I want to insinuate that they are not the sharpest tools in the box.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Could he not record a vacuum cleaner/hairdryer or something? Doesn't sound very safe.

I really don't know how Rooney's got Colleen. I mean, she's no supermodel or anything, but she's good looking enough and compared to Rooney she's a ****ing goddess.

Given that they're childhood sweethearts, even the moneygrabber angle doesn't hold up! Unless of course she spotted his talent early and grabbed on then, in which case she should probably be United's head scout.

 

[Ghost]

Could he not record a vacuum cleaner/hairdryer or something? Doesn't sound very safe.

I really don't know how Rooney's got Colleen. I mean, she's no supermodel or anything, but she's good looking enough and compared to Rooney she's a ****ing goddess.

Given that they're childhood sweethearts, even the moneygrabber angle doesn't hold up! Unless of course she spotted his talent early and grabbed on then, in which case she should probably be United's head scout.

True...maybe she's as brain dead as he is then.

Good luck to them in that case.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Chelsea are amongst the second seeds for the Champions League, showing that UEFA's rankings can be just as ****ed up as FIFA's. Go Europe! *pumps fist*

Seriously though, Chelsea have been champions of England for the last 2 seasons and the year before that were runners up. In the CL they only got to the last 16 last time (to be fair, they were knocked out by the eventual champions), but in the 2 years before that they finished semi-finalists twice.

Man Utd on the other hand are top seeds. In the last 3 years in the Premiership they've finished 2nd, 3rd and 3rd, last year in the CL they couldn't even get out of their group (finishing dead last), and in the 2 years before they went out in the last 16 twice.

Doesn't quite seem to fit. Anyway, top seeds:

1 Barcelona
2 Real Madrid
3 Inter Milan
4 Liverpool
5 Arsenal
6 Man Utd
7 Valencia
8 Lyon

Don't even get me started on some of the others being there and their ranking order. Oh and it assumes Liverpool, Arsenal and Valencia will qualify, though even if all 3 don't it won't get Chelsea into the top seedings because:

9 Porto
10 PSV Eindhoven
11 Bayern Munich
12 Chelsea
13 Roma
14 Ajax
15 Celtic
16 Lille

Those are the second seeds, obviously. That's right you could get Chelsea...or Celtic. I wonder what the top seeds will be hoping for...

 

[Ghost]

Are the rankings done on the 5 year co-efficient things?

That might explain why Chelsea are still pretty low....doesnt do much to explain why Man U are higher than them though...or arsenal

 

[Mama Smurf]

Yeah, they are. 5 years is too long, it hides the reality of current quality too often. I would say 3 years is more reasonable, and they also (rather stupidly to my mind) take into account the league the team is from, but not where they finished in that league. Or that's my understanding of it anyway.

So while La Liga, Serie A and Premiership sides get more points than Bundesliga sides, Chelsea don't get any more than Arsenal.

 

[Mama Smurf]

West Brom have rejected an £8.5m bid from Portsmouth for Curtis Davies.

What the ****?

What the ****ing ****?

First of all, Portsmouth have more money than sense right now, I can't believe anyone's actually bid that much. Secondly...they turned it down? That's SO much money for them, surely no one is going to offer more than that.

English players are so stupidly expensive, £5.5m for Heskey? £8.5m+ for Davies? Birmingham want £7m for Pennant? If teams would just stop paying they might actually drop.

p.s. what the ****?

 

[psycho_snake]

Dont forget andy Johnson, who cost Everton £8.5 million.

Its amazing that Curtis Davies cant be bought for £8.5 million yet someone like toure costed less that £500,000

 

[Mama Smurf]

At least Andy Johnson is a forward and has proven he can score goals at the top level. I only have a go at him so much because whenever people in the media talk about how he scored 21 goals one season they forget to mention 11 were penalties. 10 from open play for Crystal Palace is still pretty good...though not £8.5m good.

Now I'm even more depressed about losing Bellamy for £6m, without a release clause he would apparently have been worth £20m in this market.

 

[brooklyngooner]

(Oh When the Saints):

O NORTH LONDON
(O NORTH LONDON)
IS WONDERFUL
(IS WONDERFUL)
O NORTH LONDON IS WONDERFUL
ITS FULL OF TITS, ARSE AND ARSENAL
O NORTH LONDON IS WONDERFUL

O WEST LONDON
(O WEST LONDON)
IS FULL OF SHIT
(IS FULL OF SHIT)
O WEST LONDON IS FULL OF SHIT
IT'S FULL OF SHIT, SHIT AND CHELSEA
O WEST LONDON IS FULL OF SHIT

 

[hadareud]

Ten men couldn't lift,
Couldn't lift Frank Lampard
Ten men nine men
eight men seven men
six men five men
four men three men
two men one man and
his fork-lift truck,
Couldn'tlift Frank Lampard

finally brooklygooner is back

 

[Mama Smurf]

"Is full of shit and Chelsea"? I think that one needs a bit of work

 

[brooklyngooner]

"Is full of shit and Chelsea"? I think that one needs a bit of work

o yeah at least our supporters attend matches

 

[Shinobi]

You mean you don't want Curtis Davies for £10m? Well, your loss...

I want both...even if Senderos was healthy we're pretty thin in central defense (no Gunner fans wants to see Cygan take the field if it can be helped).

Those are the second seeds, obviously. That's right you could get Chelsea...or Celtic. I wonder what the top seeds will be hoping for...

:lol I laughed out loud when I saw those seeds. Domestic play obviously doesn't come into the equation, but given what you said about their European finishes the last three years it still doesn't make any sense. Now I'll be hoping that Arsenal doesn't draw Chelsea in their group :lol...how messed up is that.

(Oh When the Saints):

O NORTH LONDON
(O NORTH LONDON)
IS WONDERFUL
(IS WONDERFUL)
O NORTH LONDON IS WONDERFUL
ITS FULL OF TITS, ARSE AND ARSENAL
O NORTH LONDON IS WONDERFUL

O WEST LONDON
(O WEST LONDON)
IS FULL OF SHIT
(IS FULL OF SHIT)
O WEST LONDON IS FULL OF SHIT
IT'S FULL OF SHIT, SHIT AND CHELSEA
O WEST LONDON IS FULL OF SHIT

Woohoo! Welcome back bro!

Meanwhile the best sports stadium on the planet has now reached "pratical completion"...

I never did go to Highbury, but I'm hoping to catch a game at this place in the next few years.

 

[Mama Smurf]

o yeah at least our supporters attend matches

Hey! Our supporters attend matches. Unfortunately we only have about 20,000 of them, so...

Now I'll be hoping that Arsenal doesn't draw Chelsea in their group

I don't think you can draw teams in your own league, which ups the chances of a Chelsea - Barcelona group nicely. Oh how they hate each other.

And every seat in that stadium is padded. Southern pussies

Spoiler

 

[BatiGOOOOOOL]

Meanwhile the best sports stadium on the planet has now reached "pratical completion"...

I never did go to Highbury, but I'm hoping to catch a game at this place in the next few years.

It looks beautiful. I'm glad Arsenal got this new stadium, the team and their huge following deserve it.

 

[hadareud]

Seems Wenger is really going for Curtis Davies (as per Metro this morning), but he says they won't pay 10 or 12 million for him.

8 is too much as well though.

 

[Shinobi]

New Arsenal kit officially went on sale today...well, at least the home version.

My mom is flying to London tomorrow for a month, so I'll be giving her a few bucks to grab me a home and away Henry jersey in the new season's colours (XXL plz). Also hoping she'll be able to find a red England Walcott jersey in the same size, even though he probably won't even make the first team again till 2010. :lol

Gotta admit though...I am gonna miss last season's red current kit. I thought it looked boss.

 

[hadareud]

 

[Shinobi]

My boys!! Man, I'd love to see Walcott burst out this year, though he seems prepared to accept a role on the reserves squad for the upcoming season. Bottom line is he just wants (and needs) playing time.

Cool thing is I might be able to see him play in person next year. The under 20 World Cup is being held in Canada next summer, including several games and the final being held in Toronto (we're also getting a new MLS team next year). So unless Walcott is part of the England Euro '08 qualifying squad, he'll most likely ply his trade for the under 20's.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Various news:

West Brom have rejected a second United bid for Kuszczak, claiming they wany money and a loan player (Rossi) and another player (don't know who) permanently. I really don't know whether to applaud their efforts to stand up to big clubs wanting their players, or to be pissed of at them for thinking their players are worth so much that they may well force teams to look abroad instead AGAIN.

Man City are about to buy Valencia striker Corradi. I don't get it. They already have Samaras, Cole, Vassell, Dickov and Sibierski, I'd have thought their money much better spent in other areas. Especially as he's 30, it's not like they're buying some long term replacement for Cole.

Plenty of Chelsea news. They've rejected Spurs' Duff bid, but only because they want £11m rather than £7m, Spurs are expected to come back with more (from their bemusingly endless funds). There's a rumour that Chelsea are going to try and offer Wright-Phillips to Arsenal in order to capture Ashley Cole, an idea brought up on this board ages ago I seem to recall. Certainly if true and they're letting two wingers go, it lends support pretty heavily to the idea that Chelsea might be changing to a Milan-style 4 central midfielders. Finally they've apparently bif £10m for Zambrotta, Mourinho doesn't seem to like Ferreira at right back, but his first choice is Milan and if they can't afford him it's probably Madrid.

Newcastle might be going after Dean Ashton for around £10m. You can see why, he's in the Shearer mold, but I can't see West Ham selling. Just wanted to scare Ghost.

 

[BatiGOOOOOOL]

It seems like Ruud to Madrid is done.

Go to the official page and type in van Nistelrooy in the search box and you'll see what they have prepared. The article is not up yet though.

Better yet, here's the link:

http://www.realmadrid.com/articulo/ruud_van_nistelrooy_32366.htm

 

[Ghost]

Newcastle might be going after Dean Ashton for around £10m. You can see why, he's in the Shearer mold, but I can't see West Ham selling. Just wanted to scare Ghost.

I was gonna post it, but pardew issued yet another "no way" statement in the evening standard.

Its typical Roeder though, Sheppard gives him 10 million to get a couple of strikers, as he currently only has 1 thats fit. He makes up a short list, Andy Johnson, Jermaine Defoe, Dean Ashton etc etc, then he goes for the one who only transfered 6 months ago...this is pretty much exactly what he did at West Ham while trying to strengthen the defence, we ended up with Thomas Repka, Christian Daily and Gary Breen, all last minute, we all know what happened next.

 

[brooklyngooner]

It looks beautiful. I'm glad Arsenal got this new stadium, the team and their huge following deserve it.

I miss Highbury. I don't know what I am supposed to sing at the new ground.

WE ARE THE NORTH BANK
WE ARE THE NORTH BANK
WE ARE THE NORTH BANK EMIRATES doesn't have the same...resonance.

These Vieira to United rumors really seem to carry some weight.

 

[Ghost]

Theres a story doing the rounds on the usual gossip mongering sites saying that Chelsea are planning to offer £

Spoiler

70

million for Kaka

...

 

[MrPing1000]

It seems like Ruud to Madrid is done.

Go to the official page and type in van Nistelrooy in the search box and you'll see what they have prepared. The article is not up yet though.

Better yet, here's the link:

http://www.realmadrid.com/articulo/ruud_van_nistelrooy_32366.htm

it's up in spanish...

 

[Outdoor Miner]

So I take it Chelsea/Real Madrid are like the Yankees of baseball?

Spending ridiculous amounts of money on the best players at each position, with little regards to thinks like team chemistry?

 

[Mama Smurf]

Theres a story doing the rounds on the usual gossip mongering sites saying that Chelsea are planning to offer £

Spoiler

70

million for Kaka

...

I heard that, but I'm sure that one's made up. It's a position they really have absolutely no need to strengthen right now, though in a few years who knows?

And man, you really aren't a Roeder fan :lol I can't remember his time at West Ham really, but there's no denying he's been excellent for Newcastle. Since he's took over it's been 10 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses, form which over a whole season would have gotten them to 4th in the Premiership (and only 1 point behind Liverpool and 2 points behind Man United).

Don't get me wrong, I hope he fails too (hopefully he's as inadequate in the transfer market as you say, though he can't be as bad as Souness), that sort of form would just make it so much harder for Blackburn to stay a top six side.

So I take it Chelsea/Real Madrid are like the Yankees of baseball?

Spending ridiculous amounts of money on the best players at each position, with little regards to thinks like team chemistry?

That describes Madrid recently pretty well, but Chelsea actually have very good team chemistry. Lots of people don't find them entertaining enough, but there's no doubt they work excellently as a unit.

 

[Ghost]

I like Roeder as a person, he seems like a genuine, honest guy, unfortunatley he doesnt have what it takes to manage at the highest level. Chairmen love him because he's a great coach who has the respect of the players and best of all he's a total push over who'll spend next to nothing.

 

[Mama Smurf]

That doesn't really seem to jive with what happened at Newcastle last year though. Every indication since he took over has been he could absolutely manage to the highest level, already was in fact. Maybe it was all Shearer's influence!

I guess this season will be the real test, with Owen's injury and Shearer retired. I gotta say, I know they're short up front, but I don't really understand why they're going after strikers first and foremost. They have Luque and Ameobi up front, and while ideally Ameobi would be a sub and Luque hasn't fired since he arrived, it's still decent. And Luque obviously has some talent or all these big clubs wouldn't have been after him, he might be one of those players who struggle in their first year in the Premiership, but take off after that.

They don't even have to play two up front, when Dyer's fit (and assuming he can keep up his fitness for once), he'll be able to play behind a striker. I still think their priorities should be in central defence and left back positions, with even their left wing perhaps ahead of a striker (debatable one). I can't believe they've let Huth get away from them, I'm surprised they're not going after Traore as he's so cheap and a better defender than Babayaro. If Spurs do get Duff they should go for Kewell, not only is he a left winger, he can also play as a second striker if need be.

How much better is this team:

----------------------Ameobi---------------------

--------------------------Dyer--------------------

Kewell--------Emre--------Parker-------Solano

Traore--------Huth---------Moore---------Carr

-----------------------Given---------------------

than this team:

---------------Ashton-------Ameobi-----------------

N'Zogbia------Emre-------Parker-----Dyer/Solano

Babayaro----Bramble-----Moore------Carr--------

-----------------------Given--------------------------

I could be jumping the gun, perhaps they have more money than I think and aren't going to pour it all into forwards.

 

[Shinobi]

Theres a story doing the rounds on the usual gossip mongering sites saying that Chelsea are planning to offer £

Spoiler

70

million for Kaka

...

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

I'm surprised Newcastle haven't tried to go after Saviola (though I just did a quick Google news search and according to Sky Sports they're apparantely looking at him now). With Wenger denying interest, and with his relatively low price tag (4 million or so), he'd be a pretty cost-effective fill in for Owen.

Meanwhile Marseille continue to insist that Ribery is not for sale...I reckon he'll stay there at least for one more year before heading elsewhere for huge coin.

 

[MrPing1000]

United reject Real offer for Ruud
Man Utd striker Ruud van Nistelrooy
Van Nistelrooy fell out of favour at United last season
Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed Manchester United have turned down a bid from Real Madrid for Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Ferguson also revealed that United made an offer for Tottenham midfielder Michael Carrick that was rejected.

"There is no agreement with Real and United over Ruud. We have refused their offer," said the United boss.

"We are trying to sign another central midfielder. We have made a bid for Michael Carrick but Tottenham Hotspur turned it down."

Reports suggested that Van Nistelrooy was set to put pen to paper following a medical on Wednesday, but it is believed that Real did not get close enough to United's £15m valuation for the 30-year-old striker.

Van Nistelrooy asked to end his five-year career at Old Trafford after falling out with manager Sir Alex Ferguson last season.



Fergie playing hardball

 

[Shinobi]

Well it's hard to argue against his reasoning...

"Andriy Shevchenko went to Chelsea for £30million. He's a similar age to Ruud and their records in Europe are almost identical, so you can absolutely guarantee that we're not going to give Ruud away."

Of course this doesn't explain why he benched his ass, but there ya go. I reckon 20 mill is as high as they'll be able to get for him, and that'll probably suit Sir Alex just fine.

And some good news for United fans...looks like they'll have more cash to spend on transfers.

Man United boosts transfer budget
Associated Press
Posted: 1 hour ago

LONDON (AP) - Manchester United will reportedly have more money for transfers after a refinancing package cut the annual interest rates on its 660 million-pound (US$1.2 billion; €963 million) debt by nearly a third.


United, which was bought by American businessman Malcolm Glazer 14 months ago, has refinanced its debt to halve its reliance on payment-in-kind bonds, The Financial Times newspaper said Tuesday.

The bonds could have forced the Glazer family to hand over part of their stake if they were not fully repaid.

The newspaper said the refinancing would mean United's annual interest would fall to 62 million pounds (US$113 million; €90 million) from 90 million pounds (US$165 million; €131 million).

United has been linked with several costly players - including Tottenham midfielder Michael Carrick, Juventus midfielder Patrick Vieira and Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres - since the end of last season, but has yet to sign any.

United was able to negotiate the new terms because of the income from a new four-year shirt sponsorship deal with insurance company American International Group and the extra ticket revenue from the expansion of its Old Trafford stadium to 76,000.

The club is also set to benefit from a new Premier League broadcasting deal, which starts mid-2007.

The club's overall borrowings will rise to 660 million pounds (US$1.2 billion; €963 million) from 580 million pounds (US$106 million; €1.06 billion).

I think the odds are pretty good that Vieira's gonna end up there. Fergie has wanted him for years, and when someone wants you that much (especially when it's a former rival), it's hard to turn that down.

 

[MrPing1000]

£15million I reckon.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-libertadoresriver&prov=reuters&type=lgns

Fans riot as River crash out of Libertadores
ASUNCION, July 18 (Reuters) - Rioting River Plate fans forced the match to be called off in the 80th minute as the Argentine team were knocked out of the Libertadores Cup by Paraguay's Libertad on Tuesday.

Libertad were leading 3-1 at home in the quarter-final second leg and 5-3 on aggregate when Chilean referee Ruben Selman abandoned play at the Defensors del Chaco stadium after River supporters clashed with riot police on the terraces.

Although the game did not officially finish, South American policy is to let the result stand when the supporters of the losing team cause the trouble.

ADVERTISEMENT
River themselves reached the last eight after their second round second leg tie at Sao Paulo's Pacaembu stadium was called off in the 83rd minute after Corinthians fans broke down a gate and tried to invade the pitch.

River won that game 3-1 for a 6-3 aggregate victory.

Trouble began on Tuesday when a large contingent of River fans began tearing up plastic seats and hurled them at home supporters, whose contingent included a number of fans wearing the shirts of River's arch-rivals Boca Juniors.

The River supporters forced riot police to retreat against a fence and set fire to banners as the situation turned ugly before being brought under control.

By that stage, Selman had decided it was not safe for play to continue, despite angry protests from the River players who had staged a late fightback despite being reduced to 10 men.

Libertad, who held on for a 2-2 draw in Buenos Aires in the first leg played before the World Cup, when ahead in the 17th minute when Uruguayan striker Rodrigo Lopez scored with a looping far post header over goalkeeper German Lux.

Sergio Aquino added a second for the Paraguayan underdogs in the 41st minute when he connected with the rebound after Maritn Hidalgo's shot crashed off the crossbar.

Paraguay midfielder Crisitan Riveros rifled a close-range shot into the roof of the net two minutes after halftime for Libertad's third.

River, champions in 1986 and 1996, were in further trouble in the 62nd minute when captain Marcelo Gallardo received a straight red card for a two-footed lunge on an opponent.

After being repeatedly denied by Paraguay World Cup goalkeeper Aldo Bobadilla, Daniel Passarella's team pulled one back when Ernesto Farias scored at the second attempt in the 77th minute.

But a possible fightback was ended by their own fans.

I guess I was right about this game being something else! :lol

 

[hadareud]

Daily rumours:

-Chelsea had a 50 million bid for Kaka rejected
-Ashley Cole is closing in on a move to Chelsea for 16 million
-Arsenal are close to signing Thuram

That's the newspapers. An Arsenal "insider" told me this morning that the Thuram deal is going to happen. Allegedly on a free transfer, 1 year contract.

 

[psycho_snake]

Manchester United beat the kaizer Chiefs 1-0 and no, the team doesnt have anything to do with the rock band kaizer chiefs. It wasnt a very impressive performance, but there isnt any reason to worry because other than scholes and giggs, the rest of the team are not in the first team. He gave a run out for a right back called danny simpson. He was actually quite impressive. Dong fangzhuo scored a late winner for us. For those of you who dont know who he is, I believe he is a United player loaned out to the belgian club royal antwerp. He scored a good goal, he was very composed and he finihsed it off well. He's only played in last years and this years pre season tours, but he looks like a good player. he's quick, skillful and he's got fantastic composure.

 

[psycho_snake]

I dont want Vieira at United. Its going to be very wierd seeing him play with us after he spent so many years at Arsenal.

 

[Ghost]

Dong fangzhuo scored a late winner for us. For those of you who dont know who he is, I believe he is a United player loaned out to the belgian club royal antwerp. He scored a good goal, he was very composed and he finihsed it off well. He's only played in last years and this years pre season tours, but he looks like a good player. he's quick, skillful and he's got fantastic composure.

I was reading about Dong earlier, apparently he's only playing pre-season because he's not eligable for a UK work permit yet. Good news is he'll be able to claim UK citizenship in December so he'll be all clear to join the full squad then, Fergie seemed pleased about that.

 

[Mama Smurf]

I remember Dong from last season friendlies. He stood out for me, 'cos "Hur hur hur...dong".

As for comparing Shevchenko to Van Nistelrooy, we have to remember it was Chelsea doing the bidding, so not really comparable to others as teams take them for as much as they can. Then again, if anyone is close to Chelsea in that way, it's Madrid, so maybe they can be compared. Shouldn't be less than £15m anyway.

Blackburn might be signing Benni McCarthy if we can't get Mido. I'd really prefer the latter, he's younger and has shown he can score in the Premiership, but if we can't get him then McCarthy would be a pretty good signing. Though I think this is probably the 18th time we've tried to sign him over the years, and we arne't alone, I can remember Portsmouth, West Ham and Everton having bids before now too. And he always looks like he's going to come...and then doesn't.

We're also giving a trial to Agathe who we could then pick up on a free transfer and about to sign Jorge Acuna, again on a free transfer.

Agathe is a right wing back who was released by Celtic, and it's rumoured by the papers that we're after him because Neill might go, but I think it's just as likely we want him for our right wing, where we don't really have anyone. Or even cover for Neill, we don't have any of that either.

Acuna I know less about. He was a Feyernoord player but didn't get in the team much so was loaned out, Chile international and appears to play in central midfield. I suspect he might be a defensive midfielder, but I don't know. Any Dutch (or even Chilean) fans know him?

Glad to see we're getting more cover anyway, we have one the smallest squads in the Premiership.

 

[Stevie Gerrard]

Manchester United beat the kaizer Chiefs 1-0 and no, the team doesnt have anything to do with the rock band kaizer chiefs.

They nicked the name from the football team:

Lucas Radebe played for Kaiser chiefs (the football team) before moving to Leeds United
All Leeds United fans love Lucas Radebe
Kaiser Chiefs (the band) are Leeds United fans


Something like that

 

[travisbickle]

I really don't know how Rooney's got Colleen. I mean, she's no supermodel or anything, but she's good looking enough and compared to Rooney she's a ****ing goddess.

Given that they're childhood sweethearts, even the moneygrabber angle doesn't hold up! Unless of course she spotted his talent early and grabbed on then, in which case she should probably be United's head scout.

My mate's an Evertonian and the truth is she wasn't interested till he began showing his talents on the pitch. He'd fancied her since they were little, but she kept knocking him back until he started getting talent scouts coming to the training ground around the age of 14/15. She started going out with him in the hope he'd become a football star and her famous by association, and probably would have dumped him if he didn't become a star.

 

[Mama Smurf]

In that case he should really dump her, might as well go with a better looking money grabber if it's going to be that way. Though he probably doesn't realise.

Anelka says Blackburn and Bolton are interested in him, as well as Portsmouth who've bid £8m for him. He's a bit of a dodgy signing (doesn't stay at clubs very long at all, you'd be extremely lucky to get 3 years from him), but it wouldn't be the first time we've had one of those and he is at least guaranteed to get you goals. I don't particularly want to pay more than £8m for him though, and I imagine Hughes' interest was from before Pompey's bid, so it's probably nothing.

I still don't believe this Kaka story. Depending on what you read, they've either bid £50m or £70m and been turned down, but it just doesn't seem to fit to me. Chelsea are actually very restrained when it comes to the number of players in each position, the only difference is they tend to have one world class player in reserve while most teams will have 2 average ones. It's like their wingers...yeah, 4 good players and we get annoyed that talent isn't getting a chance, but it's still only 2 players each position, no different to Giggs and Richardson and Ronaldo and Park when it comes to numbers (and then you have Solskjaer, Fletcher...).

So Kaka would be overloading a position. They already have Lampard and Ballack, not to mention Obi Mikel (who's not just an attacking midfielder, but can do that) and Joe Cole who can play there. It just doesn't seem right to me.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Shaun Newton (West Ham) has tested positive for cocaine and is gonna be suspended for 7 months.

Which, now I think about it, is 1 month less than Rio got for not failing a drugs test. Hmmm.