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[DCharlie]

ARSENAL could scupper Ipswich Town's hopes of cashing in on Darren Bent by taking the striker on a season-long loan from Charlton.

a season long loan? come on bitches, we need that money to buy oil for our tractors

Titus Bramble - i was gutted when we let him go, he seemed okay enough at the back, but he used to score some STUPID goals where he would basically just run through entire defenses with sheer strength to deposite the ball in the back of the net.

I think that was the issue - at Ipswich he was give a "go run around the pitch, son - if you get to do some defending, all the better" roll - Newcastle thought he could actually defend

 

[hadareud]

I don't think you have much to worry about, I don't think we're going for Bent.

Even if we were - I rate Wenger's negotiation tactics highly, but there is no way Charlton would be stupid enough to not cash in on Bent. I'd be at least very surprised.

 

[Cornballer]

Kind of funny that I'm watching the NYRB-Chicago game in HD right now, but I couldn't watch the bleepin' Champions League Final in HD yesterday. Lame.

Anyway, NYRB are all over Chicago at the moment. They put in two goals in the first 3 minutes for a two goal lead, and then Angel just scored another one. He's playing a class above everyone else on the pitch right now - really nice move on the 2nd goal.

 

[Cornballer]

3-0 final. Altidore, Angel, Angel. Dave Sarachan firing watch continues.

Oh, they also announced that the US will play two friendlies in Europe on October 14th and 17th.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

I got nothing.

*shrugs*

 

[Mama Smurf]

But he destroyed the gem of amarra. How did...I don't understand.

 

[Cornballer]

But he destroyed the gem of amarra. How did...I don't understand.

It was a night game. Besides, he was never going to look good with a tan anyway.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Oh yeah, New York is on the east coast. Crazy.

Well at least it all makes sense now.

Apparently Beckham is going to be recalled to the England squad tomorrow.

 

[jamesinclair]

Libertadores semi finals are set

Due to the new rule which means two teams from the same country cannot play the finals,

Gremio will play Santos
and
Cocuta Deportivo from Colombia will play Boca Juniors.

Im betting on a Gremio - Boca final. Santos looked like a disaster playing against America's reserves yesterday

 

[Squirrel Killer]

Kind of funny that I'm watching the NYRB-Chicago game in HD right now, but I couldn't watch the bleepin' Champions League Final in HD yesterday. Lame.

You want funny, try Major League Lacrosse tomorrow night in HD on ESPN2.

 

[Cornballer]

You want funny, try Major League Lacrosse tomorrow night in HD on ESPN2.

 

[Osorio]

I don't have much time on the computer so I'm just gonna ask one thing: did you guys hear our Wynalda chants on the broadcast? If not I'll be one sad Red Bulls fan.

 

[hadareud]

rumours:

TRANSFER RUMOURS

Manchester United will offer £27.5m plus £11m-rated Louis Saha for Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov. (Sun)

Liverpool's summer transfer hitlist includes Samuel Eto'o, Carlos Tevez, Daniel Alves and Gabriel Milito. (Sun)

Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia's move to Fulham has fallen through over his wage demands. (Daily Mirror)

Sunderland have made a £2m bid for Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, who has a year left on his current contract. (Various)

The Black Cats also want Barcelona's Eidur Gudjohnsen - but face competition from West Ham, Portsmouth and Newcastle. (Daily Star)

Real Madrid are planning a £15m bid for Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas. (Daily Mirror)

Newcastle will bid £5m for Leighton Baines - who believes he must leave Wigan to further his England ambitions. (Daily Star)

Chelsea have engineered an option to sign 20-year-old PSV defender Manuel da Costa before next May. (Daily Mirror)

Liverpool will listen to offers for Craig Bellamy - who is wanted by Aston Villa and Blackburn. (Daily Express)

Chelsea have lodged a £10m bid for Tottenham defender Pascal Chimbonda. (Daily Mail)

Tottenham are in talks with Sporting Lisbon about signing £13.5m-rated winger Nani. (Times)

Arsenal have held talks with Atletico Madrid as they try to offload Jose Reyes. (Daily Mail)

West Ham are preparing a £5m bid for Reading defender Nicky Shorey. (Sun)

Watford are poised to sign Arsenal keeper Mart Poom. (Daily Mirror)

OTHER GOSSIP

The Glazer family are ready to listen to offers for Manchester United less than three years after completing their takeover. (Daily Mirror)

Celtic boss Gordon Strachan is in the frame for the Man City job. (Sun)

Freddy Shepherd will be ousted as Newcastle chairman in the near future by prospective owner Mike Ashley. (Independent)

Ashley intends to complete his takeover by the start of next season. (Guardian)

Gretna are in talks with Motherwell about offering a joint season ticket next season. (Daily Record)

AND FINALLY

Shrewsbury have had to have a new kit made for Saturday's League Two play-off final after their players threw their shirts and shorts into the crowd following their semi-final win over MK Dons. (Daily Star)

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/6690357.stm

Published: 2007/05/25 06:46:09 GMT

© BBC MMVII

Manchester United will offer £27.5m plus £11m-rated Louis Saha for Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov. (Sun)

:lol

is that all?

 

[Lakitu]

Oh.

Wow some good stuff in there, Tottenham want Nani? And 27m for Berbatov? :lol :lol WTF? Plus Louis Saha?

 

[hadareud]

I hope that happens.

Transfer of the century, nothing else would ever approach it. Well, apart from paying 10 million for Jeffers of course.

 

[hadareud]

seems like the Cesc joining Madrid story is not without foundation:

I swear on my family that nobody from my office or any representative of Cesc was in Madrid with Arsene. That is totally false information. I don’t know why Arsene was in Madrid. He’s the trainer of Arsenal so you should ask him. I imagine it’s a time when English clubs want to make signings so perhaps he had a meeting with some other representatives.

:lol

gotta love the press

 

[Lakitu]

I hope it happens too. It would be funny since I like seeing Man Utd getting ripped off.

Here are some more rumours:

DAILY MIRROR

Tottenham will sign Southampton wonderkid Gareth Bale for £10million within the next 24 hours.

Owen Hargreaves has moved closer to completing his £17million transfer to Manchester United after having his medical yesterday.

DAILY EXPRESS

Billy Sharp could soon join Sheffield Wednesday after they made an improved £2million bid for the S****horpe striker.

 

[Lakitu]

seems like the Cesc joining Madrid story is not without foundation:



:lol

gotta love the press

I love the press, Liverpool have been linked with 100s of players in the past from them and only about 10-15 have actually come true. Quite funny.

 

[Lakitu]

Rafa's angry, no?

And also it appears David Silva from Valencia is one of his targets.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...all.html?in_article_id=457530&in_page_id=1779

 

[hadareud]

wow

:lol , no?

 

[Lakitu]

wow

:lol , no?

He is a fantastic player, no? With fantastic ability. I think he could be great for the schqaud.

 

[hadareud]

he seems relatively pissed off though. Are Liverpool that shitty at closing deals?

 

[Lakitu]

he seems relatively pissed off though. Are Liverpool that shitty at closing deals?

Yes, we have been awful at closing deals and missing out players due to the time we take.

We have missed out Daniel Alves, Simao Sabrosa and Nemanja Vidic because of that.

 

[hadareud]

understandable that he's not happy then.

Let's see what happens this summer

 

[psycho_snake]

Tottenham have a habit of trying to rip us off. If that deal for berbatov is true I will cry. We paid 18 million pounds for carrick and now they want 27 million PLUS Saha for berbatov. What next, 10 million plus vidic for dawson!?

I doubt its true anyway. The reason we spent so much on carrick was because there was no one else that we could get and tottenham knew that we desperately needed a midfielder, so they sold him for as high as possible. In the end it actually turned out to be a good buy; I still dont rate him at 18 million pouns, but he's been very impressive.

And tottenham better get the **** away from nani. They've already stolen one of our transfer targets; we cant let them steal nani too. In his case i think he'd pick united over tottenham. We just won the premiership and ronaldo could be vital for making nani choose United.

Id still love to see owen come to us, but I think fat sam can do enough to persuade him to stay with newcastle. But owen is perfect for us. We've not seen much of an owen and rooney partnership, but in euro 2004 they seemed to click pretty well. Despite all hisd injury problems, Im confident that he's got the ability to score 20+ goals in a season. Hopefully a deal can still be done, but I dont think there's a very big chance.

 

[psycho_snake]

Yes, we have been awful at closing deals and missing out players due to the time we take.

We have missed out Daniel Alves, Simao Sabrosa and Nemanja Vidic because of that.

In vidics case wasnt it a matter of him choosing united over liverpool and fiorentina?

Any why couldnt that bramble to liverpool story be true. It would have been so funny to see rafa buy bramble after he kept talking about big name signings:lol

 

[hadareud]

more rumours:

Silva Doing One...?
Midfield playmaker Gilbert O'Silva could be the latest player adding to the exodus, with a move to Liverpool. According to sources, Silva could be joining Rafa Benitez's red army before the new season, as he looks to bolster his already overcrowded midfield of European Cup Winning flops...

Better Leighton, Never?
Tribal Football make up the story that we're keen on Wigan's Leighton Baines, we have Newcastle and Spurs as competitors for his signature - they make it up, we copy it...

SwapShop...
Sir Wenger has apparrently made an offer for Fernando Torres, according to various reports. He alledgedly offered Hleb and Freddie Ljungberg in exchange for the highly rated striker. It's thought either Athletico Madrid told Wenger to do Juan or this story is made up seeing as we don't have Torres, however, Madrid did take a shine to Rosicky, so who knows? We don't, thats for sure...

 

[Steroyd]

Yes, we have been awful at closing deals and missing out players due to the time we take.

We have missed out Daniel Alves, Simao Sabrosa and Nemanja Vidic because of that.

Not to mention got outed of deals with Djourou, Wallcott, and half of Arsenals now Youth Squad as well as D milito.
I've heard Benitez wanted Eto'o when he first came to Anfield in 2004, but got shoved out by Barcelona.

I've often wondered why Liverpool were so slow getting players nice to know I'm not the only one pissed off at this.

 

[psycho_snake]

Football365 season awards part two:

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8750_2146128,00.html

Some of them are really good

Media Musing Of The Season
Winner: The Guardian's Daniel Taylor, who, while considering Louis Saha's squandered 88th-minute for ManYoo at Celtic, 'wondered whether Van Nistelrooy would have failed to convert a penalty when the heat of the battle was close to intolerable'. On the same very evening as Saha's miss, Van Nistelrooy had missed an 88th-minute penalty for Madrid, ensuring that the Spaniards thus had to settle for a draw against Lyon and second place in their group.

New-Fangled Sitting Position Of The Season
Winner: The Eggert Magnusson - in which the sitter disappears lower and lower in his seat at the same rate as his side slide towards the bottom of the table before only the top of a shiny head appears, like the top of a boiled egg above the cup.

Shopper Of The Season
Winner: Glen Johnson. Fined £80 by police after being caught trying to steal a toilet seat from the B&Q store in Dartford.

Worst Player Of The Season
Winner: Alex Hleb. Rancid piece of s**t.
Runner-Up: Titus Bramble. He's so bad that he can't even win this award.

:lol

 

[hadareud]

Winner: Alex Hleb. Rancid piece of s**t.

that's a bit over the top

 

[hadareud]

just been thinking how much the African Cup Of Nations annoys me. Every other (!) year players are out of their teams for around 6 weeks in the middle of the season.

It's nice and good that they have their competition, and that the players are proud and happy to go there. But every other year? At that time of the year? They have to stop this shit.

If they can't do it in the summer because of temperature etc. at least do it every 4 years, like the Euro.

Problem is, nothing is being done about it and I doubt they will any time soon.

Arsenal will lose Toure, Eboue and Adebayor. It pisses me off.

 

[Stevie Gerrard]

more rumours:
Silva Doing One...?
Midfield playmaker Gilbert O'Silva could be the latest player adding to the exodus, with a move to Liverpool. According to sources, Silva could be joining Rafa Benitez's red army before the new season, as he looks to bolster his already overcrowded midfield of European Cup Winning flops...

That makes no sense. Neither the part about buying gilberto or the part where the arsenal fan tries to be funny

 

[Lakitu]

just been thinking how much the African Cup Of Nations annoys me. Every other (!) year players are out of their teams for around 6 weeks in the middle of the season.

It's nice and good that they have their competition, and that the players are proud and happy to go there. But every other year? At that time of the year? They have to stop this shit.

If they can't do it in the summer because of temperature etc. at least do it every 4 years, like the Euro.

Problem is, nothing is being done about it and I doubt they will any time soon.

Arsenal will lose Toure, Eboue and Adebayor. It pisses me off.

Yeah I have to admit, it's ridiculous and it severely interrupts the season like that.

 

[hadareud]

That makes no sense. Neither the part about buying gilberto or the part where the arsenal fan tries to be funny

I don't even know what he's trying to say exactly with that last sentence.

 

[psycho_snake]

that's a bit over the top

I dont know. He has been shit. He can dribble, but his passing and shooting is awful. He has put in good performances, but most of the time he keeps making careless mistakes. Im not even an arsenal fan and i fid it frustrating watching him play.

However, you can understand why wenger bought him, just watch this video of him before he joined arsenal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fBkxo4XCS0

He was unbelievable. He was so quick and his dribbling was brilliant. I dont know what happened to him when he joined arsenal.

 

[Tr4nce]

YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!

Dutch Football magazine/website 'Voetbal International' states:


'Van Basten en Van Nistelrooy put conflicts aside.'




That means Ruud van Nistelrooy is back in our national selection!!! WOOT!!!

 

[psycho_snake]

Its going to hurt chelsea more than anyone. They'll lose mikel, essien, drogba and kalou. The player they'll miss most is drogba. Thats why chelsea really need to sort our their striking options. Sheva's performances this season dont indicate that he's a reliable striker and thats why they have relied so heavily on drogba. Mourinho needs to buy a good striker to replace drogba for the time that he's gone.

 

[psycho_snake]

YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!

Dutch Football magazine/website 'Voetbal International' states:


'Van Basten en Van Nistelrooy put conflicts aside.'




That means Ruud van Nistelrooy is back in our national selection!!! WOOT!!!

Good news for everyone. You cant afford to keep a striker like van nistelrooy out of your squad. He's one of the best strikers in the world.

 

[Lakitu]

Chelsea will sign a big name striker this season, definitely.

I also think Hleb hasn't been playing well but definitely definitely not the worst of the season, that's quite ridiculous really. He needs time to adapt and once he has properly, he'll play as good as he usually is.

 

[psycho_snake]

Chelsea will sign a big name striker this season, definitely.

I also think Hleb hasn't been playing well but definitely definitely not the worst of the season, that's quite ridiculous really. He needs time to adapt and once he has properly, he'll play as good as he usually is.

I think chelsea will sign tevez. Just think of the damage drogba and tevez could do together. Even when Drogbal leaves for his national duties, tevez can play alongside sheva and Im sure that those two can gel together.

Id love to see hleb play like he once did. Since he;s come to the premiership he's been unimpressive. Just compare his performances to the youtube video. In that youtube video he looks like one of the best wingers in the world. In the premiership he looks like a player who wasnt taught how to shoot or pass properly. Maybe its unfair to lable him as the worst premiership player, but you cant argue that he's been a huge disappointment, especially after you compare his performances now to the ones he did before he came to arsenal.

 

[Lakitu]

Yeah I'm sure he can, but Arsene needs to give him a chance and more than a year.

I mean Rafa has already given up on Mark Gonzalez after a year, he has been very dissapointing but before that in La Liga he took it by storm, it's a shame we didn't give him another year or put him on loan somewhere. I also thought we should have kept Morientes for another season.

 

[Wes]

Any of you guys getting Mario Strikers Charged Football? It's a lot of fun

 

[Lakitu]

Any of you guys getting Mario Strikers Charged Football? It's a lot of fun

Yes, I'm waiting for your Wii and your version of Mario Strikers Charged in the post. When's it getting here?

 

[Tr4nce]

Good news for everyone. You cant afford to keep a striker like van nistelrooy out of your squad. He's one of the best strikers in the world.

Hell yeah, hell yeah

 

[psycho_snake]

Yeah I'm sure he can, but Arsene needs to give him a chance and more than a year.

I mean Rafa has already given up on Mark Gonzalez after a year, he has been very dissapointing but before that in La Liga he took it by storm, it's a shame we didn't give him another year or put him on loan somewhere. I also thought we should have kept Morientes for another season.

Sometimes you dont have time. Rafa knows that the pressure is on him to atleast out up a serious title challenge instead of being out of the title race by November, so he cant wait for players to develop whilst the team suffers because they dont have a decent winger. Maybe putting him on loan was an option, but rafa probably thinks that he gonzalez isnt going to develop into a top class winger. Rafa's got money to spend now, so he can afford to get rid of people and buy players that he know will be a huge help to liverpool.

Players do become good after time. I think a perfect example of that is ronaldo and drogba. Ronaldo had the talent, but watching him play was so frustrating, but now he's been the best player in england. Its the same with drogba. His last two seasons have been average, but now he's the top goalscorer. The same could happen for hleb. He's been at arsenal for two years and he;s not performed. Next season could be the season where he becomes really good. The problem with giving players time is that it puts pressure on the player and the manager. Fans want to see results quickly and when they're not getting them, they'll start pointing fingers at people.

 

[psycho_snake]

Any of you guys getting Mario Strikers Charged Football? It's a lot of fun

When I get a wii in the summer. I cant get one now because Im in the middle of exams and it'll be too much of a distraction.

 

[hadareud]

I thought I was gonna get a wii (alongside an 32" HDTV) this weekend, but I had to change my plans and delay it till autumn. You know, when I will have won enough money from betting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fBkxo4XCS0

He was unbelievable. He was so quick and his dribbling was brilliant. I dont know what happened to him when he joined arsenal.

he's had some very good games for us this season. I was complaining about him being unconcentrated very early on last season, which got worse in the beginning of this one - but I think that he improved a lot over the course of the season and he's been an influential player for us. Nowhere near his potential, but I am sure that he'll be a great player for us next year.

I like the video - but let's be honest: it's a lot easier to shine in Germany than it is in England. The German league is not remotely on the same level.

 

[Shinobi]

sorry if i missed it, but are you from the area (Toronto)? have you been to the stadium yet? looks like a real blast.

Yep. Been there twice now, and it's absolutely incredible. You pretty much go for the atmosphere, and if the game is good and/or TFC wins (or hell, even scores) it's a bonus. It's just been a treat so far, and I curse my luck at not having the funds to get one of the cheapo season tickets last fall (this is what happens when you meet a girl).

Incidently, Toronto held Benifica to a 0-0 draw on Wednesday. I didn't go as I didn't have any cash, and the prices for these international friendlies are four times higher then the regular prices (though one of my friends got in on a scalper ticket for less then half the cheapest price...there were empty seats). Anyway, first half was apparantely dullsville, but it picked up in the second half after some subs were made. A lot of Benifica/Portugese fans in the crowd as well. Benifica manager wasn't particularly happy about the field turf surface, and I think it's something Toronto's gonna have to address if they want the chance to bring in teams of such caliber. Anyway, I reckon the prices for the Aston Villa game will be lowered a little bit...hopefully I'll be able to get a ticket, though I'm sure that'll be a total B squad (and rightly so, the starters need a break).

Richardson is on the market. He took world cup winner klebersons place in the team and he did score twice on his england debut. It just proves how much quality he has.

:lol The way you try to sell Richardson is funny as shit...

Call To Arms Of The Season
Winner: David Gold's programme notes for Birmingham's match with Stoke which asked 'whether Birmingham fans really deserve promotion' in response to a series of below-capacity gates. The game then duly recorded St Andrews' lowest attendance of the season.
Runner-Up: The programme notes of Leeds captain Kevin Nicholls that informed the club's fans 'we're in it together' ahead of the game with Sheffield Wednesday. It was subsequently revealed after the match that Nicholls had handed in a transfer request three days previously.

Cesc Fabregas' Worst Miss Of The Season
Winner: Missing an open goal against CSKA Moscow after rounding the goalkeeper.
Runner-Up: Missing the ball altogether whilst standing four yards in front of an unguarded net against Reading in March. Sixty minutes later he scored his first Premiership goal of the season - an own goal.

Description Of The Season
Winner: "I nearly swerved off the road. I yelled down the phone. I was so incensed. I was trembling with anger. I couldn't believe what I had heard" - Ashley Cole recalls his reaction to Arsenal offering to increase his wages to a paltry £55k per week.
Runner-Up: "No maturity and respect, maybe difficult childhood, no education, maybe the consequence of that" - Jose Mourinho puts Footballer of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo in a different perspective.

Disappointment Of The Season
Winner: The number of erroneous offside decisions penalising the attacking team. The list is endless.
Runner-Up: Steve McClaren confounding even the most pessimistic predictions.

Great Escapers Of The Season
Winner: West Ham for avoiding relegation via a points deduction after being found guilty of signing Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano illegally.
Runner-Up: West Ham for avoiding relegation on the pitch after winning seven of their last nine matches.

Ironic Book Title Of The Season
Winner: Cashley Cole's calling his autobiography 'My Defence'.

:lol :lol :lol That was good reading...

Okay, the statement from the UEFA guy ****ing stinks

"Collected responsibility of the fans"... what about collective responsibility of you letting fans throuhg 7 checks without checking tickets, thereby rewarding the people who ruin football and punishing the real fans.

Also - it's always tough talk when it's the English. I mean, our fans do have a bad element, but when any other country is involved it's a different story. See : death of leeds fans in Turkey "Oh, it's just the turkish passion..." ****ing cocksuckers.

Don't get me started...**** UEFA, **** FIFA too.

I went to see Holland - Argentina at the world cup last year. People got through the gates with 10 foot wooden sticks. They did however have to take off their Heineken T-Shirts - because they aren't an official sponsor of the World Cup.

I wasn't happy. Mainly because it was only ugly old men that had to take their shirts off, but the whole thing was so incredibly ridiculous, you lose the will to live.

:lol They'd be sued back into the stone age if they tried that shit in the US...

Honestly, who cares about Arsenal nowadays?

"I am set to sign tomorrow, I have also Ipswich really interested to sign me but who wants to go there?." He laughed.

:lol That's so not right...

Worst Player Of The Season
Winner: Alex Hleb. Rancid piece of s**t.

Also not right...

Runner-Up: Titus Bramble. He's so bad that he can't even win this award.

:lol That's hilarious though.

I like the video - but let's be honest: it's a lot easier to shine in Germany than it is in England. The German league is not remotely on the same level.

See: Michael Ballack. As F365 correctly said, at least Schevy tried.

 

[Mama Smurf]

I really blame Wenger for Hleb. The player has to take some of the blame, but pretty much every attack in that video comes from either the centre or the left wing.

Cut to Arsenal and he's shoved out on the right. It's almost exactly the same thing he's done with Rosicky, and while I hope he can adapt out there next season, it wouldn't surprise me if Wenger ****s up his time in England too.

I like Wenger's tactics and buys in almost every way, but he's getting those wide positions wrong every since Pires got older and left and Ljungberg lost his form.

 

[Ghost]

Hleb and Rosiky have both been pretty dreadful for Wenger, It always seems to take players longer to settle at Arsenal than any other premiership team though, maybe they'll produce more next season.


Horay, West Ham have tied down Benayoun for 5 more years, he was definitely instrumental in our fight back this season, we were always at our worst when he was injured. And there was speculation Curbs wanted him gone after he feigned injury for West Ham, then played mid-week for Israel against England.

Plus him and Mark Noble are the only 2 midfielders we own who ever look like Scoring...though tbh if Boa Morte hit the target 10% of the time he would have been our top scorer in the second half of the season.