Morning all,
Rangers move to within 4 points of Celtic with 2 games in hand after beating Motherwell 1-0 at Ibrox last night. Barry Ferguson with the goal.
Real Madrid smash Barcelona 4-1 in el classico in Spain.
Chelsea are in for Sergio Ramos and Micah Richards,
Man City are likely to be outbid by Man United for Berbatov, although United will chase Huntelaar if they're forced into a bidding war.
Newcastle are going to war with Portsmouth for the signature of Eidur Gudjohnsen.
Sheffield United want to sign Darren Huckerby, recently released by Norwich.
Sven is going to hold talks with Benfica over becoming their new coach.
Kevin Keegan is travelling to London to hold showdown talks with Mike Ashley. I'm willing to bet that he won't be at the club when next season kicks off and that Dennis Wise will be the main man.
Keegan wants to sign Zoltan Gera.
Wigan are chasing Hamburg's Jose Paulo Guerrero.
Ajax are looking at Robert Huth of Middlesbrough.
Steve Morrow is in line to become the new Walsall manager.
And todays 'what a funny story'
"Spanish fans were gob-smacked as stars from relegated club Levante refused to play after their game against Deportivo La Coruna kicked off. The Levante players, who were angry about not being paid, stood in the centre circle while a Deportivo player ran the length of the field before kicking the ball out for a goal kick rather than scoring. The match then finally started properly, with Deportivo going on to win 1-0."
portsmouth are going to win on sunday, aren't they?
Yes
4-0.
good, thanksyou
no
Cardiff on penalties
shut up fool, that's a week on saturday!
oh yeah!
i know that too, as i'm off to West Ham on Sunday! Perhaps I should check my prodder before poking the fire.
yeah you make sure that prodder is in full working order next time!
I'd rather Chelsea steered clear of both of those players
I don't think its our defence that needs working on.
Interesting article
in yesterday's Guardian...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/may/04/sportfeatures.footballmanagers
Good to see our old mate David Platt getting the nationwide recognition his "talents" deserve!
The Eto'o thing won't go away
and is now being reported in various papers in various countries.
I still stand by my pledge that I will get Eto'o's (APOSTROPHEZ) face tattooed on to mine and the back of his head on to my back of head and change my name to Samuel Et'2 if he signs.
There's probably
something in the rumour. I think the ones that don't go away tend to have a bit of substance. If he signs and if he has a good pre-season he ought to do pretty well next season.
It'd be quite a coup
granted, he's not World Player of the Year anymore and nor will he likely be again, but he's a pretty great striker still.
We could still do with a decent crosser of the ball. And for a system that will accommodate Eto'o, Modric and Keane...
Some interesting transfer rumours there.
If we sign Ramos or Richards I asume it will be to play right-back unless Carvahlo is actually going to Real Madrid. Otherwise, what's the point?
i wonder who got the power pack..
Eto'o to Spurs rumours persist.
Anton Ferdinand to Spurs? Hmmm.
Spurs. Spurs. Spurs.
I confidently predict we'll finish 8th next season.
It'd be an improvement!
Can't see Eto'o and Keane
working as well as Berbatov and Keane. Then again, signing Eto'o would be a fantastic coup.
regarding FC Liverpool
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/may/08/1
i understand why people on here get annoyed at new clubs starting up in these circumstances (i see the bile FC United get), but well, i can't really fault their intentions, especially when it's something like this:
"AFC Liverpool ticket prices have been set at £5 for adults and a maximum of £2 for children, and Parry is hoping for crowds of between 1,500 and 2,000."
That's not Rick Parry, by the way.
i know there's clubs around liverpool like Vauxhall Motors and Marine to go to, but let's face it, most premier league supporting chumps, if given choice between their 'club' at a lower level and an existing non-league club with no kudos, ain't going to go and support Marine are they?
also, i notice from the article that FC United are now one division of the conference north and football manager playable status
It is, and remains
complete bollocks. It's not just about where the fans go, it's about the fact that these completely plastic non-clubs are starting to take up space in the pyramid that sustains other teams. Someone's going to end up being relegated because a couple of thousand people can't handle the fact that their club don't give a shit about them any more.
What makes it even worse for "AFC Liverpool" is there's no concept of cutting ties with the parent club - it's a feet stamping "we want the best of both worlds" situation, where fans celebrate the european victories, then go down to wherever to watch AFC Liverpool thrash whoever for a few seasons in county football/the Northern League for purely financial reasons.
hmmm
your argument smacks of "they got to do it the easy way, hendon didn't", and i don't mean that as a rebuttal, because if i was a fan of a non-league team, i'd probably do the same
i think the point is that this is going to happen, more and more now and there ain't a great deal you can do to stop it. sure, you can get the new teams to start even lower down the football pyramid but football fans (even liverpool fans) are a tenacious bunch and they'll stick with it and stick with it.
as for the best of both worlds thing, if you're in a position whereby you can engineer that situation, then you probably will, and people do. complaining about it's all well and good but it's only going to happen more and more and to all intents and purposes is just spitting in the wind
that said, i'm a bit uneasy about it
but only a bit
No, quite right
there's nothing that I can do about it, but I do have a problem with plastic clubs - it's no better than the MK Dons situation*. They're living off the franchise and history of their previous/other team and it's (in my opinion) no less harmful to grass roots football than the inflation throughout the entire game that's been inspired from the top. (In fact, these clubs just serve to perpetuate it by paying higher wages).
If these clubs could exist without causing harm to others, then fine, go for it, and have your little fluffy cuddly puppy alongside the monolithic all crushing monster in the Premiership. That's not the case though - their mere existence causes further problems for other teams: both financial through inflation and footballing, by taking up space in the pyramid - and quite frankly little could change my mind on that matter.
If you're basing your entire argument on "there's no point in complaining", then we may as well kill the daily thread - that's generally all that goes on in here. I've got a moral stance on this, and whether others want to ignore it or not, I stand by that.
*The franchising part, not AFC Wimbledon. I accept they've got a valid reason for forming a new club.
okay, so i was being a bit needlessly controversial when i said
"i can't fault their intentions"
it just strikes me that, well, this is modern football is a bit like complaining that chelsea have more money than, say, wigan, and i think people have kinda given up on that line of complaint now
sorry, this sounds a bit like i'm belittling you here - i'm not meaning to.
do you think it's worse or not so bad as, say, crackpot investors coming into a non-league club, sticking a load of money in, then they pull out, leaving them a division higher but, essentially, fucked, something which it seems like goes on a lot according to these threads
I can see where you're coming from
and looking at this as an outsider. If there's two things wrong with Non League football then in my opinion it's the AFC's (Wimbledon excepted) and Mr Moneybags coming in with unsustainable delusions of grandeur and complete short-term visions. How you control and govern them I have no idea though.
again, i say that
i don't think you can effectively control and govern them, hence my doomy response
You make a decent point
in your previous post, but there's going to come a point where these clubs are going to have to sacrifice their principles if they progress through the leagues. For example, should FCUM make the Conference then TV comes into play. Part of the reason they were formed was because of the power of TV and shifting kick off times. So when the TV money is on offer what do they do?
Likewise with AFC Liverpool, they're going to get to a point where they're going to have to charge more and more as leagues impose minimum entry fees.
I may be wrong, but I think these fans see Non League Football as a plaything that's there for their convenience. I wait to see if there's a real long term commitment behind the clubs.
that is going to be an interesting point
could be answered within two years or so
i think FCUM won't have such a problem because the impression i get is that a fair portion of the fans are rabid anti-Glazerites who, so long as the Merkins are in charge, will carry on the huff and support FC United
AFC Liverpool's a different matter though
round of applause
I'd never really thought about this too much
but I think I agree with this
^ this completely
as a fan of a Non League club I can't tell you how much AFC Liverpool and FCUM piss me off. Whilst on the surface the intentions of the fans are laudable (going back to grass roots etc) but all these clubs do is create a completely uneven playing field at a level where promotion and success is already difficult enough to come by. If these fans really cared for football and weren't on some self promotion exercise they should go and watch another Non League club in their area. It's not as if there aren't any around Liverpool and Manchester. Who knows how many more of these clubs are going to keep springing up now. AFC Chelsea? AFC Hammers? It's hard enough for clubs like ours to survive without people coming along and making a complete mockery of the pyramid system.
see, i do understand/agree
i just think it's going to become one of those absolute inevitabilities that this happens.
like i say, never in a million years are liverpool fans going to want to watch, en masse, marine or something. maybe it's the "oh, we won't have the connection", that is kind of tenuously established by forming fc liverpool essentially as a non league club for liverpool fans. which is why they're going to keep doing this
i imagine the lower echelons of the league, the governing bodies appreciate and to a certain extent crave the publicity, they're unlikely to turn down an offer that'll see national newspaper coverage (something which i can understand because these stories give off certain messages that you wouldn't, unfortunately, get from a national newspaper story on hendon...or rather, people wouldn't be as interested in getting from a national newspaper story on hendon), so they're not going to be hostile to these teams (and as businessmen, why would they?)
i understand why people get pissed off, i just think it's going to carry on happening, no matter what
You're right
but at the same time there's nothing stopping them from watching Vauxhall Motors or Marine on a Saturday and still supporting Liverpool. 90% of fans on the terraces at Claremont Road are originally Spurs/Chelsea/Arsenal/Man United/Pompey(?) fans.
and the other two are you and colinzeal?
ZING :P
:D
You see, the thing I don't quite understand
about these break-away clubs is that I feel a deep commitment to the club I support. Since the day I was born I've been a Chelsea fan, and despite my dislike of how Ken Bates ran the club, the sacking of the likes of Gullit and Vialli, the shockingly bad style of football they play now and the rising ticket prices that have priced me out of going to as many games as I used to, I couldn't possibly abandon them.
^ this
I respect the FC United lads for taking a stand against commercialism in football and the Glazer takeover, but there's no way I could develop any affection for another club.
i guess it depends on
what your club means to you - if you tie your club closely to your, say, socio-political beliefs, and your club changes so it's diametrically opposite to it, you're likely to get a bit pissed off, i guess
I think the point
of sides like FCUM and AFC Liverpool is to keep the name going - therefore you're not so much abandoning the club as keeping them going at a more affordable level. It's not something I agree with in the slightest however.
I think people that think that
are deluding themselves. I love my team, for better or worse and often (as I'm sure shines through in these threads!) irrationally and in indefensible positions. Its too much a part of me to ever let go of it.
football fans in "deluding themselves" shocker
see also: the west ham fans down there V talking about challenging for a UEFA Cup place next season
brusma in "needless post" shocker
SAFETY WINK
this is why
FCUM get crowds of around 1000-2000 (dependant on whether their parent are at home or not) and don't fill out Gigg Lane each week.
i agree with this
there's loads of non-league clubs in the manchester area. non-league football is much better than watching liverpool on the telly.
true fact.
I don't care if we sell Anton
we've got good centrebacks already. And he'll be banged up if he carries on his 'playboy' mentality he seems to love.
Huckerby won't stay in England as he doesn't wanna play against Norwich. Celtic or MLS, I heard.
The whole Anton
going to prison thing was meant to happen in November but has pretty much died out.
I'd rather we kept him, our centrebacks are not all great and have injury problems. Spector as centre back anyone?
yeh, he got off that,
but what's stopping him from doing something like that again. From what i heard (pub talk, i know) but he was very lucky escaping prison.
We've got Gabbs, Upson, Tomkins, Neil can do a job there, Spector (I actually think he's a pretty decent player) and not forgetting James Collins.
Plus, if he want's to go, then let him. If he's showing an interest (with the stories coming about his agents obviously putting out the feelers) in leaving, then there's no real point him being here.
I reckon he'll calm down a bit
Gabbidon has been injured for most of the season, Upson has been fantastic but is now injured, Tomkins is still very much learning, Neil has become a liability of late and whilst Spector is a reliable utility player I wouldn't fancy him being a regular.
The real problem is all the injuries and the club not being to deal with them properly.
Curbs in or out?
But surely we won't have the problems we've had with injuries next season?
We've had a freakish bout of injuries, unseen by any other club in the history of the Premiership. Next year we'll obviously get a few injuries, but I think it's safe to say Upson's going to be fit for 75% of the season, as will Gabbidon & Collins.
I agree with with your comments on Neil. I think he needs to be stripped of the captaincy and given a very strong talking too. He's obviously a class act, but he's lost his concentration because he's in such a comfortable position at the club. I actually can't stand the man. Went up to OT at the weekend, and for a captain not to come and acknowledge the fans at the end of the match is an absolute disgrace.
Curbs: in. Without question. 7 places better off from last season. This season, despite all the shit football, has been a success. I'd much rather have a season like this than a season like last years. I think we need to push on next year, obviously. Go for a UEFA place, which, with the backbone of Green-Upson-Parker&Dyer-Bellamy&Ashton is well within our grasp.
What do you think of Curbs? Gotta give him another season, surely?
Curbs has done ok
a season of stability was needed after the theatrics last year but can he move on and progress any higher? His Charlton record suggests no.
Whilst some of the injuries have been bad luck Curbs is responsible for buying players with well known injury problems and it is also his physio team that are responsible to getting players back to fitness and that just hasn't happened and in some cases their diagnosis has been wrong and players have played when they shouldn't have.
I'd have Curbs out if there was a decent alternative
With Charlton he didn't have the money
that we have given him. Also, how will we know he can't move us on if we don't give him ago.
I'm really excited about next season. As said, we'll have players fit (I'm sure I read he was changing the physio team), some of which are arguably some of the best in the league.
oh yeah,
are there any other happy/unhappy hammers on DiS?
A fully fit team
would be very good. Who would you have? I'd go for:
Green
Neill Ferdinand Upson McCartney
Dyer Parker Noble Faubert
Bellamy Ashton
I reckon:
Green
Neil - Anton/Gabbs/Collins - Upson - George
Dyer - Parker/Mullins - Noble - Matty/Freddy
Bellamy - Ashton/Zamora
the / are where I don't think there's much difference in their class. Pretty strong team with options incase of injuries. Not sold with Faubert yet, he looks like he's got a decent cross, but lacks pace (probably because he's no fit, in fairness). I think he's got a lot of proving to do before he can be out in the first XI
I think Faubert will come good
and apparently Freddie has been offered quite a lot of money to terminate his contract
Really?
That's mad. He's been alright I thought. I think too many at West Ham expect him to be like he was when Arsenal were thrashing everyone, a speedy winger with all the flair and skill. Clearly he's not got the pace any more, but he's still a threat with his intelligent running and passing. He fights hard and I think he should be used next year.
I don't think Boa Morte been as bad as some as the pricks around me make out, but I don't think his future should be at West Ham. I'd have Freddie over him, every day.
Freddie has been ok
but gets injured a lot and goes down far too easily. Apparently the club are offering him 3mil to do one.
LBM is the current hate figure and is a bit of a liability who can't really score or pass but his workrate is one of the best in the club
my favourite article about Levante
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jan/14/europeanfootball.valencia
Have I ever said that I love Wigan?
Is that until Sunday
when they roll over for Man United?
;-)
No, my team won't let me down.
Come on the Latics.
does anybody
who is not a liverpool, man city or chelsea fan actually want chelsea to win the league?
anyone??
Does anyone who isn't a Man Utd or Chelsea fan
really care (and I mean REALLY) who wins the league?
true.
I am more concerned with the championship playoffs. unless palace don't win them.
I'd rather Man United
won but it makes little difference to my life in the grand scheme of things.
If you had to win one and lose one would you rather win the league or Champions League?
I'll say the Champions League
because if you discount the groans about it not really being a Champions League (not that they aren't in some way valid), I'd say it was the competetion we most deserved to win out of the two.
Tough question.
Champions League probably, just because we've never won it before and we can go down in history along with all the great teams that have.
The Premiership would be sweet though considering how far behind we were.
I think Man United
will win the title on Sunday but I think Chelsea will win the Champions League. This will result in the strange situation where the 'best team in England' is better than the 'best team in Europe' and of course vice-versa.
yeah
and fans of either team will not shut up all fucking summer about how winning one's better than winning the other
Man Utd are a better team
Its as simple as that really. It isn't by much, but they've been more consistent this season and usually played better football. Hopefully we stop dragging our feet next year, because if the league shows anything it is that with a bit more effort, we'd have overcome them
all the great teams
and Borussia Dortmund