stoa

As long as he hasn't got a video on youtube we shouldn't sign him... ;) He certainly knows what to do with the ball, but that doesn't mean anything. I bet there are tons of kids who can do that or similar stuff running around in some favela in Brazil.

I think it was some kind of indifference. On one hand, I think with his versatility he would have been a good player for us to cover on various positions at the back. On the other hand, he's a cunt and judging from the reports money seems to have been a deciding factor in him joining the Hammers. Even if it wasn't for the money, clearly his desire for playing for us wasn't that big, so I don't care that he goes to West Ham... We've played half a season without cover for Finnan and I think we could go on until the summer. However, who knows whom Rafa pulls out of his hat next... ;)

I don't have too much a problem with what Laporta said. It would make winning just that much sweeter. I have seen one documentary on German TV where a camera team was taken behind the scenes at Camp Nou and showed stuff about how Rijkaard works and it was also about Laporta. He seems to love the club, but he and his other members on the board or whatever they are came across as right twats...

I don't really think that bringing in foreign players actually means that our Academy is shit. I just think it's there to get a healthy mix in our reserve and in the other squads with English and foreign talent. The foreign players certainly bring in some of their ways football is played and at the same time they'll learn what's important in English football. It's not too bad bringing in those young players at quite an early stage, because you have time to see if they can adapt to life in England without splashing out big money, just like it was with Barragan. We didn't really pay that much I think in the first place and we've still the option to buy him back once he's older. And even if a player isn't good enough for our first team, we'll certainly be able to get a decent amount of money for him, if he's already settled in England and wants to play for a Championship side or so...

Celtic for sure. I've always liked them better than Rangers, but even if they were playing the Mancs, I'd want them to win. How sweet would that be if the Mancs aren't allowed to play with the big lads in Europe for the second year in a row? ;)

It was a shitload of money for a player Madrid bought on the cheap just a year ago and who they wanted to 'get rid of' even if they threatened they would keep him and let him rot on the bench or in the stands... Eto'o and Henry are both key-players in their squads as we see at the moment with Eto'o being out and Barca having problems. Owen never was a key-player for Madrid, not because he didn't play well, but because they had other players who were always playing no matter how well they did. However, I always thought that he was still a quality player and he had everything to be world-class.

He still had the best goals per minutes ratio in the Madrid squad except maybe for Ronaldo. So in a sense he was still a striker almost every team would want in their squad. The thing was that he didn't really fit into their spectacular big-name player scheme, so he was left out quite a lot even though he was banging them in. Having not played that much and Madrid asking for a shitload of money put many interested clubs off I think. Furthermore, I couldn't really see him going to any other of the big English clubs other than us or maybe Arsenal. Barca might have taken him, but I think there's no way Barca and Madrid would have made a deal like that. I think Owen has a point to prove when he finally makes his comeback and I think he can still be a world-class player, but I agree if people don't want to label him 'world-class' at the moment because he has been injured for two years...

I do the same except I go normal tackling. Momo had three reds (two of them straight red) almost in a row at the start of the season. First, I warned him and then I fined him twice. Since then I haven't had a single red until the CL final when Crouch got send off for his second booking. However, it wasn't his fault because the ref was shite handing out 15 yellows in the game... ;) Had some fun with AS Roma in the quarters or semis. In their home game they lost one player due to a red and in the 2nd leg they had 3 guys sent off in the first half. Two of them for pushing someone in the chest... :D

At least he should have had put in that we want to do a straight swap deal with Beckham. Or even better we give them Gerrard, first option on Alonso and let Rafa agree a contract with them once he finishes his current one with us in exchange for Beckham. It wouldn't have made the article more unreal, but it would be miles funnier...

I don't really see that much badmouthing Rafa in the things he said. He basically stated what was pretty obvious, that Rafa didn't think he is the right player for us and that he couldn't do the things Rafa expected from him. As we've seen with the Gerrard-saga it's probably not very easy to deal with Benitez even if he seems like a likeable person in interviews, but if it's something that concerns the team or individual players I think it's different and he treats everyone the same and can't stand players who are a little bit extravagant like Cissé. I've no problem with that, but I can't see the problem, if Cissé feels that he was treated unfairly at times and if he tells the press, if he's asked in an interview. He was almost as good as gold when he was with us and was playing on the wing. He wasn't moaning in the press and even said he'd find some positive things in playing on the wing. He wasn't the greatest player, but no matter how lazy he seemed sometimes, he certainly gave his all for the club with playing where he was told to and not complaining about it and with working hard to return from a career-threatening injury. He wasn't suited for our style, but I hope he finds his luck elsewhere...

Could someone tell him, that not every forward goes down at every opportunity? Of course he wouldn't have gotten into that situation, because he would have taken off long before Cech had even decided to come for that ball and claimed it was a penalty... Week after week they proof that you can't by class...

Didn't he play some games for us in Rafa's first season? If he didn't there's always those pre-season friendlies, where he had the chance to shine... ;) Nonetheless, good luck to the lad...

Is right. Fatty is a decent player, but certainly not the kind of special player people often see in him. After all, he's still Fat Frank to me... ;)

What did you do in the other 3 minutes? ;)

So we have now a midfield crisis, after you started that other thread about our goalkeeper crisis. How long will we have to wait for your crisis-thread on our strikers and on our defenders? Might as well write to .tv as they might want to start another series after that 100 players-thingy is finished... :wallbutt: We had problems in some of this season's games, but talking about having a crisis is just far off the mark. It is just taking it's time to accomodate our new signings and for the players to get to know each other, a problem that other teams face as well. So it's way too early to be talking about crisis and stuff like that.

But you remember that he did play the majority of the games in Rafa's first season? Rafa apparantly didn't like what he saw then and decided to bring in a new goalkeeper. Your posts are so full of 'facts' like these where you want to make it look like Dudek won us the final single-handedly, didn't play the whole season and was axed after just one appearence just to support your arguments. Just like the 'Houllier could have won the CL'-statement. Pure bollocks... :wallbutt:

You're not allowed to say 'blind' anymore. 'You fucking cunt with restricted vision abilities' would have been right... ;)

Stopped reading after that, because that's more or less exactly what we have. Do these football 'experts' actually care to look at the line-ups or just see that there are xy changes from last week and believe that Rafa picked four names out of a hat to know who he'll take out of the squad? :wallbutt:

Often the simple explanations are the best... ;) I think it was quite clear that he'll be 4th choice once Rafa has all the strikers he wants and they do well. I bet even if God isn't happy about not being in the squad, he's happier being not in OUR squad than being anywhere else... ;)

Exactly what I thought, when I saw that pic... :lol:

Oh what a cunt and what a pile of shite he's talking there. That guy in the middle - can't make it out who he is ;) - is spot on I think with Rafa wanting two defensive midfielders who are very disciplined in there role and that it's actually better for Gerrad to play on the wing, because he has much more freedom to roam around and do stuff.

I've read that he's doing well in Turkey, but I don't follow the league myself, so it could be complete bollocks. However, he seems to be a regular for them, because he's played 32 and 29 games for them in the last two seasons... ;) Word is that he had to be substituted during a game this weekend so it might be that he won't play tomorrow...

He's shite in FM... ;)

It sounds funny, but somehow also makes me wanna puke... ;) However, watching a bunch of twats fighting each other is really funny... :D

That's certainly not Flo Po. It's either Davids or our very own Momo making a fly-by at Rotterdam when he travelled back from Portugal... ;)