2008/09 Soccer Thread in Shock £50m Chelsea Switch! (And Other Ludicrousness)

UCRC wrote:
jowner wrote:

Personally as an Arsenal fan the badge kissers can all go F'off as winning with players who actually want to be at the club or have been trained through the club is much more satisfying to see them succeed.

Adebayor was kissing the badge after his move to Barca failed (btw: what a great game he had this Saturday, it's always interesting to see some nice passing and smart dribbling from a 'tower' like him)

Exactly and I lost a huge amount of respect for him. I hope he scores another 30 goals and Arsenal cash in on him and bring in Benzema instead

jowner wrote:
davet010 wrote:
jowner wrote:

It was borrowed money before the new owners just stepped in as City had taken a loan out against their TV deal money. Happy that Shinatwat has been pushed out as he was going to be a disaster for the league if he stayed in as owner. Will be interesting to see if City become the new Chelski!

Really - you'll be telling me that no other club has loans securitised on future TV or season ticket income next.

Arsenal doesn't Also I don't remember seeing it hit the press this off season about any other Prem club doing this.

Its still not good business though to be skimming money off the top to be able to spend your future revenues immediately. Anyways it doesn't matter now as Shinatwat who was broke and wouldn't have been able to keep city going the same way as before sold out to a bigger purse. Even better this isn't an American takeover where the guys actually don't have money and borrow against the club.

Funny part is though when the rumors were the worst you played it off that the youth team was good enough to step up if the team sold some players. Fast forward to now you hinted at a guy like Owen (expensive injury bag on the wrong side of his career) and after the takeover Berbs (not garbage but whiny) might be coming in. I'm actually interested to know who you rather see play for the club. 30m Mercs for instant success or the youth to be given a chance (within reason) and the academy to be invested in even more. Personally as an Arsenal fan the badge kissers can all go F'off as winning with players who actually want to be at the club or have been trained through the club is much more satisfying to see them succeed.

Hmm, well, we don't seem to be doing so bad at the moment, given that there were a number of academy graduates playing last week (Hart, Richards, Johnson, Ireland, Evans, Sturridge, with Onuoha and Schmeichel on the bench), it's just that you need strength in depth and experience as well...and although City have strikers from the academy, you can't expect an 18 yr old to be leading the line. I also bet that if Wenger was actually allowed to spend money right now, he'd be down there in the bear-pit with the rest of them...if Arsenal lose Fabregas this season for any period of time, I could well see you finishing outside the top 4, which would be a shame as I have a lot of time for Wenger's approach.

Plus, if City's other transfers under Hughes are anything to go on, Berbatov is a smokescreen and the real target as elsewhere - but if it means MU have to pay more (as Spurs have accepted City's cash bid, but not MU's at the moment) then everybody wins

Not sure where your getting that Wenger has no money to spend.

Fiszman, though, insists the board are willing to fund any targets the Frenchman identifies.

'There were great expectations and hopes that we would buy heavily this summer,' Fiszman said.

'It's not our decision who he (Wenger) spends money on, nor will it ever be our decision.

'If he said to us, 'I want this guy and he's £30million, can I buy him?', the answer is yes. Absolutely yes.

'We totally back him, it's his decision. If Arsene found the right player he would buy that player, but at the moment his hasn't.'

Fiszman also admitted the situation may not change between now and the end of the transfer window.

He admitted: 'There's a dual problem for him. If we buy star names, you are talking about relatively mature players who need to be integrated into the way Arsene plays - they don't know our style and it also impacts on the youngsters who have been brought through.'

As for Berbs I hope you guys don't sign him as I think hes a horribly bad character no matter what his skills. Hopefully Man U overpay for him and he poisons their dressing room.

I made this as a joke earlier in the summer.

IMAGE(http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/5825/berbszc7.th.jpg)

I think you are spot on, Jowner...hopefully all that City have done is to raise Sir Purple Nose's blood pressure into the stratosphere and make them pay £8m more than they want to...or sink the deal altogether, what with Tottenham having accepted City's bid and not actually given Berbatov permission to speak to MU (although he has been with the Scots Drunk for most of the afternoon - probably hammered by now..)

It's more like pass the parcel....best result would be no transfer, so City spend nothing on him but scupper MU's chances of getting a new striker before Jan.

It's all good....City fanboards at the moment are like playing Football Manager after having used the editor to give yerself a billion quid...and anyone who denies that they've done that is a darned liar

Best suggestion - "Let's buy UEFA and execute Michel Platini !" You could sell that on ppv and make your money back

53 minutes to go and still no transfers out there. Could it be that Berbatov will get left out in cold? It might be very well so, cause Tottenham board still doesn't agree for Bulgarian to sign with Man Utd.

http://www.justin.tv/eminem152ndpage

sky sports feed for us non UKers.

http://setantasports.com/en/Sport/Ne...

confirmed moves into UK teams.

Oh yea Quaresma moved to Inter with Pele going the other way. Going to be watching lots of Inter this year!

Robinho gone to Man City for reportedly 32mil.

UCRC wrote:

Robinho gone to Man City for reportedly 32mil.

Its 99.999999% done now. I'll believe it when I see him holding up the shirt though!

The Berbs to Man U deal is still in limbo but you have to imagine the deal is gonna get done unless Spurs are nuts. Question is how much did Man U overpay to get the sulker.

Manchester United have signed Dimitar Berbatov for £30.75million with Fraizer Campbell going to Tottenham in a year-long loan deal.

Hahahhahaha they ended up paying just under 2m less then what Robinho went for. The Glazers better hope they win the title this year or Ferguson will spend them into the Championship.

I can see United spending that much for Berbatov, he could be the player who changes their season. Robinho, on the other hand, arguably isn't as good as Arjen Robben (assuming the Diving Dutchman is healthy). At least he hasn't been this year. That said, he's still nothing to sneeze at, and I guess, as far as City is concerned now, money isn't a object, so who cares if we lay out £32m on a winger? Pocket change.

It's going to be a very interesting January this year.

Robinho doesn't get injured as much as Arjen Robben.

City also levered The Forces of Darkness into paying £12.5m more than they wanted for Berbatov, who they didn't expect to get anyway (£5m more cash + Fraser Campbell on loan to Spurs....Hull had already bid £7m for him).

And we've pissed on Chelsea's chips.

One City fan posting on the board that I go on recalled to fellow members MCFC's legendary capacity for bad luck, by pointing out that the CERN supercollider goes active on Sept 10. It would be 'Typical City' for the world to end before we can field the new lineup

Like you said 32.5 for Robinho... who cares trying to judge the transfer when its coming from guys who have money coming out of their ears.

Last time I checked though United don't have money coming out of their ears for a 30m transfer of a 27 year old moody striker who will cost them maybe 90k a week so 4.5m more in wages alone. Thing that I don't get is did they really need a striker? Sure Berbs is better then Saha + Frazier but 30m better? I think Ferguson is losing his mind trying to chase down 18 at any cost.

I love the irony that these guys come out of no where and clearly have no clue about football and just start tabling bids for everyone who was in the papers. End results United end up paying way more for Berbs as Spurs get the leverage they needed to make them pay which was an actual second club after him because I don't think there was anyone in the world otherwise who wanted him for 30.75m let alone for 20m. They get Robinho for who cares how much because Real unsettled their own player chasing Ronaldo and beating Chelsea for the deal. Now Real have 32.5m more to throw at United next year to steal Ronaldo.

What makes you think The Show Pony will be leaving Manchester ?

In other news, Keegan has been sacked by Newcastle (or more likely asked to go and was given a package). Heaven help the poor sod who takes that job.

Hes leaving 100% because he wants to leave and the Glazers cant say no to 50m+ pounds with the kind of debt they are carrying. The only thing stopping them from selling right now is Ferguson who has sold the Glazers the idea that if they keep on letting him spend he will keep winning. Thing is last year it was a fine line between a double and 0 trophies for Man U. If Ferguson gets his 18th this year to tie Liverpool he will be very very close to retiring and that's when the Glazers cash in on Ronaldo.

As a Portugal fan I want Ronaldo out of the Prem also as hes pretty much learned what he can and conquering another league would be good for him. Guy is still young and can learn lots more still. The level of physicality in the Prem also worries me that one day hes going to get caught by a Joey Barton type player and get a very very ugly Eduardo/Cech style injury. I think he knows this also.

edit: Oh yea your new owner

[quote]New Manchester City boss Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim is considering a $240 million bid for Manchester United superstar Ronaldo during the next transfer window in January, Arabian Business can reveal.

Al Fahim – who through Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment has taken control of the club – has outlined his “dream team” in an interview to be published in Arabian Business magazine on Sunday.

The Hydra Properties CEO, who has already beaten Chelsea to the signature of Brazilian star Robinho in a $61mn swoop, revealed that snatching Ronaldo from arch rivals Manchester United is the top priority.

“Ronaldo has said he wants to play for the biggest club in the world, so we will see in January if he is serious.

"Real Madrid were estimating his value at $160 million but for a player like that, to actually get him, will cost a lot more, I would think $240 million.

"But why not? We are going to be the biggest club in the world, bigger than both Real Madrid and Manchester United.”

In the interview, conducted moments after the historic signing of the deal to buy the club, Al Fahim also reveals his wish list – Liverpool’s Fernando Torres and Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas are also seen as potential targets.

“We’re not just going to spend money on anyone, but if we can get the biggest players in the world, and of course if the manager wants them, then we will get them,” he said.

It is thought a transfer fund totalling $450 million has been allocated for the next two seasons, by which time is “expected” that the club will be as successful on the pitch as Manchester United and Chelsea.[quote]

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/52973...

also a BBC interview I haven't listened to yet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...

Jo - notice that I said "leaves Manchester" as opposed to "leaves Manchester United"....

As for physicality, well if you watch La Liga regularly, you'll have noticed that the teams down at the bottom, the ones with really no money, go in for a very physical style of play to make up for their lack of star names...as anyone who had the misfortune to sit through a Levante game in the last couple of seasons would tell you. Italy, of course, isn't so much physical as sly and cynical - so it might be interesting to see how Ronaldo's slightly frail self-control deals with that.

With regard to transfers, after this initial burst, City may end up in the same situation as Chelsea did in the early Abramovich period, paying well over the top for some dodgy players (which mainly seemed to be Porto players bought up by Mourinho).

KK's now gone from Newcastle - don't blame him this time, having to take all the flak while Ashley and his glove puppet Wise do all the deals.

Jongleurs FC continues their proud tradition of being a total laughing stock. And yet, their fans persist in believing that they are a "big club".

The Fiver wrote:

Keegan is prepared to stay at Toon, it's said, but only if (a) he is given control over the club's transfer budget, (b) Dennis Wise is chased away from Newcastle by a man wielding a pointed stick, (c) Wise is caught by the man wielding a pointed stick, and (d) the man with the pointed stick shoves the pointed stick into one of Wise's buttocks, causing Wise to shout "yaroo!" and never come back up north ever again. However this is unlikely as (a) Ashley quite likes Wise, (b) Ashley is rumoured to be the only man in Newcastle who owns a pointed stick, and (c) the last time Keegan was let loose with a budget, he spent £50m in 15 months at Manchester City on players like Jon Macken, Michael Tarnat, Trevor Sinclair, Vincente Mattias Vuoso, Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Roger Hunt and Ian St John. That'll be him off, then.

Indeed.

Jongleurs FC - I love that.

The quoted article isn't particularly accurate, unless they are including wages in the £50m as well. Tarnat and Sinclair actually played quite well, but Fowler and McMananamanaman were well past their best.

If Ashley was dealing with a logical set of supporters, his line of counterattack should be that Keegan is 5 years away from being a good Premiership manager, his record in the transfer market is poor and he is all too liable to walk out when the going gets tough. Unfortunately, he isn't.

Where Ashley has failed is by setting up his continental-style structure after Keegan came in - if he'd done it before, then Keegan would have known what he was dealing with. The other key failure was getting Wise in as Director of Football, as he's got no experience of management or this role...and he's an arse. I really hope Shearer gets the job for the following reasons...

- he's also an arse, with the personality of a dead goat
- Geordie-fever will rise to even more hysterical levels, with even less chance of becoming reality
- bound to be some bust ups with Wise
- it'll get Shearer off the BBC and his bland-a-thons with Hansen
- the fallout from when their second messiah gets sacked or resigned would finally put the nail in them.

And I love all the 'best fans in the country' sh*t....if you talk to any Geordie, they've all been going since Jackie Milburn played for them in the 50's, but I've been there twice and all I can say is that when I went, there must have been thousands and thousands in fancy dress as empty seats.

WC 2010 quals. Spain sputter to a win, England unconvincing again, Italy feh, pretty much none of the top teams in Europe were very good. Well, Portugal were good, actually.

And how in god's name does Raymond Domenech still have a job?

Worst international break of them all. It just comes right at the time you really don't want to see epic battles like England Andora and Portugal Malta. Zzzzzzz.

Whoever idea it is to have these games 3 games into the English season and after 1 week of Spain and Italy needs to be slapped.

./rant

back to the league stuff the new city owners are still making waves with all their targets. Juve laugh off the Buffon links (interested what Dave thinks of that one considering Hart looks great and this is the type of negative stuff comes from owners who want to play FM in real life). Cesc says a move to city would be Sucidal for his career.. ouch. Its not all negative news though as supposedly Kaka says he would consider a move to City.... If they were in the CL. Guess he doesn't want to do the hard part of getting there in the first place.

And in important Arsenal news a certain Mr.Appiah is still clubless and his name is going through the rumor mills. Exciting player and hes free. Come on Wenger its only wages! take a risk on this guy!

edit: he made Ghanas bench and subbed in for Essien 22 mins in on the 5th vs Libya. They lost 1-0 though.

jowner wrote:

And in important Arsenal news a certain Mr.Appiah is still clubless and his name is going through the rumor mills. Exciting player and hes free. Come on Wenger its only wages! take a risk on this guy!

edit: he made Ghanas bench and subbed in for Essien 22 mins in on the 5th vs Libya. They lost 1-0 though.

I don't believe that he really would really get to be a first team regular. He isn't Xabi Alonso after all and I think that Wenger would stick to his young midfielders anyway.

Isn't there rumours of match-fixing floating round Mr Appiah ? Does seem odd that he has been available for a while and no-one's biting.

As for the club rumours, half of it is agent bullsh*t and the other half is clubs trying to warn City off. Buffon is too old, Fabregas will end up in Spain at some point is his career, and if Kaka's so great, why don't AC Milan win more stuff...even without the endemic corruption ?

One name on the January possibles list (Volume 1) is Podolski from BM...would be a good pickup I think, not guaranteed to start every week where he is with Klose and the Italian chappy there as well.

Michael Essien, out for the year. That'll make Scolari's job choosing midfielders easier, although it's one hell of a blow to the team.

Sami Hyppia "shocked" not to be in Liverpool's CL squad. Sami, YOU ARE VERY OLD AND SLOW.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/ football/news-and-comment/liverpool s-robbie-keane-burgled-924000.html

robbie keane gets robbed. Why anyone would ever want to play and live in Liverpool really confuses me.

Y'know, you hear the "Scouser" jokes, and you (or at least, I) figure that they're just the usual regional jibes, and then the jokes come true. Again. And again. And again.

You watching *that*? Walcott have just scored his third goal

UCRC wrote:

You watching *that*? Walcott have just scored his third goal :D

saw some of it and all the highlights! hes killed Beckham's come back on the right now just need him to kill off Eboue's

Portugal vs Denmark 2nd half!

1-0 so far on a great move with Nani tapping it past the goalie!

BBC_606 wrote:

It's the Hadron Collider - we actually have entered a parallel universe where England are good at football. Its the only possible explanation.

Well, my only question is whether young Theo can keep his head after being anointed by the English media. Not that Theo himself won't, by all accounts he is a surprisingly level-headed young man, but whether the English media will go batsh*t crazy with the hype and such.

jowner wrote:

Portugal vs Denmark 2nd half!

1-0 so far on a great move with Nani tapping it past the goalie!

Too bad about those last few minutes, eh? :p

Prederick wrote:

Well, my only question is whether young Theo can keep his head after being anointed by the English media. Not that Theo himself won't, by all accounts he is a surprisingly level-headed young man, but whether the English media will go batsh*t crazy with the hype and such.

jowner wrote:

Portugal vs Denmark 2nd half!

1-0 so far on a great move with Nani tapping it past the goalie!

Too bad about those last few minutes, eh? :p

ugh. They could of blown them out 4-0 in the first 80. Better the wake up call comes now though instead of later though I suppose.

Gerrard and Torres pass fitness tests for tomorrow! Drama! Pretty good lineup of games tomorrow, might hit the pub at 7:45am and not leave till 3pm