The 2010-11 Football/Soccer Thread

[Nosferalto]

you could have gotten someone like demba ba for free! maybe his wages are too high or something.

the henderson price is insane but henderson is 20 and has already played for the senior england side. plus he's english and counts as homegrown, so that adds a few extra £m to his fee. Tbh, I wouldn't mind him but not for more than £18m... luka modric cost 16 million too, so less than the 18.5m quoted for henderson.

also can you stop trying to nick Enrique because apparently Newcastle are going in for Neil Taylor to replace him and he was really rather good ;(

ok I'll just call Kenny right away :P

 

[Lee]

Henderson is overrated and I'm not just saying that because he's a Mackem. That said, Sunderland seem to love him and they've just sold Bent for a handsome fee a few months ago so they aren't really in a position where they need to sell. Would be surprised if they let him go.

 

[Nosferalto]

all british players are overrated and the price tag is inflated.

Rodwell is overrated and I'm not just saying that because he's a bitter. fergie wants to get him for 20 mill. real price is about half of that. all prices are doubled and that's a fact.

however, i dont think fergie and kenny are stupid. you need a british core to succeed. and its better to buy them now before their prices go beyong 40m or something like that

 

[akuchi]

i think demba ba is going to newcastle already - no way could we compete with their prestige/wages :( but ahh well. i'm not exactly expecting a marquee signing but i'd like to see some careful purchases past 'lets lob a wad of cash to get the championship top scorer'

yeah, i meant that modric is being quoted as 20mill by spurs to leave (from what i've read anyway).. prices for british players are insane. Still, I'd rather see Liverpool splash the cash and launch a title bid than Chelsea or City (or Spurs, lol)

 

[The_Chaser]

however, i dont think fergie and kenny are stupid. you need a british core to succeed. and its better to buy them now before their prices go beyong 40m or something like that

How is a british core needed for success, you just need a quality team who can adapt to the english league, nationality means little. It more to do with clubs pleasing there fans signing English players and having players that they know can play in the Premier League.

Meanwhile Norwich have been quite active transfer wise signing James Vaughan for something between 1.5-2.5m pounds. And having bids accepted for Elliott Bennett and Steve Morison for 1.5m and 2.5m respectively. They also had a bid of 3.5m for Robert Snodgrass rejected. I'm happy with Vaughan and Bennett bids since they are young and skillfull players however a bit apprehensive for the large fees for Morison and Snodgrass. Nevertheless, I have faith in Lambert to sign well as he has previously and his signings point to him continuing the high work ethic players with team ethos from lower leagues.

 

[phalanx]

seems nasri might move to manchester united regardless of what arsene wenger says, if there is a concrete offer.

 

[Nosferalto]

How is a british core needed for success, you just need a quality team who can adapt to the english league, nationality means little. It more to do with clubs pleasing there fans signing English players and having players that they know can play in the Premier League.

name me one team that won the PL without british players in their first team. The last time arsenal won the league, adams was the captain.

also, idk who that vaughan dude is, but I know that david vaughan of blackpool is on a free. he won the blackpool player of the year btw, not charlie adam. excellent holding midfielder.

 

[Lee]

name me one team that won the PL without british players in their first team. The last time arsenal won the league, adams was the captain.

'name me one English team that has won the English league without English players.'

yeah well done Nos. You sure showed him.

And actually the last time Arsenal won the league Viera was captain and Ashley Cole and Sol were the only first team English players. And they were the Invincibles; arguably the greatest team in the history of the Premiership. Who needs a British core again...?

 

[Slim Guldo]

And having bids accepted for Elliott Bennett

:( :( :(

relevant comment to this: can anyone who has seen watford play tell me anything about Will Buckley? Brighton signed him for £1m which makes me think even more that Bennett is going because they play the same position!

 

[akuchi]

No more Kevin Nolan now, Lee? What is this? :(

Apparently Birmingham are now in for Marlon King. Birmingham have gone up on my hatelist even further, they're probably about #3 now. Classless fucking cunts

 

[Phadunk]

seems nasri might move to manchester united regardless of what arsene wenger says, if there is a concrete offer.

if this happens... he can go fuck himself.

 

[Lee]

Thankfully, Nolan still has two years left on his current contract so there's no way we'd let him go during the summer...I'm hoping it's gonna be one of those things that we'll look back on next Summer and laugh about. The Barton situation seems a lot less hopeful, but he's always been a little melodramatic so I'm hoping he'll stay in the end too once he's huffed and puffed enough.

Basically, I'm just trying not to get annoyed until things are official. Gotta have faith...

 

[latinoheat]

The Invincibles also had arguably the best player the premier league has ever seen, who at that time was the 2nd best player in the world, only behind Ronaldinho who you could argue at his peak was the best footballer their has ever been.

Ashley Cole played a pretty big part in that season, but you could have put pretty much any player regardless of nationality at left back and they still would have won the league with that midfield and attack, what country makes no difference if the players are good enough.

 

[akuchi]

did that post have a point? you would presume a team that went undefeated in the prem the entire season was indeed built up of world-class players

 

[phalanx]

faeroe island won a game!!!
and italy lost to the republic of ireland

 

[norulz]

my friend put a serious but on ireland - italy

he bet 400€ on italy

>his face when full-time

 

[Nosferalto]

henderson is going to be a liverpool player next season.

The deal is apparently £13 million + david ngog. ngog is rated at about £7m so its about £20m.

im pretty happy because i rate ngog at £2m so 15 would be a steal. regardless, good deal for both clubs.

genuinely excited, my only worry is carroll and him might not get along because of the rivalry between their two former clubs :$

 

[Lee]

nah, don't be daft. They're professionals, not yobbish fans (and Carroll technically isn't a Geordie...)

Guess I was wrong about Henderson. God knows why anybody would actually want Ngog but I suppose they did have the mother of all striker shortages towards the end of last season so i guess every little helps.

 

[akuchi]

Did you see West Ham bid 3million for Kevin Nolan? What a fucking joke. Fat sam is a twat (nothing new there then).

Birmingham are apparently close to agreeing terms with Marlon King. I hope they die.

On a related note (clubs i hate and all things newcastle) Hughton is the odds-on favourite to be installed as new manager of Cardiff - whats your thoughts Lee? I love Hughton a lot and I'd like to see him do really well but I simply can't get behind him if he takes over there (unless theyre playing birmingham)

 

[Dan Dan]

I reckon Hughton will go back to Spurs as a number two to Jol.

Other transfer rumours that are quite interesting!

Phil Jones from Stoke to Man Utd, 16-17m.. quality player but again another overpriced Englishman. Ironically he was centre back for the 7-1 drubbing at the hands of United.

Shane Long from Reading to Newcastle or Bayern, whoever offers more. Can see him replacing Nolan if he leaves, in a number 10 role even though he's been up top for Reading.

Matt Mills from Reading to Swansea.

Fabregas to Barcelona, ~25m + Bojan in the other direction. Rumoured to have agreed a fee says "unnamed Spanish Radio station" so take this with a rather large pinch.. for now!

Also Rafa Benitez will be Villas new manager.

 

[Phadunk]

that fabregas deal.. is something i can see Wenger doing immediately. "young talent with great potential to be the best in his position"

 

[latinoheat]

I thought the offered player in the Arsenal deal was Thiago, whichever deal Fabregas is worth a lot more then Barca are offering.

Thiago is a much better player then Bojan , fits the Arsenal system very well as he plays very similar to Xavi and Bojan is just shit. I don't really get why Wenger would want him as he isn't better then pretty much any winger or striker Arsenal currently have and he doesn't have the strength to play in the premier league.

 

[Nosferalto]

nah, don't be daft. They're professionals, not yobbish fans (and Carroll technically isn't a Geordie...)

Guess I was wrong about Henderson. God knows why anybody would actually want Ngog but I suppose they did have the mother of all striker shortages towards the end of last season so i guess every little helps.

The ngog thing isn't official but it looks like it's going to happen because fat head bruce is short of strikers. whoever convinced him that ngog was worth £7million gets my respect. must be the same dude that convinced chelsea to cough up that mammoth £50m for el traitor.

Did you see West Ham bid 3million for Kevin Nolan? What a fucking joke. Fat sam is a twat (nothing new there then).

Birmingham are apparently close to agreeing terms with Marlon King. I hope they die.

lol why would he want to go back to the championship? unless they triple his wages and offer a crazy price (ie. carroll), i cant see it happen.

 

[akuchi]

i've got absolutely no idea, i'd think it was a joke bid if i didn't know better.. 3 million for 12 goals in the prem and an excellent season?.... whatever allardyce is smoking, i'd like some

 

[Lee]

I think Allardyce is trolling us because of the terrible time he had up here. He spent a lot of time with Nolan at Bolton so I'm no surprised he's keen to sign him but he must know he's taking the piss.

As for Hughton, I'm pleased to see he's in the running for a reasonably big job. I didn't follow the Championship enough last season to know the ins-and-outs of Cardiff (in fact, my only knowledge of Cardiff is pieced together based on the rants of a certain temperamental Swansea fan ) but I'd say Hughton's biggest strength is his man-management skills and his ability to instil a team spirit. When we were relegated we were just a bunch of individual players, but when Hughton took over we became a team. I suppose you could liken his effect on us to the effect that Kenny Dalglish had recently at Liverpool. If Cardiff stand to benefit from a manager like that, he should do well there. His actual tactical prowess isn't really proven though - yeah, he won the Championship by a landslide but he was in charge of arguably the strongest squad of players ever to compete in the Championship (Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton, Andy Carroll, Colloccini, Enrique etc are you kidding me?!) so one could argue as to just how great of a feat that actually was.

I do hope he gets the full backing of the board though - he deserves it after the horrible treatment he got up here. Which reminds me, Hughton is a true gentleman. There was so many occasions where he could have made a scene but he always maintained his dignity. So maybe that'll rub off on Cardiff and they'll be a little bit less scummy?

edit: Daily Mail claim Barcelona are apparently interested in Jose Enrique after their move for Jose Angel fell through? I'd actually be happy for him if that move happens. I'd obviously be sad to see him go but c'mon...it's Barce-freaking-lona. Talk to me latinoheat.