The Football.....

[mark st1]

Well just make sure you come in with a high valuation or I'm ringing talk sport and saying that Mourinho is a joke and bang out of order for making a derisory offer

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Good result for the other bit of Manchester tonight - Newcastle were woeful as was the Sky punditry with the rather odd many buttoned play-screen.

Can't work out who I understand less Jamie Carragher tonight or Gus Poyet on MOTD2 last night. What happened to presenters speaking clear English?

I have two Newcastle supporting mates who are down in the dumps tonight - maybe they'll stop all the Big Club nonsense one day although I do feel for them getting trashed like that.

 

[AndyRM]

Good result for the other bit of Manchester tonight - Newcastle were woeful as was the Sky punditry with the rather odd many buttoned play-screen.

Can't work out who I understand less Jamie Carragher tonight or Gus Poyet on MOTD2 last night. What happened to presenters speaking clear English?

I have two Newcastle supporting mates who are down in the dumps tonight - maybe they'll stop all the Big Club nonsense one day although I do feel for them getting trashed like that.

Depends on your definition of what makes a club 'big' I suppose. If you only count results, then I'd agree that they're not massive. But if you consider the contributions to English football and history of the club, then you can't deny their pedigree.

That said, I'm a Kilmarnock fan and we've a fair old whack of history and have also enjoyed relative success in recent years. Would I call us a big club based on that? No, so maybe my position needs greater thought.

 

[bof]

Tottenham missed out on Champions league by a whisker last year, and that could fairly be put down to their slow start - if memory serves they were in the bottom three after four games. It might be that Arsenal's defeat to Aston Villa will, nine months from now, be just as significant.

Not quite as bad as that but they had a very slow start - because they were very late in the transfer market and did not really settle down until November after losing to Arsenal. For the rest of the season they were the most consistently successful team after Man U and within the top four point scorers each month.

Spurs looks like they have finally joined the big spenders. Whether or not Bale stays or goes, it seems pretty certain that at least two more big signings will happen and the decent but not absolutely top notch players like Huddlestone and Scott Parker are being sold. As a supporter I feel a tad uneasy about this. Firstly homegrown talent, of which Spurs has plenty, like Andros Townsend, or players joining as teenagers like Bale, may never get the break into the big time with them in the future. Secondly a part of the appeal of Spurs has been their punching above their weight against the moneybags teams.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Depends on your definition of what makes a club 'big' I suppose. If you only count results, then I'd agree that they're not massive. But if you consider the contributions to English football and history of the club, then you can't deny their pedigree.

That said, I'm a Kilmarnock fan and we've a fair old whack of history and have also enjoyed relative success in recent years. Would I call us a big club based on that? No, so maybe my position needs greater thought.

Fair point.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Not quite as bad as that but they had a very slow start - because they were very late in the transfer market and did not really settle down until November after losing to Arsenal. For the rest of the season they were the most consistently successful team after Man U and within the top four point scorers each month.

Spurs looks like they have finally joined the big spenders. Whether or not Bale stays or goes, it seems pretty certain that at least two more big signings will happen and the decent but not absolutely top notch players like Huddlestone and Scott Parker are being sold. As a supporter I feel a tad uneasy about this. Firstly homegrown talent, of which Spurs has plenty, like Andros Townsend, or players joining as teenagers like Bale, may never get the break into the big time with them in the future. Secondly a part of the appeal of Spurs has been their punching above their weight against the moneybags teams.

Yes, this is a downside definitely. Inevitably the raw youngsters will find it tough. I liken it to a business career though and maybe the kids just have to get used to working their way up the divisions as opposed to working through the various teams within the clubs.

Your reaction is shared by some on the umpteen Spurs forums: amusing as you have given us a lot of grief over the last decade or so re our own spending. My brother is a 40 years+ Spurs fan and you have reminded me to remind him of this.

 

[dellzeqq]

and....just when you thought that the FA could not fall any lower in your esteem...........
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...-toll-on-doncaster-rovers-belles-8650856.html

The Football Association have told perhaps the most iconic name in women's football, Doncaster Belles, that they will be relegated no matter where they finish in this summer's Super League. The decision has been condemned as "morally scandalous" by Arsenal, the League's leading club.

The Belles have appealed, and expect a decision in the next fortnight. If they lose the appeal, they will then decide whether to take the matter to court, with the head of the country's leading law school telling The Independent on Sunday that no judge will rule against them. How the women's game in England got into this mess seems on the surface to be a scandal of jaw-dropping proportions

 

[madferret]

and....just when you thought that the FA could not fall any lower in your esteem...........
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...-toll-on-doncaster-rovers-belles-8650856.html

The Football Association have told perhaps the most iconic name in women's football, Doncaster Belles, that they will be relegated no matter where they finish in this summer's Super League. The decision has been condemned as "morally scandalous" by Arsenal, the League's leading club.

The Belles have appealed, and expect a decision in the next fortnight. If they lose the appeal, they will then decide whether to take the matter to court, with the head of the country's leading law school telling The Independent on Sunday that no judge will rule against them. How the women's game in England got into this mess seems on the surface to be a scandal of jaw-dropping proportions

That's from June, I agree its awful especially as I have no love for City, but it is an old story.

 

[Inertia]

Looks like another big spend for spurs with over 30 mill for Willian; seems like Bale is dead cert to leave though if they spend all this money now they will be up a creak if Real dont buy him.

If I was Madrid Id be tempted to put a cheeky offer well below the 80 mill, Spurs may have to sell him to cover their spending.

 

[Inertia]

and....just when you thought that the FA could not fall any lower in your esteem...........

To be honest, Im always confident

 

[Boris Bajic]

Looks like another big spend for spurs with over 30 mill for Willian; seems like Bale is dead cert to leave though if they spend all this money now they will be up a creak if Real dont buy him.

If I was Madrid Id be tempted to put a cheeky offer well below the 80 mill, Spurs may have to sell him to cover their spending.

What a funny old world, where £80 Million is a cheeky offer for Bale...

... and where Andy Carroll is worth £35 Million.

 

[Inertia]

What a funny old world, where £80 Million is a cheeky offer for Bale...

... and where Andy Carroll is worth £35 Million.

It wasnt lost on me; Im talking the in the context where it seems the two sides are agreeing that 80 mill is the acknowledged ball park of negotiation. To then come back well below that when spurs have done all their spending could be deemed cheeky, amongst other things.

80 mill for a player is appalling but football was lost to money a long time ago

 

[bof]

It wasnt lost on me; Im talking the in the context where it seems the two sides are agreeing that 80 mill is the acknowledged ball park of negotiation. To then come back well below that when spurs have done all their spending could be deemed cheeky, amongst other things.

80 mill for a player is appalling but football was lost to money a long time ago

It's a silly price for Bale but the whole thing is just a vanity project for Real Madrid's president. Spurs' backer, Joe Lewis is in fact VERY seriously rich, so Spurs will tell them to eff off if they do that and recoup the money later if they actually need to.

 

[dellzeqq]

the Rooney to Chelsea thing mystifies me. Is Mourinho simply putting down a marker for next summer - telling Rooney he's got a home to go to when he's in a better position to leave Manchester United?

 

[mark st1]

the Rooney to Chelsea thing mystifies me. Is Mourinho simply putting down a marker for next summer - telling Rooney he's got a home to go to when he's in a better position to leave Manchester United?

I'd just go for the plain old mind games tbh. If you were going to try and prise a striker out of Man Utd it wouldn't be him. I don't see how he would fit in to your style of play anyway as you seem to favour the 1 up front. As an out and out striker Wazza ain't your man just behind a front 2 he is dynamite IMO.