Platini does not like you either- The Other Teams Thread [R]

[fernb8]

off we go.

[fernb8]

re: the ACN

I believe corrupt Blatter has said that he expects them to join the global calendar within the next few years and IIRC there is one more ACN after this before they switch over

could be wrong though.

[Cris 09]

*subs* :D

[lobomojo]

*subs* :D

Interesting Samuel article on the ANC:

as regards the weather:

"During a freak summer in 2007, 140mm fell here and resulted in the biggest civil and military rescue effort in peacetime Britain. Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service attended 31,800 calls in two days, as opposed to its usual load of 2,000 in one year. Now add a quarter of that rainfall again and you have Ghana in June. Fancy a game of football?"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1207511/Martin-Samuel-You-want-proper-group-death-Go-Angola.html

I tend to the you know its coming so deal with it side; Our players come back exhausted at best, broken at worst in Euro Cup summers, and this stupid fall shit so it bites you one way or another

[Ben7021]

I tend to the you know its coming so deal with it side; Our players come back exhausted at best, broken at worst in Euro Cup summers, and this stupid fall shit so it bites you one way or another

Yeah, after finding out about the weather I definately understand, but it does seem odd a better solution can't be reached, but it seems the tournament can't easily be moved and apparently UEFA is unwilling to compromise at all.

[Ben7021]

So....are we allowed to talka bout Real Madrid in here?

[Kazuma]

So....are we allowed to talka bout Real Madrid in here?

I believe so.

[mshankb]

Interesting Samuel article on the ANC:

as regards the weather:

"During a freak summer in 2007, 140mm fell here and resulted in the biggest civil and military rescue effort in peacetime Britain. Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service attended 31,800 calls in two days, as opposed to its usual load of 2,000 in one year. Now add a quarter of that rainfall again and you have Ghana in June. Fancy a game of football?"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1207511/Martin-Samuel-You-want-proper-group-death-Go-Angola.html

I tend to the you know its coming so deal with it side; Our players come back exhausted at best, broken at worst in Euro Cup summers, and this stupid fall shit so it bites you one way or another

I'd have thought Ghana was a touch bigger than Gloucester though?

[mshankb]

So....are we allowed to talka bout Real Madrid in here?

Must spread rep, v funny :D

[Cris 09]

UEFA Hands Arsenal Striker Eduardo Two-Game Ban For Diving



http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/09_01/EduardoDive_482x449.jpg
Eduardo shows Olympic-like form in this dive which earned him a
two-match CL suspension.





While this is a very good start, it can't stop here!!

Unless the stronger national associations like the English FA, German DFB, Italian FIGC, or the Spanish RFEF among others get on the groovy train and ban divers in league football too, this will just be a forgotten case down the line!!!

[yasik19]

I think UEFA wants to do the right thing, but I think they are walking a fine line.

[lobomojo]

I think UEFA wants to do the right thing, but I think they are walking a fine line.

The right thing if we see it start happening to Spanish and Italian big sides and not just Arse and, probably us despite our player limping off, dripping blood from fresh spike marks

[fernb8]

with it being a slow week I hope this will occupy some time. As many are aware I graded us at a solid B for our dealings in the transfer window. Some thoughts on our opponents.

Arsenal- C. Vermalean looks a good buy already but I still Le Arse are a little thin in CD and certianly dont have a strong holding player. Losing Adebayor and Toure hurts more than most Gooners fans will admit. I dont think they got any better this window, and if Vermalean can hold form then they probably didnt get much worse either.

Aston Villa- B. Barry wanted to go and it was better for all parties that he did and imo the bigger loss here is Laursen who was forced to retire. Losing ZAt Knight may be a bonus in the long run as he certianly was a disapointing signing for MON. I like the additions as the defence has clearly struggled without the excellent, and desperately underrated Laursen. Collins and Dunne provide immediate depth and experience at the back and Beye is showing to be a decent pick up at the back as well. Warnock should help but imo they really needed a solid RB more than another LB. Downing should provide some help in the midfield allowing A. Young to switch flanks and Delph is certianly one for the future. Still think they could have upgraded the foward line a little but not too bad all things considered.

Brimingham- C-. Probably the best signing in the group is Joe Hart on loan. He has added some experienced "runners" in Bowyer, Taiwo and Ferguson while attempting to gamble on some players from the Championship combined with a few Latin imports- who for the most part are either good or bloody awful in the Prem.

Blackburn- D. Completing a full time move for Givet and the promise of the young DiSanto and Kalinic appear to be the highlights here. Chimbonda is a proven pain in the arse and Salgado appears a little desperate but Big Sam has a history of revitalising careers so perhaps he can work his magic again. Mostly squad players on the outs but losing Warnock and RSC- who are arguably two of their better players may hurt in the long run.

Bolton- C-. Unimpressive with the additions of Zat Knight, Sam Ricketts and Sean Davis. Klasnic could be a shrewd addition and Megson appears to be taking a gamble on a Korean player (see comments on the Latin players). Not losing any solid players is a bonus for Megson.

Burnley- B. Bikey, Fletcher and Mears have already shown the ability to at least keep their heads above water in the Prem. Edgar may be nice addition and Nugent may sneak some goals for them as well. Not too bad for a team no one expected to compete.

Everton- B+. The loss of Lescott is a big for this club, but he obviously wanted away and Moyes got good money for him. Some nice additions to a thin squad- Bilyaletendinov, Distin and Heitinga are all good additions and adding Jo on loan again was another shrewd move.

Fulham- C. Keeping Hangelaand was key for Hodgson and he did that. Adding some players with Prem experience- Duff, Greening, Kelly- while adding a few tapping the Scandanavian market- Elm, Risse should add depth to a thin squad with a slate of European fixtures this season. Still think they should have added some help up front and failed to address that area.

Hull- C. Made some nice additions as Altidore and Ghilas will add some help to a misfiring front line. Kunt is also a good, but hated addition to the squad and along with McShane, Olofinjana and Sonko will add some steel to the new tactics deployed by Phil Brown. Losing Turner is huge and Ricketts was a capable player for them. Tough window for Brown as he missed out on several targets- especially up front in Campbell and Bent.

Liverpool- C-. GJ is great going foward but still too much of a liability at the back and I think they overpaid for him, but isnt that the norm for the Scum. Aquilani has talent but is this the correct League for a player with a proven history of injuries. Kyrgiakos looks a liability at the back and seems a safe bet to give away some penners. Alonso is a big loss and there is talk now that Babel wants away in the Jan window. If things go pear shaped I can see a few more wanting away. A quick summary is that they have added a good attacking fullback and lost a key central midfielder... not the best recipe for success.

Man City- A. With that kind of money how cant you do well in this market. They never really landed a superstar but obviously upgraded the majority of the squad. An entire new front line with Ade, Tevez and RSC and help at the back with Lescott and Toure. Cleaned up the squad a great deal as well as Hughes looks to move foward with proven Prem players.

Man Utd- C-. Hard to replace the talents of Ronaldo and Tevez and quite frankly they didnt. Owen may prove to be a Henrik Larsson type singing but has yet to come close to replacing the influential Tevez and with his history of injujries there has to be concerns. Valencia is a solid winger with plenty of Prem experience but obviously wont replace Cristina. Obertan has lots of potential and may be the best signing of this group if he can sort himself out. A quiet and honestly disapointing window for Utd considering the money they got for Ronaldo.

Pompey- F. GJ, Krancjar, Distin, and Crouch all out. TBH, Boateng, and Michael Brown in- they are hardly the best options to bring in. Further additions with some Championship players and a few loan signings hardly inspire. O'Hara may be the best addition of the group. A very poor window and Pompey did nothing but downgrade across the board.

Stoke- B+. Some solid additions in Huth (dont laugh), Tuncay, and Danny Collins. Not really sold on Dean Whitehead but Pulis will most likely get the best from him and the addition of Arismendi could be interesting. Losing Sonko and Olofinjana should not hurt too much. A solid window for them imo.

Sunderland- A-. A nice window for Bruce. The addition of Bent gives him a great one-two punch with Kenwenye Jones and Frazier Campbell with give them some good depth up front. Cattermole and Turner and proven Prem players who will give some energy and drive and Cana and Mensah look like solid additions as well. Bruce has also made some good money clearing out some squad players (ie 4 mil for Chopra).

Spurs- A-. I think Bassong is the pick of the bunch and was a steal in the area which Spurs desperately needed help. Krancjar will be a nice addition with the loss of Modric due to injury. Crouch offers a different style with the pacy bent being shipped out after being replaced by Defoe. Naughton and Walker are talented youngsters. 'Arry also clearing out several squad players.

West Ham- C. Poor Zola really had no money to spend but was able to keep hold of Upson who has been really tapped up by 'Arry. Adding de Costa in a swap for the bust Savio was helpful and Franco spent the rest of his dosh by adding several players from the Continent.

Wigan- C+. Hardly spent any of the money he made from the sales of Cattermole and Valencia. Martinez has also done his shopping on the Continent and has some influential players he certianly rates. How they pan out in the long run will determine the future of both Martinez and Wigan.

Wolves- B+. McCarthy has added some solid players- Doyle, Hanneman, Halford- combined with some talented pick ups- Mancienne, Maierhofer and Mijas while suffering no siginficant losses to his squad.

[Andy Fox]

fernomenal post







skimmed over it. will read and comment on it later when im back from work :D

[schafer]

Great post but a few little disagreements...


Aston Villa- B. Barry wanted to go and it was better for all parties that he did and imo the bigger loss here is Laursen who was forced to retire. Losing ZAt Knight may be a bonus in the long run as he certianly was a disapointing signing for MON. I like the additions as the defence has clearly struggled without the excellent, and desperately underrated Laursen. Collins and Dunne provide immediate depth and experience at the back and Beye is showing to be a decent pick up at the back as well. Warnock should help but imo they really needed a solid RB more than another LB. Downing should provide some help in the midfield allowing A. Young to switch flanks and Delph is certianly one for the future. Still think they could have upgraded the foward line a little but not too bad all things considered.

I actually think leftback was probably a more pressing position for them, although that sounds weird looking at their squad. O'Neill is pretty obviously unimpressed with Shorey (doesn't really fit the athletic mold of their squad) and Bouma's a bit of a gamble after such a long injury absence (although he's good enough when fit). Throw Warnock in there and any question marks over that position are pretty well answered and it lets Luke Young return to fight for the RB position with Beye, who looked decent-good in a very poor Newcastle side.

One thing that strikes me is looking at their squad list, I wouldn't be surprised to see Milner moved centrally once Downing gets fit. Certainly it adds a bit more of an attacking threat to a pretty workmanlike and uninspiring midfield. Petrov has a bit of quality, but he struggles to really stamp his mark on games as much as he should, IMO, and neither Sidwell nor Reo-Coker have the guile or ability to keep things 'ticking over' in the same way Barry did.

One thing about O'Neill's signings though throughout his entire tenure at Villa is that while they're very rarely disastrous, you never really look at any of them and see the sort of players who could take them to the next level by consistently being matchwinners against the 'big 4' or in Europe. It's not a bad thing going for solid players, particularly with such a small squad, but I think sooner or later O'Neill will have to start taking more risks.


Man City- A. With that kind of money how cant you do well in this market. They never really landed a superstar but obviously upgraded the majority of the squad. An entire new front line with Ade, Tevez and RSC and help at the back with Lescott and Toure. Cleaned up the squad a great deal as well as Hughes looks to move foward with proven Prem players.

I think that Lescott is a tad overrated judging by the price he went to City for. He's a good defender but I can't help but thinking that the goals distract from the fact that he's not really as adept defensively as his reputation suggests. Toure's a good signing but the thought of those two at the back doesn't really inspire all that much confidence, IMO. If they'd have kept Dunne (who last season aside has been pretty excellent for City) and signed one of the two I think they would have been better off, as they'd have kept the leader of their back line and given him a decent partner. As it is, despite the clean sheets thus far, I'm not sure their defence will be as solid as it looks on paper.

[Kazuma]

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/1962/9sz2iu.gif

[Ben7021]

While currently I think Liverpool's grade would be fair, I think an incomplete would be more accurate as we haven't seen their biggest signing. I think his injury rate should be a slight knock on him, but if he can come close to alonso's output then I think they had a great transfer window as just like us before Bos, they have always had FB issues and Glen Johnson has looked really great for them so far. It really is riding on Aquilani whom we haven't seen yet.

[juanca]

While currently I think Liverpool's grade would be fair, I think an incomplete would be more accurate as we haven't seen their biggest signing. I think his injury rate should be a slight knock on him, but if he can come close to alonso's output then I think they had a great transfer window as just like us before Bos, they have always had FB issues and Glen Johnson has looked really great for them so far. It really is riding on Aquilani whom we haven't seen yet.

Well yes, but you have to consider the fact that they signed someone who is CROCKED at the moment.

I don't think it will mater if aquilani turns out to be the next zidane come january IF there allready 20+ points behind the leaders, atleast, for this year.

[Ben7021]

Well yes, but you have to consider the fact that they signed someone who is CROCKED at the moment.

I don't think it will mater if aquilani turns out to be the next zidane come january IF there allready 20+ points behind the leaders, atleast, for this year.

Very true, and they should get knocked down for that, but I think depending on his performance it could be raised to a B/B+ range. I think signing a crocked player is better than signing someone who is not as good just because he is healthy, so I can't knock on Rafa too much (just yet :p)

[juanca]

maybe buying crocked players is the new Black

Didn't MON buy downing at like 12mi crocked price?:D