Talk Football
 

EVERYONE is in favour of cameras except blatter and uefa.

but i suppose if your going to do it in one league youve got to do it in all and that might be hard for clubs like torquay who lack funds lol

Yeah maybe.

Im sure it wouldnt cost too much and uefa/ fifa could help fund it...

Manchester United could potentially be in FIFA’s firing line in regards to their dealings with a young French player.

Following the governing body’s ruling to ban Chelsea from any signings for the entirety of 2010, the Red Devils may have the rule run over them for the way they signed Paul Pogba from Le Havre.

The French Ligue 2 club are believed to be upset by the way the reigning champions lured Pogba to Old Trafford and they are still looking into their options.

"We are still pursuing our case," Le Havre managing director Alain Belsoeur told The Times.

"It is a very serious case. We are confident that we'll win because it is in the best interests not just of our club but of sport.

"We spend 5million euros [about £4.3million] on our academy every year out of a turnover of 12million euros. It is a huge investment.

"We do that to give a chance to our players to develop for our first team, not to be an academy for others.

"What is the point of investing in an academy if the players leave at 16? This is clearly a message from Fifa to protect the education system."

Real Madrid marksman Ruud van Nistelrooy has revealed his reason for turning down a potential return to the English Premier League.

The former Manchester United striker says he was determined to remain at the Santiago Bernabeu to fight for his spot in the first team despite the big-name players coming in.

Tottenham were keen to sign the Dutchman during the transfer window but he wanted to remain a Madrid player to prove to himself he was still capable.

"The easiest thing for me to have done would have been to leave for a lesser team,” he said.

"But I'm not going to leave Madrid. I want to know what I'm capable of. There are still a lot of options when it comes to playing.”

The 33-year old is confident he can return to is best form despite suffering a serious knee injury last season.

"I know I can play at the highest level," he added. "Physically, I feel better than before the injury.

"I only need to find my rhythm and that will come with matches. The doctor who operated on me said I could play for three more years.

"And when I retire from football I won't have any problems. Before the injury I didn't feel good. I lost three years."

Manchester City’s squad is about to get stronger with the news that a trio of key players are on the verge of a return.

Summer signing Roque Santa Cruz, Belgian midfielder Vincent Kompany and England U21 international Michael Johnson are all on the mend from injuries and City boss Mark Hughes is optimistic about all three returning in the not-too-distant future.

“He is desperate to play but we are holding him back a bit," Hughes said of Santa Cruz.

"When Roque is ready he will be involved. We want to get him in a City shirt and out there playing because he is going to be a big asset to us.

"We are looking long term. If we introduced him too early we could still lose him on a longer basis.

"Roque understands our thinking over this. He is a bit frustrated but we will all benefit from it."

In regards to Johnson, who has been out for almost a year with an abdominal problem, Hughes was more cautious.

"We are positive," Hughes told City's official website.

"He has been out for a year. If we rush him back he could break down so we will get him involved with the reserves to give him a base level of fitness.

"If we get him and the other two up and running in the next month or so it would be like three new signings for us."

In Kompany’s case, he is reportedly 'pain-free and raring to go'

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As long as it's AFTER next Saturday.

Manchester United are appalled at crowd behaviour directed at Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger during the 2-1 win to the Red Devils at Old Trafford last weekend.

Certain sections of the United crowd hurled abuse at the French tactician when he was sent to the stands for kicking a water bottle in anger.

Man United spokesman Phillip Townsend has come out and said the chants directed at Wenger were disgusting and confirmed the club does not condone such behaviour.

“We’ve gone on the record several times about this disgusting chant,” said Townsend.

“We don’t condone it and have appealed to fans in the past – through supporters’ groups, the matchday programme and MUTV, but to no avail.

“There are many chants that opposing fans find objectionable, and this is certainly one to which all decent supporters should object.”

It is understood that United chief executive David Gill was appalled by the treatment handed to Wenger, one of the most outstanding managers in the modern game.

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Yes....disgusting club. :yuk:

What a **** weekend. I ****in DESPISE internationals.

What chant was it?

As to me they seemed to be cheering him as he was sent off.

Matt le tissier betted on what minute the first throwing would be given he tried to kick it out off play but someone kept it in LOL

LOL ahaha thats a good idea you know.

International football tomorrow

will go to a sports bar somewhere around leicster square

shame this one doesnt count for anything

BB10 is over, merge the football threads!

... Merge the football threads!

Manchester United hero Dwight Yorke has announced his retirement.

The former United, Aston Villa, Blackburn and Sunderland striker is hanging up his boots at 37 years of age.

Yorke, who captained Trinidad and Tobago at the 2006 World Cup, said: "It's time to hang up my boots.

"While I'm still in great shape, I'm not getting any younger. I've had the time of my life. I hope people will say that I played the game in the right way with a smile on my face.

"I've been blessed really. I've played alongside some of the greatest players the Premier League has ever seen in Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Peter Schmeichel, and played for the greatest manager in Sir Alex Ferguson.

"I'll always count myself lucky. I was a boy on a beach from a little Caribbean island that got the chance to fulfil his dream of winning trophies at the highest level and captaining his country in their first ever World Cup finals."

Yorke played 480 club games and scored 147 goals, scoring 64 in 151 appearances for United having teamed up with Andy Cole spectacularly.

Yorke, who has accepted a position as assistant manager of the Trinidad and Tobago national team for the rest of the World Cup qualifiers, added: "I always planned to stay in football.

"My aim is to build up some experience and then use what I've learnt from my playing days to coach and one day manage a team in England."


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His striking partnership with Cole was one of the best I'd ever seen

Celtic's Stephen McManus will line up for Scotland in the World Cup qualifier with Macedonia despite not playing a game for his club yet this season.

McManus, who had summer knee surgery, will form the central defensive partnership with veteran David Weir.

Arsenal chase former star

Arsenal, 11:53, September 5, 2009

Arsene Wenger is set to make a loan move for former Arsenal star Freddie Ljungberg when the transfer window re-opens in January.
The former Sweden international is reportedly set to meet the Gunners boss this weekend to hold talks about a possible short-term move back to the Emirates Stadium.

The 32-year-old is currently playing for the Seattle Sounders and would join on a similar loan deal to the one David Beckham underwent when he joined AC Milan last year.

Ljungberg left the Gunners two years ago to join West Ham before heading to the America where he underwent hip surgery, leaving him injury free for the majority of his time in the States.

Wenger is believed to be interested in bringing Ljungberg back to north London as cover for Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue, who will both be unavailable for Arsenal for up to six weeks when they head to the African Cup of Nations in January.

Chelsea were also believed to be interested in Ljungberg but the transfer embargo placed upon them has seemingly ended their pursuit of the Swede.

New Russian in frame as Lady Bracewell-Smith prepares to sell Arsenal shares
05.09.09 | tribalfootball.com

Lady Bracewell-Smith is ready to sell her shares in Arsenal - and another Russian millionaire could be joining the Premiership ownership elite.

The Sun says Lady Bracewell-Smith is ready to sell her 15.9 per cent stake.

If she dealt with Alisher Usmanov, that would make him the Gunners' biggest shareholder with 41 per cent.

Arsenal's other major investors are Stan Kroenke (28.58) and Danny Fiszman (16.1).

Lady Bracewell-Smith has been considering her options since December when she was ousted from the board by Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood and Fiszman. Her shares are key in the growing battle for control being fought by Fiszman, Usmanov and his company Red & White Holdings and American sports tycoon Kroenke.

Lady Bracewell-Smith is also thought to have received overtures from a second Russian businessman interested in investing in Premier League soccer.

But the main focus remains on Usmanov and Kroenke.



Hope Usmanov gets it hes the richest lol.

- The Sun says the England defender is a target for Barcelona and Real Madrid - and knows a move to Spain will boost his growing business career.
Ferdinand is under contract until 2013 but United could be tempted to cash in on a player who is 30 and who has suffered from recent injury problems.

Transfers Analysed.

INS

Glen Johnson
Already proven himself to be a very effective attacking force and offers more than the steady but unspectacular Alvaro Arbeloa. Seemed pricey when initially purchased but seems like a very good transfer even after such a short spell, hopefully will get better and better.

Alberto Aquilani
Very hard to judge this transfer as the Italian is of course injured and could be out for some time longer. Whilst its probably not the best idea to purchase a player with a long term injury I trust that Rafa knows what he is doing on this one. Not a direct replacement for Xabi, kind of a mixture of Alonso and Javier. Handily a large portion of the transfer is in installments.

Sotiros Kyrgiakos
A no nonsense defender who should have “does exactly what is says on the tin” scrawled across his shirt. We know what to expect from the Greek veteran, a very able back up option and perhaps most importantly, a very cheap one


OUTS

Sami Hyypia
Bowed out from the club with an emotional farewell against Spurs after ten years of dedicated service. 450+ appearances and umpteen medals. Great servant to the club moved to Bayer Leverkusen and has started all four of their opening Bundesliga games and the club remains unbeaten so clearly he still has the ability to be a rock in the centre of defence.

Jermaine Pennant
A player with talent who could have gone far with the club but was just far too much of a headache on and off the field. Long periods of poor form and an attitude problem that left Rafa with no choice but to use him very sparingly after his first season. Moved to newly promoted La Liga side Real Zaragoza but I would predict he will not be there for more than one year and probably far less.

Alvaro Arbeloa
Went away to the Confederations Cup after the season came to an end and then watched on as Rafa bought a replacement in the form of Glen Johnson. From then on it was a matter of when and not if, he would leave. He got the move he craved as his former side Real Madrid came calling. The Spaniard did a good job for the club and was generally a very reliable player.

Xabi Alonso
A big loss to the club. Xabi was of course very close to being offloaded last summer and apparently since that point was thinking of leaving the club. The long drawn out saga with Real Madrid was tasteless and irritating as the Spanish giants did there best to unsettle the player and attempted to get him on the cheap. In the end we did well to get a good fee for him. Will surely do well at the Bernabeu. Gave some fantastic performances in a Liverpool shirt with last season probably the best of the five he spent at the club.

No PL footie today?

Damn :bawling:

In

Thomas Vermaelen
The former Ajax captain has fitted in just perfectly. A cultured customer the Belgian centre back is calm and assured and perhaps more importantly appears to have struck up a good partnership with William Gallas. When it became clear that Kolo Toure was definitely going to leave I was a little worried for our backline as the Ivorian had been so consistent (up until last season that is) and it seemed disastrous to see such a committed player leave but so far so good. Vermaelen is one of those players who gets on with his job and seems like he could well be a very good signing indeed.

Out

Emmanuel Adebayor

Well thank god he’s gone. Forget for one second the off field irritations associated with the striker and lets try to discuss his positive attributes on the field of play. Yes he can score at will, as long as he is provided with some very good ammunition. He can also on occasion create something out of nothing but in all honest we got one good, hell very good, season out of him. We got a fee from Man City which more than made up for his loss and whilst I am sure he will do quite well at Eastlands lets see what the bigger picture brings.
Now back to the off field stuff. This guy never once admitted in public that he was in anyway in the wrong over his actions last summer and since, hell I am fairly confident that even in private he has the kind of ego that can gleefully lie to itself and make out that he was the ‘wronged’ party. Thankfully any right minded person can see just what kind of mercenary footballer he really is. Could well in time become a player almost as hated as Ashley Cole, but maybe not!

Kolo Toure
The polar opposite of Emmanuel, I have the utmost respect and admiration for Kolo Toure. Possibly the best bit of business Arsene has ever done for the club when he brought him in for peanuts, I wish him well for the future and for every angry boo that Adebayor gets when we see him next in a Man City shirt (very soon), there will be a hearty cheer from all the Gunners faithful when Kolo’s name is called out.
It’s a shame he had to leave but I guess the fall out with Gallas and the subsequent knock on effects were just too much for him to ignore and although it’s a move I am very sad to have seen happen, I applaud him nonetheless.

Ben, merge the 3 footie threads together :dance:

BB is over! The deal was split the threads for BB, then merge them after BB.

BB is over, but i see no merge.. :-/

Come on Ben... :sad:

Please? :bawling:

Ben has gone to the darkside..