gazza ladra

Read that Milner got a knock against Bulgaria. Maybe he won't start against Derby?

Have we played anything but 4-3-3 this season? I think that Allardyce may start some unexpected players in this game. ------------------Given------------------- Taylor--Cacapa--Rozehnal--Enrique -----Milner-------Faye----N'Zogbia---- -------------------Smith----------------- -----------Owen---------Martins--------- Bench: Harper, Geremi, Butt, Ameobi, Beye. Edit: had Ameobi starting. But he won't do that. Probably switch to 442 at some point and move him up top with Owen.

Funny, I think it might be Cacapa. Not that I've seen a whole lot of him. But there was one point in the Boro game where Downing (?) was on a breakaway down the left flank -- looking dangerous, and Cacapa dispossessed him of the ball with incredible ease. Love at first sight. Before that Solano. And Robert went from being one of favorites to being a player I just despised.

I'd heard that Americans visiting Cuba (usually via Mexico) routinely pass through Cuban customs without getting their passports stamped-- as it is against the law for U.S. citizens visit that country.* Don't know if that is an urban legend or not. * Rather, I think U.S. citizens can visit Cuba, but are forbidden to spend money there-- or something stupid like that.

Actually, geographically Cyprus is Asia. Politically and culturally, it is Europe. Kind of like Armenia (and Israel?) in that way. In Asia, but culturally European. I think Greek Cypriots far outnumber Turkish Cypriots.

Obviously, it is not all about geography. We have Asian teams in UEFA. Australia in the AFC. South Americans in CONCACAF. Israel used to play in AFC and then the OFC before joining UEFA.

Yes. And yes.

Israel playing in UEFA is a political necessity. Egypt is in Africa and does not play in the AFC, but the CAF. I swear I saw a scoreline that had Nicaragua playing in an OFC tournament. They were never very active or competitive in CONCACAF, but that is a jump.

--------------------Given---------------------- Chimbonda------Lescott-----Campbell----Baines Milner-------Arteta----Barton-----Barry ------------Anelka-----Owen------------ Cahill, King, Yakubu, Diouff, Friedel

1. Chelsea 2. Arsenal 3. Liverpool 4. Man Utd 5. Newcastle 6. Everton 7. Tottenham 8. Aston Villa 9. Blackburn 10. Man City 11. West Ham 12. Portsmouth 13. Reading 14. Middlesbrough 15. Fulham 16. Birmingham 17. Wigan 18. Bolton 19. Sunderland 20. Derby

Think they might lose to Everton. Don't see Arsenal losing for a while, FA Cup excepted of course. You mean Carling Cup? Yeah-- Carling Cup, FA Cup, save difference. You've got a strong squad. Be surprised if you lose before November.

Beats being stupidly pessimistic. No such thing, apparently its called "realism". Nah. Don't think so. A person can be stupidly pessimistic-- it's called "depression". Or, for the religiously inclined, "despair"

Beats being stupidly pessimistic.

Think they might lose to Everton. Don't see Arsenal losing for a while, FA Cup excepted of course.

Emre and Barton will be back? Sam's Bolton did pretty good with Arsenal. 2003-4 -------------------- Bolton 1 - 1 Arsenal Arsenal 2 - 1 Bolton 2004-5 ---------------------- Bolton 1 - 0 Arsenal Arsenal 2 - 2 Bolton FA Cup Bolton 0 - 1 Arsenal 2005-6 ------------------ Bolton 2 - 0 Arsenal Arsenal 1 - 1 Bolton FA Cup Bolton 1 - 0 Arsenal 2006-7 ---------------- Bolton 3 - 1 Arsenal Arsenal 2 - 1 Bolton FA Cup Arsenal 1 - 1 Bolton Bolton 1 - 3 Arsenal

Owen Martins assist.

Should have five.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United? So finishing in the top four last year means your defence is automatically better then everyone elses?.. bollocks No, having better players. Who do we have that would start for one of the big four? Given, maybe. Everton looks pretty good as well.

Just because a fee is undisclosed doesn't mean it was free. Malouda transfer is thought to be around £13.5m, and at least £2m for Beletti. Unless you mean that they were neutral given their sales, in which case Well, they got something like £25m for Robben.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United?

At first blush--- I was thinking in terms of value for the money. To my mind, Chelsea did the best. Improved their squad for nothing. A -- Chelsea Manchester City Newcastle United B --- Arsenal Everton Liverpool Manchester United C --- Portsmouth Tottenham Hotspur D ---- Aston Villa Birmingham City Blackburn Fulham Middlesbrough Wigan F --- Bolton Derby Reading Sunderland West Ham

Arsenal Lassana Diarra (undisc.)[bR] Lukasz Fabianski (undisc.)[bR] Bacary Sagna (undisc.)[bR] Eduardo da Silva (undisc.)[bR] Aston Villa Scott Carson (loan)[bR] Curtis Davies (loan)[bR] Marlon Harewood (undisc.)[bR] Zat Knight (£3.5million)[bR] Moustapha Salifou (undisc)[bR] Nigel Reo-Coker (£8.5million)[bR] Birmingham City Daniel de Ridder (free)[bR] Johan Djourou (loan)[bR] Olivier Kapo (£3million)[bR] Richard Kingson (free)[bR] Fabrice Muamba (undisc.)[bR] Garry O'Connor (£2.7million)[bR] Borja Oubina(loan)[bR] Wilson Palacios (loan)[bR] Stuart Parnaby (free)[bR] Franck Queudrue (£2million)[bR] Liam Ridgewell (£2million)[bR] Rafael Schmitz (loan) Blackburn Rovers Gunnar Nielsen (undisc.)[bR] Maceo Rigters (undisc.)[bR] Roque Santa Cruz (undisc.)[bR] Bolton Wanderers Mikel Alonso (loan)[bR] Daniel Braaten (undisc.)[bR] Gerald Cid (free)[bR] Blerim Dzemaili (free)[bR] Danny Guthrie (loan)[bR] Zoltan Harsanyi (undisc.)[bR] Heidar Helguson (undisc.)[bR] Gavin McCann (£1million)[bR] Andy O'Brien (undisc.)[bR] Jlloyd Samuel (free)[bR] Christian Wilhelmsson (loan)[bR] Chelsea Alex (free)[bR] Juliano Belletti (undisc.)[bR] Tal Ben Haim (free)[bR] Florent Malouda (undisc.)[bR] Claudio Pizarro (free)[bR] Steve Sidwell (free)[bR] Derby Claude Davis (£3million)[bR] Robert Earnshaw (£3.5million)[bR] Benny Feilhaber (undisc.)[bR] Andy Griffin(undisc.)[bR] Eddie Lewis (undisc.)[bR] Tyrone Mears (£1million)[bR] Kenny Miller (undisc.)[bR] Lewis Price (undisc.)[bR] Andy Todd (undisc.)[bR] Everton Leighton Baines (£5million)[bR]Thomas Gravesen (loan)[bR]Tim Howard (undisc.)[bR] Phil Jagielka (£4million)[bR] Steven Pienaar (loan)[bR] Stefan Wessels (loan)[bR] Yakubu (£11.25million)[bR] Fulham Nathan Ashton (free)[bR]Chris Baird (£3.025m)[bR] Hameur Bouazza (£3.5million)[bR] Lee Cook (undisc.)[bR] Steven Davis (undisc.)[bR] David Healy (undisc.)[bR] Shefki Kuqi (loan)[bR] Aaron Hughes (£1million)[bR] Diomansy Kamara (£6million)[bR] Kasey Keller (free)[bR] Paul Konchesky (undisc.)[bR] Adrian Leijer (undisc.)[bR] Danny Murphy (loan)[bR] Liam Rosenior (undisc.)[bR] Ki-Hyeon Seol (undisc.)[bR] Dejan Stefanovic (£1million)*[bR] Liverpool Ryan Babel (£11.5million)[bR] Yossi Benayoun (undisc.)[bR] Charles Itandje (undisc.)[bR] Lucas Leiva (undisc.)[bR] Nikolay Mihaylov (undisc.)[bR] Fernando Torres (undisc.)[bR] Andriy Voronin (free)[bR] Manchester City Rolando Bianchi (£8.8million)[bR] Valeri Bojinov (undisc.)[bR] Vedran Corluka (undisc.)[bR] Elano (£8million)[bR] Gelson Fernandes (undisc.)[bR] Javi Garrido (£1.5million)[bR] Geovanni (free)[bR] Martin Petrov (£4.7million)[bR] Manchester United Anderson (£18million)[bR] Owen Hargreaves (undisc.)[bR] Tomasz Kuszczak (undisc.)[bR] Nani (undisc.)[bR] Carlos Tevez (loan)[bR] Middlesbrough Jeremie Aliadiere (£2million)[bR] Mido (£6million)[bR] Gary O'Neil (£5million.)[bR] Tuncay Sanli (free)[bR] Mohamed Shawky (£650,000)[bR] Jonathan Woodgate (£7million)[bR] Luke Young (£2.5million)[bR] Newcastle United Joey Barton (£5.8million)[bR] Habib Beye (undisc.)[bR] Claudio Cacapa (free)[bR] Jose Enrique (£6.3million)[bR] Abdoulaye Faye(undisc.)[bR] Geremi (free)[bR] David Rozehnal (£2.9million)[bR] Alan Smith (undisc.)[bR] Mark Viduka (free)[bR] Portsmouth Martin Crainie (undisc.)[bR] Papa Bouba Diop (undisc.)[bR] Sylvain Distin (free)[bR] Hermann Hreidarsson (free)[bR] Glen Johnson (undisc.)[bR] Sulley Muntari (undisc.)[bR] David Nugent (£4.5million)[bR] John Utaka (undisc.)[bR] Reading Kalifa Cisse (undisc.)[bR] Emerse Fae (£2.5million)[bR] Sunderland Russell Anderson (£1million)[bR] Michael Chopra (£5million)[bR] Andy Cole (free)[bR] Dickson Etuhu (£1.5million)[bR] Craig Gordon (£7million)[bR] Greg Halford (£3million)[bR] Ian Harte (free)[bR] Danny Higginbotham (£3million)[bR] Kenwyne Jones (£6million)[bR] Paul McShane (£1.5million)[bR] Roy O'Donovan (undisc.)[bR] Kieran Richardson (undisc.)[bR] Kenwyne Jones (£6million)[bR] Danny Higginbothan (£3million) Tottenham Hotspur Gareth Bale (£5million)[bR] Darren Bent (£16.5million)[bR] Younes Kaboul (undisc.)[bR] Adel Taarabt (undisc.)[bR] Kevin-Prince Boateng (undisc.) West Ham Craig Bellamy (£7.5million)[bR] Henri Camara (loan)[bR] Kieron Dyer (undisc.)[bR] Julien Faubert (£6.1million)[bR] Freddie Ljungberg (undisc.)[bR] Scott Parker (£7million)[bR] Nolberto Solano (free)[bR] Richard Wright (free)[bR] Wigan Athletic Marcus Bent (loan)[bR]Rachid Bouaouzan (undisc.)[bR]Titus Bramble (free)[bR] Michael Brown (undisc.) Andreas Granqvist (free)[bR] Jason Koumas (£5.3million)[bR] Mario Melchiot (free)[bR] Carlo Nash (£300,000)[bR] Antoine Sibierski (free)[bR]

The commissar vanishes!

Right now, Dyer was the worst signing. Bent also seems to be a mistake IMO. Way too expensive and his acquisition created problems with Berbatov and Defoe. Would love it Berbatov moved on and they were stuck with Bent and Keane. And Amady Faye on loan is not a bad signing.

You know your club (San Jose, I assume) is coming back next year, right? Yes, I am not 100% sure that I will be back though. The league is a joke, but it's all we have.