gazza ladra

Solano Friedel Scharner McBride Diouf Jaaskelainen Bullard (yeah, he's been out. But he's always forgotten/overlooked) Yobo Kanu SPEED (dammit)

Valid point. American businessmen, however, would laugh themselves silly at such a notion. There is long history in American sports of team owners picking up and moving their "franchise" to another city in search of bigger profits. Teams do belong to their communities and the rights of the fans should be safeguarded.

from toontastic: Four players in the squad who are not in the domestic league. I'm surprised to see Dempsey in there considering that he very recently went to Fulham, but no real surprise. News over here is that Gooch was not included because he's settling in at Newcastle. Similar story for a lot of Euro-based players (Wolff, Beasely etc) which is why Dempsey is such a surprise. Both Bocanegra and Dempsey are going.

True enough. Though, very few people in San Francisco are actually natives. And when San Franciscans talk about their City they're talking about how much greater it is than any other city in the world.

Yep. But Texans are easy and fun to ridicule. It's a national sport for the other 49 states. Huh? What part of the country are you from? Never played that game. Here in Northern California, we're too busy insulting our friends in the south of the state.

Voted Yes. Outside the top four, there is nothing but mediocrity. Finishing any thing below fifth is a disgrace. Felt that Roeder was and is moving in the right direction-- bringing in Oba and Duff brought us something well desperately lacked, speed. (I am confident that Duff will prove his worth-- this season). 6th is definitely achievable.

The way Bush was marketed as a "compassionate conservative" in the States; Basically, a smiley sockpuppet for a group of extremists (neo-cons). The terrace thing sounds pretty hollow.

Went out to Celta Vigo, I think.

I think that Onyewu is relatively ambitious actually. Compared to others on the national squad. Seeing that both Boro and Fulham showed an interest and he chose to come here-- it is a bigger challenge. US Nat stars end up places like Fulham, Watford, and Reading-- and do well there. Not Man Utd or Chelsea. Hat tip to Coleman- he has identified and bought the best American talent for pretty cheap. Yes, folks McBride, Bocanegra, and Dempsey are just about the best the US has. No surprise he was going after Onyewu as well. With Fulham's budget and the insane prices being asked for mediocre English talent, Americans are pretty good buys. That, and they sell Fulham merchandise in the US

You're right. The little media we get is very top four-centric. But then isn't the national media in England as well? The papers I read online inevitably lead with Man Utd or Mourinho. Following Man Utd. etc. makes life a little easier. You've got to put some effort into following football in this country... and pay through the nose for cable access. At least there are groups of fans that you can meet up with to watch games at a pub on Saturday or Sunday morning. If you are following a team that nobody knows are cares about (that is, if they care about football at all), you really don't get the opportunity to talk about your passion.... that is unless you go online. Which, I suppose explains the high number of non-Geordies on these boards.

Just noticed that Hamburg SV are bottom of the Bundesliga. Could see Mathijsen and Vincent Kompany available. Also, with Wigan dropping like a rock-- that'll free up Baines. (And Scharner as well) Who knows, West Ham may need to sell Upson as well.

Sorry, which games were these? Fulham, and Sheffield at home. IMO. Not great performances, but I don't think the results reflected the run of play.

I think it would not even occur to a lot of American fans to follow a club that was not in the Champions League.

He doesn't need to try. Yanks Abroad gets quite hagiographic in its estimation of American footballers. Half the time, I get the impression that they think there is some kind of conspiracy that prevents US Nats from getting contracts with the BIG clubs. Many can't get it through their heads that, say, Landon Donovan isn't really that good. (Even after Liverpool ran right over him in the CL a few years back-- he sat on the bench at Leverkusen for a while.) Onyewu is very highly rated by most American soccer fans -- myself included. He is the best defender we have without question. But then, we are comparing him with Bocanegra, Spector, DeMerit, Berthalter, Cherundolo, Gibbs, Whitbread..... Not exactly a list of stars.... Anyway, this clown seems to think that Onyewu is too good for us.... Also, a lot of American soccer fans, IMO, are basically glory hunters. Obviously, most of us don't have any particular link to any English city, neighborhood, whatever-- and so are free to pick any team we like. Most have latched onto Manchester United and, more recently, Chelsea. I think that the contempt expressed for Newcastle United is just an affectation. They support Chelsea and they are supposed to despise the barcodes.

That's exactly what happened imo, said it to the wife next to me as soon as the whistle went. Eh? http://www.northeastengland.talktalk.net/GeordieDictionary.htm Look under 'W'. woman = wifeman wifeman = wyfman -> wuvman -> woman. male equivalent was "wereman" as in werewolf (AS "were" is cognant to Latin "vir", as in "virile") [sorry, English major]

Never seen Babel play. All I know of him is what I've seen on YouTube. These YouTube compilations are really deceptive--can make any donkey look fantastic. That said, those of Babel make him look pretty ordinary. If those are the highlights, we're not missing much.

You can add Éric Abidal to that now. A left back! Can we? Where did you read this?

Ramage will never be as good as Bramble is now. Sad, but true.

Glenn sweats on Gooch bidl DC United? Where did that come from? He grew up in DC, but I don't think he played in MLS. Was at Clemson (University) I think, but not DC United. I've never heard that before. Am I wrong? Could it be that Oliver is just making stuff up?

Aren't St. Étienne and Lyon bitter rivals? Something like Spurs and Arsenal? Said Piquionne : I’m being taken for a slave at Tottenham that hasn’t got the right to give his opinion. I want to go to a big club. Today, Arsenal has shown interest. Who wouldn’t want to go to Arsenal?

Could be wrong, but I seem to remember that he was playing out of position -- on the right -- in the Mexico City game. I've only seen him play for the US nats during WC qualifiers. And he wasn't troubled much by the Salvadoran, Panamanian, and Trinidadian strikers that were thrown at him. But that isn't saying much. I have no idea how he'll do.

Funny, the bit about NUFC being the "Graveyard of your career" doesn't bug me so much. But I think one of those Ajax asses calls Newcastle the "Feyenoord of England". Now, that is below the belt. Piss off!

No. Absolutely not. Duff is a great player. A steal at 5m, a steal at 7m. Granted, we have not yet seen the best of him. Show some patience here. Let's see Duff, Dyer, and Martins play together before we make any rash decisions.

Was he signed in 2006? August 05

Given the budget I'd go for "Buy one striker (£2-4m) and the rest on defenders". I think we can improve LB and CB and get a decent emergency striker. We could play Dyer, Milner, and Duff as strikers (Along with the returning Ameobi and Owen). Getting a Beattie or Viduka cheaply would be fine for now. Yeah, should Martins go down we're screwed, but I don't think that we can afford to buy (on the stated budget) a replacement for him and shore up the defence. And LB and CB should be the priorities. I think that Solano has done well enough that RB is not nearly the priority it was.