Exiled in Texas

Perhaps they will start offering contracts with Barca UK FC....located in Surrey? No reason why they could not offer contracts to promising players from either country.

What were they called before? A pass.

Could be the perfect back up for our strikers.....good enough to score goals, but happy enough just to be involved in the first team and get some sub run-outs without demanding a transfer for lack of playing time.

Aliadiere would just be here as insurance. Insurance in case Best's hammy is really harped, and incase we loose another striker. Nothing wrong with insurance.

Have you all learned nothing....

Ouch - Literacy and rate

I participate in a referee discussion group that often disects incidents from a LOTG perpective. So the question was raised about "the tackle" and the first response was My response was two fold... First - Had the same tackle been made by Paul "we know he cannot tackle-cheeky scamp" Scholes then would you feel the same? Second - (going back to LOTG) it's a 50-50 ball with both players approaching the ball head on "collision course". Player 1 gets to the ball slightly ahead of player 2 and wins all ball. BUT his momentum carries him through into player 2. Does the fact that he wins all ball, negate the contact? Or is it deemed reckless play because he only won the ball because he failed to control his forward progress into the opposition? Still not sure on the tackle.....if I had seen that tackle in my youth/Recreation games then I think I would have produced a Yellow Card for the foul. But that is because with kids playing "it's all about player safety" both real and perceived, and letting that one go in at U16B game would only invite retaliation at the next tackle opportunity. In premier league games - the standard of play and expectations of the players regarding physical play is different so I'm still unsure if that was reckless or not.

Northumberland Police have today launched a betting scandal inquiry after the alleged injury to Leon Best was caused by teammate Steve Harper, after several large bets were placed regarding Leon Best finishing as newcastle's top scorer. A spokesperson for Northumberland Police said their enquiry was not related to Interpols review of Rosicky's actions, and that they were very happy with Rosicky's performance at St James's Park. [/joke]

Anyone for a game of blow-football?

Justice for the"X" is my thing :'( Doesn't beat my effort :D

love the body language of the two Arsenal players in that photo.

What a screamer of a goal from Tiote!!! What a way to complete the comeback and grab a point. Stunning strike!!

Cool......off to watch ESPN3

It's not really a case of Brit's slagging off Americans as plastic sports fans, and certainly not when it comes to supporting their own sports. Yeah, a bit about how someone suggests following a different team to pick a winner, but the issue is with all Band Wagoners, rather than with any specific country. For anyone starting out following a new sport/league - there has to be a "way in" something that draws you to a specific team. For most people who don't have a personal introduction from someone already attached to a team, the "way in" is through the media coverage. What teams are winning, on TV, getting talked about etc. So most people who start out following someone are only exposed to the top teams. Who would start following La Liga and pick Gejon, Hercules or Zaragoza? Or Serie A and pick Lecce, Catania or Chievo? No offense to any of those teams - if you live there then you probably love them, but they get very small exposure outside of their local markets. So while you may decide not to be a bandwagon fan and pick Barca/Real or Inter/Milan you might well pick a team with "character" such as Roma, Napoli, Lazio or Villareal, Valencia or Espanyol as you see/hear about them more. The thing about plastic fans (imo) is that they have shallow roots that cannot/do not survive droughts and they jump to the next team on the up. Devon based Man U fans who remember Gordon McQueen or Garry Birtles....then fine. But people who were fans of one team and then jumped to whoever is Premier league champion.....That's the true issue.

Same for the TX Rangers.....never in a milion years saw them making the World Series, let alone winning it. Play-offs YES but getting into the WS...NO way. Edit - and I go to Ranger games for entertainment not for any passion. Just not my game. Prefer soccer and hockey.

Highly doubtful that anyone would value Carroll at 35M in the summer. So instead of selling him for £35M we sell him for £20-25 (or somesuch). Is that really good business sense to "loan" Carroll for 4 months for £10-15M?

I'm always amazed how people say that they were born/raised as a XXXXX fan, but they they say that they are now fans of this other team. I know part of it is due to relocation in such a large country (and schedules where your team may only play another team every 3-4 years), so they switch to the local team. Only a few teams seem to have transcendent fans that stick with their team through thick and thin. I think the "cult" teams are Green Bay Packers, Red Sox, the Cubs (although that's almost for comedy sake) and maybe the Steelers.

Please don't talk about the Boston Red Sox! They are owned by the same prats that own Liverpool. As a Baltimore Orioles fan and an NUFC fan, I've got enough reason to drive up there tonight and piss on their ramshackel dogshit stadium. I've been thinking about doing it a lot in the last 36 hours. LOL (forgot about that connection)

In the US, it really depends. Take baseball fans in Boston or and their eternal struggle against the Yankees. Sure, the Yankees have won something crazy like 27 world series compared to Boston's one championship. But I wonder who celebrated more - I'm thinking the BoSox for overturning "the curse". I don't think you can compare fans of teams from sports from other countries. I think American's supporting english teams is about as fickle as Brits picking an NFL team to follow. Very few pick Bolton or Blackburn, and equally very few pick Cleveland or Cincinati.

To be fair I know about half a dozen Chelsea supporters and all of them have been supporting them for years.My next door neighbour used to be a season ticket holder there,but stopped when Roman bought it because he didn't agree with the blanket buying of success.Manchester United and Liverpool are the pld school glory hunting twats tbh. Agreed that there are a few of the old guard who remember Ken Bates or Ron Atkinson but probably not that many. Besides, how many even remember when their was even something called the First Division...didn't football start in 92? (and I don;t mean 1892 either)

Fans of Man U or Chelsea, or the NY Yankees or LA Lakers, who have never know anything but first or second place etc will never truely know what it's like to really support a team. You have to experience the lows to truely comprehend how high the highs are. I know that if/when Newcastle are Premier League Champions then I will celebrate the achievement across many more levels than Man U or Chelsea will the next time they win it all.

Nolan probably just flapped his chicken-wings and gave AC a piggy back flight down there.

Heck, Yes they would. See Spurs/Berbatov! Harry/Spurs are the ultimate wheeler/dealer buy low/sell high club that turn their assets over to the betterment of the club. If they were offered 35m at the same point in the window. Meaning they couldnt have had any time to replace him. Maybe they would, i think its debatable again. Either way theyre actually in a much better position with the type of names they have in their squad to be able to do that & be able to replace him with more quality. Maybe Spurs are in this good position now BECAUSE of the fact that they sold their top striker for silly money a few years ago and re-invested it into the team. Let's just hope that part comes to fruition. Yeah, that's the part that I'm hoping for. I do believe that the money will be re-invested. But it's always a gamble whether you're buying a Jose or a Cacapa

Heck, Yes they would. See Spurs/Berbatov! Harry/Spurs are the ultimate wheeler/dealer buy low/sell high club that turn their assets over to the betterment of the club. If they were offered 35m at the same point in the window. Meaning they couldnt have had any time to replace him. Maybe they would, i think its debatable again. Either way theyre actually in a much better position with the type of names they have in their squad to be able to do that & be able to replace him with more quality. Maybe Spurs are in this good position now BECAUSE of the fact that they sold their top striker for silly money a few years ago and re-invested it into the team.

Heck, Yes they would. See Spurs/Berbatov! Harry/Spurs are the ultimate wheeler/dealer buy low/sell high club that turn their assets over to the betterment of the club.