Parky

Yes but Finns are more melancholic than rest of the of the Nordic countries. With a lot of them especially the men it's like having a conversation with a brick wall, until they get drunk then they want to kill you or they want to take back Karelia from the Russians. I rest my case. My main interest is the girls tbf.

When they start bigging up the supporters you know bad things are going to happen.

The Finns are a wonderful race of people, slightly bred into with Russians and so on...A little bit more complex and universal than the average Sacandanavian airhead. The country is full of poets and artists and they all seem at one with nature and Finnish girls have those eyes that go on forever. Love Finland. Thinking about the place reminds me how much I hate Germany and the Krauts with their machine like minds and depressing attention to detail and various other utterly boring antics.

One of my first girlfriends was Finnish. Wonderful, charming people. Should have followed up on her but Finland seemed so far away when she moved back. [/gulp] bugger me, parky done a towelie and made a lass flee the country. I remember being on a ferry to Finland via Russia in mid-winter and questioning my sanity. did you reach a conclusion ? I wasn't mad enough to move there. But it was close....

One of my first girlfriends was Finnish. Wonderful, charming people. Should have followed up on her but Finland seemed so far away when she moved back. [/gulp] bugger me, parky done a towelie and made a lass flee the country. I remember being on a ferry to Finland via Russia in mid-winter and questioning my sanity.

I'm beginning to expect the nuclear bomb of no signings on Feb1st.

One of my first girlfriends was Finnish. Wonderful, charming people. Should have followed up on her but Finland seemed so far away when she moved back. [/gulp]

Both iffy countries imo. Finland is the best.

I was on a train a few years ago, going across Germany and had two Scandanavian types sitting behind me (not sure which brand)...Anyway after the first 2 hours of listening to them talking about motocross and then football (ManU with no clue about the club) I got so psychotic I killed somebody loitering outside the toilet.

There is something dark in their souls tho. Loki archytypes innit. If you go to Sweden they just stare at you. I mean real full on staring like you're a vulernable lost forest creature that might make a meal.

Can someone explain to me why so many of them are so rubbish? This place has given me a slight hatred of Norway in particular. Apologies to the good ones that we do have, but some of your compatriots are absolute divvies. They're shit because their general knowledge of football is shit. Most just choose an English team 'cause it's expected of them and take a miniscule interest in the sport except when something good or bad happens, either club-wise or Internationally, then they go on about it like they've always paid attention yet what they're saying is absolute horseshit. Their favourite thing to do is also to talk down any Scandinavian country, league and/or players because it's/they're so much shitter than anyone/thing else. Again displaying their total lack of knowledge since the leagues aren't too bad, and neither are the national teams. I see it all the time, and it's not even just the glory hunters. People can go "I support Southampton/Leeds/Blackburn" and not be able to name any player on the team. They just "have" a team because that's what they do. Cunts. In short, they suck because they have no knowledge of football in general and just want to be a part of something so they can argue with their mates (who also know nothing). I hate the Scandinavian football fan almost more than Asian glory hunters. At least the Asians tend to be interested in the teams they follow that week. Gives the people who actually care a bad name and brings everybody down with them. Fuck the world. (Obviously there's exceptions though. But still.) That's not Scandanavia that's 95% of the planet on any subject.

They never looked fit to me at the start of the season anyway. Have to wonder what the pre-season was designed for. There is a greater risk of inj if players aren't tuned up and peak at the right times. The first team is now still short 3 players and has been since last summer. I mean first team players not 20yr olds from Norway and Finland.

I understand it too, it's the lack of flexibility to the detriment of the team on the pitch that annoys me. As long as we stay up I don't think Ashley will care a jot that we've been down the bottom of the table all season. By the way I distinctly remember a general consensus on here at the end of the season that the summer would tell us exactly what we needed to know about the ambition. Now it's 'let's see what gets done in the next 15 days' and I'm 100% convinced that next summer will be pointed at in the same way. I know mate, the pain is so great we keep extending the deadline and re-writing the history. But, if we get relegated and don't buy a striker of quality then that will be a full stop on that caper.

Yes, I'm sure Ashley & Llambias deserve all the plaudits for this one. Thank goodness we have such wonderful stewards overseeing club recruitment. We'll all rest easier in our beds tonight, that's for sure.

By the end of Jan we'll see what's really what. After the bunlged summer and what with our relegation worries, this window is crucial. I understand their transfer policy and wage structure - but ocassionally you have to be counter intuitive just to be sure you have done all you can.

Torres.

He's playing Torres on the wing. [/pardew]

Get tired of telling people how tedious Rafa really is. Too dull. No tricks.

It's all evolutionary, really. Rijkaard did do a lot, but Guardiola refined and took it to a new level. I credit Rijkaard with updating the classic Cruyff/Van Gaal system that had been found out by then and building our platform for success. It was Rijkaard, for example, who finally axed the "Guardiola role", and started playing with a proper DM and moved Xavi to CM - saving his career and letting him become what he did become. But it was Guardiola, on the other hand, who played Xavi and Iniesta together in midfield, while it had always been claimed that it had to be one or the other alongside a more box to box player like Deco. Rijkaard was fond of more classical wingers, he played Messi on the left so he could put crosses in FFS, while Guardiola did away with them and relied on fullbacks for width (Alves was a key signing of his), and thus overloaded the final third... Also, contrary to popular belief, Rijkaard's side did press all over the pitch, but we lost that quality as the seasons went by. In general, Pep was more radical than Rijkaard in creating an uniform possession-based strategy, while the Dutch was more direct. Nice post.

He won't be given that much time and Bayern is full of ego's - very unlike Barca.

I said that when Keegan left. Imagine Ben Arfa under KK? "Just play son, do your thing", that's what he basically used to say to Ginola. None of this defending shit or playing so fucking deep he spends most of his time in his own side's half rather than the opposition's. I know mate. Mouth watering. Our time will come again.

Get him in.

Hadn't thought about that. Village Idiot will know.

That looks risky but sexy. These days with a lot of sides playing one up/withdrawn striker it's not really necessary to have 4 players at the back unless you're up againt the top sides.