wacko

Looks good inside but rubbish outside. It's certainly not a boring shape, but it ain't an attractive one either. The main alterations the new owners made were to make the stadium expandable up to 80K. The earlier design was stuck at 61K. A major obstacle to getting planning permission for 80K is that we'd need a rail link. There is a good line that runs by the new stadium, so we'd mostly just have to stump up for a new station.

Rio in a restaurant: "Do you know who I am?" The waiter: "Why, have you forgotten?" Besiktas striker Arild Stavrum: "Tired after practice I had a shower. I put a lot of soap on and after opening my eyes I realised that I was the only naked man among 10 Turks wearing shorts. Then a German entered the shower and I was happy. I doubt that Elton John would be happier than me to see a naked young man." From Keane's "auto"biography: "Denis Irwin was quiet, intelligent, composed, sensible. I was quiet." Zola's uncharacteristic comments on Dennis Wise: "Ninety-five per cent of my language problems are the fault of that stupid little midget."

My feelings, too, but we'll have to wait and see how he does playing in a better side. We certainly haven't had much luck with Spanish strikers called Fernando. Still, it's a good sign of intent, and if he doesn't work out, I'm sure we'll be able to sell him back to a Spanish side at a small loss.

aye,the lesson was learned "don't expect the premier league to act even handedly" did everyone know manu acted as an illegal third party aswell,they made everton drop tim howard for the game against them that won the title. I never got that one, I thought Howard was on loan to the Toffees last season and they agreed the full transfer outside of the window, therefore technically he was a Man U player until the end of the season as per the BEEB (14th Feb) http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/everton/6362649.stm Basically, Everton wanted to sign him up in Jan before the loan was up to stop anyone else stepping in in the summer, and ManU agreed only on the condition that he didn't play against them that season. I don't see any problem with that, seeing as loan rules wouldn't have allowed him to play against ManU anyway if Everton hadn't bought him.

I think you get more for a win than for a draw. Chelsea must have won more than Liverpool? The difference is because the TV money pool is divvied up according to league finish. That doesn't affect the prize money for each round. ManU will have probably made the most money in total factoring in gates etc. The UEFA Cup has naff all TV money because no-one's interested in it. Most clubs can't even fill the stadium, so there sure aren't that many watching on TV.

I really enjoyed your 5-0 drubbing of ManU mentioned above. Standouts for me are more dramatic games: Istanbul (obviously), Germany 1 England 5 (as I was there and live in Germany), the Liverpool-NUFC 4-3 games, particularly the first one, were fantastic spectacles. The 2001 UEFA Cup final was a brilliant game.

Finnan was statistically the highest-rated defender last season in the Actim statistics. He doesn't catch the eye, but is rock-solid week-in, week-out and very, very rarely makes a mistake. No great shakes as a wing-back, but an exceptional fullback. I reckon if the Prem team lined up with Gerrard, Essien and Makelele or Mascherano in CM, the Spanish side would be overrun.

in a piss-sodden hotel?

Sami's had him in his pocket before and since that game. I've never seen him consistently embarrassed by any player. As far as I know, he isn't looking for a move and Liverpool aren't looking to sell, which means we'd pretty much have to pay over the odds to make a deal happen. Not something I'd want to do for a player with his best days behind him. Thank god. No player I'd rather have as backup, nor would I be bothered if he were still first choice.

Gerrard was missing for a few months in 2004/5. Our results were actually better while he was out (points/game) than when he was playing. He might be our best player, but he's not as important to us as, say, Henry is to Arsenal. In our case, we really missed Garcia this season, never more so than in Athens, but our squad is strong enough so that the wheels won't fall off with one or two injuries to key players. Rafa has spent about £48m net so far. Houllier spent £64m net, and there's a world of difference between the two squads. There were massive holes in the squad Houllier left, which Rafa has now plugged. There's now great balance in the squad and a lot of tactical options, as Rafa goes for versatile players different to what he has. We're all still waiting for him to sign a decent striker and winger, though. He's signed five of each since he arrived, and we're still looking... The Euro form is largely a matter of focus. We've always been out of the running for the league by the time the knockout rounds start in the CL, so Rafa has focussed on these games, resting players and investing massive amounts of preparation. Our style of play is definitely more suited to continental footie, too. I think you hit the nail on the head there. Chelsea and ManU both have several match-winners. We only have Gerrard and Garcia who will occasionally produce a goal out of nothing. We have a squad full of top-division-level grafters, and we need a couple of outstanding players (like we had with Fowler, Owen or McManaman) who can get us the extra goals we need to compete. We also need to improve our record against Chelsea and ManU. We have a defence as good as any and our midfield has bossed the best in Europe, but we don't score enough goals from any part of the pitch.

The only bad game I remember Sami having in yonks is Drogba running him ragged when Sami had the flu and shouldn't have been on the pitch.

Absolutely no indication that even a word of the article in the OP is true. Quotes taken out of context and pure speculation. Rafa always plays his cards close to his chest in the transfer market, and his favourite source of players--la Liga--hasn't finished yet. I'll start to worry if we haven't signed anyone by the end of the transfer window. I don't understand why we're getting this crap: Arsenal are obviously having far more problems than us, why aren't all the vultures circling over the Emirates?

I think it's a question of confidence in yourself and, more importantly, in the manager and his game plan. If you have an idiot at the helm, that permeates through the team. Allardyce has a fantastic track record for getting the best out of his players, even the most unstable nutters, and he has a very clear idea of what is expected. You'll be a completely different proposition this season. Obviously, you need players with mental strength, too (compare Gerrard and Henry's records in big games), but that doesn't help one iota if the players have little confidence in the manager.

Then he'll have to be pushed. He won't jump till the very last second, because he'll want to hold out till he knows precisely what's on offer. There's a good chance one of the CL sides (English or even continental) will fail to sign their first choice striker and with 20m burning a hole in their pocket, will decide it's worth spending half of it on a player who, if fit, guarantees 15+ league goals a season and is proven EPL quality.

I doubt it. You can only pile them as high as the number of seats you have. German stadia still have terraces so they can pile them higher. They're also very poor compared to English clubs (barring Bayern). Like Sparks said, it'll only happen at stadia that don't sell out. If you think that the only modern stadium in jormany is Bayern you are seriously mis-informed Sorry, that was extremely badly written. They have some excellent stadia. What I meant to say was that German clubs are financially poor compared to English ones. Except Bayern.

Is the right answer. Carragher had his mobile cut off because one of his advisors/his agent/dogsbody had forgotten to pay the bill. And Rio needs someone to remind him when to p!ss.

Sorry, I'll have to hunt it down again. Figured it'd be okay to post because it was filmed on a mobile phone. Sorry, Dave. Right, if you search for "stimmungsboykott" (stimmung=atmosphere) you'll come up a winner.

Dimitar Berbatov - Spurs Thierry Henry - Arsenal Samuel Eto'o - Liverpool David Villa - Valencia Javier Saviola - Betis Fernando Torres - Atletico Jan Klaas Huntelaar - Barca Carlos Tevez - Juve Nicolas Anelka - NUFC Djibril Cisse - Marseille Louis Saha - Man U Alan Smith - Boro Diego Forlan - Villareal Craig Bellamy - West Ham Darren Bent - Villa Jermaine Defoe - Spurs Yakubu - Portsmouth David Nugent - Sunderland Benni McCarthy - Blackburn Obafemi Martins - NUFC Michael Owen - Man USA

We really missed Garcia in that game. The whole season, in fact. Agree wholeheartedly, HTT. Players who produce that bit of magic are pretty rare, players who are magic in every game are rarer than rocking-horse shit. Woefully inconsistent as such players usually are, they're matchwinners.

I doubt it. You can only pile them as high as the number of seats you have. German stadia still have terraces so they can pile them higher. They're also very poor compared to English clubs (barring Bayern). Like Sparks said, it'll only happen at stadia that don't sell out.

Sounds pretty much like what he did when he left us. Owen's chief interest is Owen and his England career. Which is odd for a Welshman. Mark my words, if an offer comes in that he likes, he'll be off like a shot.

Yeah. He's always very complimentary towards the club, the fans and the players. Last paragraph the most significant.

Too good for a side that reached 2 CL finals in 3 years? That's a really big ego.

Gilardino wants to leave & Milan have said he can at £16millon No doubt they would, but who would pay over 15 million for a striker who's quite strikingly failed to cut the mustard at the very top level (WC, champs)? Because he scores for fun in the league? We have Gerrard for finals... Can't see this happening. Even if it did, I'd be annoyed at paying so much for such an old player, even if he is incredibly good.

Why on earth is he leaving Freddy in charge?