Raconteur
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Everything posted by Raconteur
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The third scenario, as all the naysayers remind us constantly, is that Ba leaves and is not replaced at all...
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Wow. He's got some serious problems really. (Ferguson). Wouldn't that normally be enough for the FA to charge any other manager by the way? "Normally"
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Hear, hear Better than .cock and .com put together, spend more time here than Facebook and the work website combined. Merry Christmas to you all, and lets channel last year's result tomorrow!
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Reiterating that this is a wild hypothesis based on fragments of fact: Pardew plays him despite wanting rid because as much as it impacts on the team and its performance as a whole, playing Obertan or Ameobi would have a greater negative impact. If we were playing as badly as we are right now with Ba sitting on the bench and Ameobi stumbling around, the fans would hang Pardew from the Gallowgate goal!
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If that is in response to my post, I would reply that my belief that Pardew is actively trying to peddle Ba is predicated on him being promised by MA/DL that he would be replaced. Given his recent tactical shenanigans, it's not unreasonable to think he is as thick as pig shit and believes their assurances OR is such a snake oil merchant that he's willing to buy MA/DL's illusion and then on-sell it to us. Maybe...
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Seeing as many people are making wild hypotheses based on fragments of information, I thought I might get on board: Pardew wants shot of Ba. * Not because he is a bad player, because he clearly is a good player who is banging in all of our goals. * Not because he wants to make money for Ashley, because 3.75m is copper coins these days, and a replacement will cost 2-3 times that. * Not because he thinks his knees will give out, because I have no doubt that there is either insurance or a get-out clause in case of a career-ending injury. * I believe Pardew wants rid of Ba because he likes Cisse (as a player) better, and has come to realise what many of us can see: that Ba and Cisse don't work. * I believe Pardew wants rid of Ba because Ba's incentivised contract is proving detrimental to the team: at the start of 2011-12 he was banging them in and all was well. When Cisse came, Ba stopped scoring, got the strop, extracted a promise from Pardew to play in the middle in the summer and the team has suffered since. * I believe Pardew wants rid of Ba because he has done a simple cost-benefit equation and decided Ba out the door is better than Ba in the squad - he can buy a striker who better fits the balance of the team and he removes the media circus (and I agree Pardew is actively fueling this, but not him alone) * I believe Ashley/Llambias want rid of Ba because that incentivised contract with assorted clauses is an anathema to their concept of how contracts and transfers should work Maybe...
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They can't really...do anything here though, right? It's not as if Zenit has a confirmed "No black players" policy that they can point to. This letter comes from the official fans club, and as far as I can tell, UEFA could threaten to expel Zenit from European football unless the club condemns the letter (notice that the club has not responded) and/or disendorses the organisation as the official voice of the fans. FIFA has a bigger stick - they could turn around and say the 2018 World Cup can't be played in Russia unless the Russian FA takes action (condemnation, disbanding the fan club). FIFPro could always try and arrange a boycott... Many forms of action are possible, what is lacking is the will to implement them. And, I guess, when you read some of the comments in the OP story, it's not surprising. But it's exactly why we SHOULD be demanding action.
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Read this in the mainstream Australian press, which only ever discusses the ugly side of football - this is pretty fucking ugly! Watch as UEFA and FIFA offer mealy-mouthed platitudes but take no substantial action...
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One of my students wagged the last day of school just so he could try and get tickets for this match - I won't find out until February if he got "lucky". More dollars than cents, if you ask me...
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Loved this one http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=747124&page=3 - Reply numbers 24-26 Agree I've said a few times now we need Lee Clark in The only man capable of turning us around Just hope we haven't burnt our bridges with him. Was only a daft joke. I'd forgive it for the chance of having a top top gaffer in charge. (Forgive the rubbish quoting, but I'm not a member there!)
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Some of the numbers are just wacky: 3.75m to the club - for a player who has scored a ridiculous amount of goals in the 18 months he's been here 3.75m of the fee to Ba (plus 4m per year in wages) - possibly the least disturbing numbers! In fact, similar to what Harry Kewell got in his equally ridiculous transfer from Leeds to Liverpool 5m to Ba's agents - just insane! Makes me wonder exactly how they can justify this. What does the Ba-Agency contract look like? How did Ba come to sign those terms (becasue surely they impact on both his reputation and his ability to move clubs...?)
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That worked so well for Argentina... Did it? Even better then! Sorry, let me rephrase that: Totes, because that worked *SO* well for Argentina.
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That worked so well for Argentina...
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Thank you for making me feel old! Doesn't seem like 18 years ago that we saw that celebration...
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Nah, don't want to hear about how unlucky they are (juxtaposed by how lucky we are), how things will change soon, blah blah blah. Rather see Bent pick it up from his own penalty spot, take off like George Weah v Verona and burn past seven or eight of them before smashing it home.
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That is crazy - would love to see if Jenkins responds or has been hushed permanently as part of the deal... In other "fuck you Liverpool" news, Jagielka has responded to Steve Gerrard's "long ball" gibe: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/everton-phil-jagielka-hits-back-1408712
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I'd love to have that report stencilled onto the blade of a cricket bat, and then beat Gerrard over the head wth it...
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For some reason I just read that whole thread - watching them try to have a reasoned debate was fascinating. But fuck me, that Masterplan/Wireside is a fucking nugget of the highest order, isn't he? Don't get me wrong, there are some prize wankers here too, but that guy is a genuine fucking nugget. In hindsight, Dave and the mods need a medal for allowing him to stay here as long as he did...
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Alessandro Del Piero just scored his first goal for Sydney FC in what was his 800th career appearance... EDIT: Erm... Actually, not his first goal for Sydney. But definitey scored in his 800th match!
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Just in case anyone thought Joey was still playing with a full deck... http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1200302/taylor-laughs-off-barton-twitter-rant?cc=3436
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What's the whole "on this day" they keep harping on about? Why is [the day the story was posted] so significant?
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Full story here - http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/aussies-abroad/news/1122993/Kewell-concedes-career-could-be-over Some might say that Kewell's career was over the day he left Leeds for Liverpool (with his crooked agent pocketing 3m of the 5m fee...) "Australia's greatest player" but I was never a fan. That said, he was a hero in Germany 06, but still massively overrated here and an asshole of a man to boot
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The comments from Scousers are doing a good job of proving the article's point. I especially loved this one:
