Village Idiot

I know we want to give the chance of being in the CL to teams of small football nations, but I'd happily replace most of the Whotefuck FCs in the Champions route for the likes of Valencia, Monaco, Lazio or Bayer - two of those won't be in the group phase.

Worth doing it for the realisation that I share a birthday with Victor Anichebe I share birthday with Willian and Filipe Luís, yay!

No, Andalusian. He actually joined Barça B when he was 22. He was one of those "not really that young" players we sign to give Barça B a stronger backbone, but he ended up being quite good and we even offered him a senior contract, but Benfica gave him better terms and he went there instead.

That's LVG for you. I don't think that means De Gea's probably getting sold, Van Gaal wants De Gea to sort himself out and either commit or leave.

Yeah, he spent a few years at Barça B. He's had two amazing seasons at Celta, easily the best Spanish player below the top 6 in La Liga. But he's a late bloomer and at 29 years of age it seems a bit too short termist. Particularly since he won't be able to play him until January. But Luís Enrique managed him at both Barça B and Celta and fancies him a lot. I'd rather give Munir and Sandro the chance to shine.

I entered my forum registration date, and I got: W/D/L: 112/63/100 Goals: 381 scored / 389 conceded Average result: 1-1 draw at home, 2-1 defeat away Club beaten most of my lifetime: Aston Villa 60% (6 times) Bogey club: ManCity 92% (11 defeats) Apparently I get a 49% "worth rating" for my years I've been following you.

Looks like we're eyeing Nolito to replace Pedro if/when we sell him to ManU. I think it's stupid to sign so many players that won't be available until January, but we're Barça.

So Porto's signings to replace Jackson Martínez are Bueno and Osvaldo? That's not gonna end well for them. Seems a bit of a poor window for them. Casillas is another pointless signing; Imbula is a good one but they paid quite a bit for him. The fact so many of those signings came from Spain (Osvaldo was great for Espanyol and still has a very good rep over here), makes me think Lopetegui has been given a big say on transfers.

Callejón had nearly 100 La Liga apps when Madrid bought him, so hardly an inexperienced youngster, but Mou gave him a lot of playing time despite the kind of people he had available to play in Real Madrid's front three. It was obvious that he appreciated his tenacity and aggresiveness so I think he just likes a particular kind of player and in general doesn't think a youngster will have these qualities.

Perhaps not, but in terms of signing a player to loan him out, Chelsea are the worst for it. No doubt about that. I wonder if they just see this as a moneymaking exercise. Do they usually get good fees when they finally get rid? It's not like Chelsea paid much of these players' wages throughout their careers since they spent most of their time on loan.

Thorgan Hazard was probably necessary to get his brother to move, so not "pointless" in that regard.

As a Spaniard, I would be happy to see Alan Pardew managing England.

Does the PL have a wage budget cap like La Liga?

I agree with that, he's an excellent poacher. I understand that nowadays, big clubs demand more from their #9s than just poaching, but I'm surprised he's ended up in the MLS at just 27 years old. Unless Orlando are paying him some silly wages, I can think of many good European teams where he could have an impact.

Unsurprisingly we look a completely different team with Neymar and Messi onboard. We're so dependant on those two - and Suárez - but I guess it's unavoidable.

Some of these are so clueless it makes this forum look like the Harvard of football boards. This forum ain't too bad actually.

I don't get the joke Is it some terrible pun?

Time to repost one of my favorite football photos

To José Enrique's favor, I can say that he had been moaning about the club's board in the Spanish press for quite before his transfer to Liverpool. There was also the Spain situation. With Capdevila retiring the LB slot was up for grabs and Liverpool are a far better shopping window for that. Of course things didn't work out for him there.

He's good at winding people up and getting them to call into his shows and discuss his articles, basically. Nowadays, most Spanish football shows are about winding people up so they call or tweet about the show. It's minging.

The amount of time and effort that must have went into that...? Pirlo's facial hair I still pumped my fist when Lego-Suárez scored.

Our press claims that Adama Traoré has flown to Liverpool and will have his medical tomorrow. It's unclear if it's a loan or a sale. The lad is a beast, but has the awareness of a blind donkey. I guess Liverpool are gambling on polishing that side of his game; I don't think he's cut for a top level team myself because of that. EDIT: Another of our local rags says it's not done with Liverpool and he will also hold talks with Stoke and Villa while in England. What seems confirmed is that he's flown to England.

Celtic have an average attendance of over half a million in there

You lost a CL final too. But won the EL thrice.

You would be so ridiculously top-heavy if you signed Berahino. I guess it would be a welcome chance from being nothing-heavy. I like Berahino quite a bit myself; love the way he tries to place his finishes, always dig forwards that go for that. And unlike Austin I get the feeling he would be a better fit for what you already have. He only comes across as a bit of a cunt.