Village Idiot

Rondón was pretty fine in La Liga before going to Russia; would be happy to see him playing in a proper league.

Sporting's transfer ban has been extended one further season, given their outstanding wage debt. They will have a hard time staying in the top division.

La Liga has agreed to push forward collective TV rights bargaining one season. It was initially planned to start in 2016-2017, but it will now start next season. We'll see how it goes.

Having a stroke Made me think of... http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130331214442/villains/images/3/3a/Baby_Gerald.png

Was awaiting that question He's had a bad season at Barça B - like almost everyone there. He'll go on preseason with the senior team, and then Lucho will decide if he stays or if he goes on loan.

Sort of. He rode the pine for a few months and then got lost in the quagmire that Barça B became this season. There's a loan offer from Ajax, but looks like Lucho wants him to stay in the senior team. With no signings, we need all our able bodies.

Segunda B playoffs are a crazily drawn-out affair. Athletic B have had two previous ties before getting there.

Pun quality in this place is reaching great levels as of late. Top job everyone

Looks like Miranda's off to Inter in one of those "loan with mandatory purchase" deals. €16m when all's said in done, broken up in loan fees, transfer fees, and addons.

My favorite Spanish beer.

One of the candidates to our presidency has announced he has a deal with Laudrup to become our DoF, if he wins. This guy has nee chance, though.

How has he done at Genoa? He was so promising at Sevilla, but between injuries and inconsistency, it never happened.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/18/fifas-united-passions-lowest-grossing-film-us-history?CMP=share_btn_tw

Our press claims Mandzukic is heading to Juve for €20m.

The way that Argie journo describes him, by the way, I found it quite striking. He says that Messi, outside a football pitch, always looks bored. He doesn't read, he doesn't like movies, he likes videogames because he can compete in them, but those ultimately end up boring him too. When you talk to him he always seems sleepy or uninterested, he's very shy and sleeps a lot. Doesn't socialize. Doesn't see many people outside his family. Football seems to be the only thing that motivates and awakes him.

Not really, he didn't have Messi or his family contribute to it, just some people that managed and knew him. Like so many other books about Messi. Honestly, there's loads of them over here. They probably haven't been translated into English and that's why probably you don't know them. The only true personal account I have read is from an Argie journo that lives in Barcelona and has actually dealt with him often, being both Argies and all.

There are like 10000 books about Pep and Messi written by Spanish journos, you don't need any special dispensation to write them Balagué doesn't really have a good contact network for Barça, so I don't think he has any particularly insightful information about Messi's life. It's not the same as if he wrote about Benítez, for example.

Balagué knows f*** all, but Messi indeed comes across as a pretty reserved individual (he barely speaks to the press, for example, and the club keeps him out of the media focus, he doesn't take much to social media, etc...), which is a stark contrast from his exuberant footballing personality.

Cronaldo has lost his shit a few times too.

Last time he played for you some fucker almost broke his spine, I really want him far from the Brazilian team, he seems to be a magnet for kicks and trouble when he stars for you lot

Good lad Neymar, go home and have a rest. We need you fresh come August.

Mexican soaps are popular here, and yeah, the girls in them are incredible. But hardly a reflection of the nation's average.

Never been too impressed by the average Mexican girl myself, but they do have some stunners.

I don't rate Bas Dost at all. Mystery solved. Always going to the bargain bin.

The Copa del Rey doesn't leave many available midweek dates for them, since Liga Adelante sides are involved in it from the get-go. We could do like in England and have cup-tied sides play at the earliest available date, but we just don't do that. "Games in hand" are considered an aberration in Spain. All sides have to play their games at the same date.