Village Idiot

FFS MESSI

Mascherano in midfield? Trying to soak teams doesn't work for us.

That's our best XI, depending on where you stand in the Bravo-Ter Stegen debate. Biggest game of the season so far.

Looks like La Liga will be against it too. Until they get bought off, the corrupt wankers.

We'll probably get a two-month winter break and make up for it in the preceding and following summer. A WC during winter, while I'm still not on holidays. This is going to suck mightily.

That's what I was thinking, isn't that a genuinely yank expression?

No, 54 teams are promoted to Tercera, and the same number are relegated. Tercera has 18 different groups, 3 are relegated to Regional from each group, and the top 4 enter the promotion playoffs. From the 72 clubs that enter the playoffs, 15 get promoted to Segunda B. Think of it as an actual pyramid, where each group has up to 4 groups in a lower tier "supporting" it. It is done to reduce travel expenses, since every group comprises an increasingly smaller geographical area. That makes it really hard to get promoted, though, since a lot of clubs are competing for a meager 3 spots in the next tier. Ah fair enough so it's essentially like the lower tiers of the English pyramid, like Swelley said. I would have thought that, that is actually a good thing for the Spanish game, as it means the quality of team is pretty much at the same level between the 18 divisions and they are still technically in the forth tier, I don't know what that equivalent level would be, but it makes things more competitive, which is always a good thing. So do the top teams in the various divisions not get promoted as standard? Fyi It made me chucle that you started that post with No 54 No, but they usually get a bye in the playoffs or other advantages (winners of Segunda B play between themselves for 2 promotion spots, and losers get entered into a playoff with the 2nd-4th placed teams, for example). I personally think it hurts the good teams in Segunda B. It makes the league harder to market since there's a lot of rubbish in it, and too many games going on. The good teams that get sucked into it have a tough time getting back up, and face significant damage given how financially poor the league is. It's derisively called "El Pozo" - the pit.

I think yours works better. Spain is larger than England, but our pyramid made more sense in a time when the rail or road links in the country were not the ones we have now. The dropoff in quality within Segunda B is too high, 80 teams...

Not at all, Carver's right; he's working hard to mount a relegation battle.

No, 54 teams are promoted to Tercera, and the same number are relegated. Tercera has 18 different groups, 3 are relegated to Regional from each group, and the top 4 enter the promotion playoffs. From the 72 clubs that enter the playoffs, 15 get promoted to Segunda B. Think of it as an actual pyramid, where each group has up to 4 groups in a lower tier "supporting" it. It is done to reduce travel expenses, since every group comprises an increasingly smaller geographical area. That makes it really hard to get promoted, though, since a lot of clubs are competing for a meager 3 spots in the next tier.

Fans of the old club claim that by splitting the fanbase, they are making things harder for a club in dire financial straits. They have a point, although I commend the other fans' effort to get a club they can again call their own.

Yeah, there is. Although a vast majority of fans support the new one.

Xerez CD have had a long string of crooked owners, dropping like a stone through the divisions and being further relegated because of accrued debts. Fed up with the whole thing, fans and former players created a rival club from scratch in the lowest tier of Spanish football, named Xerez Deportivo FC. They have been promoted twice in two years and are currently attracting bigger crowds than the main one. Most people expect the new club to end up supplanting the old one, since they are only separated by two divisions right now. It would sort of be a pity, since Xerez CD is a very storied club, more than a century old.

Carver is the same, every time he's on the radio its all about him and what he's done. Carver's different. He just tries to justify himself by trotting out his "accomplishments" any chance he has since everybody - rightfully - points out his inadequacy. Pardew was unbridled ego.

"Color commentary guy", I presume.

Sometimes it feels like Pardew is actually somebody spoofing Pardew

Oddly entertaining game this.

What a shit day of football.

To be honest they have the potential to be more than they have been until now. Their current success should enable them to improve in all their current sponsorship deals, the new collective contract *should* improve their TV money (although they already are the third most favored club - although miles behind Barçadrid). Dunno about doubling their income, but they are in a position to grow as a club. A few years ago, they were on the brink of administration. The things a talismanic manager can achieve...

Well, it seems that Atlético want to quell rumours about Simeone's future: Cadena SER are reporting the club is poised to offer him a contract running until 2022. Current contract runs until 2017 but has a "get out" clause at the end of every season that Atlético want to get rid of. The new contract would also involve more control regarding transfers, and a pledge to double Atlético's income and investment in the next 5 years.

One of those 3 made him miss a CL final.

For us at the moment, Perez. Historically Bellamy. For us in recent times it's got to be Larsson. Rather poor scoring record but great at making space for others and enabling Ronaldinho/Eto'o to do their thing. Shoutout to Villa and how cannily clever he was moving in and around the box to drag defences and create space for Messi, but his record is close to 1 in 2. Currently it's Suárez. But he seems to be hitting his streak, scoring-wise.

More seriously, I was about to name Kluivert but he's almost 1 in 2.

Emile Heskey.