Village Idiot

Khedira is leaving on a free at the end of the season, so he's pretty much ostracized from the team. They are playing Isco as CM - which I think won't work against stronger teams. Modric is expected back on February, right in time for the business end of the season anyway. But after getting rid of Alonso and shutting down Khedira, they need strength there.

There's nothing on Marca about Reus, surely they'd be all over it if it were true. What they need is another CM - they have noticeably declined since Modric got injured. Kroos himself has admitted he feels tired, too.

Is it ''playing'' that counts, or just being registered? You did register him for the PL (when he got stripped off #10).

Ronaldo is all about marketing. He's going to become the new Pele in terms of spouting s*** constantly and making money through marketing. Sad to hear that. I genuinely like the guy, would be a pity if he ended up becoming a farce like Pelé.

Jesus Christ

It's mental really. FIFA should be ashamed. Also, I wonder if this would resist the scrutiny of a regular court. Registration is considered part of a footballer's right to work, in Spain.

The idea of Ronaldo owning your team, man. Wouldn't suprise me if he sold more shirts than the actual players. Is it a PR stunt or is he really involved in club matters?

Spanish refs are extremely harsh regarding managers and other staff haranguing them, yet won't do the same with players. A lot of shit would be taken off the game if players pressuring refs were yellow and red carded regularly.

I want to live in a world where Lazio are a still a bigger club than West Ham.

I'm on record not rating him, and I stand by it. Certainly an improvement over Altidore, mind.

The day we got that result we needed at home to Forest, when Enrique scored....that was probably the last time I felt the intensity of willing us onto a result that could MEAN something for us. Maybe the QPR away game when we secured survival but the circumstances were so different. That was my first year in this forum. This place went utterly mental when Enrique scored. A bunch of other great memories from that season; Lovenkrands scoring after his dad died, Plymouth Argyle playing the Blaydon Races when you won the title there (despite the fact it confirmed their relegation), Steven Taylor's phantom broken jaw... Also the bizarre collection of temp signings: Harewood, Fitz Hall, Van Aanholt, that French Pancake fella, Khizanishvili...

Get the feeling they're stringing this out until Carver gets a win.

Caparrós Fortunately - except for Granada fans' cervical vertebrae - he's currently employed.

There's quite a few ones over here, although I doubt they sell much. Some are really bizarre: Spain vs Aliens And the Fernando Torres superhero comic http://img.irtve.es/imagenes/torres-se-convierte-superheroe-comic/1274786363073.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w9Vq6Hn2ru0/S_9QNg3oaRI/AAAAAAAABZM/wUauzPLlZCY/s1600/portada-bj-cambios.jpg

Really amateurish from Nice, tbf. But it's still a s*** rule. I could understand it if we were talking about loaning it to clubs in the same division, but he's been transferred to a club in a different country ffs.

When I was a kid I used to read the Eric Castel comics; these featured a French player that signed for Barça. In one of them Barça plays against Keegan-led Hamburg. Being Castel the main hero, he manages to defeat Hamburg, but not before Keegan puts on a master class on the pitch. I didn't know who Keegan was until that point (I'm not old enough to have seen that side), so I asked my dad, who said, and I quote: "made football look like a movie where he always was the hero". Eric Castel is a great comic for football hipsters, by the way, loads of classic late 70s-early 80s sides show up in it. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_wRknFykCnpE/TNP3vry2PyI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/m5XR5SyiIRg/s1600/keegan.jpg

And that's Valencia wimping out of the Copa del Rey, when they had a reasonably clear path to the final.

It was a honest question, in no way I intended to start a sad-a-thon

50% chance of you wanting him

You placed above us for the last time in 2002-2003.

I'm pretty sure at one point in the 90s (97ish maybe) we had around the 5th biggest income in the world, even bigger than yours! How things have changed You were above us in the early 2000s, that I recall. We were woefully mismanaged at the time, mind.

He's the Bloody Mary of football managers, say his name aloud too often and he'll come out of a mirror and take over your club.

No, we've never worn hoops. Actually I'm not disgusted by the concept. I want to see the final execution, though.

It's all very mysterious tbf, he's getting treated for it but the underlying condition has never been revealed. He seems better this season, on that regard.

He does have a problem with nausea during games.