Village Idiot

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.

Messi has had motivation issues for a good couple years. But when he's on, he's on; he bossed the game against Atlético for example. But seems harder for him to remain at the very top, every game, like he did 2-3 years ago. Maybe because he's achieved everything at club level, I don't know.

A Liverpool fan friend of mine just told me that "Newcastle were one of the richest clubs in England the 90s", in the middle of a "money doesn't buy success" tirade. Is that true? I know you were actually one of the top clubs in England (money-wise) in the 2000s, but not too sure before that.

Madrid have been better without him on the pitch, but he actually had a great game this weekend. Makes no sense to turn on a player after he puts on that kind of performance. Anyway, the Bernabéu crowd are known for their fickleness.

Gonna try to keep this thread more active. This week saw us getting a balsamic win over Atlético de Madrid, which will ensure Luís Enrique's future in the short term. With an election called at the end of the season (which the current board won't win), it's very unlikely that he'll get sacked unless things go real pear-shaped. Actually Enrique got one over Simeone by deploying Messi on the right, were he faced inexperienced Gámez and ran riot all night. Madrid disposed of Espanyol (useless c***s), and somehow Bale managed to get booed despite scoring a great FK and giving a great assist, for the crime of not passing it to Ronaldo when he was clear on goal. Elsewhere, Alves stopped another penalty (he's over 50% stopped penalties at the moment, ridiculous), although Valencia conceded a draw. That's the problem with them; they pull off great results like beating Madrid or Atlético (and almost drawing against us), but they drop points against much lesser opposition. Sevilla nailed another win and piped 4th place off them.

Speaking of which, I'm reading Lowe's weekly La Liga article (great read if you're interested in our OMGWEMIGHTFINISHTHIRD-crisis), and found this great bit: http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jan/12/lionel-messi-barcelona-unite-crisis-for-now Sadly true

We do have a few ex-pros serving as pundits, too, but not in the staggering amounts you do. We still have mostly professional "journalists" doing most stuff. Not that the average Spanish football journo is going to win the Pullitzer anytime soon, mind. The best journalist that writes about Spanish football is a brit.

That joke would have been remigarded as awful.

What has Morrison ever done to warrant a move to Serie A's third placed team, besides being as thuggish as Lazio fans?

that looks a horrible deal for Toronto Defoe wants to leave, Altidore will score boatloads in the MLS. Also, IIRC Toronto doesn't really get to decide, the MLS gets to decide if the offer is adequate. And the MLS probably wants Altidore there; he's still a star in the US, isn't he?