Village Idiot

That's him off my FF team then. Damn.

I'm happy, mind. After your streak when signing Spanish players (José Enrique nonwithstanding) I think we owe you as a nation to give you a player that's not an embarrassment.

I'm a foreigner, I often mix he/it because we don't have a neutral/thing gender I know how to use them, but when writing quickly sometimes he it just happens.

Is he really that hot of a prospect for you? I'd be sick if a young American went into Pardewland. He was easily one of the best players in Liga Adelante last season. The lad has come from nowhere, so you can never be sure whether it was just a hot season or he really exploded. A lot of people was surprised it went to you instead of being captured by one of the Spanish big clubs for their B teams, however.

Alan Pardew, destroying Spain's hopes for the 2018 WC.

Moving to Newcastle gives you international caps He's highly rated though, I hope he can thrive at your club.

Spain doesn't have a "Wembley" and the NT plays throughout the country. Heck, there would be hell on hearth if they tried to have the team play only in Madrid. It brings the team closer to the fans; the atmosphere is great when they go to Valencia, for example.

Yeah, the guy was actually pretty upbeat when talking about it. I found an English transcription: http://www.conmebol.com/en/content/batistuta-i-asked-they-cut-my-legs-because-pain

No way Love Batistuta. Was it a particular part of his leg? He said that many injuries and ops have left them without cartilage in his joints, which makes simple movements very painful.

Just watched a pretty harrowing interview with Gabriel Batistuta. He has had several mobility problems due to the constant injuries, ops, and rushed recoveries during his playing career. He often peed himself in the bed because of not daring to stand up to walk to the bathroom. He even said he considered amputation given the pain he lives with.

Wasn't there a season where Fulham finished 7th with 30-something goals?

The year Athletic-Atlético played the final was immense. It featured a lot of great knockout ties. It easily bested the CL that season, imho.

Actually, I have been looking at some of the Spanish call-ups, particularly at the back, and I don't think they are too far ahead of Jack Colback footballing-wise Mikel San José, really? Can't we do better than him?

I blame Jose but Ancelotti made it even worse. Has played week in week out for the last 3 or 4 years. Last season he had to do even more donkey work with Khedira out (although Modric was brilliant himself). He'll not play as much at Bayern and when he does he'll have to run less - should be brilliant. Real have started the season with a Kross-Modric partnership hVent they? Illa and Khedira as back-up, sounds exciting at least. Think Real will suffer as the Spanish influence in the squad has waned a bit. Last season their starting eleven would have 4 Spaniards (Lopez, Carvahal, Ramos, Alonso) and a further 6 as immediate back-up (Casillas, Arbeloa, Illa, Isco, Jese, the other Spanish striker). Think they might have ended the CL final with 6 Spaniards on the pitch. They actually were very poor against Córdoba with the Kroos-Modric partnership, until Khedira was subbed on and they regained some shape. Sure, Kroos-Modric-James looks FM-tastic, but it's not well balanced. They do have the players to make it work, but I don't think they can have all the glamour men in the pitch at the same time.

Aye, it's been a long time since a club came from nowhere and won the thing. Porto's win is 10 years old, already.

He might prefer to go home and have a wank.

Now that's odd. They do need some creative force in midfield after selling both Canales and Banega, but Spanish clubs very rarely fish in the English market.

Nothing on the Madrid media; they would be all over this if it were true.

And thus, the ginger midfielder torch gets passed from Scholes to Colback.

He'll get maybe five times more at Leicester than in the Argie league, so can't blame him for looking for a last big paycheck. Still, I'm afraid an aging DM from a slow paced league will sink like a lead balloon in the PL. Loved him in his pomp, mind.

I don't get teams like Hull throwing the EL, like they did in the first leg. I mean, I understand UEFA itself shits on this competition, but a team like Hull won't have many chances of having European nights. You gotta give something to your fans.

Zidane reported by a Spanish managers association for managing Real Madrid Castilla without having the necessary UEFA badges. Officially, Zidane is only Ass Man, but the spokesman for the association claims that it's obvious and notorious that's Zidane who's actually managing the team and Real Madrid are just circumventing the rules.

I hope they get far in the EL. They got to be half-decent at least, for stuffing Celtic the way they did.

That's mental, it's just been a few hours since the list was announced

Good thing I was waiting for Friday before executing the Agüero transfer. Need another replacement for Costa though...