Village Idiot

No, he didn't. But he did in the two previous ones. Özil has a lot, a lot to say about Cronaldo's goalscoring figures since he signed for them. Their understanding was preternatural. Will he have somebody with Ronaldo's movement ahead of him though?

Kagawa keeps dropping so much in price...would be an absolute steal if Moyes came to his senses. Any chance of that happening with Fellaini in the team?

And it's pretty tacky.

Also, the fact that "Camp Nou" means "New Pitch" is way too much of a misnomer nowadays

It's old and they are losing revenue by the lack of corporate seats/boxes. Pretty much this. Plus it's very cramped inside due to not using towers to get to the top tiers, etc... and well, it's a bit ugly, a massive slab of concrete which is how stuff was built over here in the 1950s-60s.

That's the big elephant in the room. It's necessary, but the board has admitted that financing it could be crippling. They seem to have scaled back their plans and go with just a big Camp Nou renovation instead of a new stadium. They said they'd release more info throughout the season as they finalise their plans. Then it has to be approved by the club members in a vote.

It's improving, according to our accounts and reports from some neutral analysts. But we can't spend as lavishly (€25m net spend this season). Debt is reportedly going down and we are no longer technically insolvent as we were two years ago. I don't like the current board for many things, but they appear financially responsible.

Installments work both ways. You won't be paying the lump sum of the player you're buying now, but you're still paying the installments of the players you bought years ago. For example, RM just paid a €25m installment for Cronaldo (to the bank). There's a new report that says that Madrid hasn't got a proper loan, but the banks are backing a set of IOUs that will be used to pay Spurs.

Surely Madrid have the revenues to pay for transfers out of their own pocket (aside from the 2010 spending spree)? After selling Özil, they might have (would put them at a €50m-€60m net spend), but it all depends on the installments of all the transfers involved and their resulting cash flow. They certainly can't afford a lump €100m out of their own pocket.

It's the same bank that loaned them the Kaká and Cronaldo money (which they are still paying back). It's the former Madrid state bank, it just doesn't look clean to me to have the state indirectly funding football clubs (we're guilty of this too), if it was such a good business they'd probably have no problem securing the loan from a private bank. This is the same bank that almost repo-ed Valencia a few months ago, incidentally. That said, Madrid have just denied this and said they are paying it from their own pockets in 4 installments.

Bit of a scandal going round as it's been revealed that a nationalized bank that needed the biggest bailout of our financial history has loaned Real Madrid the Bale money. Oh Spain, I do recognize you.

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRUGUC1FHQr-nDGZQhyHhf6jUWXstVGOukuUTphWo7C4UHfKIgNCg

Guy in the picture looks like me but with shorther hair

To be fair to Owen, his minutes/goal ratio while at RM was the best in the squad. Going by form, he should have been a starter but he wasn't nee Ronaldo or Raúl (who was already in decline and coasting on his status within the club). That's why I thought you had staged an amazing coup when you signed him.

I just love how it starts as a cheery piece congratulating Bale for his signing and whising him well, only to quickly degenerate into a depressive tale of isolation and loneliness that reads like a sucky sequel of Lost in Translation He does have issues.

Half the Real Madrid squad lived in the same high-standing neighborhood in La Moraleja, with plenty of expensive for-rent houses with the swimming pool, etc... he craved. Why the fuck didn't he move there? I'm just picturing the rest of the Real Madrid squad not telling him about it because they didn't want him to move in with them

http://estaticos01.marca.com/imagenes/2013/08/11/futbol/futbol_internacional/1376239256_extras_noticia_foton_7_1.jpg

We should have been in for Sakho, imho. We'll deepfully regret letting yet another window pass without a CB.

Voted for ..., will give 3 points to his team.

I dropped Mirallas, but might pick him back again as soon as he looks like picking form. Huge potential imho.

102 / 1784 minutes. You're welcome. Thank you, Mr Sandow http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQD_5ypgLhpsnsFfH8ghDBHjIBSFXx_pyZmiVSM8jXkuNf6SCe6nw

102 / 1784 minutes. You're welcome.

Touré's a doubt, so it's not far-fetched.

"Please Alan, tell them I tried really really hard". So childish the whole affair JFK looking for the most half-arsed way out to save face, Alan agreeing to it because he'd do his darndest to keep on this job fully knowing nobody is going to employ him in the top flight if he's sacked. My respects for putting up with this farce.

There are so many fucking Sissokos going around that I just lose track on who's who.