Village Idiot

That's what transpired at the time, that Mou punished him for consorting with the enemy.

Iker Casillas, hasn't started a competitive club fixture since January yet he's autopicked by default for Spain.

I guess that's what we can expect tonight

Aye, we would take shit from Real Madrid fans until kingdom come. So NO.

Who was that? I like in (I think) Italy they call a nutmeg a "little tunnel". We call it a "túnel" or - my favorite - "sotana" (cassock) since the defender would have avoided it had he worn one. Love stuff like this. You lot call goals direct from corners olimpico's n all? Yeah, called that way because Argentina scored it against the then-Olympic champions Uruguay in the 1920s, and used the word to mock them.

A Nicky Butt picture doing a bicycle kick I meant

Was expecting a Nicky Butt picture.

Who was that? I like in (I think) Italy they call a nutmeg a "little tunnel". We call it a "túnel" or - my favorite - "sotana" (cassock) since the defender would have avoided it had he worn one.

David Arellano was the one that popularized it in Spain in the 1920s, but he apparently took it from a Ramón Unzaga, who also played in Chile.

Interestingly, over here we credit a Spanish-born Chilean as the inventor of the bicycle kick and that's why in Spanish we call it "La chilena". A "bicycle" in Spanish football slang is a stepover.

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSZ8Au8iDJv3yWbH8G3_i2rmxzeKfyWtxdaLoOfAKNPeq80aPuqrA He's scored a few FKs when he's been allowed to take them, though (remember at least two FK goals in the last two seasons). Never seen him take a pen, he was pretty low on the pecking order for that. He did take corners for them, remember a few assists to Ronaldo that way.

Nah, stadium naming rights would have people up in arms over here, it's still quite rare in Spain; with Mallorca relegated no Spanish top flight team has them sold and both Athletic and Atlético aren't planning to do it for their new stadiums. Sports Direct@Camp Nou FFS.

He won the assists table in the year they won the league IIRC, but absolutely not by such an outlandish margin He's a brilliant player, mind, and I think he can clean up if given a focal role in a team instead of being Ronaldo's bitch. He will probably enjoy that at Arsenal.

Is it? Brilliant word that. I like it a lot myself, and make a point of using it instead of "supernatural" since it's a better fit in most cases

No, he didn't. http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012–13_La_Liga Is this wrong? Think I've picked my team using a fake wikipedia edit. That assists list has absolutely no resemblance to reality, man, Iniesta won it last year. The official La Liga site has it as: (it uses a java widget to display it so I can't post it) Iniesta - 16 Özil - 13 Messi - 12 Fàbregas - 11 Benzema - 11

To be frank "preternatural" is a Spanish word too

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.