Village Idiot

Has to be some kind of agreement with the club then. The law is pretty clear (I work in this); if it's an open place accessible to the general public, permission isn't needed for the media to record or interview.

Dunno what exactly they mean by "outside the ground". If it's before the turnstiles and thus accessible to general public, media can do the f*** they want without asking anybody.

Clubs are completely powerless to impose any kind of condition to broadcasters, particularly if you're low in the food chain like Southampton. They don't even have any kind of authority to prevent who talks to whom *outside* the stadium.

Given the welcome that they gave to Darius fucking Vassell I imagine Sneijder's been crowned Sultan.

Aye, if he did give a f***. He still has some days where he decides he's going to be unplayable, and makes you wonder why he doesn't do it every day.

There's nothing on the 10sport site about this supposed quote, or even Arsenal's interest, anyway.

I checked the MHSC forums I read the other day, and they all go from "English sources" regarding the Arsenal hijacking; hence, the Mirror.

Fuck man, I'm glad I only sympathize with you. Would be doing my wrists right now.

Funnily Wenger seems to f*** it up mostly when he pays a lot for a player. Reyes, Arshavin, Gervinho, probably Giroud... didn't Jeffers cost a pretty penny back then, too?

Sevilla were amazing in the 2000s. Won trophies by spending pennies on unknown players than they moved on for millions, replacing them with more el cheapo buys: Alves, Baptista, Ramos,Kanouté, Luís Fabiano... Pellegrini's record at Villarreal and to an extent at Málaga is amazing, too. Can't think of many in the top tier if you like of clubs that do that though. Not sure why people would expect Ferguson to do that with a team as good as Manu? I don't see many top tier clubs paying the fees he pays for youngsters, which is what I'm getting at. Top tier clubs usually pay these kind of fees for established players. Dunno, Madrid paid €5m for Canales for example. I'd argue in England they do pay top money for the youngsters, not saying they are worth it but think of Arsenal, Man City, Bale at Spurs etc. Fair enough, I may be looking at this with poverty-tinted Spanish glasses. Still think that Fergie just uses ManU's muscle to massively outbid everybody in youngsters that already carry a lot of hype. Except when loses his sanity and buys Bebe. For example Arsenal had to pay only a f***ing 1 million for Fàbregas because they scouted him way before he was known.

Sevilla were amazing in the 2000s. Won trophies by spending pennies on unknown players than they moved on for millions, replacing them with more el cheapo buys: Alves, Baptista, Ramos,Kanouté, Luís Fabiano... Pellegrini's record at Villarreal and to an extent at Málaga is amazing, too. Can't think of many in the top tier if you like of clubs that do that though. Not sure why people would expect Ferguson to do that with a team as good as Manu? I don't see many top tier clubs paying the fees he pays for youngsters, which is what I'm getting at. Top tier clubs usually pay these kind of fees for established players. Dunno, Madrid paid €5m for Canales for example. We paid €3m for Femenía (fortunately)... last starlet to be bought from a Second Division club was €2,5m for the Jonathan Viera transfer to Valencia.

I don't think Fergie coaches the skill out of his players, in fact most under his tutelage improve a great deal technically - albeit that technical ability is put to an ultra-efficient, practical use. So he definitely counts effectiveness over flair. He likes to buy players who can dribble and beat a player, but then harnesses that innate talent into more common, less flashy, but more impacting game moments like making a yard of space in central midfield to find a pass, or buying time on the ball in and around the penalty area. Basically his approach is to make his signings the most professional player they can possibly be. I'd bet, for instance, that if Man Utd bought Bale we'd see far less of his marauding runs but on the flipside he'd be scoring 20+ league goals a season. Zaha's an interesting one as he looks better on the break with space in front of him. fergie will beef him up and tailor him up to playing in more defined parts of the pitch, not sure he has the technical ability for that but his potential physical attributes are scary. I agree with that, and I'd say it's a general trend and -ultimately- the best way to maximise a footballer's natural ability. Look at Messi when he broke through compared to now; he keeps things far more simpler.

Sevilla were amazing in the 2000s. Won trophies by spending pennies on unknown players than they moved on for millions, replacing them with more el cheapo buys: Alves, Baptista, Ramos,Kanouté, Luís Fabiano... Pellegrini's record at Villarreal and to an extent at Málaga is amazing, too.

I'm not discussing anything of this; he's a great manager. Obviously he's earnt the right to spend over the odds in youngsters; I just say that he isn't the great finder of talent a lot of the media make him to be, since he just spends a lot on already hyped youngsters and his track record has quite a few expensive blemishes.

Quite more than these two tbf. He's had great successes but he's made out to be this master finder of talent when he really isn't and is lucky to be at a club that can fund the fees he pays for youngsters. Hold on a sec I dislike Fergie as much as the next man but I would say Man U are lucky to have him not the other way around no? You know what I mean; had he to operate in a shoestring he wouldn't have "unearthed" as much talent as he's credited for.

ManU fans always spout RONALDOOOO!!!!! when I tell that to them, quite ignoring the fact than a host of other clubs were already after him and he just took the chequebook out and bid an insane amount for a youngster. Credit to him for believing he was worth that much, mind.

Compared to lack of medical attention yeah. What I mean is that Messi had a medical condition, and he was treated for that.

Quite more than these two tbf. He's had great successes but he's made out to be this master finder of talent when he really isn't and is lucky to be at a club that can fund the fees he pays for youngsters.

To be frank, a correctly plastered leg will also have had an effect on any injuried player's footballing ability.

New plan: sod strikers and get a load of mint attacking midfielders Works for Spain.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to "German comedy". This is the guy that will be impersonating Pep in one of their comedy shows over there... !

No, he hasn't. I suppose he'll be sold in the summer though.

Want to borrow Pardew? We don't have enough DMs/CBs to sub in

Tito will be two weeks absent from the club while he undergoes chemotherapy. I'm not too sure the club is approaching this the right way; one game he's there, then he's not... maybe they should have found a caretaker until he fully recovers.

Yeah, when Cronaldo puts his greediness aside shows that he could be more of a player than he is (like he isn't great now, heh).