Village Idiot

What will happen? Will they cease to exist or reform doing the leagues? Gijon aside (and even they've been woeful this season) football seems to have gone to s*** in the NW of Spain. If they are able to paper the cracks regarding the wind up order, they still have until June 30th to get out of administration or face relegation to Segunda B. Given the current ownership state it is very unlikely anybody would want to invest in the club at this point, though, and the local/regional authorities already have skin in the game and are unlikely to come in for more given the situation of public finances. Racing have been grossly mismanaged for many years, they were the club with the highest debt-to-turnover ratio in La Liga, and it was due to implode at some point. I feel sorry for the fans, they have been lied and deceived constantly a long string of owners that make the guy at Pompey look like Warren Buffet. I'm confident Depor will be straight up this year, so that's something. Hope Sporting stay up too, always have had a soft spot for them.

Soriano? If there's a man capable of wrecking ManCity, it's him Great P&R guy though. Still, what a c***, he has left 4000 people on the streets due to his inept stewardship of Spanair (not entirely his fault, with the depression and all that, but still he was a horrible CEO that consistently lied about the state of the company) and he jumps straight into another big money glamour job.

Racing Santander seems headed to oblivion. The trial to wrestle off control from Ali Sayed (supposed sugar daddy that ended up being a fraud), won't be celebrated until 2013, with the club currently in administration and with a deadline of June 30th to name a board or face a windup order.

Actually there's talk that he will come round and agree to an extension soon, he's apparently delighted by the way the club is going forward under Bielsa. I really hope he stays there.

You didn't watch us against Villarreal then. That's the worst Barça game I have ever seen since Pep took charge. I think we were alright against Real Sociedad, had we took our chances we would have been out of sight by half time, with a team that started 3 Barça B players due to the massive amount of injuries we have at the moment.

Was at that game... Valdes made 2 big saves and thought Real played well and with a little more belief could of knicked something... Any chance you can explain why the ground was only half full?... Surely not the poor weather? It was the coldest night in Barcelona since records are kept. Yes, I know, you northerners laugh at what we soft latinos think as "cold". But since the game was on free TV, it was easier to keep warm at home. I take it weather has the biggest effect on your attendances or was it the Free View? Got a surprise with the fluctuation of your attendances this season after just checking them... 30k down is a lot... is Real Madrid the same?.. Our average is pretty high this season 85k-ish IIRC. I think it was all things combined: free view with record low temperatures against a not very glamourous rival = lowest attendance this season. Dunno about Real Madrid, they usually average less than us.

Cruyff is a legend and I will listen to anything he has to say about football, but he really is an egotistical twat.

Wait? Really? I have watched quite a few Depor games this season in Liga Adelante and I have never, ever seen him on the pitch.

Well, I understand that London is a wealthier place than Barcelona, so they can squeeze more out of you. We could probably jack up our ST prices, since there's a several year waiting list, but it would be deeply unpopular.

The most expensive Barça STs are around 850 pounds

I don't think Mourinho wants to manage a national side before Portugal, which he's nailed on to do at some point.

I'm part French, my mother speaks French and wanted to take me to a French school when I was a kid but ultimately decided against it since it was far from where we lived. I really should learn French, but learning another Latin language (I speak Catalan and Spanish already) feels a bit like a waste.

I'd say that's the easiest way i went to a french school in london til I was 13 so basically educated in french, they taught english as a foreign language really well (obviously as the school is in london you would expect that). then going to an english school, french was taught quite poorly, most not native speakers im planning on just teaching myself a lot of spanish, then 3.5 months in south america will hopefully nail that home. how different will it be in south america compared to me just learning spanish words? is it just the dialect that is different? Grammar, etc... is mostly the same, they just use a different lexicon. It's mutually understandable, but there's the odd faux pas (the word we use in the peninsula for "take" is the same in Mexico for "f***"). And you are right regarding this being the best way to learn a language. I really want to learn something else apart from English but can't see me living outside the Spanish/anglosaxon world at the moment.

English was introduced in our schools in the 1980s (before that French was the foreign language taught in Spanish schools), but the teaching is not comprehensive at all, and without native teachers, etc... I always had the impression of learning the same basic things every year, without raising the bar to get to the level of having a functional knowledge of the language. I had to learn it the hard way, living abroad. They are always talking about improving English teaching but never get around to do squat.

Was thinking... there should be something else in CM for England after Wilshere before stepping down to Milner. And I just can't come up with anybody.

Nou Mestalla will be going forward, they *must* sell Mestalla in order to save themselves (they closed a deal a couple months ago for it), and they need some place to play. I think the worst for Valencia is over, and if the Mestalla/Nou Mestalla transition doesn't hit another hiccup they will be looking up. They really should put a statue to Villa/Silva/Mata at the door of the new stadium. Those sales saved the club. As for fixture lists, what do you mean? La Liga's? They are usually announced mid-july. Aye I read about the Mestalla stuff in Fourfourtwo a while back...I just mean others will be siding on caution about selling land, basically speculating before accumulating which is the risk Valencia took. Yeah La Liga's fixtures. Mainly as me and my mate are thinking of heading over to my parents and then going to a Valencia game Sept/Oct time...just a weekend or so. In your opinion, how would a local supporters club be with a couple of english lads wanting to tag along on a supporters bus for a game? the real madrid ultras were welcoming, but my mate knew them (and i'm sure the ones we were with weren't the 100% crazy people) Supporter clubs in Spain are usually very welcoming, I don't think he'll have any problem. Foreign fans are also an exotic sight for a team not called Barcelona or Madrid. Sweet. I don't habla espanol...well un poco but such a small amount it's not really worth pretending to do so I think we'll be fine, the town where we'd be going from is friendly enough. Most Spaniards don't speak English, so that will make it even more fun.

He spoke about wanting to manage at international level a month ago, actually. Most inferred he was positioning himself for the Spain job should Del Bosque leave after the EC.

Nou Mestalla will be going forward, they *must* sell Mestalla in order to save themselves (they closed a deal a couple months ago for it), and they need some place to play. I think the worst for Valencia is over, and if the Mestalla/Nou Mestalla transition doesn't hit another hiccup they will be looking up. They really should put a statue to Villa/Silva/Mata at the door of the new stadium. Those sales saved the club. As for fixture lists, what do you mean? La Liga's? They are usually announced mid-july. Aye I read about the Mestalla stuff in Fourfourtwo a while back...I just mean others will be siding on caution about selling land, basically speculating before accumulating which is the risk Valencia took. Yeah La Liga's fixtures. Mainly as me and my mate are thinking of heading over to my parents and then going to a Valencia game Sept/Oct time...just a weekend or so. In your opinion, how would a local supporters club be with a couple of english lads wanting to tag along on a supporters bus for a game? the real madrid ultras were welcoming, but my mate knew them (and i'm sure the ones we were with weren't the 100% crazy people) Supporter clubs in Spain are usually very welcoming, I don't think he'll have any problem. Foreign fans are also an exotic sight for a team not called Barcelona or Madrid.

Was at that game... Valdes made 2 big saves and thought Real played well and with a little more belief could of knicked something... Any chance you can explain why the ground was only half full?... Surely not the poor weather? It was the coldest night in Barcelona since records are kept. Yes, I know, you northerners laugh at what we soft latinos think as "cold". But since the game was on free TV, it was easier to keep warm at home.

Nou Mestalla will be going forward, they *must* sell Mestalla in order to save themselves (they closed a deal a couple months ago for it), and they need some place to play. I think the worst for Valencia is over, and if the Mestalla/Nou Mestalla transition doesn't hit another hiccup they will be looking up. They really should put a statue to Villa/Silva/Mata at the door of the new stadium. Those sales saved the club. As for fixture lists, what do you mean? La Liga's? They are usually announced mid-july.

Yeah, they're sort of equal distance from Madrid and Barcelona. I hope that Athletic/Atlético build their new venues soon, it would give us more options. Mestalla is the only viable option size-wise, as the Calderón doesn't have the level of VIP/hosting facilities required for a final, and the Sevilla stadiums are usually too far for teams in the north.

Sam Allardyce, England manager. Oh the fun.

Aye, thought it was a very entertaining game myself, and the first good performance from us since the New Year. Atmosphere at the stadium was better than usual too, despite the cold. Soldado missed the game due to illness, but he is in a bad patch right now and Valencia are feeling it. Their league form has been quite indifferent since January. They depend massively on him. Now there's talk that the final might be played at the Camp Nou. Real Madrid have refused to lend the Bernabéu, and Athletic want to bring all their fans, which would only be possible in a 80k+ stadium (with a 50/50 ticket split). I doubt the FA would sanction it though. Bugger about Soldado, he's the main man at Valencia...a bit like our Ba! I heard the Mestella was going to be the venue? Neutral ground and all that. I know it's not the biggest but it would make sense. I doubt Barca and Althletic would enjoy playing in the capital given political reasons. We both would enjoy it greatly. I think the problem is that we would enjoy a bit too much It's probably going to be Mestalla, but they have hosted the final 2 times in 3 years already.

Aye, thought it was a very entertaining game myself, and the first good performance from us since the New Year. Atmosphere at the stadium was better than usual too, despite the cold. Soldado missed the game due to illness, but he is in a bad patch right now and Valencia are feeling it. Their league form has been quite indifferent since January. They depend massively on him. Now there's talk that the final might be played at the Camp Nou. Real Madrid have refused to lend the Bernabéu, and Athletic want to bring all their fans, which would only be possible in a 80k+ stadium (with a 50/50 ticket split). I doubt the FA would sanction it though.

It will be a great time to manage England after the EC. It's too late to shake the squad so close to the tournament.