Village Idiot

Made me think of the Cup-Winners Cup. Loved that tournament myself. One of the things I'm proudest as Barça fan is being record winners and owning the original trophy. It made winning the cup special, too, instead of being thrown out with the Waffa cup lot. I suppose it didn't make much sense with the expanded CL.

That was a cracking finish by the dolphin. I would get him signed, Neil.

It's probably bollocks, so I think the news is just good for the belly-laugh of imagining it. The CWC is a tin cup, but it would be taking the piss of the tournament.

I love dolphins

El Diego would be a better choice, I'm sure he'd be happy get stuck into to Pele. Nah, he doesn't really like us. While he was here he got his leg broken and started doing drugs, not great memories. Didn't know that (drugs), seen the tackle a few times mind. How is he thought of by Barça fans? Doesn't mean much to us, given the circumstances and the briefness of his spell, which is a pity given his stature. To be frank he performed admirably on the pitch when he was fit and scored a couple of anthology goals, but didn't get along well with the board and demanded a transfer. Regarding the drugs thing, he said so in his biography.

El Diego would be a better choice, I'm sure he'd be happy get stuck into to Pele. Nah, he doesn't really like us. While he was here he got his leg broken and started doing drugs, not great memories.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/584/brazil/2011/08/03/2603546/santos-want-pele-to-play-in-club-world-cup-report We could ask Cruyff to join the battle of the OAPs.

Yes, but not too far. It's the site of what was going to be Madrid's Olympic stadium in their 2012 and 2016 bids. 70k seats is ambitious to say the least.

Madrid's city council has given the license to Atlético to break ground in their new 70k stadium. It is expected to be finished towards the end of the 2014-2015 season. It will be financed entirely by the sale of the Vicente Calderón.

It was just a preseason friendly, granted, but Leicester made a very good show against Real Madrid the other day. Atlético in talks with Wolfsburg regarding Diego. Either a loan with a buyout clause or a straight transfer. His wages are the biggest stumbling block.

Every clubs talks to at least the player's agent before a fee is agreed, to be frank. There's a reason contract terms are always agreed so quickly after the seller club "gives permission" to talk to the player.

For all we know they could be a number of clubs in for him. It's possible, but they would also need to be clubs that Jose would be keen to join (ie of Liverpool's status or greater). I'm not convinced by the speculation about the likes of Arsenal and Barca, and I can't see an auction happening. We are not going to bid on José Enrique. Dunno about Arsenal.

That's the reason I never buy Barcelona press. They feed on Barça and will never stop at everything we do, lest they risk angering the board or staff, which makes for poor readership if you're actually interested in football. These parochial newspapers that rely big on readers from a single area or supporters of a certain club won't take risks to lose the source of their content. However, on the other side Marca tries way too hard to influence Real Madrid's decision-making.

What I have always wondered is how do they calculate it on real time. When I was a kid I imagined they had a guy flipping a switch every time a team gained possession.

Some interesting details emerging from that €8,5m deal that brought goalkeeper Roberto to Zaragoza (who are in administration). According to "El País" the club hasn't bought the player, but an investment fund that has Jorge Mendes (agent of Mou and Cronaldo, among others) and Peter Kenyon among its members. The fund in turn is loaning him to Zaragoza for around €400k. Roberto was highly rated, but has had a couple horrid years. I guess they are banking on him to raise in value and sell him again. Isn't that a bit like MSI and Mascherano/Tévez? EDIT: As I post this the Portuguese trading authority has suspended Benfica's shares until they fully disclose the details of the transfer.

Usaín Bolt interviewed by Marca today, says he wants to try to play professional football. Imagine it, the ultimate speed merchant

Marca was saying this morning that both clubs were "close" to a deal so it might be true.

Will put him on the radar for the Spanish NT, too. Liverpool receive far more coverage than yourselves in Spain.

Do you know how Nelson Valdez did last season? According to wiki, he has a 5m euro buyout clause. Might be realistic since he plays for a relegated side... He did pretty well, but he's not a prolific striker, more of a support player.

Iniesta will sponsor his local team Albacete through his vineyards in the area. Albacete are in a bit of a crunch after being relegated from Spanish second tier this season. If that means he'll get his name on the shirt I will be buying one!

His first six months with Hércules were sensational. Then he got unsettled although he had reasons to do so (shit hit the fan badly at Hércules).

No, actually we have always performed well in youth tournaments, it's when they grew up that they bottled it. On that regard, I think that finally finding a recognizable style for the team has helped a lot. Spain never had a definite way to play and changing to a possession based, short-passing style in the mid-2000s (which suited the players that were coming through) and sticking to it has done wonders. Plus the obvious morale boost of actually winning for a change (success breeds success).

Yeah but Spain has no money Who cares we are the best at FOOTBALL!!! Your women's team is crap U17 European champions, just wait!

Yeah but Spain has no money Who cares we are the best at FOOTBALL!!!

Aye, they are in administration and they went on and spent €8m on an inconsistent keeper. Benfica apparently still owes them money from the Aimar transfer though, so that's probably included in the fee.