Village Idiot

David Silva hasn't won much apart from the WC, but yeah, Yaya Touré knows the high stages. What about starting a CL final and all that.

Voluntary relegation?

Hulk is linked to Atlético in our press today, at a whooping €60m (yeah, sure). Popular guy.

If he wins the CL he will have won every possible trophy, wouldn't he? - League (ManU) - Cup (L'pool) - League Cup (ManU, L'pool) - UEFA Cup (L'pool) - Charity Shield (ManU, L'pool) - UEFA Super Cup (L'pool) He would lack a CWC, which he could win if he stays past this season.

Is Altintop good as fullback? They only have Arbeloa as backup for both sides and it's the only place I can see Altintop adding something meaningful to their squad.

Didn't Mario Jardel end up at Bolton and was s***? Hence me using his case as a cautionary tale. What strikers have successfully moved on from the Portuguese league, by the way?

He's been streaky this season, but when he's on he's excellent. Valencia probably want to do a Villa here, sell his name player for big bucks and then get somebody up and coming like Parejo or Valero for a smaller fee. Pity they are broke + Barça/Madrid are on 'roids, you could build a title challenging squad with the players they have had in their books the past two seasons.

I always tell myself "Mario Jardel" when I see some Brazilian player tearing the Portuguese league apart while playing for one of the big guns, but gotta say I have liked Hulk very much this season. He's probably out of your reach, though. Why would Liverpool want another 20m+ striker, though?

Banega linked to Inter as Valencia looking to sell 5-6 players to balance the books again, plus he doesn't get along well with Emery.

See two posts up and hang your head in shame young man. Hung. my bad. You don't want to see him angry.

If pushed, yes. But I don't rate Negredo much, I have to admit.

I think Osvaldo is a continental striker. And Negredo's advantages in La Liga would be diluted in the Premiership. Osvaldo I have for a quality player, mind, just get the feeling he benefits from a less physical defending, and Negredo won't get to outmuscle so many defences.

Soldado's release fee was just €10m when Valencia got him, a true bargain given his progress. As for Valencia, they still need a bit of coin. Mata is strongly linked with an exit, again for financial reasons.

Looking for tips for Harry? Okay, discarding the truly obvious ones (Agüero, Benzema, Rossi), I'd say Llorente and Soldado - who both have grown enormously as players this season. They probably would form a cracking partnership actually. I'd also say Rondón.

Actually NUFC is one of the English clubs that have been said to be interested in him (Fulham, Everton and Wham the others IIRC). He is a fox in the box kind of player, your prototypical Spanish forward. All about off the ball positioning. He's quite mobile and has a good build for a Spanish striker, which translates to an average build for an English one. Good shot, very good work rate, decent with the ball on the floor. The thing with him though, is that he is very reliant on service, and the one he gets at Barça B is excellent.

The talk is that he will be moved on with a buyback clause. He's a tidy player and his scoring record since he joined Barça B is amazing, just not good enough for us in my opinion. His main problem is his age. If he was to play for the senior squad he'd take a place in our 25-man limit and he wouldn't be able to play for Barça B (like we have done with Thiago, Jeffren, Dos Santos, etc...) which is a bad position to be in for an unproven player. Pretty sure some top division side will take a punt on him.

That's the main reason we have a good chance of beating the least goals conceded by a La Liga champion record (of which, incidentally, we are current holders as of last season). Possession football is as good a defensive tactic as an attacking one.

You got a few memorable moments to be frank. Villa, Sunderland and Arsenal at home, to begin with.

His cohabitation with Mourinho has been untenable throughout the season, so was to be expected. He's Pérez's right hand though, so it's a big deal. Incidentally, his Real Madrid side in the 1990s played the best football they have played in the last 20 years, with Redondo, Zamorano, Laudrup, etc... so I know who'd I prefer at my club.

Sevilla are talking to Bielsa to take over them next season.

For me it's not even about whether we would get away with it, it's about the lack of pride in success that's just bought instantly. Well, I mostly meant if there's still hope that we can go back to how football was, say, 20 years ago where a well stewarded and managed team could still compete with the big boys (like yourselves in the Keegan era), which is now impossible.

Ultimately, it's a wait and see until the financial fair play rules come in and we see if they have some effect on how big clubs operate.

And a spine.

Another one of our youth prospects, Héctor Bellerín, will leave for the PL. Chelsea, ManU, Arsenal and Aston Villa are the clubs rumored to have agreed a contract with him. Sigh... EDIT: Apparently it's Arsenal *again*. We shall unleash daily Puyol and Xavi interviews talking about Cesc as reprisal.

Betis have gained promotion back to our first division. Rayo should follow them shortly. Good to see the Sevilla derby back.