Village Idiot

"Dutch thug Nigel de Jong", gets my vote for that only Wait, I don't vote. Good luck with that then.

You're great brummie, particularly when drunk

No San Martín? Palermo?

Anyway, going back to the EL being a shopping window. Espanyol sold off most of their UEFA final side (Riera, Zabaleta, Rufete, Lacruz...). If you are playing for a midtable club that doesn't qualify often (not the case of Villa these past years) the EL is a great place to get yourself seen and noticed.

Hey, I have suffered my share of EL games at the Camp Nou too. Witnessed the footballing glory of Panionios and Matador Púchov. And I even wanted us to win it! Wholly agree with the league format bollocks.

£35k That's €2m-ish a year, isn't it? If those are net wages (always get confused if PL wages are net or gross) Real Madrid's and Barça's starting left backs aren't on much more. (Marcelo's reportedly on €2m net/year, Abidal reportedly on €2,5m net/year). Wages over here are quoted net. Same as in Spain then. LB isn't a big ticket position unless you're Ashley Cole and crash your car if you're only paid 50k, so I don't think José Enrique can't get significantly more. Just of interest was is Dani Alves on/being offered? We are offering him €5m net basic wage plus some bonuses/side commercial contracts to take him close to €8m (which is what he's asking for). IIRC he's on €4,5m net.

Leo Messi Pipita Higuaín Carlos Tévez Diego Milito Sergio Agüero Fucking mental.

£35k That's €2m-ish a year, isn't it? If those are net wages (always get confused if PL wages are net or gross) Real Madrid's and Barça's starting left backs aren't on much more. (Marcelo's reportedly on €2m net/year, Abidal reportedly on €2,5m net/year). Wages over here are quoted net. Same as in Spain then. LB isn't a big ticket position unless you're Ashley Cole and crash your car if you're only paid 50k, so I don't think José Enrique can't get significantly more.

One of the names mentioned was Villa, they have less chance than us of reaching Europe. I'd also add that I can't believe any player on the planet really aspires to playing in the Europa League. "Oooh, the glamour, I get to play against FC Titwank (Albania) on a Thursday night in front of 21,000". Don't get me wrong, they should do, but managers, directors and (largely) fans don't give a s*** about it these days, it is hard to believe the players do. Don't diss FC Titwank, they have won the Albanian league 39 times in a row. I think players see the EL as a shopping window.

And yet in the same time Argentina have won just as little as we have. You just made me check, didn't realize they hadn't won the Copa América since the early 90s! They've got as big a chance this year as they'll ever have. Brazil in transition & on home soil. You can never trust their defence though. Promises to be a bloody good tournament if Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay turn up & play to their full potential too. They never seem to get a reliable defence. Lately they have been calling Gaby Milito who has turned to shambles overnight (guess injuries finally taking its toll). They need to settle a proper midfield to fuel all that dynamite upfront too.

And yet in the same time Argentina have won just as little as we have. You just made me check, didn't realize they hadn't won the Copa América since the early 90s!

£35k That's €2m-ish a year, isn't it? If those are net wages (always get confused if PL wages are net or gross) Real Madrid's and Barça's starting left backs aren't on much more. (Marcelo's reportedly on €2m net/year, Abidal reportedly on €2,5m net/year).

How much is José Enrique (supposedly) on?

Ninis? Would love that! And he can leave for €10mill, but there will probably be a lot of interest in him. "On September 23, 2008, Ninis extended his contract with Panathiniakos for an additional four years to 2012, with a €10m buy-out clause into the agreement for any foreign team wanting to buy him, rising to €17m for a Greek side." Hopefully it's him we're after. A perfect buy. It's likely that MA would go after players with a buyout clause. Ninis is (potentially) class, but don't you have 2000000000000 attacking mids already?

From Enrique? Don't think I've ever seen those on here. There are mostly quotes taken out of context from a radio interview he gave. They are pretty harsh but he looks indeed pissed off by all the stuff going around your club at the time. http://www.marca.com/2009/07/13/futbol/futbol_internacional/espanoles_mundo/1247478783.html "I don't even know what's happening in Newcastle, we have spent two weeks of preseason and everything it's still the same. Club's for sale, there's no owners and we don't even have a manager when we're just a month away from starting the season. It looked like Shearer was staying but truth is nobody knows what's going to happen" "Things here are not going well. I'm f***ed (sic) sporting-wise and I'm angry for the fans too, they are always supporting us and don't stop cheering in any game we play" "I'm very excited to return to Spain, there's been talk in the press that teams like Atlético are interested in me. If there was an offer from Spain I'd prioritize it above offers from other places." "In England I have a good contract, but sporting-wise I'm not well here and I'd give up money to play on a different team. I want to succeed and and there are more important things than money." That was 18 months ago, bear in mind.

How many Champions League clubs showed an interest then? Club Atlético de Madrid.

I could show you some other Spanish interviews during your relegation preseason that look worse than this, yet he stayed and fought on.

Liverpool's stock in Spain is still very big too, harking from Benítez' days.

Still has a great rep in Spain, to be honest haven't watched him much since he left Liverpool.

Marca linking Real Madrid with a €7m move for Juventus' Sissoko. They wouldn't sell so cheap surely?

Rivaldo on the left, Kluivert on top, Figo on the right. What a trident that was.

Something I was wondering today. At what age do you usually put kids in a full football pitch in England? In Spain we play 5-a-side/7-a-side until the kids are 12-13 years old.

Yeah, I have a great memory of that, actually had some great banter with your lot and got smashed with some guy who said that his two heroes in life were Shay Given and Josif Stalin. Priceless.

I actually thought that boy would spearhead your attack in the future. Guess what...

I was at that game too, although for some reason I had totally forgotten about the rain. Shola looked quite the player that night.