Village Idiot

Dudek's broken. Adán, one of their kids.

Oh, and Espanyol will still manage to throw this. It's beyond impossible that they ever manage to do something remotely useful for us.

Dunno, I usually use this one and leave La Liga thread for non-match stuff, but now people seem to be commenting matches there too.

Still seeing that Callejón cunt sending off Casillas with a dive has a sweet taste.

thought you'd be supporting the catalan mackems for this one My brain does, my heart just can't. I'll just fetch me some vodka.

f***ing s***, I'm trying hard here to cheer for Espanyol but it goes against my genes. I'd settle for a draw.

Depor for ya. Villarreal were unlike themselves tonight, though.

I know Niel loves these clever headlines.

Villarreal* but yes I think they had some problems that they're expecting to come out of when they qualify for the Champions League again this season. Competing at the highest level with very limited resources is difficult and the fact they've managed to do it at all is an example to a lot of other clubs with far more potential. What is your point? The scenarios are completely different. OK, so we "do a Villarreal" (who by, VI's admission "are truly a fairy tale"). We keep the likes of Carroll, Tiote and Enrique here by promising them that we'll match their ambition with some sensible spending and increasing the wage structure to attract champions league calibre players. Heaven knows, we actually start challenging for the Champs League and qualifying a couple of season - might even go on a run. Now that we're earning at that level, we start spending at that level. What happens when we don't qualify one season? Or re-create the Partisan downfall? Do we continue to spend during that season in the hope that we re-qualify (facing far fiercer financial obstacles if we fail) or do we cut our cloth accordingly and sell off some of our star players, breaking up the squad in the process? (this may have happened to Valencia) I probably got lost in translation here, when in Spanish you say something is a "fairy tale" it means something like "a dream come true". Anyway, I think Sevilla are a far better example for you lot. Similarly sized club (I'd have NUFC to be bigger). A policy of very shrewd scouting and buying brought them trophies and CL campaigns. They also did sell *a lot* of the players they discovered (Baptista, Ramos, Dani Alves, etc...) but managed to keep being competitive thanks to a fantastic scouting setup and the outrageous money they got off their sales.

Still, you have to take into account that Villarreal are fantastically tiny. I don't believe their gross spend has been all that, they have just run up the debt because they had the turnover of a lemonade stand.

Villarreal are truly a fairy tale. It's not that many years ago that I used to watch them play against Barça B. They have overspent, but are trying to keep it sensible, cutting the budget and still remaining very competitive. They will land on their feet. Still they benefited from the fact that although Barça/Madrid dominate the top spots, La Liga is actually a very open championship and we don't have an established Top 4. The grip of the likes of Arsenal/Chelsea/ManU and now City in your CL spots is way bigger.

I really like seeing Bolton doing well and not playing longball s*** to be frank. Always had a soft spot for them and shows other teams it can be done.

Hum, Villa and Everton only 3 above the drop. For some reason thought they were in a better position.

Jose Baxter, Everton's saviour.

The second Moyes leaves, the second Everton stops challenging for Europe imho. I can see him leaving after this season though, doesn't seem he can take Everton much further and probably needs a change of scenery.

3 games scoring in a row? Impressive.

Why loan Aiyegbeni if you have no intention of replacing him in the same window? Do they have that much faith in Gueye? Dunno why they let Yakubu go. One injury to Saha and they look pretty shabby upfront.

Looking at Everton's bench looks like Everton have pulled a Newcastle regarding their striking options.

Craig Bellamy, surely.

Pep had been linked with the Qatar job until he extended his contract this week, that's a hell of a downgrade

I'm bored so here's a song me and some pals tried (unsuccessfully) to get running at Camp Nou some years ago, translated back to English and adapted to yourselves. They're creepy and they're kuqi mysterious and spooky they're all together ooky Newcastle United! Their stadium is a museum Where people come see'em They really are a scream Newcastle United! So come and get your scarf on and some booze to sip on we are going to cheer on Newcastle United! (probably want some more football-related adjectives in the first verse but I'm not *that* bored)

Only time I have seen Mou backpedalling was for this comment. It was really bad.

Pretty sure Depor played him as a sweeper in the latter part of his last season there. Only team I see employing one with some regularity. Lotina and his 5-man defence lines

Mou certainly prefers Adebayor to him, can see him going this summer.

Still think Wham's move to the Olympic Stadium will end up in tears. 60k capacity and a race track? My local library will have more atmosphere.