Village Idiot

Gotta beat the best if you want to be the best.

Anthropomorphic chicken really freak me out.

Were would Taarabt fit in your squad anyway? Seems one too-many French-Arab attacking midfielders.

Remains to be seen. The Málaga sheik has splashed the cash but rather modestly. They have signed a lot of players but for very low fees, loans or frees. Their wage bill must be inflating though. He says he wants them in the CL in a few years but doesn't seem to be going crazy. I suppose the fair play rules will come into effect too early for any owner to really prop up a team to top 6 status. We also have lots of restrictions in place for foreign ownership so our clubs aren't juicy targets, and three of the most reputable (Barça, Madrid, Bilbao) can't even be bought. There was a Singapore-based mystery group sniffing around Valencia, but that didn't come to pass. Valencia and Atlético carry a ginormous debt so not sure they would be good investments despite their name and big fanbases.

Apparently Racing Santander is on the verge of being sold to "an Indian billionaire based in Bahrain with great investments in a worldwide sportwear brand", according to their president. They are hopelessly broke so they do really need a bailout. Maybe they'll buy Xisco off you then

Not sure Henry would be arsed though.

Got the habit when I was a teenager to teach me the language.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/2341/capturadepantallacomplerk.jpg

Stupid transfer, Reina's in good form. [/missing the joke] I also didn't get that. http://www.livesoccertv.com/images/articles/luis-suarez-cheat-ballon-d%27or-23432.jpg

Isn't his salary mainly endorsements, image rights and League contributions? Maybe this list is only club salary? I think his nominal wage was around 5-6 million dollars, which is 4-4.5m euros at current exchange rates.

Going by the (fortunately) few glimpses I had of a fit and in form Woodgate for Real Madrid and to a lesser degree his spell at Boro he certainly is better than Coloccini. Maybe Colo is better on the ball, but Woodgate dominated all the aspects of defending to an astonishing degree. But as said, a player that just couldn't be depended upon.

I tried to access the original Belgian article to have a bit of a clue on the methodology/sources, but it's behind a paywall.

To be honest I'm surprised that Schweinsteiger is in so much dosh. Quality player mind, but surprised. John Terry

Belgian magazine Sport Foot Magazine has released the list of the top paid footballers in the world. I found it via "AS" (http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/cristiano-futbolista-mejor-pagado-mundo/20110117dasdasftb_26/Tes) and thought about sharing it for ridicule and hair-pulling. 1- Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/POR): 12 millions € 2- Wayne Rooney (Manchester United/ENG): 11,5 3- Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona/ARG): 11 4- Yaya Touré (Manchester City/CIV): 10,8 5- Samuel Eto'o (Inter Milan/ITA): 10,5 6- Bastian Schweinsteiger(Bayern/GER): 9,7 7- Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Milan AC/SWE): 9 8- Kaká (Real Madrid/BRA): 9 9- John Terry (Chelsea/ENG): 9 10- Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City/TOG): 8,4 11- Franck Ribéry (Bayern/FRA): 8 12- Fernando Torres (Liverpool/SPA): 7,8 13- Steven Gerrard (Liverpool/ENG): 7,6 14- Carlos Tevez (Manchester City/ARG): 7,6 15- Frank Lampard (Chelsea/ENG): 7,57 16- Xavi (FC Barcelona/SPA): 7,5 17- Andrés Iniesta (FC Barcelona/SPA): 7 18- Didier Drogba (Chelsea/CIV): 6,5 19- Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United/ENG): 6,5 20- Andréa Pirlo (Milan AC/ITA): 6 21- David Villa (FC Barcelona/SPA): 6 22- Iker Casillas (Real Madrid/SPA): 6 23- Frédéric Kanouté (FC Sevilla/MAL): 6 24- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/FRA): 6 25- Gigi Buffon (Juventus/ITA): 6 26- Patrick Vieira (Manchester City/FRA): 5,72 27- Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan/NET): 5,5 28- Garreth Barry (Manchester City/ENG): 5,5 29- Arjen Robben (Bayern Múnich/NET): 5,5 30- Asley Cole (Chelsea/ENG): 5,41 31- Joe Cole (Liverpool/ENG): 5,2 32- Diego Milito (Inter Milan/ARG): 5 33- David Silva (Manchester City/SPA): 5 34- Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona/SPA): 5 35- Kolo Touré (Manchester City/CIV): 5 36- Sergio Agüero (Atlético Madrid/ARG): 5 37- Francesco Totti (Roma/ITA): 4,9 38- Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United/BUL): 4,87 39- Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal/RUS): 4,87 40- Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea/FRA): 4,8 41- Yoann Gourcuff (Lyon/FRA): 4,8 42- Paul Scholes (Manchester United/ENG): 4,8 43- Daniele de Rossi (Roma/ITA): 4,6 44- Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid/SPA): 4,6 45- Jamie Carragher (Liverpool/ENG): 4,6 46- Ryan Giggs (Manchester United/WAL): 4,6 47- Julio Cesar (Inter Milan/BRA): 4,5 48- Diego Forlan (Atlético Madrid/URU): 4,5 49- Alessandro Nesta (Milan/ITA): 4,5 50- Gabriel Heinze (OM/ARG): 4,5

There's nothing on the Spanish press about this, and he played - and scored - tonight against Mallorca.

To be honest after reading that article I start to understand why people around here slag Hansen so much as a pundit. What a monumentally awful use of clichés, plus regarding Rooney... what the hell? Dozens of players play out of position every week and they don't get waxed lyrically at.

In Spain is done every time there's a semi-famous win, although they are usually paid for and included in local/regional newspapers instead of sold directly.

His first few months were magical. Some silly stuff.

I know, makes me feel sad it didn't work out between us.

What kind of player is Makoun? I admit to not follow the French league much apart from the odd big game.

I see Malaga have signed Messi's mini-me Diego Buonanotte, be very interested to see how he cuts it in a stronger league. Magical little player. Aye, great catch by Pellegrini. £3.8m could be the veritable steal if he fulfils his potential. Even more the likely given Pellegrini's record of nuturing South Americans into Spanish football. EDIT: aye, he killed three friends when he crashed his car. Pellegrini has a bit of a job on his hands in moulding that calamitous Málaga side. But if he steers them off relegation with the arab money he can build them up nicely.

I see Malaga have signed Messi's mini-me Diego Buonanotte, be very interested to see how he cuts it in a stronger league. Magical little player. Aye, great catch by Pellegrini.

I'm a fanboi, but somebody needs to pick up Piatti once Almería get relegated this season. Created their goal yesterday against Madrid. If you squint a little it'll be like having Messi playing for you.

Heh, he has a "Criminal Activities" section, like he was Tony Soprano or Dr Doom.