Village Idiot

Benítez never had the standing Zidane has to weather the toxic media politics in Madrid. He was under pressure to not appear defensive at a home game against Barça and paid the price. We cut through them like butter that day.

The £140k a week will have something to do with it. Maybe, but the low fee negates any need to worry about that imo. It would only work out as an extra 5 million on a 3 year contract. All true but if you're anyone else you're asking for a payrise as soon as he arrives. This. In particular if the guy ends up just wanting to collect another fat paycheck and doesn't produce the goods. Not worth the bother, imho. Or maybe I just get a bad vibe from former Real Madrid backup strikers transferring to NUFC

Still remember all the stick Rafa got for starting Casemiro instead of any combo of Kroos/Modric/James/Isco...

Strange, I always had him as an attacking fullback that was defensively suspect, with a game based around his athleticism. But then again I never saw him that often in the flesh; he barely got games for Atlético, and playing in international youth tournaments - where I saw him more often - can be deceiving.

Going after Messi, CRonaldo and the President of the Spanish FA - your authorities don't play favourites!! The Spanish gov moved on to audit the FA a year ago, which pretty much sent Villar into a massive freakout and tried to enlist FIFA's help for "political interference in football". FIFA had too much on his own crooked plate, anyway. Apparently they've found proof of him skimming off the top. Given how he turned the Spanish FA into a cash cow, he's probably stolen a very pretty penny. He even hilariously almost scuttled the whole new collective TV deal for La Liga because he wanted a larger cut for the FA (and thus his own pockets). Anyway, a great day for Spanish football. And let's not forget this dude was UEFA and FIFA's VP at various points, and even succeeded Platini as acting UEFA president.

Manquillo was supposed to be the next big thing when he was 18. He seemed to have the football brain the size of a pea whenever I saw him play, but that was a while ago. Anyhow he was never going to play under Simeone given Manquillo's gung-ho playstyle, and if Rafa thinks he can do something with him, then I trust him.

Michu has retired from football at the age of 31, due to his recurring right ankle problems. Poor lad.

The President of the Spanish FA has been arrested on corruption charges. Fantastic news. Dude was a massive crook and has had a stranglehold on the FA since the 1980s.

Reina was linked with us like every other transfer window while Guardiola was here, he seems obsessed.

Is that USL club he owns a pro outfit? Genuine question, I don't know. Looking at their players I'd assume it's a pro outfit but I don't know. No way Peter Ramage is a professional footballer. Joking aside, yeah, too many big names in that squad.

He famously walked after disagreeing with Valencia's transfer policy "I asked for a sofa and they brought me a lamp", I'm just afraid he will eventually realize it's not worth aggravating an ulcer just to get transfers done every window.

Is that USL club he owns a pro outfit? Genuine question, I don't know.

Iniesta has sold Albacete to a Lebanese-Qatar conglomerate. I hope it works out for the club. Iniesta stepped in when Albacete were in the gutter and the idea was just to keep them afloat while a long-term solution appeared. He's ended up owning the team for 6 years, and burnt a shitload of money in the club he loves. Dude deserves a statue - oh wait he's got one already. Can't think of any other example of an active footballer owning a professional football club?

There's a scandal raging nowadays after the regional Catalan TV revealed that the club was reselling seats from ST holders that couldn't attend the game for like 1000% the regular price, while refunding only 95% to the ST holder. Truth be said, the board has always made a point of keeping ST prices very low for a club of our standard, and their rationale isn't that outlandish (it's better than the club gets the money than the touts) but that's still

I'm really afraid that any hopes of having a long term Rafa project are vanishing. Even if he eventually gets his way, I don't think he'll have the stomach to deal with these insufferable pricks every transfer window. It's just not worth the headache.

Whoever edited that video needs a restraining order from the "Apply Filter" folder.

Is PSV covering his wages in full? Can't see them being able to, even if Van Ginkel is in "PL fifth-choice" wages.

We've signed Nelson Semedo from Benfica. Jotenko? Means we've stopped pursuing Bellerín.

Oh FFS I guess they didn't want to outright buy another CB since you have already a few, but a loan deal that was never going to work out.

We used to do that a lot too. First game was always against some local amateur team, more for fitness than anything else. But we dropped it as soon as pre-seasons turned into yet another cash cow.

This is even funnier. Sevilla are claiming that Vitolo's reps had signed a contract extension yesterday.

Spanish border police boarded Cristiano Ronaldo's yacht off the coast of Formentera, while he was in it with some friends. Reportedly just to check some papers.

City pays 4m for Bernardo from Boro and then loans him out to Girona (which they own). Rumour is that they'll be buying half a dozen footballers to help keep their new Spanish feeder team in the top division.

Las Palmas pay Vitolo's release clause and joins them until January. Love the way Atlético are using them as their front men

Now that you drop that name, they reportedly want somebody that can perform the Seydou Keita role in the squad. I just think dropping 30 million in a player from the Chinese league is a retarded way to go about it if you really want somebody of that profile.