Village Idiot

Ok, I had heard in the radio that they hadn't. Bad sources I guess. Yeah they are safe with the image rights since they aren't considered part of a players' wages by La Liga (they are a loophole commonly used to avoid tax and other regulations) and can't be relegated on those grounds.

They rescinded his contract and have to pay him in full after failing to reach to an agreement. He was out of contract, it wasn't rescinded. He had a clause in his contract which automatically renewed him for 2009/2010 if he played so many games, which he did. His contract was renegotiated and he took a drop in wages but wanted a 1.5 million payout as some kind of penalisation payout in the earlier contract. He was also owed about 500k in wages and the rest is supposed to be image rights, which Depor always seem to be slow at paying. The automatic renewal finished earlier this year and he signed with Levante but Depor have acknowledged the debt. The biggest stumbling block seems to be the length of time in paying the debt. Depor want to pay the debt over a 3 year period but Sergio wants the money sooner. Sergio had to sue them before they acknowledged it, though. But Spanish courts usually side with players. It's been said that apart from arguing the length of the installments, Sergio wants the debt to be guaranteed by a third party (a bank, something usual in Spanish business code), and Lendoiro just wants the player to "take his word for it". Deportivo are pretty f***ed financially so I can see why Sergio would ask that, if they enter administration he would be screwed otherwise. The deadline just passed and still no word on the debt being fulfilled. It wouldn't surprise me at all that Lendoiro will call La Liga's bluff (last time they tried to relegate a first division team on financial grounds they farcically balked).

It was 9 years ago. Has absolutely no importance now whatsoever. Can't see what you're getting upset about tbh. I guess he believes Gaspart is acting on behalf of the club when saying this now in the middle of the Cesc saga. Gaspart is his own man, though, and one of the most unpopular people in Barcelona (unless you're an Espanyol fan). Rosell would rather take transfer advice from a dead toad than from him. Really, would be like whoever ends up owning Portsmouth ringing Mandaric and asking him a favor in a transfer.

The Freddie Adu hype didn't make him any favours. From what I have read on bigsoccer his discipline and work ethic are pretty abysmal. The stories on his time at Benfica don't look good.

There's only one team in the entire division who they need to play "Mourinho football" against in order to win. Yeah, parking the bus in the Bernabéu will raise a few eyebrows from the Real Madrid faithful but I don't really think it's going to be a common ocurrence.

ahh i'm off for 6 days in a couple of months to BCN, you could help us on where to go etc Getting reacquainted with the city myself after five years in the exile, most of the places i used to go to are closed But sure, remind me in time.

They rescinded his contract and have to pay him in full after failing to reach to an agreement.

The Camp Nou game is going to be fucking great, now that I'm back in BCN I hope I can get tickets (impossible) What I meant with my post is that these past two seasons losing both Clásicos has been the key to losing the title so they signed a manager which is seen to have a good record against us. But otherwise Real's performance last year was simply flawless.

I don't think Mou can improve much Real's domestic performance of last year. It's a matter of winning the Clásicos nowadays (and keeping form), and they have lost both these past two seasons which is what they are aiming to improve. If we repeat last year's record league performance we should win it, imho. But it's no small ask. Barring injury Villa should have a field day, though. Incidentally no team has won La Liga more than twice on the trot since Cruyff did it in the early 90s.

Nery Castillo, FM legend back in the time (2001-2002 I think). I used to pinch him for a bag of crisps and laugh all the way to the league championship

Here I posted some other Spanish summer trophies http://www.newcastle-online.org/nufcforum/index.php/topic,69885.msg2373179.html#msg2373179

In Spain we love our massive preseason trophies I'm back in Barcelona and the Teresa Herrera is usually on the telly, hopefully I'll be able to catch your lot The Teresa Herrera is the oldest preseason trophy in Spain, and the most prestigious.

Have I missed an inside joke here? He's only 20, therefore doesn't need to be. Pretty sure we did this with Leo Messi for quite a few seasons

Today ends the deadline Deportivo had to pay off their debt with former player Sergio. If they don't they will be relegated according to La Liga's regulations. They are expected to pay since the sale of Filipe Luís was done to get enough funds, but they haven't yet agreed with Sergio the form and timeline of the payments (€4,2m).

Come on, I was just highlighting one of his finest rivalry moments now that he's left. I'm being complimentary with f***ing Raúl González Blanco, don't make it harder than it already is

Sorry, but that gesture? He only put his finger to his lips didn't he? I'm not slagging him off or saying it was unsporting and s***. To the contrary, I'm saying it was boss and cemented his status both for Real Madrid fans and for us. It's been the highlight of most videos these days after he left. You don't need to do much sometimes.

Yeah, sent him flowers for his birthday too. What I'm saying is that we didn't particularly care about Raúl that much until he did that. He was just 22 and although he had achieved lots already he wasn't "Raúl" yet.

Nah, it pretty much started around the time he did that. Figo, Hierro, were usually the biggest targets at the time. He wasn't mr. Real Madrid at the time yet, and that gesture pretty much started making him that.

Gotta say I despise Raúl but in a good way. He pretty knowingly built himself into a hate figure for us and football wouldn't just be the same without stuff like that. His most iconic moment, which he did after scoring against us at Camp Nou http://www.corazonblanco.com/media/galeria/44/6/5/9/4/o_real_madrid_raul_gonzalez-54956.jpg cunt

Was Raul a poacher then ? I have never really paid any attention to him but I was always under the impression that he is similar to Del Piero :-/ Raúl has never been a trequartista. He used to cover more pitch in his early days though. Would drop to the flank and be involved in the build up before coming in the box. He suffered a tremendous slump when he was 27-28, which I guess it's understandable when he'd been playing 30+ games a season since he was 17, and reinvented himself as a poacher kinda player with great success. Not dissimilar to what happened to Shearer I guess. I wouldn't say he's "just a poacher" though, he's just an extremely intelligent forward and has a great football brain. Reads the game very well and positions himself to make the most of it. Now I have to go wash my mouth after praising Raúl.

I have to say it will take some time for me not to feel pissed off when I see him score. It's my subconscious, and the Schalke shirt looks a bit like Madrid's away kit.

Looking forward to Ben Arfa and Carroll in the same training pitch

We probably need a generic "football news" thread.

First goal is classic Raúl.

Gai Assulin on trial at ManCity. Also, Marchena has signed for Villarreal for an undisclosed fee (won't be much since he's 31, wonder why Valencia sold him)