Village Idiot

Ignoring that, yeah. But if he now made the move - having said that - it would be different and lots of PR would be needed. Plus Espanyol fans would be livid themselves (moreso than Barça's). But it would be more due to the fact that he played the superfan card.

Previous Espanyol connection not going to be a hindrance? Nah, not really. That never plays a part. Countless examples of beloved players that went to play/manage across town without issues. Some even became legends for both clubs (like Zamora).

Athletic have announced that Valverde is leaving, which makes him 99% cert to be our next manager. I'm of two minds. I like his work, but I'm not sure he has the character to manage our dressing room.

Former Barça prez Sandro Rosell arrested under accusations of money laundering It's unrelated to Barça though, it dates the times were his company worked with CBF.

Looks like the taxman is going to charge Cristiano Ronaldo with tax fraud, according to the Spanish press. Makes me feel better that not all the fraudsters play for us.

Congratulations on the championship of the Championship! I wasn't expecting that.

Looks like Emery just can't manage outside of Spain.

That "190 weeks in the bottom half" graphic is outstanding What an achievement. I mean, five seasons? Even the shittiest teams in any division will luck out once in a while winning a game or two in the first weeks of a season to get them momentarily in the top half.

He's been the frontrunner for a while. Can't say I'm too excited, but there were worse options. I definitely don't want Unzué to become manager; hasn't shown anything as Lucho's assistant.

Looks like Sampaoli will leave Sevilla to manage Argentina. Well, that was short. Strange.

Sports journalists man, so f***ing lazy.

Oh please please please find out that Pardew took bungs.

Interviewed on Marca today: http://www.marca.com/futbol/premier-league/2017/04/27/5901bb4dca47415a398b45a9.html He remains coy on his future: "I only think about defeating Cardiff and Barnsley, and nothing else".

Incidentally, I was kinda hoping to see Riviere in the flesh yesterday (such a honor!) but he missed because of injury. He's 0 in 15.

Yeah, what I'm saying is that in Spain suspects are detained and then released a few hours later once the search is completed. This is made so that they are questioned and they can't move to get key evidence destroyed before the police finishes the search.

Considering how Charnley has been released and will be questioned later you have to assume nothing has been found. Dont assume anything, I worked in the Criminal Justice System for 32 years, it's normal for people to be released after initial questioning and then re-interviewed at a later date whilst they build a case. HMRC will have Forensic IT experts trawling through computers and mobile phones for evidence. It could take years if it is to go before the Courts. If it's anything like in Spain, is pretty much common MO to detain suspects while their property is searched, so they can't destroy evidence or contact anyone. Then they get released after everything is secured.

Rumored to leave at the end of the season, so this might be a bit of a parting gift from his teammates. A bit hilarious it's just the second goal of his entire club career. That said, Tony Hibbert he ain't.

You being in the C'ship has made it way harder to watch your games (actually haven't watched a single one this season, it's all been live commentary), so from my purely egotistical view it has been a "2" and I'm really glad you're back up.

He got interviewed on El Larguero yesterday. - After the relegation he stayed because of the size of the club and the affection displayed by the fans. - It's been a difficult season, but stats show it's a hard division to get out of when you're first relegated. Lots of games in a single week, all very intense. Having to change half the squad upon relegation. Went on detail that typically the most successful teams in the C'ship are teams like Brighton that build up themselves during several seasons before attaining promotion. - "This feels like winning with Valencia, like when we got promoted with Tenerife or Extremadura, or winning the EL with Chelsea, or the Champions with Liverpool" - He's very happy in England, where his work is recognized and he can work the way he likes, unlike "other places" (not-so-subtle dig at Real Madrid) - Fans have been amazing, packing up 52,000 every week, travelling in great numbers for away games. All in a second division. - He's been working on Ayoze's positioning and believes he's improved a lot on this area. Believes he has lots of ability but he still can improve. - There's lots of work to be done on the squad. Said that half of it are remnants of a team that battled relegation two seasons in a row, and the other half are C'ship players. The squad needs to be strengthened going into the future, but it's not going to be easy. - On being labelled defensive: remarked that the team is the second top scorer in the division. "facts are more important than words"

Congratulations lads! I hope Rafa sticks with the team and he's properly backed. You lot deserve some sanity.

You're up!

Get in!

Damn, and I thought I overdid the starch on my shirts.

On the contrary, they love to do sell-with-buyback transfers for this kind of prospects. It's true that they don't usually send the players abroad if they are really interested in them long term, though. They prefer that they get used to play in La Liga. Benítez has a long track record of getting Spanish players to perform in England, so fishing in Spain seems a good choice. Carvajal, Morata & Casemiro went abroad. Both European competition level teams, not newly promoted teams. But Benitez..... Morata was always likely to come back but not the other 2. Perhaps Casemiro too - both featured in the first team a fair bit the season before the loan. Feel like Carvajal earned his. I don't think Morata was expected to come back either. He kinda forced them to do it with his CL exploits. Even now he only gets a handful of starts despite his goal return and Benzema's unspectacular form. But yeah, those examples show that they aren't loathe to sell good rated players abroad either.

We are 4 on the trot, too. Atlético are the team that has lost the most finals without ever clinching the title.