Village Idiot

At club level they are pretty important: the captains (captain, vice and second vice) represent the squad and deal with the manager and board regarding a bunch of off-the-field matters: trophy bonuses, off-days, internal discipline, etc... There's probably not as much need for that at international level, though.

I saw Rubin Kazan players wearing 70s and 80s when we played them in the CL Fortunately in La Liga squad numbers over 24 are not allowed for first team squads (can be worn by U21 players from your B squads and youth teams)

The way numbers are distributed nowadays makes squads a bit wonky. For example, Barça's DM or deep-lying playmaker had always worn #4 (Pep or Koeman, for example). Nowadays is carried by Márquez. He's no longer first choice or even plays there but he retains his number because of being the more veteran player, as he used to be our first choice DM 4 years ago. So Sergio Busquets has to carry 16 and Touré 24. Piqué is wearing 3, which is a full back number, because it was fred by Sylvinho and even though Piqué is first choice, he would be forced to wear a 11+ number as all other low numbers have been picked by more veteran players that have the right to retain them. Plus Xavi likes to wear #6, which screws all the defense/midfield numbering

Bent seems to be in a bit of a dry spell, too. But I still don't see them to going down. Still, far worse season than what they were expecting.

Somehow this made me laugh http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/10/02/05/SOCCER_Hull_2nd_Nightlead.html Fagan is such a cunt :lol:

That is too much of a cool name for that shitty celebration.

Does that mean Steven Gerrard is just one "accident" away from getting England's captaincy?

Good work so far, it seems. Plus if you win this game it definitely puts Cardiff out of the fight for automatic promotion, which is pretty good.

I think it was more damning when he was reportedly caught cashing in the captaincy renting out his Wembley box and the like.

My neighborhood has only produced one international footballer in all its history anyhow (Luís García of Liverpool fame) Does anybody know if there's been Faroe Island players playing at a decent level? (I assume a few will have played in Scandinavian leagues at least)

I could be a full international for the Faroe Islands. No you couldn't. Ok, I would need a fake passport. As well as some Footballing ability. Faroe Islands is less populated than the neighborhood I grew in, and I probably was the best goalie in my neighborhood (my team won the local championship twice). Not an exageration of my footballing qualities, it's just a very small pond. But hope he turns out to be the one-in-a-million talent that place produces.

I could be a full international for the Faroe Islands. No you couldn't. Ok, I would need a fake passport.

Funny how we speak in past tense of a player that's still 27. He's an outcast at Valencia, though (I think he's on loan now).

I could be a full international for the Faroe Islands.

To be honest the way it's presented in our press sounds like it's a sweetener for the Cesc deal: "Look, we buy Cesc but we'll also do you a favour and take Eboué off your hands".

Why? Like a very, very, very, VERY poor version of Dani Alves. He would be Alves backup. We don't have any understudy for him, only Puyol who doesn't have the legs to play fullback anymore (he's been shown up by pacy wingers often when played there).

Gotta love the English press doing our job for us before the WC. Thanks fellas

I'd have Warnock over Bridge, but the comedy potential is too big, so: Brown, Johnson, Cole, Bridge. Not happy with your RB options (or very happy depending on how you look at it ). Maybe Richards if he plays there again and shows some form...

Also, I have stopped reporting the daily Cesc rumours, but now we have quotes from the man himself to go with them. Yesterday Cesc was interviewed by a Catalan radio: "If I would like to come back? I have never hidden it. I had being going to Camp Nou since I was 9 months old. I have worn those colors all my life, but for some or other reasons I had to leave." That said, he refused to talk directly about his future when asked. We are also still interested in Eboué.

Apparently Zidan's father has said in an Egyptian TV that United, Arsenal and Barcelona are interested in signing his son and have already talked to his agent. (I'd say bollocks, although we were interested in him a few years ago when he first broke out)

I would not say he's world class, but he can be a very good player when he's not sulking or being petty. He is the kind of player that does have talent but needs everything to go his way to demonstrate it, doesn't have the fight or determination to impose himself.

I love your posts cause I always get to wiki new players. From that Brazil side you're probably more familiar with Zico. Again another football great that never won a World Cup or anything in Europe. Fuck it, I'm off to look for videos of 1980s Brazil. (You need a mouth-watering smilie)

The Pelé to Real Madrid story is a bit exaggerated, there was never any deal in place whatsoever. He was very close to go to Juventus, though. Believe me, if there was something to it here in Spain we would have never heard the end of it from those cunts. Another player I would mention is Sócrates. Never won the WC, never succeeded in Europe, but god hell he was one of the best midfielders I have ever seen. He captured my childish imagination at the Spain WC. Incidentally, anybody remember Careca too? That 1980s Brazil side had some utterly gifted players that never achieved much.

how could I forget him, wasn't his transfer to Betis the most expensive of the world at the time? Ludicrous. At some point it looked like he could be another Rivaldo, but his fall from grace was quite remarkable. In his last seasons at Betis he was laughably useless, it's like somebody had switched him with a clone with the footballing brain of my grandmother.