Village Idiot

Heh, I turned it off but now I found that they managed to qualify 5-1. What a game (against a second division team of course).

Some mentalists off here made a dossier to entice him though, amazing it never happened truth be told. I remember reading it on the papers and thought it would be canny for you lot. You were also linked to MON iirc? And ended up with Roeder... (Sorry, didn't want to rub salt in your managerial wounds) A deranged local journalist said that MON had called him and and said he wanted the job was the story of the MON link, the journalist in question has a long track record of that sort of thing. Funny how it got reported on the Spanish press, but they have an habit of just picking up whatever headline and run it for their "international football" pages without putting any effort on checking it.

This is probably going to be the "easiest" season to stay in the EPL, Pompey and now Burnley seem nailed down for it. Wolves or Hull are my candidates for 3rd, Wolves look mightily fragile.

Some mentalists off here made a dossier to entice him though, amazing it never happened truth be told. I remember reading it on the papers and thought it would be canny for you lot. You were also linked to MON iirc? And ended up with Roeder... (Sorry, didn't want to rub salt in your managerial wounds)

How serious was that Hitzfeld link back in the time?

And there it goes 4-1, Assunçao gives the ball away inside the box for their goal, and is sent off a couple minutes later to round it out.

Well, Atlético have scored the 4th and bar surprise they should go through, Agüero went off injuried though.

Fabregash, do you think Traore is going to play more? I like him.

Atlético de Madrid - Recreativo de Huelva on, Atlético needs to score four to not get dumped by the second division side. All of Atlético's big guns are on the pitch.

Mostly it hinges on if his "disability" is considered to be caused or worsened by his professional practice or not. If it is, then Madrid would have to pay out his contract in full as their employers. Of course, if there's possibility of recovery disability won't be awarded, but with all the deaths of footballers from hearth problems, don't think it will happen. Also, Madrid has just released a note saying they are just following the Spanish law, which mandates them to allow labour courts to decide on the status of workers that have spent more than one year injuried. (Have to say this is the first time I hear of this happening to a long-term injuried player, though).

Also, I have been meaning to post this since I saw it. And independent study calculated the debts of ten La Liga clubs, which includes all the top dogs, using their latest published data (2008-2009 in most cases). Here's the results: - Real Madrid: 683 - Valencia: 550 - Atlético de Madrid: 511 - FC Barcelona: 489 - Deportivo de La Coruña: 292 - Villarreal: 240 - Espanyol: 156 - Racing Santander: 137 - Zaragoza: 112 - Sevilla: 110 Apparently all other clubs are below the 100 million treshold. Still, it's astounding that Valencia and Atlético are so crippled, and that Barcelona and Madrid have actually a better debt to income ratio than most other teams. I.e. Depor's turnover is 90m, Villarreal's 70m... And hats off to Sevilla.

Horrendous dick move by Florentino, who's taking Rubén de la Red to court to get a disability ruling for him and be able to rescind his contract (he suffers from a yet to be fully diagnosed hearth dolence). To their credit, the team captains (Casillas, Raúl and Guti) have sided with the lad and refused to sign their health insurances for the year as protest. Now I have painted Raúl in a good light, father forgive me

I don't know how it is in the UK, but in Spain it's pretty hard to get time for tax evasions, particularly first offences. He'll just pay it from his back pocket.

Niemi was brought back just for a backup in the first place with coaching purposes I think. He's been coaching youth national team(keepers I guess) in Finland after he retired. No doubt he would still be able to do the job if required but he hasn't played competitive football for 3 or 4 years or so... So he's finished?

Hard to say at this point, needs more games to see if he's the real deal or just hit a rich vein of form. But the two games I have seen him he's been immense. I will try to watch Racing - Valladolid this weekend.

Sorry about the spam, but Marca now reporting that Canales' father says they have 3 offers from English clubs. In my opinion he should avoid moving to Barça or Real at this stage, and ensure more playing time for himself at the top level.

Benzema can be pretty canny I think, he needs time and less pressure. He won't find that at Real Madrid though. Problem is that he was hyped way too much and now it looks like a flop. I can perfectly see him succeeding at whatever club they might sell him to.

Cronaldo prefers to play central though, and what Cronaldo wants Cronaldo gets. It would be the best solution, since they lack good wingers.

The other names thrown around are Agüero and Villa, which while talented don't really fit in their starting XI. But that's the way of Florentino. If they really look after signing a new #9 that's it for Benzema I presume. They are very close to sign Canales from Racing, too. He should know he'll never make it there.

Fuck, I have Torres in my FF team I dread the moment Benítez's sacked though, since he's the biggest reason I despise L'pool. (the only team I really dislike outside Spain).

Marca reporting that Madrid will bid for Rooney in the summer, given ManU's financial trouble. Now, I'd hate to see him play for Real, but it would be funny somehow. They claim he's been valued at €84m.

When's Jagielka coming back?

Can't believe Atlético didn't exact even a token million or so for Maxi, they are truly desperate.

0-1, Barça out on away goals... we could have scored half a dozen but Palop had an incredible night on goal.

Arse, Messi hits the woodwork, so many wasted chances.