Other clubs' transfers

[Nobody]

Pavlyuchenko Confirms He’s Joining Spurs.

 

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=835688

A bit of a panic-buy IMO.

[Guest elpapi]

Pavlyuchenko Confirms Hes Joining Spurs.

 

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=835688

A bit of a panic-buy IMO.

 

The Russian league is a long time underway which won't help the lad at the end of the season I'm sure, not mentioning adapting to the League in the beginning... Seems like a gamble indeed

[Syrette]

I hate to be pedantic but I posted more or less the same thing (albeit with dodgy translation) at the end of the last page and it's quoted on this one.

[Newcastle Fan]

News in Russia says that Arshavin might also join Tottenham.

 

Yet STILL their gonna finish below us this season..buy some fucking defenders for fucks sake

[Syrette]

Yet STILL their gonna finish below us this season..buy some fucking defenders for fucks sake

 

We'd do well to finish above them and they need new strikers and a DM or two far more than they do defenders.

[Wullie]

“Juande Ramos, I have not yet met.”

 

CRISIS AT SPURS AS RAMOS WARS WITH WISE WHOEVER THEIR EQUIVALENT TO WISE IS THAT WE DON'T MENTION BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO STIR IT WITH GLORIOUS TOTTENHAM

[Newcastle Fan]

Yet STILL their gonna finish below us this season..buy some f***ing defenders for fucks sake

 

We'd do well to finish above them and they need new strikers and a DM or two far more than they do defenders.

 

True

 

but if he keeps using Ekoto and Dawson their really not going to scare anyone are they?

 

 

[Syrette]

Aside from those two they've got a very good defense in my opinion. Couldn't hurt them to reinforce it of course but not at the expense of the aforementioned positions.

[James]

Don't rate Pavlyuchenko. Spurs will need to create a hell of a lot for a decent goal return.

[The College Dropout]

Yet STILL their gonna finish below us this season..buy some f***ing defenders for fucks sake

 

We'd do well to finish above them and they need new strikers and a DM or two far more than they do defenders.

 

True

 

but if he keeps using Ekoto and Dawson their really not going to scare anyone are they?

 

 

 

 

Aye Chimbonda's far better than that Ekoto lad and Dawson......

[Guest optimistic nit]

i am inclined to want spurs to fail and their signings to fail, and am usually quite biased against them, but i am not a big fan of pavlyucheno either.  he missed a hell of a lot for russia even if he did score some as well.

[Guest kingdawson]

I have no clue as to what i should expect from this signing. He looked good in the Euros, but that's the only time i've seen him. If Arshavin follows him, i'd be very happy.

 

Rumours still persist on us signing Falcao. GET A DM FFS.

[Tooj]

I have no clue as to what i should expect from this signing. He looked good in the Euros, but that's the only time i've seen him. If Arshavin follows him, i'd be very happy.

 

Rumours still persist on us signing Falcao. GET A DM FFS.

 

Was class for Roma and Brazil back in the day. One of the major players of the '82 WC squad. Bit old now like.

[Willow]

I have no clue as to what i should expect from this signing. He looked good in the Euros, but that's the only time i've seen him. If Arshavin follows him, i'd be very happy.

 

Rumours still persist on us signing Falcao. GET A DM FFS.

 

Obviously still early days but how are you feeling about Spurs at the moment kingdawson? whats the general feeling of the fans?

[Guest kingdawson]

I have no clue as to what i should expect from this signing. He looked good in the Euros, but that's the only time i've seen him. If Arshavin follows him, i'd be very happy.

 

Rumours still persist on us signing Falcao. GET A DM FFS.

 

Obviously still early days but how are you feeling about Spurs at the moment kingdawson? whats the general feeling of the fans?

 

Doom and gloom tbh. We are in dire need of a dm and also a good centre back to cover King and Woodgate. Most are in agreement that Berbs should be flogged off asap.

 

Personally, as soon as Lennon and Ekotto are dropped and we start playing Bentley on the right, i think our performance levels will go up.

[Syrette]

I have no clue as to what i should expect from this signing. He looked good in the Euros, but that's the only time i've seen him. If Arshavin follows him, i'd be very happy.

 

Rumours still persist on us signing Falcao. GET A DM FFS.

 

Was class for Roma and Brazil back in the day. One of the major players of the '82 WC squad. Bit old now like.

 

 

Bit predictable but amusing nonetheless.

[Guest optimistic nit]

I have no clue as to what i should expect from this signing. He looked good in the Euros, but that's the only time i've seen him. If Arshavin follows him, i'd be very happy.

 

Rumours still persist on us signing Falcao. GET A DM FFS.

 

Obviously still early days but how are you feeling about Spurs at the moment kingdawson? whats the general feeling of the fans?

 

Doom and gloom tbh. We are in dire need of a dm and also a good centre back to cover King and Woodgate. Most are in agreement that Berbs should be flogged off asap.

 

Personally, as soon as Lennon and Ekotto are dropped and we start playing Bentley on the right, i think our performance levels will go up.

 

your a bit 2001 leeds atm, you have some glaring holes but keep on persisting on buying players for the same positions.

 

not saying your in financial trouble mind, that side seems to be being run pretty well. have you even spent money this season when taking into account transfers out?

 

assuming gomes is a good keeper (he has a good reputation, not seen much so far of him in the PL though (thought he should have come to get the cross for cisse's goal mind)) kind and woodgate is just never going to work in my opinion, you need consistancy there, and i cant see you getting it (if you do, it will be one of the best pairings in the league, but i dont think you will). you need a dm and a striker as well. personally i dont see arshavin or pavlychenco as the answer, but we will see.

[Guest optimistic nit]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/aug/23/manchestercity.premierleague

 

 

"To traditionalists, they will probably never change. Manchester City will always be the attractive, loveable losers while, down the road, their enemies get all the trophies. City get by on spirit and gallows humour and a general acceptance that things will always go wrong. It is all part of the charm, the endearing qualities that have led their former manager Joe Royle to talk of a disease called "Cityitis", Sir Alex Ferguson to nickname their stadium the "Temple of Doom" and their supporters to fear they will always be in the shadow of their overbearing neighbours.

 

And then there is Garry Cook, headhunted by Thaksin Shinawatra three months ago to become their executive chairman and clearly a man who wants to look at the stars in the sky rather than the mud in the gutter. A man who believes City can be the biggest club in Manchester. "And we will," he says. "Can we be as big, or bigger, than Manchester United? Yes. Can we win the Premier League? Yes. Can we win the Champions League? It will take time, probably 10 years or more. But if I didn't think that, I wouldn't be here."

 

It is a staggering prediction at a time when Thaksin has £800m of assets frozen in Thailand and Mark Hughes's body language is so downbeat. Yet Cook is deadly serious. "The truth is that this club is not going out of business, it is not bankrupt and we currently have good offers in for four players. I know what's ahead and I know Thaksin's ambitions. He still wants to buy the Ronaldinhos of this world and he knows he can do that only if he has an abundant amount of cash."

 

There is, he admits, a "cash challenge" in the short term. City have taken out a £30m bank loan to help them through, he confirms. "Do we have £40m in the bank to buy new players? No." Yet Cook is encouraged because Thaksin is talking to some of the world's richest men about investing in the club. They have had "Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on the phone" and met "the second richest man in China". Funding is on its way. "We have five or six different options and we want to get it done in the transfer window because we need three or four players."

 

The important thing is that Thaksin will continue to bankroll the club. "As he resolves his issues in Thailand, the anticipation is that he will get some of his money back." Does the one-time billionaire have bank accounts outside Thailand? "I'm going to assume he doesn't," says Cook. "All I know is that he has some very wealthy friends."

 

Thaksin is "embarrassed about the indignities he has brought on the club" and willing to stand down as a director. Yet Cook has misgivings about the Premier League's fit-and-proper-person test. "It is a very loose term, almost tongue-in-cheek, because there have been plenty of unfit and improper people in the league over the last 10 years." He talks of a sport rife with "greed and jealousy - I won't use the word corruption but wherever there's greed and jealousy there will be something else that follows it".

 

As for working for a man who has been described by Human Rights Watch as a "human rights abuser of the worst kind", Cook replies: "He's embroiled in a political process and I've chosen to stay out of it. Is he a nice guy? Yes. Is he a great guy to play golf with? Yes. Does he have plenty of money to run a football club? Yes. I really care only about those three things. Whether he [Thaksin] is guilty of something over in Thailand, I can't worry. I have to be conscious of it. But my role is to run a football club. I worked for Nike who were accused of child-labour issues and I managed to have a career there for 15 years. I believed we were innocent of most of the issues. Morally, I felt comfortable in that environment. It's the same here."

 

Not everyone will be satisfied, but Cook is more bothered about the "10-year plan" to become a "global empire" and bringing in a box-office signing. "We need a superstar," he says. "I've talked about this a lot to Mark and he sort of understands. China and India, 30% of the world population, need a league to watch and we want Manchester City to be their club. To do that, we need a superstar because, no disrespect, Richard Dunne doesn't roll off the tongue in Beijing."

 

The obvious question is: shouldn't it be up to Hughes who they sign? Cook says there would be a "heated debate" if Hughes objected. "When we talked to Mark about coming to this club we said, 'Don't come if you don't think you need a superstar.' He said he wanted to challenge himself by managing the best players."

 

Yet Hughes was lukewarm, to say the least, about the drawn-out pursuit of Ronaldinho. As Cook admits, the former Blackburn manager has simpler tastes. "Mark is adamant he wants Premier League experience because that is what let us down last season. Mark's a homegrown lad, very old school. He'd rather sign players he knows, even overpay. That's an endearing piece of what he's all about. He doesn't like the unknown because it takes him out of his comfort zone. He jumps out of his comfort zone when we say to him, 'Hey, you've got to change this up a little bit.' But he can't have Roque Santa Cruz so now he's back in his 'uncomfortable zone', which is that he will have to bring in someone new and develop them."

 

Hughes, he says, was unfortunate because Sven-Goran Eriksson's recruiting from abroad meant City had "players who weren't right for the club" - especially in "the dead of winter when the players are putting on gloves and tights, there are five games in 10 days and it's bloody tough".

 

Hughes was said to be against City's plans to sell Vedran Corluka and Stephen Ireland. Cook's take is very different. "Mark's assessment was that he had seen the players he wanted to keep and the areas where he felt we could do better. There were a couple of players we looked at [selling] because Mark said he wanted to bring in better. We went out to sign those players, they didn't come and we were left holding the baby."

 

It hardly represents a vote of confidence for Corluka and Ireland, but Cook is unapologetic. "Everyone's for sale. If they want to stay at this club they will have to aspire to it."

 

The better news for Hughes is that Thaksin will not, according to Cook, automatically sack him if City fail to reach the last six. "Thaksin has said himself, 'I probably made some mistakes last season.' He realises he needs to give the manager more room, be more patient."

 

Thaksin, however, has not had a complete change of personality. As Cook says: "If I were to ask him, 'Is it true we haven't got any money?' he'd fire me on the spot."

 

In pursuit of a global brand

 

By his own admission, Garry Cook has radical views on football that not everyone will agree with, not least his belief that there should be a new top division of 10-14 elite clubs with no promotion or relegation. 'The fans,' he says, 'would find a way to get passionate about it.'

 

A Birmingham City fan, with a part-West Midlands and part-American accent, Cook previously worked in an executive role for Nike in Portland, Oregon, becoming president of the Nike Jordan Brand.

 

The Premier League is '10 years behind' the US in merchandising. 'This is the most powerful sports league in the world but also the most undervalued.' Manchester United had not 'even scratched the surface and if anyone's got a headstart it's them'.

 

As for City, he says their behind-the-scenes operation is a 'shock to me' explaining: 'You look at our brand and it's Thomas Cook. There's something not quite right about watching us in a bar in Beijing or Bangkok or Tokyo and seeing "Fred Smith's Plumbing, call 0161 ..."'

 

He was angry when a side of ex-players won the Masters tournament 'using our name and our badge when they had nothing to do with us - then, lo and behold, we congratulate them in the programme. You couldn't set up a band and call it the Drifters, so what are they doing using our name?'

 

He sees City becoming a 'global empire' and 'bigger than Manchester United' but feels the club is undermined by leaks to the media and suggests there is 'someone inside the club with a vendetta'.

 

He is unimpressed, too, with some of the footballers he has encountered. 'They don't understand their responsibility to the club,' he says. 'Trying to get them to do something is like dragging them out of bed.'

 

Since Cook's appointment in May the previous chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, and former chairman John Wardle have both left the club."

 

sounds like a grade a wanker to me.

[olliemort]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/aug/23/manchestercity.premierleague

 

 

"To traditionalists, they will probably never change. Manchester City will always be the attractive, loveable losers while, down the road, their enemies get all the trophies. City get by on spirit and gallows humour and a general acceptance that things will always go wrong. It is all part of the charm, the endearing qualities that have led their former manager Joe Royle to talk of a disease called "Cityitis", Sir Alex Ferguson to nickname their stadium the "Temple of Doom" and their supporters to fear they will always be in the shadow of their overbearing neighbours.

 

And then there is Garry Cook, headhunted by Thaksin Shinawatra three months ago to become their executive chairman and clearly a man who wants to look at the stars in the sky rather than the mud in the gutter. A man who believes City can be the biggest club in Manchester. "And we will," he says. "Can we be as big, or bigger, than Manchester United? Yes. Can we win the Premier League? Yes. Can we win the Champions League? It will take time, probably 10 years or more. But if I didn't think that, I wouldn't be here."

 

It is a staggering prediction at a time when Thaksin has £800m of assets frozen in Thailand and Mark Hughes's body language is so downbeat. Yet Cook is deadly serious. "The truth is that this club is not going out of business, it is not bankrupt and we currently have good offers in for four players. I know what's ahead and I know Thaksin's ambitions. He still wants to buy the Ronaldinhos of this world and he knows he can do that only if he has an abundant amount of cash."

 

There is, he admits, a "cash challenge" in the short term. City have taken out a £30m bank loan to help them through, he confirms. "Do we have £40m in the bank to buy new players? No." Yet Cook is encouraged because Thaksin is talking to some of the world's richest men about investing in the club. They have had "Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on the phone" and met "the second richest man in China". Funding is on its way. "We have five or six different options and we want to get it done in the transfer window because we need three or four players."

 

The important thing is that Thaksin will continue to bankroll the club. "As he resolves his issues in Thailand, the anticipation is that he will get some of his money back." Does the one-time billionaire have bank accounts outside Thailand? "I'm going to assume he doesn't," says Cook. "All I know is that he has some very wealthy friends."

 

Thaksin is "embarrassed about the indignities he has brought on the club" and willing to stand down as a director. Yet Cook has misgivings about the Premier League's fit-and-proper-person test. "It is a very loose term, almost tongue-in-cheek, because there have been plenty of unfit and improper people in the league over the last 10 years." He talks of a sport rife with "greed and jealousy - I won't use the word corruption but wherever there's greed and jealousy there will be something else that follows it".

 

As for working for a man who has been described by Human Rights Watch as a "human rights abuser of the worst kind", Cook replies: "He's embroiled in a political process and I've chosen to stay out of it. Is he a nice guy? Yes. Is he a great guy to play golf with? Yes. Does he have plenty of money to run a football club? Yes. I really care only about those three things. Whether he [Thaksin] is guilty of something over in Thailand, I can't worry. I have to be conscious of it. But my role is to run a football club. I worked for Nike who were accused of child-labour issues and I managed to have a career there for 15 years. I believed we were innocent of most of the issues. Morally, I felt comfortable in that environment. It's the same here."

 

Not everyone will be satisfied, but Cook is more bothered about the "10-year plan" to become a "global empire" and bringing in a box-office signing. "We need a superstar," he says. "I've talked about this a lot to Mark and he sort of understands. China and India, 30% of the world population, need a league to watch and we want Manchester City to be their club. To do that, we need a superstar because, no disrespect, Richard Dunne doesn't roll off the tongue in Beijing."

 

The obvious question is: shouldn't it be up to Hughes who they sign? Cook says there would be a "heated debate" if Hughes objected. "When we talked to Mark about coming to this club we said, 'Don't come if you don't think you need a superstar.' He said he wanted to challenge himself by managing the best players."

 

Yet Hughes was lukewarm, to say the least, about the drawn-out pursuit of Ronaldinho. As Cook admits, the former Blackburn manager has simpler tastes. "Mark is adamant he wants Premier League experience because that is what let us down last season. Mark's a homegrown lad, very old school. He'd rather sign players he knows, even overpay. That's an endearing piece of what he's all about. He doesn't like the unknown because it takes him out of his comfort zone. He jumps out of his comfort zone when we say to him, 'Hey, you've got to change this up a little bit.' But he can't have Roque Santa Cruz so now he's back in his 'uncomfortable zone', which is that he will have to bring in someone new and develop them."

 

Hughes, he says, was unfortunate because Sven-Goran Eriksson's recruiting from abroad meant City had "players who weren't right for the club" - especially in "the dead of winter when the players are putting on gloves and tights, there are five games in 10 days and it's bloody tough".

 

Hughes was said to be against City's plans to sell Vedran Corluka and Stephen Ireland. Cook's take is very different. "Mark's assessment was that he had seen the players he wanted to keep and the areas where he felt we could do better. There were a couple of players we looked at [selling] because Mark said he wanted to bring in better. We went out to sign those players, they didn't come and we were left holding the baby."

 

It hardly represents a vote of confidence for Corluka and Ireland, but Cook is unapologetic. "Everyone's for sale. If they want to stay at this club they will have to aspire to it."

 

The better news for Hughes is that Thaksin will not, according to Cook, automatically sack him if City fail to reach the last six. "Thaksin has said himself, 'I probably made some mistakes last season.' He realises he needs to give the manager more room, be more patient."

 

Thaksin, however, has not had a complete change of personality. As Cook says: "If I were to ask him, 'Is it true we haven't got any money?' he'd fire me on the spot."

 

In pursuit of a global brand

 

By his own admission, Garry Cook has radical views on football that not everyone will agree with, not least his belief that there should be a new top division of 10-14 elite clubs with no promotion or relegation. 'The fans,' he says, 'would find a way to get passionate about it.'

 

A Birmingham City fan, with a part-West Midlands and part-American accent, Cook previously worked in an executive role for Nike in Portland, Oregon, becoming president of the Nike Jordan Brand.

 

The Premier League is '10 years behind' the US in merchandising. 'This is the most powerful sports league in the world but also the most undervalued.' Manchester United had not 'even scratched the surface and if anyone's got a headstart it's them'.

 

As for City, he says their behind-the-scenes operation is a 'shock to me' explaining: 'You look at our brand and it's Thomas Cook. There's something not quite right about watching us in a bar in Beijing or Bangkok or Tokyo and seeing "Fred Smith's Plumbing, call 0161 ..."'

 

He was angry when a side of ex-players won the Masters tournament 'using our name and our badge when they had nothing to do with us - then, lo and behold, we congratulate them in the programme. You couldn't set up a band and call it the Drifters, so what are they doing using our name?'

 

He sees City becoming a 'global empire' and 'bigger than Manchester United' but feels the club is undermined by leaks to the media and suggests there is 'someone inside the club with a vendetta'.

 

He is unimpressed, too, with some of the footballers he has encountered. 'They don't understand their responsibility to the club,' he says. 'Trying to get them to do something is like dragging them out of bed.'

 

Since Cook's appointment in May the previous chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, and former chairman John Wardle have both left the club."

 

sounds like a grade a w***** to me.

Is he for real?What a cunt!

[Guest]

"In England, they say that Manchester is the city of rain. Its main attraction is considered to be the timetable at the railway station, where trains leave for other, less rainy cities."

 

[mrmojorisin75]

"In England, they say that Manchester is the city of rain. Its main attraction is considered to be the timetable at the railway station, where trains leave for other, less rainy cities."

 

 

that got me too, magnificent

[KaKa]

Clubs do such a bad job of helping foreign players settle into what for them is such a drastic change in lifestyle. Then everyone wonders why they don't perform as well on the pitch. They just seem to stick them in a hotel after they've signed, and then leave them to it.

 

Must be pretty depressing being stuck in a brand new city where you know no one and where the weather is kind of gloomy. I think it all adds up.

 

 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Clubs do such a bad job of helping foreign players settle into what for them is such a drastic change in lifestyle. Then everyone wonders why they don't perform as well on the pitch. They just seem to stick them in a hotel after they've signed, and then leave them to it.

 

Must be pretty depressing being stuck in a brand new city where you know no one and where the weather is kind of gloomy. I think it all adds up.

 

 

That's true, but it's well within the player's power to sort things out. The guy has X thousand pounds a week coming in to his bank account, he could easily have got himself a nice flat/house, gone out to meet people and embraced the lifestyle. The weekend is the busiest time for a footballer? You're joking, it's not like that in Spain!

 

It was his choice to come here, he needs to zip it IMO.

 

To be fair though, Manchester is ridiculously wet!

[relámpago blanco]

Clubs do such a bad job of helping foreign players settle into what for them is such a drastic change in lifestyle. Then everyone wonders why they don't perform as well on the pitch. They just seem to stick them in a hotel after they've signed, and then leave them to it.

 

Must be pretty depressing being stuck in a brand new city where you know no one and where the weather is kind of gloomy. I think it all adds up.

 

 

I think they should buy several houses and move the new players in there when they sign.  Say you sign 3 foreigners it would be easier for them to adapt if they lived near each other for a while until they find somewhere to live.

[junkhead]

Clubs do such a bad job of helping foreign players settle into what for them is such a drastic change in lifestyle. Then everyone wonders why they don't perform as well on the pitch. They just seem to stick them in a hotel after they've signed, and then leave them to it.

 

Must be pretty depressing being stuck in a brand new city where you know no one and where the weather is kind of gloomy. I think it all adds up.

 

 

I think they should buy several houses and move the new players in there when they sign.  Say you sign 3 foreigners it would be easier for them to adapt if they lived near each other for a while until they find somewhere to live.

yeah, imagine the Friday night orgies