The 2012-2013 Football Thread

[Happybunny]

After seeing Luis Suarez score today, I am being to think all South American players come with a "Hand of God" goal mode.

[pachyderm]

Originally Posted by Happybunny

After seeing Luis Suarez score today, I am being to think all South American players come with a "Hand of God" goal mode.

that is funny....

[Lord Blackadder]

Meanwhile, Sepp Blatter is an idiot.



The reason people are walking off the pitch, Sepp, is that your organization is perceived to be useless when it comes to dealing with the problem. Punishing them is the opposite of what you should be doing.

[oscillatewildly]

Waiting for the FIFA monkey chants tape to be issued to all black players; listen and be conditioned while you sleep.

Cheers,
OW

[Happybunny]

Just a bit of news from the Netherlands.

Jaap Stam assistant trainer by PEC Zwolle is moving to Ajax at the end on this season.

A team out of the Jupiler league which is our Championship, has been declared bankrupt, AGOVV from Apeldoorn. This has been disaster waiting to happen, they never really got their finances in order since they moved from the amateur league.

[Jaffa Cake]

There's currently a shock on the cards at Valley Parade as Bradford City lead Aston Villa.

I say it's a shock as the Bantams are only leading 1-0.

[daneoni]

3-1 to Bradford final result.

[Lord Blackadder]

Bad times for Villa and ex-Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner. They weren't just beaten, they were outplayed.

[daneoni]

Swansea get two away goals at The Bridge, or rather Ivanovic helps them get 2 away goals at The Bridge. Torres booed off.

[Confuzzzed]

#rafaout

[Jaffa Cake]

The best thing about a Bradford-Swansea final is that one of England's Europa League entrants next season would be either a League Two club or Welsh. If either Villa or Chelsea prevent this they must never be forgiven.

[Lord Blackadder]

Re: Man City complaining about ticket prices at the Emirates. One the one hand, we have to remember that Man City fans, unlike their club, are no richer than the average football fan. On the other hand, their club has too much money so I find it rather difficult to sympathize with them.

But those ticket prices are pretty crazy.

Originally Posted by Jaffa Cake

The best thing about a Bradford-Swansea final is that one of England's Europa League entrants next season would be either a League Two club or Welsh. If either Villa or Chelsea prevent this they must never be forgiven.

Agreed. Aston Villa have played so terribly of late I really can see them falling to Bradford again, or drawing. But Chelsea will surely win their match against Swansea? I hope not though. Only teams that truly want to win the cup should be playing. Chelsea couldn't care less.

[pachyderm]

Originally Posted by lord blackadder

agreed. Aston villa have played so terribly of late i really can see them falling to bradford again, or drawing. But chelsea will surely win their match against swansea? I hope not though. Only teams that truly want to win the cup should be playing. Chelsea couldn't care less.

????


=)

[twietee]

Seems like Sahin goes back to Dortmund. I do like that move a lot!

[Happybunny]

From the KNVB.
AGOVV Apeldoorn is as per 17 January no longer a professional football team, all results from this season are scraped.




The transfer from Wesley Sneijder from Inter to Galatasaray, is not going so smoothly, funnily it's not the money angle. The fans don't really want him, he is reported to have said some negative remarks over Turkish fans in the past, and they really don't want his wife Yolanthe.

Both Inter and Galatasaray are positive over the deal, but it's now up to Wesley to make a decision. He has been told if he stays by Inter, and still refuses a pay cut he will not play football.

I cannot comment on what he said or didn't say, but on hating his wife, well they are not alone, to know her is to hate her.

http://www.turksvoetbal.net/galatasa...jder-080114687

[Fizzoid]

Originally Posted by Happybunny

to know her is to hate her.

I'd certainly like to find out if that's true!

[Happybunny]

Originally Posted by Fizzoid

Image

I'd certainly like to find out if that's true!

Oh there is no doubt that she is 'eye candy' but she is the Dutch/Spanish Kim Kardashian. She tries so hard to be the new Posh it's sickening, she had a talk show here, the audience loathed her.

[pachyderm]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yolanthe_Sneijder-Cabau

she is trying to end child sex abuse in developing countries... that is good...

[Happybunny]

Originally Posted by pachyderm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yolanthe_Sneijder-Cabau

she is trying to end child sex abuse in developing countries... that is good...

Of course that is good, but if there was no photo op, I'm not sure she would be interested.
ALSO You try to find people who are not against child sex abuse.

Just found this translation.

It is strange just how fast things change in football.


But Wesley Sneijder is now left having to contemplate his very own Humpty Dumpty moment. Just 18 months on from a summer which saw him chased mercilessly by then-Premier League champions Manchester United, the Dutchman is left staring down the barrel of a career shattered by a spectacular drop in form, Inter’s divisive frugality, and his falling stock in a transfer market which no longer regards him as one of football’s greatest assets.

It was only really the finer details that curtailed United’s attempts to add him to their squad in 2011, with Sneijder’s €200,000-a-week wage demands and Inter’s €35 million price tag combining to leave Sir Alex Ferguson’s outfit backpedalling away from talks. A slight compromise on cash from either the player or his owners would likely have pushed the deal through, with the Red Devils so eager to sign Sneijder that they spent the whole summer negotiating for him and not once turned their attentions elsewhere.

A year and a half on, Sneijder is seemingly the most unwanted commodity on the January transfer market, with interest in his signature from top clubs having died down to almost non-existent level. While his wage demands remain high, Inter’s refusal to pick him until such time as he agrees a new contract which would cut his salary by 33 per cent has seen him ostracised from football for the past few months. With his form never having re-emerged at the level to which he was playing in 2010, when he arguably should have been selected as Ballon d’Or winner ahead of Lionel Messi after leading Inter to a historic treble and scoring five goals at the World Cup for Oranje, his stock has plummeted to the point that he is fast running out of options.


Only Anzhi Makhachkala and Galatasaray remain as serious contenders, with the likes of Queens Park Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur having recently distanced themselves from speculation linking the former Real Madrid man to their clubs. The Manchester Uniteds of the world are now no longer to be seen in the increasingly murky transfer picture.

Unfortunately for Anzhi, there are several reasons why Sneijder may not want to venture to Russia, despite his eagerness to free himself from his current shackles at Inter, as Goal.com Netherlands’ Jelmer van der Dussen explains.

"His wife, Yolanthe Cabau, could be a reason why he would want to stay in Milan as she has her own flourishing career there. On the other hand, she is trying to build a future in Hollywood as well, so it looks like she will be travelling all the time anyway.

"Her recent quotes to RTL Boulevard suggested that much of Sneijder’s decision would be based on their hopes for building a family. So you can probably forget about a move to any Russian club that is interested, and his probable preference is to stay in Milan and play for AC Milan, or go to England or anywhere else where the standard of living is high and the pay is good."

The scenario has become more complicated by the quotes offered by Galatasaray president Unal Aysal claiming to have spoken with Inter counterpart Massimo Moratti about Sneijder’s availability on Tuesday.

"The Wesley Sneijder topic was also on table," Aysal told GSTV. "I can say we made positive progress on the prospect of signing Sneijder. I suppose it will be clear in a few days. We will negotiate the terms and hopefully get a discount on Sneijder's fee. If they will agree to our offer financially then this move will be finalised."

"We have to emigrate in January. There's a lot going on, this is about our future, about Wes, his soccer, and about the place where we might have our babies"

- Yolanthe Cabau to RTL Boulevard

Cabau seemed to confirm that a move to Turkey is a possibility later in the day, tweeting: "Istanbul is definitely nice! Have been there many times, love Turkey! But what will happen, I do not know … I can only say that Wes still loves Inter as much as he did before."

Goal.com Italy’s Sergio Chesi believes there is a great deal to read into Cabau’s comments on Inter too. "The most important thing in all of this is Sneijder's hopes of returning to his best with a top level European club; he would still prefer a Premier League transfer," he explains.

"So the most probable scenario now is that Sneijder will stay in his precarious situation at Inter, while the team continue to struggle due to the lack of quality in the midfield. That quality Sneijder could well bring back."

With Inter struggling, Galatasaray apparently begging for the Nerazzurri to drop their asking price, Russia seemingly being too far off the beaten track, and more prominent interest having died down completely, it appears that the fairytale scenario is a long way off for Sneijder. Even all the King's horses and all the King's men have turned their backs on him. Yet his approach over the difficult past few months is to be applauded, says Jelmer van der Dussen.

"I think you can say that his attitude has been pretty mature," he says. "The Sneijder of a few years ago might have done some interviews where he would smash Inter, but he has been pretty quiet so far. He has been very respectful in the media, just talking about a possible future move and not about the way Inter are treating him."

Still, that treatment from the Beneamata means that Sneijder’s value is dropping with each passing day. The more Inter play hard-ball, the less likely they are to get the transfer fee they want, the less clubs will want to pay Sneijder the wages he currently earns, and the more the Dutchman will be inclined to turn down any approaches for financial reasons. All the while, he will know that it is the club missing out most, and that they may well eventually have to rethink their current position.

As things stand, with neither Inter nor Sneijder feeling the inclination to back down, the Dutchman is fast becoming the most unsignable player in the world.

A further update Saturday afternoon.

Ankara, Turkey: Turkish club Galatasaray says it has reached an agreement with Inter Milan to buy Wesley Sneijder, but appears to be still trying to convince the Dutch midfielder to move to Istanbul.

A brief statement from Galatasaray on Saturday said a deal was reached with Inter but that talks with Sneijder were ongoing.

It did not disclose terms of the deal with Inter, which is in a contract dispute with Sneijder and wants him to take a pay cut.

Sneijder, who hasn't played for Inter since September, was first sidelined for two months while injured and later Inter technical director Marco Branca said he would not play until he made a decision about his future, with a new deal reportedly requiring him to take a pay cut.
http://sports.ndtv.com/football/news...esley-sneijder

[fiddlestyx]

Originally Posted by Lord Blackadder

Re: Man City complaining about ticket prices at the Emirates. One the one hand, we have to remember that Man City fans, unlike their club, are no richer than the average football fan. On the other hand, their club has too much money so I find it rather difficult to sympathize with them.

But those ticket prices are pretty crazy.



Agreed. Aston Villa have played so terribly of late I really can see them falling to Bradford again, or drawing. But Chelsea will surely win their match against Swansea? I hope not though. Only teams that truly want to win the cup should be playing. Chelsea couldn't care less.

Those are some high ticket prices but if people are willing to pay it, which Arsenal fans seem to be willing pay, it's difficult for them to be faulted to charge that much.

If the product on the pitch doesn't improve soon, I can see people less willing to pay the premium ticket price.

[cambookpro]

Haven't posted much here lately, but what a comeback by Reading!

80 minutes and everyone sitting next to me had left
Didn't deserve it and WBA will feel mugged, but hey, that's football.

[Confuzzzed]

Fizzoid and the Pach will be happy today. Unbelievable result, ruined my accumulator

[fiddlestyx]

For anyone else that watched the Newcastle/Norwich match ... I feel your pain.

That was easily one of the worst matches I've ever seen. Clearly neither side wanted to win, so sloppy.

[pachyderm]

Originally Posted by Confuzzzed

Fizzoid and the Pach will be happy today. Unbelievable result, ruined my accumulator

hell yeah!

the massive sheffield wednesday win and so did

dumbarton fc and spurs drew... good weekend so far...

and i got to see the the massive sheffield wednesday win online.... sweet.

----------

Originally Posted by Happybunny

Of course that is good, but if there was no photo op, I'm not sure she would be interested.
ALSO You try to find people who are not against child sex abuse.

american humor tho, you don't get it.

[Jaffa Cake]

Originally Posted by Confuzzzed

Fizzoid and the Pach will be happy today. Unbelievable result, ruined my accumulator

Betting Rule #1. Never, ever bet on City. We make a habit of busting accumulators and the like.

Anyway, that was Typical City™. Chief concern is the injury to our 'keeper Jakupovic, who took a blow to the face. His replacement Mark Oxley has only made half-a-dozen or so appearances out on loan to Grimsby and Burton Albion, and the next 'keeper in line – Joe Cracknell – is so young and inexperienced that he doesn't even have his own Wikipedia page yet. If Jakupovic is out we're stretched very thinly, and for our next match – the Cup replay against Orient – Oxley is cup tied so we'd have to go with Cracknell. I've got City shirts in my wardrobe older than Cracknell.

I expect Bruce to make a few phone calls tomorrow. In fact, I demand we put in a bid in for Lube Pros custodian Yarnksi.

Originally Posted by pachyderm

and i got to see the the massive sheffield wednesday win online.... sweet.

<mutters to self darkly>