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The 2011-2012 Football Thread

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Beware though! This just in from the inestimable OptaJoe...

Wolves are in first place in the top-flight for the first time since August 28 1973, after which they lost 5 successive games. History.

Just saying, like. ;)
 
Well, the London-centric footballing media will surely protect one of their own cheeky cockney types. ;)

Steel yourself, my friend. I can hear hack pundits scribbling (well, typing) as we speak. The puns about converting Bullard into cash are incoming. :eek:
 
For those of you not already aware, Robbie Keane scored on his debut for boyhood club LA Galaxy. The only thing more shocking than the defending and goalkeeping is Keane's leisurely "run" on to David Beckham's hopeful longball world-class pass. :rolleyes:

I really hope Columbus end up facing LA in the playoffs...they are a better squad, but I think we can beat them and I'd love to ses our boys spoil their season. :D

Spurs really collapsed against United...I really fear for Arsenal next week, it could get pretty ugly.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
For those of you not already aware, Robbie Keane scored on his debut for boyhood club LA Galaxy. The only thing more shocking than the defending and goalkeeping is Keane's leisurely "run" on to David Beckham's hopeful longball world-class pass. :rolleyes:
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Haha classic!

Incredibly awful commentary too, makes ITV look good!

And yeah, I'm reserving complete judgement on Arsenal's season until the end of the transfer window in the vain hope we may sign someone, but it's not looking rosy. We need to forget about Sunday for the time being, Wednesday's game against Udinese is crucial.
 
XIII said:
Haha classic!

Incredibly awful commentary too, makes ITV look good!
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To be fair, Galaxy's opponents in that match were San Jose, and they are probably the second-worst team in the league. Robbie won't find every team so obliging. ;)

MLS commentary is often cringeworthy, though I am reliably informed that the Spanish-language commentary is generally excellent. Ian Darke is now calling MLS matches for ESPN here in the states, and it's a big improvement. Fox Soccer Channel's broadcast team are a bunch of stiffs, regularly talking over goals and such. Usually the local TV commentary is better than the crack team of Fox Soccer Channel broadcasters.

XIII said:
And yeah, I'm reserving complete judgement on Arsenal's season until the end of the transfer window in the vain hope we may sign someone, but it's not looking rosy. We need to forget about Sunday for the time being, Wednesday's game against Udinese is crucial.
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The current starting XI still looks pretty good, but depth is a big problem now, especially if you do beat Udinese. It's still too early to predict anything though.
 
Oops! I suppose we can't have Wenger leaving his technical area and joining the fray. :eek:

EDIT: Blackburn Rovers are apparently in the process of bringing in Dallas defender (and potential US international) George John. John is in for a tough season if he makes the move, but it's a challenge just about any MLS player would gladly accept.
 
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Transfer speculation – Newcastle have apparently given the green light to QPR to open up discussions with Joey Barton with regards to a potential move to Loftus Road.

I'll refer you to a post I made last week in relation to Jimmy Bullard...

Jaffa Cake said:
There's rumour that once this is all sorted and he's a free agent he'll be signing for QPR. Just think about that for a moment. Bullard, Taarabt and Colin all together. At QPR. It's like an Axis of Twunt.
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Add Barton into that mix – that's quite the midfield. :p
 
Now we'll see the cheeky cockney back in his natural environment.

One troublesom player QPR won't be getting is Craig Bellamy, a player Liverpool were linked with yesterday. On paper he could make for a reasonable option as a third striker, but he's getting older and he's a very angry man. Hide the golf clubs!

He's also on big wages. I say we ought to pass, but Kenny knows best.
 
It seems that we won't be seeing a Barton-Bullard buffoonfest at QPR though, as Sky Sports understands that the foppish crock is Ipswich bound.

Skysports.com understands Jimmy Bullard is set to have a medical...

Ah well, if they're insisting on him passing a medical that's blown that then.
 
Interesting match for Arsenal as they not only won away in Europe but came from behind to do it against a good opponent. Maybe this will boost confidence ahead of the weekend clash with Man U.

Suarez continues to score freely. It's not much of a stretch to say he could bang in a solid 20+ goals this season if he stays healthy. Without any European distractions to worry about, Liverpool could make a strong run for the domestic cups this season.

Jaffa Cake said:
It seems that we won't be seeing a Barton-Bullard buffoonfest at QPR though, as Sky Sports understands that the foppish crock is Ipswich bound.
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Do you think some late acquisitions might be on the cards for the Tigers if Bullard's transfer happens?
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Do you think some late acquisitions might be on the cards for the Tigers if Bullard's transfer happens?
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We've got former Chelsea youngster Michael Woods on trial at the moment – he played for the reserves tonight – and it looks like he's going to be offered a deal.

Also featuring in tonight's reserve match was another midfield trialist, Marc de Val Fernandez who was previously with Real Madrid B. Mind, he's also had trials this summer with Oldham and Scunthorpe and they apparently weren't keen.

We also have a 'keeper on trial, a 38 year old Egyptian by the name of Essem El-Hadary. He was in the best XI at last year's African Cup of Nations and has 125 caps (and counting) for Egypt, so he would seem to be decent. Mind, this does raise questions about the future of Peter Gulacsi and there is speculation that he might have his loan cut short and be sent back to Liverpool.
 
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Sounds like plans are afoot then. Peter Gulacsi's position in the Liverpool heirarchy seems unclear - now that we have knack-prone-allowed-7-goals-against-Man U (and Brazilian to boot...Brazilian keepers are always suspect) Doni in the squad it seems that he's further down the pecking order than ever.

Still a lot of transfer talk, hopefully there will be an exciting flurry of last-minute transfers.
 
^With all due respect to Ipswich, I don't see why anyone would want Bullard at this point due to his age, attitude, injury history and wage demands. Any word on what kind of money he'll be on at his new club?

UEFA Champions League Draw:

Group A
Bayern Munich
Villarreal
Manchester City
Napoli

Group B
Inter
CSKA Moscow
Lille
Trabzonspor

Group C
Manchester United
Benfica
FC Basel
Otelul Galati

Group D
Real Madrid
Lyon
Ajax
Dinamo Zagreb

Group E
Chelsea
Valencia
Bayer Leverkusen
Genk

Group F
Arsenal
Marseille
Olympiakos
Borussia Dortmund

Group G
FC Porto
Shakhtar Donetsk
Zenit St. Petersburg
FC Apoel

Group H
Barcelona
Milan
FC BATE Borisov
Viktoria Plzen


Once again, Manchester United get a bye to the knockout stage by way of a laughably easy group. Chelsea's is more difficult but still not anything to worry about. Man City are in the group of death, and Arsenal's is no walk in the park.

Poor Milan are going to have the dubious honor of becoming one of the first teams to be run through the meat-grinder that is the current Barcelona squad.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
^With all due respect to Ipswich, I don't see why anyone would want Bullard at this point due to his age, attitude, injury history and wage demands. Any word on what kind of money he'll be on at his new club?
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They've just been interviewing him on Sky Sports News, and the subject came up of whether he had to take a pay cut to join Ipswich – especially when Premier League clubs were said to be sniffing. He paused for a moment, before replying, "yeah, there's a pay cut... but I'm just happy to be playing football".

What have I been saying? All he wants to do is play football – for Jimmy, it's all about the football. Honestly, the man's beyond parody. :D
 
Jimmy's agent: "Now listen Jimmy; the next time the reporters ask you any of those uncomfortable questions, you just answer with "I'm just happy to be playing football". That one works for everything."

oscillatewildly said:
Did think of your :mad: when Group C was finalised.:D
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What I want to know is, does Sir Alex send the money straight to Blatter, or does it pass through Platini so he can take a cut? ;)
 
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