"The Championship is not an option" - I Love Football off-season and transfer speculation thread 2012

nah, not really. I know Liverpool were mentioned but it felt like Chelsea kind of snuck in for him

iirc spurs failed with the levy hardball, arsenal didnt get their shit together before his release clause ran out and then he was too expensive, lolverpool thought downing was the way to go, chelsea came in and did it in a day

even still he was hyped but not interminable hazard hyped

Hazard's good. I liked Mata better but it's easier to look exciting playing at the Mestalla imo.

The Suarez deal took ages to get tied up, but I don't recall anyone else showing any interest.

feel like hazard's just gonna be a lot of this in the end

http://i.imgur.com/ldK12.gif

He was fouled more than any other player in Europe this season, but he also lead Ligue 1 in successful dribbles, and assists, and scored 20 goals.

led*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuoQK1EN0O8

i was third in ligue un for dribbles fwiw

would feel more sorry for barton had he done the job properly on aguero.

Yeah, this really seems like something that needs addressing

Referees are set to be subject to drugs tests, Fifa's medical chiefs have revealed.

Match officials now have to pass stringent fitness tests and the world governing body's medical experts say they should also be tested to make sure they are not taking performance-enhancing substances.

Fifa's chief medical officer, Jiri Dvorak, told a conference in Budapest: "We have to consider referees as part of the game.

"We have started to discuss this and this is something for the future which will be discussed to include possibly an anti-doping programme for referees.

"We do not have an indication that this is a problem but this is something we have to look at. The referees are a neglected population."

Michel D'Hooghe, the chairman of Fifa's medical committee, added: "The referee is an athlete on the field so I think he should be subjected to the same rules."

Meanwhile, the World Anti-Doping Agency's director general, David Howman, told the Fifa medical conference that it may change rules to allow players from team sports who are banned for doping offences to return to training – though not playing – earlier. He said: "We are looking for ideas on how reductions for an early return to training can be done."

D'Hooghe said players in team sports were hit harder by drugs bans than individual athletes such as runners, who are still able to train and therefore return to competition as soon as their ban ends.

they should be providing them with complimentary drugs

So the guy in charge of drug-testing has said he needs to be given more work = more responsibility = bigger pay deal? Standard issue politics, but honestly, how exactly does the referee having nandrolone biscuits before every game give anyone a competitive advantage?

I should stop being surprised every time someone from fifa says something idiotic, but I'm not quite immunized against puzzlement just yet. ffs fifa.

Was there anything else on the agenda at this conference?

there was a nice buffet apparently

somebody shd stop Clattenburg dropping acid tbh

There was a sour note to Blackpool's defeat, with Ian Holloway having a screaming row with doping-control officials after the match.

Dave Jones, a loser here with Cardiff two years ago (against Blackpool), made the point in the match programme that as a manager "you have to choose your words carefully [when talking to the team post-match] because it can have an effect when the players come back."

Holloway had similar thoughts as he tried to gather his squad together "to tell them how proud I am of them", only to find Kevin Phillips and Barry Ferguson whisked away for drug tests.

"Don't give me that bullshit," he screamed. "Your rules are just so much bullshit. Use your discretion. I want all my players in one room – now!"

There was a sour note to Chelsea's defeat, with Didier Drogba having a screaming row with offical doping-control officials after the match.

Jose Mourinho, a loser here with Real Madrid two years ago (against Barcelona), made the point in the match programme that as a manager "you have to choose your words carefully [when talking to the referees post-match] because it can have an effect when the players come back."

Drogba had similar thoughts as he tried to gather the referees together "to tell them it was a fucking disgrace", only to find Tom Henning Øvrebø whisked away for drug tests.

"Don't give me that bullshit," he screamed. "Your rules are just so much bullshit. Use your discretion. I want all my referees in one room – now!" Meanwhile John Terry was reported to have put on a Barcelona kit to celebrate with the winning team.

Haha, gold. I've been very disappointed to find out that even Øvrebø thinks he had a stinker that night. I seem to be the only person standing who thinks he not only made the right calls, but that they were the correct decisions too.

be srs

Manchester United skipper Patrice Evra has told Eden Hazard to make the move to Old Trafford.

The Lille star is presently considering offers from United, Manchester City and Chelsea.

It is understood that the highly-rated Belgian has agreed terms with all three Premier League heavyweights.

Evra said: "I'm not his father but, if he comes to Manchester, I assure him that he will win titles. That's if he joins my Manchester not the blue side."

"I'm not his father but I might be his brother; it's hard to keep track."

Can't let myself believe this yet

We may rename a section of the website 'The Daily Eden Hazard' because it seems that everyday there's a new snippet of information suggesting he's closer to joining a certain club over the others interested. Sky Sports News today were still reporting today that Manchester United is his favoured destination and now some outlets in the French media are backing that up.

Le10sport.com, a major football based website in France, claim that Eden Hazard made a decision last weekend to join Manchester United. They cite relatives of the Belgian player as the source and say he was even ready to announce his decision to the wider world.

However, his agents wanted him to hold back as they were still negotiating deals with both Manchester City and Chelsea. Le10 claim that Eden Hazard is prepared to take a lower salary at Manchester United because it's where he wants to play.

They say he is ready to make a 'financial sacrifice' because Manchester United is the 'choice of his heart'. A personal meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson, where the United manager explained an exciting project to Hazard, is said to have made his mind up and if it wasn't for the intervention of his agents he'd have signed a contract already.

Nevertheless they report that an agreement is very close on a five year contract with Manchester United

ive not seen that much of him but he doesnt seem to be a 442 winger at all

sooo

If I were Eden Hazard and I'd made my mind up, I'd be signing before turning out as prime Shawx magnet in Belgium's imminent friendlies.

he doesn't really seem to fit into any of the prospective teams too well. City have Nasri and Silva for that role, Utd have Rooney, and Chelsea have Mata. Don't really care though, getting one of the most exciting young players in world football would be quite a coup. Setting myself up for a major disappointment here i know

hazard behind twp or welbeck would be interesting

the welbeckian pele

yeah and Rooney did alright up top in 09/10, even if he doesn't like it

4-3-3: Jones, Tiote, Carrick; Nani, Rooney, Hazard.

every attacking player who isn't an outright centre forward would like to be a #10 floating around wherever their fancy takes them, most of them need to be told where to fucking play

dog latin wrote this on thread DJs post your mixes for download on board I Love Music on Aug 27, 2008

DJ Dog Latin - Rogue Mix July 2008

http://baldmonkey.co.uk/rogue/dj.dog.latin.-.rogue.mix.july.2008.zip

Tornados - Telstar / Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing / M Beat feat General Levy - Incredible / Gloria Jones - Tainted Love / 50 Cent - In The Club / Elvis Costello - I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea / Nirvana - Scentless Apprentice / Pharcyde - Passing Me By / Sean Smith - Under Me Sleng Teng / Kraftwerk - Autobahn / GZA/Genius - Liquid Swords / Run DMC - My Adidas / Nightmares On Wax - Ethnic Majority / �-ziq - The Hwicci Song / MIA - Paper Planes / Gravediggaz - Bang Yo Head / K7 - Come Baby Come / Beastie Boys - Shake Your Rump / Kid Creole & The Coconuts - Annie (I'm Not Your Daddy) / Cylob - Rewind / INXS - I Need You Tonight / Grandmaster Flash - The Message / Jeff Wayne - Horsell Common and the Heat Ray / La Tour - People Are Still Having Sex / Daft Punk - Da Funk / David Bowie - Let's Dance / Prince - Kiss / Men At Work - Down Under / Grandmaster Flash - White Lines / Queen - Another One Bites The Dust / Belle Epoque - Miss Broadway / Prince - Why'd You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? / Playgroup - Make It Happen (Zongamin Mix) / Lipps Inc - Funky Town / KLF - Last Train To Trancentral / Jeans Team - O Bauer / Afrika Bamaataa - Funky Heroes / Modeselektor - Kill Bill Vol 4 / Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster / The Sonics - Have Love Will Travel / The Rubinoos - I Think We're Alone Now / Sabres Of Paradise - Wilmot / Burial - Archangel / Red Dragon - Compliments On Your Kiss / Battles - Atlas / GTR - Cops / Rotterdam Termination Source - Poing / Praga Khan - Injected With The Poison / Purple Haze - Eden / H.A.Z.A.R.D. - James Brown Is Dead (Gary D Deadly Mix) / Pigbag - Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag / HN Style - James Brown Is Still Alive / Hennes and Cold - The Second Trip (DJ Scot RMX) / Alice Cooper - School's Out For Summer / Johnny Harris and Chrysus - Don't Pigeonhole Me / Tim Taylor - The Horn Track (Luke Slater Mix)

lolling hard at this 'ilx first mention'

i think jones may end up better as a midfielder than a cb or rb, he has a bit of gerrard type density about him

I still don't buy him as a midfielder. He needs to be given a fixed position though

yeah else he'll end up some sort of horrible twp of the back six, careening into challenges all over the place

probably making choo choo or whiaaaaaaaaow or vrooooom noises as he does so

twwp

'When the final whistle went, we didn’t really know what the score at City was. But then we heard the Sunderland fans cheering.

'It was sad to see that because they should be supporting their own team really.

'They didn’t have the best of seasons so for them to be cheering like that was sad.

'It was something myself and a lot of the players won’t forget.'

oh, twpaws

United confirm Glazer is alive after rumours of owner's death Manchester United have announced that rumours circulating on the internet are false

that could be any one of the Utd fans who play for Sunderland

It occurs that Rooney might never have attended a game as a fan; he may genuinely be shocked that fans don't just turn up to cheer their own (see also: Cape Town, 2010)

If hazard goes to Utd, does that mean Kagawa to Arsenal? If he's set on Prem football then we can offer that, well for a season at least.

hazard twp nani
kagawa

cleverley and kagawa in the same midfield would be a bit lightweight

and now thanks to IK I wanna listen to 'Wilmot' by Sabres of Paradise.

It looks like a cracking mix actually, doubt it's still up sadly.

Lol! I didn't even notice that this was on it too:

Elvis Costello - I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea

haha

citeh have nasri and silva
utd have rooney
chelsea have mata

utd have rooney
utd have rooney
utd have rooney
city have nasri and silva
chelsea have mata

and

utd have

rooney

be fair they've got Howard Webb as well