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

they play in the roughly the same position. That's the comparison

ur persistent stanning for this player is becoming one note and predictable imo

yeah, i suppose we should be talking about real talents like "Thudd" or Krancjar or whoever

anyway, position posmition, ask anyone who's seen em to pick the three similar players out of the four, you know that the pasty fat one without is gonna be left on the kerb crying into his box of maimed kittens

xp

Uh

Is that sarcasm? Cos....

and i never made a comparison in terms of technical ability or style, I was simply talking about where Hazard would fit into the teams.

instead of rooney imo

look, Rooney is a good player who maybe never fulfilled his full potential. He plays for the team who finished level on points with this year's champions and was a major contributor to that. He's a bit fat, not exactly a looker, and he's got a stupid nickname. Do we really need to discuss this any further?

ya

darragh's twp hatin' becoming as stale as #N's stannning.

Grauniad has one of those 50 transfers list things and it is predictably stupid: Suarez will cost as much as Neymar and more than Gotze, Hoilett will cost £10m despite his contract being up etc. Also it isn't exactly surprising but it doesn't care about anyone unless they have been vaguely linked to the top clubs in England (Not even big non-English European transfers are mentioned, like Guiseppe Rossi's eventual move to a big Italian side, nor transfers OUT of England, like how Balotelli may leave). So unless the top 6 (Pool not Newcastle) spend £100m on whole new forward line-ups, I don't see it being weighted in much realism.

otoh it has this picture, which made it worth browsing

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/5/23/1337798987632/Fulhams-Clint-Dempsey-cel-018.jpg

the dempsey to BIG CLUB rumors have quieted down a bit of late

lots of excellent pics in that article actually
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/5/23/1337798993863/Lazios-Anderson-Carvalho--020.jpg

You fuckers, I was going to poll those later! It's Berba vs Skrtel tbh.

darragh's twp hatin' becoming as stale as #N's stannning

this is p unfair on #0 imo, considering i p much always start it

also:

ur persistent stanning for this player is becoming one note and predictable imo

― pet tommy & the barkhaters (darraghmac)

i dunno did y'all read the intent of this post correctly, but it may not have been entirely sincere nor without an element of selfzing

What I like and dislike most about Rooney is his attitude.

I bumped the other thread, this one is for transfer speculation. So either plausibly link TWP to Metallist Kharkiv or take it over there. imo.

fair

i'm internet-challenged at work and busy in the evenings so i've no notion of what's happening

Arsenal are ready to open the bidding for Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud by offering £6.4m, plus Marouane Chamakh, for the 25-year-old.

Transfer rumours very much in character.

I think they might hold out for slightly more.

I think they're just trying to reassure Chamakh that he's still a £20m player.

QPR are set to rush through the permanent £3.2m signing of Samba Diakité after clubs were alerted last night to a possible loophole in his loan deal with Hoops.

Back in France it is understood one of the clauses that triggered an automatic €4million (£3.2m) transfer was a minimum number of games for Rs believed to be 10.

The man who plays internationally for Mali made only nine appearances in a Rangers shirt after a virus cut short his season.

Diakité has made plain his desire to join QPR rather than a switch to Marseille or Lyon when he was made available by Nancy.

But those working on his behalf are set to test the water with other Premier League clubs following the player’s impressive start in west London.

A source close to Nancy said: “The club are happy to sell Diakité to QPR for the agreed amount. Nancy is not a club who can afford to turn down a big money offer. But of course he may be desirable to other clubs as well, and the deal has yet to be ratified.”

fuckkkk i don't like the look of this one bit

if he cried off our last couple games to give himself more options he's a right little cunt

http://twitter.com/DuncanCastles/status/204230346596823041/photo/1

haw

looks like m'vila to arsenal is on after all

http://www.thenational.ae/sport/football/liverpools-owners-want-attacking-football-and-champions-league-qualification

Swansea City's announcement that Brendan Rodgers had declined the offer of an interview followed preliminary discussions about high-profile Dalglish signings he would want moved out of Liverpool, according to a friend of the Northern Irishman.

no mug is our brendan

Celtic striker Gary Hooper has outlined his ambitions to one day play for Barcelona but has stressed he is happy to see out his Parkhead contract.

Good for him. Following in the footsteps of our Henke.

He's the kind of penalty box scorer with good movement and instincts that England could do with btw - except he plays in the wrong country and Hodgson would apparently rather lump high balls up to a guy he outscored in the Championship.

Daily Mail headline writers got the "lol SPL" memo, I see:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2149857/Gary-Hooper-wants-play-Barcelona.html?ITO=1490

yeah that's mean. so how good is he? (saying england could do with his skills leave a lot of room for clarification) any premiership clubs been linked with him?

i like hooper, definitely think he's got the knack

whether that by itself makes a top class footballer is another thing tho

He's decent, and I think would shine in any set-up that provided chances for him.

twitter saying qpr are getting fabio on loan for next season

sounds like a crap signing to me

depends on whether it refers to capello or the model/actor

any premiership clubs been linked with him?

New boys Southampton had a wee bite in January and might have another go. No rumours I'm aware of about anyone else. He's currently being offered a new deal and making noises about having a crack at the Champions League with Celtic but things can change quickly when/if the cash rich EPL comes knocking.

I think he's a better goalscorer than Jelavic but not as intelligent or productive around the box. He's usually as selfish as you'd expect from a penalty box player - excellent knack for finding the far post across the goalie. Uses his body well for a relatively wee guy. Quicker than his awkward running style suggests. His goals per game ratio so far is better than Henrik Larsson's - though imo the league is of a lower quality than it was then so that doesn't tell that much of a story.

As r|t|c* says - he's got the knack. It's something you just see in a certain kind of player. Feed him and he'll score.

* I can't help thinking Rangers Tax Case when I see those letters.

Fabio will be good, and i hope he stays in England when he goes on loan. I like this quote from Berba's agent

"Plus, there has never been a Bulgarian player at PSG, so it could be good."

dunno i'm probably just feeling burnt after macheda the useless cunt

implication he'll be here instead of taiwo is what's unwelcome mainly. if he's to compete with onuoha for rb then fair enough i suppose, saves the pennies

plus sparky's not up sir alex's arse like most managers so i guess it does suggest there's plan to it at least

How much did Macheda actually play? He is shite obviously

didnt dmac say he was gonna start a thread about england b teams or something, yer man hooper's a prime candidate for that

think if defoe wasnt there you'd like to think a football man would see hooper's otherwise rare talents and call him up for a once-over at least

xp i dunno, couple of games? maybe half a game, either way it was immediately apparent he'd be pointless. starstruck warnock signing

WEST HAM BID 7M FOR BAS DOST

Do not let this happen, other 19 members of the Premier League. Although, if he laughed at the idea of going to Villa, i'm not sure spending a year picking up balls rebounding off Kevin Nolan's arse is going to have more appeal.

Time for a Bas Dost thread I say.

BIG SAM SEEKS BAS-RELIEF

is a headline i didnt see today

remind me again why we're forcing the cult thing onto this dude?

Sometimes you just know, y'know? Here's his chance to let us down in record time.

on his way to Utd or Arsenal allegedly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JKRr605voU&

surprised swansea appear to be being given a free run at sigurdsson

It’s been my first full season. I thought I started well and then had some ups and downs towards the end. Overall, I am happy with the way things have gone. From where I was with the injury that I had I think I’ve done pretty well. It was a long season and it was something my body has not been used to. It was quite obvious that I would get tired towards the end. To ask me to play to a high standard week in, week out in the Premier League when you think of the pace that goes with it, was very physically demanding.

People do forget how long I was out of the game and what happened.

?