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

No wonder Ian Harte's so fucking slow!

It is uncertain, though, that they endured the agonies to which Harte subjects himself, wearing size six-and-a-half boots on his feet which are two sizes bigger. "I know I'll have problems when I'm older – and I am getting on before anybody says it," he said. "But it has always worked with tight boots to get the ball up and down and try and trouble 'keepers."

I'm surprised he can even jog!

iirc ronaldo is a size 9 and wears size 7 boots, which would explain his almost ian harte level free kick taking skills

So if he wore the right size boots he'd be even faster!?

he does have a weirdly ballerina-like running technique i guess

maybe if he wears proper shoes he'll turn into maurice greene with the technique of andy carroll

Depressing me today: that Kagawa-to-Utd is being covered entirely from the perspective of commercial possibilities in Asia

it's a valid concern

there is one school of thought [citation needed] that beckham's move to madrid was one of the worst sales ever (ever) cuz he repaid his fee so many times over with commercial endorsement shite etc

Yeah, I'm with you IK. I think the Guardian went with "austerity signing". As if Kagawa wasn't gonna y'know improve the team which is the point of signing someone.

can't someone design boots that fit for fk takers to wear?

I highly doubt Fergie has ever signed or will ever sign anyone on the basis of "shirt sales". Ok, maybe Dong Fangzhou...

park

come on guys, we all know kit deals are the measure of a club's achievement

Kit Deals, the rangy defensive mid from Trinidad and Tobago

Park is a fucking great player etc. He did a job for most of his time anyway

He also wasn't a signing from out of nowhere, I mean he'd been pretty good for PSV and had CL experience iirc

he's prob the best korean player ye could find, no doubt

it's a bit insulting to park who had been an important player for cl semifinalists psv to say that he was bought for commercial reasons

kagawa is a good signing at the price cuz he only has a year left on contract (srsly dortmund might have got him to longer than a 3yr contract)

but having signed him, his commercial value does become a thing

never thought of Park as a sop to Asian commercial interests, for one thing he seems too low key and for another he genuinely has been a solid utility guy who fits perfectly into Fergie's "mundane cogs in a brutally efficient machine" ethos

lol apposite but unrelated display name

even though Park is kind of a low-key guy he's still something of a god in Korea. But yeah, he's a total Fergie signing

Sure Kagawa's appeal is some sort of factor in going for him (most properly reflected in his price imo). But he's a good player too! The media's making like Utd have signed some sort of prodigiously efficient travelling salesman.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2012/5/30/1338376943545/Leighton-Baines-008.jpg

look at that fucking head

not my fault he's a typical fergie signing, tbh

is he still running his drownedinsound 2004 column on the everton website

"this week i have discovered an exciting new band called Northside"

randle mcmonkey

that small boot thing is insane, i had no idea

esp being like slippers the way they are these days anyway, ballerina otm

Rodgers to be confirmed in next day or so, seems pretty solid, BBC guys tweeting it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18235961

I'll take that, I think.

yeah i'm tentatively pleased.

Him turning down the first interview because he didn't get assurances about shipping out dead wood, assuming it's true and he's stood by it, potentially turns into a massive positive.

idk i would still bet martinez although this whole process has been bizarre

what of sigurdsson? will brendan just leave him as bargain parting gift and then go off to work with charlie adam?

i wouldn't bet martinez because... it's on the bbc?

I'm assuming that if 'dead wood' means anything, it means Charlie Adam

Gerrard

and Adam, tbf

well, we could go on

good in the transfer market and has a long term ethos but if it's gonna be an overhaul i find it unlikely he'll get top 4 immediately

but then this is the moon on a stick fsg will have to deal with not getting from any candidate

I'm curious which Swansea player would be most welcome at LFC if Rogers could bring one with ... suppose Gylfi would be consensus pick? Britton, Sinclair? I quite liked Danny Graham last season.

ok this makes me legit excited about liverpool.

I'm curious which Swansea player would be most welcome at LFC if Rogers could bring one with ... suppose Gylfi would be consensus pick? Britton, Sinclair? I quite liked Danny Graham last season.

― boxall, Wednesday, 30 May 2012 14:21 (1 minute ago)

they could do with ashley williams as a solid 3rd choice centre half.

poor overlooked Seb Coates

Top 4 is unlikely, but not that unlikely imo. Newcastle nearly made it immediately after an overhaul, from a worse position than Liverpool - though arguably the way Bren's going to do it will be a bit more difficult.

... who I've just learned is half-Scottish, and he still couldn't get a match under Dalglish. (xp)

joe allen but then there's henderson ahead, neil taylor a decent back up for enrique

vorm for reina is an improvement too these days tbph

brendan is a maximiser of ability (someone like britton is talented but not outlandishly so) therefore in theory it's what he could get out of what's already there. i do find it a little exaggerated if he's thinking "must get andy carroll out for danny graham"

idk though tbh it's hard to assess swansea given every time they've come to loftus road they've been blown right out the water and the whole thing's felt like a big joke

What on earth is he going to do with Carroll?

They lose Kuyt this summer and Bellamy's getting old for a pacy striker, they should look to get someone in even if they hold on to Suarez and keep AC for the retrograde option.

he's prob the best korean player ye could find, no doubt

We've got one yous can have, Korean footballer of the year. £4m.

Actually we've got two and we'll throw in the other one for free.

I'll get rid of these surplus players yet.