"We've momentum and we can't afford to lose it tbh"- The '13-'14 summer transfer window thread for PL and beyond

It *is* a p sick midfield! The three go together so well. Strootman is the work horse with genius passes, Van Ginkel is the brain, the stylist, and Maher is the prodigy, the super talent. They all complement each other really well. I'm not exaggerating thinking that will be the midfield of Holland in two years, for some years to come.

does seem like a great crop when you factor in the feyenoord boys too

how good is de vrij btw

De Vrij is pretty promising, but he's having a really bad tournament so far. His mistakes lead to both Germany goals in the first match, and he didn't play well today either. It's been a long tough season for I'm though, maybe that's it. His partner at the back, Bruno Martins Indi, I can see ending up in the PL in the coming years. Hard as a brick, fast... He reminds me of Jaap Stam at times. De Vrij will be alright though, I think. And it's about time because we've not had a decent defense for donkeys years.

The Feyenoord boys indeed are also p good. Mostly benched this U21 tournament. And don't forget about Leroy Fer, who was this close to going to Everton last winter, but it fell through.

The Guardian's had Ronaldo transfer stories near the top of its page for several days now. As far as I can tell:

• Ronaldo wants to stay at Madrid
• Madrid want him to stay
• Madrid are confident he'll sign a new deal
• Ronaldo's confident he'll sign a new deal
• nobody can afford him

esp/ger is not very good

sweet goal from morata

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbkw48FJOO1rt354lo1_500.jpg

But only some

Dortmund boss: We will not let Lewandowski go, period. (German link)

If they keep Lewa to his contract, he's free to go next summer.

theyd pretty obviously sell him to anyone but bayern, id be surprised if one of madrid/united/city/psg etc dont offer

dont think there has been a precedent of a player seeing out his contract with a move to their main rivals already public knowledge

madrid makes the most sense in terms of fitba and finances (but not marketing from perez' pov) and in terms of being prestigious enough to rival bayern but madrid are not going to be well run this summer

Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernández is convinced that there is no footballing crisis at the Catalan club. In fact, he says that he laughs whenever he hears of the so-called 'end of an era' at Barça. "It won't happen for a long time. It's very clear that all those people who enjoy talking about this end of an era aren't Barça fans," he said.

In that sense, the midfielder offered up a strange interpretation of the Champions League tie against Bayern Munich, which the Germans won 7-0 over two legs: “We enjoyed the bulk of the possession against Bayern, they couldn't control the game. To look only at the result doesn't really tell the whole story."

http://www.marca.com/2013/06/08/en/football/barcelona/1370717058.html

Dutch press saying Spurs are interested in renting/buying Afellay from Barca. If he can get fit this summer, that is.

No sorry, Spanish press (El Mundo Deportivo)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BMdsVwKCcAA2RwK.jpg:large

Mou otm

he is such a little fuckboy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/jun/10/jose-mourinho-chelsea-unveiling/print

ronay understands this well

Even our own occasional Chelsea/dubstep fan can't get excited by this, what hope for the rest of us?

I'm struggling to think of parallels tbh. It's not jumping the shark because nobody's jumping; and also because it's not a shark, just a big, flopping cod.

Maybe if you went to a Genesis gig and Peter Gabriel did a guest appearance, only for them to just keep playing stuff from We Can't Dance, while Gabriel stands to one side shaking a tambourine.

it's just the press conference - it's hardly going to be riveting. him being "back" would not comprise a single media event if this happened 20 years ago.

I hadn't realised retaining the title was such a rare thing, at least until recently - he's one of only I think four managers ever to have done it.

Really? Ever? Or just since 1992?

Ferguson, Mourinho, Paisley...

Obviously it's only him and Ferguson since 1992 - I'm sure I've read that only Herbert Chapman and Bob Paisley had done it before.

(xp) Busby. That Wolves sergeant major bloke? Herbert Chapman?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/jun/10/jose-mourinho-chelsea-unveiling/print

ronay understands this well

― ghosts of erith spectral crackhouse slain rudeboy (Nilmar Honorato da Silva), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 09:12 (1 hour ago) Bookmark

wait. they... they don't really have a spackman lounge do they??

yep, the nigel spackman lounge. there it is.

Yeah xp, I must've been misled - Stan Cullis and Busby must've done it too. Liverpool, Villa, Wednesday and Preston also retained titles in sepia times, but I'm willing to believe they may not have had managers as such in those days.

gosh, Portsmouth too

and Sunderland. My credibility's taking a massive hit here

you're thinking of Major Buckley NBS but yeah i think it was Cullis

yep, 57-58 & 58-59

i bought my dad Stan Cullis' autobiography/philosophy of football book and it's fascinating. the guy was so far ahead of the curve for this country in terms of thinking about the game and applying scientific training. shd've had the England job at some point.

xp I just spent a good few seconds trying to work out what honour NBS stood for. Norder of the British Sempire?

http://www.atsf.co.uk/elektra/sleeves/cr801.jpg

lol yeah i always think of him when i picture Major Buckley

https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2086/4617/Frank%20Buckley%20Essay.pdf?sequence=3

However, because of the improved form of Wolves, other clubs also began to experiment with gland treatment, including Portsmouth and Tottenham. Ironically, the 1939 FA Cup Final was contested by both Wolves and Portsmouth and has since been known as the "Monkey Gland Final", which
Portsmouth won 4-1. The treatment was not regarded as successful at other clubs. [...] With the onset of war, the matter faded out of the public consciousness.

that Hitler

yeah, i saw an old QI with a bit about that recently. by "monkey glands" they mean "monkey balls" apparently

xp classic footy use of 'ironically' there

Actually I meant Cullis, I've never heard of Buckley. Wasn't Cullis known as 'the sergeant major' or have I just made that up?

They used to slice off bits of monkey balls and surgically attach them to yr own balls to give a testosterone boost. I can't for the life of me remember where i was reading about this.

Surgically attach? My god.

jeez i heard they were injected

Cullis might've been called that, i don't recall. he was def a PT instructor during the war and legends of his dictatorialness as Wolves manager abound

dad tells a story of a player being summoned to the office, Cullis is writing something with his head down. "I've had an offer from Walsall, so I'm moving you on" says Cullis. "I don't want to go to Walsall boss" replies the player. Still never looking up Cullis says "I would if I were you". Interview ends.

Ladies and gentlemen, i give you Serge Voronoff:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Voronoff

He moved on to transplanting the testicles of executed criminals into millionaires, but, when demand outstripped supply, he turned to using monkey testicle tissue instead

I've got a list of things to do when I'm a millionaire, and that's not on it

Nowadays he'd be the owner of a Premiership club of course