NAMING RIGHTS THREAD: Liverpool really won't win the Premiership 2010-2011

there was an interesting quote from tony adams the other day, mourinho told him that the advantage of not being a player was that he was able to spend his 20s watching football and learning about it as a coach, without having to worry about being a player. that gave him a massive head start.

'Mourinho said I was 15 years behind him. He had been out there watching (Louis) Van Gaal and Bobby Robson and I'd been playing football. There is a lot of catch-up to do. He said it's different for me because I was a player. I watched a game with him and the keeper collided with the centre half and the striker scored. "That's you, isn't it?" he asked. "That's David Seaman and you're turning round and screaming at him. But now it's half-time and you're a manager, so what are you going to do?"

rijkaard, dunga, emery, spaletti, holloway all names i wouldn't be surprised to see get it.

Sam Allardyce has made it known he's available as well.

Grant/Rafa double-header would be a carcrash to behold.

Think Emery is good but clashes with players from time to time so would probably last around 2 months at Chelsea.

"My client became a YouTube sensation at the age of 12" - rolling off-season/transfer speculation thread 2011

Read some terrifying rumours on Twitter last night that Birmingham have opted out of Eurovision and that UEFA will ask Liverpool to take their place.

That Mourinho/Adams exchange is great.

AVB might not like being tied to JM but I do think he's got a cult of personality well-established at Porto. Maybe I'm reading too much into comments from a club who've just won three trophies but it sounds like none of their best players are even considering a move this summer, they want to make the CL qfs at a minimum, etc. Frightened of that guy tbh.

and also that Chelsea and United have won exactly the same amount of major trohies since 2003

is this true?

No

Read some terrifying rumours on Twitter last night that Birmingham have opted out of Eurovision and that UEFA will ask Liverpool to take their place.

nein danke

Man United - five league titles, one FA Cup, three League Cups, one Champions League

Chelsea - three league titles, three FA Cups, two League Cups

So no.

I think it is since RA arrived, ie start of 03/04 season.

OMG FAMILY MAN RYAN GIGGS IS MR SUPERINJUNCTION.

^ suggest jail

Seedy move from the Guardian / MP but this picture was good for a childish lol:

http://i.imgur.com/FfFkv.jpg

Lol.

I'm not really sure I believe newspapers have a divine right to be able to print whatever they like re: the private lives of famous people but on the other hand if you don't want it published, don't behave like a short-sighted fuckwit.

Then you remember the superinjuction that was taken out to prevent the Graun reporting on Trafigura dumping toxic waste off the coast of Africa and and think again.

Truth should be the test, then sue later if they've tapped your phone/libelled you/bugged your house/done something actually naughty. This whole affair is laughable.

MPs have always used parliamentary privilege to say things they wouldn't be able to otherwise - the Trafigura case being a good example - but that's usually been backed up by some kind of clear moral case for doing so. When it comes to the private lives of individuals, i'm not sure that moral case can be made.

In a perfect society, superinjunctions are only there to keep whistleblowers secret, right?

His private life shouldn't be something the press or public care about and tbh I don't think it would have been such a huge story if he didn't try to silence them. For once the press does seem to be going at it from a more appropriate angle of 'fuck you for silencing us and making a mockery of the legal system over just getting your dick wet' than just 'hey ryan's been a naughty boy'.

His lawyers have certainly played a blinder for him.

ryan giggs?! kept that quiet

tbqh, i'm not sure the Guardian picking and choosing whose legally-enshrined human rights it'll respect is any better than the News Of The World's snickering. The whole thing's a mess though. It needs proper legislation but how that legislation's framed is going to be a nightmare to work out.

That photo is funny, though.

Breaking news
webfeed

Kolo Touré banned for six months for failed drugs test. More to follow ...

o_O

That's six months from March. So he'll miss a couple games next season. But is he still first-choice ahead of Lescott ...

Really teaching him a lesson with this one

Also, Rio Ferdinand got an 8 month ban for missing a test

In Kolo's defence, he does need to lose a bit of weight.

ferdinand missed it so he didnt fail it. The rules were fairly clearcut.

Apart from the fact that he took one the next day, passed it, and offered to give hair samples. He was an idiot but there's no suggestion of any impropriety.

there's a shit load of suggestion of impropriety, including 3-4 different excuses for missing the test. Kolo Toure was bang to rights but at no point did he or his management try to evade the verdict. Well done to Rio tho for getting tested after his manager had given him the all clear.

He actually tried to take it on the same day but the testers told him it was too late, even though they were still at the training ground. Not much point in rehashing arguments from years ago though.

Yeah, shouldn't there be a Champions League final thread we can argue in by now? Or will the season-long thread be used for that?

personally i want to see TAKING ADVANTAGE OF YOUNG BOYS at the top of SNA for one last weekend

I looked it up the other day, and Young Boys failed to secure one of Switzerland's CL places for next season - Basel and Zurich got them. So yeah, enjoy it while you can.

On the other hand, it' so hard to load that whole thread by late May.

you could just use bookmarks like the rest of us.

glad that thread title still makes ppl other than myself lol, possibly my finest thread title

what the fuck is this absolute shit

what in the fuck is this absolute shit

here, defoe- fuck off. just fuck off mate, alright? take your mum and your 30 minute special on sky sports news and your agent and fuck off.

"i don't want to leave spurs, i just want games"

"do you wanna leave spurs tho"

"nah i dont wanna leave spurs i love th eclub just need games"

"ya but do you wanna leave the club isn't it"

"no seriously love the club and the fans just need more time man"

http://www.twentysteps.com/images/bovvered.jpg

someone pulls this shit in FM i tell them to sit down and stfu then i sell them first window that opens

puts michael owen's fuckin brochure into perspective

Owen's angling for another season of bench-warming excitement in the Theatre of Dreams. Dimi shd get himself the hell out of there, he's wasted on them.

Surely to God they won't keep Owen?

i wdn't've thought so but if he's pay to play then it's possible. you've got enough young 'uns not to worry about the squad cap too much yes?

hell if we're keeping woodgate on pay per play ffs

some really first rate insight from shearer in his bbc column

QPR did very well in the transfer market but the club which impressed me most on deadline day was Stoke.

They spent more than £20m on Peter Crouch, Wilson Palacios and Cameron Jerome and their manager Tony Pulis just keeps adding quality to his squad.

I don't know much about the two players the Toffees have brought in, Dutch midfielder Royston Drenthe and Argentine striker Denis Stracqualursi, but what I do know is that in David Moyes they have a fantastic manager.

fuck

lol