The Ultimate Football Thread 2013-2014 Vol. 4 EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A etc

Gattuso being investigated for match fixing back in 10/11.
He always had that look about him...then again, so do most Italians. :lol:
 
Prettyboy RY7 - I take transfer rumors with a grain of salt. It's useful for "water cooler" talk in here, that's about it. I don't take any of it seriously though...
 
PSK, as a proud TERP alum, I def caught feels off us getting robbed in the NCAA 'Chip game... SMH...

The handball on the goal line could easily have warranted a RED card, and the composure/tactics of the game would've changed drastically... SMH. Thats OUR DAMN title... Terps Coach Cirovski was going APE on the sideline after those non-calls... US College Soccer as a game, and especially the refereeing, need to improve....
 
B Fresco said:
PSK, as a proud TERP alum, I def caught feels off us getting robbed in the NCAA 'Chip game... SMH...

The handball on the goal line could easily have warranted a RED card, and the composure/tactics of the game would've changed drastically... SMH. Thats OUR DAMN title... Terps Coach Cirovski was going APE on the sideline after those non-calls... US College Soccer as a game, and especially the refereeing, need to improve....
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Not easily warrented, it should've been an automatic red card, both hand balls should've been. That's by far the absolute worst officiating I've ever seen in any sport ever. I usually don't complain about refs but that was so egregious it was just offensive.
 
Cant wait for the window to open

This is crunch time for the EPL. Arsenal, Liverpool, City, or Chelsea could all break away with the title in the next few months..
 
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How crazy would it be if Liverpool won :lol:

I can see them getting a top 4 if they keep their form Suarez
 
eiddyfouw said:
 
psk2310 said:
Prettyboy RY7 - I take transfer rumors with a grain of salt. It's useful for "water cooler" talk in here, that's about it. I don't take any of it seriously though...
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Pretty much.

Ever since this day...



I've learned to never fully believe a player is coming to your club UNTIL you see him on the pitch playing
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became a footy fan after the 06 WC, never heard of this story before today
[h3]Controversial transfer to England[/h3]
On 29 April 2005, a few days after Mikel turned 18, Premier League  club Manchester United  announced that it had struck a deal with the Norwegian clubLyn Oslo  to sign the player.[sup][8][/sup]  United's website also claimed that they had done a deal directly with the teenager and that he had signed a contract to join them. Mikel's agents were bypassed as the club persuaded the youngster to sign a 4-year contract without representation. Lyn Oslo allegedly sent a fax to his agents abroad, claiming their services were no longer required by Mikel. Reports said the deal was initially worth £4m,[sup][9][/sup]  and would see the player arrive at Old Trafford  in January 2006.

Rival Premier League club, Chelsea, later issued a counter-claim suggesting that they already had an agreement with Mikel and his agents, but Lyn Oslo denied this claim. However, subsequent reports indicated that Chelsea claimed to have been involved in arranging the player's original move to Europe with a view to signing him at a later date. Further substance was added to this claim after it was revealed that the player had impressed Chelsea manager José Mourinho  while training with the club's first-team squad during the summer of 2004.

Mikel expressed his delight at joining United in a hastily arranged press conference, where he was pictured holding up a Manchester United shirt, which bore the squad number 21.[sup][10][/sup]  Following his signing of the contract to join Manchester United, there were claims from Norway that he had received a number of threatening phone calls from unknown sources. Mikel was assigned a security guard and moved to a safe hotel. However, on 11 May 2005, the midfielder went missing during a Norwegian Cup  game against Klemetsrud; he had not been selected for the match but had been watching from the stands. Whilst the player was believed to have left with one of his agents, John ****tu, who had by now flown in to meet Mikel, his disappearance sparked massive media coverage in Norway and also provoked a police enquiry after the Lyn Oslo director Morgan Andersen  made claims in the Norwegian media that Mikel had been 'kidnapped'. These claims were later repeated by Manchester United's assistant manager Carlos Queiroz, who accused Chelsea of being involved in the alleged 'kidnapping'.[sup][11][/sup]

It subsequently emerged that Mikel had travelled to London with his agent John ****tu, who was working for Jerome Anderson's SEM group.[sup][12][/sup]Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson  considered travelling to Oslo  to visit Mikel, but decided against this after Mikel was reported to have left the country.[sup][13][/sup]  Staying in a London hotel, and some nine days after disappearing, Mikel stated on Sky Sports News  that he had been pressured into signing the contract with United without his agent present, claims furiously rebuffed by both Manchester United and Lyn Oslo.[sup][14][/sup]  Mikel told the British media that Chelsea were the club he genuinely wanted to sign for. In response to these events, United made an official complaint to FIFA about the behaviour of both Chelsea and the player's agents, John ****tu and Rune Hauge, already infamous for his role in the George Graham  bungs scandal.[sup][15][/sup]  FIFA dismissed these claims in August 2005 stating there was insufficient evidence to bring a case against Chelsea.

Following the tournament, Mikel failed to return to Lyn Oslo, and the club lodged a complaint with FIFA. On 12 August 2005, FIFA ruled that Mikel should return to Lyn Oslo to see out his contract with the Norwegian club, whilst they would decide at a later date whether the contract he signed with United should be upheld or cancelled.[sup][16][/sup][sup][17][/sup]  After a delay of over a month, Mikel complied with the FIFA decision and returned to Lyn Oslo in early September 2005 after a three-month absence.
[h4]Transfer resolved[/h4]
Rather than leaving FIFA to determine the validity of the contract signed with Manchester United, Chelsea intervened by volunteering to settle the transfer saga through negotiation with Lyn Oslo and Manchester United.[sup][18][/sup]

On 2 June 2006, Chelsea, Manchester United and Lyn Oslo reached a settlement to resolve the future of the player. Mikel's registration was to be transferred from Lyn to Chelsea; Manchester United agreed to terminate their option agreement with Mikel. Under the terms of this agreement Chelsea agreed to pay Manchester United £12 million, half paid upon the finalisation of the contract and the other half in June 2007, and Lyn £4 million, half payable immediately and half in June 2007. As a result of this settlement, all claims in this matter were withdrawn.[sup][19][/sup]  On 19 July 2006, Chelsea were granted a work permit for the midfielder after they completed the £16 million signing in June 2006.[sup][20][/sup]

In the aftermath of the transfer, Morgan Andersen, who had a previous conviction for forging official documents,[sup][21][/sup]  was convicted of fraud and making false accusations and given a one-year suspended jail sentence by an Oslo court. The court also ordered him to pay 20,000 kroner (£1,944) in costs.[sup][22][/sup]Chelsea made a High Court claim for £16m against FC Lyn Oslo and Andersen following the conviction, claiming that the previously agreed settlement was not binding as "the transfer was based on a fraudulent misrepresentation, now proven by a court of law".[sup][23][/sup]  This claim was subsequently resolved out of court.[sup][24][/sup]
 
Interesting story about AVB's firing from The Telegraph. Spoiler mode below if you care to read...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...ger-Andre-Villas-Boas-had-become-distant.html


Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and manager André Villas-Boas had become distant
Manager's summer plans had been rejected and it was a surprise he was not given more time at White Hart Lane
By Jason Burt9:05PM GMT 16 Dec 2013

There was no common ground between André Villas-Boas and Daniel Levy as they met briefly after Tottenham Hotspur's 5-0 humiliation at home against Liverpool. And there had to be if they were to continue. Both men were hurt and as Levy sought answers, Villas-Boas bristled.

The conversation turned to whether Spurs could employ two strikers, for example, and Villas-Boas interpreted this as a suggestion that he should play Emmanuel Adebayor who he wanted out of the club, who had been a source of friction and who has been a crushing disappointment, despite being the highest earner. The conversation was not constructive.

Quickly the decision was taken to reconvene yesterday morning and, shortly after 10am, Villas-Boas and Levy decided that the time was right for the head coach to go. Technically he was not sacked and, in truth, the sense around Villas-Boas was that he wanted to go and was relieved it was over. He and Levy have never been, according to a source close to the Portuguese, a “dynamic duo”. By the end the relationship between the pair was ever more remote; it was not a meeting of minds.

That relationship had started awkwardly with the sale of Luka Modric in the summer of 2012 and the failure to sign Joao Moutinho at the 11th hour as his replacement – after apparently haggling over €500,000 on a €31 million (£26  million) bid – and it rarely improved after that.

Villas-Boas lost Modric one summer, Gareth Bale the next – even if £107  million was spent following the latter’s departure. He had called for evolution; he got revolution.

Villas-Boas was devastated not to acquire Moutinho and believed that he struggled to get any of the players he wanted signed by Spurs. It is a long and perhaps, at times, unrealistic list but included Oscar, Fernandinho, Willian, Leandro Damiao, Henrik Mkhitaryan, Fabio Coentrao, Hulk and David Villa. The latter was even taken on a tour of Spurs’ impressive new training ground but decided to join Atletico Madrid.

Levy did not interfere. Far from it. He does allow his staff to get on with their jobs but there is, on occasions, frustration that he appears to be a ‘numbers man’.

Not that Villas-Boas, a bright, likeable coach, was blameless. He is far warmer than his public image presents, with innovative ideas, but at times he is unrelenting, The 36-year-old had his fingers burnt at Chelsea and after an initial feeling that he would not return to English football he landed the Spurs job.

He had learnt important lessons. Villas-Boas needed to improve his man-management skills and become more flexible – and did so – and of all the criticism he has faced the claim that he had blamed the players or lost the dressing room is the one he refutes most vehemently.

However, the biggest irony is that here is a young coach who is firmly committed to attacking, exciting football – and wants to entertain – but was struggling to translate that on to the pitch. Again, though, it may well have just been a case of giving him time.

There was also a fractious relationship with Tim Sherwood, Spurs’ technical co-ordinator, and highly regarded by Levy, while it always remained unclear as to how effective an assistant manager Steffen Freund was, and who pushed for him to be hired.

The tension increased over the summer when Paris St-Germain asked for, and were granted, permission to speak to Villas-Boas to become their new head coach. Villas-Boas decided to stay but felt that Levy would have happily pocketed the £10 million it would have taken PSG to release him from his Spurs contract.

That contract, too, quickly became a bone of contention. Villas-Boas thought that Spurs might have improved his deal – which had one more year left to run after this season – after he showed loyalty and rejected PSG, but instead there was silence. He did not ask for a better deal but also, having lobbied for the appointment of director of football Franco Baldini, he thought, perhaps wrongly, perhaps naively, that it would be a sign that Spurs believed in him.

That is often the way with Villas-Boas. He rejects the comparisons with his former mentor Jose Mourinho but there are undoubted similarities. One of Mourinho’s mantras is that if everyone wears the same shirt then they should “show the same face” and all pull in the same direction. Villas-Boas believed that also. He also accepts that he is ‘Porto school’ – a product of the club he grew up supporting and went on to coach and may now return to as coach. At Porto there is a strong support system and a very clear way of operating. Villas-Boas did not believe he had that at Spurs.

A pinch point arrived last May on Spurs’ post-season tour to the Bahamas which was also used as an opportunity for Villas-Boas, Levy and the club’s owner Joe Lewis, who lives on the islands, to meet. Top of the agenda was Bale’s future, with Villas-Boas urging the club to keep him for one more year – and add Hulk and Villa to create a new forward line. Villas-Boas wanted that evolution – not a revolution – at Spurs in the playing staff but was also pushing for off-the-pitch changes, including the hiring of Baldini and the overhaul of the medical department. The signings were rejected and, of course, Bale was sold to Real Madrid for £85 million but only, in fairness, after he had pushed for the move. Spurs held talks with Manchester United, who were willing to pay £100 million and might also have taken Adebayor, but Bale was adamant that he only wanted to go to Madrid.

Baldini got to work in the transfer market with Villas-Boas happy with the pursuit of Paulinho, Roberto Soldado and Etienne Capoue but unsure that he wanted a radical overhaul. But Spurs reasoned they could act quickly and decisively to reinvest the Bale money and use the opportunity to create a new squad.

It was a gamble. And it also needed the pieces to fall together but, more importantly, a collective belief that this was not only the right thing to do but that Villas-Boas would be given the time to make it work – and he was the right man to make it work.

By now his relationship with Adebayor had deteriorated to such an extent that the striker was not to train with the first-team squad. Benoît Assou-Ekotto also had to be moved on and went to Queens Park Rangers on loan after a deal to sell him to Fenerbahce collapsed, to Villas-Boas’s frustration. Within minutes of the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool, Assou-Ekotto posted a picture on a social-network site of him and Adebayor holding up five fingers.

Rightly or wrongly, Villas-Boas felt the club had not backed him on Adebayor while Baldini continued to negotiate with Real president Fiorentino Pérez.
A deal was in place and Spurs decided to spend rather than bank the Bale cash – and with their seven signings, plus other departures, they ended the transfer window approximately £10 million up when fees and savings on wages were taken into account.

There was clear method in this – with the exception of Soldado, who is 28, and Paulinho, who has just turned 25, all the signings are young and should retain a resale value. The exception might be Erik Lamela who, although 21, cost around £30 million and was wanted by both Baldini and Villas-Boas. Baldini, having worked with the Argentinian at Roma, has faith that he will come good.

Spurs’ results at the start of the season were better than expected even if some performances were patchy. Their defensive solidity, racking up clean sheets, was unexpected given the number of changes and there was a growing sense of excitement at the club that they might be title contenders.

Not that Villas-Boas, or Baldini, thought that. They still reasoned that this was a season of transition and a top-four finish was the goal. However, there was a growing, disappointing gap developing between the pair, which was all the more unfortunate given Villas-Boas had previously urged Chelsea to hire Baldini; the Italian had wanted to take the coach to Roma, and then wanted to work with him at Spurs.

But matters were becoming increasingly strained and there were disagreements over the handling of Hugo Lloris’s head injury, with Villas-Boas determined that the goalkeeper was fit to play.

The 6-0 defeat by Manchester City began to expose the tension further, with Villas-Boas believing that if he had then lost to Manchester United, Levy might want to pull the trigger.

By now, he wanted to go. Villas-Boas did not appear a happy figure on the touchline and his goal celebrations did not possess the usual exuberance.

Could he turn things around and see through December? The games were coming thick and fast and that helped, but there was an increasing sense from those close to Villas-Boas that, come what may, this would be his last season at Spurs. In the end he did not make it to the midway point of the campaign.
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Valencia sacked manager Miroslav Djukic on the same day AVB was sacked. Not sure what more Djukic could do...
 
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psk2310 said:
Talent wise City, Real Madrid, & Bayern "should" be set up to succeed in the CL however RM will only go as far Ancelotti will take them. City's counter could do some real damage against Barca. Should be a great match up to watch. Very interested to see how Tata does in the CL. My only gripe with him so far is that he continues to play Cesc up front. I guess the other gripe is that I think he needs to play Bartra more.
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I fully concur with your Cesc and Bartra statements.
 
DLo13 said:
Gattuso being investigated for match fixing back in 10/11.
He always had that look about him...then again, so do most Italians.
laugh.gif
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Hey! Wait a minute ...that's racis....

*Fixed:

"so do all Italian footballers"

Yeah, you're right 
laugh.gif
 
I'm watching some of this Chelsea game, they just can't score goals man :x.

Feel so bad for Jozy, Sunderland are so bad.

Streaker on the field!
 
Gex The Damaja said:
What happened with Iago Aspas at liverpool?
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If I'm not mistaken he has started in six games and have yet to score a goal. Maybe he needs more time, but I guess he hasnt lived up to Rodgers expectations and maybe Rodgers doesn't think he is ready for a starting place.
 
Jose just needs to take a long vacation back in Portugal, go back to his hometown and just chill. Get out of that dark soul snatching city of London and go to Portugal for a while. That's if he's having an identity crisis like that article suggests.

Honestly tho, I just don't think Jose likes some of these players, some just don't fill his mold. He's hanging on to his veterans for some type of boost, but can't find it with the youngin's. This. Chelsea team is a project tho, it always has been since Jose took over. We have to put that out there. He's not stumbling and landing upon the best team in the world like Pep did, this will be a process.
 
The last thing Mourinho needs is to step foot in dirty jersey. Especially Newark. Lol

Brazilians are taking over now anyways.
 
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