xavier

The thing is, with young players most of the deals are pay more as you win trophies/score more goals/win england cap etc. So they are usually nowhere near the initial sum quoted by the media. Arsenal have only payed like 9 million for Walcott now, we have payed just over 5 million for Crouch and we payed only 6 million for heskey. So, even a 6 million deal for Nugent might see you paying Preston 3 million or something and the rest later if at all.

I heard that Boro are in for him as well, if PNE dont get promoted this time out. And this persons opinions are usually spot on. NOTW isnt the bestest of sources to hear about transfer rumor is it? Are you sure that you'll land him?

Come on Raikkonen!

Classy.

Nah. Little chance of Bellamy leaving. Something did certainly go wrong in Portugal, if it hadnt, Rafa wouldnt have released a press statement in the official site the next day. But i'd be VERY surprised if its anywhere as serious as the tabloids are making it seem. the players refused to comment on the issue when the journalists asked them questions, so they filled up pages by themselves, to fill the newspapers. Voronin's been signed as a replacement for Fowler more than anything else. He is a good supersub according to reports, has an eye for a pass and can play in different positions. Sounds like a Rafa player. Dont think he'll improve our first team, more like the squad. As much as i hate to say it Fowler offers very little, and isnt good enough. He has to be replaced in the summer and Andriy is the perfect fella coz he will not be dissatisfied with being 4th choice striker. I think we will be signing a big player in the summer (no chance of Villa (too expensive..although we will be able to afford him, he's too expensive) and Torres (Rafa think he's overrated, so do i), im looking at Diego Milito from Zaragoza, Rodrigo Palacio from Boca or Iaquinta from Udinese. But thats only my opinion. I like these three players. And there's a good chance that Crouch will be the one to be replaced. Has been linked for a 12 mil move for the Geordies hasnt he? He might leave. And Riise's brother who plays for Lillestrom, had a bar-room brawl yesterday according to reports after a karaoke session went bad. just like his brother.

If i was a betting man, id bet on the Lankans.

Unfortunately true. The REAL WC starts only after the 1st group stages. But then again, these smaller teams do see their chance to shine in some glory. Does anyone remember the century that Canadian player scored against West Indies in 03? Indias game was going in parallel but i actually stopped watching our game to watch Canada post a score of almost 200. Of course, WI chased that in under 20 overs, but such moments arent forgotten. Kenya reached the semis of the last edition as well. Beat Sri Lanka in the quarters. I dont see any surprise package this time round but hopefully we might see a couple of surprise results early on. I'm excited!

Potential for good support and making decent dosh for English clubs, yes. We are getting richer as a whole with increase in disposable income. Plus, ESPNSTARasia covers the premier league inside out here, has been doing for for 4-5 years i think with incredible success. But better footballers to improve our naional side by a good extent, not quite sure. If we want to become an Asian force, then a lot of changes will have to be made. Firstly, we have a lot of problems which will have to be eliminated. Pat touched on a few of them, spot on with those problems, but those are only the tip of the iceberg. Football, unlike cricket needs to be played in grounds with grass cover on them (even small ones will do). Our grounds are bald, mud covered, plus there arent too many of them. I have been playing cricket for over 16 years on concrete surfaces in my building. Cant do the same with football, you dont really wanna fall on concrete/mud surfaces. Secondly, we have no infrastructure. Even if the government spends a good amount of money on grounds, or parks for sports, they arent looked after which means that in a year or two they become unplayable on. Last years budget actually saw a small decrease on the amount to be spent by the government to foster outdoor sports. That was a big step back, IMO. India's Biggest football Club 'East Bengal', had its coach Shoumik Bhattacharya sacked, for mismanagement of funds. No severe action was taken, just a smallish fine and a sacking (he manages mohemmedan sporting now..what a farce). This was the perfect oppurtunity to make a point and take big steps to get rid of corruption, but no, the NFL management will not do anything. Moving on to IMO, the biggest problem we've got. We dont have enough footballing academies. You dont become great footballers with international acclaim by playing footie as a recreational sport, three times a week for an hour or two each time. You need to go to football schools where you are taught the game, everyday. We have only two major ones, TATA football academy and Mahindra Football academy. They're not at all enough. But we're looking to prop up more academies in the future, so maybe there still light at the end of the tunnel. (BTW, Liverpool FC and Arsenal FC are fighting to start a football academy by joining Mahindra United (local mumbai club)in Mumbai. They've made their offers to our football board at the fag end of last year, i think). I like watching Asian footie. I watched the Tiger Cup competition (S.E. Asian teams take part in it) in 2005 when Singapore won it. And i was surprised at some of the faces in their team. East Europeans, an Aussie and a Brazilian in them, i think. The Japanese have a Brazilian let wingback in their side dont they, Alex. I think inviting foreign nationals to play for ones' country is a fantastic short term option. It improves the quality of the team almost instantly and gets the country more interested in the game. I dont see why we havent considered that option. Dont think anyone has put that argument forward and this idea of getting foreign nationals to play for India, is my idea completely. We have a 'Jose Ramirez Barreto' playing for Mohun bagan. He has been here for 5-6 years, he knows the language and is loved by many for his dribbling skills and second striker abilities. He'll never get a chance to paly for brazil. So why dont we offer him a citizenship and give him the oppurtunity to play for us? It will be good for indian footie. Another such one is Yusuf Yakubu (ghanaian) who plays for Mahindra United, and Edu (brazilian) for Mohun Bagan. Bury did have an Indian footballer, Louis. Baichung Bhutia, India's best ever footballer produced and i think he's good enough to play for a mid to lower table championship side. He's a prowler who usually gets to the end of stuff, a good creator, and an excellent finisher. He's a bit light-weight, but he's got a very good footballing brain. I like him a lot although he plays for East Bengal. Er.. i support Mahindra United , my local club, and Dempo- a goan club is my second team in the national football league (NFL) Hopefully, our government will pump some money into the sport and we'll see a good long term improvement in our national team.

What kind of a logic is that? I mean, if you go on to beat Chelsea or Man United later, will it mean that you deserve a UEFA Cup spot? Dont get me wrong, you should be beating Watford and anything less than 3 points wouldnt be right, but still..that is exactly why a season is 38 games long. You might lose points at Watford, but you might gain some unexpected ones against some other teams. The best 6 over the course of the season go through. Just my opinion, like.

I can see what Emre is trying to say when he says that the N-word is okay in Turkey but is misunderstood in England. Its the same here in India. Although people like me, always use the word 'black', one cant say the same about the others. But its accepted, here. But that doesnt mean to say that what Emre did was fine. If he's been staying in England for 2 years already, and with this Stop Rasicm campaign from Fifa before every game, i see NO excuse that he can give. The punishment should be what he deserves.

Or maybe 'Craig Bellamy is making the short trip across Stanley Park and is due to sign for Everton. He has been recommended by John Arne Riise who says: "He can beat defenders a lot easier with a small club."' If the 'attack' did happen, then Bellamy has been a bit of an idiot. Him and Pennant should know that this is probably their last chance at a 'big club' Sorry

No. He has to get clearance from the Premier League, which he did. Mascherano needed clearance from the FIFA as well as the english F.A. FIFA has given the green signal for the move, the English FA hasn't. If they say no, then he'll be stuck at West Ham till atleast the end of the season.

The thing is, the 3 team in a year (Year, not season...corinthians' season timings are different from the Premier League) rule was brought in to protect the selling club. But in this case, the selling club west ham themselves didnt want Mascherano to stay and had no problems to get him offloaded. Also, Javier who is a proven international, would be wasting a good half season of his career if he wasnt allowed to move. I dont see any problem with it. You're right, rules are rules. But some of them can be bent with proper reasoning. As kopite said, Stead played for three clubs in a year and there has been no furore over it. Why do it, with Mascherano?

I liked it

Nah. Wenger rates Larsson very highly. Likewise with Bendtner. He wont sell them before giving them a shot in the gooners first team. Niklas Bendter was actually linked with a 10 million pound bid from Chelsea midway into September. He's supposed to be a big talent.

You're right, this doesnt prove much at all. Bolton's squad probably is worth less than you lot. Look at them, consistently challenging for Europe in the past couple of seasons. Its how a manager raises the game of 'lesser players', if i can use those words, is what matters. Your '50' million squad easily has the potential to be 7-8 and is only a couple of players away from europe (6th place)

cheeky

But most of them will be fit by the third week of February wont they?

Its a huge ask for any side. If on form they're probably the most freely scoring side in the world. But when playing against such great sides you will have to give 120% to get something out of them. So if it takes more than 100% to beat them, so be it. Our chances look bleak, but we're not no hopers. They might be clearly the better team over the course of a season, but we've proved that over two legs we can be as good as, if not better than any team there is. In this draw i was hoping for any team but Lyon and Barcelona. Lyon scare me to death! they're a very good team. Lyon!

The group stages of the CL are all about winning the home games. The knockout legs include home wins and a draw away from home (scored draw would be even better). There is only so much needed to do. We play them at the Nou Camp first. If we can somehow eke out a 0-0, we can beat any team at home. I definately see where you're coming from, Mac. They are the favorites and have the better chance of going through. But its not that we have no hope. Its actually a 'Been there, done that' case with Benitez. 2-1 at Anfield and 0-0 at the Delle Alpi. 0-0 at Stamford Bridge and 1-0 at Anfield. I'm not shitting myself, thats for sure.

I'm not disappointed. Of course, we could have got a much better draw but then again we did beat Juventus and Chelsea over two legs en route to the finals in '05, didnt we? Also, Rafa knows spanish opposition inside out and we're good enough to beat anyone over two legs. We'll be in 'underdogs' mode again, one which we're quite comfortable in. Bring on Barca!

Carlos Salcido

His momentum made him fall over Mac, imo, there is a reason for a ref being moderate and the other one harsh. Thats because opinions differ. A harmless elbow to Graeme Poll could be a malicious 'never intended to go for the ball' elbow to Rennie. Van Der Meyde incident in the derby last year is one such case. So its absolutely impossible to name a standard rule for a 'dive' There is no right or wrong. Just how the referee interprets it in that 2 second grace period that he has, in view of 40000 people in the stands and thousands more watching from home, that matters. I really feel sorry for those referees sometimes. The media has a major part to play here. A minor mistake by a ref gets magnified to such an extent. So i can see what could happen if a player gets sent off for a dive, when he was actually brought down. Ref's are easy targets for people to vent their frustration out on. I have no idea on how to solve the problem of diving.

End of season Finishing Positions: Liverpool: 3 2 5 4 5 3 Everton: 16 15 7 17 4 11 ---------- Surely, there has been a major difference. In the last 6 seasons, its been only twice that both teams have finished in close vicinity.

But what IS a blatent dive? Ok, you can count Ronaldo's and Robbens' dive when hit by a shadow as blatent dives but what about the one when Rosicky went down on the Chimbonda tackle. He flung himself to the ground when there wasnt much contact. What about some 'dives', where there IS contact, but minimal and not enough to actually pull the player to the ground. My point is, that there is a major grey area to consider. A 'dive' to someone is a 'his pace on the ball made him lose balance when touched, fall'. Dont see this happening unfortunately coz its almost impossible to define 'a dive'