zequist

I'm not surprised Bayern is spending money like it's going out of style. They're one of those snobby G-14 teams who think that UCL football is their birthright, and they're going to do everything they can to avoid getting shut out of it for two straight years - frankly I'm certain that the moves they're making are targeted at getting back on top of the Bundesliga (and thus back into the UCL), not winning the UEFA Cup, because teams like BM are all about the Champions' League. I'm with Mike, though. If they think that piles of cash and stockpiling superstars is enough to get them what they want, then bring 'em on, and let's see what our boys can do to them.

And the glorified U-21 team that the US sends to Venezuela predictably gets spanked by a full-strength Argentine side. No surprises there; this tournament looked from the start like it was going to be more about testing the mettle of the young players in the USA development system than about testing the opposition's keepers.

No worries about that - our first UEFA Cup game is on September 20, and we won't even know who we're playing until the last day of August.

I want to know what drove him to do something like that, and whether he was in his right mind when he did. That would settle whether I had any sympathy for him or not, though unfortunately it may be the one thing out of this tragedy that we never learn. Wife and son, yes, RIP both of you.

Probably still too early to judge - the player transfer market, the ownership takeover market, and the West Ham arbitration board could all change things in an instant between now and September. Right now if I was going to bet on somebody finishing last I'd put it on either Wigan or Derby, but we'll see what happens in the next two months. I've got my eye on Fulham too - I wouldn't put them last right now, but if they have another skinflint offseason and the newcomers all spend as big as they're talking...

This is going way out into left field, but I'd love to see us at least make an inquiry about Yuri Zhirkov from CSKA Moscow. The kid's a natural left winger (exactly what we need), got all kinds of talent and potential (he's already been called "the Russian Ronaldinho"), got Champions League experience, and he's only 23. Of course they'll probably want five times what we'd be willing to pay, but hey, it doesn't hurt to ask, right?

It looks like the essence is that the UK adheres to the "sweat of the brow" doctrine, meaning that anyone who creates a directory or compilation of facts, even if they're all completely unoriginal, is entitled to copyright protection by the mere fact of their time and labor spent compiling the information. In the US, by contrast, the courts have ruled that simple facts cannot be copyrighted in any way, shape, or form, only the creative/original aspects of the presentation of those facts. So you couldn't sue me in a US court for reproducing a fixture list, but if you did something distinctive in how you displayed the fixtures (say, for instance, wherever Everton appears on your fixture list you've drawn the "o" to look a football) and I copied that, then you could sue me on those grounds for stealing your "creative presentation" of it. The US created that standard about 20 years ago when someone tried to sue for a "copyright" violation on a telephone book, which of course is nothing but a list of facts (specificially people's names and phone numbers). But on the other hand, the courts have ruled in favor of people who copyrighted business directories, on the grounds that selectively picking and choosing what companies you put in your business directory or leave out of it is enough of a "creative" exercise to grant copy protection. The UK It all seems like splitting hairs to me, but I guess that's why we have lawyers - to sort these things out!

You serious??? Statistics and fixture lists are copyrighted material in the UK? Geez, no wonder it's such a pain in the ass trying to find information sometimes.

We don't know how much of what's being tossed around about West Ham is true and how much is junk, so I'm not going to judge them until we see what their final haul looks like at the end of the summer. Keep in mind, a lot of it could be agent-driven. Agents love a club that looks like it's made of money, because they can use the threat of that "rich" club showing interest in their client in order to extract more money out of the club that their client really wants to play for. We have a baseball agent in this country named Scott Boras who is a master of playing that game. I've lost count of how many times he's managed to con teams into bidding against themselves to sign his players. Chelsea has been the obvious candidate to buy every player on the market for the last few years, but with Roman looking like he's finally hit his spending limits this year the agents need a new "free-spending monster" in the room, and they might be setting West Ham up to look like that team (though I stress "might" - I have no proof, just my suspicions). There's also this from Eggert Magnusson, that was in the news yesterday after the Bent deal fell apart: Reports that the Hammers' spending was out of control, with Australia international Lucas Neill earning £72,000 a week, were denied by Magnusson, who insisted no player at Upton Park enjoys a weekly wage of more than £55,000 a week. And, although Magnusson admits he is prepared to breach the club's wage ceiling for the right player, he warned there is 'no bottomless pit of money'. He told the club's website: 'West Ham United is very much in the spotlight at the moment. I totally accept that as chairman of a club with ambition and drive. However, I am disappointed that there is a widespread belief that the club has a bottomless pit of money to spend on transfer fees and player wages. 'This is a great football club which will be run on sensible business lines to build a secure, long-term future. That includes our policy on players' wages, set at a ceiling of £55,000 a week. Despite figures being circulated in the game, no player at West Ham United earns more than that at present. IF that's the truth (though I can't see any reason for him to lie about it), then that only reinforces his earlier dismissal of all the reports linking our players to moving there. You know, the ones that said WHU were going to offer Cahill and Johnson 70, 80, or 90,000 a week. If you really are running a "sensible business" and only going to make a wage exception for the "right player", as much as I love those two they are not the sorts of players you make that exception for.

True he hasn't been anything special so far, but don't forget he's only 18. He's got a long way to go in his development yet.

And Portugal is one of those countries where the rules are much more relaxed about that kind of thing (third party ownership). GSA is apparently connected to Pini Zahavi, the superagent who was mentioned in the Stevens report. I was reading an article from last November about him earlier today, and GSA came up in passing. This article, in fact: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1956513,00.html

Dunno if he'd be eligible under the work permit rules, though. He only has one cap with the US national team so far.

Alas, it's completely the wrong side of the country for me. I'd probably need them to schedule a game with DC United to be able to go (New York could be a possibility if it was a day I didn't have to work, but that would be the only other option). And while RSL is actually the closest MLS team to where Joe is in Vancouver, they're still about 15 hours' drive away by car, so that isn't exactly a convenient day trip for him either.

Patience, young Padawn... Remember, Moyes warned everyone at the beginning of the offseason not to expect any immediate transfer activity from us this year, and actually we're hardly alone in that regard. If you separate the rumors from the reality and go look at the number of transfers that have actually been finalized so far, there's been very little fire for all the smoke pouring out of the papers. There have been more free deals and permanent signings of loan players so far than deals involving negotiation of transfer fees, and there are still a lot of teams (including Villa, Blackburn, and City) who haven't made any moves at all yet.

Here's an article from the Guardian a few months ago on his fallout with Villareal. If even half of what it says in here is true, then I don't know if I'd want him on our team, superb talent or not. http://football.guardian.co.uk/continental...1996215,00.html

Actually they're almost definitely bound for Europe one way or another. They're in 7th right now, which is the Intertoto Cup slot, but only two points out of fifth. They're too far back to make the Champions League, but the only team behind them that could keep them from getting an Intertoto bid at the very minimum is Recreativo Huelva, the 9th place team. But RH is six points back with two to play, so they'd have to win both of their remaining games and Villareal would have to lose both of theirs for Villareal to get knocked out. Getafe in 8th is irrelevant. They've already secured a UEFA Cup spot simply by virtue of making it to Spain's FA Cup final, so where they finish won't affect Villareal one way or the other. That said, Spain got probably the toughest draw in the Intertoto Cup of any country that gets a bye to the last round. Based on how the ping pong balls shook out, Spain's qualifier gets the survivor of the Israel/Romania/Montenegro bracket. That means that while that while teams like Sampdoria, Lens, and Blackburn get to feast on overmatched opponents in their Intertoto games, it's probably 99% certain that Villareal (or whoever gets that slot from Spain) will end up playing Maccabi Haifa, who has more European qualifying points than half the teams in La Liga.

Just more stupid rumormongering. Moyes, Wyness, and now even Magnusson (see the link below) have all rubbished it - how many more refutations do these reporters need before they'll finally get the hint? http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id...897&cc=5901 Of course, even Man U and Chelsea aren't immune to bogus stories about their key players being targeted by other teams (can't remember if it was Lampard or Terry who had to rubbish one of those a few weeks ago), so there's no reason to expect that we'll be treated any different. But it still gets annoying after a while.

Good deal all around, assuming it's completed. Wouldn't have minded Barton here but now the time bomb of wondering if/when he'll blow up again is Newcastle's problem, not ours, and Newcastle and West Ham both have that much less money to wave at our players and targets. True both are far from tapped out yet, but every little bit helps.

If Sheff wins this hearing and the panel orders them to be reinstated (like their chairman is claiming will happen) and West Ham docked points, what do you think the powers that be would do? Would they accept it at face value and send West Ham down instead (and risk being sued by WH)? Would they keep both of them up and tell Derby, "sorry, you aren't promoted after all" (and risk being sued by Derby)? Would they keep 21 teams in the Prem and play an odd schedule where someone always has a week off? Would they invite WBA to also come up and play with 22 teams for one season, like the old days (and do a "4 down, 2 up" at the end of the year)? Seems to me the FA is in a no-win situation here. If any of the three teams (West Ham if they're docked, Sheff if they lose the hearing, or Derby if the FA played "pick on the little guy") aren't in the Premiership next year, they're going to be furious and seeking any legal/financial relief they can get. But the problem with having 21 or 22 teams up is that it leads to a longer season (bet our small squad would love that) and more teams dividing the TV jackpot, which means less money for everyone, and none of the other 18 teams would be happy with that. I wonder if they would try negotiating a settlement with the loser (Sheff or Ham) where they'd get a share of the Premiership pot anyway if they'll just shut up, drop any suits, and go down to the Championship. Kind of like a parent using a new toy to buy some peace and quiet.

Goian sounds like a pretty good player. Who knows if he's better or worse than the Spaniard who's also being talked up, but he scored five(!) goals for Steaua in UEFA Cup competition two years ago, and he's also been starting regularly for Romania in Euro '08 qualifying. A little info: http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/play...0449/index.html

Building for Europe means we have more to worry about than just filling out the starting 11. We also need to improve our bench, and as long as those guys can step on the pitch whenever we ask them to and play effectively (either as a sub or as a spot starter when one of our regulars needs a day off), they'll be an upgrade over the likes of VDM and Pistone. Now I will agree that it seems crazy to pay a 4 mil fee to pick up a squad player (if that is what they'd be; I don't pretend to be an expert on judging talent), but I trust Moyes not to be a wastrel with our kitty. And I don't think he will be.

Question for you, Woody (welcome, BTW) We all know he plays midfield, but none of us seem to be quite sure which midfield position is his best/most natural one. Hoping it's left or right, since we need wingers (esp. left) more than central mids right now, but if he's good enough we'll find a use for him somewhere. Anyway, can you enlighten us?

One of the reasons you're seeing so much foreign investment is because a lot of Premiership teams are undervalued on the market compared to their actual net worth and their growth (and by extension, profit) potential. It's much cheaper to buy an average EPL team than it is to buy an average NFL or Major League Baseball team, for instance. So why aren't any of these investors casting their beady little eyes in our direction? Simple economics. 1. We are, much as we hate to admit it, the #2 team in our region, not the alpha dogs 2. We play in an old stadium, with no concrete plans on the table (yet) to replace it 3. We have no bankable international mega-stars that we could use to market our team and increase our global profile 4. We have a debt service to pay off Add those four things together, and at the moment there just isn't as much untapped growth/profit potential in this club as there is elsewhere. Which means that for a practical businessman who's looking for a commodity that he can buy now at an undervalued price and sell later for a handsome profit, we aren't a attractive investment at this particular moment. Now once the new stadium is signed, sealed, and delivered (and even more so if we retired the last of our debt at the same time), then I'm willing to bet we'll start hearing about some prospective buyers sniffing around, because a new stadium is a tremendously valuable commodity, and massively increases the growth/profit potential of the team. The common thread in about 90% of these takeovers in the last two years, from Liverpool down to Leicester City, has been that the team involved either just opened a new stadium or expects to get one soon. Of the four factors that I listed, that one seems to be the most important to new investors, with alpha dog status being #2 (the few teams that have been sold lately without new stadiums built or in the works, like Man U and Aston Villa, are clearly the top dogs in their home cities/boroughs). I can't think of any Premiership or League team sold in the last two years that didn't meet one or both of those criteria.

From what I've read in the papers it sounds like he can play either side or in the middle. I don't know which is his most natural position, though. My Football Manager computer game is no help at all - it simply lists him in the database as "Attacking Midfielder (Left, Right, Centre)". Back in January, the Independent rated JK as the 8th best player not currently in the Premiership, although they did note that he didn't play very well when WBA was in the Premiership. Nugent was #1 on their list, BTW, followed by Bale and McSheffrey (and all three look like they're going up, one way or the other). Quote: Frankly it's too bad Birmingham went up because I would've much rather had McSheffrey - who's three years younger and IS a natural left wing - over Koumas, but I'm sure they won't sell him now they got promoted. Oh well.

Just saw a news article that linked us as a possible landing spot. The 27-year-old has had an outstanding season after going AWOL from West Brom last summer and several Premiership clubs, including Everton, are understood to be interested in the player. Koumas said: 'What about my future? I've no idea. I've a big game for Wales on Saturday and then I'll have a nice break and think about what I am going to do. 'I don't know what my future holds because I'm at an age where I want to step up. It's been too long in waiting. I'm desperate to play in the Premiership but it's up to the chairman (Jeremy Peace). We'll have a talk and see what happens. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id...792&cc=5901