Apparently Barry is back in training, Alonso says he wants to stay at Liverpool and that monkey O'Neill (no disrespect to actual monkeys] says Liverpool haven't provided an improved bid.
I'm lovin' it!
The only downer is that it looks like Man U are going to buy Berbatov....bloody hell.....
Hopefully Ronny's on his way to the corrupt arseholes of AC Milan, and Hughes next move with the dosh should be to wander over to Blackburn, slap down £28m on the table and drive away with Bentley, Santa Cruz and Warnock.
Berbatov's an odd one - after all, it's not exactly like for like with the Show Pony, is it ?
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
I'm don't thing Ronny would have been any good for City. Over 20 million Euros and you get a washed up, coked out player. He would sell t-shirt though! I'm sorry kits.
For $20 you could get 2-3 young stars or one over priced english striker!
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JRod wrote:I'm don't thing Ronny would have been any good for City. Over 20 million Euros and you get a washed up, coked out player. He would sell t-shirt though! I'm sorry kits.
For $20 you could get 2-3 young stars or one over priced english striker!
I think the final bid was in the order of €30m, and I'm not that sure that he is washed up. However, it's over and done with now, so on to better things.
The feeling among CIty fans was that this was more the idea of our Thai Overlord than Mark Hughes - maybe now this has been freed up we can get on with the process of buying some cloggers and hoofing our way up the table.
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
I think the best thing Liverpool can do is NOT to get Barry. They have a need (in the midfield that is, their defense is a whole other story) for a winger and a holding midfielder and Barry is neither. Plus having to give away your ONLY wide player to get him in addition to 15 mill just seems plain ridiculous. I continue to maintain that Tymoschuk is the best possible fit for Liverpool, even though he's never been rumored to be on the move. He just fits.
I don't think, and I never have thought that Ronaldinho is washed up. It's just a perfect example of public opinion catching on. I am sure the fact he hasn't played in a century hasn't helped either. Every time I watched him play he was doing great. He scored one of the most amazing goals right in the midst of the debate that he was injured and out of shape. I am confident he will do just fine, and lower expectations are just going to help. If anyone told Galliani two years ago that he could have Ronaldinho for 18 million he would've been doing backflips. It will be the steal of this transfer period. I just hope he doesn't fail the physical.
Totally agree with Ronaldinho, even a 'fat' Ronaldinho is better than most players out there and even though I have no idea where we'd fit him in our team (there's a fat joke there) I would be over the moon if Liverpool signed a player of Ronnie's quality. He's won a world cup, la liga, a European Cup and he's only 28 for pete's sake! It's not like he ever had pace to burn.
Btw, your boy Voronin scored a great goal in pre-season today, beautiful chip from outside the 18 yard box. Even I cheered. That's 2 great games for him in pre-season, hopefully he can stay injury free and take this form into the new season.
I'm stealing Rob V's idea here but I think Zhirkov would be a great addition to our side to play on the left side - he was awesome for Russia at the Euros. But, like Tymoschuk, I don't see his club needing or wanting to sell him.
Well, the season starts tonight - it's time for the opening qualifying salvo of the UEFA Cup and for City's Faroe Island adventure.
If ever a situation was tailor-made for a 'Typical City' style cock-up, it's this one.
On the transfer front, if I were a Liverpool fan I'd be hoping that you didn't sign Gareth Barry. The attraction may be his performances alongside Gerrard for England, but let's face it - how many teams did you watch at Euro 2008 and think
"By gum, they'd be drastically improved if Gareth Barry were in there..."
That's right, not many...and that's not what I'd want to be thinking if I were about to drop £18m on someone.
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
The connections between Major League Soccer and my favorite international football club, Manchester City continue to grow with time. Monday, San Jose announced the signing of Darren Huckerby and Paul Dickov is about to sign with Toronto FC according to published reports. Manchester City has contributed more former players recently to the soccer setup in this country than just about any other international club, even those right across the border in Mexico.
Ivan Gazidis, the deputy commissioner of MLS is a self confessed Manchester City fan. Gazidis’ understanding of English football and its success has provided MLS under his leadership, a more international and broad looking approach. Claudio Reyna, Ronald Watterhaus, and Paulo Wanchope all signed in MLS last season, and all three choose MLS as the destination to end their careers. Terry Cooke (Colorado), Steve Howey (New England) and Ian Bishop (Miami) were three of the limited number of English imports to MLS in the earlier part of this decade. In the case of Cooke he’s made MLS and the Colorado Rapids his long-term footballing home and in Bishop’s case he choose to stay on in south Florida following the contraction of the Fusion. He now plays in a semi-professional league, and teaches the game to local youths.
Juan Carlos Osorio is an American trained but Manchester City honed manager. Osorio’s time at City provided him not only with exposure to one of the best footballing leagues in the world but to the type of tactical setup and awareness that he did not posses when he was an MLS assistant. Osorio has returned to MLS as one of the finest coaches from a pure tactical standpoint that the league has seen in sometime. More importantly, unlike some foreign managers that have been brought into MLS and do not understanding the midset of American players, nor the difficulty of travel, altitude and other factors that make MLS much tougher than advertised, Osorio knows this league and its players.
Even outside MLS, Manchester City’s connections shine light in this corner of the globe. Recent hero of the club’s history Shaun Goater now manages the Bermuda Hogges of USL-2 and has helped professionalize the footballing setup in his native land to where Bermuda almost upset Trinidad and Tobago who participated in the 2006 World Cup last month in qualifying. Goater’s goal was to make Bermuda more of a force in CONCACAF and he is hoping the island nation can qualify for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. George Wea,h former FIFA World Football of the Year, and Manchester City striker has moved to south Florida with his family to participate in an Under 40 professional league. Weah’s decision to relocate to south Florida was so momentous it made the front page of the local papers: not the front page of the sports section, the front page of the paper. Weah as he was throughout most of his career and in his recent run for Liberian President is a name that transcends football, and has in his own way the stardom that few international footballers have in the U.S.
What has made City a greater contributor to the growth of football in this part of the world in terms of exported players than let’s say cross town rival Manchester United? For starters City is club that has recently attracted a lot of foreign players from places that until recently did not necessarily export a great number of players to English Football: The USA, Costa Rica, Bermuda and Liberia the home nations of Reyna, Wanchope, Goater and Weah are either geographically or spiritually more connected to the United States than to England. (In the case of Bermuda, it was a British colony but of course is right off the coast of the US, which explains why Bermuda’s one professional team plays in a US league. Also I should not that Wanchope spent his teen years in the United States before returning to Costa Rica to pursue a career in football because MLS did not exist in those days) In addition, playing at City isn’t a walk in the park. The club has some of the most knowledgeable fans in England along with a very large supporter’s base. Experiences at Manchester City unlike those at some other European clubs harden players and coaches in a way that makes it possible for them to come to North America and have a unique impact on our footballing landscape.
"Experience at Manchester City...harden players and coaches".
Just think what it's like for the poor sods who follow them and don't actually get paid for it.
It's also perhaps instructive that our castoffs are good enough only for the MLS
Where was that article from, Squid ?
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
I don't know about Ronnie's pace. He might not be Michael Owen (year 2000 version) but his pace is up there with the best of them. His quickness is exceptional as well.
Voronin had a great preceason last year as well. He is a very good player, and an extremely hard worker. He might actually benefit the most from the fact that there are no wide players on the squad, as he is vey affective playing on the wing. I saw bits of that game and he could have easily had three goals. Almost scored a nice curler from 25 MACTEPsporta style too.
Zhirkov is a left winger converted into a left back by Hiddink. Very much like Riise but with better stamina and better defense. I have heard, however, that he is known for taking games off. We shall see...
MACTEPsporta wrote:
I don't know about Ronnie's pace. He might not be Michael Owen (year 2000 version) but his pace is up there with the best of them. His quickness is exceptional as well.
I guess what I meant to say was that Ronaldinho was a never a player whose speed was the key to his success - you never thought "Oh, that Ronaldhino's so bloody quick" - it's his touch, flair and skill that make him stand out. Because of that even if he has lost a step he'll still be great.
Anyway, he's gone to Milan but will still be playing at the Olympics.
Looks like Liverpool are going to lose Babel and Mascherano to the Olympics too.
Well, well, well... Who knew Macca was so emancipated. And that's the same person who has a Harem in his basement. What's next, Macca? Can they eat at the same table too?!?! Ridiculous
Fairly straightforward by City standards, fitness a bit of an issue in second half but OK considering all the players who'd been in the Euros were rested and the team had only 1 semi-competitive game beforehand.
Thought the lady ref did OK.
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
Does it seem like many of these players have one huge year and then they fall way off, end up getting moved?
Is there a counterpart to franchise players?
I guess if Beckham can be moved a couple of times, anyone can. The clubs didn't get any of his merchandising revenues nor would they buy tickets or Sky subscriptions just because he was still on a particular club?
wco81 wrote:Does it seem like many of these players have one huge year and then they fall way off, end up getting moved?
Is there a counterpart to franchise players?
I guess if Beckham can be moved a couple of times, anyone can. The clubs didn't get any of his merchandising revenues nor would they buy tickets or Sky subscriptions just because he was still on a particular club?
Players who have one year are usually known as 'one-season wonders' - City usually end up signing them.
The clubs get loads of revenue from shirt sales etc (Real Madrid's initial purchase of Beckham was actually self financing), but TV revenue is perhaps more indirectly linked to it, as it depends how many times your teams matches are shown.
The more savvy players have started to include 'media/image rights' in their contracts as revenue splitting - hence, from memory, why Oliver Kahn isn't in FIFA or PES (can't remember which).
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
Answer : It doesn't, Man U under the Drunken Scot have always been one of the worst offenders.....Jaap Stam, Van Nistlerooy, Hargreaves etc.
Chalk another one up for the nauseating hypocrites.
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
I'm not sure what exactly 'tapping up' is, but what is wrong with SAF confirming that he has made a legal bid for Berbatov, and that he hopes/expects Berbatov will ultimately join the squad?
I thought tapping up concerned approaching the player illegally or outside the transfer window, neither of which seems to be present here (as far as I can tell).
