11/12 Football Thread

[king mob]

It's the start of July, so it's time for the new season. This is the ALL-NEW, ALL-WONDERFUL thread where we discuss all-things football related for the 2011/2012 season. It's a long season with Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine at the end of it all

SPL, English Premier League, Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, South American Leagues etc.

Headlines, players transfers, rumours, signings, Euro 2012 qualifiers, Champions League, Europa League, Copa, opinions, whining, rantings, predictions, & all manner of nonsense.

[king mob]

Just in case anyone though the way that FIFA works out rankings is daft, England are now officially a better side than Brasil!?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...-fourth-brazil

[king mob]

It's only a few weeks til Partick Thistle's first game of the season and still no sign of any new players...


Ho hum..

[PiratesPensSteelers]

It's the start of July, so it's time for the new season. This is the ALL-NEW, ALL-WONDERFUL thread where we discuss all-things football related for the 2011/2012 season. It's a long season with Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine at the end of it all

SPL, English Premier League, Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, South American Leagues etc.

Headlines, players transfers, rumours, signings, Euro 2012 qualifiers, Champions League, Europa League, Copa, opinions, whining, rantings, predictions, & all manner of nonsense.

.....and MLS!!!!

[king mob]

And MLS of course....

[Puma]

But not the NFL.


any bets when the first post will occur?

[mcgaffer]

Roma hope to complete the signing of Sporting Gijon defender Jose Angel, who has reportedly been a target for Manchester City, by the end of next week.

Arsenal are poised to pip rivals Tottenham to land 24-year-old Ivory Coast striker Gervinho from French club Lille in an £11m deal.

The Gunners could lose midfielder Samir Nasri and defender Gael Clichy to big-spending Manchester City, who are thought to have offered £7m for Clichy and are rumoured to be planning a £15m bid for Nasri.

Arsenal have also been linked with a surprise move for Manchester United's Republic of Ireland international John O'Shea.

Liverpool have been told by Blackpool they will have to part with £9m to bring Scotland midfielder Charlie Adam to Anfield.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will look to continue his summer of spending with a move for Rennes' France international midfielder Yann M'Vila.

Chelsea have offered £45m for Palermo playmaker Javier Pastore, according to his club.

The Blues will turn their full attention to Porto midfielder Moutinho should they fail in their attempts to land Udinese winger Alexis Sanchez and Brazil forward Neymar from Santos, both of whom they have been linked with recently.

However, Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas's first signing at Stamford Bridge will be 17-year-old Barcelona striker Gael Etock.

Arsenal are lining up a club record bid for Anderlecht's highly rated teenage striker Romelu Lukaku.

The Gunners remain keen on Bolton defender Gary Cahill. Wanderers want £17m for the player but Arsenal may offer Henri Lansbury or Ignasi Miguel in part exchange.

Tottenham want £20m-rated Athletic Bilbao and Spain striker Fernando Llorente, but Harry Redknapp has been told he must sell two of Robbie Keane, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe first.

Liverpool are reportedly taking an interest in Manchester City midfielder Jamer Milner as reports circulate that the England international may not be happy at Eastlands.

Everton are lining up Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Niko Kranjcar as a possible replacement for Mikel Arteta, who could be heading to Spain this summer.

Everton are favourites to land former Cardiff City striker Jay Bothroyd. He left Cardiff on 23 May after failing to agree a new deal with the Welsh side and has been linked to numerous clubs in the past few weeks.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce wants to continue his summer spending by signing defender Wes Brown from Manchester United. The Black Cats have already recruited five players in the close season.

Bolton are considering a move for former Rangers striker Nacho Novo.

QPR manager Neil Warnock has conceded that the club are struggling to sign players for the upcoming Premier League season. "We've targeted a number of players during the last few weeks and although we've missed out on some, the board are continuing to work hard to assist me in bringing new additions to the football club," said Warnock.

Liverpool coach Steve Clarke admits the Reds may have to start the season without striker Luis Suarez and midfielder Lucas. The duo are on international duty in Argentina at the Copa America, which does not finish until 24 July, meaning they may need time to recover ahead of the Premier League kick-off on 13 August.

[mcgaffer]

Bolton have made their first signing of the summer after midfielder Darren Pratley, who decided to leave Swansea, agreed a four-year deal at the club.

Norwich City have signed Bradley Johnson after the midfielder's contract at Leeds United expired.

Newcastle United have completed the signing of France Under-19 international Mehdi Abeid from French club Lens.

[mcgaffer]

West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Scott Carson has completed a move to Turkish side Bursaspor for an undisclosed fee.

[mcgaffer]

A parliamentary inquiry wants Fifa to conduct an independent review into the corruption claims that have dogged the organisation.

The Culture, Media and Sport select committee's report is due to be published on 5 July.

BBC Sport understands the report will criticise Fifa's "contemptuous" and "dismissive" response to evidence submitted to the committee by the Sunday Times which accused two Fifa members, Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma, of asking for bribes to back Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid.

However, the ethics committee decided allegations of vote-trading between Spain and Portugal, who were bidding for the 2018 World Cup, and Qatar, who were bidding for 2022, were unfounded.

[Haydn C]

A parliamentary inquiry wants Fifa to conduct an independent review into the corruption claims that have dogged the organisation.

Good luck with that. I suspect a lot will depend on what the Swiss authorities do over the next year or so. I think there is some sort of review regards FIFA's tax status or financial dealings or some such.

[king mob]

Bolton are considering a move for former Rangers striker Nacho Novo.

Four or five years ago that'd be a great deal but he's past his best now by some way.

[king mob]

A parliamentary inquiry wants Fifa to conduct an independent review into the corruption claims that have dogged the organisation.

The Culture, Media and Sport select committee's report is due to be published on 5 July.

BBC Sport understands the report will criticise Fifa's "contemptuous" and "dismissive" response to evidence submitted to the committee by the Sunday Times which accused two Fifa members, Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma, of asking for bribes to back Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid.

However, the ethics committee decided allegations of vote-trading between Spain and Portugal, who were bidding for the 2018 World Cup, and Qatar, who were bidding for 2022, were unfounded.

Sadly it's all a load of utter bollocks as this is the coalition desperately trying to make itself look popular.

On the same week where Rupert Murdoch gains an undemocratic amount of power in the media under dubious circumstances this is a stunt, nothing more.

[mcgaffer]

Scott Dann could become the third Birmingham player to go to Sunderland this summer with Steve Bruce considering making a move for the 24-year-old centre-back.

Arsenal and Chelsea are also interested in the 6ft 5in Blues defender, whose proposed £12m transfer to Stoke collapsed last week.

Barcelona want to pay the Gunners just £8.5m, or 25% of the total transfer fee of £34m, this summer for Fabregas.

Arsenal have told Italian side Roma that it will take a bid of at least £28m to prise Frenchman Nasri from the Emirates Stadium.

Chelsea are ready to join the race to sign Nasri, who has rejected a five-year deal worth £90,000-a-week.

Another player possibly leaving Arsenal could be midfielder Andrey Arshavin, 30, who will be out of contract next summer and has emerged as a target for Galatasaray.

Meanwhile, Gunners defender Gael Clichy's proposed £7m move to Manchester City could mean fellow left-back Wayne Bridge may leave City for Newcastle.

Bolton defender Gary Cahill could become Andre Villas-Boas' first signing as Chelsea manager. The 25-year-old centre-half, who could cost around £17m, is also wanted by Arsenal and Tottenham.

Roma's Brazilian keeper Doni, 31, has had a change of heart and agreed to join Liverpool - the fee is yet to be decided but the Italian club looking for at least £1.5m.

Bolton and Fulham are leading the chase for 31-year-old Manchester City winger Craig Bellamy who is valued at about £4m.

French side Paris St Germain have made a £13.5m bid for QPR's 22-year-old Moroccan playmaker Adel Taarabt.

Such a move for Taarabt would earn his former club Tottenham a multi-million-pound windfall, as they are entitled to a 40% sell-on fee as part of Taarabt's move from White Hart Lane to Loftus Road a year ago.

Tottenham are ready to listen to offers in the region of £10m-12m for striker Jermain Defoe, 28, to raise funds to buy Villarreal's Giuseppe Rossi, 24, and Athletic Bilbao's Fernando Llorente, 26.

Spurs have also approached Roma over the availability of their 27-year-old Montenegro striker Mirko Vucinic.

West Ham have accepted a £10m bid from Turkish club Fenerbahce for midfielder Scott Parker, but the 30-year-old midfielder is refusing to uproot his young family.

Premier League newcomers Swansea are set to make a £3m move for Leeds striker Luciano Becchio.

Wigan are interested in signing Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann is in line to become the new manager at Blue Square Bet Premier club Stockport, newly relegated from the Football League.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will fast-track former Barcelona trainee Hector Bellerin, 16, into the first-team squad after snapping him up from the Catalan club's academy this summer.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech finally met Claudio Ranieri face to face earlier this year - seven years after the Italian signed him for the Stamford Bridge club in 2004. Ranieri was sacked and replaced by Jose Mourinho just after Cech completed his £7m move.

[king mob]

Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann is in line to become the new manager at Blue Square Bet Premier club Stockport, newly relegated from the Football League.

This annoys me as there's few positions in the top flight for young British managers and this is blatently just gimmick appointment like that of Di Canio at Swindon.