On the Eve of the new Season...

[godsshoeshine]

ironically going to europe kind of killed my euro fantasy team
 
 ok, it wasnt that good to start with
 
 but yeah, i like him too. the rumor mill has had the toon all over him and inler all summer. then again gutierrez came out of nowhere, so we'll see

[Frank Gallagher]

I will stay at Man Utd - Ronaldo  
 Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed that he will remain at Manchester United "for at least another year", according to Portuguese newspaper Publico.
 
 Winger Ronaldo, 23, had frequently expressed his wish to leave for Spanish giants Real Madrid this summer.
 
 "Sir Alex Ferguson heard my arguments, I heard his and, in fact, it was settled that the best for both parties would be for me to stay," he said.
 
 "Therefore, I can confirm that, next season, I will play for Man United."
 
 Manchester United manager Ferguson said on Tuesday that the Ronaldo transfer saga was now "closed" after over two months of frenzied speculation that the player would depart Old Trafford for the Bernabeu.
 
 More soon.

[godsshoeshine]

apparently smith was injured and not sold last night, according to keegan    
 
 edit: could be a smoke screen
 
 once real balked at the price after saying money was no object, i kinda thought he'd stay put

[vansmack]

Does Rooney have a new smoking partner?
 
 Berbatov on brink of £28m move to Old Trafford
 
 Supposedly, Tottenham are using the money on the Russian duo of Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko.
 
 Later on today I'll tell you about a great conversation I had with the head of EA Games - a Liverpool supporter.

[godsshoeshine]

can we talk about spurs for just a second? am i crazy or are they getting a ton of credit for selling their best players and replacing them with mostly guys that have never played in a big time league and are kind of small. doesnt help that most of them play amf and really, do they need more of those. they havent addressed the defense at all

[vansmack]

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
  can we talk about spurs for just a second? am i crazy or are they getting a ton of credit for selling their best players and replacing them with mostly guys that have never played in a big time league and are kind of small. doesnt help that most of them play amf and really, do they need more of those. they havent addressed the defense at all

So my good friend is Spurs fan and was instrumental in getting the Sports Guy to adopt Spurs in the premier league.  He's a sports radio host in LA and yesterday he had the head EA Sports in the studio to talk about Madden 09's release.  Turns out the head of EA Sports is a Liverpool supporter....
 
 When discussing Madden, he said that yes, Madden makes a lot of money, but does not top FIFA, which is EA's #1 game world wide.  I found that interesting given all the Madden hype we've had to endure.
 
 And the second thing was that as they were discussing Spurs, my buddy said that he was excited about Spurs making a run at the top 4, to which the Liverpool fan replied "No way."  As the argument went on, the head of EA said, "I'll bet you $100 Million that Spurs won't make the top 4."  My buddy obviously declined, but the fact that (1) he had $100 Million and (2) that he was willing to put that up over Spurs spoke volumes. The excitment of this season over Spurs was quickly deflated after that conversation....
 
 So I guess that means I agree with you, but that they'll be fun to watch in 5-4 mathces.

[godsshoeshine]

i dont have £50m but i would put it against spurs playing cl football next year if i did
 
 while we are on the subject of teams outside of the big 3 plus chelzzzzz how about shitty just falling apart prior to the eve of the new season

[vansmack]

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
  while we are on the subject of teams outside of the big 3 plus chelzzzzz how about shitty just falling apart prior to the eve of the new season

I'm on record somewhere as saying the Thaskin Shinawatra is a cheat and scoundrel and will destroy shitties finances (or something to that effect).

[godsshoeshine]

no one is surprised, but i figured it wouldnt be so soon after buying jo and nearly ronaldino

[Barcelona]

Interesting UEFA Champions League games tomorrow
 
 Second leg on the 27th.
 
 Fiorentina - Slavia 2-0 (today)
 Sparta - Panathinaikos
 Spartak Moskva - Dynamo Kyiv
 Levski - BATE
 Shakhtar - Dinamo Zagreb
 Anorthosis - Olympiacos
 AaB - Kaunas
 Galatasaray - Steaua
 Juventus - Artmedia
 Brann - Olympique de Marseille
 Schalke - Atlético Madrid
 Twente - Arsenal
 Partizan - Fenerbahce
 Standard - Liverpool
 Guimarães - Basel
 Barcelona - Wisła Krakow

[Frank Gallagher]

Valencia reject Man Utd Silva bid
 
 Valencia have rejected a bid by Manchester United for David Silva, according to the striker's agent.
 
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/7556794.stm
 
 Seems Berbie is second choice.

[vansmack]

That's a blessing in disguise.  The Spanish players struggle in England due to the agressiveness of the game (the new Liverpool and Arsenal notwithstanding, because they play like a bunch of pussies).

[godsshoeshine]

even with the attitude, id rather have berbatov, and i dont think its even close
 
 the tranfer window has been excruciatingly slow for me. totally ready for some actual matches

[vansmack]

Matches?  Did somebody say matches?
 
 Saturday, August 16
 
 7:30am Arsenal vs. West Brom (Set)
 9:45am Middlesbrough vs. Tottenham (Set)
 10:00am Everton vs. Blackburn (FSC)  
 12:30pm Sunderland vs. Liverpool (FSC)  
 2:15pm Hull City vs. Fulham (Set Same Day Coverage)
 2:30pm West Ham vs. Wigan (FSC SDC)  
 4:00pm Bolton vs. Stoke City (Set SDC)
 
 Sunday, August 17
 
 8:30am Chelsea vs. Portsmouth (set)
 11:00am Manchester United vs. Newcastle (FSC)
 1:00pm Aston Villa vs. Manchester City (FSC SDC)

[vansmack]

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
  even with the attitude, id rather have berbatov, and i dont think its even close

Silva's 22.  Berbatov is 28.  Otherwise, I agree with you.