The Ali Dia Football/Soccer Thread

Ferrarist · Post by **Ferrarist** » 15 May 2013, 14:22

Relegation in Germany is almost done. Hoffenheim has barely a chance to stay in the Bundesliga. While they are only two points behind Fortuna Düsseldorf on 15th, Hoffenheim has to play against Borussia Dortmund, in Dortmund! Düsseldorf and Augsburg have the same amount of points, but Düsseldorf has a slightly better goal difference, which puts them on 15th, and Augsburg on 16th. But Augsburg plays at home against Greuther Fürth, who are dead last on the table. While Fürth might try to put up a little fight, I don't think that Augsburg will lose at home. Düsseldorf on the other hand plays in Hannover, and the Fortuna hasn't played well this year. But the team on 16th place has just to play against the 3rd from the 2nd Bundesliga, so no direct relegation.

Werder Bremen has rescued themselves, but Thomas Schaaf has left them today. After a 14-year-tenure! While no one should forget about his success with Bremen, it was about time that some from outside brings some fresh air into this club. Bremen definitely deserves better than playing against relegation!

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 15 May 2013, 17:35

AdrianSutil wrote: back of a napkin with a crayon. Arsene Wenger was asked about it and declined to comment, when usually he does. So could be an approach for him soon. Chelsea are Rumoured to be interested too.

I've heard he's going to Bayern, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid in a swap for Benzema, Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal. So basically any half-decent football club with a bit of money

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 15 May 2013, 19:34

Ferrarist wrote:Relegation in Germany is almost done. Hoffenheim has barely a chance to stay in the Bundesliga. While they are only two points behind Fortuna Düsseldorf on 15th, Hoffenheim has to play against Borussia Dortmund, in Dortmund!

WTF happened to them?! On paper they have a really strong squad, one that should at least be top half in the Bundesliga. Wiese, Beck, Derdiyok, Delpierre, Ochs...there were some good players there.

Ferrarist · Post by **Ferrarist** » 15 May 2013, 19:58

Stramala wrote:
Ferrarist wrote:Relegation in Germany is almost done. Hoffenheim has barely a chance to stay in the Bundesliga. While they are only two points behind Fortuna Düsseldorf on 15th, Hoffenheim has to play against Borussia Dortmund, in Dortmund!

WTF happened to them?! On paper they have a really strong squad, one that should at least be top half in the Bundesliga. Wiese, Beck, Derdiyok, Delpierre, Ochs...there were some good players there.

It's pretty hard to point that particular point where Hoffenheim's downfall has begun. Hoffenheim didn't really start well into the season, thanks to some screw-ups by Tim Wiese. Then-coach Markus Babbel wanted to reach the Champions League with this squad, but by his own admission, he probably put too much pressure onto his team. Also, Hoffenheim has made the same mistake any "swimming" middle-class club has made: Hiring lots of mediocre, middle-aged players like Derdiyok, Delpierre or (your mileage may vary) Wiese. To be fair, they still have talented players like Kevin Volland or Joselu in their squad. Especially Volland will probably get lots of offers from Bundesliga clubs. I guess that he could either go to Dortmund (back-up for the Lewandowski replacement) or to Schalke (Huntelaar's backup).

Well, Hoffenheim fired Babbel and they had the choice between Markus Gisdol and Marco Kurz. They hired the latter, who wasn't very successful with Kaiserlautern in the 1st Bundesliga (Didn't win 16 games in a row before he was fired). With him came Andreas Müller as manager, who didn't do much at his tenure at Schalke. Likewise, Kurz wasn't really successful in Hoffenheim, too. He and Müller were fired on April 2nd, and Hoffenheim has finally signed Markus Gisdol. Gisdol comes off a sympathetic, and wants to focus on the youth again. In fact, he's already promoted several players from the U-19 squad. Hoffenheim has some decent youth facilities after all, so even with relegation, I don't think that Hoffenheim will stay in the 2nd Bundesliga for too long. Back to Gisdol: He's made clear that he's here to build something up, and that staying in the Bundesliga was just a bonus to him. But he's also letting Hoffenheim playing a better style than Kurz did. If only Hoffenheim had hired Gisdol back in January...

P.S.: Bernd Schuster is today's expert for the German TV station that broadcasts the Europa League final. Is it me, or does he really sound like Keke Rosberg's twin?

Pp.S.: I feel sorry for Benfica. Losing almost everything within a couple of days.

And I bathplugging hate Chelsea. Hopefully some of our hooligans will vandalise their rooms when they are in London! :twisted:

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 16 May 2013, 09:40

Ferrarist wrote:Pp.S.: I feel sorry for Benfica. Losing almost everything within a couple of days. And I bathplugging hate Chelsea. Hopefully some of our hooligans will vandalise their rooms when they are in London!

And the second injury time heartbreak in a few days for them. Although Jesus team's are known for being knackered at latter parts of the season and that is showing it. Benfica still have some hopes that Porto, who visits the 3rd placed team, slips but I don't see that happening as Paços de Ferreira (the name of the team and a town) just managed to seal their 3rd spot and a presence in the 3rd pre-eliminatory of the CL, so have really nothing more to fight for. Besides, being in 3rd is not an assurance of a though team since the strength difference of Porto and Benfica to the rest is massive.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 16 May 2013, 13:08

Cassano back on the injury list, after making only a single appearance after just recovering from another injury last week. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 16 May 2013, 21:54

Stramala wrote:Cassano back on the injury list, after making only a single appearance after just recovering from another injury last week. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

I wonder if Inter are going to be doing a recruitment drive during the off season

David AGS · Post by **David AGS** » 17 May 2013, 09:23

roblomas52 wrote:
Stramala wrote:Cassano back on the injury list, after making only a single appearance after just recovering from another injury last week. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

I wonder if Inter are going to be doing a recruitment drive during the off season

Stramala can confirm this, but havent they already signed like 6-7 players already for next year?

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 17 May 2013, 10:18

David AGS wrote:
roblomas52 wrote:
Stramala wrote:Cassano back on the injury list, after making only a single appearance after just recovering from another injury last week. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

I wonder if Inter are going to be doing a recruitment drive during the off season

Stramala can confirm this, but havent they already signed like 6-7 players already for next year?

I wonder if Stramala is one of them

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 17 May 2013, 20:00

David AGS wrote:
roblomas52 wrote:
Stramala wrote:Cassano back on the injury list, after making only a single appearance after just recovering from another injury last week. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

I wonder if Inter are going to be doing a recruitment drive during the off season

Stramala can confirm this, but havent they already signed like 6-7 players already for next year?

Ruben Botta had already signed for next season, with his current contract expiring next month. However, he picked up an injury that will see him miss most of 2013 (!!!!!!).
We have also been heavily linked to the following, to the point it seems the deals are absolutely done (there is nothing suggesting they're being retained by their current clubs or going elsewhere); Mauro Icardi, Hugo Campagnaro, Marco Andreolli, Diego Laxalt.

Icardi is a young prospect, currently at Sampdoria and formerly of Barcelona. Top scorer for the Blucerchiati this season. We'll finally have a striker under 30 years of age. Laxalt is also a youngster but not yet on the same level as Icardi. Will need time to grow. The same can't be said of Campagnaro, a Serie A veteran and currently a rock in the Napoli defence. Despite his advancing a years, a huge coup given it's a free end-of-contract transfer. And Andreolli is actually a former Inter youth player, moving here for free as well from Chievo. He's not going to set the world alight, but should serve as a far mroe capable backup at CB than Matias freaking Silvestre.

They are moves in the right direction, but not the kind of players who can turn Inter from losers to Scudetto challengers overnight. I think Moratti will be focusing on younger players rather than ones making an immediate impact. Icardi and Kovacic are two bright young players, but there's not so much talent elsewhere at the moment. More players are definitely needed than these.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 17 May 2013, 20:02

I'm guessing that Inter have also invariably been linked to Rayne Wooney?

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 17 May 2013, 21:04

takagi_for_the_win wrote:I'm guessing that Inter have also invariably been linked to Rayne Wooney?

Probably given the fact that every top club has been liked with the stroppy Liverpudlian git :lol:

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 17 May 2013, 21:26

takagi_for_the_win wrote:I'm guessing that Inter have also invariably been linked to Rayne Wooney?

Nope, not at all...

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 18 May 2013, 06:46

Stramala wrote:
takagi_for_the_win wrote:I'm guessing that Inter have also invariably been linked to Rayne Wooney?

Nope, not at all...

Aaron lennon on the other hand ...

Ferrarist · Post by **Ferrarist** » 18 May 2013, 15:45

What a Bundesliga final! :shock:

Borussia Dortmund led 1-0 until the 77th minute, when Hoffenheim was given a correct penalty. Hoffenheim scores, 1-1. Then, Roman Weidenfeller storms out of the goal at the 83rd minute, and fouls Sven Schipplock. Weidenfeller gets send off (And Kevin Großkreutz had to go into the goal

), and Hoffenheim gets a second penalty. Hoffenheim scores, so it's 2-1. Now, Hoffenheim would be on 16th position, which would qualify for a relegation game against Kaiserslautern. Düsseldorf meanwhile would end up 17th (Rightfully, as Düsseldorf has played crap in the 2nd half of the season), thus being directly relegated...or are they? In the 92nd minute, Marcel Schmelzer scored a goal...while Robert Lewandowski was offside, thus no 2-2 for Dortmund. With Hoffenheim being among the most disliked clubs in Germany, the internet goes haywire at the moment :mrgreen:

TheBigJ · Post by **TheBigJ** » 19 May 2013, 17:39

Sadly the Essevee didn't beat those scumbags at Anderlecht in Belgium! Zulte Waregem were the definition of a reject team coming up and beating the big boys. They are the Jordan of the Pro League, close but no cigar.

Post by **Ataxia** » 19 May 2013, 18:41

Yeovil in the Championship! I never saw that coming after last season.

Of course, Huish Park is going to be vital to any chances of survival. They've also got to carry on making canny signings; Marek Stech, Kevin Dawson and Paddy Madden have been some great acquisitions this season so it's going to be rather interesting.

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 19 May 2013, 20:54

TheBigJ wrote:Sadly the Essevee didn't beat those scumbags at Anderlecht in Belgium! Zulte Waregem were the definition of a reject team coming up and beating the big boys. They are the Jordan of the Pro League, close but no cigar.

Well, i wouldn't say they were a reject team, they usually end up around 6th place, but yes, Jordan would indeed be right. Meanwhile Anderlecht are the Red Bull of the JPL: always complaining, even when they're winning. Meanwhile Club Brugge is the McLaren of the JPL: they should be competitive, but always somehow find a way to screw thing up.
So our European spots: CL: Anderlecht, CL qualifiers round 3: Zulte, EL quali round 4: Genk, EL quali round 3: Club Brugge and EL quali round 2: Standard or Gent.
Meanwhile it looks like Cercle will remain in first division, they just need one point with 2 matches to play.

In need of some only in Belgium tales? Well, i haven't got much, as things are sorting out. Oudenaarde refuses to play relegation play-offs from 2nd to 3rd because all their players are already on holiday. Its still not entirely clear if Oudenaarde, Heist or Sint Niklaas is the one having to play that relegations. (lots of court cases going on) Whichever it will be, they'll have to play against Geel, and face Racing Mechelen in the finals. I'm hoping that racing is getting it, because they have the best looking grandstand of whole Belgium.
Meanwhile in the Beerschot saga, the city has decided, that if the current team goes bankrupt, any new formed team with the same name will not have the right to play in the olympic stadium. So that stadium remains empty, but it wouldn't surprise me if they would simply deconstruct all existing stadiums and finally build a new one in the city. For which team that will be remains unclear, but if they keep eliminating themselves, probably only one will last and the problem will solve itself.
Also Beerschot fans are looking for a team to buy that wants to re-name itself Beerschot, so if you own a club with no fans (or if you hate your own fans), and are interested in having unpatient fans, and incompetent personell, call on them, they'll love to suck your team dry, ruin it, and merge with yet another team.
To end with something positive: Eendracht Aalst is the first Belgian team to seriously consider a fan-made stadium design (or at least the location), turns out one guy in the city council was part of a forum about Belgian stadiums (altough he was member of that forum before getting elected) well, let's hope they get this thing done, and set a good example to other clubs, to listen to their fans. (altough the guy that made it wasn't an EA fan at all, but just loves to design stadiums, but that's not important) Makes you wonder, who knows what politicians might be on our forum and pick up things?

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 19 May 2013, 20:54

Bloody Milan. We were so close. Dodgy ref again? (Presumably not, given that Ambrosini got sent off I see)

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 20 May 2013, 16:51

Barbazza wrote:Bloody Milan. We were so close. Dodgy ref again? (Presumably not, given that Ambrosini got sent off I see)

It was still a good campaign by La Viola. Remember that you guys almost got relegated last season, it's been a huge turnaround for only 12 months.

Latest Calcio rumour; Stramaccioni to be sacked and replaced by Walter Mazzari, who just resigned from Napoli.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 20 May 2013, 19:05

Stramala wrote:It was still a good campaign by La Viola. Remember that you guys almost got relegated last season, it's been a huge turnaround for only 12 months.

Oh, absolutely. Having both Fiorentina and West Ham finish in the top half in the same season is a real rarity these days! And to be honest, Champions League wouldn't have been a bridge too far for a not very big squad.

Looks like Ambrosini might be coming to West Ham (allegedly)

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 20 May 2013, 19:12

Barbazza wrote:
Stramala wrote:It was still a good campaign by La Viola. Remember that you guys almost got relegated last season, it's been a huge turnaround for only 12 months.

Oh, absolutely. Having both Fiorentina and West Ham finish in the top half in the same season is a real rarity these days! And to be honest, Champions League wouldn't have been a bridge too far for a not very big squad.

Looks like Ambrosini might be coming to West Ham (allegedly)

Well that's what you get for not watching any Italian football in ages. Last time I checked, La Viola were top 4 challengers, and Inter were the dominant force, spare for a half arsed challenge from Roma. What a difference 5 years makes...

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 20 May 2013, 21:53

Barbazza wrote:
Stramala wrote:It was still a good campaign by La Viola. Remember that you guys almost got relegated last season, it's been a huge turnaround for only 12 months.

Oh, absolutely. Having both Fiorentina and West Ham finish in the top half in the same season is a real rarity these days! And to be honest, Champions League wouldn't have been a bridge too far for a not very big squad.

Fiorentina is a very interesting team at the moment. They have a lot of quality there, sure, but can they hang on to the players they brought in on loan/co-ownership agreements? Will their best players (i.e. Jovetic) move on in the summer? Can they splash out even more to secure some more talent and add depth to an already strong starting XI?

Roncaglia has been a sensation like I didn't beleive. Actually much of the squad has played at a surprising level - I had never expected Cuadrado to become such a key player, Ljajic is finally starting to show signs of maturing, Valero has been fantastic. Palermo will likely be selling Viviano, but will it be to Fiorentina after all? IMHO they'll need a better kepper than Emiliano to challenge for the Scudetto. If they could somehow poach Federico Marchetti from Lazio, their fortunes at the back would change completely. Also, with Neto on the way out, and Pescara going down, they should probably try to pick up Ivan Pelizzoli as reserve keeper. Gokhan Inler is also apparently leaving Napoli, which might be a good shout to add to the middle of the park.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 21 May 2013, 16:18

The PFA investigating Sunderland players fines is a complete joke. EPL players already do pretty much what they want and need some discipline to excuses for some of their poor behaviour. PFA should do better things like protecting those players who keep things moving at a lower level and are not overpaid professionals.

EDIT: Used this post to not double post and add another rambling about football...

I think that the new Messi movie that is coming around next year is premature and devoid from much drama and story really. That is probably why they need to meet with writers. He did had his growth hormone problems and somewhat humble origins, yes, but that is pretty much it when it comes to setbacks.

Epic pictures group, Ewald wrote:The goal is to make a powerful and positive film that will leave audiences feeling inspired to go after their dreams no matter how impossible they may seem

That is my issue with the thing, though. Unless you are born with a ridiculous amount of talent, it is downright impossible to feel inspired to go after your dreams like Messi did. A far better story, IMHO, is Cristiano Ronaldo's story. He came from even more humble origins and arrived where he did by working to his bones coupled with will power to reach his dream of being the best footballer in the world, overcoming more talented rivals like Quaresma, at Sporting, Rooney at Manchester United or some outrageously talented players at Real Madrid like Benzema or Özil. It is a man who hasn't coasted to being the best at where he played, but became the best gradually. Until he met the man (Messi) that is so talented that no amount of work can match his feats and eventually struggle to accept this idea. Also, his shortcomings make a good side story.

Bleu · Post by **Bleu** » 21 May 2013, 16:48

F1 drivers' football match should be starting in about 10 minutes.

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 21 May 2013, 18:02

Meanwhile in Belgium the media has gone absolutely mad, and are rumouring almost every team in first or second division to move to Antwerpen and become a 'neutral new team, backed by dozens of investors', teams mentioned are Zulte Waregem, Lokeren, Waasland Beveren, Oostende, westerlo etc.
Now lets look in detail: the Zulte rumour looks ridiculous, but they have already mentioned they'd love to merge with Kortrijk in the future (which would make sense), it however would not make sense to sell the Zulte matricule to people from Antwerpen, as Zulte has a european ticket, it would make more sense to sell the matricule of Kortrijk (and put a stadium in Kortrijk, sort of like what happened in the eigthies whhen Winterslag and Waterschei became Genk)
My view on the rumour: Zulte just needs a stadium to play in Europe, and wants to put pressure on the city to refurbish their own stadium, otherwise they'll play their european games in Antwerpen. Though their merger with Kortrijk will probably eventually happen, this doesn't automatically mean they'll sell their matricule to someone else.
The other possibility: Lokeren and Beveren are both teams from the same region (called Waasland), so a scenario of a merger would also be logical, and the other matricule could be sold to a different team. This scenario is similar to the above, but that doesn't mean they're going to sell one of their matricules.
The Oostende rumour looks like absolute nonsens (altough it would make sense for Oostende to do a merger with Cercle Brugge), and the Westerlo rumour looks more like a back-up plan.
So why would investors in Antwerpen start a new club by buying over an existing team from a different city? Well, there's not much to buy in the city of Antwerpen itself, Antwerp is in huge debts and don't have a lot of infrastructure or youth players, and altough they could be involved in the deal, this doesn't look like the best option. Beerschot ceased to exist, and Berchem is in third division, so it would not make them good options, also neither of these teams have any youth players either, and Berchem doesn't have any infrastructure. Now Beerschot does have a good statium, but that one is already owned by the city. A new team will probably play in the olympic stadium for a years, until a new stadium is built, meanwhile the other stadiums will probably be sold, to make some money out of it.
My opinion: creating an artificial new team after the idea of Genk might theoretically work, but one does need a lot of patience to do such a thing. The citizens (but also investors) of Antwerpen are known to be the most inpatient people in whole of Belgium... this looks like a scenario that could only go wrong. Then of course, it could all be rumours.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 21 May 2013, 18:20

DanielPT wrote:That is my issue with the thing, though. Unless you are born with a ridiculous amount of talent, it is downright impossible to feel inspired to go after your dreams like Messi did. A far better story, IMHO, is Cristiano Ronaldo's story. He came from even more humble origins and arrived where he did by working to his bones coupled with will power to reach his dream of being the best footballer in the world, overcoming more talented rivals like Quaresma, at Sporting, Rooney at Manchester United or some outrageously talented players at Real Madrid like Benzema or Özil. It is a man who hasn't coasted to being the best at where he played, but became the best gradually. Until he met the man (Messi) that is so talented that no amount of work can match his feats and eventually struggle to accept this idea. Also, his shortcomings make a good side story.

Pfft. Messi and Ronaldo can't hold a candle to Santiago Muñez! Who remembers him?

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 21 May 2013, 18:40

AndreaModa wrote:
DanielPT wrote:That is my issue with the thing, though. Unless you are born with a ridiculous amount of talent, it is downright impossible to feel inspired to go after your dreams like Messi did. A far better story, IMHO, is Cristiano Ronaldo's story. He came from even more humble origins and arrived where he did by working to his bones coupled with will power to reach his dream of being the best footballer in the world, overcoming more talented rivals like Quaresma, at Sporting, Rooney at Manchester United or some outrageously talented players at Real Madrid like Benzema or Özil. It is a man who hasn't coasted to being the best at where he played, but became the best gradually. Until he met the man (Messi) that is so talented that no amount of work can match his feats and eventually struggle to accept this idea. Also, his shortcomings make a good side story.

Pfft. Messi and Ronaldo can't hold a candle to Santiago Muñez! Who remembers him?

Never mind that in his first season in the PL, the mighty Igor Biscan managed to score the same amount of goals as him

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 21 May 2013, 18:44

AndreaModa wrote:
DanielPT wrote:That is my issue with the thing, though. Unless you are born with a ridiculous amount of talent, it is downright impossible to feel inspired to go after your dreams like Messi did. A far better story, IMHO, is Cristiano Ronaldo's story. He came from even more humble origins and arrived where he did by working to his bones coupled with will power to reach his dream of being the best footballer in the world, overcoming more talented rivals like Quaresma, at Sporting, Rooney at Manchester United or some outrageously talented players at Real Madrid like Benzema or Özil. It is a man who hasn't coasted to being the best at where he played, but became the best gradually. Until he met the man (Messi) that is so talented that no amount of work can match his feats and eventually struggle to accept this idea. Also, his shortcomings make a good side story.

Pfft. Messi and Ronaldo can't hold a candle to Santiago Muñez! Who remembers him?

III should never have been created. They wrote "to be continued" at the end of II, and then the sequel was about something else entirely! Retards...

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 21 May 2013, 18:55

Yeah that was probably the worst film I think I've ever seen. Especially the pitch shots - some bloke waving around with images of crowds super-imposed behind him! Woeful! :lol:

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 21 May 2013, 19:04

AndreaModa wrote:Yeah that was probably the worst film I think I've ever seen. Especially the pitch shots - some bloke waving around with images of crowds super-imposed behind him! Woeful!

I wouldn't know. I got as far as 15 minutes in and gave up. Didn't see the rest. My assumption it was going to be an absolute pile of horseshit seems to be about right then?

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 21 May 2013, 19:25

Stramala wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:Yeah that was probably the worst film I think I've ever seen. Especially the pitch shots - some bloke waving around with images of crowds super-imposed behind him! Woeful!

I wouldn't know. I got as far as 15 minutes in and gave up. Didn't see the rest. My assumption it was going to be an absolute pile of horseshit seems to be about right then?

The trailer tells you everything you need to know:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHthPPB7_zA

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 21 May 2013, 19:27

That is hilariously bad.

Can a player have a squad number of 26 in a World Cup? I don't think he can....

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 21 May 2013, 19:31

Stramala wrote:Fiorentina is a very interesting team at the moment. They have a lot of quality there, sure, but can they hang on to the players they brought in on loan/co-ownership agreements? Will their best players (i.e. Jovetic) move on in the summer? Can they splash out even more to secure some more talent and add depth to an already strong starting XI?

Roncaglia has been a sensation like I didn't beleive. Actually much of the squad has played at a surprising level - I had never expected Cuadrado to become such a key player, Ljajic is finally starting to show signs of maturing, Valero has been fantastic. Palermo will likely be selling Viviano, but will it be to Fiorentina after all? IMHO they'll need a better kepper than Emiliano to challenge for the Scudetto. If they could somehow poach Federico Marchetti from Lazio, their fortunes at the back would change completely. Also, with Neto on the way out, and Pescara going down, they should probably try to pick up Ivan Pelizzoli as reserve keeper. Gokhan Inler is also apparently leaving Napoli, which might be a good shout to add to the middle of the park.

Looks like Jovetic might be on his way to Arsenal already!

In my other team's world, we've signed Razvan Rat, released Carlton Cole, and agreed a fee for Carroll. That doesn't mean we've got him, because it looks like he might be having second thoughts because he's worried he might lose his England place. It's always ****ing England this, England that. Parker played the same game with us and went from a hero to an idiot in our eyes. Strangely enough, Carroll said he wanted to come back at the weekend so he's changed his mind quickly then (no surprise there)

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 22 May 2013, 09:26

Barbazza wrote:Looks like Jovetic might be on his way to Arsenal already!

In my other team's world, we've signed Razvan Rat, released Carlton Cole, and agreed a fee for Carroll. That doesn't mean we've got him, because it looks like he might be having second thoughts because he's worried he might lose his England place. It's always ****ing England this, England that. Parker played the same game with us and went from a hero to an idiot in our eyes. Strangely enough, Carroll said he wanted to come back at the weekend so he's changed his mind quickly then (no surprise there)

It is obviously better to be a barely used sub at Liverpool than an important player at West Ham. Uncle Woy will certainly be happy with that choice. By the way, I still consider Andy Carroll as one of the biggest flops in the EPL. There are others, like Bebe, who didn't cost £40m, Eric Djemba-Djemba (remember him?) and Andriy Schevchenko, only to name a few.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 22 May 2013, 14:26

Mario Gotze reportedly injured, and probably won't make Champions League final appearance.

Seems legit.

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 24 May 2013, 20:53

Meanwhile in Belgium
So what is exactly true about the rumours? Well, there's a few things that we know by now.
The owner of Zulte Waregem has bought 100% shares of KV Oostende, with the intention to have sort of b-squad in second division, however, with KVO getting promoted, this became a problem, as one person can not own two clubs in the same league. So what was his plan? Moving the Oostende matricule to Waregem (sort of a merger), and selling the Zulte matricule to some investers from Antwerpen. Now his ambitions were to 'create a second top club in West-Vlaanderen region' (the other is Club Brugge), which is understandable from business point of view, but he got a lot of criticism when trying to sell the now redundant matricule to investors from Antwerpen. Worse is that these plans in Antwerpen simply ignored the existing historical teams (like Antwerp), which not only led to protest from the involved clubs, but from basically every football fan in whole of Belgium. Looks like this is not going trough (as obviously they underestimated the public reactions), but i'm sure next year many things are about to happen in the West Vlaanderen region (having 5 teams in the first division, so at least one or two of them are going to dissapear eventually), and the city of Antwerpen (currently having no teams in first division).

TheBigJ · Post by **TheBigJ** » 24 May 2013, 21:14

This wrote:Meanwhile in Belgium the media has gone absolutely mad, and are rumouring almost every team in first or second division to move to Antwerpen and become a 'neutral new team, backed by dozens of investors', teams mentioned are Zulte Waregem, Lokeren, Waasland Beveren, Oostende, westerlo etc.
Now lets look in detail: the Zulte rumour looks ridiculous, but they have already mentioned they'd love to merge with Kortrijk in the future (which would make sense), it however would not make sense to sell the Zulte matricule to people from Antwerpen, as Zulte has a european ticket, it would make more sense to sell the matricule of Kortrijk (and put a stadium in Kortrijk, sort of like what happened in the eigthies whhen Winterslag and Waterschei became Genk)
My view on the rumour: Zulte just needs a stadium to play in Europe, and wants to put pressure on the city to refurbish their own stadium, otherwise they'll play their european games in Antwerpen. Though their merger with Kortrijk will probably eventually happen, this doesn't automatically mean they'll sell their matricule to someone else.

Zulte are fine where they are, so long as they get a new stadium. They'll play their European games in Antwerp (or preferably in their own region at Brugge), and their home games in Waregem. Why the bathplug would they want to merge with their local rivals KortrijK when they are in Europe and are about to pocket massive amounts of money?

The other possibility: Lokeren and Beveren are both teams from the same region (called Waasland), so a scenario of a merger would also be logical, and the other matricule could be sold to a different team. This scenario is similar to the above, but that doesn't mean they're going to sell one of their matricules.

Waaslandians do not consider themselves Antwerpers and vice versa. Beveren used to have a decent rivalry with Royal Antwerpen back when both clubs weren't in the shits. So no. Why ruin great little local rivalries. It's like merging Standard and Charleroi. (Or like merging Liverpool and Man Utd or Arsenal and Chelsea - different cultures, fierce rivalries, unmergeable)

The Oostende rumour looks like absolute nonsens (altough it would make sense for Oostende to do a merger with Cercle Brugge)

Why because of their francophone backing? Only reason I'd see the two merging tbh...

My opinion: creating an artificial new team after the idea of Genk might theoretically work, but one does need a lot of patience to do such a thing. The citizens (but also investors) of Antwerpen are known to be the most inpatient people in whole of Belgium... this looks like a scenario that could only go wrong. Then of course, it could all be rumours.

What you are forgetting here is that when the financial backer of Genk tried to call it FC Limburg or some shite like that, the fans were in uproar. They had to have a sense of belonging to the community instead of a franchise. Making it based around Genk meant it was successful. That is why these absolutely ludicrous merger ideas for two teams from different cities are never going to work. Why the bathplug don't Royal Antwerp play in the Olympic stadium?

The problem with belgian football now is that there is a massive divide between the top 6 (Gent instead of Lokeren) and the rest. The play-offs were meant to sort that out (ie give revenue to smaller teams). It only sorted the top six out (Lokeren got blown out of the water though because they aren't a top 6 team) and the Play-offs 2 were basically all about Gent, who despite being atrocious all season managed to run over small teams for fun (and now are leading my tired, battered beloved Standard Liège who've played more games for nothing). The investors now want a team in Antwerpen to complete a full fan base. Who is the smallest team in the Big 6, bullied constantly, yet the best run and most deserving of their place there? Zulte Waregem. So they want Zulte as Antwerp's new club, even though their support is West Flandrian. Well the investors can bathplug off.

So complicated, only in Belgium as you say...

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 24 May 2013, 22:34

Hey, i'm not defending the mergers, let that be clear. But it's obvious that in the Antwerpen, Waasland and West Flanders regions, there are people pushing towards mergers.
The divide between the top 6 and the rest is not the biggest problem, the biggest problem is that second devision is completely ignored by the tv. Also getting the first division back from 18 to 16 teams is a bad decision, and i can't believe they want to go go to 12. Name me any country that has benefited from having so little teams? Yeah right, not many, and those you can sum up have a lot smaller population, so that's only logical. (anybody claiming that Belgium is small country has no knowledge about european demographics) But from a business point of view, this gets the clubs more money. Altough they forget that a few facts, namely that the people love local duels and don't give a crab about top teams. I've known Harelbeke having 2500 supporters in first provincial league (and they're not known to have many supporters, actually), and some teams can't even get that in first division. Now the main reason that people don't go to the stadiums is because they simply cannot financially afford it. A good example is Charleroi, who have more supporters than Genk or even Gent will ever have, yet no-one comes to their stadium. Anyway, merging local cities isn't always a good idea, that will lead to clubs like Beringen-Heusden-Zolder (who merged a few times afterwards and are now in third provincial league) Now these were all the ideas of Zulte Waregem (and now also Oostende) owner Patrick Decuyper (also the new Antwerpian club was his idea) which looks like a businessman losing all sense of reality after having one succesful season. He should know that you can't build a top team that fast, (as proven by the hopelessly incompetent Patrick Vanoppen from Beerschot). One thing seems obvious, never trust someone that is called Patrick

Somehow businessmen tend to assume that having two clubs in the same region is impossible, but this can sometimes be a good thing, as sometimes one club can't live without another club. You see that in Antwerpen, Antwerp fans miss their arch-rivalry with Beerschot already. This of course too can become ridiculous, like Antwerp fans supporting Cercle Brugge and Club Brugge fans supporting Beerschot (this has happened a few times) And actually Antwerp is willing to play in the olympic stadium if they have to, so Antwerp is defenitely not the problem, it's the politicians and investors that are trying to force their way, ignoring the fact that Antwerp can get to 15000 fans even in second division in a stadium that is in ruins. Perhaps this is just a strategy to make Beerschot fans go to Antwerp? But i doubt it.
Anyway, there are lot of things about to happen, and it's going to hurt. And don't give anybody ideas, like merging Charleroi with Standard, Duchatelet is capable of doing those kind of tricks, he would even merge Barcelona with Real Madrid and somehow get away with it. He will trick you, but when you notice you've been tricked it's too late. (i advice you to really kick that guy out of your club, he managed to get STVV on the edge of bankrupcy and somehow only got richer because of it. (the reason STVV still exist is because he payed off the debts, but now STVV have debts straight to Duchatelet, so depend fully on a guy that is managing a different team)

To go back on the FC Limburg idea, that idea was for a merger between dutch teams Roda Jc, Fortuna Sittard and Maastricht VV , and the people from Roda were behind it, obviously as Roda doesn't have any identity of its own (it's a merger of 4 local teams including Rapid Heerlen and Kerkrade JC), and sort of forced to hide behind the 'limburg' identity. But this indeed proves that things will not always work out as they should. 1+1 isn't always 3, very often it is 0

TheBigJ · Post by **TheBigJ** » 25 May 2013, 11:04

This wrote:Hey, i'm not defending the mergers, let that be clear. But it's obvious that in the Antwerpen, Waasland and West Flanders regions, there are people pushing towards mergers.
The divide between the top 6 and the rest is not the biggest problem, the biggest problem is that second devision is completely ignored by the tv. Also getting the first division back from 18 to 16 teams is a bad decision, and i can't believe they want to go go to 12. Name me any country that has benefited from having so little teams?

Yes, but its the top 6 idea that essentially destroyed any chances of small teams of getting TV coverage. All the big TV stations covered Gent or Charleroi during Play-offs 2.

Yeah right, not many, and those you can sum up have a lot smaller population, so that's only logical. (anybody claiming that Belgium is small country has no knowledge about european demographics) But from a business point of view, this gets the clubs more money. Altough they forget that a few facts, namely that the people love local duels and don't give a crab about top teams.

Yet Anderlecht's support seems to mainly come from other places than Brussels. "Most people I know in Bruxelles-villes, Molenbeek, etc support FC Brussel or even White Star (whatever happens to them)" so the legend goes

That's why they are such a horrible club...The extinction of others (that they contribute to) only benefits them. Anderlecht wants Belgium to have 6 big sides (with them as top dog) to play Play-offs for TV revenue then break off to go into the Dutch League. Only the other 5 refuse this plan because their supporters would go mental, unlike Anderlecht.

I've known Harelbeke having 2500 supporters in first provincial league (and they're not known to have many supporters, actually), and some teams can't even get that in first division. Now the main reason that people don't go to the stadiums is because they simply cannot financially afford it. A good example is Charleroi, who have more supporters than Genk or even Gent will ever have, yet no-one comes to their stadium.

Genk has way more supporters than Charleroi these days. The reason Charleroi supporters have not come out of hibernation since 2006 is because they had that Abbas Bayat dude who supported Standard and tried to destroy the club so even some die hard ultras boycotted it to go and support Les Dogues, the other Carolo club. The ticket prices at Charleroi and Liège are very reasonable, compared to Anderlecht or other leagues.

Anyway, merging local cities isn't always a good idea, that will lead to clubs like Beringen-Heusden-Zolder (who merged a few times afterwards and are now in third provincial league) Now these were all the ideas of Zulte Waregem (and now also Oostende) owner Patrick Decuyper (also the new Antwerpian club was his idea) which looks like a businessman losing all sense of reality after having one succesful season. He should know that you can't build a top team that fast, (as proven by the hopelessly incompetent Patrick Vanoppen from Beerschot). One thing seems obvious, never trust someone that is called Patrick Somehow businessmen tend to assume that having two clubs in the same region is impossible, but this can sometimes be a good thing, as sometimes one club can't live without another club. You see that in Antwerpen, Antwerp fans miss their arch-rivalry with Beerschot already. This of course too can become ridiculous, like Antwerp fans supporting Cercle Brugge and Club Brugge fans supporting Beerschot (this has happened a few times) And actually Antwerp is willing to play in the olympic stadium if they have to, so Antwerp is defenitely not the problem, it's the politicians and investors that are trying to force their way, ignoring the fact that Antwerp can get to 15000 fans even in second division in a stadium that is in ruins. Perhaps this is just a strategy to make Beerschot fans go to Antwerp? But i doubt it.

You're right, the investors and politicians are the blind ones here. Beerschot fans would rather go support Lokeren than join forces with Royal Antwerp.

Anyway, there are lot of things about to happen, and it's going to hurt. And don't give anybody ideas, like merging Charleroi with Standard, Duchatelet is capable of doing those kind of tricks, he would even merge Barcelona with Real Madrid and somehow get away with it. He will trick you, but when you notice you've been tricked it's too late. (i advice you to really kick that guy out of your club, he managed to get STVV on the edge of bankrupcy and somehow only got richer because of it. (the reason STVV still exist is because he payed off the debts, but now STVV have debts straight to Duchatelet, so depend fully on a guy that is managing a different team)

Duchatelet is hated by the supporters. Everytime I am in the T3 there is cry of "anti-Duchatelet ole ole". He will never be accepted by the Standard supporters precisely because he is a slimy git. After the treatment Bayat received by the Carolo ultras, he doesn't want to get kicked out too. Because if the two ultra groups of Standard (Ultras Inferno and HK Publik Enemy) decide to boycott the team, Duchatelet can only hope his new japanese supporters fill the stadium.

To go back on the FC Limburg idea, that idea was for a merger between dutch teams Roda Jc, Fortuna Sittard and Maastricht VV , and the people from Roda were behind it, obviously as Roda doesn't have any identity of its own (it's a merger of 4 local teams including Rapid Heerlen and Kerkrade JC), and sort of forced to hide behind the 'limburg' identity. But this indeed proves that things will not always work out as they should. 1+1 isn't always 3, very often it is 0

They had the same idea for Genk too back in the day when Racing was formed. I heard of the Kerkrade ordeal too, but I do remember Racing fans getting seriously pissed off with the idea of FC Limburg. Also, Maastricht supporters rioted

and Moechengladbach and Liège city councils tried to stop it, because Genk, Maastricht, Liège, Kerkrade and Moechengladbach all claim to be the pride of Limburg...

That's what happens when people with no clue about football or local politics try to engineer money making schemes.