The TT Football Club

[crosscourt]

I see that Tom Ince may move to Liverpool. It is reported as "his father's club". I find that strange. Paul Ince played for West ham, United, Inter Milan and then Liverpool at the end of his career. Saying that Liverpool was Paul Ince's club is like calling Dennis Law "the former Manchester City player".

cc

[Dave M]

didn't Blackpool buy him from Liverpool?

[PureAlph4]

Originally Posted by crosscourt

I see that Tom Ince may move to Liverpool. It is reported as "his father's club". I find that starnge. Paul Ince played for West ham, United, Inter Milan and then Liverpool at the end of his career. Saying that Liverpool was Paul Ince's club is like calling Dennis Law "the former Manchester City player".

cc

Same thing with Sol Campbell in his recent (pretty pointless) interview with the BBC. He referred to Arsenal possessively: 'we,' 'us', 'our' etc. It's funny that you often won't hear that from 'legends' who spent the bulk of their career at a club, but will do from others who spent just a few years. Obviously he cut all ties with Spurs in making the move, so perhaps he feels a tighter bond to the rival club he moved to.

For me, and probably for many, Paul Ince was a United player, but having said that I came in with the Premier League so I have no awareness of his career before that.

With Wilshere, Ramsey, The Ox, Gibbs and Jenkinson all signing long-term deals, it'll be interesting to see whether Wenger's belief in the notion that a group of players that have been nurtured by a club will commit to that club is well founded. It obviously didn't work with the foreign youngsters, and now he puts his faith in the British kids. It may help a little, but the key thing is still making the club competitive again if you want to keep and sign players.

[Rafter4ever]

Originally Posted by Dave M

didn't Blackpool buy him from Liverpool?

ian ayre let him go for free and now decided to buy him back for a reportely 4-6 mil

forget a new striker, john henry needs to take a serious look at our front office, clean house and bring in someone that can evaluate talent and negotiate, our transfers these last few years (with a few exceptions) were just awful

[Cesc Fabregas]

12 million for Sturridge is a great deal for Chelsea.

[NickC]

Originally Posted by Rafter4ever

ian ayre let him go for free and now decided to buy him back for a reportely 4-6 mil

forget a new striker, john henry needs to take a serious look at our front office, clean house and bring in someone that can evaluate talent and negotiate, our transfers these last few years (with a few exceptions) were just awful

This.

Liverpool have wasted a ton of money on bad players for a very long time now, and I can only hope Mr. Henry is serious about reversing that course. It seems that for every Suarez, Alonso, Masch, or Torres, there's about 40 million pounds spent on players that just suck.

[Feña14]

Originally Posted by Cesc Fabregas

12 million for Sturridge is a great deal for Chelsea.

It really is, considering we got Moses (who brings alot more imo) for around half that price. I just hope the club don't ruin it by signing Walcott as his replacement!

[Dave M]

Originally Posted by PureAlph4

For me, and probably for many, Paul Ince was a United player, but having said that I came in with the Premier League so I have no awareness of his career before that.

There was only West Ham before Man U, I've actually heard him refer to the hammers fans as "we", in the past something which really suprised me given all that has gone past.He got a bad bit of advice as a young player, a journalist got lazy and didn't check some facts and he ends up being out of favour with the club he grew up with, fans can be unforgiving.I think a lot when they learnt the facts have let it go but there will always be a few who'll hang on with the abuse!
Can anyone really argue that Ince or Campbell didn't have a better career by leaving? He was aquality player but I think of him in claret and blue or man u.

[Dave M]

Originally Posted by Feña14

It really is, considering we got Moses (who brings alot more imo) for around half that price. I just hope the club don't ruin it by signing Walcott as his replacement!

it's strange that a year or so ago Arsenal fans were not that bothered by Walcott, now it's a different story.
Sturridge to 'pool I guess they really don't want Carrol back then!

[NickC]

February 12 and March 6
Celtic v Juventus
Valencia v Paris Saint-Germain
February 13 and March 5
Shakhtar Donetsk v Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid v Manchester United
February 19 and March 13
FC Porto v Malaga
Arsenal v Bayern Munich
February 20 and March 12
Galatasaray v Schalke 04
AC Milan v Barcelona


Wow, some really neat matchups here. I'm particularly interested in seeing how Valencia fare against PSG, they're like Arsenal in the sense that they've been going through troubling times in the past few seasons but always manage to make it far in the Champions League. PSG, for me, haven't shown their true quality, it seems like they've hit several roadblocks this term. Arsenal-Bayern should be cool too.

All credit to Celtic though, first Barcelona and now Juventus? Brilliant, especially for the fans.

[Ross K]

Originally Posted by PureAlph4

Same thing with Sol Campbell in his recent (pretty pointless) interview with the BBC. He referred to Arsenal possessively: 'we,' 'us', 'our' etc. It's funny that you often won't hear that from 'legends' who spent the bulk of their career at a club, but will do from others who spent just a few years. Obviously he cut all ties with Spurs in making the move, so perhaps he feels a tighter bond to the rival club he moved to.

Ah, Sol Campbell... for Spurs fans he is possibly the most detested player ever to have laced up a pair of boots.

Re CL games... how do ppl see Man U V Real? Seems to me the pressure's kind of building on Jose?

[Feña14]

Originally Posted by Ross K

Ah, Sol Campbell... for Spurs fans he is possibly the most detested player ever to have laced up a pair of boots.

Re CL games... how do ppl see Man U V Real? Seems to me the pressure's kind of building on Jose?

He's never under pressure I think he just manipulates every situation to suit his agenda. I believe he wants to come back to England in the summer, he's making it seem like things aren't going well at Madrid to make it easier. That's how I see it anyway.

[Dave M]

Originally Posted by Feña14

He's never under pressure I think he just manipulates every situation to suit his agenda. I believe he wants to come back to England in the summer, he's making it seem like things aren't going well at Madrid to make it easier. That's how I see it anyway.

would you want him back?

[christo]

Originally Posted by Feña14

It really is, considering we got Moses (who brings alot more imo) for around half that price. I just hope the club don't ruin it by signing Walcott as his replacement!

This one of the better deals this year, Moses is a terrific player, hard working and has a good sense of where the goal is. Sturridge may be a couple of years away from realizing his potential or he may have stalled, who knows?
This has been a year of some dreadful deals and it's gonna get worse next year when clubs have even more cash to throw at mediocre players.
Why all the noise about Walcott, he is fast, but undersized and not a great shooter so why all the fuss? Sell him off for a ton of dough and Arsene will go find some young Spanish kid to take his place
BTW if you are a Chelsea fan I was on holiday 2 summers ago and went to the Chelsea- Swansea tie (4-1) That was the game where Torres scored a nice goal and then got a straight red for a clumsy challenge LOL. My fondest memory of the game was Drogba making a cameo appearance at the end of the match, he had just recovered from a head injury. He had been on the pitch for about a minute and scored a sublime goal. Magical moment! We may never see another player like him, Torres couldn't hold his jockstrap which may be a clumsy analogy but you get my drift, cheers.

[Feña14]

Originally Posted by Dave M

would you want him back?

Yes, I would

Mourinho and Guardiola are the best two managers available, but I don't really want Guardiola. Abramovich and Mourinho's personal relationship is great, i'm not too sure how they would get on working together again though!

Originally Posted by christo

This one of the better deals this year, Moses is a terrific player, hard working and has a good sense of where the goal is. Sturridge may be a couple of years away from realizing his potential or he may have stalled, who knows?
This has been a year of some dreadful deals and it's gonna get worse next year when clubs have even more cash to throw at mediocre players.
Why all the noise about Walcott, he is fast, but undersized and not a great shooter so why all the fuss? Sell him off for a ton of dough and Arsene will go find some young Spanish kid to take his place
BTW if you are a Chelsea fan I was on holiday 2 summers ago and went to the Chelsea- Swansea tie (4-1) That was the game where Torres scored a nice goal and then got a straight red for a clumsy challenge LOL. My fondest memory of the game was Drogba making a cameo appearance at the end of the match, he had just recovered from a head injury. He had been on the pitch for about a minute and scored a sublime goal. Magical moment! We may never see another player like him, Torres couldn't hold his jockstrap which may be a clumsy analogy but you get my drift, cheers.

Ahh, I remember that game, you chose a good one to go to

It was the week after Torres scored that great goal against Man Utd at Old Trafford, as you said, he scored early on against Swansea and people were starting to say he was back. The sending off was just another damp squib.

It looks like Sturridge has already had his Liverpool medical, so that's pretty much done. Apparently the deal nearly didn't happen after he got a pen and put into the contract a line saying he has to be played through the middle he is certainly sure of himself.

[PureAlph4]

Looks like Arshavin is leaving in the January window, with notorious fabricators / b*llsh*t merchants Goal.com claiming he's moving to Reading for £4m. While it obviously doesn't heavily affect the 1st team seeing as he couldn't get a game for toffee, it's a sad moment as he was THE player every Arsenal fan wanted it to work out for. He represented perhaps the only time Wenger has gone out and actually bought a finished, world class player at the peak of his career that clubs everywhere wanted. He's also been linked with Fulham, and I think that would be a much better move for him.

With hindsight, had Arsene known that Fabregas, Nasri and van Persie would force their way out of the club, perhaps he would have built the team around Arshavin and played him in his Zenit role.

Anyway, if he goes, and with Gervinho off to the African Cup of Nations, there's no way Walcott can leave in January. I doubt he will though, as I'm sure he's already signed a pre-contract with another club for the Bosman in the summer.

[PED]

Originally Posted by PureAlph4

With hindsight, had Arsene known that Fabregas, Nasri and van Persie would force their way out of the club, perhaps he would have built the team around Arshavin and played him in his Zenit role.

Good points, Arsene has definite ideas about where players should play: surprised that Theo has been able to force his way into playing central TBH.\

I wonder how Poldi would do in that role?

I always rated Arshavin's skillz but he always seemed a bit lazy to my taste.

Yes, we would be better off with RvP but we are higher at this point in the season than we were with him last year-isn't that right?

[Feña14]

So, two hours into Christmas, and less than a week to go before the window opens!

What signings are we hoping for as a late present?

I think Falcao, Capoue and Benat/Pjanic would do for me! Maybe Willian, we're already strong in that area, but this is the time of year where indulgence is common

Happy Christmas everyone.

[Breaker]

I'd like 3 points and for Van Persie to decide football is too dangerous to play any longer and announce his retirement.

[Breaker]

Originally Posted by Breaker

I'd like 3 points and for Van Persie to decide football is too dangerous to play any longer and announce his retirement.

Wouldn't mind that Bale guy though..at this rate Spuds will finish above us though so would be no point.