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Hear, And Indeed Hear
Dear Senor Calderon,
Please shut up.
Much obliged.
Ant Pasquill
Plans Gone Wrong
I know rafa and the fans have been saying we dont buy enough players in the £20million bracket, but I'm not sure if paying £20million for players that arent worth it is really the solution. I think the idea was to buy players that are good enough to be worth £20million.
On top of that I bet he plays Keane right-wing and Barry in goal.
baxterfinisher
Not Biting
How many emails will you get from irate ireland fans wound up by Ciaran O'kane. Clearly the man is on a mission. I for one will not bite.
Good effort though.
Patrick Falvey
However...
In response to Ciaran (Gareth Barry is s**t as well) O'Kane, Cirencester & his email regarding Robbie Keane & Ireland,firstly,may I say,you are a c**t.
Robbie Keane has scored against crappy international teams but has also scored against Holland(away),Turkey in a euro championships play off,Germany & Spain(the last 2 in the world cup)
Every player scores against crappy teams at international level but to say he never does it against good teams is just idiotic.
Also,to say Ireland play long ball still is just lazy & incorrect. Fair enough under Jack they did but under McCarthy & Staunton they tried to play football.
Why would they play the long ball with players like Stephen Hunt,Stephen Ireland(hopefully),Kevin Doyle & Damien Duff in the forward line?
I know you are probably an unemployed loser with nothing better to do then stereotype Irish teams & I am probably a bigger fool to take the bait off a c**t like you but I had to reply.
I'm guessing you're a Chelsea fan too with insight like that you prat.
Seanie,Cork
Pay Attention Luke
If Luke Williamson is watching Sky Sports News to find out what the transfer activity is with all the clubs below the top 4, he might do well to actually pay attention. Confirmed signings such as Modric - one of the rising stars of European football, Gomes - an excellent keeper, which is essential for a top 4 side, and Dos Santos - acknowledged as one of the best young talents in the world, as well as attempting to sign Bentley and possibly Arshavin, hardly indicates that Tottenham aren't trying to bridge the gap. Unless signing a new and creative midfield and a decent goalkeeper - acknowledged as two huge weaknesses of recent times by Spurs fans, indicates that they aren't trying to improve. Bear in mind that there's still a month to go in the transfer window too, so many of these chasing teams still have plenty of time to sort out targets.
James - Spurs
A Retort From Bradley
It seems my previous post caused a lot of indignation, so here are my responses....
Firstly Will O'Doherty - Yes it would be hard to prise Messi from Barca I accept that. You ask how much I've seen of Aguero, well quite a lot two seasons ago I said he had talent but he needs to leave Atletico because he seems to be in Torres's shadow. Well Torres left and Aguero flourished so I think I'm in a good place to judge. Then you say why shunt Kaka to the right-wing. Oh how I hate these 4-4-2, 2-dimensional fans. With players like Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez and Kaka you don't necessarily put them in a position. You have them as your forward line and allow them to all have free-roles which again is a reason I'm not sure Berbatov would work. Then you come out with the tired old line of where I am from. Listen mate I support United because my family does and when in the late 80s when I got into football, my geography skills were not great and I had no idea Manchester was so far from where I lived and once I did realise I was too far gone in terms of my love for the club. I'm sure most proper football fans would/should understand that.
Mal - Mackem - I believe my post wasn't antagonistic, just how I feel about the club I support so there was really no need to call me names. Unless you really are still at school then please leave the school playground behaviour behind. It's this whole snobbery thing, oh he's worried about Man Utd he should think more about teams in a worse plight. Why should I? I don't support Sunderland. Do you accept your plight because Accrington Stanley fans have more to be worried about than you and they can't imagine a forward line of Chopra, O'Donovan, Murphy and Stokes (which is a bit of a two-finger salute to Jones who was great last season), I bet you don't. Yes maybe in time we will become mid-table mediocrity or worse relegation candidates. But I love the club and would worry about different issues then than the ones facing us now. He calls me a true member of the prawn sandwich brigade. 2 things I hate seafood and the other is that actually I know more about the history of the club, current youth players and general world football more so than most Man Utd fans/football fans I meet. This game is my passion and it annoys me when people try and suggest otherwise because I support Man United. It's almost like United fans aren't allowed to be passionate about the game.
While I don't agree with Tim Collins at least his reply was objective and about football rather than some tribal warfare about the big 4.
Anyway rant over and please people don't have this annoying little club snobbery when a supporter from a big 4 club writes in, it just makes you appear to have little-man syndrome.
Bradley Kirrage, Dartford (yes Dartford from the South-East but this doesn't diminish his love for Man Utd in anyway)!
Keane: Nothing Without Berba
Glad to see that Mediawatch has unearthed the quote of Robbie 'Red 4 Life' Keane from a couple of years back, when he stated his desire to play for his (and most Irish players, it seems) boyhood idols................Celtic. Conveniently this has all been forgotten in the talk about how the fans' idol Robbie has not let the club down in any way, or misled them, when in fact his reasons for moving really aren't all that different from Gareth Barry.
I'm a Spurs fan, and have never been a huge fan of Keane. In fact, I have written in to this mailbox numerous times on the subject of how overrated he is. To receive upwards of £20million for a player, who you could argue really isn't likely to get much better, is a great bit of business, particularly as he is only worth about half of that (and that's being generous!). As I think someone touched on the other day, Keane was nothing at Spurs until Berbatov arrived. In fact, he was on the bench behind Mido, as hard as that is to believe, and was forever linked with transfer window exits to teams such as Villa (very average at the time) for a fee in the region of £7million. Over the last 2 seasons, his goal return has indeed been impressive, but for anyone who has ever watched Spurs regularly, this is because he feeds off Berbatov's scraps. Him and Torres won't be as effective a partnership as Torres and Berbatov are completely different in terms of their style of play. And all these people who think Keane can play in link-up and attacking midfielder roles, he can't. He likes to drop back and get involved, but all he really does is end up clogging up the midfield. Plus, if he's such a great striker, how comes he's often shunted to midfield positions for a team who couldn't manage to finish above 11th last year? The media love-in with Keane is ridiculous too, he is good technically, but the ITV commentators trying to claim he intentionally shinned a volley in against Famagusta was unbelievable.....
Personally, I'm glad he's gone, as I have never been a fan, and as I've said all along (and written in about more than once), I think Darren Bent is one of the best goalscorers in the Premiership, and given a 1st-team chance next season (either at Spurs or elsewhere), will score 20+ goals (except maybe at one of the promoted clubs).
But considering how clueless our board is (trying to buy Arshavin when he's almost a Modric clone), we'll probably sell Berbatov AND Bent, and start the season with a completely unproven foreign strikeforce.
Tom Evans, Ware
Keane: A Bargain Compared To Rooney
Wayne Rooney has to be the most overrated player in the Premier League. He hasn't lived up to any of his early hype and now is now on the verge of becoming an overweight, chainsmoking, arrogant, overpaid lowlife. Why would Alex Ferguson insist on playing him as a right sided midfielder/wing back in the crunch games towards the end of the season if he really was the best attacking player England has produced in decades? He isn't close to being Utd's best attacking player, even sick note Saha scores more goals when fit. The man has underperformed on both the International and club stages for several years and doesn't seem to get any stick about it.
Everbody seems to think Robbie Keane is a high risk signing for Liverpool but he has proven himself consistently season after season as captain of both club and country and will look like a bargain signing if he helps Liverpool go all the way. Keane has clearly improved as a player this past few years where as Rooney has just regressed. Robbie is also a safe bet to conduct himself properly, not verbally abuse the referee at every opportunity and steer clear of the temptations of "the ladies of the night".
Noel (I'd take Keane over Rooney any day!!!) Grehan
Yes, Yes It Is
I happened to see your article concerning Gilberto's "blasting" of greedy players. I'm glad he left us after one season of really substandard performances; I still thought the man was pretty dignified in his exit, not kicking up the fuss that Jens Lehmann did. However, is this the same Gilberto Silva that is now the highest paid player in Greek football?
Andrew Pinnington, Cambridge
The Daily Star Suggested This. Do You Really Want To Be Grouped With Them?
To: Sir Alex Ferguson...if you can read this
Forget about Berbatov. Think Dean Ashton. He's English, young, quick, lethal and he costs a fraction of what Spurs want. The end.
Darren C, Singapore
Pricy Johnson
Just a quick thought: With all the talk of inflated transfer fee's at the moment, what with Bentley for £17m and Keane for £20m, is anyone else horrified at the thought of a club paying £10.5m for Andy Johnson?? He awful, scores no goals, is basically a rich man's Paul Dickov. That is to say he runs around a lot and not much else. What's the world coming to??????
On a different note (I'm a Man City fan) please Hughes, don't touch Benayoun with a barge pole. He's garbage. Tal Ben Haim's not much better, aren't we supposed to be signing world beaters nowadays? We've gone from attempting to sign Ronaldinho to signing Benayoun, with the promise of possibly Anti Neimi to follow. Erm, not really what we were hoping for after all the summers hype. Nothing ever changes.
Dan Toomey, MCFC
Ole: Top Man. Wise: C**t
I know we're a few days on but a story printed in The Sunday Times is worth drawing attention to. With all the talk of stinking rich, arrogant, dislikeable footballers permanently feathering their nests and complaining about 'slavery' and 'insulting' wages of 50k a week, its worth taking a second to pay compliment to a true act of philanthropic kindness by one of the games best loved characters.
Ole Solskjaer is to hold his testimonial this Saturday with Espanyol and is using the entire proceeds of the game to build schools in Africa. The amount raised will build 10 schools of varying sizes, with a pledge from the player himself to top up the rest of the money from his own pocket should the game not raise enough. Ole is already well loved, in and outside Utd, for his unassuming modesty and professional attitude and this just goes to reinforce what a hero he really is.
Of course, he's not the only footballer to donate his testimonial fees to charity. But Ole is not just writing a cheque, he is actively involved in the whole process and, as an ambassador for Unicef has been for years. In 2004 he announced that he was donating his entire earnings from a £70,000-a-year kit deal with Nike to the charity and has actively worked to build schools to educate African children in the past already. It's a wonderful act of generosity from a really great man.
Also, can I thank him for giving The Sunday Times an excuse to reprint the story of Dennis Wise's testimonial against Bologna in 1999, in which fans were asked to make cheques for their tickets out to Dennis himself. Now there, genuinely, was a c**t.
Cheers Ole, thanks for the memories.
Simon 'and Solkjaer has won it!' McEvoy
Answers For Ricky
Was Gary Johnson right to cancel Emad Meteb's transfer?
Yes - and he should be applauded for not buying players with the right attitude. Just as he's done with Mifsud. Whether City fans will agree should their team begin to struggle for goals, but nevertheless.....
Will big-spending Birmingham's signings guarantee Success or destabilise the squad?
Given that the squad hasn't changed much, it's hard to look beyond them as winners of the Championship come May. I think McLeish is too canny to allow them to "do a Leeds". Personally I'm in favour of any team bankrolled by a porn magnate "staying up", so to speak.
Can Swansea/Doncaster/Nottingham Forest do a Bristol City?
As a Forest fan, the idea is pleasantly fanciful, but ultimately unlikely. Or at least I hope so, I'd rather we consolidated for a period before going up again. We've already seen what it did to a certain team down the road, and we'd like to carry on laughing at their misfortune for a while yet before we suffer anything similar! Mind you, looking at how much money we've spent (wasted on Cole/Earnshaw) this summer, our chairman obviously wants that to happen.
I would think Swansea and Donny fans would think the same - but all three can take heart from last season showing that everyone can beat everyone else on a given day, no semi-pre-determined Top Four or anything. Whatever happens, it's going to be a much better league to watch than the squabbling overpaid children in the one above.
Will Luton recover from their points deduction a la Leeds?
30 points ? 10 wins in their first ten games just to break even, now that's pretty much a death sentence if ever I saw one. It's been an interesting test case watching what happened to them, and seeing how they've obviously been made an example of (and part of me feels sorry for the supporters if nothing else) - but just how long are the odds that the bigger fish will ever have to answer to this tune ? He who pays the piper calls the tune I guess, those Premier-League-hired lawyers must be on a packet these days. In all honesty, they made a rod for their own backs with the way in which the great Mr Clough's, ahem, "practices" were dealt with. Or not, depending on your viewpoint. I hope Luton can at least make a fight of it, but history suggests it will be a futile one...
Are Leicester in danger of a second successive relegation?
Again, as a Forest fan that would amuse me - but probably not as much as the thought of "them down the road" going down to League One. Given their recent misfortunes, both these events are possible. I don't care how small or Pyrrhic a victory it would be, I want to see Forest back as Kings of the East Midlands. Clutching at straws ?
How will MK Dons fare without Paul Ince?
They won't notice. Overrated as a player, overrated as a manager. See how quickly players are trying to get away from Ewood Park. If I were a Blackburn fan I'd be concerned that my manager was trying to buy players from a League One club to play regularly near the top of the Premiership. The SELF-titled "Guv'nor" wasn't in Keane's class as a player, won't be as a manager. Personally I'll enjoy watching him fall flat on his face, and expect him to be unceremoniously sacked before the season is done.
That is all. Apart from wishing the fans of all the teams that play in the real world, in a truly competitive league, best of luck for the season ahead.
Ben Williams
Missing The Point
Given the recent outbursts from Stoke fans about them "not being crap" and previous moans about how anti-Liverpool/Man Utd/Arsenal/Chelsea/Northampton/Davenham Dynamoes F365 are, can I ask why do such humourless people read this site?
Do they understand what Football 365 is about? F365 is not the BBC or Sky Sports, it's not going to give impartial, inoffensive sports coverage. They're light hearted, they're funny, they pick on everybody. Do people not realise this when they read the website? Do they really believe Gary Neville and Michael Ballack write regular columns? Peter Reid and Sam Allardyce write for the travel section? Or have these people just stumbled upon it once and not really got it? Maybe everyone at F365 are really just closet Port Vale fans jealous of Stoke's amazing coup for Seyi Olofinjana?
Whatever the reason, can't these fans just take a joke? And if not can't they just read teamtalk? Same stories, no jokes, simple. I visit F365 and laugh at the fact that they poke fun at my beloved Manchester United because it's almost always clever and funny, and if not I'm still not offended because it wasn't meant with malice. I'm sure there are many Scousers, Gunners, Blues, Cobblers and, erm, Dynamoes who do the same. So shut up little boys and either get a sense of humour or a new website. If Stoke do upset the odds and turn out not crap have your moment in the sun writing in saying "maybe F365 should publish an apology or are they too proud?"
...And if pigs don't start taking off en masse and flying circles above Tamworth, and Stoke do turn out to be a load of effluence, maybe the Stoke fans who've complained should write in and apologise for doubting F365's oracle-like headline? Or will you be too proud?
Mike (the only thing not crap about Stoke is Water World) Coxon, Northwich
Not Much Better Than Derby
Surely Daniel Millward kind of proves his own point wrong. The fact he's envisaging Stoke's season coming down to a must win game on the last day of the season implies that they've had a rubbish season and are infact crap. For what it's worth, I think they'll do better than Derby... Not much better but thats not really too hard is it!?
Iain, Manchester
Deluded
Just read the mailbox, as I have been doing for years now.
I thought the scousers were far and away the most deluded fans in this land of ours.
Not true, step forward the Stoke fans, they haven't played a game in the Prem yet and the nonsense coming from them is unprecedented.
Fellow F365's cut and paste those last few emails from the Stokers and post them again after every weekend.
Leon V
A Rational, If Still Wrong, Stokie
Stoke fans anger isn't because we think we're great. We're not, we'll obviously struggle this season. We'll probably go down.
Stoke fans anger is because ever since it became apparent we were genuine contenders for promotion early this year, we've become whipping boys for the national press. That's fine, we can take that - but only if these jibes come from an informed and intelligent position - we may have reacted out of proportion to your 'crap' headline, but poke an animal enough and he'll bite you f***ing hand off.
The latest example being your article that stated Charisteas rejected Stoke because they were crap. To be accurate (inconvenient though it is), Stoke rejected him because he was a player of limited ability demanding a huge wage, Stoke's enquires were tentative after we played his team in a friendly.
Stoke were the second highest scorers in the league last season. We didn't grind out results in a defensive manner. Yet while West Brom (total footballing side that we spanked 3-1) seem immune from the petty jokes, we (and Hull) endure endless sarcasm from a queue of Richard Littlejohn wannabe's.
I apologise that we've had the temerity to be promoted. I would have thought that a team such as Stoke gaining promotion in the age of £100k-a-week footballers was something to be celebrated - obviously not. We'll only bother you for a season I promise. Another crap team such as Birmingham, Nottingham Forest, Derby, Crystal Palace, Wolves or Southampton can replace us, not Leeds though.
Jamie, Staffordshire
100%
Just read the morning mailbox and I have to say; tut tut tut, naughty F365 you have managed to provoke annoyance and hatred from two of Stoke's fans! Shame on you!
On the other hand, if upsetting the entire Stoke following was your aim, you should be congratulated on a 100% success rate
Nick (brackets), Salford
Probably Not
I don't know how many matchgoing Stoke fans read F365 but perhaps whoever was responsible for the "Stoke are crap" headline could show some balls and offer some manner of humorous forfeit in front of the home fans in the event that Stoke stay up, a bit like Rodney Marsh at Bradford?
Griff
