slow newsday today

Damien Duff probably goin to White Hart Lane

7/20/2006 4:45:08 PM

Reports are that Charlton just signed Cory Gibbs on a free transfer

7/20/2006 7:11:11 PM

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060719

bill simmons chooses an EPL team

7/20/2006 7:45:53 PM

Quote :

"Baby blue, a shade lighter than the UNC Tar Heels. Probably the sweetest jerseys in the EPL. I can't emphasize this strongly enough -- these things are SPECTACULAR. Unfortunately, this was the biggest reason I was thinking about picking them "

This nearly made me puke...

Kind of refreshing seeing who he settled on.


Also, http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=An12U4fB2IFMaL2.jsKAjYQmw7YF?slug=reu-barcelona&prov=reuters&type=lgns

Zambrotta and Thuram leaving Juve for Barca.

[Edited on July 20, 2006 at 9:45 PM. Reason : link...]

7/20/2006 9:25:52 PM

so is there a need to even have the champions league this year or can chelsea and barca just play

7/20/2006 11:26:53 PM

Fuck Chelsea. They still haven't created a midfield that will reintroduce linking play, and they'll still have trouble scoring goals against quality defenses.

7/21/2006 6:24:26 AM

I'm still trying to figure out how they're gonna have Lampard, Ballack, Obi Mikel, Essien, Joe Cole, SWP, Robben, and god knows who else all on the field at the same time feeding Drogba, Crespo, Schevchenko, Kalou, etc etc etc etc



I swear that team is going to have 0 chemistry in a period very near in the future. Mourinho is already crying about losing some of his players because they don't get enough PT. I wonder what he expects.

7/21/2006 7:24:12 AM

Quote :

"so is there a need to even have the champions league this year or can chelsea and barca just play"

I can't see either team winning to be honest. What with the Italian implosion though, the CL appears to be wide open.

Celtic's gonna win it all!

7/21/2006 11:11:11 AM

^That would be awesome.

7/21/2006 1:48:47 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmkJQNLql5Y

gerrard's equalizer in the fa cup final... just to keep everybody hyped

i love this commentary

7/21/2006 4:16:31 PM

^haha, i agree, the commentary makes it

-ZiP!-

7/21/2006 4:59:37 PM

i love all the comments that gerrard is the best player in the world

7/21/2006 5:59:01 PM

Well, to be fair, the other dominant central midfielders in the world don't regularly thump in beautiful goals like Gerrard does. When Vieira and Makelele score it's practically a miracle.

7/21/2006 7:18:44 PM

^ Lampard.

7/21/2006 10:15:05 PM

kaka

7/22/2006 1:59:03 AM

retarded.

7/22/2006 3:47:32 AM

^^^&^^^^

lampard does it on the regs(in regular/champions play) like what kiljadn said....the only other people that strikes like that is maybe ballack, nedved or 1 or 2 other people i cant think of right now cause im drunk

[Edited on July 22, 2006 at 4:36 AM. Reason : ^]

7/22/2006 4:36:19 AM

I see Lampard as more of a Scholes-like attacking mid than an all-in-one ballwinning distributor like Gerrard or Vieira.

Meh.

7/22/2006 7:23:26 AM

Gerrards most definately a better all-round midfielder than Lampard. He did much better at the WC too, with the few chances he got. i honestly dont see Ballack and Lampard being able to play well together , even with the 4-5-1 Mourinho is sure to go with.

Duff will be an awesome signing for the toon, but with Viera going to Inter, im worried about Utd not making a big signing. Carrick is just ok in my opinion, not good enough for the big european games. Im still holding on to the hope that Gattusso will be a red devil within a week.

Chelsea going undefeated? hahaha, look what happened to Madrid after a couple of good years, all their big names began to choke.

Oh and yeah, Hibernian will win the SPL!!!! Scott Brown is the shit!!!

7/22/2006 7:47:49 AM

^it will be very interesting to see if Mourinho can make this team work instead of imploding like real madrid.

Quote :

"I see Lampard as more of a Scholes-like attacking mid than an all-in-one ballwinning distributor like Gerrard or Vieira. "

oh definately....lampard is like a cherry picker outside of the 18 yard box cause everytime he gets the ball he is shooting from out there. He does pretty well I gotta give him that.

7/22/2006 11:10:18 AM

^ Lampard was absolute crap in the World Cup though.

7/22/2006 11:16:51 AM

^Maybe someone mentioned it on here or I heard it over in germany but it seemed like lampard and gerrard canceled each other out in the midfield. By themselves they play really good but when they are in the same midfield they dont play well at all.

7/22/2006 11:23:00 AM

Damien Duff to Newcastle deal done

7/23/2006 3:54:17 PM

if anyone gets FSC they are airing some classics all day...milan v. lyon from a few months ago was just on and they are airing chelsea v. man u/everton/liverpool games from last season tonight

[Edited on July 23, 2006 at 4:48 PM. Reason : ,]

7/23/2006 4:48:35 PM

so buffon, nedved, and del piero are all staying with juve? am i very late on that? i just heard it

[Edited on July 24, 2006 at 2:52 AM. Reason : .]

7/24/2006 2:41:33 AM

Yeah they decided a while ago. Del Piero and Nedved i was not surprised by, they are pretty old and might as well show some loyalty rather than play 1 season someplace else. Buffon impressed me greatly with his show of loyalty. I am expecting the 30 point deduction to reduce to 20, and that doesnt make it impossible to return to the serie A next season. Their big name defenders are gone, but they still have enough quality in the side to finish top 3 and come straight back up.

7/24/2006 4:13:33 AM

So ManYoo is going to miss out on Viera and maybe Carrick... what a crap midfield that could potentially be.

7/24/2006 5:41:35 PM

They'll probably get Hargreaves in a swap deal with Bayern Munich. Not so crap.



To me, Hargreaves > Carrick.

7/24/2006 10:56:43 PM

Doesn't help an overall midfield. And if Ruud leaves, they're just going to have to hope Rossi grows up fast because there's really nobody else to get. Torres is staying at Madrid

7/25/2006 3:42:30 PM

cannavaro to madrid (real)

7/25/2006 4:57:07 PM

^^ How doesn't that help? They've got 2 great wingers in Giggs and Ronaldo, and Scholes will be back this year.


You can't replace Roy Keane, for sure, but Hargreaves is a great CM.

7/25/2006 6:02:09 PM

Smith, Richardson, and Park aren't exactly slouches, either.

7/25/2006 6:06:10 PM

It helps, but overall it's still pretty bad. -- Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher -- Not exactly a top notch midfield, even if you add in Hargreaves, considering Giggsy and Scholes are well past their prime.

7/25/2006 6:09:35 PM

ahahahahhah no Giggsy isn't


not even slightly


there are still people who wish he wasn't Welsh so he couldve gone to Germany with England this summer

7/25/2006 6:11:48 PM

The only thing that Giggs has lost is a touch of pace, but he was such a blazer before that it's hard to notice on a weekly basis in the EPL.

7/25/2006 6:13:22 PM

lol oh ok, well if you're fine with their midfield, then have fun with that. All I said was that it's not exactly the best midfield... every other thing I've read doesn't really give me the impression they and the majority of the fans feel comfortable with it

7/25/2006 6:14:58 PM

I'll take Scholes, Ronaldo, Smith, and Giggs over the Chelsea Globetrotters who couldn't play like a team if their very lives depended on it.

7/25/2006 6:23:39 PM

hahah true so would I

7/25/2006 6:24:27 PM

...and let's not forget that Rooney actually plays in the midfield in Scholes' old slot with only one true center forward. Between Saha, Rossi, Ole, and whoever SAF snags, they'll be fine.

7/25/2006 6:31:17 PM

Fine maybe, I was just saying I don't think it's a good enough lineup to win the league. I think this might be Liverpool's year

7/25/2006 6:32:18 PM

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=374401&cc=5901

Quote :

"ROME -- A sports court allowed Fiorentina and Lazio to rejoin Italy's top soccer division and reduced the points penalty against Juventus in Serie B after successful appeals Tuesday in a match-fixing scandal. Juventus' penalty was cut from 30 points to 17. Fiorentina will have 19 points docked next season, while Lazio will be deducted 11. The court also cut AC Milan's points penalty in Serie A from 15 to 8. A July 14 ruling stripping Juventus of its last two Serie A titles was upheld, though Milan will be allowed to play in the Champions League preliminary rounds this season. Also upheld were five-year bans for former Juventus executives Luciano Moggi and Antonio Giraudo, figures at the center of the scandal. Hundreds of Lazio fans outside the hotel where the verdicts were delivered screamed in delight at the news their team was back in Serie A. Minutes later, they scattered when a sudden thunderstorm drenched them. The ruling ended the process in Italy's sports court system. Any further appeals would need to be taken through the country's civil courts, which could delay the start of the season set for Aug. 28. "For Juventus and its managers it's an absolutely unsatisfactory sentence," Moggi's lawyer Fulvio Gianaria said. Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli said the club would challenge the verdicts in civil court, while Milan lawyer Leandro Cantamessa said the club was deciding whether to take that path. If upheld or unchallenged, the demotion would be a first for Juventus since its inception in 1897. The Turin-based powerhouse has won 29 league titles -- including the ones stripped Friday -- two European Champions League titles, four Italian Supercups, three UEFA cups, two European Supercups and two Toyota or Intercontinental Cups. The appeals body decision was announced a few hours after the close of the Milan stock exchange, where some of the clubs involved are listed. In the earlier ruling, Fiorentina was sent down to Serie B and given a 12-point penalty to start next season, while Lazio was originally supposed to start the new season in Serie B with a seven-point penalty. Each club appealed. Juventus claimed the sanctions were excessive, and AC Milan argued that its Champions League ban was unlawful. Soccer federation prosecutor Stefano Palazzi had argued for even tougher punishment. Palazzi called for Juventus to be demoted to Serie C. He also wanted Serie B demotions for Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio with point deductions. Several Serie A soccer stars -- including Italy and Fiorentina striker Luca Toni and Brazil and Milan playmaker Kaka -- are expected to decide their club futures based on the outcome of the trial. The stiffest penalties for officials were given to Moggi and Giraudo. The appeals tribunal confirmed the initial court's recommendation that asked the Italian soccer federation to ban them for life. The maximum punishment the sports court could impose is five years. Other prominent officials had their sanctions reduced. Franco Carraro, the former head of the Italian soccer league who resigned in May and had originally received a 4½-year ban, was given a fine and a warning. Fiorentina owner and industrialist Diego Della Valle had three months shaved off his four-year ban, while Lazio president Claudio Lotito was banned for 2½ years, a year less than in the initial sentence. Milan vice president Adriano Galliani received a nine-month ban, instead of one year. Meanwhile, UEFA gave the Italian federation until Wednesday -- one extra day -- to decide which clubs were eligible to play in European club competitions this coming season."

pretty interesting...

[Edited on July 25, 2006 at 8:11 PM. Reason : there we go]

7/25/2006 8:10:40 PM

Arsenal 2- SV Mattersburg 1 in a friendly today

goals from Jeremie Aliadiere and Justin Hoyte...rosicky with 29 minutes in his debut

7/26/2006 12:23:16 AM

Quote :

"Saha, Rossi, Ole, and whoever SAF snags"

Alan smith can play up top if needed. He should be fit for the first game with fulham.

http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=349658

ruud is also still a united player, that is in training with them and is said to have a great attitude about being there.

[Edited on July 26, 2006 at 7:49 AM. Reason : p]

7/26/2006 7:49:07 AM

Ruud is going to Munich for sure...just a matter of formalities being concluded. A swap deal with Hargreaves would be fantastic!! Im an avid Utd fan but im going to have to agree that without at least 1 more big name signing, their midfield wont be good enough to win the league or the champions league.
I heard someone on espn mention a faint possibility of Utd snapping up Gattusso and Pirlo together!! That would be game over for the others!!
Since Juventus are still doomed to the Serie B, i guess a bid for Ibrahimovic wont be too bad either eh??

[Edited on July 26, 2006 at 9:56 AM. Reason : .]

7/26/2006 9:55:52 AM

Ibrahomavic isn't what they need... they need a Hargreaves or Gattuso to hold down that midfield

7/26/2006 3:33:13 PM

Seriously, the last thing that United need is another striker. Granted, with Ruud on the way out, it's easy to kneejerk and try to find another top-shelf striker, but they practically have a glut of attacking players, and it's not like Saha and Rooney aren't world-class players. A holding midfielder is an absolute neccessity.

7/26/2006 3:37:56 PM

^^ Ibrahimovic isnt what they need, it was meant to be a joke at juventus's expense. Gattuso is really the guy i would like to see come to OT, but it seems lie they wont be making a big name signing this summer. Who knows what SAF is planning, and now Ruud may actually be on his way to Madrid.
L'Pool have certainly been busy and Pennant is a fantastic signing. Add Bellamy and maybe Kuyt, and i think we have a possible league winner right here!!

7/26/2006 3:46:37 PM

hell I don't even think they need Kuyt, they've got an awesome roster

7/26/2006 3:51:13 PM

when does the summer signing period end

7/27/2006 7:39:01 AM

August 15th as far as i know, but i could be wrong.

7/27/2006 12:30:29 PM