Football
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Opening weekend sensationalist media rubbish at a glance:
- Van Persie never missed a chance on his right foot
- Rodgers/AVB out
- Steve Clarke is a genius
- Everton are the new Newcastle
- Ivan Ramis is the worst defender of all time
- Norwich are going down
- Southampton are staying up
- Rooney/Torres/Lampard/Gerrard is completely past it and should be shot/back and better than ever
- The Premier League is the best in the world because the second half of Man City-Southampton was quite good
Bazinga!
Be interesting to see how this one pans out, like so many of his high priced English contemporaries, Johnson seems to have been in arrested development for a good little while. Not that he was doing badly at City as such but at 25 he needs proper game time where he's central to the play, not just cameos to tire out teams that are already 3-0 down.
For me this is second only to Darren Bent in terms of the club making a 'next level' signing, but of course, the ball's now very much in Johnson's court. Talented as he is, I always had the vague impression that Mancini would have played him more were it not for his slightly iffy workrate when coming off the bench. Hopefully, he responds well to challenge of once again being integral to his team, knuckles down and thrives at the SOL. If he sees out his contract then great, if somewhere along the line he can't resist the lure of another big move (ala Scott Sinclair) then we get a large fee. Everybody wins.
Did the Stoke fans really boo Aaron Ramsey yesterday? :persuazn:
Great to see Nuri Sahin back, even in Liverpool colours. I had feared his move to Real would prove to be a big fat waste of time and unfortunately that's how its been (thus far), which is a crying shame given how indecently talented he is. Bad news for all you Jay Spearing fans, though (you know who you are!).
(to the tune of Nobody Does It Better by Carly Simon)
Nuribody does it betterrrrrrrr, makes me feel sad for the rest
I knew him since his first season with Borussia's first team, he was the youngest player who had played in Bundelsiga and he had great potential but now I haven't seen him for ages. Has he improved himself? Is he better than Arda Turan?
The draw for the group stages:
Group A
Porto
Dynamo Kiev
Paris SG
Dinamo Zagreb
Group B
Arsenal
Schalke 04
Olympiacos
Montepellier
Group C
AC Milan
Zenit
Anderlecht
Malaga
Group D
Real Madrid
Manchester City
Ajax
Borussia Dortmund
Group E
Chelsea
Shakhtar Donetsk
Juventus
Nordsjaeland
Group F
Bayern Munchen
Valencia
Lille
Bate Borisov
Group G
Barcelona
Benfica
Spartak Moscow
Celtic
Group H
Manchester United
Braga
Galatasaray
Cluj
What a travesty for Borussia Dortmund that they just sent them to Group D, even though Group H was also possible.
Bring. It. On! Group D will be a right old ding dong (four actual champions, imagine that!) and I firmly expect us to put up a very credible challenge, particularly after the painstaking humiliation of last season. A win in the first game at home to Ajax is absolutely vital, set the tone for a great campaign, get to the knockouts and while we're at it, send City back to ITV4.
The transfer window is closed. In a couple of other forums that I visit, everyone is talking about how Arsenal got the deal done for Chinese international Fa-Kin No Wan. I have no idea who he is, but I'm really excited!! 
I just learnt that Modric signed for Real but I can't understand why, they have Ozil for that position so it doesn't make sense. anyways the point is that the Barca-Real rivalry will be very interesting like every season
The transfer window is closed. In a couple of other forums that I visit, everyone is talking about how Arsenal got the deal done for Chinese international Fa-Kin No Wan. I have no idea who he is, but I'm really excited!!
Good news though, Wenger appears to have hypnotised Abou Diaby and told him he's Yaya Toure. 
And now for something completely different. Not sure if this video is altogether legit, but it appears to have been made by a young lady with a thing for - yes, Alan Pardew. Apologies in advance for any psychological scarring caused, I'm off now to make one of me and Eva Carneiro.
Well, this means again NO FREAKING chance for Holland.
And can someone explain the Ronaldo situation to me? 
And can someone explain the Ronaldo situation to me?
From what I've read, it all seems to stem from a contractual dispute. New laws are coming in to raise income tax for high earners in Spain and Ronaldo wants more money from Real Madrid to make up the difference. A new deal was in the midst of being negotiated but supposedly the talks have broken down, so until they sort something out, expect to see his full repertoire of 'it's not fair' faces whenever he's on the pitch. 
^^ Thanks 
Those poor players only making 20 mil. a year now? 
Oh poor Ronaldo.. we should start a charity and help him get better... trolol
^I believe that's facial expression number 37 in Cristiano's 'it's not fair' archive. 
Interesting to hear about the creative plans clubs are currently coming up with in order to try and circumvent UEFA's Financial Fair Play order. Real Madrid apparently intend to build a $1billion club-themed holiday resort in the Persian Gulf, complete with theme park, yacht club and stadium, while Trabzonspor are finalising plans to knock up a hydro electric power plant, which the club reckon will bring in an extra $10million each year. Curious stuff.
Also, Michael Owen to Stoke. A footballer who no longer plays football signing for a club who never have. 
1 billion?? Holy crap.
Woah, David Bentley's still alive. 
I have to check how I am doing in the fantasy because I haven't touched the team since I first picked it 
