Re: Not Worthy of a Thread Mk. II

[chad4401]

congratz to benfica   

[M99]

Congrats to Benfica.

Condolences to Franchise.

[Tomwin Lannister]

MT you never told me you had a son/multi

[RealGunner]

looooooooooooooool

[Onyx]

Yeh just saw that.

Whoever it is.

[M99]

MT's long lost son

[Onyx]

The News That Peter Lim is interested in acquiring Milan was groundbreaking. According to the information we have, the tycoon from Singapore was in Madrid yesterday, but he did not present an official offer to acquire Milan.

He did ask if the club was interested in selling, Milan gave a negative answer. Lim's interest in Milan dates back to last November

When He gave a valuation of € 450 million to acquire the Majority stake in the club. After five months of silence, it was Milan who reached out to him to get involved-Lim once again. It's possible the Rossoneri are ready to sit at a table to negotiate. But It appears the tycoon from Singapore Has other ideas at the moment, he is expected to make a lower offer in the 350 million range, to sum Fininvest That Is not Likely to accept.

But there is more to the story: Lim met with Erick Thohir in Milan, Inter's president tried to see if Lim was interested in Participating in Inter's project. But Lim Is not interested since he considers Inter's brand to be of lower value than Milan's. Berlusconi is expected to make an official statement at some point today to clarify the dynamics surrounding the club. Lim remains in the background ready to make His next move.

[Onyx]

AC Milan chiefs have reiterated that the club are not for sale, despite rumours of a takeover attempt by Singapore businessman Peter Lim.

Italian media claimed on Thursday that the billionaire investor had offered €500 million (£411.4m) for a majority stake of the Rossoneri.

As well as Lim, reports claim that Chinese beverage magnate Zong Qinghou is also eyeing a potential takeover.

However, Fininvest - controlled by Milan chairman Silvio Berlusconi - has issued a denial and insisted that there will be no control in ownership, having previously also moved to quell the rumours in March.

A statement from the company read: "With regard to rumours reported by the press, Fininvest again denies any possibility of transfer of control of Milan."

Milan have had a tumultuous season on and off the pitch this season.

Rumours of a dispute between joint vice-chairs Adriano Galliani and Barbara Berlusconi have been prominent throughout the campaign while, on the field, Milan are a huge 39 points off leaders Juventus and currently sit seventh.

There has been an upturn in fortunes in the past month, however, as Clarence Seedorf's men have racked up five consecutive Serie A victories, giving them a chance of sealing a spot in the Europa League.

[RedOranje]

Spoiler:

[rwo power]

If RB Leipzig will be promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga, they will only get a licence if they change their club logo, modify their board so that it complies with the 50+1 rule (currently it mainly consists of Red Bull personnel) and they have to make it easier for people to become club members.

Right now, the logo of RB Leipzig is almost identical to the Red Bull logo, which would not be allowed for the Bundesliga.

As the RB in RB Leipzig cleverly stands for "RasenBallsport" (literally: "lawn ball sport") and not "Red Bull", they can likely go on to use the RB abbreviation for the club (while UEFA lists RB Salzburg always as FC Salzburg for European matches as their name in Austria is "Red Bull Salzburg").

Source: http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/3liga/startseite/603363/artikel_rb-leipzig-muss-bei-aufstieg-sein-logo-aendern.html

[M99]

Some of the requests put forward by World Cup participating teams.

https://scontent-a-cdg.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/s526x395/10313398_750956911603242_2902268807052243512_n.png

[Busby Babe]

He talks a lot here about Arsene, Mancini, growing up and so on

Samir Nasri: I wanted to make history at Manchester City - in my first year, I won the league
Exclusive interview: Samir Nasri talks to Henry Winter about his early life in Marseille and why he had to leave his Arsenal 'football father'

Samir Nasri is recalling his youth in Marseille, the memory of growing up in a family with no money but being “rich in love”, of the sacrifices his parents made to give him a chance in life. “I came from nothing,’’ said Nasri.

The Manchester City attacking midfielder is a controversial figure, falling out with managers like Roberto Mancini and whole groups of fans like Arsenal’s. He’s perceived as materialistic, selfish. He’s also intelligent, eloquent and with more personal hinterland than previously headlined.

On Thursday afternoon, the 26-year-old Frenchman was at the Etihad helping a group of local schoolchildren gaining a qualification in business and enterprise through a project related to City life.

They were taught how the club receptionist would deal with fans ringing in to complain about everything from a cold pie (“we are so sorry and here’s a voucher for a hot one”) to a player missing a penalty (“we are so sorry but some things are beyond our control”).

Overseen by Conrad Prendergast, an enthusiastic coach with City In The Community, the “Enterprise City” course will gradually be expanded to give 1,000 local schoolchildren experience of the workplace following a donation from Nasri’s compatriot, the watchmaker Richard Mille.

The children drew designs of watches which Nasri judged, eventually choosing one for a skydiver, before a quick Q and A. “Why did you leave Arsenal?’’ asked one boy. “Tell me in the last few years which trophies Arsenal have won?” Nasri replied. The class finished with a mass gaggle of selfies with Nasri, who then found a quiet room to talk. “Sometimes it is a good thing to hear what kids have to tell you,’’ he said. “Kids just tell the truth.’’

“It’s a good thing that City is doing with this work. This gives the young people the opportunity to work. I get something out of this too. You don’t forget where you came from. I came from nothing. I was in Marseille in a bad area. We didn’t have anything. We were rich in love. I couldn’t afford to go to Stade Velodrome even though I was really passionate to go. It was too expensive.

“But growing up there in the community were the best years of my life. We were lots of people living there, like a big family in the community. My parents sacrificed everything for me. My father worked on a building site, and as a driver, so many jobs. My mum was at home full-time to take care of me, my sister and two brothers.’’

Nasri began playing for Marseille’s academy, recalling being a 10-year-old the fights between locals and England supporters in the Vieux Port at France 98.

“I remember that like it was yesterday. It was a game against Tunisia. There was a big fight. Everyone in Marseille has a big temper. If I said Cantona, you know! He’s from Marseille! In Marseille you have two sides of the city: the rich side and the poor side. When you come from the poor side, you have to defend yourself. It’s just the way we are.

“Marseille has a big Muslim community. The good thing is it is a melting-point, all nationalities in there. Everyone is fine with each other. It is really close to North Africa, to Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, so a lot of them come from there. My grandparents came from Algeria.

“Nowadays it is more difficult in France (being Muslim). In the last three or four years people who come from a (Muslim) community feel like they are not being treated like they deserve. It is now about the extreme Right.’’ Like Jean-Marie Le Pen? “His daughter (Marine) now. She’s the one in front. It is really hard. Those French people turn against the Muslims. That is a little bit scary. 10-15 years ago, it wasn’t like this. I don’t like the way the mentality is in France now.

“Recently in France, if you are a football player, your image is really bad. Economically, there’s a crisis in France. The people in France in general think all the players they just have too much money, they are not polite, they are arrogant. It is not a good thing. If you are from a (Muslim) community, it is even worse. France changed a lot. I don’t like it. I love England. I love London. It’s great for me to be there. That’s where I can see my future.”

After emerging from the Marseille youth academy, Nasri made his name during three seasons in the first team at Stade Velodrome before being brought to London in 2008 for £15.8m by Arsène Wenger.

“Arsene is my football father. He took me from France, made me the player I am, made me believe about my quality. He was great for me. I am pleased Arsenal are in the final of the FA Cup. I hope they win. I might have a problem with Arsenal fans because of the way they treat me but I just want Arsene to win a trophy because he doesn’t deserve everything that has been said about him.

“I am a big fan of Jose Mourinho. I like him when he goes into the press conference, the way he talks, but what he said about Arsene is really disrespectful. Arsenal is Arsene. He changed the club. You cannot call him ‘a specialist in failure’. Everyone needs to calm down, even the Arsenal fans because they are really mean with him. ‘In Arsene We Trust’. That’s what they said. They should do it.’’

As the schoolboy Paxman implied earlier, Nasri left Arsenal under a cloud in 2011, accused of greed.

“This image of me being ‘materialistic’ is a French thing. People were envious. It’s fine. What happened is this: it was my best season with Arsenal (15 goals). We were in October (2010) and the manager asked me whether I wanted to stay at Arsenal. ‘Yes I want to stay at Arsenal,’ I said. Then they offered me a contract. It was far from what I wanted. With my agent, we were saying: if I stay at Arsenal, I know I’m going to win less money, but it’s fine, I’m only 23. I have time to win money. If I’m good I will always win money.

“We were still in four competitions with Arsenal. We were playing really well. The manager wanted to be focused on what happened on the pitch. It’s normal. We wait, we wait, we wait. We arrived in June. I have only one year left on my contract. I had propositions from Manchester City, Manchester United, Inter Milan and Juventus. I said: ‘I don’t want to go to another country. I want to be in England.’

“I really hesitated a long time. There was United. City wasn’t the big club it is right now. My agent told me: ‘Do you want to play in the big club, already with a big history (United), where you will be just one of them? Or play for Manchester City, who didn’t win the league for 44 years, where if you win the trophy, you can make history.’ I said: ‘oh, yeah, I want to make history.’ In my first year, I won the league. I don’t have any regrets.

“Yes, economically I have a better life now than what I had at Arsenal. It’s normal. If I said to you tomorrow that there is another journal, as serious as your journal, offer you three times your salary, I think you are going to go there!’ But my first motive was to win trophies.

“I stay at Arsenal at the same time we sell Fabregas, who was our best player. I had the discussion with the manager. I said: ‘Cesc is going, who we are going to take?’ Then he told me the name of some players that he was going to take. No disrespect to them but they were not the standing of Fabregas to win a trophy.’

“The problem was the (new) stadium. They didn’t have the money to buy the players. Arsene is a straight guy. He can see into the future. He didn’t want to be penalised by Financial Fair Play so he wanted to stay by the rules and not living by debt. This year everything has been paid. He’s just paid €50m for Mesut Ozil. In the future, he will do it.’’

Nasri joined City for £24m, prospered under Roberto Mancini but soon had disagreements with a coach who accused him of playing at only “50 per cent” after winning the title. So what was Nasri’s view of Mancini?

“How I can say it without being rude. He’s a different person when he wants you and when he has you. When he wanted me, he was calling me every day, telling me everything I wanted to hear. I arrived here and for me it was a shock. He was really, really the opposite of Arsène Wenger. Not even a ‘good morning’.

“Sometimes when you play he comes and talks to you. If you don’t play he doesn’t talk to you for three or four months. It’s never his fault. You cannot have a discussion with him, try to explain something. When we have a loss, he gets crazy in the dressing-room.

"He says things that you cannot say even on the street to someone. I really had the bad experience with him. He had the results as a manager everywhere he went because he had great players with him. But now, he will not be in my top three or four managers of all time.”

He warmed instantly to Mancini’s successor, Manuel Pellegrini. “He’s the brother of Arsène Wenger. They are the same. Seriously. They want their team to play the same: attacking, possession of the ball. They are really good people, really calm. After a loss, they’ll never scream and shout at you in the dressing-room. The day after, they tell you everything they saw. I really like them both.’’

City have won the Capital One Cup under Pellegrini but the season has tailed off. “The problem is we had too many injuries. I still believe we can win the league. If you win the league and the Capital One Cup in the same season, for his first season, it is a great season.’’

City bowed out of the Champions League, their hopes shredded after losing the first leg of their round of 16 tie 2-0 to Barcelona at home, shipping an expensive late goal to Dani Alves when down to 10 men.

“In Europe, yes, we need more experience. A team with more experience would have stayed 1-0 at home against Barcelona. A team with more experience would know you are having a bad day, so you don’t attack, you try to keep the ball, stay calm and think ‘it’s OK we are losing 1-0 because we are going to go there and score one goal and it will be different’.

"But when you lose 2-0 at home against a team with experience like Barcelona you know it’s really hard to go in the Camp Nou and win 3-0. It’s almost impossible. We need more experience but you cannot buy experience. It is by playing the competition together that you get the experience.”

Nasri feels City are growing as a team through Pellegrini’s bonding exercises. “It’s the wish of the manager for us to do simple things, go to restaurants together, a concert together, have a night out together, do something with the wives as well. That makes us not just team-mates but friends as well.

"Sometimes if you don’t like your team-mate who is telling you to run, it is really hard to accept. If you are friends you can tell anything you want and they will not get upset. We improve a lot as well. The atmosphere in the dressing-room is much better than in the past.”

One of the features of City’s play has been Nasri’s link-ups with David Silva. “First of all, we have a lot of respect for each other. It is easy to play when we have the kind of similar qualities, technical players playing in the small space. He is very good playing between the lines, in the little pocket, turning. It is really easy to have an understanding with players like that. It is like with Yaya (Toure). He’s my friend but it is really easy to play with him.’’

It has not been the greatest of seasons for the noisy neighbours but it has been worse at Manchester United where David Moyes failed to inspire the dressing-room.

“Every player has a big ego and you have to manage it,’’ observed Nasri. “No disrespect to Everton or Moyes, he did a fantastic job there, but when you arrive at a club like Manchester United, you have a big wolf in the dressing-room waiting for you.

"They have won Champions Leagues, five or six leagues. And you arrive there and you think you are going to change everything that they used to do?! He would have been more sensible to keep the staff of Alex Ferguson at least for one year, to have them talk to the players who respect them. The staff were there for many years. After one year, when they get used to you, you can bring your staff and work with them.

“The problem is Moyes never won a trophy and he arrived there and wants to change everything. But what Manchester United have been doing this week by sacking him is a complete mistake. At least let him finish the season and then sack him at the end of the season, and bring a new manager. But four games before the end of the season? There is no sense.”

Nasri is in London on Sunday, taking on Crystal Palace, while elsewhere in town later that day, Luis Suarez is crowned PFA Player of the Year. “I voted for Luis Suarez because he did amazingly this season, scored 30 goals, the last one who did this was (Robin van Persie and) Cristiano Ronaldo. On top of that he had more than 10 assists. He’s a complete player. I cannot vote for my team-mates otherwise I would have voted for Yaya. Suarez deserves to be Player of the Year.’’

The Uruguayan’s season concludes at the World Cup. To his great chagrin, Nasri is not expected to travel with France, despite being one of their best players. France’s coach, Didier Deschamps, has shown little willingness to use Nasri, hinting that he was being omitted for non-footballing reasons. Nasri was suspended for three games for ranting at reporters in 2012 but has played since.

“To be honest with you, if I have to evaluate my chances now I would be 70-30 against me going to the World Cup. If I had the phone-call with him (Deschamps) and a real talk with him I would know where I stand. I would know: ‘OK, maybe I did this or this wrong, I have to change this or that to go to the World Cup’.

“In France, they are saying we have the same agent so it will be easy (to communicate). It’s not. It doesn’t mean anything. My only concern is to perform well with my club and then we’ll see. I will be really sad if I don’t go to the World Cup.

“Since I was five, my dream was to be a football player. Then when I grew up a little bit, it wasn’t a dream, it was a target. I always dream about being the best. If you want to be the best, you have to play in a World Cup, you have to win a World Cup. My role models were Maradona, Ronaldo, Zidane.

"They all won the World Cup. Not to play at a World Cup in Brazil, the country of football, would be a big disappointment but I will accept it. I missed one already in 2010, in South Africa, the first one in Africa as well. It was symbolic. But life continues.”

Nasri is only 26 but has thought of a future career in management. “I would love to (manage). That’s what I am saying now but I don’t know how my career is going to end. If it’s a really painful end maybe I will take some time, be with the family. By that time we will have kids. Then I’ll come back in the game. I’m really passionate about it. I just had one obsession growing up – football."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-city/10788594/Samir-Nasri-I-wanted-to-make-history-at-Manchester-City-in-my-first-year-I-won-the-league.html

[RealGunner]

Fantastic Interview.

[Forza]

Meanwhile in Serie B...

[Onyx]

Ajax win the Eredivisie title again for the 33rd time. Coach Frank de Boer is the first Ajax boss ever to win it 4 times in a row.

[Motogp69]

Ajax win the Eredivisie title again for the 33rd time. Coach Frank de Boer is the first Ajax boss ever to win it 4 times in a row.

Come to North London

[El Gunner]

Ajax win the Eredivisie title again for the 33rd time. Coach Frank de Boer is the first Ajax boss ever to win it 4 times in a row.

Come to North London

You mean Arsenal

[MaraVilla]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t1.0-9/10252158_517279688376419_2461835862716720620_n.jpg

[Lupi]

Allegri is in pole position to manage Tottenham

[Guiltybystander]

Ajax win the Eredivisie title again for the 33rd time. Coach Frank de Boer is the first Ajax boss ever to win it 4 times in a row.

Come to North London

You mean Arsenal

Leave Frank alone! He needs to stay with us!

[Onyx]

Modric and Ronaldo's sons hanging out together.

[Onyx]

[Onyx]

Inter are seen as having fallen foul of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules and so may risk punishment in the coming days, whilst Roma are apparently just safe.

UEFA’s Club Financial Control Board [CFCB] are meeting today and tomorrow to discuss sanctions due on clubs that have breached FFP regulations.

Clubs are allowed to lose up to €45m over the last two years - 2011-12 and 2012-13 - but alongside Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, the Gazzetta dello Sport report that Inter’s deficit will surpass this.

Speculation has been this week that PSG and City will be handed sanctions including a ‘large fine’ and an order to cut the number of players registered in the A team, which they can either accept, reject or negotiate with the CFCB.

The Gazzetta dello Sport report that whilst Juventus, Milan, Napoli and Fiorentina fall into the category of clubs cleared under FFP regulations, Roma are on the cusp, alongside Liverpool and Chelsea, for breaching the €45m deficit allowance.

However, this trio are seen to then fall under the deficit when the clause on discounting contracts signed before June 2010 is taken into account.

Juventus record losses of €57m over the past two seasons, but rules allow for this increase as the club invested in development of their stadium.

The CFCB is expected to announce results of their investigations and subsequent sanctions next week.

[Onyx]

Every FIFA player in the World knew what would happen next.

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

In response to the article published in The Guardian, in which it was alleged that Naples is a stronghold of the mafia, Nicola Lombardo, Head of Communications of SSC Napoli, has written a letter to the editor with a request to publish the said letter.

Dear Mr Prior,

I write to you to ask to publish the following message about an article which appeared on the website of such a prestigious newspaper as the Guardian:

"Napoli sporting director Riccardo Bigon has let Welbeck’s agent know that Napoli are interested in signing up his client, but with Everton and Tottenham also interested, the club from one of Italy’s mafia strongholds will need to make Manchester United and Welbeck himself an offer they can’t refuse."

I am aware that it can happen that an article is not read carefully before being published. It is possible that as the editor of the Guardian's sports pages you may not have realised what was written. If not, we would be dismayed to read such a dated, dumb, vulgar cliche as this, linking the city of Naples to the mafia.

This is an archaic impression that is also rejected by English tourists who every year choose Italy - and Napoli - as their holiday destination. They would not do that if they thought that Naples is Italy's mafia stronghold, a place where people fire at or rob each other in the street. We would not judge a city like Newcastle on the basis of MTV's Geordie Shore; we do not think all of that city's inhabitants are rude, gym-addicted and sociopathic. It is a shame to see the Guardian did not afford Napoli the same courtesy.

I would still prefer to think that you had not read the article, and in this case, I would ask for a correction, in the name of both Neapolitans and Italians.

Kind regards.

http://www.sscnapoli.it/static/news/The-SSC-Napoli-s-official-press-release-2743.aspx

[Art Morte]

Must be true because it's on the Internet, with a picture and everything.

[Sponsored content]