Copey11

yes Trent, but words can be very powerful. didn't you see when Rocky ended the cold war? :winkold:

Why do we have to discern between the penalties anyway? The bans serve as a deterrent to specific kinds of behavior, and it seems in this case the FA deems racial abuse and violent conduct equally disgraceful and thus deserving of 8 match bans. I think that is actually admirable, regardless of whether it's the right number of matches, to attempt to take not only violence out of the game, but other elements that are disgraceful and have no place in the game.

Or the family put pressure on him to do so. Not sure if he or the trust owns the Browns, but it certainly is an enormous asset and I could see the family not being as "passionate" about the team, not living in the city, and having lost a lot of value in their Bank of America shares over the last few years, and wanting to re-fill the coffers. I think he did have passion for the Browns, he grew up as a fan, and has a son playing American Football for a top school team in Cleveland. He has interests there and a history, so I don't really doubt his passion. As I wrote earlier, regardless of the results of his tenure as owner of the Browns, he has never displayed any hesitation to support the team, as misguided as his attempts may have been (and whether they were misguided is debatable). Fascinating turn of events is an apt way to put it. Professional sports teams, especially American Football teams, don't get sold very often, and there are only 32 of them, and they are all worth a boatload of money. So when it happens, the circumstances, motivations, machinations, and uncertainty of the future are all terribly interesting.

interesting news. It seems the deal may not be completed before October, which would mark 10 years since the death of Randy's father. This is interesting in that it appears Al Lerner put in his will a 10 year moratorium on the sale of the Browns. Randy would be selling as soon as he was able in this case. Potentially Randy has been a "lame-duck" owner in Cleveland for the last decade, which would explain the team's lack of success, though I think it would be unfair, as Randy has continually resisted pressure from the NFL to raise ticket prices, rename the stadium, and other revenue increasing schemes (certain types of revenue are shared across the league), and has never shied away from opening up the checkbook. It would also give further validity to his passion for Villa as he "chose" to buy this team and invest in it. Updates when I have them.

you are right. I don't think he wants to sell the Browns, but i think the family trust has lost a lot of value and they feel they need the money, with Randy having the asset with the most value. Will this be a positive for Villa? Hard to say as Randy has always been hands off and let others run the operations, and has spent generally what he needed to. Will this free up more cash for him personally? Only he, his lawyer, and financial advisor know for sure.

I'd like to have Gabby back

wonder if they are losing Skrtl or Agger. Both have been linked to Zenit / Milan (I think). Obviously Vlaar wouldn't play much with those two fit.

I think we are exploring another more attractive option at CB. And if that is true, we have handled this perfectly. PL's job is to identify targets A, B, C and suss out the potential for getting them. Part of that process is "interviewing" the player, speaking with the agent and selling club, and "selling" the Villa. This is not a linear process meaning we don't necessarily have the luxury of going from target A to B to C and making a decision. Perhaps Vlaar is target B and PL has done his due diligence, but also knows that target A may be available but hasn't had the opportunity to go through his process but expects to. So he confirms that he has had a "chat" with Vlaar, but it is far from any decision. He was pretty clear about that. He has done an excellent job of selling the Villa, Vlaar has said as much. Feyenoord is prepared to make a deal, they have said as much. Villa is not ready to make a deal but - and here is the important part - have not dismissed nor put a timeline on a deal for Vlaar. For Villa, this keeps the Vlaar deal "warm" perhaps while another more attractive target is pursued on Villa/target A's timeline, with Vlaar still an alternative. There is risk here that someone swoops in and gets Vlaar, or that he may decide to stay (little risk that Feyenoord gets in the way due to a release clause), but perhaps the fact that he might not be target A means that Villa is prepared to take that risk and even walk away if necessary. Now Vlaar, Feyenoord, and agent all have a motivation to get this done, but it is purely that - their motivation. So one would expect the actions/ultimatums to come from that side. I believe this to be the case, and if we end up with a better (in PL's eyes) CB target we are a stronger club for it, and if we don't and end up with Vlaar then PL deemed him worthy of bringing in. If neither happens, or Vlaar refuses to come to us or someone else comes in, that's fine too because it means that PL didn't sign someone just to sign someone, but rather pursued a first choice rather than just take the first thing that came along. And I don't understand why this is deemed as proof that there is a sell to buy policy. I do believe PL agrees that there needs to be balance in the squad and as pointed out earlier in the thread we would have a bit of a glut of CBs were we to not offload another, and I don't think Vlaar, in PL's mind, is his top target deemed worthy of taking on another CB. Perhaps he thinks he is just somewhat better than Collins, but not so much that he warrants carrying another CB. But if he has an opportunity to sign his top target, he could justify that to Randy and say he'll do everything he can to offload someone, but he HAS to have target A. Interesting to watch though. And remember, none of this happens without the picture getting around and Vlaar and Feyenoord being put on the defensive about it.

I like Condi Rice from a presentation standpoint, but from a substance standpoint she was always just a GWB shill (or Cheney). I think she is smart, professional, and has great foreign policy experience, but that experience coincides with policies and a position and strategy that largely alienated the rest of world. As for the VP, they can only hurt a ticket, not help it. Americans largely realize that while complementary skills to the candidate, experience, and the whole "heart beat away" thing are important, they are not making the decisions. A VP choice can hurt a ticket, but it can't help a candidate win who was not going to already. Condi is a risk for Romney in that he MUST carry the conservative vote, and get them to the polls. Condi being pro-choice (and *whisper* a black woman) will affect that constituency. Those in the middle again will not choose a candidate to support based on the VP choice.

LOL!!!

I think it became a "job" only after several injuries. I have some experience with this as well, and when you spend so much time in the training room, and re-habbing, not playing the games, not hanging out with the team, it truly becomes a "job" and all the fun parts are taken away. I think the Real experience, and subsequent injuries took all of his passion away and it became a job, and now that's where he is - making choices based on pay and medals, rather than time on the pitch.

I don't think there is a sell to buy, or at least not indicated by this. If he isn't in PL's plans, we would certainly be looking to sell Collins regardless of whether or not we were looking at Vlaar. He is 28, with only 12 months left on his contract so therefore has some value to the club in the tranfer market. Substitute Collins for a position where we have even more cover, say CM (not saying I am entirely happy with CM, but we certainly have numbers there), and he is not preferred and has 12 months on his contract. No one would be saying there is sell to buy if we were trying to move him on then.

Some of the inherent "racism" is also not really racism, but a by product of organization. For example, as the Rev cited above, cultural ties, language/governmental ties will automatically see South Americans easily move to Spain/Portugal/Italy as it is easier to get work permits and acclimate to the culture. The same for France and African players. Economics plays a big part too. Clubs don't want to necessarily take risks on players they either can't get a work permit for, or may not be able to acclimate to the culture and country (can he do it on a rainy night at Stoke). Scouting countries that don't pay well is also cost effective, as wages for a new signing might not be as much. Also, scouts go where there is a higher probability to find talent, and clubs don't want to pay a scout to go to Japan for 6 months to come up with two possible talents when they can be in Holland for 2 weeks and find 20 players. All this leads to a dearth of minorities or other ethnicities represented in certain leagues, and highlights and exacerbates stereotypes when they don't succeed (black players / south american players don't like the cold because we had this one guy from Uruguay who failed/got homesick/hated the weather/wife wanted to go home).

If PL thinks he is worth it, I am ok with it. It just seems that at this stage the price and wages for him are not commensurate with how much we would actually use him. Bent cost up to 24M, and is/will be the first name on the team sheet. AC, even with squad rotation, will not play every match, or at least start. As we rebuild I think the money is better spent elsewhere or a cheaper alternative found to play a certain style at times. WHEN we move up the table and begin challenging the top 6ish, playing in Europe, and increasing our revenue, then we can afford to splash the cash required to get someone of AC's caliber/potential to contribute as a part of a squad rotation. For 15M+ and high wages, right now he would have to be built around, rather than just a contributor. I think he has the potential to be a very good player, whether he seizes that opportunity remains to be seen, but that is a gamble that may prove to be too costly for us right now.

I wonder if Klinsman told him to come back if possible. Obviously Howard is the US #1 right now, but Klinsman has been pushing players to compete overseas. Perhaps Brad has been promised not only more games, but perhaps a loan (with a recall in case Given gets hurt) to get some more experience. We also know that Randy and Jurgen are friendly.

I think England is certainly historically a heavyweight, but needs to be very careful in the coming years as I think there is a gap widening between them and some of the other heavyweights, and a gap closing between them and some of the light heavyweights referred to above. Right now England is playing a style that more closely resembles that of the light heavyweights, while the other Euro powers are certainly moving to a more dynamic style. Even Italy has at least paid lip service to becoming a more possession attacking style than in years past. Klinsman is definitely trying to move the US in that direction, primarily in order to give the younger generations (under 16) a more dynamic model to follow than the old American fitness and try real hard Bradley/Arena days. The young English generation really needs to perform in the next years. If England doesn't have some success soon they will be looking like a tier 1B footballing nation. And the ability to possess the ball and attack more is certainly the way to go about it (I think Capello was trying to get the team playing a more dynamic way, just didn't have the horses). The good news is that the younger English players can do this. Wilshere, Cleverley, Sturridge, Welbeck, Young, Johnson, Walker, Smalling, Jones, etc. all have ball skills, pace, and an attacking mentality. Note: possession and attacking football does not necessarily mean current Spanish style.

I think its great to see some new blood in the PL, good young managers trying to play good football instead of the re-hashed "experienced" failed managers. Lambert, Rogers, Laudrup, potentially AVB or Blanc, this will be fun to watch. I am a huge Laudrup fan as a player, and think he will one day be a good manager, though I don't think he has quite shown it yet and has seemed a bit flighty in recent appointments. That being said, Swansea should be a good fit for him.

Does that really make any difference? Big name? no. But I don't want him to go there because I think spurs, with their current players, are set up perfectly for him to play that up tempo style, especially through the midfield and at the front. They may need some different types at CB, but the pace of that team throughout would serve his style well. Squad would be an issue though, as I think the PL season, and its physicality would require more of a rotation, and that's where spurs could suffer, but AVB's style, reputation as an up and coming attacking manager, and the London life would be a draw to continental players.

Pretty much the same for me. I had been living in Europe and was watching loads of English football for years without a team and refused to be a plastic "sky four" supporter. Randy bought Villa and I became one of the lucky ones.

looks great! How many does it hold?

dawgs by nature is great, but for message boards try www.cle.scout.com, aka the Orange and Brown Report. the boards are ok, plenty of good stuff to talk about. usually the first page or two of a topic is good, then it can degenerate into a couple of arguments, but usually there is pretty good, well though posts. The moderators/contributors are excellent as well. and depending on your level of knowledge, the pure football forum is good too.

everytime you post I read it in PL's accent and immediately think it is a quote from him!

has Van Persie always been that dirty a player? I had heard it mentioned before, but hadn't really noticed before Saturday, but Agger and Kjaer were livid about his hands to face every time he has his back to goal. It certainly was intentional. Too bad, for such a great player (though he couldn't score to save his life Saturday).

I agree with you Stan, but I think this is the sort of player that is more the final piece of the puzzle, when you are pushing on to CL positions after you have a core of a squad filled out and can take a bit of a punt on an older player that can play a role. I think for us, we need to identify a core group of players that can be with us for an extended period of time to move us up the table and establish PL's style.

I would hope that we don't sign Holt. He is a fine player, but his age and price, and most likely wages don't equal "value for money". I am sure PL was delighted by his performance last season, but what is the point of moving to a bigger club to just purchase the players you had at the smaller club? He should have a lot more options, options which he didn't at Norwich. Would he have chosen Holt if he had other options? As someone else mentioned, if he got Holt to score 17, imagine how many he can get Bent to score, Bent being one of those better options than he had at Norwich.