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Football Discussion

Great transfer window for us so far, just got to hope that Kramaric gets his work permit. I'd imagine we want at least another two players, maybe three!

:)

Who else have you got in? We know they can be fussy with these permits.
 
Meanwhile Norwich have signed Hamilton Academic's player/manager Alex Neil as our new manager.
 
Who else have you got in? We know they can be fussy with these permits.
Mark Schwarzer who should provide a wealth of experience.

Looking at who has got permits in the past, he should get one. If it were Chelsea who were signing him he would certain;t get it. We are Leicester though so who knows.

:)
 
Mark Schwarzer who should provide a wealth of experience.

Looking at who has got permits in the past, he should get one. If it were Chelsea who were signing him he would certain;t get it. We are Leicester though so who knows.

:)

Oh yes! Seems a good guy I used to chat to him quite a lot on social media, he was not your typical "bantz" footballer. Came across as very genuine, intelligent and grounded. He was at Fulham at the time, you forgot you were talking to a prem footballer. There would quite often be a few of us that ended up just having a good chat about the matches with him, just like you would with your mates. Top bloke, great respect for him and a cracking keeper, just hope he's still got it.

Exactly what you need!
 
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Double Post:

Cardiff return to Blue. Vincent Tan speaks of his mothers Buddhist influence in "togetherness, unity and happiness" and paraphrases JFK

"Let us never compromise out of fear. But let us never fear to compromise."

Quite the speech for a kit change!

Wont do revenues much harm either no doubt :D

Fair play though, away kit red, home kit blue - crest returning as a compromise next season, let's not forget the guy was lambasted for Malkay's sacking but behind the scenes it appears there was more going on, just look at what happened at Palace after as well. He's invested a lot into the club, maybe the guy isn't quite as crackers as the press made him out to be.

Also @Rob, I forgot we're playing you tomorrow, if possible could we stick to football and not rugby, I'd like us to have some players still standing at the end of the match!

:D
 
LAMPARD UPDATE:

"...But New York City have now confirmed that Lampard only signed a "commitment" to his "intention" to play for the MLS franchise with the two clubs' parent company, City Football Group.


New York admitted the unveiling of Lampard as their contracted player last year was "a genuine error which throws everything into confusion (for media and fans). It wasn't a contract. It's an agreement with City Football Group with (his) intention to play for NYCFC." "

From Skysports, gets interesting that doesn't it!

This headline from Sky almost made me chuckle:

"Van Gaal eyes world domination"

 
Rumours and links persist with Messi to Chelsea, including both being linked to Turkish Airlines and Adidas. Messi? In the prem? Would he make it or be another Sheva? Could he cope with the physicality? Who in their right minds wouldn't want to find out? Let's hope he comes and tries his hand in the prem.

4 time world played of the year, 23 goals this season already (more in all competitions than any Chelsea player), no major injury history, one of the greatest players of all time, at a club where a similar style of player has succeeded before.

I think it's laughable that anyone could even begin to question whether Lionel Messi would be a success in the Premier League.
 
Show me a world cup he's mirrored his form in.

And the relevance of that is? His goalscoring record for Argentina, not always playing as a forward and in periods blighted by poor managerial control and fairly average squads is one every two games. Significantly better, incidentally, than Ronaldo's.
 
And the relevance of that is? His goalscoring record for Argentina, not always playing as a forward and in periods blighted by poor managerial control and fairly average squads is one every two games. Significantly better, incidentally, than Ronaldo's.

Yes but look at Ronaldo's physique, he's an absolute monster.

You'll also notice I only asked a question which quite a few other commentators have asked which is WOULD he be suited to the Premiership. I didn't say he wouldn't, and I also said who in their right minds wouldn't want to find out.

Remember. Ronaldo cost 80 million ish to RM.

The contract talk for Messi is 650 MILLION odd. Read Guillem's comments on him, it has to be in terms of THAT value, you have to perform to justify that to your maximum near every game.

Could he do that? Because that's about 2/3rd of a BILLION pound gamble.
 
4 time world played of the year, 23 goals this season already (more in all competitions than any Chelsea player), no major injury history, one of the greatest players of all time, at a club where a similar style of player has succeeded before.

I think it's laughable that anyone could even begin to question whether Lionel Messi would be a success in the Premier League.

He may well be able to cut it in the Premier League generally. But would he cut it on a cold wet and windy night in Stoke? It's the question the whole world is asking!

:p
 
He may well be able to cut it in the Premier League generally. But would he cut it on a cold wet and windy night in Stoke? It's the question the whole world is asking!

:p

It's true though lol!

Can you imagine Lionel in that wind tunnel of a ground in the middle of December with tackles flying in everywhere lol!

Or now maybe down at the Hawthornes lol, or Burnley :D

Come on, you have to admit the prospect is amusing.
 
As I'm a United fan, it probably seems biased why I consider Ronaldo a greater player than Messi, however the main reason is simply because Ronaldo has done it in the Premier league (when it probably was the best league in the world) and La Liga consistently since his move. If you look at Ronaldo's physique, he is a machine.

Messi has only performed in La Liga, admittedly incredibly, but it's a less physical and more technical league. The Premier League is becoming more technical, but there are teams which still resort to simple route 1 or physical tactics. Could Messi handle that? Sure there are already smaller, technical players proving themselves in the EPL (Silva, Hazard, Alexis) but some struggle with it, Kagawa springs to mind (not comparing him to anyone, but he was so good for Dortmund).

I'd love to see Messi come over and we could all finally find out if he can do it on a cold, wet and windy night at Stoke. I don't think it will ever happen though, even if City or Chelsea could afford him, there's no way they can get around FFP unless they secure some huge sponsorship deals.

----

I'm dreading when we eventually sell De Gea to Madrid. I really hope we can hold onto him for as long as possible, he's developed so much from the young keeper who was getting bullied in the box every week in his first season.
 
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I was just reading about the FFP @Danza91 apparently only Real and Man U could afford him outright and it would still be iffy then. I agree entirely about Ronaldo. He's a magnificent athlete. It could be argued that the Prem helped him with that.

It's also fair to say I think that the Prem was a harder league then.

Also you mention Alexis, he's a tough b'stard! Silva is a pretty tough looking fella, though perhaps the best example of a pro-Messi point, and Hazard is another tough player.

Perhaps now more than before he could adapt, you do see technically exemplary players like Silva/Aguero make it over here, but could it also be argued that perhaps in global competition they've also shone more than Messi?

Sanchez didn't make it in Spain - but yet he absolutely excels here, what a phenomenal talent he is, Suarez was exceptional here, but he seems to be struggling (early days though) in Barca - there has to be a difference in the leagues styles games and ultimately how players adapt to it.

I referenced him before, and I will again, Shevchenko - he was an absolute goal machine, but couldn't do it for Chelsea. HE was a classy player, let's not pretend he was some has been, he was one of the best strikers to grace the game. Even Forlan, he's another one, Fergie etc, even Scholes lately came out to exclaim what an exceptional talent he was but it was a mystery why he just couldn't do it at Man U. Although he considers his start to be of vital importance, and that sometimes a player just cannot get over a bad start. Torres Chelsea anyone?

The past is littered with truly exceptional players moving clubs and just being unable to inexplicably replicate their form and what everyone knows they can do.

These are humans, people forget that sometimes, they're not robots no matter how much clubs pay for them - and to move clubs with a price tag creeping toward a BILLION pounds eventually is going to have some kind of effect on the player, good or bad.

It's not as a simple as, he's great, he'll be fine. But goodness me who here wouldn't like to find out?! One of those times I find myself frustrated at FFP, I'd have loved City to go and spend some ridiculous sum to get Messi here lol!
 
I totally disagree with the idea that Messi would struggle in England. In Spain you get most of the teams towards the bottom end of the league having atleast a couple players marking him who rarely hesitate to get rough, plus in the prem there's only a handful of teams like Stoke or West Ham that are really the sort of team that still plays more physically than technically.

No question that Messi in the 70's playing in England would have been absolutely slaughtered every week, but nowadays the level of physicality in the prem really isn't much different from other top european leagues. It's just something the tabloids like to go on about because decent analysis and content is pretty rare from them nowadays.

Messi would tear the prem apart if he played here.
 
Also @Rob, I forgot we're playing you tomorrow, if possible could we stick to football and not rugby, I'd like us to have some players still standing at the end of the match!

:D

Hello!! :D

Sticking to football was fine as we're better at it than you! :p
 
Well, the end to your game was rather bad-tempered - let's be honest...

That's what I mean, both were really bad tempered!

To my knowledge there isn't a particular history of this between the two sides, probably the two most bad tempered games in the prem so far this season!

Us Vs Tottenham got tasty as well.

I have to say, it's not a side to my team I appreciate. Teams seem to find us easy to wind up. That's not the Villa way. What's going on in our club? I mean Stoke used to put it about, but that was competitive, this isn't, it's as if these teams know something about our team.

As a Villa fan with a sense of realism as to where we are and why right now, I find it very strange.

And Lambert, he never moved, we were all over the place at times and he just sits there makes a few notes. Pearson was on that touchline, and obviously knew he could rattle our bench, you get Pulis on the touchline for the FA Cup, Pardew today at Crystal Palace.

GIVE THE LADS SOME INSTRUCTIONS!
 
I don't know, you seem to have a few dirty players. Clark, who I think is a decent defender, should have seen a straight red for his elbow on James. That's what causes the subsequent scenes. He also should have got two yellows when he got one; chopped down James in the middle of the park then as the ref plays advantage he runs back and kicks Knockaert over off the ball (alas I don't think you can get a second yellow if you've not yet been booked for the first). Hutton is pure scum as well!

It's not just your players though. Sounds like a lot of Villa fans came to Leicester with the intention of causing trouble. A fight broke out in a city centre pub at 3.30pm and Villa fans were arrested. I have also heard reports of Villa fans waiting outside our family stand after the match looking for a fight. There was a lot of police movement after the game. Anyone would have thought Leeds or Millwall had come to town! We never get any trouble these days, a shame these so called "fans" exist.

:)
 
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