No he never. He left to better himself as a footballer. Playing for a team who are regularly in the Champions League and challenging for honours helps that. Funny how he is right back in the England team now too. Would he get a game for them playing in the 1st division?

And even if he did leave a club he loved when they went down, how does that make him a hypocrite? The guy said he was leaving if they went down. They went down and he left. How does living up to your word make you a hypocrite? I guess he was a hypocrite when he refused his £500,000 signing on fee Leeds owed him and he was perfectly entitiled to just to help their financial troubles.

How about the fact that he was asked on Soccer AM once 'Which club would you never play for?' and Smith's answer was Man Utd!!!

Well that's a valid reason. People are entilted to change their minds though.

Lescott will probably (hopefully) play but I dunno about Murray...I'd say Jones and Oakes were ahead of him right now just on fitness, I really don't know who our definitive first choice keeper is right now.

Naylor might also be fit (although I hope not cause I'd rather have Rob Edwards there) and Sturridge should be fit, though Leon Clarke might keep his place (tbh I think he should, he's done very well considering he hadn't played a senior game before this season).

Carl Cort is nearly back but without match practice he can't play :(

Actually Leeds said Smith would be sold whether they stayed up or not. Smith said he would only leave if the club went down.

I have no problem with players leaving for the money but don't talk about how much you love the fans and club if you are going to take the biggest paycheck on offer.

Valencia have won the Super Cup

Remember that time Alan Shearer turned down United to play for the club he loved too?

oh yeah. ahahaha.

Looks like Kluivert took the same path too :love:

Kluivert turned us down in 1998 for Barcelona. We bidded £9 million and he said he wanted to fight for his spot at AC Milan. A week later, he left for £8 million. By Christmas, Man United has knocked Barcelona out the Champions League on the way to winning the treble. :love: :love: :love:

Yeah except you can see the difference in quality. Henry was quality at Monaco, Anelka at Arsenal and Saha at Fulham. Bellion was a piece of shit at Sunderland.

Bellion isn't deserving of licking the shit off Henry's boots.

Yeah what he said ^^^

Everyone knew he was going to leave.

Saying you would never join your arch rivals and then engineer that you do as soon as the club goes down makes you a hypocrite.

Holy shit at Man U.

Good Assist there Louis with your hand.

Remember those times you signed Robben and Ronaldinho??

:cry:

At the end of all that fair play to Ferguson to say the goal shouldn't have stood :y:

*grudgingly*

Apparently Wolves are about to sign Ibrahima Babayoko and WBA have agreed a fee for Robert Earnshaw.

Apparently Lee Hughes got stabbed in prison because inmates were pissed off at how he supposedly got better treatment

:lol:

Yeah I heard that on the local radio...first this South Korean striker now Bakayoko, I dunno wtf Dave Jones is doing when we desperately need strengthening at the back. Fortunately Jo Lescott from listening to the commentary is back to his awesome best :love: but we need more than that, since Craddock is shit.

Bakayoko = Champo legend.

Poor Mackem.

Mind you I'm not sure about Ramalho's injury.


Arca's sting in the tale

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...56_arca270.jpg

Arca joins a long and strange list


Sunderland defender Julio Arca has entered the pantheon of bizarre footballing injuries after a jellyfish stung him on the chest.

The Argentine was concluding a training session on the beach with a swim in the North Sea when he sustained the injury.

Arca suffered an allergic reaction and was admitted to hospital after initial treatment at the club training ground.

Speculation is rife as to the type of Jellyfish, with a Portuguese man-of-war among the favourites.

Sunderland club doctor David Gough said: "It's difficult to say what type of jellyfish it was.

"The fact that he has had such a reaction makes you think it was not the standard type found off the English coast.

"Occasionally you get Portuguese man-of-war jellyfish in these waters; and with the turbulent tides seen in recent weeks that is possible.

"Either way the treatment is the same and he'll be fine. The only difference is that if it was a man-of-war he might expect pain for 24 hours and a rash for up to a month."

Gough added on the club's official website: "We don't know if he'll be fit for Saturday, we'll be in a better position to say on Thursday."

The incident happened off Seaburn beach in Sunderland and manager Mick McCarthy admitted: "You certainly can't plan for this."

But Arca is far from the first footballer to by hit by a strange injury.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...llyfish203.jpg
Watch out - these fellas bite

Spain goalkeeper Santiago Canizares missed the World Cup in 2002 after dropping a bottle of aftershave on his foot.

Likewise goalkeeper Dave Beasant, who damaged ligaments in his foot after knocking over a bottle of salad cream.

Chelsea keeper Carlo Cudicini injured himself reaching for the remote control and Rio Ferdinand injured himself simply by relaxing with his feet on a coffee table.

But one of the most remarkable must surely have afflicted Brazilian star Ramalho, who was in bed for three days after swallowing a suppository intended to treat a dental infection.

The ref for the Newcastle game is full of shit. So is O'leary. Yellow card my arse. Seriously how can the ref even argue that is beyond me.

Having said that we are shit - but totally different story if the rules are applied.

LOL at the Man U added time controversy.

If you think you Man U fans have it rough off the FA and the rules etc why don't you check that out.

That's pure bullsh</>it. There was no proof of Ferguson telling anyone to change the time. And even if he did, it's the officials fault for doing it and should be punished for it.

Sorensen should have gone in the Newcastle game. I'm glad he didn't though since he is my fantasy football goalie.

How often are penalties for the opposition given at Old Trafford?

Just had that discussion a few weeks back dude.

And?

United have 14 mean on the pitch at all times.

Does anybody else think that Match of the Day is absolute shite??? It never used to be this bad

Would you concede it was handball by Saha though?

Hell yeah. So did Ferguson.

Yes it did.

Rob why are you a Man U fan again?

Didn't support and English team at primary school. Saw United get whooped 5-1 from City and felt sorry for them so picked them. Still go to QPR games though.

yeh it was, the only good thing is there are no adverts!

same old same old tho, always the 'bigger teams' getting on first so the real fans have to wait til 5 to 12 for 1 clip of a goal for their team going in! :mad:

So because we support the big teams, that means we aren't real fans?

There is a reason why the bigger teams are on first. More people want to see them. Why do you think Arsenal, Chelsea, Man U and Liverpool are on Sky Sports every week?

God damn blind linesman. How the fuck was Luis Garcia Enrique Iglesias offside!!!!!!!!!!

Where's Ant?

4-2, LOL

whenever a stone wall foul against the opposition is committed in the box. It's not thier fault that hasn't happened much:lol:

Bobby Robson is officially out of a job :-\

:eek:

Alan Shearer is going to struggle hard as Newcastle manager (because you know he is being groomed for the spot) and it's going to be hilarious watching it.

Nah, I doubt he'll be the new manager, Newcastle are stupid. But they aren't THAT stupid. But you're right, if he was named the new manager, it would be hilarious.

So who do people think will be the next Newcastle manager?

Houllier or Shearer. They'll try to get Steve Bruce but he won't go.

<font color=white>Back into that 'shit manager' stage for Newcastle again then</font>

:wtf:

The way Freddy Sheppard has treated Bobby Robson is a disgrace. If it wasn't for him, Newcastle would probably be in the Championship by now rotting away. Robson saved them when they were truely fucked and turned them into one of the best teams in the country.

Remember Lombardo as Palace boss?

Today Everton apparently had a clear cut penalty appeal turned down.

Also Houllier has been reported to be lined up to replace Robson until the end of the season with Shearer as his number two, and then Shearer will take over full time after this season. Mind you, thats just a rumour.

Pompey :love:

Bobby was treated like shit and I think we should have given him more time even though its been like absolutely diabolical really. I have no idea who I want in but I know I don't want Venables and I don't want Shearer. No one really springs to mind. Bruce I would be happy with but I doubt that will happen.

Its a sad day.

Oh and btw Pompey fans = best everrrrrrrrrrr.

Excellent game between Pompey and Fulham

Poor Newcastle...

Bruce apparently can't leave for less than £5m that the Birmingham board put in as a clause in his contract or something.

I think they might try and go foreign again.

that wasnt ment as a dig at the fans, more at the t.v stations for not putting across fair coverage of all teams, when the other teams do get on t.v it is usually either a darby game or against one of the teams you mentioned

lol, he nearly missed as well

I'm prepared to give Micky Adams 2 or 3 more games, which is 2 or 3 more than most fans.That was complete shit yesterday.

I feel sorry for Sir Bobby but with Arsenal looking quality and Chelsea winning you can't afford to fall too far behind.

Pompey/Fulham was class, got Yak in my team too :love:

Man U and Everton pretty much agree a fee and Rooney has had a medical and personnal terms are practically done.

Everton bid for Benni McCarthy

Inamoto has gone to West Brom, not bad business really as they'll only pay the £200,000 fee if he's fit before January 1st.

Apparently, Sir Clive Woodward might become a football manager. He's supposedly keen on the idea, and the F.A. might possibly fast-track him so that he becomes the England manager after the 2006 World Cup finals. Southampton are rumoured to be interested in him

Woodward should come to Leicester, seeing as he played for the Tigers :o

Not too many moves completed today, i didn't see a couple from yesterday mentioned though so: Pompey signed Diomansary Kamara from Modena for £2m, Callum Davenport went to Spurs for £3m i think, same fee West Brom paid for Earnshaw.

Pompey signed some midfielder called Valery today, so no more messages about us having Nalis and his girls name please RBF :'(

Porto are signing Luis Fabiano, apparently. Crazy.

I guess Tevezs' move to PSV will be off after his performances at the Olympics, he'll probably go to a bigger side.Would have been a bargain at £7m had it gone through.

Never heard about that one. I knew Bayern had a bid rejected, and Spurs were supposedly making one.

Dave Jones took some flak on the local phoneins on Saturday night and rightly so. Lescott and Murray are by far and away the best defender/keeper we have, everyone else is f</>ucking useless, goddamn Sunderland rejects :foc: Oh, except for Oakesie, he's decent.

Oh, and don't feel bad Wengerland, you were lucky to get away with a point against us :rant: And Brighton winning also netted me £25 :love:

lol :)

But they did so well in the last Sunderland Premiership team.

Right Mackem??

Isn't Valery a master laeague player on PES? :D

That's a steal

huzzah, finally signed rooney.

From what i heard we should have killed you off by half time, scored about 3 by the break i mean and then you wouldn't have come back... :'(. 2 goals disallowed and Nalis hit the bar too though :foc:

Jordan Stewart took a lot of flack in the East Midlands phone ins, mainly because of his set piece deliveries.Dublin was terrible too though.

We've got a run of 6 games now which i think we should be taking near enough maximum points from and after that its Coventry away and they're not unbeatable.

Bit of Italian news, Cannavaro's gone to Juventus for £7m plus Carini, who Juve never play.They're also close to signing Ibrahimovic from Ajax, so two pretty good moves.

Rudi Voller's taken over at Roma too.

Contra went to WBA too. Another good signing. They look real strong now for the relagation fight.

Diego Forlan scored last night! :love:

Porto have signed Luis Fabiano from Sao Paulo.

So, Rooney to United.

They don't need the fat bastard, but hey, what the hell, I think it'll be great when Everton fall apart, and United realise that maybe he ain't as he good as he's made out to be.

you would, you fake skaus cu</>nt

Rooney is as good as he is made out to be. That much is true.

Firstly, I thought under new rules the maximum length of a contract was five years not six, not that it really matters.

Secondly, :eek: at Porto getting Fabiano, he really is the man and if he continues playing the way he has for club and country there is no way he wont move on to better things. anyone whose watched Brazil's matches in the last few months will tell you how good he is. Good move Porto :y:

Yeah I heard nothing about Tevez's move, but he is another class act who has proven not just for his club but for his country that he is the man.

From what I heard we tore you to shreds 2nd half and should've had 4 or 5 :foc:

We've got Wigan next :'(

Am I the only one who thinks Deco is overrated? I just remembered from watching Barca on Sunday he seemed pretty lightweight and didn't deliver much...maybe I'm having a bad memory day though.

Barca looked very strong though, Eto'O, Giuly, Larsson (even though he looked a yard off the pace), Motta, plus Puyol at the back...they're gonna go close.

Real looked a bit average :-\ Although Beckham when he got the ball looked pretty impressive...he even ran past some players :eek: Owen looked sharp as well, got caught out by a shitty pitch though :o

I think Deco is useless personally.

Deco is wank, yes.

Palace have signed Nicola Ventola and Gonzalo Sorondo from Internazionale.

Was Ronaldinho playing? If not, why not :'(

I think Real will seem better when Woodgate and Samuel are back in, Owen had a few chances and Zidane should have scored too, so they're not looking too bad in that area, considering the pitch was crap.

That's another point actually, Newcastle haven't signed anyone to replace Woodgate :o

Jay Bothroyd has gone to Blackburn on a years loan from Perugia.

Dwight Yorke is talking to Celtic and Birmingham

:shifty:

Yes, please feel free to buy more of our players Wolves

:shifty:

Got beat again :'(

I *think* he had a minor injury. Can't remember exactly but they definitely made mention of a reason why he wasn't playing, he wasn't dropped or anything :$

I'll be interested to see Bothroyd since he was meant to be hot shit when Perugia signed him from Coventry a few years ago. Haven't really heard anything of him since :-\

Rooney was about £22 million too much.

Yorke chooses Birmingham over Celtic

Newcastle are kind of screwed now aren't they. No manager and they have no replacement for their best defender.

Deco is a good player, Wayne Rooney will be worth the money and Jay Bothroyd is shit.

Bothroyd has apparently done well for perugia, by this i think he made the bench on the odd occasion.

so what are man u going to do now, with ruud van nis, ole, smith, saha & rooney ?

we all know that ole gunner prob wont recover from his knee injury (which is a shame as is a good player). so this leaves ruud,smith, rooney & saha.

saha will be the new whipping boy (as in easy one to drop) so either man u will play with 3 up top or will make one of them into a midfielder in my opinion. i think he will groom smith to replace roy keane and go with rooney & ruud . if not i think he will play rooney just behind smith and ruud.

what do you guys think will happen?

Boothroyd was meant to be a sensation for Perugia after scoring quite a few goals but as MMM said haven't heard anything since.

I can't really see much changing, i can't see any of Giggs,Ronaldo,Keane and Scholes missing out when they're all fit so it's if Sir Alex goes to 3 at the back of Silvestre/Heinze, Ferdinand and Gary Neville to allow for 3 forwards.Solksjaer's season is already over anyway and i think he'll be used as back up for right midfield when he's fit, he did enough there when Beckham was having problems with Ferguson.

They had a similiar problem with Cole,Yorke,Sheringham and Solksjaer when they were in form about 5 years back and did the same, rotating every so often.

post 1000