The burning question is how short of skillz Mallorca's own current right-back must be if they see Mutton as the solution.

ursus arctos wrote:


Man City have somehow convinced Milan to pay £20 million for the privilege, minimising their financial loss on the non-scoring bampot.

He'll presently bang one in from the edge of the penalty box against somebody like Pescara, and the blogosphere will immediately be full of gimps saying that City committed an appalling mistake in getting shot of him.

This is a rather marvellous Transfer Deadline Day version of 'One Day More' from Les Mis.

I lost it completely when Wenger and 'arry turned up.

Balotelli managed one assist in his career in England. You probably don't need telling which game, do you?

Berlusconi is evidently telling his cronies that he expects the Balotelli signing to add two percentage points to his share of the national vote and ensure a PDL win in Lombardy.

Coutinho confirmed to Anfield.
He's exactly the sort of strong, experienced midfield general we need to run the game from in front of the back four when things get sticky.

What's that you say? He's a young, quick, lightweight forward with questionable decision-making skills? But we've already got <insert list of players here>

AB2 wrote:

I'm amazed they managed to all but cover their losses on him. You have to wonder how much they'd have got if they had flogged him in the summer with his price tag swelled by the hype around his one match extravaganza in the Euro semis.

Well, the papers now say City are getting £17m for him, rising to a possible £19.5m. Still a very good deal for them, of course.

Rarely has there been so much hot air about a player who ultimately contributes so little. It's as if Milan aren't actually aware that the guy has scored once in the league all season.

AB2 wrote:

City seem to be a magnet to such players. Robinho and Nasri immediately spring to mind.

Everton's move for Fer was all fer shit, as Twente don't want to drop the price after the medical showed up a dicky knee. Somebody should mention Stoke and Demba Ba to them.
Norwich seem to have given up trying to haggle the price down on Hooper and are about to take Becchio from Leeds.

The player I picked out for higher things when I saw him play for Northampton Town reserves against Oxford United at Iffley Road nine years ago is currently undergoing a medical at Elland Road.

www.onetouchfootball.com/ubb/ultimatebb....pic;f=1;t=002958;p=1

This feels odd to me at least, but is probably completely normal.

hobbes wrote:


I think we know that Liverpool are a huge success at signing midfielders from Italy. There was a banner about it.

AB2 wrote:


ballotelli had another 2 1/2 years of a £9 million a year contract with city. There;s no fucking way mino left that on the table. How much of that £17 million went to making up the difference between his wages at city and milan?

the three touches for the goal against germany were the best thing in the whole tournament.

the problem is he's bored by the job-like aspects of professional football.

garcia wrote:


He was clean through with nobody near him.

In most of those situations, you aren't even allowed the time and space to take three touches.

Reports that the Milan police have used tear gas to break up a crowd of hundreds of Milanisti who gathered outside the restaurant where Balotelli was having dinner.

QPR are paying Chris Samba 100k a week.

Redknapp a month ago. "“You shouldn’t be paying massive wages when you’ve got a stadium that holds 18,000 people.""

yes!

it's national hammering f5 like a bastard day, the day of spotting messi look-a-likes at east midlands airport, and what appears to be danny simpson looking at soft furnishings in harrods.

anyway, having signed half of france for a handful of magic beans this is the first time in living memory i've gone into deadline day in a reasonably calm state.

looks like danny simpson is on his way out (thank fuck), but aside from that i'm expecting a quiet one. the player on the radar as coming in is kevin mbabu (daily mail link, don't actually click it) a 17 year old centre-half we've had on trial from servette. so not french, but close enough.

harry redknapp remains a vile hypocrite.

Kieron Dyer is apparently going to sign for Middlesbrough. They've already put another bench in the treatment room next to Jonathan Woodgate and hopefully they've left a bit of petty cash aside to buy some bandages, splints, gaffer tape and PVA glue.

I was umpiring a cricket match at Alderley Edge CC last September, when play was interrupted by the sound of an incredibly loud white Bentley that roared up the road alongside the field we were on. It turned right into a huge grey house on a hill that overlooked the field. Everyone was like "Give a rest, Mario, for crying out loud." but I thought I detected some affection in their voices.

After the game I chatted to the members and apparently he regularly popped over the road for a chat, in an eventually doomed attempt to get to grips with the finer points of the game. Everybody who knew him seemed to have a lot of time for him.

I think England is a slightly more boring place this morning.

At least they won't need a third treatment table for Danny Graham. He's moving there for personal reasons. A bizarre move.

Sean of the Shed wrote:


Neil Lennon says Norwich came back with a third bid, also rejected. I wonder if we'll try again today.

Hughton is trying to assemble a whole new attacking set-up. As well as Becchio, we've got one of those MLS loans that were trendy last year. Sporting Kansas City's Kei Kamara has joined us, subject to immigration clearance. The sport presenters on Radios Norfolk and Leeds were discussing the Becchio-Morison swap last night. Asked if he thought Becchio was up to Premier League standard, the Leeds guy said 'no.' But let's see - it's not as though Holt and Morison have been pulling up any trees this season, and Hughton's own signings have generally worked well so far.