The Beautiful Game

[Blitzballer]

The Transfer Window has just closed and Football clubs are gearing up for the second half of the season with recent acquisitions being brought into the squad for the battle for winning the league, getting into Europe or avoiding relegation.

Talk about Football here. How is your team doing? What players would you like to see join the club in the Summer or leave?

Aston Villa are my team- we brought in John Carew,Ashley Young and Shaun Maloney which isnt bad. Hopefully we can bring in some more quality in the Summer when we qualify for Europe

[Scrutator]

Nice to see you here Blitzballer, Carew has shown potential for you since he won you a league game recently but not sure if Maloney would do as well, fellow ex-Celt Stilian Petrov has struggled in the Premiership so could turn out to be a bad move considering what he left for.

Anyhoo my team, the Mighty Glasgow Rangers lie in second place in the league the now with Celtic ahead by something like 17 points, we're out of both cups with only the UEFA Cup to go for which we won't win either so getting second place and getting into the Champions League is the goal for the season.

Though he won't have the same impact as he did in the 9-in-a-row days it's good to see Walter Smith back after the nightmare that was Paul Le Guen, he's ditched the foreign duds and replaced them with older players like David Weir and gambles like Kevin Thomson but I'm happy we finally some sort of stability.

[Naked Gackt]

Liverpool fan here, well we've managed to get Mascherano but whether we'll actually get to play him this season is another matter. Not sure how he'll turn out for us and how he'll adapt to the Premiership so I'm a bit reserved. I know there's people who say he's struggled in the Premiership but I hardly think it's fair to say that just yet considering how little time he's actually had on a pitch since arriving in this country.

[Scrutator]

At clubs like Liverpool the expectation is higher for new players which is unfair but is expected, Kuyt struggled at first but he's come into his own recently so it's possible it'll happen again. He can't be as bad as Shevchenko anyway.

[Naked Gackt]

True, and even if he is at least he's only a loan deal and not a waste of £30million.

[Blitzballer]

Originally Posted by Scrutator

Nice to see you here Blitzballer, Carew has shown potential for you since he won you a league game recently but not sure if Maloney would do as well, fellow ex-Celt Stilian Petrov has struggled in the Premiership so could turn out to be a bad move considering what he left for.

Anyhoo my team, the Mighty Glasgow Rangers lie in second place in the league the now with Celtic ahead by something like 17 points, we're out of both cups with only the UEFA Cup to go for which we won't win either so getting second place and getting into the Champions League is the goal for the season.

Though he won't have the same impact as he did in the 9-in-a-row days it's good to see Walter Smith back after the nightmare that was Paul Le Guen, he's ditched the foreign duds and replaced them with older players like David Weir and gambles like Kevin Thomson but I'm happy we finally some sort of stability.

Yeah Carew has shown his quality- hopefully he isnt just here for the second half of the season and leaves us for someone bigger in the Summer. From his interviews he wants to do well by Villa, which is refreshing. I hear what you say about Maloney- i regard Petrov as a better quality of player than him, and as you say Petrov has struggled to adapt, but ill give him more time. Ashley Young, for the money we paid for him and his weekly wage, needs to impact big time.

I see youve acquired ne of Villas old players- Ugo Ehiogu. I always liked him, and he wasnt really given a fair crack at Middlesborough. I wish him well up there.

[Scrutator]

The signing of Ehiogu wasn't what I was expecting but as long as he does the job I won't complain, I would imagine that Smith's reasoning was to get players he could trust to get the job done and to remain solid which has worked so far with no goals conceded as of yet but we'll see.

Right now getting a forward that can both work for the team and score goals is a priority since Boyd is at times too lazy for his own good as well as an attacking midfielder since we're lacking there since Ferguson hasn't risen up to his standards from a few years back.

[Blitzballer]

Originally Posted by Yaguchi

Liverpool fan here, well we've managed to get Mascherano but whether we'll actually get to play him this season is another matter. Not sure how he'll turn out for us and how he'll adapt to the Premiership so I'm a bit reserved. I know there's people who say he's struggled in the Premiership but I hardly think it's fair to say that just yet considering how little time he's actually had on a pitch since arriving in this country.

Mascherano will be a great signing for Liverpool- though with Xabi Alonso, Gerrard, he faces competition for a first team place, seeing as how he is a defensive midfielder. West Ham signing both Tevez and Mascherano was probably the most surprising transfers to happen for ages. Mascherano will come into his own at Liverpool with the better quality of players.


Ferguson should never have gone to Blackburn.

[Scrutator]

Originally Posted by Blitzballer

Ferguson should never have gone to Blackburn.

He probably shouldn't have come back after the way he left either.

Noticed that England lost to Spain 1-0 in yesterdays friendly, when will McClaren learn that a Lampard/Gerrard partnership never works?

[Blitzballer]

Originally Posted by Scrutator

He probably shouldn't have come back after the way he left either.

Noticed that England lost to Spain 1-0 in yesterdays friendly, when will McClaren learn that a Lampard/Gerrard partnership never works?

Good point. Ferguson, to be fair, was injured for the most part of his brief stint at Blackburn so he didnt really get a fair chance- though the injuries seem to have made him a shadow of his former self.

Ah you noticed too eh? Havent a clue why McLaren is England Manager anyway. Whats the point of getting rid of Eriksson when you put his assistant in charge?

[Scrutator]

Ferguson did have a string of injuries at Blackburn but he was showing specks of his former self before he came back like he was the second coming of Jesus with stories of how he shouldn't have left and all that, after leaving without anything as much as a goodbye it was a bit rich for him to do that and he's let his ego grown to the point that he undermined the manager which should never happen. Not that I liked PLG but he deserved better than that. Smith and Coisty will sort that out though I sure.

Not that I want England to win but McClaren's rise to the top job was always a bit of a mystery since he's linked with a failed regime and was the second in charge during that era, I think that it was more to do with the players rather than the FA for him getting the job. He's done some good work with giving SWP and Barton chances but when it comes to competitive games it'll most likely be the same old thing.

[Blitzballer]

I see your point on Ferguson- he has always been seen as the central point to Scotland at international level and maybe that has inflated him somewhat.

Talking of Shaun Wright Phillips,i think O Neill wants to bring him to Villa in the Summer for 10 million which would be excellent. He was originally going to go on loan to Villa with Baros going to Chelsea plus them giving Villa cash but it broke down.

[Scrutator]

It's one of those things. especially with the state that Scottish football is in with the lack of great players like Denis Law, Kenny Dalglish and Jim Baxter. He's the best we've got (allegedly) so he's untouchable the now. Ah well.

SWP would be a fantastic signing if you can get him although that price is a bit too high imo, don't know what Villas transfer budget is these days although I'm sure you can afford him anyway. Love wingers and he's one of the best and most exciting talents in the Premiership and getting him would be a massive plus, you could play him on the right and Maloney on the left which could be good to see. Don't know if that'll happen since O'Neill has never struck me as the attacking type but it's an option.

[Blitzballer]

Scotland dont really have that much of a pool of talent to scour and look through, so when someone shows an inkling of promise or talent then as you say they get earmarked for future greatness.

With our new American owner, Randy Learner, Villa now have more weight when it comes for transfer money. We bought Ashley Young for 9 million, Petrov for 6- in the days of Ellis, that sort of money would have been the nett Transfer money over decades.

[Scrutator]

True, McFadden was looked upon as the next big thing and so was Fletcher but I don't think either gets a regular game for their clubs anymore. We've had so many false dawns in the last seven years it's a joke although we've been worse (Berti Vogts) and the position we're in can only get worse since I can't see us beating either France or Italy for that second place.

I would take that you'll be able to afford him then. Takes me back to the days when Rangers could throw away 12 million quid like that on flops like Tore Andre Flo! Big danger with now having money is now other clubs would now want to go for that little bit extra now, no thanks to the Chelsea's and Man United's.

[Blitzballer]

McFadden is doing well for Everton i must admit, though how Fletcher even gets a game for Manchester Utd is beyond me. David Marshall could turn into a solid keeper for a future Scotland team, Kevin McNaughton, Andy Webster, Chris Burke and Steven Thompson are also decent players

Tore Andre Flo has just joined Leeds on a free transfer, though i think hes injured!

[Scrutator]

McFadden and Fletcher I don't doubt can be top players but they can't get sustained runs in their respective teams for injury or the form of other players so can't blame them. Big fan of Webster who I hope we can sign in the summer and Burke is a great wee player and I hope he can concentrate on his game now we've got him on a longterm contract.

We've got other good young players like Scott Brown, Derek Riordan and Steven Naismith but it's always the early potential then they go to the Old Firm or a team down south more for the money than anything and waste away on the bench. It is getting better but we won't make any finals til at least 2010.

Typical with Flo, get him for nothing and he's still a waste of money!

[Blitzballer]

Originally Posted by Scrutator

great wee player

I think i might put this in my sig..

I always feel that Scotland could do so much more but could you say hey are better than the Republic of Ireland or Wales at the moment. McLeish has an uphill struggle, but i think he can do some good things with the players available.

Theres been talk of the Home Nations tournament being resurrected which could be a good thing. Maybe it could be used for younger talent to play in rather than established stars- then again, the fixture list is so congested they may not find time to schedule it in the calender.

Isnt their a rule in the SPL about teams having to have at least 3 or 4 Scottish youngsters in the squad or something? Might be a good thing for some, but it feels forced. Also Chairman and fans want instant success rather than looking at long term- why should clubs care about international team success?

[Scrutator]

Put it in your sig if you so wish. XD

I would rate us better than Wales but I think that Ireland have that edge in terms of class with Keane, McGeady and Duff to call on, would love to have one of them in the Scotland side. I like McLeish from his Rangers days, he's better than most give him credit for when looking at the lack of resourses that prevous managers had so he'll do fine but he still needs that bit of luck.

The Home Nations tournament would be great since unlike most friendlies the rivalry between the countries alone would guarantee that the players would make a game of it although club managers could be frightened of that prospect. There is some sort of rule that they've said about having so many Scots although I'm not sure if that's in effect right now, it should be good for the national side but the price for good Scottish, or British as a whole, players are higher than those abroad some chairmen will have issues with this if there is a cheaper option available.

[I AM THE CAPS MONSTER]

Bleh, i hate football and i say good!