The Football Thread 2015/16

[LeFromage]

Well, it's the first day of pre-season down here in the sunny South, so I guess it's officially footballin' time again.

Arsenal finally get around to signing a genuinely top quality goalkeeper, twelve years after David Seaman retired. Petr Cech for £10m is a steal.

[beamer]

Gets underway properly later this week, as West Ham take on the Andorran part-timers... a full 26 days after last season's Champions League final. Lucky there's been the Women's World Cup, Euro U21s and Copa America, and the ongoing MLS season, to fill the void. And if none of those make the back - or front - pages, a FIFA corruption crisis certainly will! I mean, they wouldn't want to offer other sports a gap in the calendar to fill, would they...

[taipan]

Well, it's the first day of pre-season down here in the sunny South, so I guess it's officially footballin' time again.

Arsenal finally get around to signing a genuinely top quality goalkeeper, twelve years after David Seaman retired. Petr Cech for £10m is a steal.

Quality seaman.

Almost an oxymoron.

[LeFromage]

Leicester sack Nigel Pearson. Again.

[beamer]

His position was probably untenable in the long term after what his son got up to when representing the club in the home country of the owners, but still surprising at this stage.

No shortage of candidates - Allardyce, Redknapp, O'Neill, Lambert, Lennon come to mind... in any case though, they've thrown away the momentum they built up with that amazing late season run, and have immediately put themselves in the same position as the promoted sides.

[LeFromage]

Seems as though the board sacking his racist piece of shit son caused a little friction - which should come as no surprise as Pearson senior is mentally unstable at the best of times.

I wonder if any other club will be in a hurry to snap him up. He's a proper weirdo.

[taipan]

England on verge of WC final.

[beamer]

Sepp Blatter not attending, presumably the women refused his demands to wear tighter shorts.

[JGK]

England on verge of WC final.

That poor lass.

[Blackadder]

England on verge of WC final.

That poor lass.

Must have some South African in her blood lines.

[skully]

That's just evil.

[taipan]

TBF England have been choking in World Cups since 1966

[Guest]

Since 1970 surely? Fairly sure we didn't choke in 1966.

[beamer]

Well done to Lucy and the girls on getting Bronze...

Meanwhile, Messi fails again to get an international trophy. It's becoming a real blot on his application form for World's Greatest Player Ever...

[lardbucket]

just the final left, then ... I hope the Japanese girls beat the US.

[DJ_Smerk]

The New Saints to make the Champions League group stage.

What are the odds?

[beamer]

Wales ranked 10th in the world.

[DJ_Smerk]

Raheem Sterling to Man City for 49 million.

[LeFromage]

Raheem Sterling to Man City for 49 million.

Classic Partridge negotiating:

"We want £50 million."

"Will you take... £49 million?"

"Yes."

[DJ_Smerk]

Claudio Ranieri appointed manager of Leicester City.

[Brass Monkey]

Continental!

[DJ_Smerk]

Phil Neville getting into the swing of life in Spain.

[Brass Monkey]

Shittt. Funny as f*ck.

[Lara Lara Laughs]

Sterling signing is cheap in the long run, given his age and potential. Doesn't change the fact that Isco (who is about 12 times better) went for 24m at a similar age.

English prices.

[beamer]

He could be the best English player of his generation, or equally likely they could be trying desperately to offload him to Stoke in two or three years' time. For the best part of £50m you'd expect to be guaranteed the former outcome.

United and Liverpool have done excellent business this summer so far, Arsenal have the keeper they've needed for years, Chelsea only need a few tweaks here and there as they got it so right last summer. City look vulnerable to me, unless they can pull out another genuine blockbuster signing or two.

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