Jump to content

Wednesday's football gossip


Craig
 Share

Recommended Posts

Getting close to the opening of the transfer window so time for these threads to start re-appearing...

 

TRANSFER RUMOURS

 

West Ham will test Liverpool with a £6m bid for Wales striker Craig Bellamy. (Daily Express)

 

Chelsea are ready to end their search for a right-back by tabling a £10m bid for Sevilla's Brazilian Daniel Alves. (Daily Mirror)

 

Chris Perry is heading for the exit at West Brom after a bust-up with boss Tony Mowbray. (Daily Star)

 

Bolton's Ivan Campo is a transfer target for Athletic Bilbao. (Various)

 

Liverpool will not come close to Chelsea's level of spending despite a proposed £450m takeover of the club. (The Times)

 

 

OTHER GOSSIP

 

David Beckham may struggle to get in the Real Madrid team but he is still the highest earning footballer in British football. Beckham has amassed a personal fortune of £87m, with the next highest Michael Owen on £32m. Robbie Fowler and Sol Campbell come next. (Various)

 

The same poll, from FourFourTwo magazine, says Roman Abramovich is comfortably the richest investor in British football. His personal fortune is £10.8bn, ahead of Joe Lewis at Tottenham (£2.1bn) and Dermot Desmond at Celtic (£1.25bn).

 

Sven-Goran Eriksson has been offered £5m a year to manage CSKA Sofia. (Daily Express)

 

Iain Dowie is top of Hull's wanted list to replace sacked manager Phil Parkinson. (Various)

 

 

AND FINALLY...

 

Micah Richards almost missed out on his first England cap - by putting the phone down on Steve McClaren. "I'm just so glad he called back," said Richards. (The Sun)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They only allow Basque players to play for them, don't they?

From the Wiki:

The club is known for its cantera policy of bringing young local players through the ranks. This has gained Athletic both admirers and critics. The club has been praised for promoting home grown players and club loyalty. Critics however see the cantera policy as exclusivist and cite the cases of Jesus María Pereda, Miguel Jones and Benjamín. Basques, however, do not see it as a no-foreigners policy but as a pro-Basque policy and argue that the recruitment of Biurrun and Bixente Lizarazu are evidence that the club is far from xenophobic. They also cite the club's British origins, the use of Athletic in their name and the regular employment of foreign coaches as further proof that the club is far from parochial.

Sounds like a Basque version of "Geordie nation" :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just because Lizarazu was born in France doesn't alter the fact he is Basque though.

 

Excactly, a small part of the Basque country is on French territory. Lizarazu faced some ETA death threads a couple of years ago, because of his commitment to the French national team.

 

Regarding Campo: I was just surprised as his name didn't sound very Basque to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They only allow Basque players to play for them, don't they?

From the Wiki:

The club is known for its cantera policy of bringing young local players through the ranks. This has gained Athletic both admirers and critics. The club has been praised for promoting home grown players and club loyalty. Critics however see the cantera policy as exclusivist and cite the cases of Jesus María Pereda, Miguel Jones and Benjamín. Basques, however, do not see it as a no-foreigners policy but as a pro-Basque policy and argue that the recruitment of Biurrun and Bixente Lizarazu are evidence that the club is far from xenophobic. They also cite the club's British origins, the use of Athletic in their name and the regular employment of foreign coaches as further proof that the club is far from parochial.

Sounds like a Basque version of "Geordie nation" :lol:

 

I really hope Shepherd doesn't read that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just because Lizarazu was born in France doesn't alter the fact he is Basque though.

 

Excactly, a small part of the Basque country is on French territory. Lizarazu faced some ETA death threads a couple of years ago, because of his commitment to the French national team.

 

Regarding Campo: I was just surprised as his name didn't sound very Basque to me.

 

Wasn't Ginola Basque French?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just because Lizarazu was born in France doesn't alter the fact he is Basque though.

 

Excactly, a small part of the Basque country is on French territory. Lizarazu faced some ETA death threads a couple of years ago, because of his commitment to the French national team.

 

Regarding Campo: I was just surprised as his name didn't sound very Basque to me.

 

Wasn't Ginola Basque French?

I think he's from the Southern (Mediterranean) Coast as I think a move 'back home' to Marseilles was mooted at one point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.