TAFKA Castroneves

Poor Spurs, but they should have taken their chances in all honesty. You can't get through like that twice at old Trafford and miss them both. Nani amazing strike.

Schwimmer also directed Big Nothing with Simon Pegg in, it was alright - Pegg pulled of an American accent pretty well. It's worth checking out but does feel a bit of a clusterfuck, this sounds better.

He was a very talented player, one for the future without a doubt and this is absolutly tragic. Taken far too early although I do wonder what the ins and outs of what happened are. RIP Ray

Woooooooooo! We dicked Watford, should have been six or seven but i'll take 4-1.

Funny you said that, apparently they weren't in stock anyways. Just getting re-stocked today after being out of short sleeved ones for nearly two weeks. Jesus Christ.

I can't wait to see this, i've spent all morning just watching the trailers on youtube.

Well pissed off, just tried to order my new Leicester shirt off the club shop. Went through everything I wanted and they don't accept Visa Electron. Fuckers the lot of them, i'll have to wait longer now to reveal my amazing Topps Tiles shirt to everyone

Wooo, just got perhaps my greatest ever FM win. I'm playing as MK Dons in League 2, currently top of the League and end up being drawn home against Manchester United in the FA Cup. That game comes, we go 1-0 down but fight back to finish 1-1. That's not the greatest win though, because I then won the replay 3-1 at Old Trafford. I even told the boys I expected them to win pre-match. Izale McLeod scored after three minutes, we kept them at bay till just after half time when Evra fired one in off the keeper to make it 1-1. Then with ten minutes left Owen Price (my signing from GIF Sundvill or whatever they're called) got played through and rattled one past Van Der Sar into the top corner for 2-1. In the 87th minute Van Der Sar tried to make amends by coming up for a corner with his Man Utd team-mates. Bad idea, the ball popped out to McLeod who nailed it in off the post from the half way line. I don't think i've celebrated so much in ages, probably since I got promoted to the Prem with Forest by beating Derby in the Playoff final.

Here's my current Don's team anyway. Just got promoted to League 1 with 100 points

(4-4-2):

1. Neil Cutler (Free Transfer)

2. Gareth Edds

3. Andrew Nicholas (£23k from Swindon)

6. Will Antwi - (£7k from Wycombe)

15. Chris Willmott - (£20k from Oxford United)

8. Jon Paul McGovern

18. Lloyd Dyer

12. Colin Cameron

14. Dominic Blizzard

9. Owen Price (£95k from GIF)

10. Izale McLeod

Sorry I was really busy last week. Here's mine for this week however...

Week Three Predictions:

The Coca-Cola Football League Championship

Barnsley 1 v 2 Plymouth

Bristol City 2 v 1 Scunthorpe

Burnley 2 v 2 QPR

Cardiff 0 v 0 Coventry

Charlton 3 v 0 Sheff Wed

Hull 3 v 1 Norwich

Ipswich 3 v 1 Crystal Palace

Leicester 2 v 1 Watford

Preston 1 v 1 Colchester

Sheff Utd 1 v 2 West Brom

Southampton 2 v 0 Stoke

Wolverhampton 2 v 0 Blackpool

Coca-Cola Football League One

Cheltenham 1 v 2 Swindon

Crewe 2 v 1 Leyton Orient

Doncaster 3 v 0 Bournemouth

Huddersfield 1 v 1 Carlisle

Luton 4 v 0 Gillingham

Northampton 1 v 1 Yeovil

Nottm Forest 0 v 1 Leeds

Oldham 2 v 2 Bristol Rovers

Port Vale 0 v 2 Hartlepool

Southend 1 v 1 Millwall

Tranmere 2 v 1 Brighton

Walsall 2 v 2 Swansea

Coca-Cola Football League Two

Bradford 3 v 1 Wrexham

Brentford 2 v 0 Barnet

Chester 2 v 0 Dag & Red

Darlington 1 v 2 Notts County

Grimsby 2 v 2 Macclesfield

Hereford 3 v 1 Rochdale

Lincoln City 2 v 0 Accrington Stanley

Milton Keynes Dons 1 v 2 Shrewsbury

Morecambe 1 v 0 Mansfield

Peterborough 2 v 1 Chesterfield

Stockport 0 v 0 Rotherham

Wycombe 2 v 1 Bury

The Simpsons - 6.5/10

Meh, well I did enjoy parts of it. I personally felt the storyline was pretty weak in some areas and strong in others - the comedy was great in some areas and poor in others. The whole film is just so hit and miss that I found it hard to keep my interest. I probably will watch it again when someone buys it however just to give it another chance.

Transformers - 8/10

Now, Transformers was completly different for me than the Simpsons. While being at quite a length and sometimes quite difficult to keep up (the CGI battles especially) it was very funny and well put together. It was pretty predictable in areas but I just loved how cheesy it all was, I think it was definatly the best approach than a completly serious film. Shia LeBouf also did a very good job in his role, he can pull off those sort of performances consistantly and it was just what the film needed for that character.

Wasn't worth the fucking wait. Loosing at home to Blackpool, for fucks sake.

I cannot give enough man love to Skindred and I checked their myspace today to find that they have put-up their next single off their new album "RootsRockRiot". It's called Rat Race and for all you 'Dred fans I don't think it dissapoints, the more you listen to it - the more infectous the song becomes. I'm surprised because im not usually a massive fan of Skindred's lighter songs, but this one really blows me away. Check it out at:

www.myspace.com/skindred

Now all I want is the album

Well I finished my first season as Valencia. Ended up being pretty dissapointing after all the promise the season had, but thats FM for you. Breezed past Porto in the first knock out round of the Champions League, but then drew Man Utd in the quarters. I lost away 4-0 in the first leg and only managed to win 2-1 at home so that was the end of Europe for me. The La Liga title also slipped away with a couple of away draws, ultimatly I had to beat Barca at the Nou Camp to get back on top with three games left, I didn't and even lost second to Real Madrid on the last day of the season by one point.

With that however came the Summer and some new signings:

Jonathan Woodgate - Free Transfer from Real

Sebastian Viera - £3.4 million from Villarreal

Juan Roman Riquelme - £6 million from Villarreal

Yildern Basturk - Free Transfer from some German Side

Carlos Tevez - £27.5 million from West Ham

Funnily enough I ended up strengthening my attack much more than my defense, but Woodgate has done a solid job so far in the central position. Tevez is my top scorer as I come towards the end of September, he's got six goals in nine games. I seem to be scoring less this season but after nine games in all competitions I am still undefeated - even though drawing with Tenerife away 0-0 feels like a loss.

Champions League is going incredibly well so far though to make up for that. I beat Shakter 5-0 on aggregate to make the group stages where I was drawn with AC Milan, Hamburg and Hadjuk Split. I managed to cause a major upset by beating Milan 1-0 away with five first team players on international duty. Riquelme had to play upfront and managed to grab the only goal of the game. Since then i've beaten everyone else with half the group games gone, 9 from 9 lovely stuff.

Currently second in the league due to being undefeated, but in two games time i'll have to return to the Nou Camp again to face Barca in a huge game. Hopefully my team can pull itself up for a big win there, and here is my team now:

1. Canizares - GK

2. Rafinhia - RB

3. Del Horno - LB

5. Woodgate - CB

6. Raul Abidal - CB

18. Nani - RM

19. Vicente - LM

8. Baraja - CM

16. Riquelme - CM

11. Tevez - CF

14. Pizzaro - CF

Oh yeah, Nani is down the right because Joaquin is out for 8 Months after fucking himself in a pre season match.

I just started a game as Valencia, and i'm not doing too badly as we enter mid-January. But let's start from the beginning.

Main opening news is that I sold David Villa to Chelsea for £34 million pounds. I reasoned this that my transfer budget was actually before that at 600k - and the squad wasn't good enough all over in my estimations. With the money I made from that sale I bought:

Claudio Pizarro - £11.5 million from Bayern, he had an amazing start to the season, 10 goals in 7, but since then has only added another 7 to his total.

Nani - £9.5 million from Sporting, he's not been that good. I brought him in to solidify my midfield but playing him in the middle hasn't been working. He's backup currently.

Rodrigo Palacio - £10.5 million from Boca. He started off slower than Pizarro but now has 20 goals so far over the course of the season. Still a bit hit and miss however alike Pizarro. Pity because they both started to well.

With also selling Gavilian and a couple of others I also picked up:

Gael Givet - £6.5 million from Monaco. He's a good left back but has sorta fallen into backup since Del Horno has got back to fitness.

Managed an away point at Real Madrid as I topped the table one point ahead of Barca at Christmas, this with only one loss - where the referee fucked me over against Deportivo. I was 2-1 up and lost 3-2 in the last two minutes.

Champion's League has gone alright, although has had my heart in my mouth on many occasions. I drew Chelsea, Werder Bremen and Zurich, which on paper was possibly the toughest group. I beat Zurich away first game 2-0, then beat Werder away (luckily I didn't deserve it) 2-1. That was followed up by the Chelsea double-header with me drawing 1-1 at home and loosing 2-0 away. Chelsea topped the group as I played Zurich at home...and lost 1-0. That left me equal on points with Werder as our game was the last one. I was 2-0 down inside ten minutes, but made a strategical change to a diamond attacking 4-4-2 and ended up winning 6-3. Thank God.

I have now drawn Porto in the first knockout round, so I should hopefully get through that one.

January came around and I sold Miguel to Chelsea for £8 million as he wasn't performing as well as Caniera at right back. With that money I signed a few young players, Tamuz from Jerusulem and Moreno from Sevilla (who is 16 and got 18 finishing). Then I splashed out £10 million for Rafinhia from Gelsenkurchen. That ate up most of my budget although for next season i'm looking into picking up Ben Haim, Riquelme and possibly Essien to add to my squad.

Saying that i'm also looking at getting a new backup keeper for next season, Mora isn't that great and Canizares isn't aging too well now. I'll probably get one more decent enough season out of him before I release him on a free. Amelia (from Livornio) and Hildebrand (from Germany somewhere) are coming up on frees so im looking into them as possible long-term replacements. Oh, and Metzelder from Dortmund also could be coming up on a free, and he's pretty good.

So, finally, it's coming up the end of Janaury and i'm third, had a dodgy month. I'm five points behind Barca and two behind Real in second. I still hope to snatch the league from under their noses but it's proving tricky as my form has started to dip. Here is my current team:

1. Canizares - GK

2. Rafinhia - RB

3. Del Horno - LB

5. Marchena - CB

6. Raul Abidal - CB

7. Whatever his name is, good right winger for Valencia >_>

19. Vicente - LM

8. Baraja - CM

21. Silva - CM

10. Palacio - CF

14. Pizarro - CF

Bench:

13. Mora - GK

20. Caniera - RB

11. Givet - LB

15. Navarro - CB

12. Albedia - CM

23. Moreno - CF

9. Morientes - CF

I swear I didn't spell half my players' names right >_>

Santa Cruz is going to be a hell of a signing for Blackburn, their strikeforce actually makes my penis leak.

Championship Opening weekend fixtures - Saturday 11 August

Barnsley 2 vs. Coventry 0

Bristol City 1 vs. QPR 1

Burnley 1 vs. 3 West Brom

Cardiff 2 vs. 1 Stoke

Charlton 5 vs. 0 Scunthorpe

Hull 0 vs. 0 Plymouth

Ipswich 2 vs. 1 Sheff Wed

Leicester 3 vs. 1 Blackpool

Preston 2 vs. 0 Norwich

Sheff Utd 4 vs. 1 Colchester

Southampton 1 vs. 0 Crystal Palace

Wolverhampton 2 vs. 2 Watford

League One Opening weekend fixtures - Saturday 11 August

Cheltenham 0 vs. 2 Gillingham

Crewe 1 vs. 0 Brighton

Doncaster 2 vs. 2 Millwall

Huddersfield 2 vs. 1 Yeovil

Luton 2 vs. 0 Hartlepool

Northampton 1 vs. 3 Swindon

Nottm Forest 2 vs. 1 Bournemouth

Oldham 0 vs. 4 Swansea

Port Vale 2 vs. 2 Bristol Rovers

Southend 2 vs. 3 Leyton Orient

Tranmere 0 vs. 2 Leeds

Walsall 0 vs. 1 Carlisle

Opening weekend fixtures - Saturday 11 August

Bradford 3 vs. 0 Macclesfield

Brentford 3 vs. 0 Mansfield

Chester 1 vs. 2 Chesterfield

Darlington 1 vs. 3 Wrexham

Grimsby 2 vs. 2 Notts County

Hereford 0 vs. 1 Rotherham

Lincoln City 4 vs. 2 Shrewsbury

Milton Keynes Dons 3 vs. 0 Bury

Morecambe 2 vs. 0 Barnet

Peterborough 2 vs. 1 Rochdale

Stockport 3 vs. 1 Dag & Red

Wycombe 5 vs. 2 Accrington Stanley

He was 1.5 seconds slower than Sutil over the weekend on average. He should be a cult figure for being the worst driver to ever lead a grand prix

To be honest its a gamble Sheffield Wednesday would be worth taking, if they've got the money free then why not? The worse happens and then he leaves at the end of the season with little impact. The best happens he could be one of the best strikers in the league. One thing is for sure, Brian Laws had better know how to control a player of that name if he does sign on the dotted line.

Interesting update, I didn't see Ipswich doing too much this year myself but it does sound like from you you've got some interesting players coming in. Counago could be a hell of a signing if he's anything as good as the last time he was in the Championship. I remember him nicking a last-minute winning goal against us at the Walkers a few years ago. Cesas Navas I have heard of before - I think in good regard so if you land him he could be a little starlet. As for my predictions:

I can see Charlton and Watford making a good go of it next year, Watford have made some very good signings in preperation for this season - Poom, McAnuff and Jackson from Wigan so I can actually see them have a go at the automatic promotion places. West Brom will also be up there, although they have sold more good players than what they are actually getting back in. Got to say my boys will be in the top six, it's been the most encouraging pre-season in goodness knows how many years, plus some great signings.

I sorta expect myself Colchester to struggle more this season, relegation is a possibility although i think they will finish somewhere between 16th to 20th. QPR to go down? Could very much happen, but John Gregory is good enough to keep them in the league, perhaps they could even break into the top 12. Scunthorpe will definatly go down in my books, they've lost Richard Hinds to Sheffield Wednesday - who was a rock for them at the back, they've lost Sharp and Keogh and Beckford as well (I think) which leaves them very short of talent.

Here's how I see the table at the end of the season anyways:

1. Charlton Athletic

2. Watford

3. Leicester City

4. Sheffield United

5. Wolverhampton Wanderers

6. West Bromwich Albion

7. Southampton

8. Cardiff City

9. Ipswich Town

10. Sheffield Wednesday

11. Norwich City

12. Crystal Palace

13. Preston North End

14. Stoke City

15. Plymouth Argyle

16. Coventry City

17. Burnley

18. Colchester

19. Hull City

20. Barnsley

21. QPR

22. Bristol City

23. Blackpool

24. Scunthorpe

I rated Boyd myself, pity he's left you guys really as he is capable at Championship and L1 level. Well he's better than Drew Talbot anyways. Norweigen Peter Crouch eh? Sounds either a great idea or a huge fuck up. The funny thing about L1 is that it's not so much hoofball, Carlisle last year did very well playing along-the-ground attacking football.

This book sounds seriously weak.

Well we've now made 12 signings at Leicester over the summer, I wonder if that's the most in the Football League so far? I would imagine so, anyways here they are and my impressions after pre-season games.

1. Bruno N'Gotty - looks like an absolute rock, just what we need alongside Paddy Kisnorbo.

2. Jimmy Nielsen - no good reports so far, apparently his goalkeeping is pretty scary (thus terrible)

3. Carl Cort - meh, looks unfit, slow/lumbering and doesn't look to sharp at all.

4. Ricky Sappleton - built like an Ox, bit of a new Heskey, lovely.

5. Sergio Hellings - ex Ajax youngster, looks to have great control of the ball.

6. Radion Kishishev - been a rock in CM so far, surprisingly in my books.

7. James Chambers - young and he's been playing with passion so far, good stuff.

8. Shawn Newton - did alright on loan last year, just needs to make sure he keeps his performances up.

9. Hossien Kaebi - looks quality, pacey and in the last World Cup marked Figo out of the Portugal/Iran game.

10. Jonathan Hayes - good looking youngster, pacey and could be a first team regular if given a chance.

11. Stephen Clemence - just what we needed, a good left midfielder. Great signing

12. DJ Campbell - haven't seen much of him but apparently he is looking pretty sharp, even though im not a fan so far.

That Middlesbrough kit is fucking horrible. The Villa keeper kits on closer inspection also look pretty disgusting. This looks like a year for pretty dodgy kits - the Arsenal away one also is bad, very bad.

Villa would be better off paying 15 mil for Defoe and then having Harewood as backup. Now that would be sweet for them.

But is the FM 08 listed there actually Football Manager Live? I could be wrong but im pretty sure that that's the date for FM Live to come out.