Grounded Wingman

Fantastic win for the Villa. Everyone says you can't judge the table until after 10 games, well we're 4th so fuck yes.

You can't judge the table until after 38 games, sadly, because I'd really like to celebrate Liverpool being champions.

Having said that, I'd be surprised if Villa don't make the top 6.

The expansion will make the group stages of the final's tournament worse, much like it is at the World Cup, because they'll seed it so you don't get a group with 4 top teams in it (or 4 crap teams).

They shouldn't seed it though, it would be way more fun.

Group A: Italy, France, Germany, England

Group B: Scotland, Latvia, Finland, Slovakia

Group B is box office.

I think it's a good draw for Liverpool because we always seem to play better against bigger name teams. I'm confident of progress.

The thing about Mascherano is that, if he plays, the fullbacks will be more likely to push forward and offer width, because there is the security of having Mascherano back covering.

The team also looks better when Babel and El Zhar have been on the pitch, as opposed to Kuyt and Benayoun (I thought Benayoun was dreadful tonight - no that anyone was exactly magnificent, but Benayoun was the worst of the lot).

He's a very solid holding midfield player, I don't know how he'll step up to SPL play but I think he'll do pretty good for you lot. He also has a good eye for goal too, very much a poacher.

Rumour is that Rangers plan to use him more as a central defender than a midfielder.

Rangers will struggle to keep the squad happy. If they don't sell, and they play 4-4-2 (no need for European 4-5-1's) then they have to select 2 from Ferguson, Davis, Mendes, Thompson and Hemdani in the centre midfield and 2 from Darcheville, Cousin, Miller, Velicka and Boyd up front.

They probably won't pick Boyd because, well, why would they pick their best goalscorer every week. That would be stupid.

The interesting thing is that Quaresma comes out of the interview looking quite good. The way he dealt with the journalist's questions does him credit.

If anyone thought he was a whiny little bitch then they could read that interview and see that is not the case. He comes across as an opinionated guy but a polite one. I am also impressed that he had enough strength in his own convictions to turn down Liverpool because they wanted to change the way he played.

Surely it's all slavery before they spit, as opposed to after?

Not necessarily, because spitting can cause you to salivate more.

It's either comical or completely absurd to use the word 'slavery' at all in terms of professional footballers.

"Professional footballers spit all the time, so their mouth's will be all slavery."

That is not absurd.

What we've done is no different to the way Harry Redknapp went about making his interest known in Peter Crouch. Rafa was asked about Keane, he admitted he was interested and said that we'll see - which is pretty much identical to what Redknapp said about Crouch. I didn't hear anyone complaining then.

Besides, Spurs complaining about the way any other club handles themselves after the Bostock debacle is absolutely hilarious.

Maybe they're doing it because the last time they threatened to report someone they got £10m, from Roman Abramovich, to sweep it under the rug.

Shola Ameobi is set to sign for Ipswich. Apparently, Ipswich have had a 3.5mill bid accepted and it's now all down to personal terms etc.

Personally, I don't think he'd be a bad signing but I've always found him hit or miss, but he's never exactly had regular first team football, maybe that's all he needs, at Championship level he's definitely good enough, despite not scoring for Stoke last year in three starts, but if we are going for promotion,I think he's the kind of player we need.

Isn't £3.5 million a bit (or a lot) too much? No wonder teams go abroad for players when it costs £3m plus for players like Ameobi and Earnshaw.

Livingston weren't elected into the league. They just bought over Meadowbank Thistle and relocated to Livingston.

As a Saintees fan, who had to suffer James Grady's last minute goal sending Gretna into the SPL on the last day of the 2006-07 season, I would just like to say to Gretna:

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"

That is all.

Fergusson has also said he plans to retire within 3 years. Name any other Premier League manager who's going to be with their club in 3 years time.

Arsenal Whinger.

I hate how teams seem to make an enquiry about the same player every week. At the moment Real Madrid are interested in Leighton Baines, I'm playing as Spurs, have plenty of money and no need to sell, so I've said I want £25million for him. They withdraw the bid, fair enough.

A couple of days later they enquire again, I give them the same price, they withdraw.

Three weeks later and I've gone through the same thing four times. My suggestion for FM09 is to add a 'Fuck Off' option.

I think you can set it, on the player status screen, that any offer under a certain amount is automatically rejected.

I hardly think losing 8-1 was the best way to persuade Sinatra to keep Sven on.

It is if Thaksin had bet a few million of his 'acquired' funds on Boro winning 8-1.

I expect Liverpool to be signing wingers and fullbacks this summer. I also think that if Barry arrives it will be to replace Alonso.

We should get more for Alonso than we will pay for Barry, and Barry is a good signing, especially if FIFA bring in the 6 plus 5 rule in a couple of years.

One of the teams in my league sacked their manager on the 13th, on the 20th they hired a new manager - on the same day sacked him, and on the 28th just hired a new manager.

Anyone know why the hiring - firing in one day may have happened?

If a board takeover was completed on the day after he was hired then he could be fired.

I found a place that still has CM 01/02 being updated. It's another forum, so I don't know if I should link it here without violating some sort of advertising rule.

Its latest update is February 2008 if you're interested

EDIT: Started a new game with Stoke City (using February update). 1.1 mil for transfers? Yeah, nice job board...how the hell am I supposed to be competitive for promotion with that?

I think there's an application for cm01/02 that allows you to change the games start date, so you can get the update and then set the game to start in summer 2007 or 2008.

1. Diego Maradona

2. Zinedine Zidane

3. Luis Figo

4. Frank Rijkaard

5. Lothar Matthaus

6. Peter Schmeichel

7. Raul

8. Gheorghe Hagi

9. Javier Zanetti

10. Fat Ronaldo

How many people have multiple games going on? It's just I get cravings to play at different levels all the time, but I don't know whether I will be distracted or anything if I try too many games. Like I fancy giving Deportivo a crack, as I've always been a big fan of them.

EDIT: Also I quite fancy about taking hold of a youth team of a Premiership side, and focusing on that moreso than the main team. What do you reckon would be the best way to go about that?

Hire a top notch assistant manager (Mourinho might even take an offer, but he will be stolen from you as soon as a good job comes up), take control of all teams and go on holiday for 1 day whenever the first team or reserves have a match. Make your youth signings early on in the summer and then go on holiday until the start of the season, giving your assistant permission to sell whoever he likes and sign players from your shortlist.

18 goals in his debut season is extremely impressive, especially considering he doesn't take freekicks or penalties unlike those around him in the scoring charts. Also just the one goal away from equalling Owen's best ever haul for us as well.

How'd you get £150m+ worth of players to Millwall? unless there all 35 years old

I was going to ask similar earlier.

I couldn't work out which team he was actually playing as. I thought he might be using a "Millwall" formation that he'd used previously, or might actually be Millwall.

How the hell he got those players though (without the editor) is beyond me.

Also I am bemused as to why Harry Kewell hasn't been sold, I was glad to see him come back from injury and all but really... I don't think he should be at a club like Liverpool anymore, Pennant is better and Babel is twice the player both of them are.

I'd rather have an English team full of English players than an English team full of Spanish players though.

Of course I'm biased against them, but surely Arsenal's heart is being ripped out by constantly playing 11 non-BRITISH players (let alone English...and NO Almunia doesn't count).

McGhee would be too much of a knee jerk appointment. He's had a good 6 months in charge of Motherwell, but he has hardly set the heather alight at any of his other clubs, and I bet that he (like Smith and McLeish) would leave the Scotland post at the first sign of a Premier job.

Burley is an okay manager but, again, nothing outstanding.

Burns has been out of the management game for a while and would almost be a sympathy choice, given that he didn't get interviewed the last time or when Vogts left.

Souness is a bastard, but he has managed at the top level pretty recently, has foreign experience and a small degree of success.

Souness is probably the best of a bad bunch.

Craig Levein would have been a better option than all of them.