The 2011/12 Gary Speed Memorial Thread

[Adam]

The rest of the cash will go to Ba

When did people start to think it was reasonable to give half of a transfer fee to the player himself? Is Ba hard up for cash or something?

And I hope McDermott is just doing this to get som security with the new owners. H could very, very easily be the manager of a Premier League team in three months without moving anywhere. A little bit of patience might just pay off, especially if Reading end up replacing Wolves in the Premier League.

[METALMAN]

If Demba takes half the cash for himself I will call him Ba Humbug.

[Gazz]

If that's even true, I would imagine it would have been as a lure for him to accept a lower wage.

He'll probably just get a new contract in the summer, I'm sure someone can convince Fat Mike that by giving Ba a bigger salary and a longer contract, it increases his potential transfer fee.

I also miss the days where gobshite chairman/managers only talked bollocks about their own players.

[Jimmy]

It's not that unusual is it when a player signs on a free, is it?

[Gazz]

The percentage is, players usually can get a bigger wage and signing on fee from high profile transfer fees.

A release of £7m and 50% to Ba would suggest he is on a hell of a lot less than he (read: his agent) was expecting. £3.5m is the equivalent of £70k a week.

[Gazz]

He also tried to sign Torres on loan in January apparently, which just compounds his gobshiteyness.

[Lineker]

From tonight's Champion's League live text:

Here's a bit of news for you as we approach the full-time whistle in Naples. Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has apologised for his recent conduct following his touchline row with manager Roberto Mancini in September. The 28-year-old returned to the club last week, following a self-imposed, three-month exile in Argentina. "I wish to apologise sincerely and unreservedly to everybody I have let down and to whom my actions have caused offence," Tevez said in a statement. He has also withdrawn his appeal against the club's misconduct charge.

Full story.

[Cheeky Hughes]

It's a start. Probably the only start he'll get this season.

[Matt]

He'll play again before the end of the season.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Do players still need to play a certain number of games to get a Champions medal?

[Matt]

10 but you can get special dispensation.

[Sam]

Not so sure going on strike for half the season should count as a special dispensation...

[maninblack]

It's not as though AVB was "calling Roman out" or anything. He basically acknowledged that the reporters aren't going to believe him when he says it, as evidenced by them repeatedly asking him about it for weeks now. "Stop asking me questions if you won't accept my answers" was he real message.

Would it have taken Abramovich more than 2 minutes to say something about Villas-Boas? Or have his spokesman do the talking for him?

[IAceI]

How much has Abramovich actually been in England as of late? For whatever reason, not sure whether it's unfounded or not, I've been under the impression he's been in Russia all the time - and if so that will be where a lot of the "He's losing interest" stems from.

Either way I don't think Abramovich has ever really leaped to the defence of any of his managers or made commitals to them, even Mourinho, so I doubt he's going to say anything regarding Villas-Boas, even if Villas-Boas is asking him to or not. I suppose the only person who truly knows how Abramovich feels about Villas-Boas is Abramovich himself - but the the newspapers can't exactly say they don't know, so they have to speculate.

[stokeriño]

Abramovich says nothing about anything in public. This is how it always has been. I'm sure it drives the journalists nuts (or alternatively, gives them scope to make up whatever they like about his opinions when they don't know squat).

[IAceI]

Exactly, even at their peak under Mourinho, it's not like he came out and said anything. So I guess it's up to the journalists to choose how to interpret it how they like, personally I think something like, "Clueless Villas-Boas was left RED FACED as his plea for HELP from Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was left UNANSWERED" sounds about par for the course.

Gee-whizz I just love discussing Villas-Boas!

[Lineker]

The group director of a key Blackburn Rovers sponsor is leading plans to buy the club from owners Venky's through a supporters' trust.

Wayne Wild, of the WEC Group, wants to raise £10m by selling 10,000 shares.

The proposal is being backed by the fans' group behind the protests against the owners and manager Steve Kean.

Wild told BBC Sport: "We can offer the owners a dignified exit if they decide to sell but if they decide not to, there's not a lot we can do."

Venky's, an Indian-based poultry and pharmaceutical firm, could not be contacted for comment, but have previously said they have no intention of selling the club they bought for £23m in November 2010.

Wild, whose engineering firm sponsors the Darwen End stand at Ewood Park, said the BRFC Supporters' Investment Trust could only afford Rovers if they were relegated and the club's value fell.

In an outline of his proposal, Wild says: "Do we want BRFC to be relegated? Absolutely not. We all worry what would happen to the town and club should this happen. This is a disaster plan.

"What happens if Rovers stay up? We think that the owners will not want to sell and if they did would want £30-£50m in return. If they do keep ownership then we want them to fulfil their promises and invest in the club and playing staff, re-engage with discussions with supporters and come and support the club they bought."

Shortly after the Rao family behind Venky's took charge, they sacked manager Sam Allardyce and promoted Kean from the coaching team to his first role as a manager. The club avoided relegation on the final day of last season, and have continued to struggle in the current campaign with goal difference keeping them out of the bottom three.

Fans have responded by staging repeated protests demanding Kean's sacking and questioning Venky's management of the club.

Wild himself first publicly raised concerns about Venky's in November.

"People are frightened for the very existence of the club," said Wild, who is keen to meet and start a dialogue with the club's Indian owners.

Outlining more detail on the trust plan, he added: "What happens after £10m? That is up to the shareholders. Either more funds could be raised via borrowings, share issues or more realistically by sensible and effective management of the income.

"There will be one share per supporter. There will be no large shareholders within our plan."

Wild's plan has the support of the Blackburn Rovers FC Action Group - a coalition of Blackburn supporter groups - which has been behind the demonstrations.

"The BRFC Action Group is now actively supporting alternatives to Venky's and we will put all our efforts behind the supporters' buy-out initiative being led by Wayne Wild," it said.

Wolves have failed in a fresh attempt to make Alan Curbishley their new manager, BBC Sport understands.

Curbishley was interviewed for the job last week but pulled out of the running because he and the board did not share a vision for the club.

Wolves made another approach to the ex-Charlton and West Ham boss three days later but he turned them down again.

Wolves also held talks with Reading's Brian McDermott, but he has since signed a new deal with the Royals.

Brighton boss Gus Poyet, another reported target, is also a possibility but the former Uruguay international and Chelsea midfielder would cost Wolves a "prohibitive" £2m in compensation.

West Ham failed with loan bids for strikers Fernando Torres and Carlos Tevez in January, co-chairman David Gold has told BBC Sport.

[Hobo]

Sky Sports News had sports headlines from some paper claiming that Rafa Benitez was being lined up to replace AVB at Chelsea. I don't think this is possible at all.

Plus the idea of Rafa managing Chelsea is hi-larious.

[Matt]

West Ham failed with loan bids for strikers Fernando Torres and Carlos Tevez in January, co-chairman David Gold has told BBC Sport.

:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Stupid cunts. Yes, David Gold, Chelsea are just going to loan a £50m striker to a second division club.

[Jimmy]

Can't blame the guy for trying, though.