teignman

The Essien comparisons are understandable, but Essien was more developed and playing in an appreciably better league at Wanyama's age. I think Wanyama needs to face much sterner competition on a more regular basis before we can consider him anywhere near being Chelsea quality. He's certainly got some possibilities though.

I am curious as to what dictionaries don't agree with this definition. The Oxford and Merriam Webster dictionaries, both highly esteemed authorities on the English language, agree on the national aspect of the definition. You are focusing on only one aspect of qualification for an ethnicity, i.e. the cultural. It is defined as national or cultural. My main point is that there is a group of people that satisfy one or more of the criteria for an ethnicity and they are known as "Spanish". Your statement about Azpilicueta, Mata, and Busquets is a non sequitur vis a vis my assertion that Spanish is an ethnicity. You have quickly gone from initially saying that "you don't think Spanish is an ethnicity" to saying it is "definitely not." I am under the distinct impression that you will not alter your most recent position, no matter how much credible evidence to the contrary is presented. My apologies to the TC community for straying so far off topic. As far as the Clattenburg allegations go, I don't think anything will come of it, except giving the tabloids something new they can run with on slow news days. The allegations seem very difficult to prove. Now if Clattenburg was an oft-maligned captain of the English National Squad, it might be different.

From the good people at Oxford dictionaries: Definition of ethnicity noun (plural ethnicities) [mass noun] the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition There is a group of people that fit this criteria, and can thus be listed as having Spanish ethnicity.

Spanish is defo an ethnicity. Furthermore, the FA rules regarding verbal abuse include reference to one's country of origin.

Nah, cos Fergie pays in handjobs.

After having a chance to digest the day's events I have the following points. 1. A wonderful advertisement for the PL was absolutely ruined by the simpering, metrosexual cur known as Mark Clattenburg. I and millions of others across the globe were cheated out of what should have been a classic match by someone masquerading as a high level referee. Shameful, truly shameful. 2. If Torres dove, then Young dove. I hate to traffic in the hypothetical, but if Hazard is in the same position as Young and draws such minimal contact, Hazard probably doesn't get that call. We can't expect perfection from the refs, but we can expect consistency and competence. 3. I've seen and heard fans and pundits alike argue that the offside controversy on Bitcharito was an extremely difficult decision. I disagree. Seconds earlier Bitcharito was tangled in the net like a mullet only to recover and be even with Petr when the pass was played. Common sense and decent vision could tell you he was offside. 4. And last something positive. We showed great spirit and determination in this one. You can't really teach or practice that. It comes from within and it's the stuff champions are made of.

I've gotta bad gut feeling about this one, but I still can't wait to watch.

It's de rigueur for the media to chastise Luiz to the nth degree for any poor performance. Yet, when he's solid (which he's been most of this season), they can't seem to utter a single word of praise. Thus confirming suspicions that most journos are obsequious twits.

Ivanovic= The Man Bear

Amen.

Normally, I like to remain level-headed and analytical in my posts, but seeing as it's Spuds: Let's smash these cunts!

Sorry to see that Artinho is going. A top lad and true asset to the forum. He showed maturity that belied his years. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors and hope that returns to the forum some day.

This is one of the reasons I love fantasy sports. At least it helps you in some way if the players/teams you don't like perform well. You generally win one way or the other.

I agree to an extent. I think plastic is maybe a bit harsh. As Chelsea supporters in the "Roman Empire", many have been spoiled by seemingly endless outlays of cash for players over time. They expect change to come overnight. I'll admit that I'm not pleased about having some glaring holes in our CM and being thin at striker, but overall it was quite a good window.

I thought Swansea did quite well for themselves replacing the core players they had leave. Did it on a shoestring budget as well. Most impressive.

Embarrassing.

I felt this for the past few days.

Highly doubt that the Lloris deal collapses. He's at the Spuds ground as I type.

I think Uncle Roman needs to celebrate his court victory with some lavish purchases for his team.

Schurrle is a talent and all, but I'd rather have a true No. 9 type to provide depth up front.

Nah, we'd rather have Naisy!

He also said he had the full backing of Roman to see out the "project" last season. Anywho, I think Remy would be a fine addition. Heaven knows we need the depth up front. Also, it would fuck with Spuds. Sounds like a win-win to me.

I've always thought the whole "invincibles" moniker was a colossal load of shite. I hardly think a team that drew 12 times in the League, lost in the league and FA Cup semis, and got bounced from the CL in the quarters by none other than us is invincible.

Talk Sport also reported that we were going to pay £24m for Gregory Van der Wiel. Consider the source.

So if I understand this correctly, Citeh gets £5m, but still has to pay the difference in wages, which knocks their net income on this deal down quite a bit. For that price or possibly even a little bit more I would have gladly taken Ade. I find it strange that Citeh didn't have any better destinations that were willing to pay more. But what really irks me, is that it's Spuds. They've managed to get an extremely good deal on a player.