BlueLion.

Suddenly, now Arsenal want him, I want to keep him.

One option is to play him LW, Sturridge on the right and Mata CAM, with the option to rotate...

It's fair enough if AVB wants to bring him here. I doubt he's just doing it for the sake of bringing a Porto player with him, he clearly knows the player well and realises he could impact well on our team.

We've just signed Lukaku and Mata, it's not as if we're with the same shite as last term

Class act.

Haha, he's doubled his lucky 15 for his shirt number

Our fixtures work out quite nicely as well. No disrespect to Genk but having them as the double-header means that hopefully qualification can be guaranteed with a win either at home against Valencia or away against Bayer.

It's something to do with class in my opinion. Northern clubs have a very localised and passionate fan base (I'm not saying the Southern clubs don't) , and there is a real sense of community about the clubs because of class divisions, though these are largely stereotyped. Clubs like Liverpool, United, City, Leeds, Everton and so on are a media favourite because the Northern communities are typically working-class, and those clubs represent that. The media have always favoured those clubs for that reason, as opposed to the Southern clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal and even Midlands teams like the Villa because these clubs are from more affluent areas of the country. Because Northern clubs have had partisan support throughout the decades, they are particularly proud of their history because football represented the pivot-point of Northern culture between the 1940s and the 1980s. In a period of post-war austerity, Northern people could go to Old Trafford or Anfield or Maine Road and watch their clubs, whereas the rich Southerners would go to the theatre, go to music concerts or whatever. Don't forget, during the Blitz, it was the industrial North and regions of the Midlands that were targeted. London was left relatively undamaged in comparison to the likes of Sheffield, Liverpool and Coventry which were utterly ruined by Luftwaffe bombing raids as the Germans sought to cripple the country's manufacturing infrastructure. In the aftermath and the extensive rebuilding, football became an integral part of the post-wartime collectivist spirit amongst Britons in the North. There is an English belief that football truly originated from the North, ad most Northern fanbases see Southern fans as fair-weather, only joining the "football is my religion" cult after the re-emergence of British football with the 1960s European Cup winning sides, ie. Celtic, Manchester United. You can joke about most United fans coming from London these days, but that is only to do with the outwards communal expansion of the club's support, which swept across the country and ultimately the world due to the club's increased media presence that was dictated by silverware success. Perhaps hatred is a strong word, but there is a certain pro-Northern bias amongst the press - and its partly down to stereotyped class divisions, with Northern clubs representing the struggle of the stereotypical working-class family. On the other hand, the laissez-fairesr rich bitches of the South only jumped on the bandwagon after the culture spread across both the country and the strata of the British social hierarchy. It is fair to say that the support of sport clubs truly did originate in the North; and that is the reason why Northern cricket, rugby and football teams are particularly successful. So that is where a lot of the media hatred comes from.

Fair point, Jaimin. With job security comes the confidence to experiment, which is why Ancelotti was very wary of fielding youngsters, even in the cup. I hope from the fact Roman spent big money on AVB that he has faith in him, and will allow him to give the youth a chance.

Yeah, I've noticed that, it's a fucking pain in the arse when editing articles/match reports!

Arsenal away, so our kids can slaughter their kids :eyebrows:

This thread will be used to discuss upcoming domestic cup draws for the 2011/12 campaign. The next cup draw is tomorrow (Saturday 27 August) at mid-day for the third round of the Carling Cup!

Agree with your there Justin, £15 million would have been a coup, yet in this inflated market that is merely the product of wishful thinking. Again we've sold ourselves short (excuse the pun) by leaving these deals until the last three or four days. Thankfully we did our business involving Mata, Lukaku, Oriol and Courtois early, otherwise it would have been a very nervy August for us all.

How many of them weren't backwards to Ashley Cole, I wonder.

Despite the best attempts at a smear campaign by certain members here, Benayoun does not strike me as some evil cunt who heralds the downfall of this club and embodies everything bad about football.

As a decent defender, Cahill's worth £25m - since £20m seems to be the flat going rate for overrated English centre-backs.

Don't forget guys, he waltzed into this club and demanded the number 10. Plus he's 31, he's surely not capable of such gentlemanly acts?!?

Small mentality? They're trying to conquer world football and very probably will, if anything that quantifies as a massive mentality.

What a lovely gesture by Yossi.

YossiBenayoun15 Yossi Benayoun Even though I don't know if I will stay or not I decided to give Mata the number 10-his favourite.for me its just a number-not my lucky 15

I actually revel in the anti-Chelsea bias in the media, it sweetens the taste of success even more. It's borne out of spite and jealousy, and watching them squirm when we lift trophies is a wonderful, wonderful feeling.

I don't know why people are bothered about United's group. Hard set of teams or easy set of teams, they'd finish top of their group anyway because they're a great team. Plus it means they won't get such an easy draw in the Round of 16, this works both ways of course.

Cheers, Jaimin!

mango__o Mango Thibaut Courtois played full 90' in #Atlético's 0-4 win at Vitoria Guimaraes. Couple of good saves, but didn't have that much work. #cfc

After we pulled off the Luiz and Torres deals out of nowhere, I'll maintain a bit of belief.