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• xiaolan xiaolan

  • 122 posts
  Posted in the topic Aston Villa should stick with in the forum News and Announcements

  July 23, 2018 11:34 PM EDT

  For every participant, the Championship play-off final always has plenty riding on it. This year’s edition was no different, but it was not until after Fulham’s 1-0 victory that it really emerged just how much of a death-or-glory game it had been for Aston Villa. In most cases a bid for promotion can empty even the most bulging of owners’ wallets. For Villa, it resulted in them having to mortgage the car park to pay a tax Cortez Kennedy Jersey bill. The extent of Villa’s financial problems was shocking, but at the same time not that surprising. They had, after all, spent freely after relegation from the Premier League in 2016. Fuelled by desperation to return to the top flight http://www.footballtexansofficialstore.com/Tyler_Ervin_Jerseyand new owner Tony Xia’s bullish suggestion that not just one, but maybe even two or more Champions League titles could eventually be won, something like £72m was spent on transfer fees in that first season in the Championship, topped up by a series of high-profile free and loan signings on significant wages in Calvin Johnson Jersey the second. Villa rolled the dice and prayed, but when they opened their eyes they found that not only had they failed to get double sixes, the dice had bounced off the table and their wallet was empty. Things came to a head when the club missed a deadline for a tax bill in May and another one is coming up at the end of July. Borrowing money against land near Villa Park, currently used as a car park, looked like a desperate move, but desperate was how things were looking until the end of last week. On Friday, it was http://www.mavericksteamonline.com/Wesley_Matthews_Jerseyannounced that a company co-owned by the Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris and American financier Wes Edens (who co-owns the Milwaukee Bucks NBA team) had purchased a majority stake in the club. Xia will remain as co-chairman, but there was a pointed element to the section of Edens and Sawiris’s statement upon announcing the deal, when they said they “look forward to working with Dr Tony to undertake a thorough assessment and evaluation of the club in the coming weeks”. This obviously comes as a relief, but amid all everything, Villa still have to play some football soon, starting on 6 August. Will they be able to vaguely compete? Plenty hinges on whether they will keep hold of their best players, with Jack Grealish and James Chester the two most obvious targets for other clubs. Before the investment, the departure of both seemed inevitable. Now, it’s less so but still possible: Villa still have to cut their cloth, even if the money will now go to balancing the books or even recruiting new players, rather than paying a tax bill. What sort of players they might be able to afford is uncertain, but what is clear is they cannot afford to spend at similar levels. Whatever their squad looks like, a steady leader is required, and you might think they couldn’t have a better man than Steve Bruce. But among the chaos of the summer, something that isn’t being discussed quite as much is what sort of job he has actually done over the last couple of years. Bruce arrived at Villa Park on 12 October 2016, a week after Neil Warnock was appointed as Darius Butler Jersey Cardiff manager. Villa were not in a good way, 19th in the table following Roberto Di Matteo’s brief spell in charge, but they were better off than Cardiff, who were 23rd. Spin forward 18 months, and with a fraction of the resources Cardiff won automatic Womens Jhoulys Chacin Jersey promotion while Villa barely showed up at Wembley. One is always naturally reticent to lay into a man who has endured such a distressing year personally, the death of both parents between February and April putting into stark perspective the struggles of a football team. It was frankly a near miracle that he got to the end of the season, given what he went through, and when you consider that many of his expensive players http://www.footballsaintsofficialshop.com/Tyeler_Davison_Jerseyunderperformed last season, there are mitigating factors. But ultimately Bruce could not get perhaps the most expensive and experienced team the Championship has ever seen promoted. By cold, objective standards, he failed. cheap nfl jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap nfl jerseyscheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap nfl jerseys

• xiaolan xiaolan

  • 122 posts
  Posted in the topic League clubs struggle with in the forum News and Announcements

  July 23, 2018 3:52 AM EDT

  There are only three weeks until the Premier League transfer window closes, the day before the new season begins and 22 days before top-flight clubs in France, Germany and Spain are obliged to put their own chequebooks away. The early deadline, agreed last September, represents a massive change to the rhythm of Premier League summers; last year clubs in the English top flight completed more deals in the 24 hours of transfer deadline day (17) than they did in the last two weeks of July (16). This summer all that activity and a great deal more will have to be compressed, like clowns in a mini, into an uncomfortably small space. Despite that, clubs have been slow to adapt to their new system. Fewer deals have been completed this summer than in the same period last year, with Premier League clubs unfamiliar with their newly constricted calendar and constrained to an extent by the World Cup yet to change their ways. With time running out the industry is braced for a three-week spree of unprecedented proportions as officials suddenly find themselves in a rush, rather than in Russia.  “It’ll be like January, where everything happens in the last 10 days,” says Leon Angel, chairman of Base Soccer, whose clients include Kyle Walker, Danny Rose and Ashley Young. “The activity in the market has been very slow recently, which I think is because of the World Cup. That’s quite normal. But I think the clubs haven’t got to John Henson Jersey grips with the fact that they’ve got only three weeks left.” When Liverpool signed Fabinho from Monaco on 28 May and over the following few weeks Manchester United agreed deals for Fred and Diogo Dalot while Arsenal brought in Stephan Lichtsteiner from Juventus and Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen, it seemed clubs were determined to complete their transfer business early. But that momentum has stalled: Burnley, Everton and Tottenham are yet to sign anyone while Bournemouth, Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Manchester City have brought in one player each. “Some deals are always done by early June and that happened this year in the same way as previous years,” says Angel. “For example Manchester United signed Fred, which was all tied up before the World Cup started. But the last few weeks have been particularly quiet, I would say. Premier League clubs are used to coming back for pre-season at the start of July, not having to think too much about transfers for a few weeks, and then doing their business in August. However, we have certainly seen an upturn in activity that would not normally occur in the first couple of weeks of July.” Premier League clubs voted by a margin of 14 to five, with one abstention, to bring forward their incoming transfer deadline. Italy’s Serie A will experiment with a similar rule, though given their season starts later they will be able to sign players until 17 August. Teams will still be able to sell players abroad, with clubs in most European leagues open for business until 31 August and a Brent Burns Jersey few – those in Portugal, for instance – unshackled until mid-September. The decision was intended to reduce the uncertainty that can Desmond Trufant Jersey undermine players hoping still to complete moves after the season starts, with the decision taken while memories were fresh of the 2017-18 campaign’s troubled opening exchanges. Last August found several high-profile players caught in an awkward twilight zone: Virgil van Dijk was out of the Southampton team amid rumours of a move to Liverpool, Philippe Coutinho was agitating for a move to Barcelona – both transfers were eventually finalised in January – while Gylfi Sigurdsson was absent from the Swansea team in advance of his switch to Everton. Meanwhile Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain played for Arsenal in a 4-0 defeat by Liverpool Nathan Shepherd Jersey on 27 August, four days before he http://www.authenticangelsshop.com/authentic-29-rod-carew-jersey.html pulled on a Liverpool shirt himself after moving to Anfield. This year players should not be troubled by http://www.49ersofficialauthenticonline.com/9-robbie-gould-super-bowl-jersey.html such conflicts. The great danger for English clubs is that they fail to sell unwanted players before the window closes but are nevertheless forced to complete deals for their replacements. This would leave them in an abysmal negotiating position as they then seek to rid themselves of the sidelined squad members. Clubs from elsewhere in Europe will, by August, be emboldened to submit cut-price offers to now-desperate employers. Indeed, one http://www.official49erslockerroom.com/elite-trent-taylor-jersey of the reasons for the slow pace of this window may be that clubs likely to profit in this scenario are tactically delaying their bids while they wait for prices to crash in a few weeks’ time. “It’s a good idea to close the window before the season starts but only if every country does it on the same day,” one Premier League director of recruitment says. “What we’ve done has given all the other clubs an advantage.” cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys wholesale nfl jerseys wholesale nfl jerseys cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys free shipping cheap nfl jerseys

• xiaolan xiaolan

  • 122 posts
  Posted in the topic Ronaldo and Serena defy the race in the forum News and Announcements

  July 20, 2018 2:22 AM EDT

  Being an athlete must give you a messed-up perspective on mortality. On the one hand you are the very model of physical perfection, able to run faster, jump higher and look buffer Authentic Hroniss Grasu Jersey than your fellow human Authentic Josh Harrison Jersey beings. On the other, the very thing that sets you apart, that defines you, has a short shelf life. Measuring your shelf life against, say, a psychiatrist, would be like comparing best-before dates between raw fish and baked beans. Roughly speaking, it seems 40 is the cut-off point for top-level sport. Beyond that you are either an equestrian, a sailor or promoted by Barry Hearn’s Matchroom Sport. If 40 is the landmark birthday from which no athlete returns, what does that make 30? You might imagine it as a version of middle age where you know you’re past your best, that younger rivals are on you, http://www.officialmetsproshop.com/Mike_Piazza_Jersey but where you would still back yourself against most of them and certainly wouldn’t give up without a fight. Just as in real life, you would be thinking about how to eke this thing out, and how to leave something behind once you’re done. We got an insight into the athletic mid-life this week with the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo. Thanks to an abdomen that looks like a tray of brioche buns, the Jake Matthews Womens Jersey 33-year-old Portuguese has become the modern epitome of the Adonis. Albeit, one with his own line of microfibre underwear. Even Ronaldo has to consider the passing of time, however, and his move to Juventus comes with its own considerations of load and legacy. He has signed for a club nearly, but not quite, as prestigious as the one he left, Real Madrid. He will earn a pay rise but have a lower chance of winning the Champions League. He will never play in El Clásico again but has taken on a challenge decidedly more imposing than that of striking showboat volleys past the dodgy keepers of the Chinese Super League. Ronaldo turned up for his first press conference with a buzzcut and wearing an elegant club suit. In tribute to the viral Twitter thread analysing the brooches worn by the Queen during the visit by Donald Trump (each was found to convey hidden, decorously insulting messages), it was tempting to look for meaning in his sartorial choice. The suit was charcoal grey, skinny and sharp, a contrast to the full kit he wore while doing keepy-uppies after signing on at the Bernabéu. The club insignia on the breast pocket also felt like a signal; that Ronaldo did not want to be seen as bigger than the club. “Juve is ready, http://www.officialjazzshoponline.com/Alec_Burks_Jersey I will be ready,” he said of the season ahead. “I am 33, not 23 and I just want [people to] think of me in the present tense.” Perhaps Ronaldo sees affinity between himself and the Old Lady of Italian football, storied competitors who want to prove they still sit at the top table. It may also be the case that he sees some benefits from switching to Italy’s more beneficial tax regime, too; another facet for the 30-something athlete to consider. Tennis players cannot move clubs. But this sport is experiencing its own 30-something marvel, in which elite athletes have been facing down their own bodies to produce tennis comparable to that of their physical peak. Novak Djokovic, at the age of 31, returned from persistent injury to win http://www.49ersofficialauthenticonline.com/28-carlos-hyde-super-bowl-jersey.html his 13th grand slam title at Wimbledon last weekend. Between him and two other 30‑somethings, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, they hold all four majors. They have each staged their own remarkable comebacks and physical restorations, putting younger players to shame with their dedication to both the technical and physical part of the sport. This year John McEnroe described Federer’s enduring vitality as “beyond belief”. The 31-year-old Andy Murray, struggling with his own body and ranked http://www.officialsseahawksshop.com/Jon_Ryan_Jersey_CheapNo 839 in the world, knows which example to follow. For female tennis players in their 30s, there is another consideration even more profound than the willingness to push an ageing body to its limit. Maternity. Darryl Roberts Authentic Jersey Serena Williams, 36, predictably made short work of any controversy over her seeding at Wimbledon by reaching the final at a canter. But the matter still remains: the Slovak Dominika Cibulková, who lost her seeding to Williams, described the situation as “unfair” but acknowledged during the tournament that the question of raising her own family is, at the age of 29, coming to the forefront of her mind – “I don’t see myself as coming back after a baby”. wholesale jerseys wholesale nfl jerseys cheap jerseys chinacheap jerseys cheap jerseys from china cheap jerseyswholesale nfl jerseys cheap jerseys

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  Posted in the topic Tim Cahill retires as the greatest in the forum News and Announcements

  July 19, 2018 8:55 PM EDT

  When Tim Cahill announced his retirement from international football on Tuesday he did so as the greatest ever representative of Australia’s men’s national team. His 107 caps is a record for an outfield player, and his 50 goals almost double the tally of the next most prolific Socceroo. “Every single cap has been an honour,” he said on Tuesday. “I am incredibly proud to have had the opportunity to represent my country.” Despite these monuments to http://www.officialnewyorkrangers.com/Adidas-Brady-Skjei-Jersey consistency and longevity, Cahill’s international career was one defined by moments not aggregates. Examples are not difficult to recall, like netting Australia’s first ever World Cup finals goals in that never-to-be-forgotten comeback in Kaiserslautern, http://www.officialsteelerslockerroom.com/elite-coty-sensabaugh-jersey or smashing one of the most spectacular volleys in World Cup history against the Netherlands in 2014, to finding the back of the net twice against Syria at the age of 37 to keep his country’s 2018 World Cup dream alive. He was the definition of a big game player. Cahill’s on-field success was amplified by his visibility off it. For a decade he bore the brunt of marketing and PR duties for the national team, throughout which he was always the model professional, however misguided the venture. As the Socceroos transitioned away from the household names of the golden generation, Cahill remained a reassuring presence for teammates, coaches, sponsors and supporters, relishing the pressure that could have suffocated others. He showed it was possible to commit to the national side while also pursuing a top level club career in Europe, no mean feat given the travails of his predecessors. “I’ve never met anyone who loves the Socceroos as much as me,” he asserted in 2015. This devotion manifested in a will to win that improved teammates and galvanised the Australian dressing room. The selection of Cahill had a multiplying effect which will be hard for new coach Graham Arnold to replace. Cahill achieved all this despite being a player of – comparatively – limited ability. While his status as the greatest Socceroo is surely unchallenged, the title of best perhaps belongs elsewhere, to someone with purer footballing attributes like Harry Kewell or Mark DeMarcus Ware Authentic Jersey Viduka. But that is not to denigrate Cahill, the opposite in fact, as it is testament to how Robin Ventura Authentic Jersey hard he has trained and how much he has sacrificed, for so long, to extract every ounce of talent in order to maintain such record-breaking standards. This resilience can be seen in Cahill’s progression as an international footballer from dynamic pest to talismanic target man, to impact substitute, at each stage recognising the need to reinvent himself to continue adding value. Throughout each iteration he remained dangerous in the air, a reflection of his bravery and ability to influence matches by force of will. Despite standing just 180cm tall, Cahill headed half his international goals. “He is very determined and very decisive,” former Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink enthused back in 2009. “He is a wonderful talent, very sharp, full of impact and dangerous around the box.” While Cahill now retires a national icon, he very nearly didn’t play for Australia at all. As a 14-year old he represented Samoa’s under-20s in a World Youth Championship qualifier. It took almost a decade of lobbying FIFA to convince the world governing body that Cahill should be allowed to also play for the country of his birth. He eventually debuted as a substitute against South Africa in 2004 (replacing Marco Bresciano), the week before firing Millwall into their first FA Cup final. Cahill’s final bow was taken against Peru at the conclusion of Australia’s 2018 World Cup campaign. His departure marks the end of an era. Back in 2006 he was the seventh-youngest squad member for that landmark trip to Germany, but from that joyous World Cup only Mark Milligan – who didn’t feature during the tournament – is in the running for future caps. It remains to be seen what Cahill chooses to do next, but despite being nearer 39 than 38, he is expected to continue his club career somewhere. After barely featuring for either Melbourne City or Millwall last season, however, his next move will most likely be with a view to future coaching ambitions. We will learn more at a press conference on Friday.http://www.bulldoggenform.de/t4186f121-The-Titans-are-knocking-on-the-door-as-an-unknown.html#msg37857 href="http://livestyle.community4um.de/t27306f2008-upends-South-Carolina-in-emotional-SEC-clash.html#msg29566">http://livestyle.community4um.de/t27306f2008-upends-South-Carolina-in-emotional-SEC-clash.html#msg29566 href="http://remise.ma/index.php/en/component/kunena/24-nutrition-et-croissance/28335-top-risers-how-best-prospects-fared#28335">http://remise.ma/index.php/en/component/kunena/24-nutrition-et-croissance/28335-top-risers-how-best-prospects-fared#28335 href="http://akvafarm.hu/forum/showthread.php?tid=1559">http://akvafarm.hu/forum/showthread.php?tid=1559

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  Posted in the topic World Cup was Deschamps’ triumph in the forum News and Announcements

  July 18, 2018 11:44 PM EDT

  Mes amis, it http://www.jaguarsofficialprostore.com/Dede-Westbrook-Jersey.html was a long night. World champions, a second star on the jersey and, naturellement, the celebrations were long and loud and joyful. I found myself in the changing room with the players after the game and the air was thick with laughter and song and then a certain dizziness, too, as the result began to sink in. I embraced my old friend Didier Deschamps, still soaked to the skin from the rain-drenched trophy ceremony. He was in a state of euphoria – he had done it! By leading Les Bleus to a second triumph, 20 years after being our captain when we won the World Cup in France, Didier became only the third man to have won the competition as both player and manager. He’s in rare company, alongside Mário Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer, but when he was reminded of the fact he just shrugged, smiled and said those two were far better players than he ever was. Typical Didier, that. Deflecting the praise, trying not to take himself too seriously. Humble. But this triumph for French football is very much his. Didier has crafted a team and a spirit, very much in the way Aimé Jacquet did with us in 1998. Just like 20 years ago, when Aimé decided to do without Eric Cantona and David Ginola, so Didier opted to leave out Karim Benzema, arguably France’s most talented No 9. Just like 20 years ago, critics complained about the style of play and a lack of French flair but, just like Aimé, Didier’s mindset is all about results. It’s http://www.officialauthenticbroncostore.com/Nike-Dennis-Smith-Jersey.html all about winning and Didier set up his teams accordingly. The players threw Didier into the air after Leonard Fournette Jersey the game and later stormed his press conference, throwing water over everybody and chanting their manager’s name. But it wasn’t just water they poured over him, it was praise, too, and you could see they knew how much they owed him. It was touching. For these young players, being world champions will take a bit of time to http://www.officialcardinalslockerroom.com/elite-budda-baker-jersey really sink in. Little by little they will realise what they have achieved and the significance of it all. They got a glimpse of what it means to people on Monday when they paraded along the Champs Élysées in front of hundreds of thousands of partying supporters. They are world champions for life. In England many of you can name the World Cup-winning team of 1966, despite it being such a long time ago and the fact most of you probably weren’t even born. In France, nobody has forgotten the names of the 22 players Dennis Johnson Authentic Jersey who won our first World Cup and several of us were lucky enough to be in Moscow to see first-hand this new group add their names to history. For the likes of Laurent Blanc, Lilian Thuram, Didier and me the World Cup was a kind of consecration – we had already won lots of trophies with our clubs and were experienced players. It’s different for this France team. For many of these youngsters the World Cup is almost the first thing they’ve won! Which makes me think France are looking good for the next few years. When we won in 1998 it gave us tremendous belief and we became a much better team afterwards – think back to how we dominated England a year later at Wembley with a couple of goals Tyler Higbee Jersey from Nicolas Anelka. Remember Euro 2000, when Luke Kuechly Jersey we played much more attacking football than two years earlier. No wonder Didier will stay on as France manager – he can sense the potential he has at hand. Many of these players will be even better in two or four years’ time. Didier left talent such as Alexandre Lacazette, Kingsley Coman and Anthony Martial at home but they are still young and we have plenty of other players coming through – Clément Lenglet just joined Barcelona from Sevilla and is a fine defender. The future is really bright for France. Some of the other nations have a lot of work to do. Probably the biggest disappointment for me at this World Cup was Argentina, with Diego Maradona and his grotesque gestures just about summing it up. What a waste of talent this team represents. But the word “team” is the wrong one to employ here, that’s the problem. This is a country that has always produced top-class footballers but this World Cup just underlined that they are at the end of a cycle and they need to start over. So many good players but no team – I was very disappointed by them. I was saddened, too, that no African team managed to get past the first round. 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