Summer Transfer Speculation and Shit.

[Niall_Quinn]

De Gea move has collapsed, the papers didn't arrive in time apparently (Spanish window for players in closed at 11pm our time).

What a farce.

Bet you they get a dispensation of some sort. Certain people won't be keen to see their cut go south.

If not though, van Genius has laid the ground for some interesting times ahead. Because surely De Gea is gone in January.

[Munchies]

Bet you they get a dispensation of some sort. Certain people won't be keen to see their cut go south.

If not though, van Genius has laid the ground for some interesting times ahead. Because surely De Gea is gone in January.

Why pay £25m when you can get him for free in 6months?

[Niall_Quinn]

Wonder if the De Gea cash was financing part of the Martial deal?

[Power n Glory]

But isn't that the point of sport? It is supposed to be our escape from the companies that rip us off and drain our wallets and the pressures of everyday life. The essence of what sport means to us as people is why us bunch of losers are on here every day talking shit. It isn't just football. It means far more than that in the larger framework of our physiological make-up. We're humans with imaginations, rather than machines performing automated functions. Some people scratch that itch through films. Others through music. Or train spotting. Or collecting Nazi memorabilia. Whatever suits. We can't function by merely grinding through the gears of everyday life. We're competitive beasts at heart and need to find ways to demonstrate that outside of crushing individuals and families in the race to make as much money as possible. For the time being I have learnt to adapt to the bastardisation of our game but just saying 'switch off' is a weak-minded argument. It's an obstruction of free speech that creates a lob-sided argument where everyone agrees, the worst kind of level-headed utopia imaginable. Otherwise we may as well not have an opinion at all if the best possible option is to walk away. If you are going to complain then you need to hear and understand the complaints of others.

I hear the complaints but I think the comparisons are over the top. I won't die without football and if the corporations want to keep on raising prices, they can have it. The only way it works is if people think they're forced to pay and I don't see why because this is only entertainment. I can get my kicks through, music, film, TV, xbox, books, whatever. Heck, if the corporate side of the game gets too much there are lower leagues to watch if the love for football runs that deep. Easier said then done but it's the truth.

[Injury Time]

[Marc Overmars]

Why pay £25m when you can get him for free in 6months?

Exactly. Now they're stuck with someone who they've already frozen out, bye bye 25m and bye bye De Gea.

[Niall_Quinn]

Why pay £25m when you can get him for free in 6months?

It's a year before his contract is up.

[Marc Overmars]

I'd also love to know how in this day and age the "documents" didn't arrive in time.

[Syn]

Van Gaal is more entertaining than Moyes. He's a monumental bellend. This is a huge fuck up.

[Kano]

I hear the complaints but I think the comparisons are over the top. I won't die without football and if the corporations want to keep on raising prices, they can have it. The only way it works is if people think they're forced to pay and I don't see why because this is only entertainment. I can get my kicks through, music, film, TV, xbox, books, whatever. Heck, if the corporate side of the game gets too much there are lower leagues to watch if the love for football runs that deep. Easier said then done but it's the truth.

That's too narrow an argument to ever work. People can't just walk away from their passion, their escape at the drop of a hat. That doesn't work. That's why TV and the clubs have been able to manipulate themselves into the current position they have. Taking advantage of people's emotions and willingness to sacrifice in order to escape. You are also judging everyone else by your own standards, forgetting that the people who sacrifice so much to go to home and away games do so for far more than just their love of watching football at any level. You may be able to get your kicks elsewhere but what about those who can't, where do they go? It's a safe argument to lob around on the Internet because everything begins and ends with the opening/closing of a browser. It can't exist in the real world because the emotional and psychological entanglement associated with those decisions are far more complicated.