FC Barcelona Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

barone

christ .. rip tito .. way too young

miralize

Just thinking about the fact that he had young kids makes me angry. **** cancer.

gimmick

Absolutely gutted to hear that news yesterday. Too young. The poor man. The poor family. Rip to a gentleman and a hero.

Turtwig

So if Tata does leave who do you guys want instead?

My recommendations would De Boer or Rudi Garcia. Can't see Klopp leaving Dortmund. Avoid Laudrup like an iceberg!

Lumbo

I think Barcelona might recruit closer to home this time. Luis Enrique could be in with a shout.

Turtwig

Enrique hasn't exactly set any of his teams alight though.

Ulysses Gaze

Turtwig wrote: »

Enrique hasn't exactly set any of his teams alight though.

Neither had Rijkaard before he joined.

Ok spell as manager of Holland and then he managed to get Sparta Rotterdam relegated in his only season in charge. For the first time in their history.

Turtwig

Pardon my ignorance but was Rijkaard ever a good manager?

Ulysses Gaze

Turtwig wrote: »

Pardon my ignorance but was Rijkaard ever a good manager?

Winning the Champions League and a couple of La Ligas would suggest some level of competence.

Lumbo

Turtwig wrote: »

Enrique hasn't exactly set any of his teams alight though.

I just think that they will go back to the formula of using Barcelona B coaches as its worked well for them in their recent past. Enrique got his Barca B team to the playoffs in the Segundo but obviously couldn't bring them any further.

miralize

Please not Eusebio!

MisterAnarchy

Seems like Enrique will be the new manager

On Monday, cameras from TV station La Sexta captured Zubizarreta entering Enrique's house in Catalonia, with Mundo Deportivo and Sport reporting that the pair had met to discuss plans for Barca's transfer business ahead of next season.

Turtwig

Yeah Sid Lowe in his la Liga review basically said Enrique would be manager next season.

Meanwhile Madrid's opponents are Valladolid, who are fighting for survival, and Celta, who are managed by Luis Enrique, the man who will take over at Barcelona next season. Could he lead them to the title before he has even joined the club?

Source.

Lumbo

Lumbo wrote: »

I think Barcelona might recruit closer to home this time. Luis Enrique could be in with a shout.

Turtwig

What use is that? Tell us, well, no actually, tell just me, the lottery numbers for the next jackpot draw.

HalloweenJack

He brought the Barca B team forward, effectively as far as he could take them.

He seemed to struggle with Roma, who were in major transition with a new owner, but he's done a relatively good job with Celta.

He has them in ninth, ten points clear of relegation, not bad considering they're a side who survived by a point last year and it's not like he'd have been able to splash out big when he took charge in the summer.

And of course, he'd know Barca inside out. Could prove to be a shrewd appointment.

Turtwig

Will be interesting to see if he can revitalise Messi or has the balls to drop him!

Turtwig

Didn't Luis Enrique turn down the job before? Or rather, he hesitated and Tata was then given it.

the_monkey

Tonight's a big night, FC barça will win la liga tonight.

done deal.

gimmick

Garcia could win his first trophy for Barca this weekend if Celta can beat/draw with Real.

the_monkey

Told ya ....

I knew since Barça came back to beat VillaReal 3-2 that la liga was theirs ...

miralize

Its on

the_monkey

miralize wrote: »

Its on

It's won

dfx-

You need to move out of Barcelona, monkey..

the_monkey

dfx- wrote: »

You need to move out of Barcelona, monkey..

I love it tho !!!

The climate, the life , everything .... just those damn pesky football team... :P

MisterAnarchy

the_monkey wrote: »

I love it tho !!!

The climate, the life , everything .... just those damn pesky football team... :P

Who do you like more monkey ,Barcelona FC or Rafa Nadal ?

messi1985

So we've been given a lifeline! Elche not beaten at home since december though, could be a tough one.. after whats happened last week, how can barca let this slip?? i have a feeling Tito is looking down on us and will spur us on.. if one man deserves this title it's him!! i know its a cliche but get through tomorrow night and hope a champions league final will take focus away from athletico

the_monkey

Don't worry, it's won ..

TheNap

What time does this kick off on Saturday ?

gimmick

5pm Irish time it seems.

Amazed that Barca are one win away from winning the league. The team has really just stuttered through the season. I hope that the obvious weaknesses are not ignored as a result of this.

Its a shame that the teams are not on equal points going into it as the dynamic would have been funny. Atletico would win the league with a score draw, while Barca would win on GD if it was nil nil. Would have been interesting to see how both would have lined up.

Ah well.

JPA

Luis Enrique, Messi and ter Stegen all sign contracts.

MisterAnarchy

Well it looks like PSG have won the bidding war over David Luiz for a ludicrous 50m euro.Phew .

Maybe Barcelona can concentrate on buying a proper bloody centre back now ,one who can actually defend .
Luiz is a donkey ,I honestly cant understand his appeal,sure he is decent on the ball and a good passer but he is terrible at defending,the main attribute of a centre back.

miralize

^^ Thank God.

Interesting week. Nice to see the board deal with things this quickly.

I do hope Martino stays in Europe. He is a more than capable manager, who was forced to deal with quite a few things no manager should. Hope he finds a club that trusts him enough.

MisterAnarchy

What do people make of Fabregas being offloaded ?
It seems strange to offload him now ,with Xavi pushing on and not being the player he once was.

I think Barcelona made a mistake bringing him back to the club in the first place at a time when there was no real place for him in the team and he upset the balance of the side .
I know the fans never really took to him but it still seems a bit hasty to sell him now .

Turtwig

Stupid move imo. Give him one transfer window with Enrique at least.

Letting thiago go was even stupider.

Are Barca actually going to buy a cb this transfer window

MisterAnarchy

Turtwig wrote: »

Stupid move imo. Give him one transfer window with Enrique at least.

Letting thiago go was even stupider.

Are Barca actually going to buy a cb this transfer window

Yeah ,it seems hasty to get rid of him now,they could get the same money for him in a year .

The transfer policy strategy at the club has been disastrous ever since Rosell got involved.

They will have to buy a CB this summer as the transfer ban could be in place next season.
At least they cant waste any money on sideshow Bob ,now that PSG bought him,thats a relief.
I think Paul McShane would be a perfect fit .:pac:

LuckyLloyd

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2095828-chelsea-transfer-news-cesc-fabregas-criticised-in-barcelona-statement

'But despite glowing starts to each campaign, Cesc’s contributions to the cause gradually decreased as each season drew to a close. From being someone who joined in with the attack, supplying and scoring goals, the magic tended to fade later on in each season. He only scored one, six and one goals in the last 24 games of each season. For some reason, he was never as good in the second half of a season as in the first.'

What an utterly classless club.

Turtwig

They changed the statement almost immediately. Actions of one individual. If the club was utterly classless they wouldn't have corrected the statement, now would they?

gosplan

Turtwig wrote: »

They changed the statement almost immediately. Actions of one individual. If the club was utterly classless they wouldn't have corrected the statement, now would they?

Clubs as big as Barca don't let some random guy just write their public statements off the cuff.

That went through Barca's PR machine and they decided it was the message the club wanted to get across.

When they realised from the reactions that it was a classless dig, they changed.

I really don't give a sh1t but it really irks me that when one face of the club is treating people like crap or losing with astonishingly bad grace, the other has a smug sanctimonious grin while it's mouthing 'mes que in club'

ArmaniJeanss

gosplan wrote: »

Clubs as big as Barca don't let some random guy just write their public statements off the cuff.

It wasn't actually a statement as such, unless every article put on every clubs website automatically bears the official stamp of 'statement'. It was one of many sports articles Barca put on the 'news section' of their website, currently there are just shy of 6600 such statem articles on their website. It seems incredibly unlikely that all such articles have gone through committee and are an official statement.
Much more likely that a few employees keep it updated, and one made a bad decision here.

Meh, don't know why I bother, Barca haters are going to remain convinced that the executive board met in their lair of evil and decided to 'get' Cesc whilst supping on the blood of orphans.

gosplan

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

It wasn't actually a statement as such, unless every article put on every clubs website automatically bears the official stamp of 'statement'. It was one of many sports articles Barca put on the 'news section' of their website, currently there are just shy of 6600 such statem articles on their website. It seems incredibly unlikely that all such articles have gone through committee and are an official statement.
Much more likely that a few employees keep it updated, and one made a bad decision here.

Meh, don't know why I bother, Barca haters are going to remain convinced that the executive board met in their lair of evil and decided to 'get' Cesc whilst supping on the blood of orphans.

It's their official website.

Also 6600 articles over 3 years is 6 per day.

Trust me, I worked in this sector. A company like Woodies DIY would not just let someone write something and put it on the site. It's just bad practice all around and not done. Everything is edited, checked and rechecked.

Barca is the fans more than any other club. I think sticking the boot in on Fabregas was just the club PR depts attempt to reflect the fact that the fans went cold on him.

I'm not a Barca hater btw. I just feel that they really let themselves down every so often. The sprinklers come to mind also.

miralize

gosplan wrote: »

Clubs as big as Barca don't let some random guy just write their public statements off the cuff.

That went through Barca's PR machine and they decided it was the message the club wanted to get across.

When they realised from the reactions that it was a classless dig, they changed.

I really don't give a sh1t but it really irks me that when one face of the club is treating people like crap or losing with astonishingly bad grace, the other has a smug sanctimonious grin while it's mouthing 'mes que in club'

They are at least 3 journalists. The Spanish & Catalan versions of the article werent nearly as scathing. One person at Barcelona does one unsavoury thing and all off a sudden, forever rubber-stamped with classlessness.. ridiculous.

LuckyLloyd

I love the attempts at hand waving away every classless act the club engages in. The pattern of behaviour over a long time period is clear.

glued

In fairness Fabregas and his agent spent last summer whinging about playing time and what a great player he was an what a travesty that he wasn't in the first XI. This season he got that chance and hasn't impressed so Barcelona obviously feel that he's not worth the hassle.

I don't really see the problem in essentially calling it as it is.

gosplan

miralize wrote: »

They are at least 3 journalists. The Spanish & Catalan versions of the article werent nearly as scathing. One person at Barcelona does one unsavoury thing and all off a sudden, forever rubber-stamped with classlessness.. ridiculous.

Not all of a sudden. Latest in a long line of crass disrespectful things Barca have done.

marienbad

gosplan wrote: »

Not all of a sudden. Latest in a long line of crass disrespectful things Barca have done.

Every sporting organisation has done crass things from time to time , it is just part of human nature but as organisations go Barca at least try to be better.
Sometimes they succeed sometimes not .

Naggins

Really disappointed by the actions of Barcelona the last 2/3 seasons.

1) allowing a corporate sponsor

2) selling Thiago last summer

3) selling Cesc this summer. That article posted lacked class.

4) they havent blooded enough youngsters from barcelona b into the main team in recent years compared to when pep was in charge.

5) the Neymar fiasco: tax and the amount paid to his father etc

2 and 3 should have been the natural successors to Iniesta and Xavi. Some may disagree bout Cesc but his stats were good and he didnt play in his preferred position.

dreamers75

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seaneh

How much did they pay for him?

Turtwig

Several million qatari slaves. Oh wait, no sorry most of those are free. Seriously, how can they accept that sponsorship of Qatar? The airways is f ked up too.

18 mil I think, but it being Barca now you'd probably need an inquiry to be sure that's a fair representation.