aka Dus

Was a thread here a few months ago with a Essien v Momo proposition, factoring in their respective fees, age etc etc Think we got definitive answers yesterday. The only thing he needs to improve on is his second touch before he's undroppable.

Finnan is world class. Fact.

Man Utd is criticised over £30,000 lottery award to keep club's staff fit · MP calls Old Trafford handout 'obscene' · Granada studios among 41 firms to benefit Owen Gibson, media correspondent and Alex Kumi Saturday April 22, 2006 The Guardian Sales of national lottery tickets in the blue half of the city could be facing a slump after it emerged yesterday that Manchester United is to receive £30,000 of lottery funding to provide fitness classes for its staff. The grant, the equivalent of half of Wayne Rooney's weekly wage, or four times the price of a season ticket in the club's Gallery hospitality suite, will be used to pay for staff yoga classes and fitness training. The club received the money as part of a drive by Sport England, which receives funds from the lottery, to boost the health of people in the north-west by paying for employers to encourage staff to get fit. Altogether 41 firms will benefit. Granada studios, the ITV-owned production base where Coronation Street is filmed, will receive a share of the £1.2m lottery scheme. It will use its handout to buy health assessment equipment for its gym, due to open by the end of the month. It will be open to all those who work at the studios. But the decision to give money to the country's richest football club, which enjoys annual revenues of £166.4m, was greeted with dismay by some as a further example of questionable distribution of lottery money. Nigel Evans, the Conservative MP for the Ribble Valley, condemned the payments as "obscene" and criticised the football club for applying for the money. "When a number of good causes and charities get turned down for funding, the awarding of £30,000 to one of the richest football teams in the world ranks as one of the most obscene awards that the lottery has given out to date," he said. "The government should now intervene to ensure that awards from the lottery should only go to those organisations which cannot raise the funds for themselves." Sport England, which also made an award of £45,000 to the Manchester law firm Halliwells, which will be used to pay for LA Fitness membership for its 600 staff, said: "With people spending more and more time at work, research clearly shows us that the workplace is an important priority if we are going to succeed in the drive to get the nation more active. "If we are really going to bring about a major shift in people's health, then we must be innovative in what we invest in. "We cannot and should not discriminate against a firm based on whether it is perceived to be a wealthy organisation, but should target those who will help make a real difference." Manchester United recently agreed the UK's biggest shirt sponsorship deal. The agreement, secured this month with insurer American International Group, is worth £56.5m over four years. It emerged this year that Real Madrid had overtaken United to become the world's richest club. Companies were invited to apply for the lottery fitness grants in March last year, but the winners have only recently been announced. An Old Trafford spokesman said the club had already received £10,000, and the remaining £20,000 would be paid in two portions over the next two years. The lottery was set up 12 years ago and has repeatedly attracted controversy because of the way money is handed out, and concern that obscure groups are often favoured over better-known causes. Groups such as the Samaritans have been turned down on the grounds that they do not help enough minority groups, while controversial grants include £20,000 to help teach prisoners to play the xylophone. Earlier this week it emerged that a new lottery pitched as a "fairer" alternative to the current system is to be launched, with its organisers claiming that a greater proportion of money raised will be donated to charity.

Right, and that's where I am coming from. Another victory for them and I don't see us as being in any particularly strong position to challenge them. We beat them and I think we have far more reason to think we might. It's more important for us than for them.

Edited - haven't a notion how that post ended up in this thread....

At the risk of parroting and adding nothing to the thread, I fully agree. Think he could do better - honestly. But he's worth hisplace as things stand.

Think its across the board. 4 next season rising to 8 in 2008 or something? The exact details escape me at the minute as I am too tired to try remember. But it's something Rafa has been buying with in mind I think.

How many "home grown" players do we have to have in our matchday squads next season?

from Feb. 6, 2006 Quote: NEW YORK - American International Group Inc., the world?s largest insurer, is on the verge of settling federal and state charges of fraud and other misconduct for a record payment of at least $1.5 billion, sources close to the case said on Monday. Moving to end a long-running investigation of the company, AIG was expected to say ? possibly as soon as Thursday ? that it has settled with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York State Department of Insurance, the sources said. At a cost of roughly $1.5 billion, to be divided about equally between New York and the SEC, the AIG outlay would be one of the largest fraud settlement payouts ever. Markets had expected a corporate settlement in the $1.5 billion range, explaining why AIG?s stock price was up as much as 1 percent to $66.03 per share in midday New York Stock Exchange trading, said Donald Light, an insurance analyst with consultancy Celent LLC. ?Whenever you remove uncertainty, it?s a good thing,? Light said. ?On the downside, they will still have to deal with private shareholders? suits.? The settlement will not cover a state lawsuit pending against former AIG ex-Chairman Maurice ?Hank? Greenberg and ex-Chief Financial Officer Howard Smith, nor any possible federal charges against the two men, the sources said. Spitzer and New York Insurance Superintendent Howard Mills in May sued AIG, Greenberg and Smith, alleging AIG ?manipulated its books to deceive regulators and the investing public.? The Spitzer lawsuit, filed in Manhattan, accused Greenberg and Smith of engaging in ?numerous fraudulent business transactions that exaggerated the strength of the company?s core underwriting business to prop up its stock price.? Marc Violette, spokesman for Spitzer, declined comment, as did AIG spokesman Christopher Winans and an SEC spokesman. Howard Opinsky, a spokesman for Greenberg, said that even if the allegations made by the government were to be believed, ?a settlement of this magnitude is totally disproportionate to the impact of the alleged misconduct.? An attorney for Smith could not immediately be reached. Federal authorities have been investigating New York-based AIG and former officers for months over a variety of issues. Last week, the Justice Department and the SEC charged Christian Milton, former head of AIG?s reinsurance operations, with aiding and abetting in securities fraud. Milton?s lawyer has said his client will vigorously contest the charges. Also charged by Justice and the SEC last week were three ex-officers of a unit of Warren Buffett?s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The three, along with Milton, were accused of playing a role in a $500 million book-cooking scheme to inflate AIG?s reserves and support its stock price. The SEC also brought a civil action against a fifth former executive of the Berkshire reinsurance unit, General Re. In June, two former General Re executives pleaded guilty to charges that they helped AIG misstate financial results. AIG has admitted that it accounted improperly for the deal involved in last week?s charges and has restated $3.5 billion of earnings over five years.

Heh heh Feckin amateurs those Nordies.

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In other Ireland news, apparently, Ireland's away double in the sunny south east of Europe next year against the Czechies & Slovakians will not be in Prague & Bratislava, as might be expected. Rather it will be Teplice for the CZ game and Kosice for the Slovaks. Not worth a new thread.... so this one will do.

Really enjoyable game. Barca are a total class act this season, I'd fear for Arsenal big style if they made it that far.

What odds Terry Venables?

And thanks for taking the time to contribute to the thread in such a positive manner. Where would we be without your insight, wisdom and prudence?

Fair play.

They fooking well were on here Maldini!! Jesus it was ridiculous the amount of threads devoted to "where will they play next year" etc etc on here.

I sat beside Jospeph Elanga watching football last evening. He hates you too.

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All is well in the world - at least one Chairman in European football is still able to remember how to flog a club to some investors. Canal Plus to sell PSG soccer club - report PARIS, April 4 (Reuters) - Canal Plus is to announce later on Tuesday that it is selling Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) soccer club to a group of investors, French newspaper Le Parisien reported. Canal Plus, the pay-TV division of French media giant Vivendi, could not immediately be reached for comment. The group of investors is led by U.S. investment fund Colony Capital and Luc Dayan, the former head of the Lille soccer club, Le Parisien said.

Steve Finnan should get our player of the year.

My personal opinion is that the Cup semi final is an enormous game for us and that a lot of how we go next season will be heavily affected by how it turns out against Chelsea in a couple of weeks.

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