What you missed while fishing for people…
- Europa League roundup (bear with me): Legia 2-2 Spartak Moscow, Ekranas 1-0 Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Vaslui 2-0 Sparta Praha, Lokomotiv Moscow 2-0 Spartak Trnava, HJK Helskinki 2-0 Schalke, Zestafoni 3-3 Club Brugge, Litek 1-2 Dynamo Kyiv, Vorskla 2-1 Dinamo Bucarest, Austria Wien 3-1 Gaz Metan, Aalesund 2-1 AZ Alkmaar, Omonia 2-1 FC Salzburg, Thun 0-1 Stoke City, Maccabi Tel-Aviv 3-0 Panathinaikos, Steaua 2-0 CSKA Sofia, Nordsjælland 0-0 Sporting, Śląsk 1-3 Rapid Bucarest, PAOK 2-0 Karpaty, Besiktas 3-0 Alania, Bursaspor 1-2 Anderlecht, Standard 1-0 Helsingborg, Fulham 3-0 Dnipro, Hannover 96 2-1 Sevilla, Crvena zvezda 1-2 Rennes, Nacional 0-0 Birmingham, Shamrock Rovers 1-1 Partizan Belgrade, Hearts 0-5 Tottenham, AEK Athens 1-0 Dinamo Tbilisi, Rosenborg 0-0 AEK Larnaca, Slovan Bratislava 1-0 Roma, Differdange 0-4 PSG, Maribor 2-1 Rangers, Athletic Bilbao 0-0 Trabzonspor, Lazio 6-0 Rabotnicki, Ried 0-0 PSV, Celtic 0-0 Sion, Braga 0-0 BSC Young Boys, Atletico Madrid 2-0 Vitoria. Whew.
- CONCACAF Champions League roundup: Tauro 1-2 Toronto FC.
- MLS roundup: Chicago 1-1 DC United.
- Manchested United will be without centerback Nemanja Vidic for five weeks with a calf injury.
- Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini would like to wrap up the signing of Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri as quickly as possible; this could be complicated by the fact that Nasri has been named in the squad for Arsenal’s clash with Liverpool tomorrow.
- Chelsea have confirmed the signing of striker Romelu Lukaku from Anderlecht.
- Liverpool have released winger Nabil El Zhar from his contract, which should save you a step when you start your Liverpool save on FM’12.
- New Liverpool left back Jose Enrique fears for the future of Newcastle. Not for nothing, but Newcastle held Arsenal scoreless, while Liverpool’s defense let up a goal to Sunderland; it’s possible that Enrique should maybe just worry about his current club for the time being.
- West Brom manager Roy Hodgson is optimistic about the fitness of midfielder Owen Hargreaves, who hasn’t played in something like three years.
- Blackburn has made a “sizable” offer for FC Dallas defender George John.
- West Ham have rejected QPR’s “ridiculous” £4 million bid for midfielder Scott Parker.
- Burnley have signed West Ham striker Zavon Hines on a free transfer.
- Atletico Madrid have purchased Porto striker Falcao for €40 million.
I’m semi-convinced that a percentage of Scott Parker enthusiasts only rate him because of his ludicrous war-time hairstyle, like it makes him some kind of reputable person.
I don’t get the Parker love. Can anyone fill me in on why?