Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Pity The Rest Of League II

Notts County keeps writing checks:

Notts County have confirmed the signing of 34-year-old former England defender Sol Campbell on a five-year contract.

Campbell was a free agent after leaving Portsmouth and has joined the League Two outfit, who were taken over this summer, in a purely playing capacity.

"This club have got great ambition and I want to be a part of it," said the former Tottenham and Arsenal star.

Campbell has 73 England caps and played for his country under Magpies director of football Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Eriksson stunned the world of football when he arrived at Meadow Lane in July and in Campbell the club have now made their biggest on-field signing since being taken over by a Middle-East consortium.

"Sven played a big role," said Campbell, whose move to Notts County was revealed by BBC Radio Nottingham earlier in the week. "He's a great man. He's managed all over the world and he knows his football, he's a proper guy.

"He's seen the future. It's a challenge but I think everyone connected to the club are prepared for that challenge. It's refreshing."

Alright, I'll admit it, I'm a little giddy with all the good news coming from the Magpies these days. When I started following this club I thought the time might come when they were able to climb into the higher reaches of English football, but I thought I'd be in my 50's when that happened. With the recent in-flow of cash, it looks like I might see such success while I'm still in my 40's.

Campbell's former manager, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, said he was surprised by the player's decision to drop down three divisions and suggested he might find it difficult to cope.

"It was a surprise, because of the level Notts County play at," said the Frenchman. "That shows you as well how much financial potential Notts County has suddenly.

"In May, did you expect Sol to go to Notts County? Certainly not. Time will show if it is a good move for him. It depends what is in his mind, if it is purely a football move or if it is a long-term move that he wants to be involved afterwards as a coach....

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp revealed he would have attempted to sign Campbell had he been in charge of any other Premier League club.

Campbell became a hate figure among Spurs fans after leaving for bitter rivals Arsenal in 2001 and Redknapp, who signed the defender for Portsmouth, said: "If I was at any other Premier League club I would have taken Sol Campbell no problem at all. I think he is still a fantastic player.

"In my opinion he's still in the top six central defenders in the Premier League so for Notts County to get him in that division is incredible."

Incredible. Yeah, that's the word.

Friday, August 21, 2009

The Worst Official In Professional Sports Strikes Again

Even the ESPN broadcast crew has had enough of Baldomero Toledo. He single handedly destroyed the quality of last night's Sounders v. Revolution match, unless, of course, 32,000 Seattle fans actually paid good money to watch Toledo looking befuddled.

MLS needs to get rid of this fool. He is making a mockery of the league.

This leads me to my new (very old) joke:

Person 1: How do you save a drowning Baldomero Toledo?

Person 2: I don't know.

Person 1: Good.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I Hate The BBC

Does anybody have a good reason why video highlights from UK sporting events are only viewable by UK residents? God knows, highlights on ESPN or any other US based media are available to anyone in any country.

I thought the BBC was supposed to be a news organization. I guess I was wrong.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Holy Shit

End the season!

Notts County 5 - 0 Bradford

Lee Hughes scored a hat-trick as Sven-Goran Eriksson's era as director of football at Notts County began with a stunning win over sorry Bradford....

Notts County manager Ian McParland told BBC Radio Nottinghamshire:

"We played some good football - like we did last year but today we stuck our chances in the back of the net.

"It was a treat to watch. We've added more energy to the team this season.

"We've won more tackles today than we did all last season."

Yes, you read that right, ol' Sven has taken up residence with the Magpies. God only knows how this will impact the product on the field, but it should certainly be easier to convince potential signings that Notts is serious in moving up the ranks of English football.

If we keep winning games 5 to nil, well, that would help too.