who do you really think is going to perform and deliver in all the transfers coming in

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Frank Rijkaard best manager ever just stupid ignorant futball board.

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Hey BlauGrana Futbol,

Today is the big day. We've switched your community over to the new SB Nation sports blog platform. My name is Trei, and I'm here to help you get adjusted to the new home we've built for you. If you have questions or trouble with the new system, post a comment in this thread and myself or one of the team (lovitt, sixfoot6 or odacrem) will try to point you in the right direction.

Before we begin, I want to let you know we still consider this a beta platform, so don't be surprised if you find a few bugs or if everything isn't exactly right yet. We hope you'll take the time to report any problems you encounter at bugreport@sbnation.com. We'll be continuing to make changes and improving things.

Please take a few minutes to read about what's new below. But if you just can't wait to jump in, here are some quick things to check out:

1. Sign up for your SB Nation network account and claim your old blog accounts
2. Once you're logged in, press your  Z  key in any thread with new comments
3. Explore your dashboard and setup your profile
4. Read the guide to the new FanPost editor
5. Install the FanShot bookmarklet and post videos to BlauGrana Futbol from YouTube or images from Flickr
6. Click the "Rec" button on posts and comments to help other people find the good stuff.
7. Customize display options on your Edit Settings page

What Has Changed

SB Nation Network Accounts - the Big Change

Readers across all of our blogs told us they wanted one account to use on every SB Nation blog. To make this work, we're requiring that everyone create a new SB Nation network account. In most cases you should be able to keep your old username, but a few of you may have to choose something new, since every other community in SB Nation will be going through this same transition. We tried to be as fair as possible in deciding who gets to keep which name, using a formula that takes into account length of membership and frequency of activity.

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to participate on all of our blogs, but we don't want to encourage everyone to start visiting rival team blogs and initiating flame wars. To maintain friendly communities we ask that you explicitly join each blog in order to participate. It's a two-click process, but it does means accepting each blog's community guidelines. Just as you join each blog individually, you can be banned on each blog individually.

You can claim old accounts from multiple SB Nation blogs, and your new username will be retroactively attached to all your old comments and diaries. So now you'll be able to access all your writings from your single profile page... like magic.

To get started, click here to claim your old blog accounts and create a new SB Nation network account.

FanPosts (the Section Formerly Known as Diaries)

We changed their name. Why? Because we took this major upgrade as an opportunity to leave behind some vocabulary that never made much sense for a sports blog. SB Nation is the network of, by and for fans, and these are the blog posts we make. So we call them FanPosts. When you're at a bar telling someone to check out your online sports opinions, you don't have to suggest they read your diary.

FanPosts are displayed differently on the homepage - we include your avatar to give more credit for the time you spend writing great posts. The new post editor has a WYSIWYG view that provides easy formatting. It also auto-saves drafts so you don't have to worry about losing your work when you compose a post within the web browser. And you can now associate teams, players and games with your posts: these tools promote your FanPosts on our new team, player and game pages - across the entire network.

The new system does not work like the old diary editor. For example, in HTML mode the new editor doesn't auto-create a new paragraph from two line breaks. But it does offer a whole array of new features. Look for the blinking help button on the right side of the FanPost editor for quick tips, and take a look at our full guide to writing FanPosts on the new platform.

IMPORTANT - if you write your posts in Microsoft Word or some other off-line editor, you will get the most reliable behavior if you cut & paste your post into the HTML view of the FanPost editor. And if you do that, remember to wrap <p></p> tags around each paragraph so your text doesn't run together.

Visual Redesign

This one is probably the most obvious change of all. Like other major websites working to improve readability for their audience, we've adopted a fixed-width layout optimized for the 1024 x 768 resolution used by the majority of BlauGrana Futbol and SB Nation network users. Use the switcher below the user menu if you prefer the wider layout designed for 1280 monitors. We've introduced a top navigation bar with quick links into old and new sections of the site. We also polished a few edges, made some things larger, others smaller and moved a few boxes here and there. More changes and adjustments to come.

Search

We've completely replaced the old search engine with a new one. We're excited to make it easier to find old posts and comments, but we've only taken our first pass on the tools we're offering. We're focused on making search even better than what you had before, so please know that we're aware search is missing key features and we're working on it.

What's New

Schedule, Scores, Stats and Roster

BlauGrana Futbol now has all the basic information about the Barcelona and hundreds of other teams. During games you'll see a regularly updated line score, and as the season progresses we'll track team stat totals and leaders. This is just our first step, so look for us to publish more detailed and archival stats in the future. The best part about all this sports data is that we've integrated it directly into the blog so. We now have special pages that aggregate all blog posts written about games, players and teams.

Recommending FanPosts

Some writing deserves more attention and more conversation. If you want to bump a FanPost up to the top and keep it there for awhile, just click the 'Rec' link under the body of the post. When a FanPost receives enough recommendations it will make the recommended list.

Auto-refreshing Comments

You no longer need to refresh the page to see new comments. If you're logged in, new comments will automatically appear on the page every few seconds. When you post a comment, the page will not refresh either. If you want to quickly cycle through all the new comments, you can press the C key on your keyboard. Unmark a new comment after you've read it with the X key. And use the Z key if you want to umark comments as you're cycling through them.

As you use these shortcuts to cycle through comments, press the R key to reply to the current comment. All these helpful keyboard shortcuts are listed at the top of each comments section for reference.

Recommending Comments

Now you can reward those folks who take the time to look up stats and make smart arguments in the comments. Next to each comment there is an 'actions' link that you can click to find the recommend and flag options.

Flagging Comments

To help the moderators on a site, we've built-in tools that let you flag comments that are spam, trolling or just plain inappropriate. Only moderators can see those flags.

FanShots

Many members of the community just want to post that one link, video, photo or quote, but don't need a full FanPost. We've got you covered: FanShots let you share YouTube videos, Flickr or PhotoBucket photos, quotes from articles, portions of chat transcripts, top 5 lists and simple links. If it's a video or image we'll put a thumbnail on the homepage when you post it.

For those of you who are experienced internet hunter-gatherers of Barcelona material, install the bookmarklet onto the links bar of your browser and share FanShots with the community from wherever on the web you find that killer quote or photo.

Archives

It's much easier to find that post about a certain deadline trade or prospect retro feature. You can browse by year and month.

Avatars

Upload an image so folks can see your custom avatar on your profile, your FanPosts, and all your comments.

Network Profiles

Now that we have unified SB Nation network accounts, your profile will be your central hub for all of your activity on any blogs where you are a member.

Network bar

The top bar stays with you on all SB Nation blogs. It's a quick way to login and logout. When you're logged in, you'll see your avatar and screen name which links to your profile. The icon to the right leads to your Dashboard area where you can edit your settings, profile, account details and any FanPosts or FanShots you've published. As we add more blogs to the new SB Nation network, the My Blogs menu will be a handy way to navigate between the blogs you've joined.

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There are plenty more small changes and additions we've made, so please take a careful look around and explore this new system. We appreciate your patience and hope you'll help us improve the new platform for this and all the other SB Nation blogs.

And in case you missed it, you'll want to start by claiming your old blog accounts and creating a new SB Nation network account.

Well, we are still alive in the Champions League and sort of a live in La Liga but, can April be are worst or good month? This month will define evrything. This Sunday we will play Getafe, which took an amazing draw from Allianz Arena and they have very high hopes. They beat us at the first round 2-0, but we are home now so it will narrow things down. We still have to stay very focus. We also play Shalke 04 at home after are 0-1 win this week. So very crucial for us, but i have confidence in this team and im glad that Messi is back at barcelona and that he's on his last phase of his recovering!

I have been suggesting this for a while now. We could see Jose Mourinho move to Barcelona and Rijkaard move to Chelsea - where he would team up again with Ten Cate. Of course if that happens, the question becomes where does this leave Milan? Where does this leave Real Madrid or Liverpool. Could we seeRafa B go to Real Madrid? A real possibility I think. Does Carlos A get one more year with AC if Rijkaard is no longer available and if Mourinho is at Barca?

All very interesting!

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2260401,00.html

Take a look:
http://www.fosterandpartners.com/Projects/1552/Default.aspx

Looks fantastic I must say!

What say the fine folks here at Blau Grana Futbol?

Norman Foster has come up trumps with this one it seems!

Really is quite remarkable.

Are these new or old pictures/images.

Details from the site:
"FC Barcelona's Camp Nou Stadium, one of the world's greatest football venues, is to be extensively remodelled. The stadium, already the largest in Europe, will be enlarged to accommodate over 106,000 fans, together with extensive new facilities including hospitality and public areas."

This is incredible! It seems that Spurs are working on a deal to bring Carlos Puyol to London!
What a move this would be....more to follow!

UPDATE:

From Sky Sports:
Money quote from their story:

It is claimed that Tottenham representatives are in Spain to discuss a move with the Barcelona captain.

BUT here is a sobering point from Goal.com:

The move appears highly unlikely, with the 2006 Champions League winners unlikely to part with their club captain, and a hometown boy who rose through the ranks would be just as unlikely to wish to leave, particularly for a club currently playing in a lower tier of European football.

From a Spurs point of view this is huge but from a Barca point of view....seems like a bad move.
http://www.coysfutbol.com/storyonly/2008/1/25/224427/969

As we inch our way towards the end of 2007 and into 2008 I wanted to suggest some New Years Resolutions for some of the top club sides in Europe. Notice that I say "some of" the top club sides and not "the" top club sides. The reason for this is that for the team sitting at the very top of the table in England, Spain and Italy, they just need to carry on with the way they are going. All three won the league title last season and are top of the table, suggesting that they have got a good plan and are implementing it quite well.

For five top sides however, I do feel that there are some things they could change for the New Year to ensure that they win the league and/or Champions League and end this season in the best possible fashion.

Over at http://www.globalfutbol.com/ I have started with Barcelona, recognizing that Right Foot de Koeman and the rest of the community here at Blau Grana has covered the ins and outs of a tough season for the team incredibly well. I am c-posting my thoughts on Barca and the big picture ideas I have for their possible New Years Resolution. Frankly, for Barcelona my suggestions are more of a revolutionary suggestion! So without further delay here are my thoughts:

I think that it is time for Laporte to thank Frankie Rijkaard for his service and to release him from his contract. Frank should be paid out in full and there should be no conditional dimension to the payout. If he gets a job the following week, good for him. He has helped the club grow and win in recent years but it is time to move in a different direction.

That direction is, of course, the hiring of Jose Mourinho. It is time for the assistant to come home and get the shot he deserves in the top spot at Barcelona. This move is linked into the second phase of the New Year Revolution at Barca.

For Laporte should not end things with a coaching switch, he should sell Ronaldinho to Chelsea and the price should be set at 30 million + Frank Lampard. I am pretty confident that Peter Kenyon will not let Ronnie slip through his fingers a second time, he will see the possibility of Ronnie inspiring the growth of brand Chelsea as one too good to pass up. Lampard will, I believe, take the opportunity of working with Jose at Barca. His departure from Chelsea would likely pave the way for Modric to join the club.

Provocative? Certainly.

I'd love your thoughts....and join me at http://www.globalfutbol.com/ for the rest of the Five!

I just wanted to say that I think he will leave next season, he has done well but Barca need something Fresh. What to others think? I am also getting worried about barca's performance away as well as the team spirit, I think Eto'o needs to come back from his injury,he should be back in 2 weeks, it will be interesting to see what rijkaard does. Thank god Messi has been in form, but I want to see more team spirit like in 2006. Visca Barca

I have been tracking the Ten Cate to Chelski story for a while now and if stories in the British press are accurate he will join Chelsea very soon. Some reports are suggesting that he has already agreed a deal with Chelsea. If this is accurate it suggests that Frank Arnsen is becoming a more powerful figure at the Bridge for the set up tracks the one Frankie A put together at Spurs.

Chelsea would really benefit from Ten Cate joining but are fans of the Blaugrana a bit upset that Ten Cate has essentially swapped Camp Nou for the Bridge. Surely if he wanted to be number 2 he'd have been better off staying at Barca...unless of course he will end up being number 1 and Grant shifts back to more of a Director of Football role.

Editor's Comments

What a coup it would be for Chelsea. A true tactician and many insiders have viewed his departure as the reason for Barca's lethargy last season. I would be quite disappointed, except for the fact I believe he would not have done such a move if he didn't believe the position would be his in the near future. There can be no other reason why he would want to put himself in seemingly dysfunctional situation. Take a look at below:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=470776&cc=5901

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Ajax Amsterdam coach Henk Ten Cate admitted on Sunday the Dutch club and Chelsea were in negotiations over his move to Stamford Bridge. 'There has to be a solution between Ajax and Chelsea,' Ten Cate said on RTL4-television. 'If that doesn't happen I will stay with Ajax and otherwise there is a chance I will leave.' Ten Cate has been linked with an assistant coach position at the Premier League club, and according to media reports is set to sign a three-contract. The TV station also quoted a Chelsea spokesman as saying an official announcement would be made on Monday.

Check this out. According to the futures contract market at Tradesports, Barça is heavily favored to win the 07/08 Champions League.

Right now bettors are willing to pay $15 bucks for a contract that will pay off $100 if Barça wins. Chelsea's trading at $11, Man United is $9, AC Milan is $8.3, and Inter is $7.6.

So, as we head into the group stage Barça is seen as almost half again as likely to win the tournament as Chelsea. Of course, the large bid/ask spreads probably indicate that these contracts aren't very actively traded... yet. But it'll be interesting to watch the prices as the season progresses and interest picks up.