Berbatov

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Why did they even sell Keane? Berba was always going to leave, and for a big sum too. If Keane's transfer request had been turned down i don't think he would have caused as much fuss as Berba did. He would have gladly continued playing for Spurs.
20 million pounds for Keane? They bit their hands off.

And Keane did want to leave the club. He wouldn't be happy to stay.
 
They wouldnt need that money if they sold Berbs for 25+ million.

Ronnie also wanted leave, he's still here.
Yes, but Ferguson is not Ramos, and has dealt with these things before.

Spurs are hardly as awash with cash as we are.

20 million pounds for a want-away striker worth about 15 million pounds sounds like a good deal to me, especially as Keane is hardly (one of) the best player(s) in the world.
 
Who are Bulgaria playing this weekend?

I might watch it, I need my dose of Berba before the Liverpool game.
 
Berbatov said in an interview published on sky sports that "There are many better players than me at Manchester United, they are public idols. I just wanna concentrate on playing football and doing the best for the team."

I think I'm starting to really fall in love with him. If he backs his words up with actions, not sulking to be left on the bench but happy when playing, I'll be an everyday berbawanker.
 
They sold Berbatov and Keane because it was worth doing so. I doubt that they would have sold Berbatov for 3m, no matter how much he would have moaned.

The irony is that they pretended from St Petersburg what, they weren't ready to do ie sell their talent on cheap. There again, it seems that for Levy there are two distinctive laws. One reserved for them and the other for the rest.
 
Berbatov said in an interview published on sky sports that "There are many better players than me at Manchester United, they are public idols. I just wanna concentrate on playing football and doing the best for the team."

I think I'm starting to really fall in love with him
. If he backs his words up with actions, not sulking to be left on the bench but happy when playing, I'll be an everyday berbawanker.

:mad: you gotta watch your bumhole in this place. feck sake pictures of men! Poetry! innuendo..about men! reckon this runs deep - the cup runneth over
 
i'm fed up with all this bleating from Levy. Where is the evidence of brazen tapping up? What happened on Monday is still a mystery - who arranged for Berbatov to fly in a private jet to Manchester? Did he have permission to come? If City's bid did not come in until after 1pm, how can Levy say he only had permission to talk to City?

The whole thing stinks and in the end SAF had to grab the initiative at the final hour.

Btw, I didnt know that the owner of Spurs is a British businessman who lives in THE BAHAMAS!
 
i'm fed up with all this bleating from Levy. Where is the evidence of brazen tapping up? What happened on Monday is still a mystery - who arranged for Berbatov to fly in a private jet to Manchester? Did he have permission to come? If City's bid did not come in until after 1pm, how can Levy say he only had permission to talk to City?

The whole thing stinks and in the end SAF had to grab the initiative at the final hour.

Btw, I didnt know that the owner of Spurs is a British businessman who lives in THE BAHAMAS!
Hmm, B.R, what have you got to say in your defence?
 
Couldn't find a better thread for this one:
Paddy on Berbatov

Blog: I can't wait for Dimi's debut

United legend Pat Crerand relishes the thought of Berbatov linking up with Rooney, Tevez and other great players against Liverpool...

You wouldn't believe how delighted I am about our new signing. Like many supporters, I thought the one player we needed was another striker. For me, we got the best buy in the transfer window.

I found it quite funny when I was coming into MUTV on transfer deadline night and the reports said City were trying to hijack the deal. Some of the City fans were taking the mickey, saying they were going to get Berbatov, but he only ever wanted to come here.

The money wasn’t the important thing for him - obviously, if it had been, he could have gone to City for more. Sometimes people talk about money as if it’s the be all and end all for players but you can only eat three meals a day!

I think you get to a point in life when you have enough money, you just want to be happy. I doubt there's a better place to be happy than Old Trafford.

I've watched Berbatov during the last two years at Tottenham and before that when he played for Bayer Leverkusen against us. He was a smashing player then at Leverkusen but we didn’t take a great deal of notice because we only saw him a couple of times. But with Tottenham he’s been fantastic.

I laugh at the people who say he looks a bit lazy. He looks lazy because his control’s so perfect. He’s a great, great addition to this club honestly. His two years' experience in England makes him an even greater asset.

He must be a dream to play with, for his imagination, skill, intelligence... football’s a very intelligent game, despite what some people might say. You look at Scholes, Carrick, Berbatov now, Wayne Rooney as well... for a young fella he’s got a great football brain. It would be a pleasure to go out and play with them all.

It’s mouthwatering, even when you mention players that we don’t often talk about - the likes of Nani who I think is going to be a big star here, I think this year and maybe even next year will be big for him.

I just can't wait to go to Liverpool now and see that first game with Berbatov in the squad. I hope I’m not jinxing it but I can’t wait to see him playing at Anfield with all the great players he’s going to have around him.
 
At which point are we going to move this to the classic thread section?

This one is to precious to lose.

Delete it! Let it go out in a blaze of glory and then people can talk in years to come about the legendary thread that they were privileged or rather unfortunate to participate in. Do the right thing people
 
..... Btw, I didnt know that the owner of Spurs is a British businessman who lives in THE BAHAMAS!
Joe Lewis isn't "the owner", he's one of the owners - he's the major shareholder in a company (ENIC) which in turn owns the biggest percentage of shares in Spurs, but there are several other major shareholders and thousands of minor ones.
 
This is a long article but there are some interesting titbits, eg. his boyhood heros were Marco Van Basten and Alan Shearer. And just look at his goal averages at the end.

03/09/2008 09:13
Goal.com Profile: Dimitar Berbatov

Bulgaria’s most expensive-ever footballer has finally got his longed-for move to Manchester United. Goal.com profiles the mean, moody and majestic Dimitar Berbatov…

Having become the subject of the eighth most expensive transfer in football history - on the same day that Robinho’s deal put him fifth on that particular list - Dimitar Berbatov fulfilled his ’dream.’

The Bulgarian striker, disaffected at White Hart Lane, moved to Old Trafford on transfer deadline day for £30.75million, bringing to an end a protracted and often bitter episode of brinkmanship between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, for whom he has signed a four-year contract, with Fraizer Campbell joining Spurs on a season-long loan as part of the deal.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has long coveted the Bulgarian with the silkily sublime skills, and hailed him as one of the best strikers in world football when he’d finally signed him. But Berbatov, who is revered in his native country, and who made an immediate impact on the Premier League when he joined Spurs, also displayed a sulky side, and had been axed from Juande Ramos’s squad and criticised by his team-mates in his final week as a Tottenham player.

So who exactly have United bought for so much money, and what makes him tick?

Early Days

Dimitar Berbatov was born in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, on 30th January 1981, to sporting parents. His mother Margarita was a professional handball player; father Ivan a professional footballer with local side Pirin Blagoevgrad.

It was at the same club, Pirin, that Dimi began his own career, having been in love with the game since boyhood. He is said to have supported AC Milan initially, modelling himself on their superstar Dutch forward of the time, Marco van Basten. However, when he was 15 he discovered a new hero at Euro 96 - England striker Alan Shearer. His dream then was to play for Newcastle United and wear for real the famous black-and-white striped shirt rather than the replica one he insisted on sleeping in.

Role models loomed large in Berbatov’s early life because he taught himself English with the aid of repeated viewings of the Godfather films; his distinctive appearance today owes much to his resemblance to the actor Andy Garcia, who figured prominently in the third film of the mafia trilogy.

CSKA Sofia & International Recognition

Having followed in his father’s footsteps to Pirin Blagoevgrad, he was soon spotted by top Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia, who signed him when he was just 17. In the 1998-99 season, aged 18, he made his debut for the capital club. He made 16 first team appearances and scored six goals that season.

The following campaign (1999-2000) saw him net 16 goals in 33 appearances in all competitions, and the next season he’d scored 15 in just 16 games before Bayer Leverkusen bought him in January 2001.

By then Berbatov had won the Bulgarian Cup with CSKA in 1999 and earned his first cap for Bulgaria, against Greece, in November of the same year. Within three months he’d scored his first international goal, against Chile.

The Move To Bayer Leverkusen

His German career began fairly quietly; Berbatov average a goal every four games (16 in his first 67 appearances) in a Bayer shirt. But he was making an impression in the Champions League, scoring a classic individual goal against Lyon in his first season with the club, then netting against Liverpool in the quarter-finals and replacing Tomas Brdaric after 38 minutes in the final against Real Madrid.

In 2001–02, as well as finishing runners-up to Madrid in that Champions League final, Leverkusen were runners-up in both the German Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal (national cup), and by 2002-03, Berbatov had established himself as Bayer’s leading striker, although he managed only four Bundesliga goals that season. In contrast, his five in six games for his country helped Bulgaria qualify for Euro 2004.

In 2003-04 he hit 19 goals in 36 games for Bayer, and in 81 appearances over the subsequent two seasons he racked up a further 50 goals for the club, including five in the Champions League of 2004-05. That season saw him named Bulgarian Player of the Year for the third campaign in succession.

By now major clubs throughout Europe were monitoring his progress with keen interest and in summer 2006 they were vying for his services. He might have joined Manchester United then, but by their own admission they acted too slowly and Tottenham Hotspur won the race, snaring Berbatov for £10.9million in May of that year. The fee made him the costliest Bulgarian layer in history. On 1st July 2006, after he’d been granted a work permit, his transfer was completed.

On To Tottenham Hotspur

Berbatov scored two goals in two minutes in his first Spurs match, a pre-season friendly against Birmingham City. That was followed by a goal just two minutes into his first competitive match for Tottenham, a Premier League clash against Sheffield United at White Hart Lane.

Despite the then Spurs manager Martin Jol’s rotation policy with his forwards, Berbatov established an excellent strike partnership with Robbie Keane. In the first of his two full seasons with Tottenham, the Bulgarian scored 23 goals in 49 games, including seven in the Lilywhites’ Uefa Cup campaign. 12 of his goals had come in the Premier League, but he’d also supplied 11 assists in his 33 appearances. In April 2007, joint-winners Berbatov and Keane became the first players to share the Barclays Premier League Player of the Month Award since Arsenal’s Dennis Bergkamp and Edu (February 2004). Berbatov was also selected in the Premier League's PFA Team of the Season, and was named the Tottenham Hotspur Player of the Season for 2006-07.

A further 23 goals followed last season, including his first Premier League hat-trick on 29th December 2007 when he hit four in Tottenham’s 6–4 win over Reading. He also scored at Wembley in the Carling League Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley - an equalising penalty as Spurs won 2-1 in extra-time to give him his first medal in English football.

Finally, Transferred To Manchester United

Throughout the summer of 2008 Berbatov was unsettled by rumours of a substantial bid from Manchester United - a club whose style of play, success and participation in the Champions League fuelled his ambition.

In July Ferguson was wrongly quoted as saying: "We have made Tottenham an offer on Berbatov," and Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy flew into a rage of righteous indignation, reporting United to the Premier League and threatening to submit a dossier of evidence dating back a year detailing, what they claimed, an illegal approach to Berbatov by United, who denied any wrong-doing

By mid-August, reports were claiming that United had lodged a bid for Berbatov with Spurs. Ramos felt the speculation meant Berbatov had lost focus and, although he trained with the first-team, he was dropped for Tottenham’s games against Sunderland and Chelsea.

On Monday 1st September, transfer deadline day, Manchester City - newly taken over by an organisation acting for the Abu Dhabi royal family, had a bid for Berbatov accepted by Spurs. But United managed to hijack the deal with what has been described as a smash-and-grab raid - one that reputedly left Spurs fuming, though they have decided not to pursue any legal action against the Red Devils. Spurs claimed United had illegally approached the player, who was flying into Manchester for talks with City, when Ferguson met him at Manchester Airport without Spurs’ permission. Ferguson apparently drove Berbatov in his Bentley with the player hiding under a cover on the back seat.

Did You Know?

* Outside football, Berbatov’s hobbies include drawing and basketball.
* Berbatov scored his first Premier League double for Spurs in a 5–1 victory over Charlton Athletic.
* Berbatov came on as a second half substitute for Tottenham against Fulham in the FA Cup to score his first two goals in the competition.
* When Arsenal beat Spurs in the North London derby on 22nd December 2007. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger compared Berbatov to Thierry Henry.
* Others have predicted that his influence on Manchester United’s young side could be similar to that of Eric Cantona’s in the early-mid 1990s.
* Berbatov has been given United’s number 9 shirt, vacated by Louis Saha.



Career Summary

Dates Club Appearances Goals
98-01 CSKA Sofia 65 37

01-06 Leverkusen 195 90

06-08 Tottenham 102 46

99- Bulgaria 65 43
 
Joe Lewis isn't "the owner", he's one of the owners - he's the major shareholder in a company (ENIC) which in turn owns the biggest percentage of shares in Spurs, but there are several other major shareholders and thousands of minor ones.
I thought smoking Joe owned about half the club and Levy about 25% (possibly as a proxy for Lewis).
 
I dont think people saw this.

Kitbag.com are selling the united kits (Home, Away and Third) with free

BERBATOV
9

on the back, check it out.
 
:nono:

This thread is gonna stay and be read by generations of caftards.

Yes and we'll see an increase in fans writing poetry and posting pictures of men saying they love them. It's not fooball. We've left the era where men had perms though theres obviously still an infestation in liverpool

Your cocks have been out far too long and you've all started to like it! Deletion will save your souls and for the one or two who aren't homosexual by nature, i'm talking about your arseholes. Get it? hmm
 
This is a long article but there are some interesting titbits, eg. his boyhood heros were Marco Van Basten and Alan Shearer. And just look at his goal averages at the end.

03/09/2008 09:13
Goal.com Profile: Dimitar Berbatov

Bulgaria’s most expensive-ever footballer has finally got his longed-for move to Manchester United. Goal.com profiles the mean, moody and majestic Dimitar Berbatov…

Having become the subject of the eighth most expensive transfer in football history - on the same day that Robinho’s deal put him fifth on that particular list - Dimitar Berbatov fulfilled his ’dream.’

The Bulgarian striker, disaffected at White Hart Lane, moved to Old Trafford on transfer deadline day for £30.75million, bringing to an end a protracted and often bitter episode of brinkmanship between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, for whom he has signed a four-year contract, with Fraizer Campbell joining Spurs on a season-long loan as part of the deal.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has long coveted the Bulgarian with the silkily sublime skills, and hailed him as one of the best strikers in world football when he’d finally signed him. But Berbatov, who is revered in his native country, and who made an immediate impact on the Premier League when he joined Spurs, also displayed a sulky side, and had been axed from Juande Ramos’s squad and criticised by his team-mates in his final week as a Tottenham player.

So who exactly have United bought for so much money, and what makes him tick?

Early Days

Dimitar Berbatov was born in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, on 30th January 1981, to sporting parents. His mother Margarita was a professional handball player; father Ivan a professional footballer with local side Pirin Blagoevgrad.

It was at the same club, Pirin, that Dimi began his own career, having been in love with the game since boyhood. He is said to have supported AC Milan initially, modelling himself on their superstar Dutch forward of the time, Marco van Basten. However, when he was 15 he discovered a new hero at Euro 96 - England striker Alan Shearer. His dream then was to play for Newcastle United and wear for real the famous black-and-white striped shirt rather than the replica one he insisted on sleeping in.

Role models loomed large in Berbatov’s early life because he taught himself English with the aid of repeated viewings of the Godfather films; his distinctive appearance today owes much to his resemblance to the actor Andy Garcia, who figured prominently in the third film of the mafia trilogy.

CSKA Sofia & International Recognition

Having followed in his father’s footsteps to Pirin Blagoevgrad, he was soon spotted by top Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia, who signed him when he was just 17. In the 1998-99 season, aged 18, he made his debut for the capital club. He made 16 first team appearances and scored six goals that season.

The following campaign (1999-2000) saw him net 16 goals in 33 appearances in all competitions, and the next season he’d scored 15 in just 16 games before Bayer Leverkusen bought him in January 2001.

By then Berbatov had won the Bulgarian Cup with CSKA in 1999 and earned his first cap for Bulgaria, against Greece, in November of the same year. Within three months he’d scored his first international goal, against Chile.

The Move To Bayer Leverkusen

His German career began fairly quietly; Berbatov average a goal every four games (16 in his first 67 appearances) in a Bayer shirt. But he was making an impression in the Champions League, scoring a classic individual goal against Lyon in his first season with the club, then netting against Liverpool in the quarter-finals and replacing Tomas Brdaric after 38 minutes in the final against Real Madrid.

In 2001–02, as well as finishing runners-up to Madrid in that Champions League final, Leverkusen were runners-up in both the German Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal (national cup), and by 2002-03, Berbatov had established himself as Bayer’s leading striker, although he managed only four Bundesliga goals that season. In contrast, his five in six games for his country helped Bulgaria qualify for Euro 2004.

In 2003-04 he hit 19 goals in 36 games for Bayer, and in 81 appearances over the subsequent two seasons he racked up a further 50 goals for the club, including five in the Champions League of 2004-05. That season saw him named Bulgarian Player of the Year for the third campaign in succession.

By now major clubs throughout Europe were monitoring his progress with keen interest and in summer 2006 they were vying for his services. He might have joined Manchester United then, but by their own admission they acted too slowly and Tottenham Hotspur won the race, snaring Berbatov for £10.9million in May of that year. The fee made him the costliest Bulgarian layer in history. On 1st July 2006, after he’d been granted a work permit, his transfer was completed.

On To Tottenham Hotspur

Berbatov scored two goals in two minutes in his first Spurs match, a pre-season friendly against Birmingham City. That was followed by a goal just two minutes into his first competitive match for Tottenham, a Premier League clash against Sheffield United at White Hart Lane.

Despite the then Spurs manager Martin Jol’s rotation policy with his forwards, Berbatov established an excellent strike partnership with Robbie Keane. In the first of his two full seasons with Tottenham, the Bulgarian scored 23 goals in 49 games, including seven in the Lilywhites’ Uefa Cup campaign. 12 of his goals had come in the Premier League, but he’d also supplied 11 assists in his 33 appearances. In April 2007, joint-winners Berbatov and Keane became the first players to share the Barclays Premier League Player of the Month Award since Arsenal’s Dennis Bergkamp and Edu (February 2004). Berbatov was also selected in the Premier League's PFA Team of the Season, and was named the Tottenham Hotspur Player of the Season for 2006-07.

A further 23 goals followed last season, including his first Premier League hat-trick on 29th December 2007 when he hit four in Tottenham’s 6–4 win over Reading. He also scored at Wembley in the Carling League Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley - an equalising penalty as Spurs won 2-1 in extra-time to give him his first medal in English football.

Finally, Transferred To Manchester United

Throughout the summer of 2008 Berbatov was unsettled by rumours of a substantial bid from Manchester United - a club whose style of play, success and participation in the Champions League fuelled his ambition.

In July Ferguson was wrongly quoted as saying: "We have made Tottenham an offer on Berbatov," and Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy flew into a rage of righteous indignation, reporting United to the Premier League and threatening to submit a dossier of evidence dating back a year detailing, what they claimed, an illegal approach to Berbatov by United, who denied any wrong-doing

By mid-August, reports were claiming that United had lodged a bid for Berbatov with Spurs. Ramos felt the speculation meant Berbatov had lost focus and, although he trained with the first-team, he was dropped for Tottenham’s games against Sunderland and Chelsea.

On Monday 1st September, transfer deadline day, Manchester City - newly taken over by an organisation acting for the Abu Dhabi royal family, had a bid for Berbatov accepted by Spurs. But United managed to hijack the deal with what has been described as a smash-and-grab raid - one that reputedly left Spurs fuming, though they have decided not to pursue any legal action against the Red Devils. Spurs claimed United had illegally approached the player, who was flying into Manchester for talks with City, when Ferguson met him at Manchester Airport without Spurs’ permission. Ferguson apparently drove Berbatov in his Bentley with the player hiding under a cover on the back seat.

Did You Know?

* Outside football, Berbatov’s hobbies include drawing and basketball.
* Berbatov scored his first Premier League double for Spurs in a 5–1 victory over Charlton Athletic.
* Berbatov came on as a second half substitute for Tottenham against Fulham in the FA Cup to score his first two goals in the competition.
* When Arsenal beat Spurs in the North London derby on 22nd December 2007. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger compared Berbatov to Thierry Henry.
* Others have predicted that his influence on Manchester United’s young side could be similar to that of Eric Cantona’s in the early-mid 1990s.
* Berbatov has been given United’s number 9 shirt, vacated by Louis Saha.



Career Summary

Dates Club Appearances Goals
98-01 CSKA Sofia 65 37

01-06 Leverkusen 195 90

06-08 Tottenham 102 46

99- Bulgaria 65 43

nice read. Very impressive international record
 
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