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Anyone remember that Bale chap?

Prince of Wales returns home

Gareth Bale is set to play his first game in Cardiff as a Real Madrid player this Tuesday, having sealed his return home in the Champions League final on 24th May in Lisbon. "When I heard that the European Super Cup was being played in Cardiff, I thought we'd win the Champions League".

That game was won thanks to a Gareth Bale goal against Atlético - after Ramos' late pinpoint header had levelled the game - which put 'Los Blancos' 2-1 up in extra time. Bale showed, amongst other things, during his first season at the club that he is very good at taking his chances. He popped up during Real's two most important games of the year to show that he truly is a big-game player.

His next big game is in his hometown of Cardiff, a city where he is considered a bigger local hero than those who play Wales' most popular sport, rugby, which Gareth excelled in as a lad, as well as athletics. He was extremely fit and sporty, but above all else he excelled in football, where his left foot caught people's eye from an early age, to the point that his school P.E. teacher, Gwyn Morris used to make him play with his right foot to give his classmates a chance


Read more: Prince of Wales returns home - MARCA.com (English version)
 
“It’s nice now to sit back and just watch the transfers,” he told the Daily Mail. “When you are settled somewhere, you can enjoy it - but it was the complete opposite 12 months ago. I was still at home waiting to come here.
“When you are in limbo between two clubs, it’s not the greatest feeling in the world but if you want to move, you have to go through that sometimes."


****
 
Yeah I just read this. Maybe some journo's and commentators can read this before spewing the usual **** about how Spurs sold him. Bale pretty much has just told everyone he forced the move
 
Yeah I just read this. Maybe some journo's and commentators can read this before spewing the usual **** about how Spurs sold him. Bale pretty much has just told everyone he forced the move

It doesn't say that at all in Bale's comments. People just see what they want to nowadays...
 
So you are saying that he was misquoted, or that I'm reading it wrong? Granted I'm working off of the comments from the skysports page:
http://www1.skysports.com/football/...ts-on-limbo-period-before-move-to-real-madrid

Gareth Bale says it was well worth spending time "in limbo" last summer as he waited to join Real Madrid from Tottenham. The Wales international winger became the most expensive footballer in history when the Spanish club paid Spurs a transfer fee of £85.3million.

"When you are in limbo between two clubs, it’s not the greatest feeling in the world but if you want to move, you have to go through that sometimes."

I don't think I'm reading what I want at all. I think I'm reading Bale saying that he didn't like being in limbo last summer but accepted it because he knew he had to go through it in order to get to Madrid. He was in limbo because he was "sitting at home" not out on the training ground. Maybe saying he forced the move is too strong a word, but he wanted that move and did what was needed get there.
 
Real Madrid came in for him. Of course he wanted to move. I think he handled the situation very well to be honest.
 
So you are saying that he was misquoted, or that I'm reading it wrong? Granted I'm working off of the comments from the skysports page:
http://www1.skysports.com/football/...ts-on-limbo-period-before-move-to-real-madrid

Gareth Bale says it was well worth spending time "in limbo" last summer as he waited to join Real Madrid from Tottenham. The Wales international winger became the most expensive footballer in history when the Spanish club paid Spurs a transfer fee of £85.3million.

"When you are in limbo between two clubs, it’s not the greatest feeling in the world but if you want to move, you have to go through that sometimes."

I don't think I'm reading what I want at all. I think I'm reading Bale saying that he didn't like being in limbo last summer but accepted it because he knew he had to go through it in order to get to Madrid. He was in limbo because he was "sitting at home?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?" not out on the training ground. Maybe saying he forced the move is too strong a word, but he wanted that move and did what was needed get there.

You've misquoted the article you're basing your anger on...

"Bale pretty much has just told everyone he forced the move"

The article doesn't say that to me, it's talking about something completely different. I'd be happy if you'd enlighten me to your train of thought here, I have no idea what angle you're coming from.

What he's said here in the article would be as true if he was talking about his move from Southampton to Spurs.
 
I'm not angry at Bale at all, more bothered by the press who continue to talk like the deal to sell Bale to Madrid was completely our decision, as if there was no pressure from the player, his representatives or Madrid. Much like I'm fed up with the constant ostracisement/flop nature of Lamela according to all journalists up until this week.

Here is the whole sentence though from the article; “It’s nice now to sit back and just watch the transfers,” he told the Daily Mail. “When you are settled somewhere, you can enjoy it - but it was the complete opposite 12 months ago. I was still at home waiting to come here."

Firstly, he isn't talking about his move from Southampton to Spurs because he talks specifically about his situation 12 months ago. Secondly, I'll admit I misquoted by saying "sitting at home" instead of "still at home waiting". A small difference but fine a misquote on my part. Cast your mind back 12 months ago though. Bale didn't train with the team once the Madrid stories started cropping up because of a foot injury, one that cleared up quite quickly after the deal. He distanced himself from Spurs over the duration of that summer and was in limbo because he wanted his move to Madrid. He kept himself out of the media to avoid answering any questions about whether he wanted to stay or go.

Bale, his agent and Real all created a situation whereby they made it clear that he wanted to leave Spurs. Perez used that in order to try to pry him away from us for less than we eventually got. Bale wasn't dragged off by Madrid kicking and screaming and AVB certainly wasn't happy with the sale, because Bale was central to his plans. Bale wanted to go to Madrid. He was in limbo because he wanted to go but didn't know if it would happen. Much like Luka's head wasn't in the right place, it's all a way of exerting some pressure on the club to do business.

I'll reiterate though, that my problem is with commentators/journalists/pundits who have been saying for the last year how we shouldn't have sold Bale. They talk as if there was never any pressure on us to sell, as if Bale was happy to stay at Spurs and we cashed in because Levy was greedy, when all along we were in an untenable position with a player who didn't want to be at the club.
 
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I'm not angry at Bale at all, more bothered by the press who continue to talk like the deal to sell Bale to Madrid was completely our decision, as if there was no pressure from the player, his representatives or Madrid. Much like I'm fed up with the constant ostracisement/flop nature of Lamela according to all journalists up until this week.

Here is the whole sentence though from the article; “It’s nice now to sit back and just watch the transfers,” he told the Daily Mail. “When you are settled somewhere, you can enjoy it - but it was the complete opposite 12 months ago. I was still at home waiting to come here."

Firstly, he isn't talking about his move from Southampton to Spurs because he talks specifically about his situation 12 months ago. Secondly, I'll admit I misquoted by saying "sitting at home" instead of "still at home waiting". A small difference but fine a misquote on my part. Cast your mind back 12 months ago though. Bale didn't train with the team once the Madrid stories started cropping up because of a foot injury, one that cleared up quite quickly after the deal. He distanced himself from Spurs over the duration of that summer and was in limbo because he wanted his move to Madrid. He kept himself out of the media to avoid answering any questions about whether he wanted to stay or go.

Bale, his agent and Real all created a situation whereby they made it clear that he wanted to leave Spurs. Perez used that in order to try to pry him away from us for less than we eventually got. Bale wasn't dragged off by Madrid kicking and screaming and AVB certainly wasn't happy with the sale, because Bale was central to his plans. Bale wanted to go to Madrid. He was in limbo because he wanted to go but didn't know if it would happen. Much like Luka's head wasn't in the right place, it's all a way of exerting some pressure on the club to do business.

I'll reiterate though, that my problem is with commentators/journalists/pundits who have been saying for the last year how we shouldn't have sold Bale. They talk as if there was never any pressure on us to sell, as if Bale was happy to stay at Spurs and we cashed in because Levy was greedy, when all along we were in an untenable position with a player who didn't want to be at the club.

All fair points, but you sound like you're still possessed of the belief that the media are just misinformed and are willing to change their viewpoints should alternate information be presented to them. Far, far from it. The media chaps who write up the guff about Levy caving in and taking the cash while furiously pushing Bale out of the exit door know full well that Bale wanted to move just as much as we wanted to hold on to him, and they know that Madrid used every dirty trick in the book to firstly prise him away from us and secondly to then lower the fee we wanted.

It doesn't matter. Writing a story about how the pecking order of football won out yet again in a transfer and how Real used their indisputed appeal to prise away a player just as surely as we used ours to prise away the likes of Paulinho, Capoue and Chiriches in the same window....well, that would just strip the romance right out of it. Far easier to pen some guff about Levy's legendary greed pushing a proud British player kicking and screaming to a foreign land, away from his home in these sceptered isles. And that malicious angle writes itself: the writers were them able to jubilantly write the triumphant fairytale ending to that story without irony. Bale won the Champions League, the classic British boy done good, while greedy Levy was left to bitterly curse his broken empire as all his expensive signings ended the season as irredeemable failures and write-offs. Bish, bash, bosh, classic football storyline, told in the most romantic way possible.

And in the end, that story sells. It also endures, judging by the jibes thrown at us by everyone from Brendan Rodgers to Henry Winter about how Liverpool would never 'do a Spurs' with the Suarez money. However, at the close, it doesn't matter. Regardless of what the media think, I'd say that ultimately everyone involved in that transfer came out of it fairly happy, a rare occurrence in football. Bale got his dream move, Perez got his star player, Real got La Decima at last, and we here at Tottenham Hotspur....well, we got to see the lad we'd nurtured and who'd given us so many good memories finally show his stuff and live his dreams at the very top of the world game. And, ultimately, we ended up with the squad full of talent that we'd thought we were getting last year, only one season late.

So **** what the media think, and what the pundits say. We know what happened that summer, and in the end, no one seems to have come out of it that badly. :)
 
True enough, just hate the propoganda they spread and how they think everyone is stupid enough to just lap it up and believe. I hate the fact that they seem to enjoy twisting everything into something that shows our club in a negative light. The worst part is, so many people lap it up unquestioningly and recite it as if it's fact. I know it's great for them that a British player is performing at the top level, but it still irks me that the whole thing is swept under the rug as if it was a nice quick and easy transfer, when in fact we were effectively forced to sell.

Our club went through a **** load of turmoil at the time and we have had a year of hearing how we must be kicking ourselves for taking the cash. As you say, listening to other managers, even our own ex (Sherwood) talking about it as if they could've handled it better is getting old, considering they all talk as if they'd have forced Bale to stay.
 
Don't take it personally, mate. The media don't have it in for us any more than they do for Everton or Saudi Sportswashing Machine or anyone else. As in, they don't have a negative bias against us. Do they have positive biases toward other sides? Absolutely. A lot of them grew up during the glory years of Liverpudlian domination, and the younger writers and presenters walk around with either permanent hard-ons for Arsenal or an awe of United borne of Ferguson's domineering of their type during his long years in charge. Do they dislike us a club? Very probably, some of the members of the media do. Do they let that show in their writing and commentary? For the most part, no: for what it's worth, they're at least professional to that degree.

However, what most media types do is look for the best, most easily digested angle to any story, because that guarantees views, readers and attention. For us, last summer and the following season was our 'hubris' moment: uppity club's greedy chairman sells earnest, settled British player and suffers as the load of foreign players he bought all turn out to be duds and failures. That's the story the media went with, and that's the story that everyone bought. It isn't bias in action, it's just an easy story to sell to the majority of football fans that aren't Tottenham supporters.

What I found detestable about Sherwood is that he played right into those stories. One of our own fell for the media line lock, stock and barrel, and thus both validated their angle and gave himself easy allies in the likely event of a Levy sacking coming his way. That 'que?' pun was just one of them, but it was the most egregious: he essentially hung one of our young, vulnerable players out to dry for a few laughs from the peanut gallery, and no amount of youth promotion and honest talk to the media can completely forgive that, imo. In any case, that story's dying its natural death now, and none too soon. So chin up, mate. Everything's turning out for the better again. Slowly but surely, Poch (a magnificently genuine manager so far) is turning last season's duds into today's stars, and all is right with the world. Eventually, even the media will have to admit that. :)
 
I'm not angry at Bale at all, more bothered by the press who continue to talk like the deal to sell Bale to Madrid was completely our decision, as if there was no pressure from the player, his representatives or Madrid. Much like I'm fed up with the constant ostracisement/flop nature of Lamela according to all journalists up until this week.

Here is the whole sentence though from the article; “It’s nice now to sit back and just watch the transfers,” he told the Daily Mail. “When you are settled somewhere, you can enjoy it - but it was the complete opposite 12 months ago. I was still at home waiting to come here."

Firstly, he isn't talking about his move from Southampton to Spurs because he talks specifically about his situation 12 months ago. Secondly, I'll admit I misquoted by saying "sitting at home" instead of "still at home waiting". A small difference but fine a misquote on my part. Cast your mind back 12 months ago though. Bale didn't train with the team once the Madrid stories started cropping up because of a foot injury, one that cleared up quite quickly after the deal. He distanced himself from Spurs over the duration of that summer and was in limbo because he wanted his move to Madrid. He kept himself out of the media to avoid answering any questions about whether he wanted to stay or go.

Bale, his agent and Real all created a situation whereby they made it clear that he wanted to leave Spurs. Perez used that in order to try to pry him away from us for less than we eventually got. Bale wasn't dragged off by Madrid kicking and screaming and AVB certainly wasn't happy with the sale, because Bale was central to his plans. Bale wanted to go to Madrid. He was in limbo because he wanted to go but didn't know if it would happen. Much like Luka's head wasn't in the right place, it's all a way of exerting some pressure on the club to do business.

I'll reiterate though, that my problem is with commentators/journalists/pundits who have been saying for the last year how we shouldn't have sold Bale. They talk as if there was never any pressure on us to sell, as if Bale was happy to stay at Spurs and we cashed in because Levy was greedy, when all along we were in an untenable position with a player who didn't want to be at the club.

You've misunderstood some things in my post that I really can't be arsed to have to explain to be honest. But I do appreciate the irony in changing a quote from an article that you're annoyed at the media/player for so at least it hasn't been a complete waste of time \o/
 
Gareth Bale: I could return to play for Tottenham when Real Madrid career is over

Gareth Bale has dropped a hint at making a return to Tottenham in the future.

The Real Madrid star left White Hart Lane last summer for a world record fee and has continued his outstanding form in the Spanish capital.

But despite having settled in well alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and co. at the Bernabeu, Bale admits he still loves Tottenham and won’t rule out pulling on the white shirt again later in his career.

‘Tottenham will always have a place in my heart. I hope the fans still love me even though I’ve moved on,’ he told the Sun.

‘I love Spurs fans. You never know, I could come back one day.

‘I hope they understand that obviously Real Madrid is a massive, massive club and that they respect my decision.

‘From the moment Madrid put the offer in it was difficult. Tottenham was somewhere I felt so comfortable and so happy.’

http://metro.co.uk/2014/09/19/garet...nham-when-real-madrid-career-is-over-4875067/
 
Tell you what Gareth, bring Modders back with you next summer and we'll call it water under the bridge.
 
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