Transfer rumors

ru·mor /ˈrumər/
–noun

1. a story or statement in general circulation without confirmation or certainty as to facts: a rumor of war.


2. gossip; hearsay: Don't listen to rumor.


3. Archaic. a continuous, confused noise; clamor; din.

–verb (used with object)

4. to circulate, report, or assert by a rumor: It is rumored that the king is dead.

- dictionary.com

Fansites around Europe are over-heating in unrealistic entries. Our sports director says he's not in any kind of panic (TIPS-Bladet / Ingen transferpanik i FCK) while one of our scouts have been spending some time in the Czech Republic lately.

Incoming?

Søren Larsen

Current employer: Schalke 04 (German 1. Bundesliga).
Price: 1 million €.
Other offers: Eintracht Frankfurt, Wolfsburg, Nürnberg plus a British club.
Sources: Bild / Die Hau-ab!-Liste der Bundesliga, bold.dk / Avis: FCK vil have Søren Larsen.

Martin Laursen

Current employer: Aston Villa (English Premier League).
Price: ?.
Other offers: ?.
Source: bold.dk / Martin Laursen åben for FCK, Berlingeren / Aldrig mere Italien.

Yoav Ziv

Current employer: Beitar Jerusalem (Israel).
Price: ~½ million €.
Other offers: Club Brugge (Belgium).
Source:
Ekstra Bladet / FCK lun på israelsk landsholdsspiller, Politiken / Israeler meldes på vej til FCK, bold.dk / Israeler koster FCK 3,7 millioner kroner, Haaretz / Beitar facing 'January sales' crisis.

Tommy Bechmann

Current employer: Bochum (German 1. Bundesliga).
Price: ?.
Other offers: ?.
Source: bold.dk / FCK jagter Tommy Bechmann.

Kasper Bøgelund

Current employer: Borussia Mönchengladbach (German 2. Bundesliga).
Price: ?.
Other offers: ? (quite possibly not even us).
Source: TIPS-Bladet / Bøgelund vil væk.

Thomas Kristensen

Current employer: FC Nordsjælland (Danish Superliga).
Price: ?.
Other offers: ? (quite possibly not even us).
Source: TIPS-Bladet / FCN-profil vil gerne til FCK.

Outgoing?

Marcus Allbäck

Offers: Elfsborg (Sweden).
Price: ~2 million €.
Source: Expressen / Elfsborg redo att köpa Allbäck - för 15 miljoner, Expressen / Öis: "Vi ska inte värva Allbäck".

Brede Hangeland
Offers: Newcastle (English Premier League) a.o.
Price: ~2½ million €.
Source: TIPS-Bladet / Newcastle vil igen byde på Hangeland.

Other possible transfers include Morten Bertolt and Michael Silberbauer.

Congratulations Aberdeen

Lowlights on YouTube video:


Guardian Unlimited / Smith leads rout as Aberdeen go through

Scotland have three representatives in Europe beyond Christmas for the first time in 37 years after an outstanding second-half display from Aberdeen, whose 4-0 dismantling of FC Copenhagen ensured that they, and not the bewildered Danish champions, enter today's draw for the Uefa Cup's last 32.

Scotsman / Aberdeen go forth after a night of perfection

"I am surprised they have won the game tonight, but after a performance like this maybe they have a chance," [Ståle Solbakken] said.

Football365 / CALDERWOOD ON CLOUD NINE

"Copenhagen have won in Amsterdam, they beat Manchester United and Celtic and we have beaten them convincingly with a great performance."
- Jimmy Calderwood

Copenhagen boss Stale Solbakken criticised his side for folding after Smith's goals. He said: "It was like two games in one. We controlled the game until they scored the first goal. After they scored the second, we lost our heads. The game was not over yet but we didn't have the mental strength and maybe the physical strength to come back. It was the worst 25 minutes in my time as coach of FC Copenhagen."

Telegraph / Aberdeen roll back the years in Uefa Cup

[In 1st half] Aberdeen were living dangerously, their defending complacent and pedestrian. [...] Whatever Aberdeen took with their half-time tea, it certainly worked.

Sportinglife / Aberdeen 4 Copenhagen 0

The Danes looked susceptible at long balls from the start and they were caught out by a simple ball over the top by Zander Diamond in the fifth minute.

Reading "susceptible at long balls" breaks one's heart. But it's true.

Motherwell Refuse Euro Rest For Aberdeen

MOTHERWELL manager Mark McGhee has booted out a bid by former club Aberdeen to postpone Saturday's SPL clash and boost their European hopes.

The Pittodrie side followed Rangers' lead by attempting to give their players every chance to prepare for next Thursday's UEFA Cup Group B showdown with FC Copenhagen.

But McGhee has thrown a spanner in the works because he thinks postponing the game gives Jimmy Calderwood's men an advantage in the SPL.

Danish Championship probabilities

Calculated from averages of bookie's odds. It's too early for any modeling and stuff like that, but here we go...

• FC København ~2/3
  
• AaB (Aalborg) ~20%
• FC Midtjylland & OB (Odense) 5-10% each
• Brøndby IF, AC Horsens & Randers FC ~1-1½% each
• FC Nordsjælland & Esbjerg fB ~½%
• Lyngby BK, AGF (Aarhus) & Viborg FF n/a
  

No Leo Franco rendezvous

When we played Real Mallorca in 2003, the Spanish team's goalie was Argentinian Leo Franco. And I was one of the 20.487 spectators, of course. Wednesday's match against Atletico Madrid should have been the second time for me to watch him, but due to an injury suffered in Atletico's 0-2 away win over Real Betis that won't happen. Back then we scored an own goal and lost 2-3 aggregate to Mallorca.

Sources: Franco doubt for Atlético double-header, Leo Franco Out For A Month, But Still Happy, Atletico Madrid Edge Out Betis.

UEFA Cup Group B analysis

Graphical presentation of the outcome of our UEFA Cup group.

It's not exactly surprising Aberdeen and Lokomotiv Moskva are favorites to leave the tournament: They are placed bottom and they each have only one more game to get points from.

Most likely Panathinaikos will finish 1st with 9, 10 or 12 points, Atlético Madrid 2nd with 7 or 8 points, Lokomotiv Moskva 4th with 2 or 3 points and Aberdeen last. We, FC København, are the group joker.

Quick preview: Sunday's home game vs. Brøndby IF

(Sorry. I forgot how Blogger mutilates tables. Scroll down, please...)

	FC København	Draw	Brøndby IF
Probabilities (win)	~60%	~25%	~15%
Injuries	Jesper Grønkjær, Rasmus Würtz and Michael Silberbauer		David Williams, Jean-Philippe Peguero, Mikkel Bischoff, Morten Rasmussen, Nicolaj Agger, Peter Madsen and Trond Andersen
League position	#1 +12 goals, 33 points		#9 -3 goals, 23 points
Past 10 encounters	5 wins, 9 goals	2 draws	3 wins, 7 goals
Points last 5 league games home/away	20		5