footballcircus: Spurs Versus...Al-Qaeda?

Another week of pre-season, another Football Circus to ease the pain. This week we set up our very own Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Football-Circus/418804204906352). We also have a Twitter account as well (https://twitter.com/footballcircus). We won't lie, for now both accounts essentially just link to the blog on a weekly basis. It's worth liking them / following them / whatever the kids are doing these days, however as the accounts will grow as the blog does. Now, onto the business at hand. Let's have this week's football-related nonsense...

Spurs abused with Anti-Semetic Comments by...Al-Qaeda?

Tottenham last week found themselves victims of anti-semetic abuse from Ahmed Al Dossari, an Al Qaeda leader in Yemen. Italian radio station Il Solec24 Ore reported that Al Dossari had decided to wade in on the Gareth Bale transfer saga, making his feelings known in no uncertain terms.

Al Dossari was alleged to have stated "Unscrupulous merchants. The Jews will be punished for their greed by the wrath of God and by the sound of arms".

Exactly what spurred Al Dossari on to make the heinous comments is quite simply unknown.

Neither Tottenham nor Bale are likely to respond to the comments, although if they do opt to take on Al Qaeda they may not have the backing of US president Barack Obama following their offloading of Clint Dempsey this week.

He Fell Over, He Fell Over! Barca New Man Falls on his Backside

Barcelona's marquee summer signing Neymar will hope his first season in Barca colours goes better than his outing at a Nike workshop in Bangkok this week.

Neymar, alongside Barca teammates, was required to show off his silky skills at the workshop in front of an audience of fans and media.

Unfortunately for the Brazilian, it wasn't long before he lost his footing and he had fallen over. Luckily for the fans, he didn't roll around waiting for a referee to brandish a card, instead getting straight back up to continue showing off.

Neymar recently lost seven kilos as a result of anemia and fans of the Catalan side feared that his fall may have been connected. The forward has dismissed the worries however, stating:

"I'm better. The medical staff have been treating me, but now I feel fine. I'm ready for training. I've got great expectations. I want to play well and adapt as early as possible. I hope it'll be a special season and to win many trophies".

Anzhi Manager Meulensteen Sacked After 16 Days

Former Man United coach Rene Meulensteen was sacked from his position as manager of Anzhi Makhachkala this week, a mere sixteen days after his appointment.

Meulensteen was a coach at Man United under Sir Alex Ferguson prior to this summer and took over the reigns at Anzhi following the departure of fellow Dutchman Guus Hiddink.

Meulensteen was highly rated under the Ferguson regime at United and big things were expected of him from his first venture into management.

However Anzhi have failed to win any of their first four matches in the Russian league despite splashing out more than £50 million on new signings and uncompromising owner Suleiman Kerimov has made the decision to part company with the manager.

Not only that, but Kerimov has put the whole first team up for sale, opting to depend on younger players.

Haji Hajiyev has been appointed interim coach.

Meulensteen had previously been offered the opportunity to stay on as a coach at United following David Moyes' appointment as manager but turned down the opportunity - perhaps a decision he may live to regret.

Italian Football Story of the Week

- Matera Player Iannini Given Ten Match Ban for Racism

Last Sunday saw fifth division Italian side Matera take on third division side Sudtirol in a Coppa Italia first round game. Not a game that would rouse a lot of interest from the casual fan, however what was noteworthy about the match was the sending off of Matera player Gaetano Iannini.

Iannini had been fouled by Sudtirol's Ghanaian 19 year old Caleb Ansah Ekuban. Matera were duly awarded a free kick but Iannini was then seen to say something to the referee who immediately responded by showing the player a straight red card.

Iannini's remarks were thought to have been of a racist nature and aimed at his Ghanaian counterpart.

On Wednesday this week, Iannini was handed a ten match ban for 'directing an insult of racial discrimination at an opponent'. The punishment falls under new anti-discrimination laws which came into effect on June 4th in Italy.

Matera president Saverio Columella stated "We absolutely condemn the behaviour of our athlete. Racist insults are unforgivable and, if it happened, then it’s only right that Iannini pays the price".

It wasn't Iannini's first time in trouble either as he has previously been given a four year 'Daspo' (like an ASBO) having attacked match officials.

The match in question ended in a 2-0 defeat for Matera.

Magic 8 Ball Transfer Oracle

Into the last month of the transfer window already. If you're unfamiliar with this segment, Football Circus aims to predict the outcome of transfer rumours using nothing more than a Magic 8 Ball in an effort to expose the unreliability of newspaper / website transfer rumours. Once the transfer window is complete we will review the 8 Ball's predictions and contrast the accuracy of them with those of some well known newspapers based on the statistics from footballtransferleague.co.uk.

This week's rumour comes in the form of the following:

David Luiz to Barcelona

(As reported here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2385954/David-Luiz-latest-Barcelona-make-bid-Chelsea-star.html)

Magic 8 Ball Says...

'YES'