http://euro20041.skysports.com/LIST.ASP?HLID=207247&CLID=368&LID=1066

Rothen to join PSG

Jerome Rothen is joining Paris Saint Germain on a four-year contract despite reported late interest from Manchester United.

The Monaco midfielder is delighted to get his future resolved before Euro 2004 kicks off with France in action against England on Sunday in Lisbon.

"I will sign for PSG," he told Le Parisien. "I am relieved."

Monaco boss Didier Deschamps was keen to keep his influential left-sided star but the player was determined to clinch a move to the capital.

The ?10 million fee will do little to placate Deschamps who, after signing a new deal in the Principality, wants to build on last season's fine display in the UEFA Champions League rather than lose his key figures.

There are rumours in France that Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson enquired about the possibility of bringing both Rothen and full back Patrice Evra to Old Trafford in a double swoop.

However, the 26-year-old's priority was to head for Parc des Princes and the deal is expected to be rubber-stamped soon.

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In the words of Nelson

"HA-HA" (H) :rockman:

It was his dream to play for PSG, Pauleta will score so many next year with Rothen supplying those long balls of his.

Omg but.. Why?

French Football :(

Both of those players should play in better leagues...

Rothen would do well in England I think

So to would Pauleta, he'd probably do well in Spain also.

Who knows.

Good luck to em though.

What nationality is Rothen by the way?

Because PSG are his favourtie club and it was a dream for him to once play for PSG. Not all players play for money

Rothen is French and his in France Euro 2004 squad I believe...I thought he was either going to stay or go somewhere that is big...

Originally posted by Andrew
Because PSG are his favourtie club and it was a dream for him to once play for PSG. Not all players play for money

Well I don't think that was what I meant, I mean, Monaco have had a great season and all.
So much promise.
People were talking about Deschamps leaving, looks now like Deschamps will be the only one who stays.

Pauleta got his name in the Spanish league with Salamanca, helping them get promotion and have a great first season at the first division.

Then, when he was bound to join Benfica, Deportivo came and signed him for a small fee considering his talent. Although not a regular starter, he scored goals after goals, and was one of the players that gave his contribution to Deportivo's 99/00 Spanish title.

Because Pauleta wanted more first-team football, Deportivo reluctantly accepted to sell him. And then came Bordeaux. And the rest of the story we all know :)

About Rothen rejecting Man United and sign for PSG, I'm positively surprised to still see players playing for joy and not for money. There's more in life (and football) rather than money.

I wish him the best of luck at PSG. PSG are gonna be a force in the Champs League next season.

Maybe the end of hard times for PSG???
not so sure. Potentialy they've had a team capable of winning the league every year simce they last won it... (1994)
must be very frustrating for their fans.

Now that he's at PSG, Man Utd will never get him... Man Utd and PSG dont have a very good business relationship... :f***:

Ronaldinho, Heinze.... ><

Originally posted by shokz
those long balls of his.

AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA:kader: :crazyboy: :rofl: :rofl: How would you know shokz??:kader: :crazyboy:

You have one dirty mind. :jap:

Not a bad move...

THey are in the CL. It'll be deadly with him and PAuleta

Rothen at PSG???

Did I ever tell you guys that I'm a PSG fan :crazyboy:

French league is easily now the 4th best league in Europe. Many good players and good sides.

PSG is going to win the French league next season, Pauleta, Ljuboja, Rothen.

Its OVER .. (H)

Originally posted by northstar
French league is easily now the 4th best league in Europe. Many good players and good sides.

That is rediculous. England, Italy, Spain, Germany. Those are the top 4.

I love Rothen, might be my second favorite player behind Ballack.

Yeah Germany is defenitely 4 th.

Originally posted by Nimreitz
That is rediculous. England, Italy, Spain, Germany. Those are the top 4.

Not ridiculous at all.

I'd say the French is as good as German if not better. In terms of being fun to watch, I say France, England, Germany- in that order.

And I watch EPL, Bundesliga, Eredivisie, Serie A and Ligue 1 on regular basis.

Originally posted by Gerrard 17
Not ridiculous at all.

I'd say the French is as good as German if not better. In terms of being fun to watch, I say France, England, Germany- in that order.


Germany...Fun to watch :rofl:


http://www.chattanooga.net/comedy/saget.JPG

I'd rather watch 5 hours of Bob Saget Stand-Up than 15 minutes of the Bundesliga.

Yeah, I think most would say the BundesLiga and Ligue 1 are about on par with each other, entertainment wise. Talent wise, we all know Ligue 1 boasts much better talent.

Edit: Also, the displaying of that photo is really-really unnesessary.

Originally posted by Nimreitz
That is rediculous. England, Italy, Spain, Germany. Those are the top 4.

I love Rothen, might be my second favorite player behind Ballack.

Easy...as a PSG fan, I must step in here and defend French football...

Lyon in the CL quarter-finals, Marseille in the UEFA cup final, Monaco in the CL final...

Where was Germany? Italy? England? Ok, Chelsea, but to dismiss the French league as worse than the Bundesliga RIGHT NOW (not last year, not two years ago, but right now) is utter foolishness given the results.

Of course, the recession - and a resultant slow transfer year - meant that, for once, French teams got to keep their player instead of having them snatched up for other teams.

But right now, the French league, with Monaco, Lyon, PSG, Marseille, and even Auxerre (well, maybe not without Cisse) strong, and getting deep into European tournaments/winning Cup finals (like French CUp for PSG this year), IMHO, is better than the Bundesliga.

Certainly the competition is harder top to bottom; how many teams in Ligue 1 could have won Le Championnat with 3 weeks to go...and in Germany?

I don't think that the difference is as clear-cut as yu make it; as of this writing, the proof for makng the case for Ligue 1 is quite simply in the pudding...2003-2004 results.

Originally posted by RUSI
I'd rather watch 5 hours of Bob Saget Stand-Up than 15 minutes of the Bundesliga.

What the hell man...

Have you ever tried watching it?

My info on the German teams is limited and I don't really keep track of everything, but some teams are a lot of fun to watch.

Originally posted by Gerrard 17
What the hell man...

Have you ever tried watching it?

My info on the German teams is limited and I don't really keep track of everything, but some teams are a lot of fun to watch.

I guess I watch the wrong matches :$

There is 2 matches on per week on FSW and every time it lacks quality;)

I don't know maybe I'm wrong but it's just not very exciting:)

Originally posted by Mel Brennan
Easy...as a PSG fan, I must step in here and defend French football...

Lyon in the CL quarter-finals, Marseille in the UEFA cup final, Monaco in the CL final...

Where was Germany? Italy? England? Ok, Chelsea, but to dismiss the French league as worse than the Bundesliga RIGHT NOW (not last year, not two years ago, but right now) is utter foolishness given the results.

Look, it was a strange year, but there's no way that given the results of the Champions League that you can say 100% confident that Portugal and France have the best leagues. Since that's clearly bull****, why are you using Monaco's success (one team) to justify how good an entire league is. Wow, you list teams, I would put Bayern, Leverkusen, Werder Bremen, Stuttgart, and Dortmund over the top french teams in a heartbeat.

And by the way, let the record show that I said Germany is a better league than France, not that France is crap or even that far behind. But clearly, you can't say that France has a better domestic league because one team made it to the CL Finals this year... big deal! Are they better than Bayern? No. Sometimes the results don't show who is the better team. You always gotta respect the winners, but when it comes to the most talented team, it isn't always the team that wins the most games or advances the furthest.

Originally posted by RUSI
I guess I watch the wrong matches :$

There is 2 matches on per week on FSW and every time it lacks quality;)

I don't know maybe I'm wrong but it's just not very exciting:)

some teams are nice... i do like to watch werder bremen, but bayern munich home games lack quality (bayern fans hint: your stadium sucks ass), bayer leverkusen? boring as ****, sttutgart... meh... they're ok... dortmund is fine.

french league is nice to watch, players are fun to watch and the games are nice and flowing. its a little slow for my tastes.

english is most exciting for me, but i dont like the style they play.

argentine league is where its at for me though lol. they play as tight as european sides, but more stylish then england.

im getting voom, so ill be able to watch spain, but from what i saw in uefa cup, valencia and barca are very exciting teams.

italy... its a little rough for me, but they are defintly class.

for me in europe its: Italy, Spain, England, France, Germany

I bought Rothen for Arsenal on CM, and he turned out to be crap. :(

Originally posted by Nimreitz
Look, it was a strange year, but there's no way that given the results of the Champions League that you can say 100% confident that Portugal and France have the best leagues. Since that's clearly bull****, why are you using Monaco's success (one team) to justify how good an entire league is. Wow, you list teams, I would put Bayern, Leverkusen, Werder Bremen, Stuttgart, and Dortmund over the top french teams in a heartbeat.

And by the way, let the record show that I said Germany is a better league than France, not that France is crap or even that far behind. But clearly, you can't say that France has a better domestic league because one team made it to the CL Finals this year... big deal! Are they better than Bayern? No. Sometimes the results don't show who is the better team. You always gotta respect the winners, but when it comes to the most talented team, it isn't always the team that wins the most games or advances the furthest.

Its interesting that you distill my argument down to Monaco, and respond to my assertion that THIS year, its clear that the French league was better (due to being able to keep its players for once), by saying "it was a strange year." Strange, why, exactly?

Whatever; we'll simply agree to disagree. To me, there's no question that this year the French league was a stronger league than the German one, and the only way to test that is to examine European competition. Anything else is just you (or me) talking. The results this year speak for themselves. YOu cal lthem "strange." I call them reflective of what the year-to-year situation would be if France didn't tax it players (other than the lucky Monaco players) so highly.

In fact, as an aside to this conversation but more on topic, given that Rothen is hoping to move from no-tax Monaco to tax-your-ass PSG, and turning down hide-your-tax life in the UK with ManU, he should get more credit than ever for following his heart and not his wallet.

Originally posted by Mel Brennan
Its interesting that you distill my argument down to Monaco, and respond to my assertion that THIS year, its clear that the French league was better (due to being able to keep its players for once), by saying "it was a strange year." Strange, why, exactly?

Whatever; we'll simply agree to disagree. To me, there's no question that this year the French league was a stronger league than the German one, and the only way to test that is to examine European competition. Anything else is just you (or me) talking. The results this year speak for themselves. YOu cal lthem "strange." I call them reflective of what the year-to-year situation would be if France didn't tax it players (other than the lucky Monaco players) so highly.

How was it weird?!? Are you kidding me? Porto and Monaco played in the Champions League Final. My guess is that if you get to coach one team and you HAVE to win or else you die, you won't pick either of those teams. They aren't the best two teams in Europe, or even top 5. The fact that they both made it to the CL Final proves that it was a weird year. Where was Real Madrid, Bayern, Milan, Juve, and Man U? Weird year.

And you can't pretend that this year is the only relevant year; you have to go back at least a few years, so maybe 2002-2004, and looking at European Competition back that far shows that Germany is far superior in terms of the top teams.

Actually, Lyon defeated Bayern München.

Monaco has won against Deportivo, PSV, Real Madrid, Lokomotiv and Chelsea. If you saw these matches, you can't justify their European results by weirdness, or weaknesses in the other team. Monaco played superbly, that's all.

We'll see next year if the French sides can do as good as this year. Lyon (even if I don't like them), should reach the quarterfinals. Monaco should qualify to the First knockout round.
As for PSG, my favorite team :-), the team is really becoming stronger, with the arrivals of Jerome Rothen, Mario Yepes, and maybe Sylvain Wiltord. Only the loss of Gabriel Heinze (easily one of the 5 best defenders in the world, people will be surprised when he comes at Man Utd) could affect the team, but the arrival of Sylvain Armand (left back from Nantes) should make us forget Heinze.

I guess someone should start a PSG thread. I didn't realize that PSG was so much beloved in Europe:rockman:

rothen, ljuboja, pauleta... possibly diego

i'm dizzy

Why do people continue to say a league is better judging by CL or UEFA Cup success, jus because Monaco beat Chelsea over two exciting legs don't mean the French league is better than the German. CL is totally different to the leagues around Europe, just because Monaco got to the CL final doesn't mean the French league is more exciting, two totally different tournaments and games.

Originally posted by bjmenge
I bought Rothen for Arsenal on CM, and he turned out to be crap. :(

Kapo is better. (H)

Originally posted by Spurs4Life
Why do people continue to say a league is better judging by CL or UEFA Cup success, jus because Monaco beat Chelsea over two exciting legs don't mean the French league is better than the German. CL is totally different to the leagues around Europe, just because Monaco got to the CL final doesn't mean the French league is more exciting, two totally different tournaments and games.

Well, what interesting is your easy slide from "better" to "more exciting." For you, those two must equate, b/c you've made them equivocal in your post.

For me, if the entirety of a league does not play the entirety of another league, how else are you supposed to try and address the question of "which league was better this year, the French or the Greman one?" without looking at two things: the competitveness of that league, top to bottom throughout the year, for the league title, and "common opponents?" Common opponents means European competition, and that means an examination of this year's CL and Uefa Cup.

Sorry, if people don't like the answer, but IMO, this year, the French league was "better" than the Bundesliga on both of my criteria.

Now, if, to you, a "better" league means "more exciting," well, I'm not sure how to measure that; I do know that on the penultimate Ligue 1 weekend, four different teams could have won the title; how early, this year, did Werder Bremen and Bayern distance themselves from any competition?

In some ways, this is a dumb question; I'm only engaged in it b/c someone said that to submit that Ligue 1 was one of the four "best" leagues in Europe was absurd, and I'm without question demonstrating that right now, a cse can certainly be made for that, even over the last two years in fact, if you use my criteria. But I#m not sure, in addressing this question, how criteria like "more exciting" can be measured... Number of goals, on average, per match, maybe? But I've seen 6-1 matches that bored the pants off of me, and 0-0 draws that took my breath away, so that's no hard and fast rule...