Well the team squeeked by with another win in London, but this time a little rough housing occurred. Here’s the jist of it.

* Early score thanks to a link up by Susaeta and El Gallo, Extebe~*
* Missed Opportunities galore, yes you Llorente!
* Missed penalty by Charlton’s Thomas. Hit the post.
* Second half full of argie barge and substitutions galore.
* Aitor Ocio yellow carded for dissent. Whuh???
* Aduritz red carded in the 90th for violent conduct or rather trying to smack Fortune.

Check out the Charlton Athletic view/Match Report.

Colchester should be fun! I hope we hear from dear ol’ Dave with his personal report on the two games.

RUMORS

It looks like President Macua is working on another kit sponsorship deal. This time with Umbro. The deal is for an additional $2M Euros per year for 3-4 years. More needed cash flow per our Prez. Athletic’s shirt sales average 60,000 units per year. This is second only to Madrid and Barça. An official announcement from the club is expected this week.

More NAYS to Premier Clubs, this time Everton who put in a bid for our young starlet midfielder Javi Martinez. Rumored to be around 6M Euros. NO, no way! Too cheap and he is critical to our success. Thank you, but NO thank you.

Under the fact stranger than fiction category – Restorations in a 13th Century Spanish Cathedral have discovered the shield of Athletic Bilbao. What??? If someone finds a foto of this, please send me a link.

FRIENDLY IN BIZKAIA VS LEMONA

7/30/08 – Another near miss. Athletic eked out another one-nil win. This time on an Own Goal forced by Orbaiz. OK, we played a reserve team, but this little Third division team from Viscaya almost beat us!

Six friendlies to date. Just nine more to go… Is Caparros sane?

Five youngsters were presented as part of the first team. 14 and 15 year olds who will be training with the first team and may be brought in as needed, by Caparros and staff. I hope to see these boys get some time in the Copa Del Rey and friendlies. All 5 youngsters have been called up to play against Lemona today in another friendly. Watch out for future stars: Ander Iturraspe, Ander Agüeros, Jonás Ramalho, Iker Guarrotxena, Iker Muniain y Iago Herrerín.

It was nice to hear Caparros start his brief speech with a few sentences in Euskara. President Macua also spoke and insisted that the main objective will always be the cantera and to maintain our 100% Basque only policy. This in juxtaposition to a global economy and recessionary times.

You can see the full presentation on the official site.

The new first kit and second kit have now been presented. The second kit is a metallic blue kit, very stylish IMO.

There is a poll on the official Athletic site – What do you think about the advertising? Good, Bad or No Idea. The current poll results: Out of 5,500 Good 48.65% Bad 39.71% and No Idea 11.64%.

It is going to be a very interesting year. The results on the pitch will be extremely vital. UEFA or bust!

Next Lemona, Charlton and Colchester!

Reports coming out of Spain state that Athletic has signed 26 year old striker, Iñigo Velez formerly of Real Murcia, for two years. His stats don’t look that great. Last year with Murcia he played 10 games and scored only one goal. But we need more options up front and he’s dirt cheap. With this signing, Caparros has five strikers at his disposal: Extebe, Fernan Llorente, Arduritz, Ion Velez and Iñigo Velez (no relation).

THAT’S OUR NEW KID IN RED/PIMENTONEROS COLORS

RANT TIME

The Athletic fans at the foros/forums are not very happy with the signings so far. With dreams of Europe or UEFA Cup, everyone was expecting one big signing IE Nacho Monreal, Joseba LLorente, etc. Nothing. Del Olmo is the only signing worth bragging about. Instead of fighting towards Europe, Caparros and company will most likely be fighting against relegation. OK, people let’s calm down. Athletic may be one of the most popular teams, run by Socios, that has never been relegated, but due to our philosophies and finances, we do not splurge on the transfer market. We prefer to find that diamond in the rough or potential in the cantera. We need to concern ourselves with the New Catedral. Plus we are hoping that our current squad will step up, and strive for glory. We’ve got the taste of Europe last year and I really think we still have a chance in 2008-9. Yes our left back problem is a gaping hole, but put a little faith in President Macua and Caparros. Sheesh! The available Vascos in the transfer market are slim pickens or overpriced. Quite honestly, we are a team that does not like to get in debt. Very admirable indeed. We also screwed ourselves messing with La Real and this time the courts came after us! So we need to stay away from pinching La Real’s players and it hurts, but somehow we can find a way. We need to hone our skills and attack and defend as a unit. No stars, just Team Athletic. Rant over.

INJURY UPDATE

Joaquin Caparros is working our players’ asses off with three training sessions a day.

Here is a list of the most recent injuries in preseason!

*Youngster (only 15) Iker Guarrotxena – Injured during running exercises, IE overworked. Poor kid! The prognosis is favorable.
*Pablo Orbaiz – recuperating after ankle surgery. He recently did a lot of press, being very positive about his recovery. Slowly but surely, Pablo. There will be more tests upon his return to Bilbao. We need our defensive midfielder back and fast.
*Koikili – Right ankle strain. He is undergoing physiotherapy. Ouch, this is going to hurt. Our Left Back position is probably our most vulnerable. Get well soon Koi!
*Ion Velez with muscle spasms. He skipped training, but nothing major. Phew!

ONES TO WATCH

Two youngsters have really impressed in training so far: Iturraspe and Agueros. Iturraspe is only 19 years old and a “crack”. He has really impressed Caparros and company with his maturity in midfield and is definitely one for the future. Agueros has also been impressive. He is only 18 years old and could be a potential solution or backup for our Left Back dilemna. Do we have one of the best canteras and scouting program around? You bet!

YESTE IS SO STRONG! LOL

THE FIXTURE LIST IS OUT!

Our first rival/victim is Almeria at home on 8/31 – awesome fixture. Our last game will be at the Mestalla vs Valencia. Hmmm. Athletic Fixture List

TRANSFER BUSINESS TO DATE

IN: Toquero (Sestao River – Striker), LaFuente (Espanyol – Goal keeper), Ion Velez (Hercules – Striker), Del Olmo (Eibar – Striker/Winger)

OUT: Del Horno (Valencia – Left Back), Cuellar (Murcia – Midfielder), Exposito (Hercules – Defender), Aranzubia (Deportivo – Goal Keeper), Prieto (Valladolid – Defender)

We are covered in the Goal Keeper, Central Defense and Right Back positions. Still a little questionable at Left Back. Midfield and Upfront is looking quite good as well, but we do need to add at least one more attacking threat. On the Transfers out front, I am expecting to see Zubiaurre, Casas and Tiko leave the club as they are not in Caparros’s plans. Both Prieto and Tiko have been very loyal servants to the club. Best of luck to them in their new adventures. Prieto was a big reason that Athletic did not get relegated two seasons ago.

INTEREST: Iñigo Velez (Murcia – Striker), Xabi Prieto (Real Sociedad – Right Winger), Yuri Berchiche (Tottenham – Left Back), Diaz de Cerio (Real Sociedad – Striker)

Maybe Velez, but Juande is playing hard ball when it comes to young Yuri and due to the whole fiasco with Zubiaurre and Real Sociedad, I don’t think we will be doing any business for the interim. Shame.

INJURY UPDATE:

Reports coming out of camp is that Gorka Irazoiz has fully recuperated from last season’s injury and he is eager to fight for his place in goal vs Armando and LaFuente. Meanwhile our long lost midfielder Pablo Orbaiz for the first time is feeling no pain while training and playing. That is very good news indeed.

The club has a very intensive pre-season schedule. I will publish the final schedule soon.

CELEBRITY BILBAO SIGHTINGS

Did you know that Michael Stype and REM were Bilbao fans? Well check this out. Stype shows his colors while performing at Bilbao BBK Live this Summer. Cool eh?

New signing – Joseba del Olmo Garcia
Athletic has paid the €300,000 buyout clause on Del Olmo’s contract with Eibar. Del Olmo has signed a one-year contract with the club. The contract includes an automatic renewal for another year should the 27 year old striker play in a minimum of 22 official games. Athletic has also attached a buyout clause of €20million. A smart piece of business IMO. The coaching staff is expecting alot from Del Olmo. He is a different type of striker, two footed, with a lot of potential. We shall see. To date Eibar has provided Koikili, new signing Toquero and now Del Olmo.

Promotions update in Segunda aka Good News, Bad News:
Bad News – Real Sociedad remains in the Second division. Their loss to Alaves a fortnight ago, really hurt Erreala. Ashame, I was looking forward to the Basque derby returning to La Primera.

Good News – Alaves is safe! Alaves won their last two games and by the skin of their teeth is staying up in Segunda A. Ying and Yang? Karma? Or just phew! Congratulations to Alaves. Next year La Real.

Some Quick Notes:

*Midfielder Carles Gurpegi is over in Peru, taking time out from his vacation. He is doing his part to help underprivileged youth through football. Class act!

*After all the pressure and court dealings that defender Iban Zubiaurre has endured, Caparros is offering him to Recreativo Huelva on loan. I think this would be a good thing for Zubi to get a little break from all the crap from the past year, as well as provide him with more game time, down in Andalusia. I hope it comes to fruition. Good luck Iban!

*Just think, one year ago, on June 17, 2007, we beat Levante 2-0 on the last day of the season and ensured safety in La Primera. Baby we’ve come along way!

-Armando renewed for another year with the club. Armando stepped in from Cadiz and did an admirable job as interim goalkeeper back in January. He got bottled at Betis and lives to tell the tale. I am frankly estatic that he will continue at Athletic. It will be interesting to see if Gorka or Armando is Caparros’ first choice next year.

-Fernando Amorebieta has rejected playing with the Venezuelan national team and states that he wants to play for Spain. He will wait for Aragones’ call up, and if need be to the Euros. (And based on the Marchena blunder and the backline performance vs Peru, some of us wish that Fernan was playing with Spain, if you get my drift.)

-Rumor time: per Marca Joseba Del Olmo will be the next signing for Athletic. Del Olmo is a right footed, left winger. Good utilitarian player and strong dribbler, currently playing with Eibar in the second division. Nothing official yet.

- The youngsters want to come back to Athletic? Both Yuri Berchiche and Mikel San Jose have not ruled out returning to Athletic one day. 18 year old leftback, Yuri, who is currently playing in Tottenham Hotspurs’ reserves was interviewed recently and says he wants to come home. Mikel San Jose, young defender, who currently plays in the reserves at Liverpool has said that he is happy at Anfield, but would not rule out a move back to Athletic.

President Macua states that the Berchiche interest is real and that they are considering a 2 year loan or 500K offer for the youngster. Juande has promised the youngster that he could crack the first team in December. Reports out of London now state that Yuri needs to keep quiet and cease talks with Athletic. Curious.

Until next time…