So yesterday went a bit like this.

"Hello, Gabriele. Is there anything happening in Italian football this week?"

"No".

"Ok then!"

"Hello, Luigi. Is there anything happening in Spanish footabll this week?"

"No. Now I'm off to the beach to look at topless girls".

"You bastard".

So Tom and I are sitting in the studio last night.

"Not much going on", I said.

"True that", he said.

"So what do we talk about?"

"You could make up a really long joke with a terrible punchline".

"I could but even I would be hard pressed to make a half-hour joke, unless it was based around Emmanuel Eboue's abilities as a footballer".

"Then half an hour wouldn't be long enough".

"I think, perhaps, we'd be best off saying nothing and waiting until there is some actual football news before we do another podcast".

"You're probably right. When the biggest news story of the week is Lee Cattermole going to Wigan you're know you're pissing in the wind".

So there, dear listener, is the reason why there's no podcast today. I am hopeful that something will happen in the next 7 days so we can get up and running again.

However, it really has been the most boring summer in terms of transfers and stuff, hasn't it?

It's well known that Thierry Henry wasn't a big fan of Alexander Hleb. The Belarussian was often on the end of a withering stare from Henry after another pass went astray or a move broke down.

Of course the pair get to continue their great friendship at Barcelona now that Hleb has signed for the Catalan club. Henry was at the press conference last night to announce Hleb's arrival and this picture really does speak a thousand words.

heh, classic.

So the podcast returns after a short summer break and this week the main story is that of Ronaldinho going from Barcelona to AC Milan.

We get a Spanish perspective on it with Luigi and Gabriele, our Italian correspondent, tells us what he thinks about it.

Also up for discussion are Adebayor, Alexander Hleb, Gareth Barry, Xabi Alonso and some stuff on Hull City.

You can subscribe to The Week in Football using iTunes by clicking here, if you want to subscribe to the feed itself the feed URL is here, you can download the podcast directly here or you can listen from this page:

Don't forget your comments and suggestions for the show are always welcome. Feel free to leave a comment here or email podcast@oleole.com.

First it was Ronaldinho now it's Ronaldo. Look at the state of him. I know he's had a hard time recently, what with being injured and then being hoodwinked by some transvestite hookers who look like manboypigs, but he should at least try to stay in some kind of shape.

 

He really needs to lay of the Ronaldonuts.

Sorry. More pics in The Sun.

I'm not a Man United fan, as you well know, but if I were I'd be most unhappy with the comments made by FIFA President Sepp Blatter. Talking about Cristiano Ronaldo he says:

In football there’s too much modern slavery. I’m always in favour of protecting the player. If he wants to leave, let him. 

What about contracts then? What about protecting the clubs who pay large transfer fees and extortionate wages to players? Imagine if the club said 'We don't feel like paying you', what kind of outcry would there be then? 

A player saying 'I don't want to play for you' is the same, except he still gets his wages every week, doesn't he?

Blatter, of all people, should be trying to create some stability in the game yet now more players will look at the head of FIFA saying this and think the way players act these days is acceptable. Not that anything Blatter says is susprising. Does he have friends at Real Madrid? Would that explain why he's so in favour of allowing Ronaldo to leave United?

And for him to say players are 'slaves' is absolutely reprehensible. How can somebody being paid what professional footballers are paid be a 'slave'? I'd happily be a slave for £40,000 a week or £20,000 a week for that matter. In a world where real slavery still exists it's an incredibly tasteless remark from an incredibly tasteless man.

The game is being ruined by money and sadly those in charge of football these days are driven by cash, not by what's good for the game. Blatter, once again, has shown himself up as a man with no great interest in the game, only in how much money can be siphoned from it.

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For those wondering about The Week in Football podcast our summer holidays, so to speak, are ongoing. Tom Thom(p)son is travelling around the upper-delta region of County Cork while I'm typing this from the Holiday Inn in San Jose. Or, from my house, whichever suits you best.

We'll be back next week to cover pre-season, Italy, Spain and all the usual bits and pieces. 

We're also going to make the blog more bloggy this season, with more comment, pictures, news etc etc so do bookmark.

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Look at that belly. Barcelona must be wishing they could set his price by the kilo.

Here's Newcastle player Joey Barton showing the world why he should be an ex-Newcastle player. Would love to hear what Newcastle fans think of him... I know what I think of him. It begins with SC and ends in UMBAG.

So Spain were deserved winners of Euro 2008 last night. I think most people agree they played the best football and on the night Germany really didn't trouble them at all.

In today's Eurocast we get perspective from both sides. Our regular Spanish correspondent Luigi and our German correspondent Tom give their opinions on last night's final while Tom Thom(p)son and I chat in studio about it.

A bit later in the week we'll be looking for your emails/voicemails about the bests and worsts of the tournament. We'll put up a blog post here to tell you exactly what we're looking for so hold off until then. Perhaps to get the conversation going in the comments today people could select their team of the tournament. 

I don't mean 'Spain' or 'Russia' but pick the best XI from all the teams who took part in Euro 2008. And what did you think of the tournament anyway? To me it was much more enjoyable than the last World Cup. Your thoughts very welcome.

I just want to say thanks to everyone who contributed to the Eurocast - whether by voicemail or email it's much appreciated.

Remember, you can subscribe to the Eurocast using iTunes by clicking here (this is also the subsctription for the Week in Football, the regular podcast which will be coming back soon), if you want to subscribe to the feed itself the feed URL is here, you can download directly here or you can listen from this page:

That's that. 

All right then,

due to technical issues we won't be doing a preview show for the final but will, of course, have a post-final Eurocast on Monday.

So, who's going to win it? Can the Germans grind out a result or will Spain's attacking philosophy prove too much for the suspect German defence? 

I reckon Spain will win it.

Spain 2-0 for me. Possibly in extra time though.

Right, let's have your Euro 2008 final predictions in the comments. Enjoy the game.

Morning all,

hard to say that Spain didn't deserve that last night, particular given the way Fabregas came on and inspired the team. Villa's injury should see him start the final which is a good thing for football purists - he's been fantastic whenever he's played.

What do you think? Were you as disappointed in Arshavin as some of the emailers to the Eurocast today? Was he found wanting when the stakes were high?

Your thoughts welcome in the comments, as always. No predictions for the final yet - there's another post to come to do that and hopefully a preview show before Sunday. Your thoughts via email or voicemail are more than welcome for that. Don't be shy.

To contact us use the info below:

UK -  +44 20 7193 6971

SWISS - +41 44 586 62 08

But that's not all. If you have Skype you don't even have to pay for a phone call. Simply add 'oleole.com' as a contact then use Skype to call us. It'll go directly to the voicemail.

And if that's not enough we're happy to get your emails too - send them podcast@oleole.com

You can subscribe to the Eurocast using iTunes by clicking here, if you want to subscribe to the feed itself the feed URL is here, you can download directly here or you can listen from this page:

Right then, that'll do. Until the next one, cheers.