Spanish football, like its economy in general, in mired in difficult financial times, which, apart from one or two well-funded clubs, has restricted the budgetary scope of a large number of teams. I had hoped all summer to hear we were on the case but it wasn’t until the final day of the window that solid opportunities materialised.
Marseille-born Tunisian international Lassad Nouioui is a complete unknown to all of us but his profile, earned at Deportivo La Coruna, fits the bill. He scored a handful of goals as Deportivo finished 18th and dropped out of La Liga in season 2010-11 but hit the heights last season as they secured promotion. It would be practically impossible for Celtic to sign a striker with the equivalent profile in English football, despite the apparent gap in standards between La Liga and the English Premier. I’m also delighted to hear Levante, who finished 6th in La Liga last season, were so keen to capture him.
There is also something I like about the port-town mentality the people of Marseille have. It’s very Glaswegian. Lassad should flourish here.
I’m not sure what Phil Mac Giolla Bhain’s reaction was when The Sun called asking for an interview about his new book, which details the mainstream media’s failure to report the demise of Rangers. “Are you joking?” may have been appropriate. I had no prior notice they were running an interview yesterday and couldn’t believe the promotion they gave to a book detailing the failure of their industry.
This was not without consequences, of course, and The Sun got themselves into an incredible mess, today trying their best to backpedal, which is pretty much what the theme of the book predicts (irony #1). Meanwhile there is a book publisher in Glasgow who cannot believe his luck. Thousands of unwitting critics and a leading newspaper have ensured Mac Giolla Bhain, who would struggle for a platform without the anger of others, has a bestseller on his hands (irony #2).
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ernie lynch
12:42 on 3 September, 2012
hoopeddreams
12:35 on 3 September, 2012
Spot on ……. On your last point, though, I feel that Phil knew exactly what he was doing, and exactly what the reaction would be …. GENIOUS ……… LOL
Interesting article from Pierlugi Collina on eufa.com about additional assistant refs. Not sure I agree with his views but he makes a case on headed goals starting to come back into fashion. Obviously in Scotland we need to ensure these are not Additional OO & Lodge asst. refs:-
“Additional assistant referees will continue to be deployed in this season’s European club competitions – with UEFA satisfied at the progress of the system which gives match referees two additional sets of eyes to help them in their decision-making.
The UEFA chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina took the opportunity at UEFA’s 2012/13 kick-off events in Monaco to look at the positive results of the experiment which ultimately led to football’s lawmakers, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), deciding in July that additional assistant referees should become part of the Laws of the Game.
The referee, two assistants and fourth official are joined by two additional assistant referees positioned alongside each goal line, with the particular brief to watch for incidents in the penalty area. The experiment began in autumn 2008 after a green light from the IFAB to UEFA to do the tests, and the first match affected was a UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifier between Norway and Slovenia.
Since then, close to 1,000 matches have seen additional assistant referees used, including 290 UEFA Champions League games in two seasons, 615 UEFA Europa League encounters in three seasons, three UEFA Super Cup matches and 31 games at UEFA EURO 2012.
“With football getting even faster and the players fitter, it seems that sometimes the men in black face a mission impossible,” said Collina. “Two extra pairs of eyes focusing on the penalty areas are of valuable assistance to the referee, and strengthen the refereeing team in confidence and numbers, while allowing the game to flow. This is the real reason behind having two extra officials on the field of play.”
The former Italian referee showed, also through the use of video examples, the reasons behind the success of additional assistant referees. “The most important result that we achieved is certainly a better assessment of incidents, particularly fouls that occurred inside and just around the penalty area, when the referee was not able to make a decision because of his position,” he said. “Sometimes it is very difficult for a referee to decide when he is not in the best position to make the decision.
“Another important result we achieved in these matches is a clear reduction of incidents, particularly holding, pulling and also blocking at set pieces – so mainly at corners and free-kicks.”
Collina explained that the presence of additional assistant referees is stopping a lot of fouls being committed. “Because of their presence, the number of these kind of incidents has diminished,” the 52-year-old said on Friday. “If you consider that during a match we have an average of ten corners and eight free-kicks taken around the penalty area, you can instantly understand and recognise how important this presence is as a deterrent.
“We noticed that during EURO 2012, there was an increased number of goals scored from headers. This is a consequence of the diminishing of pulling and pushing which makes it is easier for an attacker to score a headed goal. We also had better control of the goal line to assess whether the ball crossed the line or not.”
During UEFA EURO 2012, the decisions taken by assistant referees on offside were monitored, and underlined the value of the additional assistant referees. Some 435 decisions were made with the attacking player one metre from the offside line. “435 decisions taken – 95.9% accuracy,” said Collina. “It means that we had a very small number of mistakes made by assistant referees. The assistant referee can focus their attention only on offside; they do not have to worry about what is going on in the penalty area, their main task is not to assist the referee on something going [on] in the penalty area but only to focus their attention on offside.”
What can be done to improve the additional assistant referees’ work? “We can achieve a higher standard of performance by the additional assistant referees as a result of increased experience and preparation of the additional assistant referee,” said Collina. “Also, from the referee’s point of view, they have to trust the additional assistant referee. And it could be useful in the future to think about changing the name of the additional assistant referee – because they are referees, not assistants.” Collina also raised the idea of the additional assistant referees being able to make a gesture when they take a decision.
Every confederation and/or national association is free now to use additional assistant referees in their competitions, and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has been the first to introduce the system in its top-flight Serie A programme.”
An OA would never use such a vulgar medium and certainly not for the vain purposes of podium chasing.
Looking forward to seeing the
new Bhoys.
Exciting times ahead for us
good ghuys.
Can’t stop smiling.
Say no to lemon sucking !!
Hail Hail
Saint Leo
What did Neil Lennon say about Anthony Stokes work rate and attitude?
”Mikael Lustig got himself into an incredible mess, on Saturday trying his best to backpedal”
Mother Of Sorrows
My parents have recently returned from yet another trip to Lourdes. Needless to say they remembered their firstborn in their prayers and, recalling that he had been found wanting in the Rosary Department at a recent wake (my mother thrust a rosary ring so violently into my palm that she had high hopes for my stigmata) they kindly purchased a new set of beads for me. On their return mum regaled me with hallowed tales of baths and bathos, churches and crutches, cures and curiosities, Bernadettes and missalettes. I listened enthralled-ish.
The beads weren’t blessed.
They had enjoyed the company and spiritual guidance of a Greenock-based (cures, I tell ye) priest but didn’t want to annoy him by asking him to bless my beads in case an unseemly queue formed around his raised hand and they were deemed responsible for such a burden on the hard-pressed cleric. I had to ask one of the priests from my own parish to do the needful. It gave me the excuse not to use/say the Rosary until the beads had been blessed. Every Murdo MacLeod and all that. The beads came complete with a nifty black faux-leather pouch with zips each side and an already-tarnishing gold lettered Lourdes on what I was already calling The Celtic End. I unzipped The Celtic End and noticed the brown beads, definitely not cheap. Well done maw n paw. The Sevco End seemed to be a repository for Holy Medals and the like. In there I put a key, £4.79 and a Bothwell Emerald, Member 2012-13 badge.
On Saturday I went to chapel as normal for when we’re three-o’clock-at-home. The Monsignor emerged from his confessional and I pounced like a bead-cobra; a bead-rattler would not have done me justice. I advised the priest that my mother had returned from France with a gift of unblessed beads for the fruit of her womb and, as the Lord was with he, I asked if he could do the necessary. Monsignor was happy to oblige and, as I pulled down the zip of The Celtic End, he spoke fine and inspiring words not only about the beads but also about future userS of the beads. It seemed my beads were made for sharing, The Quality Street Beads. Could I think of ten, one for each bead on a decade – Dalglish, McGrain, Davidson, Connelly, Hay, Macari……?
Following Mass I headed down to the Teser, bought an extremely poor pint of Carlsberg and decided to have a look at my newly-blessed Rosary. I discretely unzipped The Celtic End and shook the brown beads out and was immediately festooned not with decades but with what appeared to be heptades – seven strings of seven beads – Johnstone, Provan, Larsson, Junin….. This had to be an examination of my rosary knowledge credentials. My olds had cunningly purchased for me an esoteric rosary of sorts and I had to come up with an answer. What Rosary is this ? Was my Faith being tested ? Was this oneup(wo)manship on their part ? And crucifixless ! Where the cross should have been there was a big Holy Medal of Our Blessed Lady, Mother of Sorrows. The Crucifix was relegated to a wee portrait on the Sevco/Division Three side of the medal. Lord preserve us.
I phoned my own (natural) blessed mother the next day, the day after the Hibs game.
WG :- Hi mum, it’s John
WG’sM :- Bad result for your team yesterday
WG:- How come when we don’t win they’re exclusively my team ?
WG’sM: – I’ll just get your dad, he’s in the…..
WG: ……I got the rosary beads blessed by Monsignor Conway
WG’sM : Good, son, I didn’t want to put that Greenock priest to any bother
WG: Are those special beads mum ?
WG’sM: All rosary beads are special son
WG :- It’s just that my new beads are seven-by-seven
WG’sM – What ?
WG :- They have seven ‘decades’ of seven beads each instead of the usual five-by-ten
(WG’s M shouts to long-suffering husband – John, we got our John the wrong rosary, they’re seven-by-seven
WG;s Da shouts back – Whit ?)
WG :- Mum, they’re not the WRONG rosary, they’re a DIFFERENT rosary. I thought you’d got me these ones on purpose as a….
WG’sM :- It was the gypsies
WG:- What ?
WG’sM :- I bought that rosary in the shop after The Gypsy Mass
WG;- You went to The Gypsy Mass ?
WG’sM :- No – the gypsies were in the shop stealing Holy Merchandise after The Gypsy Mass
WG:- Mum, you were at Lourdes no The Barras
WG’sM – I must have got distracted and bought you the wrong beads. It’s like Blackpool over there sometimes. I’ll get you a new pair
WG: I don’t need a new pair. I can just add on the three beads at the bottom
WG’sM:- Seven-by-seven. I’ve never heard of that kind of rosary in my life
WG :- I checked it out on the net, mum. It’s the Rosary of The Seven Sorrows. Another four and we’d have had yesterday’s team.
WG’s M:- Here’s your father
FourGreenFields – Thank you kind sir. (thumbsup)
67Heaven – The dead-tree-based Scottish sporting media has doubled down on Sevco. They’re a dying industry anyway and, due to the unique cultural environment in Scotland, they long ago drove away the Celtic support. The likes of Traynor have nowhere else to go, even if they wanted to stop being shills for Rangers/Sevco/Whatever their next incarnation will be called. Which they don’t.
The huns are the only substantive paying audience for their nonsense, and the huns only want to read self-aggrandising fairy tales and disparaging stories about “Lennon”. They don’t take kindly to people telling them that there won’t be a £700m super-casino-stadium or that Craig Whyte isn’t a billionaire or that there isn’t a magnificent moonbeam of success just around the corner. (thumbsup)
philbhoy – it’s just the beginning!
12:43 on 3 September, 2012
Soooooooo correct ….. I’m luvin the squirming / struggling media at the moment, though …… pure comedy gold ….!!!
SiciliaBhoy – I like the things you say. (thumbsup)
Hooped dreams,
I was with two Sevconians yesterday who were talking up Jabba for having given it to Spence. He, Spence, clearly being the villian in their eyes, “he just hates Us”.
Never heard it myself.
EC67
Sharkeys bar on Old Rutherglen rd?
philvisreturns
12:47 on
3 September, 2012
Top form today bud. I think Lenny needs you in the changing room at half time ;-)
Hail Hail
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9516725/Forget-minty-toothpaste-coconut-oil-fights-tooth-decay.html
hamiltontim – Ain’t that right philvis :-)
There isn’t a trick.
Being first involves a precise formula of 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple. (thumbsup)
setting free the bears – What about that one time, at band camp?
I honestly thought they were women. (thumbsup)
There is also something I like about the port-town mentality the people of Marseille have. It’s very Glaswegian. Lassad should flourish here.
—————————————
There is something I like about the french riviera mentality the people of Port Glasgow have. Its very ha-he-haw-he haw, Lassad will flourish here.
a gallic shrug of the shouloders.
“Kris Commons needs to spend more time in the lowest league as opposed to swanning around with the Champions League”
Craig Levein
As a follow up to Collina’s views, I watched the BBC “highlights” of SPL games and saw howlers committed in a few matches.
Ref O’Reilly missed a good penalty shout for ICT in their game at Fir Park, Craig Thompson booked ex-Celt Lewis Toshney when it was a team mate who committed the offence for the penalty, and Willie Collum missed a blatant handball from Murray Davidson of St. Johnstone against United.
Obviously, Collum had an excuse for his error. He was facing the play at the time, so his back-of-the-head eyes did not see the incident.
19/04/2012
On Saturday, all eyes will be on El Clasico, the showpiece event of world club football. And what an occasion it promises to be, with the league title up for grabs. However, all is not as it seems in La Liga.
Although it boasts some of the world’s biggest stars in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Spanish football’s debt crisis has put the league on course for economic ruin.
Both Barcelona and Real Madrid have reached the Champions League semi-finals (although both take a one-goal deficit into the second legs), and could meet in the final on May 19 in Munich. Domestic rivals Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Athletic Bilbao are in the Europa League semi-finals.
But the reality of their finances – much like the rest of the struggling country’s economy – do not look as promising as their chances to win more European titles.
According to recent government assessments, clubs in the top two divisions owe €752million (£616m) in unpaid taxes – a spike of €150m (£123m) over the past four years. The top division alone holds a combined debt of €3.53bn (£2.9bn) through the 2010/11 season, with six of the teams in bankruptcy protection with payments due by June 30.
‘Everything that is happening is based on the real economy,’ University of Barcelona economics and finance professor Jose Maria Gay told The Associated Press. ‘Spanish football is authentically marvelous right now, you have to tip your hat to it.
‘But the trees are shielding us from the very real state of the forest. Many clubs are living dangerously.’
Spanish football’s economic worries mirror the state’s problems, with the country’s flagging economy heading into another recession and in danger of following Greece, Portugal and Ireland in need of a bailout.
Real Madrid, which lead the Spanish league by four points, has debts of €589m (£477m), while Barcelona’s stands at €578m (£473m) and Atletico’s is €514m (£420m). Valencia have sold star players like David Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata to drop its own debt to €382m (£312m).
Those numbers eclipse the record earnings of €479m (£392m) taken in by Madrid in 2010/11 or the €450m (£368m) accumulated by Barcelona.
Spanish sports secretary Miguel Cardenal said clubs would get no special treatment when it came to paying the back taxes, but acknowledged it was ‘impossible’ to expect full payment by June. So far, the sports ministry plans to have a solution ‘within a reasonable period of time.’
‘Considering the context of the situation our country is facing, it’s unreasonable to start introducing dysfunctional steps into the championship that could affect it’s image, which has a commercial value,’ he said.
The government cannot demand payment without crippling clubs and leaving supporters very upset, according to Gay.
And no government wants to take such blame at a time when Spanish football has provided a healthy distraction to the tough austerity measures being introduced by a new government enduring record unemployment figures of 23 per cent.
‘Football on the weekends and three days during the week helps conceal the reality of the problem,’ said Gay, who served on the board of Barcelona-based football club Espanyol for nearly two seasons. ‘In the end, everyone is concentrated on Madrid and Barca, who are the kings of the banquet while the rest live a real uncertain future.’
League spokesman Juan Carlos Santamaria said discussions with the sports ministry were constructive and agreements were being made on how to resolve the debt situation.
‘Clubs will control their accounts and their costs so the debts don’t rise because they know that tough measures await,’ said Santamaria, mentioning fines, point deductions and relegation as the potential penalties.
But none of those will come into effect for another three years, when UEFA’s financial fair play system takes effect.
Under the UEFA plan, clubs must break even on football-related income and spending, and will be permitted losses of €6.6m (£5.4m) in the first two years, or up to €60m (£49m) if a wealthy owner makes a one-off payment to clear debts. Madrid and Barcelona will not be afforded such a luxury because the teams are owned by their club members.
If this principle of ‘live within your means’ is not followed, clubs can be excluded from the Champions League and Europa League.
Gay, who believes Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna are the only clubs outside the top two who are certain to survive, laughed when asked if Spanish clubs were en route to meeting this criteria.
‘A rescue plan needs to be put into place for football. You have to help them and supervise them, and levy rigorous controls. That’s not being done right now,’ Gay said.
While rigorous checks still need to be implemented, nearly all discussions involving the Spanish league’s problems point toward one theme: TV money.
That continues to divide the top two clubs and the rest with Valencia presenting the best example. Valencia’s TV revenues of €42m (£34m) is less than the €45m (£37m) earned by Premier League club Wigan, which has been battling relegation since it rose to the top flight in 2005.
Spain touts itself as the world’s best league on the back of Messi and Ronaldo, Barcelona and Madrid, but its TV licensing doesn’t reflect that as it pulls in just half of the €1.27bn (£1.04bn) of the Premier League, and two-thirds of what Italy’s Serie A makes.
‘We have to adapt to the new reality, that the crisis is affecting everybody in life, including now in football,’ Mallorca President Jaume Cladera said.
Does it not just sum up Sevconians thay their poster boy is Jabba Jim.
Match made in hell.
Phil’s book is available though Amazon (paperback £8.99) on pre-order. Note that publication date is now back to 8th September on their site.
I have reserved a copy from Waterstones (Edinburgh), and awaiting phone call to collect. (Pub date still at 1st Sept)
No such thing as bad publicity – well done the Sun and its LOYAL readers! Buy it if you can!
obonfanti1888
As sure as today is Monday Celtic will be paired with Sevco as the hot and cold balls have been getting sorted out for a few days.
They need the money and will get it by hook or by crook.
Hoopeddreams
Apparently Jabba was put in his place well by Spence who said : You said Chairmen would only listen to their bank managers”
Game over.
Philbhoy – It’s just the beginning!
12:46 on
3 September, 2012
I think it was actually in the course of complimenting Stokes during his good form last season, he mentioned that he thinks Stokes doesn’t always work as hard as expected. I’ve also read some half-joking anecdotes from Neil about Stokesy regularly incurring fines for disciplinary code breaches. Don’t have exact quotes to hand.
HH
Apart from anything else, P.McGB has a lot of bravery in his soul to confront the loyalist scumbags embedding themselves ever deeper in Scotland.
We have anonymity. He,like many others in plain view,don’t.
And what of Jabba and the other presstitutes ( the likes of Jim Spence are absolved of this sobriquet) in their constant elevation of the criminal organisation harbouring this tendency in their midst?………animals then,animals now,animals forever…..until Scotland wakes up and excises this cancer eating at its soul.
Very clever of the Sun to brand Phil Mac Giolla Bhain as ‘sectarian’.
I’m quite sure that Phil will be mightily miffed to be thus slandered, but the fact that the Sun declined to provide any example of this ‘sectarian’ writing leaves him in a difficult position.
You see, there is no adequate definition of ‘sectarian’. It’s not a term recognised in law, rather the law provides a series of terms that define hatred against the other.
What one person considers to be ‘sectarian’, is another’s legitimate view.
You can argue on the one hand that, for example, Irish Nationalism is a legitimate political view, and equally on the other that it is ‘sectarian’ insofar as it is inextricably associated with one side of a binary conflict.
So Phil gets to be branded sectarian and slandered across the best selling paper in Scotland, and is essentially powerless to do anything about it, other than of course to publish a rebuttall.
That this occured 24 hours after the somewhat toe curling ‘exclusive’ interview given by Phil to the same paper, serving to promote the serialisation of his new book, seems uncomfortably congruous.
That the book charts the abdication of the Scots Press during the failure of the Press’ favourite source of ‘news’ layers irony on top of disingenuousness.
Perhaps Phil will use a longer spoon in future.
Brendan Rodgers in despair as Liverpool’s owners refuse to sanction a £7 million deal for Clint Dempsey
Liverpool failed to fill the void left by Andy Carroll’s departure because the club’s owners refused to sanction a £7 million deal for the former Fulham player Clint Dempsey.
By Chris Bascombe12:36AM BST 01 Sep 2012223 Comments
Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, spent transfer deadline day trying to convince his hierarchy of the need to secure the American international.
Fenway Sports Group were unwilling to meet the price – understood to be £1 million above that quoted to other clubs – and now Rodgers faces the improbable task of leading Liverpool back into the Champions League with Luis Suárez as the only experienced striker at the club.
As the clock ticked before the closure of the transfer window, it emerged that Rodgers was not just frantically negotiating with Dempsey’s club Fulham, but also his own board as he argued his case on the merits of signing the 29-year-old.
Dempsey had earlier rejected the chance to join Aston Villa, desperate for Liverpool to re-open negotiations, before finally holding talks with Spurs. On another difficult day in the tumultuous recent history of the Merseyside club, it became apparent that one of the main stumbling blocks to a deal was FSG’s new, restrained transfer policy and determination to enforce more prudent financial management.
Despite slashing the wage bill by millions, including offloading Carroll on the presumption it would free funds for a replacement, Rodgers was informed the fee for Dempsey was too high and that he could offer only up to £5 million. FSG were reluctant to spend significant money on a player in his late 20s entering the final year of his contract.
They have stated previously they would rather invest in young talent than those who will have no sell on value at the end of their contracts, and they are still reeling from the millions wasted by the previous management regime.
It seemed inconceivable as the deadline approached, having allowed Carroll to join West Ham on loan, that Rodgers would be left with only Suárez as a senior striker, but that is the hand he has now been dealt until January. Should Suárez suffer an injury in the next few months, Rodgers will have only Fabio Borini — signed predominantly as a wide man – as a realistic alternative.
The transfer window has provided a thorough education for the latest Anfield incumbent on the financial reality gripping the club. He may feel it has little in common with the public pronouncements when he joined Liverpool.
Chairman Tom Werner suggested last season that Liverpool could match the top clubs in Europe. “I would say we certainly have the resources to compete with anybody in football,” he said on April 12.
At Rodgers’s unveiling in June, a club statement went even further, suggesting the high spending of the previous management regime would not impact on the new coach’s transfer plans.
It read: “The owners are always willing to provide funds where necessary to strengthen the squad.
“There will be no requirement to sell players this summer in order to fund new purchases.”
These claims do not seem to tally with Rodgers’s failure to get the green light to sign Dempsey, particularly given the number of senior players who have left since he was appointed, many of whom he was helpless to prevent departing. Numerous high-earning players have departed since the end of last season, including Dirk Kuyt, Craig Bellamy, Alberto Aquilani, Andy Carroll and Maxi Rodriguez.
Fabio Aurelio, Charlie Adam and Jay Spearing have also been moved on, equating to a conservative estimate of £20 million slashed in wages, and yet Rodgers still found himself pleading in vain for the funds to force through the Dempsey deal.
Liverpool also held talks with Chelsea for the loan signing of Daniel Sturridge, but the England international wanted to make the transfer permanent.
Rodgers possessed neither the funds nor the inclination to bid £15 million for his services and Sturridge was a substitute in Chelsea’s Super Cup defeat in Monaco.
The early part of the day at Anfield was spent offloading players. Adam moved to Stoke for £4 million, Spearing headed to Bolton for a season’s loan and youngsters Danny Wilson and Nathan Eccleston headed to Blackpool on loan. Blackpool taking advantage of Rangers being out of Europe will surely cash. The Mayor of Blackpool Sean Murphy has demanded assurances from Blackpool FC that their big screens will never fail . Dani Pacheco moved to Real Valladolid.
TimJim –
re Budapest, it isn’t a Celtic pub, but there is a central basement bar called Champs Sports pub. It shows loads of football NFL etc etc, and I caught a Glasgow derby in there no problem.. (The kevin thomson dive game).
http://www.champs.hu/
It is easy to find and very central.
Is there not also a certain irony on the tarred with sectarian brush comments from a paper that has given a platform to well known terrorist sympathists (sp?) from a former SPL club.
Usual double standards and no guts when faced with the usual whinings of a breed best relegated to the genetic dustbin of history.
sftb
This malarkey of extra officials behind the goals is just a ‘jobs for the boys’ exercise. The amount of major incidents these numpties have ‘missed’ beggars belief. The following phrase is a classic
“Another important result we achieved in these matches is a clear reduction of incidents, particularly holding, pulling and also blocking at set pieces – so mainly at corners and free-kicks.”
Watch the Italian sides in Europe this season and look at the amount of obstruction, pulling of jerseys etc they commit at defending set pieces. You will be lucky to see even one penalty given against them for these offences
First + foremost Collina would be better sorting out the many corrupt officials that currently officiate in Serie A + B
Sheds of yesteryear
TEN MEN
First + foremost Collina would be better sorting out the many corrupt officials that currently officiate in Serie A + B
Can´t see Collina coming clean
Hail HAil
TBB
I don’t think it is an accidental labelling as sectarian.
There has been a Sevco fan letter writing campaign highlighting his “Incubator- Prof. Struth mutant lab” article. If you need more info, read Leggoland blog but take a wire brush and dettoll with you.
Liverpool Football Club’s principal owner John W Henry has written the following open letter to supporters:
I am as disappointed as anyone connected with Liverpool Football Club that we were unable to add further to our strike force in this summer transfer window, but that was not through any lack of desire or effort on the part of all of those involved. They pushed hard in the final days of the transfer window on a number of forward targets and it is unfortunate that on this occasion we were unable to conclude acceptable deals to bring those targets in.
But a summer window which brought in three young, but significantly talented starters in Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini as well as two exciting young potential stars of the future – Samed Yesil and Oussama Assaidi – could hardly be deemed a failure as we build for the future.
Nor should anyone minimise the importance of keeping our best players during this window. We successfully retained Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Luis Suarez. We greatly appreciate their faith and belief in the club. And we successfully negotiated new, long-term contracts with Luis and with Martin.
No one should doubt our commitment to the club. In Brendan Rodgers we have a talented young manager and we have valued highly his judgement about the make-up of the squad. This is a work in progress. It will take time for Brendan to instill his philosophy into the squad and build exactly what he needs for the long term.
The transfer policy was not about cutting costs. It was – and will be in the future – about getting maximum value for what is spent so that we can build quality and depth. We are avowed proponents of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play agenda that was this week reiterated by Mr Platini – something we heartily applaud. We must comply with Financial Fair Play guidelines that ensure spending is tied to income. We have been successful in improving the commercial side of the club and the monies generated going forward will give us greater spending power in the coming years.
We are still in the process of reversing the errors of previous regimes. It will not happen overnight. It has been compounded by our own mistakes in a difficult first two years of ownership. It has been a harsh education, but make no mistake, the club is healthier today than when we took over.
Spending is not merely about buying talent. Our ambitions do not lie in cementing a mid-table place with expensive, short-term quick fixes that will only contribute for a couple of years. Our emphasis will be on developing our own players using the skills of an increasingly impressive coaching team. Much thought and investment already have gone into developing a self-sustaining pool of youngsters imbued in the club’s traditions.
That ethos is to win. We will invest to succeed. But we will not mortgage the future with risky spending.
After almost two years at Anfield, we are close to having the system we need in place. The transfer window may not have been perfect but we are not just looking at the next 16 weeks until we can buy again: we are looking at the next 16 years and beyond. These are the first steps in restoring one of the world’s great clubs to its proper status.
It will not be easy, it will not be perfect, but there is a clear vision at work.
We will build and grow from within, buy prudently and cleverly and never again waste resources on inflated transfer fees and unrealistic wages. We have no fear of spending and competing with the very best but we will not overpay for players.
We will never place this club in the precarious position that we found it in when we took over at Anfield. This club should never again run up debts that threaten its existence.
Most of all, we want to win. That ambition drives every decision. It is the Liverpool way. We can and will generate the revenues to achieve that aim. There will be short-term setbacks from time to time, but we believe we have the right people in place to bring more glory to Anfield.
Finally, I can say with authority that our ownership is not about profit. Contrary to popular opinion, owners rarely get involved in sports in order to generate cash. They generally get involved with a club in order to compete and work for the benefit of their club. It’s often difficult. In our case we work every day in order to generate revenues to improve the club. We have only one driving ambition at Liverpool and that is the quest to win the Premier League playing the kind of football our supporters want to see. That will only occur if we do absolutely the right things to build the club in a way that makes sense for supporters, for us and for those who will follow us. We will deliver what every long-term supporter of Liverpool Football Club aches for.
JOHN W HENRY
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo – Top form today bud. I think Lenny needs you in the changing room at half time ;-)
Very kind Awe_Naw :)
I’d bring my patented secrets of success:
1# Nothing succeeds like a gumsy budgie. (thumbsup)
What happened between Jim Spence and Jabba on Sportsound???????
HH
TET
In effect, I think additional asst. refs will make corruption easier.
Instead of bribing a whole team of officials, you will just need to nobble one of the asst. refs behind each goal. They can each bring attention to any faults which occurred just prior to any goal awarded against your team or they can disagree with any reported infringement “spotted” by a colleague which might rule out one of your favoured team’s goals
The game is deep in the financial mire world wide. Forget China : their whole system is corrupt from head to toe and their football leagues are in it up to their necks. South America? There, footballing debt is massive and is a way of life. In ‘The West’ we are deep in a recession for lots of dubious reasons and football is feeling the cold blast from that.
But there is always Sevco : proving that bloated delusions of grandeur, spending what you don’t have and mugging off those around you ; smirking, lying and shoogling yer shooders whilst threating dire consequences to any who defy you is the preferred way of life.
Role models for all aspiring neds, led by King Ned and his slack mouthed master, Chucky G.
Perhaps Brendan Rodgers should have used the money he was spending more wisely
£10.5m for Borini who looks about as likely a goalscorer as Filip Sebo
He could have got Dempsey with £3m left over for that money