The European football thread

[mlyons]

Originally Posted by edrooney

No Chelsea player is any good. Apart from Petr Cech, the goalie. He seems nice enough. Pretty tidy with his hands as well.

Lampard's pretty good. He gets around a bit, scores a lot of goals (mostly from deflections or penalties, though). Decent passer.

Terry's good. He gets caught out positionally for England too often, he's not very fast, but he can dominate in the air, and is a good tackler.

I refuse to give Chelsea players any more credit than they're due (and usually a lot less).

Seriously? You don't think Didier Drogba and Michael Essien are good players?

[bababui]

Originally Posted by mlyons

Seriously? You don't think Didier Drogba and Michael Essien are good players?

I think he is blinded by the hate.

Drogba is one of the worlds best strikers

Essien is a brilliant and versitle MFer

Carvalho is one of the worlds best defenders

And they have a host of excellent players. But they are the Yankees of soccer and deserve the hate.

[mlyons]

Meh. I fail to see how they are substantially more worthy of hatred than Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan, or Inter Milan. What they do isn't any different from any of the other big-money clubs.

[bababui]

Originally Posted by mlyons

Meh. I fail to see how they are substantially more worthy of hatred than Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan, or Inter Milan. What they do isn't any different from any of the other big-money clubs.

They lose considerably more than the other club due to the personal wealth of their owner. They are indeed unique in the world of likely any sport.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ea/4652672.stm

Chelsea have recorded losses of £140m, the biggest in football history.


It was a severe increase from the £88m loss they made last year, with the Blues citing a "series of exceptional one-off items" behind the rise.

"These figures reflect the continuing restructuring of the business which we began in 2003-4," Chelsea chief Peter Kenyon told the club website.
"The rise is down to some exceptional items that were necessary to help us in our aim to break-even by 2009-10."

The termination of a deal with Umbro, which cost £25.5m, plus a total loss of £22.8m over the transfers of Adrian Mutu and Juan Sebastien Veron and the £5m for Academy recruitment were picked out as the "exceptional items".

Kenyon added: "We terminated the Umbro contract which had a huge impact on these figures, but we have not yet seen any of the financial benefit of our new adidas contract.

"Similarly these figures do not include any of the monies from our new sponsorship deal with Samsung, which was the biggest in Premiership history."

Chelsea's wage bill was reduced from £115.5m to £108.9m, while transfer fees, and the additional fees involved in buying players, fell from £175.1m to £101m.

Turnover dropped from £152.1m to £146.6m, with the PLC putting that down to the sale of Chelsea Village Travel, the club travel agents.
Chelsea have used Roman Abramovich's fortunes to fund a transfer spend of nearly £265m which helped them win their first domestic league title for 50 years when they won the Premiership last season.

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by mlyons

Seriously? You don't think Didier Drogba and Michael Essien are good players?

They're not English, so there is certainly a chance.

[mlyons]

Originally Posted by bababui

They lose considerably more than the other club due to the personal wealth of their owner. They are indeed unique in the world of likely any sport.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ea/4652672.stm

So they're not at all like the Yankees, then.

[LFC1892]

I still want to know why UKHS felt the need to leave completely......

[rudel.dietrich]

I went to my first DC United game of the season yesterday afternoon.
A nice 2-1 win over Houston
A crowd of just over 18,000 on hand

LA comes in August 9th
I am going to be sure and attend that game assuming Mr Beckham is injury free

[LFC1892]

Blades continue to fight....will this ever end?

The Premier League have told Sheffield United their share in the top flight will be taken from them next week if the club fail to relinquish it voluntarily.

Relegated United are refusing to relinquish their Premiership share as the Carlos Tevez saga rumbles on.

However, Premier League officials have said if the Blades maintain their stance their share will be taken from them.

"If Sheffield United do not return the share, Premier League rules mean that it will be unilaterally transferred to a promoted club and this will happen at our AGM this coming Thursday," a Premier League spokesman told PA Sport.

The Premier League this week agreed to set up an arbitration tribunal to rule on United's complaints over the Tevez affair.

They have conceded the Blades do have the right to call for an arbitration panel - but told the relegated club they are wasting their time and money.

The Blades, relegated on the final day of the season after a home defeat to Wigan, responded by refusing to return their share of the Premier League which all top flight clubs are entitled to.

"Sheffield United has confirmed that it has refused a request by the Premier League to deliver up its share in the Premier League," said a club statement.

"All Premier League clubs are entitled to a share in the League itself, and Sheffield United's position is that until the arbitration looking into the Tevez matter is resolved, it remains a Premiership club."

"The club believes if it gives up its share the Premier League cannot be guaranteed to fulfil its promise to return the share should the arbitration reinstate Sheffield United to the Premier League."

The row is over an independent commission's decision to fine West Ham £5.5million (AUS$13.18million) rather than dock the club points for signing third-party agreements in contravention of league rules.

The Premier League say they are satisfied West Ham ended those agreements as soon as they were ordered to so, and that the independent commission's decision cannot be appealed against by anyone except West Ham.

[LFC1892]

Stalybridge are set to announce their new manager on Wednesday(30th May) and mystery surrounds the new appointment.

Rumours are suggesting Northwich Victoria manager Steve Burr will be taking the reigns at Celtic(not those Scottish girlie ones!) and with the following announcement on the NVFC site, it's growing stronger.

MESSAGE FROM STEVE BURR Written by Steve Burr Thursday, 24 May 2007 I would just like to say how very disappointed I am that my time at Northwich Victoria Football Club has come to an end in this very sad way. As Manager I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here working with an excellent backroom staff and a great group of players. In addition our fantastic supporters have really backed the team and myself so magnificently week after week home and away and that has really been very much appreciated and something that I honestly will never forget and always be grateful for.
Many thanks also for all the nice telephone calls that I have received this week from the players and supporters and their best wishes.
I cannot say much more at this time but I would like to wish all the players and Northwich Vics all the very best for the future.
Steve.

If it's true, I feel its a positive move on behalf of Stalybridge and the board!!

[Muppetus Galacticus]

Originally Posted by LFC1892

Blades continue to fight....will this ever end?

Nice to see the other clubs were all 100% honest in saying they would support this, as if anyone could really believe them about anything in the first place. Damn businessmen and their political money games.

[Muppetus Galacticus]

Now this is stamping your authority on a club

http://www.fisherathletic.co.uk/news_detail.php?ID=84

The first decision taken by new Fisher manager Wayne Burnett, appointed this week at the club, was to release the entire 1st team squad. Not one single player survived the cull that can only be described as ruthless in the extreme.

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by Muppetus Galacticus

Now this is stamping your authority on a club

http://www.fisherathletic.co.uk/news_detail.php?ID=84

The team finished 10th as well so that is a bit weird...

[bababui]

Originally Posted by Muppetus Galacticus

Now this is stamping your authority on a club

http://www.fisherathletic.co.uk/news_detail.php?ID=84

Originally Posted by Fallschirmjager

The team finished 10th as well so that is a bit weird...

I am ptobably getting this wrong but arent almost all players in the lower leagues on 1 year contracts? I heard that Torquay only has 4 players on contract after this season. I bet he wants a squad to fit his personality.

[edrooney]

Originally Posted by mlyons

Seriously? You don't think Didier Drogba and Michael Essien are good players?

It's obvious I still don't use enough of those comedy small faces to point out when I'm not being entirely serious.

There are plenty of reasons why Chelsea are more worthy of dislike than just another successful European team. When the Russian criminal first showed his face and started to plough his money into Chelsea, I had no particular problem. I would likewise have no problem if this happened with another team e.g. Aston Villa with Randy Lerner.

But in the second season, after the idiot from Portugal arrived, Chelsea started to adopt the most cynical gamesmanship seen in the game of football since the German team in Italia 90. Diving, simulation, deliberate fouling, surrounding the referee waving that imaginary card thing, complaining about this, that and the other after every single game. Breaking every rule that they feel like it off the field, knowing they can write off every fine they get.

Now I know that a lot, in fact most, top level teams partake in some or even all of these activities from time to time. But nobody has ever indulged in all of them consistently at such a high level for several years. It is, plainly, cheating. And it's not like they don't have enough of an advantage anyway.

[bababui]

Originally Posted by edrooney

It's obvious I still don't use enough of those comedy small faces to point out when I'm not being entirely serious.

There are plenty of reasons why Chelsea are more worthy of dislike than just another successful European team. When the Russian criminal first showed his face and started to plough his money into Chelsea, I had no particular problem. I would likewise have no problem if this happened with another team e.g. Aston Villa with Randy Lerner.

But in the second season, after the idiot from Portugal arrived, Chelsea started to adopt the most cynical gamesmanship seen in the game of football since the German team in Italia 90. Diving, simulation, deliberate fouling, surrounding the referee waving that imaginary card thing, complaining about this, that and the other after every single game. Breaking every rule that they feel like it off the field, knowing they can write off every fine they get.

Now I know that a lot, in fact most, top level teams partake in some or even all of these activities from time to time. But nobody has ever indulged in all of them consistently at such a high level for several years. It is, plainly, cheating. And it's not like they don't have enough of an advantage anyway.

I love your use of adjectives.

[mlyons]

Any fan of a team currently employing Javier Mascherano needs to worry what substance the walls of his house are made of before he begins throwing stones.

[Jordan]

Fiorentina is letting Luca Toni have a free transfer from the news I've been reading. Where do you guys think he's going, or better, where should he go?

I keep hearing Bayern Munich

[bababui]

Originally Posted by Jordan

Fiorentina is letting Luca Toni have a free transfer from the news I've been reading. Where do you guys think he's going, or better, where should he go?

I keep hearing Bayern Munich

Wish he would go to Dortmund but their debt is crippling them.

[edrooney]

Originally Posted by mlyons

Any fan of a team currently employing Javier Mascherano needs to worry what substance the walls of his house are made of before he begins throwing stones.

That's odd. Are you saying that because I've been a Liverpool fan since I was a baby, I'm unable to criticise wrong-doing in football - because Liverpool have (in your 'two cents') engaged in some wrong-doing themselves. I knew I shouldn't have been personally involved in the Mascherano signing. I should have guessed that it would destroy my credibility in any online forum-based football discussion.

I've not seen a great deal of Mascherano other than several games for Liverpool and a few for Argentina. I have yet to see him dive, complain or do that invisible card waving thing.

But i guess by your rationale, no football fan of any team that ever houses a player who does the odd questionable thing should ever criticise another team for doing said things. That would be a fun thread. Hey, you can't criticise team A, you're a fan of team B! Fair enough, I concede.

Now I know that a lot, in fact most, top level teams partake in some or even all of these activities from time to time. But nobody has ever indulged in all of them consistently at such a high level for several years.