WC 2006 Official Thread

[bababui]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

Nope. It's a "new town", a city built to become a commuter city with the capital and other big suburban communities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Keynes

And the two clubs: Milton Keynes Dons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Keynes_Dons_F.C.
AFC Wimbledon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFC_Wimbledon

Make up your own mind on whether it's a good move or not.

There is plenty of propaganda from both sides, but for those who moan because it's the start of "franchising" in football in this country, I would say to them "Where are other teams going to move to?"

And what will happen if FIFA forces the England FC to limit leagues to 20 teams???

[redmarkYankees]

Originally Posted by ukhotstove

Maybe be big in Japan but nobody outside Japan takes it serious, I know part of it was due to injury but look at the flack Lineker took for going to Japan.

That was 14 years ago, and the source of the flack wasn't the names of the teams, but that Lineker had joined a sub-standard league, presumably for the money.

I agree with sdpm - a league can't be truly successful until it is capable of bringing through it's own domestic talent and competing on the international stage, club or country. It can't attract world class superstars at their peak, but if Ronaldo or Beckham would give a profile boost, then fine.

[redmarkYankees]

Originally Posted by bababui

And what will happen if FIFA forces the England FC to limit leagues to 20 teams???

Pigs will be sighted flying over all major football grounds.

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by bababui

And what will happen if FIFA forces the England FC to limit leagues to 20 teams???

It's only the top league in European countries, and it's 18 teams.

Well the FA will have two options if it goes through.
To adhere to FIFA's regulation, or face Blatter doing the same as he has with Greece (although whether that would actually happen as there is a hell of a lot more money going into FIFA's coffers from England than Greece is another thing).

[bababui]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

It's only the top league in European countries, and it's 18 teams.

Well the FA will have two options if it goes through.
To adhere to FIFA's regulation, or face Blatter doing the same as he has with Greece (although whether that would actually happen as there is a hell of a lot more money going into FIFA's coffers from England than Greece is another thing).

Oop

My Leigh team will play close to 60 matches when cup games are thrown in. Unless teams have a large roster they are increasing the chances of having their best players injured and shortening their careers. FIFA might have gotten one right.

[redmarkYankees]

I hated the drop from 22 teams to 20 (from 42 league games to 38 league games) and would hate a further reduction (from 38 games to 34) even more. The league is the bread and butter, fundametal club competition. 34 games... just isn't enough. If we need to cut the number of games, drop the League Cup (for teams in European competition, say).

edit: I'm not convinced there does need to be a cut in the number of games. Liverpool regularly played 60-65 games per season all competitions in the late 70s / early 80s, with a much smaller squad.

[theasfl]

Originally Posted by ukhotstove

Wow it's a wonder anyone wants to play in the MLS, Jimmy Bullard left Wigan Athletic last season for two reasons 1) money 2) to be closer to his family, he signed for Fulham at around £30,000 ($55,000) per week and he's just an above average premiership player.

yeah...I was looking around to see how I felt about continuing my career and realized I could make more out of college than if I had continued to play in this country...made me feel better about my decision.

[theasfl]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

Two bits of news today.

First, German midfielder Torsten Frings is suspended from semi-final, after Italian journalists scour TV footage and find punch.


Controversy even before the game starts then.


And secondly, European champions Greece suspended from world game after perceived government interference.


Full article: http://za.today.reuters.com/news/New...E-20060703.XML

how quickly can Greece reverse the suspension? Are they likely to be able to try to qualify for Euro 2008?

[theasfl]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

I have to completely disagree with you there. The main reason why MLS and the J-League are not taken seriously is because they don't have the world class players, and instead are made up of local, lower quality and lower talented players. It's got little or nothing to do with the team nicknames.

If most of the world class players played in a league with team names like Plymouth Pirates and Cardiff Cheetahs, people would still watch it in droves.

" along with the money being paid out to players and the money surrounding the league at large

[theasfl]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

No it's not but the reason is because there are no world class players.
And anyway, if you're building a fanbase in a country with very low interest in the sport, you should be more interested in what is going to bring in the crowds in your OWN country, not what the world thinks of how you're doing it.

Look at the NASL, they brought in all these stars from overseas without setting up ways to blood young American talent and the league failed.
MLS has done the opposite and it is under a more stable base with new stadiums and very few franchise moves.
Over time you can bring it more in line with the rest of the world once the fanbase will accept it (no overtime/shootouts, and allowing ties). You won't gain a fanbase if you alienate them by having European-style team names in a country where that is an unknown concept.

quoted for truth

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by theasfl

how quickly can Greece reverse the suspension? Are they likely to be able to try to qualify for Euro 2008?

The only way they can reverse it is by proving to FIFA that there is no government interference in the Greek FA.

Well there is another way, by going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but FIFA have warned clubs who go there to appeal sentences (after going through official FIFA channels) they will be thrown out of FIFA tournaments.


What will happen is that if they stay suspended at the time of their first game that game will be postponed, as will future ones, until either a resolution is found within the Greek FA, or their is a lack of international dates to complete the fixtures.
Kenya were suspended for the same thing during World Cup qualifying, and their first three games were postponed, before they settled the government interference and those games were then made up.

See http://www.rsssf.com/tables/2006q.html#afr (Group 5)

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by redmarkYankees

I hated the drop from 22 teams to 20 (from 42 league games to 38 league games) and would hate a further reduction (from 38 games to 34) even more. The league is the bread and butter, fundametal club competition. 34 games... just isn't enough. If we need to cut the number of games, drop the League Cup (for teams in European competition, say).

edit: I'm not convinced there does need to be a cut in the number of games. Liverpool regularly played 60-65 games per season all competitions in the late 70s / early 80s, with a much smaller squad.

All it is is a power struggle between the countries and FIFA, and the clubs and especially the G14, to get a bigger share of the players game time.

Reducing the number of club games will allow FIFA/UEFA to have more qualifying games for their tournaments - at this Euro 2008 qualifying we will have a group of 8 teams (14 games) for the first time.

[redmarkYankees]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

All it is is a power struggle between the countries and FIFA, and the clubs and especially the G14, to get a bigger share of the players game time.

Reducing the number of club games will allow FIFA/UEFA to have more qualifying games for their tournaments - at this Euro 2008 qualifying we will have a group of 8 teams (14 games) for the first time.

Of course, but it's a struggle FIFA/UEFA ultimately can't push too far, because they'll lose.

1. The clubs pay the wages.
2. The fans want club football. The World Cup and Euro Championships are fine, but no one cares about the qualifying games - except winning them.
3. For the G14, domestic leagues and the Champions League are now well balanced, massively popular and financially, perhaps, perfectly designed.
4. The G14 have an underlying threat of creating a breakaway organisation, taking the vast majority of TV revenue, top players and fan interest.

[bababui]

Originally Posted by redmarkYankees

Of course, but it's a struggle FIFA/UEFA ultimately can't push too far, because they'll lose.
4. The G14 have an underlying threat of creating a breakaway organisation, taking the vast majority of TV revenue, top players and fan interest.

If they did break away they might be denied the use of African and New World players whose FAs remain with FIFA. Without these players, the Euro leagues would suffer and perhaps be equaled by African and S American leagues. A breakaway would be a lose, lose all around.

[redmarkYankees]

Originally Posted by bababui

If they did break away they might be denied the use of African and New World players whose FAs remain with FIFA. Without these players, the Euro leagues would suffer and perhaps be equaled by African and S American leagues. A breakaway would be a lose, lose all around.

Maybe, but the point is it wouldn't happen. UEFA/FIFA would blink before the G14 would.

[bababui]

Originally Posted by redmarkYankees

Maybe, but the point is it wouldn't happen. UEFA/FIFA would blink before the G14 would.

Seems I heard words just like those in the summer of 1914

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by bababui

Seems I heard words just like those in the summer of 1914

that'd be pretty hard. Neiher thing existed then

[ukhotstove]

Originally Posted by redmarkYankees

That was 14 years ago, and the source of the flack wasn't the names of the teams, but that Lineker had joined a sub-standard league, presumably for the money.

I agree with sdpm - a league can't be truly successful until it is capable of bringing through it's own domestic talent and competing on the international stage, club or country. It can't attract world class superstars at their peak, but if Ronaldo or Beckham would give a profile boost, then fine.

Again you read something that I didn't type hum, I didn't say Lineker took flack because of the names of the teams he took flack cause it's a league that wasn't taken serious and 14 years later is still laughed at.

All I see the MLS doing by going after players like Beckham and Ronaldo isn't far from what they did by getting players like Pele, Moore, Best and Marsh in the NASL and that didn't work either, the MLS kind of reminds me of the NFL when the London Monarchs were attracting over 40,000 average crowds then they started to mess about with leagues, teams and stadiums instead of sticking to how the NFL was ran in the States which was how they attracted the 40,000 plus crowds in the first place.

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by ukhotstove

Again you read something that I didn't type hum, I didn't say Lineker took flack because of the names of the teams he took flack cause it's a league that wasn't taken serious and 14 years later is still laughed at.

Who "laughs" at the J-League? People don't take interest in it for sure, but that's because there are only national players of lower-quality in their teams, and that both the national and club teams are not highly regarded on the world stage.

Do people care about the Swiss Bundesliga? - no, because it is made up of local, lower quality players.
Do people care about the Brazilian Serie A National Championship? - no, because all the best Brazilian players are in Europe.
Do people care about the Chinese Super League? - no because it is made up of Chinese, lower talented players, and is rife with corruption.

None of those leagues have funny nicknames of teams or foreign players, but nobody cares about them because those leagues are not at the highest level.

And I hope you realise that a team in Germany that has reached the Champions League final has a company in its name because it basically keeps the town it is based in going.

Originally Posted by ukhotstove

All I see the MLS doing by going after players like Beckham and Ronaldo isn't far from what they did by getting players like Pele, Moore, Best and Marsh in the NASL and that didn't work either, the MLS kind of reminds me of the NFL when the London Monarchs were attracting over 40,000 average crowds then they started to mess about with leagues, teams and stadiums instead of sticking to how the NFL was ran in the States which was how they attracted the 40,000 plus crowds in the first place.

The NASL had the large proportion of each teams squad based from abroad; adding one "marquee" player from overseas to an MLS roster stacked full of Americans is more likely to bring more people to watch games than hurt it.

[bababui]

Elton John calls English Team 'A Disgrace'

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/03072006/36...-disgrace.html


Other disgraces:

Every Elton album since 1975

Eltons fancy new hair