Footie Random Thoughts

[Bigpapa42]

Society changes, much like the game does. What was perfectly acceptable or had to be simply accepted twenty years ago - or fifty years ago - does not mean that is the way it should be dealt with now. I honestly think that the entire Penn State mess is at least partly to that old school mentality...

 

[1ke]

Cant wait for Footy to start back up.

Also, Im excited to watch Houston v LA for the title.

 

[1ke]

Manchester City have announced the biggest loss in English football history, £194.5m for the most recent financial year. The loss on that huge scale, bankrolled by the club's oil-rich owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan during the third year since he bought City in 2008, eclipses the previous biggest loss ever made, £141m by Chelsea in 2005, the second year of their ownership by the oil oligarch Roman Abramovich.

City's loss was made principally by buying players to make Roberto Mancini's squad strong enough to top the Premier League, and paying wages beyond the club's own turnover. During the 2010-11 financial year City signed Jérôme Boateng for £10.5m, Edin Dzeko for £27m, David Silva for £26m, Yaya Touré for £24m, Aleksandar Kolarov for £19m, Mario Balotelli for £24m and James Milner for £26m, an extraordinary series of player purchases totalling £156.5m.

Mansour made it clear when he took over that he would spend the fortunes necessary to make City successful, and since June 2010 he has personally poured a further £291m into the club. Added to the £500m Mansour invested up to May 31 2010, he has now spent an unprecedented £800m on the football club, to bankroll the expenditure on transfer fees and wages the club would otherwise not have been able to afford. All the money has gone in as equity, in new shares, making it permanent, not as loans. The net loss City made on their operations, £160.5m, was increased by £34.4m writing off the value of several players signed previously, including the Brazilian striker, Jô.

A loss on such record-breaking scale raises immediate concerns about whether City have any chance of complying with Uefa's "financial fair play" rules, which will apply to clubs in European competitions from the 2014-15 season. Uefa will analyse top clubs' accounts for the three years before that, starting with the current 2011-12 financial year, and the rules allow clubs to lose just €45m (£38.5m) in total over those three years. Uefa's rationale is that such subsidised overspending is relentlessly inflating players' wages throughout European football, which has driven clubs insolvent.

City acknowledged the looming enforcement of financial fair play when releasing their figures, restating that despite this record loss close, they will attempt to comply. Graham Wallace, the club's chief operating office, said the 2010-11 financial year, in which those signings of top players added to the mountainous wage bill already accumulated, will be City's worst.

"Our losses, which we predicted as part of our accelerated investment strategy, will not be repeated on this scale in the future," Wallace promised. "These financial results represent the bottoming out of financial losses at Manchester City before the club is able to move towards a more sustainable position in all aspects of its operations in the years ahead.

"As we undertake the club's commercial transformation, we are cognisant of the incoming Uefa financial fair play regulations and consequently we continue to maintain positive and ongoing dialogue with all appropriate football authorities."

The club's chairman, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, a senior adviser to Mansour's al-Nahyan ruling family and the Abu Dhabi government, also implicitly acknowledged City's need not to depend on such huge subsidy from Mansour in coming years:

"Now that we are witnessing progress, both on and off the pitch, it is more important than ever to work towards achieving our ambition to establish Manchester City as a more successful, sustainable and internationally competitive football club, which remains rooted in the heart of the community it serves," al-Mubarak said.

City are confident that with income having risen 22.5% to £153m during 2010-11, the boost of Champions League football, increased TV and commercial earnings from being successful, the £350m 10-year shirt sponsorship and stadium naming rights deal with Etihad airline and the shedding of players no longer part of Mancini's plans, will draw income and spending closer together. They hope to show Uefa a "trend" towards breaking even by 2014-15 even if the losses have not been sufficiently staunched.

While seeing the need to comply with the rules, privately City are bullish too. Their 6-1 derby victory over United last month highlighted a sudden startling contrast between the Manchester club which has been pumped up by £800m owner investment, and United which, as their latest financial figures revealed this week, has now had £578m drained out by the Glazer family's 2005 debt-laden takeover.

While some clubs, most prominently Arsenal, complain that City's owner-spending is hyper-inflating wages and distorting football, City point out that they have broken no rules – so far at least – and in fact should be credited for investing fortunes in England, and in economically blighted east Manchester, at a time of economic meltdown here and in Europe.

 

[Rudi]

Finally premiership football is back. Im excited for this morning alotta good games on the slate. City/Newcastle should be a cracker.

 

[1ke]

City vs Newcastle should be good.

Also, Bayern plays Dortmund today in Germany, and Valencia plays Madrid in Spain. Lazio plays Napoli in Italy. All those can be seen in ESPN3.

Good day.

 

[wr50l]

Newcastle are chronically overrated. 8-0 to City.

 

[Bigpapa42]

Two more goals from van Persie. The guy is playing insanely well at this point. if/when he goes down hurt, Arsenal are screwed.

 

[1ke]

Two more goals from van Persie. The guy is playing insanely well at this point. if/when he goes down hurt, Arsenal are screwed.

I Lol'd.

He is playing out of this world right now. 1st goal was simple enough, but his second was very impressive.

 

[Bigpapa42]

Nice article on Citeh, by the way. As I pointed out a month or so ago, their club incomes at this point don't cover the player wages. That's pretty fucking ridiculous. Winning the Prem and Champion's League pays well, but its not like that gives you $200m per season and you obviously can't count on it either. I just don't see where Citeh are going to get the money to make the thing sustainable and meet the coming financial rules.

Managed to find a stream of the Bayern-Dortmund match today. Impressive 1-0 win for the defending champs. I missed most of the first half, but the match looked far more even than the stats bear out.

 

[BigHouseUSA]

Newcastle are chronically overrated. 8-0 to City.

We're actually pretty decent.

 

[Bigpapa42]

Watched the Madrid-Valencia match from yesterday. Scrappy and the ref lost control in the 2nd half. The Valencia players were diving all over the place, but Robert Soldado scored a pair of nice ones for Los Che.

 

[Rudi]

City stay shittin on the EPL. Huge game on Tuesday against Napoli in the Champs league. Must win to advance basically.

 

[Fappin Raptor]

And they can't pay their players. Next offseason will be awesome to watch.

 

[Fappin Raptor]

 

[Bigpapa42]

Just watched Barcelona go down 1-0 to Getafe. Thrilling last few minutes as Barca pushed endlessly for the goal. Real Madrid now have a 6 point lead and look like they might run away with La Liga.

 

[1ke]

Rough day. Really rough.

Im was fucking furious. I just didnt know which to be furious at. The Ass ref, or United for missing about 7 legit chances to win that game.

At first I was like....FUCK!!!!
Then I was like.....FUCK!!!
And, now im lke......meh fuck!

 

[Bigpapa42]

I actually felt bad for United after that shit call. How can the fucking FA do nothing over obvious situations like that? Do they not get that the integrity of the game ends up looking suspect when the ref is pushed to making a terrible and obviously-wrong call.

Kinda disappointed in the Arsenal result. Fulham worked hard and Arsenal never looked that threatening until they went down by a goal.

 

[Lanteri]

RIP Gary Speed

The former Leeds, Everton, Newcastle and Bolton midfielder was found hanged at his home in Chester this morning.

Police say there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the 42 year-old's death.

The Football Association of Wales confirmed the news, saying that Speed's family had authorised the release of the information.

A spokesman for Cheshire Police said: "At 7.08am on Sunday 27 November 2011, Cheshire police was informed of a sudden death at an address in Huntington, Chester.

"Officers went to the scene where a 42-year-old man was found dead. The next of kin have been informed and have confirmed the identity of the man as Gary Speed.

"There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death the family have requested that they are left in peace to grieve at this difficult time. A family tribute will be released at a later date but not today."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8918628/Wales-boss-Gary-Speed-found-dead.html

 

[1ke]

Damn that sucks.

 

[CaribbeanJoseph]

What a match, City have Joe Hart to thank for a point, Kenny got the tactics spot on and I think we more than proved we are among the elite, now time to get wasted


p.s. if my favorite hun is still about, mon the Kilmarnock :redsmug: