2019/20 Soccer Thread

Sorbicol wrote:
Roke wrote:

Any decent manager (better than Bruce) is going to look at Newcastle, see they have Ashley over a barrel, and demand control of transfers or balk. I'm dreading the potential Tim Sherwood link.

Surely the problem is you don’t have Ashley over a barrel? He will not let his managers have that level of control. It’s partially why Benitez left. You go into that job knowing thats the case.

I think it's a "give me control or your options are you can find somebody worse who's going to get you relegated" situation.

I think Rafa stayed as long as he did because he was able to live close to his family and he was quite sentimental about the community. There not being an obvious job elsewhere to step-up into probably helped as well.

Roke wrote:

I think it's a "give me control or your options are you can find somebody worse who's going to get you relegated" situation.

It would, if it wasn't Ashley. Ashley doesn't care - so long as the club turns him a profit, he's happy. And while he's "willing" to sell, it will be at a price he deems it to be worth, not the buyer. All about the money for him now.

Looks like Griezmann to Barca is official.

Prederick wrote:

Looks like Griezmann to Barca is official.

I put my name in the hat for a signed jersey! This time I will WIN!

I wonder where that leaves Neymar. I don't see where he could go, except maybe Juventus? Who could even afford him now? Real Madrid doesn't want him, right? Something in the Premier League?

EDIT: Media reporting that Barcelona is the most likely destination, but Barcelona is only offering players to PSG. Humm.

I certainly wouldn't pay $250m in player/cash value for him at this point. I wonder if a deal between PSG and Barca might be much harder to swing than most people imagine.

Sorbicol wrote:

It would, if it wasn't Ashley. Ashley doesn't care - so long as the club turns him a profit, he's happy. And while he's "willing" to sell, it will be at a price he deems it to be worth, not the buyer. All about the money for him now.

And now Mike Ashley is balking at paying compensation to Wednesday and Steve Bruce and his assistants, which is the most Ashley thing ever.

Prederick wrote:

Looks like Griezmann to Barca is official.

But Atlético is still demanding 80 million more.

Steve Bruce has resigned as Sheffield Wednesday manager.

You really have to feel for Newcastle fans to be honest.

L'équipe reporting Ashley's taken Newcastle off the market again.

*sigh*

Saw a man in Times Square today wearing a S{sexist slur}horpe kit.

I have nothing else to add, other than that that man both bought a S{sexist slur}horpe kit and decided to wear in public in Manhattan, and that I recognized it.

Anyway, now that we are in the absolute doldrums of the preseason, here's something fun...

Guardian Writers Pick Their Favorite Kits

Off the top of my head, I'd go Arsenal 04-05. Or Barcelona 06-07.

Steve Bruce confirmed at Newcastle.

Sorbicol wrote:

Steve Bruce confirmed at Newcastle.

Apparently an accomplished mystery novelist!

Newcastle also sent to spend £35m on Joelinton, a striker for Hoffenheim. I won't pretend to really know anything about him but looking up his numbers on Whoscored his shot rate is terrifyingly low for that much money.

West Ham drop 45m on a striker? Never heard of him but good on them for trying to be competitive.

Trippier to Ateltico is kinda random. I'm sure it makes perfect football nerd sense but even if this is the perfect sell high Spurs still need to have depth.

In depressing Arsenal news not qualifying for the CL is really setting in as they can't sign anyone. The plan (mine) was to give Emery 3 windows to role over the squad before really judging. Winter was a bust and so far this summer is looking mighty bad.

With the state of Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal's there's probably a bigger-than-normal chance for a non-Big6 team to climb into the top-4 this season. Don't think it's a big chance mind you, but outside the top-3 of the Big6 looks to me a bit like Leiceter's title season.

Roke wrote:

With the state of Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal's there's probably a bigger-than-normal chance for a non-Big6 team to climb into the top-4 this season. Don't think it's a big chance mind you, but outside the top-3 of the Big6 looks to me a bit like Leiceter's title season.

I reckon Wolves could seriously make top 4 this season. None of their players have been poached (yet) and they are having a pretty good pre-season. I don’t much of their squad have been involved in summer tournaments either.

Man. Bolton. It's going poorly.

Beyond the general doubt over the future of the club, and the fact that they will start next season in League One with a 12-point deduction from day one, perhaps the worst part of the administration crisis has been the very real effect on the players and coaches, who have not been paid for work dating back to April—four months of unpaid labor.
Sorbicol wrote:
Roke wrote:

With the state of Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal's there's probably a bigger-than-normal chance for a non-Big6 team to climb into the top-4 this season. Don't think it's a big chance mind you, but outside the top-3 of the Big6 looks to me a bit like Leiceter's title season.

I reckon Wolves could seriously make top 4 this season. None of their players have been poached (yet) and they are having a pretty good pre-season. I don’t much of their squad have been involved in summer tournaments either.

It's certainly shaping up to be an interesting question, isn't it? I'd think Liverpool and City will battle it out for 1 and 2, Tottenham will land solidly in third, and then who knows. I'd think between Man U, Chelsea, and Arsenal, one of the three will sort things out well enough to grab fourth place. I'd probably give Arsenal the nod to fourth at the moment because of Emery.

However, I wouldn't be surprised to see one or two of those teams drop out of the top six. If the Wolves, Everton, and/or Leceister City could get things going and stay consistent, I could see one of them finishing above whichever of the traditional top 6 falls the farthest.

I'd think Man U are especially vulnerable. I don't feel like they've changed enough of their squad and the way the season ended strikes me as a bad omen for Solskjær going forward.

My God, if you haven't seen it, please seek out video of Algeria's winning goal in the AFCON final. It is possibly the ultimate deflection.

Prederick wrote:

My God, if you haven't seen it, please seek out video of Algeria's winning goal in the AFCON final. It is possibly the ultimate deflection.

Wow, you weren't kidding. Watched the match highlights and even knowing there was a goal in the game from a massive deflection I thought it went out for a corner.

Prederick wrote:

My God, if you haven't seen it, please seek out video of Algeria's winning goal in the AFCON final. It is possibly the ultimate deflection.

Kinda hate to see the keeper just ball watching while it flies over him.

In other news, Huddersfield's new jersey is sponsored by Paddy Power, who is sponsoring an initiative to remove sponsors from the front of jerseys. This is a minor issue that I have major belief in.

Coincidentally, the Dynamo were recently without a sponsor for a season, which happily coincided with having the best home and away kits we've ever had - so I own those kits with no sponsor clogging up the front. It's great!

Fedaykin98 wrote:

In other news, Huddersfield's new jersey is sponsored by Paddy Power, who is sponsoring an initiative to remove sponsors from the front of jerseys. This is a minor issue that I have major belief in.

I can't help but view this cynically, because that horse has left the barn so long ago, the barn has aged, the wood has rotted and it collapsed. I also have a hard time buying a betting website as being on some truly altruistic, leaving-money-on-the-table stuff.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

In other news, Huddersfield's new jersey is sponsored by Paddy Power, who is sponsoring an initiative to remove sponsors from the front of jerseys. This is a minor issue that I have major belief in.

Me too. I'm still at least a tiny bit hopeful that we can do away with this blight upon the sport. It's such a head-shakingly pathetic state of affairs when literally half of the EPL are promoting Asian gambling companies. I wish the them the best.

<-- whose home team is the Los Angeles Herbalife.

Hey, it's a great song, and I'm just glad someone is singing it. Certainly, though, it's hard to imagine bookies are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.

Maybe they figure it's not a huge team, so they aren't losing that much exposure, but the entire EPL fanbase might appreciate this move and gain some goodwill for Paddy Power.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...

“Previously we had a strong systematic approach to transfers, a mixture of watching things live as well as quality data and video analysis – Arsenal actually owns their own data company.

“That meant that we acted independently, we knew about all markets and players in all positions that came into question.

“However, the new leadership work more strongly with what they are offered from clubs or agents through their own networks."

So that's not good.

https://twitter.com/BallStreet/statu...

All EPL kits with no sponsors.

I don't get it.

Just seems like a lost revenue stream for principle? Not really into high horses.

If anything I have more of a problem with is it magnifies the disparity. United obviously can demand more then some obscure team which means they have more $$$ to choke out other clubs.

Roke wrote:

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...

“Previously we had a strong systematic approach to transfers, a mixture of watching things live as well as quality data and video analysis – Arsenal actually owns their own data company.

“That meant that we acted independently, we knew about all markets and players in all positions that came into question.

“However, the new leadership work more strongly with what they are offered from clubs or agents through their own networks."

So that's not good.

Ugh. Ya. Looks like the Edu connection means that Arsenal is close to landing Everton. Dunno if that's a good piece of business though. At this point I'll take any new exciting players.

Prederick wrote:

Man. Bolton. It's going poorly.

Bury have now joined Bolton in starting the League One season on negative twelve points.

That's going to make it a lot harder for Ipswich to get relegated this season.

If either Bolton or Bury get enough points to stay in the division then whichever team they overtake will have to feel pretty bad about their season.

I've always been amazed at how many professional teams England can support. Like, it's astonishing that 96 teams suit up to play every season, and stories like this are still outliers and not the rule.

Prederick wrote:

I've always been amazed at how many professional teams England can support. Like, it's astonishing that 96 teams suit up to play every season, and stories like this are still outliers and not the rule.

Football is the sport in England. Rugby and Cricket (the next two most popular sports. more or less) don't even come close.

The premier league generates about £5 billion
The Championship generates about £850 million
League 1 ~ £170 million
League 2 ~£100 million

I'm surprised there aren't a lot more stories like Bolton & Bury to be honest. Very little of the Premier League cash filters down to the lower leagues.

Revenue in Cricket is mostly centered around Sky's TV deal and it's focused on International Cricket, not domestic and goes to the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board). It's worth about £1 billion over 5 years, with some highlights and live coverage going to the BBC from next year. Sky do broadcast domestic cricket but it is mostly focused around the T20 Blast competition and the limited overs series now to be replaced by the Hundred (some of which will be broadcast on the BBC).

The ECB is in rude health but very little of that money trickles down to the individual counties. They give each county side about £1.75 million a year. It is still their primary source of income but most County sides survive on a wing and a prayer. Some are in a lot of debt (Yorkshire is about £25 million), Durham keep having to be bailed out and while others do generate profit, the most is about £1 million a year with the typical level closer to £100-400K. A year. At least two generate about £50,000 a year profit. A year.

Each County generates cash from a number of different places, mostly dependent on format (test, T20, limited overs). T20 is massive for County cricket because they actually make money out of it. Nobody makes money from domestic test cricket. The ability of the home ground to host International Cricket is also massive factor - the hosting county takes a lot of the gate receipts for international test cricket which is pretty much the only time they make money from test matches. But out of the 18 counties, only about 5 or 6 host international test cricket. And one of them is Yorkshire. Basically, finances in Cricket is a total mess. And nobody outside of the sport at the county level gives a sh*t.

The Professional Rugby league generates about £250 million. Again most of the money is in the International game.