GCR Books (http://www.gcrbooks.co.uk) republishes classic books from the past that might
otherwise have slipped into obscurity. The latest in their Arsenal series was originally published
in 1953, almost 50 years ago.
Unbelievably, I think I have unearthed a quite brilliant observation. Now bear with me, and if
someone is reading this to you, I don't mean "let's get naked".
Anyone else noticed improvements in the performances of JD and Alex Song this season.
Money. It's changed football. It's in the process of ruining one of Scotland's biggest clubs.
Our sport has both a complex relationship with cash and an insatiable desire for more dosh. It's
not always a healthy relationship.
Maybe we should ask not what money can do for sport but what sport can do for the economy.
 Amidst a rather tedious game, Belgium fans provided all the energy and excitement at Wembley
yesterday in their 1-0 loss to England. The seven thousand strong away support from the land of the
waffle were in great voice and initiated several Mexican waves. All in all – a fervent support
that any national side [.
Euro 2012 is less than two months away, although there is little excitement building up
yet.
Some of this can be put down to the continent-wide recession, which Polish and Ukrainian hoteliers
have ignored, given their suicidal decision to hike accommodation prices to unaffordable levels, a
spectacular own-goal which the UEFA President and Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich have both
publicly condemned.
Lisbon is a beautiful city. It's as vibrant with culture as they come. It's a joy to walk along
the Romanesque, Baroque, and modern architecture. Lisboa's people ultimately make the city what it
is, but let's face it, Portugal is going through tough times.
Elite football is not totally immune from the recession after all: the six national teams in Europe
with the most lucrative headline sponsorships will go to Euro 2012 with combined deals worth less
money than they had at the 2010 World Cup.
This morning I biked to Worcester Park where I had hoped to get our laptop repaired. Unfortunately
the shop had succumbed to the recession and a door shop was there instead.
I biked home via Motspur Park to see what I might see over the fence, and lo' and behold, there
were AJ, Orlando Sa and Rafik Halliche training in a small group.
This morning I biked to Worcester Park where I had hoped to get our laptop repaired. Unfortunately
the shop had succumbed to the recession and a door shop was there instead.
I biked home via Motspur Park to see what I might see over the fence, and lo' and behold, there
were AJ, Orlando Sa and Rafik Halliche training in a small group.
It's unlikely the truth about the row between Carlos Tevez and Roberto Mancini affair will ever be
known, but if at the end of the season the blue side of Manchester were to miss out by say a point
or even two, some hard questions may well be asked of the gaffer.
Unsurprisingly, his opposite number at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson, at one congratulated him on
his handling of a mess from which nobody has emerged with any great credit, as those betting
Premiership money will know.
It seems that, with the recession still biting and Robbie Earle no longer around to 'sort
everybody out', the money men over at the ITV Football department have been reduced to extreme
bouts of penny-pinching when it comes to providing match tickets for their pundits.
As the nation gears up for another FA Cup weekend journalists and TV producers are desperately
searching around for the most romantic FA Cup angle to fill their endless coverage.
Non-league Crawley Town, the first side from outside the football league to get to the fifth round
for 17 years, is an obvious story given they are heading to Old Trafford to take on the footballing
behemoth that is Manchester United.
One emerging problem with the "benefactor model" of club ownership is "what happens next?"
Blackburn Rovers have struggled with this problem since their 1990s benefactor, steel magnate Jack
Walker, died in 2000. And current owners Venky's are not, yet anyway, the solution. Walker, who
famously took Rovers to/bought the 1995 Premier League title, made some post-benefactor plans,
forming the "Jack Walker Settlement" (JWS), a trust based in the Jersey tax haven, where he lived
from 1974, when his riches attracted taxes which the great benefactor was.
It's no secret that Everton have been relatively inactive in the transfer market this summer –
and also that this inactivity was not necessarily through choice. It has been revealed by Toffees
chairman Bill Kenwright that their hands are tied by the financial constraints of operating in
post-recession Britain – and there have been more unsettling words to have come from the man in
charge of the Goodison Park purse-strings:
"We've come to a stage with our bank where we just can't borrow any more.
London, Manchester, Tottenham, and Birmingham are synonymous as classic Soccer locations, but this
week they are recognized as places of disturbance and uncertainty.
Upon announcing losses of £25.5million – underwritten by owner Ellis Short – Sunderland
chairman Niall Quinn has gone on the offensive with regard to fans who watch his club's games in
the pub or on internet streams at home.
Quinn is concerned about falling attendances this season, despite the club hovering in and around
the top six.
What are the odds King Kenny's Liverpool will be crowned champions? Derek McGovern's
Bets of the Day
We're in the middle of a huge recession, we've got Noel Edmonds on TV, rioting on the streets of
London and King Kenny back at Liverpool. It's like being back in the 1980s.
We May be Liverpool but we Should Always be United
As a four year old kid growing up inDublin's fair city, I had to make a decision that would have
life changing consequences. Alas it wasn't a choice between the merits of Scalextric or Evil
Kenevil. If only it was that simple.
Why Bryan Robson deserves his financial reward unlike mercenaries Modric, Cesc and
Tevez
I stumbled across an interview the other day which had me beating the table as wildly as Rupert
Murdoch in denial. It was given last summer by Luka Modric, after he'd signed a new deal at
Spurs.
The recession is finally over! Or so it must be if you consider the record £225million spent
this January by English clubs, compared to the measly £30million spent last January.
The excitement of transfer deadline day seems to send the footballing world crazy. Inflated
prices are now part and parcel of transfer windows, as clubs scramble around to get the paper work
sorted so that last minute deal can go through.
Recession? Don't make me choke on my meat pie. The English Premier League once again
proved that its love affair with splashing the cash has in no way waned since the market crashed
several years ago.
This season's January transfer window turned out to be one of the most lucrative in memory.
If January's transfer deadline day was football acting in a deep recession, the mind boggles at
what will unfold should the good times roll once more.
Two British record transfer fees within minutes in a blur of aircraft and fast cars travelling
between Tyneside, Merseyside and London as Liverpool and Chelsea sent the markets into a
frenzy.
In our first segment on RojaDirecta several years ago, we documented their success in Spain at
defending a lawsuit vs. copyright-hostage-holders. However, the tides turned, and in our last
segment, we mocked the idiocy of the US government for seizing the US domain name for RojaDirecta.
Aside from the waste of tax dollars during a recession, the effectiveness was zilch.
Don't make that face. Don't lie to me. As an individual with a blog and access to Google search
analytics, I know the superficial truth and the deeper truth. You hate Landon.The phrase "Donovan
is a b$$$ch" populates my website with trolls in waiting. Yet the irony drapes the window of your
soul like a curtain.
Don't make that face. Don't lie to me. As an individual with a blog and access to Google search
analytics, I know the superficial truth and the deeper truth. You hate Landon.The phrase "Donovan
is a b$$$ch" populates my website with trolls in waiting. Yet the irony drapes the window of your
soul like a curtain.
TweetDespite the domestic football season coming to a close do not expect for one moment that
football betting will abate amongst punters. Recession...What recession? The betting industry is
big business and of course the world's most popular sport is its lifeblood with specialist sites
like www.soccerbase.
The way we do business is changing fast and in order to keep up, your entire mentality about work
has to change just as quickly.
Unfortunately, most people aren't adapting fast enough to this change in the workplace, says
marketing guru Seth Godin in an interview with the Canadian talk show "George Stroumboulopoulos
Tonight" (via Pragmatic Capitalism).
What can we expect in 2012 in terms of the business side of football? It's an almost unanswerable
question because no one knows for sure what is going to happen to the world's main football
economies, those of Europe. Asian countries are, of course, big and growing customers for televised
games and the prospects there look reasonably good.
My spotlight-shy friend, who brought us his yearly review mentioned in "point-form" the other day,
came back with another SMS which he texted me days ago... (P.S: Those in GREEN are what he texted,
while whatever mentioned in the brackets are my take of the events)
To put it in technical economic terms, Ireland is in a bit of a hole at the moment and the Irish
FA (FAI) are far from immune being, as they are, in the red to the tune of somewhere around €50
million.
In a bid to ease the FAI's monetary woes, Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni has
agreed to take a recession busting pay-cut of 'in excess of 5%', which is due to come into effect
immediately.
