Football 2010-2011

[Steve P]

surely being based in london played more a part than zola? i dunno though, would be nice to learn the in's and out's of it.

[ampersand]

In that case he could of bought West Ham, Charlton etc. instead but Chelsea were the London team in the Champions League and wouldn't have had a hard time buying from like Arsenal would have been.

[TheGayTent]

I'd say being based in London makes it harder for a club to be successful - more derbies, more competition for fans etc. - so not sure Chelsea's location had much to do with Abramovic's purchase. Yes the fans may be able to stand higher ticket prices then those further north for example, but as chelsea have made massive losses every season anyway then gate receipts didn't really matter to him anyway.

[eFestivals]

No one player will ever be bigger than WHU, but no player will surpass Bobby.

I'm not knocking Bobby, but that's a daft thing to say. Who knows what the future will bring?

Or is it that for West Ham and any players it might have in the future, the only way is down?

[Steve P]

I don't buy Wenger's (poor attempt at) mind games. London derbies for Arsenal basically mean Tottenham, then Chelsea, then maybe us. Fulham's hardly a derby and neither are Palace, Charlton, QPR if they're in the top flight.

Man Utd have Citeh and Liverpool which are as intense as any of the London derbies mentioned above, and Wigan, Bolton, Everton etc are almost as close as the lesser london derbies are for Arsenal anyway.

[ralph250]

Might be bollocks but found an article I remember seeing little while back that Roman was looking at Spurs aswell, but Chelsea were Cheaper.

Levy breaks his silence on Abramovich link

By Mihir Bose 12:01AM BST 18 Sep 2003

Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, has for the first time confirmed that he had a meeting with Roman Abramovich months before the Russian bought Chelsea.

Since Abramovich acquired Chelsea there has been much speculation as to whether he could instead have been Tottenham's Santa Claus.

There have been conflicting stories about whether an offer was made for the north London club.

The Russian did come to White Hart Lane to meet Levy, probably around April when he was in this country for the Champions League quarter-final match between Manchester United and Real Madrid at Old Trafford. It was at this second-leg tie that the Israeli agent, Pini Zahavi, introduced Abramovich to Peter Kenyon, United's chief executive who moved to Chelsea in the same capacity last week.

Levy, whose company ENIC own 29.9 per cent of Tottenham and who is presently on honeymoon, told The Daily Telegraph: "Yes, we did have a meeting at his request because he wanted ENIC's perspective on the European football market. It is important to note however, that at no time did we discuss, either then or subsequently, his desire to acquire a Premiership club."

Then, just before Abramovich emerged as Chelsea's saviour, Levy received a phone call from Zahavi asking whether Tottenham were for sale. Levy, unable to believe a man he regarded as a football agent could be acting as an investment banker trying to buy a public company, told him Tottenham were not for sale. He quoted a silly price to get him off the phone.

Other sources have claimed Levy also spoke to Abramovich's investment bankers, although Levy denies this.

Levy told me: "For the record, I can also confirm that we have had no proposals from any party to acquire any or all of the share capital in Tottenham Hotspur."

I understand the price Levy quoted Zahavi was around £50 million for ENIC's shares. This would have valued the club at more than £150 million at a time when the share price of Tottenham on the London Stock Exchange was 18p, valuing the club at £20 million.

Abramovich, when allegedly told about Levy's response, clearly thought it was a ridiculous price and bought Chelsea instead. Although Chelsea cost him £60 million, paying off the club's debts pushed the overall figure up to £150 million. But for that he also got a stadium which had been developed as well as two hotels, more than he would have got at Tottenham.

One reason, apart from getting Zahavi off the phone, which could have prompted Levy to quote such a high price was a clause in the agreement which took ENIC into private ownership in March this year.

This clause, concerning any future sale of Tottenham, promised shareholders that should in the next two years Tottenham be sold at a higher price then the money would be shared between all those who had been shareholders of ENIC at the date of privatisation.

One source said: "If Abramovich really did consider Tottenham then it came two years too soon for Levy."

Apart from the brush-off Levy gave Zahavi, Abramovich may also have been deterred from making a formal bid by the fact that Alan Sugar, the former Tottenham chairman, owns 13.2 per cent and would have driven a hard bargain. Chelsea, with large debts, were an easier club to buy.

Levy's meeting with Abramovich was not discussed by the Tottenham board as Levy clearly felt that there was no offer and therefore there was nothing to report.

Levy may be right in insisting that there was no formal approach. With a first-class degree from Cambridge University, Levy is clearly a clever man but he has not always shown himself to be a good deal-maker. He originally wanted to buy Tottenham from Sugar in the autumn of 1998. As he was negotiating, it emerged that Sky were bidding for Manchester United, Sugar asked for more money and it was March 2001 before Levy was able to buy Tottenham.

He did end up paying less, 80p instead of £1 per share, but also bought the club just as the football bubble was about to burst.

Since then two other decisions of his have cost the club money and left them looking for a future home as well as a training centre. Earlier this year Tottenham's planning application to develop an academy and training facility at Abridge was rejected by Epping District Council and, as a consequence, £1.2 million of costs had to be written off.

Levy also ditched the plan he had inherited to develop White Hart Lane, writing off another £500,000 in professional costs, but has so far failed to come up with an alternative.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2421675/Levy-breaks-his-silence-on-Abramovich-link.html

[ampersand]

Might be bollocks but found an article I remember seeing little while back that Roman was looking at Spurs aswell, but Chelsea were Cheaper.

[jump]

i know i'm not saying it's the sole reason. but neither was gianfranco zola. you surely agree retiring the no.25 was a bit stupid?

[ampersand]

I couldn't say, I'm not a Chelsea supporter and wouldn't be able to decide just how much he meant to the club & fans.

[TheGayTent]

I'm not knocking Bobby, but that's a daft thing to say. Who knows what the future will bring?

Or is it that for West Ham and any players it might have in the future, the only way is down?

[The Nal]

The only daft comment is yours. In 150 years, the only defender that can lay claim to being on the same level as Bobby is Der Kaiser -

Edited March 22, 2011 by The Nal

[eFestivals]

The only daft comment is yours.

Really? OK, I'm happy for you to think that.

[worm]

From every defender ever? I’d have Baresi, Maldini. Bergomi, Passarella and Facchetti up there.

[The Nal]

Do we see a commonality emerging among that lot?

[strummer77]

Mensah's Red overturned:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/9432810.stm

Now whilst I agree it wasn't a straight red... surely was a booking and a red anyway? Fancy the FA might be doing it slightly because of the penalty incident . Ah well, I'm sure you would've rather seen him unavailable for the next match!

[metallimuse]

I only got as far as playing against a striker from Rochdale in an organised community match on the local park, who I had in my pocket for all of the first ten minutes, just before he went on to score three hatricks.

[worm]

Mensah's Red overturned:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/9432810.stm

Now whilst I agree it wasn't a straight red... surely was a booking and a red anyway? Fancy the FA might be doing it slightly because of the penalty incident . Ah well, I'm sure you would've rather seen him unavailable for the next match!

[worm]

How bad were you!?!?!

[eFestivals]

It wasn't even a yellow man. The guy dived as the two jostled. However, we're f**ked.

It was a foul. If he dived rather than fell over due to being grabbed and hauled around (and it's far from clear which it was* - it's hard to stay on your feet when your body has moved quite a way from being above your feet by a foul, which is what happened, the pics make it clear), then Mensah gave him that opportunity by fouling him.

(* having said all of that, my guess is that Betty chose to go down rather than had to. But it's defo not clear which it was).

There's a good argument to be made for a red, cos if Betty hadn't been grabbed he was thru on goal. But it probably wasn't the standard 'clear thru on goal/last defender' thing, so a yellow is about right.

Ah well, "these things happen".

[strummer77]

It was a foul. If he dived rather than fell over due to being grabbed and hauled around (and it's far from clear which it was* - it's hard to stay on your feet when your body has moved quite a way from being above your feet by a foul, which is what happened, the pics make it clear), then Mensah gave him that opportunity by fouling him.

(* having said all of that, my guess is that Betty chose to go down rather than had to. But it's defo not clear which it was).

Edited March 23, 2011 by strummer77

[worm]

If he dived rather than fell over due to being grabbed and hauled around then Mensah gave him that opportunity by fouling him.

[worm]

But he definitely did put an arm across him

[TheGayTent]

Excellent news. A start at least:

We'll listen to case for terraces, says sports minister Hugh Robertson

You can sign the petition if you agree with the FSF that:

"football supporters should have the choice to watch football from a safe standing area, if they so wish, at matches in England and Wales. "

Sign here

[eFestivals]

Excellent news. A start at least:

We'll listen to case for terraces, says sports minister Hugh Robertson

You can sign the petition if you agree with the FSF that:

"football supporters should have the choice to watch football from a safe standing area, if they so wish, at matches in England and Wales. "

Sign here

It might be 'a start', but it looks like 'the end' has already been decided.

Premier League to oppose calls for return of terraces

[eFestivals]

Fine, except that it wasn't a foul. Physical contact is allowed.

PMSL - you don't even know the rules. No wonder you talk such ignorant guff.