Football 2011-2012

[Ed209]

Being a Salisbury lad, congratulations to Salisbury City FC!! Beat Grimsby 3-2 in ET to get to the FA cup 3rd round for the first time in their history. Sheffield United up next! Come on you whites!

[kaosmark2]

Agree with all that, I find topics about under-rated players a bit strange. The media often seems to get behind the likes of fletcher as the most underated player in the league but surely by so many people making these comments it means the player is quite highly rated. Also for some reason when a player is labelled underated they seem to keep that tag which again doesnt make sense if enough people have come to this consensus. I think people confuse the term underated with hard working and lacking in skill. To me the likes of fletcher, savage, holland, p neville etc are not underated they are just players who made the most of their limitations which is admirable.

To me an underated player is someone whos regular media coverage is in contrast to their actual ability. For example lucas and hargreaves were underated when people called them rubish but stopped being underated the second people changed their mind. Also ibrahimovic is underated in the uk as he is often portrayed as an average forward by the media yet if an english player had his track record they would be labelled top class even if they didnt perforrm in big games.

[The Nal]

Rumours of Chelski getting rid of Torres. Makes sense. No point having him on the bench every week on 175k a week.

[eFestivals]

Rumours of Chelski getting rid of Torres. Makes sense. No point having him on the bench every week on 175k a week.

I wonder if they'd accept Carroll in a swap?

[5co77ie]

Torres up for sale - offers £20 million plus

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2073746/Fernando-Torres-sold-20m.html

[eFestivals]

I also see that 'Arry is determined to do all he can to destabilise his squad, with rumours of bidding for Tevez.

Don't cha love paper talk?

[The Nal]

I also see that 'Arry is determined to do all he can to destabilise his squad, with rumours of bidding for Tevez.

Don't cha love paper talk?

[eFestivals]

Yeah it’s the silly season alright but there are a few players knocking about idle. Torres, Kaka (apparently), Carroll and Tevez.

it's clubs trying to get dead-weight players off their books because of FFP, but that of course means that other clubs worried about FFP are unlikely to want to take on the expense of those players.

I reckon wage deflation is about to hit the top of the game, and that might end up having loads of unexpected effects - such as more realistic scrutiny of football finances by those outside the game.

[The Nal]

it's clubs trying to get dead-weight players off their books because of FFP, but that of course means that other clubs worried about FFP are unlikely to want to take on the expense of those players.

I reckon wage deflation is about to hit the top of the game, and that might end up having loads of unexpected effects - such as more realistic scrutiny of football finances by those outside the game.

Edited December 14, 2011 by The Nal

[Wooderson]

With Chelsk still in the CL Torres will be going nowhere.

Found it funny last night on twitter the amount of Mancs with ambitions to sign him. Learned nothing from Owen.

[The Nal]

With Chelsk still in the CL Torres will be going nowhere.

Found it funny last night on twitter the amount of Mancs with ambitions to sign him. Learned nothing from Owen.

Edited December 14, 2011 by The Nal

[Wooderson]

Any port in a storm. Utd are ravaged by injuries and you're always going to get idiots with knee jerk ideas. Especially on Twitter.

[ralph250]

Found it funny last night on twitter the amount of Mancs

[ralph250]

Its ridiculous having players earning 200k a week (like Nasri) sitting on the bench most weeks. Unsustainable.

[The Nal]

Your lot can talk...

Edited December 14, 2011 by The Nal

[eFestivals]

regards FFP, found it interesting too that City impaired a load of their players values too to zero this year (to the tune of £29m write-off), in the year prior to the first FFP monitoring year. Will be likes of Bridge and Roque Santa Cruz where unlikely to achieve a fee, due to their wages. Basically if they all had 2 years left on their contracts then as opposed to the P+L showing a £14.5m amortisation loss this year and next, which is a relevant expense for FFP purposes. It's just a £29m loss this year and £0 next, thus outside the scope of FFP as outside the monitoring periods. Crafty.

you can be damned sure that every club will be getting up to similar accounting tricks, so that they all enter the FFP accounting period in the best financial position that they can in regard to that.

Any club that didn't would be stupid beyond belief.

It just gets to show that those rules are pretty much worthless.

It also gets to show that accounts can and are manipulated to show things in the best possible light. For example, it's recently been revealed that Olympus have been running a £1.5Bn accounting fiddle for 30+ years, which has made them look like they're worth £1.5Bn more than they are.

Are you still so confident in the Glazers' accounting ralph? Even in light of them mysteriously acquiring millions to pay off debts, and them moving their accounts to Delaware where they run fiddles to their hearts content without being exposed?

You seemed to take offence at the suggestion when I made it a while back. I think it's far more offensive to be thinking they're not fiddling things to make the situation look better than it really is.

[eFestivals]

Liverpool fans are immune to fair criticism Ralph. You should know that by now. There are militant Muslim fundamentalists who are plotting to blow themselves up who are less sensitive to criticism than (a lot) of Liverpool fans.

Oh c'mon - there's far worse than the scousers for doing that. I don't think you need to look far.

[The Nal]

Oh c'mon - there's far worse than the scousers for doing that. I don't think you need to look far.

Edited December 14, 2011 by The Nal

[Wooderson]

Ah yeah Ralph I shouldve put in my post that theres LFC heads that would want him back. But thats understandable is it not? I don't agree with it but he's still a recent hero to many Reds.

The abuse that he is given by your lot for his former allegiances leads me to make the point.

"SIGN HIM UP ALEC!"

[Wooderson]

Oh c'mon - there's far worse than the scousers for doing that. I don't think you need to look far.

[ralph250]

FFP will probably mean nowt anyways. City are unlikely to satisfy it first year (and probably years after, remember Kenyon "Chelsea will be breaking even by 2009/10 - had operating profit of -£68.6m, overall loss of £70.9m), yet general sounding seems City are confident they'll get off with a slap on the wrist and fine.

"The Uefa administration may grant an exception to the provisions ... within the limits set out in Annex I......The status and situation of football within the territory of the Uefa member association will be taken into account when granting an exception," Annex I reads. Then outlines things like size of a club's home country and football association; its average attendance, television market, sponsorship and revenue potential; and its support from national, regional and local authorities.

I think it's pretty doubtful there's bans, short of mass pressure from the other clubs (Wenger and Bayern been pretty critical of City recently). Less fairplay than now if the rest of the clubs cut spending to abide by the rules and likes of City don't.

[eFestivals]

Theres not Neil. Anywhere. A lot of it is justified mind you, certain unmentionable newspapers "reporting" taken into consideration, but if Utd had've spunked 35m of the Ronaldo money on a turkey there would (rightly) be serious questions asked about it.

just as there's been over Carroll. Who's pretending he's a great buy?

The proof is in the pudding. Bolton have scored more goals than Liverpool so far this season.

Thats fair criticism is it not?

Yep ... but it still deserves it's full context, of every team having conceded more goals than Liverpool so far this season, because it's not scoring the most goals that wins things but scoring more than you let in any game.

Regarding Utd, they are criticised a lot more, as successful teams are and as Liverpool were in the 70s and 80s.

more/less, that was not my point.

My point is over the acceptance of points that are made. Utd fans have got better recently because they know that City's rise would make them look far more stupid than the stupid they've often been in the past.

[Wooderson]

On the face of it Carroll has been an absolute turkey of a buy. He's young though so theres still a chance he could come good. I would love to see him in the team more. Why wouldnt I want him to succeed? I see little difference in the same naysayers that bad-mouthed Lucas a couple of years ago. Exactly the same voices saying he was gash and now he's a 30 million player.

But on current form/team structure Carroll doesnt get in the eleven never mind on the score sheet. Truth be told he was always going to disappoint with that transfer fee. In relative terms he is still a far better buy than someone like Bebe however, who isnt worth a scabby fiver - but I hate picking on the poor kid nonetheless.

Carroll will always have a residual value for obvious reasons. Furthermore - In terms of his overall cost to the club needs to be born in mind. He is on a fraction of Torres' wages per week.

[strummer77]

Theres not Neil. Anywhere. A lot of it is justified mind you, certain unmentionable newspapers "reporting" taken into consideration, but if Utd had've spunked 35m of the Ronaldo money on a turkey there would (rightly) be serious questions asked about it.

Edited December 14, 2011 by strummer77

[The Nal]

On the face of it Carroll has been an absolute turkey of a buy. He's young though so theres still a chance he could come good. I would love to see him in the team more. Why wouldnt I want him to succeed? I see little difference in the same naysayers that bad-mouthed Lucas a couple of years ago. Exactly the same voices saying he was gash and now he's a 30 million player.