Do we really want to pay this price to host the 2018 World Cup?

I completely agree, sucking up to these self-serving money grabbers (in addition to the millions of quid it costs just to bid) is far, far too high a price for Britain to pay. I think if an institution refuses to be open and accountable then we shouldn't spend time and money sucking up to it.

World Cup 2018 bid

From the Fiver:
"as last night's Panorama expose revealed, Fifa demands that World Cup host nations do not trouble the global governing body with tiresome tax levies. ZERO PER CENT, that will be Fifa's contribution to the state coffers in return for using British infrastructure to stage their increasingly degraded event.

And, in this time of cut-backs and sackings and smug two-finger gestures from fat cats, your government has not only agreed to these terms but has dispatched their top banana to Switzerland to plead "pick me, pick me, pick me!" like some giddy floozy on American's Next Top Model. The Dutch government told Fifa to stick their demands right up their flabby posteriors the joint Dutch-Belgian bid has suffered but at least their integrity is intact. The British establishment, by contrast, lacks the bottle to do likewise, or perhaps just doesn't think there's anything wrong with big business sh@fting the little guy. After all, it's not as if we're not all in this together."


brilliant, couldn't put in any better myself

Fifa's World XI shortlist shows footballers are no judges of talent

The Guardian is one of those publications where it's mandatory to have a go at England players. The better they are, the more they much be attached for being rubbish. Quite simply, John Terry is a great player. He's one of the finest centre halfs and captains in the world game and would get into just about any team in the world. Over the last 12 months he's won the league and cup double as captain of his club.
The Guardian are certainly not the only ones to do this, but they love nothing more than saying 'X, Y or Z' good player is rubbish, or this or that league is not a good standard. Especially so if it means having a go at someone English

man u are quite good

United have won three consecutive Premier League titles (2007-09), one Champions League trophy (2008), one Club World Cup (2008), three Football League Cups (2006, 09 and 10) and three FA Community Shield trophies (2007, 08 and 10) in the Glazer era
Not bad

first Scottish senior football club to become a fully democratic community interest company.

now that's interesting.
i hope they succeed as i'd love to see more democracy and less antagonism in the ownership of clubs

football inequality

If we think English football is unequal, at least it's not Spain

"Spain's financial inequality, routed in separate TV deals where the third biggest earning club earns less than the team that finishes bottom of the Premier League and where Barcelona and Madrid take home €125m compared to €12m at Racing has been analysed here before. Details are now emerging of the proposed new deal. It will be collective and for the first time there will be a parachute payment to protect relegated clubs.

But inequality remains an inescapable and self-perpetuating reality. Madrid and Barcelona will keep 34%, 11% will go to Valencia and Atlético, 9% to the second division and 45% will be shared amongst the remaining sixteen clubs, at a little under 3% each"

Benoit Assou-Ekotto's astonishing attack on football's celebrity culture

Footballer in Talking Sense Shock!

racist fans and well washed hands

i've heard Peter Odemwingie left Russia because of the racism of the fans. after he left, Lokomotiv Moscow displayed this banner:


to my eye, the banana looks like a racist 'monkey' thing. BUT, cultural differences: In Russia 'to get a banana' means 'to fail a test somewhere'.

Odemwingie spoke in depth about the banana banner claiming that a minority of fans had been involved but alleged that black players are regularly subjected to insults in the Russian league and that the authorities did not act.

"Coloured players feel the open racism there and I recall a game against CSKA Moscow when their fans started the sick noises - I wouldn't have any of it and gave it back to them," said Odemwingie.

UEFA have refused to get involved because it's a domestic matter. The Russians say it's not racist. who's right, who's wrong?

stat of the day

With six own goals in competitive games, Carragher still holds the unenviable record of having scored more goals against Liverpool than for them.

football seasons

today is the only day of this year not in a football season.
the world cup marked the end of 09/10, and 10/11 Uefa Champions League Qualifying starts tomorrow. amazing

Credit where it's due‏

"The prospect of Chelsea or Spurs, or a host of millionaire players and former players, being paid in full while others have to accept a fraction of what they are owed is not a healthy one for the game."

A bloody great big understatement that is.
It seems odd that the people who ran the club into the ground have a far better chance of getting their money back than the charities and tiny businesses may end up with barely pennies in the pound.

I'd say HMRC should get back its preferred creditor status as it's the public purse, and footballers and clubs should loose their status with some link to their income so that lower leagues players and clubs can benefit but not the millionaires who don't need the money.
How is a bit more difficult

Anti-Glazer protest targets firms in Old Trafford's corporate seats

I think it's really sad to see supporters and owners at odds with each other like this. The owners should run the club with the support and consent of the fans, but it's the opposite.

David Bond's Blog: The true extent of Pompey horror show‏

The real nasty side of Portsmouth's debt is that
"local businesses and services who make up the list of trade creditors owed a total of £5m.

These are football's real losers. Companies and individuals who now face being paid only 23p in the pound of what they are owed because footballers and football creditors get paid in full first from the proceeds of any sale of the club.

They include:

The St John's Ambulance (for match day medical services) - £2,701
King Edward VI School (for training ground hire) - £41,714
Landscape Printing Systems (for printing equipment) - £949.33
Portsmouth City Council (taxes) - £28,690"

Disgraceful how those who most need the money are denied it so that super-rich football clubs and organisations get to jump the queue.

Wayne Rooney's injury would trouble England more than Manchester United | Kevin McCarra | Sport | The Guardian‏

While I am a huge fan of Jermaine Defoe, I like the idea of Gerrard and Lampard playing in a midfield 5 with Barry sitting deep, Lennon or Walcott wide right and Joe Cole / James Milner on the left cutting in. it would be lovely to have a proper left winger out there, but if Heskey plays alone up front it would allow the wingers, especially the left winger, to be an inside forward who could provide a goal threat. I think the movement and class of that 5 would give any team problems, and using Heskey as the pivot /focal point/ battering ram would allow Lampard and Gerrard to attack and be goal threats while Barry sits deep.

Matt Slater: Arsenal's suitors start saving for summer sales‏

Matt Slater does some excellent work, he really does.
I would hate to see something similar to Man U where the owners are so much at odds with the fans. Arsenal have the only properly sustainable business model among the Big Clubs in England and it would be a crying shame if that was thrown out the window

BBC Sport - Football - Government may offer fans chance to buy stake in clubs‏

It's certainly an issue, and something I'm glad politicians are look at, although the Tories (if the quote here is properly representative) have responded with a dismissive sound bite - sadly par for the course.

""Ministers need to promise to look at other issues of desperate importance to fans, like ticket prices, safe standing and facilities for disabled supporters." "
Ticket prices - yes. Very important as it's stupid how much it costs to see some teams. I've heard some body actually sets minimum prices, which should be removed. If a club is having difficulty filling their ground the ticket prices should be slashed as it's much better to have a full ground than not.
I'll be interested in what they come up with

Carlo Ancelotti the latest to find José Mourinho's shoes hard to fill | Richard Williams | Football | guardian.co.uk‏

Even the Guardian are going over the top. The other day Chelsea were going to thrash inter and Italian football was dead, now Ancelotti is a dead man walking.
I hope that Ancelotti gets the time and money to bring in some players, some young and very quick wingers for a start

We don't need goalline technology, we need living-room technology | Paul Wilson | Football | guardian.co.uk‏

He finally gets to a good point via some of the daftest arguments you could imagine.
At very least the technology currently available should be made available to the ref.
As my dad used to point out, however, where do you draw the line? Should it be international matches? European matches? Professional matches? If the last, who will pay for the installation at Southend? What about the differences in levels of technology? At Man U there will be 1000 cameras, at Southend there will be 1 camera and a camera-phone.
If those can be worked out, surely we must have some sort of technology available.
What is not acceptable is the current situation in cricket where some matches have tv technology and some don't, and this within the English domestic game where some matches are covered by TV and thus have technology, while others aren't and thus don't.

BBC - Phil Minshull's Blog: Who will be Europe's first major football financial failure?‏

As a big football fan, this is of great interest to me.
Then, an article appears in Tribune going on about how terrible it is that these clubs, that were once the bread and butter of the salt of the earth have become the play things of multi-billionaires. Fair enough. But then to hold up Barca and Real Madrid as models of financial competence is the result of poor research on two counts.
Firstly: they do exactly the same as Man United in that they have debt backed against their earning potential.
Second: the reason they have so much money is because they don't share their TV money with anyone else - the result of which is far greater inequality in the Spanish league than in England.

Something certainly does need doing, but I'm buggered if I can work out what

Football - Premier League sets sights on youth‏

I'm generally in favour of free choice to pick who the manager thinks is best, but fuck it. Give it a go eh?