Fixtures March 31st - Manchester City - Etihad Stadium - 3:30 Pm

Kick-Off

       Injuries                 Steve Gleiber



Get the Latest Post Go to the Bottom of Page It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 9:39 pm

All times are UTC


  


Reply to topic

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 94 guests

 
Post #527921  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 6:57 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:45 am
Posts: 25814

If this is anywhere near true then the nature of what was intended would just destroy football as we have always known it.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/amer ... 967372ce29

_________________
I believe in our team, I believe in our quality and I am convinced that I am right. (Arsene Wenger Dec 08)


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527922  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 7:04 am 
Offline

Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:57 pm
Posts: 26425

It is a bit rich that some media outlets are holding City and Chelsea up for some sort of praise because they were the first to pull out of the super league. With unlimited money already they can easily afford the shelve the idea. On a purely competitive basis it isn't in the interests of City and Chelsea to have those other teams hugely inflate their income by the super league as their advantage over those teams becomes more negligible

Ironic also that whilst the other 14 clubs wore T-shirts at matches saying 'earn it' and all received wide backing from the media for doing so there has never been any such criticism from the likes of City and Chelsea not 'earning' their success.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527923  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 7:09 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:22 pm
Posts: 20588

old man of hoy wrote:
AmericanGooner wrote:
We learned a couple things. The owners want a super league. The owners flew up a trial balloon and saw that their timing is wrong. If anyone thinks this is the end of it, they are sadly mistaken. They will simply bide their time and wait for the right moment. In the interim, greasing the wheels where they can. This didn't kill the league it merely delayed it. The 1 percent get their way...eventually. In today's world they do. Naïve to think otherwise.
AG I was thinking the same. A major criticism of the ESL was its 'closed shop' nature and the lack of relegation, but presumably that model, along with salary caps and player drafts, ensures some level of long-term economic stability for participating clubs. The debt issue will still have to be addressed by European football, and that is why the ESL idea will not go away.

The ESL was slammed for being non-competitive, but that is already the case with most European football leagues in which just a few teams dominate. Since it began the Premiership has been won by just 7 clubs and in the same period Bundesliga by 6; La Liga and Serie A by 5. In contrast the closed NFL has seen 16 different clubs as champions.


Hi OMOH,

I can see both sides of the argument, but these owners are not stupid people so my sense is that apart from the obvious greed factor there is more to this than meets the eye, otherwise they would not have been prepared to take such drastic measures knowing the likely fallout and repercussions from it.....even if they massively underestimated them.

They clearly see the way the wind is blowing and that the current football business models, post covid, are simply unsustainable.

I suspect fans may have won the current battle but are a long way from winning the war. This project may have been put on the back burner but I don't think it will go away.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527924  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 7:11 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2008 3:21 pm
Posts: 16415
Location: Stockholm

long time gooner wrote:
If this is anywhere near true then the nature of what was intended would just destroy football as we have always known it.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/amer ... 967372ce29

It's quite honestly staggering how out of touch they are with the football world, just shockingly bad PR for everyone involved. They announced it by a standard, copy-pasted statement that said nothing of value and looked like it was typed out by an AI. They had no clue the fans would react so poorly. They didn't even take the time to notify people at the club, with players and managers - the people that fans actually connect to - being completely blindsided. And now they've all been forced to backtrack just two days later.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527925  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 7:16 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:22 pm
Posts: 20588

Rich wrote:
It is a bit rich that some media outlets are holding City and Chelsea up for some sort of praise because they were the first to pull out of the super league. With unlimited money already they can easily afford the shelve the idea. On a purely competitive basis it isn't in the interests of City and Chelsea to have those other teams hugely inflate their income by the super league as their advantage over those teams becomes more negligible

Ironic also that whilst the other 14 clubs wore T-shirts at matches saying 'earn it' and all received wide backing from the media for doing so there has never been any such criticism from the likes of City and Chelsea not 'earning' their success.


Rich,

100% correct and I said as much yesterday.

It's hypocritical. If City and Chelsea genuinely have the interests and integrity of english football so at heart then they will acknowlege that their obscene spending over the last decase or so is one of the big reasons for the inflationary pressures in football, that in part have led us to where we are now.

Both are midtable clubs who have bought success through the deep pockets of their owners, nothing else, and in truth the owners could have bought any PL club and the same thing would have happened.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527926  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 7:23 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:45 am
Posts: 25814

Hazuki wrote:
long time gooner wrote:
If this is anywhere near true then the nature of what was intended would just destroy football as we have always known it.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/amer ... 967372ce29

It's quite honestly staggering how out of touch they are with the football world, just shockingly bad PR for everyone involved. They announced it by a standard, copy-pasted statement that said nothing of value and looked like it was typed out by an AI. They had no clue the fans would react so poorly. They didn't even take the time to notify people at the club, with players and managers - the people that fans actually connect to - being completely blindsided. And now they've all been forced to backtrack just two days later.

I’m actually surprised that they’ve stepped back given the clear disdain that the owners (particularly the Americans) have for fans. Not remotely interested in us.

_________________
I believe in our team, I believe in our quality and I am convinced that I am right. (Arsene Wenger Dec 08)


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527927  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 7:25 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:22 pm
Posts: 20588

Hazuki wrote:
long time gooner wrote:
If this is anywhere near true then the nature of what was intended would just destroy football as we have always known it.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/amer ... 967372ce29

It's quite honestly staggering how out of touch they are with the football world, just shockingly bad PR for everyone involved. They announced it by a standard, copy-pasted statement that said nothing of value and looked like it was typed out by an AI. They had no clue the fans would react so poorly. They didn't even take the time to notify people at the club, with players and managers - the people that fans actually connect to - being completely blindsided. And now they've all been forced to backtrack just two days later.


All very odd, Haz, but I suspect there is more to this (in particular the timing) than meets the high. These are not a bunch of chancers they are incredibly astute business people with an array of top lawyers and other people advising them.

It makes no sense to do what they did when they did it without very good reasons and we may see that in the fullness of time.

This may have been put on the back burner but I think its just a battle that hs been won and not the war.

Haven't UEFA suddenly found an extra £4 billion or something down the back of their sofa to add to the CL and EL packages. That shows the kinds of people we are dealing with here. UEFA are not exactly a paragon of virtue and are probably one of the reasons why clubs felt the need to break-away.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527928  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 7:38 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:58 am
Posts: 33880

long time gooner wrote:
If this is anywhere near true then the nature of what was intended would just destroy football as we have always known it.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/amer ... 967372ce29


I would be surprised that if this wasn't one of the reasons that Americans got into football. If you notice, they didn't buy non English sides. Kroenke, Glazer, Henry went for the most popular league in the world. Not Milan, not Dortmund, not Ajax, not Valencia but big, iconic clubs in the world's most popular league. These are businessmen. They analyse everything about purchases of this size. They have people who write up potential revenue, etc.

They know the American league and obviously saw the present football system as a flaw. I really don't think people realize the amount of money this league would be worth. Astronomical amounts. It would dwarf anything present both in America and outside America.

How can anyone be shocked at any disrespect for tradition from people who have zero issues with rooting up iconic American sides from decades of tradition and moving them to other cities. I can think of one, maybe two stadiums that likely never be moved. The Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox stadiums. The rest? Well, Yankee Stadium was home to the most iconic team and player in American history. Babe Ruth, the Yankees are the Man Utd of America. The Real Madrid of America. Juve of America. It's Americana to its core. There is a century old joke of a Brit and American arguing and the American says 'Damn the King' and the Brit says 'Damn Babe Ruth'. Not the president. He insulted the one person that was loved more. The one thing he can think that would insult an American to his core. Well, Yankee stadium was torn down and moved. So much for Americana.

Therefore, how can you expect them to respect the traditions of football? Its laughable to expect it. The one thing I loved about football (the traditions, etc.) they disregarded and looked at football only through a financial lens.

My guess? America wants to be the major or biggest influence on the World Cup and world football. Long term? The hope is to make the MLS the top football league in the world. That would be a herculean task and won't work. They will underestimate the lack of interest in it, in part because its American...lol. You can't buy passion. You can't buy tradition. They probably know that and would be satisfied if the MLS would be on the same par as baseball, which is now visibly the 3rd sport after being by far the most popular sport from inception up to the 70s.

Fact is we got into bed with a man that doesn't respect us, our traditions, and instead of a loving marriage its more of a pimp/whore relationship.

_________________
"Never relegated, Never Will Be" :)


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527929  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 7:50 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2018 5:27 pm
Posts: 11163

Bernard wrote:
TOP GUN wrote:
Understand what your saying but He won’t get the time Haz, he just won’t.

Our fans don’t understand it’s a process. Klopp lost 12 games and finished 8th in his first season but the Liverpool fans could see a structure was being formed. Arteta has won the fa cup and our lot are advocating his dismissal in his first full season if he doesn’t win a European trophy.

Our fans are little different to those of other big clubs. Every club has a mix of fans from different class backgrounds, gender, spreads of wealth (rich, middling and poor), age profiles (young, middle-aged, old), ranges of ethnicity, sexual orientation, political beliefs (far left to far right and everywhere in between), and religions (which probably has most relevance in and around Glasgow and Rangers have Catholic fans just like Celtic have Protestant fans).

I should have included intelligence in my paragraph above. I’m sure there will be similar spreads in cleverness amongst the fan bases of all clubs. Some geniuses, some idiots, and most somewhere in between. Arsenal fans will be no different to Tottenham, Chelsea, both Manchester clubs and Liverpool.

The only obvious qualification I will make is fan base size driving the actual number. For example, Manchester United have a bigger fan base than everyone else in this country. Hence they will have more ultra brainy people who support them, as well as more utterly thick fans.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527930  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:00 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2008 3:21 pm
Posts: 16415
Location: Stockholm

socrates wrote:
All very odd, Haz, but I suspect there is more to this (in particular the timing) than meets the high. These are not a bunch of chancers they are incredibly astute business people with an array of top lawyers and other people advising them.

They are business people, but not football people. Would honestly not be surprised if they thought fans would react positively because this would've meant higher, more reliable revenue stream to the clubs. The integrity of the sport is not usually in the discussion with American leagues in my experience.

Agree completely with your last part about UEFA. Whenever UEFA is cast as the good guy it's probably time to start worrying.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527931  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:24 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 4:02 am
Posts: 2680
Location: Liverpool

long time gooner wrote:
If this is anywhere near true then the nature of what was intended would just destroy football as we have always known it.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/amer ... 967372ce29


So Gazidis to Milan was/is all part of the strategy.

#KroenkeOut

_________________
Gorau chwarae cyd chwarae


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527932  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:26 am 
Offline

Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:02 pm
Posts: 18363

My view is the Americans involved probably underestimated the level of fury that would come from the UK and that the prime minister would be commenting on the nature of it, fans and fury and anger,

Remember at Arsenal now apart from vinai most of the people involved in the power structure are foreign. Do they really understand the importance of footballing culture, the fa cup etc etc.

I also think the words of Pep Guardiola were very key yesterday when he said it would no longer be a sport if you remove competition. Really put a massive ethical question mark in place over the whole thing .

Anyway on to more important things... Kroenke out, Josh out, vinai out, edu out immediately and Arteta out at the end of next season unless we see a marked improvement


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527933  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:32 am 
Offline

Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:02 pm
Posts: 18363

john1 wrote:
long time gooner wrote:
If this is anywhere near true then the nature of what was intended would just destroy football as we have always known it.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/amer ... 967372ce29


So Gazidis to Milan was/is all part of the strategy.


I can’t go into specifics but I’ve had connections in the past to Elliott Management Corporation... they also own ac Milan and are US owned and only care about money and share price, I could never understand why a company like that would be interested in owning a sports club however it now makes sense, it wouldn’t shock me at all if this nonsense was years in the making and that also bringing Raul onboard was important to connect Arsenal to the Spanish clubs discussing it.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527934  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:33 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 4:02 am
Posts: 2680
Location: Liverpool

TOP GUN wrote:
john1 wrote:

So Gazidis to Milan was/is all part of the strategy.


I can’t go into specifics but I’ve had connections in the past to Elliott Management Corporation... they also own ac Milan and are US owned and only care about money and share price, I could never understand why a company like that would be interested in owning a sports club however it now makes sense, it wouldn’t shock me at all if this nonsense was years in the making and that also bringing Raul onboard was important to connect Arsenal to the Spanish clubs discussing it.


Is that the same venture capitalist vultures who are basically bankrupting Argentina?

https://twitter.com/tammigaw/status/138 ... 75648?s=21

_________________
Gorau chwarae cyd chwarae


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527935  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:38 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:22 pm
Posts: 20588

TOP GUN wrote:
My view is the Americans involved probably underestimated the level of fury that would come from the UK and that the prime minister would be commenting on the nature of it, fans and fury and anger,

Remember at Arsenal now apart from vinai most of the people involved in the power structure are foreign. Do they really understand the importance of footballing culture, the fa cup etc etc.

I also think the words of Pep Guardiola were very key yesterday when he said it would no longer be a sport if you remove competition. Really put a massive ethical question mark in place over the whole thing .

Anyway on to more important things... Kroenke out, Josh out, vinai out, edu out immediately and Arteta out at the end of next season unless we see a marked improvement


I had mixed feelings about the Superleague, what I didn't want is for us to continue to stagnate as we are doing at the moment. It was by no means a perfect proposal or solution but it would have given Arteta time and money to complete his rebuilding process. As it is he probably will not have the money to do what he needs to do and consequently will not get the time either. I am sure fans would not he happy with us being spanked every week by europe's big boys but at least we would have started the process of mixing with them again. As it stands, we are relying on a EL victory to get european football next season which is a precarious situation to be in.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527936  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:40 am 
Offline

Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:02 pm
Posts: 18363

Bernard wrote:
Bernard wrote:
Our fans are little different to those of other big clubs. Every club has a mix of fans from different class backgrounds, gender, spreads of wealth (rich, middling and poor), age profiles (young, middle-aged, old), ranges of ethnicity, sexual orientation, political beliefs (far left to far right and everywhere in between), and religions (which probably has most relevance in and around Glasgow and Rangers have Catholic fans just like Celtic have Protestant fans).

I should have included intelligence in my paragraph above. I’m sure there will be similar spreads in cleverness amongst the fan bases of all clubs. Some geniuses, some idiots, and most somewhere in between. Arsenal fans will be no different to Tottenham, Chelsea, both Manchester clubs and Liverpool.

The only obvious qualification I will make is fan base size driving the actual number. For example, Manchester United have a bigger fan base than everyone else in this country. Hence they will have more ultra brainy people who support them, as well as more utterly thick fans.


If you put together a police line up of football fans and asked me to pick out which one was the spurs fan purely on appearance only and nothing else I reckon I could manage it.

It’s almost genetic


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527937  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:51 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2008 3:21 pm
Posts: 16415
Location: Stockholm

TOP GUN wrote:
Anyway on to more important things... Kroenke out, Josh out, vinai out, edu out immediately and Arteta out at the end of next season unless we see a marked improvement

Not sure why Edu deserves to go? He arrived in 2019 and I'd say most of the signings we've made since then look good.

As for the others, Kroenke out has been gathering steam in the last few days which as all good but the question is where do we go from him? If he was to sell (and I highly doubt he will) it would probably be to someone else like him, and I'm not sure it would change a whole lot. I think bigger structural changes are needed in football; better ways to share revenue with smaller clubs, more transparency with regards to wages and transfer fees, etc.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527938  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 9:08 am 
Offline

Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:02 pm
Posts: 18363

socrates wrote:
TOP GUN wrote:
My view is the Americans involved probably underestimated the level of fury that would come from the UK and that the prime minister would be commenting on the nature of it, fans and fury and anger,

Remember at Arsenal now apart from vinai most of the people involved in the power structure are foreign. Do they really understand the importance of footballing culture, the fa cup etc etc.

I also think the words of Pep Guardiola were very key yesterday when he said it would no longer be a sport if you remove competition. Really put a massive ethical question mark in place over the whole thing .

Anyway on to more important things... Kroenke out, Josh out, vinai out, edu out immediately and Arteta out at the end of next season unless we see a marked improvement


I had mixed feelings about the Superleague, what I didn't want is for us to continue to stagnate as we are doing at the moment. It was by no means a perfect proposal or solution but it would have given Arteta time and money to complete his rebuilding process. As it is he probably will not have the money to do what he needs to do and consequently will not get the time either. I am sure fans would not he happy with us being spanked every week by europe's big boys but at least we would have started the process of mixing with them again. As it stands, we are relying on a EL victory to get european football next season which is a precarious situation to be in.


I didn’t really like the concept, the money would have been a huge boost but really not much else.

What I couldn’t stand though was the moral indignation and hypocrisy from sky, the media, even the government about it. Like football hadn’t been riddled with greed and immorality for years and at the end of the day what was being approached was a perfectly legal business deal and contractual negotiation. I kind of like the fact it’s exposed Kroenke and some of these owners and execs for who they actually are.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527939  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 9:11 am 
Offline

Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:02 pm
Posts: 18363

Hazuki wrote:
TOP GUN wrote:
Anyway on to more important things... Kroenke out, Josh out, vinai out, edu out immediately and Arteta out at the end of next season unless we see a marked improvement

Not sure why Edu deserves to go? He arrived in 2019 and I'd say most of the signings we've made since then look good.


.


Attachments:

 Profile  
 
 
Post #527940  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 9:17 am 
Offline

Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:02 pm
Posts: 18363

john1 wrote:
TOP GUN wrote:

I can’t go into specifics but I’ve had connections in the past to Elliott Management Corporation... they also own ac Milan and are US owned and only care about money and share price, I could never understand why a company like that would be interested in owning a sports club however it now makes sense, it wouldn’t shock me at all if this nonsense was years in the making and that also bringing Raul onboard was important to connect Arsenal to the Spanish clubs discussing it.


Is that the same venture capitalist vultures who are basically bankrupting Argentina?

https://twitter.com/tammigaw/status/138 ... 75648?s=21


Yes


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527941  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 9:47 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2018 5:27 pm
Posts: 11163

TOP GUN wrote:
Bernard wrote:
I should have included intelligence in my paragraph above. I’m sure there will be similar spreads in cleverness amongst the fan bases of all clubs. Some geniuses, some idiots, and most somewhere in between. Arsenal fans will be no different to Tottenham, Chelsea, both Manchester clubs and Liverpool.

The only obvious qualification I will make is fan base size driving the actual number. For example, Manchester United have a bigger fan base than everyone else in this country. Hence they will have more ultra brainy people who support them, as well as more utterly thick fans.

If you put together a police line up of football fans and asked me to pick out which one was the spurs fan purely on appearance only and nothing else I reckon I could manage it.

It’s almost genetic

I presume that’s a joke, unless they have a tattoo or are wearing something that identifies them as a Tottenham fan, or you ask them who they support. I was born and bred in North London so have met countless Tottenham fans, including good friends and people I’ve not got on with. In my younger days I even had a Tottenham supporting girlfriend. They’re no different at all. The issue is not imagining differences that aren’t there, just because of who they support.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527942  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:26 am 
Offline

Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:57 pm
Posts: 26425

socrates wrote:
Rich wrote:
It is a bit rich that some media outlets are holding City and Chelsea up for some sort of praise because they were the first to pull out of the super league. With unlimited money already they can easily afford the shelve the idea. On a purely competitive basis it isn't in the interests of City and Chelsea to have those other teams hugely inflate their income by the super league as their advantage over those teams becomes more negligible

Ironic also that whilst the other 14 clubs wore T-shirts at matches saying 'earn it' and all received wide backing from the media for doing so there has never been any such criticism from the likes of City and Chelsea not 'earning' their success.


Rich,

100% correct and I said as much yesterday.

It's hypocritical. If City and Chelsea genuinely have the interests and integrity of english football so at heart then they will acknowlege that their obscene spending over the last decase or so is one of the big reasons for the inflationary pressures in football, that in part have led us to where we are now.

Both are midtable clubs who have bought success through the deep pockets of their owners, nothing else, and in truth the owners could have bought any PL club and the same thing would have happened.

Hi Soc, Sorry I didn't see your post - I may have just repeated what you said!


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527943  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:28 am 
Offline

Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:57 pm
Posts: 26425

Back to the actual football, are we potentially going to see a front 4 of Pépé, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Martinelli on Friday?
If people wanted youth, verve, pace and tempo then that's as good a front 4 as we can put out for those attributes.

Depending on Aubameyang and Ødegaard's recovery it might be the front 4 we play against Villarreal as well


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527944  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:34 am 
Offline

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:06 am
Posts: 16350

socrates wrote:
Hazuki wrote:
It's quite honestly staggering how out of touch they are with the football world, just shockingly bad PR for everyone involved. They announced it by a standard, copy-pasted statement that said nothing of value and looked like it was typed out by an AI. They had no clue the fans would react so poorly. They didn't even take the time to notify people at the club, with players and managers - the people that fans actually connect to - being completely blindsided. And now they've all been forced to backtrack just two days later.


All very odd, Haz, but I suspect there is more to this (in particular the timing) than meets the high. These are not a bunch of chancers they are incredibly astute business people with an array of top lawyers and other people advising them.

It makes no sense to do what they did when they did it without very good reasons and we may see that in the fullness of time.

This may have been put on the back burner but I think its just a battle that hs been won and not the war.

Haven't UEFA suddenly found an extra £4 billion or something down the back of their sofa to add to the CL and EL packages. That shows the kinds of people we are dealing with here. UEFA are not exactly a paragon of virtue and are probably one of the reasons why clubs felt the need to break-away.

It is a strange one. While I agree that it is possible that it is some sort of chess move, you have to take into account the American influence here. Across the pond, the boss is the boss and consulting stakeholders is vaguely lefty and would cause raised eyebrows at the country club. Slipping a few million to a congressman or two is the way to sooth any local angst. Not the first clash between American and European business culture.

_________________
Hamba kakuhle, Madiba


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527945  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:39 am 
Offline

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:06 am
Posts: 16350

Rich wrote:
Back to the actual football, are we potentially going to see a front 4 of Pépé, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Martinelli on Friday?
If people wanted youth, verve, pace and tempo then that's as good a front 4 as we can put out for those attributes.

Depending on Aubameyang and Ødegaard's recovery it might be the front 4 we play against Villarreal as well

Arteta may prefer Nketiah.

But I'm all for the front 4 you mention. But who is the centre-forward? Pépé or Martinelli?

_________________
Hamba kakuhle, Madiba


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527946  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:50 am 
Offline

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:06 am
Posts: 16350

Bernard wrote:
TOP GUN wrote:
If you put together a police line up of football fans and asked me to pick out which one was the spurs fan purely on appearance only and nothing else I reckon I could manage it.

It’s almost genetic

I presume that’s a joke, unless they have a tattoo or are wearing something that identifies them as a Tottenham fan, or you ask them who they support. I was born and bred in North London so have met countless Tottenham fans, including good friends and people I’ve not got on with. In my younger days I even had a Tottenham supporting girlfriend. They’re no different at all. The issue is not imagining differences that aren’t there, just because of who they support.

My grandad was a Spurs fan. My dad tells me he thinks he watched Spurs win their first FA cup in 1901.

He was a top bloke. But maybe the breed has degenerated recently?

_________________
Hamba kakuhle, Madiba


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527947  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:50 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Fri Apr 30, 2010 8:30 pm
Posts: 8103

Apparently, Sky broadcast the build-up to last night's match as free to air, which naturally was all about their opposition to the Super League. The paywall kicked in for the start of the game. Says it all, really.

_________________
"I just kept going pretty lively. Them killers wasn't too healthy company."


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527948  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:07 am 
Offline

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:06 am
Posts: 16350

TOP GUN wrote:
socrates wrote:

I had mixed feelings about the Superleague, what I didn't want is for us to continue to stagnate as we are doing at the moment. It was by no means a perfect proposal or solution but it would have given Arteta time and money to complete his rebuilding process. As it is he probably will not have the money to do what he needs to do and consequently will not get the time either. I am sure fans would not he happy with us being spanked every week by europe's big boys but at least we would have started the process of mixing with them again. As it stands, we are relying on a EL victory to get european football next season which is a precarious situation to be in.


I didn’t really like the concept, the money would have been a huge boost but really not much else.

What I couldn’t stand though was the moral indignation and hypocrisy from sky, the media, even the government about it. Like football hadn’t been riddled with greed and immorality for years and at the end of the day what was being approached was a perfectly legal business deal and contractual negotiation. I kind of like the fact it’s exposed Kroenke and some of these owners and execs for who they actually are.

Its a matter of degree.
Football in Europe certainly has its faults. But if you imagine it couldn't get a lot worse you are completely wrong. There is still a pyramid structure, still some flow of money downwards, and some a strong culture of supporting local clubs.

A closed off superleague would destroy that.

What I love about soccer is that its not artificially spruced up to provide a thrill a minute to the goldfish-level fan. Take dull 0-0s and Scunthorpe vs Hereford out of the equation and you rob the game of its variability and capacity to surprise. You might as well just script the whole thing. Even Bayern vs Barcelona can produce 0-0s, and Messi doesn't do magic all the time ... imagine how that would sit with the important 11-15 year old demographic--would they sit though that or switch the channel to WWE or pornhub, where melodrama and thrills are guaranteed?

_________________
Hamba kakuhle, Madiba


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527949  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:39 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2008 3:21 pm
Posts: 16415
Location: Stockholm

Well put Decaf. Although on a side note, WWE is crap these days, NXT and AEW is where the real magic happens in America.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527950  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:39 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:58 am
Posts: 33880

The inevitable backlash
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/super-league-owners-american-liverpool-manchester-united-arsenal-milan-glazer-kroenke-john-henry-paul-singer-142109507.html

_________________
"Never relegated, Never Will Be" :)


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527951  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:55 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:58 am
Posts: 33880

The first 10 to 20 minutes will tell me a lot in the Everton game. I would love to know if there is collective belief that the squad can move up a couple places. From what I see on the pitch, I would guess they do but its not desperate. I don't see a sense of urgency for 90 minutes. My guess and its only a guess, the Europa Cup is what they are focused on.

_________________
"Never relegated, Never Will Be" :)


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527952  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:59 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:22 pm
Posts: 20588

Hazuki wrote:
TOP GUN wrote:
Anyway on to more important things... Kroenke out, Josh out, vinai out, edu out immediately and Arteta out at the end of next season unless we see a marked improvement

Not sure why Edu deserves to go? He arrived in 2019 and I'd say most of the signings we've made since then look good.

As for the others, Kroenke out has been gathering steam in the last few days which as all good but the question is where do we go from him? If he was to sell (and I highly doubt he will) it would probably be to someone else like him, and I'm not sure it would change a whole lot. I think bigger structural changes are needed in football; better ways to share revenue with smaller clubs, more transparency with regards to wages and transfer fees, etc.


Football sold out a long time ago. The media are narrating this as a story of good v evil but do you think the owners of the remaining 14 PL clubs are any less unscrupulous or immoral than the big 6? I doubt it, they've all made their tens of millions and you can bet your bottom dollar not all of that money has been made honestly and fairly.

Football is a dog eat dog world filled with shady characters who would sell their own granny for a quick buck. Sky, BT and Uefa concerned about the integrity of the game? Bollocks, all they were concerned about is that the gravy train might not have been pulling into their station any longer.

You make a good point, Haz. If the club is put up for sale today the list of potential buyers at over £2 billion is tiny and the list of potential buyers without a track record of dodgy business practices is probably non-existent.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527953  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:27 pm 
Offline

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:06 am
Posts: 16350

Hazuki wrote:
Well put Decaf. Although on a side note, WWE is crap these days, NXT and AEW is where the real magic happens in America.

Yup. Competition is huge. Football would be mad to try to compete in that market.

Imagine what they'll come up with next? Someone is bound to think of combining for example, wrestling and evangelical preaching, perhaps with a few live snakes and bears thrown in, or public hanging of liberals. Gosh, Trump may even run again. The mind boggles.

_________________
Hamba kakuhle, Madiba


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527954  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:27 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:58 am
Posts: 33880

The Guardian article gets it right on why I (and many other Americans) love football.
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/american-fans-love-european-football-112006539.html

_________________
"Never relegated, Never Will Be" :)


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527955  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:32 pm 
Offline

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:06 am
Posts: 16350

socrates wrote:
Hazuki wrote:
Not sure why Edu deserves to go? He arrived in 2019 and I'd say most of the signings we've made since then look good.

As for the others, Kroenke out has been gathering steam in the last few days which as all good but the question is where do we go from him? If he was to sell (and I highly doubt he will) it would probably be to someone else like him, and I'm not sure it would change a whole lot. I think bigger structural changes are needed in football; better ways to share revenue with smaller clubs, more transparency with regards to wages and transfer fees, etc.


Football sold out a long time ago. The media are narrating this as a story of good v evil but do you think the owners of the remaining 14 PL clubs are any less unscrupulous or immoral than the big 6? I doubt it, they've all made their tens of millions and you can bet your bottom dollar not all of that money has been made honestly and fairly.

Football is a dog eat dog world filled with shady characters who would sell their own granny for a quick buck. Sky, BT and Uefa concerned about the integrity of the game? Bollocks, all they were concerned about is that the gravy train might not have been pulling into their station any longer.

You make a good point, Haz. If the club is put up for sale today the list of potential buyers at over £2 billion is tiny and the list of potential buyers without a track record of dodgy business practices is probably non-existent.

But there are degrees of selling out. You are never going to get a system that is utterly lacking in shadiness and dodgy lads, unless you completely get rid of money.

You Europeans don't know how good things are there. Luxury! Come and see how football (not to mention just about everything else) 'works' in South Africa :laughing7: :laughing7:

_________________
Hamba kakuhle, Madiba


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527956  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:48 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:57 pm
Posts: 26425

Saw this excellent cartoon on twitter


Attachments:
Capture.JPG
Capture.JPG [ 25.26 KB | Viewed 4895 times ]
 Profile  
 
 
Post #527957  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:51 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:57 pm
Posts: 26425

Decaf wrote:
Rich wrote:
Back to the actual football, are we potentially going to see a front 4 of Pépé, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Martinelli on Friday?
If people wanted youth, verve, pace and tempo then that's as good a front 4 as we can put out for those attributes.

Depending on Aubameyang and Ødegaard's recovery it might be the front 4 we play against Villarreal as well

Arteta may prefer Nketiah.

But I'm all for the front 4 you mention. But who is the centre-forward? Pépé or Martinelli?

Has to be Martinelli. I also think he offers far far more to our all round game than Nketiah.

Nketiah did exactly what he's brilliant at last weekend, being in the right place at the right time to poke home from a few yards when we're desperately laying siege to the opposition goal.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527958  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:59 pm 
Offline

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:06 am
Posts: 16350

Rich wrote:
Decaf wrote:
Arteta may prefer Nketiah.

But I'm all for the front 4 you mention. But who is the centre-forward? Pépé or Martinelli?

Has to be Martinelli. I also think he offers far far more to our all round game than Nketiah.

Nketiah did exactly what he's brilliant at last weekend, being in the right place at the right time to poke home from a few yards when we're desperately laying siege to the opposition goal.

I hope Arteta thinks the same way.

_________________
Hamba kakuhle, Madiba


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527959  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:19 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:02 pm
Posts: 18363

Sky must have been absolutely bricking it for the last few days.

They lose the European viewing requirement to a streaming service then the next time premier league rights are renegotiated they would be bang on to lose that as well to DAZN if it had worked out well.

Your not selling satellite tv packages off the back of James cordons shenanigans on league of their own.


 Profile  
 
 
Post #527960  Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:42 pm 
Offline

Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:02 pm
Posts: 8163

TOP GUN wrote:
Sky must have been absolutely bricking it for the last few days.

They lose the European viewing requirement to a streaming service then the next time premier league rights are renegotiated they would be bang on to lose that as well to DAZN if it had worked out well.


TG - BT have had the European rights for some years now.


 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
     [ 570734 posts ] 
Go to page Previous  1 ... 13196, 13197, 13198, 13199, 13200, 13201, 13202 ... 14269  Next

All times are UTC

Gooners Online - Click to see what Everyones Doing

Colour Key:  Visited Profile    Members Profile      Admin

Get Latest Post

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 94 guests


Search for:

Go to Top

Powered by php BB © 1993 - 2018