The shitness of modern football

[Mudface]

48 minutes ago, Jairzinho said:

It's never labelled as "Women's etc" on the first page either. It's a sort of tacit admission that without attempting to trick people they wouldn't actually click on the links. 

 

The Guardian do the same- you click on the tiny thumbnail thinking, 'I didn't realise Man City were playing Chelsea today' and realise you've been suckered in.

[sir roger]

On 27/10/2021 at 08:59, Mudface said:

The Guardian do the same- you click on the tiny thumbnail thinking, 'I didn't realise Man City were playing Chelsea today' and realise you've been suckered in.

I watched ' England v India ' at cricket for five minutes before realising it wasn't a covid outbreak meaning I didn't recognise any of the players

[Mil-ing Around]

Showing a penalty shootout from behind the goal. Wtf is this shit! Who decided that would be a good idea.

 

They love fucking around with the best sport in the world. VAR, 5 substitutions and now let's use a camera angle that gives you no clue if the penalty is going to be scored/ saved until you hear the crowd cheer. Fucking idiots

[dockers_strike]

I was going to post this in our stadium news thread but on reflection, it's probably best here.

 

Most clubs, including us, have to pay for stadium expansion. The Main Stand cost us £120m(?) and even the ARE is going to cost another £80m.

 

Then you have clubs like city and west ham, virtually gifted complete stadiums for peppercorn rents. city, £5m a year rent fot the former Commonwealth Games stadium in exchange for Maine Road which was valued at £6m at the time. The Manchester stadium cost over £100m to build. Virtually bankrupt city then 'found' another £25m to help pay for the conversion to a football stadium. Hmm, yeah, ok.

 

West Ham pay £3m annual rent. Fucking diabolical, I say.

 

The sale clause in West Ham’s deal with the owners of the London Stadium – who are ultimately you, me and every other taxpayer in the United Kingdom – is known informally as the “anti-embarrassment clause” and designed to claw back some value in the event of the club changing hands. 

 

When West Ham’s majority owner, David Sullivan, negotiated the 99-year lease with the London Legacy Development Corporation in 2013, he agreed that any sale of the club arranged by him and the other small shareholders within 10 years would come with a levy due to the public purse. West Ham’s value as a club would naturally rise on the strength of an agreement to pay an annual lease of just £2.5 million, now around £3 million, and the clause was acknowledgement there should be some reward for the taxpayer who had funded the Olympic Stadium. 

 

We are less than 18 months from the expiration of the anti-embarrassment clause, so-called because it would have been very embarrassing for the LLDC and the government in general were Sullivan to sell West Ham as soon as he had negotiated the lease. Not to forget that West Ham’s owners cashed in on the old Boleyn Ground – sold to a developer and then sold on again quickly. 

 

West Ham might be a Premier League club who do not own their own stadium but with the end of the Sullivan era finally looking to be in sight, that does not appear likely to prevent the owners from making a lot of money. Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is in talks to buy a 27 per cent stake from the 86 per cent owned by Sullivan and his minority partner David Gold. Albert Smith, the American private equity billionaire, already owns 10 per cent. The clock is ticking down to that March 2023 deadline when the anti-embarrassment clause expires. 

 

Currently around 20 per cent of any profit on the full sale of West Ham would be due to the taxpayer. After March 2023, the estimated profit for Sullivan and Gold on a full sale of their stake, less loans to the club and external debt, would be £300 million – and all of it would be theirs. 

 

We have been here before. When Thaksin Shinawatra was evading the Thai authorities in 2008, the country’s former prime minister sold Manchester City to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan for £150 million having spent an estimated £60 million in acquiring and investment in the single year he was in control. The club’s stadium, built with lottery funding for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and converted to football with £49 million of public money, played a major role in the deal. There was no agreement by which any of the profit made by Shinawatra could be recovered for the taxpayer. 

 

Once again, the cost of staging major events such as the Olympics falls on the taxpayer while the long-term profits are privatised. 

 

There is another side to the argument, of course, that says infrastructure investment attracts its own rewards. Perhaps Sheikh Mansour would have been less inclined to buy City and invest what he has since without a modern stadium in place. City have since extended the capacity although they do not own the Etihad, for which they pay an annual tenancy to the city council, now around £5 million. 

 

As for the London Stadium, it is still of interest to concert promoters and other sports, like Major League Baseball, which has staged competitive games there in pursuit of global expansion. The case in favour being that the crowd attending stadium events has a beneficial effect on the city’s wider economy. One oft-cited case is that 30 per cent of tickets for the pre-pandemic MLB games were sold to Americans who came to London for the novelty of watching their teams play there. 

 

Even so, the value of the London Stadium in the accounts of the LLDC is zero, a legacy of its leases with West Ham and another, shorter commitment to UK Athletics of 50 years. Other potential buyers of West Ham who have lacked Kretinsky’s financial clout have proposed acquiring the stadium for the club and, if the deal was right, LLDC would consider that. 

 

Nevertheless, there is no pressure on this latest Czech billionaire or, indeed any other future billionaire owner of West Ham, to do so. 

 

Even before Covid-19, the stadium’s operation had to be propped up by public money, and its last pandemic-hit results posted a gloomy £28 million annual loss. As with all venues, investment is required to keep the place modern and attractive to promoters and that cost has to be borne by the public purse. 

 

No one can say for sure what the London Stadium is worth, other than what an owner of West Ham might be prepared to pay for it. Whether that would offer better long-term value than a lease with 94 years left to run at such a bargain price is up for discussion. 

 

What the lease does is increase the value of the club, and not just for Sullivan and Gold, who have waited for the stars to align. Now at last they have stumbled upon a good manager who has carefully assembled a competitive squad with some high-value individuals. At this rate, by March 2023 the ownership will be able to realise all that value exclusively for themselves. More fool the LLDC and the state for agreeing the deal, they will argue. 

 

For Kretinsky or any other potential new owner of West Ham, the lease remains the same. A state-funded stadium for a club which will only grow in value so long as it is run well. By the time the London Stadium lease runs out for West Ham not even the current youngest player at the self-styled Academy of Football will be around to see what happens. 

 

Of course, at least the Olympic Stadium has not been left to rot away like others around the world built for that purpose, but it has not just come at a cost for the taxpayer. It will also make more than one rich person a great deal wealthier.

Daniel Kretinsky to propose West Ham partnership with Sparta Prague

By Sam Wallace

 

Daniel Kretinsky, the Czech billionaire negotiating the purchase of a 27 per cent stake in West Ham, will propose a partnership between the club and Sparta Prague which he has co-owned for 17 years, as a potential player development line for the Premier League side.

 

West Ham have already acquired three Czech internationals in the last two seasons, although none of Tomas Soucek, Vlad Coufal or loanee Alex Kral have come from Sparta who started the weekend in joint second position in the Czech First League.

 

Kretinsky appointed the former Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky as Sparta’s sporting director in 2018 and the 103-cap Czech international is understood to be a key advisor to the billionaire investor who spends a lot of time in London.

 

As the chairman of Sparta he attends games in person when he is in Prague as well as board meetings. Kretinsky, 45, owns 40 per cent of the club with the remaining 60 per cent owned by the central European investment group J&T Finance Group which is controlled by his business associate Patrik Tkac.

 

Although Kretinsky is currently in negotiations for just a 27 per cent stake of the club, from the 86 per cent of West Ham controlled by David Sullivan and minority partner David Gold, it is possible he could eventually move for full control.

 

Ten per cent of West Ham is owned by the US billionaire Albert Smith who acquired his stake in 2017 from the club’s former Icelandic owners. An agreement which earns a percentage of any sale price of West Ham for the taxpayer, as part of the terms under which the club lease the publicly-owned London Stadium, expires in March 2023.

 

Should Kretinsky take full control of West Ham he would have to relinquish his stake in Sparta Prague were both clubs to compete in the same Uefa competitions. Sparta have been a regular in the Europa League in recent years. West Ham qualified for the same competition last season and are currently progressing well in the group stages. Uefa only permit individuals to control one club in their competitions in any given season.    

 

As an investor, Kretinsky has built up stakes in Sainsbury’s and Royal Mail. The Czech Republic’s richest man, his moniker of the “Czech sphinx” is not one that is used in his home country. He regards West Ham, valued at around £600 million, as the most realistic option to invest in a upwardly mobile Premier League club with the big six out of reach of even a billionaire of his resources.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/10/31/taxpayers-cost-billionaire-west-ham-sale-stadium/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

[alles ist gut]

Why do Nike hate football so much?

[Jairzinho]

I hope we refuse to play.

[sir roger]

Looks like a kid's yoghurt pot

[Trumo]

It looks like used playdoh.

[VladimirIlyich]

9 hours ago, alles ist gut said:

Why do Nike hate football so much?

We come not to play.

[Redder Lurtz]

1. I cannot fucking stand this "You shit bastard aaaaaaaaaaa" when keepers take a goal kick. Cunts like Leeds fans have dragged it up from their shitty lower leagues. 

 

 

2. The "your support is fucking shit" has long been a shitstain of a chant but it now seems to be chanted by home supporters to travelling fans. I don't even know where to start with that. Again, seems to be promoted teams primarily. 

 

3. Leeds supporters in general. We don't all admire your brilliant support and style of play blah blah blah. Some of us know exactly what you are. Just fuck off back to league 1 you scummy, gobshite arsewipes. 

[Elite]

That ball is horrendous. Testicle torsion bad.

[Arniepie]

How much finance has impacted upon football

There is s debate on the meaning of debt in the match thread.

 

Nerds getting footy.

Once that happened it was all over

Football is all about emotion and passion

I.couldnt give a fuck how many percentage of 10 yard passes a player has made and what type of boring cumt would sit there adding them all up?

[TheHowieLama]

Spain midfielder Saul Niguez, 26, is prepared to stay with Chelsea for the full duration of his season-long loan from Atletico Madrid, despite only playing for two minutes in the Premier League since the deal began in August. 

[VladimirIlyich]

On 07/11/2021 at 22:29, Arniepie said:

How much finance has impacted upon football

There is s debate on the meaning of debt in the match thread.

 

Nerds getting footy.

Once that happened it was all over

Football is all about emotion and passion

I.couldnt give a fuck how many percentage of 10 yard passes a player has made and what type of boring cumt would sit there adding them all up?

This.

[Kevin D]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59247129

 

How did Spain confirm Wales' play-off place?

Wales are the fifth best ranked Nations League side, with two play-off places given to the highest ranked sides who do not finish in the top two of their qualifying group.

 

Belgium and Italy had already guaranteed top-two spots in their groups, leaving only France and Spain above Wales.

 

As Spain avoided defeat against Greece on Thursday, they secured at least a second-place finish in Group B, meaning Wales will definitely be in the play-offs whatever happens in their qualifying group

[aws]

5 minutes ago, Kevin D said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59247129

 

How did Spain confirm Wales' play-off place?

Wales are the fifth best ranked Nations League side, with two play-off places given to the highest ranked sides who do not finish in the top two of their qualifying group.

 

Belgium and Italy had already guaranteed top-two spots in their groups, leaving only France and Spain above Wales.

 

As Spain avoided defeat against Greece on Thursday, they secured at least a second-place finish in Group B, meaning Wales will definitely be in the play-offs whatever happens in their qualifying group

Can't see anything shit about that. 

[sir roger]

28 minutes ago, aws said:

Can't see anything shit about that. 

Pleased with the outcome for Wales but suspect Kevin D may be sharing my migraine trying to understand the machinations.

[aws]

9 hours ago, sir roger said:

Pleased with the outcome for Wales but suspect Kevin D may be sharing my migraine trying to understand the machinations.

The Nations League concept itself fits into this thread like a glove. 

[sir roger]

10 hours ago, aws said:

The Nations League concept itself fits into this thread like a glove. 

The way it works would test Stephen Hawking , but there is no doubt it has produced some great games , has given lower ranked sides competitive games and something to play for and has been much better than shit friendlies.

[Harry Squatter]

On 07/11/2021 at 15:35, Redder Lurtz said:

1. I cannot fucking stand this "You shit bastard aaaaaaaaaaa" when keepers take a goal kick. Cunts like Leeds fans have dragged it up from their shitty lower leagues. 

 

 

2. The "your support is fucking shit" has long been a shitstain of a chant but it now seems to be chanted by home supporters to travelling fans. I don't even know where to start with that. Again, seems to be promoted teams primarily. 

 

3. Leeds supporters in general. We don't all admire your brilliant support and style of play blah blah blah. Some of us know exactly what you are. Just fuck off back to league 1 you scummy, gobshite arsewipes. 

Leeds fans think they are the best supporters in world football. 

 

Didn't they close the top tier of their large stand for a couple of seasons then opened it when they were playing  Newcastle in a Championship decider?.

 

Their fans were utter bellends when we played them at Anfield in the League Cup a few years back. It was their first game against a big top flight club for years having been shite and wasting away in the Championship.

 

All those chants came out as well as a few sign on chants. Basically loads of them had been on the ale all day and treated going to Anfield as a cup final. Even though Anfield was a full house they seemed offended that no one was arsed about them and treated the game like every other Cup game against lower league opposition. 

[dockers_strike]

Er, no. Just no!

 

The game's lawmakers will discuss a request to increase half-time intervals from 15 minutes to 25 so that football can introduce Super Bowl-style entertainment midway through matches.

The money-spinning idea came from CONMEBOL, the South American governing body who believed it would benefit their competitions, such as the Copa Libertadores, the final of which will be played between Palmeiras and Flamengo this Saturday. 

Tweaking the laws would enable English football to likewise introduce extravagant half-time shows, such as live music midway through the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, if it wished.

Lawmakers IFAB will meet on Thursday for their Annual Business Meeting, chaired by world governing body FIFA. 

 

 

The agenda for the meeting does not mention Law 7 - the section detailing how long half time may last - but Sportsmail understands it will be discussed at the end of the virtual gathering.

It seems unlikely that CONMEBOL's request will be backed, however, with IFAB's advisory panels having already expressed their concerns that a longer period of inactivity could increase the risk of players picking up injuries.

The current laws of the game state 'players are entitled to an interval at half-time, not exceeding 15 minutes'. A similar attempt to increase the length to 20 minutes in 2009 was unsuccessful. 

FIFA were behind that push but supporters bashed it as a blatant attempt to commercialise the game and fill pockets.

CONMEBOL said their intention was to improve the spectacle for supporters, saying the television broadcast of half-time shows is greatly received in other sports around the world. 

The federation are understood to have even claimed the extra time would enable coaches to better prepare their players tactically for the second half, thereby improving the quality of the football on show.

Yet the other consideration is how much more money there would be to make from this extension, as evidenced by American football's extravaganza each year.

Half-times in the NFL tend to last around 12 minutes. In the Super Bowl, however, they can last up to 30 minutes. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10234733/IFAB-discuss-25-MINUTE-half-time-accommodate-Super-Bowl-style-shows.html

[Pete]

10 hours ago, dockers_strike said:

Er, no. Just no!

 

The game's lawmakers will discuss a request to increase half-time intervals from 15 minutes to 25 so that football can introduce Super Bowl-style entertainment midway through matches.

The money-spinning idea came from CONMEBOL, the South American governing body who believed it would benefit their competitions, such as the Copa Libertadores, the final of which will be played between Palmeiras and Flamengo this Saturday. 

Tweaking the laws would enable English football to likewise introduce extravagant half-time shows, such as live music midway through the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, if it wished.

Lawmakers IFAB will meet on Thursday for their Annual Business Meeting, chaired by world governing body FIFA. 

 

 

The agenda for the meeting does not mention Law 7 - the section detailing how long half time may last - but Sportsmail understands it will be discussed at the end of the virtual gathering.

It seems unlikely that CONMEBOL's request will be backed, however, with IFAB's advisory panels having already expressed their concerns that a longer period of inactivity could increase the risk of players picking up injuries.

The current laws of the game state 'players are entitled to an interval at half-time, not exceeding 15 minutes'. A similar attempt to increase the length to 20 minutes in 2009 was unsuccessful. 

FIFA were behind that push but supporters bashed it as a blatant attempt to commercialise the game and fill pockets.

CONMEBOL said their intention was to improve the spectacle for supporters, saying the television broadcast of half-time shows is greatly received in other sports around the world. 

The federation are understood to have even claimed the extra time would enable coaches to better prepare their players tactically for the second half, thereby improving the quality of the football on show.

Yet the other consideration is how much more money there would be to make from this extension, as evidenced by American football's extravaganza each year.

Half-times in the NFL tend to last around 12 minutes. In the Super Bowl, however, they can last up to 30 minutes. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10234733/IFAB-discuss-25-MINUTE-half-time-accommodate-Super-Bowl-style-shows.html

When that happens, that's me done then. I'll find something else to worry about and get stressed over. 

[YorkshireRed]

On 12/11/2021 at 21:09, Harry Squatter said:

Leeds fans think they are the best supporters in world football. 

Up there with the biggest load of bollocks in football.

 

If best equates to numbers, they have a murmur of an argument. They do indeed travel in great numbers, but no more than supporters of another dozen clubs in the UK. Most of the other clubs with huge travelling support don’t benefit from being from a ‘one club city’ and having possibly the largest catchment area of any club in this country. 
 

When they were last in the PL a good percentage of their home tickets were sold through local businesses at heavily discounted prices. Relegation knocked 10k off the attendance overnight and, as was mentioned before, they actually shut part of the stadium down. 
 

They absolutely have the largest percentage of complete dickheads contributing to their overall fan base. These clowns are probably quite proud of that. 
 

Their individual fan culture is non existent. You wouldn’t be able to tell a Leeds fan from a Boro, Millwall, United, Birmingham etc. They’re just clones of each other until they open their mouths. 
 

I make them the very worst supporters in English football. To be fair, I do fucking hate them so I might not be the best judge. 

[Bjornebye]

What the flying fuck

 

 

 

[YorkshireRed]

3 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

What the flying fuck

 

 

 

So we watch Kylie prancing around in her pants, rather than listen to Rio Ferdinand or Micah Richards discuss zonal marking?

 

I’m in.