Wednesday
Couple of good links on the Guardian site today:
David Conn with a terrific look at the Man City situation. I’d heard the rumours, but hadn’t realised what a potential mess they’re in. It sounds as if a lot of the incoming transfers haven’t been paid for (initial payments only), and that Thaksin’s money is no longer available, so the team’s in a spot of bother. No great surprise, and in some ways it’s tempting to gloat at the fools blindly chasing money, but a) don’t we all do that and b) this could probably have happened to any club. Sad for the game, very sad for City fans.
The other thing that interests me today is the quiet implosion of West Ham Utd. If ever a team was looking like a ’shock’ relegation candidate it’s West Ham. Yes they have some good players but as the league moves on you need to keep getting better. West Ham are getting worse. They lined up:
Green; Behrami, Davenport, Upson, Neill; Faubert, Parker, Noble, Etherington; Cole, Ashton
against Wigan. There are some good players there, particularly up the middle, but still that’s a team in danger, especially if it keeps on selling. On early form they’ll miss Zamora and Paintsil.
Back later with Cup tie reaction.
Interesting article on Man City makes you wonder how many people suffered for Abramovich to make his billions or even how Al Fayed made his money before buying Harrods. I don’t know how you stop what is happening to Man city I guess looking at any official history of human rights abuse could be a good starting point for a character reference.
The reaction of Man City’s board to what was as obvious to everyone else as Jimmy Hill’s chin is said. It reminds me of the Clinton mantra “I did not know; I was not told; mistakes were made.” I wonder if they’ll get a 25-point deduction over their current financial shenanigans, or are PL sides exempt from those rules? Silly boy; if EPL sides had to follow the rules, West Ham should have been in the CCC last season.
Speak of, when the Hammers lost access to their charter jet during their pre-season tour of the US [their kit sponsor must have loved that], I knew something was up. It was pretty clear that their ownership were affected by the international mortgage scandal, and that there was little “there” there in terms of real financial backing. In our “predict the final table” competition over on FulhamUSA, I was probably the only person who picked them for relegation this season. With their sale of Ferdinand yesterday, and their previous clearances, this does look more like a side that has just been relegated than one with European ambitions.
I really have little pity for either board or set of supporters — Man City because they ignored the obvious & West Ham becuase they so obviously flouted the rules before without punishment.
For what it’s worth, that article on Wet Spam puts the breakdown of the Zamora-Paintsil deal at £4.8m for Zamora, £1.5m for Paintsil. I’m not sure if that’s anything official or just an estimate, of course.
That’s interesting Josh – That’s exactly what I used on my Squad Details page on HEC. It was a total guess on my part, you don’t think …
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pQO0zjOSc-YsR1J__KsgVCw
Excellent article on City.
Incidentally I did enjoy watching Chris Coleman on Sky Sports “apologising” for harassing Phil Dowd.
He looks like an absolute pure nut when he’s angry! Miss those heavy Welsh eyebrows from time to time…
Rich & Colin and anyone else who likes stats and number crunching you might be interested in this article.
http://footballobjective.blogspot.com/2008/08/premiership-prospectus-20089-fulham.html
Seems to pick up on similar stuff you guys have spotted already but thought you might like to take a look.
What a finish today. Wish I could have actually seen it.