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Re: 2011-12 EPL Thread
I used to like Manchester City. Can't stand 'em now! Do others feel the same way?
I used to like Manchester City. Can't stand 'em now! Do others feel the same way?
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[COLOR="Red"][B][U][COLOR="Blue"]85, 92, 97, 98, 08, 09, 10... Break the curse![/COLOR][/U][/B][/COLOR] -
Re: 2011-12 EPL Thread
Yep. Not a real team, just a bunch of thrown together mercenaries -- and it doesn't help that the ridiculous Etihad stadium deal basically means they are making a mockery of the new UEFA financial fair play rules.
I don't consider any of Chelsea's titles post-Abramovich legitimate, nor Man City's FA Cup last year -- Man U's, Arsenal's and Liverpool's reputation and money come through basically being well-managed clubs with strong internal policies around player contracts etc. and being incredibly popular internationally due to carefully preserved traditions -- these clubs actually turn profits regularly. Chelsea and Man City are essentially oil magnate playthings with tiny local fanbases, lots of bandwagoners who don't really care about the club or its history (the same people who supported Newcastle back in the '90s) and multimilliondollar balance sheet deficits. Their new personas don't even have any links to their pre-oil versions, so in a sense they are no longer the same clubs that Zola or Revie played for (respectively). For all intents and purposes, the original Chelsea and Man City are dead and they are GC17 and GWS, just with old club names.
They represent everything that is wrong with modern professional sport.Comment
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Re: 2011-12 EPL Thread
If you want to know what kit each team will be wearing in 2011-12 go to:
Historical Football Kits
Some unusual ones are:
Arsenal away
Liverpool third
Manchester United away
Newcastle third
QPR third
Sunderland away
[COLOR="Red"][B][U][COLOR="Blue"]85, 92, 97, 98, 08, 09, 10... Break the curse![/COLOR][/U][/B][/COLOR]Comment
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Re: 2011-12 EPL Thread
^^
interesting quote from the site TCD Linked to
Wonder how some clubs will fare with this.UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations come into full effect in 2014 and clubs will then be required to balance their books without recourse to large cash injections from their owners if they are to be allowed to compete in EuropeComment
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Re: 2011-12 EPL Thread
Clubs are already planning.
See my post above re: Man City's rubbish cheating Stadium Naming Rights strategy to get around it -- they're just going to out and out cheat. Man U and Liverpool are renegotiating some of their player contracts to level it out. Arsenal are just not buying anyone until their new stadium is paid off. Real Madrid is getting the Spanish government to write off some of their debts (which is weird considering that Spain as a country isn't exactly flush with cash right now), Barcelona have been quietly selling some of their younger 'assets' (players) over the European summer and balancing their cashflow by structuring their purchases in installments (they won't be handing over their first installment to Arsenal or Udinese for Cesc or Alexis Sanchez respectively until January next year at the earliest). Chelsea, the original big money club that got UEFA started on this crusade in the first place, has been preparing for this over the past 3 years.
Man City's ridiculous stadium naming deal will be the real test of the rules -- if they are not pinged, the rules are not fair dinkum.Comment
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Re: 2011-12 EPL Thread
Gunners getting rid of some players!
Along with Fab going - Vela has gone out on loan (again) and Eboue has gone to Turkey.Comment
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Re: 2011-12 EPL Thread
Nasri also going
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Re: 2011-12 EPL Thread
I thought I was watching the SPL there for a while; Dalglish, Keane, Ferguson, Moyes, Lambert, Coyle & McLeish![COLOR="Red"][B][U][COLOR="Blue"]85, 92, 97, 98, 08, 09, 10... Break the curse![/COLOR][/U][/B][/COLOR]Comment
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Re: 2011-12 EPL Thread
TCD, I think you'll enjoy Jonathan Wilson's 'Inverting the Pyramid' .. you'll see that most of the most successful and innovative coaches in English soccer have always been Scottish, and the Scots were historically always far more tactically advanced than the English, inventing 'passing' football etc. and Celtic, the first British team to win the European Cup, with attacking full-backs etc. was far more tactically advanced than their English counterparts until as recently as the late '70s. Money talks though, so most successful Scots eventually move south.
ps. Keane's Irish!Comment
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Re: 2011-12 EPL Thread
Steve Kean is without an 'e' at the end which I'm sure is where the confusion is. Roy manages in the Championship somewhere.Comment
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Re: 2011-12 EPL Thread
My mistake!Comment
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