Perhaps a better indication of how competitive a league is, rather than who wins it, is the points difference between top and bottom clubs. Tony Pulumbo’s recent article on TWG has the following info:

:: England: Manchester United 69 points, Wigan 31 (-38)

:: Spain: Barcelona 84, Almeria 26 (-58)

:: Italy: AC Milan 68, Bari 21 (-47)

:: Germany: Borussia Dortmund 66, Borussia Moenchengladbach 26 (-40)

:: France : Lille 58, Avignon 15 (-45)

According to this the EPL is one of the most competitive leagues in Europe.

In any case, only boring people get bored.

Probably one of the more disappointing news recently about FFA’s A-League strategy is their signalling a reduction in number of Marquee players and the reduction in foreign players from five to four for each club with the intention of supposedly making the league more financially stable. The last thing we need is what is effectively a reduction in salary cap/spending. This can only lead to less fan interest and crowd numbers dropping further.

agga78, I disagree with the part about a cup not improving the quality of football in Australia. While this could be (debatably) true for A-League participants, lower league clubs taking part will be playing (arguably) higher quality clubs which can only improve standards at the lower tier of football. Otherwise much of what you say makes sense.

Exactly right, keeper11, you are spot on topic.

This article is intended to address the damage done by not just Foster but similar jounalists, administrators and even fans who follow his modus operandi.

Thanks for the comment Jimbo – and RedB above.

Don’t expect too many replies from me unfortunately as it seems the Roar editors in their wisdom have given me a life sentence for pre-moderation beginning a year or two ago. The delay in my comments getting through if at all means I am unlikely to have too much meaningful interaction on this site. Clap clap Zac and Zolton and the lads – well played.

And Jimbo – Chelsea for the EPL title, FA Cup and (in the bag already) youth cup. With Sydney FC also winning the double this season ‘it’s all coming up SJ’!!!

Indeed. One needs merely google “Gudjohnsen Bicycle Leeds” to find a video showing the brilliant qualities of Eidur. My favourite Chelsea goal of all time, for sheer difficulty of execution.

The information you are asking for is found here:

http://transferleague.co.uk/

Enjoy.

No need to panic about the Porstmouth problems, something similar (actually more disastrous) happened before to Leeds and the same thing happens in Leagues around the world. Even the A-League with probably one of the most restrictive salary caps in the world dissolved a club due to lack of finances. At least Leeds, Portsmouth and others did not cease to exist.

The concept of a salary cap goes contrary to the Premier League ‘Virtuous Circle’ model and would not be introduced without a complete remodelling of the league in England.

One thing that needs to be remembered is that the Premier League is the most lucrative domestic football league in the world. TV rights alone generate billions of pounds for the clubs, in addition to the benefits of lucrative involvement in Europe, unrivalled sponsorship income and other revenue streams.

I agree more or less with what Art is saying in that if a change is required then it should be a percentage of turnover. The fact that the UEFA Champions League is considering introducing penalties for clubs who spend more than their revenue shows this is likely to be the direction that is taken, if any change is required at all.

It is an anomoly in world football terms that the FFA can state that the red card will be expunged from his record.

Australia and England are the only countries in the world (in my understanding) in which FIFA has allowed special dispensation for players to appeal a sending off decision.

Under this rule in England for a straight red card, for any offence, a player has the right of appeal. The club must submit video evidence and written statements which prove the referee has made a ‘serious and obvious error’ either in law or judgement. This submission is then considered, along with the referee’s misconduct report by a four-man independent panel, who assess the evidence and reach the decision with the help of a secretary versed in technical aspects of law.
Three panel members are FA Council members; the fourth is selected from the FA’s ‘football panel’ – including ex-professionals. The onus is on the club to prove the referee was wrong. The panel can overturn the decision of a referee with a simple majority verdict if they find the referee has made a ‘serious and obvious error’, even if that is only evident from a viewing angle the referee did not have.

If the appeal succeeds, the red card remains on the record which is why technically the red card is not rescinded but more correctly the appeal for wrongful dismissal is upheld and the suspension overturned, but this does not lead to an additional ban if the player is sent off again during the season. If the appeal is deemed to have ‘no prospect of success’, an additional one or two-match ban may be added to the sentence to prevent clubs abusing the system.

KB AF, the sign of a good, nay a great team, is that they can win without even playing 🙂

Just as well the lads at Stamford Bridge are putting an extra storey on the trophy cabinet, it will be needed this year when we lift old Big Ears as well as the Premier League and FA Cup! As it is Roman Abramovich is now having to use this year’s Community Shield as a coaster due to lack of space 😆

PS That second goal by Everton’s Pienaar with a brilliant pass from Cahill was pure class. Cahill was outstanding, showing at times that he can dribble and beat players with the best of them…so much for all those people saying Cahill doesn’t have close control ball skills

David V, you obviously love football.

If you are always reading about it, watching it, writing your thoughts about it, you love football a whole lot.

So if you love it, why not write about what you love about it, not the tiny insignificant bits you hate or that annoy you.

Otherwise it’s way disproportionate to reality.

I fear no one is being absolutely, stone cold, objective about this important issue. Happily, I will fill this role on behalf of all in the interests of a fair and accurate evaluation for the ages:

Premier League Dream Team 2008/2009 (4-1-2-1-2, diamond midfield)

GK- Jose Reina (LIV)
LB- Joleon Lescott (EVE)
LCB- John Terry (CHE) ©
RCB- Nemanja Vidic (MANU)
RB- Jamie Carragher (LIV)
LM- Frank Lampard (CHE)
DM- Gareth Barry (AST)
RM- Steven Gerrard (LIV)
AM-Christiano Ronaldo (MANU)
LS- Emmanuel Adebayor (ARS)
RS- Nicolas Anelka (CHE)

Reserves:
1. Mark Schwarzer (FUL) (GK)
2. Gary Cahill (BOL)
3. Joleon Lescott (EVE)
4. Neves Denilson (ARS)
5. Steven Ireland (MANC)
6. Dimitar Berbatov (MANU)
7. Dirk Kuyt (LIV)

David V – by way of an apology for my unforgivable digs at creative football in general, here’s a link you will appreciate.

The world’s best playmakers ranking as determined objectively and meticulously by the International Federation of Football History (settle) and Statistics (IFFHS).

http://www.iffhs.de/?a433ccd423dce837ccaca7dca84505fdcdc3bfcdc0aec70aeedb8a3915

Just shield your eyes from number four (ahead of Kaka). Personally I think they made a grevious error and by mistake swapped number three for number ten. Number 18 definately reminds me of an episode of “one of these things is not like the others” on Playschool…

Enjoy!

Damn, I was trying to post a picture of it, never mind technology has defeated me once again 🙁

KB, during my recent inspection in March I expressed concerns to my good friend Roman about the lack of space in the current trophy cabinet at Stamford Bridge, and the need to increase capacity. My suggestion was to move the WAGs seating out of the Chelsea Museum and make them sit in the stands to make room for old Big Ears, but unfortunately Roman could not see eye to eye with me on that one 😉

KB, well I was happy to veer back on topic, but then bait us again by choosing to label dasilva and others “stupid and arrogant” for simply thinking it was unfair of Jesse and the Roar to sweep a critical but fair article under the carpet because it highlights an inconvenient truth notably absent from a decidedly one-sided string of articles that have been published on this site and others.

Is it really “stupid and arrogant” to stand up for what is demonstrably right when others are busily suppressing this information if it does not fit the painstakingly pieced together myth they have assembled from much so histrionics and hyperbole?

I feel a simple timeline may serve as a teaching aid to explain what dasilva and I are getting at here:

In the article from Friday July 4 2008 “Carle feels the love” on TWG site Nick Carle is quoted directly as explaining his absence from the China world cup qualifier: “I really thought it was probably best to make sure I had my week or two rest…I wanted to make sure that I’m ready for next season…so rather than missing some of the pre-season I’d rather miss that [China] game so that I can have my rest time, which is important after such a long season.”

The Tuesday after this appeared, I wrote an article “The Olympics Expose the Superficiality of Modern Football” which was critical of Carle’s decision not to play against China (and that of other Australian players to pike out on the national team) and was posted by The Roar editors on July 8 2008.

However, in a string of article both here at the Roar and on TWG, Jesse Fink constantly criticized Pim and others for Carle not being in Socceroos squads, yet NEVER ONCE mentioning the fact (as posted on his own employees website) that Carle willfully chose himself not to play for (at that stage) at least one full world cup qualifier with the Socceroos.

One such article is “All aboard Wilkshires Russian Ark” from August 2008 on the roar, in which Jesse complained “I’ll say for the record here that his [Carle’s] absence from the just-announced squad for the Netherlands friendly and Uzbekistan WCQ really is beyond the pale.”

Another is “Pim Verbeek What’s the test for Magic?” also from the Roar on August 22 2008 Jesse whinges: “But Carle again, mysteriously, inexplicably, remained unused…I’m not the Australia coach. Pim Verbeek is. And for some yet-to-be-explained reason, he still thinks Carle is a luxury he can’t afford.”

And then it happened again!

According to Mike Cockerill’s SMH article “Tashkent the Toughest Test for Prim Pim” from Friday September 5th 2008, Mike stated his opinion that many think Pim has been tough on Carle, yet was fair and even-handed enough to make the point about the Socceroos squad for Uzbekistan: “It’s worth noting the Crystal Palace playmaker is not part of this squad [against Uzbekistan] because he asked to be excused for a personal commitment.”

This is the second time made public that Carle has willfully chosen not to be selected for the national team.

SURELY Jesse would have to mention this somewhere in one of his numerous Nick Carle articles, he can’t be so blinded by sentiment that he just arbitrarily leaves out inconvenient facts that put Carle in a dubious light commitment-wise, and put the blame solely with the Pim and other individuals – after all, that would make his articles closer to propaganda, than misty-eyed, yet honest opinion, right?

Wrong.

Jesse’s next article is published on Monday 8th of September, just after Cockerill’s article from Friday the 5th, on TWG, rather incredibly entitled “That was hot stuff Pim, but what’s with Holman?” (Written in response to a Socceroos squad including Brett Holman beating the Netherlands on their own turf, with Holman playing so well that the beaten Dutch coach later admitted that his team “played well but against (Australia’s) Brett Holman they never got control”.

He continues: “How Holman continues, time and time again, to be picked ahead of Nicky Carle is one of those unfathomable mysteries of the universe that I rank alongside the presidency of George W…” etc.

Later in the October 2008 in an article melodramatically entitled “The Black Curse of Nicky Carle”, he, rather than mentioning some of the actual real reasons Carle had not been in every single Socceroos squad, eg poor form and Carle’s own willful choice not to play, we were seemingly being led to believe that it was now for some nebulous supernatural reason Carle was not in every Socceroos squad.

Jesse ranted in this article: “With our stocks so low, is a player like Carle really that dispensable? I don’t give a stuff what anyone says: Carle is one of our most gifted players and he deserves a lot more love than he’s getting at the moment from Verbeek and his coaching staff…the curse of Nicky Carle is becoming farcical…whatever Carle’s personal relationship with Verbeek, Henk Duut, Graham Arnold, Tony Franken and everyone else in the FFA inner circle, let’s hope that isn’t coming into play when they select their teams. Australian football, and Australian football fans, are being robbed of seeing one of our great talents. Verbeek could at least name Carle in a provisional squad…but he’s not even giving him that. I suspect the truth about this whole saga has a lot more to do with the coaching and cultural background of Verbeek and Duut than it does Carle. So head’s up, Nicky: you’re not doing anything wrong…” etc.

Another article, written ostensibly after just having had a coffee with Pim, also in October entitled “Verbeek and the Carle Enigma” on TWG, Jesse continued in the same old vein, “Where I disagree with Verbeek, for what it’s worth, is that his lack of opportunities or poor choice of club shouldn’t effect so greatly his representative career to the point where he’s not being picked at all”

Not being picked at all!

Why, he would have been picked for the China game, and Uzbekistan if he hadn’t said that he had better things to do, and asked to be left out.

What really irks me is, despite giving us “Curses” “Enigmas”, and “Mysteries of the Universe”, rather than at least one or two facts available in the public forum for crying out loud, and despite casting so many dire aspersions on Pim’s decision making, Arnold, Duut and others as if it was all their fault for criminally neglecting Australia’s golden boy – despite all of this, Jesse feels he doesn’t need to publically correct his incorrect statements and articles, or at the very least allude to this at some point, at sometime, somewhere in one of his subsequent articles.

Little wonder the lingering sense of frustration and injustice from dasilva, myself and others.

In “A dose of humility wouldn’t hurt Arnold’s cause” Jesse said of Graeme Arnold – rather nobly, I might add:
“Nobody is perfect; people make mistakes. To own up to an error is admirable. Australians respect candour and humility. But to …win nothing, and then skedaddle off into well-remunerated obscurity without the will, inclination or otherwise to say one word to the public about what went wrong is the height of hubris. The protection of Australian football is worth more than the protection of …ego.”

Fine words. I agree wholeheartedly.

Why then try to suppress an article that highlights such a “mistake”. Surely a public apology or retraction from someone of such obvious high ideals, let alone from someone in the employ of a taxpayer-funded website is the fitting response? Big deal that Jesse says he tried to privately apologize to Pim – clearly Pim Verbeek is someone a football journo would want to keep an amicable relationship with.

By Jesse rejecting dasilva’s article he treats all those bloggers who read his many gospels with such wide-eyed regard as of no consequence, as long as they remain pliant to his opinions, even though we are the ones, through our patronage, who are putting bread in his mouth.

Even the great Les Murray has recently re-edited his own blog article and apologized to bloggers for statements that offended some.

So, KB, has dasilva made a mistake and then apologised for it? Well (for those who think posting off topic is a mistake) yes, and yes.

So who is really “stupid and arrogant”?

Not dasilva, no. Not dasilva.

Test test…

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/english-premier-league/city-owner-wants-ronaldo-132572/

Somehow I think that Robinho’s transfer record won’t last past the next transfer window – these guys are playing with monopoly money. They may need to wait until a certain Sir Alex retires to get Ronaldo, however – all the silly money in the world would not prise away such an important player from their cross town rivals while Ferguson has a say in it.

Midfielder, you obviously don’t realise that I am a Chelsea fan too, but I think this is fantastic for Manchester City, for a number of reasons. Anything which upsets the current EPL status quo is fine by me.

“You just need not to allow cynicism…to get in the way of the enoyment of the sport.”

Good point Davo, if we did, football fans would never watch a FIFA-sponsored event due to rampant FIFA corruption.