Steven McBain's Roar Profile

Unless I’m wrong I think he has said that he won’t play for Australia at the next WC and given he’d be 39 at the next Asia Cup I think it’s safe to say for the most of us we won’t see him on the biggest stages again.

I know little about Shanghai’s footballing status I have to admit, is there any prospect of Asian Champions League for him?

Anyhow, cracking player and I’ll miss not seeing him play regularly. Thanks again for reading mate.

Editor – any chance I could get this moved across to the football section please!?

Vas cheers for reading the piece and the sentiments!

Nick I tend to agree with you as I often do. If you start going through the list you simply end up striking all the potentials off. I was reading another piece saying the only two clubs that could actually afford it would be Real or United, no one else can get near it as they don’t have the revenues. He’s basically impossible to transfer which is I’m sure as Barca intended it.

I think if United were an Adidas team and not on Nike you may see some legs to the story but that’s a non starter as they with Nike. Real I just don’t think Messi himself would countenance and I don’t think Chelsea even with help from Adidas could make it work under FFP.

I think he’ll see out his best years at Barca and then if the MLS is still going and getting stronger you could see Adidas pushing him towards the Galaxy but that would surely be 5 years and beyond from here.

So you don’t reckon he’s going to turn up at QPR then!?

William I agree it’s highly unlikely. As I mentioned above he’s almost impossible to actually transfer. I know Luis Figo found his way to Real but I honestly couldn’t see it happening with Messi although it would be fascinating to watch it play out!

Am presuming he wouldn’t want to play in Ligue Une which really just leaves you with the Premiership. I’d presume we could include City in the list of suitors (although granted their revenues aren’t as high as the others (yet).

I don’t see that Chelsea can afford it given their income so only really leaves United assuming they’re back on course to return to the Champions League. Presumably they’d have to sell before they could buy however………..

I honestly think that even if anyone wanted to put it together, with FFP it simply doesn’t work…….

Luis thanks for the insight and thanks for reading the article. Do you think that would be at all viable for any of those guys? Would presumably require huge private funding from somewhere?

I’ve also just realised I experienced mild brain fade and missed off some of the notes I had scribbled down prior.

I left out the paragraph regarding Barca’s transfer ban meaning that if they were to sell Messi right now they can’t do anything in terms of ‘re-stocking’ for the time being which renders the whole thing even more improbable.

My apologies, I clearly need my wife to start pre-editing things prior to submission!

PM that’s the thing. I think in the era of FFP he’s almost ‘untransferable’ and Barca have probably done a lot to ensure that. I was attempting to address that by looking at the commercial angle, shirt sales etc but I honestly have no idea of the sums involved. Although am sure there’s a few people with calculators and spreadsheets out…….

DT, where I would get suspicious is if I heard stories linking him with either Melbourne City or New York City……… as then you know he’s definitely going to Manchester!!!

Cheers for reading the piece mate.

Steve it’s all a bit of maneouvering on Messi’s part probably with a clear and designed end – to strengthen his position at Barca.

The fact that his wife adding Chelsea on instagram constitutes a story tells you more about society today than it does about where he wants to play football.

I was listening to Sid Lowe’s take on it this morning and he strongly suggests this is Messi flexing his muscles within the club as you suggest also and that he’ll be a Barca player next season still.

Cheers for reading the piece.

Rick, you’d have to reckon that if someone came along and offered say 200M Euros (that’s double Bale money) then Barca would have to say yes? With FFP it’s unlikely but maybe would have been interesting 2-3 years back if City or PSG had come calling with that kind of loot.

For sure there will be agents and hangers on out there doing lots of sums on the back of fag packets…. Cheers for reading the piece…..

Pete, it’s a very good question and impossible to answer I suppose other than for the person himself.

What I do think is that Messi’s ego isn’t too shabby either. As Steve comments above, he is effectively dictating to Barca who should be in charge at both board and manager level.

Am sure his and his wife’s instagram promptings are nothing more than a nudge to the hierarchy but I think that whilst his image is somewhat more benign than Ronaldo’s, I don’t think he’s at all less selfish or single minded.

Rick I made the point in a previous article that as you say, Ferguson indeed focused very much on attacking. I always felt he was slightly one dimensional tactically in that he didn’t really know how to do anything else. For instance when he tried to integrate Veron (who at the time was a SUPREME deep lying playmaker) and adapt United from a 4-4-2 in Europe, he simply couldn’t do it.

However, what Ferguson did do I feel was recognise that United were very open and responded by consistently signing top class defenders breaking the record in the process for Pallister, Stam and Ferdinand as well as signing guys like Vidic and having Gary Neville to call upon. They also had Roy Keane in front of them.

The key as you said straight up is balance. Cheers for reading the piece.

Johnno that’s an interesting point you make given I also pointed out that the bulk of his success came in the 90s.

You could take a manager such as George Graham who enjoyed wonderful success with Arsenal and was clearly a good manager. Yet after his ‘bungs’ rehabilitation he increasingly became less relevant at both Leeds and Spurs, his football just seemed archaic.

I’m not so sure you can place LVG in that category yet as he was lauded at the World Cup for his tactics, especially the demolition of (a woeful) Spain.

But again, is this more about his relationship with the press (ala Harry Redknapp) than a reality of his tactical nous?

Definitely worth thinking about mate. Cheers for reading.

Aladdin, I probably should have tipped more of a nod to the injury situation which is undoubtedly a problem.

I think my issue with United’s defence is I look along the line at Rafael, Jones, Smalling, Evans, Rojo and I’m just not convinced by any of them at the HIGHEST level. I do think Luke Shaw will progress. Smalling for me is not United standard and I don’t know with Phil Jones, he looks a wonderful prospect but at some stage he has to stop getting injured and tie down a position and then we will see.

I actually think their make shift defence with ten men functioned very well at the weekend but with Rojo and Smalling on the pitch, both could easily have been sent off as well as a couple of penalties before we even got to the second half.

I think a lack of tactical cohesion ahead of that defence is pressuring these guys immensely also.

Cheers for reading the piece Aladdin.

Cheers JB and thanks for taking the time to write such a thoughtful and complete comment. I actually felt a bit unhappy with my article as I didn’t really reach my own conclusion but that’s maybe as it’s just too early too call.

I really have to say I’ve taken to Van Gaal on a personal level but I’m still waiting to see the tactical master at work!

Melbourne it’s an interesting one. I grew up in Aberdeen in the 80s and Rangers were hopeless for most of it and Celtic were pretty mediocre. It made for a wonderful league with Aberdeen and Dundee United both winning it and Hearts chucking one away on the final day.

I think the overall product in Scotland right now would be bobbins regardless, it’s in a huge trough and you can see Celtic in steep decline now as they get sucked back towards everyone else.

With a weak Rangers, a weak(er) Celtic, who knows if the clubs rebuild properly, concentrate on youth and building from the bottom up, we might end up with a renaissance in Scottish football.

I’m probably talking more out of hope than probability but overall I think this is something that Scottish football needed to go through. Guys like Hibs and Hearts in the 2nd tier also now have been way to complacent also.

Could be a good thing in the long run?

FU, some good points but I’d make a couple of my own.

I think going back years and years clearly there’s a decline in atmosphere but I’d suggest there’s a huge difference in atmosphere in Chelsea between the 90s and now and I assure you, Stamford Bridge wasn’t full of people in flat caps then and if you index link it I bet the tickets are about the same price. Your wider point is well made though.

Again however, I do take issue with you saying with regard to foreign fans ‘people who have no right to support our clubs’. I find that a very dated statement mate sorry and where do you draw the line, can people from London (they take the mickey out the Surrey mob) not support Manchester United because they’re not from the Northwest.

I know the guys who run the Chelsea Supporters Club here in Singapore very well and I can assure you they are true and passionate fans. Yes they don’t go to many games as it is hideously expensive as an overall trip and very time consuming, but they save up and go as often as they can.

There are hundreds if not thousands of Irish fans who come over to watch Celtic, United, Liverpool etc every week and we’ve been reading above out the English converts to German football travelling every week.

I really don’t think you can just say that because a fan is foreign that they ‘have no right’ and I honestly don’t know what constitutes ‘our club’ when that club is happy to take money from anyone all over the world, those days have gone.

Melbourne, I think that is about as eloquently and as accurately as I’ve heard anyone put forward the argument. Well said mate.

Cheers CM, we’re a regular mutual appreciation society, a prime example of rival fans who could sit together!

Kasey, again thanks for reading the article. You make many of the same points as the other guys.

The point about the terracing is a hotly debated topic in England in particular. I personally have no issue it with but the weight of the Hillsborough effect is massive, real political hot potato.

The points you make about how things have moved on in terms of safety standards on terraces are 100% correct I know and I personally find it staggering that Hillsborough still retains so much influence over modern day affairs (other than the justice campaign), but like you I expect to be shouted down also…….

The point about Chelsea’s capacity is a good one. Personally, my opinion is that if they expand the stadium they will struggle to fill it most weeks. If they put in terracing then it doesn’t achieve the monetary effect they want due to cheaper tickets but they would potentially fill it.. What they want however is more high end ticket sales and hospitality, they’re not bothered about the atmosphere.

I think everyone can see that the German model is fabulous and works wonderfully for the fans. England has however gone down a different path where it’s simply about money and not about entertainment other than getting to see the best players on the pitch.

The matchday ‘experience’ is certainly not what it once was, which makes me sound old I know.

Dave I think in any sport, once the ‘competition’ element is removed it gets stagnant, it’s all too familiar. I feel international cricket is suffering big time from this also in the test arena. England, Oz and India just want to play a round robin against each other and with no promotion or relegation, you have entirely empty stadiums for many many games.

Back to football though, the point you make about the salary cap is well made I think. EU law prohibits anything like this but I look at US sport and the crowds are generally excellent and there is huge movement between the teams each year making it genuinely exciting.

As you mention, the community element is now non exsistent.

Cheers for reading the article.

SuperE, thanks for taking the time to read the article.

I have to say the atmosphere at Anfield certainly always comes across well on tv and you get the sense that there is far more noise from the ‘off’ than at other grounds. Maybe it’s the anthem that gets everyone in the mood………….

Kasey and CM, cheers for reading the piece and the feedback. I have to say that I’m a ‘home’ fan, always have been. I’ve been to plenty of matches where I’ve been supporting the away team but incognito should we say rather than in with the away fans.

I think you both make very valid points and with regard to the beer, my own volume at home matches always had a direct correlation with what time I got to the pub prior!

The topic that CM mentions about away fans travelling to Germany is an excellent one and just shows you how fans can mix and enjoy themselves. I did read that there are over 1,000 fans travelling from the UK for every Dortmund home game. Really tells you something about just how right Germany are getting things and how wrong the UK is.

My one true experience as an away fan was at Wembley in 1999 when Scotland played England 2-0 down from the first leg in Glasgow. I was a lone Scot amongst the masses (there was a large Scottish contingent in the away end where I was not) sitting quietly with my tartan scarf on.

Don Hutchison popped up to score a header to make it 1-0 to Scotland and I do confess I stood and gave a wee cheer. I was grabbed, punched, spat at and then ejected from the stadium ‘for my own safety’. Ho Hum!

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