Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The 2013-2014 Football Thread
- Thread starter Jaffa Cake
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
Wtf are you talking about?
Anyway, quite some discussions going on here (in Munich) why/how Ribery got cheated for the Ballon d'Or. I on the other hand applaud Cristiano: well done! And if it's only for the sore faces of my fellow citizens..
him winning the FIFA Ballon D'OR would have been monumental ... after all one just has to look at statistic of the 'new' FIFA Ballon d'Or since 2008 and FIFA WORLD Player of the Year since 1991
since 1991 only ONE player was awarded the trophy outside of the italian or spanish league: Christian Ronaldo himself while playing for ManUnited
apart of that ? Inter, Milan, Juventus, Barca and Real ... yes .. only players of those 5 won
i'm just waiting for "FIFA Squad of the season" including xavi, iniesta as usual
on the flip side the germans won:
-best coach: Jupp Heynckes
-best women coach: Silvia Neid
-best female player: Nadine Angerer
edit: just saw the FIFA Team .... i loled ... Xavi, Iniesta, Ramos, Alves ?
i suspect players like Dante, Martinez, Lewandowski (scored 4 against Ramos in a single CL semi final game), Müller(scored 3 goals & 2 Assists against Barca in the two CL semi final legs), Robben, Gündogan, Hummels simply played bad last season
it's like Barca getting slaughtered 7:0 was deleted from the history books
Last edited:
Seems that they might have also had something in mind like "life work" awarding. But actually I consider it right anyway that he won. Klopp does not seem to know what to to do in literally EVERY situation, he sometimes seems like "look, if this is getting any better soon" or "ok, we have had our fun, now let's go home".
Last edited:
To be fair, Aston Villa actually played well in the second half, it wasn't all about Arsenal taking their foot off the pedal. But they did let their guard down bit.
Now you're talking!
But yep, Munich fans = spoiled but ugly Shenengians!
Ribery stands out to me as a whiner and a diver. And Bayern fans have little to complain about. Why don't they just buy Ronaldo if they want a Ballon D'Or winner? They seem to be buying everyone else...
Alves and Ramos = joke. takao, there is a pretty obvious bias in the selection.
Last edited:
It looks like Clarence Seedorf is taking over at AC Milan.
http://nos.nl/artikel/597137-seedorf-als-keizer-binnengedragen.html
Of course the main problem with AC Milan goes far deeper than the choice of manager.
So, Jaffa, Allam is now apparently trying to hold the FA hostage with a threat to leave the club if the Tigers name change doesn't go through. Allam goes from bad to worse. But the man is really showing his true colors now.
If anyone sees any toys on the floor, please pop them back in Dr Allam's pram. Thanks awfully.
If anything your Lordship, outbursts like this can only help our cause - they only serve to diminish his and his idea's credibility, and I'm sure that the FA aren't going to be best pleased about him publicly issuing ultimatums to them. Certainly, making such threats would suggest that he's suddenly not that confident about them approving his plan.
As I mentioned a day or two ago, Ehab Allam met with the FA late last week to put forward their case for the name change. Judging by this latest PR masterstroke I'm guessing that the meeting didn't go quite as well as Allam Snr was hoping...
If anything your Lordship, outbursts like this can only help our cause - they only serve to diminish his and his idea's credibility, and I'm sure that the FA aren't going to be best pleased about him publicly issuing ultimatums to them. Certainly, making such threats would suggest that he's suddenly not that confident about them approving his plan.
As I mentioned a day or two ago, Ehab Allam met with the FA late last week to put forward their case for the name change. Judging by this latest PR masterstroke I'm guessing that the meeting didn't go quite as well as Allam Snr was hoping...
What would Pardew call Allam?
Could the club pay off the loans? How much does he stand to lose if it goes under?
Cheers,
OW
Could the club pay off the loans? How much does he stand to lose if it goes under?
Cheers,
OW
When he bought the club, the word was that as part of his 'gift' he was clearing the debt. What's actually happened is that one of his companies loaned the club the necessary money, meaning that we're now heavily in debt to Allam himself (or, at least, his company).
At the time the last set of accounts were published, the size of this debt was in the region of £70m - with extra costs incurred on promotion coupled with new signings this figure is now reckoned to stand at around £100m, which is being paid back with 5% interest. So that's the problem - if he 'walks away' he stands to lose a huge amount of money, and according to a local sports media chap there are apparently 'certain assurances against 'old debt' in the deal which make simply bailing out not as straightforward as some might think.
His best strategy would likely be to find a buyer either able to pay off the debt or who he would be willing to reach some sort of agreement with. I can't see a queue forming too quickly for that, however.
So basically at the moment we have a football club stuck with an owner who isn't particularly wanted, and said owner is stuck with a football club he doesn't want. Happy days, eh?
In MLS news, Columbus have signed 29 year-old USA defender Michael Parkhurst from Bundesliga outfit FC Augsburg. New England Revolution had his MLS rights, so technically we did the deal with them for him.
He's not young, but has a couple dozen USA caps to his name and should be a solid MLS defender. His transfer is probably predicated on getting more playing minutes (he didn't play much in Germany) to give him a shot at making the World Cup squad.
Seems like a decent signing for Columbus. Plenty of change for the Crew this year, I'm hoping for a positive start to the season.
It's hard to see this ending well. At best, you'll have a Mike Ashley situation with an uneasy truce between fans and owners.
He's not young, but has a couple dozen USA caps to his name and should be a solid MLS defender. His transfer is probably predicated on getting more playing minutes (he didn't play much in Germany) to give him a shot at making the World Cup squad.
Seems like a decent signing for Columbus. Plenty of change for the Crew this year, I'm hoping for a positive start to the season.
It's hard to see this ending well. At best, you'll have a Mike Ashley situation with an uneasy truce between fans and owners.
As I understand it, the worst he can do (from a supporter's perspective) is to liquidate the club. However, it's also a very bad move from his point of view as he's not going to see a great deal of the money he's owed, and the only real assets the club have - the playing staff - would likely be able to walk away from their contracts and become free agents so nothing could be recouped from them. Indeed, that's essentially how we signed Aluko for nowt.
Good job he's not making himself out to be bonkers or anything...
Good job he's not making himself out to be bonkers or anything...
fun stuff:
I read that Ibrahimovich met Klopp accidentally before a camera and Ibrahimovich asked "So, when will you get me to Dortmund?", Klopp: "I would have to sell the whole team" and Ibrahimovich said laughing "I come for free".
Nice anecdote.
I read that Ibrahimovich met Klopp accidentally before a camera and Ibrahimovich asked "So, when will you get me to Dortmund?", Klopp: "I would have to sell the whole team" and Ibrahimovich said laughing "I come for free".
Nice anecdote.
Dortmund's legal department may well be doing some research at the moment as to whether that constitutes a verbal contract.
Some good news for a change out of Eindhoven.
Bryan Ruiz is to join PSV on loan from Fulham. Just in time for the start of the season after the winter break.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/25679018
Bryan Ruiz is to join PSV on loan from Fulham. Just in time for the start of the season after the winter break.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/25679018
Ha, nice!Dortmund's legal department may well be doing some research at the moment as to whether that constitutes a verbal contract.
Liverpool have announced a multimillion-pound sponsorship deal with Dunkin' Donuts. I wonder if Jan Molby is somehow involved...
DD are probably just giving back some of the profits they made from Jan's wages
I saw this today, I do hope that this does nothing to embolden E.Allam and his name changing idea.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...as-tigers-future-remains-unclear-9063681.html
Positive brand synergy.
Enjoy these days because that sort of deal will never happen for Liverpool again if 'Hull Tigers' is approved. You can't compete with a global brand like Hull Tigers. Speaking of which...
This is most curious, given that Lord Prescott has spoken against Allam's plan in the past. What could have brought Prescott round to his way of thinking?I saw this today, I do hope that this does nothing to embolden E.Allam and his name changing idea.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...as-tigers-future-remains-unclear-9063681.html
Anyway, Prescott is more of a rugby league fan - he's a director of Hull KR who are based in his former constituency. Things got a bit dicey for them a couple of years ago, but they were bailed out of their troubles by a £1m gift. Any idea who the generous benefactor was? Here's a clue - he's also made a number of large donations to Prescott's Labour party.
Honorary Doctors have to stick together, you know.
That background makes them look like they're entombed in bedrock somewhere - which would be just as well in many Hull fan's opinion I reckon.
Speaking as someone who is preparing to begin a real doctoral studies program, I have to say that flaunting honorary doctorates irritates me to no end.
He made the mistake of not bringing any Dunkin' Donuts with which to distract Prezza after throwing the egg...
Jaffa: what are your thoughts on the Jelavic and Long signings?
Jaffa: what are your thoughts on the Jelavic and Long signings?
Last edited:
Indeed, it's rather annoying. You should only be able to refer to yourself as 'Doctor' if you've a proper doctorate you've actually earned, or are Tom Baker.
I think both are good signings and are a definite upgrade on what we currently have so far as strikers are concerned - but I am worried that we've paid over the odds for the pair of them. It would also seem that we've paid more for Long now than we were prepared to do in the last window - and his contract's up in the summer.
We've had our fingers burnt before when it comes to paying high prices for players, both in fees and wages. Let's hope that we're not stumbling down that path again. Anyway, at least Jelavic is delighted to be here!
"It was the only concrete offer, Hull was the quickest one, and after meeting Mr Bruce I decided to move here. Obviously my move from Everton to here was because of the national team."
Still, that's another £14m or so we can stick on the debt.
Well, look at the bright side...Andy Carroll cost West Ham at least £15m. Surely Jelavic and Long are better value than that.
I wonder what Jelavic's odds at making the WC squad actually are. Croatia have a pool of 8 or so more or less proven strikers they've used recently. Jelavic is about in the middle of that pecking order, going by caps.
If he's really keen on showing good form for the WC you might get your money's worth.
Last edited:
- Status