Agree. There is also a link to what you were saying before about people cutting their own throats for a story today rather than look to the good of the game tomorrow (hope I'm not paraphrasing too much there). Basically the only concern of the media has been to show themselves to be the most ITK compared to the other publications, to be the one which by random guesswork is closest to the deal when it happens. They have absolutely no plan B to allow for it not happening, so there might be a few stories about it being Spurs fault if it doesn't happen. Their role of reporting the quality of the product has been completely lost. For example Sky would be happy to spend the close season reporting this (perhaps) non-story and then suddenly switch to its normal output of saying the PL is the best in the world etc. In other words gleefully report on the exit of one of the best players in the league whilst relying on people subscribing to that league for a lot of their income! Talk about short sighted! They have basically gone with the "four top clubs" model (together with the CL) and have no concept of revising that and considering Spurs to be on a par with that group.
Pundits and reporters (reporters! huh! storytellers might be more accurate) tend to just follow the established line. It took 4 or 5 seasons before they began to take Spurs seriously and the same amount to realise that Liverpool were just not cutting anymore.
£20m up front If we accept that then Levy needs to go. If we are gonna give RM credit then I suggest a Wonga style interest rate. Or the price doubles for instalments, so £40m a year for 5 years. They're taking the piss wanting a £80m 5 year interest free loan.
Four thousand percent interest APR. At the rate Real pay back money they owe, you'll be able to build your new stadium and buy a whole new team before the year is out.
Do we also get the money owed from the rat boy deal or do they want to knock us on the final £12'0000 payment
Seriously though, and rivalries aside for a moment, Real and Barca take the ****ing piss when it comes to transfers. They tap up their targets with a campaign through their media mouthpieces, talk about how much they admire the player etc and generally destabilse the club and player to the point where there's a battle to hold on to your own player, and what do UEFA do ? Sweet FA, they stand back and let it happen. We've been the victims of this **** for years so I know how annoying it is. Also, I think La Liga is going to be a pretty boring league to play in next season anyway. Both Real and Barca have bought players and the others have sold theirs, so it's going to be a predictable two horse race. I can understand if Bale wants to play alongside the best players in the world, but the competition he'll be in will be pretty dull compared to the PL
Them being allowed to negotiate their own tv deals has killed la liga. There isn't a chance in hell of them ever being usurped.
I think we all agree on this. It's bloody ridiculous and I would be so happy if we turned RM down and then provided a public dossier to UEFA for them to take action. Unlikely though
SD just seen the best EPL goals of last season and Bale was about half of ours and didn't he half enjoy scoring them. Especially those at the Lane V Soton & Sunderland. Just imagine how much he will enjoy having all that new talent around him.
UEFA have done **** all about it in the past, so I would expect the same to follow suit regarding Bale.
I wouldn't get too exited yet. Jesting about Wonga-style interest rates is cool but in truth, money has never been so cheap to borrow. We might not be willing to lend them the money but someone else might.
There's talk that Levy's so pissed off with the way they've hyped this up so publicly, that he's told them to **** right off. Fair play to him. This might seem optimistic, as we all know that the big boys get what they want, but I actually think we might hang on to Bale, as he's not the sort to push the transfer through. He loves it at spurs and loves the fans. If levy stands his ground, there may just be a chance of keeping Bale, as very few chairmen are as tough as levy.
"So, Mr Blatter, here's all the information about how Real have blatantly and systematically tapped up Gareth Bale for about 6 months after doing the same to Modric last season. Would you care to do anything about it?" please log in to view this image "No." - Sepp Blatter, Real Madrid fan, honourary member and recipient of their gold and diamond award.
and with real Madrid being the most valuable club in the world and 2nd only to the dallas cowboys for operating income, that probably goes some way to securing loans.