The General Football Thread

I just prefer footballers to want to play football...but yes, I guess I can understand sitting on the contract. But half it, it’s still 300k a week, which he could get elsewhere and play. His kids won’t be short of shoes.

 

I agree to an extent but he’s not a 21 year old who hasn’t done anything in the game yet, he has basically won everything. He seems to prefer golf to football now anyway, maybe he’s just not interested in playing. Wouldn’t surprise me if he retired after his Real contract is finished.

Remember an interview with Ronaldinho when he was asked why his form had dropped off a cliff when he went to Milan. His response was along the lines of “I’ve won titles, World Cup, ballon d’or all by the age of 25, I cba to do it all again. I just want to be young and enjoy my money” I think he was about 26/27 at the time. He kept playing til a very old age though, think he only retired recently, just loved the party lifestyle as well so was effectively finished at the top level before 30

 

Football is a short career and Bale has achieved a lot and doesn’t want to spend a couple of years in a different country....and perhaps failing. This is a profession....it’s not an amateur game played by gentlemen on the playing field of a posh school. I understand his position...if you don’t want to be held to a contract, don’t offer it in order to entice players to your club.

 

Clearly he wants to win prestigious tournaments then, and isn’t just in it for the money

 

That's my understanding as well. In other words, for cap purposes a club like Sunderland could be spending 40m a year on players after getting relegated while all of their competitors (save for other recently relegated clubs) would be limited to 2.5m.

I'm broadly sympathetic to the aim of financial stabilization; I just think that this goes about it in a bad way. It punishes players for the profligacy of ownership without leveling the playing field. It takes without providing anything in return.

You want to level the playing field? Greater solidarity payments from the top two divisions. Some sort of revenue sharing within the divisions. You do those things, and introduce a salary floor alongside the salary cap, and you can perhaps construct a more fair structure. But simply taking that money out of the hide of the people who play the sport ain't the way to go.

 

Juventus are to choose Andrea Pirlo as their new manager......thought they would have gone for Poch.

 

When you've got Messi...

 

That's one of the great Messi goals. Which is really saying something.

 

The United game has livened up.
No goals but Utd have hit the inside of each post and the game has opened up nicely.

 

What a Save & What a shot!

 

So you admit you bought promotion. Interesting.

 

Hardly a secret. Bet you lot had the biggest budget in the 4th tier too.

 

Never have and never would have denied it. There is a strong, though not linear, relationship between a club's resources and its performance at all levels. Most teams, to a greater or lesser extent, buy success; as Libby says, you guys had a marked financial advantage over most of your competition in League 2, and eventually that got you out of the division.

 

Pompey spent more getting out of the old división 3 in 1982-83 than at present. It was a galatico squad for that particular división.

 

WTF is your avatar all about mush?...Pompey Rock?..rock bottom of the South Coast maybe..

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53729449


Celtic and Aberdeen have had their next two Scottish Premiership matches postponed after their players broke lockdown rules.

Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon demanded the cancellation after Celtic defender Boli Bolingoli flew to Spain, failed to quarantine, then played in a match.

 

My second avatar loss from last season.

 

I must admit I'm really looking forward to Wolves v Sevilla tonight. The fact that it's one leg makes it even more mouth watering.

 

That Jimenez penalty was virtually a carbon copy of Ings v Ramsdale.