Lets hope for a happier ending this weekend, but that would take some doing as we are still walking on air from last week, even though we lost it should have been a draw and we were better overall. Lets hope Koch can smack Mitrovic around on Saturday Anyway a few talking points for this weekend if you get bored of the match-day thread Loan players so far Rafa Mujica had a great end to the season smashing a few goals and came on as sub for Oviedo LDB started his 4th game on the bounce for Waregems in Belgium. Edmondson is now back in Aberdeen as Rob Price got him fixed up quicker than expected. Kun and his Spanish 2nd Division Real Union team don't start until October Grot? O'Kane is out injured again and I fear his career is now make or break. Parachute payments Because Fulham bounced straight back up they only received 1 payment which means 45% of their expected parachute payments was not paid out and the Premier league add this to this seasons overall bonus pot for the prem teams. WBA received 2 payments and that means the final 20% also stays with the premier league to be added to the bonus pot. These are not insubstantial payments and means the prem teams will get a share of circa £60m extra or around £3m per club. Parachute payments in my view are wrong and unfair and have been at the core of Leeds utd not been able to compete for 15 years. If a club is relegated they get circa £100m spread over 2 years (now because it used to be 4 years then changed to 3 years)with 55% the first season and 45% the next season if they dont bounce back up. WBA were still under the 3 payment criteria which meant 20% payment in year 3. In these challenging times of no fans many clubs will go to the wall, so wouldn't the premier League have been better to pass the £60m to the EFL? Kiko Lots of fans got riled when Kiko was found guilty by the FA of racially abusing Jonathon Leko and quite rightly so. However this was not a straight forward case and indeed took ages to put together and relied on just the 2 players word as there were no witnesses. Kiko was found guily on 'balance of probability' which goes completely against the rule of law. So on balance of probability could Kiko have called Leko a name...... So obviously this splits fans down the middle and yes some fans believe Kiko isnt good enough, but just based upon who's right and who's wrong its a 50/50 split. kalvin Phillips and Tyler Roberts are massive BLM advocates and take the knee with fists raised, fair enough, I dont agree but so what. Roberts best mate is Leko and to cap it off leko goes on holiday with Roberts, Phillips and Poveda. Then this week the players unanimously vote for Kiko to be skipper against Hull. So a closed dressing room which is very close and everyone gets along, all want Kiko as their captain. Shouldn't that override any fans anger about Kiko's guilt. We dont know Kiko but these players do?
Most on here will know my view on racist language and how unacceptable I find it. Something though wasn't right about the Kiko case and even though his defence was implausible that alone does not mean he said what he was accused of. It also doesn't mean he didn't say it and therein lay the problem. However he was found guilty of the charge and has now served his ban, he should therefore be allowed to resume his career and put it behind him as much as is possible. Parachute payments have distorted the Championship since their inception, however is there an alternative to soften the financial blow of relegation ? What irritates me more is clubs like Villa, who even with the advantage of parachute payments flagrantly disregarded Profit & Sustainability Rules and got away with it without incurring any punishment...is that not cheating ? We had to sell Pontus, Roofe and Jack Clarke (raising £22m) last summer to stay within the rules.
On Parachute Payments Jammy I think the simplest way for relegated clubs to sort out their finances is to have escalator contracts. Promotion means a pay rise of x% and relegation means a wage cut of x%. The only outstanding cost variance would be commercial deals and a so those deals should be for shorter terms. Yes some players will have been bought after promotion gained but the contract should reflect a relegation realistic wage reduction in the event of relegation. I am still fuming about the play off final between Derby and Villa when both teams were in breach of FFFP rules. Villa have been charged but no hearing date so have obviously got away with it because the Prem League refuse to deal with it. Derby got away with it right after this season ended, found not guilty? Oh could that be because Derby sit on the board or maybe because Mel Morris at Derby had a signed letter from Our old mate Harvey who said it would be ok to sell the stadium to another Morris owned company. Harvey was found to be in breach of EFL code of conduct and beat a hasty retreat with a pay off in rapid time. The EFL should be prosecuted But who has the balls to do it?
Pretty sure I read in the last few days that Kiko's defence was along the lines of 'I didn't know the meaning of the word here', which sounds suspiciously like Bellusci's defence. Different outcome. My anger about this is the way the club have handled it. If he was indeed guilty, they should have disciplined him, which may even have involved getting rid. They didn't. So, if he was guilty in an 'innocent' way, as above, the club should surely have announced the details, so the fans knew why they were taking no action. If he was innocent, the club should have fought for him. They didn't.
I don't want to turn this thread into another politics one. But the kneeling really does wind me up because I'd say a lot of players don't understand what they are doing and are being force to do it and seeing Ben White doing a far left black panther salute was embarrassing. If it was done under the banner that all lives matter well that would be different. All I see it is a **** you to all the men/women/kids who died in wars to give these anarchists the freedom they have to protest. I'm not saying anymore on this thread about it.
I agree! I honestly believe there is a huge problem with black people being mistreated in the US, right up to them being killed. Lots of vids on Youtube to back this up - not just the 'big name killings' But WTF has it got to do with us? Or the fcukers who join every riot so they can cause trouble / loot? More to the point, what's it got to do with anyone in the UK, far less high profile football players. Is the organiser stupid enough to think this is being reported in the US, and even if it is viewed by them, does it change anything? I get really angry at the kneeling thing. If you watch the Scottish footie highlights, you get the full kneeling thing - for every match! Even if I was interested, I think I'd think it was overkill. Once is more than enough. Looks like it's here for the season too. Pretty sure a similar thing happened down here when they were doing the minute for Big Jack. He got one match, the knee got every match. Bottom line though - if our team has made a team decision to do this, then everyone is obliged, to maintain team togetherness. Sadly.
Definitely guilty of impersonating a Goalkeeper mate and stealing £ 35k per week would bring jail time if it were any other fraud.
I kind of agree with a reduction of wages if relegated but I’m in two minds because think if you’re a player being persuaded to join the club. Would you consider it to be a club with ambition and confident for success if you’re being asked to insert a relegation clause into your contract? Not going to attract quality signings if you feel the need for that.
