The 2024-2025 Football Thread

[Apple fanboy]

You couldn't be more true. The evidence is clear to see, the sponsors pay more money to sponsor them. Whilst broadcaster deals are limited because of the Premier league owning the rights to televised premier league games, the club is not limited to other games which they show on their own MUTV channel, other cup games, the women's games, reserve games, youth cup games, training videos, interviews and much more. This generates a huge income for the club. Last year it was reported that United's marketing and merchandising profits had increased. All this money coming in year after year whilst the club performs badly year after year. United must be one of the only clubs in the world who can pull in massive amounts of profits on other areas of the club whilst performing badly on the pitch.

It used to be a case of many many years ago that a team performing badly meant tickets sales were down, so was merchandising sales and sponsorship deals were down. United have bucked that trend completely which is why I agree with your post because the Glazers have seen that the commercial side of United is still very profitable if the club does good or bad, thus if they win trophies that's good because it means a bit more money. If they do badly, so what because the fans will still pay to watch them and will still purchase their merchandise.

Just look at the league attendances for the past number of years, United come top every year with attendances close to their stadiums maximum and this is for a club that has continued to perform poorly over the years but yet fans still fill out the stadium to watch them. How many years have fans heard about the dilatating state of Old Trafford? but yet fans still go to the ground even when they know how bad the ground is.

United fans are not punishing the club for their poor performances and that is a problem because they still buy tickets to the game and they still buy club merch. When a club has that much fan devotion it is no wonder the Glazers do not want to give up control of United because it brings the family far to much money.

I remember watching a fan youtube channel 2 years ago that went into financial details of the club and what was astonishing is that the Glazer family have not spent any of their own money on the club, not a penny. It has all come from loans and money created from the commercial side of the club. Such a disgrace in my opinion.

So I read Newcastle were looking at a billion to rebuild St James Park.
If Utd had spent that on their ground they would not see a return on that investment for decades. As you point out, with a sub standard team and stadium they are doing well financially.

I think eventually it will swing away from being the cash cow it is now. But that’s exactly when the Glazers will be off.

We face Ipswich today. Already feels like a six pointer for us the way we have started the season.

Come on you Irons!

 

[laptech]

So I read Newcastle were looking at a billion to rebuild St James Park.
If Utd had spent that on their ground they would not see a return on that investment for decades. As you point out, with a sub standard team and stadium they are doing well financially.

I think eventually it will swing away from being the cash cow it is now. But that’s exactly when the Glazers will be off.

We face Ipswich today. Already feels like a six pointer for us the way we have started the season.

Come on you Irons!

The bit in bold got me to remember something I read a few months about Old Trafford being repaired or rebuilt. The article I read mentioned that INEOS is looking to either repair or rebuild Old Trafford and that they were looking for money to come from private backers as well as grants/funds that could be obtained from the government that is designed to help local towns and cities. The government stepped in an said not a single penny of tax payers money would be spent on repair or rebuilding Old Trafford as that responsibility falls squarely on the clubs owners. And guess what, talk about repairing or rebuilding Old Trafford has completely stopped and it's obvious to see why because it would mean the Glazers having to use their own money to repair or rebuild the ground, something the Glazer family is not prepared to do. INEOS does not have the funds to go it alone. The Glazers are not going to use their own money so INEOS want to the government looking for grant money because INEOS PR people said rebuilding Old Trafford would benefit the city of Manchester with new shops, hotels, and other community ventures but the government said no.

The ONLY way Old Trafford is going to have money spent on it is if the Glazers are forced out and get new owners in who would fix the stadium. Ironic isn't it that the Qatari bidders were going to do just that, buy the club, get rid of any debts and build a new stadium fitting of the clubs status but they refused to pander to the Glazer family wanting £6 billion for the club, £5 billion for the club and £1 billion to clear off all the loans that the Glazers used to buy the club. The Glazers wanted £6 billion so they could walk away without owing money to anybody.

If Newcastle owners do build a new ground, good for them because that is what owners should be doing, helping the club to grow, not like the Glazers hoover up all the money for themselves letting the infrastructure to rot around them.

You watch, if Old Trafford get's into an even worse state and the local council start issuing safety orders to force repairs through, the Glazers will put the club up for sale again or try to sell it all to INEOS because they just will not spend any of their own money on the club.

 

[daneoni]

We face Ipswich today. Already feels like a six pointer for us the way we have started the season.

Come on you Irons!

Comfortable in the end

Meanwhile Wolves/O'Neil now under pressure

And City look surprisingly wobbly. Fulham deserved a point.

'Pool remain dark horses

 

[Apple fanboy]

Comfortable in the end

Meanwhile Wolves/O'Neil now under pressure

And City look surprisingly wobbly. Fulham deserved a point.

'Pool remain dark horses

I’ll certainly enjoy the highlights this evening. Not looking good for Ipswich though. We are hardly the toughest test they will face this season.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

A happy (if somewhat distracted) Gunner here, this evening.

 

[pachyderm]

1 - 2

We needed that one!

 

[daneoni]

THink the top 3 of the EPL have separated themselves from the pack

4th place is up for grabs but no one seems to want it really

But fairly certain Spurs and Villa will miss out.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

THink the top 3 of the EPL have separated themselves from the pack

A little early perhaps, to suggest this, but I must admit that the exact same thought occurred to me when I examined the league table (closely) last night.

4th place is up for grabs but no one seems to want it really

Indeed.

But fairly certain Spurs and Villa will miss out.

On current form, yes, most likely.

 

[daneoni]

City score a victory of EPL when it comes to governing commercial deals between companies and clubs

Not a great start for the EPL

 

[laptech]

This was the case Man City brought against the EPL for the changes the EPL brought in from 2019. City winning will allow them to now have unlimited sponsorship deals and there will be nothing the EPL can do about it. Yes other PL clubs will complain because it will mean they have no chance of competing on a fair level because City will be able to buy all the best players in the world when they got sponsorships deals worth billions.

This win for City is damaging for the EPL in more ways than one because if the EPL find them guilty of any of the 115 charges against them, City's lawyers will argue that the EPL is taking revenge out on City because of losing the APT case. I guarantee you their lawyer will use that tactic against the EPL.

This is how it will go:
'City are appealing their fines/points deductions because they feel they are being unduly punished by the EPL for their recent court win against the EPL'

Even if the EPL say their decisions have nothing to do with the APT ruling against them, City's lawyers will still try and convince an appeals judge/panel that the level of the EPL's punishment was in response to losing the APT case.

 

[laptech]

Read an article today about Pep Guardiola planning to leave Man City because he once said in an interview with the Manchester Evening News (MEN), and I quote '"I have been eight years at Man City and I will not be here for eight more years, that is why [I said] I am closer to leave than stay,"'

This got me thinking, both Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger carried on being the manager of their clubs for A) as long as the club wanted then or B) until they could do the job no more. Both men stayed at the clubs to win more trophies and awards of which both managed to do many many times. I therefore wonder why Pep Guardiola would not want to do the same. He clearly has the club owners and bosses backing him, he has a massive pool of money he can dip into for transfers so why would he want to give all that up? He has the potential to make City the most successful club in the history of the sport so why give it up? why not stay and win more league titles than Man United?, why not stay and win more FA Cups than Arsenal?, why not stay and win more European cups than Liverpool. For some reason Pep Guardiola does not seem to have the passion to do any of that (referring back to the MEN interview).

 

[timber]

Guardiola contrary to the other two was already extremely successful and an accomplished manager when he arrived at City.
He doesn't need City to be a contender as best manager ever (or whatever similar competition). He was hired because he already was that.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Read an article today about Pep Guardiola planning to leave Man City because he once said in an interview with the Manchester Evening News (MEN), and I quote '"I have been eight years at Man City and I will not be here for eight more years, that is why [I said] I am closer to leave than stay,"'

This got me thinking, both Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger carried on being the manager of their clubs for A) as long as the club wanted then or B) until they could do the job no more. Both men stayed at the clubs to win more trophies and awards of which both managed to do many many times. I therefore wonder why Pep Guardiola would not want to do the same. He clearly has the club owners and bosses backing him, he has a massive pool of money he can dip into for transfers so why would he want to give all that up? He has the potential to make City the most successful club in the history of the sport so why give it up? why not stay and win more league titles than Man United?, why not stay and win more FA Cups than Arsenal?, why not stay and win more European cups than Liverpool. For some reason Pep Guardiola does not seem to have the passion to do any of that (referring back to the MEN interview).

Have you ever been to Manchester? Where would you want to live? Manchester with the rain and cold or somewhere warmer?
Sir Alex was from Scotland. Manchester probably feels like the tropics!

 

[Lioness~]

Womens Champions League - notable’s:

-Pernille Harder hattrick in 13 minutes for Bayern against Arsenal 5 - 2

-Hammarby won their match against St Pölten (probably the only one they will win in their group) but great nevertheless 2 - 0

-Barça loses against Man City - Miedema is so important for M City, even if she didn’t score, and Barça have a new coach this season - the earlier assistant coach. It can matter 2 - 0

 

[daneoni]

Womens Champions League - notable’s:

-Pernille Harder hattrick in 13 minutes for Bayern against Arsenal 5 - 2

-Hammarby won their match against St Pölten (probably the only one they will win in their group) but great nevertheless 2 - 0

-Barça loses against Man City - Miedema is so important for M City, even if she didn’t score, and Barça have a new coach this season - the earlier assistant coach. It can matter 2 - 0

Barca might be getting complacent and failing to respond to certain tactics.

I hope Miedema stays fit for the whole season. Incredible player to watch.

 

[laptech]

England losing to Greece 2-1 in the Nations League has got the UK press in a flap because they are not getting the response(s) they want from caretaker manager Lee Carsley In the post match interview you could see they were trying to get him to slip up by asking him a) does he want the job and b) has this loss affected his chances of being given the job full time. Carsley did not take the bait. The thing is, Carsely has never said he wants the job but he has also he said he does not want the job either. The UK press cannot stand this because it's obvious to see from their post match questions what they want to write about, they want to write about Carsely wanting the job but of blowing it due to Greece loss.

Interesting thing to note, one of the biggest complaints fans had against Southgate is that he would not play a fast attacking style of football even though he had the players to do it. Carsley plays that style of football against Greece and they lose.

 

[timber]

Nice game from Pavlidis. His release clause is 100MEUR for anyone looking for a striker.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Nice game from Pavlidis.

Indeed.

His release clause is 100MEUR for anyone looking for a striker.

Ah, inflation........

 

[timber]

It's a steal. We already sold Darwin for 75+25 (easy 90) so it's a great deal. And then Ramos to PSG.

It will happen again soon. We never get to keep anything nice.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

It's a steal. We already sold Darwin for 75+25 (easy 90) so it's a great deal. And then Ramos to PSG.

It will happen again soon.

Indeed.

This is the unfortunate fate of many small (reputable, hard-working) clubs, clubs that recognise, and take the time to develop and nurture talent.

Regrettably, they are sometimes seen (though, not by their fans) as not much more than a conveyer belt, or a nursery, for the larger (and better resourced) clubs to rob and raid and plunder.

We never get to keep anything nice.

Perhaps the money is considered preferable?

Smaller clubs must seize whatever opportunities present themselves, because the system as currently constructed benefits the larger (and better resourced and wealthier) clubs to such a great extent.

After all, even in these inflationary times, €100m is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[laptech]

Nice game from Pavlidis. His release clause is 100MEUR for anyone looking for a striker.

He is not worth that price in my opinion. Yes he is a good striker but no where near a 100 million euro striker. He had one very good season with Dutch team AZ and that is it so far, the rest have been mediocre for a striker. Anyway, those type of clauses are there to prevent teams from pinching players, they are not a true measure of a players actual value.

 

[timber]

Indeed.

This is the unfortunate fate of many small (reputable, hard-working) clubs, clubs that recognise, and take the time to develop and nurture talent.

Regrettably, they are sometimes seen (though, not by their fans) as not much more than a conveyer belt, or a nursery, for the larger (and better resourced) clubs to rob and raid and plunder.

Perhaps the money is considered preferable?

Smaller clubs must seize whatever opportunities present themselves, because the system as currently constructed benefits the larger (and better resourced and wealthier) clubs to such a great extent.

After all, even in these inflationary times, €100m is nothing to sneeze at.

We can't really not sell, any EPL (or similar) club will dangle a 10 million per year contract on front of a player and that's more or less double what we can afford for one or two stars in the team.
So even if we have him covered in a 5 year contract we will end getting nothing as performance will plummet.


PS: It's funny we are talking about this because it seems that the idea now is to get the talent sourcing the talent directly. It's kind of smart.

Fabrizio Romano on Instagram: "🚨 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄: Manchester City’s new director of football will be Portuguese director Hugo Viana, joining the club in 2025 from Sporting 🔵🇵🇹 As revealed on Tuesday, Viana’s on top of Manchester City list… and the agreeme

168K likes, 686 comments - fabriziorom on October 11, 2024: "🚨 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄: Manchester City’s new director of football will be Portuguese director Hugo Viana, joining the club in 2025 from Sporting 🔵🇵🇹 As revealed on Tuesday, Viana’s on top of Manchester City list… and the agreement to join is...

www.instagram.com

BTW, Sporting's manager would be perfect for MU.

He is not worth that price in my opinion. Yes he is a good striker but no where near a 100 million euro striker. He had one very good season with Dutch team AZ and that is it so far, the rest have been mediocre for a striker. Anyway, those type of clauses are there to prevent teams from pinching players, they are not a true measure of a players actual value.

Exactly, that's the "if you are serious bring cash" number. If he gets a good stride going on or if some more money than brains manager fancies him he will probably go for 65 or something like that.

 

[Lioness~]

Barça came back to 'themselves' in their match against RCD Espanyol today.
1 - 1 after 1st half, and then they woke up.

The match ended 7 - 1 to Barça.

 

[Silencio]

BTW, Sporting's manager would be perfect for MU.

Amorim has long been at the top of my list. Will be interesting to see if INEOS sees it the same way.

 

[laptech]

Amorim has long been at the top of my list. Will be interesting to see if INEOS sees it the same way.

INEOS would go for Southgate in my opinion. He'd be cheap because he has not won anything and he is also good mates with one of the board room staff because they used to work together. He already knows a number of the players due to having worked with them in the England squad which means he would not be coming in completely unprepared unlike other managers who would have to work from scratch having never worked with the players before. Southgate would also be coming in with a huge list of contacts, managers, agents, club owners, sporting directors, a huge resource that other managers would not have, resource that he could call open to help him and the club. That sort of thing can be highly attractive to a club, someone with lots of useful contacts in the game.