Scott 5Roundup of the weird and bizarre in English Soccer
February 23rd 2010 04:46
So anyway there have been some strange and ultimately bizarre stories in England over the past couple of days and I thought I'd take the opportunity to highlight a few of them
Manchester United and Liverpool fans unite????
In a sensation story to come out from England, English newspaper The Daily Mail has today highlighted the radical proposal that Manchester United and Liverpool fans might unite to protest against Amaerican owners.
Manchester United have been owned by the Glazers for the past 3 years and now have debts of over $1billion (AUS) while Liverpool are also heavily in debt under the stewardship of Tom Hicks and George Gillett and adding to that, both teams are remarkably inconsistent.
This article comes as a real shock because both teams have a really strong hatred of each other. Being on the other side of the world, it's hard to have the full rundown on what makes this rivalry what it is but upon reading Wikipedia, I can now understand the passion between the two North-West cities. I also believe it got ramped up a notch with Alex Ferguson's goal to "knock Liverpool off their ****ing perch" and let's not forget Rafa Benietez's Facts Rant. That rant woke me up and now I hate Liverpool with a passion.
When you look at this story of the fans of these 2 clubs uniting though, it really is a sad state of affairs. Both teams wouldn't have to do this if they didn't have American owners running the clubs into the ground. Still, it'll be nice for Liverpool and Manchester United fans to unite, if even for a short time.
Manchester United fans encouraged to boycott team
Following on from that Liverpool/Manchester United joint protest against American owners comes this extraordinary story as a prospective buyer of the club is actually advocating Manchester United fans to boycott their team to send a message to the Glazers.
Bugger me. I know that there are a lot of issues going on between the Glazers and the United fans, but a boycott!!! That's just bloody ridiculous. Fair dinkum, I've heard some crazy ideas but you cannot under any circumstances boycott a team. That's just crazy.
Look, I, as much as anyone would love to see the Glazers out, United winning trophies and racking up massive profits invested back into the playing roster but fair dinkum, there are better ways of going about it. The Green and Gold protest where United fans are trading the Red Devils for the scarves of Newton Heath (back before they went bankrupt and became Manchester United). It brings a sense of history into this and takes you back to times lone gone.
On a serious note though, the Glazers do have to go and ASAP. If this bid works, I think there'd be a lot of very happy United fans out there and then we can get back to the task of strengthening the player list along with winning trophies.
Portsmouth Crisis
And following on from the United crisis, another day goes by and there's another issue engulfing Portsmouth. Having been granted a reprieve in winding up orders, they were then denied the right to sell players outside the transfer window to clear up their debt. Now things have frankly gotten ridiculous with Sulaiman Al Fahim announcing his resignation from the Portsmouth board as non-executive chairman following his decision to refuse to vouch for the club's finances.
According to Al Fahim, he has made repeated requests for a complete look at the Portsmouth books and relevant financial information, requests that have repeated been denied. He alledges that he has been sidelined by other members of the board and as a result he's resigned and handed over his share to a fans group.
Add to that, the frankly farcial ownership situation which sees Hong Kong businessman Balram Chainrai become the club's 4th owner in a year as a result of a clause when he loaned money to Ali Al Faraj and is rumoured to be looking to sell the club to a Sth African consortium.
At the end of the day, you'd have to say that Portsmouth have brought this on themselves but at the same time, the English FA have some explaining to do with regards to their 'Fit and Proper Persons Test' because they've accepted owners that have done nothing but screw the club further into the mire.
Next week will be the ultimate decider with regards to the Portsmouth situation you'd expect and if they can stay alive, my god, you'd have to admire their resiliance and luck
Ashley Cole faces transfer over affairs
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has had enough of the controversies that have recently dogged the club. In light of the John Terry saga, not to mention claims that Ashley Cole enlisted the help of a club official to smuggle a woman into the team hotel before matches against Hull and West Brom last season, the riot act was read to the squad by Manager Carlo Ancelotti.
It seems that there's a few skeletons in the closet of Ashley Cole because a couple of days after the riot-act, it then emerged that Cole smuggled an American girl into the team hotel on their pre-season tour of America and enlisted an official to help cover it up. Seemed that he didn't want to damage his marriage.
Newsflash: You damaged your marriage, the moment you decided to smuggle that girl into your room. You damaged your marriage, the moment you decided to engage in a coverup. You damaged your marriage, the moment you refused to tell your wife what you'd done.
Fair dinkum, people question the brains of footballers and in light of the John Terry saga not to mention this, you gotta think that they have a point.
Meanwhile, Cole is now facing a courtroom-style hearing at Stamford Bridge and woe for him if owner Roman Abramovich decides to attend this disciplinary hearing.
Sources indicate that the punishment could be one of two options
- Fine and lengthy suspension
- Transfer listed
Honestly, this could be seen as an extreme reaction but footballers are role-models and have to set the standard. If they choose to sleep around behind their partners back or whatever, they should be punished for bringing the game into disrepute. Roman Abramovich has been strong-willed in this instance and his stance has to be admired. Hopefully this can now get the message through to these misbehaving Chelsea players
Whatever way you look at it, it has been a very strange past couple of days with more strangeness to come
Manchester United and Liverpool fans unite????
In a sensation story to come out from England, English newspaper The Daily Mail has today highlighted the radical proposal that Manchester United and Liverpool fans might unite to protest against Amaerican owners.
Manchester United have been owned by the Glazers for the past 3 years and now have debts of over $1billion (AUS) while Liverpool are also heavily in debt under the stewardship of Tom Hicks and George Gillett and adding to that, both teams are remarkably inconsistent.
This article comes as a real shock because both teams have a really strong hatred of each other. Being on the other side of the world, it's hard to have the full rundown on what makes this rivalry what it is but upon reading Wikipedia, I can now understand the passion between the two North-West cities. I also believe it got ramped up a notch with Alex Ferguson's goal to "knock Liverpool off their ****ing perch" and let's not forget Rafa Benietez's Facts Rant. That rant woke me up and now I hate Liverpool with a passion.
When you look at this story of the fans of these 2 clubs uniting though, it really is a sad state of affairs. Both teams wouldn't have to do this if they didn't have American owners running the clubs into the ground. Still, it'll be nice for Liverpool and Manchester United fans to unite, if even for a short time.
Manchester United fans encouraged to boycott team
Following on from that Liverpool/Manchester United joint protest against American owners comes this extraordinary story as a prospective buyer of the club is actually advocating Manchester United fans to boycott their team to send a message to the Glazers.
Bugger me. I know that there are a lot of issues going on between the Glazers and the United fans, but a boycott!!! That's just bloody ridiculous. Fair dinkum, I've heard some crazy ideas but you cannot under any circumstances boycott a team. That's just crazy.
Look, I, as much as anyone would love to see the Glazers out, United winning trophies and racking up massive profits invested back into the playing roster but fair dinkum, there are better ways of going about it. The Green and Gold protest where United fans are trading the Red Devils for the scarves of Newton Heath (back before they went bankrupt and became Manchester United). It brings a sense of history into this and takes you back to times lone gone.
On a serious note though, the Glazers do have to go and ASAP. If this bid works, I think there'd be a lot of very happy United fans out there and then we can get back to the task of strengthening the player list along with winning trophies.
Portsmouth Crisis
And following on from the United crisis, another day goes by and there's another issue engulfing Portsmouth. Having been granted a reprieve in winding up orders, they were then denied the right to sell players outside the transfer window to clear up their debt. Now things have frankly gotten ridiculous with Sulaiman Al Fahim announcing his resignation from the Portsmouth board as non-executive chairman following his decision to refuse to vouch for the club's finances.
According to Al Fahim, he has made repeated requests for a complete look at the Portsmouth books and relevant financial information, requests that have repeated been denied. He alledges that he has been sidelined by other members of the board and as a result he's resigned and handed over his share to a fans group.
Add to that, the frankly farcial ownership situation which sees Hong Kong businessman Balram Chainrai become the club's 4th owner in a year as a result of a clause when he loaned money to Ali Al Faraj and is rumoured to be looking to sell the club to a Sth African consortium.
At the end of the day, you'd have to say that Portsmouth have brought this on themselves but at the same time, the English FA have some explaining to do with regards to their 'Fit and Proper Persons Test' because they've accepted owners that have done nothing but screw the club further into the mire.
Next week will be the ultimate decider with regards to the Portsmouth situation you'd expect and if they can stay alive, my god, you'd have to admire their resiliance and luck
Ashley Cole faces transfer over affairs
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has had enough of the controversies that have recently dogged the club. In light of the John Terry saga, not to mention claims that Ashley Cole enlisted the help of a club official to smuggle a woman into the team hotel before matches against Hull and West Brom last season, the riot act was read to the squad by Manager Carlo Ancelotti.
It seems that there's a few skeletons in the closet of Ashley Cole because a couple of days after the riot-act, it then emerged that Cole smuggled an American girl into the team hotel on their pre-season tour of America and enlisted an official to help cover it up. Seemed that he didn't want to damage his marriage.
Newsflash: You damaged your marriage, the moment you decided to smuggle that girl into your room. You damaged your marriage, the moment you decided to engage in a coverup. You damaged your marriage, the moment you refused to tell your wife what you'd done.
Fair dinkum, people question the brains of footballers and in light of the John Terry saga not to mention this, you gotta think that they have a point.
Meanwhile, Cole is now facing a courtroom-style hearing at Stamford Bridge and woe for him if owner Roman Abramovich decides to attend this disciplinary hearing.
Sources indicate that the punishment could be one of two options
- Fine and lengthy suspension
- Transfer listed
Honestly, this could be seen as an extreme reaction but footballers are role-models and have to set the standard. If they choose to sleep around behind their partners back or whatever, they should be punished for bringing the game into disrepute. Roman Abramovich has been strong-willed in this instance and his stance has to be admired. Hopefully this can now get the message through to these misbehaving Chelsea players
Whatever way you look at it, it has been a very strange past couple of days with more strangeness to come
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