The BAROMETER

[Wakefield White]

Have to say I have some sympathy for city... or rather I think the rules are a bit shit.

I’m all for the prevention of cunts like risdale ‘living the dream’ on store cards and pay day loans but if some rich business man wants to splash cash as investment why should that be a problem? As long as they put it in as cash and not as a loan I don’t see any problem.

The rules as they stand suit the very biggest clubs and that doesn’t feel right.

[the flying pig]

i don't much like FFP, but whilst it's here am very much in favour of its proper enforcement. if guilty of a seroius breach then i very much hope they get what they deserve.

[Phil LUFC]

Have to say I have some sympathy for city... or rather I think the rules are a bit shit.

I’m all for the prevention of cunts like risdale ‘living the dream’ on store cards and pay day loans but if some rich business man wants to splash cash as investment why should that be a problem? As long as they put it in as cash and not as a loan I don’t see any problem.

The rules as they stand suit the very biggest clubs and that doesn’t feel right.

This (ish)*.

i don't much like FFP, but whilst it's here am very much in favour of its proper enforcement. if guilty of a seroius breach then i very much hope they get what they deserve.

And very much this.

*I'm in favour of fairy tale stuff like Jack Walker investing his fortune in his beloved Blackburn, building a truly great team and winning the league - less so the long decline afterwards. I think rich owners should have to put the cash in but also take a big leap further and ring fence a surplus to ensure all player contracts are covered until they expire, protecting the club should the owner get bored/go bust/die.

I'm also in favour of creating healthy competition, FFP in some form could potentially create that**. If left to the biggest clubs to decide on the rules/do what they want then it can lead to extremes such as in Scotland where the greed of Rangers & Celtic starved everyone else to the detriment of the league, which IMO is a big factor in why Rangers went bust and why Celtic are looking at 9 straight titles - where's the fun in that?

**I'd favour a system tied to wage capping of some form or another, eg: Whatever is the minimum between 100% club turnover and 70% of division average turnover (allowing smaller clubs to speculate a little to boost their own turnover and encouraging clubs to spend more on transfers locally than abroad to effectively boost their own budget vs CL competitors). I''m aware this is massively flawed in many ways, not least because of the potential to have big sponsorship deals and players paid indirectly. I've not really thought this through but some sort of coefficient relating to the wealth of the domestic league coupled with individual club financial health.

[eric olthwaite]

Random thoughts: historically, the fact that Barca and Real were / are bordering on council-funded suggests a bit of unevenness here, no?

What of PSG then? Are they going the same way?

[eric olthwaite]

Good to see that Cess can be beaten. And the boy Haaland will be heading somewhere for £100m+ before long.

[dirty leeds]

They'll appeal and the ban will be reduced to 12 months.

Yep.

[Phil LUFC]

The boy can run too!

[Blackwhite]

The boy can run too!

Kinnell!

[dirty leeds]

Spuds v RBL match was interesting.
First half, RBL were very good. Spent a lot of the first 45 admiring how they switched formations, mostly depending on whether they had the ball or not, from 3-4-3 to 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 to 3-4-1-2. Amazing to watch, as they all seemed to know exactly when each was required.
Made Spuds look v pedestrian.
Second half, though, when Jose switched to 4-4-fucking-2, RBL weren't so hot. They still had some great chances - missed a real sitter at one point to make it two - but Spuds might have nicked an equaliser near the end when Lucas Moura headed over.
Would love to see Bielsa taking on teams at this level.

[dirty leeds]

By the way, Musta, what's occurring here - this below nicked from some cunt on Waccoe [to save me the bother]:

They have been allowed to make an emergency signing outside of the window because Dembele is out for more than 5 months.
They were allowed to sign a Free Agent or someone already playing in Spain.
They have signed the Ex Boro player Martin Braithwaite for £15m from Leganes after meeting his release clause.
Leganes are in the relegation zone 2 points from safety, Braithwaite was their top scorer.
They are not allowed to sign anyone to replace him.

All true?

[Mustafaster]

By the way, Musta, what's occurring here - this below nicked from some cunt on Waccoe [to save me the bother]:

They have been allowed to make an emergency signing outside of the window because Dembele is out for more than 5 months.
They were allowed to sign a Free Agent or someone already playing in Spain.
They have signed the Ex Boro player Martin Braithwaite for £15m from Leganes after meeting his release clause.
Leganes are in the relegation zone 2 points from safety, Braithwaite was their top scorer.
They are not allowed to sign anyone to replace him.

All true?

Fuck knows.
Probably, tough on Leganes if it's true.
Braithwaite has been pretty decent so far.

[eric olthwaite]

The true meaning of home-grown talent

[Mr Reality]

Good to see that Cess can be beaten. And the boy Haaland will be heading somewhere for £100m+ before long.

Hope he does at least a full season at Dortmund. Suspect he will do.

[Chieftain626]

Good to see that Cess can be beaten. And the boy Haaland will be heading somewhere for £100m+ before long.

Hope he does at least a full season at Dortmund. Suspect he will do.

Sounds as though his management team (lead by his dad) are pretty switched on and want him to develop. He does have a release clause in his contract also not sure how that would work.

[Matt White]

By the way, Musta, what's occurring here - this below nicked from some cunt on Waccoe [to save me the bother]:

They have been allowed to make an emergency signing outside of the window because Dembele is out for more than 5 months.
They were allowed to sign a Free Agent or someone already playing in Spain.
They have signed the Ex Boro player Martin Braithwaite for £15m from Leganes after meeting his release clause.
Leganes are in the relegation zone 2 points from safety, Braithwaite was their top scorer.
They are not allowed to sign anyone to replace him.

All true?

Fuck knows.
Probably, tough on Leganes if it's true.
Braithwaite has been pretty decent so far.

All true from what I've read. He can't play in the Champs League for Barca though, so that's al right.

[the flying pig]

Good to see that Cess can be beaten. And the boy Haaland will be heading somewhere for £100m+ before long.

Hope he does at least a full season at Dortmund. Suspect he will do.

Sounds as though his management team (lead by his dad) are pretty switched on and want him to develop. He does have a release clause in his contract also not sure how that would work.

i think he's really raw still, not really the full package in terms of centre forward play, but at that age, bits of good technique, 6'4", really quick, very good left foot, he's got a great chance.

[the flying pig]

the obvious thing to say is that they should have called him Leeds, a la Brooklyn Beckham. there was a kid in my class at school [in harrogate] who had it as a middle name.

[dirty leeds]

Just watching a bit of the second half of the Bruges v Man U game in the Europa. Man U's passing is fucking appalling - way worse than we are used to from our lads.

[Tommy]

The team Guardiola started against Real Madrid last night was fascinating. Was thinking about Bielsa saying that he doesn’t see his influence on Guardiola. Not sure the former would ever try something like this.

[Professor Weeto]

The team Guardiola started against Real Madrid last night was fascinating. Was thinking about Bielsa saying that he doesn’t see his influence on Guardiola. Not sure the former would ever try something like this.

Guardiola has a habit of doing really weird stuff like this for big games. Quite often it backfires (I seem to remember it doing so several times at Bayern) but fair play to him for being continually interesting.