"Does
anyone else reckon Gareth Barry is starting to feel like a bloke who's told his
missus that he's leaving her only to find out the blonde across the road isn't
interested anymore?" - Jason Tew in an email published in the July 17
edition of The Fiver.
As three of the summer’s
transfer sagas drag on there seems to be a very good chance that at least one
or more of Ronaldo, Gareth Barry and Emmanuel Adebayor will find themselves
playing for teams next season that they presently seem so desperate to leave.
You can’t hold on to an
unhappy player is common enough wisdom and on a basic level it is largely true.
If a player is truly unhappy with his life as a professional player he is
entitled to walk-away and take up another career.
In a very different era high
profile mid-career retirements from the game include Celtic’s George Connelly.
Connelly could have become a Celtic great but he packed in the game when he was
only 26. Before that we had Peter Knowles leave Wolves to become a Jehovah's
Witness. (So the next time you get a knock on the door it might be from someone
who almost played for England.)
But that is not the case
with our transfer trio. All want to pursue their careers with other clubs even
though they have valid long term contracts with their present clubs. There is
nothing new about such a situation.
But it seems that over the last five years
or so the market for such players has shrunk dramatically to the point where
there are very few teams willing and able to meet their demands. That has led
to lengthier transfer sagas.
In days past players would
complain a bit, there would be a bidding war of sorts with a few clubs putting
in bids and within a week or so the player would be mugging it for the press
wearing a new strip and holding a scarf.
But things are not happening as
quickly as before and some players are placing themselves in more precarious positions. Once they have gone public with their
complaints and two or three weeks pass without a move ensuing they are forced to
escalate the war of words.
That usually serves only
to entrench the position of the potentially selling club – don’t want to be
seen knuckling under to yappy, whinging player after all. Contrast Ronaldo,
Barry and Adebayor with that of Frank Lampard who has been close to the essence
of public discretion so far in his dealings with Chelsea and any potential move
to Inter.
If Lampard stays at Stamford Bridge rather than moving to the Giuseppe Meazza then there is little
to indicate that he will have to rebuild any bridges with the Chelsea support. The
lesson perhaps – the less said the better.
On the other hand the
three transfer stooges will have their work cut out if they are forced to
survive at their present clubs on their meager weekly pittances. You really
have to wonder about who has been advising them to take the “help get me out of
this hell” position that ostracizes fans and management alike. There again
maybe fans are so fickle that a couple of goals out of each of them and the
crowds will chanting their names just like before.
Very nice summation of the facts in these matters, Bobby.
Could use a dash of updating to include the Berbatov-Keane-Spurs-ManU-Liverpool skirmishing.
And an opinion from yourself on the matters at hand. Lots of analysts or columnists do that. Makes them interesting, as opposed to merely informative.
Go on, try it sometime. Have a take, have a pop. It's not like it's going to cost you an exclusive interview with Sir Alex. We won't hold it against you if you're wrong.
Oh, by the way, West Ham defeated Columbus on Sunday. On the pitch and in the stands.
Wonder if the ICF will be visiting Toronto this week for the all-star game.
Venti_vidi_vici: Yeah no prob. Just pointing out that it seems Levy got his facts wrong. And yeah, Ferguson's being abit hypocritical but Real have raised the bar on anything he or Man Utd ever did IMO.
fair points on the players. I can't disagree. However, can you really absolve the clubs involved, both the prospective ones and the actual, contract-holding ones. For instance, I think Martin O'Neill has handled the situation very poorly, making it far worse for his own club. I can't imagine Barry staying now and it being at all beneficial to Villa.
Agree with Verbal. Madrid have been whispering sweet nothings in Naldo's ear for years. This year they actually portrayed as if they were willing to come close to Man Utd's price. I have to believe that Naldo would be sold in a heartbeat if Madrid were serious about spending at least 60M pounds. But they are not and only tried to unsettle the player to drop the price drastically.
The same with Ade, although he should have known Milan were bluffing. Naldo will play for Madrid some day.
Lampard should go to Italy. England needs players to travel a bit more.
Really? Real Madrid has raised the bar on anything that Sir Alex has ever did with their pursuit of Ronaldo. Did you read Jaap Stam's book? I admire Sir Alex and respect his accomplishments, but he is one of the biggest hypocrites in world football.
Albertagooner:
Two other great dodgy transfer moves by SAF not on that list.
- Sold Tim Howard to Everton half way through last season, on the condition that he doesn’t play against them later that season. (Moyes admitted it, then retracted his story). Tim Howard was still mysteriously benched against MU; his replacement, who was starting his only match of the season cost Everton the match. MU won the league on goal difference.
- Bought Carlos Teves from Kia Joorabchian even though he was registered to West Ham. West Ham lodged a complaint with the PL, but then received £2m and 3 points on the last day of the season which kept them in the PL. Definitely a win-win-win-win transaction. SAF is the only manager on earth who could’ve pulled that trade off and got away with it.
Thanks, I had forgotten about Tim Howard's move to Everton. There are many admirable qualities that have made Ferguson the most successful manager of his generation in England. But his hypocrisy in screaming about Real Madrid's conduct over Ronaldo is just a little too rich. It's like a serial philanderer going ballistic when a co-worker flirts with his wife at the office Christmas party.
The worst handled by the player of the 3 is clearly Ade. He has stuck his foot so far into his mouth he is going to really beg off the field and perform on the field to get the fans back on his side. Pandering for even more money after he was given a raise last summer on goodwill and talking about his need to think about retirement is ludicrous. The best thing he could do for himself is apologize, play well and fire his agent.
Ronaldo for the most part hes just refused to say where he will play which is fair to him but not the Man U fans. He could of easily said I will be at Man U next season but that would be an obvious lie that he wouldn't mind playing for Real if it happens. Never heard a legitimate quote from him demanding more money or outright demanding a move.
As for Barry I think its obvious he wants to move to a CL club which will move him higher in the England pecking order but at the same time Villa are not broke and wont let him walk for cheap which is creating the problem. Strange thing is I'm sure the Villa owner promised funds this summer to move them into serious contention of the top 4/5 spots and they have followed it up with 5m on Sidwell and thats it so far.
I think the answer to WHY these players do themselves so harshly by blabbering to the press is because they have an agent in their ear. Sports Agent is like a Real Estate Agent; who cares about the property, just transact as much as possible to make a fee!
And I think Martin O'Neill never wanted Barry to head over to Liverpool unless the fee was high enough to bring someone big in. This makes sense, as they see Liverpool as one of the hurdles towards a top 4 spot. I think that is the same reason you will not see Barry going to Arsenal either.
I still think Alonso > Barry; what was Benitez thinking?
The talk about tranfers is just hot air unless and until there is some action. Football needs an air conditioner right now and the journos should take a beach holiday.
Hey Ringo where did you surface from? Thought you might be on your summer hols in Croydon?
West Ham fans ha ha ha you have to laugh.......one fan was arrested for a minor altercation! Classic and a miilion miles from Millwall on a saturday afternoon a life time ago.
I do wonder if the rumour that a certain Spanish club has to sell its assets to pay off debts might not just distract one or two managers. Villa and Silva are quite hot property right now so I wonder who will stump up the dosh?
Albert Riera might yet join Rafa if Espanyol will move on their asking price. Until they do, it's just hot air.........where's that beer?
RINGO: Were you a Headhunter in your salad days? Chucking knuckles instead of celery? Do you have a Danny Dyer poster up on a bedroom wall?
The funny part of this whole WHU-Crew affair is that Columbus on a good day has about two dozen so-called 'hard core' fans who call themselves hooligans but look like schoolboys out on an adventure that ends when Mom calls them home for dinner.
The sad part of it is that crumbling, corroded Columbus must look like paradise to a regular Spammers east-end fan.
There will be no such problems at the MLS all-star game on Thursday in Toronto. But Tuesday night's crucial Concacaf Champions League qualifier against Montreal? That could see some sparks in the stands.
Bobby: Are you in town for this week's twin bill and related festivities?
To solve the Madrid/Ferguson debate as to who's worse, they should just make Ferguson manager of Madrid and then you'd have the president going through the press "destabilizing" players and then you'd have the manager meeting in secret with players to make sure that they sign them.
Of course I don't think Ferguson is alone as the only manager who signs players in this manner.
if benitez buys keane for $4om and barry $36m , dossena $16m add that to $32m for mascherano and skertle $16m, this guy if he does not win the leauge should be fired and should not talk about the owners and add to $22m for babel and $52m for torres
It seems that there is a backlash of sorts in the high profile player movement. The M.O. was to have the high profile player act the discontent. He would then garner public opinion...even from the club's fans until management transfered him. In high profile cases accross the globe we have seen this backfire...From the NFL, MLB, to European Soccer leagues. Are we seeing a change in operating proceedure from the star players and their agents?
edit-You're also under the illusion that the league is the top priority. Finishing in the top four is just under going deep in the Champions League competition, which is where Benitez and Liverpool make all their money.
Fire him when he's made so much cash for the club? Not a likely scenario unless we finish out of the top seven in the league.
Last edited by LetsGoBuffalo on July 22nd at 7:28 AM.
LGB- I agree with you in that the guys who run Pool and Ars don't really seem to care about winning the league. But the top four is their highest priority not going far in the CL, that is number #2.
I do think that Arsenal and Liverpool are interested in winning the league; I think it is a priority. However, the strategy in the transfer markets for both of those clubs is different than the Glazers or Abromovich.
Mortgage the future? What happens when the transfer market bubble bursts? There are very few clubs that make these huge deals in any quantity; Real, Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea. Maybe with the influx of money, you will see QPR and Manchesster City do the same? Sure, there are some big signings from other clubs, but those are few and far between. These handful of teams can only buy so many players. Someone will get left holding the bag at some point.
As an Arsenal supporter, I am content to have the club I support run the way it is run. Young players, up-and-coming players and academy players coming up, molded into a system, and put on the pitch. Play attractive and entertaining. Keep some type of culture intact at the club. Winning really is not everything for some of us.
Mortgage the future? Convinced that people will pay the ever increasing ticket prices, that the TV revenue will continue too be high, that you will qualify for Europe every season, that every kid on the planet will buy this season's kit? Sounds a lot like LUAFC, doesn't it? Maybe times are differeent and the game (and the financials) is passing by men like Wenger.
Its clear the transfer markets have gone in the #### the last few years. I find it laughable that some supporters get indignant when a club goes after one of their players. Sure players get fed up and want a new challange. That part of the transfer market has not changed. What has changed is the power of the agents in a "supply - demand" market. Until the agents fee's are addressed by the FA somehow, we are going to be stuck with the mercenary attitude. Personally, I think well over 90% of these transfers are started by the agents not the clubs or players.
And for Henry14, get a grip and actually do the math (if you can). Your numbers are so far off you obviously don't know what your talking about.
Last edited by YNWA-IN-LA on July 23rd at 7:56 AM.
No arguments from me. Arsenal had to endure the annual summer "Vieira to Real Madrid" rumours for two or three years that always started with the usual proxies for Los Merengues (Marca, etc.).
hey bobby what do you think of adu to monaco? i dont think its the right choice for him. knowning monaco very well they are far from being stable, and the fact is they always have off pitch problems. and ricardo is one that prefers the defense approach. i think hell maybe flop, although with bocanegra at rennes its two americans in france
I have a serious question. Why wouldn't Martin Oniel sell Barry to Liverpool(glad he didn't, hope Wenger signs him)and take Scott Carson plus the money? Still don't see the logics selling Carson to West Brom when he could get Carson his first choice keeper last season and the money he would get from the sale.
Again Marcelo Moreno to Shaktar cost 7 Million pounds. Wenger could easily sell Adebayor to Milan or Barcelona use apart of that money to sign Moreno and Barry. Why did Moreno agreed to go to Shaktar, he has too many potential to be at that club. Two to three years down the line he is going to cost more than the 7 million pounds. Shaktar I've got to commend your scouting team, well done on the signing of Moreno.
Pretty sure the reason Oneil didn't take Carson in a deal as Guzan is coming over from Chivas USA if he gets a permit which I haven't heard about for awhile.
Also AV are not some reg club. Oneil is genuinely mad and frustrated that his best player is being targeted while hes trying to make the club serious contenders. Add the fact they are not a broke club either. Buying and selling within the Prem is always going to be tricky expensive business now with such a huge TV deal. Even Crouch is worth 11m ;)
I'll be surprised if Wenger gets Barry. I think hes just angling to put pressure on Liverpool and make a swoop for Alonso. Arsenal sign Alonso giving Liverpool more funds for Rafa to seal the Barry deal. Everyone wins but A.V unless they have some targets lined up to spend that money on.
I can't see Wenger signing either Alonso or Barry. Both are good players but priced a little high for what's available on the market. Barry also lacks the pace normally required to play for Wenger's Arsenal.
Last edited by albertagooner on July 22nd at 8:52 PM.
with the way cocquelin, ramsey and wihlshire have been playing in preseason, he might not make a move for either players. we will see but i doubt wenger would sign a player in his late 20s for 18 million pounds, and same goes for alonso. At the end of the day, barry will probably stay at villa and the only thing rafa would have done is unsettle an opponent for fouth place (can liverpool hope any higher)
O and for benitez not gettin sacked because they alwasy qualify in champions league. CAn you honestly tell me they are closer now to winning the league then they were when houllier was in charge? no, houllier even maaged to get 2nd not far behind arsenal, why liverpool will be lucky to finish fourth this year
Mas-Well finishing in the top four isn't the only way to qualify for the Champions League...:)
FK-Always qualifying for champions league is not why Benitez doesn't get sacked.
I'd re-read what I typed.
Lucky to finish fourth? If you say so...
And to answer your question, yes they are closer to winning the title. Not going to go into detail on that but if you dont see the difference between this side and the one Houllier had then it will explain why you don't understand what the Champions League means to Liverpool and Arsenal. It would also explain why you think Liverpool will be "lucky" to finish fourth and that they are not closer to winning the league.
Arsenal will be battling the Hotspurm for 4th. Liverpool have 3rd locked up and may push for 2nd depending on Fat Phil's transition. Simply too much quality at Chelsea and the defense has been together for long enough that even if Fat Phil has an adjustment period Chelsea won't drop lower than 3rd.
Arsenal are finding new and creative ways to make their jobs harder thats for sure. Last year it was injuries that would never end this year Kolo comes back from the Ivory Coast with malaria.
Who cares who comes 3rd or 4th its the same difference really and neither Arsenal or Liverpool are falling out of the top 4 so people need to stop trying to be prophetic. Spurs are not going from 11th to 4th and they are not even going to make it a race for 4th. If the signings Ramos brought in click they are a second tier trophy team, sorry I mean a Uefa cup team or wait did they rename that one again I lost track.
Frenchking (second post), What are you on about? How well would Arsenal have done without Kolo Toure all season (oh oh, we might just find out this year if the malaria thing isn't cleared up). I doubt Arsenal makes the top 4 that's for sure. No way you make it with Gallas and Sinderos all season.
On the other hand, we lost our starting CB Agger after the 4 or 5 week. We definitely lost our teeth with that one and it took til' December for Hyypia to get back into his game. But we still mananged to pip 4th and put you out of the CL. So we've already demonstrated we can deal with problems and get resonable results. Even in the face of distinctly lacking ownership, we are stronger than you give credit.
I'm not claiming PL championship, but I think we have a shot. Add the rats jumping off the SS Wenger to the kolo absense and you could be done before you even start, IMHO.
stop with the Agger moaning. Not to mention Skrtel turned out to be a pretty good signing come winter.
Arsenal carried many injuries of their own last season I could whine endlessly about. Also Gallas was out for the start of the season last year so Arsenal did have to use Senderos + Toure even had to use a combination of Gilberto + Toure in a 3-1 win vs Spurs 1 game after Senderos got a very cheap red vs Portsmouth. Honestly no fan can come complain about their injuries compared to Arsenal and for the previous season no one could complain about theres compared to what Chelsea was going through. Still think they would of won that year minus a Cech injury ;P
In the last 2 years the difference of 4th and 5th has been 8 and 11 points. Also in the years it was close Arsenal finished on a 67 points for 4th and the year Liverpool fell out it was 58 for them. I honestly think the consistency of the top 4 is pushing the minimum to far out of reach right now. It was 76 last year for Liverpool I wouldn't expect less then 70 this year to finish 4th.
The only 2 teams that can realistically fall out of the top 4 are Arsenal and Liverpool. For either to fall out of the top 4 it would take more then just the chasing teams improving it takes the Liverpool and Arsenal having a very very horrible season. I honestly cant see either team this season struggling that badly unless they have a perfect storm of injuries and you cant predict those things. No one can could predict Man U win 2006/2007 aided by the fact Cech has a freak head injury + Terry going down soon after and Mourinho going to war with Roman. Could Arsenal or Liverpool this year lose the exact key players that make them win and their boards handcuff their managers in the winter window maybe but I doubt it (the summer window isn't even closed yet for them to still improve).
Add the fact I don't think the teams that finished ahead of Spurs are just going to roll over either. Everton, Aston Villa, Portsmouth and Man City could all be argued for also to be that team who's going push for the top 4 (I leave out Blackburn because we don't know if Ince is the real deal or if they are selling or buying this year).
Do you think Arsene will have enough players left to field a starting eleven? with the rate that players are jumping ship I wouldnt be surprised if Wenger requested the Arsenal Womens team for a few players -
Henry last night said the Adebayor would be a welcome addition at the Nou Camp and Hleb stated a few days ago that Fabregas might jump ship too?
To finish 4th you have to be excellent against the 10-20 teams still great against the 5-10 teams and at least defend your home games against the other top 4 teams.
For example last season even though Everton were 'close' to Liverpool for some time it was never a real race. Everyone was just waiting around until Liverpool woke up and strung some wins together. You don't finish 4th by taking 1 point out of 8 games against the big 4 like they did last year. Spurs or any of those other teams might make some waves next year as to who wins the title but I cant see any of them stringing together the consistency to get 70 points and finish 4th.
liverpoolfc: "Henry last night said the Adebayor would be a welcome addition at the Nou Camp"
That is not AT ALL what he said, stop parrotting media distortions. Did you even see the interview that the media got that "quote" from? You can see it here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foo tball/teams/a/arsenal/7520195.stmr>
All that Henry said (repeatedly shown on skysports yesterday) was that it is understandable that Ade would get attention and interest from other clubs after the year he had last season.
That's it. That's all.
He never said a thing about welcoming him to Barca.
Nobody's whining. Its a fact and that we finished as well as we did is another. After the way Arsenal fans whined after the CL quarters, you shouldn't be accusing other supporters of that behavior.
Bottomline, Agger will more than likely be the key to offseting our worst statistic. 6 draw results after leading @ half time. 3 of those converted to wins its 6 points. All 6, thats 12pts. So, there is every possiblity we can improve even if our skinflint owners won't crack the pocket book.
BTW, you were the only club in the top 4 ahead of us ( ie worse) in that department.
Now at Arsenal, I haven't seen any moves to improve your CB situation. And that was something you need before Kolo became questionable. Youth: what you think you have the market cornered? Your obviously not aware our reserves (the young ones) they one the league title last year. Several look to be in line for fist team action this year, kind of like Arsen's recent CC youth movement.
Still didn't answer the basic question posed? Where would your club end up with Toure out all season? Be honest, Gallas and Senderos all year, 50 plus matches? Big ask.
Do not panic on Toure's news. Malaria is a single-dose treatment and most people are 100% within a week. For someone like a professional footballer, double the recovery time to be at "peak".
And Sendoros scored a winner last year, don't forget. The ugliest header of the season. They should award a "Ungoal of the Year"...
Arsenal players are wanted but Liverpool's aren't?
Wow Jay top class stuff again. Keep up the good work.
Btw you ask any red if he/she thought that Everton had a chance of catching us, especially the day of the game against the bitters in late March. It wouldn't be a stretch to see one of the big four fall out of the top four.
I'm sure they were saying the same thing about Liverpool in the 80's and we all know how the 90's went. When Sir Alex steps down, United will be half the club it is now. It will take time but in 5-10 years from Fergie stepping down, United won't be anywhere near the dominant force they are now anymore.
To all the Gooners and fellow Reds arguing about who's better...if I'm honest I like Arsenal's team right now. Of course there is still time to go for signings! But in the back, particularly at full back, we are weak and thats where Chelsea beat us in the Champions League, its why we can't keep pace with United and it should've been where Arsenal attacked us in the Champions League.
Thankfully Wenger isn't the tactical manager Benitez is...:)
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