It seemed pretty straightforward at the time. A day after the transfer window closed write a column on some of the bigger moves and some that didn’t come to pass. Then yesterday came and we were hit with the equivalent of a category five hurricane.
Who could have possibly thought on Sunday evening that within 24 hours Manchester City would be turned into a financial powerhouse and that the new owners (Abu Dhabi United Group) would mark their arrival by signing Robinho?
After all, a week ago the general consensus was that City was in financial and organizational disarray and that the best route for manager Mark Hughes was the door marked exit. Now, he has a board of directors talking instant success, and all funded by a budget that even Roman Abramovich might hesitate to sanction. (Some may argue that the best route for Hughes remains the same.)
The remarkable events of yesterday has left writers, bloggers and fans stunned and grasping to try and understand the full implications of the audacious takeover for the Premiership, as well as European and World football. It has also not stopped many resorting to received wisdom cloaked as insightful comment.
Most would argue under more sober circumstances that joining the dots between unlimited funds, success and world domination is a tad simplistic but it hasn’t stopped some jumping on board the hyperbole bandwagon as it heads to the north-west of England. Lots of cash + best players in world = World Domination.
If that is the case then examples should readily come to mind. Chelsea under Abramovich – not even domestic domination let alone global. Real Madrid and the Galacticos era – yeah that worked. Check out how much Inter Milan spent trying achieve success during the 90s – in terms of major trophies it was ####-all squared. Barcelona have spent many fortunes over the years and have won the European Cup just twice in over half a century.
That is not to say that the availability of money doesn’t matter. Money has always being part of the game and identifying and buying the right talent at the right price has always been a key skill set of any successful manager. In terms of British managers from Herbert Chapman and the Bank of England Arsenal side of the 30s to Sir Matt Busby, Bill Shankly, Jock Stein and Brian Clough, all were astute buyers of talent.
For Manchester City the requirement to buy at the right price appears to no longer apply but building a team is much more than just signing “world class” players. Quite simply I would refer to a basic definition - “a team is a group of people with complementary skills committed to a common purpose and a set of goals.”
It is not a group of high priced mercenaries unwilling to sacrifice self for the common guide. Separating players with character from the imposters takes skill, experience and insight – it takes smarts.
Until Manchester City show that they have the smarts I would suggest that a Global Domination Tour 2010 (or 2015 for that matter) might be premature.
Transfers
For the last three months we have been inundated with news of transfers that were sure to be consummated, deals that only needed a signature and daring multi-million dollar raids being planned in bunkers deep below Premiership grounds.
With a lot of last minute wheeling and dealing we are told that a new Premiership spending record of around $1B has been set during the just completed transfer-window. But what of the transfers that didn’t come to pass?
Here is a list of my top 25 non-transfers.
1. Samuel Eto’o – Barcelona to assorted clubs. My biggest surprise when you consider that Barcelona was happy to see the back of the former African Player of the Year. A clear indication that the top clubs believe Eto’o to be more trouble than he is worth.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United to Hartlepool United. Forgiven but not forgotten and with cash from the Robinho in-hand we are sure to hear more in ten months time.
3. Gareth Barry – Aston Villa to Liverpool. Wasn’t about the money? Right.
4. Andrei Arshavin – Zenit St. Petersburg to Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur. You have to feel that Arshavin’s magical European Championship semi-final appearance against Spain cost him dear. Magical? He disappeared.
5. Emmanuel Adebayor – Arsenal to Barcelona or Milan. So much press but just a reincarnation of numerous Patrick Vieira summers on a smaller scale.
6. Xabi Alonso – Liverpool to Arsenal, Aston Villa, Juventus. Poor Rafa Benitez. Has to make do with one of the best passers of the ball in the Premiership – with both feet.
7. David Villa – Valencia to Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid. Real Madrid was going to be his destination if it was to move but Valencia decided to continue their flirt with insolvency. Here’s betting that he will have to be sold at a much lower price than Valencia might have demanded coming off the Euros.
8. David Silva – Valencia to Liverpool, Manchester United. Similar scenario to his teammate Villa.
9. Frank Lampard – Chelsea to Inter. Frank demanded a five-year deal and Chelsea with a back bone of jello gave it to him.
10. Kaka – Milan to Chelsea. Good headlines but little chance that it was actually going to happen.
11. Gennaro Gattuso – Milan to Bayern Munich. The German club seemed genuinely interested at the start of the summer but it faded quickly. The January transfer window might find Gattuso moving but not to Bayern Munich.
12. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar – Ajax to assorted clubs. Every year Huntelaar is rumoured to be a target for the big clubs of Europe. And every year nothing happens. I think the message is loud and clear.
13. Adrian Mutu – Fiorentina to Roma. Mutu opted to keep faith with the side that resurrected his playing career but with a hefty invoice arriving soon from Chelsea Mutu might have to find funds quickly.
14. Roque Santa Cruz - Blackburn Rovers to Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United. Another player showing some loyalty to a club that offered an opportunity when many would not.
15. Thierry Henry – Barcelona to Seattle Sounders, New York Red Bulls, Manchester United. The most unbelievable rumours of the summer.
16. Diego Forlan – Atletico Madrid to Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur. Forlan may have struck gold in Spain but he will never live down his spell at Manchester United. It would take a gutsy Premiership team to offer Forlan a second chance.
17. Joao Moutinho – Sporting Lisbon to Everton. An on-going frustration for Everton but I can’t help but feel that Moutinho would not have filled Everton’s needs.
18. Javier Saviola – Real Madrid to Newcastle. A summer has gone by and Saviola did not change clubs.
19. Ruben de la Red – Real Madrid to Arsenal. Real Madrid is not so deep in great midfield players that they can afford to let de la Red slip away.
20. Gokhan Inler – Udinese to Arsenal. Inler enjoyed an excellent European Championship for Switzerland and just signed a long-term deal with Udinese of Serie A.
21. Branislav Ivanovic – Chelsea to Milan. Signed with a great deal of fanfare last January Ivanovic is on course to challenge Winston Bogarde as Chelsea’s worst signings of all-time. He has been described as a versatile defender who is able to play any position on the bench if given a chance.
22. Vagner Love – CSKA Moscow to Everton. This one enjoyed some prominence for a week or so in the form of a loan deal or a transfer.
23. Karim Benzema – Lyon to assorted clubs. The young man has showed a great deal of common sense by realizing that he is going to become a better player playing each game for Lyon rather than being rotated at another club. His time will come and it will be big money. (I wonder if he supported Manchester City as a boy?)
24. Sergio Aguero – Atletico Madrid to assorted clubs. Sit back and wait for the English media to discover a player that by the time the World Cup comes around in 2010 will be regarded as one of the top five talents in the world.
25. Luis Figo – Inter to UAE, MLS. Remember that back in January Figo was reported to have signed a contract to play in the Middle East? On Saturday there was Figo at 35 starting for Inter.
Newcastle Whether Kevin Keegan has been fired or has resigned or will be taking training tomorrow doesn’t really matter. Newcastle continues to operate in a shambolic manner with owner Mike Ashley showing he would have trouble finding the ground if he fell out a tree – beer or no beer.
Ashley is another example of the misplaced faith that fans put in businessmen that have a “passion” for their club. It is the “passion” that causes the problem. Better to look for an owner who has a solid long-term plan rather than one who has a desire to kow-tow to the supporters.
I said in the pre-season preview that Ashley had “bit off more than he could chew” and “despite stories of how much money Keegan was to be given to bring new players to St. James’ there has been little indication these past months”.
Less than a month in and Ashley has admitted that he did not undertake any due diligence when buying the club and has been shocked at how much transfer money was owed in deferred payments. (Must have glass doors at St. James’).
Furthermore, it has become clear over the last week that the Newcastle board is willing to sanction the sale of players no matter what the manager thinks.
Robert Philip manages to name check Mary Queen of Scots, Scotty from Star Trek, ####es, Bill Shankly and Sean Connery before getting to the point of his football article. You really just need to read his introduction.
Another idea of how to generate stadium revenue. Sounds a bit bizarre but....
A Soccer America interview with USA national team boss Bob Bradley.
The Financial Times and Guardian articles on Manchester United record revenue and profits are the best I have read in terms of giving good information about the interest payments.
From the top to the near bottom - the reverse of Sir Alex Ferguson's journey. The Times with a positive story about East Stirlingshire - the team that offerred Ferguson his first job in hairdressing nearly thirty four years ago.
With Newcastle United pulling the plug on another manager it is worth looking at the performance of the not-so-magnificent seven (although in relation to Keegan and Robson that remark should be tempered) during the Premiership years. Newcastle was not a charter member of the Premiership but after missing out on the first season Keegan secured promotion in his first full season.
Here are the managers, the position the club was in when they “left”, games in charge, average points gained and the approximate net outlay in transfer fees – it is a lot.
The list is in chronological order:
o Kevin Keegan – 4th, 143 games, 1.85 points, $80M
o Kenny Dalglish – 13th*, 56 games, 1.34 points, $27M
o Ruud Gullit – 19th, 41 games, 1.65 points, $13.6M
o Sir Bobby Robson – 17th, 188 games, 1.60 points, $58M
o Graeme Souness – 16th, 56 games, 1.16 points, $66M
o Glen Roeder – 13th, 52 games, 1.42 points, $19M
o Sam Allardyce – 11th, 21 games, 1.24 points, $28M
(Dalglish carries an asterisk as he was fired only two games into a season and 13th was the previous season’s finishing position.)
From Gullit on the managers are getting fired with the team sitting in ever higher positions. Maybe it is all part of some cunning plan to literally fire Newcastle to the top?
Looking back the failure to use the relatively successful spell under Bobby Robson to groom a successor was a faux pas of immense proportions. Who in their right mind would operate with one of their most important employees past the age 70 and with no succession plan in place?
As for Allardyce I don’t think any fair minded person would accept that half a season is enough time to turn a team that has failed to win a major domestic trophy in over half a century around.
A significant number of Newcastle fans are apparently upset at the type of football Allardyce had the team playing. But again if you are trying to change a culture of mediocrity then there is going to be protracted spell of rubbish dished up – that should not be a surprise. And in terms of a new manager it is likely to be more of the same.
I often wonder if a new manger might not get better results and reduce short term expectations if instead of asking for the cheque book he told players that they had half a season to prove themselves.
Immediately moving to sign new players and dumping the ones signed by the predecessor just leads to a belief that improvement will be immediate. Then if the new signings fail to impress – as they did in the Allardyce/Newcastle situation – the pressure mounts and the revolving door starts to rotate once more.
As for a successor, the names are beginning to appear in the press and on websites. Harry Rednapp, Mark Hughes, Steve McClaren (surely not!!) are all getting some play in the media. The odds are a Keegan return have also been slashed.
But as Simon Barnes said in The Times last weekend will a new manager be given a fair crack while Alan Shearer continues in the role of the best manager never to have managed Newcastle?
It would seem that Mike Ashley has done the easy bit in firing Big Sam, the hard bit is convincing someone of quality to pick up the poisoned chalice.
Quick free kicks
A number of teams are looking to cure some sporadic bouts of Premiership travel sickness this weekend. Spurs travels to Stamford Bridge in what could be a preview of the Carling Cup Final. But travelling to Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford, Anfield and wherever Arsenal were playing at the time, has not brought much joy to Spurs. In sixty-three Premiership trips to these grounds Spurs have won just twice - a win at Arsenal and a win at Liverpool.
Manchester City are the visitors to Goodison but they have only one once in ten Premiership visits to Goodison – and that was way back in October 1992.
Middlesbrough may not have scored against Liverpool in their last four Premiership encounters but Liverpool are without a win at the Riverside in their last five visits - two losses and three draws for the Reds. Despite Boro’s spotted form over the last couple of years the Riverside is still a place where bigger teams often come a cropper. United, Chelsea and Arsenal have all lost at the Riverside in the last two and a bit seasons
Oh and let us not forget that no matter who has been in charge of Newcastle a trip to Old Trafford as never ended in three points for the Magpies – it has however often finished with a loss (nine times) and sometimes a draw - five of them.
This weekend offers Reading, Wigan, and Fulham another opportunity to pick up three points away from home for the first time. This time against Aston Villa, Derby County and West Ham respectively. Also without an away win are Bolton, Sunderland, and Derby County but they will have to wait for another day.
A speech delivered by investigative journalist Andrew Jennings at an international conference in Iceland. Is there a day of reckoning in Sepp Blatter’s future and will it involve a court date?
Read this article from Simon Kuper and you will have to shower.
Another bumper week for blog participation - thanks again to everyone who participates by reading or posting.
Mr. Red Devil - Now that Man Utd have won the EPL (with 2 matches to go) and will play in the FA Cup Final, do you see Carrick's transfer fee as being justified?
His play throughout the season was consistently very good and he was a valuable part of the 1st team, so I believe he was well worth the 14m-18m pounds. I know you were wary of that amount at the time of the transfer, so I just wanted to get your current views.
Bobby – He had some good games but he rarely looked like a £18 million footballer. Spurs paid £10.9 million Berbatov, different positions but who go better value? I noted that SAF was complaining that Chelsea had inflated the market by paying £27 million Michael Essien. From what I’ve seen Chelsea got a better deal paying what they did for Essien than United did for Carrick. And now we have Owen “£20 million” to look forward to.
Bmax14 - I went to my first USL game yesterday and I was actually kind of impressed with the atmosphere and reasonable quality of play. In your opinion, where would USL 1st division compare in quality to England's leagues? Would it be League 2? And MLS, my impression is that a good MLS team would be comparable to a mid-table Championship team. What would you say? I'm trying to get more into US football this year to accommodate my summer fix since there is no WC or Euro to watch. I know I can't expect the EPL but I don't think MLS (or even USL) is the absolute worst football in the world either.
Bobby – I gave up comparing leagues and came to the conclusion that it was a pointless exercise. We know that some MLS players can make it the Premiership while others would struggle to hold a starting spot in League 2 or even the conference. I think what that tells us is that the MLS has some very good players but it is lacking in depth. Because Europe has more leagues and teams playing at the professional level, players are more liable to find their natural level with teams that match their skills and abilities. This is how I look at it numerically with 10 being fantastic and 1 being poor it might line up something like this over a starting eleven. MLS – 3 nines, 2 sevens, 3 fives, 2 threes and 1 one. Championship – 1 nine, 1 seven, 3 sixes, 2 fives, 3 fours and 1 two. MLS has a wider range of skills on the team while the Championship would be much more tightly grouped.
RINGO - This week’s trivia. Which team used to play home games at Annfield? And which team plays home games at St.James Park?
Bobby – Trick question you ####. Stirling Albion and Exeter City. Did you ever post the answers to last week’s questions?
Neophyte - Why is Mark Hughes always associated with being the heir apparent to the ManU. throne? With Keane showing promise why is everyone so hot on Hughes? If SAF were to retire today I can think of a couple of others I would rather see as Gaffer than Hughes. I like Steve Coppell if I had to choose right now. How about you?
Bobby – It is standard practice to link former players with managerial and coaching jobs at their old clubs. History has proven that there is a better chance that someone will be hired who has a connection with a club than otherwise. So it makes some sense. What Mark Hughes has over the other names that pop up is European and International experience as a manager.
Rwonfootball - What is the point of the EPL suing YouTube? YouTube gives the league free publicity, so they really shouldn't be complaining.
Bobby – Simple, why would you allow someone to give away for free, something that someone else would pay for. The EPL doesn’t need free publicity nor does it want it. It wants money.
Henry14 - Q1 What is the problem with Tyneside club, do you think it’s the board, or the club in my opinion is not as big as it claims to be? Q2 If $60m we put for Berbatov do you see Tottenham selling him Q3 What do you think of Lori Cana, I am of the information that he is definitely be one of Wenger's signings. Again Bobby, Amy Lawrence on a talk show said that Wenger has been given $100m pounds as part of 80m pound transfer budget they agreed on with the creditors up to 2009 and she sees certain that Eto’o is on the cards. Personally l feel Eto’o and Henry are mutually exclusive in the same team, even if Wenger has this amount of money do you see him coming to Arsenal
Bobby – 1. In business terms Newcastle United is an underperforming asset and has been for decades. When you see that sort of situation there is only one person to blame – the Chairman and in-turn the directors. 2. If Spurs sell Berbatov the fans will be livid and rightfully so. With the new TV deal kicking and as long as the player is happy there would not appear to be any reason why Spurs would have to sell. 3. To be perfectly honest I don’t think I have ever watched him play – I certainly wasn’t aware of him. Apparently he is a defensive midfield player and so I can’t see why Arsenal would go after him. 4. I just can’t understand why Barcelona would choose to sell Eto’o. So until someone comes up with a good reason I am expecting him to stay at the Nou Camp.
BigWave - I know this is a minor thing but now that Man United has won the Premiership title can the new guy on the Fox Soccer Report stop referring to the Reds as "Man U?" All football fans know that is not a proper term.
Bobby – We have that in common. Referring to Man. Utd. as Man U has driven me crazy for years. In fact if my wife wants to bug me she will ask “is that Man U on television?” However, the reference has become so commonly used that I have accepted that nothing is going to change.
Henry14 - How you rate Torres among forwards, do you think he is the Darren Bent group of players. Is Hunterlaar for real, is he not like Kezman?
Bobby – He is far better player than Darren Bent. The problem with comparing Hunterlaar with Kezman is that for every Kezman there is a Van Nistelrooy and Roy Makaay. Who knows how differently it might have turned out for Kezman if he had joined a team that gave him a regular spot in the starting eleven.
Rob's Rabble - I wonder did you see Jorge Valdano's comments on the Liverpool Chelsea Champions League game. If not, check out The Guardian's website. Basically he compared it to watching #### on a stick. As an Arsenal fan, I have to agree somewhat that Benitez and Mourinho are strangling a lot of the skill level out of the game. The sad thing is that you could say that Arsenal actually made it to the CL final last year playing the same way. Hard to see what the solution is, but I have to say I would rather watch ties like Milan Man U over the Liverpool Chelsea ones every time.
Bobby – It was a terrible game of football but it had me on the edge of my seat.
Foxcube - Q1, given his failure to defend the title, how likely do you think now is JM to be asked to quit in the summer, if Abramovich would risk losing a couple of key players? What's your reckoning on what the owner wants the club to be like? Playing beautifully? Or a team to win at all cost, the more trophies the merrier? Q2, Can you name the three transfer targets Sir Alex alluded to? Or to rephrase it, if you were ManU manager, who'd be your top three recruits? Q3, Could you also name the three most needed positions/candidates for Liverpool and Arsenal? Q4, Is Tottenham faring better than you expected at the beginning of the season? If they can keep Berbatov, will they be among the top 4 challengers next season, including, imo, Arsenal, Everton, and Aston Villa?
Bobby – 1. I think Mourinho will be gone before the new season starts. As for what Abramovich wants – my guess is wonderful flowing football. 2. There are a number of targets that have been mentioned already – Hargreaves, Berbatov, Bales, Nani (Sporting Lisbon). I think he will be on the look out for a couple of midfielders – it would be a dangerous game to bank on Giggs and Scholes producing a repeat of this season’s form next year. United also need a striker. 3. Liverpool – a reliable and mobile 20 a season goal scorer, a first class left sided midfielder and cover at centre back although Benitez might have a couple of youngsters who can step up. Arsenal – another option on the right side of midfield, a dominating centre – both Toure and Gallas lack the couple of inches that Sol Campbell gave Arsenal – and a new goalkeeper. Lehmann’s antics wore thin a long time ago. 4. Tottenham exceeded my expectations as far as entertainment value was concerned but I think they will finish close to where I picked back in August. The FSR and the blog will be pulling out the predictions in the next week or so. Even with Berbatov I can’t see any team cracking the top four.
LosAngelesChelseaFan - Bobby, are league teams still contractually obligated to enter it (the Carling Cup)?
Bobby – I believe so.
RINGO - Having seen the way Chelsea’s season has ground to a halt, I do not think it is possible to win all four trophies.....Which makes the achievements of the "Lisbon Lions" all the more remarkable! And with the 40th anniversary of their great triumph approaching.....good topic for a blog?!
Bobby – They say records are made to be broken but Celtic’s haul in ’67 will take some beating. A couple of days ago I was thinking of the spring of 1967. Scotland beat World Champions England at Wembley, Celtic became the first northern European side to win the European Cup, Rangers were beaten by Bayern Munich in the final of the Cup Winners Cup in extra time and Kilmarnock reached the semi final of the Fairs Cities Cup before going out to Leeds United. We will never see the likes again!
Venti_vidi_vici -Now that the fourth season of the Abramovich era at Chelsea is coming to a close, is it safe to say that one still cannot buy happiness or success?
If Mourinho’s last two seasons at Porto are to be defined as successful because of the trophies he collected, how successful, would you say, were his first (and maybe only) three seasons at Chelsea?
It looks like Gary Neville, Michael Carrick and Steven Gerrard are all getting married on June 16 next month, and John Terry’s big day is the day before. That must have something to do with fixture congestion, right!? Did you receive an invitation to any of them?
In your personal opinion, why did Tim Howard not feature in the match versus his former employer, Man Utd, last week?
Congratulations are in order for Man Utd for accomplishing what, a year ago, appeared to be mission impossible and dethroning Chelsea. At the beginning of the season did anyone predict the EPL trophy going back to Old Trafford?
Bobby – The reality is that is next to impossible to have success in football without money. The thing that Abramovich brought to Chelsea was an almost unlimited supply of money – something we have never seen before. I don’t believe that two Premiership titles and assorted other hardware can be looked upon as failure. June 16 – I think there is a Gold Cup game that day. Tim Howard – I have no idea but was there not an arrangement made with one of Scott Parker’s moves? As for predicting Manchester United as the premiership champions at the start of the season – out of over 70 predictions that were received on the blog I believe only four selected United as the winners. I will have the full details next week.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
Thank you to all who take time to visit this blog and especially to those of you who post your comments and thoughts.
PS - If you have questions please post them on the regular Monday blog. I am unable to answer e mails posted to the inbox on this site.
And one more thing. If you have questions or complaints or compliments about programming please contact Fox Soccer Channel or Fox Sports World Canada directly. I have no control over what the stations televise.
