English football 2022-23

[Durhamfootman]

I'm quite pleased for Forest. I think they're safe now

2 from 3 to join Southampton, by the looks of it

[bigfluffylemon]

Fair play Forest. Was a tough run in and they've secured safety with a game to go.

Arsenal will be gutted, one of the biggest ever leads blown, although to be fair their lead was never as big as it looked as City were always behind on games played. But Arsenal have fallen away badly since Feb.

I hope City win the CL. You'd have to be pretty churlish to argue they don't deserve it.

[Durhamfootman]

I hope City win the CL. You'd have to be pretty churlish to argue they don't deserve it.

assuming that you don't look too closely at all the financial rules that they appear to have broken in recent years.

Something like 115 breaches of financial fair play rules, although Man City dispute the charges. Suggestions that Man City's accounting was fraudulent, the club's income was overstated, accusations that the clubs owners gave money to sponsors to artificially inflate their income. I understand this goes back to 2012. If they are found guilty, and it might take a further two years to determine this, how many players will they have they bought in that period, that they might not have been able to buy had they followed the rules they were supposed to follow

They are not alone in that, of course.......... and I sincerely hope that Newcastle's owners don't go down that same path

[bigfluffylemon]

All over bar the singing now. Liverpool an outside chance of edging a CL spot but not very likely, and Leeds and Leicester both need to hope Everton don't win on Saturday and pick up a win (and stay ahead of the other one too).

Despite his reputation, has Sam Allerdyce ever saved a team from relegation when it wasn't already in the relegation zone as a result of his early-season efforts? This analysis suggests not recently...
https://theanalyst.com/eu/2023/05/how-e ... er-league/

[sussexpob]

They are not alone in that, of course.......... and I sincerely hope that Newcastle's owners don't go down that same path

Newcastle will be watching the cases against Everton and City will a lot of interest, because they seem to be the acid test for the current financial rules model in place. If City dont get the book thrown at them, then I think FFP is dead in the water. The rules themselves were a hidden attempt to ensure the elite of the global game continued to dominate, as its hardly "fair" to peg spending to revenue, when Man United have 11 times the revenue of Brentford.

This leaves us with the Newcastle-Everton effect .... you get 1 or 2 transfer windows to spend 200-300 million quid, and if you spend that money wisely, you end up as Newcastle, if you spend it badly, you are Everton with falling revenues, a high wage bill, and no European football to offset the bill. But the rules really stop Newcastle from further rapid movement upwards, because they will almost certainly be over FFP with any continued spending. So its hard to see how they now challenge City from the platform they have.

[Durhamfootman]

So its hard to see how they now challenge City from the platform they have.

Time, I suppose. Newcastle are pushing hard to increase revenue wherever they can. I just hope they don't fiddle the books or give sponsors the money to invest, or include future revenue in the current accounts, or that sort of thing in order to get there

I agree entirely with your assertion that FFP is not there to keep smaller clubs sustainable, which is the claim, but to stop any riff raff with a new wealthy owner threatening the cosy club at the top of European football.

[sussexpob]

So its hard to see how they now challenge City from the platform they have.

Time, I suppose. Newcastle are pushing hard to increase revenue wherever they can. I just hope they don't fiddle the books or give sponsors the money to invest, or include future revenue in the current accounts, or that sort of thing in order to get there

I think in the case of these PSG/City type revenue arguments, its a very difficult thing to prove, and for the right reasons. People assume that the link between Royal family owned companies passing money to each other is evidence in itself of foul play, but the reality is that the strategic economic blueprint for a post-oil Middle East in countries that have enjoyed a huge oil boom has been to create alternative sources of wealth and enterprise by investing in large scale projects.

Tourism for instance is probably the biggest domestic market that Qatar or Dubai are trying to create, and with a lot of success... so when Etihad pay City 100s of millions, is it so City can buy players, or is this actually part of a huge promotional strategy to push tourism to Qatar on a global scale? I work in this industry, and I can tell you that even on low level events, these governments have unlimited budgets to promote these sectors of their economy, so I dont think its an easy answer just to say yes. And of course, there is an element of sports-washing to it too, I wont deny that.

At the end of the day, why would mega rich people in Qatar want to mop up high profile sportsclubs? They are using that to promote other interests. So there is a genuine value to the revenue generated.

[sussexpob]

As for Newcastle, as I said, very interested to see what they do now. If they go and spend 200 million this summer, I think that will be indicative of their determination/confidence of ignoring the clout of FFP, and once you have 2 clubs involved in it, I think it breaks it down.

[Gingerfinch]

All done bar the shouting. I'm sure Everton will beat Bournemouth, meaning if Leeds do somehow manage to beat Spurs, they're down. Leicester will do well to beat Newcastle or even draw but I hope they do as this will make the last day a bit more interesting.

[sussexpob]

Wonder if any PL clubs seen what happened last night to Vini Jr at Valencia, and will be preparing a bid for him. Was subjected to racial abuse for a whole match, the ref did nothing, the La Liga President blamed him for not being involved with anti-racist movements, and the player was left branding Spain a racist country and, clearly and understandably rattled, laid into La Liga for being a hostile environment to him.

Wonder if he will want to move away now.

[Durhamfootman]

All done bar the shouting. I'm sure Everton will beat Bournemouth, meaning if Leeds do somehow manage to beat Spurs, they're down. Leicester will do well to beat Newcastle or even draw but I hope they do as this will make the last day a bit more interesting.

I'd be happy for Leicester to get a draw tonight

[Durhamfootman]

Wonder if any PL clubs seen what happened last night to Vini Jr at Valencia, and will be preparing a bid for him. Was subjected to racial abuse for a whole match, the ref did nothing, the La Liga President blamed him for not being involved with anti-racist movements, and the player was left branding Spain a racist country and, clearly and understandably rattled, laid into La Liga for being a hostile environment to him.

Wonder if he will want to move away now.

There's a bit of a Brazilian contingent building up at Newcastle. Guimaraes has been vocally backing VJ and they're in the same squad for internationals, so plenty of time to talk. He'll have to be prepared to sign for 100-150 grand a week though, which might have him running for the hills.... I have no idea what Valencia are paying him

[Gingerfinch]

All done bar the shouting. I'm sure Everton will beat Bournemouth, meaning if Leeds do somehow manage to beat Spurs, they're down. Leicester will do well to beat Newcastle or even draw but I hope they do as this will make the last day a bit more interesting.

I'd be happy for Leicester to get a draw tonight

yes a draw will be good enough for you, although 3rd place will see you not having to play in the CL preliminary round won't it?

[Durhamfootman]

I don't know, tbh. It's been so long since champions league was anything other than a vague concept that had nothing to do with us that I have no idea what the format is

If 4th means a preliminary round, then Leicester can go *modded* themselves. I have a faint recollection that the last time Newcastle got a CL slot (about 1000 years ago) they crashed out.... Partizan Belgrade is ringing a bell, won away and then lost at home. Think it was when Sir Bobby was manager

I might have all of that completely wrong.... it's just niggling away in the back of my brain

[sussexpob]

Nah, UEFA closed that loophole threatening the big league sides now, so Newcastle go straight to the groups irrespective of 3rd or 4th place. They basically created a system that guaranteed the top leagues will always have the most teams in the group. Oh, and if USG win the belgian league in two weeks, we dont go into the group.... despite having more results co-efficient points this year than any other league under the top 3 scorers managed in the 6 year qualification period, UEFA decided our champion is not worthy of entry. Ukraine and Belgiums champions play another match to decide which goes through.

The scoring system is designed in a way that its virtually impossible for smaller nations co-efficient to exceed a big league. They made all the big leagues get 4 teams in the groups, and then award the most points available for qualifying for the group....

So if Bruges won the Champions League as Belgians only entry, winning every game, they would get less points than 4 English teams being knocked out instantly.... so they would then finish behind England, and ergo its impossible to overtake them regardless of results. They essentially changed the rules once all the big leagues were inside the top rankings, and made sure that would stay like that forever.

Got to love UEFA.