12/13 Football Thread

[Alan Lynch]

Tal ben Haim is being selfish and greedy.

It certainly looks that way. I'm a tad confused how administrators can't just cancel his contract though. Hasn't that happened before? Of course nobody has done that at Rangers either but there may be dodgy reasons for that (allegedly).

There's also the story Alex Thompson stuck up on his blog.

The Big Tax Case is bizarre. Feels like it's been going on for ages with no progress at all and now the Old Rangers are about to close up then who'd be liable for any penalties imposed?

[DebkoX]

They'd have to pay him a fee, and he wants £600,000, AND Redknapp wants to rescue Pompey!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...ortsmouth.html

[king mob]

It certainly looks that way. I'm a tad confused how administrators can't just cancel his contract though. Hasn't that happened before? Of course nobody has done that at Rangers either but there may be dodgy reasons for that (allegedly).

Blame the football creditors rule.

The Big Tax Case is bizarre. Feels like it's been going on for ages with no progress at all and now the Old Rangers are about to close up then who'd be liable for any penalties imposed?

Rumour is that it's wrapped up, while other rumours say it's been delayed by members of the Scottish Parliament. Nobody actually knows what's going on hence why Alex Thompson (the only UK national journalist doing good work into the Rangers case) is getting pissed off.

[king mob]

They'd have to pay him a fee, and he wants £600,000, AND Redknapp wants to rescue Pompey!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...ortsmouth.html

That's like someone who's set your house on fire offering to come back to help put out the fire by pissing on it.

[mcgaffer]

QPR are considering loaning Joey Barton to a Football League club to speed up the serving of his 12-match ban.
Barton was suspended after being sent off against Manchester City in May and then clashing with Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany on his way off.
FA rules allow the Loftus Road club to apply for Barton to serve the ban with another club.
QPR are considering all options with regards to the midfielder going out on loan.
Barton will begin training with League Two Fleetwood Town this week as QPR are on a pre-season tour of Malaysia.
The FA would consider any application to transfer the ban, but do have the power to reject it if they feel it as an abuse of the disciplinary process.

[mcgaffer]

Arsenal are closing in on the signing of Spain's Santi Cazorla, 27, after the Malaga midfielder agreed terms with the Gunners.

Joe Allen, 22, can leave Swansea for £15m thanks to a clause in his contract but only to a 'top five' club, which includes Liverpool.

Paris Saint-Germain are ready to outbid Real Madrid for Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric, 26.

Tottenham have accused Arsenal of making a fake bid for French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, 25, who is a Spurs target.

Spurs have made an enquiry about long-term Chelsea target and Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Willian, 23.

Lucas Moura, 19, is staying with Sao Paulo and will not move to Manchester United this summer, according to the Brazilian midfielder's agent.

AC Milan want to open talks with Manchester City over the possibility of signing Argentina striker Carlos Tevez, 28.

Manchester City defender Aleksandar Kolarov is close to a return to Serie A as Inter Milan look to finalise a £6.2m deal.

Oscar, 20, is edging nearer his move to Chelsea according to Internacional's president Giovanni Luigi, who claims discussions are at an advanced stage.

Roma have edged ahead of Chelsea and Manchester United in the race to sign Benfica midfielder Axel Witsel, 23.

Newcastle have dismissed claims that Rubin Kazan are set to sign Demba Ba, 27, as the Russian side look to trigger striker's £7m exit clause.

Loic Remy is moving closer to joining Newcastle after they contacted his club Marseille with a view to signing the £15m-rated France striker.

Everton defender Johnny Heitinga, 28, is set to move to Turkish side Fenerbahce in a £5m deal within the next few days.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez could beat Everton, Sunderland, Aston Villa and Celtic to sign Real Mallorca centre-back Ivan Ramis, 27.

Aston Villa are set for a surprise £3.5m swoop for Ipswich left-back Aaron Cresswell, 22.

Gareth Bale, 23, played for Tottenham before Team GB kick off their Olympic campaign, despite being unavailable for Stuart Pearce's squad because of injury.

Jermaine Pennant has been forced to miss Stoke's pre-season tour of the United States after being refused a working visa.

Liverpool's hopes of signing Poland captain Jakub Błaszczykowski, 26, have suffered a blow after the Borussia Dortmund winger penned a new four-year deal with the German champions.

Thierry Henry wants to return to Arsenal in a coaching role when his playing career ends.

Arsene Wenger is furious with the Football Association over Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong's tweet charge.

And the Premier League has issued new social media guidelines to players following the FA's action against Frimpong.

But Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand has defended his use of Twitter after being asked by the FA to explain a tweet about Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole.

Michael Dawson will be installed as Tottenham's new captain following the retirement of Ledley King.

AC Milan say they will refund season tickets bought this summer after fans were left disgruntled by the sales of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 30, and Thiago Silva, 27, to Paris Saint-Germain.

[king mob]

With Newco just a few days away from their first ever game, Robbie Savage has offered to play for them.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...play-free.html

Oh please let this happen.

[Alan Lynch]

With Newco just a few days away from their first ever game, Robbie Savage has offered to play for them.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...play-free.html

Oh please let this happen.

The most confusing thing about this whole story is the Daily Express (my dad buys it) calling Savage a "popular TV pundit".

Popular?

[mcgaffer]

Former England coach Fabio Capello says the team would have gone further at Euro 2012 had he still been in charge.
Capello, whose England team lost in the second round at the 2010 World Cup, resigned in February after the FA removed John Terry as captain.
Roy Hodgson's England reached the Euro 2012 quarter-finals and Capello, now coach of Russia, said: "If I were with your guys it would've been even better.
"I'd worked there for four years and after what happened I wanted to stop."

[mcgaffer]

Ryan Giggs has claimed Senegal's Sadio Manu could have been sent off three times for the challenges he made in the 1-1 draw with Great Britain.
Giggs was unhappy with some of the tackles in the match, which left goalscorer Craig Bellamy and Joe Allen doubtful for the team's next game.
"In a Premier League game he [Manu] would probably have been sent off three times," said Giggs.

[king mob]

The most confusing thing about this whole story is the Daily Express (my dad buys it) calling Savage a "popular TV pundit".

Popular?

I especially loved his forced enthusiasm for football in the Olympics because his mate is captain of the British team.

[Lord Bravery]

If Newcastle keep hold of Ba and get Remy they are going to be ridiculous next season.

[Alan Lynch]

If Newcastle keep hold of Ba and get Remy they are going to be ridiculous next season.

We've been linked with Debuchy as well, who I thought had a decent Euros. The Carroll link bugs me though; I don't think he's worth what it'd cost for Liverpool to sell.

[king mob]

The Sunday papers throw out some interesting stories like John Terry being charged by the FA for being someone who isn't a Massive Racist but happily uses Massively Racist language, Paul Scholes is crying about not being given the chance to play for England even though he quit years ago, but seeing as it's Newco's first ever game and they gained conditional membership of the SFL, the floor goes to Ally McCoist being a twat.

Rangers manager Ally McCoist has criticised the Scottish Premier League for pursuing "as hostile an agenda as possible" towards the club.
The relaunched Ibrox outfit have been granted conditional Scottish FA membership, allowing them to start their season at Brechin on Sunday.
Protracted discussions over membership, which involved the SPL, had placed the Ramsdens Cup tie in doubt.
"Rangers have not been punished enough in [the SPL's] eyes," said McCoist.
McCoist last week insisted he would "never accept" Rangers being stripped of titles won during the period being probed by the SPL.
And, in a lengthy statement, the manager described the recent uncertainty over Rangers' status as "a ludicrous situation".

"No one is denying that Rangers were badly mismanaged for 10 months," said McCoist. "Nor are we disputing that we should be punished for that. We have been. We accept that punishment and want to start putting the past behind us and move forward.
"But that is not being allowed to happen - and I have to ask myself why?
"In recent days, I have been in a number of meetings with Stewart Regan, Rod Petrie and other senior SFA figures - and despair at the lack of leadership shown.
"In my years in professional football, I have not always agreed with everything the SFA did or said. But, no matter what you thought of their decisions, there was no doubt they ran the game firmly and robustly.
"I can only imagine [former chief executive] Ernie Walker looking down on us now and shaking his head in disbelief at the sad state of affairs and the way they have been mishandled.

The SPL kicked us out - which was their right - and we acknowledge that. But that doesn't seem enough for [chief executive] Neil Doncaster and some of his board.
"Having said they don't want us they do want a bigger share of the TV money that our presence will bring to the SFL and its clubs. Never mind sporting integrity - where is the moral integrity there?
"And there is no line to be drawn in the sand. Rangers have not been punished enough in their eyes and along with one or two people who have a vested interest within SPL clubs, our right to past titles will be challenged.
"They want what we and our fans bring, yet seem determined to strip us of every bit of our dignity. It has to stop."
McCoist went on to thank the SFL for inviting Rangers into the lower league set-up.
"It is time to start playing football again," he added.
Continue reading the main story

McCoist was appointed manager of the old Rangers last summer and, by February of this year, the club had entered administration with mounting debts.
The club could not be saved from liquidation and were reformed by a new company.
However, the Rangers 'newco' had their bid to replace the old club in the SPL rejected and were eventually accepted, in principle, into the Scottish Football League Third Division.
But the issue of inheriting the old Rangers' SFA membership - required for league and cup participation - remained unresolved until a conditional transfer was granted, with the permanent transfer due to take place on completion of legal documentation.
Rangers have agreed to incur a 12-month transfer ban that was handed out to the old club by the SFA as punishment for bringing the game into disrepute.
But issues relating to media rights and possible sanctions as a result of the SPL's investigation into how Rangers paid their employees in the previous decade had held up the process.

A couple of points:

Oldco have received no punishment outside of the transfer ban. They've not been punished for anything else but going bust If and when the Big Tax Case delivers it's ruling and if it finds Oldco guilty then they need to have their titles stripped from them for the period in question. That's a punishment which is needed to show Rangers cheated to win things.

Also, McCosit is trying to spin the lie that Rangers were mismanaged for 10 months when it was much, much longer than that.

It's Newco's first game against Brechin so come on Brechin!!

[Alan Lynch]

McCoist has been a prize clown throughout this farce. Some of the nonsense he's spouted has been misinformed at best and inflammatory at worst; how often does he get to call Scottish football bent before getting punished for that?

And Rangers - including new signing Ian Black, who I'm sure won't be on 3rd Division wages - are beating Brechin 1-0. Shame.