By Sir Hardly Anyone.
Football, it seems, has fractured. Or if you preferred, it has splintered. Splintered into a million little splintery things that are….
Well splintery. But here are some of the many diverse stories slurping around on the floor of the football hothouse, each screaming for attention until trodden underfoot by the pressure cooker of expectation.
[Any more mixed metaphors and the government will introduce a tax on them to pay for the promised new house build. Just get on with it. Tony]
1: Barcelona is really a suburb of Clapham.
Yep, the news is out. If Catalonia, which we are all now having to learn to pronounce Cataluuuunia, breaks away from Spain, it seems that Barcelona will expect to find a welcome of open arms in the Premier League, because Spain won’t want them any more and Barcelona has always been part of the UK.
This will turn the Spanish League into a version of the Scottish League in which one team wins it all the time, and a second team chases around occasionally catching up.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has said discussions will take place. But who would want them? The Catalan sports minister had already said that Barcelona and Espanyol would be eligible to play in England, France and Italy, as well as Spain, because teams like Monaco and Swansea of examples of Uefa allowing it play outside their home nation.
Well, yes, up to a point. Except Monaco is a principality not a country, and it is surrounded by France, and Cardiff started the Welsh trend by joining the Southern League in 1910. Besides Wales and England are part of a Union called the United Kingdom. By the time Barcelona is kicked out of the Spanish League Wales won’t even be in the EU.
Allardyce was effectively sacked as England manager in September last year after the Daily Telegraph used undercover reporters posing as businessmen. Whatever will they think of next? The end product of this escapade was the headline “England manager for sale”. The FA decided his position was untenable less than 24 hours after the piece was published.
The Daily Mail says they have seen the wordy letter and apparently it claims that the FA did not wait until the full facts about him demanding money to speak overseas had emerged before kicking him out the door. Although much of the FA’s evidence against F.Sam was given in Parliament and so can’t be the subject of a slander, one of the FA dopey heads repeated it in talking to the BBC, and that makes it fair game.
However Sam threatened to sue the BBC in February 2013 over allegations about money wrongly changing hands in an earlier case, but never did. With Sam you just never know.
3: Other FA legal tangles.
Senior members of the FA are still giving evidence about the notion that former England women’s manager Mark Sampson made racial remarks to players. Sampson was sacked, just like FSam, just like lots of people before him. It is what the FA does best.
And there is still criticism of the time taken over the child sex abuse in football scandal, and still no sign of when the money raised from the Community Shield match will be handed over to the Grenfall Tower victims.
4: Monreal makes the 20 Best players in PL list for September
One of the papers does this sort of thing, and cutting out all the silly little snidey comments that always turn up when they mention Arsenal they said that Monreal had been “converted into a ball playing ….centre back by Arsene Wenger… Monreal has been brilliant. In September he made 14 interceptions… and 12 tackles as well as scoring the opening goal against Brighton.”
5: Sunday midday matches should be abolished
That’s a headline in the Telegraph.
6: Usmanov speaks about his shares.
In recent days there has been speculation relating to a possible offer for his 30 per cent stake in Arsenal. He said this: “I can understand the anxiety that these rumours are causing to the fans as reflected by the Arsenal Supporters Trust. In light of this, I would like to be clear that I am not holding any talks with Mr Kroenke about a sale. My interest in Arsenal from the beginning was long term and my intention has always been to buy additional shares should they become available.
“This I did with the purchase of the stake of my business partner Farhad Moshiri with which I increased my shareholding from 15 per cent to 30 per cent, and also with my proposed offer for the stake of the majority shareholder which valued the Club at some £2bn.
“That offer remains valid today. I have always been and will continue to be an ardent supporter of Arsenal and I see my 30 per cent stake as an important aspect in protecting the best interests of the fans in the club.
7: Fabregas threw the pizza
Yes, he’s said it was him who threw it at Sir Alex F-word. He could have said, “Of course if I had admitted it when a player at Arsenal I could have been banned for life, but now I am at Chelsea I know that the League won’t take action against them. Look at how they did nothing about the brawl between Chelsea and Tottenham. If they let that go with so many yellows and no reds, they won’t get edgy about a little pizza will they?”
And that is the snippets of the day.
I think Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the Nigerian cement business mogul backing off from purchasing Lady Bracewell Smith’s 15.9% stake at Arsenal which was on offer for sale then has contributed in a great deal to the predicament of Arsenal not winning any big title for over a decade since the millionaire business man investor, Stan Kroenke became the majority shareholder at Arsenal with 67% controlling stake after buying Lady Smith’s shareholdings.
Had it been Alhaji Dangote did not baulked at the price Lady Smith’s wanted for her holdings but close his eyes and pay her to buy her stake as Mr Kroenke did after to acquired her shares, the control at the Arsenal board would have been different from what is obtainable there now as the powers at the board will be closely distributed evenly with Mr Kroenke having the lesser stake of 54.1%, Alisher Usmanov with 30% and Alhaji Dangote having 15.9% stake. But even then, will all the 3 stake holders if it were so have the right to sit on the Arsenal board as Mr Kroenke will still be having the majority stake?
It will be interesting and desired to see Barcelona playing in the Premier League if the Catalans get away with their Catalonia independence from Spain. And if as a punishment to the Catalans for breaking away from Spain by civil disobedience force, the Spanish football association authorities seemingly refused Barca to continuing playing in the La Liga after Catalonia has become an independent country from Spain by civil force. It will be like an unforseen dream that comes true for the Premier League foitball fans to cherish and experience across the world. And of course the current 6 big clubs in the PL will summarily be increased to 7 as Barca comes in competiting to win the PL title which should become tougher and tougher by the seasons because of their endering talents and the very strong financial capacity which Barca possess that could be only rivaled by those possessed by Man City, Man Utd and probably Chelsea, a situation may arisen where Barca could be dominating the Premier League title wins. But what of the logistic problem that will come up if Barca starts playing in the Premier League? I perceive that shouldn’t be a big problem to cope with as regular flying or traveling by train to Carolina will become the noun by English clubs play against Carolina clubs and Carolina clubs traveling to England too to play in all competitions and not only in the PL I should think.
We then would get the answer to the question: could Messi do it on a cold Tuesday night after having been kicked by Shawcross?
Wales, Sir Hardly, is a Principality (as is Monaco), not a Sovereign state. But, of course, neither are we a Sovereign state until we leave the EU.
How extraordinarily droll.
@ WalterBroeckx -05/10/2017 at 3:01 pm – Messi does not have to worry as he is supplied by a load of crosses from a guardian vampire in the wings !
Its the bullies and referees that ought be worried.