All the players the catastrophists think should leave, and the rest of the squad

By Tony Attwood and the Catastrophists Union of Nautical Turnips. (Spell it, you’ll see what I mean) ‘Tis noticeable that in the last couple of days Barca have gone very quiet on the Cesc front.  Within the space of 10 days we have moved from “We’ll sign him by the weekend” to “We won’t be …

A new football structure in England in Spain within the next four years

By Tony Attwood An unpublished document within the EPL’s HQ (revealed by the BBC in a Radio 4 programme just over a week ago) agrees that the EPL has club debts of over £3bn, which is quite a lot, really. One thing that is agreed by most independent analysts is that this is not sustainable …

Heysel May 29

Heysel – the Belgian perspective.  By Walter Broeckx The history of the Heysel stadium goes back to 1927. In those days the city of Brussels decided to build a brand new stadium which was meant to become the home for all kind of sporting events in the Belgian capital. It was finished in 1930, thus celebrating …

How not to run a football club

Go to football club and you will find people who complain.  They complain about the price of beer, the quality of the food, the action of the stewards inside the ground, the attitude of the police, the incompetence of the box office… Over the years I have found football clubs to be among the most …

Arsenal throughout the last 20 years. How are we doing today?

by Walter Broeckx As someone asked if we could not only give a bit of general view on the goals that we conceded but an overall view on  all the statistics I will try to do this. I will only take a look at the league and the performances and will not speak about cup …

New financial regs approved, so I don’t look a total prat

I laid my cards on the table, put myself on the line, laid my body on the tracks, and generally risked ridicule. After a lot of Untold readers had previously written in and said that the new UEFA regs on financial doping would hit the dust, they went through unmolested. UEFA Club Licensing and Financial …

Next season’s squad: who we’ve got and who we need

By Leke Osmani -Last season we performed better than the media thought we would. We came 3rd and did quite well in the Champions League. The main positive we have from last season I believe is the fact that we have seen just how powerful our squad can be. Spending millions will break the unity …

Uefa’s new regs are about to be voted through, and they will change the whole face of football

The last time I wrote about the new Champions League anti-financial-doping regulations that are being voted on today, 27th May, a lot of people wrote in saying that they had already been watered down, and wouldn’t work because clubs would find a way round them. I know it is bizarre for me, a person who …

Being a referee: what it’s like, part two

By Walter Broeckx This is part two of the article on being a referee, by Walter.  Part one can be found here. To follow up on what’s it like of being a ref I will start to tell you that being a ref is being the loneliest man on earth at times. This only changes …

Cesc: how the media created and used a non-existent transfer

By Tony Attwood On Wednesday 19 May the Guardian ran a story by Sid Lowe.  The Guardian, as you might have noted from my past comments, is my UK newspaper of choice.  Far from perfect, but in my personal view, the best there is. But it is, as I say, far from perfect. Sid Lowe’s …

Being a ref, what it’s like. Some tips and some advice

Being a ref, what’s it really like.  Some tips and some advice. By Walter Broeckx As a reader recently mentioned that he was going to become a ref this summer I would like to do a little piece on my own experiences and some of my friends that they have gone trough as a ref. …

‘Football is a simple game’ – The biased Media

Today’s Sponsor: The Supporters’ Direct Conference: click here for details ———————– ‘Football is a simple game’ – The biased Media By Guo Sheng Lee How many times have we heard the saying: ‘football is a simple game’? Maybe it’s just me, but I seem to have seen/heard it too many times when reading/watching the English …

Barcelona’s Unintended Prophet heralds the collapse of the Spanish Empire

Did Sandro Rosell unintentionally signal the hidden fear in Spanish football? Mike Urbanski Cesc is leaving.  Or Cesc isn’t leaving.  Barcelona say they can only pay £30m for Captain Fabulous.  Arsenal are said to be demanding £80m.  Cesc and Arsene have sat down and discussed his potential transfer to Barcelona.  Or they haven’t sat down …

Is it the defence that is the problem? The stats suggest not.

By Walter Broeckx A reader asked it we could look at the goals conceded and compare this with the invincible year. A fair question and so I went on to do some research on this. And if you just look at the bare facts they say: 2003-2004 : conceded 26 goals and won the title. 2009-2010 …

Catastrophists and doom mongers fail to come up with a coherent plan

A week or so back Untold published an article which revealed how a tiny group of people had created the doom and gloom movement at Arsenal by undertaking multiple postings from different email addresses. In that article and others I’ve tried to point out what I think are the complex interrelated issues that need exploration …

Why our summers are always so miserable… and why we won’t be bullied any more

Why our summers are always so miserable… and why this is the last summer of pain. Ian Trevett I can remember when summers were fun. After a long season it was nice to get weekends back for a month or two. Go on holiday, maybe watch a World Cup or Euro Championship (with hardly any …

Another media attack against Arsenal

by Walter Broeckx There is something strange going on in the media in the UK.  With the hype surrounding Cesc Fabregas they acted in a way that I never have seen before. From the Spanish point of view it us a bit reasonable what they are trying to do. They just want to bring their …

Uefa to pass financial doping rules on 27 May; most of EPL won’t qualify for Europe

TODAY’S SPONSOR: Picklive the new football game that you play on your laptop while watching football on the telly launched its new look this week ahead of the Championship Play Off final and Champions League final at the weekend. There will be free and pay-to-play versions of the game available for every match during the …

Comparing the incomparable: Arsenal, Read Mad, Man Arab

Is spending more and more money the answer? by Walter Broeckx Some Arsenal fans had a lot of problems with the approach of the board and the manager in the last years. Some accept that Arsenal had not a lot of cash because of the financial and housing market crisis and had to be careful. …

Better the Devil you know, than the owner you don’t.

By Terence McGovern BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW When I first thought of writing this article. it occurred to me that dozens of others would be doing the same and I decided to leave them to it. Days and weeks passed and not one scrap appeared on the subject matter. At that point I felt …

Business as usual at Fifa’s headquarters as Tottenham bid for the world cup

by our special reporters  in Switzerland and all over the world: R. Ubbish and E.M.P. Tyhead May 18. The new FA chairman has accused the Belgium FA of helping Holland to bribe refs on the coming World cup to make sure Holland win it. Holland and Belgium are bidding together for the world cup 2018. …

Chelsea FC are not debt free at all – it was all a huge con (or a mistake)

————— Today’s Sponsor: “Making the Arsenal” – just so you can realise what it was like in the really bad times. ————— By Tony Attwood The BBC and a lot of other commentators and news sources said,  “Chelsea Football Club has said it is now “virtually debt-free”.” You’ll remember it well.   30 December last year …