Tubby Beaver 209 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Chigasaki specials..... Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Interesting A manager at a League Two club delivers an unequivocal message to a journeyman forward, a proven goalscorer seeking the solace of a short-term contract: “Accept £200 a week, or go back to being a tyre fitter in Macclesfield.” The agent of a teenaged triallist released from the factory farm of a Premier League Academy attempts, cogently but unsuccessfully, to argue that a hat-trick in a pre-season friendly is worth £250 a week. He is on eight per cent of very little, but is fearful his peers will steal his client should other clubs signal an interest. Agents are hijacking deals, squabbling for loose change. Players are hardly paragons of virtue: one was discovered stringing along six agents supposedly working on his behalf. Wayne’s world might leave him “angry and confused” but the real world is bleaker than Rooney, or his retinue, can imagine. Professional football in a recession is a forbidding place, where the concept of financial fair play has an entirely different connotation to that envisaged by administrators seeking sanity in the market place. The plutocrats may play their games – major transfers are the equivalent of blind man’s bluff and tend to feature those for whom the truth is an abstract concept – but though they shape public perception, they are not representative of the industry. Stars like Rooney, mini corporations with coherent commercial strategies which require constant recycling of the principal product, cannot lose. Their contracts are comfort blankets, which can be discarded well before they lose their warmth. The average Premier League player is merely inconvenienced if he is shown the door through indolence or inability. At worst, he will slip into the Championship and learn to live with the loss of face and status. Slither down the pyramid, and rejection carries serious consequences. Mortgages become unsustainable, and the knowledge that footballers are ill-prepared for alternative employment becomes oppressive. These players are habitually referred to as “bodies”. They are treated with a thoughtless lack of respect and kept around clubs to supplement small first-team squads in the build-up to the new season. They are the ones playing as if their life depends on it, which, in a way, it does. Several managers of my acquaintance confide they will release their triallists this week. Players who have not secured a club within a fortnight face an endless winter. As of yesterday morning, there were 458 players coming to terms with the fact the dream may have died. All are out of contract and feature in the Professional Footballers’ Association’s online gallery. This is a showcase for the selective morality of the system. It highlights young men for whom the game is the source of a fragile sense of self-esteem. The first player on the PFA’s carousel of hope and desperation is Sam Sheridan, a 23-year-old central midfield player who made 28 appearances for Stockport in the Conference last season. The last name on the list is that of Joe Turley, a 19-year-old midfielder released by Cheltenham. Another simple set of statistics explains rampant self-interest and short-termism. The average lifespan of a manager is less than 18 months – 52 League managers were sacked or resigned last season. Swindon’s Kevin MacDonald has failed to survive even pre-season. Time is precious. Resources are scarce. The human cost is terrifying. Clarke Carlisle did his profession a great service with his documentary on the dangers of depression last week, prompting many players to share their secrets. Athletes live for the moment. In the next couple of days, that journeyman forward is expected to accept £200 a week as the price of his obsession. Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 I see you signed Stevie G there, scouser. Any other rumblings over Liverpool-way? Not much that I've heard of. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Sounds like it's tough for those who aren't in the big league. But for the lucky few who seem unable to not earn obsene amounts of money.... wow. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Looks like Barcelona telling United to go away for a second time over SexFab. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I'm not quite sure what United's 'strategy' is with all this revealing about bids. All seems odd to me. Playing Yokohama tonight. Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I'm pretty sure United used to keep pretty quiet about transfer bids and the like until they actually happened. Like you say, odd that they come out and say things like that. Same with Jose saying how much he wants Rooney. Doesn't seem like a smart strategy! Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Yes they did. Things seem to have changed somewhat. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 **** me that tomato juice commercial has to be hitting the record for loud swallowing noises. Amplified with no other sounds. Horrendous. Wanted to kick the TV in. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I haven't seen any of the friendlies but I was in the sports shop today and it looks like Man U have dropped the checked strip. That was a variation too far. The worst one last season was that Southampton one which was red with white pinstripes. Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HQwH4DtqW4 Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Arsenal bid 40,000,001 for Suarez. Cheeky! And bloody ridiculous. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 I was at the match last night and wasn't very impressed. Good on Yokohama for the win. Wonder if Moyes is feeling any pressure with only one win now. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Yeah it wasn't very entertaining. Wasn't a full United team either. Some of the boys seem decent. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Yeah, that Januzaj looks really sharp. Another talented Belgian. Zaha handled the ball well as well. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 All we need now is to get rid of Wazza, bring in some midfield talent and by the looks of yesterday some defense to! Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 How about Kagawa getting man of the match! Plenty of boos after that was announced... he really didn't deserve it at all! Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Yes that was just ridiculous wasn't it. Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 I don't know what it is with the amplified swallowing noises, but that has to be the worse ever. Makes me want to go on some kind of violent rampage. Even Giggy looking silly didn't help. Link to post Share on other sites
2pints-mate 0 Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Cesc Fabregas has told pie-eater's gran in England that he wants to quit Barcelona for Manchester United. Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Well, I've just phoned my gran, and she knows nothing of this!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 United just get a draw. Very hot conditions the excuse I reckon. Thanks to Kagawa, Abenomics, Kagawa, Kagawa and Abenomics. And Kagawa. Zaha looking very interesting. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Kagawa obviously got man of the match. Abe got man of the universe! Was at the Arsenal match tonight. Definitely a lot more entertaining than the ManYoo match. Loads of Japanese fans singing the Arsenal songs was a nice touch! Link to post Share on other sites
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