UEFA FFP investigation - CAS decision to be announced Monday, 13th July 9.30am BST

[nmc]

Middlesbrough have debts of £105m to Steve Gibson. No idea why you think they are the the epitome of a well run club ???

In the days before FFP they were paying ridiculous wages they couldn't afford on Boksic and Ravanelli etc then started crying when their cash ran out and foreign ownership arrived.

Google the many interviews Boro Exec Keith Lamb gave at the time of the ADUG takeover and I find it similar sour grapes to Chelsea making an about turn and supporting FFP when other teams started spending big.

Seem to recall a story doing the rounds that Ravanelli asked for 40k a week to scare Boro off because he didn’t fancy Teeside. When they (unexpected) gave into his ridiculous demands he decided to give it a go !

 

[waspish]

Seem to recall a story doing the rounds that Ravanelli asked for 40k a week to scare Boro off because he didn’t fancy Teeside. When they (unexpected) gave into his ridiculous demands he decided to give it a go !

Am sure he was on 60k a week.

 

[KS55]

Unfortunately I don't believe you can do this. The G 14 were on solid ground when they threatened Platini with legal action to prevent action on debt because debt is seen as an acceptable, indeed in many cases the only way, of financing investment and if you introduce a limit on debt tied to turn over you make the same mistake that FFP makes by limiting spending to revenue. In fact, you would take the wealth of the owners out of the equation straight away, which would have meant that in 2008 City would have had the wealthiest owner in world football but only been able to borrow 1.5 times very little! On the other hand United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Barcelona, Real etc etc etc .... while Wigan, Watford, Wolves etc etc etc ? Debt control would have the same devastating effect on competitive balance as FFP. What football requires more than ever is investment not regulation which is vulnerable to endless legal challenge, but it has to be real, planned investment.

On the question of the NFL I'm not too well informed, but instinctively I distrust professional American sport. It concerns me that setting up an NFL franchise is very expensive and few cities seem to have more than one team, indeed some teams have the monopoly of an entire state so the kind o rivalry we get in England isn't actually encouraged or welcomed. Most of the Americans I know - and they're not enough to form a valid opinion sample - watch college football out of preference because of their distaste for the way the sport favours corporatism. And then there's the entire cultural background of the NFL, most notably the draft system which does not and cannot exist here. For better and worse players are assets and we have a transfer market and youth academies here to deal with "distribution", which means they are a major item in a club's financial affairs. Controls on debt or spending mean that the big boys control distribution ever more firmly, but the draft system means that no one of the super rich owners feels hard done by - when they choose their all AMERICAN boys. PL owners would not wish to be limited to English players.

This debate will run and run. A limit to debt would not have made any difference to City. A wealthy owner who wanted to invest would simply pay all the bills, so zero debt. Mansour provided about £750m, swapped for equity and we are debt free. Compare to Chelsea where Abramovich lent about £1bn, which he requires paying back if he leaves.

 

[bluemanchester]

The winds of change.
Just before our hearing at CAS Martin Samuels little piece on Wenger today is welcome.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

A 43 year old QB (Who wants to call all the plays) and a Tight End with a notorious bad back.... not sure this gamble will end well.

Definitely not. However, they are paying out huge salaries to both!

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

A merged UAE Airlines makes an awful lot of sense.

I think Emirates have laid off something like 8k in staff so far?

I wonder which moniker would remain, take precedence?

Emirates clearly has the longer cache and better routes?

 

[Ardwick Green Blue]

I think Emirates have laid off something like 8k in staff so far?

I wonder which moniker would remain, take precedent?

Emirates clearly has the longer cache and better routes?

How does The New Emirates sound as our stadium name?

 

[asahartford1]

I think Emirates have laid off something like 8k in staff so far?

I wonder which moniker would remain, take precedent?

Emirates clearly has the longer cache and better routes?

At some stage they will merge, and part of the deal will be to sponsor City.
Wishful thinking)

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

How does The New Emirates sound as our stadium name?

Haha - no thanks.

Be nice though, telling the likes of Arsenal and a few other clubs to find a new shirt sponsor in this climate.

I'm certainly not wedded to the Etihad Stadium.

If UAE Airways wants to sponsor our shirts and stadium for £100m a year, who would we be to argue!

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

How does The New Emirates sound as our stadium name?

Doesn't sound as good as me remembering it is precedence rather than precedent!