brummie

It has got harder and harder to do anything at all in January, it's all very much an anti-climax these days. I remember 2007 when we signed Ashley Young and John Carew in the same January window. These days it's all about maybe a promising kid from somewhere or a loan. Although having said that, we bought Alex Moreno in Jan last year and he's worked out really well, so maybe I am being pessimistic.

Well, it kind of is, like it or not. That's the legal system for you, it throws up things you don't like.

This story is bat shit mental. https://metro.co.uk/2024/01/15/chelsea-transfer-news-aston-villa-star-jhon-duran-becomes-target-20117751/ Chelsea want to borrow our (clearly not yet good enough to be) second choice striker? He's promising but very young and really not ready to get much game time with us, so no idea why Chelsea think he might do for them. Or that we'd lend them him.

Ha ha ha!

And what does all the above do? It just perpetuates the gap which clubs are trying to break in the first place, by selling them your best players because you have no choice.

He must have a fucking amazing agent. Probably the same one that Judi Love has, who manages to get her on everything on Channel 4.

Slight diversion, but about 8 years after that, I saw De La Soul at Mayfair Ballroom. What a fucking night that was.

Marvellous stuff! I also remember going to see the ska movie, Dance Craze, also at Birmingham Odeon. Great times.

There is an article in the Athletic today about us and FFP, and the problems we've faced dealing with it. On reading it, although in this case it is coming from journalists rather than a director (as your discussion did), the gist of it is really not that different from what your guy said this week about having to sell, the only really difference being that we are maybe a season or two away from that being a possibility. We could, however, end up having to sell a Luiz, or a Kamara for FFP purposes alone, the same as you might have to sell an Isak or a Guimaraes. Some other things it said which really show how counter-productive FFP is - we have paused plans to rebuild one end of the ground, partly because we didn't want to risk playing in the champions league with a three sided ground in terms of the support and image, but mostly because losing the revenue from that stand whilst rebuilding would have impacted really badly on FFP, which would then be loaded onto the actual costs of the build (that money spent doesn't come into FFP calculations, but it still has to come from somewhere). How insane is it that clubs get into that position? You can't do something to improve your ability to compete long term because it ruins the short term? Yet at the same time, Chelsea can go on spending billions unimpeded.

I was a 'rude boy' when ska made its comeback in 1979 or so, saw Madness, the Specials, The Beat, Bad Manners, all of them at Birmingham Odeon over a spell of 3 or 4 years. Me and my mates used to do the whole two tone trousers, white socks, loafers, fred perry jumpers (no trilby hats, though, a step too far, that).

Ah yes, you're right, as you were.

Football in these terms, it really is fucking nauseating. You know that final scene in The Thick of It, where the 'thought yurt' consultant, Stewart whatever, gives his exit speech, and says he's tried to improve things, but "ultimately, this party is build on a solid base of cunt". It's like that. A solid base of cunt.

*slowly raises eyebrow*

If it is a release clause, you've got no choice but to honour it.

I don't disagree with any of that. By noble, what I mean is in the most general terms - the concept of having a control of how money of spent in football is a good one. Just like the idea of the 'football pyramid' in financial terms is a good one, it is just crushingly disappointing in the way it is actually manifested.

The amazing thing about Suggs is you look at him, and then you look at pictures of him in 1979, and he has barely aged at all. Remarkable.

As someone else said, the effective result of all this is that clubs are incentivised to sell home grown players because of their added FFP value. So, for us for example, Cameron Archer, who has been with us since age 7, is incredibly promising as a player, is now playing for Sheffield United because we needed the extra bonus of a near 20m sale of a home grown player. I read today, Monchi, or director of football, saying that he was happy with our business in the summer window, and that the sales of Archer, Ramsey and Philogene were really necessary to create the FFP wriggle room to be able to get in some of the players we signed. Now, I understand it, that is basically playing the system as it is, and understanding the extra value that these players bring, but if you stop and think about it, is it really good that clubs have to do that? Even Chelsea might sell a player in this window or the next who has started every match but one for them because he's home grown and has the extra FFP value. Aaron Ramsey, with us since a kid, both of his brothers still at the club, mooking around at Burnley because of this. The natural extension of that is that we also know that, should things get really tight, we could sell Jacob Ramsey. Probably for a lot of money (he's better than Grealish was at that age). But how is that positive for football, forcing clubs to look at their "own" that way, because it is the only way they can compete with clubs at the other end of the ladder as it was pulled up? The idea, the aim of FFP is noble, and yes, something has to stop endless spending and purchasing of silverware, but the Man City situation has totally fucking ruined the game for the rest of us.

This whole having to sell story shows how utterly stupid the implementation of FFP is It is a convenient pulling up of the ladder exercise.

I didn't even there was another Eric Dier, what are the chances of that!

Whilst we will struggle to maintain the form for the second half of the season, the odds on us not finishing top 5 are pretty large, and if we fail to do so, it won't be anything to do with the Conference League restarting. We've used the squad really well so far - we have won every game we've played immediately after a CL fixture so far this season - and it doesn't even restart until March.

Stadium sponsorship for established grounds brings in chicken feed. In fact, can anyone even think of one? Established grounds have established names. I don't recall anyone calling SJP the sportsdirectarena or whatever abomination it was, and that is reflected in £££. It only works for new stadiums.

Just think the absolute fucking GOLDness of 65m for a homegrown like Mount.

At the time, when Atkinson went out to do his punditry, the fans were complaining that he would be in the US for the entire tournament, when he should be here, working transfers for the new season. He replied "I'm going to be amongst the best players in the world, where better to be to sign good players?" And then came back with a pundit.

That must make Emi Martinez worth about £3bn.

I still find this figure incredible every time i see it. Benfica sign him in June 22 for approx £10m. Chelsea then buy him in the Jan 23 window, a full, err, six months later, for £115m. Honestly, what could possibly happen to a player in six months to make his price got up 10x? Just fucking laughable.