Village Idiot

Would rather not sell Pedro. We have no proven replacement until winter. Plus I have always had a soft spot for him. I understand him wanting to go, though. He's not going to start in our front 3 and he wants to play in the Euro.

That's probably the mean age of most of our membership, to be frank. Barça members are a conservative bunch. An incumbent running for reelection has never lost the vote.

It was that or Laporta. I voted for the guy that finished third

Bartomeu wins 54% of the vote. Laporta 20 points behind.

WTF. I get to watch Messi every weekend and I'm still missing this guy

Complains about a country being racist, uses a racist comparison

The Spanish article I read says they paid €5m-ish in addons (senior games played, England caps, etc...).

I re-read their math, and they are adding the fee QPR already got for selling Sterling to Liverpool on top of the City sell on fee money.

He was reportedly in talks with Atlético a couple weeks ago, interesting. Gotta be Chancelloti.

I'm reading on a Spanish rag that the most money QPR has ever received from a transfer is... Sterling to ManCity. Is that true?

One of the fun facts is that all of the 4 candidates were part of Laporta's board in 2003.

The fact it changed from Qatar Foundation to Qatar Airways sweetened it somewhat. Advertising a "humanitarian" organization from a state that willy-nilly pisses on human rights was way too blatant.

Currently it pays €35m/season. It runs until 2016, but they have tabled a bid to bring it to €60m/season and extend it until 2020.

To be completely honest, they aren't radically different. They both claim they are the best suited to keep doing things the way they are being currently done. Both Laporta and the current board are the most successful in all our history. Their differences, principally: Laporta: - Install Abidal as DoF. - Strip Qatar off the shirt, search for new sponsors or just go with UNICEF. - Build a new basketball court and expand the Camp Nou. Doing so modestly, so name rights don't have to be sold. - Buy Pogba this season. Bartomeu: - Collegiate "football board" instead of a single DoF. - New contract with Qatar, doubling the current shirt income. - Ambitious remodeling of the Camp Nou and surrounding area. I see Laportas proposals as quite cynical he's trying to get elected on a populist ploy. He's always been a populist, and he's damn good at striking the right chords. Abidal is loved by fans, and a lot think he was mistreated by the current board; so he puts him in there despite Abi having zero experience. Qatar is hated as a sponsor, so he goes and says he will restore UNICEF (conveniently forgetting the financial consequences of doing so). I will always credit him with bringing back ambition and belief to a club that was a zombie, but I don't think he's a great steward at all. When he left, the club had huge cash problems. Plus he's a complete, unabashed c***. I would go with Bartomeu, if he wasn't responsible himself for the transfer ban and the Neymar transfer fracas. What struck me about those two manifestos or whatever is that one of them appears intent on denying the club money and the other very intent on making more of it for the club. Can't imagine Barca would struggle for a shirt sponsor to replace Qatar mind. Laporta claims that he can find other sponsors that would make up for the lost revenue. But Bartomeu says he can do the same (claims he's got a training kit sponsor lined up), and still keep the money from Qatar. Me and probably most fans would be happy with another main shirt sponsor, even if it paid a bit less.

http://images.scribblelive.com/2015/7/18/293d00b7-e32c-4af8-8450-0df44fac85a6.jpg He's voted for Laporta though!

A mad Serbian is always a highlight, at the very least. Can't say I watch the Belgian league, but his #s there are very good for a young player.

So you now have switched from France to the Low Countries?

I didn't think NUFC players got paid win/draw bonuses? I thought Mike Ashley based the player bonuses purely on final league placing. If that salary is in euros, it's just a little over 30k/week. Seems low. After tax Ok, makes more sense then. It's probably 60kish pretax.

I didn't think NUFC players got paid win/draw bonuses? I thought Mike Ashley based the player bonuses purely on final league placing. If that salary is in euros, it's just a little over 30k/week. Seems low.

To be completely honest, they aren't radically different. They both claim they are the best suited to keep doing things the way they are being currently done. Both Laporta and the current board are the most successful in all our history. Their differences, principally: Laporta: - Install Abidal as DoF. - Strip Qatar off the shirt, search for new sponsors or just go with UNICEF. - Build a new basketball court and expand the Camp Nou. Doing so modestly, so name rights don't have to be sold. - Buy Pogba this season. Bartomeu: - Collegiate "football board" instead of a single DoF. - New contract with Qatar, doubling the current shirt income. - Ambitious remodeling of the Camp Nou and surrounding area. I see Laportas proposals as quite cynical he's trying to get elected on a populist ploy. He's always been a populist, and he's damn good at striking the right chords. Abidal is loved by fans, and a lot think he was mistreated by the current board; so he puts him in there despite Abi having zero experience. Qatar is hated as a sponsor, so he goes and says he will restore UNICEF (conveniently forgetting the financial consequences of doing so). I will always credit him with bringing back ambition and belief to a club that was a zombie, but I don't think he's a great steward at all. When he left, the club had huge cash problems. Plus he's a complete, unabashed c***. I would go with Bartomeu, if he wasn't responsible himself for the transfer ban and the Neymar transfer fracas.

To be completely honest, they aren't radically different. They both claim they are the best suited to keep doing things the way they are being currently done. Both Laporta and the current board are the most successful in all our history. Their differences, principally: Laporta: - Install Abidal as DoF. - Strip Qatar off the shirt, search for new sponsors or just go with UNICEF. - Build a new basketball court and expand the Camp Nou. Doing so modestly, so name rights don't have to be sold. - Buy Pogba this season. Bartomeu: - Collegiate "football board" instead of a single DoF. - New contract with Qatar, doubling the current shirt income. - Ambitious remodeling of the Camp Nou and surrounding area.

5 according to wiki. Unless he was on holidays over here, he must've flown to Barcelona just for this. Kudos to him. Giuly has also voted. It pleases me when I see foreign former players being so involved with the club. http://images.scribblelive.com/2015/7/18/500235de-5c02-4409-97ec-2beb3b90261d.jpg

Demetrio Albertini has been spotted at the polling station. No idea that he was a Barça member. He played, what? half a dozen games for us?

http://img01.mundodeportivo.com/2012/06/20/Laporta-en-la-piscina-FOTO-Cor_54314597645_54115221155_600_244.jpg

We are holding our election today. 4 candidates on the ballot, with current president Bartomeu and former president Joan Laporta the clear frontrunners. Polling shows Bartomeu with a slight advantage over Laporta. http://images.scribblelive.com/2015/7/18/9ce26688-5ceb-4295-89be-9779f277d209.jpg I'll vote for one of the minor candidates. Can't stand Laporta and I can't in good faith vote for a president that's committed tax fraud during his stewardship of the club, treble or not.