January Transfer Window In Epl

[JacknDanny]

jealousy is a wonderful thing

i am not playing mind games, i am just stating facts.

You seem pretty fair minded Steve.

I dont know if you know many City fans, but I think most of us are ok

As Mr Boj has said, we have won SFA for 32yrs, and we now have as good a chance as I can remember to win something. There are a lot of things that need changing in the game, its just that a lot of people seem to be either blaming City or calling them immoral or such like. Its nonsense.......football is now business, its not the same as the 70s. We are lucky enough to have sh#t loads of money right now, but I dont think the fans will be waving wads of 50's at rival fans

It is what it is.

[StevieH]

You seem pretty fair minded Steve.

I dont know if you know many City fans, but I think most of us are ok

As Mr Boj has said, we have won SFA for 32yrs, and we now have as good a chance as I can remember to win something. There are a lot of things that need changing in the game, its just that a lot of people seem to be either blaming City or calling them immoral or such like. Its nonsense.......football is now business, its not the same as the 70s. We are lucky enough to have sh#t loads of money right now, but I dont think the fans will be waving wads of 50's at rival fans

It is what it is.

my dad's a city fan jnd, and you're right, they're long-suffering alright. from being probably the better side in the city at the start of the 80s they've had to exist in united's shadow ever since, but it's hardly city's fault that the abu dhabi posse picked them to throw billions at. could just as easily have been say newcastle or everton.

[redrus]

The difference for me in this millionaire/billionaire <deleted> is, that United seem to be the only ones that didn't want anyone to take over and throw they money/debt on us, we were doing just <deleted> fine thank you very much....!

redrus

[mrbojangles]

I'll be happy when we buy our "council house". Hopefully we'll get a nice reduction in the price as well

[bkkjames]

with injuries piling up, would not be surprised to see us jump back into the fray to show up some areas of concern.

[StevieH]

this is worth a read on the subject of transfer fees. notwithstanding your opinion of gorgeous george like.

Big debate: are fees paid for modern footballers a moral issue?

George Galloway and Mel Stein debate the morality of money in modern football

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/ja...rleague-acmilan

Money talks in modern football - but do clubs need to consider the morality of the cash they are spending?

Yes

George Galloway, Respect MP for Bethnal Green & Bow

In a general sense, perhaps the jury is out on whether spending £8m, £20m or £108m on a football player is a moral issue. However, football and morality parted company long ago, when the age of the millionaire club owners began and supporters began to be referred to as "customers".

I once had an interesting conversation with Fergus McCann, when he was the owner of Celtic, in which I pointed out that supporters cannot be referred to as customers, as he had done, because if a customer does not like a product, he or she can simply shift their allegiance. We, as supporters, do not have that luxury. We are born with a team. But for Mr McCann to speak of "customers" told me all I needed to know.

One recent case, of course, has focused this issue. Spending, or attempting to spend, £108m on a footballer, even one as good as Kaka, is definitely a moral issue, and it certainly is one for a Muslim sheikh. Sheikh Mansour bought Manchester City on the first day of Ramadan. Presumably he was fasting when he promised to spend whatever it took to bring success to the club. On the first day of Ramadan, or on any day of that period, theoretically all Muslims have certain duties regarding the distribution of their wealth.

I sent a letter to Sheikh Mansour, pointing this out. He has not responded. I asked him if he had considered the plight of the Palestinian people, who, under siege, were eating from garbage heaps. Their situation has now become a thousand times worse. I have extensive and deep links with Muslim populations here and abroad and I can say that many of them are, to put it mildly, disgusted with the notion of spending £108m on a footballer when one group of Muslims, in Gaza, is dressed in rags, suffering from hunger and living in ruins.

I would now invite Sheikh Mansour to come to Gaza with me in a convoy that is setting off on Valentine's Day, or to spend some of his money on providing things that are needed by the Palestinians, which we can take to them.

The £108m that was offered for Kaka will probably not be beaten. There are not many people in the world richer than Sheikh Mansour, and those who may be close, like Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, seem to be tiring of the game.

I do not think there were many City fans who did not want Kaka at their club, even at £108m. If any more big- money moves are to be made I would, however, offer a cautionary tale. Rodney Marsh told me that he thinks Malcolm Allison's decision to sign him in 1972 cost City the title that year. Rodney was a magnificent, flamboyant player, but he unsettled the team. Might Kaka or someone like him do the same? After all, Robinho has not set the place on fire.

But to come back to the size of the fee that was offered for Kaka, we have to remember that this was for one player. City will probably buy many more, for the best part of a billion dollars. For a religious believer, at any time, this is immoral, even if we only consider the Muslim population in Gaza whose needs are so great. A charitable explanation of Sheikh Mansour's spending is that he has done so for the glory of Abu Dhabi. Nevertheless, it is being done when the needs of some Muslim people are great.

George Galloway is a presenter for Talksport radio

No

Mel Stein, Secretary of the Association of Football Agents

As The Royal Bank of Scotland prepares to confirm a record loss for a UK corporation and expects the taxpayer to foot the bill, it ill-befalls anybody to criticise professional footballers for seeking to make as much as they can in what is likely to prove a short (and risky) career, and indeed to criticise any club for running a successful business. It is similarly ill-advised for jealous criticism to be aimed at those clubs who have more money to spend than other clubs, and aspire to greater success.

Football never has been a level ­playing field. The fact that small clubs exist at all is due to the fact that money trickles down from the monies garnered from television deals. Don't fool yourself that football in this country is run by the ­Football ­Association, the Premier League or the Football League. It is run by Sky and Setanta, ITV and the BBC.

I do not pass judgment on that because the fact that there is a demand for football on our screens speaks for itself. There is no doubt that the Premier League has become the greatest league in the world. Most of the world's most talented players aspire to strut their stuff in the shirts of Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea or Arsenal. Sadly, writing as a Newcastle United supporter, nobody seems to want to play for us.

I have been disappointed (although not surprised) by some of the comments made in relation to the recent furore over the sums that were offered for the acquisition of Kaka. When the owner of Fulham Football Club suggests that there should be a salary cap, then you do begin to raise your eyebrows and slowly shake your head in disbelief.

Had Kaka come to England, it is rumoured that he would have been on a salary that could have brought him at least one if not two major banks. But that is what open market forces are all about. If you have a product to sell then you are entitled to sell it for as much money as you can obtain. Nobody is holding a gun to the head of the new owners of Manchester City and telling them they have to pay that sum of money and indeed nobody held a gun to the heads of Milan or Kaka to say he had to accept the offer.

We may well be seeing empty seats at the moment but this is in no way due to the fees paid for players, or the salaries paid. It is simply because we are in the middle of a global recession. Fans' unfortunate circumstances are not the fault of the clubs or those who play for them. There is no moral reason as far as I can see why transfer fees between clubs should be limited or salaries should be capped.

What is obscene is banking fat cats taking huge bonuses in return for their failure to supply any form of competency. Contrary to what the press might like to think, players do take pride in their performances and in the shirt that they wear. There is of course a dark underside to the game but that is not reflected in any way in transfer fees or salaries that are not only freely negotiated but totally transparent.

It is time for football to be left alone. As I said on Radio 5 this week, there is no point in buying gold-plated taps for a bath when the plumbing system doesn't work, but if the owner of the house can afford the taps, then what the hel_l.

Mel Stein is a sports lawyer and the author of the novel Football Babylon

[mrbojangles]

The name George Galloway and the word "morality" in the same sentance

[StevieH]

The name George Galloway and the word "morality" in the same sentance

hehe. quite. an MP and a lawyer debating morality.

[bkkjames]

The name George Galloway and the word "morality" in the same sentance

hehe. quite. an MP and a lawyer debating morality.

his little speech is just him towing the company line to drum up a few more union votes.

[Jockstar]

George Galloway is an arse!! <deleted> does he know?

[Jockstar]

George Galloway is an arse!! <deleted> does he know?

Just likes the sound of his own voice. The <deleted>!!!

[StevieH]

George Galloway is an arse!! <deleted> does he know?

i thought his impression of a pussycat on celebrity big brother was maybe his finest moment.

[mrbojangles]

From skysports. An interesting viewpoint from Patrick Barclay. He's an excellent writer, this guy

Open up the window

League-tied system would help less well-off clubs

Uncertainty over Roque Santa Cruz's future is proof the transfer window system needs to be reformed, according to the Sunday Telegraph's Patrick Barclay.

Manchester City and Tottenham are reported to be locked in a £20m battle for the Blackburn striker ahead of Monday's (1700 GMT) deadline.

City had a second bid for the Paraguayan international turned down this week and Barclay believes the public nature of the bidding process is having a destabilising effect on the clubs involved.

"City's tactics are to wait until the last minute, which is what they did for Robinho, thinking everyone else is stupid and will imagine they are not that desperate," Barclay told The Supplement.

"Of course, they are. I would say that Blackburn will wait until the last minute and then the deal will go through for £20m. It's easy to understand why he is in such demand.

"The whole administration of football needs to be looked at. The first thing that should be done is drop the tapping law. Why not say who you want?

"If you want to keep it quiet, keep it quiet. It's completely unenforceable. Agents don't want to use journalists anymore to get their message out as they can charge people to do it.

"I think it would be much better to drop the pretence and get on with it. Arsene Wenger, as ever, came out with the right idea when he seemed to say that 'if you are going to be cup-tied, why can't you be league-tied?'

"I think that if you brought in a prohibition for playing for two clubs in the same competition in the same season and included the Premier League in that you would get away from this awful business where Spurs who want to be where Wigan are try to achieve that by using their financial muscle to take a player away, such as Wilson Palacios.

"We must always remember that is at the expense of Wigan season ticket-holders who have paid in the reasonable expectation of seeing a player for the whole season.

"You can make provisions for this - it's done in major tournaments, where you have to announce your 23 players and you cannot change, unless force majeure takes over and then you are allowed to.

"Equally you could have your free-for-all all the year round which would be better than the current transfer window which is just a complete pain."

As for Santa Cruz's immediate future, Paul Hetherington of the Daily Star said: "I'm not totally convinced he will go but I think there will be further attempts to get him out of Blackburn.

"Both John Williams, the Blackburn chairman, and Sam Allardyce have been adamant and consistent since the transfer window opened that it would be madness to sell him because it could be the difference between them staying up and going down.

"If he does go, it doesn't leave Blackburn a lot of time to find a replacement but I'm sure big money will be on the table tomorrow (Monday).

"Spurs are still hanging in there - Harry Redknapp's desperate to sign a top striker - he'd love him and I know there has been a feeling at clubs like Spurs of 'why haven't City just gone and done this deal? Why haven't they blown us all out of the water?'

"I think there is a pragmatic side to Mark Hughes and he probably has an idea of the valuation of the player, particularly having worked with him, and perhaps thought he could get him for £18m which he hasn't been able to do so it is going to have to go to at least £20m."

[bkkjames]

some interestings stats I saw today...

Played matches 237

Remaining matches 143

% played 62 %

Home wins 44 %

Draws 27 %

Away wins 30 %

Goals 600

Goals per match 2.53

Goals per match (Home) 1.38

Goals per match (Away) 1.15

Over 2.5 goals 51 %

Under 2.5 goals 49 %

[bkkjames]

Last day - foresee any big shocks?

(Hoping J-star will be kind enough to post this prior to tomorrow, when my 7-day suspension for arguing with an official comes to end )

[Travel2003]

I am a little confused as the legalities of this issue. If we take the Ronaldo/Real Madrid/Man U soap opera at the start of this season. Real were convinced they could persuade him to move. Man U said "no way he is under contract to us". Subsequently Ferguson made his much publicised statement that he wouldn't sell Real madrid a virus. So,from the clubs perspective, why is the contract not valid. Sure the player can sulk, go on strike etc etc . Obviously if it was the last year of his contract period the club would offload him.Would be interesting if someone knew where you could google the actual law.

well for starters madrid were breaking the law by claiming to have talked to a player under contract, that's tapping up which isn't allowed. not technically anyway, doesn't stop clubs doing it of course. the contract remains valid until its expiry date but clubs sign players where the transfer fee is compensation for breaking the player's contract early. it's outside normal employment law otherwise all players would essentially be free agents able to move to another club whenever they wanted if that club was offering them a better salary, as in the real world.

True,

another issue is if the players can break their contracts, then the clubs should also be able to just get rid of (and stop the salary of) players that are injured. Or, just break the contracts themselves, when they dont need the player anymore.

A lot of clubs are stuck with players that turned out to me medium at the best, with high salaries. Would be nice to just off load them.

I guess the players organization would not have it both ways.

[StevieH]

rumours abound that the transfer window is to be extended due to the weather in england. mad.

[MSingh]

rumours abound that the transfer window is to be extended due to the weather in england. mad.

It's already been extended due to the 1st falling on a weekend, <deleted> unreal really..

[binnsy]

if they do away with the transfer window it will be a return to the days when you can sign players at anytime in the season i say keep it

[Sunderland]

Scrap the transfer window and scrap transfers too. Scrap contracts and scrap huge salaries.

Anyone should be allowed to play for any team on any given weekend. Let the fans in for free and if they feel they have been entertained, the lads on the pitch can go round the ground at the end, cap in hand, asking for donations.

That's the future of football.

[mrbojangles]

the lads on the pitch can go round the ground at the end, cap in hand, asking for donations.

That's the future of football.

Is that what you did to get us to loan you Ben Haim until the end of the season