Tag Futebol

On Thursday morning, new Liverpool owners, NESV (New England Sports Ventures) accepted the resignation of managing director Christian Purslow. Along with Christain Purslow, Ian Ayre also offered his resignation but the new owners have told him he has a future with the club

Christian Purslow’s impact on the club was called into question on Tuesday by ex boss, Rafael Benitez. Even if Benitez’s comments were to deflect responsibility away from himself, it shows the real lack of harmony at the top during Christian Purslow’s time at the club. Where Purslow has been credited with dragging the club into the modern would with record club sponsorship and endorsements, Ian Ayre, considered one of the unqualified successes of the Gillett and Hicks regime had a great hand in these deals.

In March 2009, Ayre confirmed a new sponsorship deal with the Bank of America. Ayre capitalised on the deal with the Bank of America, by immediately touring South East Asia for further investment and marketing opportunities. In 2009, Liverpool were the seventh richest club in the world, a large proportion of this wealth came from the Bank of America sponsorship dea as well as other marketing opportunities in Europe and Asia – set up by Ian Ayre.

During the turmoil of the last months, Liverpool should not forget that they have one of the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deals in English footballing history. Ayre signed the deal with Standard Chartered Bank – a £20m-a-year sponsorship. The marketing expert that even with the troubles of the mounting debt on the club and the takeover situation, Liverpool still had a strong attraction globally.

Of the deal Ayre said, It’s valuable in itself, but it says so much more about the set-up we now have.’

It is also widely accepted by football finance experts that Liverpool are an attractive long-term proposition financially, with the vital waiver of funding provision being available for a new 60,000-plus seat stadium. It is a credit to Ayre that Liverpool have remained so relatively strong in recent times, financially, despite still being housed at Anfield. Match day revenues are some £60m lower at Liverpool each season than at Manchester United and Arsenal, immediately putting the Reds at a disadvantage to their major domestic rivals.

Christian Purslow deserves a great deal of respect for his part in the sale of Liverpool FC. Ian Ayre is the mastermind behind marketing and sponsorship deals. A man that chooses to stay out of the spotlight is not a man who does nothing. NESV have decided to keep Ayre on, but have agreed to allow Christian Purslow to leave. A clear indication that they feel they can find a better managing director but would be hard pushed to find a marketing specialist of the standard of Ian Ayre.

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Aston Villa were dealt some devastating news yesterday afternoon as their captain, Stiliyan Petrov has been diagnosed with acute Leukaemia.

The Bulgarian fell ill after last week’s defeat against Arsenal with a fever and although the initial feeling was that he was suffering from a viral infection, blood results have confirmed that Petrov has got acute Leukaemia that requires immediate treatment.

Villa boss Alex McLeish said that he has spoken to Petrov and insists that he will get the best medical attention possible:

“We certainly think it’s in the early stages and ‘Stan’ will get the best medical attention possible,” he told Sky Sports News.

“I spoke to him about half an hour ago. He’s typical Stan, defiant, but I think obviously he’s concerned about how it’s affected his loved ones.

“I knew he was getting more tests after the viral condition we thought it was last week when he had a temperature and reported to the doctor after the game on the bus journey back.

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“The players will be gutted but hopefully galvanised to win this game for their captain tomorrow, Stiliyan I’m sure he will be rooting for the lads tomorrow and sending some of the vibes for these boys to be inspirational for this game against Chelsea.”

Christoph Daum has parted ways with Eintracht Frankfurt less than two months after taking charge of the Bundesliga club.The former Bayer Leverkusen and Fenerbahce boss took over in March, but only managed to pick up three points in his seven games in charge, condemning the club to relegation.

He announced on Monday he would leave his post after a meeting with club chairman Heribert Bruchhagen.

“Frankfurt should start their Bundesliga comeback with another coach,” Daum said.

“There was no prospect for me despite the club and team being in my heart.”

Eintracht’s relegation was confirmed when they suffered a 3-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, despite taking a second-half lead.

Daum said promotion back to the top flight ‘won’t happen immediately’ and he had given the club a clear message about the problems that needed rectifying.

“I’ve said some things very clearly internally,” he said. “Eintracht now has the chance to take corrective measures.”

Daum, who won the Bundesliga title with Stuttgart in 1992, was appointed with seven games remaining after Michael Skibbe was sacked, but he could only manage three draws to finish the campaign.

Daum’s chances of becoming Germany manager were ended when he admitted to cocaine use and was forced to leave Leverkusen in 2000, while he led Cologne to promotion to the top flight during his second stint at the club in 2008.

Bruchhagen said the club was already in search of a new manager to begin planning for next season.

“The first decision to be made now is the one of who will be the new coach,” the chairman said.

Arsenal head to St. James’ Park tonight to play Newcastle in the Carling Cup. Arsenal’s Carling Cup squad may be a little different to what we’ve become accustomed too over the years. In previous seasons Arsène Wenger often utilised the Carling Cup to showcase his talented youngsters. The more experienced first team players were often rested and Wenger would play a healthy mixture of reserve-players and players just on the outskirts of the first team. On a good day this meant that we had an opportunity to see Arsenal’s stars of the future stake their claims for a role in the first team. On a bad day this was seen as a lack of ambition on Wenger’s behalf. There’s no doubt that such prioritising has aided the development of a number of Arsenal youngsters – but the decision never paid any real dividends.

Arsenal fans will be sick to the teeth of hearing it, but they have been trophy-less for five seasons. Could things have been different if Wenger hadn’t been so reliant upon youth in the Carling and FA Cups? It seems Wenger has finally realised that no matter what the competition, supporters still crave success. Arsenal fans don’t want another season of ‘what-ifs’. Wenger must attack on all fronts and go after every trophy with an unshakeable zeal.

Tonight should see starts for Theo Walcott, Nicklas Bendtner, Kieran Gibbs and Laurent Koscielney all of whom are first-teamers or have experience in the first-team. This team-selection appears to be Wenger putting his money where his mouth is. At a recent shareholders meeting he announced that he would “go for every single competition with every resource we have”. He added, “We want to end our wait for a trophy. We want to respond with the maximum commitment to the demands of people. The only thing I can promise is that we will try to give our best in every competition.”

This must be music to the ears of Arsenal fans. Arsenal may have the best young players in the world, but what really matters in the footballing world are trophies. Why would you not give it your all to ensure you have every chance of bringing back the goods? There are very few players in Arsenal’s squad who know what it’s like to win on a grand scale (Gael Clichy has a league winner’s medal and Fabregas has European and World championship medals) and Arsenal need to break their duck and establish a trophy-winning confidence. The old mantra is true – winning inspires winning. You get the feeling that when Arsenal finally do win a trophy, it will be the first of many more.

There may be those who mourn the days of old. How do Arsenal blood their youngsters if they’re not going to get game time in the Carling Cup? Although he has changed his policy, Wenger still grants a great deal of importance to developing Arsenal’s youth players. This means that younger players will get their opportunities – I would imagine that your average Arsenal Carling Cup squad will be made up of 70% experienced first-team players, whilst the remaining 30% is up for grabs. Increasing the competition between players isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It means the cream of the crop will rise to the top and it’ll be easier to see who is developing best within the club. Good news all round for Arsenal fans.

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Wolves chairman Steve Morgan has admitted that Alan Curbishley has the calibre to take over as manager of the club, but that there are other people in the frame also.

The Molineux outfit parted company with Mick McCarthy on Monday, with a 5-1 home defeat to West Brom at the weekend the last straw.

With Wolves looking to avoid Premier League relegation, Morgan has admitted that Curbishley in on the side’s shortlist of potential new bosses.

“He’s got a great track record,” Morgan told Sky Sports.

“He’s been there and done that before. He’s exactly the calibre of person we’d be looking for. There are a number of other candidates as well. I don’t really want to be drawn into a conversation about who we’d be talking to just yet.

“Clearly we’d be interested in someone of his calibre.

“We’ll have to see who’s available and the right fit for the club, somebody’s personality who suits Wolverhampton Wanderers.

“It’s very, very early to say yet, but we won’t be hanging around. We need to take some action in the coming days.

“This has all happened very, very fast. We have spoken about potential candidates, but we’ve not spoken to anybody.

“We wouldn’t speak to anyone while Mick was in place and quite rightly so.

“Now that Mick is no longer with the club we will be having a number of conversations with a number of people in the coming days,” he admitted.

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Wolves are currently in 18th place in the table with 13 games remaining.

By Gareth McKnight

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There is little doubt that watching Premier League football is proving to be very expensive – which means I have to consider how much value fans are really getting. Is this just simply the price of top level football? Or are fans being exploited?

Well you wouldn’t expect Premier League football to be cheap especially as it is rated by many as the best league in the world – but it needs to be affordable so people can enjoy it. Arguably the most notable prices have occurred at QPR – where the owners seem to be taking full advantage of the club’s promotion to the Premier League. Match tickets next season will range from £47 to an incredible £72 and season ticket prices have been increased by nearly 40% – these price increases are even more significant when you consider that there are less games in the Premier League than in the Championship – so the per game increase is significant.

The top level season tickets will increase from £699 to £999 and the standard season tickets will be £549. There will be 19 Premier League games at Loftus Road next season that means that the standard season ticket price will work out at £29 a game – which to be fair is value for money. Few standard Championship games this season will have prices lower than £29. However, the top level season ticket is a different story and will work out at £52 per game.

Fellow promoted club Norwich City have allowed fans to buy season tickets since the start of this year – although they are currently full and at this time will not be releasing any more. However a large number of fans renewed their season ticket months ago and were able to take advantage of great value for the Premier League. Fans were able to purchase a season ticket for £430 – which means they will be able to enjoy Premier League football for a price of around £23 per game. Norwich City set a new season ticket record by selling 21,883 which is 820 higher than the record that was set last year of 21,063.

However, it seems that this level of loyalty is not consistent across the Premier League as a whole. 28% of Manchester United season ticket holders will not renew and 22% of Arsenal season ticket holders will not renew. However, watching Premier League football with Arsenal proves to be an expensive business with the cheapest tickets costing £951 working out at around £50 per game. In the past year it appears that the cost of Premier League football has increased from £84 to £101 over the past year due to increases in ticket prices, petrol, food costs and rises in prices for programmes and merchandise. (Virgin Money)

So I have looked at the prices at the top end of the Premier League and the newly promoted teams, but what about some of the other teams in the top flight – what sort of prices do they charge? Well one team that seems to be offering a fair deal for fans is Fulham, as hard as it is to believe they have adult season tickets that will be as cheap as £379 for the new season; that works out at around £20 per Premier League game – which really is incredible value for money. I think really this put the QPR price increases totally in perspective and just shows that you can be a London club and still offer a fair deal to fans.

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However, the cheapest place to watch Premier League football for the new season appears to be Blackburn Rovers where the cheapest Premier League season ticket will go for just £225 – now that really is incredible value and works out at just under £12 a game.

In the interest of balance I think we need to look at how much the biggest brand in English football charges – Manchester United. Well the cheapest season tickets at Manchester United offer surprising good value for money of £513, which works out at £27 per Premier League game.

So what we can conclude with this relatively brief look at Premier League season tickets is that there is value out there and Premier League clubs offer top level football at reasonable prices. However, there are other clubs that seem to be taking advantage of the support. But whoever you support there is no doubt that Premier League tickets are going be expensive but also hard to come by – so for supporters who plan to attend most home games the season ticket offers the best value.

We know that there is currently a huge amount money in the Premier League – but there is also high levels of debt and we also have financial fair play rules coming being introduced in the near future. So it will be interesting to see what happens to season ticket prices over the coming years. But football clubs also need to keep in mind that it has been and will continue to be tough economic times for all of us and it’s important that we are able to enjoy live football at sensible rates. Now, it’s clear that some Premier League clubs are doing that but others aren’t.

At the top level of the Premier League Arsenal seem to be the club that is taking advantage the most – as they have the most expensive season ticket in the country and their cheapest tickets aren’t what you would consider to be cheap. In some ways this is curious for a club that isn’t usually big spenders in the transfer market and are funded by two billionaires anyway.

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However, it’s also important to keep in mind that football is just like any other business and is concerned with making large profits. I suppose there is the sense that if you can fill the stadium every week and make a large amount of money at the same time then why not do it?

In conclusion I just hope that rich owners keep the fans in mind and ensure that this game we love can be afforded. But the pleasing thing that this analysis has concluded is that is possible to see top quality Premier League at very reasonable rates and after some of the news in the media recently – this was a surprising conclusion to me.

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Arsene Wenger has revealed that he has the funds available to strengthen his Arsenal squad, in the January transfer window.

Wenger has faced criticism by some supporters at his reluctance to spend big, despite the club being on a strong financial footing.

The Arsenal boss, speaking at the Club’s AGM, suggested he has the resources to bring in one or two players if need be.

“We have still resources available to bring one or two players in if needed in January,”

“But you have seen when you look at the other clubs it’s fragile everywhere and they are in a situation where the players want to be at the top level.

“We had some players going out in the summer and we have decided to give confidence to the young players at the Club. Why? Because they have a special culture of playing the game and can integrate very quickly.

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“We brought Squillaci, Koscielny and Chamakh and all of them have integrated very well into the spirit of the squad. I think they will be great additions to the team. They are winners, they don’t talk too much and they work very hard. So I believe in the transfer market we have done quite well.

“We made it our aim to keep our group of players together because I feel they meet their needs here. They know they are close to something special. They want to do it and that’s the challenge we have in front of us.” (Official Site)

The modern day player’s power over his employers is becoming a massive issue within the world of professional football.

It’s an all too common occurrence to see players submitting transfer requests, feeding stories to the media or even plainly refusing to play in a bid to get their own way, whether that be a move to another club or a pay rise.

Sir Alex Ferguson spoke out about this trend, claiming that a player no longer being tied to their club is damaging the game:

“When I first started out in management 37 years ago there were no agents. Imagine that!

“There was no freedom of contract either, so players were totally tied to their clubs.

“A change in that sense was inevitable, though I think that now the scales tipped completely in the other direction and I’m not sure it’s good for the game.”

Love or loathe him, its fair to say that the Scot has a point, with a player’s influence and power at a particular club becoming a dangerous problem.

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Sir Alex knows this all too well thanks to the Wayne Rooney episode of 2010. Rooney declared that he was going to leave the Manchester club due to serious differences with his manager and a lack of ambition on the part of the Red Devils. But, what do you know, a matter of weeks later the striker has signed a new deal on wages of around £200,000-per-week. All of this came with great influence from his agent, Paul Stretford.

Fergie would not have let this happen in the past, as we saw with David Beckham’s departure from the club, but Rooney’s influence and the threat of other clubs, namely local rivals Manchester City, meant that United could not allow their man to move on.

Whether or not Rooney wanted to leave isn’t clear, but the whole episode worked out well for the ex-Everton man, who increased his pay packet, and increased his level of authority around the club. Coincidence or carefully planned between agent and player?

It’s a similar case with Carlos Tevez at City. The Argentine forward wanted to move for personal reasons, so he refused Roberto Mancini’s request for him to come on a substitute against Bayern Munich. This sparked an almighty bust-up between the two, resulting in the Italian claiming he would never pick the striker again. Tevez could not find a club anywhere willing to meet his inflated wage demands, so as a result apologised in a bid to re-enter the Manchester City first-team squad. It remains unclear whether Tevez actually wants to be playing in the sky blue shirt, or whether he is simply looking to showcase his undoubted talents in a bid to manufacture a move elsewhere to secure another big pay day for himself and his representative, Kia Joorabchian.

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Whether we like it or not, players’ influence within clubs is a massive factor. They know their importance, both on and off the field of play, and some cynical individuals will always seek to use this to their advantage. Sir Alex may well have a point.

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Birmingham manager Alex McLeish admitted Craig Gardner dived after the midfielder was sent off in a 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.Gardner was booked for reacting aggressively to a Jamie O’Hara tackle in the English Premier League match at St Andrews, before receiving a second yellow and his marching orders for going to ground easily under pressure from Jody Craddock just 29 minutes into the game.

And McLeish said he was disappointed to lose Gardner to suspension as Birmingham look to ensure their Premier League survival.

“Craig dived,” McLeish said. “But I was thinking he was diving to get out of the way because he had been booted about three or four times just before that.”

“A Richard Stearman tackle on him on the edge of the box never got a booking and then O’Hara caught him.”

“I think he was diving to get out of the way but we don’t condone the diving element, and especially when you are on a yellow card.”

“I was more annoyed at the first yellow card Craig got. It put him under pressure by reacting to a tackle.”

“Craig is devastated in the dressing room and at half-time he has apologised to his team-mates and we now miss him for a couple of games.”

After trailing to Steven Fletcher’s early penalty, Birmingham were fortunate to equalise through Sebastian Larsson in the 27th minute, before holding on for a valuable point.

The draw leaves Wolves second bottom, one point from safety with three matches remaining.

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy paid tribute to Birmingham after they managed to shut out his team, despite being a player short.

“It is a missed opportunity against 10 men but they have stuck at it and not given us too many chances,” McCarthy said.

“If we had had loads of chances after they went down to 10 men, I might have said it was more of an opportunity squandered but we didn’t.”

“We didn’t have what was necessary to break the 10 men down unfortunately.”

“But if I had looked at the four games left and thought we could get a point away from home, I’d not be unhappy and then we’ve got to do the job at home in the remaining games.”

“I still think it’s going to go to the last day of the season.”

The futures of Pepe Reina, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard remain in doubt with deeply unpopular Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks attempting to gain sole control over the club and force through a £280m refinancing package with the Blackstone/GSO Group. If the situation at the club looks bad now, it could get even worse if Hicks succeeds with his plan.

In a desperate attempt to hang onto the club, Hicks is attempting to offset the club’s assets against a new loan from Blackstone, whose chairman, Steve Schwarzman, is a personal friend of Hicks. Co-owner George Gillett is reportedly struggling to pay back the £75m loan secured against his 50% stake in the club and Hicks will attempt to buy-out his partner with a loan from Blackstone.

Hicks revealed his devastating plans at a meeting with the club’s board, with chairman Martin Broughton, chief executive Christian Purslow, director Ian Ayre and finance director Philip Nash, all present. The American duo have been given an October 6 deadline to repay the £237m debt they owe to RBS or find a buyer for the club. A buyer looks increasingly unlikely and if the Texan manages to pull off the refinancing deal it will give him another two years in control of the club.

The prospect of having Hicks in charge for another two years will horrify Reds fans who have seen their club piled with debt during the Americans’ three-and-a-half years at the club. The Liverpool board will attempt to block any such move and are seeking legal advice. However they may not have the power to veto the proposal.

Fans have voiced their disapproval over the announcement by starting an e-mail campaign aimed at the Blackstone/GSO Group in an attempt to convince the investors not to provide Hicks with the funds he needs. James McKenna, spokesman for Spirit of Shankly, the Liverpool Supporters’ Union, believes fans will protest should Hicks get his way.

“This is the latest in an on-going soap opera but we don’t want either Hicks or Gillett involved in the club and these plans will be met with the fiercest of protests,” he said.

“These reports are a worry.”

It is believed Roy Hodgson convinced his star players, Torres and Gerrard, to stay over the summer with the promise of new owners who would bring fresh investment and start work on the club’s new stadium. In truth, this short term measure will add more debt onto the club and leave Hodgson without the funds to transform his squad after last season’s dismal seventh placed finish.  It would leave the club in limbo and their star players looking for a move away from Anfield.

The proposed deal is the worst case scenario for Liverpool ahead of the RBS deadline. With Hicks refusing to lower his asking price he is prepared to bide his time until he can sell at the price he wants. Liverpool fans will hope a saviour emerges to rescue their club with an 11th hour bid. If Hicks remains in charge the immediate future certainly seems to be a bleak one for The Reds.

A source close to the deal told ESPN Soccernet:

“If Hicks gets his way, it would be a catastrophe for Liverpool. Besides more debt, higher interest payments and no stadium, it won’t be a question of selling players but whether the players will want to go.

“The players were told by the board in the summer that there would be new owners and a new stadium, and that they would not be sold.

“If the top players can see what is happening, and if it happens, they will want to go, rather than the club wanting to sell them.”

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Liverpool old boy taking the Championship by storm

A look into the future of the Premier League