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Todays fitba

TENEMENTFUNSTER

By TENEMENTFUNSTER
in Football Chat

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baggy89
baggy89

Turned it on part way through the second half. Thought to myself if only the huns would sell those extra seats to the Liverpool fans, they might generate enough money to compete. 

baggy89
baggy89

Didn’t think anything could top the hypocrisy of the huns and their new found morality on discrimination, but; the EPL and Sky Sports funding, never been to a live game, supporting teams from hundreds

tom_widdows
tom_widdows

Not even the Saudi's would be prepared to stump up that much cash

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tom_widdows

tom_widdows

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It appears the only way the SPL will ever expand to more than 12 teams is if Rangers or Celtic get relegated

 

Case and point - Argentina

 

But a switch of national team coach is far from being the most significant change taking place in Argentine football as a result of the fact that Grondona is seeking another term.

 

Electoral year also provides the backdrop for the plan to merge Argentina's first and second divisions into a giant 38-team structure in a new-look league to kick off in a year's time.

 

The immediate suspicion raised was that this is a manoeuvre to reinstate River Plate in the first division.

 

The Buenos Aires giants were relegated a month ago, and now have an automatic pass back - providing the unthinkable does not happen and they do not drop to the third this season.

 

Indeed, the River Plate situation has given an extra urgency to the project. But it does not explain why last Monday 15 first division clubs voted in favour. The political attractiveness of the plan lies in the fact that it offers something for nearly everyone.

 

The big traditional clubs of Buenos Aires had a shock with River's relegation. Other giants, such as Boca Juniors and Independiente, were looking over their shoulders. They can now feel protected.

 

But the project is being sold as a profound shift in the direction of decentralising Argentine football, of limiting the historic domination of Buenos Aires by letting the provinces come to the party.

 

The easy response is that this is happening anyway. As this column has mentioned before, Godoy Cruz of Mendoza, near the Chilean border, have in the last three years taken big strides towards establishing themselves in the first division.

 

And all four promoted clubs this season are from the provinces - exemplified by River Plate's play-off defeat at the hands of Belgrano of Cordoba.

 

This huge expansion of the first division, then, protects the Buenos Aires clubs from the rise of the provinces, while also offering more provincial teams a shot at glory - as I say, there is something for everyone.

 

Except, perhaps, for those who believe in quality. Even with 20 clubs, the standard of the Argentine first division has not been high in recent years, as seen by the generally disappointing performance of the country's representatives in the Copa Libertadores, South America's Champions League.

 

An increase to 38 clubs would seem to be a charter for generalised mediocrity.

 

It is interesting that one of the four clubs who did not back the proposal were the current champions Velez Sarsfield. Widely seen as the best run club in the country, Velez have grown and grown in recent years, with a model based on good youth development and sound financial administration.

 

They are a club striving for excellence, and they seem unconvinced by the new formula for football in the country.

 

For the moment they are swimming against the tide. In addition to the other clubs, Argentina's government appear in favour of the scheme - a vital detail since the TV rights are state owned.

 

It is election year in the formal political structure as well, so presumably a calculation has been made that there are votes to be gained from the expansion of the first division.

 

But for how long? Is this new model viable in the long term?

 

There are clear problems. One is the fact that at the moment there are no visiting supporters in the second division - the stadiums are not seen as good enough to deal with the country's problem of fan violence.

 

It is hoped that a new system of personalised ID cards for supporters will save the situation - a technological solution in which the present writer has little confidence.

 

There is also the problem of the sheer number of meaningless games. The suggestion is as follows - in the first half of the season the teams are divided into two groups of 19.

 

After the league phase, the top 19 go into another league to spend the second half battling for the title, while the rest are playing to avoid relegation. In practice this could well be unwieldy and dull.

 

Even in theory it is not going down very well. If enough club presidents feel that their supporters are not in favour then there could even be a rethink before October's assembly - but nothing that will getm Sergio Batista his old job back.

 

And we think our split is bad?

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Kenny

Kenny

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As Hampden friendlies go it was about as good as any I can remember in the last decade. Which isn't to say it was actually good, but at least we won and we scored a decent goal too. Absolutely monsoon though, I'm not sure I'll ever be dry again. Thought Snodgrass, Wilson and Bardsley were all encouraging.

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topcorner

topcorner

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As Hampden friendlies go it was about as good as any I can remember in the last decade. Which isn't to say it was actually good, but at least we won and we scored a decent goal too. Absolutely monsoon though, I'm not sure I'll ever be dry again. Thought Snodgrass, Wilson and Bardsley were all encouraging.

 

Agreed. Other than a few dodgy moments at the back, I thought we played some good stuff.

 

Stephen Crainey is not an international player though and shouldn't be near the squad.

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Tyrant

Tyrant

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I actually don't think Neville is the worst by any means. I completely agreed with him yesterday actually when he said he didn't want to give Torres MOTM the match. How he can b man of the match whilst scuffing the only half decent chance he got is beyond me.

 

The biggest complete and utter cunt that offends my eyes but more my ears is:

 

Paul-Merson-800_2395015.jpg

 

Anyone with such shocking levels of English language skills shouldn't be anywhere near a TV camera. I believe the fitba is pictured to show that it has more vocabulary skills than Merson.

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