International Football Musings

[Lee.]

Coasting since 1986.

[Viper]

First Martinique punks Canada, now LOL Tri loses to Panama and continues their recent run of misery.

[twi]

That group has been turned upside down. (Although it looks like Panama brough their A side so maybe it's not as huge a shock as it could have been.) Sets up a huge second game between Canada and Mexico.

[OMMF]

That group has been turned upside down. (Although it looks like Panama brough their A side so maybe it's not as huge a shock as it could have been.) Sets up a huge second game between Canada and Mexico.

This Thursday at Centurylink in Seattle. Any other CCSLC'ers going?

[Nyk33]

That group has been turned upside down. (Although it looks like Panama brough their A side so maybe it's not as huge a shock as it could have been.) Sets up a huge second game between Canada and Mexico.

This Thursday at Centurylink in Seattle. Any other CCSLC'ers going?

Between American fans that probably hate El Tri and Canada fans from BC this could turn into a Canada home game basically.

[OMMF]

That group has been turned upside down. (Although it looks like Panama brough their A side so maybe it's not as huge a shock as it could have been.) Sets up a huge second game between Canada and Mexico.

This Thursday at Centurylink in Seattle. Any other CCSLC'ers going?

Between American fans that probably hate El Tri and Canada fans from BC this could turn into a Canada home game basically.

Taking a look at the Ticketmaster map, seems to be a lot more people at the South end (Mexico) than the North (Canada) We'll see how it shakes out.

[lordsketor]

Belize scored???!!!

But Wondo got his hat trick...

[Island_Style]

Jags owner Shad Khan said a couple of years ago that he would love an EPL team but a salary cap would have to be in place. The model has changed and so may Fulham's ownership. I wouldn't mind seeing them play a time or two in Jax.

[rams80]

Jags owner Shad Khan said a couple of years ago that he would love an EPL team but a salary cap would have to be in place. The model has changed and so may Fulham's ownership.I wouldn't mind seeing them play a time or two in Jax.

I'm sure Fulham fans are going to love having NFL ownership. What say you ManU, Arsenal, and Aston Villa?

[crashcarson15]

Jags owner Shad Khan said a couple of years ago that he would love an EPL team but a salary cap would have to be in place. The model has changed and so may Fulham's ownership.I wouldn't mind seeing them play a time or two in Jax.

I'm sure Fulham fans are going to love having NFL ownership. What say you ManU, Arsenal, and Aston Villa?

I'm still one of those crazy guys who actually doesn't pin all of the failures of Villa on Randy Lerner. Well, I guess I'll pin it on the board's choice to hire a -ass manager in Martin O'Neill but Lerner invested—at least at first. Though definitely Fulham supporters, be careful what you wish for.

[-kj]

Wasn't most of Villa's recent success under O'Neill?

[crashcarson15]

Wasn't most of Villa's recent success under O'Neill?

Depends on how you define "success" I guess. Had O'Neill actually been halfway decent at signing players, Villa'd have made at least one Champions League. Lerner was spending the type of money to get the team to the CL and had to settle for 6th place three straight years. He racked up a net loss of £82mm over his four years at Villa which is an absurd amount to constantly finish 6th.

In the summer after the '07-'08 season (the first of the three consecutive 6th-place finishes), he had a net spend of £46.8 million only to finish 6th once again. The main complaint is that yeah, MON got Villa to the then-UEFA Cup but he set the club back for who knows how long because he couldn't get to the top four—Villa weren't too different than Spurs five years ago and now we're looking at selling our best player to them because he wants out. (The other main complaint is that MON bolted like a young child when Lerner told him he couldn't spend £20-30 million every summer anymore and quit on the team right at the start of the year but that's neither here nor there).

Link if you want to see the full details of his transfers at Villa.

[Saintsfan]

Wasn't most of Villa's recent success under O'Neill?

Depends on how you define "success" I guess. Had O'Neill actually been halfway decent at signing players, Villa'd have made at least one Champions League. Lerner was spending the type of money to get the team to the CL and had to settle for 6th place three straight years. He racked up a net loss of £82mm over his four years at Villa which is an absurd amount to constantly finish 6th.

In the summer after the '07-'08 season (the first of the three consecutive 6th-place finishes), he had a net spend of £46.8 million only to finish 6th once again. The main complaint is that yeah, MON got Villa to the then-UEFA Cup but he set the club back for who knows how long because he couldn't get to the top four—Villa weren't too different than Spurs five years ago and now we're looking at selling our best player to them because he wants out. (The other main complaint is that MON bolted like a young child when Lerner told him he couldn't spend £20-30 million every summer anymore and quit on the team right at the start of the year but that's neither here nor there).

Link if you want to see the full details of his transfers at Villa.

Surely part of the reason O'Neill couldn't get Villa into the Champions League is because he couldn't get the funds to buy the players he needed?

Also I think Spurs are set up as a club better to attract players to get towards the Champions League London based, generally well run, consistently successful over the years. Villa on the other hand are provincially based, with a spotty history of beng poorly run, and whilst being successful in patches, they've had low spots historically as well. If I was a top line player being approached by Spurs and Villa it would be a quick decision.

[Saintsfan]

Jags owner Shad Khan said a couple of years ago that he would love an EPL team but a salary cap would have to be in place. The model has changed and so may Fulham's ownership.I wouldn't mind seeing them play a time or two in Jax.

I'm sure Fulham fans are going to love having NFL ownership. What say you ManU, Arsenal, and Aston Villa?

I'm still one of those crazy guys who actually doesn't pin all of the failures of Villa on Randy Lerner. Well, I guess I'll pin it on the board's choice to hire a -ass manager in Martin O'Neill but Lerner invested—at least at first. Though definitely Fulham supporters, be careful what you wish for.

Interesting the comparison between the Jags and Fulham though. One with virtually no history, one with a long history, one hardly beloved by even its locals, one with a crucial part of its local Community. Fulham fans wouldn't take to a complete rebranding, certainly.

[crashcarson15]

Surely part of the reason O'Neill couldn't get Villa into the Champions League is because he couldn't get the funds to buy the players he needed?

Not really—Arsene Wegner spent a net of £48 million over 10 years in the transfer window from 2001 to 2011 and MON spent almost that much in one of his transfer windows. Had MON allocated cash like the £10 million spent on Curtis Davies smarter, Villa'd have won the 2010 race for fourth.

Also I think Spurs are set up as a club better to attract players to get towards the Champions League London based, generally well run, consistently successful over the years. Villa on the other hand are provincially based, with a spotty history of beng poorly run, and whilst being successful in patches, they've had low spots historically as well. If I was a top line player being approached by Spurs and Villa it would be a quick decision.

Well yeah of course now you'd pick Spurs very quickly over Villa (see Benteke) but you've got to think back to the 2009-10 campaign when Spurs, City, and Villa were all vying for fourth place (and the UCL playoff spot)—Spurs won the spot and finished 6 points ahead of Villa (it's worth noting Villa lost their last two matches) and proceeded to go to the quarter-final of the Champions League the next year while Villa stopped throwing money at the UCL and O'Neill whined and cried and quit at the season's start. It's not outside the realm of possibility that Spurs would be closer to where Villa is today and that Villa would be closer to where Spurs is had a couple of matches gone the other way.

[Saintsfan]

Surely part of the reason O'Neill couldn't get Villa into the Champions League is because he couldn't get the funds to buy the players he needed?

Not really—Arsene Wegner spent a net of £48 million over 10 years in the transfer window from 2001 to 2011 and MON spent almost that much in one of his transfer windows. Had MON allocated cash like the £10 million spent on Curtis Davies smarter, Villa'd have won the 2010 race for fourth.

Also I think Spurs are set up as a club better to attract players to get towards the Champions League London based, generally well run, consistently successful over the years. Villa on the other hand are provincially based, with a spotty history of beng poorly run, and whilst being successful in patches, they've had low spots historically as well. If I was a top line player being approached by Spurs and Villa it would be a quick decision.

Well yeah of course now you'd pick Spurs very quickly over Villa (see Benteke) but you've got to think back to the 2009-10 campaign when Spurs, City, and Villa were all vying for fourth place (and the UCL playoff spot)—Spurs won the spot and finished 6 points ahead of Villa (it's worth noting Villa lost their last two matches) and proceeded to go to the quarter-final of the Champions League the next year while Villa stopped throwing money at the UCL and O'Neill whined and cried and quit at the season's start. It's not outside the realm of possibility that Spurs would be closer to where Villa is today and that Villa would be closer to where Spurs is had a couple of matches gone the other way.

Fair points. I would say Curtis Davies was unlucky in his time at Villa, and its hard to ignore the fact that Villa needed a central defender at the time, and Davies had impressed at West Brom before going to Villa.

Also in defence of O'Neill, the 2 years before he joined Villa were 10th, 16th in the EPL, under O'Neill they finished 11th, 6th, 6th, 6th, then after he left 9th, 16th, and 15th. It's hard to make the case that Villa's current position is the fault of O'Neill. That's not to say its necessarily Lerner's fault either.

[ninersdd]

USA sweeps the group, and gets El Salvador next. Tough break for the 3 francophone countries(Haiti, Martinique, and Canada) who won't make it to the quarters. Canada sucked, but the other two deserved to make it. Cuba's killing of Belize was just enough to make it in.

[marble21]

So errr... thoughts???

Papiss Cisse pulls out of Newcastle tour after sponsor row

I personally think he is in no position to choose what he is and is not tied down to by religious grounds. For him to take the moral high ground in this situation, he must revert his stance on a whole number of other things.

This all leads me to believe he is looking to cause a stir and broker a way out.

[crashcarson15]

To be fair, who wouldn't want out of the dumpster fire that NUFC was at the close of last season?

But shouldn't he be in a position to choose what he is and isn't tied down to by religious grounds...?

[rams80]

Sepp Blatter realizes Qatar in the summer is unreasonably hot, wants to move 2022 World Cup to winter.

I'm sure this won't upset pretty much every soccer league in the world and their fellow corrupt athletic profiteers in the IOC.