1

General Football & Sports / Roberto Di Matteo lands Schalke job

« on: October 07, 2014, 09:39:17 PM »

Schalke 04 have appointed former Chelsea coach Roberto Di Matteo as a replacement for Jens Keller, who was sacked earlier on Tuesday after an inconsistent start to the season.

Italian Di Matteo has limited top flight coaching experience, although he did land the Chelsea job after leading the side to Champions League success in 2012 as a caretaker manager but was fired after eight months when their form dipped. The 44-year-old former Italy international had two other managerial stints in England, coaching West Bromwich Albion and lower-division side Milton Keynes Dons and he will face old club Chelsea in the Champions League next month.

"Schalke part ways with Keller, Roberto Di Matteo takes over," the club said on Twitter. Schalke have been struggling domestically this season and have recorded just two wins in 10 competitive games.

Despite crashing out of the German Cup to a third-tier club in the first round, Schalke have enjoyed a relatively good start in the Champions League, drawing 1-1 at Chelsea before matching that result against Maribor in their second group game. In the Bundesliga, however, Schalke are languishing in 11th place on seven points after recording just two wins, forcing bosses to act, Bundesliga rights holder Sky Television said.

Keller, who narrowly escaped the axe several times before, had been in charge at Schalke since December 2012.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/other-soccer/roberto-di-matteo-lands-schalke-job-and-will-face-former-club-chelsea-next-month-30645274.html

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Is it worth £30 to put this on your car?

« on: October 18, 2013, 08:23:03 PM »

Or £60 for the more colourful one?

3

General Football & Sports / Red Bull _______

« on: October 14, 2013, 04:37:25 PM »

Red Bull looking to buy English football club and take them into the Champions League

The Austrian-based energy drinks firm are on the look-out for a suitable club, with Anglophile coach Ralf Rangnick, sporting director of Red Bull Salzburg, heading the search. As well as current Austrian league leaders Salzburg, Red Bull already owns clubs in Germany, New York, Brazil and Ghana. The company’s sporting assets also include two Formula One teams: Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso.

Now coach Rangnick, who almost got the Everton job in the summer, has been tasked to find a club in England for their latest move into ownership. An insider in the deal said: “Red Bull want a team to take into the Champions League. It is the only market they have not reached yet. Ideally this would be in the London area, but both Everton and Liverpool interest them too because it would not take much to get them to that level. They have looked at the Championship, but you can spend fortunes there and not make any progress.”

Rangnick, an English-educated German, has a good knowledge of the game and is looking at several options. He would also oversee the ­purchase and running of the club. News of Red Bull’s interest is spreading rapidly and there should be no lack of willing sellers.

The company’s Formula One success, with Sebastian Vettel taking them towards a fourth straight title, has put them on the map, but buying a club in the ‘home’ of football could be their biggest coup yet. And taking it into the Champions League is the ultimate aim for one of the biggest sports-backing firms in the business.

Teams which could be lined up:

• EVERTON Bill Kenwright has been looking for a respectable buyer for his club for years. The fact Ralf Rangnick nearly got the job and knows the club helps. Only snag – Red Bull Everton?!?
• LIVERPOOL The American owners have pumped in millions and will want a big return on their investment. Genuine worldwide appeal. Red Bull Liverpool does have a ring.
• CRYSTAL PALACE Red Bull would really give the Eagles wings. London, near airports, very appealing. Would not cost much, but needs a big spend. Red Bull Crystal Palace is a mouthful.
• WEST HAM Owners who are always open to approaches. New home at the Olympic Stadium makes them appealing too. Red Bull West Ham? Not so crazy.
• LEEDS The Yorkshire club has history, a huge fan base and owners who would sell at the drop of a hat. Red Bull Leeds United? Why not?
  

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/red-bull-looking-buy-english-2366075


Amusing. But it needs to be a club who already have a sugar daddy, so that we don't have another with which to contend.

Definitely Red Bull Liverpool.      A dream come true.

4

General Football & Sports / ¡Qué golazo!

« on: October 12, 2013, 02:22:04 PM »

With both teams facing possible elimination in last night's World Cup qualifier,  Raúl Jiménez rescued Mexico and sank Panama in the 85th minute:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPh2nPfUZXc

5

General Football & Sports / Middle East consortium reveals plans for £1.5bn takeover of Arsenal

« on: March 03, 2013, 10:17:20 AM »

The extraordinary flow of money into European football from the Middle East could be set to accelerate dramatically after an unnamed consortium revealed plans to pay a record £1.5bn to transform Arsenal into a "world force".

The group, who did not want their identities revealed, have made their tantalising proposals public on the eve of Sunday's north London derby. They have issued a series of promises apparently designed to appeal to Arsenal's increasingly frustrated fan base – including "substantial transfer funds", wiping out the club's debts, reduced ticket prices and even an attempt to recreate "some of the feel of the old North Bank" at the Emirates Stadium.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/mar/03/middle-east-takeover-arsenal


Isn't that special. 

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General Football & Sports / Where the fans are

« on: February 28, 2013, 12:13:30 AM »

I wish they'd construct one for North America.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/9795377/Twitter-map-finally-reveals-exactly-where-Manchester-United-fans-live.html

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General Football & Sports / Scotty Canham or Frank Lampard?

« on: January 04, 2013, 01:56:56 AM »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctWS52IA_JY#


Edit: I suppose I should explain this. It's a dinner or a press conference in 1996 at which some West Ham fan tells 'Arry they're better off with Scotty Canham than 18-year-old Frank Lampard. 'Arry disagrees.

8

General Football & Sports / A German Resurgence, Feet First

« on: December 27, 2012, 03:55:36 AM »

The resurgence of German soccer began, like the country’s economic comeback, after a long slide toward stagnation amid dire prophecies of impending irrelevance.

The sick man of Europe, as Germany was known a decade ago, could as easily have been called the sick man of soccer. After a disastrous European Championships in 2000 when the traditional powerhouse won no games and scored one goal, the problem-solving, build-a-better-widget German drive kicked in.

While the government was loosening German labor laws to grease the creaking gears of the country’s economy, a society known for its apprenticeships and vocational training set about methodically developing young talent in the world’s most popular sport.

In a little more than a decade, Germany has invested nearly $1 billion in its youth programs, with academies run by professional teams and training centers overseen by the national soccer association, the Deutscher Fussball Bund, or D.F.B. The programs testify to the long-term strategic thinking and to the considerable resources that have driven Germany’s rise to renewed prominence in — and at the expense of — a struggling continent.

“Once the Germans have decided to transform, to reform, they do it,” Emmanuel Hembert, an expert in the business of soccer at the consultancy A. T. Kearney, said. “It has been the case for the labor rules; it’s the case for football where they changed their model; and it’s had a very positive impact.”

The products of the new factory system were exhibited in striking fashion this season. Germany sent seven professional teams into European competitions, and for the first time all seven advanced to the knockout rounds beginning in the new year.

The three German teams in the hypercompetitive Champions League — Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke — all won their groups. Less noticeable but equally important is the depth and parity in the German game. Teams from the midsize cities Leverkusen (pop. 160,000) and Mönchengladbach (pop. 260,000) were among the four that advanced in the slightly less prestigious Europa League.

The German league has seized the advantage while many clubs in crisis-stricken, austerity-squeezed countries like Spain and Italy have been unable to deal with deep debts and older stadiums in poor condition. The Spanish team Valencia started the season with an unfinished stadium and no sponsor for the team’s jersey, a standard moneymaker in European sports.

The German teams “are preparing for an era of European dominance,” Hembert said. “The time of the German league is coming.”

Where England’s soccer analysts bemoan a British league brimming with foreign mercenaries but crowding out local players, German teams have improved with a rising share of domestic players. At the same time, they have overcome stereotypes of ugly but effective play and today are more likely to be compared by opponents to finely tuned Porsches than grinding Panzer tanks.

“It’s no longer this wooden, boring soccer,” said Horst Heldt, the general manager at Schalke, a blue-collar squad with a national following similar to that of the N.F.L.’s Pittsburgh Steelers.

German teams have benefited from and contributed to the country’s improved reputation abroad, not to mention an economy that has held up far better in rough economic times than many of its neighbors. Eager German talents are nurtured with the best coaching and conditioning, and presented in cutting-edge stadiums.

In preparation for the 2006 World Cup, Germany invested $1.84 billion in new and renovated stadiums, helping German clubs to set a record with 13.8 million spectators last season. The sport has entered an empowering cycle in which better play helped earn a richer television deal, which in turn is being used to plow more money into player development.

Today the German league, the Bundesliga, pulses with an abundance of young homegrown stars, like Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus, 23; Bayer Leverkusen’s André Schürrle, 22; and Munich’s Thomas Müller, 23. Reus’s Dortmund, the reigning German champion, even topped the so-called Group of Death, with the Dutch power Ajax, Real Madrid of Spain and England’s big-spending Manchester City, in the Champions League.

“What we are experiencing at the moment is incredible,” the Dortmund executive director Hans-Joachim Watzke told 1,300 members at the club’s annual meeting last month. He was talking not about the performance on the field but about the 40 percent increase in revenue to 215.2 million euros (about $284 million) and the club’s record profit of 34.3 million (about $45 million).

“We want to have maximum athletic success on a solid economic foundation,” Watzke said, “without creating a single euro of debt.”

That sort of debt aversion would be music to the ears of Germany’s first fan, Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has placed a similar emphasis on parsimony and long-term planning in Berlin.

“Clubs have done their homework,” said Schalke’s Heldt, echoing a favorite phrase of Merkel’s during the European debt crisis. “We are in a position to pay good salaries where a lot of countries no longer can.”

Germans, even in depressed areas like the Ruhr Valley, simply have more money now for tickets and merchandise. Companies, like the brewery Veltins, which sponsors Schalke’s stadium, have more money for naming rights.

The crowning achievement for German soccer would be a World Cup or at least a European Championships title. The Germans lost in the semifinals to Italy last summer in Poland. Soccer history is littered with cautionary tales of unrealized potential: Portugal’s so-called Golden Generation never won a major championship.

West Germany won the World Cup in 1990, less than a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall and only a few months before the formal unification of East Germany and West Germany. In keeping with the unbridled optimism of the time, the country’s coach, the former star Franz Beckenbauer, crowed after the victory that a unified Germany would be “unbeatable” for years to come.

Instead, the ’90s were a sobering period for the country as optimism gave way to the difficult reality of fusing a bankrupt state to a prosperous one. While clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United became global brands, German teams languished.

Germany was known for robotic play, bad weather and worse food. The ignominious early exit from the European Championships held in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000 marked the nadir. A similar performance while playing host to the World Cup in 2006 would have been a catastrophe and galvanized the national association and the league to action.

The Bundesliga made youth academies with full-time coaches compulsory. They peered westward, cribbing a few ideas from the French academies and others from Ajax’s famous talent mill in Amsterdam.

“We looked over the fence for inspiration, but with our own particular approach and emphasis,” said Bodo Menze, administrative director of youth department at Schalke.

The Germans applied systematic quality-control checks. The country’s emphasis on social justice is reflected in the solidarity fund, which provides financing to help less affluent clubs with top-rated academies to meet the costs of coaching and facilities.

The D.F.B. has its own program that aims broader and younger, with 366 centers nationwide where 1,000 coaches work with roughly 25,000 boys and girls at an annual cost of at least $13 million.

Schalke was at the forefront of the new soccer academies, working with the Berger Feld school, which sits in the shadow of the stadium, to turn physical education classes into world-class training. The professionals at Schalke are often referred to as the miners, a nod to the club’s roots among workers, and the youth program is called the Knappenschmiede, or forge of the miners.

Their coaches hammer out goalies at an astonishing rate. One Saturday this autumn, five goalies who trained at Schalke took the field for Bundesliga squads. One of them, Manuel Neuer, a star at Bayern and the national team’s No. 1 keeper, began training with Schalke when he was 4 years old. Losing him to its rival in Munich was devastating, a reminder of the cutthroat nature of competition for talent.

Schalke won its Champions League group but has had trouble with stiff competition at home. On game day Dec. 15, the otherwise gray industrial town was decked with royal blue and white, the club colors. The team’s high-tech Veltins Arena, which opened in 2001 and was one of the World Cup sites in 2006, has not only a retractable roof but a grass field that slides in and out of the stadium like a giant drawer so it is not trampled at rock concerts and other events.

So successful in Europe, Schalke was picked apart by a precise and obviously hungry Freiburg team with its own young, homegrown players. Five of the starters were products of the Freiburg youth program, a necessity for a team representing a Black Forest town of only 230,000 residents. Freiburg won, 3-1.

Schalke’s coach, triumphant victor on the European stage, was fired for his trouble keeping up with the competition at home.

Looking at the achievement of the soccer academies and the rise of the German game, Schalke’s Menze displayed a German form of positive pessimism.

“We can’t make the mistake of easing up,” he said. “In success, one makes the biggest errors.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/26/sports/soccer/as-europe-struggles-germany-invests-heavily-in-soccer.html

9

General Football & Sports / Zenit fans demand all-white, non-gay team

« on: December 18, 2012, 12:00:43 AM »

Zenit fans demand all-white, non-gay team

Fans of two-time defending Russian champion Zenit St. Petersburg are calling for non-white and gay players to be excluded from the team, another sign of the racism that is plaguing the country that will host the World Cup in 2018.

Landscrona, the largest Zenit supporters' club, released a manifesto Monday demanding the club field an all-white, heterosexual team. It added that "dark-skinned players are all but forced down Zenit's throat now, which only brings out a negative reaction'' and said gay players were "unworthy of our great city.''

The club quickly sought to distance itself from the fans. Without directly referring to their manifesto, Zenit's Italian head coach, Luciano Spalletti, said on the club's website that "tolerance for me is most of all the ability to understand and accept differences.''

"Furthermore, being tolerant means that you fight against any kind of stupidity,'' he added.

The club, which is owned by state-controlled natural gas giant Gazprom, also told the R-Sport news agency it picked players on ability alone, insisting that "the team's policy is aimed at development and integration into the world soccer community, and holds no archaic views.''

Zenit was the only top-flight Russian team without a black player until this summer, when it acquired Brazilian striker Hulk and Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel for 80 million euros ($105 million). French midfielder Yann M'Vila declined a move to the club in August after receiving death threats.

"I can personally assure you that I will do everything I can to help those who seek to explain to people what tolerance is, and the need to respect other cultures and traditions,'' Spalletti said. "I think that Zenit has proven through its work that the club understands what tolerance is, and what it means to have tolerant behavior. The team has gathered players from different countries and ethnic groups who work together to achieve a common goal, and work well.''

Fans insisted that "we are not racists and for us the absence of black Zenit players is just an important tradition that underlines the team's identity and nothing more.''

Russia has struggled to deal with racism and violence at its stadiums as it prepares to host the 2018 World Cup. Black players are frequently the targets of monkey chants and some, including Anzhi Makhachkala's Robert Carlos and Christopher Samba, have had bananas thrown at them by fans.

Officials have at times shown little enthusiasm for targeting racism. When Lokomotiv Moscow fans held up a banner in 2010 thanking an English team for signing their black striker Peter Odemwingie with a picture of a banana, the head of Russia's World Cup bid awkwardly claimed they were referencing a quaint, little-used Russian expression meaning "to fail an exam.''

Zenit's fans have long been the country's most problematic. Dick Advocaat, the team's former Dutch manager, once admitted that "the fans don't like black players'' and that it would be "impossible'' for Zenit to sign one.

Several black players have also singled out Zenit's fans as particularly racist. Former Russian top scorer Vagner Love told a Brazilian newspaper in April that Zenit was "the most racist team in Russia'' and the only one whose fans had abused him in his seven years playing for CSKA Moscow.

Five years earlier, Krylya Sovetov Samara's former Cameroon international Serge Branco told a local newspaper that Zenit's management were "the real racists'' for not combatting the problem, adding that "in a civilized country they'd smack them down to the third division for their fans' behavior.''

Zenit's fans have also come under the spotlight recently after one of them threw a firecracker that injured Dinamo Moscow's goalkeeper during a match in November. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, himself a Zenit fan, called for violent spectators to be banned for life from attending matches. Parliament has drafted a bill that would ban hooligans for a year.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20121217/zenit-st-petersburg.ap/

10

General Football & Sports / Mexico's top teams bracing for talent exodus to Europe

« on: November 05, 2012, 11:17:12 PM »

Liga MX's top teams bracing for talent exodus to Europe

At 20 years old, Diego Reyes has already felt Pan American, Toulon and Olympic gold hung around his neck, a weighty reminder that the Club América defender is a special part of Mexico's recent success at the international level.

Reyes is primed to become the latest in a growing list of fine defensive exports, joining the likes of Carlos Salcido, Rafael Márquez, Francisco Javier Rodríguez and Héctor Moreno that have given El Tri a near-exclusive European backline in the past decade.

With offers on the table from Spanish and Italian suitors, it is almost a certainty that one of the Liga MX's top clubs will lose one of the league's top talents. The growth in notoriety abroad has given Mexican football a double-edged sword. By allowing talents like Diego Reyes to leave for Europe, the domestic league is weakened, but the national team is almost certainly fortified.

It is not an isolated case, by any means.

Hiram Mier will most likely bid adieu to CONCACAF champ Monterrey after the Club World Cup, as the talented center back has already been approached by German and English clubs following the 2012 Summer Olympics, where he partnered up with Reyes to protect Mexico's back line en route to the oft-mentioned gold medal.

Cruz Azul winger Javier Aquino saw his first formal offer from a Serie A team following the Toulon Tournament. The same can be said about Guadalajara midfielder Jorge Enríquez, a long-time obsession in Italy following his strong showing in the 2011 U-20 World Cup. His teammate at Chivas, Marco Fabian, apparently provoked a big Bundesliga team to shove an eight-figure offer in the face of Jorge Vergara and Johan Cruyff this past August. They refused to let him go.

The swan song, however, is coming for these and more in the Liga MX. Despite Mexico's archaic handling of free agency (there is none), European teams have learned to work around the system and understand that if teams in Mexico are unwilling to sell them their top stars, they will eventually sign on a free transfer, the way Ajaccio goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa did in 2011, following his departure from Club América.

Despite the Liga MX's lofty goals it first announced earlier this year, top sponsorship money and sustained domestic interest might be diminished if a mass exodus ensues. TV rights could be in jeopardy. The league is currently playing on screens in four different countries, a record.

European eyes aren't exclusively on Mexican footballers, either. Ecuadorian striker Christian Benítez was locked in by América on a reported $10 million transfer last year, but not even that might be enough to shy clubs away from triggering his release clause.

So how will Mexican clubs avoid such a massive drain of talent in the coming months? The creation of a real players' union might force better wages or fairer contract negotiations in general, though that still seems far off. No, the more likely scenario is that we will see a few teams gladly take the incoming millions in exchange for their top players, while others will force the buyers' hands.

One particularly saucy case to look at is Chivas, where the aforementioned Johan Cruyff was brought in to set the club's fortunes back on track after the last 14 years have yielded exactly one title for the proud team.

In the past, Chivas has been somewhat glad to let players like Salcido, Maza, Ulises Davila, Carlos Vela and Javier Hernandez try their luck in Europe. Now, there might be added pressure on Chivas and Cruyff to keep stars like Fabian and Enriquez for a potential championship run before they're allowed to leave. As Chivas goes, the rest of the league might as well.

Even if Cruyff doesn't relent in the short term, and player exits throughout the Liga MX to Europe are stunted - one thing remains for sure. The exodus can be slowed down, but it won't be stopped completely.

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/114/mexico/2012/11/04/3503140/eric-gomez-liga-mxs-top-teams-bracing-for-talent-exodus-to

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General Football & Sports / Cuban players defect before World Cup qualifier

« on: October 13, 2012, 10:00:54 PM »

FIFA confirms three Cuban players defected before World Cup qualifier against Canada in Toronto

The search continued for three Cuba players on Saturday after they disappeared just before a World Cup qualifying match against Canada. FIFA confirmed in an email to Canadian Press that the players defected on Thursday, one day before the game in Toronto. The FIFA official would not release any further details.

The defecting players left Cuba coach Alexander Gonzalez with only 11 players on his team for the match. He said the missing fourth player fell ill and wasn’t able to make it to the game.

A spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection would not confirm reports that the players tried to cross into the United States at the Niagara Falls border point on Thursday. Tom Rusert cited privacy concerns as a reason why he couldn’t give out any information. He added that no arrests were made in relation to this case.

On Friday, Gonzalez lamented the departures of the missing players. “As with any Cuban sport team that travels around the world, they’re all chasing the American dream,” he said. “And it’s difficult to try to keep the team together. ... Obviously it’s a difficult situation for the team and it’s tough for me to talk about it.”

Canada beat Cuba 3-0 in the match. Last January, two players with the Cuba women’s team fled to the U.S. following a match against Canada in Vancouver.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/cuban-soccer-player-defect-toronto-article-1.1182614

12

West Bromwich Albion FC / Thirteen years from top to bottom

« on: September 29, 2012, 04:04:17 PM »

I was clicking around on statto.com and found this page, consisting of the dates of our all-time highest and lowest ratings (they have a rating system somewhat like FIFA's).

All-time high: 7 April 1979. This was the day of the 1-0 home win over Everton that Turkish remembers so clearly. We were second and four points behind Liverpool with a game in hand, but went winless over the next six games, losing too much ground.

All-time low: 20 April 1992. We sat tenth in the third tier, following a 1-0 defeat to Hull.

13

General Football & Sports / Buy an MLS franchise. Your children will thank you.

« on: September 23, 2012, 09:27:56 AM »

For the investment, I mean, not the football. I can't vouch for his exact numbers, of course, but the rest of what he writes about sport in America is absolutely spot on.


Soccer's big takeover

The future of American soccer will be determined by one man. And, perhaps surprisingly, he is neither Jurgen Klinsmann, Clint Dempsey nor Ian Darke.

Rich Luker, a 59-year-old baseball-loving social scientist based in North Carolina, is the brains behind the ESPN Sports Poll, the complex database that recently pronounced soccer as America's second-most popular sport for those age 12-24, outstripping the NBA, MLB and college football. Luker is also the man who discovered that three soccer players -- Lionel Messi (16th), iconic veteran David Beckham (20th), and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo (24th) -- rank among the 50 most popular athletes in America. "Unbelievably, [Lionel] Messi ranks ahead of Dwyane Wade," Luker marveled. "Only two baseball players, Albert Pujols and Derek Jeter, are ahead of him."

Luker founded the Sports Poll in 1994 when he realized the industry lacked a systematic intelligence service despite the billions of dollars poured into it. The researcher quickly partnered with ESPN to track the minutiae of fan habits surrounding 32 major sports, hoping to understand how Americans watch, play, buy and express their fandom.

Luker is a gregarious chap whose passion for his craft is self-evident. Even after 30 years in the business, the researcher still sounds as if he is in the midst of his first "Eureka moment" as he litters his conversation with such off-the-cuff nuggets as "lack of discretionary spending power means that a larger proportion of Americans would now rather watch games on television than in person," or "since 2007, the only age group that has increased its interests in sports are males over the age of 45. Everyone else is down."

Granted, Luker's terrain, the United States, is exceptional. "We live in a country that experiences a pent-up need for connection between family and friends, and sport has become the dominant way to do that," he said.

His studies have revealed that 85 percent of Americans identify themselves as sports fans, and the social scientist said with a giddy tone of wonder, "Most cultures have two, sometimes three dominant sports -- the United States has 12."

The U.S. soccer audience is also unique in Luker's eyes. "It is a true community. The only group that comes close are college sports fans or followers of the Grateful Dead. They embrace soccer as a communal lifestyle as opposed to a personal experience or a community that only exists on gameday."

Luker's analysis has revealed the reason soccer fandom tends to be expressed on a 24/7 basis. "Soccer was originally an expression of national identity in hotbeds like the United Kingdom or Brazil," he said. "So that seed has been imported and sown here in the United States."

However, Luker also believes soccer is underperforming. "It's a sport that should have been doing well a long time ago." The social scientist is well positioned to make that claim. He partnered with MLS back when it was planning the launch of the league in 1994. "We discovered 30 percent of American households contained someone playing soccer. The only game that comes close to that massive number is baseball."

Through decades of study, Luker was able to pinpoint the exact moment soccer's built-in early advantage traditionally evaporated. "The game was massive up to the age of 13, when sport was all about bonding with male peers, but in middle school, it became all about cross-bonding with other genders and high school [American] football shot right to the top," he said. "You simply can't beat the social lubrication of the homecoming football game."

Soccer's social perception was further weakened by the sport's stigmatization in the 1990s. "Middle school kids were seen to lack the guts to play one of the big sports -- baseball, football, or basketball -- preferring to play soccer, the sport their moms were pushing."

But the sporting tectonic plates have shifted. America's cultural diversification, increasingly globalized outlook, and widespread access to the Internet all have benefitted soccer more than the other more traditional American sports. "In the last two years, Americans have been exposed to elite soccer on a very regular basis, which has allowed us to appreciate the sport and develop a savvy about it in a way we could not before," Luker said.

The impact of these factors has been as powerful as they are simple. "Kids growing up today gain cachet and social currency by knowing about the sport," Luker said. The old stigma has fallen away. Pride and esteem have become attached to the game for the first time as Americans have collectively undergone a "now we understand what it is all about" moment. It is only a matter of time till we see soccer take off in a big way."

By way of context, Luker rattles off statistics about soccer's competitors. "Twenty-five percent of Americans are avid NFL fans first and foremost, 14.4 percent are basketball fans, and MLB comes third with 13.9 percent."

Soccer's avid fanbase is 10 percent, which does not sound like much until you realize that is 33 million people. "Based on the way it is trending, I believe global soccer will soon be four or five times bigger than it is today, and MLS's fanbase will triple or quadruple," he said. For those who do not believe, Luker is keen to underline that change can happen fast. "In 1994, MLB was as popular as the NFL. This stuff can shift quickly and right now, soccer is like a rocket ship on the launchpad."

"If baseball and basketball don't adapt to this new reality they are going to have issues," Luker continued, discussing the NFL's challenge to continue to develop talent in an era in which youth participation has dropped precipitously. "Fewer and fewer kids are actually playing [American] football so they won't learn the game in the way it sustained their interest in the past. It is an inevitability that soccer will soon be as popular as MLB and NBA."

How long will it take to get there? "We are talking generational change," Luker said. "A generation of kids have now grown up as having MLS as part of their reality. Give us one more cycle and that is all it will take. One more generation."

Luker is bullish about the rise of MLS, given that 7.2 percent of Americans describe themselves as fans of the league. "That is 25 million people, of whom MLS can only currently account for about 5 million, a fifth of their potential audience," he said. "If the league gets its marketing right, there will be massive growth." Luker reinforces this bold claim by revealing a remarkable 50 percent of those who declare any interest in soccer ask to know more about the MLS when three percent is considered a positive response rate in the consumer product industry. "MLS's problem is they only have 19 teams and no regular national television presence," Luker said. "Right now, you are not going to bump into their product but they are working hard to change that."

Despite Luker's evident enthusiasm for soccer's future, he said that he grew up playing hockey in Ann Arbor, Mich., and only watches MLS and EPL for a living. When pushed, he concluded by confessing, "My greatest delight is to look out of a plane's window when I am crossing the country and see what people are playing in the parks below," he said. "If you watch it like that, soccer is the biggest sport in the nation."

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/blog/_/name/relegationzone/id/262

14

General Football & Sports / Scotland v Macedonia

« on: September 08, 2012, 01:17:31 PM »

              McGregor

Hutton     Webster  Berra    Foster

              Caldwell

Snodgrass   Adam    Rhodes  Morrison

               Miller

As usual for Scotland, great midfield, great goalkeeper, dubious striker, weak defence.

15

General Football & Sports / Paul Scharner quits Austria

« on: August 16, 2012, 03:22:30 PM »

Looks like Paul Scharner had a bit of a row with the Austrian FA.


Hamburg defender and former West Brom star Paul Scharner has explained why he walked out on the Austria national team only hours before their international friendly against Turkey last night, contradicting the Austrian FA's claim that he had made unacceptable demands.

Scharner left the team hotel after a discussion with coach Marcel Koller yesterday afternoon.

Within hours, a statement on the Austrian FA's (OFB) website said that he "had demanded a key role in today's game and in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers". Koller is quoted as saying: "Paul has started twice recently and we have several options, particularly in the centre of the defence, which is why I wanted to use today's game to try out something else. Since he could not accept this, he decided to go home."

Scharner has now given his side of the story on the website of his club, branding the OFB's version of events "absolutely inaccurate". "It was clear in the Austrian media before I even arrived in Austria that I would no longer be playing against Turkey or in future," he said. "Instead, he (Koller) told me that I was to move onto the players' advisory panel so that I could motivate and lead the team. This is a role I cannot accept and I am not going to make myself available for it. That is like taking a coaching role. After that, Koller said that I would never play under him again and that is why I left the team. This way, I can focus my full efforts on Hamburg."

Scharner has appeared 40 times for his country but the chances of him adding to that now look minimal, at least as long as former Bochum and Cologne coach Koller remains in charge.

http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/west-bromwich-albion-fc/west-bromwich-albion-fc-news/2012/08/16/west-brom-former-star-paul-scharner-in-blast-at-austrian-fa-97319-31636121/

16

General Football & Sports / Mexico - USA

« on: August 16, 2012, 02:57:41 AM »

Mexico is 23-1-0 at home against the US, but it's 0-1 in the 84th minute. 

17

General Football & Sports / Albion SC

« on: July 20, 2012, 03:16:31 AM »

Albion SC are a youth academy in San Diego.


Albion SC was formed under the Peninsula Soccer League in 1981. Albion SC is named after the English Premier League team West Brom Albion. The club leadership at the time had visited Europe with a group of boys to tour England. Upon their return their was 2 clubs formed in San Diego, Albion SC and Villa. Albion SC was one of the first competitive clubs in San Diego and the top program in San Diego. In the late 80’s early 1990’s many competitive clubs in the area started emerging and heavily competing. In 1998 Albion SC hired Technical Director, Noah Gins to professionalize the club, develop a clubwide curricullum and develop players and teams to play at the highest level in the US. At the time, the club consisted of 6 Albion SC teams and a large recreational program within PSL.

Looking at the present... The club has 41 teams and has played in 4 National Championship games, won almost every major event in the US, developed over 10 US National Team players and put hundreds of players into College on Soccer Scholarships. The club represents some of the best soccer in the country and has one of the most prolific coaching staffs within youth soccer. The club is progressively looking at ways to advance the club and the players and will continue to push to higher levels moving forward.  The standards of excellence that the club has set is a bar that only few can achieve.  Albion SC will continue to make history as it paves the way in youth soccer.

http://www.albionsoccer.org/Club/index_E.html


I found them whilst reading about Roy Lassiter, who holds the record for most goals in an MLS season. Lassiter is their forwards coach.

They won a national youth competition for which the top prize was a free trip to Portugal to train with SCP.

18

West Bromwich Albion FC / Supporting West Bromwich Albion FC and ?

« on: July 08, 2012, 04:16:05 AM »

I can't abide all this supporting two sides... Whether they are in different countries or not. To me you're not a Baggie if while you're at the Shrine you've got even half an eye on your phone for a latest Scottish PL score...

Jacko's comment got me thinking. Rather than divert the Rangers topic, I started this. I'm not asking whether you should be "allowed" to do it, but rather what do you think of the commitment and credibility of the supporter who supports both the Albion and some other club? Does it depend on which club it is?

Myself, I wouldn't exactly be impressed with someone who claimed to support both Albion and the Vile. But what about someone who supports both Rangers and Albion, in different football associations? How about an MLS side and Albion, in different confederations? If that's no good, what about supporting both England and Albion?

To take it to the extreme, how about supporting both a rugby union side and Albion? If that's unacceptable, you frighten me. 

19

General Football & Sports / Manchester United

« on: July 04, 2012, 11:35:04 AM »

NEW YORK — Manchester United plans to go public. In the United States, to boot.

The record 19-time English champions filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday to hold an initial public offering of stock and become a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange. The deal could ease pressure on the club’s cash flow as it tries to keep and acquire players in an attempt to regain English and European titles.

While the stock price and the number of shares were not listed, the registration statement said the club hoped to raise a maximum of $100 million — a place-holding figure that could change before the offering becomes effective.

“We intend to use all of our net proceeds from this offering to reduce our indebtedness,” the team’s filing said.

The Glazer family, which bought the club in 2005, would retain control through Class B shares, which would have 10 times the voting power of the stock that would be sold to the public.

Under the reorganization, the team would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Manchester United Ltd., a newly formed holding company based in the Cayman Islands.

The team was listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1991 until June 2005, when Glazers completed a leveraged buyout valued at $1.47 billion. The Glazers also own the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

United has been looking to raise funds to help reduce debt from the 2005 takeover that was 423 million pounds ($663 million) as of March 31, much of it with interest rates of 8 3/8 and 8 3/4 percent. A $1 billion offering on the Singapore stock market was pursued last year, but the plans were halted due to volatile global markets.

The team, European champions in 1968, 1999 and 2008, has been valued at $2.24 billion by Forbes magazine, ranking it as soccer’s most valuable club for the eighth year in a row.

The Red Devils were on track to their 20th league title this year, taking an eight-point lead in the final weeks of the season. But crosstown rival Manchester City, which became soccer’s biggest spender following its purchase by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates, won the title on goal difference on the final day of the season.

“In the Premier League, recent investment from wealthy team owners has led to teams with deep financial backing that are able to acquire top players and coaching staff, which could result in improved performance from those teams in domestic and European competitions,” the filing said.

Manchester United said that it had a loss from continuing operations of $47.5 million in the year ending June 30, 2010, then had a profit of $13 million in the following year. It said it had an unaudited profit of $38.2 million in the nine months ending March 31.

A nearly 300-page prospectus to the SEC contains a series of warnings about the state of the club’s finances.

The filing says “our indebtedness could adversely affect our financial health and competitive position” and reduce “the availability of our cash flow to fund the hiring and retention of players and coaching staff.”

United also warned that new UEFA spending restrictions “could negatively affect our business.”

European soccer’s governing body is phasing in spending restrictions over several seasons, known as Financial Fair Play. Under the rules, clubs have to break even from soccer operations, or they risk being excluded from European competitions starting with the 2014-15 season.

But United is by far English soccer’s biggest moneymaker, helping to soften the impact of its debt.

The filing revealed the club received 25.6 million pounds from Nike in 2010-11 under its 303 million pound, 13-year deal with the equipment supplier, which has three years remaining, and another 5.7 million pounds as its split of the profits.

Its shirt sponsorship with the insurance company AON, which runs through the 2013-14 season, and a separate agreement with the company that runs through June 2015 guarantees 88 million pounds, up from a 14 million pound-a-year deal with AIG that ran for three years through the 2009-10 season.

New media and mobile revenue alone was 17.2 million pounds in 2011.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/manchester-united-files-for-initial-public-offering-of-stock-in-us/2012/07/04/gJQAksOKMW_story.html


I don't know about you, but I'm just dying to invest money in something run by the Glazer family. 

20

General Football & Sports / US TV audience up sharply

« on: June 30, 2012, 06:49:31 PM »

It’s not just Europe’s sport any more.

The momentum and excitement the United States soccer team brought with its Round of 16 run during the 2010 World Cup has carried over two years later for a tournament the Americans could never play in.

The number of TV viewers for Euro 2012 has tripled compared to the same tournament four years ago, according to ESPN/ABC, the networks that are airing the entire tournament.

“The attention that is paid to it has grown exponentially,” said ESPN analyst and former United States defender Alexi Lalas.

“The soccer folks are going to watch it regardless, but the interest has grown because of the drama, the theatre, the stars. Americans like spectacles. We love shows and that’s what these tournaments are about, and that’s why we produce it that way for television.”

Through the first six matches of the three-week long tournament, the average number of viewers was up from 428,000 in 2008 to 1,328,000 this year. Those numbers were produced with four of six matches being played last weekend, so they may dip a bit with the majority of the event being played on weekdays when most people are at work. But Sunday’s 1-1 tie between Spain and Italy brought in an average of 2.1 million viewers — more than any match in 2008, except the Spain-Germany final.

What no one can doubt is the talent level of this tournament, which exceeds that of the World Cup.

“With all due respect to South America, the biggest concentration of talent is in Europe,” Lalas said. “They not only have the best players in the world, but the best leagues and the best teams. And this is representative of it. Sixteen teams with the best talent in the world, and that makes it very difficult to handicap.

“The difference between the top and the bottom of the World Cup is one thing, but it shrinks very quickly when you are talking about the top and the bottom of a European championship, and that’s what’s fun. The World Cup is king, but soccer fans recognize there is something unique about the European Championships and they like it whether they have a team in the tournament or not.”

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/soccer/getting_their_kicks_2kxNgc35EmvQYmP0nfLmXI



• Across the ocean: UEFA EURO 2012 audiences on ESPN in the United States are averaging above 1 million viewers, with the group stage audience 82% up on UEFA EURO 2008.

• +142%: ESPN Deportes, ESPN's 24-hour Spanish-language sports network, has also delivered strong audiences for UEFA EURO 2012, up 142% on the equivalent stage of UEFA EURO 2008 (228,000 viewers vs. 94,000).

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=1834666.html
 

21

General Football & Sports / 'If you live in Montreal, you need to speak French.'

« on: June 22, 2012, 02:16:26 AM »

Montreal Impact midfielder Miguel Montaño has apologized for his public comments on Twitter following an incident in the Montreal subway on Wednesday. But according to a statement from the Impact, Montaño has filed a complaint with the Société de Transport de Montréal, which is launching an investigation into Montaño’s claim that he was a victim of racism.

Montaño, 20, who does not speak French, was attempting to travel on the Metro on Wednesday morning when two ticket agents reportedly refused to sell him a ticket, saying he did not make his request in French. Montaño, who is a native of Colombia, promptly wrote about the incident on his Twitter account. "How racist they are in Montreal," he wrote in Spanish. "They didn't want to sell me a ticket to let me in the metro because I don't speak French." The tweet included the hashtag "#encontradelracismo100%" or "againstracism100%".

He also tweeted that the ticket-taker told him: "'If you live in Montreal, you need to speak French.' I spoke to him in English and he said NO in French and he gave me back my cash." Montaño later apologized via Twitter for his initial outburst, insisting that he encountered an "unacceptable situation" that made him "very angry." He added: “Montreal is not a racist city.”

The Impact's statement, released on Wednesday afternoon, explained that both Montaño and French defender Hassoun Camara, who was accompanying Montaño and was witness to the incident, have filed a complaint of discrimination against the STM. A spokeswoman for the STM confirmed to the Canadian Press that it will investigate the incident after receiving the formal complaint.

Montaño has appeared in three games this season for the Impact, including one start. He was loaned to the club from the Seattle Sounders in August 2011. The Impact first team is in Los Angeles to play against Chivas USA on Wednesday night.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2012/06/20/impacts-montano-files-racism-complaint-after-subway-incident


There are news stories fairly often about les Québécois raising hell about someone not using French in Quebec, so this isn't much of a surprise.

I had a conversation with a Québécois about his trip to France. He said some of the condescending locals would pretend not to understand his Québécois accent and try to correct him. Knowing the grief some English speakers get in Quebec, I found that amusing. 

22

General Football & Sports / USA v Scotland

« on: May 27, 2012, 01:35:45 AM »

4' Landon Donovan. USA 1-0 Scotland

11' What a belter by Michael Bradley. USA 2-0 Scotland

15' Kenny Miller gets some luck with a Geoff Cameron OG. USA 2-1 Scotland

HT Shots: USA 10, Scotland 0. I wish Scotland had more of their better players. They could really use Mozza out there. Strange new USA strip reminds me of Chivas or Atlético de Madrid.

Wondo would have buried at least one of those chances Terrence Boyd fluffed. 

60' Landon Donovan. Things have actually gone downhill for Scotland in the second half. USA 3-1 Scotland

65' Landon Donovan. USA 4-1 Scotland

70' Jermaine Jones gets a free header. USA 5-1 Scotland

FT USA 5-1 Scotland

23

General Football & Sports / Ligue 1

« on: May 20, 2012, 09:39:51 AM »

If you're looking for some football drama, today is the last day of the Ligue 1 season. Paris Saint-Germain can still be champions, but they must win away to Lorient and hope that last-place Auxerre defeat first-place Montpellier.

The bottom of the table is more interesting. Auxerre are already relegated, but eight clubs are still fighting not to join them. Valenciennes in twelfth could end up being relegated if the results go against them.


Ligue 1                   P    W  D  L  Pts   GF GA  GD
Montpellier Hérault SC   37   24  7  6   79   66 33  33
Paris Saint-Germain      37   22 10  5   76   73 40  33
LOSC Lille Métropole     37   20 11  6   71   68 38  30
Olympique Lyonnais       37   19  7 11   64   61 47  14
Girondins de Bordeaux    37   15 13  9   58   50 39  11
AS Saint-Etienne         37   16  9 12   57   47 42   5
Stade Rennais FC         37   16  9 12   57   48 44   4
Toulouse FC              37   15 11 11   56   37 32   5
Evian TG FC              37   13 11 13   50   54 54   0
Olympique de Marseille   37   12 12 13   48   45 40   5
AS Nancy Lorraine        37   11 12 14   45   37 44  -7
Valenciennes FC          37   11  7 19   40   37 49 -12
OGC Nice                 37    9 12 16   39   35 43  -8
FC Lorient               37    9 12 16   39   34 47 -13
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard   37   10  9 18   39   39 60 -21
Stade Brestois 29        37    7 17 13   38   30 38  -8
SM Caen                  37    9 11 17   38   38 56 -18
AC Ajaccio               37    8 14 15   38   38 61 -23
Dijon FCO                37    9  9 19   36   38 58 -20
AJ Auxerre               37    7 13 17   34   45 55 -10


Sunday 20th May 2012, 8.00 pm

               AJ Auxerre v Montpellier Hérault SC
              Evian TG FC v Stade Brestois 29
     LOSC Lille Métropole v AS Nancy Lorraine
               FC Lorient v Paris Saint-Germain
       Olympique Lyonnais v OGC Nice
         Stade Rennais FC v Dijon FCO
         AS Saint-Etienne v Girondins de Bordeaux
   FC Sochaux-Montbéliard v Olympique de Marseille
              Toulouse FC v AC Ajaccio
          Valenciennes FC v SM Caen

24

General Football & Sports / Serie A

« on: May 02, 2012, 10:00:27 PM »

                  P    W  D  L  Pts   GF GA  GD
Juventus         36   21 15  0   78   63 19  44
Milan            36   23  8  5   77   70 28  42

The Scudetto race just got tighter. Juventus goalkeeper Gigi Buffon coughed up a backpass in the 85th minute to give away a home win against the ten men of relegation-zone Lecce.

Juventus is away to Cagliari on the 6th and home to Atalanta on the 13th. Milan has the San Siro derby on the 6th and is home to Novara on the 13th.

25

General Football & Sports / More Brainpower Seen in Soccer’s Top Scorers

« on: April 10, 2012, 05:32:32 AM »

Brawny athletes are rarely brainy, or so the stereotype goes. But a new study reports that soccer players actually have superior executive functions, the brain processes responsible for planning and abstract thinking. And the more elite the player, the better these functions.

The ability is called game intelligence, and it’s “very, very fundamental to the way we make decisions,” said an author of the new study, Predrag Petrovic, a neuroscientist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. “It’s a way of quickly working with information and making decisions about the environment.”

Dr. Petrovic and his colleagues discuss their findings in the journal PLoS One.

The researchers measured executive function using a standardized test called D-KEFS, which assesses skills in problem solving, creativity and rule making. The highest scores went to soccer players from Sweden’s most elite league, followed by players from a lower division. Nonplayers who were tested finished behind both groups of players. The differences were significant, Dr. Petrovic said. Elite players performed in the top 2 percent when compared with the general population.

The researchers tracked some of the players for two seasons, and found that those with higher test scores had more goals and assists.

It isn’t clear whether athletes acquire these functions over time, or whether they are inherited.

“Our hypothesis is that it’s both,” Dr. Petrovic said. “You can’t become a good player if you don’t have strong executive functions, but at the same time you can always improve executive function if you train.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/10/science/top-soccer-players-are-seen-to-have-superior-brain-function.html


I don't think it's news that this ability exists. The interesting part is that these boffins have found a correlation with a standardised test.