SirBalon

3 hours ago, Goku de la Boca said:

Here is a gift for the 20 years of this community. Blast from the past for everyone here. Enjoy lads, beers for more.

@Stan @Tommy @Cicero @nudge @Rab @Spike @SirBalon @Honey Honey @Dan @Batard @Dr. Gonzo @Whiskey @DeadLinesman

I actually enjoyed that. Thanks lol

I know it's controversial for many fans because they love their clubs dearly.  But it's all about expectations and I seriously don't know where any argument or fury may be coming from Spurs fans...  Newcastle Utd are slightly different because they've been a bit up and down and that's to be expected considering the oil injected project...  Man City took time, there's will too.  But Tottenham Hotspur?  I've never understood those expectations.

It's all about that...  We all understand Man Utd fans being consistently upset over the past decade, they expect justifiably so.  But Spurs?  Why!

That was mental! 3-4 in the end and 3 incredible points...  Luton look so good on set pieces and then the awful defending for Ross Barklay's goal with the added keeper gaff in there too. No wonder in recent weeks it hasn't been easy at Kenilworth Road for anyone.

Arsenal showed a never say die spirit and we would've lost that game 100% in the past, let alone win it.

On 25/11/2023 at 18:33, Whiskey said:

TFF was fantastic, some great moments on there. Proud of building TF365 with some great lads who are obviously still staff, whereas everyone has grown up and less frequent it's always nice to know this corner of the internet is still going strong. 

Best members for me over the years have been (staff excluded): @ASF@nudge @Dan @Berserker @CaaC (John)@SirBalon

Thanks mate! There were indeed some incredible moments on this board back then.  

I’m currently in the process of doing a total rewatch of every Star Trek series ever made up until arriving at the present with Discovery and the new one Strange New Worlds. Boy am I having a Great time doing this.

23 hours ago, Carnivore Chris said:

I don't really like Reggeaton if I'm honest mate. It's generally pretty terrible, but some songs are good. Such as this:-

 

It's very popular in many parts of Spain these days in the clubs, etc(atleast on the coasts), as there are more Latin Americans there than ever. 

Personally I would say the best music in Spanish are the more traditional types of genres. 

 

 

One for @Dr. Gonzo:-

On a serious note, that's actually a fantastic song and very true. Mexican music from Sinaloa is very catchy to be honest.

You have become too "Londonised" mate 

Tbh mate, I'm a bit old for things like Reggeaton lol.  But even back in the day when it came onto the scene in Spain, I found it to be quite misogynistic.  Treating women like they're some kind of experiment tool.

1 hour ago, Carnivore Chris said:

It's not about the lyrics mate, but the actual tune itself. I love it haha.

I haven't listened to Spanish music in quite some time and I don't know why. It is a catchy tune.

1 hour ago, Carnivore Chris said:

Now, this is a tune. @SirBalon 

 

 

You still into your canutos!!! lol

3 hours ago, Spike said:

Don’t forget one of the first things Lim dod was sack the entire staff, with some of them being a part of Valencian furniture.

One of the most poignant events in all of that was when he appointed Francisco Rufete (a past Valencia star) as technical director for sport and the club saw improvement. But the players Rufete was bringing in were being sold on within the following  transfer window. Rufete went public when the fans started to place the blame on him and then a month later he was fired.

we’re talking about a personality (Peter Lim) that doesn’t understand all of this and tbh, the Valencia CF fan club were told by both Bancaixa and local government that they’d done their due diligence on Peter Lim and that he was the worst possible option. In the end they gave into fan pressure and the rest is history. This guy is using the club as a guarantee for authenticity in Europe. It’s not unusual. The same is occurring on a much larger scale with Man City and PSG, the difference being that the Qatari consortiums are a lot cleverer and more in tune with the stupidity of us football fans. 

3 hours ago, Spike said:

Don’t forget one of the first things Lim dod was sack the entire staff, with some of them being a part of Valencian furniture. If the club had some sort of ego and not the whims of a disinterested business then maybe they’d still have players like Ferran Torres, Dani Parejo, Carlos Soler, Juan Bernat, Paco Alcacer, and going back further maybe they didn’t need to sell David Silva, Raul Albiol, Juan Mata, David Villa, and Isco, Nolito wouldn’t have been kicked out of the academy. Other talented players like Portu, Ruben Garcia, Rafa Mir all were in the academy as well.

Perfect  

2 hours ago, Eco said:

Yes, but from what I remember (and have read since then), there were amazingly in even worse shape financially before Lim came along, but the idea of a rich foreign investment gave the Valencia fans something excited to look forward to, and instead has turned into shambles. 

They wanted someone like Abramovich, and  instead got someone worse than the Glazer's. 

For sure. They got to two Champions League Finals in a row. Lost one against Real Madrid and the other very unluckily against Bayern Munich. They had a golden generation plus hand picked world beaters from all over the place. But they overspent and didn’t invest the money they were earning wisely. They ended up owing a Spanish bank (Bancaixa) an extortionate amount of money and started to sell all their assets (top players) all over Europe.

Then when they should’ve been solvent, the then President Juan Bautista Soler (who was gifted the club by his father who was a major shareholder) absolutely ruined the club 5 fold. Enter the auctioning of the club by the creditors (Bancaixa) whilst it was being protected by local government who were paying the interest rates (to be returned). Then came Peter Lim who paid the debt but has never really cared about the club and here we are unfortunately. It’s a HUGE club with immense support. But it’s never recovered its former status.

13 hours ago, Eco said:

Yep, read that this AM. 

For those that haven't and don't want to, here's the scope. 

Lim sees Valencia as a toy, and hasn't been to Spain in years to watch a Valencia match. 

I agree with the lament many Valencia fans have been vocalising. But they DID march on the regional government building back in the day (I witnessed it as I was living there at the time) to push local government (La Generalitat Valenciana) into giving up their protection ownership of the club and hand it over to Peter Lim. They’ve conveniently forgotten about this particular detail.

22 minutes ago, Djalminha said:

Haha yeah, he is a legend. Massive improvement for the team on the offensive end, Lucas alone scored 4 goals in the last 3 games.

Unprecedented for sure. What he’s done surely puts many to shame imo. It’s not as if he’s on his last legs either. The guy has played at elite level and before he made this decision he was a vital part of the Cádiz game.

Really hope this can be the start of Depor’s recovery. You guys belong clashing with the big guns in Primera.

16 hours ago, Djalminha said:

I don't really follow La Liga anymore since the club I support is on the third level of the spanish divisions

You must be happy about what Lucas Pérez done to return to Depor?

On 10/08/2022 at 17:17, Spike said:

 Why don’t they play for free?

I fu*king play for free... I play lots of things for free and even pay to play. Then there’s work.

So, it’s €108m Orpheus Media has apparently purchased 20% of the media rights for Barça’s games being transmitted in south-east Asia for the next 6 years. I really don’t need to say anything here on this one apart from adding Jaume Roures’ statement just now when he was quizzed quickly as he departed the Camp Nou. (Not that his statement is required here)

”I’ve just given a helping hand to the socios who aren’t to blame. Not to this board or any board. This club needs to stay in the hands of the socios and they deserve to see this team play in full this year.”

So, the latest news is that the fourth lever has been purchased by Orpheus Media which is behind many of Europe’s leagues (including Serie ‘A’) intercontinental tv coverage. The company is owned by Jaume Roures a Catalan/Spaniard that has been on the Barcelona board of directors on four separate occasions. I think Barça have pulled a fast one with this if it’s all true. 

Note that both Sergi Roberto and Dembélé were re-signed after the year’s cut-off period which means that they won’t be accounted for in the annual financial report for both the LFP and UEFA until season 23/24. This is a tactic that PSG have been using for a few years now.

Apparently (just seen the alert on my phone so don’t know more than that as there is no article as of yet) Barça have pulled a fourth lever and will apparently be able to register the new players PLUS Sergi Roberto and Dembélé (who had both run down their contracts and were officially re-signed as new players under the rules).

1 hour ago, Spike said:

Continuing on the Atleti discussion. If I remember correctly, this situation is remarkably similar but Atleti approached it with a little more caution than Barca. If I'm right, post Sergio Aguero; Atletico were pressured to continue their having marquee forwards but they were in financial distress, so they signed Falcao whom they couldn't technically afford but with creative accounting there were able to swing it into action. I think the idea was to get success now, flip Falcao (which they did to Monaco), and use whatever money they won in competition and Falcao to float the team to further success, then success leads to more success, once a standard of performance is achieved it is just about maintaining the momentum.  It looks like Barcelona are tying to do the same thing but much more aggressively, a dozen transfers instead of one, and they can't even flip the players they do buy.

 

Yep, that’s the basics of it with Atleti. They also sold the Vicente Calderón which was prime renewal location in Madrid for years. The area they acquired for the old Olympic Stadium where the Metropolitano now lies was already theirs. They’d acquired that at a cut down price years before. There are a number of features that took them to financial stability when they looked dead and buried. Amongst the many things they cleverly did, what you mention was one of them. But for that one to occur, they needed a great coach. But not just any coach... they needed a figure in the similar fashion to that of Luis Aragonés and that icon was Diego Simeone. His passion for that club is felt by the fans and the unity it created carried faith along with it. When fans have faith in you, they also have patience.

15 minutes ago, Whiskey said:

What would Johan Cruyff make of this? I've loved Barcelona for many reasons, but at the moment I just can't fathom how anyone can get behind them. 

Reckless, bullies, short-sighted, parasites. Since the Super League fiasco a dark cloud has been over them for me.

Unfortunately we’ll never know what Johan would’ve said, but I’m sure he wouldn’t have bitten his tongue as he wasn’t that way inclined. Imo he’d have selected for patience with the young players as that was his whole reason for continuing in football after he hung up his boots as a footballer.

Even if they get through all of this and hypothetically win the trophies they now have to win. They’ve damaged the entity so much that they wouldn’t be a popular champion at all. It’ll take a lot to earn that back and I genuinely feel sorry for all those kids coming through because they don’t deserve it.

22 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

In one of the stories I was reading this morning Depay, Aubameyang & de Jong were all supposed to be part of a 3 man package being offered to us for around £116Mill all in... Given the situation there I could see why that would be something that could happen as well..  If the wage bill has to drop to £400Mill I don't see how getting extra finances in will help other than to support further player purchases which they won't be able to register for the first team.. Crazy that they are allowed to carry on in such a reckless fashion... 

Well, the signing of players is something that the football authorities can’t get involved in so long as they pay the transfer fee. The registration of the any given player considering Spain’s stringent rules that started last summer, can get involved in that aspect and at that moment. I’ve got no idea how this is going to be accomplished, nobody has. Everyone is just observing with interest.

On the Aubameyang issue, Xavi this morning stated that he is not up for negotiation and that he is part of his plans. Tbh, I’ve got no idea what that means and if it’s helping the club out on selling power or if he really means it.

13 minutes ago, Spike said:

@SirBalon what a strange reality that Atleti is better run than Barca. Hell, Depor is probably run better.

Atleti (as in Atlético Madrid) is 100% better run than Barça. There isn’t even a debate there because that club (Atleti) were in the same chaotic moment Barça find themselves in today, probably even worse. It all started with the acquisition of club legend Diego Simeone as head coach and although it isn’t by far all down to the Argentinian as to the reason for their healing financially, he has a big part to play. Atlético Madrid have been very smart ever since and even where they’ve made expensive signings like Felix, they’ve made them with guaranteed payback if it fails.

Barça on the other hand are chasing ghosts... their own manufactured nightmare. They have a wonderful (luckily) new generation of young players and they aren’t willing to communicate to their fandom that patience is required considering their economic situation. Absolute cowards and betting on the club’s future with nonsense.

Meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski is currently being presented in the Camp Nou as a new FC Barcelona player and he’s come out onto the pitch with the number 9 shirt. The squad number Memphis Depay holds and is still a club player.

You couldn’t write any of this... Let me also add that the owner of Leeds United has just hit out against both Barça and Raphinha’s agent, Deco. He is lamenting having had to go against his word and agreement with Chelsea for the signing. He stated that he felt embarrassed to have to communicate that the footballer would be moving to FCB and that it was all out of his hands. He added that he has no idea where the money has apparently come from but that Barça have until September to pay it in full.

55 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

 

 

As it stands now I believe that Barcelona only have 10 more days to get all this sorted.... They currently have 33 players on the first team books and have to reduce that to 25 so that's 8 players they must offload.. In addition to that they have to bring their wage bill down to 400Mill and it currently stands at £560Mill so they need to shave another £160MIll off before the season starts, obviously they would be unable to register any of their new signings for the first team unless this gets done although I understand they could be put them all in the Reserve team squad.. They also want to try and sign 2 more players.. 

They must be operating some sort of 'Buy Now! Register Later' scheme or something.. 

"Go fuck yourselves you robbing cunts.. I will kick cans on the sidelines if I have too, Just give me my fucking money!!"  

They’re currently trying to get the Iñigo Martínez (CB) signing completed from Athletic Bilbao. That’s a huge signing with very big wages. The whole thing is really surreal... It’s even got Spanish non-sports newspapers observing and commenting on it all because nobody knows what’s going to happen and more importantly, how it’s all gonna happen. Unless there is some pretty hefty extra sponsorship deal that’s about to be announced, I can’t see it happening.

What’s for sure is that the Barça ‘B’ team in Spain’s second division may be about to have the most amazing side to have ever played in that division lol.