SirBalon

I actually enjoyed that. Thanks lol

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.

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.

Perfect

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.

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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

They haven’t got long to register those new players and tbh, I’m not seeing any of that happening unless they pull some more of those “levers” they keep on finding. I’ve started to look for some of those in my house too.

No prob mate. Glad to have been of help.

I think the Koeman part in all of this is the most telling imo. People can accuse him of all sorts, but one thing he does do, it’s give young talent the chance. That’s Koeman all over and the fact he spoke to Puig himself by allegedly telling him to go to the Premier League (there were interested PL clubs in him at the time) tells us quite a bit of what the Dutch coach was asking from him and telling him where he had to improve.

His technical ability is immense. But physically is where coaches consistently ask questions. I don’t know... Don’t understand why he didn’t go to Italy where Fiorentina approached Barcelona twice (allegedly) on signing him. But the reports say he didn’t want to play for any other European club. A weird thing for a young player to do.

Too many things to see in Bella Napoli mate. If you want to capture the genuine Napoli... the Naples of the movies, you need to start in the Quartieri Spagnoli. That’s in the centre with the old alleyways and the typical Neapolitan shouting at each other with the typical “Oooooo..” Take the metropolitano to the Toledo station (which is a sight to behold in itself) and walk from there down the Via Roma. https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartieri_Spagnoli From there you continue walking downwards until you’ll come to a square where to the left hand side you’ll see La Mergellina which is the beautiful walk along the Neapolitan coast where again so many movies have been made. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mergellina If you go to the top of the city, there is a park called Capodimonte. It’s a great walk inside and if you go towards the museum they have there (don’t go inside it, it’s boring), you’ll see a fountain. By that fountain, you can see the whole of Napoli. The sight is breathtaking! https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parco_di_Capodimonte Then there’s the trendy part of the city at the top called Il Vomero. This is where wealthy young people live and there’s all sorts of trendy stuff and cafes there. A bit like Barcelona’s La Rambla. Infact a lot of the architecture of that area is like Barcelona for historic reasons. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomero I could go on mate. There are some amazing places to visit particularly religious artefacts and art to see like the Shrouded Christ which is a unique sculpture that took decades to make back in the day. To see it is to stand in awe. There’s also the ancient tunnels under the city started by the Greeks and finished by the Spaniards (because Neapolis, Parthenope was always special to Europeans for all sorts of reasons) are incredible if you have time mate. It’s too complexed to go into what’s down there. Pompeii is amazing and close by the even more ancient Herculaneum is mind blowing. Although they’ve opened new areas to the public at the Pompeii site, so it’s a must see. As for food... Man! Pizza Napoletana is obvious. Then the fish there is great although keep away from the tourist areas to eat. It’s shit and expensive. For Pizza, visit Da Michele or Sorbillo. They’re the two most young Neapolitans use and they’re really good. http://www.damichele.net/ https://www.sorbillo.it/ My favourite dishes are Parmigiana or the obvious, Lasagna. But there are hundreds of traditional Neapolitan dishes and whichever one you choose, you won’t go wrong. Puglia is absolutely beautiful though! And the wine there... WOW! Beats the crap out of the over commercialised Chianti. Puglia red wine is my favourite Italian wine. The “Negroamaro” style of making wine is unique as they use 20% sun dried grapes (raisins) giving it a distinctive dark red. Where am I going with this Along the Neapolitan coast (commonly known as the Amalfi Coast) is also great to drive down. From the port of Naples you can also get the fast boat to the islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida... Procida is my favourite for the simple fact that there are less tourists there and it’s where the movie, Il Postino was made. A great restaurant run by an old couple at the small fishermen port at the back of the island is the place to go. They make everything themselves from the wine to the pasta. You get treated like a king by that family and the amount they give you is perverse lol. The restaurant is called Gorgonia although La Locanda is amazing too. The boat trip is literally 20 minutes so you can go and returns the city in a couple of hours including eating of course.