Zidane is the best player ever, says Beckham
July 14, 2008
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Cristiano Ronaldo could tip balance if he moves from Manchester United to Real Madrid
June 24, 2008
Real Madrid are famed for their pristine white kit but, given the club’s indebted recent financial history, red might be a more appropriate colour.
A fiscal crisis at the turn of the century was overcome following a deal to sell the club’s training ground to regional government in Spain, and according to recent estimates the debt figure is again in excess of £160 million.
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Club president Ramon Calderon, having seemingly steered away from the controversial ‘galactico’ policy of predecessor Florentino Perez, insisted last night that Real Madrid would "never pay €100million for any player," yet it looks increasingly likely that they will do just that to secure the signature of Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo. On top of that, Calderon is ready to give the Portuguese a £182,000-a-week contract that would dwarf the wages commanded by players such as Kaka, Michael Ballack and John Terry.
At a time of such Premier League strength, Real’s apparent financial muscle may appear surprising. Indeed, if the Ronaldo transfer happens, it would force a re-evaluation of the supposed European financial dominance of England’s leading clubs.
Recent research showed that the Premier League was generating some £600 million more income on an annual basis than Spain’s La Liga, yet revenues are widely split in Spain.
Real were accused of being effectively state-subsidised following the training ground deal, but remain the only club to generate more annual income than United. In 2006-07, according to Deloitte’s Money League, their turnover was £236 million compared to United’s £212 million. The difference could largely be explained by the commercial legacy of the galactico policy, as well broadcast rights. United and the rest of the Premier League clubs sell their television rights collectively, while Real are free to thrash out individual deals in Spain, and have recently signed a contract with Mediapro worth £740 million over seven years. They also generated more than £30 million more in commercial turnover than United, an area of their finances that improved significantly during the period that Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Brazil’s Ronaldo were at the club.
As well as the benefit on the football pitch, the acquisition of United’s Ronaldo would also provide a boost to Real’s merchandising. It is, however, widely predicted that United’s turnover will surpass Real’s when the figures for the 2007-08 season are published.
Ronaldo yesterday went on holiday, and no swift resolution is expected. Ultimately, the stand-off highlights the differing styles of the world’s two richest clubs. United’s emphasis on developing emerging young talent has helped ease any temptation to spend excessively on individual players, while Real coach Bernd Schuster has expressed the desire to "pay whatever it takes" to sign Ronaldo.
Indeed, when Madrid have really wanted a player over the past decade, it has generally been backed up by a willingness to spend considerable amounts of money. And, in football, money usually talks.
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TOP TEN IDIOT FOOTBALLERS - 07/08
June 24, 2008
Blair, of the brilliant My Relationship With Football, spends a whole lot of her blogging time taking a look at ‘Idiot Footballers’ and the moronic things that they get up to. She ranked the top ten most moronic ‘Idiot Footballer’ moments of the past season just for us. Let ‘er rip, girl.
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“Being thick isn’t an affliction if you’re a footballer, because your brains need to be in your feet.” ~ Brian Clough
Withdrawing from the U21 World Cup over the summer was simply not the best career decision. (And definitely is not the way to win over England fans.) With 7 minutes left to play against Israel back in September of ‘07, Bentley came on for Shaun Wright-Phillips and was berated with boos from fans around Wembley. Although he redeemed himself with some fabulous performances over the past Premier League season, to turn down the opportunity to play for your country is career suicide.
And what’s up with the dodgy change in haircut? You can’t go from a faux-hawk to a side part and not expect to get a walloping.
When you’re the England captain and your team fails to qualify for a big championship, it doesn’t look good. But when you’re videotaped dancing on a stage with strippers and their poles, and later spotted peeing into a Styrofoam cup on the floor of a bar, it looks even worse. But the cherry atop the idiotic JT cake, when he parked in a disabled spot so his family didn’t have to walk as far to get their pizza. Stop acting like a total Neanderthal and maybe people will see you as an actual professional.
My advice: lay off the booze, it seems to turn you into a raging a**hole.
Note: That penalty kick didn’t help your cause for intelligence.
Sleeping through an £8m transfer is not the best way to advance your footballing career.
His angry outburst at the Chelsea game may have very well cost him the England captaincy, but what I find even more entertaining (and coincidentally also more idiotic) are his wicked party planning skills. This is the man who organized the Manchester United Christmas party/sausage-fest that resulted in rape accusations and WAG purse beatings. Mr. Ferdinand also doesn’t believe that people DON’T know who he is. Rio and his girlfriend Rebecca neglected to provide the necessary identification when arriving at his OWN party after Manchester United had won the league. Although this only temporarily delayed his entrance I can’t imagine the conversation he must have had with the hostess. My suggestion: leave the party planning to the professionals, Rio.
Update: Rio Ferdinand and his brother, Anton (also an idiot), were questioned by police in Israel where they are on holiday. Apparently a photographer was punched outside of a club where Rio and Anton had been partying earlier. Seeing that both of the Ferdinands have anger control issues, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Transvestite prostitution blackmail. Need I say more?
There’s no way to avoid the many stories that this man has had in regards to his idiocy. Never mind his tendencies to hire prostitutes to come to his home/hotel, or the fact that his mother is in charge of his finances, or how his vanity got in the way when he was so paranoid about a black and blue eye that he had to wear a pair of aviators during a romp with a promotions girl from a Champions League press conference. Along with his autobiographical photo album, because god forbid he’d have to form a complete sentence. But what I find the most deplorable of behavior is the introduction of his new catch, Nereida Gallorda. Even with her nude photos, tacky earrings, bikini contest footage, threesome coverage, Cristiano remains in denial that she’s truly WAG material, and that of the marrying kind. Gallardo is apparently moving in with Ronaldo over the summer with engagement rumors in the air. I think this situ can best be described in the profound words of Kanye West: Oh yeah, she’s a Gold-digger.
I don’t imagine serving a prison sentence will increase the chance of him being selected for ANY of the World Cup Qualifying matches with the England Squad or the possibility of him having any sort of illustrious career, except perhaps as a prison punching bag criminal. Good luck brother, don’t drop your soap.
After their embarrassing performance in attempting to qualify for EURO 2008, many stars thought it more pertinent to get their weddings scheduled (Joey and Wayne), holidays planned out (JT, Crouch, and Gerrard), or their current contracts situations sorted (Lampsy, Barry, MO, Bridge, Bentley, etc.). But the utter disappointment of their countrymen, fans, and loyal followers cannot be set aside like yesterday’s pair of boots. We’re angry, we’re bitter, and we don’t forget easily. Remember that the next time you decide to act like a bunch of t**ts at a strip club during international duty.
Cheating on Cheryl Cole has got to be the highlight of Mr. Cole’s memorable career in idiocy. But even AFTER openly admitting to romping about with an unattractive waitress, he STILL decided to attempt to sue the tabloids for publishing the story. What kind of sense does that make? None, if you ask me. I mean who cheats on a woman who’s in a girl-band. As if they won’t gang up, team together, and annihilate you as a human being and obliterate your private parts into tiny little smithereens. But that’s saying that you had balls to begin with.
Cheating on a WAG is one thing, but cheating on two is downright social suicide. The battle between Charlotte Mears and Danielle Lloyd was splattered all over the papers for weeks during December and January. And still Defoe went out and courted one trashy model after another. With this idiotic behavior, Defoe has completely defiled his popularity with the ladies and I suspect it will be at least a month till he gets one to be seen in public with him, sans tablecloth. If he hadn’t started scoring goals at the very end of the season and gaining popularity after transferring from Tottenham to Portsmouth, I suspect his reputation would have sent him to the League 2 of the dating pool.
David Beckham: Excessive number of vehicles, not eco-friendly (excessive plane trips)
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Real Madrid wants Cristiano Ronaldo for the money
June 8, 2008
Latest football news are out and it has been revealed that Real Madrid wants Cristiano Ronaldo to be their new David Beckham and Real Madrid is claiming that Ronaldo is worth as much as HALF A BILLION in spin-off cash.
It is strongly believed that this is the real reason the Spanish giants are ready to spend £75million on the Manchester United superstar and to recapture the ‘wow factor’ that left the club when Beckham went to the States.
It is said that Madrid are prepared to pay that world-record fee because Ronaldo’s arrival would have a huge impact on sponsorship, sales and TV deals.
It is believed that the Portugal winger who is 23 this year, is seen as the main man to bring Champions League glory and bolster the image of unpopular president Ramon Calderon.
Like Beckham before him, Ronaldo would keep 50 per cent of commercial deals struck in Spain but it is believed that Real would allow him to keep 100 per cent of any sponsorships from abroad.
It has been reported that the Spaniards are now planning to steal the jewel in United’s crown which is why boss Alex Ferguson may let Ronaldo rot in the stands.
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Real Madrid ready to make Cristiano Ronaldo the richest player on earth
May 17, 2008
Sensational transfer news are out and it has been reported that Spanish giants Real Madrid are ready to make Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo the world’s first £100 million player.
Local British newspapers have reported that Real Madrid are now reportedly gearing up to present United with an unprecedented £100 million offer for the player they have set as a priority transfer target. It has also been reported that Real would happily sign off £200,000-a-week in wages to Ronaldo without hesitation.
Madrid president Ramon Calderon might have described the prospect of bringing Ronaldo to the Bernabeu as “almost impossible” on Tuesday, but Ronaldo’s recent comments have triggered a torrent of speculation.
Ronaldo was reported saying that he is happy at United but told the media to wait and see what happens after the Champions League final. Ronaldo also added that he feels calm and happy at United but he does not know what will happen in the future.
It is believed that the financial returns on a Ronaldo signing is beyond doubt, and Madrid are desperate to have a piece of the pie. It was reported that Real Sporting director Predrag Mijatovic recently revealed his plans for the Portugal star to be “the face of the new Real Madrid,” a second-generation David Beckham.
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