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Reply | Football Governance Bill
at 17:20 8 Mar 2025
My point about American sports is that they try to keep their sports competitive. So yes they have the draft system. They also have salary caps, or a "luxury tax" in the case of baseball:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_luxury_tax
The aim is to keep the playing field as level as possible.
Over here we have FFP and P&S which really only serve to ringfence the power of the big clubs and make it harder for a new challenger to disrupt their elite group. |
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Reply | Football Governance Bill
at 15:12 8 Mar 2025
Well you asked for an example :-)
OK, hands up, it was a teensy overreaction, but not bad going for a Saturday morning.
On the whole I agree with this from Kensalriser:
"Regulators are fine when they’re given the tools and powers to do the job properly.
They’re not fine when they’re undermined and hobbled by governments and officials that have been compromised by the industries under regulation, ie hiring MPs as consultants etc. Then when people say regulation doesn’t work the practitioners of corruption can sit back in the satisfied knowledge that the mugs have been suckered again for just a little chump change."
As I see it the real problem is that the game seems to be run for the benefit of an elite few plus a handful of clubs fortunate enough to share the Premier League with them and whose sole purpose isn't about winning things but ensuring that they stay at the top table with the big boys, because that's where all the money is.
Since the Premier League started in 1993 the two major trophies in English football have been the property of five clubs: Arsenal; Chelsea; Liverpool; Man City; Man Utd.
Only two other clubs have won the PL (Blackburn and Leicester), and only three other clubs have won the FA Cup (Leicester, Portsmouth, and Wigan)
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/13136017/premier-league-winners-fu
https://www.topendsports.com/events/soccer/fa-cup/winners.htm
In the meantime nine football clubs have gone bust since the Premier League started:
https://thefootballfreak.com/english-football-league-clubs-that-went-bust/
And lets not get started on the way big clubs hoover up young talent from the likes of us, whilst paying peanuts in compensation.
In America major sports are self-regulated. But in America they have deeply entrenched rules to ensure their sports remain competitive, and they require potential owners of clubs to stump up a huge sum of money in advance.
OK, American sports are structured differently from ours and what works there wouldn't necessarily work here. But at least their sports are genuinely competitive. They don't have dodgy owners and clubs don't go out of business.
The reason I think there is interest in an independent football regulator is because so many of the traditional fans of the game in this country have lost faith in the game's regulators to properly govern the game and want someone independent to do it. |
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Reply | Millwall keepers sending off
at 20:22 7 Mar 2025
I know it shouldn't be a factor but the one-eyed reaction from the Wawll fans might have played into the ban being extended.
Maybe the ban wouldn't have been extended if it hadn't been on TV.
And maybe the Wawll fans would have reacted differently if it hadn't been on TV and they hadn't been away to the Nigels.
But defending a keeper who charges out of his area and takes a wild head-high kick at the ball with no regard for the safety of other players is the sort of blind devotion you expect from a religious cult rather than a football fanbase.
FWIW I thought the red card was fair but a three game ban was also fair. Extending the ban is OTT. |
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Reply | Time to play our own
at 00:41 3 Mar 2025
It's getting on for two years since Tyler Roberts left us and he hasn't scored for anyone in that time
https://uk.soccerway.com/players/tyler-roberts/386239/
Pedigree, or Pedigree Chum?
Maybe it's too early to judge Nourry and perhaps he has been lucky so far. But Les Ferdinand and Chris Ramsey had strong links to Spurs and I don't recall them bringing in anyone of the quality of Morgan or Hyeok. Not even under Warburton when we were playing the sort of look after the ball football that would have suited a few bright academy prospects looking to cut their teeth in grown-up football.
Maybe there are good reasons for that. Nourry did have the good fortune of having some money to spend this season. |
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Reply | Time to play our own
at 21:58 2 Mar 2025
One thing you can say for Nourry is that the quality of player we are bringing in on loan seems to have gone up. |
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Reply | Time to play our own
at 19:31 2 Mar 2025
I agree. His pace in particular makes a big difference to us.
But his end product leaves a lot to be desired.
If you want to put a positive spin on it then he has already played more minutes this season than last season (2278 v 2182). He has earned himself a breather. |
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Reply | Time to play our own
at 16:10 2 Mar 2025
The (probable) bottom line is that there were incentives and penalties written into the loan arrangements.
Given that we are solidly in mid-table and unlikely to go up or down, playing a couple of PL loanees now if we are incentivised to do so, or there's a chance of bringing in some decent players from Spurs or Southampton in the future is probably a trade-off worth making.
Much as I like Paul Smyth and value his work rate and particularly his pace, since returning to us in 2023 he has only managed four goals and four assists in 79 league appearances. That's roughly a goal involvement every ten games. Not a great return for an attacker.
https://footystats.org/players/northern-ireland/paul-smyth |
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Reply | Places for a new ground
at 11:13 26 Feb 2025
Never going to happen at WSC.
It's a residential area that has been gentrified beyond recognition.
And there's not many pubs around there. |
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Reply | Footballer data
at 10:46 22 Feb 2025
That is interesting.
So Brentford are spending more on data than we spend on player transfers.
And a couple more important details in there:
The government gives tax credits for this research with Brentford making £3.23m and Chelsea and Forest also benefitting. And at least Brentford share their findings, unlike the other two.
The other point I noticed is that the Brentford Performance Director has co-authored some of these reports.
I guess this raises the possibility that Ben Williams could be doing the same for us. [Post edited 22 Feb 11:56]
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Reply | Charlie Kelman’s Leyton Orient
at 22:52 21 Feb 2025
Vardy joined Leicester in 2012 at the ripe old age of 25
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Vardy
So 13 years ago.
Before that he had a season with Fleetwood in the Conference.
One thing Wright and Vardy both have in common is pace. That alone would probably get players noticed at an early age these days. Just look at Sinclair Armstrong - big, quick, but not the greatest footballer. |
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Reply | Footballer data
at 16:08 21 Feb 2025
This is starting to look like one of Nourry's most jealously guarded secrets.
Everyone's just guessing how tall Sam Field is.
I took a quick look at fbref.com and there is a lot there, including players wages. I mean seriously, where could they be getting that from? Yes, I know people in the game talk and they probably have a rough idea what players are earning. But it's a big step to take a bit of gossip and turn it into a database with the full wage history for every player. I would take that with a pinch of salt. |
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Reply | Footballer data
at 15:27 21 Feb 2025
I'll pass that on to my missus - see above! |
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Reply | Footballer data
at 15:10 21 Feb 2025
I hear this a lot about Brentford and Brighton.
But what exactly does it mean?
Are they using data that no one else has access to?
Maybe. But what can gambling companies know about players that the clubs either don't know already or can't find out for themselves?
Brentford and Brighton might have data that other clubs don't. But I guess the real special sauce is the way they are using the data and that they have developed AI or machine learning models that get more from the data than other clubs have been able to.
But Brentford and Brighton don't have anywhere near the budget of the likes of Man City, Newcastle, etc. Surely their brightest talents will be picked off by the richer clubs sooner or later and all the big boys will know how the trick is done.
Brighton and Brentford will keep having to be brighter and more innovative than the rest if they want to keep that advantage. |
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