General Football Discussion

[Orange14]

Don't hold your breath about Platini's fair play proposal evening things out for the Eredivisie. The SwissRamble has a good piece on how Chelsea can overcome the debt and qualify in spite of where things stand today: http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2011/02 ... lenge.html

[SPL]

Hopefully Spurs will take 4th place from Chelsea this season and then with no CL next season Abramovich will probably leave and they will be in a finacial mess . At least that would stop them trying to pinch our youngsters.

[kezme44]

i hate chelsea. and also manu. and real. i'm just waiting for the day when the world of soccer crashes, and all the nonsense with ridiculous transfer sums stops. i can't believe chelsea paid 50 million pounds for torres. money certainly doesn't buy what it used to. recently heard somewhere that dan petrescu's move to chelsea worth 2.3 mliion shattered some record. i think we even paid more for wielaert

[Orange14]

As long as there is a cachet to owning an English football team nothing much will change. The television money is really what keeps the teams that don't have sugar daddy owners afloat. I'm just glad that we have someone with a solid background in finance writing about the folly of football. Truth be told, it isn't much different here in the US with our team sports though some of the leagues do have either revenue sharing or salary caps (both of which I believe are illegal under EU regulations). As SPL noted in his post, teams that develop a reliance on CL football revenues are destined for trouble if they don't qualify (witness Liverpool who may not qualify again this season). What Ajax really need to do is market the heck out the work they have done in China to get increasing visibility there.

[Orange14]

Another cautionary tale in child trafficking of footballers: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/st ... rs?cc=5901

[The Purple Cow Again]

I've just watched Liverpool's 9 - 0 destruction of an admittedly hapless Southend United in the F.A. youth cup on LFC tv, and like everyone else watching I'm amazed at the skill and pace of the 16 year old Jamaican high-school student Raheem Sterling.

He scored five goals in this game, three from the left wing and two from the right. His second goal is a thing of beauty.

Here are brief highlights of the game

http://tinyurl.com/5so4pu4

Next week he may make his first team debut, at the age of 16 years and 69 days, making him their youngest ever first team player.

Just thought I would mention it.

[SPL]

Strange thing they are making a big issue about Ake, who signed an agreement before his 16th birthday, which I believe is this month , but wont join Chelsea until July whereas Bruma joined up with Chelsea in the summer of 2007 but was not 16 until the November .He is the only one who actually moved before his 16th birthday.

We are about to sign a young Swiss kid called Stefan Marinkovic and he is only 16 so it goes on everywhere.

Van Velzen is the only 16 year old we have lost to an EPL club ie Man U last summer but his parents were bought by Man U .I still think something needs to be done about signing under 18's.

[Orange14]

Kyle Ebecilio (Lorenzo's brother) signed a contract with Arsenal. He turned 17 last week. Article did not say what youth system he came up in but I never saw his name associated with Ajax.

[Jinne]

He's from Feyenoord's academy.

[SPL]

Is he Lorenzo's brother? It has only ever been mentioned that Jeffrey Bruma is his cousin .He joined Arsenal last summer aged 16 .

[SPL]

SE6 Good win for Blackpool over Spurs last night

[SE6Ajacied]

SE6 Good win for Blackpool over Spurs last night

Yeah cheers, very happy with that. Brett Ormorod has now (finally) scored in all four divisions for the mighty 'Pool

[Orange14]

If these guys cannot make money running a football club, what hope is there for Ajax????? http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... es?cc=5901

[Over Pasanens Head]

A good read etc. about a towns football rivalry in the Netherlands

http://www.europeanfootballweekends.co.uk/

[SE6Ajacied]

I wasn't sure where to post this. I was out yesterday so missed the game but watching now - a bit random I know but does anyone know why we had a Belgium referee?? Just curious, I've seen it done for really big games but not in the Eredivisie before unless my meory is playing tricks on me.

[Orange14]

I wasn't sure where to post this. I was out yesterday so missed the game but watching now - a bit random I know but does anyone know why we had a Belgium referee?? Just curious, I've seen it done for really big games but not in the Eredivisie before unless my meory is playing tricks on me.

I know that Dutch referees are occasional sent to Belgium for punishment (happened to Kevin Blom this season). Can't answer the question you pose.

[ofey]

Perhaps cos too many Dutch referees are known to be Anti-Ajax?
So the nearest neutral they could find was in Belgium?

[Manneken Pis]

I wasn't sure where to post this. I was out yesterday so missed the game but watching now - a bit random I know but does anyone know why we had a Belgium referee?? Just curious, I've seen it done for really big games but not in the Eredivisie before unless my meory is playing tricks on me.

It's been going on since 2004:

https://kr.uefa.com/news/newsid=145481.html

[SE6Ajacied]

I wasn't sure where to post this. I was out yesterday so missed the game but watching now - a bit random I know but does anyone know why we had a Belgium referee?? Just curious, I've seen it done for really big games but not in the Eredivisie before unless my meory is playing tricks on me.

It's been going on since 2004:

https://kr.uefa.com/news/newsid=145481.html

OK cheers, I wasn'y aware of that. I knew it happened in some countries, especially with the biggest games but hadn't seen it in the Eredivisie before and Sunday definately wasn't a big game anyway. Presumably only the Dutch speaking bit of Belgium unless the French speakers referee in English........

[Philippe]

Hard luck for Inter yesterday. Too bad for Sneijder and Chivu.
But nice for Huntelaar and good old Charisteas.

[souras84]

Hahahaha Charisteas!!! Never though he could play abroad again in my life... And now, Schalke humiliated Inter... GOD I love when Italians get trashed!! Now Chivu can make a return here

[Van basten]

The world is officially gone mad http://slumz.boxden.com/f5/apr-27-dutch ... d-1535669/

[SE6Ajacied]

Still not sure if anyone's watching but here's some pictures from Aldershot Town v Burton Albion a couple of weeks ago. It's a League Two game so could only take a small camera. http://s322.photobucket.com/albums/nn40 ... 2QQtppZZ24

I was at Barnet v Port Vale on Saturday so will post them from there whern I get round to it.

[Orange14]

Still not sure if anyone's watching but here's some pictures from Aldershot Town v Burton Albion a couple of weeks ago. It's a League Two game so could only take a small camera. http://s322.photobucket.com/albums/nn40 ... 2QQtppZZ24

I was at Barnet v Port Vale on Saturday so will post them from there whern I get round to it.

Football as it was meant to be played!! Thanks for the pictures, who won the match?

[SE6Ajacied]

Still not sure if anyone's watching but here's some pictures from Aldershot Town v Burton Albion a couple of weeks ago. It's a League Two game so could only take a small camera. http://s322.photobucket.com/albums/nn40 ... 2QQtppZZ24

I was at Barnet v Port Vale on Saturday so will post them from there whern I get round to it.

Football as it was meant to be played!! Thanks for the pictures, who won the match?

Glad you like then - it was 2-1 to Burton (in white) and the game was actually between the 2009 and 2008 Conference (non-league) champions. Aldershot Town's 2008 promotion took them "back" into the football league 16 years after the original Aldershot FC went bankrupt, the reformed team team achieving five promotions in the time to give Aldershot league football again.

There's an interesting site about the original Aldershot team here http://aldershotfc.has.it/ and here's a history of the reformed team http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldershot_Town_FC