Amazon.com are still selling a selection of rather unimaginative Manure chants by 'Fat Willy', the offensive one that Arsene is subjected to is no4 there, the customer reviews say it all, while it is pretty poor from Amazon that they are refusing to withdraw this item all in the name of 'free speech'. Play.com have withdrawn the rather pathetic item from their online shop. In my mind there is no doubt that Manchester United should do more. It is also worth bearing in mind the chants that we sing about various opposition players, for example there is an Ashley Cole song that I do not sing for this particular reason, it is well below the belt, we should all try to do our own little bit to stamp out certain things in football and every little helps.
Elsewhere Diaby has continued his run of bad luck by injuring the French goalkeeper in training. Patrick Barclay talks a lot of sense on the Eduardo situation in the Telegraph:
"It is a cowardly judgment that was made simply to appease the English press. Uefa will find it very difficult to show any consistency going forward."
Indeed, it is completely stupid work from UEFA, they are now damned whatever they do, they have stuffed this one up good and proper. Bendtner and Denilson have both signed new long term deals at the clubs, good news, while Fran Merida appears to be making strides towards starting a few first team games after another fine performance for the reserves in midweek. Graham Poll continues to reinforce his reputation as one of the biggest c*nts around. Wayne Rooney talks of his honesty and how he doesn't dive, I'm surprised he doesn't then move on to talk about his good looks, his pretty and educated wife, and his dislike of older scouse prostitutes.
The big breaking news is that Chelsea have been banned from the transfer market until January 2011 for encouraging a young Lens player to break his contract. This kind of punishment is needed as Chelsea have been caught with their hands in the till several times in the past, and well done to Lens for actually seeing this through rather than taking a pay off like Tottenham did. I am sure Chelsea will appeal as they did when caught with their pants down over tapping up Ashley Cole, the ban is needed though as 70 thousand pound fines mean nothing to them.
15 comments:
FINALLY the media's waking up to that disgusting chant AW's been subjected to. I really believe that what AW has had to endure for 13 years is particularly unique and heinous -- no other manager in the PL has had to endure anything like it.
Kudos to Lens for pushing thru their charge against Chelsea. It's exactly the kind of thing Platini campaigned for when he ran for president, he sees himself as defender of the little guys.
Oh, and what a surprise:
UEFA DIVING CLAMPDOWN ENDS WITH EDUARDO
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_5535065,00.html
Has this blog taken leave of its senses? Or are the contributors so narrow minded that they can't see the irony of their views on the two biggest football stories of the week.
Number 1 - Eduardo. According to this blog he is the victim of an outrageous UEFA/FIFA plot. OK he might have dived but his stiff punishment is a ludicrous case of UEFA wanting a scapegoat and responding to public pressure.
Number 2 - Chelsea. According to this blog FIFA's actions are absolutely justified. Yes it might be an unprecedented punishment but fines mean nothing to Chelsea so good on UEFA/FIFA for acting on a practice of stealing foreign youngsters that is damaging the game.
Do you not see the link between these two stories? Do you not understand that if Eduardo is a scapegoat, so are Chelsea? Do you honestly think for one moment that there are no grey areas when Wenger steals away his French and African talent or do you agree that you boys deserve a transfer ban as well - along with 90% of the Premiership? As I understand it the Kakuta business is far from clear-cut - Kakuta's dad seems to have signed some sort of pre-contract when he was 14 which they then decided not to renew 2 years later - but that is irrelevant. This is something that happens all the time and as a club that grooms a lot of foreign youth I doubt the powers that be at Arsenal are currently feeling entirely comfortable.
If you lot agree that all grooming of young foreign players is wrong then that is absolutely fine. But I would therefore hope and expect that you would applaud in equal measure when Arsenal also get a transfer ban for stealing away Merida, Fabregas, Barazite etc. Otherwise you'll sound as hypocritical as FIFA.
ummmm.....
i think mr libero makes several good points. well said.
libero, point taken, I concede entirely the hypocrisy of my first reaction to the news. I hadn't even read much of the news reports regarding the Chelsea decision and had jumped the gun with very cursory knowledge of the decision. After reading more about it I do see the problems with this decision. I will point out that to my recollection Arsenal have never tapped up a player to break an existing contract. Arsenal have poached players too young to have professional contracts, taking advantage of rules governing contracts and players of a certain age. Not that that's any less objectionable to the player's club. The 18 month transfer ban is extraordinary but I think it'll ultimately be shortened on appeal. Chelsea are indeed being singled out. However if (unlike Eduardo's ban) FIFA is using this as precedent to begin a clampdown on tapping up on players with existing contracts, then this decision can't be called arbitrary and exclusive to one incident and one club only. Many gooners like me would've accepted Eduardo's ban if it meant the start of a genuine campaign to stop simulation. UEFA has come out saying that the Eduardo case is a one-off. Worryingly for Wenger and his scouting network, the Chelsea decision also may be the start of FIFA/UEFA looking to do something about the rules that allow Arsenal to poach young players without contracts.
Chelsea got screwed pretty royally.
-rahul-
Glad my point was taken on board..
It's not often you find much gooner-loving on the Chelsea boards but I must say that there was a considerable amount of sympathy earlier in the week for the Eduardo decision. I for one would love FIFA and UEFA to clamp down on diving and poaching but to do so in such an arbitrary and antagonistic manner raises the suspicion that Platini and Batter are acting rather less on moral grounds than on an anti-Premiership agenda.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: A manager kicking a bottle isn't as big a problem as said manager still having more class than the 70,000 muppets surrounding him.
A big steaming can of dap to the media for waking up to it, and to Alex Ferguson and the MU management for telling their fans it is wrong. But most of all, to Arsene Wenger for enduring it all with what, if he were English, would be called a stiff upper lip.
Seriously, can we imagine, oh, I don't know, Kevin Keegan holding his tongue about it? How about Brian Clough, may Ol' Big 'ead rest in peace? Or Jose Mourinho (who seems content to call our boss a "voyeur")? If they'd been faced with this garbage, and said a word about it, the media would have been on their side for years thereafter. Arsene Knows (TM) that if he says a word about it, the media will be on him like ants on a picnic. He's got more patience and more class than I do.
I have no sympathy for Chelski. None. In a slightly related story, didn't that song about Ashley Cole being a, you know, something that rhymes with "Cole," originate with Graham Poll?
libero,
i can't see your point
arsenal may poach young players but the point is that it has all been done within the rules of the game
it has pissed off uefa and fifa but their rules have not been broken by Arsenal
Chelsea have clearly broken the rules and can therefore expect to be punished
if the rules were to be changed and we were to then break them with our actions, we should be punished
chelsea have been caught breaking the rules on numerous occassions in this regards: mikel, arnese, cole etc
can you think of one occassion on which arsenal have broken the rules?
if you can they you may have a point, if you cannot then q/e/d libero
the 'arbitrary' nature of the punishment for chavski is more of their own doing
i say this because lens are one of the few clubs that didn't just take a russian pay off to keep quiet
I don't think libero's point is dependant on whether Arsenal have broken the rules.
Many clubs, maybe including Arsenal, have broken the rules, yet Chelsea get punished.
The inconsistency on this blog is that you say the Eduardo decision is a disgrace, yet you applaud the Chelsea decision.
That is simply not right. Chelsea might have done things wrong, but so have many other clubs. Where is the consistency?
Marcus - fuck you.
Good chat. Now Libero's point is hard to take issue with if we know for a fact that the crime Chelsea have been arbitrarily found guilty of is also committed by other clubs. As with Eduardo, we know every player cheats and so UEFA are right and fair to clamp down. So I would welcome Eddy's 2 match ban if Ashley Young was facing the same fate, and also every player who claims a throw-on incorrectly or every striker who takes a tumble even though the centre back has not pushed him in the back.
My point being that we know Eddy is as guilty as any other player, but think it wrong he has been singled out. uEFA have addmitted it is a one-off application of a made-up rule. So the inconsistency is what rankles.
As far as Chelsea are concerned, they have been found guilty of breaking a particular rule that I cannot say for sure others have broken. They have done the same or similar with Arnesen and Mikel but in those instances were able to pay off the offended clubs. Other clubs do tap players up, or sign young players before they have signed their first professional contract. But that is not what Chelsea have been found guilty of, so I do not yet feel too concerned as a Gooner.
So although the original post may sound hypocritical, the differences in the 2 cases maybe suggest that our reaction to Chelsea's punishment is fair.
However, UEFA are clearly inept and inconsistent & if other clubs who commit similar crimes are not punished, then we can console each other for being the victims of a clear bias.
79gooner - don't be so spectacularly naive. The goons broke the rules when you signed merida but all you got was a fine! The only difference in the kakuta case is that lens and chelsea couldn't agree compensation therefore lens took the case to fifa rather than the domestic contract courts. which brings me back to the eduardo hypocrisy which you have apparently failed to spot. Do not complain about eduardo if you are going to argue that the chelsea punishment is fair!
Libero you are right, but in my mind the hypocrisy will be in Uefa's next steps. All players cheat, so ban all players. All clubs tap up signings, so ban all clubs from making transfers. Simplistic I know, but that is the path UEFA have to head down.
It looks like they may be happy to ban other clubs from making transfers (one of which may be Arsenal given the Merida, Coquelin cases), but as The Times reported they will not be banning other players for crimes similar to Eduardo.
That is why 1979 feels there is difference between the two. At least that is my view anyway.
http://youngguns.wordpress.com/2009/09/03/capello-arsenal-have-set-an-important-example/
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/arsenal/article2633746.ece
libero, you are in fact wrong
merida was fined, arsenal have not been charged or found guilty of anything in the merida case
hence your argument falls away into dust
we have not been caught tapping up players as you have
i accept your point that fifa are being inconsistent, as clubs like real and barca are routinely breaking the rules as well, they should also be banned
however your argument about arsenal plumbing the same depths doesn't cut the mustard i'm afraid
It's easy to hate Arsenal. AS the old saying goes, "Everybody does it." Well, if "everybody" jumped off the Tower Bridge, would libero do it?
Of course not. I doubt he'd even have the guts to show his face in a real city like London. He'd probably be too chicken to show up in Manchester, New Hampshire, let alone Manchester, England -- or even Portsmouth in Hampshire!
Eduardo was specifically targeted based on a one-time whine, not a longtime body of work like Terry, Drogba, Rooney, and so on. Or even Eboue -- and if Arsenal could get rid of one player, now that Adebayor is gone, I'd love for it to be Eboue!
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