Not much is happening on the Arsenal front, so I won't bore you by filling this page with transfer gossip, that would be rather tiresome. Euro 2008 is underway, it hasn't exactly set the world on fire as yet, however it's still better than having nothing at all on the box. I'm sure it will pick up a bit once a few of the weaker nations have been sent packing, then the real competition can start. Only one group promises some real competition and we all know which one that is.Michel Platini, great player in his day, but appears to be a rather repulsive piece of work judging from his efforts as a political stooge thus far. The UEFA president has labelled certain English clubs as cheats, from the horse's mouth:
'it is the clubs who cheat that are winning'
I am not claiming I'm a fan of the ethics behind Roman Abrahmovich's empire or the way in which the Glazer's have mortgaged Manu up to the hilt, however to single out English clubs in this way is immensely stupid given the behaviour of other big European clubs.
Michel Platini is obviously not an economist, as there is nothing illegal about the way in which the Glazers have increased Manu's debt and set about paying it off with revenue. It is a silly gamble for the Glazers to take in some ways, but it is entirely legal. Abrahmovich certainly obtained his funds in rather dubious ways to say the least, however again there is nothing illegal about the way in which he has bailed Chelsea out. What does Platini intend to do? Ban any club with any debt or just ban English clubs because he doesn't like them?
Silvio Berlusconi's role at Milan appears to me to as bad as anything in Europe, he is a corrupt dictator and has even manipulated the Italian law in order to avoid prosecution, he continues to bankroll Milan with his corrupt media empire. While Real Madrid have effectively had their debt paid off by the Spanish government, a very dodgy deal in 2000 saw their training ground sold for a rather over generous price. I haven't even touched upon Juventus and the Agnelli family, the Italian match fixing and the leniency of UEFA, Porto and their bribery of officials, match fixing in Germany and on and on. I certainly reckon that English clubs would have taken a much bigger blow on the chin if found guilty of such bribery and corruption.
Platini and Blatter should think before they open their rather greasy and unpleasant mouths, they should also attempt to get their own houses in order before they begin lobbing stones at our English castles. In actual fact English football has been remarkably free from corruption compared to football in other European countries and corrupt institutions like FIFA, I just wonder what the motives are behind Platini's biased diatribes? I think many of us would be very happy for UEFA to try to root out the corruption and cheating in the European game, however this has to be done consistently and fairly across the board.
Currently Platini is unfairly picking on people he doesn't like, while not adequately dealing with the cheating and corruption that he could and should do something about. Luckily for English football, I think the likes of Platini and Blatter will find it very tricky to selectively punish those they simply don't like, there is a thing called European law standing firmly in their way.
I am not claiming I'm a fan of the ethics behind Roman Abrahmovich's empire or the way in which the Glazer's have mortgaged Manu up to the hilt, however to single out English clubs in this way is immensely stupid given the behaviour of other big European clubs.
Michel Platini is obviously not an economist, as there is nothing illegal about the way in which the Glazers have increased Manu's debt and set about paying it off with revenue. It is a silly gamble for the Glazers to take in some ways, but it is entirely legal. Abrahmovich certainly obtained his funds in rather dubious ways to say the least, however again there is nothing illegal about the way in which he has bailed Chelsea out. What does Platini intend to do? Ban any club with any debt or just ban English clubs because he doesn't like them?
Silvio Berlusconi's role at Milan appears to me to as bad as anything in Europe, he is a corrupt dictator and has even manipulated the Italian law in order to avoid prosecution, he continues to bankroll Milan with his corrupt media empire. While Real Madrid have effectively had their debt paid off by the Spanish government, a very dodgy deal in 2000 saw their training ground sold for a rather over generous price. I haven't even touched upon Juventus and the Agnelli family, the Italian match fixing and the leniency of UEFA, Porto and their bribery of officials, match fixing in Germany and on and on. I certainly reckon that English clubs would have taken a much bigger blow on the chin if found guilty of such bribery and corruption.
Platini and Blatter should think before they open their rather greasy and unpleasant mouths, they should also attempt to get their own houses in order before they begin lobbing stones at our English castles. In actual fact English football has been remarkably free from corruption compared to football in other European countries and corrupt institutions like FIFA, I just wonder what the motives are behind Platini's biased diatribes? I think many of us would be very happy for UEFA to try to root out the corruption and cheating in the European game, however this has to be done consistently and fairly across the board.
Currently Platini is unfairly picking on people he doesn't like, while not adequately dealing with the cheating and corruption that he could and should do something about. Luckily for English football, I think the likes of Platini and Blatter will find it very tricky to selectively punish those they simply don't like, there is a thing called European law standing firmly in their way.
