• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

News Thread ... 2018-19 Season

Chelsea was hit with a 2 window transfer ban and a £460,000 fine by FIFA relating to the registration of foreign players under 18. The FA was also assessed a £391,000 fine. Chelsea will appeal and it’s likely that process will extend long enough for them to sign players this summer. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid had also been banned for 2 windows for the same offense; only Real successfully appealed and their ban was reduced to 1 window.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...two-windows-fifa-foreign-players-under-age-18
 
Based on the sheer scale of Chelsea's offenses, I don't think they're going to get a reduction, but you're right. The appeal will allow them to get a summer window to deal ahead of the ban. Since they had to know this was coming, the Pulisic deal gains a bit more context.

Of course, given that they basically have an entire roster's worth of quality players out on loan, it's hard to cry for Chelsea. They'll be fine either way.
 
Celtic have indeed announced Neil Lennon will be stepping in as manager through the end of the season, replacing Brendan Rodgers who has taken the Leicester job. https://www.goal.com/en-us/news/cel...ntil-end-of-season/1gtdtfkto8ifh1djunettr2pph

Lennon was Celtic boss from 2010-14 and won 3 league titles and 2 Scottish cups, following 200+ games in hoops as a player. After leaving the Celtic sideline he had longish spells managing Bolton and then, recently Hibs. He fell out with the Hibs board over recruitment and budget priorities, but had guided them to promotion back to the Scottish Prem as well as a Cup and a Europa League appearance in 3 seasons.
 
Not that many of you care, but MLS kicked off their 2019 season yesterday.

Atlanta United looked sluggish and got beat by DC United in their opener. They're the defending Cup champs but have replaced Tata Martinez with Frank DeBoer ... and probably wonder why they seem boring now.

Anyway ... follow along if you want at www.mlssoccer.com
 
jeffbear said:
Not that many of you care, but MLS kicked off their 2019 season yesterday.

Atlanta United looked sluggish and got beat by DC United in their opener. They're the defending Cup champs but have replaced Tata Martinez with Frank DeBoer ... and probably wonder why they seem boring now.

Anyway ... follow along if you want at www.mlssoccer.com
Click to expand...

I live vicariously through my Portland-based daughter who is a Thorns STH and gets to most Timbers matches too. The Timbers won’t have a home match until June 1 because of significant construction at Providence Park that will add about 4,000 seats along the sideline across from the benches and make improvements elsewhere. I’ve been there a few times for both Thorns and Timbers matches and the concourses at halftime are claustrophobic at best, scary at worst.
 
Take heart from DC's season last year. They ended up playing most of their home schedule in the 2nd half of the season and just bombed into the playoffs after a bad first half. Portland's decent ... they should be able to do something similar. Especially if they fill that open DP slot by the time they get the renovations done.
 
I've said it before and I'll say it again, put a team in the Boston metropolitan area and I'll care about MLS. I'll even get at least partial season tickets.
 
VinatieriDefinesClutch said:
I've said it before and I'll say it again, put a team in the Boston metropolitan area and I'll care about MLS. I'll even get at least partial season tickets.
Click to expand...

What about the Revs? Or is Foxboro on the wrong side? They really need a soccer specific stadium, but Kraft can’t find anyplace. Last I saw, he was looking in Southie.
 
Foxboro is nowhere near Boston and is a football stadium. They need a soccer specific stadium somewhere people can take the T to. The place is less than one third full most of the time and is dead. If they had a 20-30k stadium in Boston or Cambridge or even slightly further out, I feel like there are a lot of people like me who are just waiting to be fans.
 
VinatieriDefinesClutch said:
Foxboro is nowhere near Boston and is a football stadium. They need a soccer specific stadium somewhere people can take the T to. The place is less than one third full most of the time and is dead. If they had a 20-30k stadium in Boston or Cambridge or even slightly further out, I feel like there are a lot of people like me who are just waiting to be fans.
Click to expand...

I know where Foxboro is, my wife grew up in Needham. They’re building a training facility next to Gillette Stadium. Even though they’re still making noises about building something in or near Boston, that’s an awfully long way away from where they’re looking, unless they look out towards Quincy.
 
The US Women’s National Team has filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against US Soccer. The suit was filed by 28 players and seeks class action status; it could end up with any player who represented the team since February 5, 2015. The lawsuit mirrors an unresolved complaint filed with the EEOC in 2016.

This isn’t anything new. The women’s team has been battling with US Soccer for years over compensation, travel and working/playing conditions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/08/sports/womens-soccer-team-lawsuit-gender-discrimination.html


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Claudio Ranieri was hired by Roma until the end of the season. He replaces Eusebio Di Francesco, who was sacked after Roma was eliminated from the Champions League, which came says after their worst ever loss to Lazio. Ranieri has been sacked by Fulham 8 days ago after a 106 day tenure that saw 3 wins in 17 matches. It’s his 2nd stint at Roma, having managed them from 2009-11.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...anieri-confirmed-Roma-manager-end-season.html


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
ICYMI, fan invasions at both St Andrews (Villa/Birmingham derby in the Championship) and the Emirates (Arsenal vs Man United) this weekend following two horrific incidents of fan violence directed at players in Scotland in the last ten days have the entire UK buzzing. The FA and Premiere League are being pushed for strong responses ... well beyond the usual "ban the miscreant for life and then ignore the problem" response. And yeah ... UK football fan culture seems to have gotten weird lately. I mean, in Birmingham some clown sprinted onto the pitch past barely paying attention security and sucker punched Villa's Jack Grealish from behind. Thankfully the moron got him in the neck and didn't do any lasting damage. Grealish never saw it coming though, and it doesn't take a lot to flash back to tennis star Monica Seles getting attacked by some loon with a knife at the French Open in 1993. Pundits are pushing for closed door matches and even points deductions as a deterrent. Somehow I doubt the English footballing establishment has the stones for THAT, but we'll see. The Scottish response to similar incidents (half bottle of whisky thrown at Scott Sinclair and a Rangers player being accosted by another pitch invader) has been ... let's go with limp at best.

Update ... the clown in Birmingham has received a sentence of 14 weeks in jail and received a 10 year ban from attending any football match in the UK. The FA, of course, huffed out a public statement about how they’re working with the two host clubs to get to the bottom of blah, blah, blah ... it took no action today.
 
Last edited:
At the very least, they need to change the red card rule so that if say a player had intervened and prevented the attacker from punching Grealish, they wouldn't get a red card for a violent act. In professional wrestling, if a fan crosses the barrier and jumps into the ring, the wrestlers stop their fake attacks on each other to make real attacks on the person who entered the ring. Not a lot of people try to get into professional wrestling rings. A couple pitch invaders get stomped a bit and I feel like we would see a quick drop in its regularity.
 
Yeah ... my caveman instincts agree with you, but I honestly feel like more professional security is a better answer. Time and time again, we've seen adequate security in terms of presence and numbers, but if those clowns are more involved with the game than they are with doing their jobs that doesn't matter a bit. The host club is responsible for this stuff, and a lot of them don't take their job terribly seriously when it comes to policing their own fans. Security tends to focus their stares on visiting fans, but more and more we're seeing the home mob causing the issues.
 
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...ws-points-deduction-penalty-ffp-a8834926.html

Birmingham City were hit with a 9 point deduction and a huge fine from the FA for .... wait for it ... breaches of financial sustainability rules. NO sanctions have been announced related to the recent pitch invasion by a fan which result in a physical assault on an opposing player. Yeah.

If upheld, the deduction would drop the Blues right into the middle of the relegation fight in the Championship.
 
Last edited:
jeffbear said:
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...ws-points-deduction-penalty-ffp-a8834926.html

Birmingham City were hit with a 9 point deduction and a huge fine from the FA for .... wait for it ... breaches of financial sustainability rules. NO sanctions have been announced related to the recent pitch invasion by a fan which result in a physical assault on an opposing player. Yeah.

If upheld, the deduction would drop the Blues right into the middle of the relegation fight in the Championship.
Click to expand...

Old joke, but... FA were so mad at Man City and Chelsea for FFP violations, they threw the book at Birmingham.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top