2013-2014 Season

[the dude abides]

Liverpool 0 - 0 West Ham 07/04/2013
Liverpool 0 - 0 Stoke 07/10/2012
Liverpool 1 - 1 Newcastle 04/11/2012
Liverpool 2 - 2 Aston Villa 18/01/2014

Have I got the hang of this game? 

but we were broke then.

with money, and Suarez,  Sir Rafa would have walked it.

 

[the dude abides]

A fine is pointless. A £50M fine has a massively disproportionate affect from team to team. Being banned from the CL for a season is the same level of punishment across all teams.

exactly.

but I would go beyond sanctions linked merely to the CL.

if City (or Chelsea) do not want to comply with FFP rules, then they should face sanctions domestically.   

e.g. having 15 points taken off them at the start of a season (after a summer of overspend).......or being demoted to the championship....or not being able to take part in the FA Cup.

like I mean there is something badly wrong, when we can go on a long 11 game winning sequence this year, and still not win the title.   It's like the monopoly enjoyed by Celtic (and Rangers) in Scotland. 

[Tes]

exactly.

but I would go beyond sanctions linked merely to the CL.

if City (or Chelsea) do not want to comply with FFP rules, then they should face sanctions domestically.   

e.g. having 15 points taken off them at the start of a season (after a summer of overspend).......or being demoted to the championship....or not being able to take part in the FA Cup.

like I mean there is something badly wrong, when we can go on a long 11 game winning sequence this year, and still not win the title.   It's like the monopoly enjoyed by Celtic (and Rangers) in Scotland.

I'd like to see UEFA instruct all FAs affiliated to UEFA, and who's teams participate in UEFA tournaments, to introduce the exact same rules to their domestic competitions.
Teams couldn't therefore essentially have a core squad for Europe and the league, but with additional players that would be in either the European or domestic squads, as that will be the next thing the likes of City, Chelsea and Madrid try.
Same size squads, same players, with only additionally players from under-21 squads allowed to supplement a 25 man 'all competitions' squad.

Failure to comply means a ban from Europe for two seasons for a first offence. Dude, I think a 15 point deduction is an excellent idea, for a first offence.

[Tes]

but we were broke then.

That's a bit harsh saying Brendan broke us in his first season. 

[the dude abides]

That's a bit harsh saying Brendan broke us in his first season. 

oops, I misread the dates of those matches.  Brendan hadn't much success in those games.

Sir Rafa would have had the title won, and away for cleaning by now; and this Newcastle game would have seen exhibition football.

[the dude abides]

I'd like to see UEFA instruct all FAs affiliated to UEFA, and who's teams participate in UEFA tournaments, to introduce the exact same rules to their domestic competitions.
Teams couldn't therefore essentially have a core squad for Europe and the league, but with additional players that would be in either the European or domestic squads, as that will be the next thing the likes of City, Chelsea and Madrid try.
Same size squads, same players, with only additionally players from under-21 squads allowed to supplement a 25 man 'all competitions' squad.

Failure to comply means a ban from Europe for two seasons for a first offence. Dude, I think a 15 point deduction is an excellent idea, for a first offence.

all good ideas.

Wenger mentioned (only half joking) about alloting each club a fixed amount to spend (he said 100 million).

That wouldn;t work, or be particularly fair. 

But what about if clubs were domestically, only allowed to spend x per cent of their annual turnover on wages.  e.g. 50 or 60 per cent.     I recall seeing recently that top clubs in england are spending upwards of two-thirds of their turnover on wages.

Or if City could easily get around that, make the turnover figure, gate turnover.  i.e. revenues from gate receipts.  And the club allowed to spend some fraction or multiple of that figure.

I suspect the way to curtail big clubs may not be via their transfer budget figure; but by their total wage figure.

Once the wage budget is limited, a club will have to work within that, and make player choices.

[the dude abides]

Same size squads, same players, with only additionally players from under-21 squads allowed to supplement a 25 man 'all competitions' squad.

I like that idea.

[Tes]

all good ideas.

Wenger mentioned (only half joking) about alloting each club a fixed amount to spend (he said 100 million).

That wouldn;t work, or be particularly fair. 

But what about if clubs were domestically, only allowed to spend x per cent of their annual turnover on wages.  e.g. 50 or 60 per cent.     I recall seeing recently that top clubs in england are spending upwards of two-thirds of their turnover on wages.

Or if City could easily get around that, make the turnover figure, gate turnover.  i.e. revenues from gate receipts.  And the club allowed to spend some fraction or multiple of that figure.

I suspect the way to curtail big clubs may not be via their transfer budget figure; but by their total wage figure.

Once the wage budget is limited, a club will have to work within that, and make player choices.

I think the long term wage commitments are the thing that is the really financial burden for a club. When you consider that 60% of a club's income is spent on just a relative handful of people then it's financial craziness.

The best thing that can happen is a maximum percentage limit is placed on clubs with the intention of bringing it down to around 40%. That in turn should start to see transfer fees coming down as clubs have less to commit to player purchases.

Additionally, there could also be a further restriction put in place whereby the first contract can't be more than the transfer fee paid, so a £20M fee would see a 4 year contract limited to £5M a year - both of which are huge financial commitments for a club anyway. Together it would stop the ridiculous salaries of £200k-£300k a week being paid out, along with a transfer fee of £50M+.

[Tes]

 I still think we a huge amount amount to play for today irrespective of the title. In effect, next season starts here.

The manager has stated the need to improve defensively and that will be an area of heavy concentration, so today gives us a chance to start that process - why wait until next season. We've kept only 5 clean sheets in the second half of the season, and our last one was 30th March against Spurs (hardly an achievement considering) and that was one of 3 clean sheets in 5 games in March.

We can finish on 84 points, surely better than 81, and we've got the 100 goal barrier to break and Suarez has a chance to create a PL goalscoring record.

Whether the miracle happens today or not, we didn't just lose the title against Chelsea and Palace, but equally with the dire 3-1 against Hull away, by letting Villa race to a two goal lead at Anfield, by failing to hold onto leads at places like WBA, Swansea or Newcastle. Even Everton, were we squandered a two goal lead for the second season running.

So let's hit all the targets we can hit today, focus on them, forget titles, and then see what's what at the end of the game.

[the dude abides]

So let's hit all the targets we can hit today, focus on them, forget titles

newcastle 1 liverpool 0

the lads seem to have forgotten about the title, Tes.

 

[the dude abides]

anything Captain Marvel can do, Skytrel can do better, with icing on top.

[the dude abides]

The best thing that can happen is a maximum percentage limit is placed on clubs with the intention of bringing it down to around 40%.

Additionally, there could also be a further restriction put in place whereby the first contract can't be more than the transfer fee paid, so a £20M fee would see a 4 year contract limited to £5M a year - both of which are huge financial commitments for a club anyway.

yes, two good points.

I'd deploy both those ideas.

I think it's important to have financial fair play domestically - not merely in the CL.

[the dude abides]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRHmVi_L514

the summary of Liverpool's first half can be found at the above link.

[the dude abides]

from the Guardian live coverage:

80 mins: Change for Liverpool - Lucas replaces Sturridge. Brendan shutting up shop.

Brendan has finally caught on to how this footy game works.

Tis but a pity that he has closed the stable door, long after the horse has bolted.

[the dude abides]

 

another mere three points was all we needed

e.g.   beating Chelsea's second-string outfit at Anfield.

OR

drawing with Chelsea; and not throwing away our victory at Palace.

Sorry, but I can't help but feel, that we totally fecked up.

Ah well, another year goes by....24 years now. 

It's the hope that kills you.