Right, well we’re back on proper topic this morning. There’s enough been said about whatshisface and his shenanigans to fill a book entitled ‘How to make people hate you even more than they hate Garth Crooks which is really tough because we all know Garth Crooks is history’s greatest monster’. I know that’s not exactly a snappy title but, hey, live with it.
Yesterday we got some good news when UEFA announced that Arsenal’s appeal over Eduardo’s 2 match was successful and the ban was overturned. As Michelle Platini shrieked at the verdict, incandescent with Le Rage, UEFA’s website said:
Following examination of all the evidence, notably the declarations of both the referee and the referees’ assessor, as well as the various video footage, it was not established to the panel’s satisfaction that the referee had been deceived in taking his decision on the penalty.
Could they prove intent? No. Could they prove there was absolutely no contact? No. Therefore Eduardo gets off. Arsenal said:
We fully support the drive for fair play in football and believe it is important that UEFA provide clear and comprehensive standards that will be consistently enforced going forward.
In other words, if there is going to be punishment for this kind of incident it has to be applied to everyone equally, not just because some poxy ITV commentators and a jumped-up twat in the Scottish FA get their knickers in a twist.
Eduardo also gave a statement about the incident and the appeal. I think UEFA realised what a can of worms they were about to open if the ban had been withheld. Refusing to sanction video evidence on one hand while using it to punish a player on the other. Punishing Eduardo for ‘deceiving the referee’ when deception goes on in various forms in every game. It was a minefield and while nobody’s suggesting that diving is ok or isn’t something that needs to be addressed it’s clearly something that needs proper thought and planning and not some arbitrary charges to further political careers or add weight to plans like the 5 referee thing.
I think there’ll be an element of relief around the club. When I saw it I thought Eduardo took a tumble, whatever contact there was wasn’t enough to knock Karen Carpenter over let alone a professional athlete but there you go. UEFA have made a complete and utter bags of the whole thing and I think the final decision they’ve made is the correct one as it was quite clear they were treating his case as exceptional. I have now stuck some money on him scoring tomorrow night.
Interesting news from the Premier League last night as new rules were announced over club finances and the make-up of squads. From a financial point of view clubs will have to show that they show that they do not have outstanding tax debts, or debts to other clubs, as well as the ability to fulfill all their fixtures and make all payments including players wages. Failure to do so will result in sanctions. Quite what those sanctions are is unclear but I’d imagine they’d include transfer embargoes as well as points deductions. I think it’s a sensible move which will hopefully prevent clubs from living beyond their means.
Of course it doesn’t address the issue of clubs propped up by Sugar Daddies, such as Chel$ea or Man €ity, whose spending far outstrips any income the club generates but it’s a start, at least.
What’s more interesting are the rules in terms of players. From next season each club will have to submit a 25 man squad to the Premier League. Of those 25 players at least 8 must be “home grown”, that is they must have been registered for at least 3 years with an English or Welsh club between the age of 16 and 21.
You can add to that squad of 25 but only with players who are under 21 years of age. I can’t find anything which says those under 21 players have be ‘home grown’ so it seems you can simply buy a player from abroad to bolster your squad. However, it obviously places more emphasis on clubs to develop their own players and given the way Arsenal have been operating over the last four or five seasons it’s almost like we have a bit of a head-start here.
As it stands I think every Premier League fits the guidelines but it’ll be interesting to see how they deal with the new rules from next season onwards. One thing that springs to mind is that it might see in increase in domestic transfers and given the fact many of those deals are overpriced to begin with will it inflate that market even more? We shall see.
In other news there were reports yesterday that Greater Manchester police were to investigate a complaint made against Robin van Persie after a fan complained he ‘mouthed a swear word’ after his equaliser on Saturday. A nice bit of spin from City there to take some of the spotlight off old youknowwho.
Tomas Rosicky talks about his return to action, saying:
I cannot be satisfied with my performance if my team has lost. But I had the feeling that I was useful to the team. I am back and all right in terms of football skills but the crucial thing is that my body needs to get used to the enormous weekly workload.
I know it’s a lot to ask, like winning the midweek and European lotteries in the same week, but I really hope he stays fit. He’s exactly the kind of player we need to make the 4-3-3 work properly so I’m keeping everything crossed.
The Arsenal reserves, featuring Philippe Senderos at centre-half, beat Stoke 1-0 last night. The goal came from Rhys Murphy in the 2nd half.
And that’ll do. A fuller preview of our first Champions League group game tomorrow. Till then.
