Other Teams News Part II [R]

Professional football isn't about having the teams with money sit pampered and pretty every season. That's an idealistic view fit for FIFA video games. The real world is about teams all of sizes battle it out for survival through competitive spirit. Köln, Fürth, & Paderborn are in their positions because of merit and fight they put up this season, and they fully deserve to be where they're at.

Also, a lot of what you're saying is based on hypothetical spending powers. Fortuna Düsseldorf were recently in the 1.BL and they faded the season afterwards. If they're a legit serious contender for stable 1.BL participation, let them prove it first in the second division through proper player acquisition and club management. Same goes with Kaiserslautern, let them earn them earn their right for promotion.

Spending big money suddenly doesn't guarantee anything. The EPL is far from the ideal league. QPR are one of the world's biggest laughing stocks, and Fulham are on their way to relegation despite all they spent this season. I also don't see the appeal of these plastic insta-clubs and they aren't sustainable. A team without proper tradition and identity are not going to flourish. They'll just be full of mercenaries that deep inside couldn't care less about the club they represent.

 

The BuLi doesn't need an average attendance boost but it certainly helps sell it to the TV companies for more revenue in the next broadcast deal.

The Serie A makes more TV money than the BuLi and even they want to reduce the no. of teams to 18. Fewer teams mean fewer matches, fewer rivalries. Increasing or decreasing league participants is a very very difficult procedure. The negotiations take FOREVER. It worked out for the Serie A so maybe that can be used as a platform to get the BuLi expanded.

Wouldn't be surprised of Bayern had something to do with this. I am also curious to know why.

Just as a side note. Leagues where commercial revenue has a bigger impact on clubs' topline, the mainstays tend to push for a smaller league. That way they have less competition when attracting the biggest and most commercial partners.

On the other hand leagues where TV deal has a bigger impact on clubs' topline, the mainstays tend to push for a larger league...more matches, more negotiating power against the broadcasting companies.

 

Have you been to the San Paolo? It's a terrible experience compared to The Emirates, Allianz etc. For starters you are far away from the action because of the running tracks. The seats are disgusting. The walls have graffiti and are stained with fluids that either should have gone into a human body or came out of it. It's a lot like a stadium in a 3rd world country.

Modern stadiums like Juventus is a whole different experience. It's clean, has a hollywood like feel, fancy museums, restaurants, shops. It's a place that you can go to not just for the match but spend the whole day there.

Stadium ownership makes a HUUUGEEE difference. Juventus almost tripled their match day revenue year-over-year (11M to 32M). But that's not it. With more people flocking into these "theatres" almost everyday instead of just match days they are making money everyday and through various opportunities like the restaurants, shops, fan zones and museums. In comparison, a club like AC Milan gets a lot less from this stream. Juventus can also make money by selling naming rights. AC Milan for e.g. cannot make any money since they not only just rent it but also share it with Inter.

And then there are costs. Juventus simply pays the operating and financing costs (the latter of which will expire at some point). Milan will perpetually pay the rental fee which is quite substantial.

Owning a stadium makes a huge difference. I don't see Juventus facing any real challenge next year and the year after, at least not until Roma get their new stadium.

 

Actually studies show that despite irregularities, the majority of clubs that spend a ton of money tend to do well in the standings in the various competitions they partake in.

 

Well yeah, that's a common sense correlation. My point was that money does not guarantee anything without a proper system and management in place.

 

Yes of course. Sometimes I wonder how the QPR and Fulham owners made it as business owners. I find it very baffling.

 

Backdoor deals with gangsters and sheiks

 

I don't have anything against the smaller clubs but the problem is the is no long term potential with them. A lot of big clubs or clubs from big rich cities with potential are run by incompetent directors. Mino Raiola just said in an interview this week the Bundesliga for all its merits with fantastic stadiums and youth academies has the most number of "amateur" football directors running it than in any of the big leagues. Credit needs to be given to Paderborn but it would take probably a decade in the Bundesliga before they could build or expand their 15k stadium. Mainz is probably the best example of a club that has pulled this off but what now, they're basically hitting their potential ceiling. Not much room for growth, they will never do better than a Europa League spot. There is far more potential for growth in a cub like Dusseldorf that comes from a large and rich city, with a big brand spanking new stadium already built. You're right though that they need to earn it themselves with the right directors and transfers, but last season they should have at least been in the relegation playoffs if BVB didn't completely blow winning and thus relegating that plastic club Hoffenheim that last matchday . They kinda ran out of steam at the end and got hard done by luck that's why I feel bad for them, similar to how 2 seasons ago Villareal literally slipped into the relegation spot for the first time that season on the very last matchday.

I wonder sometimes how the Bundesliga would look if you swapped out the schmucks running Hamburg, Stuttgart, and Koln with the excellent guys running Augsburg, Mainz, Freiburg. The Bundesliga would be so much more competitive and outsiders wouldn't complain that it's a two or one horse league. Hamburg especially have the capability of trajectory BVB have had the last 5 years with profits as is only behind BVB, Bayern, and Schalke even without CL money. That club is just such a mess and the ultimate example of mismanagement. If Paderborn do beat Hamburg in a possible relegation playoff scenario then all applause to Paderborn but it would be still be more down to Hamburg sucking so bad than them being good that they'd get promoted .

 

As much as I hate Mino Raiola and Jorge Mendes as these guys are 80% of the problem in football, they are spot on when it comes to pointing out the other 20% of football's problems.

 

Source?

 

No reason to hide. I have never made excuses for or apologized for my club. We are where we are because Wildmoser got greedy, did illegal things and drove us into near insurmountable debt. We are now just coming out of that. We have an irrational fan base which thinks playing in the Grünwalder is more important than supporting our club in the AA. We have a fan base which is more Balkanized than the actual Balkans and refuse to support the team while they are in the AA. We've had management over the last ten years that's still think like a BL side with a 2.BL budget. Until all those things are fixed, we are not going anywhere.

I am totally realistic about my club.

 

Just look at your favorite "salary to goal ratio" or "salary to competition quotient" of the much maligned Bayern.

 

Really? We are comparing a third world country's stadium to a state-of-the-art stadium?

You are missing two to three key points in your argument. First, the income has tripled because costs for attendees have quadrupled. Look at the rise in prices of tickets, food and amenities at that new stadium. Second, you ignore the "bounce" that clubs get from new stadia. As soon as the shine goes away -- say 3 years -- you will see attendance drop back down to where it was before. The ROI for paying off that stadium is 7-10 years or more so their debt will just hurt other parts of club operations. Lastly, your figures are based on EBIT and do not take into account current debt before the stadium deal. All Juventus succeeded in doing was created more debt. In the long run they will end up more like EPL clubs who did the same thing than being in the black.

So not sure where this argument supports German clubs following this model to be more successful. It will only make more debt, not more successful clubs.

 

In other news, ban for Barca on transfers has been "postponed". Is anyone really surprised?

 

No...but it was just suspended pending the appeal. We shall see what happens after that.

 

Why can't they take a decision quickly ? I mean quickly isn't the right word - they have 2 months and 7 days ! How hard is it for feck's sake ?
Barca even admitted to being guilty. They said they want to be an ''exception'' because their academy is the best in the world. They know that their actions were illegal.

 

Dude, it's FIFA. Seriously?

What will be surprising is if they end up actually paying Barca for inconveniencing them.

 

At the very least they're going to pay a lot for their summer transfers, because every club and agent on this plant is aware of Barcelona's situation. They will milk the Azulgrana's for every penny and dime they've got.

That's plenty punishment already as far as I'm concerned.

 

True. Having their business out there is not a good negotiating position.

However, I did hold out hopes that they would get a decent punishment. But when FIFA stepped in you just knew that was never going to happen.

 

Barring the open-air setup, it looks exactly like the Südtribüne!

No I have not been to the san paolo. But someone I knew grew up there in the 80s and always said it was so much fun to attend..especially as they let kids in for free after the game had begun. And of course, the team was very good to watch too.

Listen, if I was in London or München I may need heated seating, museums and other things because it is COLD and WINDY. But if I only cared about the match and my friends attending with me, I wouldn't need that either - and that is what the entire southern stand and most of the rest of the Westfalenstadion caters for.

And don't think about knocking less-industrialised (or "third-world" as you charmingly referred to them as) countries before you have lived there for a considerable amount of time, gotten used to it and the experienced it. Most aren't as industrialised because they don't NEED to be. It's always warm outside, the sea and the showers are warm at midnight and food grows year-round with minimal effort. Trees aren't dead for half of the year. Everything is in bright technicolour and the ambience doesn't have to be artificially created for half the year. Industry has to create these in colder countries. Puh-lease. The moral: put things into context and you may find they make sense.

 

Well you don't really feel the wind all that much in the AA. There are no heated seats except in the Uli Hoeness Memorial section. The "amenities" are too expensive to avail yourself to more than one. You are better off sneaking in Gluehwein yourself than paying 8 Euros for a cheap cup of it.

Give me the Oly any day. A quick nip around the corner to the Taxigarten or to the Bistro Korfu and you could tank up at halftime and come back in. You have a better chance of getting water in the Sahara than getting a drink around the AA.

 

^Sounds good to me too!

 

Why on earth does Guardiola play Rafinha so much, what am I not seeing what Guardiola sees? Lahm is a better RB than midfielder IMO. Sad for Martinez, now that's a worldclass defensive midfielder.