Who created the first "thoughts that don't require their own thread" thread? That was a clever stroke.
Traveling this week I read the article in the link (in french, sorry). If you haven't been following Ligue 1 (likely) you may not know that Marseille is a mess this year, unable to win at home (literally!) and only about 6 points above relegation. They lost to Bastia, away, last weekend and their coach, Michel, was called to Switzerland to meet with the owner and club leadership. She met with him and then, 24 hours later decided to... do NOTHING. http://www.leparisien.fr/sports/foo...yfus-est-elle-depassee-07-04-2016-5693901.php This quote really hit home: "Le club va devoir se réinventer, trouver sa place dans le football européen. Le peut-il avec l'actuelle propriétaire ? Ça me semble compliqué. Margarita Louis-Dreyfus est une femme de décision, mais, dans le football, comme dans l'opéra, il faut être un minimum concerné, s'intéresser au résultat. On dit souvent que le grand danger est de trop vibrer, mais si on ne vibre pas du tout, c'est encore plus compliqué..." My english translation follows (have at it BigSoccer translation experts): "The club is going to have to reinvent itself, find its place in European football. Can it with the current owner? It seems complicated to me. Margarita Louis-Dreyfus is a decisive woman, but, in football, as in opera, it's neceesary at a minimum to be concerned, have an interest in the result. Often one says that the great danger is to "vibrate too much" (be too involved), but if one doesn't vibrate at all, that's even more complicated..." These words were attributed to a former member of club leadership without any particular name given. It just made me think of our ownership situation with the REVs.
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Not saying it was solely me but I asked one of the mods for it a few years ago. It was common to have a thread like that in other forums where I post.
I was curious and wanted to put some numbers to the failed experiment that is Teal Bunbury alone up top. In 474 minutes so far this season Teal has no goals or assists, 14 shots and just 5 shots on goal. That puts him on pace for a shot on goal every 94.5 minutes. Not sure what Heaps' threshold is but that's not enough for a legit professional forward. In fact, I checked and Teal's start to 2016 is almost identical to the first 6 games of the 2014 season (14 shots, 4 SOG, 1 assist). Teal finished that season with 4g, 6a. In 2015, he bas 4g, 5a. We can expect similar numbers this year. It's exasperating to watch history repeat itself and know we have a coach too stubborn or oblivious to see it.
I wonder if we might be able to poach a player or two from them. l'OM used to be a great club, and with relegation looming, there are probably guys who will be out of contract. Sure, many of them might prefer to catch on with another League Une club, but there might be opportunities out there to grab a quality player. Then again, certainly there are clubs far more ambitious than us (and some of them even have scouts) who have the same idea, so I'm not expecting much. Burns is like Norm, in an old episode of "Cheers," where Woody asks him, "hey, Mr. Peterson, how 'bout those new tax laws, huh?" "What new tax laws?"
The only one I'd want from the current Marseilles squad would perhaps be Steven Fletcher, who is on loan there from Sunderland. He is a decent player, lefty, who stood out to me on S'land and would do well in MLS. He just turned 29, though he has a 1.85m valuation according to transfermarkt. That probably rules out the revs but he is a good one.
Dan Hunt (owner of FC Dallas) did an interview on a podcast yesterday and told a story I never heard before. Most fans know that MLS was close to folding in 2001, but Hunt said it was not close, he said the league actually officially folded. He was in the meeting where it was voted on to shut down and they called the lawyers to start the bankruptcy process. But before they released the info to the press, he said the next day his dad was able to convince others (which history shows us was Kraft and Anschutz) to hang on a little longer to see if they could turn it around
That's why we have Swiss Watch, Swiss Chocolate, but not Swiss Humor, I guess. I do now have a full repertoire to try out on my two-year-old grandson .
The part that bugs me is there isn't a point to this beyond having our captain read bad jokes for fun. This should be tied to a charity fundraiser or something, give it a purpose.
sounds like shovels have hit the ground for the new DCU stadium at Buzzard Point: http://www.blackandredunited.com/stadium-news/2016/4/13/11407660/dc-united-buzzard-point-stadium
Thought this was an interesting read about Leicester City's 2 quants in terms of their data analysis to prepare the club for it's next opponents. Wish the revs would emulate them given they are clearly doing something right on a small budget, sitting at the top of the premier league.
Apologies if someone else has mentioned this, but that FS1 ad with David Villa in it, where it says "You can call me soccer" – for weeks I heard it as "You can call me sugar," to which I thought, "Who the hell calls David Villa sugar?"
Reasons Bob Kraft should consider buying OM: 1. While it isn't England, Germany, Spain or Italy, it is a top European League and he could probably land OM for about $150M, not quite MLS franchise prices but affordable 2. It is a league where he would have a good chance at building a team to come in 2nd or 3rd (he won't outspend PSG) with some "krafty" player investment. Which means Champions League 3. They have a newly renovated stadium 4. They have a strong (currently frustrated) fan base 5. Potential connections to a youth development program with a reach into African talent (???) Reasons Bob Kraft should not consider buying OM: 1. They don't own the stadium 2. While the French are likely to try to enforce spending rules this isn't MLS (see PSG). He'd likely have to spend SOME money to rebuild the team. 3. He'd be turned off by Marseille's violent (not the fans, the city), gangster reputation 4. OM will get US recognition but not to the same degree as an English, Spanish, or Italian team It is actually an intriguing investment opportunity. It would be nice to see an MLS connection, given the relatively low price. I'm not sure Krafty is the guy to do it though.