Thursday 30 April 2020

Why football should change...

...but why I'm not convinced anything positive will emerge when the Coronavirus pandemic is over.

Toxic is a word I would use which perfectly describes football and the environment it is. If we stem away from the bull sh*t often involved then it's definitely not the 'Beautiful Game' as it was once dubbed or any of that nonsense - yes, we all love it, but it's political, it can be nasty, bitchy and back-stabbing, it's pressure-driven, it's intense, it takes a toll on your mental health (hence why those issues are rife) and a crisis of some sort is never too far around the corner at most clubs.

In my opinion, it's important to separate the two parts of football clubs - there's the footballers and what happens on the footballing side of things. Then, there's also boardroom/directors - those involved in the day-to-day running of clubs, chairmen who want to own a club as a status symbol, etc. The two shouldn't be mixed together too much but often those in suits want to indoctrinate their views on others when, quite often, it's not the best way to go.

During this pandemic, many players have been slammed for not taking pay cuts and not doing 'enough' to help the country, which is wrong, unfair and rubbish. Why should the players get criticism? Now I think some of them get paid too much, especially in the Premier League where wages are bloody stupid, but it's club owners who have agreed those contracts/deals on X amount per week, so therefore they should honour the contracts. Arsenal's Mesut Ozil is one player who has been battered in the press for refusing to take a pay cut. However, lets not forget there's a snake within that club who has leaked this information out for the press to get hold of - something which would be more of concerning, for me, if I were in that environment.

Too much of this 'help' being muttered is just about the PR game when in reality, all it does is help the multi-millionaire owners (who exist at all levels of the game, by the way, not just in the Premier League) to save a few quid when, ironically, several owners themselves have gone quiet when it comes to helping the country, the NHS or others during this crisis - instead swimming in their own self-indulged world of how 'cancellation of the season' may affect them. It's worth remembering some clubs (especially the top ones) dictate players' lives to the nth degree even when they're not 'at work' - basically telling them what they can eat/drink, what they can do in their spare time, where to go, who to speak to, what to say, what not to say, etc. If it were a relationship, these clubs would be done for coercive behaviour! Danny Rose, the England left-back, has said he 'can't wait' to be done with football - why is that? There's also examples such as Derby County who bombed Richard Keogh on a whim following the car crash incident last year but kept the other, more saleable, players on their books. Then, there are managers at some clubs who'll try all manner of dirty tricks to get someone out the door, whether it's attacking a player's character, forcing him to train with the kids (an attempt at humiliation amongst his peers) or by getting him to come into the club for isolation training at stupid o'clock - in a hope the player will crack under pressure, forfeit wages, and leave the club.

So why the hell should any footballer take a pay cut right now? Yes, many players could probably live on just a set percentage of their weekly wage for a few months - but if they want to donate it to anyone, it's entirely down to the individual. The clubs, who are perhaps trying to renege on some contracts - even though they have wealthy owners, should be totally ashamed of themselves. As has been pointed out, these players on huge amounts do contribute phenomenal amounts, individually, through income tax - something which has been forgotten by the Tory government.

And how dare that two-faced Matt Hancock (who, by the way, needs to be held accountable for some of the nonsense he has spouted - such as 100,000 tests per day) have a pop at players and try to 'hang them out to dry' by twisting public opinion against them. Lets remember, he was one of the MPs who voted AGAINST giving NHS staff a pay rise not too long ago, yet now he's trying to sit on his perch and point fingers. So he can do one!

Amidst the endless squawking about 'what will happen with this season' then I've reached the point where, frankly, I couldn't care less anymore how it's sorted out. There'll be ramifications, arguments and fall-outs either way (that's just football), but it won't change the fact that nothing much will be different in regards to the fundamental problems within football. On the whole, it's still going to be a loss-making industry, clubs will still overspend and get themselves into problems and supporters passing through the turnstiles will feel it most when they still pay excessive ticket prices every week.


What I'd propose, hypothetically (and in an ideal world), is the following:

1) A salary cap of £5,000 p/w in the Championship, £2,500 p/w in League One, £1,250 p/w in League Two and £1,000 p/w in the National League. I don't know how you sort out the ginormous, mega-money problems in the Premier League!

2) Squads to be limited to no more than 25 first team players, 11 'Development Squad' players (aged 18-21) and 18 youth team scholars.

3) A 50+1 model, similar to Germany, to both give supporters a meaningful voice in the running of their club and to do away with 'club owners' as we know them at present.


If all of this were to be implemented then I've no doubts, as has occurred time and again, some clubs would do their level best to bend the rules - and it'd probably be to do with bonus payments or 'signing on' payments so further legislation would be needed here to prevent financial armageddon.

Anyway, to back up some of my points.

The specified caps (if used to their maximum with 25 first team squad players) would mean an annual wage bill of £6.5M in the Championship, £3.25M in League One, £1.625M in League Two and £1.3M in the National League. In some cases, these figures aren't too far away from reality at present and it'd still be down to each individual club to manage their own finances. Obviously, there'd be an immediate problem with some current contracts on higher amounts than what I've specified - but this is a short-term issue which would be sorted when all the current deals have expired. Until that point, they need to be honoured accordingly.

Restricting squad places to just 25 might also help to eradicate the mentality which exists amongst some footballers - the types who'll sign a deal and be happy to collect a wage because they enjoy the lifestyle of 'being a footballer' but not the hard graft in training or on a matchday. They'll know if they want one of these positions - especially higher up and with more money, then they're going to have to work hard and achieve it - or have a good agent. Furthermore, it might help to eradicate some of the bad agents in football who'll get players on their books but when they're needed by that player, they don't have the connections to set them up with moves. Those sort of agents exist 'en masse' and need to be eradicated anyway, regardless of what happens in the aftermath of this pandemic.

If a player believes they're worth more than what they're getting paid but don't like the hard graft then they can always go abroad and find a better deal (even though these wage figures would compare well when pitted against many other countries). If a manager doesn't think he can work with a squad of 25 first team players, plus a 'Development Group' then maybe whatever club he's at should consider looking for a new manager. At some clubs, it might also help to narrow the pathway from development to first team football - especially during an injury crisis!

With regards to ownership, the fact at the moment is too many clubs have too many owners with their self-interests or 'egos' at the forefront of their activities. Look at Sheffield Wednesday, who were taken over by Dejphon Chansiri and the first thing he did was ripped up the seats in one of the stands and replaced them with white ones to spell out 'Chansiri'. Does he really have the best interests of that club at heart, or is it just he wants to own it as a status symbol to impress people with? The same could be said of the owners at Nottingham Forest, Leeds United, Cardiff City, Blackburn Rovers and many more - owners who'll come in with zero connections to that town/city, chase a dream and rack up massive losses, yet when it all goes tits up, they're long gone.

The finances amongst Championship clubs are amongst the worst in any of the EFL's divisions because too many clubs are all chasing the dream; the golden ticket of promotion to the Premier League and the massive financial windfall that comes with it. The finances of second-tier clubs right now are unsustainable in the long-term and the EFL's pitiful attempt at 'financial fair play' simply hasn't worked - no matter how they'll attempt to dress it up! So a salary cap, in an effort to provide sustainability, is arguably more essential here than in any other division.

As stupid as football fans can sometimes be with their ridiculous partisan attitude, their loyalty to whichever clubs they support cannot be questioned and I doubt they'd be willing to risk the long-term future of their own club in comparison to a spend-thrift owner who'll cover losses (racked up by themselves) with loans. So giving the supporters a meaningful voice and representation at boardroom level, as opposed to token gestures that happen now like deciding the matchday music, would help in ensuring the sustainability of their club in the long run. Who knows, it might even help to reduce ticket prices over a period of time too, if the football industry was to change from generally loss-making to generally profitable.

There are a whole lot more things other than what I've outlined which need to change in football, but I won't hold my breath too much because the reality is, once this is over, I can't see anything changing - it might just push one or two clubs closer to breaking point!

Wednesday 29 April 2020

Basel 1-1 Ludogorets Razgrad (2016)

Basel 1-1 Ludogorets Razgrad
UEFA Champions League
Tuesday 13th September 2016



When it comes to Swiss football, there aren't too many teams who immediately spring to mind.

Grasshoppers and Young Boys are both worthy of a mention due to their simply brilliant names, whilst others who may be remembered by English supporters are FC Zurich (on the basis that Zurich is a big city in Switzerland), Thun, who once got walloped by Arsenal in the Champions League, and St Gallen, who knocked a star-studded Chelsea team out of the UEFA Cup in the 2000s.

Sascha Studer; Mansfield's goalkeeper for part of the 2014/15 campaign - the worst I've experienced in football, also played for Aarau and Winterthur before venturing to these shores.

However, undoubtedly the best of the bunch are Basel. The Joggeli have been regulars in the Champions League throughout the past two decades and also a starting point for several players who've gone on to bigger and better things in their careers. The biggest name, in retrospect, to have pulled on their 'Red & Blue' kit in recent times is a certain Egyptian striker called Mo Salah.

My first memories of Basel stem from 2002/03 when they drew 3-3 and infamously knocked Liverpool out of the Champions League in their final Group Stage match with a side which had Hakan Yakin, Pascal Zuberbuhler, Timothee Atouba and Bernt Haas, amongst others, in it.

Anyway, three-and-a-half years ago, I was planning a road trip around Europe and everything seemed to drop perfectly into place when they qualified for the Champions League and were handed a home tie against Ludogorets Razgrad on the first matchday. Tickets were easy enough to get (even though it was one of the very rare instances I had to purchase them through Viagogo) and it cost just under £15 for a seat in the family section amongst the home fans.

I'd arrived in Switzerland following an overnight coach trip from Amsterdam which took 12 hours and was very memorable because when passing through Luxembourg in the early hours, the authorities thought it would be a good idea to stop the vehicle and frog-march all the passengers into a classroom to be sniffed by Scooby Doo - in the hope they'd find drugs on one of us. I don't know if they actually found anything on anyone but it didn't half f**k up my chances to get some sleep - thus meaning by the time we got to Switzerland the next morning, I was very knackered.

After a brief stroll around the city during the morning followed by a couple of hours kip at my hostel in the mid-afternoon, by the evening I felt refreshed enough to 'go again' and head down to St Jakob Park for the game.

Once inside the stadium, it was pretty stage and you could move about freely between the different tiers in the stand - hence some decent photos for a change. Even at 7.00pm, it was still sweltering weather outside which meant I had to go to the snack bars where there was a surcharge for a drinks cup (which you got refunded if you took it back at the end of the game) plus an inflated cost for the drink itself - thus meaning it was like 10 Swiss Francs for a Coca-Cola. Therefore, I can only assume those running the catering stalls must assume lots of wealthy Swiss bankers come to watch FC Basel.

On the pitch, it proved to be one of those frustrating nights as Bulgarian champions Ludogorets - unfancied and unfashionable in equal measure, put in a dogged performance to demonstrate why they might not be the Group Stage whipping boys as everyone expected them to be.

Jonathan Cafu (not the same one who won the World Cup with Brazil) sent the visiting fans into raptures by bagging the opener on the stroke of half-time and from that point onward, Basel toiled, laboured and didn't really look as though they'd get back into things. During the closing stages of the contest, Renato Steffen struck an equaliser to spare the hosts' blushes (and at least reduce some of the moaning and groaning amongst the home crowd), but there was no doubt this was a big two points dropped. The other two teams in the group, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, were always well-fancied and super hot favourites to make a comfortable passage to the knockout stages.

Ludogorets eventually finished in third position in the group - drawing the return game in Bulgaria and crucially picking up a point on their trip to Paris. Basel lost all four games against the 'big two' so missed out on default entry into the UEFA Europa League.















Day 9: Basel

This will be my first and only visit to Switzerland on my virtual road trip through Europe - purely down to the fact that Basel is the only place in the country where I've visited.

And in all honesty, there isn't actually that much to see/do in Basel.

Located in the far-north, just a few miles from the borders with both France and Germany, it's a place I briefly visited in September 2016 - taking in a UEFA Champions League group stage game at St Jakob Park against Ludogorets Razgrad in the process.

Since 2000, FC Basel (the city's only top-division team) have been by far the most successful in Switzerland and some familiar figures, now plying their trade in England's Premier League, have pulled on the 'Red & Blue' including Mo Salah, Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka and Fabian Schar. Their home was a venue during Euro 2008; hosting two Quarter-Finals in addition to a Semi-Final and it's located on the southern outskirts - just about within walking distance from the centre, but conveniently located next to both a tram stop and a shopping centre.

Aside from the football, Basel itself is a ridiculously expensive place so if you're planning to visit, be prepared for your wallet to take some serious hammer.

There's plenty of museums/public parks to visit if you so wish to, but if (like me) you're on a budget then it's just as easy to take in the picture postcard views on a stroll by the River Rhine, which divides the city into two parts. Alternatively, you can marvel at the Basel Minster and 'cadge onto' larger group of tourists if you want to beat the queues and go inside.

In any case, it's a very chilled out and relaxed place with plenty of greenery around. The Alps mountain range (synonymous with Switzerland) is located many miles away in a different part of the country, but the terrain can be a bit steep and difficult in places here - especially close to the river banks.

Wherever you go in Basel you'll never be far away from a tram stop as even though it's a relatively small city, the infrastructure is amongst the best I've seen anywhere in Europe. However, it's worth considering that some hotels/hostels add the price of a 'day ticket' for travel in the city to your overnight accommodation - thus bumping the cost up and meaning you'll pay twice if you purchase a ticket before arriving at wherever you're staying. Therefore, you might want to check in advance exactly what you're paying for, before arriving.

Enjoy Basel!






















Sunday 26 April 2020

Day 8: Frankfurt

Having visited Köln; the seventh stop on my virtual European tour to pass time during the Coronavirus pandemic, I've now ventured about 130 miles south to Frankfurt.

Considered as something of a financial metropolis, it's Germany's fifth largest city behind Köln, Munich, Hamburg and Berlin and the skyline is dominated by several skyscrapers and high-rise shiny buildings - often drawing comparisons with Manhattan. The headquarters of the European Central Bank, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange and many others can all be found in close proximity to one another in the 'Ostend' (East End) part of the city, close to the banks of the River Main.

If anyone is thinking of going here then I can testify it's a curious place with a bit of something on offer for everyone. My best tip is, even though it's a ridiculously busy airport, make sure you fly into Frankfurt International (as opposed to Frankfurt Hahn where many of the cheap RyanAir flights land) because Hahn is a good two hours travelling time by road even though it carries the city's name. Most visitors, nonetheless, will still end up at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof at some point or another and it's a pretty centrally-located station close to all the main attractions including the 'Old Town' and the River Main which is good if you fancy a picturesque stroll down the riverside.

If you're a budget, bargain-hunting backpack-type traveller like me, then you'll find that Frankfurt isn't a cheapest place by any means. On my first visit here in September 2017, I made the mistake of booking accommodation on the basis of cost (mainly) and proximity to amenities as opposed to ratings on websites like TripAdvisor and Hostelworld, etc. My plan all seemed well and good until I turned up and realised the said accommodation was actually, in fact, a brothel (prostitution is legal in Germany though not actively promoted like in neighbouring Netherlands) and it was the various purple neon lights and photos of 'exotic' ladies in various poses on the walls of where I'd booked to stay which quickly gave the secrets of what else was on offer.

For football followers, the Commerzbank Arena (home to Eintracht Frankfurt) is situated in remote woodlands between the International Airport and the city centre. It was used during the 2006 World Cup and it's where England beat Paraguay in red hot weather! There's a frequent service on the S-Bahn and the stop for the stadium is actually the first one after the airport, just a couple of minutes away. Coincidentally, if you travel about 20 minutes or so on the same S-Bahn route but in the other direction, then you'll reach Mainz - a much smaller city than Frankfurt, albeit one with an established top-tier Bundesliga team nowadays.

The photos below, taken mainly from a stroll along the River Main, in and around the Old Town and in the Ostend financial district which homes many of the skyscrapers, will hopefully give you a flavour of what Frankfurt has to offer: