When will they learn

2 big stories dominated the papers this week, the first being the will he/won't he Wayne Rooney saga, and the second being the much more serious and upsetting story about Portsmouth being "on the brink". In the early parts of the week, Rooney dominated the headlines by stating his desire to leave Manchester United, saying they "lacked ambition" and couldn't sign the best players, and so was going to leave, before yesterday signing a new 5 year deal. Then, early yesterday evening, Portsmouth FC posted the following statement on their club website:

Portsmouth Football Club is extremely disappointed to report that it has not yet managed to achieve the exit from Administration, despite the extensive efforts of the Football League, NewCo, the Administrators and their various legal advisors.

The process has been extremely complicated and there has been a team of people working night and day to get the deal done. The most difficult aspect has been trying to achieve agreement with Alexandre Gaydamak after the remaining parties have agreed the deal and executed the necessary documents, namely the new owners, the Administrators, the Football League and the creditors.

Unfortunately, despite the new owners fulfilling all the requirements of the Football League and the creditors, and agreeing and signing up to the required terms of the purchase of the club, at the 11th hour the goalposts have been moved by Mr Gaydamak and this has now made the deal impossible to complete.

Put simply, despite being offered full payment for the secured part of his debt in accordance with the financial plan approved by the Football League, this morning Mr Gaydamak has demanded a very significant upfront cash payment in order to allow the deal to proceed by releasing his security.

All this is in spite of his lawyers going to Paris this morning specifically for the purpose of witnessing his signature to the document agreed yesterday.

It is neither in the interests of the club nor its unsecured creditors for such a ransom payment to be made, particularly where the payment is being demanded by one of the authors of the club’s current circumstances.

In addition, and equally importantly, all of the business plans submitted and approved by the Football League would be fundamentally damaged by such a requirement placed on the club by Mr Gaydamak.

We will provide further information as soon as possible.

However, it appears likely that the club will now be closed down and liquidated by the Administrators as they are unable to support the continued trading of the club.

We would like to thank the Football League in particular for their support and assistance through this difficult process.

All other parties had managed to reach agreement.

This has now been undermined by the self-interested actions of one individual. Mr Gaydamak has provided confirmation several times that terms were agreed. However, he has continually changed his position in an attempt to exploit the goodwill of the other parties to the transaction. 

By now doing this he has shown complete disregard for the supporters, the club and the City of Portsmouth.

His earlier comments when the club went into Administration about doing everything possible to save the club’s future do not appear to reflect his current actions.

This news didn't really come as a shock for Portsmouth, who have been spending above their means, and continue to spend above their means on players such as Dave Kitson, Liam Lawrence and David Nugent, but it certainly puts the Wayne Rooney saga into context.

Will football ever learn that big wages and bonuses are signalling the beginning of the end for the beautiful game? Rooney was complaining that he doesn't get enough money, yet he gets paid in a week more than most people in the country are paid per year, for doing far less work that is more enjoyable to him, but at the end of the day doesn't produce anything. Rooney was on £80k per week, plus appearance and goal bonuses, and advertising fees, and image rights. It is a sorry state of affairs that the two top stories on Sky Sports News (in HD) are "Wayne Rooney threatens to leave Man Utd before signing new deal" and "Pompey on the brink".

Fortunately, it appears Pompey are not actually on the brink as was first feared, but that's not the point. Money in football is being spent in the wrong places, and something needs to be done. Maybe put in a wage cap, so that players cannot ask for ridiculous amounts of money. But then what is that cap to be set at? If it is at a good level, the majority of Man City players will have to take pay cuts, and if it is set level with the highest earner in the Premier League then it isn't really a gap, as the majority of players are on under 100k, so a wage cap of 220k would not affect anyone. So is there another option? Could all clubs be set a wage budget of a percentage of their club's worth? Possibly, but it is the FA that needs to make a decision quickly. This problem isn't happening in the well run Bundesliga in Germany, or in La Liga over in Spain.

They say football is an unpredictable business, but I can predict that if it carries on as it is right now, with ever inflating transfer fees, wages, and player power, then a lot more clubs will go out of existence, and yet the Premier League still won't take notice.

Hopefully Pompey are saved, just as Palace were 4 months ago, but if they aren't then hopefully this is the wake up call the FA need.


Gibbo

What should the FA do about referees?

Page 123, Law 13 - The ball is in play when it is kicked and moves.

This is not the first time there has been controversy surrounding refereeing decisions made in a Liverpool Sunderland fixture, nor is it the first time referee Stuart Atwell has woken up on a Sunday morning with his name all over the papers for the wrong reasons.

Last year, a beach ball deflected a Darren Bent shot, in open play, past Pepe Reina in the Liverpool goal, and referee Mike Jones allowed it to stand. Sunderland won that game 1-0, and the debates over whether or not the goal should have stood continued for days, but in that case most arguments were ended on the agreement that the right decision was made by law and by common sense.


And 2 seasons ago Stuart Atwell was at the centre of attention again as he awarded a mysterious "ghost goal" to Reading against Watford. Amid a goal mouth scramble, Atwell adjudged the ball to have crossed the line between the goal posts and underneath the crossbar, despite the fact that only time it crossed the line was outside the goal. A goal kick should have been awarded, but instead a goal was given. The game finished 2-2.

Yesterday, as I am sure everybody has seen, Atwell awarded an indirect free-kick to Sunderland in their own half. Turner tried to take the kick quickly, but it was pulled back to the correct position by the 27-year-old youngest Premier League referee. Atwell waited until Turner was by the ball, and as Atwell turned his back and walked off, Turner appeared to backheel the ball towards his keeper, and the keeper walked forward to take the kick, but instead Torres pounced on it, and although the keeper appealed, Torres was allowed to go on by Atwell and pulled it back to Kuyt for an easy finish. The referee consulted his assistant, and a goal was awarded. The game finished 2-2.

I am currently undertaking a refereeing course, and we were told that while you should stick to the laws as much as possible, the use of common sense is also very important. It could be argued that he did the right thing. Turner, afterall, passed the ball to his goalkeeper, and so the ball was in play, and Torres and Kuyt were justly rewarded for their quick thinking. However, surely it would have been clear to his assistant that Turner had not deliberately given the ball to Torres, and maybe the kick should have been retaken.

As you can see, all three decisions have affected results, and although in some cases the right decision may have been made, the FA is going to need to do something to stop such strange occurances happening again. It appears at the moment that young referees act like robots, and rarely use common sense. More often than not, younger referees make decisions correct by law, but not necessarily correct in practice. Is it nerves that force these referees into making the decisions, or is it younger referees wanting to be better and sticking to the rules?

So what should they do? Does the process of a referee going from Level 9 to Level 1 need to be changed? Or is this problem always going to be there of referees making mistakes? Unfortunately, I think it is the latter. Referees go about their job in different ways, some are leniant, and some only make decisions on their first thoughts. Because of this, it is likely that referees will always make mistakes, and we will just have to hope that they aren't too costly.


Gibbo