Zatman Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 13 hours ago, VillaJ100 said: I was going to say if the Saudi's offer the FA more money than they make from holding the charity shield at Wembley (with lots of cushy all expenses packages thrown in of course) the FA will be on their knees quicker than you can say "bone saw". In other news Ronaldo has dropped a clanger in saying he's never heard of Virat Kohli and he's 'not very popular', so him/Al Nassr have probably lost 800 million Indian 'fans' overnight Ronaldo sort of has a point. A lot of people in Europe wouldnt know who Virat Kohli as cricket isnt as known. Not just Kohli but also Tendulkar, Warne, Ben Stokes etc Uk and some parts of Ireland and Netherlands would know him. The rest no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thug Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 On 10/01/2024 at 17:56, sidcow said: Which comes back to my point. How much money do you need really? They're all multimillionaires. Their families are already set up for generations. Why not just go play somewhere you'll actually enjoy (and still probably get paid more than most people can dream of) Makes no sense to me to drag yourself to somewhere you probably won't like living to play in front of zero fans in a soulless place just so you can sit on a slightly larger throne of cash and have a few more £20s to wipe your arse with. Ah, but you’re asking the wrong crowd. Smaug, Thorin (son on Thrain) and any conservative MP will explain much better than anyone here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 The Saudis seem to have a bit of scattergun strategy. Pay lots of cash to host other nations cup finals, pay lots of cash to tempt foreign players over only for most of them to get fed up after six months, buy Newcastle but get frustrated at FFP, host the world cup spending squillions just to borrow football and footballers for 4 weeks next decade. They are literally renting football in an attempt to become the dominant power in football. Not gonna work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted January 12 VT Supporter Share Posted January 12 5 hours ago, Jareth said: The Saudis seem to have a bit of scattergun strategy. Pay lots of cash to host other nations cup finals, pay lots of cash to tempt foreign players over only for most of them to get fed up after six months, buy Newcastle but get frustrated at FFP, host the world cup spending squillions just to borrow football and footballers for 4 weeks next decade. They are literally renting football in an attempt to become the dominant power in football. Not gonna work. But who ever could have seen that buying off talented men in the prime of their lives to play and live in an extremely restrictive "Gucci Prison" amidst human rights abuses might not actually work? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 6 hours ago, Jareth said: The Saudis seem to have a bit of scattergun strategy. Pay lots of cash to host other nations cup finals, pay lots of cash to tempt foreign players over only for most of them to get fed up after six months, buy Newcastle but get frustrated at FFP, host the world cup spending squillions just to borrow football and footballers for 4 weeks next decade. They are literally renting football in an attempt to become the dominant power in football. Not gonna work. Until eventually one thing from the scattergun works and is the opening they want. They don't really care about the football or sport or world cups or Premier League teams... they just want to be part of everything using their trillions, sportwashing and also diversifying for 30 years time when they can't rely on oil money. They are investing in literally everything not just sport. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 35 minutes ago, ender4 said: Until eventually one thing from the scattergun works and is the opening they want. They don't really care about the football or sport or world cups or Premier League teams... they just want to be part of everything using their trillions, sportwashing and also diversifying for 30 years time when they can't rely on oil money. They are investing in literally everything not just sport. Yep they're attacking it from all angles they've set up the airline and will no doubt improve the infrastructure to make themselves a hub for travelling between africa Asia and Europe They've invested in every company known to man Theyre pushing football, whats quiet at the moment is what that Nigerian director of football is doing at youth and infrastructure level They've got golf, if they haven't already they'll get tennis, F1 will inevitably sell what's left of their soul They've got the ridiculous construction projects like the line and their tower What they need more than football is to make themselves a viable tourist destination, do that and it's all over 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 I think they want to rule the world and form it to their will. They are not buying up stuff to be part of it, they want to control it. Sport is a massive part of billions of peoples lives. They have moved in heavy into E-sports meaning they can influence hundreds of millions of young people, they have bought FIFA which is arguably the biggest sport in the world, golf, F1, MMA... Apparently they are moving into Cricket now as well. Soon they'll be owning a NBA team thanks to Adam Silver opening up for it. I don't think it's about them wanting people to come visiting and enjoy their beaches or whatever, it's about power and control. And the world is happy enough to take their money. It's like taking money from the mob, they gonna want things in return. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 1 hour ago, ender4 said: Until eventually one thing from the scattergun works and is the opening they want. They don't really care about the football or sport or world cups or Premier League teams... they just want to be part of everything using their trillions, sportwashing and also diversifying for 30 years time when they can't rely on oil money. They are investing in literally everything not just sport. I get that totally, I just think that football is going to be a bridge too far. They can't remove the British teams from the UK, they can't own more than one or two and even then they are subject to FFP. They can't start a European super league without governments legislating. Football is the golden goose that I just don't ever see them getting. Look how quickly they took golf, they must be frustrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 59 minutes ago, Jareth said: I get that totally, I just think that football is going to be a bridge too far. They can't remove the British teams from the UK, they can't own more than one or two and even then they are subject to FFP. They can't start a European super league without governments legislating. Football is the golden goose that I just don't ever see them getting. Look how quickly they took golf, they must be frustrated. Yeah I agree with that, I don't buy in to the scaremongering that they'll one day have a CL team or the PL will move there or any of that nonsense, or even that world class footballers in their prime will move there, mbappe isn't going there this summer they'll tip toe around it (they'll be in the nations league, host the WC, host the world club cup, have tons of friendlies and cup finals) but it won't go as far as people think 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted January 12 VT Supporter Share Posted January 12 (edited) 3 hours ago, Jareth said: I get that totally, I just think that football is going to be a bridge too far. They can't remove the British teams from the UK, they can't own more than one or two and even then they are subject to FFP. They can't start a European super league without governments legislating. Football is the golden goose that I just don't ever see them getting. Look how quickly they took golf, they must be frustrated. Yeah, with golf you've only got to buy 20 or so individuals who have a choice of competing in A or B. For football you have to buy off hundreds of people who have a choice to play in hundreds of places. And you can create a new Golf tournament just by offering massive prizes, gives it instant cachet. Football tournaments are much more about tradition. You're not going to suddenly reduce The Premier League or The Champions League to second rate competitions quickly. You need years, probably decades of building up the stock of your competiton. There is surely better uses of your money. Edited January 12 by sidcow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Platt Posted January 12 VT Supporter Share Posted January 12 They will have the Club World Cup every 2 years or is it 4 years? That's all the best teams from all the confederations. A month of football for people to fly in for from all parts of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 4 minutes ago, S-Platt said: They will have the Club World Cup every 2 years or is it 4 years? That's all the best teams from all the confederations. A month of football for people to fly in for from all parts of the world. 4 years at the moment I think, pretty sure it's more likely to replace the confederation Cup as the world cup warm up / tester tournament I hope they actually give it some proper treatment cos it could be good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Tell you what they will never have - 50 pages of brummies moaning about a badge they ain’t seen yet in the physical realm. It’s not in them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 (edited) 4 hours ago, Jareth said: Tell you what they will never have - 50 pages of brummies moaning about a badge they ain’t seen yet in the physical realm. It’s not in them. Perks of having a system where if you complain you get executed. You get less complaints. Edited January 13 by sne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 That scumbag Henderson seems to be trying to leak stories that he has not been paid by the Saudis and has deferred his wages since signing He either is playing people again or he really is a complete moron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted January 18 VT Supporter Share Posted January 18 2 minutes ago, Zatman said: That scumbag Henderson seems to be trying to leak stories that he has not been paid by the Saudis and has deferred his wages since signing He either is playing people again or he really is a complete moron PR spin imo to try and repair reputation damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 Renan Lodi is the only real big transfer this January, €20m from marseille Very very quiet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 4 hours ago, Zatman said: That scumbag Henderson seems to be trying to leak stories that he has not been paid by the Saudis and has deferred his wages since signing He either is playing people again or he really is a complete moron I hope they confiscate his passport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ_Villain Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 (edited) From what I have seen on various social media outlets, the only people who seem to be taking this league seriously and wanting it to succeed are: Saudis and other Gulf state nationals, Africans and people of South Asian (India, Pakistani, Bangladeshi) origin... And their only argument seems to be along the lines of: "Its good to see European clubs have their best players taken away from them... Europeans think football is all about them..." And to be fair - aside from South Americans - it kind of is... Its OUR sport... We are the best two continents at it... And the fact that the same people saying this have Man Utd, Real Madrid, Man City, Liverpool etc etc etc plastered all over their profiles just proves it... Otherwise they would support their local teams in buttfuck nowhere Botswana... But of course... theres no street credibility in that... Edited January 18 by DJ_Villain typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 Has anyone watched a minute of Saudi Pro League football? I haven’t, I don’t even know if it’s possible but I have zero desire to find out. I’d have thought their investment was at least partly relying on European countries picking up the TV rights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts