As the dust has finally settled, after a huge summer of transfer spending supporters are left to reflect on their club’s performance in the summer months. Peter Storey came out this morning and suggested that Arsene Wenger had lost the plot and his last minute transfer activity was merely papering over the cracks at the Emirates. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen, but to the neutral it does appear that Arsenal made some decent signings on deadline day.
A whopping €521.95m was spent by Premier League clubs this summer and I have set out what I see to be the most significant 10 signings of the summer. I haven’t included loan signings or free transfers within my list, as they hardly represent much of a financial gamble.
Click on Yohan Cabaye to unveil the list
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List compiled by Escapini at the excllent Transfer Tavern
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Tadanari Lee always believed he would be the hero for his side after scoring the winning goal in Japan’s 1-0 win over Australia in the Asian Cup final.
The Blue Samurai needed extra-time on Saturday to claim Asia’s most coveted soccer trophy for a record fourth time courtesy of Lee’s superb volley in the 109th minute.
And the 25-year-old could not hide his delight at his dream coming true to lift his side to victory after being substituted on.
“I feel super. I could not play for such a long time and I had to keep on waiting, believing that there would be a chance for me,” Lee said.
“I could score a goal in the end and I’m really happy. I kept talking to myself, saying ‘I’ll be a hero. I’ll be a hero’ before I went onto the pitch.”
“I’m really happy that I was able to stand on this pitch. I really want to thank everyone. We’ll have to work hard as the Asian champions and I want you, the fans, all to support the Japanese national team.”
Winning manager Alberto Zaccheroni said he had always backed his substitutes to lift the side when they needed it most.
“I knew he (Lee) would do it. What is great about this team is that players, who started on the bench, could produce results on the pitch,” the Italian said.
Australia coach Holger Osieck admitted a number of gilt-edged chances, including opportunities for stars Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill, needed to be converted if they were to leave the Khalifa Stadium with the Asian Cup.
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“We had our opportunities and what is always encouraging is the way we play and we create opportunities,” Osieck said.
“However, it is crucial to convert them and later on in the game it backfired and that is a problem. We had to be more clinical in our finishing and it’s not enough to win a game if you don’t score.”
“We have seen a very exciting game between two very good teams. You can imagine we are disappointed, we definitely had our opportunities but unfortunately we couldn’t convert.”
Tottenham are ready to announce that Andre Villas Boas will become the side’s new manager, after signing a new three-year deal with the club according to The Telegraph.
The Portuguese trainer had an ill-fated stint at Chelsea after domestic and European success with Porto in his homeland, but is still thought to be one of he most promising and exciting young coaches in the game.
After intense negotiations over the last fortnight following Harry Redknapp’s dismissal, the ex-Blues manager is said to have impressed the White Hart Lane club’s board with ambitious plans in the transfer market, and will be announced as the new boss on Tuesday.
Straight away Villas Boas is keen to conclude deals for Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen, who are both close to agreeing terms on transfers to north London.
A squad revamp is expected, with the likes of Luka Modric, Rafael van de Vaart and Jermain Defoe all unsure over their futures.
Villas Boas will also recall Steven Caulker, who spent last term on loan at Swansea, into his first-team squad and is also monitoring Brazil international playmaker Oscar.
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Newcastle United’s decision to place Joey Barton on the transfer list has plunged the club into fresh turmoil but for the rest of the Premier League, Barton’s availability on a free transfer is a potential bargain.
Barton’s decision to follow teammate Jose Enrique’s lead and criticise the club’s owners on Twitter enraged the bosses at St James’ Park so much that the midfielder has been made available on a free transfer even though he has a year left on his current deal.
If Barton does leave, would Newcastle’s Premier League rivals be getting a good deal by snapping up the 28-year-old on a free? Barton will always come with a warning for managers after a career more notable for his bad behaviour than his achievements on the pitch. Barton’s reputation means any move he makes would be greeted by some caution from fans but if he could replicate his form for Newcastle last season, every top tier manager should be looking at Barton this summer.
Since joining from Manchester City in June 2007, Barton has made 79 league appearances for the club. Last season was his most productive in the famous black and white stripes when Barton made a total of 35 appearances in all competitions, scoring five goals and making nine assists. His performances in Newcastle’s midfield earned him rave reviews and it was his combative and productive displays in games like the 4-4 draw with Arsenal (where he scored twice) that make him so in demand.
Interestingly Arsenal are one of many clubs linked with the player since the news of his Newcastle exit was announced. Others include Tottenham, Aston Villa and Stoke with a few other European clubs reportedly sniffing around the midfielder. But what would these clubs be getting if they decided to try and sign Barton?
Most importantly on the pitch they would be investing in a leader, whether you like Barton or not, he is an effective combative performer in the Premier League and has shown he can create and score goals as well. For a club like Arsenal he would add that much needed steel in their midfield and last season showed that under the right guidance, Barton can finally let his football do the talking. The fact that he is available on a free means that clubs with a limited budget would only have any wage demands as a potential stumbling block.
Unfortunately Barton comes with baggage and whilst Newcastle’s decision to let their best player leave on a free is bemusing, his decision to criticise his employers on Twitter highlights the unpredictable side to Barton. Off the pitch he has faced time in jail and been in altercations with fellow teammates whilst on the pitch Barton’s behavior has lead to FA charges and red cards.
Despite his bad boy persona and troubled history, every Premier League manager should take the time to consider signing one of the league’s best performers last season on a free. But managers beware, despite his undoubted talents on the pitch, signing Joey Barton will always be a risk.
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Would Barton be a good signing for another Premier League team? If you want to read more of my bite size, 140 character views and thoughts follow me on Twitter @jennyk5
Let’s play a game of guess who. First clue: I am a Belgian footballer who played in France and Belgium in the 1980s and 1990s. Second clue: I am best known for the court case, and the subsequent ruling, which bears my surname. Third clue: I have had a bigger impact on the modern game than any chairman, manager or player. Got it yet? I am Jean-Marc Bosman.
If you haven’t heard of him on a first name basis, there’s a fairly good chance that his surname rings a bell. In 1990 following the expiration of his contract, Jean-Marc Bosman fancied a move from FC Liege to French side Dunkirk . In an attempt to stop him leaving, FC Liege slapped a large transfer fee on the player and thus priced Dunkirk out of a move. The legal dispute which followed became known as the ‘Bosman Ruling’.
In a continuation of Football FanCast’s week of reminiscing about football in the 90s, here is a look back at the law which would ultimately change football in England, and the rest of Europe, forever.
For those of you familiar with the fuss surrounding a player who runs down his contract so he can ‘leave on a Bosman’ but can’t quite remember what football was like before the days of super high salaries and player power, the transfer procedure was much more club-focused, yet still rather complicated.
In the early part of the twentieth century a player had to request a transfer in order to move clubs, but if his current side refused to let him leave then that was pretty much it – in essence, clubs really did own their players. Then in around 1960, a player called George Eastham challenged this law in front of the High Court who ruled that the transfer system in place was an unreasonable restraint of trade. The transfer system changed in that a player could now leave for free if his contract had expired, unless he had been offered a new deal in which case a fee would have to be paid. So the freedom imposed was still very limited because the teams’ decision to rehire a player would always keep him at the club. This system remained until the late seventies when the clubs’ power over their players lessened slightly further. A player could still leave a club for free when his contract ran out, but now his club had to offer him a contract with terms equal to or greater than his current deal in order for a fee to change hands. However the biggest change was that the player now had the choice of whether or not to accept the new deal or move elsewhere. Crucially though neither the player nor his agent could initiate a transfer, the interested buyer had to approach the club in order for negotiations to begin. If a transfer fee couldn’t be agreed by the clubs then the matter would be decided by a tribunal.
This was how the footballing world stayed until 1995. Then on the 15th of December of that year the ‘Bosman Ruling’ was passed by the European Court of Justice, this meant that free movement of players between clubs and EU countries was now possible, and crucially a player could now talk to other teams when his contract had expired and move without a fee changing hands. The following day the Daily Express ran with the headline ‘Foreign Invasion’, and the Daily Mirror used the ominous: ‘The rule that will change the face of soccer forever’ – an uncannily accurate assessment of things to come.
Continue to PAGE TWO…
As a result of the case, all of the power was now in the hands of the players and the subject of large weekly wages was quick to come to the fore. With no transfer fee being paid, clubs were now able to afford to pay their players huge wages, so it was often in the best interests of the player to run down his contract, move on, and earn more money elsewhere. One of the first big cases of an English player using this rule to his advantage was the controversial move of Sol Campbell from Tottenham to Arsenal in 2001. Despite being offered a new contract and assuring Spurs that he wanted to stay, Campbell saw out the duration of his contract before deciding to move to Arsenal and earn a reported £60,000 a week plus bonuses – a sum which saw him become one of the world’s best paid footballers at the time.
The fear that this rule would make the rich richer and the poor poorer was initially rubbished, but optimism soon turned to realism as business and money started to rule proceedings. It was thought that lower-league clubs could use the new rule to their advantage by signing their best players to long-term contracts which would mean that they could demand a good transfer fee for their stars. However as money became tighter, smaller clubs couldn’t afford to tie players down to long-term contracts so they were increasingly forced to sell their best young players for a minimal transfer fee in fear that they could soon lose them for nothing. As former UEFA top-dog Lars-Christer Olsson explained: “Those clubs who had access to all the money started to rob the smaller clubs, not just to get stronger themselves but to weaken the opposition”. This meant that money which before would be paid between clubs in the form of transfer fees (thus keeping money in the game and strengthening the footballing infrastructure), was now money was going straight into the pockets of players and agents.
As previously stated, the new Bosman rule allowed freedom of movement for players between European countries. Previous to this ruling, many leagues in Europe imposed a quota as to the amount of foreign players each team was allowed to field (a rule allowing only three foreign players per team was also imposed by UEFA in European competition). But the Bosman rule meant that this was no longer allowed and clubs could now field any number of European players in their team. In England this has undoubtedly increased the quality of the football in the Premier League, but it became clear that this would also have a negative impact on lower-league clubs. While small clubs used to rely on transfer fees for their best players to keep them afloat, the new ease with which teams could sign foreign talent meant that local players were overlooked in favour of signing a cheaper, foreign alternative.
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Jean-Marc Bosman got nothing from the court case which dragged on for over five years other than an entry on ‘www.famousbelgians.net’. He was 25 years-old when he started his legal proceedings and spent much of this time without a club and with no income. He ended up bankrupt and with a collapsed marriage and ironically never benefitted from the rule which he fought so hard to put into place.
There were many golden moments in English football during the 90s, too many to mention here, yet it would be the ruling of a court case in Luxembourg that would change the mentality and infrastructure of the beautiful game for the foreseeable future. Jean-Marc Bosman could never have known what impact his desire to play for Dunkirk could have had, but it’s an impact that we’re still feeling today.
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With the fixtures for the 2012/13 Premier League season having been announced, the Saints have been given a baptism of fire to their first Premier League campaign for nearly a decade, with a tough opening day fixture at defending champions Manchester City.
Roberto Mancini’s champions host the Saints on August 18th, although this looks certain to be a fixture that is a dead cert to be moved for live television coverage.
The fixture list does not get much easier afterwards either, with a home game against Manchester United being followed by a first trip to the Emirates stadium to face Arsenal.
Sandwiched between the two fixtures against the Manchester clubs is a home game against perennial relegation battlers, Wigan Athletic. This will be the very first league meeting between the two clubs, with the only previous meeting coming in the F.A Cup in 1986, with the Saints beating the then 4th division side 3-0. September is completed by a home game against Aston Villa, and a trip to Merseyside to face Everton.
October only consists of three league matches, and strangely all three fixtures are against London clubs, as Fulham come to St. Marys at the beginning of the month, Spurs visit at the end of the month, and in between there is a trip to fellow new boys West Ham.
November begins with a trip to the Hawthorns to face West Bromwich, and this is followed by Swansea City’s visit to St. Marys where the two clubs meet in the top flight for the first time since 1983. Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road and home games against Newcastle and Norwich complete the month.
December is a packed month with six games although only two are at St. Marys. Reading at home is sandwiched between tricky away trips to Liverpool and then Chelsea, whilst out final home game before Christmas see’s Sunderland make the long trip south. Our Boxing Day match is away to Fulham and this is followed three days later by a visit to the Britannia stadium to face Stoke City for our final match of 2012.
2013 begins with a tough home game against Arsenal on New Year’s Day, and after a break for the third round of the F.A. Cup, away games at Aston Villa and Manchester United bookend a home game against Everton at St. Marys.
February like October consists of only three league matches and opening day opponents Manchester City come to St. Marys in between away trips to Wigan and Newcastle. Whilst March consists of four games with three of those at St. Marys, as Queens Park Rangers, Liverpool and Chelsea arrive in town in that order with our solitary road trip coming at Norwich a week after the visit of QPR.
With most people expecting us to be toiling hard against relegation and an immediate return to the Championship, the run-in during April and May does not seem too bad, as by then we would have met most of the bigger clubs. Of course on the flip side that means that these two months have the potential to include a lot of so-called “six pointers”! April starts with a trip to Reading, and this is followed by a home game against another of the clubs who accompanied us in to the Premier League, West Ham. Swansea City away and a home game against West Bromwich complete the month.
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The crucial month of May has three fixtures but two of those are tricky trips to Tottenham and Sunderland, and we finish our first Premier League season in seven years with a home game against Stoke City.
Sir Alex Ferguson conceded that Manchester City are now a thorn in United’s side and represent a huge threat in their pursuit to win honours. It is a huge change in attitude from the Scot and highlights the giant steps that City made last season.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include Lampard relaxed over United’s outlay; Arsene Wenger has a substantial transfer budget, while Tottenham weigh up a cut price bid for Adebayor.
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Lampard relaxed over United’s spending – Guardian
Ferguson: ‘City are a thorn in our flesh’ – Daily Telegraph
I want Chelsea to be untouchable! Villas-Boas aims for European glory – Daily Mail
Wenger has ‘substantial’ transfer budget – Guardian
Cabaye joins Barton and Ranger after being denied visa for Magpies’ US tour – Daily Mail
Toon ’n Toffees have Long shot – Sun
Cole happy to fight for his place at Liverpool after sorry first season – Daily Mail
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Boa closes in on Hammer Parker – Sun
Tottenham lining up cut-price bid for Adebayor – Mirror
AS Roma won their fourth-consecutive derby on Wednesday, beating rivals Lazio 2-1 in their Coppa Italia quarter-final.The Lazio players copped a pre-match barrage when Roma supporters launched rocks at the team bus upon arrival at the Stadio Olimpico, but the first on-field blow came when Roma forward Marco Borriello netted from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute.
It took Lazio just five minutes to find the equaliser, with Brazilian midfielder Hernanes slotting home from the spot to ensure a tense final half-hour.
Romanian defender Stefan Radu was the villain for Lazio in the 77th minute, with his defensive howler allowing Fabio Simplicio to stroll in and side-foot a shot past goalkeeper Tommaso Berni.
Elsewhere. Sampdoria loan signing Federico Macheda scored in his side’s penalty shootout victory over Udinese, after extra-time at Stadio Luigi Ferraris finished 2-2.
In his first start at the Serie A club after joining on-loan from Manchester United, the Italian teenager opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when he got on the end of a Giampaolo Pazzini pass before chipping over Udinese goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi.
It looked like Macheda’s strike would be enough for victory, but Chilean Mauricio Isla snared a 90th-minute equaliser for the visitors to send the game into extra-time.
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Udinese took their momentum into the game’s final stages, scoring in the 92nd minute when Argentine German Denis was allowed space in the box to head his side in front.
Sampdoria went down to ten men when Daniele Dessena was shown red for dissent, but Pazzini made the most of his side’s penalty late in extra-time to send the match into a shootout – with the home side triumphing 5-4.
The Premier League got the grand finale it deserved in a season that Arsene Wenger himself has described as the ‘strangest one he has ever known’ in his 15 years in English football. It is back to its unpredictable best and only further underlines the general feeling that England possesses the top League in World Football.
You couldn’t write the script yesterday and why City’s last gasp win has arguably eclipsed Michael Thomas and Arsenal’s title success in 1989, as the most dramatic finish to a league season. We are all left to reflect on a season that has seen the good, bad and the ugly side of football. It is certainly been an exciting Premier League this year without question, given some of the results; however I would find it hard to agree that the quality of the League and teams have improved in any way. The standards of top clubs have dropped dramatically, in the passing years, and we are seeing a changing landscape within the Premier League.
Without wanting to rain on City’s parade, it really hasn’t proved a difficult league to win compared with previous years. Manchester United is a side in real transition and yet they still managed to take City all the way before losing the title to simply goal difference. If we move further down the table then both Arsenal and Tottenham complete the top four places, even though both sides lost nearly over a quarter of their games this season and had major slumps throughout their campaigns. The very fact that both Swansea and Norwich are comfortably in mid-table shows how the Premier League has become an easier gig and any side capable of showing consistency or putting a run of wins together can climb the table very quickly.
One thing this season has done is open club’s eyes and certainly raises a certain amount of optimism among the respective chairman. Football clubs now know that the giant gap that use to exist and the once fabled ‘big four’ no longer exists and there are genuine opportunities for clubs to achieve Champions League football. Aside from that I am sure the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and even Tottenham will be buoyed (given the struggles they have faced this season) by City’s success and will fully believe that with some astute spending in the summer and looking to address the flaws they had within their performance this season that the ability to challenge for a title is well within their reach. The bookies probably won’t look further than City and United next season, but I wouldn’t like to rule out any of the aforementioned sides being in the title mix in the coming year. The Premier League is as open as it has ever been within its 20 years and while the 2011/12 has been City’s year without question, I fully expect, and hope, we witness a far stronger challenge from the also-rans next season.
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Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that the summer spending has stopped at Old Trafford; therefore ruling out a possible move for Inter Milan’s Wesley Sneijder. The Scot is clearly happy with his lot and firmly believes that his squad is good enough to retain the Premier League title and challenge Barcelona for the Champions League.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include Villas-Boas defends Chelsea squad; Aston Villa boss demands his stars move to Birmingham, while Arsenal look to hijack Lukaku deal.
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Ferguson – No more spending – Sky Sports
Bin Hammam: Life ban from football is Blatter’s ‘revenge’ – Guardian
Villas-Boas defends Chelsea squad –Guardian
QPR will not sell Taarabt – Guardian
Fiszman was real reason Arsenal did so well, says Adams – Independent
Arsenal set to hijack Chelsea’s Lukaku deal – Mirror
Manchester City defender Richards: I’ll be England exile until Capello goes – Daily Mail
Villa boss demands his stars move to Birmingham –Mirror
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Fergie: Tevez told me he was going to retire in 2013 – People
Liverpool make move for Wigan starlet Rodallega – People