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4 votes
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Ralf Wunderlich: ‘When FC Santa Claus called I didn't have to think a lot. Who wouldn't want to work for Santa Claus' official football club?’
6 votes -
The rise and fall of Östersunds FK – fairytale or corruption?
6 votes -
How Zlatan became Zlatan – a swaggering, sensational player who has won wherever he's gone
7 votes -
Norway hires Ståle Solbakken to replace Lars Lagerbäck as coach of the national football team – Lagerbäck leaves after failing to qualify for next year's European Championship
4 votes -
Diego Maradona: Argentina legend dies aged 60
13 votes -
Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland has won the 2020 Golden Boy award after a stunning first year with the Bundesliga side
4 votes -
Ada Hegerberg: ‘I'm coming back to reconquer my position in football’
4 votes -
Why Sergio Ramos' penalties are so difficult to save, according to a goalkeeper
7 votes -
The forgotten story of ... the France football captain who murdered for Adolf Hitler
7 votes -
Ramble Meets... Dotun Adebayo
4 votes -
Nicklas Bendtner: ‘I became too fond of the lifestyle that came with the money’
4 votes -
DC United parts ways with long time coach Ben Olson in the middle of dreadful season
WaPo: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/10/08/ben-olsen-fired/ Olsen has been a fixture in D.C. United for over two decades. First as a player and then as the longest serving coach in the...
WaPo: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/10/08/ben-olsen-fired/
Olsen has been a fixture in D.C. United for over two decades. First as a player and then as the longest serving coach in the franchise's history. In fact, in all Washington sports, only legendary football coach Joe Gibbs had a longer stay at one team.
Yet, he's always been a bit of an anomaly for such a long tenured coach. He never won the league championship, and only one piece of hardware (the somewhat obscure U.S. Open Cup, a tournament competition open to all professional and amateur soccer sides in the country) during his tenure. But he was known for his gritty game style that squeezed a lot of value out of one the most poorly funded rosters in the league for the decade he was at the helm.
But the last year has been especially bad. After the departure of soccer superstar Wayne Rooney, the front office struggled to fill the big shoes left behind and the wheels began to really come off. The team is currently sitting with just two wins. While some of that can be ascribed to a slew of injuries, United has played matches missing 8 of what would likely be their starting 11 this year, Olsen has been seen on thin ice for a while for not being able to get beyond the occasional playoff appearance.
It's kind of a mixed feeling among the fanbase, many of whom knew that it was time for the club to move on from Olsen, but at the same time he is a legend to the club for his long time involvement and glory days as a player. Still, some loyalists say the front office has dug their own graves with this move, as Benny was probably one of the only people in the world willing to coach the squad given how little the front office spends on its roster. Now they may be out of excuses as to why the wins aren't coming.
7 votes -
Arsenal sign goalkeeper Alex Rúnarsson from Dijon on four-year deal – Iceland international expected to deputise for first-choice goalkeeper Bernd Leno
6 votes -
Magdalena Eriksson has hit back at criticism the Swedish national football team received for taking a knee before their Euro qualifier against Hungary
4 votes -
¡Se Queda! Lionel Messi’s Barcelona heartbreak revealed: From his son's tears, to refusing to go to trial - full truth behind 'brutal' transfer saga
3 votes -
How could Sevilla's Jesus Navas not cry when he went to lift the trophy so associated with his deceased friends, while wearing Puerta's number and the armband that used to sit around Reyes' arm?
8 votes -
Economic crisis of Turkish football clubs
An announcement shook Turkish football seriously. Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced spending limits for clubs. That is very low because club debts. Everybody knew it would happen one...
An announcement shook Turkish football seriously. Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced spending limits for clubs. That is very low because club debts. Everybody knew it would happen one day. But corona took early that crisis. All of big Turkish clubs near to bankrupt. Their total debts over 2 billion dollars. Clubs signed too heavy deals with goverment banks. Goverment and TFF try to keep up clubs alive.
This isnt about only coronavirus or only Turkish economy. Clubs loaned more and more each year since the early 2000s. Presidents of clubs spend money badly, they transfer useless football players. And now money ran out ! And of course, turkish lira in crisis. Clubs gains with turkish lira, but spend with euro. And Lira still unstable. Euro/Lira increased from 7.7 to 8.6 in just one month. Its ~%10 lost only one month. Broadcaster company BEIN SPORTS, pay less money to federation for corona and lira crisis. Debts, income loss, lira crisis, corona. Everythings
Yearly spending limits of some big FCs:
- Galatasaray: 58m €
- Besiktas: 35m €
- Fenerbahce: 20m € (too low)
- Basaksehir: 20m €
- Trabzonspor: 17.5m €
That values very low. For this budgeds, clubs cant transfers. Someones should make the team smaller like fenerbahce. Fenerbahce protest that limits but they have 600m $ unstructured debt and they can't show income ! I think if this year fenerbahce cant be champion and can't go to the Champions Leauge, their clubs will be mortgaged or to be sold in the near future. A very rich bussines man -Ali Koc- became president of this club and he transferred a significant amount of money to the club. But for two years he was not successful in terms of sports.
There is also Başakşehir. Our champion, Basaksehir played really bad footbal againts Copenhagen FC and eliminated from Champions Leage. But Basaksehir is a brand-new club, in fact they were established in 2014. They have profesional management team and every year become better since 2014. Today, they became champions for the first time and may be the brightest club in Turkey. Some arabs from Qatar want to buy this club. Fans do not react to this. Because this 6-year-old club has almost no supporters. They became champions, but they didn't celebrate. (Ironically, I am one of the very few fans of Başakşehir.)
Galatasaray is less worried about debts. Because they postponed their debts for 5 years (with insane interest rate) But still too many debt in 5 year. the 115 year old club has many lands. Club think they can pay off the debts by selling the land at in the good areas of İstanbul.
Source:
TFF Spending Limits: https://www.tff.org/default.aspx?pageID=687&ftxtID=33547 (Not in turkish)8 votes -
Manchester United needed an extra-time penalty from Bruno Fernandes to finally see off a spirited FC Copenhagen in their Europa League quarter-final
9 votes -
Southampton midfielder Pierre-Emile Højbjerg will complete his move to Tottenham Hotspur this weekend, with Kyle Walker-Peters heading the other way
2 votes -
AC Milan have confirmed the permanent signing of Danish centre-back Simon Kjaer from Sevilla on a deal until 2022
4 votes -
The Football Association of Iceland released its new crest – to describe it as the most metal thing you've ever seen does it an injustice
8 votes -
Juninho Pernambucano: 'There are thousands of George Floyds in Brazil'
8 votes -
Brian Laudrup looks back on how the Danes defied the odds to become the unlikely champions of Euro '92
4 votes -
Liverpool are Premier League champions, but where does this season rank, all time?
6 votes -
Denmark international Pierre-Emile Højbjerg stripped of Southampton captaincy – has repeatedly been linked with a move away from the club
4 votes -
My favourite football game – when Denmark beat Uruguay 6-1 at the 1986 World Cup (Michael Gibbons, co-author of "Danish Dynamite" with Rob Smyth and Lars Eriksen)
7 votes -
Danish Superliga club create virtual grandstand for fans to watch game on Zoom – three screens were joined together to make a 40 x 2.8m screen with space for 200 fan images
4 votes -
Sweden football coach Janne Andersson has signed a contract extension through to UEFA Euro 2024
6 votes -
A South Korean soccer team has apologized for putting sex dolls in the stands to make things feel less lonely
7 votes -
Superliga, the top division of Danish football, is scheduled to resume on 28 May – matches played behind closed doors
4 votes -
Goalkeepers from Denmark catch the football differently thanks to a technique known as 'The Danish Catch'
7 votes -
Footballer Dickson Etuhu handed five-year ban for match-fixing in Sweden – midfielder offered AIK Fotboll keeper £160k to underperform
6 votes -
A brief history of – Ole Gunnar Solskjær
6 votes -
Alexander Isak, the rising star compared to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but who couldn't be more different
5 votes -
Male players have 'more responsibility' than women, US Soccer says in court filings
6 votes -
Chelsea have seen off competition from Juventus and Inter to sign sixteen-year-old attacking midfielder Jimi Tauriainen from HJK Helsinki
4 votes -
England have been drawn to face Iceland, Denmark and Belgium in the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League
5 votes -
Finnish FA drops 'women's' prefix for league in push for equality – top football league to be called National League, not Women's League
10 votes -
Celtic suffered a shock Europa League last-32 exit after three goals in the final seven minutes of a dramatic defeat by FC Copenhagen
4 votes -
Erling Haaland brings freshness to a game in thrall to pixels and profit – teenager's goal against PSG was a perfect reminder that football is meant to be enjoyable
5 votes -
Barcelona have completed the controversial emergency signing of Danish striker Martin Braithwaite from Leganes for 18m euros
7 votes -
The lessons a buoyant Finland can take from Iceland's Euro 2016 success
3 votes -
Erling Haaland has won the Bundesliga player of the month award for January – despite playing less than an hour of football in the month
6 votes -
The Danish capital, which was designated the European Green Capital in 2014, is trying to do everything it can to make Euro 2020 as green as possible
5 votes -
Pontus Jansson: ‘Marcelo Bielsa had bad sides but I learned so much from him’
2 votes -
Teenage sensation Erling Haaland continued his incredible record for new club Borussia Dortmund after he netted a brace in the team's 5-0 thrashing of Union Berlin
6 votes -
Kim Vilfort – The tragic hero of Denmark's Euro '92 glory
3 votes -
Why Gazprom, a Russian oil company sponsors soccer teams
6 votes -
From Danish dinner to Inter Milan move – how Tottenham Hotspur lost control in the Christian Eriksen transfer saga
4 votes