The OtherArena

[Tom Greaves]

In crazy off-season news...

* Carlos Tevez is [url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1088061/argentina-striker-carlos-tevez-'very-happy'-at-manchester-city?cc=5901]now happy at City[/url], at least this afternoon.

* Joey Barton got in another fight, apparently lost this time, but was still arrested.

[jdw]

Yeah, I look forward to Tevez being happy if RVP ends up in City. :P

Love what a trainwreck Joey is. :)

John

[jdw]

Rangers Tax Case came to a head:

Rangers appear set to be liquidated and re-formed as a newco after Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs decided to vote against a Company Voluntary Arrangement put forward by the prospective new owners.

RangersTaxCase.com went off on the CVA here:

A Permanent Embarrassment And An Occasional Disgrace

Thought without a lot of gory details explaining why it was so horrorific. Obviously HMR saw it was crap, pitched it and went for liquidation.

He has a quick post here:

What Now For Rangers?

And will likely have more later.

It appears clear that the SFA and SPL would love too cook things to get Rangers back into the SPL instantly... and TV probably wants them back as well. But it might be time for the majority of clubs in the SFA to stand up and force Rangers Newco to start all the way at the bottom.

John

[Scott]

Manchester United sign Crewe Alexandra's whizkid Nick Powell. Powell is ostensibly the replacement for Paul Pogba, who is off to Juventus. Powell was Crewe's top scorer for the season with 16 goals in all competitions, including a cracker to open the scoring for Crewe in the League Two promotion playoff final.


Scott

[jdw]

Harry Redknapp leaves Tottenham Hotspur manager's job

Harry Redknapp sacked by Tottenham as Daniel Levy targets David Moyes

[Hadi]

Even after all these years, the perpetually dysfunctional nature of Tottenham always amazes me.

Levy should have pulled the trigger weeks ago, if he was going to do it. Redknapp leaving right now leaves the new regime very little to time to assess the team and jump into the transfer market, especially if it's someone from outside the EPL, or someone who is currently at the Euros.

Speaking personally, I'm okay with Redknapp leaving. Harry was likeable figure to some of the players and could inspire them at times, but his activity in the transfer market and his insistence on not working with a Director of Football, cost the club Champions League the last two seasons.

Levy, for his part, is equally culpable for our lack of CL qualification. If he brings in a new man, he better be ready to fund him. This deal for Jan Vertoghnen should've been locked up weeks ago. This guy is a top shelf defender and he actually wants to be at Spurs, yet we are haggling over his price with Ajax. Spurs have one striker under contract in Defoe, and he wants out, so there is lots of work to be done.

As for Moyes, he, alongside Martinez, would both be fired fairly quickly. They aren't the names to move Tottenham forward, and they likely won't impress our trio of world class players.

Tottenham needs someone who's actually won something. I like Villas-Boas and think he'd do great at Spurs. I think Deschamps with a Director of Football would be excellent. If you wanted to roll the dice big time, maybe give someone like Laudrup a look, too. Someone like Jogi Low would be a dream, if he were to leave the Germans after the Euros, but I don't think we can afford to wait until July.

There could also be some old timers looking for one last payday. Both Capello and Van Gaal come to mind.

My guess is Moyes is picked, because Levy could get away with giving him limited transfer funds, while keeping the team competitive.

There have been rumors circulating that Spurs are up for sale and perhaps a billionaire or two out there might be ready to buy them. Lots of Spurs supporters hate this idea, because they view Levy as some sort of sports executive supremo, who is unmatched in England. Personally, I think Tottenham need someone with the pockets and ambition to push the club forward and get a new stadium built. No need to do a Leeds, but spending could be ramped up to match Arsenal, at the least.


-Hadi

[CFTV]

The Premier League Rights were announced in the UK for the 2013-2016 cycle and Sky won the maximum 5 of the 7 packages the league sold. Shockingly BT came out of nowhere to blindside everyone and swoop up the other 2 packages. BT got the Saturday 12:45p and Monday/Bank Holiday/select Mid-week package while Sky got the rest. ESPN and AlJazeera were left holding the bag as they won buggerall this time around. The rights are for 3 billion pounds.

http://tinyurl.com/c42at7e

Here is everyone's favorite futbol on TV kook Oliver Tse's prediction from yesterday! :)

The "play" in the U.K. by the Qatar Media-Comcast alliance, as I read it, for what it is worth:

1. Qatar Media Corporation (a.k.a. Al Jazeera) will blow away British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) for 5 out of 7 UK live match media rights packages (116 matches) to the Barclays (English) Premier League (EPL) for August 2013-May 2016.

2. A weakened BSkyB will outbid ESPN EMEA Limited for the remaining 2 UK live match media rights package (38 matches) to EPL for August 2013-May 2016.

3. Comcast will make a bid for NewsCorp's 39.14% stake in BSkyB, and NewsCorp cannot risk losing its DTH satellite broadcast licence with UK regulator Ofcom by not selling now.

Result of the "play": Comcast will own "the pipes" into 12 million UK pay TV households via satellite, and the Qatar Media-Comcast alliance will combine to control all 7 UK live match media rights package to EPL (154 matches combined.)

NewsCorp has never been more vulnerable, and both Sheik Al-Thani and Brian Roberts are ready to move in for the kill.



This passage from another of OT's rambles is too good not to share!


Youssef and the executives at Imagina US already know where I stand: I want to help build a soccer-centric English-language sports TV network that will reach at least 60 million households if not closer to 80 million. I have been an independent marketing contractor, a hired gun, just like hundred of others who have been involved, even on the fringe, of the industry. I will work for them if they agree with my vision. Otherwise, I will take my services elsewhere.

[jdw]

70% increase in the rights... holy shit! The buzz had been that the growth would be coming internationally, not in the UK. After La Liga agrees to a more leveled playing field (which is being forced on Barca and Madrid like it was in Italy), the top EPL teams are going to skyrocket past Barca and RM in revenue.

John

[jdw]

On Hadi's post about Harry... I agree that he needs to take a lot of blame for the failure of the last two years in making CL. He hasn't developed depth, and both seasons was hit with injuries that the roster couldn't cover and a side just running out of gas from being run into the ground. The fell apart in 2011... and fell apart in 2012, both of which if they even played "average" they would have gotten back in. So Harry was a key reason in costing the team 80M combined from the two years.

Add in the drama of the England job.

Part of it wasn't his fault: the club was cheap on wages, and semi-cheap on transfer fees. On the other hand, look at how Newcastle made some good buys on the cheap. Other teams have as well.

The last two years have been a really great window of opportunity for Spurs. They could have made the CL three straight years, the last two at the expense of the Gunners that would have altered the balance between those two clubs and probably gotten Wenger fired. Instead, Wenger is safe for the moment, and the Spurs window seems to be closing. :/

John

[jdw]

EPL Domestic rights:

1992-1997: BSkyB, 60 games of the season, £190m, £633,000 per game
1997-2001: BSkyB, 60 games, £670m, £2.79m per game (+253%)
2001-2004: BSkyB, 110 games, £1.2bn, £3.64m per game (+79%)
2004-2007: BSkyB, 138 games, £1.024bn, £2.47m per game (-15%)
2007-2010: BSkyB/Setanta, 138 games, £1.706bn, £4.12m per game (67%)
2010-2013: BSkyB/ESPN 138 games, £1.782bn, £4.3m per game (4%)
2013-2016: BSkyB/BT 154 games, £3.018bn, £6.53m per game (69%)

Overseas rights will be coming soon, and expect even more from that.

John

[CFTV]

TOSH TOSH TOSH TOSH!

That was a very entertaining squash match! I really can't get enough of that board and all of OT's nuttiness! P

[CFTV]

It's ridiculous that the US Market has access to all 380 Premier League Games while the UK only get 154 games on TV legally.

Is there a reason why the EPL doesn't have a Saturday or Sunday Night TV time slot? My guess is it has to do with the transportation system around the country because so many people travel to away games. Is it a public safety concern given there would be so many drunks after games that there would be more fights given that supporters would have all day to lube up before the game starts at 8p at night? Madrid and Barca start a lot of their games at 4p eastern time which is 9p or 10p at night locally in Spain.

Why can the Spanish get night games right on the weekend but the English can't?

[Robster2001]

The UK fixture lists are out.

The SPL's schedule names 11 teams -- and has scheduled "Club 12" in place of Rangers II (or Dundee FC, or Dumferline, or they play with 11 clubs and introduce bye weeks, or...?) while the league dithers over whether and how far to relegate Rangers II. Sky TV came out today and said they're airing SPL soccer whether Rangers II are part of it or not, so they've taken one less excuse away from the SPL for when they chicken out and allow the new club to drop right into the top flight.

They're also taking a two-week January break this season. Meanwhile, "Club 1"... er... Celtic have already indicated where their priorities are, postponing their 2nd-week league game against Dundee United so they can play a World Football Challenge friendly against Real Madrid in Philadelphia.

In the EPL, play starts on the weekend of August 18 -- a week later than usual due to the Olympics, I think, if I'm reading some of the online chatter correctly -- featuring Everton-Man U and Newcastle-Spurs; City host Southampton, Chelsea visit Wigan, Arsenal host Sunderland, Liverpool visit West Brom.

Survival Sunday is May 19, featuring Chelsea-Everton and Newcastle-Arsenal; City host Norwich, United visit West Brom, Liverpool host QPR, Spurs host Sunderland.

The Manchester derby plays out in round 16 (weekend of December 8) at Etihad and round 32 (weekend of April 6) at Old Trafford.

[jdw]

United's schedule, card as always subject to change:

08/18/12 at Everton
08/25/12 vs Fulham
09/01/12 at Southampton
09/15/12 vs Wigan Athletic
09/22/12 at Liverpool
09/29/12 vs Tottenham Hotspur
10/06/12 at Newcastle United
10/20/12 vs Stoke City
10/27/12 at Chelsea
11/03/12 vs Arsenal
11/10/12 at Aston Villa
11/17/12 at Norwich City
11/24/12 vs Queens Park Rangers
11/27/12 vs West Ham
12/01/12 at Reading
12/08/12 at Manchester City
12/15/12 vs Sunderland
12/22/12 at Swansea City
12/26/12 vs Newcastle United
12/29/12 vs West Bromwich Albion
01/01/13 at Wigan Athletic
01/12/13 vs Liverpool
01/19/13 at Tottenham Hotspur
01/29/13 vs Southampton
02/02/13 at Fulham
02/09/13 vs Everton
02/23/13 at Queens Park Rangers
03/02/13 vs Norwich City
03/09/13 at West Ham
03/16/13 vs Reading
03/30/13 at Sunderland
04/06/13 vs Manchester City
04/13/13 at Stoke City
04/20/13 vs Aston Villa
04/27/13 at Arsenal
05/04/13 vs Chelsea
05/12/13 vs Swansea City
05/19/13 at West Bromwich Albion


The run-in could be brutal, especially if we go deep in CL and FA Cup: City, Gunners and Blues all in a month stretch where games get postponed a lot.

John

[jdw]

Alba to Barca for €14M:

Official: FC Barcelona To Sign Jordi Alba