Yabanci Gazetelerden Haberler

[Selcuk Samli]

Reality that lurks beneath the gloss of football
By Simon Kuper

Published: August 17 2007 18:39 | Last updated: August 17 2007 18:39

A friend of mine once tried to do business with a revered institution of English football. “I can do business with stupid people,” he said afterwards, “and I can do business with crooks. But I can’t do business with stupid people who think they are crooks.”

Anyone reviewing the events of this English summer will be struck by the incompetence of the football industry. There is Leeds United, debt-ridden in the third tier of English football after blowing fortunes chasing global domination. There is the new Wembley stadium, finished years late and well over budget. There was Carlos Tévez, the player who appeared to be “owned” by his agent rather than his club, in breach of football regulations. I could go on, but similar things happen every summer. The foreign businessmen now buying English clubs should be warned: as surely as oil is part of the oil industry, incompetence is part of the football industry. This is why:

A tradition of incompetence Many clubs deliberately hire bad office staff. Years ago I requested an interview with the chairman of an English club quoted on the stock market. The press officer asked me to send a fax (a 1980s technology revered by football clubs). I sent it. She said she never got it. On request I sent three more faxes to different officials. She said none arrived. It was a familiar experience in the football industry. A month later I was granted permission to e-mail the request. When I arrived for the interview, I met the press officer. She was beautiful. I had known she would be. Many clubs recruit the women on their office staff for their looks, the men because they played professional football or are somebody’s mate.

Because people in television are more intelligent than people in football, TV bought football rights cheaply for years.

Fear of trained executives This incompetence is football’s choice. If the clubs wanted, they could recruit the excellent executives who yearn to work in football. A professor at a leading business school told me many of his students offer to work free for sports companies as summer interns. The companies seldom want them. If you work for a football club, your goal is to keep working there, not to be shown up by some overeducated young thing who actually knows about business. Partly this is because the traditionally working-class football industry distrusts education. Partly, says Emmanuel Hembert, head of the sports practice at AT Kearney, the management consultancy, it’s because many clubs are dominated by a vain owner-manager. Hembert says these owners “often have a pretty big ego. They prefer not to have strong people around them, except the coach. They really pay low salaries.”

Historically only Manchester United recruited respected executives from normal industries, though a few other big clubs like Barcelona are starting to.

Inexperience The top people on the business side of football clubs are usually novices. This is because staff turnover is rapid. Each new owner generally brings in his cronies. The departing staff rarely join a new club, because that is considered disloyal, even though footballers frequently move. So football executives keep reinventing the wheel.

Short-termism Many clubs are in the news every day so fixate on the short term. An executive at a large entertainment company told me about his long-arranged business meeting with Real Madrid. On the day, Real sacked their manager, a club ritual. The usual chaos ensued. Two club officials scheduled to attend the meeting with the executive did not show up.

Short-termism reigns. Hembert says: “As soon as you sign a player for £10m, you blow up your business plan.”

Moral hazard No big football club ever disappears under its debts. No matter how much money Leeds or Real waste, someone will always bail them out. So they waste money.

Bad handling of the media Football clubs get publicity without trying and treat journalists as supplicants, rather than as unpaid marketeers of the club’s brand. The journalists often retaliate with meanness. The clubs are being foolish, because almost all their fans follow them through the media rather than by going to the stadium.

Lack of self-knowledge Football clubs rarely understand what they are. Many believe they are businesses but, apart from Manchester United, few make regular profits. Clubs are not businesses because they exist to win matches rather than make money. To win matches, you need good players. Since some club owners will happily pay over the odds for players, everybody who wants to win has to do likewise. If you do make a profit, you should spend it on more good players, because that is the point of being a football club. Clubs should therefore model themselves on not-for-profit organisations like museums. Financially, all they should aspire to do is remain reasonably solvent. Few even manage that.

Any new club owner thinking he will change all this should note generations of new club owners thought the same before.

www.ft.com

[Mehmet Gurdal Cetin]

ARSENAL'A DA BIR RUS, ISMINDEN OZBEK YADA BIR TURKI CUMHURIYETINDEN HAVASO GELIYOR

Russian billionaire buys Arsenal stake from Dein

LONDON (Reuters) - A firm co-owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov said on Thursday it had bought a 14.6 percent stake in Premier League club Arsenal from former Vice Chairman David Dein for 75 million pounds.

The purchase by Red & White Holdings, which also named Dein as its chairman, could eventually put further pressure on the Arsenal board to face a takeover.

A spokesman for Arsenal declined to comment.

Usmanov told Reuters he would want to increase his stake.

"I have no plans to become full owner (of the club)," Usmanov said. "If I had a chance, I would increase my package to the blocking 25 percent. Other options depend on the desires of the shareholders and on market conditions."

Asked whether he was prepared to allocate additional cash to buy top players, he said: "This is for the club's directors to decide. If the board approaches me with a request for financial support, I will consider all possible options."

Red & White now plans to meet Arsenal's board, whose members together own 45.5 percent of the club and have opposed a sale. They also have a lock-up period that runs through April.

The firm stated that it was acting independently from U.S. billionaire Stan Kroenke, who bought 10 percent of Arsenal this year and has lifted his stake to 12.2 percent.

"I welcomed the involvement of Stan Kroenke earlier this year. The creation of Red & White is equally welcome," Dein said in a statement.

"The reality is that football is changing dramatically. A growing number of clubs are being funded by individuals or consortia that are prepared to invest previously unimaginable sums of money aimed at winning the game's biggest prizes."

Red & White and Kroenke are not seen to be interested in a hostile takeover approach, together or separately, a source familiar with the situation said.

INTERNAL BATTLE

Dein's support for Kroenke's interest earlier this year prompted a schism inside Arsenal as Chairman Peter Hill-Wood and other board members insisted they were not prepared to sell.

Dein departed in April, and he was followed by the team's goal-scoring star Thierry Henry early in the summer, raising uncertainty about the club and its ability to keep manager Arsene Wenger.

Dein in 1996 had hired Wenger, then an unknown coach in England, who went on to win three league titles and four FA Cups for the club. The team has also moved to a new 60,000-capacity stadium in North London.

Wenger told the club's official Web site (www.arsenal.com) that Dein's exit was "a sad day" and a "huge disappointment because we worked very closely together."

"I do not personally know Wenger, but this does not prevent me from admiring him," Usmanov told Reuters.

Red & White expressed support for Wenger, saying he was vital to the club's future success, while Dein said in his statement that he hoped his professional relationship with Wenger "can be resumed," adding that he had encouraged the manager to sign a new contract with the club.

INVESTORS

Red & White co-owners Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri, both Arsenal fans who own a box in the stadium, are the latest examples of non-British millionaires interested in UK football clubs, attracted by rising television and commercial revenues.

Moshiri, originally from Iran and a close associate of Usmanov's, is a London-based fund manager who recently bought a 10 percent stake in Panmure Gordon.

Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool are already in the hands of U.S. and Russian billionaires.

"Usmanov and Moshiri are principally investors, but they are also fans," said Rollo Head, a partner at public relations firm Finsbury, which represents Red & White.

Usmanov, who ranked 278 on Forbes magazine's 2006 list of the world's richest people, owns Russian miner Metalloinvest and various media and telecoms companies in the country, including newspaper Kommersant and mobile phone company Megafon.


http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/31082007/325/ru ... -dein.html

[Mehmet Gurdal Cetin]

NEWCASTLE BASKANI BIR GUN BIR GECE KLUBUNE GITMEK ISTEMIS
FIKRA GIBI BASLAYAN BIR HABER

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley was refused entry to a nightclub after the Carling Cup win over Barnsley because he was wearing a football shirt. But once he was allowed in, he bought drinks for 150 fans and left a £500 tip for the bar staff. (Mail)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1779

[Murat Gökcigdem]

Tamam Galatasarayin maclarina ulasim kotu. Onu anlarim!

Ama sen kalk TR'in yemeklerini es gec Arsenal'a 1. ver...

C'mon.....


News
THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
By Lachlan Mackinnon
27 September 2007
English
(c) 2007 Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd

In an online poll of season ticket-holders, the Old Firm were only just behind Manchester United in the worst food stakes.

The survey looked at the various services provided by Europe's football clubs, as well as the entertainment factor at their grounds.

Celtic fared much better for the atmosphere at Parkhead - coming second only to Liverpool's Anfield.

But transport links to Celtic Park were deemed the fourth-worst in Europe.
Despite their ghastly grub, Manchester United's 76,000-capacity Old Trafford stadium was voted the best "overall experience", ahead of Arsenal, Barcelona, Ajax and Bayern Munich.

Roma and Lazio's shared Stadio Olympico - the scene of violent clashes between riot police and Manchester United fans last year - was deemed to have the worst security, while Barcelona had the best.

The spokesman added: "It's interesting that they've reported Man U as the best experience when you add it all up, even though the food is absolutely rotten.

"Fans visiting Arsenal have obviously enjoyed the food at the Emirates so much that they are voting en masse."

BEST FOOD
1 Arsenal
2 Barcelona
3 Norwich City
4 Kilmarnock
5Wigan Athletic

WORST FOOD
1 Manchester United
2 Rangers
3 Celtic
4 Tottenham Hotspur
5 Chelsea

ATMOSPHERE
1 Liverpool
2 Celtic
3Portsmouth
4 Barcelona
5 Newcastle United

BEST STADIUM
1Manchester United
2 Arsenal
3 Barcelona
4 Newcastle United
5 Manchester City

BEST TRANSPORT
1 Manchester United
2 Arsenal
3 Barcelona
4 Ajax
5 Bayern Munich

WORST TRANSPORT
1 Tottenham Hotspur
2 Crystal Palace
3 Middlesbrough
4 Celtic
5 Galatasaray

BEST SECURITY
1 Barcelona
2 Ajax
3 Bayern Munich
4 Real Madrid
5 Stade de France, Saint-Denis

[Mehmet Gurdal Cetin]

England preparing for Fabio Capello
Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent THE TIMES

Fabio Capello is expected to be announced as the England head coach within days after Brian Barwick, the Football Association chief executive, installed him as first choice for the job. The Times can reveal that preliminary contact has been made through intermediaries and, with José Mourinho out of the running, the pair are expected to meet this week. It looks as if the selection process that has taken place since the dismissal of Steve McClaren last month is coming to an end and the FA will deliver on the belief that a new England head coach will be in place before Christmas.

Mourinho’s withdrawal after interest from AC Milan has left the Italian in pole position. The former Chelsea manager confirmed that he had engaged in “useful discussions” with the FA, but he added: “After deep and serious thinking, I decided to exclude myself, despite it being a fantastic position.”

Capello fits Barwick’s requirement for a world-class head coach, having achieved success in two countries at club level, winning the European Cup, seven league titles and four domestic cups with Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid. He has been working as a television pundit since leaving Real in June and, having achieved all he can in club football, views the international field as his only option.

He has been intrigued by the possibility of coaching England since 2001, when Sven-Göran Eriksson was succeeded Kevin Keegan. The Swede’s appointment convinced him that the FA is open-minded about employing a foreign coach.

Capello’s command of English is better than is widely perceived and he has made no secret of his ambition for the job once England failed to qualify for Euro 2008. On the night that England were eliminated, after defeat by Croatia in their final qualifier, at Wembley, sources in Italy let it be known that Capello, 61, would be interested in taking the national team to the 2010 World Cup.

Simon Johnson, the lawyer who acts as right-hand man to Barwick on contractual matters, has spoken to Capello’s legal adviser, his son, Pier Filippo. These conversations have given the FA enough encouragement to believe that Capello is a serious contender and Barwick regards him as the outstanding candidate on his shortlist.

Marcello Lippi received a strong recommendation from Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, but would come into consideration only if talks with Capello broke down. Martin O’Neill, the Aston Villa manager, is believed to have remained firm on his wish not to be considered, while Jürgen Klinsmann was always regarded as an outside candidate.

After the humiliation surrounding the pursuit of Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Portugal coach, in 2006, the FA is at pains to point out that no firm decision has been made. That is understandable while Capello and Barwick are awaiting their face-to-face meeting, but events could move quickly after that.

Barwick will not consider offering the job to Capello until first hearing his plans for the national team, while Capello would also need to be happy with the terms and conditions of his new position, but previous conversations have given firm indication that the deal could be completed soon.

Capello is open to the suggestion of an English presence on his staff, although he would expect to work largely with a familiar team that would follow him from Italy. He is aware that an English coaching assistant would help him in the dressing-room, particularly if the figure in question is a renowned former England captain, such as Alan Shearer or Tony Adams.

Capello would be free to start work immediately and could be present for the fixtures meeting in Zagreb that will decide the order in which England play Croatia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra in their World Cup qualifying group. This discussion was put back from December to January, suggesting that England hoped to have their new man installed by then.

Barwick’s choice will have to be ratified by the FA board, but that is not expected to present a problem. The chief executive has let it be known that he would regard his position as untenable if his selection was to be rejected.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 031373.ece