27/03/2023–02/04/2023
Annoucement ! — *Exclusive interview* with Arsenal Academy Player Charles Sagoe Jr will be dropping soon ! Keep your eyes peeled and make sure you’ve signed up to mailing list !
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Brentford FC are in paradise
- Brentford FC released their annual financial statements for the year-ended 30 June 2022, which covered a period in which Brentford finished 13th in their first ever season competing in the Premier League.
- The club recorded a turnover of £140.9m (2021: £15.3m), which is an exceptional result for a team like Brentford. The turnover was mainly driven by a huge increase in central distributions from the Premier League, as well as an increase in fans attending games, which drastically improved matchday revenue. There were also further increases in the commercial side of the business, which has positively impacted the club’s finances.
- The statements showed a Group operating profit before player trading of £25.1m (2021: Loss of £53.2m). The large improvement in turnover was offset by increases in expenses, which were £45.4m, largely driven by an increase in player wages and considerable investment into the squad that has allowed them to be competitive in the Premier League.
- This mentality of being competitive in the Premier League has also been reflected in the financial statements, with a reduced profit on player trading being reflected in the accounts. The profit has dropped to £4.6m (2021: £44.3m), with a strong emphasis on the club keeping hold of their prized asset, being key players. This case is reasonable, given their increase in revenue from various other streams in the year.
- Overall, the group recorded a profit before taxation of £29.9m (2021: loss of £8.5m). With an impressive scouting network, a good development strategy at the club, and a great manager in Thomas Frank, it makes sense why Brentford are continuing to impress on all fronts.
Human rights component to be added to Owners’ and Directors’ test (OADT)
- First, let’s start off by explaining exactly what the Owners’ and Directors’ Screening test is that the Premier League uses for executives. Essentially, it is a due diligence process that outlines requirements that would prevent an individual from becoming an owner or director of a football club. For example, a criminal conviction or breaches of key football regulations would prevent owners and directors from performing their roles in the Premier League.
- Last year, Premier League CEO Richard Masters stated that “The test has been under a lot of scrutiny for the last 12 months, and we are looking at it again.” Roughly a year later, on Thursday, significant changes were made to the screening process. A range of new disqualifying events has been added to the vetting process, such as a new provision for human rights abusers based on the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations in 2020, and extending the criminal offenses list to include fraud, hate crimes, and tax evasion convictions.
- The idea behind this updated version of the OADT’s is for the Premier League to make it a lot more transparent than in recent years, with any individuals who are guilty of disqualification being publicly disclosed. There will also be additional due diligence checks on existing club directors and owners to ensure that their clubs remain compliant.
- Now, there has been various speculation as to why the Premier League has looked to further increase the screening process, with some pointing towards Roman Abramovich being scrutinized, as well as human rights groups being unhappy with the Newcastle takeover approved by the Premier League. However, it will be important that the process is fair and transparent, with no parties being held to different standards than others. As long as the decision ends up being better for the football world in general, I cannot complain.
ARSENAL FANS ARE PAYING HOW MUCH ??….
- Wow, wow, and wow! £53,000 is the price of tickets that are reselling for Arsenal’s final home game against Wolverhampton on May 28, with Gunners all around the world praying for their 19-year Premier League drought to finally come to an end.
- Nineteen years ago, Arsene Wenger’s “Invincible’s” won the Premier League and went on to be unbeaten in 2003/04. Fast forward 19 years and Arteta’s Reds find themselves on the brink of greatness; they are only 10 games away from what will be a remarkable season from the Gunners. With Arsenal currently 8 points clear of Manchester City (game in hand), Arsenal fans have every right to think that this is their year. However, now they will be tasked with possibly the biggest challenge that any of these young Arsenal players have ever faced to date: ending the season on top of the Premier League.
- The Arsenal squad has an average age of 24.7, and the graph above illustrates where they sit against previous Premier League winners.
- Although there are senior players in the squad that have been in these positions before, such as Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Jorginho, the majority of the young players within the squad have not, including Mikel Arteta. With that being said, there have been no signs of these Arsenal youngsters not being able to deal with the pressure that this title race has brought. But we will have to wait and see…
In defence of/Defending Erling Haaland:What makes you the best striker? By Khanya Mosetlhi
Erling Haaland is probably going to have a greater number of Champions League goals than your favourite striker.
That is an eventuality I think most of us are going to have to come to terms with.
Whether that shifts how he’s perceived by people who watched him is a different conversation
How Haaland is spoken about is amusing because after he scored 5 goals and equalled Messi’s record for most Champions League goals in a game I still saw (and added) more criticism than I saw praise. The general consensus seemed to be that he’s just a poacher.
If he is, why criticise him for anything else? If he “just scores” and his team won the game then he’s done his job
If Haaland continues the way he’s going both domestically and continentally he’ll end up on paper one of the best we’ve ever seen
Having watched Messi and Ronaldo break all previous goalscoring records while they both offered more than only goals while doing this, are we perhaps projecting that expectation onto a player that just isn’t similar to either of them?
Why would we expect a 1.94M tall striker to be anything like anyone else? Haaland is good at scoring goals and that’s what he’s been signed for
Sure we can spend time wondering about how he could possibly get even better and the prospect of that is exciting but at what point do you just look at a 22 year old imperfect attacker doing what he does and just allow him to exist in the present moment. When will he just be analysed as he is
Comparison is the thief of joy after all, if we spend all our time watching and at times berating a player who arguably we couldn’t have expected any more from in his first season in the Premier League, at Manchester City at what point are we just depriving ourselves from enjoying his exploits?
It’s not the most aesthetically pleasing at times but football doesn’t always have to be that, football for me is about the varying styles coming up against one another, that is the appeal of the game, people’s different approaches to this one sport.
Simeone’s style of football as a coach isn’t the most universally loved, but what he’s done with it has coincided in Atletico Madrid’s most successful era. To be able to do that up against clubs like Barcelona stands as the strongest example of the importance of differing styles, aesthetically pleasing or otherwise, majority of football fans in the past 10 years will be able to recall their experiences when they came up against Simeone sides, all of Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool can point to moments where this aesthetically unappealing side, made them doubt their sides if only for a moment
Haaland will likely never be like Robin Van Persie, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, or Luis Suarez. He will probably outscore all of them, and that in and of itself is incredible, and maybe that is enough, maybe it’s best we judge only for what he is, instead of constantly highlighting what he isn’t.
