Stan Kroenke is the American billionaire and he is gradually increasing his share in Arsenal club of England. There are reports that he is very near to become the owner of 29.9% of the club’s share and then it would result in a mandatory takeover bid. Well, we all know that another billionaire who is interested about the club is Alisher Usmanov. Most shareholders in the cub do not like Alisher Usmanov and I guess that they are hoping for Stan to become the owner. I also like Stan because Alisher Usmanov wants to turn the Gunners into something like Chelsea by pumping a huge amount of money at a short time.
I hope that Stan Kroenke makes good relationship with Arsene Wenger from now and also supports Wenger in developing the young players. It is very important for the club because they still have to repay huge amount of money that had to borrow to build the Emirates Stadium.
Tonight, the Gunners are taking on Liverpool in Carling Cup. I wonder if Stan Kroenke will watch the match or not.
We all know that football clubs can earn money from successes. I mean when you become champion then you can earn money. You get sponsorship, big TV rights, ticket sales revenue etc. However, Arsene Wenger has shown the opposite. He has shown how to earn money from failures. Look at his record for the last 5 years. Under his coaching, his club achieved simply nothing. Even, this season, Arsenal supporters are not optimistic of winning anything. Still, Arsenal is perhaps the most profitable club in England today. They are making profits at a time when they are repaying huge amount of debt that occurred as a result of building the stadium Emirates. So, on the one hand, Arsenal is not winning anything for the last few seasons and on the other hand, they are replaying the loan. So, it is perhaps any kind of logic that they are one of the most profitable clubs in the world now.
Eric Altshule has written an excellent report in EPL Talk: Arsene Wenger’s Moneyball Strategy. Eric has talked about some of the strategies followed by Wenger. I am writing some of them:
1. Wenger never went for expensive players
2. He did not go for big leagues like EPL and La Liga. Instead he went for smaller leagues like Holland, Russia and Germany.
3. He picked players at a very early age.
4. Wenger spends largest amount of money among soccer managers for scouting network. It is extensive and covers every corner on earth.
5. After getting a new player he arranges very good training facility.
6. He can get super stars regularly and sell them almost every year.
It is clear that Wenger gives a lot of time for this matter. He is a passionate person about his job and he has the brain and motivation. The more I read and write about Arsene Wenger the bigger fan I am becoming of him. I don’t have a degree like him in Economics. I just wish that I could implement his ideas in blogging.
When you earn your own money then really it is a very good thing. However, it seems that some EPL clubs are getting too much money for nothing. You may point out easily Chelsea and ManchesterCity. However, I would like to talk about Liverpool and Manchester United. Liverpool is struggling financially with loans. It is becoming increasingly difficult for them to keep the balance of their books in a good way. As a result, debt is increasing. So, many supporters are very angry and they are planning a protest march for tomorrow. Tomorrow, Liverpool will host Manchester United in a very important match. The problem with Liverpool is that they have not learnt to follow the style of Arsenal’s coach Arsene Wenger. Liverpool is spending a lot of money on top players and their achievement is not that much better than Arsenal in the last 5 years. Instead, they have run into debts.
You may think that all things are rosy with Manchester United. I don’t think so. They also have been spending too much money on buying top players and players’ salaries. Chelsea and ManchesterCity will be in deep trouble when the current owners would leave the clubs.
Andrei Arshavin has recently been full of praise about Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. The Russian playmaker has said that Wenger is a revered figure at Arsenal and he deserves the praises for his success with the North London club. Indicating the previous glory Arsenal got under the guidance of Wenger, Arshavin has said that the time will come again at Arsenal. He thinks that Arsenal is only second to Barcelona when it comes to attacking football and believes that the current season will be better for the Gunners, even though they may not win the Champions League title this season.
Arsenal is currently at the fourth position in the premier league with 18 points from 8 matches. Well, I think, Gunners are strong enough to make a strong challenge for the premier league title this season. The good thing for Arsenal is that a number of injured players are coming back to action and they now have some quality bench players as well. Even if Arsenal can not win any title this season, they are still growing up as a very strong team. One thing seems that Arsenal would be back to winning years very soon.
Neo Cricket TV channel has extended its television deal with BCCI for 4 more years starting from 2010 to 2014. To clinch the rights, Neo Cricket has to pay Rs. 2000 crores to BCCI. That means, India’s per home match will cost the channel 31.5 crores. Initially, Neo Cricket will have to pay Rs. 660 crores as the guarantee money in order to ensure the deal with BCCI.
Neo Cricket, owned by Nimbus Communication Pvt Ltd, also holds the current TV rights of India’s home matches under the current deal which expires in March 2010. The channel is comparatively new and has not reached every corner of the country. So, Neo Cricket should also try to extend its coverage in India.
Chelsea winger Florent Malouda has recently revealed his intention of finishing his career at the StamfordBridge. The 29-year-old France international has signed a new deal with Chelsea in the summer that will keep him in the club until 2013. However, Malouda sees his Chelsea future beyond 2013 as he believes that the club has given him the hunger to continue. He is also delighted at being an important part of Chelsea squad.
"To finish at Chelsea? Why not?" the 29-year-old, who is approaching 100 appearances for the club, told RMC.
"I think I will be capable of playing beyond 2013. I am flourishing at Chelsea. What I experience here gives me hunger to continue.
"As long as I have that hunger I will carry on. I still have beautiful years ahead of me. Chelsea is in any case the ideal place to have a beautiful career."
Florent Malouda has also said that new Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has created a good environment at the club. He believes that the West London club’s flying start to the season is the evident of its stability. Malouda joined Chelsea from Lyon in 2007, but the winger had to struggle in his initial stage at the club to get a regular place in the starting line up. However, the French winger has proven his skill and talent last season and has now become a very important player for Chelsea.
Don’t get surprised with the title of the entry. Really, now, hardly anyone even in India has any interest about IPL Champions League T20 2009. The India based clubs are out of the competition and that means lower TV ratings for the rest of the tournament. Well, BCCI has already got perhaps good money from ESPN Star and the sponsors. So, they have enough money to spend to arrange cricket matches in almost empty matches. In any match, when an Indian club is not involved, getting a 10,000 crowd is becoming an impossible task. No problem for BCCI officials. They know how to waste money in the best way.
Of course, it is not their fault that Indian clubs cannot complete against Australian teams.
During Summer 2009 transfer window, speculation was rife that Valencia striker David Villa would join either Real Madrid or Barcelona. However, Valencia later on made Villa unavailable for sale in Summer. Now, Manuel Llorente, president of Valencia, has recently revealed that he turned down €42 million offer for the striker from both the clubs.
First, Real Madrid approached the offer in order to acquire the service of Villa, but Llorente initially wanted a swap deal by which Alvaro Negredo and Esteban Granero would join Valencia and Villa would move to Real Madrid. Later on, Valencia was keen on a deal worth €30m and Negredo, in exchange of Villa. However, Real Madrid did not agree on the deal. Barcelona then stepped up with the same offer, but Valencia turned it down and announced that they would not sell Villa.
Former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira has dismissed all the reports linking him with a return to Arsenal next January. The French international is currently playing for Inter Milan and struggling to get first team football. Ahead of next year’s world cup football, Vieira is looking to get more first team action and his current contract with the Italian outfit will be finished at the end of the current season.
Patrick Vieira has said that he has no plan to switch club in January as his current deal with Inter Milan keeps him at the club until the end of the season. He has also said that he would leave the club in June and has not decided if he would move to Premier league or Ligue 1.
Well, speculations were out in the media suggesting that Arsenal would try to sign their former captain. It is pretty much certain that Vieira’s world cup hopes is getting bleak as he has failed to clinch a regular spot in the Inter squad since the start of the season.
Speculation was rife that Real Madrid’s Dutch international Royston Drenthe was going to join Italian club Fiorentina in January transfer window. However, reports out in the media now suggest that the player would stay at Real Madrid as the club still wants his service.
Royston Drenthe’s agent Ernesto Bronzetti has admitted that his client was very close to join the Italian outfit, but now Real Madrid has shown interest to keep him and that is why, there is hardly any chance for Fiorentina to acquire the service of the midfielder. The agent also dismissed all the newspaper reports claiming that Drenthe would continue his job at Real Madrid.
Royston Drenthe joined the Spanish club in 2007 in a move from Feyenoord. He has also represented Netherlands in 47 international matches so far.
This blog is more than 3 years old and it is going to pass 2.1 million page views in the next 24 hours or so. Well, in 2007 and 2008, I gave a lot of hours in this blog but now the problem is that I have to take care of too many blogs and this blog is normally maintained by another person called Biplob Kishore Deb. I have to admit that it is just like updating it regularly and nothing beyond that. We realized that we could not keep up with 14 blogs and that is why, we have focused on our efforts on just 2-3 blogs. Anyway, I would like to share a success story with you. Earlier today, in Blogging37, I wrote the entry: Ten Simple SEO Tips
It has been linked by a number of blogs and websites. Well, most probably, it got linked by 10 websites. I am not kidding with myself and I know that most of them simply did not write anything new. Took a sentence or two from my entry and just gave a link for trackback. Even most of the websites or blogs don’t have any page rank. Still, I felt happy to see that it could attract the imagination of 10 persons. So, it has helped me to boost my confidence about blogging. Blogging is my passion and profession both. Today, I again realized that I should not neglect it at all.
If you have time then read the entry. It can be useful for you.
English champion Manchester United is all set to make a move for Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev in the January transfer window. CSKA Moscow, where the goalkeeper is currently playing, has reportedly given permission to United to talk to goalkeeper about the playing terms in January. It is pretty much understandable that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is not impressed with United’s second choice keeper Ben Foster who has failed to deliver the kind of performance he was expected to as the regular keeper Edwin van der Sar has been sidelined since the start of the season through injury.
It has been reported that CSKA Moscow could claim £10million transfer fee for Igor Akinfeev. Well, it could be decreased some through negotiations, but it is pretty much certain that Manchester United would make a move, if the Old Trafford think-tank does not change their decision dramatically.
Salomon Kalou has extended his Chelsea contract until 2014 recently as he put pen on paper for a new deal. After signing the new contract, Ivory Coast striker has revealed a big relief as his future at the West London club was uncertain until recently with just one year left in his previous contract. There was intense speculation that he might make a move away from Chelsea as a number of clubs were interested to sign him.
Kalou has said that he is now free to concentrate on football again after all the off-field issues have been resolved. The Ivorian international is currently earning a salary of £60,000 per week at Chelsea.
I think, it has been a win-win situation for both the club as well as the player. Chelsea would not be able to sign any new player to sell any player until 2011 as FIFA has imposed a transfer ban on the club. So, acquiring Kalou’s service for an extended period would ensure Chelsea would have enough options in their attacking line up. On the other hand, Kalou can now look for more action with the club unable to buy any new player.
The inaugural edition of Champions League twenty20 is currently going on in India with the participation of 12 teams from India, Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies. This is the first ever cricket tournament where domestic champions of different countries are participating. If this is not enough to attract you, then you should know Champions League Twenty20 2009 offers prize money of $6 million, an unprecedented amount for any cricket tournament.
No doubt, it is a lucrative tournament and it is a big way for the clubs or franchises and players to make some good cash in through this tournament. Organized by BCCI, the tournament can be compared to UEFA Champions League of soccer. Three teams from India (including IPL Champion and Runner up), two teams from Australia, England and South Africa each, and one team from Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand are participating in the tournament. All the teams know that lucrative prize money is up for grab and if they can win the tournament, it would make a fortune for them.
The tournament format is not very complex. 12 teams are divided into 4 groups of 3 teams each. In each group, all of the three teams will play against each other in a round robin league system. Winning team earns 2 points, while the losing side ends up winning no point. For a tied, no result or abandoned match, each of the two teams will be awarded 1 point. Four group champions in terms of points achieved will progress to the semi final. Winners of the two semi finals will face each other in the final match of the tournament on 23 October 2009.
Each of the two losing semi finalists will get $500,000
Second-placed teams in each group will receive $200,000
Third-placed teams in each group will earn $100,000
This is a really an eye-catching prize money. Even ICC can not offer $2,500,00 as prize money for the winner of ICC World Cup or ICC World Twenty20. Though I could not collect any information about the prize money of man of the match and man of the tournament awards, I guess prize money of these awards will be pretty much high. That means the total prize money of the tournament will be even bigger. Here, it is noteworthy that cricket fans from 160 countries across the globe will be able to watch this tournament on television. Now, let us see if players can put their best in the tournament and entertain the cricket fans around the world with such a big amount of prize money in offer.
England is ready make a serious bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Andy Anson, chairman of the bid, has revealed that winning the hosting right of the world cup means a £3.2 billion economic gain for the country. It has been estimated that around £5 billion pounds will be spend during the world cup, and thus, England economy will be boost up.
At a football conference organized at Stamford Bridge stadium, home ground of Chelsea, Mr. Anson also revealed that a final financial study on the benefits of England staging the world cup would come out next year and that would surely foresee a larger benefit.
Well, there is no doubt, England economy will get a serious boost, if England really wins the bid. FIFA will decide the winner of the bid in December 2010. A number of countries are getting prepared for the bid.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has shown interest in 19-year-old Italian striker Mario Balotelli who has already represented Italy at U-21 level. The young prodigy is currently playing for Inter Milan, but there is every possibility that Inter manager Jose Mourinho might let Balotelli move to Arsenal, if Inter can sign Goran Pandev from Lazio in January transfer window. Reports out in the media suggest that Mourinho is not yet impressed by the prospect of the young striker.
Arsene Wenger last month said that he liked Mario Balotelli and felt that the player could become one of the greatest. Hearing such words from someone like Wenger, any young player would love to move to Arsenal, which has become a breeding place of future stars during the managerial stint of Arsene Wenger. Now, it is pretty much certain that Wenger would try to sign the young striker in winter transfer window. Wenger is well-known for his ability to recognize future stars and nurture their potential.
There is no doubt, India’s early exit from ICC Champions Trophy 2009 has been a big disappointment for Indian cricket fans across the world. Well, the companies who signed advertising deals for the tournament are similarly disappointed too. Many companies like Maruti Suzuki, Samsung, Tata Motors etc. invested big amount to buy advertising slots of the tournament hoping for their big promotion among the cricket fans across the world.
Indian team has a large fan base and sponsors always look to capitalize on Indian market. So, the performance of Indian team is always an important thing when it comes to a big tournament. I can still remember that following the early exit of Indian team from ICC World Cup 2007 many advertisers were overly disappointed. The same thing happened earlier this year when India got out of World Twenty20 2009 at the Super Six stage. However, India’s triumph in Twenty20 world cup 2007 brought huge success for the sponsors. Overall, it is like a gamble when it comes to invest in big cricket tournaments.
The problem is that cricket is largely popular in India and there is no other country where cricket is considered to be a religion. So, eat cricket drink cricket approach does not go with other test playing countries. It is definitely bad for cricket altogether because cricket has now become a one-country game in the world. Here, BCCI and ICC have to take a big responsibility because their monopoly practice is a big hindrance in popularizing cricket across the world.
I hope that you have clearly understood what the title indicates. Yes, I am talking about Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas who has been linked with his youth club Barcelona for sometime now. No doubt, Barcelona is trying its best to acquire the service of their old student and there is every possibility Fabregas may move to the Catalan side next season.
However, what is interesting is that Cesc Fabregas kissed on the club badge after scoring a goal in Arsenal’s 6-2 thrashing of Blackburn Rovers last Sunday. Naturally, it should have meant to be his affection for the club where he has been playing for since 2003. The irony is that it actually meant something different to many Arsenal fans. Why?
Well, the matter of fact is that two former Arsenal stars: Thierry Henry and Emmanuel Adebayor- kissed on Arsenal badge on their shirts as part of their scoring celebration just before moving away from the club in the following seasons. So, you can know understand that Fabregas’ kissing on the club badge has given more ground on the speculation that he would join his former club Barcelona in near future. Well, nothing is clear as of now and nobody knows what is going to happen to Cesc Fabregas.
Anyway, would you be surprised if Fabregas joins Barcelona in winter transfer window?
Well, in the first half, Arsenal was even trailing by 1-2 until I think the 20th minutes. Then we saw the magic of Cesc Fábregas, Arsenal Captain. He helped Van Persie and Arshevin to score goals. Fabregas himself also scored one and he also helped Thomas Vermaelen to score the first goal of the club. Blackburn Rovers players could match with Arsenal in the first half but in the second half, they were completely outclassed by the Gunners.
Fábregas, whose all-round display shimmered, pledged his affection for Arsenal after scoring with a graceful volley. He smothered the badge on his shirt with a kiss. "There's always speculation I don't like it here but I am committed to this club 100 per cent," he said. "It's my seventh season and it's hard to hear people say they think I'm not committed enough. It was a good time to show them I really love this club."
It was the return match of Walcott after he was absent due to injury and he put his name in the score sheet with a superb goal. Arsene Wenger is delighted and stated that his boys can go a long way this season.
The match is going at this moment. New Zealand is batting at 106/3. So, you can easily understand they are on halfway of their innings. Earlier, Pakistan batted and scored 233/9 from their allotted 50 overs. It is not a lot of runs but New Zealand has already lost 3 wickets. My feeling is that they have the batting line up and today Pakistani bowlers do not look that much strong. Well, if the Kiwis go to the final then they will face Australia and it will be an interesting encounter. They are neighbors and they have healthy rivalry.
So, at this moment, it looks to me that New Zealand will go to the final of Champions Trophy 2009. If they go then people of South Asia will have nothing to see in the final match on this Monday. Sri Lanka and India are out from first round.
