1. Gareth Bale, the most expensive Welshman on the planet.
The news has been dominated by the will he won’t he story of
Gareth Bale possibly joining Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur for either £100
million or there about. Now, as a proud Welshmen I am delighted that our
diamond is being recognised for how good he actually is, but is anyone really
worth £100 million? I firmly believe he is the third best player in the world,
only behind Messi and Ronaldo, so when put it into that context, and the fact
Ronaldo was worth £80 million several years ago, then yes he is. Do I agree
with the market price for footballers? No, but that’s another story for another
time.
Should he go? If it was me, then I would jump at the chance.
I know this might upset some Spurs fans, but he’s too good to be playing Europa
League football for a team that might or might not be challenging for a top 4
position. At Real Madrid, he will make the money his talent deserves, challenge
for titles his talents deserve and have the team that will showcase his talents
to their maximum.
I’m sure we have not heard the end of this, my gut tells me
Levi will take it down to transfer deadline night, and I believe he will go in
the biggest transfer deadline day acquisition to date.
2. Sudden death of Ex-Birmingham City player Christian Benitez at the age of 27
Very sad news
in the world of football at the sudden death of Christian Benitez, who British
fans would know as a Birmingham City player from the 2009/2010 season. From
reports online, it appears he was admitted into hospital with severe stomach
pains shortly after making his debut for new club El Jaish in Qatar, and died
of heart failure caused by a previous undetected heart condition.
I never had the pleasure of watching Chucho play, except on
Match Of The Day, and I’m sure everyone here at 'Outside The Box' will join me in
offering our condolences to the family of Christian Benitez.
3. Coventry City PLC docked 10 points
Coventry City was docked 10 points this week, for being
deemed to have gone into administration after
Coventry City PLC were put into liquidation.
I’m not going to pretend to be an expert in all the legal
bits and bobs when it comes to companies and PLC’s etc, but it appears Coventry
City PLC are a non-operation subsidiary of the football club, and was setup to
be the company that held the lease on the Ricoh Arena. For one reason or
another, it appears either Coventry City PLC wouldn’t pay the rent due to their
belief it was too high, or couldn’t meet the rent for financial reasons, I
don’t know, but it has meant Coventry City started their campaign essentially
homeless and on minus 10 points.
This is just the latest in a long line of high profile clubs
having legal issues following on from Rangers, Hearts & Portsmouth to name
a few. As I wrote above, I’m not sure if this is due to a lack of finances or
if it’s a genuine dispute about the price of the rent, but football clubs need
to get their act together as leagues are starting to be decided in the courts
not on the football pitch and I find that incredibly sad.
4. Manchester United transfer saga’s
The Shrek,
sorry I mean the Wayne Rooney story has been rumbling on again this week. With
Chelsea being the most likely destination for Wayne if he does leave Old
Trafford, he has a big decision to make and it looks like it will be made in
the forthcoming week.
What irks me more than anything about the reports coming
from the Rooney camp, is he is going to decide where his future lays after
hearing the crowd’s reaction during home pre-season friendlies. Now, we all
want to be loved, and I can’t imagine what it must be liked to be booed by
thousands of people, but to essentially say you either love me or I leave just
stinks of arrogance.
Rooney isn’t the player that he could have been in my eyes,
still a very good player, but not the world class player he could have been. If
I was a Manchester United fan, I would want him to leave and cash in while he
still has some value.
The other major transfer news for Manchester United fans, is
the fact there is no news. There have been rumblings of Cesc Fabregas coming
in, but depending on what paper you read will depend on whether or not he wants
to go to United or not. As a statement when David Moyes took over as manager, I
would have thought it was imperative to make a big money signing to show the
fans that they are not taking a step back. I happen to like David Moyes, and I
think he will do fantastic for United if given the same time and loyalty Alex
Ferguson did, but I think so far this summer Manchester City have overtaken
them in terms of squad quality.
We will need to see what happens in the coming
weeks, but it must be a worry for the United fans.
5. The Football League & Scottish Leagues are back
After what has seemed
like a lifetime, football is back! It all kicked off with a special game
between two founding members of the football league. Sheffield United came out
2-1 winners against Notts County.
On Saturday 3rd August was the first full fixture
list, and the notable highlights was a 4-0 win for relegated Wigan Athletic
against Barnsley in the Championship, Leyton Orient wowed their far travelling
fans with a 5-1 win at Carlisle, and amazingly our little neighbours Newport
County made their league re-debut with a 4-1 win against James Beattie
Accrington Stanley.
In Scotland, Celtic kicked off their defence with a 2-1 win
over Ross County in the SPL, thanks to two goals from Anthony Stokes. The other
side of Glasgow was in league cup action against Forfar, and in what is being
considered a huge shock, Forfar beat Rangers. Inverness are currently on top of
the SPL after a convincing 3-0 win against St Mirran.
In Other News...
Thanks to 'Outside The Box' own Lee Gormley (@LeeGormley) for
his excellent coverage of the first weekend of the football fixtures on
twitter. Follow us at @itsbizLIVE to never miss a minute of the action.
By @HaydnGleed
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