World Football Thread VII

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by C0ckney
not much changes in liverpool then

I'm from Chester dear boy, my father had the foresight to get out of Liverpool.....

[Urban Ranger]

Interesting afternoon. Got some strange calls.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I wonder if Arsenal is still scoring on Boro

[C0ckney]

should of been 8, we woz robbed

[C0ckney]

from the news of the world

SVEN'S DIRTY DEALS

By Mahzer Mahmood

SCHEMING Sven Goran Eriksson is secretly preparing to DUMP England immediately after the World Cup, the News of the World can reveal.

At a time when the Swede should be focused on vital team preparations, he tried to get an undercover News of the World investigator—posing as a rich Arab—to BUY Premiership club Aston Villa and give him the manager's job on a massive £5 million a year AFTER TAX, plus bonuses.

Crafty Eriksson—who vowed to fans he would see out the last two years of his England contract—even discussed ways of wriggling out of the job behind the backs of his FA bosses.

In a six-month investigation that will stun football, we also tell how:

Eriksson, 57, BRAGGED he could tap up superstar David Beckham and prise him away from Real Madrid to Villa—which is illegal in soccer. He even offered to phone him personally, promising: "He will come tomorrow. And it's up to me to convince him that Birmingham is the right place to be."

The England boss also POURED SCORN on some of Britain's best known players. He even attacked some of England's team, describing one as lazy, criticising another's upbringing and saying a third was not worth his transfer fee.

And he SPILLED private conversations with them to impress his new contacts. He said of Newcastle's record signing Michael Owen: "I asked him if he was happy. He said, ‘Not really with the club', then hinted he was only there for the money."

Eriksson will not be happy either as we reveal what he is REALLY thinking about in the run-up to England's most important challenge this century.

Our investigation began last July when we were told that, despite England struggling to qualify for the World Cup, Sven and his advisors were after lucrative opportunities.

So our undercover Arab contacted Sven's portly agent Athole Still—who negotiated Eriksson's monster £8 million England contract—to see if he would be interested in coaching at a new football academy in Dubai.

We expected the answer to be no because of the pressures of getting England to the finals. Instead it was a very definite YES—and negotiations began.

On Wednesday night Sven, along with Still and lawyer Richard Des Voeux, flew from Heathrow to Dubai where they were put up in the luxurious Burj al-Arab. They met our Arab at the hotel's seafood restaurant. Sven was in a sharp suit and black tie.

By the end of the night the two had ordered and downed champagne along with two bottles of vintage wine costing £900.

Targets

Over crab cakes and lobster, they got down to business. Just under an hour into the meal, Eriksson raised the idea of buying a club with our Arab and his undercover associate.

When they asked which one would be most suitable in England, Eriksson said: "Aston Villa is for sale."

He and Still callously pointed out that it was an excellent target for takeover because its chairman, Doug Ellis, was elderly and in poor health.

Sven: The chairman is an old man today. He's sick.

Still: He's 83. He wants to go.

Still told the reporter it would take £25 million to get a controlling interest in the club. Soon Sven was keen to discuss his own role at Villa when our Arab and his associate asked who they thought should be manager.

Reporter: How do you get the right manager?

Reporter 2: Could we prise you away from England?

Sven: (Laughs)

Reporter: But you're not allowed to do two jobs are you?

Sven: No, but everything is possible. But only at the end of the season.

Reporter: Seriously, are you interested or are you joking?

Sven: No I'm not joking.

Eriksson admitted his England contract lasted until 2008 but added: "After five and a half years... it's a long time to be England manager."

Later during the meal, getting excited about the job, he was even more positive: "Anyhow, if we win the World Cup, I will leave."

The next day Eriksson, Still and one of his lawyers, Richard Des Voeux, joined our Arab and his associates aboard a luxury 72-foot yacht Eternity in Dubai marina. During a three-hour trip, the England coach lounged on the top deck taking in the Dubai coastline.

The sneaky Swede soon got down to money. Eriksson pointed out: "I have two more years with the FA and there I have £3 million net per year, plus bonuses."

He went into detail about how he wanted a three-year deal that would match Jose Mourinho's £5 million-a-year at Chelsea. When asked about annual bonuses for players he suggested £200,000 to £300,000 a year if cups were won. And for himself "a little larger than that".

"Now if I will leave the FA, I should like to have a contract of three years," he added.

The men then discussed getting Eriksson out of his contract with England. Still said there was no notice period. Lawyer Des Voeux said: "There are ways and means once Sven is happy of getting him out."

The two sides agreed to meet in London secretly next week.

Our man told Eriksson before he flew back: "We will try to make some arrangements but we will have to be careful there. Eriksson replied: "Yes".

£5 million a year doesn't buy you much loyalty these days

this just stinks, ian wright was spot on a few weeks ago

[MikeH]

Yeah, it does stink. F*cking News of the World trying to stir stuff up in world cup year. What do they want to do, destroy team spirit before a World Cup? Their brand of entrapment 'journalism' is a disgrace.

Was amusing to hear the comments sent into Sky Sports News, everyone was laying into the News of the World. Someone said "no surprise it was the Sun group" (which is amusing because Sky is another Murdoch owned company) and my favourite labeled News of the World "Traitors."




Did Sven say anything that wasn't obvious?

Owen moved to Newcastle for the money but the team's a bit sh1t?
Rooney is from a poor family and has a temper?
Real Madrid haven't improved since Becks got there?
Rio is a bit lazy sometimes?

Is any of that a shock to anyone?

[C0ckney]

greedy foreign ****



poor old sven etc.

maybe he should of thought that in a world cup year, it wasn't the best idea in the world to badmouth the players he's been paid a king's ransom to manage, to some arab, in the hope of making a few quid.

glenn hoddle anyone.

[Maquiladora]

Im with Mike on this one, it all looks incredibly pathetic on NotW's part. Anyone that creates this crap now obviously doesnt give a **** for us in the WC, so i couldnt give a **** for them.

If he wins us the WC he can do whatever the hell he likes, quitting would probably be a good idea.

[MikeH]

Re: greedy foreign ****

Originally posted by C0ckney


poor old sven etc.

maybe he should of thought that in a world cup year, it wasn't the best idea in the world to badmouth the players he's been paid a king's ransom to manage, to some arab, in the hope of making a few quid.

glenn hoddle anyone.

I dunno about badmouthing, nothing he's said was untrue was it? It was indiscreet, yes. Absolutely. How many of us slag off our workmates over a pint from time to time? Imagine if someone deliberately set us up, gave us a few drinks and then started asking questions about them, leading us to be more and more indiscreet so they could record what we really thought of our workmates and then play it to them. Would we think that was acceptible behaviour? Of course not. Just because he's paid more doesn't mean it's fair to do that to him either.

The NotW have a history of this kind of sensationalist journalism that they market as 'investigative' but is really just cheap sleazemongering and entrapment. They deliberately manipulate the situation to lead people into making statements that they can sensationalize. It's making the news not reporting it.

I'm not apologising for Sven but I feel sorry for him in this one. I, personally, don't see any reason why he shouldn't work out what his options are for next season. If England bomb out early he'll have to resign, if we win it he'll go too so he needs to be thinking about what happens next year just in case.

I just don't get our right wing tabloids. Come the world cup they'll run out all the old war cliche's and be 'right behind our boys' etc. etc. but in the meantime they'll do everything they can to destroy the team morale and cohesion by manufacturing stories like this.

[Imran Siddiqui]

The whole 'our reporter posed as a rich Arab trying to buy a Prem club' just smacks of ridiculousness. Let me guess, another Brit tabloid?

[MikeH]

Yep. News of the World which is just about the lowest of the low.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Hell, it sounds like one of our tabloids (ie, the ones that don't even bother to pretend they are reporting facts).

[MikeH]

ps Imran:




more here

http://football.guardian.co.uk/gallery/0,8555,1683956,00.html

[C0ckney]

mike sure i understand what you're saying but i think it's a bit different than talking about your workmates down the pub.

i'm pretty sure michael owen and david beckham didn't expect sven to repeat things they told him in confidence, to a 'fake sheik' he'd only just met in the hope of big pay day. it's not only indiscreet, but also shows a lack of professionalism and respect.

the news of world are certainly partly responsible for this, their job is to sell newspapers, sven's job is to manage the england team. at the end of the day if everyone had done their jobs right then there wouldn't be a story. :/

[MikeH]

Yeah...

but it doesn't help anyone to set up the England manager 5 months before a world cup does it?