Global Football Odds & Ends

SocrManiac

Tommy Seebach’s mustache
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Apr 15, 2006
8,634
Somers, CT
ManU legend Howard Webb is replacing Mike Riley as head of referees.

Canning Riley shows there may be an awareness of how farcical the league’s officiating was last year. I still think sweeping, wholesale changes are required, including either better VAR integration and guidelines or at least putting more live eyes on the pitch. We’ll see how this goes down but the overall standard has been poor for a long time, made worse by the usage of VAR to infuriate rather than supplement.
 

the1andonly3003

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
4,371
Chicago
ManU legend Howard Webb is replacing Mike Riley as head of referees.

Canning Riley shows there may be an awareness of how farcical the league’s officiating was last year. I still think sweeping, wholesale changes are required, including either better VAR integration and guidelines or at least putting more live eyes on the pitch. We’ll see how this goes down but the overall standard has been poor for a long time, made worse by the usage of VAR to infuriate rather than supplement.
so the Red Devils get all the favorable decisions?
 

SocrManiac

Tommy Seebach’s mustache
SoSH Member
Apr 15, 2006
8,634
Somers, CT
so the Red Devils get all the favorable decisions?
No, it’s just their first big signing of the window.

Disclaimer: it might be the brief window since his retirement sulking memories, but by and large I didn’t hate Webb more than most. If he can raise the standard I’m all for this.
 

Mighty Joe Young

The North remembers
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Sep 14, 2002
8,401
Halifax, Nova Scotia , Canada
The retirement of all these guys (5 by my count) in the same offseason can’t be a coincidence. Obviously it’s not the kind of transition that optimal. But given the drek that’s been kicked to the curb, senior EPL officials must have read the riot act. I never minded Webb. Hope he does a better job than his predecessors.
 

Zososoxfan

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Jul 30, 2009
9,208
South of North

SocrManiac

Tommy Seebach’s mustache
SoSH Member
Apr 15, 2006
8,634
Somers, CT
That's good. Campos' look is so iconic, but so were a lot of keeper kits in the '94 WC and thereabout. The other one that sticks out the most in my mind is Sweden's Ravelli:

View attachment 52787View attachment 52787

Bonus point for the painter's hat! FIFA also needs to pull its head out of its ass and allow 3-color strips again, amirite @dirtynine ?!??
I still have the blue/green and red/yellow versions of that, complete with shorts. They have my number and name. They were super popular when I was in... 7th grade?

They were so baggy that they still fit.
 

Zososoxfan

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Jul 30, 2009
9,208
South of North
I still have the blue/green and red/yellow versions of that, complete with shorts. They have my number and name. They were super popular when I was in... 7th grade?

They were so baggy that they still fit.
I had the red/yellow too! I was quite a good keeper before my height became a disqualifier in 7th grade. Ahhh the joys of peaking early.
 

candylandriots

unkempt
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Mar 30, 2004
12,327
Berlin
I still have the blue/green and red/yellow versions of that, complete with shorts. They have my number and name. They were super popular when I was in... 7th grade?

They were so baggy that they still fit.
So I’ve wondered this for a long time and never had the moment to ask. I didn’t watch back in the 90s. Why oh why did they wear those baggy, long-sleeved shirts? It doesn’t seem to make sense from either a strategic or comfort point of view. The fashion value is also highly questionable, though that seems the only plausible theory I’ve been able to come up with. Anyone?
 

SocrManiac

Tommy Seebach’s mustache
SoSH Member
Apr 15, 2006
8,634
Somers, CT
So I’ve wondered this for a long time and never had the moment to ask. I didn’t watch back in the 90s. Why oh why did they wear those baggy, long-sleeved shirts? It doesn’t seem to make sense from either a strategic or comfort point of view. The fashion value is also highly questionable, though that seems the only plausible theory I’ve been able to come up with. Anyone?
It was simply the style of the day. Nothing more.

Most kits (including this one) were padded on the arms and hips.
 

Zososoxfan

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Jul 30, 2009
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IIRC, Campos was also an outlier and innovator for wearing a short-sleeved keeper shirt. IIRC (again), keepers didn't start wearing short-sleeves en masse until much later.
 

SocrManiac

Tommy Seebach’s mustache
SoSH Member
Apr 15, 2006
8,634
Somers, CT
IIRC, Campos was also an outlier and innovator for wearing a short-sleeved keeper shirt. IIRC (again), keepers didn't start wearing short-sleeves en masse until much later.
Just in time for more and more turf fields over here. Helluva time for the fashion to change.

I ended up wearing a compression sleeve on my right elbow most of my “career.” For whatever reason I consistently would catch it and rip it up. A second skin of a sleeve took care of it.
 

swiftaw

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Jan 31, 2009
3,434
AFCON moved from June 2023 to January 2024. Expect all the European clubs to start complaining again.
 

rguilmar

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Jul 16, 2005
1,610
Does the Patriots need a new kicker?

View: https://youtu.be/DYARjeKOQlI
I was watching this game live and it was so shocking in the moment that I thought it wasn’t real. This on top of the fact that he missed a penalty during the game itself that would have won the tie and that this PK also would have sealed the shootout for Boca.

It was the worst PK I’ve ever seen in such a high pressure moment, and I’m including Baggio’s in that statement.
 

BrazilianSoxFan

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Apr 11, 2006
3,751
Brasil
I was watching this game live and it was so shocking in the moment that I thought it wasn’t real. This on top of the fact that he missed a penalty during the game itself that would have won the tie and that this PK also would have sealed the shootout for Boca.

It was the worst PK I’ve ever seen in such a high pressure moment, and I’m including Baggio’s in that statement.
Baggio would have scored if there was a second goal on top. Benedetto's would still miss.

And beyond the missed penalties, he also lost at least 3 very clear goal opportunities.
 

the1andonly3003

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
4,371
Chicago
Mike Dean: Let fans listen to referee’s conversation with VAR | Sport | The Times

David Dein, when he was running Arsenal, said when headsets were introduced years ago that he wanted fans to be able to pay £5 or £10 to listen in. The clubs would go for that, if they can make money from charging for headsets to listen in, and it could be another thing for advertising.
Dean, meanwhile, says that he hopes he is remembered by fans as “an entertainer”.
His fans or football fans in general?

Total Premier League matches refereed 560

Premier League red cards 114 (Manchester City 10, Chelsea 9, Newcastle 8, West Bromwich Albion 7, Arsenal 6).

Premier League penalties 186 (Manchester United 18, Manchester City 15, Tottenham Hotspur 12, Chelsea 11, Newcastle United 8, Aston Villa 9, West Ham 9).
 

67YAZ

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Dec 1, 2000
8,729
What the hell is going on with Canada Soccer? First there was the very poor decision to back out of the Iran friendly and now there are well-reported allegations of series mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and souring relationships with the men's and women's squads.

A review of more than 1,000 pages of Canada Soccer internal briefing notes, team budgets, emails, and business contracts, in addition to interviews with 31 current and former Canada Soccer executives, board members, men’s and women’s national team players, player agents and corporate partners, paint a picture of an organization that has lurched between internal battles over transparency and governance for years.
Look at these media rights payments, ludicrously low for both a team on the rise as well as an upcoming World Cup co-host. Plus, who signs a media deal for 18 years in this rapidly evolving environment?

The agreement obliges CSB to pay a guaranteed fee to Canada Soccer annually between 2019 and 2027 in exchange for the rights to sell both broadcasting and corporate sponsorship rights to the men’s and women’s national teams.

In 2019, that fee was $3 million, according to a copy of the contract obtained by TSN. The guarantee climbs each year, topping out at $3.5 million in 2027. The contract, which is signed by Steve Reed (Canada Soccer’s president from 2017-20), says CSB has the right to extend the deal for an additional 10 years and if it triggers that extension, must pay Canada Soccer at least $4 million per year from 2028 to 2037.
Five current and former board members said that the CSB deal was not properly approved by Canada Soccer’s board. The board members said the agreement was only approved subject to the board being provided with details about CSB’s finances and ensuring that Canada Soccer had representation on CSB’s board. Those conditions were not met, the board members said.
 

Zososoxfan

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Jul 30, 2009
9,208
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What the hell is going on with Canada Soccer? First there was the very poor decision to back out of the Iran friendly and now there are well-reported allegations of series mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and souring relationships with the men's and women's squads.



Look at these media rights payments, ludicrously low for both a team on the rise as well as an upcoming World Cup co-host. Plus, who signs a media deal for 18 years in this rapidly evolving environment?

53255
 

Mighty Joe Young

The North remembers
SoSH Member
Sep 14, 2002
8,401
Halifax, Nova Scotia , Canada
What the hell is going on with Canada Soccer? First there was the very poor decision to back out of the Iran friendly and now there are well-reported allegations of series mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and souring relationships with the men's and women's squads.



Look at these media rights payments, ludicrously low for both a team on the rise as well as an upcoming World Cup co-host. Plus, who signs a media deal for 18 years in this rapidly evolving environment?
Looks like Canada Soccer is still living in 1994. The rise of the women‘s and men’s teams seems to have not been accompanied by a better infrastructure to support them. The 18 year rights deal is horrendous. I’d be having my lawyers looking for every possible way to get out of that.
 

Senator Donut

post-Domer
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Apr 21, 2010
5,500
What the hell is going on with Canada Soccer? First there was the very poor decision to back out of the Iran friendly and now there are well-reported allegations of series mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and souring relationships with the men's and women's squads.



Look at these media rights payments, ludicrously low for both a team on the rise as well as an upcoming World Cup co-host. Plus, who signs a media deal for 18 years in this rapidly evolving environment?
Even if the rise of the CanMNT was not all that predictable in 2019, it was known at that point that they would be hosts in 2026. It’s insane that they just signed away all of their upside from hosting that tournament to a third party after doing all the work to win the bid.
I lol’d.
 

67YAZ

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Dec 1, 2000
8,729
Excellent.

Looks like Canada Soccer is still living in 1994. The rise of the women‘s and men’s teams seems to have not been accompanied by a better infrastructure to support them. The 18 year rights deal is horrendous. I’d be having my lawyers looking for every possible way to get out of that.
the article makes it sound like some Board members want to use the non-payment for 2020 as grounds for termination. Even if that fails, sounds like there’s a least a few other avenues to explore. Not sure how you placate the players during all the turmoil.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Jun 15, 2002
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Feels very much like a horrible idea at best and CONCACAF standard behavior in the old Blazer/Warner world at worst.

From reading the article, it seems like they tried to copy the US Soccer / SUM relationship, but with relatively small-time CPSL operators instead of MLS billionaires and without the relatively neatly aligned interests that the SUM thing had.
 

candylandriots

unkempt
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Most of my pictures from Taiwo Awoniyi day at Stadion an der alten Försterei sucked, but I think this one sums it up. We wish him the best in the EPL.

BAA13142-7514-4559-A992-937A6EF6650C.jpeg
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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Sep 9, 2008
42,271
AZ
No Euro 2022 thread I guess. Has been entertaining. Look like France are going to finally get past the quarters with a late penalty against the defending champs. Rennard gave way on a penalty. Perisset hit a great one.

Incidentally, if I didn’t know who she was and you put me in a room with Corrine Diacre and asked me to guess what she does for a living, I think skipper of the French women’s footie national team would be a top three guess.
 

67YAZ

Member
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Dec 1, 2000
8,729
No Euro 2022 thread I guess. Has been entertaining. Look like France are going to finally get past the quarters with a late penalty against the defending champs. Rennard gave way on a penalty. Perisset hit a great one.

Incidentally, if I didn’t know who she was and you put me in a room with Corrine Diacre and asked me to guess what she does for a living, I think skipper of the French women’s footie national team would be a top three guess.
we’ve been chatting about it over in the Women’s soccer thread.

I still think France is good for a total locker room meltdown before this tournament ends.