Close, But No. Qatar

Does this scream Newcastle or what?  The proposed sale of the club to a coalition that includes the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, UK financier Amanda Staveley and a UK company Reuben Brothers is undergoing the mandatory owners' and directors' test by the Premier League.  Now Qatar's BeIN Sports is raising questions about the deal (trying to block it?), citing Saudi Arabia's involvement with with beoutQ, a pirate TV station that provides Saudi viewers with essentially a mirror of BeIN Sports feed.  That network exists because several Arab states cut off all links to Qatar because of it's alleged support for terrorist activities.  What, so now following Newcastle requires a course in geopolitics?  Apparently yes.  If you want to take the crash course, try the following links:

Countries cut ties to Qatar

BeIN seeks to block the sale

Geopolitics involved in Newcastle sale (and football more generally)

What’s black and white and fed up?
 A Newcastle fan.Lindsey Parnaby/EPA, via Shutterstock

Rory Smith at the NY Times has a great post today about the politics of ownership and where it puts the fans.  I thought I had the link but do not so I will excerpt a few key paragraphs:

It has, of course, attracted no shortage of controversy: Amnesty International, which has labeled Saudi Arabia the “kingdom of cruelty,” has written to the Premier League warning that allowing the takeover to proceed risked making the league a “patsy of those who want to use the glamour and prestige of Premier League football to cover up actions that are deeply immoral.”

The Premier League responded, moderately brusquely, to that assertion. It will be far harder to shake off a complaint from BeIN, the broadcaster based in Qatar that serves as the Premier League’s partner in the Gulf, that Saudi Arabia should not be permitted to invest in a league that it has spent a considerable amount of time undermining through a pirate broadcasting network.

That, you would have thought, would be enough if not to give the Premier League pause, then certainly to dampen the desire of Newcastle’s fans to see the deal get through. When you are a child, you dream of your team scoring goals and winning trophies and achieving greatness. You do not dream of it being drawn against its will and for unidentified purposes into a simmering geopolitical conflict between sovereign states.

It is hard to gauge proportions precisely, but it is fair to say at least a portion of Newcastle’s fan base has few, if any, qualms whatsoever. There are myriad reasons for that, before we get to the futile whataboutery that tends to clog social media on subjects like this.

Prime among them is an overwhelming, long held and understandable desire to get rid of Newcastle’s current owner, the tracksuit tycoon Mike Ashley, who has shown precious little regard for the history of the club and the hopes of its fans.

Then there is — again, understandable — the belief that it is not for fans to stand up and protest at Saudi investment in soccer when the British government does deals with the country, when Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia’s ally in the war in Yemen, owns Manchester City. If the Premier League is happy enough for Mohammed bin Salman to come and join the party, why should there be a higher moral burden on Newcastle fans than there is on these institutions?

Fair questions throughout.  As if we don't have enough issues to think about.


FIFA Doing Its Part to Fight COVID-19 in US

In case you missed it, Trump gave a nice shout out to FIFA at a recent press briefing for its support in getting vital supplies to health care providers.  Heckuva job guys.


What's In Your Netflix?

Or Amazon Prime as the case may be.  BFS Fitness Correspondent Jeff H sends a positive review of "The English Game," a six-episode series on the invention of the game and its rise to popularity.  BFS Scandinavian Correspondent Philip S alerts us to the Amazon Prime series "Heimebane" (Home Ground to those not fluent in Norwegian), a fictional story about the first woman promoted to manage a Norwegian premier league side.  That show has 18 episodes over two seasons.  Apparently she implements a 5-3-1-1 formation (talk about parking the bus) and gets significant resistance.  Sorry for the spoiler there Michael B. 


Unfinished Business

Forgot to give a proper hat tip to Don P for last week's story about Kyle Walker.  This does give me the chance to briefly cite the obscure history that Don was the goalkeeper on the first Dickinson NCAA soccer team.  It's so obscure you may not be able to find it in the records. 


Status Quo

Didn't see anything to add to last week's post about the re-opening of the various leagues.  There does seem to be the growing possibility that any continuation of the seasons will be without spectators.  As Jeff H noted last week, that will really suck, until it doesn't.


Stay safe and don't drink the Lysol...

Silver Linings Still Count

An expected consequence of the coronavirus is that it looks like Mike Ashley will finally sell Newcastle.  Dennis says it's still a silver lining even if the virus was the reason.  Amanda Staveley is back, this time fronting for a Saudi investment group.  Stories abound in the English press and even the Wall Street Journal.  This one provides some insight into why it's happening now.  The money quote from University of Liverpool football finance expert Kieran Maguire (where do I apply for that job?):

“I think he’s sold partly due to the fact that he would probably prefer to focus on his other businesses at present because they do need a lot of support at the moment and the cash from the Newcastle sale would help in that regard.”

We've been down this road before but things do seem promising.  If completed, the deal would make Newcastle one of football's richest clubs. 

What could this mean for the club?  Staff at The Chronicle used Football Manager to simulate the next three seasons Tyneside.  Results are presented here.  Note that the game predicts Steven Gerrard takes over for Steve Bruce.  The Magpies are forecast to finish 9th, 8th and 11th in the next three seasons.  The good news is they stay out of relegation battles and start to spend money on players.  The bad news is that they still don't crack the top six.  Overcoming the damage done by Ashley will take some time.


Whither (Wither?) the Season

Still no good answer on how, or even if, the EPL will proceed with the 20/21.  I've heard everything from the season is done to they'll try to play just the two games that were supposed to have been played before the season was halted to they'll play out the season at Wembley with four games at a time but no crowds.  This article from ESPN lays out the discussion nicely.  A big sticking point is that extending this season later into the calendar could create ripple effects for the 2020-21 season.

Dennis notes that if they do the two game scenario, the Aston Villa - Sheffield United contest could be this year's most lucrative match because a Villa win would see them avoid relegation.  Given the Blades performance this year, Villa might do better with a coin flip.

Similarly, the MLS is considering multiple options, several of which are mentioned here.  They have more flexibility than the EPL, since they could run the season, with creative venue selection, until December.


Dubious Hat Trick for Kyle Walker

Kyle Walker has made Gareth Southgate's job easier.  By 1) hosting a sex party, 2) in violation of coronavirus lockdown directives, 3) after posting on social media the importance of observing social distancing guidelines, Walker got himself booted from the English national team.  The details are here, probably the first time I've used the NY Post as a source.  Southgate was probably leaning towards Trent Alexander-Arnold anyway but this simplified matters for the English manager.


Forest Green Promoted

We clinched automatic promotion, then the league title with six matches to go.  The club was always favored to do well even before my arrival so we clearly started with a solid core.  My biggest contribution was probably three loan deals for two strikers and an attacking midfielder. 

As we prepare for next season in League One, I am getting an education in the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.  Since they weren't implemented until 2015, I did not have to deal with these rules while playing FM 2010.  Basically, if your wage bill is deemed too high, you can get hit with a transfer embargo.  I'm not involved in too many transfers so that's not a big problem.  But, it also creates problems in getting players on loan if you have to pay a portion of their salary.  And that's my main route right now for improving the squad.  To complicate matters, players under 21 who are "home grown" are exempt from the FFP calculation so you have to take this into account as well.  The game continues to provide a marvelous education of the workings of English football.


Stay safe but don't forget to order take out, have beer delivered to your door and tip excessively.

No Business As Usual

So with all the sh...stuff going on, have to say things here at BFS are about as good as they could be.  Biggest outrage this week was one day we got a Daily News instead of an Inquirer.

In Football Manager, Forest Green continues towards promotion to League One for the 2020-21 season.  Spending most of my time looking at players to improve the roster either through transfers or loans.  The transfer possibilities usually have one of two answers - 1) I'm not interested in playing for your team or 2) I want a salary beyond what your board will allow.  Loan inquiries frequently are answered one of three ways - 1) we prefer that the loanee play with higher quality players 2) we want you to pay a higher percentage of the loanee's salary than you can afford or 3) we're fine with the loan but the player doesn't want to play for you.  So, yeah, that's been a slow process.  Cross 'em off and go to the next on the list until I find one willing to play for me at a price I can afford.


In the Real World

Developments in England are minimal.  According to this Joint Statement from the relevant parties, they'll meet again in 48 hours to discuss.  In the US, we hear that the MLS still has plans for a full 34 game season that would run into December.  This would likely involve many weeks with two games but doesn't sound implausible - if the start date is soon enough.  I offer an alternative if time is short.  Cut the season to 24 games by simply playing home and away against teams in your own conference.  Of the games already played, only use intra-conference matches.  This would result in an even strength of schedule.  Too logical, right?

Stay safe.