Duff from the Bridge to Toon - Strange Dealings
Damien Duff's 5m (pound) transfer to Newcastle has left the Toon ecstatic and me a little confused. I had this exchange with The Editor:
The Idiot: Is there any discussion of collusion going on with the Newcastle cut-rate signing of Duff? Seems like the always shady duo of Abramovich and Mourinho let him go for less money rather than let Liverpool (I think Chelsea's biggest threat this year) or Spurs sign him. Freddy Sheppard was thanking Chelesea repeatedly at the news conference - that's kinda weird.
Well, great break for Newcastle. Maybe they should play an 0-10-0 formation this year.
The Editor: Indeed, indeed, something dodgy is afoot with the Duffy deal. Me thinks Sheppard dost thank too much!! It really is incredible how cheap they got him. DD was one of he top players before he was wasted at Chelsea. But to answer your question, I have not heard any discussion reagrding possible collusion. But something went down.
Little wonder Shepherd thanked Chelsea when he payed 5m for a player that Chelsea payed 17m for only 3 years ago. Over those 3 years, Duff has confirmed that he is one of the best wingers in the Prem. Yeah, he struggled for time last year, but so did Shaun-Wright Phillips and at times, Arjen Robben. It's Chelsea - what can you do? Duff is still a top player and, at 27, should have several productive years ahead of him.
So why so cheap, when word was Tottenham and Liverpool both bid higher than Newcastle? It seems that Chelsea, needing to unload some players at crowded positions, preferred that Newcastle get him for less money than have Duff play for their likeliest challenger, Liverpool or an up-and coming Totenham side.
This concerns me and smacks of collusion. It's one thing if a player (on a free transfer) decides to sign for less money to play for a certain team (like free agents in the US occasionally do for reasons like hometown, playing time, playing for a contender etc), but I don't think its fair for clubs to accept less money in the transfer market, if only to weaken a rival. Then the transfer market is open to all sorts of distortionary behavior.
This is particularly problematic because Chelsea seems to be operating in a completely different world than every other club. It's enough of an advantage that they can outspend everyone by a factor of 5, or that they do not seem to care about repeatedly overpaying in the transfer market (losing a reported 51m on player transfers under Roman A). Should they also be able to determine where exiting Chelsea players are allowed to play?
To me, this is a dangerous precedent. I know the Prem is very different from Serie A, but I wonder what might happen if the Prem got a few more owners with the same mix of deep pockets and loose morals that seem to characterize Abramovich (and Mourinho). I could see a similar scenario unfolding.
While Newcastle's Shepherd repeatedly thanked Chelsea for this favorable piece of business, he should be wary. Previously, Mourinho/Abramovich focused their attacks on preceived threat Arsenal ( Ashley Cole tapping up, press wars etc), now they are shifting to Liverpool (and potentially Tottenham). If Newcastle puts together a great squad, I bet Chelsea will turn their artillery on their "friends" at Tyneside.
The Idiot: Is there any discussion of collusion going on with the Newcastle cut-rate signing of Duff? Seems like the always shady duo of Abramovich and Mourinho let him go for less money rather than let Liverpool (I think Chelsea's biggest threat this year) or Spurs sign him. Freddy Sheppard was thanking Chelesea repeatedly at the news conference - that's kinda weird.
Well, great break for Newcastle. Maybe they should play an 0-10-0 formation this year.
The Editor: Indeed, indeed, something dodgy is afoot with the Duffy deal. Me thinks Sheppard dost thank too much!! It really is incredible how cheap they got him. DD was one of he top players before he was wasted at Chelsea. But to answer your question, I have not heard any discussion reagrding possible collusion. But something went down.
Little wonder Shepherd thanked Chelsea when he payed 5m for a player that Chelsea payed 17m for only 3 years ago. Over those 3 years, Duff has confirmed that he is one of the best wingers in the Prem. Yeah, he struggled for time last year, but so did Shaun-Wright Phillips and at times, Arjen Robben. It's Chelsea - what can you do? Duff is still a top player and, at 27, should have several productive years ahead of him.
So why so cheap, when word was Tottenham and Liverpool both bid higher than Newcastle? It seems that Chelsea, needing to unload some players at crowded positions, preferred that Newcastle get him for less money than have Duff play for their likeliest challenger, Liverpool or an up-and coming Totenham side.
This concerns me and smacks of collusion. It's one thing if a player (on a free transfer) decides to sign for less money to play for a certain team (like free agents in the US occasionally do for reasons like hometown, playing time, playing for a contender etc), but I don't think its fair for clubs to accept less money in the transfer market, if only to weaken a rival. Then the transfer market is open to all sorts of distortionary behavior.
This is particularly problematic because Chelsea seems to be operating in a completely different world than every other club. It's enough of an advantage that they can outspend everyone by a factor of 5, or that they do not seem to care about repeatedly overpaying in the transfer market (losing a reported 51m on player transfers under Roman A). Should they also be able to determine where exiting Chelsea players are allowed to play?
To me, this is a dangerous precedent. I know the Prem is very different from Serie A, but I wonder what might happen if the Prem got a few more owners with the same mix of deep pockets and loose morals that seem to characterize Abramovich (and Mourinho). I could see a similar scenario unfolding.
While Newcastle's Shepherd repeatedly thanked Chelsea for this favorable piece of business, he should be wary. Previously, Mourinho/Abramovich focused their attacks on preceived threat Arsenal ( Ashley Cole tapping up, press wars etc), now they are shifting to Liverpool (and potentially Tottenham). If Newcastle puts together a great squad, I bet Chelsea will turn their artillery on their "friends" at Tyneside.
posted by the idiot at 1:52 PM
6 Comments:
Boris,
How are you? I have been lazy and suffering from a lack of football. It was sad how excited i was to watch Chelesea and Barcelona play friendlies. I might now have to write a post over-analyzing those 2 teams from limited and slightly irrelevant data (1 pre-season friendly). Did u watch the games - thought Barca looked wonderful considering circumstances. Chelsea looked real bland. More Lampard concerns, more Terry admiration (he was their best attacker and defender), and a Joe Cole injury concern.
Congrats on the O'neill signing - just really good news for Villa. Bobby Mcmahon blogged about it:
http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/BobbyMcMahon
No offense to your club, but i can't believe they got him (think England should have gone with him over uninspiring McLaren at any cost)
I will get back on the blog.
I remember that RvN goal - god he was great back then.
There is a brief bio for Bobby on his blog page - I just respect his knowledge and opinion (read i agree with him) on a lot of stuff. I just posted him today on his blog and he posted a thorough, helpful response immediately.
Bobby is on the Fox Soccer World Report on FSC a few nights a week - that's where i first saw him. He is the only redeemable part of the whole show (well I do enjoy the odd Nick Webster reports). During the Prem season Bobby does previews before the weekend (I think Thursdays) and post-game analysis on Mondays. He is an encyclopedia (or is it Wikipedia now?) of soccer knowledge.
Villa is a "big club" and deserve a guy like O'Neill to run the ship. That said, I share Boris' concern. With Ellis around, there will always be doubt. O'Leary showed what he could do at Leads and John Gregory wasn't a bad manager. They just didn't have the funds or influence needed to run the club the way they would have liked. O'Neill could suffer the same fate. And then we'll all have to suffer through another season of "Ellis Out!" stick from the Villa fans. But I'm a Gooner so waht the fuck do I care about Villa!!?? Hah!!!
I do love Bobby McMahon, though.
And Boris, check out my blog:
http://sanford-soccer-net.blogspot.com/
Like The Idiot, I too have been relaxing a bit before the storm begins but perhaps you'll find something to enjoy. I link to a lot of articles as opposed to just commentary like The Idiot. But I hope to do more commentary like The Idiot. Because I want to be like The Idiot.
Best,
Sanford
I can feel the love and the sarcasm - and i dig both.
Geoff, do you have a way to tell if there are new postings on your site w. out having to scroll through every one of your posts? I'm still figrung out this whole blog thing. Any other advice welcomed.
No - as far as I can tell you have to scroll through to see comments, which is very difficult since I am posting so many articles. I too am still trying to figure things out and my technical advisor lives on the other side of the country. I'll let you know if I figure anything out.
Cool - thanks.
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