Anything to add? Send it to theeditor@football365.com as usual.
Why Do Stoke Even Want Owen?
I'll keep it short. I'm baffled as to why on earth a club like Stoke, who built their completely unexpected success in the Premier League last season on the back of a remarkable team spirit, ruthless direct play, and just a little bit of bullying, want Michael Owen? A player without the fitness to graft, the physique to bully, the legs to chase the long ball over the top, or the height to get on the end of the long throws?
Matt, Loughborough
If It Wasn't A Wind-Up, This Might Explain It
What ever Will the Spurs fan from this morning's mailbox is on, PLEASE can I have some as I'm about to head off to Glastonbury and reckon I could make a fortune.
Your humble servant.
Aych Dubya, Wiltshire, AFC
Power Shift? Not So Much?
I read the first line of Will, Spurs Fan's mail, and I already started composing this response. I guess I'll be writing this mail as I read his! The 'fabled north London power shift'? Really? Did it really happen last season? Because as I remember, until Christmas we were seriously wondering if there was even going to be a north London derby this season!
As for the rest of his mail, it's clearly speculation and guesswork based on no fact whatsoever. Having all the money in the world is no good if you don't have the manager to put it all together. I think Mark Hughes is a very good manager, but at this stage, it is totally unknown whether he has the chops to manage a team all the way into the top four over the course of a season. To be perfectly honest, we have no idea how things will go, I mean sure, on paper, they have a great team, but can you imagine what it'll be like if things don't go well, and you've got Robinho and Eto'o (perhaps) sulking in the dressing room? Added to a an owner whose intention is to win the Champions' League by the end of next season, it's a recipe for disaster. While Chelsea have done very well in the 2 seasons, can you imagine how much better they probably would have done if they had top-quality, stable management (Jose!), and didn't have their best striker sulking for 6+ months last season?
As much as I hate to admit it, with or without Ronaldo, Man U are still the team that has won the title for the last three seasons, and they won't suddenly get abysmal overnight. They still do have Rooney, and Berbatov, that player who, I quote, 'poor season saw Spurs laughing all the way to the bank in a piece of inspired business' (is this the same player who you blamed your entire poor start to last season on? Y'know, 'destabilising the squad and all that'?). Never mind the fact that they haven't even done any transfer business yet. Sadly, something that Spurs never quite seem to get is that form is temporary, and class is permanent, and throwing silly amounts of money at a problem without thinking is not the way to solve it.
Y'know, in fact, as ridiculous as your whole letter was, just looking back now, it really was the whole thing about Spurs that made me even care about it just one tiny bit! What price on Harry 'Houdini' being out on his ear in late October/early November as Spurs once again have an absolute 'mare of a start? What price on a new manager coming in, winning a couple of games, being hailed as the best thing ever (yet again!), swapping the entire playing squad in the January window before the whole club goes on holiday in March as their season comes to an end? I can't really see you guys entering the top four any time soon if you're just gonna have the same season over and over again!
Rory Lewis, Gooner (Yes, I know, that's why I even bothered responding in the first place!)
...I know I really shouldn't, but I'm afraid I've taken the bait so obviously laid out by Will, Spurs fan.
"Midfield general Gareth Barry is City's missing midfield link, him and Stephen Ireland will be a fearsome partnership only equalled by the Palacios and Modric duo that saw Spurs become the best team in the country since January."
- Ahem, better than Mascherano, Alonso and Gerrard....?
- Were Spurs honestly better than Liverpool, United and Chelsea since January?
"Everybody knows what Robinho is capable of now that he has found his feet in English football..."
- Yeah, an occasional brilliant performance against poor opposition.
"...the ludicrous figures bandied about of £80m to spend in this transfer window are far off the mark considering the perilous state of Old Trafford's finances."
- United, judging by the quotes coming from those within Old Trafford, knew he was leaving since last summer, has wanted to leave since then and negotiated a deal that allows them to compete with any team on any player currently available.
- They're not exactly broke, United, are they....?
I'd be more worried about City's finances when the Arabs get bored of not being able to attract the biggest names in football, not being able to qualify for the Champions League and decide to buy a proper Big Four club. And Spurs? Your two best players that left for big clubs last summer couldn't even get into their first-elevens. One of them had to come scurrying back to a small club where expectatations and the associated pressure levels aren't so high.
In order to understand how hard it is to break down the Big Four, just look at the Premiership clubs linked with the best of the best when an agent states his client's preferred choices: United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. Man City get mentioned as targets because they can afford the fees and wages but the player won't join as he wants CL football(see Kaka). Tottenham? Umm.... I don't think so....
The balance of power will change in the Premier league eventually, but as for your envisaged top four of 5-10 years, it strikes me as being like time-travel; in theory possible, but in reality highly improbable.
Anyway, I'm off to enjoy another season of trophy-hunting on all fronts, at home and abroad.
Mickey (There's A Fine Line Between Ambition And Delusion) G, Tyrone
...I'm not stupid enough to take the bait and have a big ol bite in response to Will's email, because I genuinely believe he's got his tongue firmly placed in his cheek with most of his statements there, namely the "fabled north london power shift finally put into motion" to name but one.
But I will have a slight nibble of the bait! The point about Hargreaves is, well it's just not worth mentioning is it? He was out all last season, and we were still the most successful team in the country, if he never returns to full fitness, I have faith in Ferguson that he will buy a replacement. As for the void left by Ronaldo's impending departure, it's fairly obvious Fergie isn't going to sit there and not try to sign anyone, so it won't be left to Nani to replace him (please god, don't let that happen.....)
That is all I'm going to add, as the statements about Ronaldo's sale being due to the impending doom in the boardroom, and the suspicions about Rooney being an English Kuyt, have just been said to provoke a response from us United fans (unless he just meant Rooney is as "good looking" as Kuyt"). I actually have a feeling the entire email was just a big wind up, (and I feel bit foolish even responding to it at all!) but I fear my fellow United fans will react in just the way he wants.........like Liverpool fans!
Rob Haynes, MUFC
...Thank you for publishing Will's prophetic vision of the future of the big 4. Its is the only thing that has made me laugh today, well except for the fact that im in a busy office with horrendous flatulence issues and no one is quite sure who is repeatedly dropping them.
It is just a small reminder as to why Spurs have been the laughing stock of the league over the past decade or so. Not so much for the epic mid table mediocrity of a small north London club eclipsed by a neighbour who does everything Spurs are "famous" for better then they ever could. But for the simple fact that they posses the most misguided set of fans ever to grace the terraces of English football.
You vision of a power shift is similar to what is going on in my bowels. A massive pile of stinking s***.
Ali, Arsenal, London.
PS if this actually gets published can anyone who works for Thames Water please warn the powers that be that a rather large package will shortly be on the way.
...Anyone else stop reading the mailbox after the line "a fearsome partnership only equalled by the Palacios and Modric duo that saw Spurs become the best team in the country since January"? It can't just have been me, right?
Dear God.
Parmesh (and by 'God' I mean 'Clapton') Singh, Singapore
At this stage we should stop and say we could have filled three or four Mailboxes with responses such as these. Will, if it indeed was a wind-up, you did it brilliantly - MC
Sod The Transfer Fees, It's Wages That Are The Problem
Well what a funny old transfer window we are having so far; a power shift towards Spain, the apparently (possible) financial decline of the big four and a winker going for 80 mil. Like most I balked at the idea of 80mil for one single player but it's not the transfer fee's that make apparent the huge gap between the haves and have-nots it's the bloody wages. You see to a player I doubt they really care about the fees, it's the clubs who pay it and have to deal with it that it effects, but they defiantly do care about how much they are willing to line their pockets.
As much as it pains me to say it, the gooners have got the wage structure spot on; top bucks for the senior first teamers, medium for the senior squad players and a smaller decent fee for younger players coming through the ranks, for arguments sake let's just say 90k, 45k and 25k respectively. To me this is proportional and sensible amounts in the crazy world we call football. Now say you're a super rich club who don't really care about costs (man city, real etc) to attract the very top players/mercenaries you don't care how much you pay the clubs who have them or the players themselves. Like a greedy kid in a toy store you just WANT them and HAVE to have them.
Now here's where it all gets a bit silly, if you break the wage structure for one you break them for all. Case in point a certain hugely talented Daniel Sturridge from the blue side of Manchester, he's packing his bags to chelski and all because city wouldn't give him the stupid amount of 60k a week. But is it really stupid? 60k is an awful lot for a young player just coming through the ranks but when you have some of the senior players on over 200k a week, proportionally it fits. Your average footballer has an ego that needs stroking so why should even an average player not want even a quarter of the amount you were happy to play your mercenary signing. There's reported unrest from Iker Casillas in madrid because of similar circumstances.
This kind of wage structure can destroy teams and club stability (Leeds, Newcastle and West Ham a few seasons back) and overall I feel contributes to the general disgust most people have with the way money relates to football.
Who cares about the transfer fees but a wage cap can't come soon enough!
LTB (MCFC)
What Choice Did Brum Have?
In response to Sarah Winterburns article "Don't Go Into Battle With Beginners..."
I would like to ask her what Birmingham's alternatives were? If Glen Johnson is worth a reported £17m or thereabouts, then I would say £3.5 and £5m for Dann and Roger Johnson respectively was the best we were going to get in terms of a price.
We are short at the back now, with Ridgewell still recovering from a broken leg and not back until November, Jaidi being released, and Taylor being far too slow for the prem. Then with full backs, we have David Murphy recovering from a broken kneecap, Queudreu always struggling for fitness (even though when he does play he is usually brilliant), and Parnaby always suffering from injuries too.
So it would be fair to say we are in a little bit of a pickle and need to reinforce sooner rather than later. £10 mill on 3 players is, in my opinion, a wise move given our shortage of available defenders. The last thing we need to do now is spend all our money on one proven defender, still leaving us light at the back.
By all means if there are more experienced players available at the same price then I'll admit it may have been a mistake. But I'd also like to remind you Gary Megson recently quoted Gary Cahill as being worth £15m.
Ben R, Brum
It's Good News For Someone...
Setanta going down is a blessing for USA based viewers. Barry (Hoping he will still be able to watch the GAA in Boston) Cork bemoans the fact that the predominantly Irish bias that allowed Gaelic football to have the same billing as the real thing, is going away.
Hopefully the second rate presenters (yes second rate to people like Jamie Redknapp) will be junked & we can have the same programs as the UK. In particular Pat Dolan was/is useless & I could only watch him out of fascination that :
a) someone that bad, with such a paltry knowledge of the game could get airtime
and
b) he was Eamon Dolan's twin brother (or Eamon Target as he was known in his short time at the Blues).
ESPN are serious about their sport.
Ian Dawson, BCFC, Brooklyn, NYC
Good Luck To Derbyshire
A quick word which has nothing to do with The "Big Four" and our own self-centred world.
Matt Derbyshire has just completed a transfer to Olympiakos in Greece. This is a young English footballer with a lot of potential but which was never took advantage of, and could be part of many teams plans, especially with all the new "regulations" they want to apply.
He could have found a team here in England to play for, with better money but he decided to go to the Greek league which is much poorer, to play in a team with a lot of competition which plays in the Champions League every year.
That is a man with ambition, and no doubt he will be hoping to get a transfer back to the Uk for a bigger team then Blackburn.
I wish him all the best and I hope he shows people in England what they are missing out on,
Phil, (Liverpool fan with an opinion for another team), Liverpool
...I thought I would start off by saying good riddance Roque. Rovers took a massive gamble on him, completely revitalised his career and the thanks they got? Sulk and run to the press saying you want to leave.
He was a great player for us (for one season) and I don't think any Rovers fan would have been too surprised if he had left us after two or three seasons, its just the manner in which he did it!
On a different note, I am sure like many Blackburn fans, they are disappointed to see that Matt Derbyshire has left the club especially after Santa Cruz leaving.
Personally I thought he was a good, old fashioned striker who never really got a run in the team to prove himself under Hughes or Big Sam.
Derbyshire has decided that he has given it his best shot, not managed to push himself into the starting line up in front of Roberts and Benni, and unlike many young footballers, rather than sit on the bench and see the money role in, has decided to go abroad and better himself there.
I wish Derbyshire all the best at Olympiacos and hope the form he showed on loan last season with them, continues! Burty (Rather have determined Derbyshire at the club than a scoring sulking Santa) Southport
p.s I wondered what other teams have bought a player that seemed a big risk, only to have them arrive, play brilliantly and then leave for a bigger club or money as soon as they could? And also the big players you signed who were just awful (Rovers fans will surely never forget how exiting it was to sign Martin Dahlin! And Newcastle fans - Patrick Kluivert).
The Boumsong Question
As a Juve fan, maybe I can answer Brian Tan's question, painful as the answer may be. Following a lot of club infighting and backstabbing following the events of 2006, the guy in charge of our transfer market is Alessio Secco, who was only with Juve in the first place because his dad used to work there, and whose previous job at Juve was "team manager" (ie giving the 4th official the little bits of paper indicating substitutions to be made).
Boumsong (not even good enough for Serie B) was the first of his "gems", which include Andrade (expensive crockery, played about 4 games in 2 years), Almiron (rubbish), Tiago (expensive rubbish), Salihamidzic and Mellberg (both mediocre but at least free). The only good players we've bought the last few years have been the ones we've spent shedloads on - Sissoko, Amauri and now Diego (who, mark my words, will be better than Kaka'). Unfortunately it looks like Dossena is next on the list, to be fair he always played well in Italy, its only at Liverpool that he's been rubbish. And our current left back, Molinaro (who??? exactly!) would look out of his depth in the Championship, so pretty much anyone would be an improvement!
James (own your own club at Myfootballclub.co.uk) Geneva
The Mailbox Quotes Of The Week
I love "Quotes of the week". 'Tis one of my favourite features that you pleasant chaps at F365 provide. It's absence causes me great distress during the off season, so to cheer myself up & to fill some space in the mailbox I thought I would try compiling my own QOTW using quotes provided by mailbox providers as an alternative:
"That's it, enough is enough. I'm an ardent Chelsea supporter, one who isn't blind" Thomas Wood gets right to the facts.
"I know he only scored one goal, against Spurs, but it was a very pretty goal." Andrew (Xmas is early for City, Santa's come to City!) getting all camp about Valeri Bojinov.
"Having read the reports in this mornings papers (admittedly with no quotes etc), I'm wondering what planet Carlos Tevez is currently inhabiting." Gary Turner, Manchester prepares to indulge us having collected all the facts.
"In 5-10 years I envision the top four being Man City, Spurs, Chelsea and Everton." Will, Spurs fan goes against the grain for Spurs fans & predicts Tottenham will be in the top four soon.
"The 'journalism' of this site has been in decline for a while and this is the straw that ruptured the dromedary's spine. Today is the last time I visit f365. A less biased footy site awaits my custom." Ranga, Crawley confuses us all by admitting he pays to view this free site.
"I would argue that Sir Alex could have already signed the most adequate replacement to Ronaldo, and that that man is Nani." Rayon Von Rufio tests out his new stand up routine for the mailbox compiler.
"When he (Michael Owen) came I thought he was the natural successor to Alan Shearer but now that we are no longer in The Premier League like everyone else he is deserting the Toon faithful, something Shearer would never do." Gerry Parker counts his eggs in public.
"Even if this isn't printed, at least I have had a bit of fun" Gareth Sutcliffe using everone's favourite old chestnut to twist the mailbox compilers arm.
Gareth Sutcliffe, Holding a chestnut, Oldham
