PA, I get the "win/win" point - both income stream potentials being played out to the best extent. What I don't get from the actions is why dismantle the SL team of last season and leave them with little chance of progression in the CL. Maybe it's merely a risk based gamble that he could get some money for player sales, bring through some youngsters and buy some other players on the "cheap" and still believe they will be good enough. If so it looks to be a gamble that hasn't paid off if the pundits are to be believed.
Zenit looking the better of the 2 so far - SL havnt really had a shot on target. Cant get over how empty the ground looks - be intersting to see what the crowd is - wonder how many the ground holds? Edit - 30,000.
Cannot get a stream up...but look like I needn't bother.
Sounds bad. I know that in their playoffs they sold out the ground for all games within hours of them going on sale. But there will be an away end which will not have sold out to all those passionate Zenit fans...
The game is on sky red button... Watching second half... One day I'll write up some findings from transfermarkt in a proper article but basically @calydon_road is spot on above. Two things: Instead of running six individual squads of 35 players covering 20, 25 and 30 year olds the Duchatelet squad is much much thinner on volume with 23 senior players... He can move players around very swiftly in a win win for player, manager and fans... Secondly the focus is on youth development and players aged 19-23 - transfermarkt is very clear in telling us that CAFC squad is transforming into a younger more valuable squad - more value spread across less players is a double benefit as the value of the first XI increases rapidly... The same thing happened at Liege. CAFC, Alcorcun and the Hungarian club are all within touching distance of competing with top clubs in their leagues WITHOUT spending a fortune on transfer fees... This summer we've closed more than half the gap between bottom six and top six with just one fee (Vetokele).
So which club gets the talent scouted across Europe? Who needs it most? Where will the player's value grow? And the club? What does the player want to do?
One could argue that CAFC are a club artificially enriched by Duchatelet! Bringing politics into football and stating that one supports another team or shows disdain because of the owner is a curious business - is it getting to the grass roots of the culture and background of a club or is it applying rumour, propaganda and a simplistic view... If one likes Liege because of their Steel City roots then surely one has an affinity with Sheffield?! It's complex but I sense this is a completely different topic to most of the article.
The most striking aspect to me is the worry Liege fans have that they are being used as a shop window - literally! By agents to get exposure to players who are then sold on for fees (commission) and bigger contracts (more commission). Why striking? Well I heard exactly the same rumours being pushed around in February / March from people in pubs before and after CAFC games... was Reza and Thuram in the shop window to secure a fee or were they here to assist CAFC in their relegation fight - or a mixture of both?
Is Tucudean at CAFC to rescue his career or get him off the Liege payroll where it wasn't working?
On the football side, whether Liege win or lose (and I suspect they are going out to a vastly superior Zenit side) they will have six or eight European group games, so players like Ajdarevic are essential there - at least until Christmas... But they have also sold a lot of talent and are not doing nearly so well in the league and this must be the root cause of any unrest amongst the fans because they surely felt they were going to be a force at national level?
I commend the supporters Trust for tracking the results of all of the network clubs for it is by observing these, player movements and performances that we can see decisions made and see if there is a clear pattern. One thing which is very clear to me is that M.Duchatelet is able to scout and acquire players and is moving far faster and further than anyone hoped to get us towards the play-offs... This is a simple story to follow and yet until a ball was kicked this season fans on here still regarded the new owner with suspicion despite the obvious value of the players arriving - those mentioned above and others - the fact that Morrison can't get on the pitch and Wilson gets 30 minutes in the second half tops speaks volumes for the improvement in the best XI at the club.
The real complexities, conspiracies and antagaonisms may arise when Les Rouche witness the reds of SE7 picking up their first instalment of Premier League cash... Will we loan players back to them? Will we push on or just take the money and the inevitable relegation... will Staprix take a dividend out of CAFC and use it to fund Alcorcun or someone else? The potential for paranoia is just wonderful lol
So I'm going to keep an eye on Liege and Alcorcun, watch the January window carefully and hope my bet on CAFC comes up in May... I missed Vetokele top scorer at 150-1 but I did catch a +25 handicap at 18:1 a day before the Brentford game If in January that bet looks better and my team has better chances because we sign a player or two who might have done a job elsewhere then I'll be thanking the prize of Premier League football for delivering that focus to Staprix... But with a wider sense of responsibility I think we should be networking with the other groups of fans and finding out who is making the decisions on player movement.
The optimist in me says that this is what pays for the ongoing losses at CAFC while other clubs lose alot more money and some full foul of FFP sanctions. Clubs like Brighton and others are losing talent just to stay within FFP limits.
Alternatively weaker players sold (no names!) and more players brought in.
Furthermore there is an alternative option that M.Duchatelet will tip even more talent into SE7 to maintain two points a game. If I was a Liege fan this might wind me up!
What if we dare to dream that, having achieved 20 points by end September, the foot stays on the gas?
Comments
Worrying that they have not filled the stadium.
Cant get over how empty the ground looks - be intersting to see what the crowd is - wonder how many the ground holds? Edit - 30,000.
Sounds bad. I know that in their playoffs they sold out the ground for all games within hours of them going on sale. But there will be an away end which will not have sold out to all those passionate Zenit fans...
Belgian Spur did say they had a lot of injuries for Friday's debacle. Maybe thats still the case
Quite interesting to hear what RD has spent this season on SL - not a lot ! We've prob spent more than they have.
SL ins: 3m
Vetokele, Cousins, Gomez, Gudmonsen, Delort out...
Quite an open game. Not a lot of pressing from Standard. Zenit looking pretty comfortable. (72mins)
Standard get a corner. From corner, player gets under ball and tamely heads over. Crowd slightly more enthused. (75 mins)
Standard player challenges Zenit player lays on floor complaining until he gets free kick. Puts dangerous looking free kick in.
Zenit playing the ball around infront of the Standard penalty area, looking kilometres the better team. (80 mins)
Shatov (Zenit sub) comes off the pitch - 82 mins.
Secondly the focus is on youth development and players aged 19-23 - transfermarkt is very clear in telling us that CAFC squad is transforming into a younger more valuable squad - more value spread across less players is a double benefit as the value of the first XI increases rapidly... The same thing happened at Liege. CAFC, Alcorcun and the Hungarian club are all within touching distance of competing with top clubs in their leagues WITHOUT spending a fortune on transfer fees... This summer we've closed more than half the gap between bottom six and top six with just one fee (Vetokele).
So which club gets the talent scouted across Europe? Who needs it most? Where will the player's value grow? And the club? What does the player want to do?
One could argue that CAFC are a club artificially enriched by Duchatelet! Bringing politics into football and stating that one supports another team or shows disdain because of the owner is a curious business - is it getting to the grass roots of the culture and background of a club or is it applying rumour, propaganda and a simplistic view... If one likes Liege because of their Steel City roots then surely one has an affinity with Sheffield?! It's complex but I sense this is a completely different topic to most of the article.
The most striking aspect to me is the worry Liege fans have that they are being used as a shop window - literally! By agents to get exposure to players who are then sold on for fees (commission) and bigger contracts (more commission). Why striking? Well I heard exactly the same rumours being pushed around in February / March from people in pubs before and after CAFC games... was Reza and Thuram in the shop window to secure a fee or were they here to assist CAFC in their relegation fight - or a mixture of both?
Is Tucudean at CAFC to rescue his career or get him off the Liege payroll where it wasn't working?
On the football side, whether Liege win or lose (and I suspect they are going out to a vastly superior Zenit side) they will have six or eight European group games, so players like Ajdarevic are essential there - at least until Christmas... But they have also sold a lot of talent and are not doing nearly so well in the league and this must be the root cause of any unrest amongst the fans because they surely felt they were going to be a force at national level?
I commend the supporters Trust for tracking the results of all of the network clubs for it is by observing these, player movements and performances that we can see decisions made and see if there is a clear pattern. One thing which is very clear to me is that M.Duchatelet is able to scout and acquire players and is moving far faster and further than anyone hoped to get us towards the play-offs... This is a simple story to follow and yet until a ball was kicked this season fans on here still regarded the new owner with suspicion despite the obvious value of the players arriving - those mentioned above and others - the fact that Morrison can't get on the pitch and Wilson gets 30 minutes in the second half tops speaks volumes for the improvement in the best XI at the club.
The real complexities, conspiracies and antagaonisms may arise when Les Rouche witness the reds of SE7 picking up their first instalment of Premier League cash... Will we loan players back to them? Will we push on or just take the money and the inevitable relegation... will Staprix take a dividend out of CAFC and use it to fund Alcorcun or someone else? The potential for paranoia is just wonderful lol
So I'm going to keep an eye on Liege and Alcorcun, watch the January window carefully and hope my bet on CAFC comes up in May... I missed Vetokele top scorer at 150-1 but I did catch a +25 handicap at 18:1 a day before the Brentford game
I feel a pan European survey coming on lol
Hulk (Brazil) in attack from Zenit. Wins free kick in dangerous position in front Standard box (87mins)
Lots of pffaffing about and the ball is straight into wall. Zenit's manager is the bloke that Chelsea and Tottenham both fired.
3 mins extra time. Zenit happy to play the ball around and maintain 1-0 nil lead.
Hulk off. Camargo from Standard has header in good position but it goes 5 yards wide. Luzon is not enjoying the missed chances.
Game over. 1-0 Zenit. Standard will do well to pull this back in Russia. Can't see it happening. If they get an early goal maybe.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28259902
Alternatively weaker players sold (no names!) and more players brought in.
Furthermore there is an alternative option that M.Duchatelet will tip even more talent into SE7 to maintain two points a game. If I was a Liege fan this might wind me up!
What if we dare to dream that, having achieved 20 points by end September, the foot stays on the gas?
January window might give us answers?