I don't get it. According to Callum's quoted figures, RD has taken out €12m from Standard in transfer dealings. However if he had reinvested half of that in the squad, and got past Zenit, who are decent, but really not much more IMHO, he'd get a minimum €9m just for qualifying for the group stage, plus €1m for every game they win and half that for a draw. Plus, a full stadium, rather than an office full of angry Standard ultras.
Is he re-directing the money here? well not that much, yet.
3 defeats in a row now. When I saw they had 10 games to play in 5 weeks from late July, I thought that, if things went really badly, their season could be seriously screwed by the end of August. Still 2 more JPL games to play, as well as the 2nd leg v. Zenit, but it's not looking good.
I certainly don't profess to understand RD's strategy yet. In fact, when I wrote the article on Monday it read rather different - even more pro RD - but then I started reading about the new wave of discontent at Standard and had to do a pretty hefty rewrite. I hope we all treat this as kicking theories around rather than a concrete conclusion about the merits of RD and his strategy.
But what I have noticed with companies made up of international networks with office in Czech R. is that they make decisions based on how the global company is doing rather than ho the Czech company is doing. So some of them had to suffer "global hiring freeze" even though they were doing well here and needed the staff; and then when WPP in particular started doing well again they once again became ready to buy agencies in the Czech R, even though the local market is doing badly - because the cash balances and sentiment inside WPP are healthy. So I thought it might apply to Staprix too. Get hands on UCL money - enough money to boost Standard squad and get that second decent striker for Charlton. Out of UCL - not so much money....spend it on Standard to stop those ultras invading his office again, or spend it on that Charlton striker. My point is, much better if he has the money coming in for both.
But for sure, he could be thinking in a completely different way.
The one that does my head in is Karl Zeiss Jena. Where the hell is the money trail there?
I certainly don't profess to understand RD's strategy yet. In fact, when I wrote the article on Monday it read rather different - even more pro RD - but then I started reading about the new wave of discontent at Standard and had to do a pretty hefty rewrite. I hope we all treat this as kicking theories around rather than a concrete conclusion about the merits of RD and his strategy.
But what I have noticed with companies made up of international networks with office in Czech R. is that they make decisions based on how the global company is doing rather than ho the Czech company is doing. So some of them had to suffer "global hiring freeze" even though they were doing well here and needed the staff; and then when WPP in particular started doing well again they once again became ready to buy agencies in the Czech R, even though the local market is doing badly - because the cash balances and sentiment inside WPP are healthy. So I thought it might apply to Staprix too. Get hands on UCL money - enough money to boost Standard squad and get that second decent striker for Charlton. Out of UCL - not so much money....spend it on Standard to stop those ultras invading his office again, or spend it on that Charlton striker. My point is, much better if he has the money coming in for both.
But for sure, he could be thinking in a completely different way.
The one that does my head in is Karl Zeiss Jena. Where the hell is the money trail there?
I don't get it. According to Callum's quoted figures, RD has taken out €12m from Standard in transfer dealings. However if he had reinvested half of that in the squad, and got past Zenit, who are decent, but really not much more IMHO, he'd get a minimum €9m just for qualifying for the group stage, plus €1m for every game they win and half that for a draw. Plus, a full stadium, rather than an office full of angry Standard ultras.
Is he re-directing the money here? well not that much, yet.
It does seem weird.
If we were also James Bond arch-Villians like RD, seems no brainer to have taken that gamble this year.
But to improve their team at that level would take experienced pros rather than more financially attractive rising stars. It's still a gamble especially if you end up drawing Arsenal or even Zenith in the qualifying.
Our very own Bloefield probably feels he has come out in top because would 10-15m in that team to have beaten Zenith.
He should buy SL some better players next Summer to get them into the group stage and then they can be loaned to us in the 15/16 January Premiership window
I certainly don't profess to understand RD's strategy yet. In fact, when I wrote the article on Monday it read rather different - even more pro RD - but then I started reading about the new wave of discontent at Standard and had to do a pretty hefty rewrite. I hope we all treat this as kicking theories around rather than a concrete conclusion about the merits of RD and his strategy.
But what I have noticed with companies made up of international networks with office in Czech R. is that they make decisions based on how the global company is doing rather than ho the Czech company is doing. So some of them had to suffer "global hiring freeze" even though they were doing well here and needed the staff; and then when WPP in particular started doing well again they once again became ready to buy agencies in the Czech R, even though the local market is doing badly - because the cash balances and sentiment inside WPP are healthy. So I thought it might apply to Staprix too. Get hands on UCL money - enough money to boost Standard squad and get that second decent striker for Charlton. Out of UCL - not so much money....spend it on Standard to stop those ultras invading his office again, or spend it on that Charlton striker. My point is, much better if he has the money coming in for both.
But for sure, he could be thinking in a completely different way.
The one that does my head in is Karl Zeiss Jena. Where the hell is the money trail there?
They have a very good youth academy!
Do they? Can you tell us more?
I can't, but all of RD's clubs (except St.Truiden which was his first team) have a very good academy. It is a way of making money
What money? Only fee was Vetokele and the story was he didn't want to go back to Jupiler league... We all know that the CAFC business case stacks up as investment in a promotion push is paid for by promotion and/or player sales. Luzon is the first Duchatelet coach to last more than 1 season and he was offered a two year extension...Perhaps his brief is to rebuild the Liege squad or perhaps he is gone before Christmas?! What we don't know is the ongoing combined running losses of the six clubs. What we can guess from statements and recent activity is that M.Duchatelet is looking for a net gain on group transfers. Transfermarkt tells us that Zenit St Petersburg is in a different league to Liege like Arsenal vs Palace(lol) or Chelsea vs Burnley. What happens next is interesting and would love to hear direct from the likes of @byl about how this pans out.
I certainly don't profess to understand RD's strategy yet. In fact, when I wrote the article on Monday it read rather different - even more pro RD - but then I started reading about the new wave of discontent at Standard and had to do a pretty hefty rewrite. I hope we all treat this as kicking theories around rather than a concrete conclusion about the merits of RD and his strategy.
But what I have noticed with companies made up of international networks with office in Czech R. is that they make decisions based on how the global company is doing rather than ho the Czech company is doing. So some of them had to suffer "global hiring freeze" even though they were doing well here and needed the staff; and then when WPP in particular started doing well again they once again became ready to buy agencies in the Czech R, even though the local market is doing badly - because the cash balances and sentiment inside WPP are healthy. So I thought it might apply to Staprix too. Get hands on UCL money - enough money to boost Standard squad and get that second decent striker for Charlton. Out of UCL - not so much money....spend it on Standard to stop those ultras invading his office again, or spend it on that Charlton striker. My point is, much better if he has the money coming in for both.
But for sure, he could be thinking in a completely different way.
The one that does my head in is Karl Zeiss Jena. Where the hell is the money trail there?
They have a very good youth academy!
Do they? Can you tell us more?
I can't, but all of RD's clubs (except St.Truiden which was his first team) have a very good academy. It is a way of making money
All very clear that CAFC also acquired because of history, stadium, academy and potential to sell into or even get promoted to the richest football league in the world. The Premier league! Also very clear that M.Duchatelet is all about young squads and selling players at top of their game. Does this money pay for losses, bigger plans or simply acquiring more young players...or subsidising ticket prices ( the £250 seats where I now sit are packed) Will we get a clear cut statement? Doubt it! But we can track the clubs and players. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as long as we staying the top six all season!
I just think he might sell SL and especially if we get promoted. Seems all they give him is pelters.
In a fit if revenge, he is gonna asset strip Liege and then take a reinforced Sint Truiden to them next season and relegate them on their own patch, personally scoring a hat trick of tap ins, set up one each by Messi, Ronaldo and Bale.
Transfermarkt tells us Vetokele valued £1.1m and yet they register a transfer fee paid by CAFC to Fc Copenhagen of €3m - no idea why or timing or methodology of valuations...Like the network we can watch and see. My guess is CAFC squad valuation will climb upto £20m fairly rapidly from the £10m (relegation level) we saw last season.
Incidentally there is a correlation of 0.81 between Jupiler league squad valuation and league position last season...the top 7 in Belgium are streets ahead of the rest... Perhaps Liege management happy to finish in top 6 while they rebuild?
To be clear Transfermarkt gives squad valuations as a proxy and not actual fees. It moves in mysterious ways but one cannot fail to have noticed how I have used it all summer to flag the theoretical uplift at CAFC way before kick-off at Brentford. If this holds up I'll buy you a beer with my winnings in May!
I've now had the pleasure of watching all three league games and can confirm my initial analysis: Gudmondsson, Buyens and Vetokele are different gravy The players marks thread would suggest that the fans concur!
Delort is valued today at €1.3m (as are a plethora of European Strikers) so what will M.Duchatelet pay to secure his (or his equivalent) services and put a final piece in the puzzle. And what will that same player be sold for in 2-3 years time?!
Just a quick point...I expect the professional management in the game are using a model far more accurate than transfermarkt... In fact I know CAFC and others use prozone to analyse games, opponents and now transfer targets as available... I've not seen the full suite but I expect it might be fairly impressive to you and I.
Furthermore, given M.Duchatelet's background I suspect he has developed a turbo charged version. Perhaps he just gets lucky all the time? I think not.
Priceless from mystic Kev.. Those three are good players, my goodness how did you manage to analyse that?
Well Razil here's the thing... I could have waited until final whistle the other night but think I called it quietly the week they arrived. I recall I stated that CAFC squad has just gone through a revolution and then cited transfermarkt as an independent database attributing values significantly higher than last year's squad... Your favourite troll responded saying we might finish anywhere between 1st and 23rd... Bumpy road...blah blah...but something told me we had become a top half side overnight.
So then I went down the bookies
To put this in an historical context this is the equivalent of the signing of Alan Simonsen or perhaps that's before your time? The difference is that M.Duchatelet, Meire and Peeters have signed three high end players, not just one...and there is clearly money available for more. This is a repeat of 1985 and 1998 transformations where a half decent set of solid players suddenly welcome reinforcements.
Best we look at the table and squad in September but we are most certainly on an interesting journey... Question for the fans and the Trust is whether it's right that one benefactor can switch the light on and off at will?
Might I add that in Liège certain politicians try to run everything. Honestly, I don't think you Brits can (would like to) fathom the amount of corruption and deals behind the curtains that go on in that community (frankly, I'm a bit hesitant to say this ... 'cause it's a bit embarassing). It's pretty well known in Belgium (wether you like/dislike those politicians). Personally I think RD got fed up with that local culture and finds it easier to achieve success with his other clubs. So, I wouldn't worry about him trying to get rid of SL and thinking that's what in the end he'll probably do with all of his clubs (on short term). I'm even kinda persuaded that Bob wasn't brought for a short term deal. He'll get you guys in the PL and if that turns out good (finance wise) for RD, all the better ...
Think as soon as Veto signed that was a huge indicator, you wdnt surround a player of his pedigree with 'tut'.. Likewise Gudmonson made a list in the Sun. All I'm saying is once these players were in it was pretty clear what sort of player we were after.
My hunch right now is that Liege have had some investment and now its our turn, perhaps the majority of it being in the first year of a 2-3 year 'plan'. Each club will have a budget and be told to get on with it.
Might I add that in Liège certain politicians try to run everything. Honestly, I don't think you Brits can (would like to) fathom the amount of corruption and deals behind the curtains that go on in that community (frankly, I'm a bit hesitant to say this ... 'cause it's a bit embarassing). It's pretty well known in Belgium (wether you like/dislike those politicians). Personally I think RD got fed up with that local culture and finds it easier to achieve success with his other clubs. So, I wouldn't worry about him trying to get rid of SL and thinking that's what in the end he'll probably do with all of his clubs (on short term). I'm even kinda persuaded that Bob wasn't brought for a short term deal. He'll get you guys in the PL and if that turns out good (finance wise) for RD, all the better ...
I recently enjoyed the Belgian crime series Salamander.
It portrayed the entire country as a cesspit of corruption run by some kind of Masonic lodge of shady businessmen, who had all the politicians under their thumb by knowing all their dirty personal secrets.
I really was quite gobsmacked, but then I reminded myself that it's just fiction...
On BBC radio just now a guy from Grant Thornton estimated the revenue to Arsenal as a result of beating Besiktas is round £40m. The loss to Celtic of not qualifying for the group stages is £25m, the difference being domestic TV rights for the UCL. We can assume Belgian rights values are pretty close to Scottish ones. £25m is a lot of money to kiss goodbye to. And as said before, the money would go into the accounts of Staprix, the company that owns CAFC.
Comments
Zenit looked pretty comfortable for the most part.
Is he re-directing the money here? well not that much, yet.
If we were also James Bond arch-Villians like RD, seems no brainer to have taken that gamble this year.
But to improve their team at that level would take experienced pros rather than more financially attractive rising stars. It's still a gamble especially if you end up drawing Arsenal or even Zenith in the qualifying.
Our very own Bloefield probably feels he has come out in top because would 10-15m in that team to have beaten Zenith.
He should buy SL some better players next Summer to get them into the group stage and then they can be loaned to us in the 15/16 January Premiership window
It is a way of making money
Luzon is the first Duchatelet coach to last more than 1 season and he was offered a two year extension...Perhaps his brief is to rebuild the Liege squad or perhaps he is gone before Christmas?!
What we don't know is the ongoing combined running losses of the six clubs. What we can guess from statements and recent activity is that M.Duchatelet is looking for a net gain on group transfers.
Transfermarkt tells us that Zenit St Petersburg is in a different league to Liege like Arsenal vs Palace(lol) or Chelsea vs Burnley. What happens next is interesting and would love to hear direct from the likes of @byl about how this pans out.
The Premier league!
Also very clear that M.Duchatelet is all about young squads and selling players at top of their game. Does this money pay for losses, bigger plans or simply acquiring more young players...or subsidising ticket prices ( the £250 seats where I now sit are packed)
Will we get a clear cut statement? Doubt it! But we can track the clubs and players.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as long as we staying the top six all season!
In a fit if revenge, he is gonna asset strip Liege and then take a reinforced Sint Truiden to them next season and relegate them on their own patch, personally scoring a hat trick of tap ins, set up one each by Messi, Ronaldo and Bale.
100% fact. ITK
Transfermarkt tells us lots of things.
Transfermarkt tells that Andy Delete should cost us no more than 1.2m euros.
How much do you want to bet that Gazprom St Petersburg don't get out of the group stage?
Incidentally there is a correlation of 0.81 between Jupiler league squad valuation and league position last season...the top 7 in Belgium are streets ahead of the rest...
Perhaps Liege management happy to finish in top 6 while they rebuild?
To be clear Transfermarkt gives squad valuations as a proxy and not actual fees. It moves in mysterious ways but one cannot fail to have noticed how I have used it all summer to flag the theoretical uplift at CAFC way before kick-off at Brentford. If this holds up I'll buy you a beer with my winnings in May!
I've now had the pleasure of watching all three league games and can confirm my initial analysis: Gudmondsson, Buyens and Vetokele are different gravy
Delort is valued today at €1.3m (as are a plethora of European Strikers) so what will M.Duchatelet pay to secure his (or his equivalent) services and put a final piece in the puzzle. And what will that same player be sold for in 2-3 years time?!
Just a quick point...I expect the professional management in the game are using a model far more accurate than transfermarkt... In fact I know CAFC and others use prozone to analyse games, opponents and now transfer targets as available... I've not seen the full suite but I expect it might be fairly impressive to you and I.
Furthermore, given M.Duchatelet's background I suspect he has developed a turbo charged version. Perhaps he just gets lucky all the time? I think not.
So then I went down the bookies
To put this in an historical context this is the equivalent of the signing of Alan Simonsen or perhaps that's before your time?
The difference is that M.Duchatelet, Meire and Peeters have signed three high end players, not just one...and there is clearly money available for more. This is a repeat of 1985 and 1998 transformations where a half decent set of solid players suddenly welcome reinforcements.
Best we look at the table and squad in September but we are most certainly on an interesting journey... Question for the fans and the Trust is whether it's right that one benefactor can switch the light on and off at will?
My hunch right now is that Liege have had some investment and now its our turn, perhaps the majority of it being in the first year of a 2-3 year 'plan'. Each club will have a budget and be told to get on with it.
I earnestly hope this is not the equivalent of signing Alan Simonsen.
Within a year we nearly went out of business.
I recently enjoyed the Belgian crime series Salamander.
It portrayed the entire country as a cesspit of corruption run by some kind of Masonic lodge of shady businessmen, who had all the politicians under their thumb by knowing all their dirty personal secrets.
I really was quite gobsmacked, but then I reminded myself that it's just fiction...
There will be consequences from this...
Nothing good about this result.