European Leagues Thread 2012/2013

[Winston Biscuit]

Very much enjoying watching Lorient's high flying season.

A small club who spend their time either trying to avoid relegation or trying to get promoted back to Ligue 1. They have lead the table for most of this season with PSG recently overtaking them.

They have a young Nigerian lad called Terem Moffi banging in the goals, who is joint top scorer in France alongside Mbappe & Neymar.

[Winston Biscuit]

Daniele De Rossi gets his first managerial job, in Serie B with Spal

De Rossi, Canavaro, Grosso & Inzaghi all managing in Serie B

[Sanguine]

Allegri must be holding on to his job by his fingertips at Juventus. The Europa League beckons already, and Chiellini and De Ligt clearly big losses.

Alkmaar top in Holland, just for something different.

[Winston Biscuit]

Listened to a thing recently where they basically said they are desperate to get rid of Allegri but can't afford to as he has a long watertight contract

as an aside - I have always quite liked the managerial sackings that Italian clubs do where they keep 'sacked' managers on but just ask them not to come to work anymore. Some clubs then end up with 2 managers, some have even had 3. lol

Its a nice way of not paying up someone their contract in one big lump sum, and instead keep paying them their monthly wage while they sit at home. At some point that unused manager either gets bored or realises football moves on quickly and they will soon be yesterdays news, so they have to resign to be free to take another job, at which point they forfeit the remainder of their contract

[Winston Biscuit]

Shelbourne, managed by Damien Duff, overcome the odds to reach the FAI Cup Final.

They won promotion up to the top division last season and Duff seems to have got a lot of praise this season for how he is doing there

[Winston Biscuit]

Union Berlin with another win, this time over Dortmund, see's them sit 4 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga

one of the goals was pure comedy from the Dortmund keeper too

[Sanguine]

Union Berlin with another win, this time over Dortmund, see's them sit 4 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga

one of the goals was pure comedy from the Dortmund keeper too

https://twitter.com/robtdaly/status/1581727213799755776

This one, I assume.

[Hendo]

Union Berlin with another win, this time over Dortmund, see's them sit 4 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga

one of the goals was pure comedy from the Dortmund keeper too

https://twitter.com/robtdaly/status/1581727213799755776

This one, I assume.

lol

[Winston Biscuit]

Radja Nainggolan 'expelled indefinitely' from Royal Antwerp after vaping from the subs bench before the match started at the weekend



Was always disappointed he never came here to play. Outrageously talented yet inconsistent and prone to idiotic off field behaviour. Got 'West Ham transfer target' written all over him

[Winston Biscuit]

Ribery retires.

Reminds me I read a story on him a couple of years back which was explaining that he is not fluent in french, even though he is french and lived there until he was in his 20's. He is apparently quite difficult to interview due to the manner in which he speaks and his lack of education along with some 'street talk'

Apparently he had an extremely poverty stricken and rough upbringing with minimal education and so speaks with unusual/poor grammar with some street talk thrown in which can make it hard to understand him, and sometimes difficult to have typical media friendly back and forth football chat

I don't mean that in a snooty way, it's a huge credit to him that he has gone from that upbringing to reaching the very top of the game which obv takes discipline, hard work and dedication. I have just always found languages interesting, incl people who speak loads and people that struggle with just one.

[Loafer]

Reims have a game with player sent off for the 8th game in a row, and they have had 9 reds in 11 games.

[Winston Biscuit]

Detail of Mbappe's contract is leaked. €630M over 3 years.

https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2022/kylian-mbappe-to-earn-e630m-gross-salary-at-psg-over-three-years/

A flat £1.38M per week with no performance bonuses. Then a hefty signing fee and a shed load of loyalty bonuses

[Sanguine]

Detail of Mbappe's contract is leaked. €630M over 3 years.

https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2022/kylian-mbappe-to-earn-e630m-gross-salary-at-psg-over-three-years/

A flat £1.38M per week with no performance bonuses. Then a hefty signing fee and a shed load of loyalty bonuses

It's beginning to become clearer why he decided to stay at PSG.

[Sanguine]

Reims have a game with player sent off for the 8th game in a row, and they have had 9 reds in 11 games.

There have been 50 red cards in Ligue 1 so far this season, after 12 game weeks - so the rate isn't slowing, there were 34 after 8 weeks. And there have been more in Ligue 2.

Can't find much online, but appears referees in France have been given a 'firmness order' to take no shit at all on the pitch.

[Hendo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63424197

Pablo Mari: 'I was lucky' - Arsenal defender on Italy supermarket stabbing

[Winston Biscuit]

Good article on Osasuna
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/osasuna-la-liga-pamplona-spain-b2212369.html

[Winston Biscuit]

Italian Serie A soccer club Juventus denied wrongdoing after prosecutors probing allegations of false accounting and market manipulation completed an investigation into the club's financial statements.

In Italy the conclusion of an investigation usually precedes any request from prosecutors to send suspects to trial.

A source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that there are 15 suspects in all, in addition to the club itself, including club president Andrea Agnelli.

The Turin prosecutor alleged that Juventus understated its financial losses for 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Prosecutors have been looking into the values ascribed to player transfers between clubs and whether, as stated, salaries were sacrificed during the COVID-19 pandemic or simply deferred.

Part of the investigation claims Juve had a private side agreement for a €20M loyalty payment to Ronaldo which was off the books

[South Coast Royal]

Reims have a game with player sent off for the 8th game in a row, and they have had 9 reds in 11 games.

There have been 50 red cards in Ligue 1 so far this season, after 12 game weeks - so the rate isn't slowing, there were 34 after 8 weeks. And there have been more in Ligue 2.

Can't find much online, but appears referees in France have been given a 'firmness order' to take no shit at all on the pitch.

Direct opposite to here, particularly in the Premier League, where you can kick anybody in the first half without punishment and often without a free-kick but things tighten up in the second half.

[Winston Biscuit]

Another goal for Kvaratskhelia at Napoli again today. Going to be one of the most sought after players in Europe next summer if he carries on like this

[Sanguine]

Napoli having one hell of a season so far - unbeaten with 15 wins and two draws in all competitions, with 50 goals scored.