₦airaland Forum

It was hovering in the air for Inter - a team thats used to winning matches 2, 3, 4, goal margins suddenly starts playing 5-4, 4-3, 3-2 matches; you should know something is not quite right somewhere - its either the other teams have caught ur scope, tactics are not right or your players are not giving it a good go.
First bottom of the table, Siena now its mid-table Bari.

JM, like Rafa is slowly losing the plot - we might see a resurgent Milan top Serie A in the next 5 games cuz the way Inter are going; they don't look like they're getting any stronger to me.

Its the Milan derby next week and that game is gonna be mighty pivotal in the title race - next after that is also crucial; Inter away to Parma, tough 1. . . . slightly less difficult for Milan is Livorno. Its really looking like this is gonna be Milan's scudetto!

Wonder. . . . whatever happened to the great, goalscoring extraordinaire Carlos Tevez last night

Good game. . . . I must eat the humble pie & say its a very well deserved win for Barca FC, you played like you wanted it & indeed you got it!

Nice 1. . . . a footballing lesson of the highest order!

Krayola:
How market?

confirm bad market


Sevilla Fc have to penalise Jimenez by not paying his wages for 1 whole month!

What outrage. . . . no excuses but how can he just leave out a bulk of the regulars, for what Perrotti, Negredo, Adriano, Renato, Romaric, Duscher all out.

Kone, Lolo, Jose Carlos, Valiente had absolutely no business in that game

& Kone is an absolute waste only 1 damn goal in 3 seasons and he can't even muster a decent assist!

This is f.cuking annoying so, so annoying

Tonight. . . . Mancini has been weighed, measured, calculated, permutated, distributed & computated well, we all know the result!

BIG FREEZE HITS FOOTBALL

It's nothing like the cold weather events of 1946-7 or 1962-3, but freezing weather in Britain has already had its effect on football. Fixture congestion looms and there are concerns about the possible effect on England's World Cup preparations if the cold weather persists. However, there are also substantial financial implications, particularly for lower league clubs where, as in all smaller businesses, cash flow is king and gate money is a big source of it. League rules also require the home club to pay a visiting club's travel expenses when a game is postponed or abandoned. Although there is no suggestion that they have financial problems, Rotherham United have not played since December 12th. They were expecting some good crowds for their games over Christmas and their hospitality packages were sold out.

Next season it will be compulsory for Football League clubs to either have undersoil heating or a pitch cover. At present there are about 15 clubs who have neither. However, the pitch can be playable, but a match can still be postponed because of health and safety concerns arising from the condition of roads and pavements around a ground. The postponement of Arsenal's game against Bolton, after some away fans had made the journey, was also influenced by the fact that early closure of nearby tube stations could make it hard to get 60,000 fans home. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger reflected, 'We live in a society today of 100 per cent security. We don't accept any risk. If one of 60,000 has an accident, you feel very guilty. Nobody accepts that the slightest insecurity exists in our society. We have gone from individual initiative to collective responsibility.'

However, it is not just a question of attitudes, but also of vulnerability to litigation and in particular what your public liability insurance will and will not cover. Rob Elvin, the head of the safety, health and environment group at law firm Hammonds explained to The Times, 'A football club has duties, like any other company, to not expose employees or members of the public to health and safety risks. If you know people's journeys are going to be treacherous, then arguably the match would be the cause of any accidents. You're creating greater risk by putting the match on. Clubs could leave themselves exposed to criminal proceedings if they fail to act on the advice if they fail to act on the advice of police and local authorities , there is an argument in health and safety law that failing to cancel the match carries an exposire to risk and is a breach of the law. The clubs will be insured against personal injuries to a certain level but you can't be insured against criminal cases.'

A club could play behind closed doors, but that would involve a considerable loss of revenue and would annoy fans. Attitudes to risk clearly differ across society and no doubt many fans would say that they are prepared to take a risk with icy pavements, but that does not absolve a club of its legal responsibilities. It's not really practical to get fans to sign an individual indemnity and that might not stand up in law. I'm going off to the ice hockey now: there we want the pitch to be frozen.

aieromon:
I see a Diouf in this game.3-0
I'm more interested in Tuesday's Carling cup game.

guy, u dey see road. . . . . remind me 2 sample u two bottles of 33' export anytime we jam for lasgidi

UUUPPPP UUNIIIITTTED

Burn in hell. . . . a gazillion degrees

UP MR. COOL UP BERBATOV!

Starters: Van der Sar, Neville, Brown, Jonathan Evans, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Nani, Berbatov, Rooney.

Subs: Kuszczak, Owen, Anderson, Park, Fabio Da Silva, Rafael Da Silva, Diouf


"Berbatov-haters" - burn @ a thousand degrees!

Liverpool looking to swap Babel for Kenwyn Jones. . . .

Now am really sure Rafa has lost it!

seriously. . . . been thinking about this - notice Fernando T when things ain't going his way, looks very much like Berba-sulk

Sevilla, who have slipped to fifth after a poor league run, know how difficult it is to beat Barca at the Nou Camp but coach Manolo Jimenez is confident of scoring another success if his players can show some consistency.

"If we were able to knock them out (of the Copa) we can do it again but we know that they are very strong," Jimenez said. "We have shown that we can beat anyone, but also that we can lose to anyone."

The simple fact that it is Barca is enough motivation for the boys to be consistent and beat Barca right there on their ground to prove that the earlier victory was no fluke

FORZA SE-VI-JA

No matter wetin Zokora play, when he returns to Sevilla - BENCH! Romarich is far, far, far better.

Eboue bye bye remain Yaya

that goal was offside jor. . . . kalu was off

dayokanu:
Who reckons with Bulgaria BTW, The last time Bulgaria played a world cup, Bill Clinton was American president.

How is he different from David Healy?

yeah. . . . & that beat the shit outta germany - put it in your signature

What is a bond?
It is a way of borrowing money. But instead of taking out a mortgage, David Gill, the Manchester United chief executive, and club owner Malcolm Glazer have decided to tap the money markets for cash.

Still none the wiser?
OK. Bonds operate in much the same way as shares. The club will issue them and receive cash in exchange - £500million to be precise.
Like shares, the debt can be bought and sold after it is issued. Unlike shares, bonds must be repaid.
In United's case the term of the loan is seven years and the bonds are secured against club assets such as Old Trafford and the Carrington training ground. It is an expensive IOU.

Can I buy a bond? Ibime this one is 4 u
You will need deep pockets. The minimum subscription is likely to be £50,000.
But the club's City advisers will not be counting on fans to bankroll the business. The loans will be sold to professional investors and other banks, who will receive a hefty rate of interest annually, possibly as much as 8.5 per cent.
Bankers have already begun to drum up support for the bond in Asia and will follow this up in Europe and the US.

ARE BONDS THE WAY OUT OF DEBT?

What do Cambridge University and Manchester United have in common? They are both proposing to issue bonds, in the case of Cambridge to raise funds for further investment, in the case of United as a more efficient and cost effective means of managing their debt. All sorts of companies and institutions are turning to the bond market to raise money because as banks rebuild their balance sheets they don't have as much money to lend as they did before the financial crisis and they charge high rates of interest on what is available. Cambridge Uni are hoping for a triple A rating on their bonds as befits an institution that has been going for around 800 years. Although they are also a global brand, it remains to be seen whether United will do as well.

A typical purchaser of bonds would be a pension fund. Bonds are promises to pay a sum at a fixed interest rate, which has to be sufficiently high to attract purchasers. The bonds can be bought and sold like shares. Bond issues are used extensively in the US by state governments and local authorities to fund infrastructure projects. Manchester United are being advised by JP Morgan, the US bank that engineered the Glazers' £790m takeover, and Deutsche Bank. One possible problem is that the Glazers would prefer to pay back the more costly PIK debt which we have written about recently. However, bankers would like to see bank debt paid off which is likely to have higher interest rates than those that would be paid on the bond. The club has been insistent that debt is not a problem because the annual interest on its various loans is covered by its operating profit, although that only left a margin of £3m (£72m against £69m) in 2008. If the cost of servicing the debt could be reduced, in principle more money would be available for the team.

Discuss all the take-overs, turn-overs, profits, losses, debts etc. . . .

honeric01:
now, you are needed here mr
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-382040.0.html#msg5321849

shuo. . . . . u be jazz man!? why u dey command me so

_{incantation mode}

woossskolo wisskalalala sacramantekangalococus - hehe maximum shi-shi for barcelona tomorrow

oreejo intelligence reports indicate that muki was sent by RM to cuz confusion in the barca fan zone with the hope that they'll take their eyes off the sevilla game & not remember to give their team support - so far, its like she's succeeded. . . . . .

Premier League - Ferguson to gamble on Berbatov fitness

Alex Ferguson is crossing his fingers record signing Dimitar Berbatov can make it to the end of the season without needing knee surgery.

Berbatov has been struggling with the injury since November and Ferguson revealed last week the advice has been for the £30.75 million forward to have an exploratory operation so medical staff can work out the extent of the problem.
That is not a route the 28-year-old is keen to go down, especially as he did not feel any reaction this week during United's warm weather training camp in Qatar. Ferguson admitted there may come a point when United have to "make a decision" about whether to put Berbatov under the knife should symptoms persist.

However, as it has previously been suggested that could rule him out for three months during a period when United are hardly over-burdened with in-form forwards, Ferguson is desperately hoping to avoid that scenario.

"If we could see it through until the end of the season it would be better," said the Red Devils chief. "The advice was to have an exploratory operation but Dimitar wants to play through it.

"Sometimes he feels it and sometimes he doesn't. Maybe the climate helped but he didn't feel it when we went away, so he trained every day. It is a difficult one and if he is feeling okay it is not a problem. But if he is keeps continually coming up against a problem we would have to make a decision on it."

United's defensive crisis is easing with goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and defender Rio Ferdinand back in training.
United have played with a patched-up back line for the last six weeks after a plethora of injuries to the likes of Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, Nemanja Vidic and John O'Shea.

A back complaint has sidelined Ferdinand since United's 2-0 loss to Liverpool on October 25 but his recovery is now virtually complete while Dutchman van der Sar has been on compassionate leave following his wife's brain haemorrhage before Christmas.

The 39-year-old was told by Ferguson to take all the time he needs to help his wife Annemarie recover but he has now returned to the club.

Although Saturday's encounter with Burnley is expected to be a match too early for the duo, Ferguson is confident they will both return to action before the end of the month and help soothe part of his defensive headache.

"We have some light at the end of the tunnel during the week with Edwin van der Sar coming back to training," Ferguson said.

"He's done very well, he's obviously been out for a few weeks with a personal situation but it's great to see him back and that experience when he finally does come in will be important to us.

"That is an issue for us, getting solid defending back into the team and our consistency back."

United are second in the standings, one point behind leaders Chelsea.

All Berbatov-haters. . . . eat your hearts out; Mr. Cool will be on UTD's starting line-up as long as he remains a UTD a player.

He lacks conviction eh Here's someone willing to play inspite of whatever pains

UP BERBATOV

Sevilla upbeat for tomorrow

This Copa Del Rey thing is getting outta hand. . . . . . how on earth did Athletico Madrid come back from a 3 goal deficit. Surely now they're favorites too.
Hmmm, we gotta be wary of this Athletico Madrid, on their day they can be dangerous - guess we'll have to beat anybody if we have to win this cup. . . . mercifully, no valencia, barca or RM - but Mallorca, Depor & AM are very plucky customers!

shuo. . . . still ontop dis mukinatu matter bobz, i weeda-shheeva oh