Saudi Retirement Home

[AndyinLiverpool]

1 hour ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

Realistically, how long is it before Saudi buy their way into the Champions League?

They already have. They own Newcastle United.

[DarkFruitsRam7]

1 hour ago, David said:

UEFA = Union of European Football Associations.

Would need a complete rebrand to go down that path, Saudi's will go it their way and create some Middle East trophy.

Can't see a Middle Eastern trophy getting any kind of momentum in the next 20 years.

But I could quite easily see UEFA seeing the dollar signs and letting Saudi sides into the Champions League at some point. And it's not like competitions have never let outsiders in before. Look at the NFL, when it was discussed about having a UK-based team involved. Even bloody Eurovision lets the Ozzies in.

We've seen Saudi Arabia buy golf and it sounds like they're well on their way to buying football, tennis and more.  

[Comrade 86]

2 hours ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

Realistically, how long is it before Saudi buy the Champions League?

FTFY

[EtoileSportiveDeDerby]

56 minutes ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

Can't see a Middle Eastern trophy getting any kind of momentum in the next 20 years.

But I could quite easily see UEFA seeing the dollar signs and letting Saudi sides into the Champions League at some point. And it's not like competitions have never let outsiders in before. Look at the NFL, when it was discussed about having a UK-based team involved. Even bloody Eurovision lets the Ozzies in.

We've seen Saudi Arabia buy golf and it sounds like they're well on their way to buying football, tennis and more.  

Saudis sides are in the CL already.

Without the Saudis wedge, Newcastle would most likely been relegated instead.

[BathRam72]

On 06/06/2023 at 23:55, Bris Vegas said:

Nuno Espiritu Santo is a manager over there as well.

I think it has the potential to be far better than China, due to its size and location.

In China, with it being such a massive country and pretty terrible weather wise, I don’t imagine it would be too fun when not training or playing football.

Saudi season is relatively short, plenty of downtime, nice beaches, a 3-4 hour private jet back to mainland Europe. 

Money talks. But it’s a luxury retirement home compared to China and even the US where you’re traveling all the time.

REALLY? You have obviously not been to Saudi then. I have a few times and believe me it is definitely not all that.

Hot dusty with massive restrictions on pretty much everything you value.

putting it politely it is a poo hole

[Bris Vegas]

7 hours ago, BathRam72 said:

REALLY? You have obviously not been to Saudi then. I have a few times and believe me it is definitely not all that.

Hot dusty with massive restrictions on pretty much everything you value.

putting it politely it is a poo hole

It can’t be hot and dusty all year round, surely? I live in a Mexican desert but it’s only really uncomfortable for 3 months.

I don’t know your situation. But I imagine the super wealthy have a lot more flexibility in terms of time, what they can spend their money on.

Surely people like Ronaldo has a private plane where inbetween games and training he is jetting his family off to the nearest luxury beach.

[Ram-Alf]

19 hours ago, David said:

UEFA = Union of European Football Associations.

Would need a complete rebrand to go down that path, Saudi's will go it their way and create some Middle East trophy.

As Israel are already in UEFA it shows you don't need to be in Europe, But if Saudi Arabia were given membership...a whole new ballgame will ensue.

Why is Israel in Uefa?

Israel’s footballing history is long and complex.

It started out as a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), beginning to compete in 1954.

However, many Muslim countries refused to play against Israel due to the Arab League’s boycotting of the country.

This led to a situation where Israel technically qualified for the 1958 World Cup without actually kicking a ball. Fifa wanted to avoid this sutation, so set up a play-off against Wales, which Israel lost.

Israel hosted and won the 1964 AFC Asian Cup – its only international honour – although 11 of the 16 nations set to compete withdrew from the tournament.

It qualified for the 1970 World Cup but finished bottom of a group which also included Italy, Uruguay and Sweden.

Israel was excluded from AFC competitions in 1974 as the result of a proposal submitted by Kuwait, which passed 17 to 13 in a vote of members (with six abstentions).

It started to play in European tournaments in the early 80s, including taking part in the European 1982 World Cup qualifiers, but then competed in the Oceania groups for 1986 and 1990.

Israeli clubs began taking part in European club competitions in 1991, and in 1994 it was made a member of Uefa.

It has competed in European tournaments ever since, while its club teams compete in the Champions League and Europa League.

Seven Israeli clubs have taken part in the Champions League, with Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

[Van der MoodHoover]

On 27/06/2023 at 22:18, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

Can't see a Middle Eastern trophy getting any kind of momentum in the next 20 years.

But I could quite easily see UEFA seeing the dollar signs and letting Saudi sides into the Champions League at some point. And it's not like competitions have never let outsiders in before. Look at the NFL, when it was discussed about having a UK-based team involved. Even bloody Eurovision lets the Ozzies in.

We've seen Saudi Arabia buy golf and it sounds like they're well on their way to buying football, tennis and more.  

Now then young man......

 

I'm happy enough with your rant-ette, but never never take the name of the sainted Eurovision in vain......

 

There's got to be some vehicles left for us ageing flouncers.....🤣

[Day]

Another.

 

[i-Ram]

Stevie غ

[Bris Vegas]

Celtic’s Jota, Inter’s Brozovic and Steven Gerrard the latest.

The wages there must dwarf elsewhere. 

The US and China have tried before, but I don’t think they ever signed this many in one window.

Any top tier player in the 30-35 age bracket must be considering it now.

 

[Day]

Even Robbie Fowler has got a job over there.

Looks like they are collecting names, big names that can be used in branding and marketing their products and country.

Having one or two superstars per club will not change the standard of football, it's not something that can be done overnight.

[ilkleyram]

There was an interesting interview with Poulter and Westwood about LIV golf at the weekend.  Basically Poulter said two things: 1) noone has the right to tell him how much money in his bank account is too much and 2) on his death bed those gathered around him will only be thinking about how he provided for them, not about trophies and titles.  His only regret was not being able to play in the Ryder Cup, though I guess that’s still to be sorted

Those of us oldies will recall the years before the EPL.  At the beginning it was all light touch, putting more money into the hands of the already richest but not the excessive imbalance we now have that’s affecting all European leagues; few foreign players; TV that was innovative compared to the beeb and ITV but not dominating.

Now look at what has happened and is still happening. So too with Saudi/Middle Eastern involvement in football world wide. We ain’t seen nothing yet and anything will become possible because their money will talk in a sport now driven by greed for lucre. Football family? Pah.

[bimmerman]

On 28/06/2023 at 15:46, Bris Vegas said:

It can’t be hot and dusty all year round, surely? I live in a Mexican desert but it’s only really uncomfortable for 3 months.

I don’t know your situation. But I imagine the super wealthy have a lot more flexibility in terms of time, what they can spend their money on.

Surely people like Ronaldo has a private plane where inbetween games and training he is jetting his family off to the nearest luxury beach.

I always thought your name was because you lived in Bristol 😆

[Bris Vegas]

The more I think about the Steven Gerrard move the more it makes sense from his perspective.

It doesn’t matter what he does in Saudi, win the league or finish bottom, it isn’t going to make any difference to the opinions of football owners in the UK. Not a jot.

So rather than sit on his backside, waiting for his next opportunity in the PL or Championship, doing nothing, instead he can be active in Saudi earning £300k a week for a job he enjoys under very little pressure.

Obviously it’s financially motivated. It’s allowing him to bide his time with the benefit of being paid mega money while doing it.

[Van der MoodHoover]

Wonder if we'll see Frankie boy heading out there ...

[EtoileSportiveDeDerby]

29 minutes ago, Van der MoodHoover said:

Wonder if we'll see Frankie boy heading out there ...

They might have heard of the name and that is good enough for that lot. You might be right you know.

Besides that it is not about the money, they are all going there for football reasons and further their careers.

[Day]

3 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

The more I think about the Steven Gerrard move the more it makes sense from his perspective.

It doesn’t matter what he does in Saudi, win the league or finish bottom, it isn’t going to make any difference to the opinions of football owners in the UK. Not a jot.

So rather than sit on his backside, waiting for his next opportunity in the PL or Championship, doing nothing, instead he can be active in Saudi earning £300k a week for a job he enjoys under very little pressure.

Obviously it’s financially motivated. It’s allowing him to bide his time with the benefit of being paid mega money while doing it.

Problem now is he's unavailable for any 'proper' jobs that come up, longer he's out there, the further away he drops down the list of potential candidates.

As a husband, a father, that might not bother him. For every David McGoldrick, you will have 50 that chase the money.

[Bris Vegas]

4 hours ago, David said:

Problem now is he's unavailable for any 'proper' jobs that come up, longer he's out there, the further away he drops down the list of potential candidates.

As a husband, a father, that might not bother him. For every David McGoldrick, you will have 50 that chase the money.

Maybe he has some deal with them whereby if a PL club comes calling he is free to leave.

You’d think Jesse Lingard will end up out there but funnily enough he probably isn’t deemed A list enough for them to consider him.

[StarterForTen]

A good journo friend of mine is claiming that Saudi are after Harry Kane with a $100million a year three season contract and a £100m transfer fee.