Olimite wrote:

Those playoff games were terrible. No quality at all.

You can allow them for for being edgy affairs, but there was a telling lack of quality. The League One and Two play offs were far more entertaining.

Olimite wrote:

No quality at all.

Come watch United play

Minnesänger wrote:

0-0. On to Saint Mary’s then.

Terrible advert for the Championship today, eh? Nobody seemingly wants to go up!

Wagner had us sitting back for the last hour, not sure that’s the best approach with an away leg at Elland Road on Thursday night but he did manage to get Huddersfield through them without scoring a goal themselves in 330mins…

It feels like this season has been one where what goes on off the pitch has been almost as important as the on field action. At the top of the table, the book makers have Man City as favourites to take the title, but there's still the questions over the 115 charges laid at their doorstep by the League. If these are founded, what does that mean for Man City and their recent dominance.

Everton and Forest have had points deducted for Profit and Sustainability (PSR) breaches, the latter narrowly avoiding relegation. In the meantime, Everton's protracted buyout by 777 is going up in flames, leading to many commentators suggesting that Administration is a very real possibility.

More in the middle of pack is Chelsea. Chelsea have self reported themselves for spurious payments made under the previous ownerships and are awaiting the outcome of that. Financial analysts were certain that Chelsea would also breach PSR, but that didn't happen. For those unsure of how it works, the accounting period for clubs ends on 30 June each year and the accounts are laid before the league before 31 December, so that any charges can be made and (theoretically) resolved by the end of the season.

It transpired that Chelsea avoided a PSR breach (caveat, there's still a question mark over this) by selling themselves a hotel. BlueCo, the holding company, purchased from Chelsea FC, hotels previously held by the Club for around £75m. Just in case anyone was concerned that Chelsea FC wouldn't benefit from the revenue at the hotels anymore, the good news is BlueCo awarded the club a management contract for those hotels.

Well, that was the last financial year and the same commentators were still predicting a PSR breach for the accounts closing 30 June 2024. They said that Chelsea would need make over £100m in profit on player sales (note, that's profit, not revenue), which would likely mean a fire sale of academy talent, who represent pure profit on the balance sheet. The reported noises out of the club was this was nonsense. I predicted last month that would mean the training ground would be the next asset to be moved around and low and behold, it's being reported this morning that the Land Registry documents are showing that is in the process of happening - meaning BlueCo have made another purchase from Chelsea FC for an expected £150m.

Related party transactions are supposed to be approved by the League and I understand that the hotel purchase is yet to be approved, so Chelsea are not out of the woods yet. No doubt the same deliberation will take place over the training ground. But I doubt anything will come of this, because ultimately this is a loophole that can and therefore will be exploited.

I don't think we can push the toothpaste back into the tube and boardroom drama will continue to play as big a part in the beloved game as the games themselves. However, I do think more should be done to make the game a more level playing field and stop some clubs from making a mockery of the rules that were put in place to achieve those very ends.

It's not legally wrong, but it is morally bankrupt.

BlueCo. and Chelsea FC are separate legal entities, despite sharing the same Directors/Owners. So, to that end, it wouldn't legally be any different to an unrelated company (let's say my company) from buying the assets. However, I think we know that those assets were not up for a competitive sale at any point, nor were they likely to have been competitively valued. That's what makes it morally bankrupt.

Is Chelsea FC not a wholly owned subsidiary of BlueCo? And does that really not make any difference if it is?

https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/may/10/roman-abramovich-loans-fund-dutch-football-club-vitesse-arnhem-valery-oyf

This was a canny bit of business by Abramovich too

I'll be supporting Liverpool.
Highly unlikely we'll win our last two but we need Villa to lose at least one.

We’ll smash ‘em for you on Sunday and I reckon it’ll be a draw at best for City in the week.

All to play for!

Martinez-lol.

Yeah not into that to be honest.
Seen quite a few Arsenal fans taking the whole backing Spurs thing in good jest, way it should be.

Spurs fans should be focussed on us getting top 4 however unlikely.

Olimite wrote:

I mean I know why but watching Spurs fans celebrating losing is modern football at its very worst. I’d be fuming if I was a home supporter.

Everyone celebrating is more of an Arsenal hater than a Spurs fan. Sad cunts

I wouldn’t have wanted to be that seat when he got subbed!

Do Spurs know they need to win this?

What a stop.

Olimite wrote:

Son has turned shit.

Aye. He was utter crap last match too until their tails were up, but by then it was too late.

Peno now, game over.