Columnists Archives - Page 39 of 78 - Inside World Football

Osasu Obayiuwana: Substitutes for experience; but will they be Supersubs?

When Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager, was recently appointed as UEFA’s coaching ambassador, he gave what I thought was a logical piece of advice for the next generation of managers.

“I would say to every young coach – make sure that you prepare and give yourselves the best opportunities by getting their (UEFA) licenses. It is very important.

“Even when they get their licenses, they need to ensure they attend all the coaching seminars…

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: IOC turns attack on America

Just hours before the Sochi 2014 Games open the IOC President , Thomas Bach, launched a surprising attack on the US and, in particular, former President George Bush junior for using the Olympics for political purposes. Although he did not name Bush the reference to the former US President was clear and this follows Bach’s remarks three days ago when he attacked western leaders, including Barrack Obama and David Cameron, for not coming to the Olympics as an “ostentatious gesture”

Matt Scott

Matt Scott: Arsenal: big guns set to have the last laugh?

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“And the big Gun guffawed,” The Last Laugh, Wilfred Owen

The military connection endures today in name only, and in the cannon that is borne on the club’s crest, but there is no question that in football terms the passage of history has made Arsenal one of England’s big guns. Thirteen league titles and 10 FA Cups point to a record bettered only by Manchester United and Liverpool. But,

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: Why FIFA cannot learn from the Olympics

The idea that football can learn from the Olympics has often been articulated not least after the London Games. Then the idea was even endorsed by Sepp Blatter. However, the question that was being talked about during London 2012, at least as far as Blatter was concerned, was how could football deal with what Blatter and others in the game call simulation but what most of us term as cheating. In other words the question of a player who dives in the hope he will get a free kick or a penalty,

Lee Wellings

Lee Wellings: How far have Manchester City come?

Not many games whet the appetite quite as much as Barcelona vs Manchester City, in the Champions League this month.

This column recently outlined why an important era is approaching for the Catalan club as their dominant decade gives way to uncertainty. Can they remain at the very top when clubs fuelled by petrodollars are starting to accelerate?

Barcelona got past Paris St Germain last season but the French club with the Qatari funding weren’t yet up to full speed.

Archive

David Owen: Why it would make sense to introduce a Winter Olympic futsal competition

“Just arrived in Sochi,” Joseph Blatter tweeted on Tuesday. “Looking forward to meeting my friends and colleagues from the Olympic community before Sochi 2014.”

The FIFA President is an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member. So he will attend the IOC Session that precedes the Winter Olympics, the first to be chaired by Thomas Bach, the recently-elected IOC President.

There will no doubt also be opportunities to catch up with Russian officials,

Archive

David Owen: Why Financial Fair Play is unlikely to chill the transfer market

What impact should we expect UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations to have on business conducted during player transfer windows such as the one that closes today?

You might think the break-even requirement enshrined in the rules would have a chilling effect, dissuading clubs from splashing the cash on these costly assets.

Actually though I think this will be far from the case. Why? Because of the lop-sided way player valuations are dealt with in corporate accounts,

Lee Wellings

Lee Wellings: ‘Donut’ try to fight it – football is now business

If you scored a match winning goal at the highest league level in your country how would you react? With a slice of pizza behind the goal?

You may have seen Dominic Oduru of Columbus Crew do just that in a match last year against Chicago Fire, provided by the club’s ‘official’ pizza provider. Thank goodness he hit the target otherwise that pizza may have gone to waste. What company was it? Let’s not go there,

Matt Scott

Matt Scott: From Russia, with love. A financial history of Chelsea’s 10 Abramovich years

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“Is any of the opposition around?” “Not in any condition to be worried about.” Donald ‘Red’ Grant in conversation with James Bond, From Russia With Love

When Roman Abramovich pitched up at Stamford Bridge with his whirlwind takeover in 2003, few people outside Siberia or the oil-and-gas sector of industry and banking had ever heard of him. But in the decade since his unlikely transformation from governor of Chukotka to guv’nor at Chelsea,

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: Why Brian Clough would no longer feel at home in English football

In rugby much is being made about how England’s head coach Stuart Lancaster has brought back Englishness to the oval ball game. Yet look at the round ball game and you see that foreign culture is not only accepted but cherished. A glimpse of this was provided when there was much surprise that Tim Sherwood, as English as they come, would take over when Andre Villas-Boas, who could not be less English, was sacked. Yes there was surprise that Sherwood had no experience of first team coaching at this level but in many ways the greatest surprise was that he was English.

Osasu Obayiuwana

Osasu Obayiuwana: Politics threatens to knock top off Egypt’s football pyramid

In the tumultuous period that has followed the toppling of two presidents, Hosni Mubarak and Mohamed Morsi, over the past three years, with the country remaining in a state of political flux, the huge damage done to Egyptian football cannot be exaggerated.

Its clubs are yet to recover from the severe hit to their finances, as a result of the abandonment of the 2011/2012 national championship, following the death of 74 fans, after a match in Port Said between Ahly and Masry.

John Yan

John Yan: No Saints or sin as Wang joins CFA elite 王健林：”顾问”怎问南安普顿？

Just in the middle of the noise of Wang Jianlin’s potential purchase of Southampton FC, another piece of news related to The richest man in China and CFA (China Football Association) came out.

On January 21, 2014, the National Congress of CFA was finally held in a small town outside of Beijing. A new generation of leaders of CFA was elected by raised hands, and Wang Jianlin was appointed as the Adviser of CFA.

Matt Scott

Matt Scott: Who would pay for Champagne’s new FIFA republic?

“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” Plato, The Republic

Since the earliest days of democracy, political apathy has carried a price. In the UK, bizarre though it still seems, the price of a low voter turnout and diminished engagement with the political process was a £1,645 claim for a “floating duck island” by a member of the British parliament and knight of the realm.

Archive

David Owen: Champagne reveal beggars the question: Will Sepp run?

FIFA Presidential elections are different. So it was probably par for the course that the first candidate out of the traps – and this more than 16 months before any vote – should at once cast doubt on his candidacy by refusing to make clear whether he would stay in the race if the incumbent President decides to run. Indeed, he admitted he did not think he could beat Joseph Blatter, who will mark 16 years in the post at this summer’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil,

Lee Wellings

Lee Wellings: Right time for Barca to build a new camp

When you’re in possession of Europe’s largest football stadium, one of the world’s most iconic sporting venues, planning to expand is not the most obvious move.

But Barcelona have looked to the future and know if the club stands still, their years at the top of world football are under threat.

And so a grand project to modernise the Nou Camp will be put to its members. In April a referendum will decide if the Barcelona will have a ‘New Camp’