Rivers of Blatter
Thu May 08 09:07AM
Hot on the heels of yesterday's revelation that foreign footballers whose English isn't up to scratch could face expulsion from these shores comes the sad news of yet more outdated political ramblings.
No matter Enoch Powell has been six feet under for a decade, the politician's controversial views are still being used as inspiration by those who would like to beef up the Englishness of England, and more importantly, its football clubs.
Who's that standing on a podium delivering yet another sermon from his lair in Nyon? None other than FIFA supremo and muck-spreader-in-chief Sepp Blatter.
Sepp's not stupid though - his proposal to limit the number of players plying their trade in a foreign country could well be against EU employment law, but he has a way around that in order to achieve his goal of pure blood football teams (or at least a level of 54.4% purity).
"I am not convinced that the proposal is against EU law," Blatter gushed, presumably not unlike Enoch's river of blood, "because we are not placing any restrictions on the number of foreign players who sign contracts with the clubs - just the number who start each game." Ah ha!
"Of course it will eventually lead to a reduction in the number of foreign players signed because of the need to always have six players [in the starting line-up] who are eligible for the national team in that country, but this will come in step-by-step." Double ah ha!
The six (home nationals) plus five (foreigners) rule, should it get approval at a FIFA congress in Sydney later this month, would represent a triumph for the man who has become as famous for his silly ideas as for his (alleged, by Early Doors) appetite at corporate lunches.
Anyone remember kick-ins instead of throw-ins? How about making the goals bigger? Blatter probably even had something to do with the invention of MultiballTM.
But a triumph for fans, sadly, it will not be. ED remembers having to watch mostly English teams deprived of talented foreigners get totally outclassed when a similar rule applied for European competition not so long ago. Now ED is not saying that Gary Walsh was not a world class keeper, but... well, actually we are.
It is doubtful that the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres or Cesc Fabregas would find themselves surplus to requirements under the proposed rules, but what about the likes of Kevin Prince Boateng, Daniel Braaten, Julien Faubert or Emerse Fae? What next for them?
Blatter may not compare too well to 76-goal Ronaldo as a right winger (cymbals please) but once Benny Feilhaber's name springs to mind, his ideas begin to appear a little less crazy...
- - -
ED has always thought Sports Illustrated was a magazine invented purely to showcase the talents of some of the most beautiful women in the world wearing nought but skimpy swimsuits.
But apparently it has other strings to its bow and when not busy shooting hot models in exotic locations, it occasionally covers sporting events, including baseball, basketball, American football and surprisingly even a bit of 'soccer'.
Even more surprising that a football team, and an English one at that, should appear on the SI website's Five Sports Franchises We Love to Hate list. Creeping in at number five is none other than Chelsea.
SI explains its choice: "After a few years of mediocrity, the Blues were purchased by a billionaire, bought every great player in Europe, installed a coach who called himself "the special one" and spent a few years dominating everyone. The Special One is gone, but that sense of entitlement from their fans remains."
Far be it for ED to deny that Chelsea are a loathsome club, but there are nonetheless a few flaws in SI's argument. First up, is Chelsea really a franchise? Every great player in Europe? Other than Steve Sidwell, it's difficult to think of a truly world class recent recruit. A few years dominating everyone? Do two league titles and a couple of cups over the space of three years really count as dominance?
Perhaps they should stick to the bikinis.
- - -
FOREIGN VIEW: Doubts persist about the seriousness of the Spanish Football Federation's bid to stamp out racism after Atletico Madrid were fined the paltry sum of 3,000 euros following racist chanting at Recreativo Huelva's Florent Sinama Pongolle last weekend. For an example of how to punish those responsible properly, look no further than France, where Metz will have to play behind closed doors when they host Lorient at the weekend after Morocco defender Abdeslam Ouaddou, the Valenciennes captain, was racially abused by a Metz fan in February.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I don't think anyone in their right mind seriously thinks it [the Premier League] is boring." Surely the league's chief executive Richard Scudamore isn't insinuating Kevin Keegan is a few sandwiches short of a full picnic?
WHAT'S THAT PHOTO ALL ABOUT? Is it: a) the Eric Cantona School of Martial Arts, Beijing branch, b) the Chinese Ministry of Silly Walks, or c) a group of paramilitary police taking part in a training session in Shenyang ahead of this summer's Olympics? Answers on a postcard.
TALKING POINT: Sepp Blatter's controversial plans go before the European Parliament today. What should they vote for?
COMING UP: Former Manchester United ace Paul Parker's thoughts on this weekend's climactic end to the Premier League season and a spot of live action later on tonight with Roma against Catania in the Coppa Italia and Espanyol v Atletico in La Liga.
- - -
E-mail this story
IM this storyPersonally I wouldn't trust that senile old tw*t Sepp Blatter to sit the right way on a toilet, but anything that stops Kevin Prince Boateng from ever pulling on a Spurs shirt again has got to be a good idea.
From mpasc66 on Thu May 08 09:51AMVote on Sepp Blatter EU president
From jacquesbittar on Thu May 08 09:56AMYessiree, Gary Walsh wasn't a patch on 'Sloppy' Jim Leighton (I think that's right, it was a long, long ago.
From brinorts on Thu May 08 09:57AMWhy has Mr Blatter waited till it is English dominance for him to mention this, he didn't seem too bothered a few years ago when it was AC Milan v Juventus or when it was Real Madrid v Valencia in the early 00's. Towards the end of the 90's Italian teams had 7 finalists in a row, this is when all the money was in that league, now it is in the prem, Mr Blatter has a problem. Why? Cos he seems to hate everything about English football and always loves having a pop at us given half the chance.
From ima_fat_tw on Thu May 08 10:11AMsepp blatter is a raving lunatic!!! i agree whole heartdly with any one opposing it for whatever reason.
all teams need their foreign players for whatever reason....exepting arsenal who should get more english players to accompany the two they have
UP THE CHELS!!!!
From dannickbates on Thu May 08 10:17AM5 Foreigners is a good rule, whats the point in cheering on an ENGLISH side in Europe, when it doesnt contain a single Englishman (Arsenal)? wheres your national pride? And the reason our teams where so poor in the Gary Walsh era was thanks to Liverpool getting us kicked out for five years, before that we dominated.
Look at how good our national team is, things can only get better with the introduction of this rule, for once Blatter has got it spot on!
From lazyass_001 on Thu May 08 10:18AMits ok
From hktonyw on Thu May 08 10:23AMLazyass_001 "Look at how good our national team is, things can only get better with the introduction of this rule, for once Blatter has got it spot on!" Er, mate, which team are you referring to there? Have you been watching English International football that the rest of us haven't? Does Croatia mean anything? Does World Cup performance reminiscant of Derby's PL campaign mean anything? As some have said, development of football from the grassroots is key rather than a massive change in the professional realm.
From adogshow on Thu May 08 10:25AMIf it's the EU deciding then the following: All players transferring to a country not their country of origin should have a certified Council of Europe level of C1 (proficient user) in the language of the country of their destination. If below this level they should attend a course of instruction of 300 hundred hours and then take a proficiency test certified by the European Union (See Regulation 237 Section 292 paragraph 76). If they do not attain C1 then they must be accompanied at all times (even during a game) by a certified interpreter. This also appplies to small country languages for example Welsh, Basque, Catalan, Slovenian, the Montenegrin dialect of Serbian, Wendish, Lapp etc.)
From james_ssmith on Thu May 08 10:28AMWelsh??? God, it's difficult enough getting the poor bu99ers to understand English
From g_hine on Thu May 08 10:37AMThe main reason that idiot Blatter is trying to push this through has nothing to do with the progression of football but because he didn't like the fact there were 3 English clubs out of 4 in the semis. Why? Because he has his tongue so far up Real Madrid and AC Milan's ass, that's why. And they pay him considerable amounts of euros for the pleasure.
From t.nutkins on Thu May 08 10:41AMwell were unluckly last nite
seemed like a typical end of season game tho, which is suprising seein wot is at stake for both, altho i expect boring anti football from rangers!! well jus looked like they ran out of ideas wen rangers scored. i agree uz shud still finish 3rd but if united get a result at rangers at the wkend the pressure is on. altho still reckon uz are only 1 win away from clinching 3rd
From marcgrant7 on Thu May 08 10:46AMMust be a hard job being Sett Blatter. Always trying to conjure up new tricks, to entertain us. Twiddles his thumbs most days saying to himself."MMMMM what can I magic up today?" I know, lets create a rule where no team can have more than half its players being foreign? " Is England not in the EU, which allows flow of foreign travellers and employment opportunities to all that the EU consists of? All the money he gets paid must have deluded his brain somewhat. The bottom line is, if English players are GOOD ENOUGH, they should make it . Some foreign coaches prefer foreign players, but if more english players are to make it, things have to change. Sure it would be nice to see a few more home grown individuals, but where does the talent for football start? In the playground at school, in the park on a sunday morning. More scouts obviously needed and more money at grass roots level,.Don't blame foreign players, invest more at the bottom of the rung . On the flip side, most fans want instant success, so its a catch 22 situation surely.
From barny1158 on Thu May 08 10:46AMADOGSHOW I think you miss interpreted my sarcasm, when I said "look at how good our national team is" do you honestly believe I meant it? And yes you are absolutely correct development at grass roots is vital, and how do we go about making sure the premiership teams contribute more? by making them actually use the players coming throught the academy.
From lazyass_001 on Thu May 08 10:50AMSeems like English footbaal has a real Blatter-problem, maybe they should drink less tea?
From tompuntcom on Thu May 08 10:53AMLMAO at "Perhaps they should stick to the bikinis".
From kudachisepo2000 on Thu May 08 11:09AMI know I'm being pedantic (sorry ED) but technically its 54.545454% (Guess how bored I am right now!!!)
From adnap1978 on Thu May 08 11:15AMA few of us seem to agree with the grass roots situation. But there is a problem with teams like Arsenal, who develop a player like Bentley then just do not play him - Blackburn benefited from this, but how many English/British players could have been better if only certain managers did not buy in talent but concentrated on developing talent?
I'd like to see a network of FA run development/training facilities, from which young players can develop and graduate, and upon first signing a contract a nominal (and affordable) fee is payed to the FA to help keep this going. Players could potentially be loaned from these academys. I'm sure a few potentially great players are getting missed out as the amount of teams developing talent is small, and potentially decent players can get tied down to a club from an early age by signing contracts then being largely ignored - if scouts and clubs knew there was a central place to look for young talent, more players could be developed and teams could afford to sign them. This could leave Arsenal free to field a team full of foreigners without their young British talent being wasted in the reserve or B team on prohibitivly expensive contracts. Imagine a young player at 18/19, full of talent, with the choice of signing for the big four but maybe not getting in the team, or going for a slightly smaller team and being guarenteed first team football, or choosing to join a smaller team on loan for a season to prove his worth before signing full terms - maybe this is all pie in the sky, but I think it could work, especially as council facilities in the UK are bobbins, the chances of developing the potential, signing for a decent team and then making it because space is available in the team are too small.
From dantomprez on Thu May 08 11:16AMGeez Depp's plans are illegal. End of story! Read the goddamned European law book, you stupid French letter.
From eliotot on Thu May 08 11:17AMContraversial stuff from ED today - Mult-I-Ball is a brilliant idea"! Imagine the fun for a fan (and a cameraman) as you get to those crucial last few minutes and don't know where to look! And it'd feel a whole lot fairer than penalties...
From not_blonde_really on Thu May 08 11:30AMWell, he did say only 5 foreign players in the starting lineup. Meaning Arsenal will no longer exist, finally allowing a team like Newcastle to break into the top four. What a triumph!! And for teams like Man U and liverpool, they can always find a way around it. Say, Sir Alex starts with a different formation and two reserve players, 2 minutes after the game starts, he changes the formation and brings 2 foreign big guns. He might end up with 7 foreigners but hey, Blatter did say 5 foreingers in the STARTING LINEUP right?
From tibury1172001 on Thu May 08 11:32AMEto'o for 27.5 million pounds??~~ what a bargain~~~~
From vitorlam on Thu May 08 11:34AMDantomprez - it is difficult for managers to take the approach of nurturing talent, because they are under huge immediate pressure to produce results. Job insecurity is huge. Only 3 out of 20 managers in the same job more than 6 years, and one of them, Wenger, seems to repeatedly search for talent mainly in France and Africa. Ok, we are probably all relieved that we don't have to watch Hoyte play for them every week, but he is only now giving Walcott more of a game, and that is really due to injuries it seems. Look at the flood of English and British talent that leaves the top clubs every year, because they can't get a game. I think Barny is right though - if they are good enough, they will play. So, the simple fact is English players generally aren't good enough. If they were, all of the Carlos Kickaballs wouldn't be here.
From andywalker269 on Thu May 08 11:37AMis the photo about the Chinese Army teaching the Spanish how to tackle racism?
From tibury1172001 on Thu May 08 11:37AMHere's the irony from Septic Bladder. The international rule should be that every country should be nationalistic down to club level. So whenever any club is in an international competition it is representing its country. I really don't think so unless the rule is extended to supporters. So all of you foreign scum who support Liverpool, Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, newcastle Spurs, Aston villa and so on had better watch out. Go back to your own countries and find a local team to support!
From james_ssmith on Thu May 08 11:39AMthat will be boring, that will take the excitment out of the game~~ to be very honest, i don't like international games, they are said to be playing for their countries' pride, but i find a stronger sense of belonging from the players playing for their club than playing for their countries. Hey, in the end of the day it is the clubs that are paying the wages and also that's where the reputation and reconization are gained~~~
From vitorlam on Thu May 08 11:43AMThe photo is clearly the "Alan Partridge Finishing School!" Back of the net!
From smithsimon1972 on Thu May 08 11:46AMExactly, vitorlam, and to be honest supporting a club is more international, more likely to lead to a good mix of company and understanding of the beautiful game.
From james_ssmith on Thu May 08 11:46AM@ James Smith: Showing off how badly your mother raised you doesn't do well for your family name, does it? Was that xenophobic or just plain old low class idiocy? Calling people scum just because they don't sing "God save The Queen" while supporting English clubs? Grow up, little fella. Don't u have a frigging idea what modern football is all about?
From tosinsbox on Thu May 08 12:06PM@ vitorlam: Your country's national football teams must play awfully...if they were any good, you'd know how "sacred" it is to play for one's national team. Where you at? Macedonia?
From tosinsbox on Thu May 08 12:08PM
Comment on this article
Please sign in to add your comments.
This site is Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! and Eurosport. All rights reserved.
- Terms of Service
- Updated Privacy Policy
- Copyright/IP Policy
- Remarks and Suggestions
- Corporate info
- Jobs at Eurosport
Notice: We collect personal information on this site. To learn more about how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy.