*Official* English Football Season 2022/23

[GIMH]

Didn’t realise Barnsley were doing so well. Would love Nors to get a crack at the Championship.

 

[GIMH]

Several things:

Using transfermarkt as an ultimate source is wrong when a lot of fees they have listed in their database are just flat out wrong.

Standardising transfer fees which would have been reported in multiple currencies into one which didn't exist in 94/95 is dubious.

Ferguson had cost Rangers £4m in summer 1993 which was a British record at the time. He'd had his issues on and off the field with us but he had an excellent loan spell at Everton and at the time we were a much bigger club who absolutely would not have worn a loss on him, particularly as he was (from memory) 23 at the time he moved south. Leeds were in for him at something like £3.25m in 1993, so £4.5m for a player of Ferguson's age and potential was completely fair.

Strikers always go for more money than any other position on the field. I'd argue it wasn't until Makelele a decade later that holding midfielders started being properly valued for the role they play (and even then Real Madrid definitely undervalued him when they sold him to Chelsea), so Ferguson costing more than Deschamps in particular is nothing surprising. Deschamps was also leaving Marseille, who were embroiled in a match-fixing scandal from 1992/93, clubs in that position don't get full value for their players.

Mihajlovic's fee is ****ing massive for a defender in 1994/95, likewise I'm sure Ronaldo's fee given he is 17 or 18 is huge as well so they're bad comparisons.

Romario was an undisciplined party animal that Barcelona were fed up with, hence his lower than expected fee. Also bear in mind that UEFA competitions had a 3 foreigner rule until the Bosman ruling overturned that rule in 1995/96 and several leagues (definitely Italy, possibly Spain) had their own foreign player restrictions; a top team like Milan who off the top of my head already have Boban, Savecevic, Desailly, possibly Gullit (he spent a couple of years moving between Milan and Sampdoria around this time),and I think still have van Basten on the books although his ankle was done. Signing a Brazilian from Spain was nowhere near as straightforward logistically as it would be now.

England had foreigner restrictions too. Same basic rule as European competition but the key difference being Scotland, NI and Wales counted as domestic which wasn’t the case in European competition, hence the ‘Class of 92’ United youngsters getting some early exposure to European football when the likes of Giggs, Irwin etc had to be rotated.

 

[Uppercut]

Speaking of Brazilian Ronaldo, the iPlayer documentary on him is a must-watch.

 

[Furball]

England had foreigner restrictions too. Same basic rule as European competition but the key difference being Scotland, NI and Wales counted as domestic which wasn’t the case in European competition, hence the ‘Class of 92’ United youngsters getting some early exposure to European football when the likes of Giggs, Irwin etc had to be rotated.

We may well have as well, although the 'foreigners' we were signing in the late 80s/early 90s were all Englishmen. Although by 94/95 we would have had in Laudrup, Boli, Huistra, and Mykhaylychenko a growing contingent of non-UK players and I don't ever remember foreign players being an issue for domestic selection.

I think the classic 93/94 era United team only had 4 Englishmen in the typical starting XI.

Pretty sure Irish players counted as domestic as well.

 

[Furball]

I don't understand Everton. Surely Lampard doesn't last too much longer but it's not like him being a crap manager is a huge surprise. They could have binned him at the World Cup and given a new manager 4 weeks with the squad prior to the restart.

 

[Uppercut]

They’ve been disastrously run for years and years. Their squad might be just about good enough to stay up if they find a real manager, but only because it’s a weak year at the bottom. Feels like they’re in the spot Sunderland were in where the teams coming up get smarter and smarter while they keep doing things the same way they always have.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

9 goals in 2 games and into the top 10. Ridiculous. I'm going to MK Dons on Tuesday now, bound to be a 1-0 defeat.

 

[wpdavid]

Speaking of Brazilian Ronaldo, the iPlayer documentary on him is a must-watch.

Agreed, I watched it over the Christmas break and really enjoyed it. I hadn't realised how close he was to not being selected for the 2002 WC due to his string of injuries. As a minor point, Christian Vieri, who was his striking partner (there's an old fashioned thing) at Inter came across as hugely likeable.

It was a happier watch than the other programmes I watched on iPlayer - the documentaries about Gascoigne, Best, and even the eventual outcomes for the Cameroon team from 1990.

 

[duffer]

Vieri, the great Marconi Stallion.

 

[Pothas]

They’ve been disastrously run for years and years. Their squad might be just about good enough to stay up if they find a real manager, but only because it’s a weak year at the bottom. Feels like they’re in the spot Sunderland were in where the teams coming up get smarter and smarter while they keep doing things the same way they always have.

Villa a few years ago as well. Although maybe harsh to compare Lampard to Sherwood

Don't think it is that weak a year at the bottom though. Plenty of poor teams but no absolute disasters like Norwich and Watford. Bournemouth almost certainly go down in the end but apart from that there is nobody really obvious.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Got to bin Lampard and give it Dyche now, write off the next 2 games against Arsenal and Liverpool and hope he works a miracle. Can't believe Lampard has been given a free ride by the press when they hound certain managers for far less.

As for today, come on Arsenal.

 

[Aritro]

Several things:

Using transfermarkt as an ultimate source is wrong when a lot of fees they have listed in their database are just flat out wrong.

Standardising transfer fees which would have been reported in multiple currencies into one which didn't exist in 94/95 is dubious.

Ferguson had cost Rangers £4m in summer 1993 which was a British record at the time. He'd had his issues on and off the field with us but he had an excellent loan spell at Everton and at the time we were a much bigger club who absolutely would not have worn a loss on him, particularly as he was (from memory) 23 at the time he moved south. Leeds were in for him at something like £3.25m in 1993, so £4.5m for a player of Ferguson's age and potential was completely fair.

Strikers always go for more money than any other position on the field. I'd argue it wasn't until Makelele a decade later that holding midfielders started being properly valued for the role they play (and even then Real Madrid definitely undervalued him when they sold him to Chelsea), so Ferguson costing more than Deschamps in particular is nothing surprising. Deschamps was also leaving Marseille, who were embroiled in a match-fixing scandal from 1992/93, clubs in that position don't get full value for their players.

Mihajlovic's fee is ****ing massive for a defender in 1994/95, likewise I'm sure Ronaldo's fee given he is 17 or 18 is huge as well so they're bad comparisons.

Romario was an undisciplined party animal that Barcelona were fed up with, hence his lower than expected fee. Also bear in mind that UEFA competitions had a 3 foreigner rule until the Bosman ruling overturned that rule in 1995/96 and several leagues (definitely Italy, possibly Spain) had their own foreign player restrictions; a top team like Milan who off the top of my head already have Boban, Savecevic, Desailly, possibly Gullit (he spent a couple of years moving between Milan and Sampdoria around this time),and I think still have van Basten on the books although his ankle was done. Signing a Brazilian from Spain was nowhere near as straightforward logistically as it would be now.

Great post, was hoping someone would post an explanation like this. It made sense that the era-to-era conversion from different currencies would have been out of whack but it still seemed strange.

 

[Aritro]

Vieri, the great Marconi Stallion.

Loved his cricket, was an admirer of Alan Border. No doubt he regrets not sticking around long enough to play for the Socceroos.

 

[Pothas]

Got to bin Lampard and give it Dyche now, write off the next 2 games against Arsenal and Liverpool and hope he works a miracle. Can't believe Lampard has been given a free ride by the press when they hound certain managers for far less.

As for today, come on Arsenal.

Love how Dyche has become the new Allardyce before he has even done a single rescue job.

 

[andruid]

Love how Dyche has become the new Allardyce before he has even done a single rescue job.

Burnley punched above their weight for years to be fair.

Also the Beeb is telling me Leeds v. Brentford is a snorefest.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Love how Dyche has become the new Allardyce before he has even done a single rescue job.

I was going off the fact that Everton had 2 of his former players already.

 

[GIMH]

That is some goal from Rashford

 

[GIMH]

That is some goal from Rashford

Saka even better

 

[grecian]

Well that was fun....

 

[Uppercut]

ETH botched his subs. We barely touched the ball after Fred came on and changed our shape, and a few other players stayed on for ages when they were visibly completely ****ed.

Arsenal are good though.