Posts Tagged ‘Top Flight’
Dave Thurston asked:
Predicting football scores is a very tricky business. There aren’t many sports where the under-dog can actually manage to beat the favourites on any given day. Take rugby, or tennis, you’d normal predict the favourite to win, and you’d be correct on most occasions. With football scores it’s different.
This season has seen some of the most unpredictable football scores for some time. New-comers promoted from the Championship into the Premier League had started the season well, particularly in home matches. These results have made people’s predictions miles away from the actual final scores.
Last weekend’s football results threw up an average of 4 goals per Premier League match, coupled with more sendings-off then any usual weekend the outcomes have become harder to predict.
This of course makes the game so much more interesting for the fans. With the introduction of new rules in football in the last few years, alongside new technology in the footballs, the players boots, and of course the players becoming more athletic, football has become a fantastic sport to follow, and becomes more exciting each season.
However, top clubs in Europe are now paying more and more money for players, and this has become a problem for the smaller clubs, who just can’t compete in the finances of modern football. Predicting whether small clubs are able to compete any longer is difficult, and with the country suffering financially, clubs are feeling the pinch. In the last few seasons, we’ve seen some English clubs suffering bad financial losses, and even some of England’s biggest clubs are still making losses. Predicting whether your team can compete in the top flight of English football is one think, but you can’t predict if your football club is making a healthy profit too.
Football managers are finding things difficult too, the game is all about getting results and winning football matches. Top football managers may of done a very good job last season, but poor results this season and could you predict whether they’ll be in a job for long ?
Fans pay a huge price to follow football, season tickets cost a small fortune, merchandise is expensive, and if the results are happening then teams face empty seats.
Predicting football scores is a very tricky business. There aren’t many sports where the under-dog can actually manage to beat the favourites on any given day. Take rugby, or tennis, you’d normal predict the favourite to win, and you’d be correct on most occasions. With football scores it’s different.
This season has seen some of the most unpredictable football scores for some time. New-comers promoted from the Championship into the Premier League had started the season well, particularly in home matches. These results have made people’s predictions miles away from the actual final scores.
Last weekend’s football results threw up an average of 4 goals per Premier League match, coupled with more sendings-off then any usual weekend the outcomes have become harder to predict.
This of course makes the game so much more interesting for the fans. With the introduction of new rules in football in the last few years, alongside new technology in the footballs, the players boots, and of course the players becoming more athletic, football has become a fantastic sport to follow, and becomes more exciting each season.
However, top clubs in Europe are now paying more and more money for players, and this has become a problem for the smaller clubs, who just can’t compete in the finances of modern football. Predicting whether small clubs are able to compete any longer is difficult, and with the country suffering financially, clubs are feeling the pinch. In the last few seasons, we’ve seen some English clubs suffering bad financial losses, and even some of England’s biggest clubs are still making losses. Predicting whether your team can compete in the top flight of English football is one think, but you can’t predict if your football club is making a healthy profit too.
Football managers are finding things difficult too, the game is all about getting results and winning football matches. Top football managers may of done a very good job last season, but poor results this season and could you predict whether they’ll be in a job for long ?
Fans pay a huge price to follow football, season tickets cost a small fortune, merchandise is expensive, and if the results are happening then teams face empty seats.
Peri Witny asked:
In recent times, the implications of the Crisis on sports, rugby included, has began to show. Teams have started to feel the pinch and many have started taking measures to brace for the looming tough times ahead.
While every rugby team aims to crown their season with some sort of silverware to mark their success, more and more teams are becoming wary when it comes to signing new players. This is due to the high transfer fees demanded for players.
Continental Glory
As a result of this, club coaches are making do with what they have, even at the expense of continental glory. Rugby clubs in Europe seem to be more concerned with maintaining their top flight status in their domestic rugby leagues and less concerned with concurring the continent. And can you blame them? To win a continental trophy like the Heineken Cup requires a team to have depth in the squad. To attain this depth, a team needs to have a few big name signings on their team sheet.
€700 000 Spending
To have such players a club has to splash out about €700 000. But with the cash crunch starting to bite hard on the sport in Europe, few clubs if any are willing to spend such an amount on one player.
Negative BalanceSheet
The situation is the same across the board. Big clubs are also crying out for cash injection; with many barely been able to remain liquid. Many have reported negative results in their end year results.
Financial Plea
In the UK, Wasps reported a £2.8million loss; while Bath and Newcastle were lucky that their benefactors were willing to dip into their pockets to assist them. Others like Bristol are finding it difficult to even meet their players wage demands and have resulted to making public plea for funding.
Salary Caps
If will be interesting to see what will happen at the start of the next season if the current situation prevails. According to the games Chief Executive in the UK – Mark McCafferty, there are two ways of dealing with the crisis. One is to drop from the top flight rugby. This will leave a total of 10 teams which will share the revenues generated. The revenues are set to grow in 2010 when the new broadcasting deal commences. Should this happen, then there will be no need of reducing the salary cap.
Conversely, however, the salary cap is not likely to be raised as that would not reflect a true picture. In addition raising the cap would only do more harm to clubs with less liquidity. News that Italians will be bidding to have 4 teams representing them in the Magners League during the 2010/11 season is no doubt good news to the Celts. The three nations Scotland, Ireland and Wales seem to have little option but to let the Italians in given the size of the Italian market and the revenue potential it holds. France clubs will be faced with an interesting challenge given the fact are less restricted when it comes to spending. Clubs like Toulouse and Stade Francais, however, will definitely be shy to splash their money during the new season.
In recent times, the implications of the Crisis on sports, rugby included, has began to show. Teams have started to feel the pinch and many have started taking measures to brace for the looming tough times ahead.
While every rugby team aims to crown their season with some sort of silverware to mark their success, more and more teams are becoming wary when it comes to signing new players. This is due to the high transfer fees demanded for players.
Continental Glory
As a result of this, club coaches are making do with what they have, even at the expense of continental glory. Rugby clubs in Europe seem to be more concerned with maintaining their top flight status in their domestic rugby leagues and less concerned with concurring the continent. And can you blame them? To win a continental trophy like the Heineken Cup requires a team to have depth in the squad. To attain this depth, a team needs to have a few big name signings on their team sheet.
€700 000 Spending
To have such players a club has to splash out about €700 000. But with the cash crunch starting to bite hard on the sport in Europe, few clubs if any are willing to spend such an amount on one player.
Negative BalanceSheet
The situation is the same across the board. Big clubs are also crying out for cash injection; with many barely been able to remain liquid. Many have reported negative results in their end year results.
Financial Plea
In the UK, Wasps reported a £2.8million loss; while Bath and Newcastle were lucky that their benefactors were willing to dip into their pockets to assist them. Others like Bristol are finding it difficult to even meet their players wage demands and have resulted to making public plea for funding.
Salary Caps
If will be interesting to see what will happen at the start of the next season if the current situation prevails. According to the games Chief Executive in the UK – Mark McCafferty, there are two ways of dealing with the crisis. One is to drop from the top flight rugby. This will leave a total of 10 teams which will share the revenues generated. The revenues are set to grow in 2010 when the new broadcasting deal commences. Should this happen, then there will be no need of reducing the salary cap.
Conversely, however, the salary cap is not likely to be raised as that would not reflect a true picture. In addition raising the cap would only do more harm to clubs with less liquidity. News that Italians will be bidding to have 4 teams representing them in the Magners League during the 2010/11 season is no doubt good news to the Celts. The three nations Scotland, Ireland and Wales seem to have little option but to let the Italians in given the size of the Italian market and the revenue potential it holds. France clubs will be faced with an interesting challenge given the fact are less restricted when it comes to spending. Clubs like Toulouse and Stade Francais, however, will definitely be shy to splash their money during the new season.