"Respect The Passion" screamed the Half Time advertisement for a particularly shoddy make of vehicle.
And Passion must be respected.
No carefree acknowledgement of a passing Passion, but a firm recognition of the emanation of a Spectacular Passion - the Passion of a Polluting Force.
Passion is no longer a "linking of souls", but merely a part of an inappropriate narrative imposed on the consumer - a linking of a product with an emotion.
Advertising "... has no depth, it is instantaneous and instantaneously forgotten" - Baudrillard.
The Passion thinks us.
Welcome to the Passion of Euro 2008.
Euro 2008, the tournament with Light-Reflecting-Booster-Technology.
Because, You're Worth It.
And, We're Lovin' It...
No moving advertisements around the pitches in Euro 2008. Oh no. The globalised entities have purchased their locational slots and no amount of technology will lead to these promotional resources being mobile, in any manner. Still Life.
Adidas, Canon, Carlsberg, Castrol, Coca Cola, Continental, Hyundai, JVC, Mastercard...
The Passion demands that UEFA link with Mastercard while FIFA do Visa.
Mastercard are to be conspicuous by their promo-absence from the World Cup, although they are £45 million ($90 million) better off after FIFA was forced to pay this very amount in compensation for illegally throwing in their lot with Visa. Typical FIFA mismanagement is this. Annual profits for 2007 were £25 million and the operative who oversaw the Mastercard debacle was promoted for his efforts. Dysfunctional or what?
"Mastercard, Visa, American Express... the cash is the best".
"All war is based on deception" - Sun Tzu.
The Man With The Key Is Not Here.
60% of the Football Is Fixed readership is based in South East Asia.
Our prime business relationship is with a Far Eastern Entity.
In the west, all business is based on deception.
In the east, all business is based on a lack of trust.
The European bookmakers puppet the sector in the most cack-handed way imaginable.
The Asian operators are something else.
The Asians successfully monitor and analyse the economic and financial systems of other cultures. They build their own business projects into this holistic whole. They proceed to game the system in order to profit, even when they appear to have no official power bases from which to impose outcomes.
The Asians model Europe. They understand the mass psychologies that underpin the markets. They play fast and free.
The Asians mock Europe.
The bookmakers in Europe are not enjoying Euro 2008 - a situation partially of their own making. There are three major reasons for the wallets to be wallowing in misery.
* Unlike the 2006 World Cup, Euro 2008 is, by and large, a meritocratic tournament. Well, that is a lie actually. But, comparatively so. UEFA appear as a beacon of integrity in comparison with the murky men at FIFA. And, UEFA tournaments are more legit too. Meritocracy is anathema to bookmaking organisations. Such operations desire hidden agendas, corruption, coercion and kickbacks for a competition to be hyperreally profitable.
* Platini is proving a bit of a hero. It is our understanding from our contact within the organisation that Our Hero is enforcing a template on the tournament that is very difficult for the bookmakers to undermine. Platini appears expert at the utilisation of incentives as a negotiating tool...
* England's Staying Home... By developing a strategy for the Euro 2008 Qualifiers based on brinkmanship in the face of idiocy, the bookmakers are getting that comeuppance thing.
Right now...
Pissing about with the markets and landing a few insider corruptions doesn't seem like such a good idea now, does it? England 0 The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 0. Remember. The bookies rely on England (and a few other "developed" nations) to fill their coffers in Tournament Finals. They can afford to pay out on well-backed favourites knowing that the boys will be able to ensure that the Little Islander Illusion plays out on the pitch.
No England. No Illusion.
No Barthez either.
Little wonder that the bookies worked so hard to lengthen the Premiership Extravaganza...
Alongside Scudamore and the Premier League (PL).
Scudamore cannot abide his brand being eclipsed.
Everybody is at the Party. Except him. Scudamore is not welcome.
Off shoots the oligarch to Asia to try and persuade one of his most outspoken critics, AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam, of the validity of the 39th Game. He has, evidently, not yet given up...
When an organisation is so bizarrely structured that, effectively, it is a duopolistic but hierarchical partnership, checks and balances tend to be non-existent.
Welcome to PL World - "Where in the World? PL World".
Hence Game 39. And, hence, Sir Richards demonstrating the invalidity of working for both the PL and the FA.
The Sir has done the Bad Thing. He has tarnished the brand. By linking the PL Trademark to the unsuccessful qualification campaign of the national team, the Sir has equated failure with the brand. Inversed guerrilla marketing.
Only 34% of Premiership players are English (they should improve then) and, by attracting damned foreigners into your hallowed lands, the Sir believes that you are negatively impacting upon Engerland.
Unfortunately for the Sir, performing his job at the FA, in this instance, is diametrically opposed to his role at the PL.
Historically, the Sir has always veered towards the option of power when faced with a choice of career moves. By hitting one of his own brands with friendly fire, this lack of judgement is the sort of thing that the English sack each other for.
Not human rights abuses, underworld murders, money laundering, offshore bank accounts, kickbacks, arms dealing, torture or anything like that... A clean up by the English establishment generally means a selective punishment for not following the rules of the game - the "Its Not Cricket" form of a judiciary based on some Etonic code of honour...
Wigan chairman, Dave Whelan: "I don't think he's fit to be chairman of the Premier League".
Anonymous Premiership chairman: "Richards is only the guy that says 'order, order, order'".
The Sir: "The Premier League has cost McClaren his job".
First things first... The Sir is certainly not fit to hold down two conflicting posts. As to the decision on whether he deserves to keep either one of them, lets do some history. The Sir is an opportunist, a bottom buyer. The Sir bought into Sheffield Wednesday when the brand was at an all-time low, six months after the Hillsborough Disaster. He departed, leaving with the club in dire financial straits. In that he also helped to run his engineering firm into administration, any reasoned assessment would have to conclude that the Sir is punching well above his weight on the employment front.
Sack the Sir. But only expect another ennobled one in replacement.
Lord This, Sir That - the English (Sporting) Elite.
Secondly, Richards is more than the Speaker of the House. He is Scudamore's rottweiler, to be unleashed on those more gentle souls down at the FA. The problem is that, since Lord Triesman was appointed by New Labour to oversee the FA, Richards has seen his illusory power dissipate. Lord trumps Sir in the chosen 100,000's rankings. The Sir is not taken seriously by either of his superiors. He is surplus to requirements. Sack the Sir.
Thirdly, McClaren lost his job due to a witches brew combining the malicious impact of English bookmakers with a significant lack of anything resembling innate ability. Together with a bit of Scudamore's brand thrown in...
Anyway. Back to the Passion. Advertising took another hit last night with the departure, in the fastest achievable time, of one of the co-hosts, Switzerland. "You need a neutral referee, of course..." stated Kobi Kuhn prior to the match that will allow him to spend more time at his wife's side in hospital. Indeed the bookmakers did land the opening match of the competition against Switzerland's interests and such Hyperrealities only serve to show the negative competitive feedback loops that exist between the power bases battling over the carcass of football.
Its a Zero Sum Game.
The framing of an argument is driven by the mainstream media. Take the transfer market. As we learn more and more about this market sector via our Holistic Sabermetrics business wing, we detect the viral linkages that create inappropriate structures and dynamics.
So, the clubs, at all levels from hyper-owners down to the humble manager, object vociferously to their well-paid-but-bonded labour playing international qualifying matches in far flung footballing outposts. A licensing fee must be paid, a compensation for the risk taken on by the club regarding their product, the player. The media circus joins in the uproar.
Along comes Euro 2008 or whatever, and there is no question of these self same clubs paying the national associations or the ruling bodies any slice of the inflated transfer evaluations that occur during and post these Spectacular Passions. UEFA provide the Spectacle. Where's their slice of the transfer action? The selling club should pay a fee to UEFA and the national association of the player if the transfer value is related to the Spectacle. Unfortunately, to be workable, this would require effective regulation, which is conspicuous by its absolute absence from the transfer market sector.
Monday saw record short-selling against Lehman Brothers.
On Wednesday, Sir Richards' star was also on the wane.
But the real reason for the Sir being a persona non gratis at the Premier League is this.
Richard Scudamore, referring to the Sir's comments about Engerland, stated: "These comments do not represent the collective view of the FA". The Collective View? There are only two of them. They either do unanimity or hierarchically-concluded disagreement. Collective View!!!
But, the Prescient One always chooses his words carefully. We like that.
When Scudamore mentions the Collective View, he is referentially focusing on a Hyperreality - the core at the heart of the corruption.
To these people, Sir Richards is not "one of them". He is old skool.
We would like to suggest that the Sir be replaced by the Excellency.
There are many benefits to such a structure.
* The PL remains an internal duopoly controlling a monopolistic entity.
* The Excellency, the Doctor is surely equally elite-ranked with the Lord.
* Bringing an aspect of the Far East Asian betting markets on board is a vital strategy.
* Expert knowledge of sovereign wealth funds and offshore financial centres are brought in house.
* The 39th Game will be fronted in Asia by the Excellency from his castle in Bangkok.
* And last, but absolutely not least, Manchester City might actually win something...
By taking a Malthusian perspective on our current realities, we are guaranteed to be proved correct.
Eventually.
This basic placebo of optimism in pessimistic perspective is the foundation of our work.
The global financial system is not sustainable.
The economic system is not sustainable.
The Premier League is not sustainable.
Climate change, recession/depression, football becoming solely a betting medium...
The shareholder capitalist optimist-delusionals reckon that innovation will solve these micro-issues, but, by focusing on the instant gratification of immediate profit, they ignore the systemic frailties in their pseudo-brands.
As Adam Signatur states in a letter to the Economist: "Do you not risk a similar fate [incorrectly predicting the future based on the past] when you go on to extol the limitlessness of human ingenuity, even though we are starting to witness Malthusian limits? Such optimism, which itself is based on past experience, seems to risk a more dangerous heresy, which does not bode well for future generations".
Negative growth will be needed to tackle Climate Change.
The markets will become the impossible exchanges of illusions that, in hyperreality, they have always been. Cap-and-trade? You're having a laugh...
And the Premier League? Five years maximum before the European Super League takes over, yet further devaluing Scudamore's depreciating brand.
If the PL was a stock, we'd short-sell it.
We like short-selling, there is something vaguely anarchic about shorting the system. Its the same in football. Winning on the underdogs is the trade of choice, even if the bookmakers are sharing our perspectives...
We'd short-sell everything if we could :)
© Football Is Fixed/Dietrological
