Players and Fans are the two key ingredients that make football the beautiful game.
The skill and the atmosphere, the suspense and the uncertainties, sometimes even a randomness of poetic and physical forms.
Football will always be this but there are some parts of the game that now exist in a parallel universe to the game/play outlined above.
This is the football world of agents and 3rd Party Ownership, rigged matches controlled by cartels and consortia from various strata of the global underworld, doping without any valid testing regime, criminalised referees and players, referees owned by bookmakers, clubs, organisations, gangs, mafia...
The current football corruption trials in China reveal much of the format of the fixing of games - (incidentally China is also the primary foundation of much of the fixing in the big European leagues hence the pressure of more and more late morning/lunchtime kick offs in Europe's major leagues eg Spain and Italy starting at 10:30 and 11:00 GMT on Sunday matches this season).
The Chinese even have expressions for the types of corruption that we witness weekly in the EPL - "Hei Shao" means 'Black Whistle' (and the EPL has more black whistles than the Burkino Faso National Whistling Orchestra), while "Da Giaqiu" represents 'playing fakeball'!
There are numerous other expressions eg for matches controlled by two separate firms of agents that might effectively control up to half of the players on the pitch, for agreed draws and the annual sharing of points etc etc.
The beautiful game is infested with leeches sucking it dry of any nuances of integrity or sport, postmodern football is becoming a parody of the artform.
We have been provided with information regarding two firms of football agents active in the EPL who not only undertake shared third party ownership structures for individual players but who also work together to fix matches (sometimes with help from certain match officials).
We are not willing to reveal the firms, the agents, the players, the match officials or the clubs - only my work colleagues and professional advisers have been made aware of the murkiness.
But, for example, there is an event this weekend in the EPL in which the two firms of agents in question own ##### key players and ### of the refereeing team.
For one of the major big city EPL derbies, one firm alone owns ### central midfielders from one team and the goalkeeper and a ################################ on the other.
Just imagine the possibilities if you were a very naughty boy?!!?!
From the perspective of you the reader/fan, the key point is surely this - if these individuals are corrupt then these matrices allow the rigging of games for massive global profit running into the tens of millions of pounds in the underground betting markets.
It completely destroys the game.
One thing is certain in postmodern football - if a corrupt loophole exists or if one may be carefully constructed (even if it requires duopolistic combinations), there are those out there only too willing to exploit the opportunities.
Socrates (the one with the ciggies and the ball skills): "Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy."
The good die young while Doug Ellis gets a knighthood, while Liverpool and Chelsea Fcs are proud to be racist, while child traffickers who think Black people are coloured slice the action all over the place...
... if you think the public face of your sport is tawdry, the iceberg is markedly murkier under the surface.
Happy New Year.
Enjoy the Fakeball.
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Proël Not Doël
Solstice greetings from Jerry and the other assorted bodies involved in this sublime object of desire.
If you are lucky over xmas, you will receive posts on Flimsy Sabermetrics, The Art of War and Whistleblowing, and one on the non-existence of time, the existence of multiverses, eternal inflation, cosmological rebirth, dark matter, the Higgs boson and the Standard Model (oh and the problem with gravity and people).
If you are really really lucky, you won't have to put up with anything...
If you are lucky over xmas, you will receive posts on Flimsy Sabermetrics, The Art of War and Whistleblowing, and one on the non-existence of time, the existence of multiverses, eternal inflation, cosmological rebirth, dark matter, the Higgs boson and the Standard Model (oh and the problem with gravity and people).
If you are really really lucky, you won't have to put up with anything...
Monday, 19 December 2011
Riley Out - He's Two-Faced, Slippery and He Stinks
In March 2010, we produced a post on a peculiar bias in the decision making of Jon Moss, a then Football League Referee - "Doing A Little Deal Down The Moss" (http://footballisfixed.blogspot.com/2010/03/doing-little-deal-down-moss.html).
The post is reproduced in part below.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Yesterday, Jonathan Moss, a bog-standard referee from the wrong side of the Pennines, gave a fallacious penalty (the infringement occurred outside the penalty area) that allowed West Bromwich Albion to defeat Blackpool by 3 goals to 2.
Blackpool manager, Ian Holloway, was furious about the decision.
And why is this of any concern to the likes of you?
Well, Mr Moss should never have been allowed to officiate on this match in the first place.
Below we list all of the occasions where Moss has refereed either West Brom or Blackpool during his five year Football League tenancy.
Scunthorpe 1 Blackpool 0
WBA 3 Luton 2
Norwich 1 WBA 2
Blackpool 3 Scunthorpe 1 - despite having Brandon sent off by Moss after 38 minutes.
Blackpool 0 Plymouth 0
WBA 4 Ipswich 0
Peterborough 0 WBA 3 - a penalty and sending off in favour of the Throstles.
Hull 2 Blackpool 2 - Sent off Kaspar Gorkss of Blackpool.
Blackpool 1 West Brom 3 - Gave West Brom their equalising penalty.
Burnley 2 Blackpool 0 - A penalty to seal the Hillbilly victory.
Blackpool 0 Watford 2
Blackpool 1 Nottingham Forest 1 - Ian Evatt sent off after 68 minutes.
Blackpool 2 Newcastle 1 - must be because it helped West Brom!
Scunthorpe 1 West Brom 3 - two sendings off and a penalty when the game was one-all sorted out this particular affair.
WBA 3 Blackpool 2 - gives Albion fake penalty for winning goal.
So, what are the scores on the doors?
West Bromwich Albion matches with Mr Moss blowing the whistle:
7 matches.
7 wins.
4 penalties in favour of West Brom and none against.
3 sendings off in favour of West Brom and none against.
Blackpool matches with Moss's sides:
10 matches.
2 wins and 5 defeats.
0 penalties in favour of Blackpool but two against.
0 sendings off in favour of Blackpool but three against.
How exactly do the Football League reach the decision of who referees whom?"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was with an air of inevitability that it was noticed that Mr Moss had been promoted to the PGMOB Select Group of match referees for the current season.
His close 'relationship' with West Bromwich Albion is now enhanced since new club agent John Colquhoun was appointed (along with Roy Hodgson following the Anfield Fiasco) by his friend Jeremy Peace.
We have been reliably informed that Colquhoun and Moss were first acquainted in the early nineties when Colquhoun was a player at Sunderland/Millwall while Moss was on the Academy teams.
Moss was already qualified as a referee but did not focus on dressing up in strange outfits and exerting authority over groups of men until he gave up playing in the late nineties (like Colquhoun).
Moss has already had involvement in four West Brom matches this season as either referee or 4th official (an increasingly influential role in the world of microphone contact and television replays).
In total, Moss has officiated in 10 matches and four of them have involved WBA!
On the one occasion he was refereeing Albion, Moss gave them a penalty in a highly suspicious collection of betting patterns against Everton in the Carling Cup. West Brom still blew it causing Hodgson to memorably rip off his expensive Italian jacket and throw it to the Goodison turf.
How exactly does Mike "Kipper" Riley at the PGMOB reach the decision of who referees whom?
One of my colleagues contacted the Premier League about the selection of referees and the seeming control that various clubs have over the choice of match officials.
Their response alleged randomness so we did a statistical analysis of the PGMOB selections and random it is most definitely not.
Interestingly, the Premier League have now removed all historical information on the match refereeing team appointments from their website in a truly Stalinesque example of transparency.
Why is it illegal to print this information elsewhere?
Why?
What is it about the appointment of match officials that leads to such secrecy from the Premier League?
What is it about the appointment of match officials that leads to Spanish referees only being made public at 00:00 hrs on the day of the event?
What is it about the appointment of match officials that leads to UEFA delaying release until the day before Champions League and Euro 2012 matches?
What is it about the appoinment of match officials that leads to a representative of the Polish Presidency of the EU pleading for greater co-operation to tackle corruption, including reforming member states' legal codes and giving referees short notice on which matches they are due to officiate?
Corruption!??!!?!
Is this the same corruption referred to by Pierre Cornu, the lawyer tasked with fighting corruption in football on behalf of UEFA.
We have quoted the man here before: "I don't think that we will be able to eradicate this problem. We don't pretend. It's just everywhere. It's like drug trafficking. There will always be drug addicts. The only way to not bring people to court is the legalise drug trafficking."
He continued that corruption risks damaging "the very soul of sports" and will jeopardise funding for football. Cornu claims that the criminalities are arranged via corrupt match officials.
We are not saying that Jonathan Moss is involved in corruption.
He might just get carried away by the airing of the word "Albion" or perhaps throstles are his thing. Who knows?
But some referees most definitely are very very very corrupt indeed and if it is possible for clubs to place match officials on key events, we are looking at horseracing rather than the beautiful game.
A Game Theorist might suggest three solutions to this systemic problem.
i) Vastly increase the number of match officials - 18 isn't enough for 'the biggest league in the world' especially when a number of them hardly ever officiate and when the leading lights are involved in two matches most weekends (one as referee and one as 4th official).
ii) Randomise the selection process.
iii) Bring in video replays for ALL contentious decisions.
The Bundesliga is markedly cleaner than the big three leagues of England, Spain and Italy when it comes to the corruption inflicted on the game by match officials.
When a rogue official did surface in Germany he was dealt with and imprisoned.
Is it any coincidence that attendances are markedly higher in the Bundesliga and tours of real English football fans make their way over there for a real football experience?
The post is reproduced in part below.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Yesterday, Jonathan Moss, a bog-standard referee from the wrong side of the Pennines, gave a fallacious penalty (the infringement occurred outside the penalty area) that allowed West Bromwich Albion to defeat Blackpool by 3 goals to 2.
Blackpool manager, Ian Holloway, was furious about the decision.
And why is this of any concern to the likes of you?
Well, Mr Moss should never have been allowed to officiate on this match in the first place.
Below we list all of the occasions where Moss has refereed either West Brom or Blackpool during his five year Football League tenancy.
Scunthorpe 1 Blackpool 0
WBA 3 Luton 2
Norwich 1 WBA 2
Blackpool 3 Scunthorpe 1 - despite having Brandon sent off by Moss after 38 minutes.
Blackpool 0 Plymouth 0
WBA 4 Ipswich 0
Peterborough 0 WBA 3 - a penalty and sending off in favour of the Throstles.
Hull 2 Blackpool 2 - Sent off Kaspar Gorkss of Blackpool.
Blackpool 1 West Brom 3 - Gave West Brom their equalising penalty.
Burnley 2 Blackpool 0 - A penalty to seal the Hillbilly victory.
Blackpool 0 Watford 2
Blackpool 1 Nottingham Forest 1 - Ian Evatt sent off after 68 minutes.
Blackpool 2 Newcastle 1 - must be because it helped West Brom!
Scunthorpe 1 West Brom 3 - two sendings off and a penalty when the game was one-all sorted out this particular affair.
WBA 3 Blackpool 2 - gives Albion fake penalty for winning goal.
So, what are the scores on the doors?
West Bromwich Albion matches with Mr Moss blowing the whistle:
7 matches.
7 wins.
4 penalties in favour of West Brom and none against.
3 sendings off in favour of West Brom and none against.
Blackpool matches with Moss's sides:
10 matches.
2 wins and 5 defeats.
0 penalties in favour of Blackpool but two against.
0 sendings off in favour of Blackpool but three against.
How exactly do the Football League reach the decision of who referees whom?"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was with an air of inevitability that it was noticed that Mr Moss had been promoted to the PGMOB Select Group of match referees for the current season.
His close 'relationship' with West Bromwich Albion is now enhanced since new club agent John Colquhoun was appointed (along with Roy Hodgson following the Anfield Fiasco) by his friend Jeremy Peace.
We have been reliably informed that Colquhoun and Moss were first acquainted in the early nineties when Colquhoun was a player at Sunderland/Millwall while Moss was on the Academy teams.
Moss was already qualified as a referee but did not focus on dressing up in strange outfits and exerting authority over groups of men until he gave up playing in the late nineties (like Colquhoun).
Moss has already had involvement in four West Brom matches this season as either referee or 4th official (an increasingly influential role in the world of microphone contact and television replays).
In total, Moss has officiated in 10 matches and four of them have involved WBA!
On the one occasion he was refereeing Albion, Moss gave them a penalty in a highly suspicious collection of betting patterns against Everton in the Carling Cup. West Brom still blew it causing Hodgson to memorably rip off his expensive Italian jacket and throw it to the Goodison turf.
How exactly does Mike "Kipper" Riley at the PGMOB reach the decision of who referees whom?
One of my colleagues contacted the Premier League about the selection of referees and the seeming control that various clubs have over the choice of match officials.
Their response alleged randomness so we did a statistical analysis of the PGMOB selections and random it is most definitely not.
Interestingly, the Premier League have now removed all historical information on the match refereeing team appointments from their website in a truly Stalinesque example of transparency.
Why is it illegal to print this information elsewhere?
Why?
What is it about the appointment of match officials that leads to such secrecy from the Premier League?
What is it about the appointment of match officials that leads to Spanish referees only being made public at 00:00 hrs on the day of the event?
What is it about the appointment of match officials that leads to UEFA delaying release until the day before Champions League and Euro 2012 matches?
What is it about the appoinment of match officials that leads to a representative of the Polish Presidency of the EU pleading for greater co-operation to tackle corruption, including reforming member states' legal codes and giving referees short notice on which matches they are due to officiate?
Corruption!??!!?!
Is this the same corruption referred to by Pierre Cornu, the lawyer tasked with fighting corruption in football on behalf of UEFA.
We have quoted the man here before: "I don't think that we will be able to eradicate this problem. We don't pretend. It's just everywhere. It's like drug trafficking. There will always be drug addicts. The only way to not bring people to court is the legalise drug trafficking."
He continued that corruption risks damaging "the very soul of sports" and will jeopardise funding for football. Cornu claims that the criminalities are arranged via corrupt match officials.
We are not saying that Jonathan Moss is involved in corruption.
He might just get carried away by the airing of the word "Albion" or perhaps throstles are his thing. Who knows?
But some referees most definitely are very very very corrupt indeed and if it is possible for clubs to place match officials on key events, we are looking at horseracing rather than the beautiful game.
A Game Theorist might suggest three solutions to this systemic problem.
i) Vastly increase the number of match officials - 18 isn't enough for 'the biggest league in the world' especially when a number of them hardly ever officiate and when the leading lights are involved in two matches most weekends (one as referee and one as 4th official).
ii) Randomise the selection process.
iii) Bring in video replays for ALL contentious decisions.
The Bundesliga is markedly cleaner than the big three leagues of England, Spain and Italy when it comes to the corruption inflicted on the game by match officials.
When a rogue official did surface in Germany he was dealt with and imprisoned.
Is it any coincidence that attendances are markedly higher in the Bundesliga and tours of real English football fans make their way over there for a real football experience?
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Ohi! Ohi! Ohi!
On Saturday lunchtime, Mike Dean shamelessly distorted the hyperreality in Chelsea's aided 3-0 victory at Newcastle - an outcome only a surprise to those utterly outside the loop.
Last night Mr Dean was in Dortmund in a heavily and obviously rigged Champions League match against Marseille.
On the final rounds of matches in UEFA and FIFA competitions when qualification is dependent on the outcome of two separate matches, the authorities insist on coincident kick off times to ensure no team(s) possesses an advantage in time.
Now while there are Cosmologists who will inform you that time doesn't exist, for the purposes of this scammed scenario, we'll assume that it jolly well does...
When Mr Howard Webb and co-defendant Mr Michael Dean eventually co-ordinated to allow the game to go ahead, Olympiacos and Arsenal had already been in motion for three minutes.
These minutes, m'lud, proved to be significant.
An aside to describe the crime scene - Champions League Qualifying Group F.
Dortmund had to defeat Marseille heavily and hope that Arsenal prevented Olympiacos from winning.
Marseille had to perform to remain one point ahead of the Greeks.
By half-time in Greece, Olympiacos were leading Arsenal 2-0 and as they departed the pitch, Marseille were 0-2 behind in Dortmund. With an extra minute of first half injury time, Marseille pulled a goal back and the second half in Germany began fully four minutes after the Greek match.
When Olympiacos scored their third goal, guaranteeing victory (3-1) over Arsenal, there were six minutes remaining in Dortmund.
To qualify, Marseille needed to score twice.
And score twice they did...
...before less injury time was added than should have been the case and the French side were through.
The fact that both Dortmund and Marseille are/were members of the G14(18) group of power clubs that allegedly no longer exists, allegedly no longer matters...
Not saying that Webb/Dean were directly involved in a criminal scam but the late start and early finish in favour of the scam shows that, at the very least, the two men didn't inhibit it!
And with their previous...
If, beyond the stretch of all rational probability, Webb/Dean accidentally added time to the equation - fair dinkum.
But what if UEFA 'allowed' this advantage to the two G14(18) sides?
Would UEFA ever allow such an advantage for teams from Serbia or Belarus? Yeah right...
The imposition of a template primed for corruption also affects the 65,590 people who paid to witness the Dortmund v Marseille match and anyone paying out to watch the event on television.
In that football mimics politics, the conference to save the Euro is taking place in the city of Marseille this week.
But the hyperreality is parallel.
In 2002/03, the Germans were the first EU country to break the threshold in the stability pact and no action was taken.
They elected not to punish themselves.
Like you do...
Fast forward to the recent past and the constant German/French carping about the irresponsible Greeks and their irresponsible borrowing.
But for every irresponsible Greek borrower there is an irresponsible German bank lending.
It takes two to tango to Depression.
They really cannot have it both ways - normal people exploit moral hazard and they should be victimised; bankers really exploit moral hazard and they should be supported with the money of the victimised people.
So the French/German axis demolishes Greece twice over - in politics and in football.
The Germans should try lecturing to my Corfiot friends on the morals and ethics of power - Kerkyra used to have a thriving Jewish quarter, m'lud.
But back to the footie...
As football is so fixed, it is imperative to maintain the illusion of integrity in order that little pieces of evidence don't quantum into the public sphere.
UEFA and/or Webb/Dean have let us all down in the incompetence of their contorting of our neohyperrealities.
We rest our case.
Last night Mr Dean was in Dortmund in a heavily and obviously rigged Champions League match against Marseille.
On the final rounds of matches in UEFA and FIFA competitions when qualification is dependent on the outcome of two separate matches, the authorities insist on coincident kick off times to ensure no team(s) possesses an advantage in time.
Now while there are Cosmologists who will inform you that time doesn't exist, for the purposes of this scammed scenario, we'll assume that it jolly well does...
When Mr Howard Webb and co-defendant Mr Michael Dean eventually co-ordinated to allow the game to go ahead, Olympiacos and Arsenal had already been in motion for three minutes.
These minutes, m'lud, proved to be significant.
An aside to describe the crime scene - Champions League Qualifying Group F.
Dortmund had to defeat Marseille heavily and hope that Arsenal prevented Olympiacos from winning.
Marseille had to perform to remain one point ahead of the Greeks.
By half-time in Greece, Olympiacos were leading Arsenal 2-0 and as they departed the pitch, Marseille were 0-2 behind in Dortmund. With an extra minute of first half injury time, Marseille pulled a goal back and the second half in Germany began fully four minutes after the Greek match.
When Olympiacos scored their third goal, guaranteeing victory (3-1) over Arsenal, there were six minutes remaining in Dortmund.
To qualify, Marseille needed to score twice.
And score twice they did...
...before less injury time was added than should have been the case and the French side were through.
The fact that both Dortmund and Marseille are/were members of the G14(18) group of power clubs that allegedly no longer exists, allegedly no longer matters...
Not saying that Webb/Dean were directly involved in a criminal scam but the late start and early finish in favour of the scam shows that, at the very least, the two men didn't inhibit it!
And with their previous...
If, beyond the stretch of all rational probability, Webb/Dean accidentally added time to the equation - fair dinkum.
But what if UEFA 'allowed' this advantage to the two G14(18) sides?
Would UEFA ever allow such an advantage for teams from Serbia or Belarus? Yeah right...
The imposition of a template primed for corruption also affects the 65,590 people who paid to witness the Dortmund v Marseille match and anyone paying out to watch the event on television.
In that football mimics politics, the conference to save the Euro is taking place in the city of Marseille this week.
But the hyperreality is parallel.
In 2002/03, the Germans were the first EU country to break the threshold in the stability pact and no action was taken.
They elected not to punish themselves.
Like you do...
Fast forward to the recent past and the constant German/French carping about the irresponsible Greeks and their irresponsible borrowing.
But for every irresponsible Greek borrower there is an irresponsible German bank lending.
It takes two to tango to Depression.
They really cannot have it both ways - normal people exploit moral hazard and they should be victimised; bankers really exploit moral hazard and they should be supported with the money of the victimised people.
So the French/German axis demolishes Greece twice over - in politics and in football.
The Germans should try lecturing to my Corfiot friends on the morals and ethics of power - Kerkyra used to have a thriving Jewish quarter, m'lud.
But back to the footie...
As football is so fixed, it is imperative to maintain the illusion of integrity in order that little pieces of evidence don't quantum into the public sphere.
UEFA and/or Webb/Dean have let us all down in the incompetence of their contorting of our neohyperrealities.
We rest our case.
Thursday, 1 December 2011
The Gleasga Kiss Brigade
Sir Ferguson (Man Utd), born Glasgow.
Eric Black (Sunderland caretaker manager), born Bellshill, 9 miles outside Glasgow.
Kenny Dalglish (Liverpool), born in Glasgow.
John Colquhoun (West Brom Club Agent and Strategic Orchestrator), created in Stirling just 23 miles from Glasgow.
Alex McLeish (Aston Villa), born in Glasgow.
Paul Lambert (Norwich City), devised in Glasgow.
Owen Coyle (Bolton), Glasgow-born.
Steve Kean (Blackburn), born in Glasgow.
Joe Jordan (Tottenham), born in Cleland, 10 miles outside Glasgow.
David Moyes (Everton), born in Glasgow.
And downward...
Dougie Freedman (Palace), from Glasgow.
Willie McKay (Doncaster Rovers club agent), born in Milton of Campsie just outside Glasgow.
Darren Ferguson (Peterborough), Glasgow silver-spooned.
Derek McInnes (Bristol City), born in Paisley, a mere 7 miles from Glasgow.
Malky Mackay (Cardiff City), came out of Bellshill 9 miles from Glasgow.
50% of all Premier League teams as well as 15 of the 44 teams in the two top flights of the English hierarchy have absolute or considerable management control by an individual from Glasgow and its environs.
In comparison, Manchester has no managers or significant others in the top two leagues and no senior input at all in the EPL although David Platt (Assistant at Man City) was born in Oldham, Barnsley manager Keith Hill hails from Bolton (the poor bastard) and newly appointed Michael Appleton at Portsmouth has managed to escape his birth in Salford.
Glasgow 15 Manchester 0.
The top two teams in the Premier League are Mancunian.
The most successful team ever in the top flight is Man Utd.
Rangers and Celtic and, indeed, Scottish football in general are shit.
So, dubious connections aside, why are there so many Glaswegian managers and their like at the top of English football?
You don't see Dutch managers running huge swathes of the Bundesliga or a French foreigh legion in Spain.
So, why?
We suspect that there be a rank rotten reekin' pish pundit behind it all!!
Eric Black (Sunderland caretaker manager), born Bellshill, 9 miles outside Glasgow.
Kenny Dalglish (Liverpool), born in Glasgow.
John Colquhoun (West Brom Club Agent and Strategic Orchestrator), created in Stirling just 23 miles from Glasgow.
Alex McLeish (Aston Villa), born in Glasgow.
Paul Lambert (Norwich City), devised in Glasgow.
Owen Coyle (Bolton), Glasgow-born.
Steve Kean (Blackburn), born in Glasgow.
Joe Jordan (Tottenham), born in Cleland, 10 miles outside Glasgow.
David Moyes (Everton), born in Glasgow.
And downward...
Dougie Freedman (Palace), from Glasgow.
Willie McKay (Doncaster Rovers club agent), born in Milton of Campsie just outside Glasgow.
Darren Ferguson (Peterborough), Glasgow silver-spooned.
Derek McInnes (Bristol City), born in Paisley, a mere 7 miles from Glasgow.
Malky Mackay (Cardiff City), came out of Bellshill 9 miles from Glasgow.
50% of all Premier League teams as well as 15 of the 44 teams in the two top flights of the English hierarchy have absolute or considerable management control by an individual from Glasgow and its environs.
In comparison, Manchester has no managers or significant others in the top two leagues and no senior input at all in the EPL although David Platt (Assistant at Man City) was born in Oldham, Barnsley manager Keith Hill hails from Bolton (the poor bastard) and newly appointed Michael Appleton at Portsmouth has managed to escape his birth in Salford.
Glasgow 15 Manchester 0.
The top two teams in the Premier League are Mancunian.
The most successful team ever in the top flight is Man Utd.
Rangers and Celtic and, indeed, Scottish football in general are shit.
So, dubious connections aside, why are there so many Glaswegian managers and their like at the top of English football?
You don't see Dutch managers running huge swathes of the Bundesliga or a French foreigh legion in Spain.
So, why?
We suspect that there be a rank rotten reekin' pish pundit behind it all!!
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Bookmakers Cause And Cash In On Suicide
Almost two years to the day since Robert Enke took his life by jumping from a bridge in front of an onrushing train, Gary Speed similarly took his own life.
Whatever the reason(s) behind Speed's decision, it will probably never become public.
Tributes have rightly come from across the footballing and political worlds including tweets from Michael Owen and Robbie Savage.
That two such high profile criminalised (former) players were so quickly 'out there' on this is interesting in itself.
Even more interesting is the decision by William Hill bookmakers to give their annual book prize to a book detailing the background to Enke's suicide.
With the other hand of omerta, William Hill employs Mr Savage to provide serial disinformation on upcoming football matches.
This disinformation results in punters losing money leading potentially to financial difficulties - one of the two primary causes of suicidal tendencies.
Meanwhile Mr Savage and William Hill bookmakers pocket the cash, pay lip-service to integrity and jump on the mourning bandwagon in order to disguise their roles in the demise of another human being.
And, meanwhile, the Secret Footballer, known in these circles for his threats against myself and my property, pens a Guardian article on the morning of Speed's death on player depression and suicide.
How prescient is that?
And, no doubt, they will all be at the funeral, paying fake respects to a great loss of life while treating the 'event' as a networking possibility for future criminalities.
Whatever the reason(s) behind Speed's decision, it will probably never become public.
Tributes have rightly come from across the footballing and political worlds including tweets from Michael Owen and Robbie Savage.
That two such high profile criminalised (former) players were so quickly 'out there' on this is interesting in itself.
Even more interesting is the decision by William Hill bookmakers to give their annual book prize to a book detailing the background to Enke's suicide.
With the other hand of omerta, William Hill employs Mr Savage to provide serial disinformation on upcoming football matches.
This disinformation results in punters losing money leading potentially to financial difficulties - one of the two primary causes of suicidal tendencies.
Meanwhile Mr Savage and William Hill bookmakers pocket the cash, pay lip-service to integrity and jump on the mourning bandwagon in order to disguise their roles in the demise of another human being.
And, meanwhile, the Secret Footballer, known in these circles for his threats against myself and my property, pens a Guardian article on the morning of Speed's death on player depression and suicide.
How prescient is that?
And, no doubt, they will all be at the funeral, paying fake respects to a great loss of life while treating the 'event' as a networking possibility for future criminalities.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Kraut Kaputs County and Knicks Your Cash
We'd like to tell you a brief story.
After two relegations in a row Stockport County appointed former German international Didi Hamann as manager three months ago.
And it is already looking as though a third demotion from the Conference National is on the cards as County are level on points with Lincoln City who occupy the fourth relegation slot currently.
That is if the club don't go out of existence in the meantime.
And the decline is getting worse - Stockie have won only one of their last 14 games and the last five matches have yielded 16 goals against and just one point.
Now Mr Hamann is a bit of an operator.
He also doubles as Pro Punter at the Soccerbase site where he hands out tips to the unwitting, the bewildered, the gullible and the naive.
Just take his last 10 advices...
Werder Bremen to beat Dortmund - LOST
Doncaster to draw with Leeds - LOST
Portugal to beat Denmark - LOST
Belgium to beat Germany - LOST
Russia to beat Slovakia - WON
Spain to beat Czech Republic - WON
Charlton to beat Brentford - LOST
Scunthorpe to beat Oldham - LOST
Huddersfield to beat Bradford - LOST
Kaiserslautern to draw with Stuttgart - LOST
2/10!!!
If the befuddled had placed a hundred quid on each of the tips, they would now be 579 pounds down - a return on investment (ROI) of -72%.
And Hamann's expertise are supposed to be German and lower league English football - his performance here is 0 out of 8 and a highly impressive ROI of -100%
It takes some doing to be that shit unless you are being deliberately economic with the truth.
Perhaps if Mr Hamann concentrated on his proper job rather than on fleecing numpties, County might actually play some decent footie and stuff.
Worse still, Soccerbase are linked to the rogue Isle of Man company Sportmarket who encourage punters to deposit tens of thousands of pounds so that such bettors might take advantage of the option of placing up to 25 grand on matches with no winning accounts closed.
Unfortunately, once again only the pathologically altruistic would take advantage of such a scam as Sportmarket not only don't have an office but also don't provide a phone contact.
As we have mentioned previously, we emailed them asking them how we might speak with a representative.
We received no reply.
Crap manager.
Crooked punter.
Corrupt company.
Sack the bastard.
After two relegations in a row Stockport County appointed former German international Didi Hamann as manager three months ago.
And it is already looking as though a third demotion from the Conference National is on the cards as County are level on points with Lincoln City who occupy the fourth relegation slot currently.
That is if the club don't go out of existence in the meantime.
And the decline is getting worse - Stockie have won only one of their last 14 games and the last five matches have yielded 16 goals against and just one point.
Now Mr Hamann is a bit of an operator.
He also doubles as Pro Punter at the Soccerbase site where he hands out tips to the unwitting, the bewildered, the gullible and the naive.
Just take his last 10 advices...
Werder Bremen to beat Dortmund - LOST
Doncaster to draw with Leeds - LOST
Portugal to beat Denmark - LOST
Belgium to beat Germany - LOST
Russia to beat Slovakia - WON
Spain to beat Czech Republic - WON
Charlton to beat Brentford - LOST
Scunthorpe to beat Oldham - LOST
Huddersfield to beat Bradford - LOST
Kaiserslautern to draw with Stuttgart - LOST
2/10!!!
If the befuddled had placed a hundred quid on each of the tips, they would now be 579 pounds down - a return on investment (ROI) of -72%.
And Hamann's expertise are supposed to be German and lower league English football - his performance here is 0 out of 8 and a highly impressive ROI of -100%
It takes some doing to be that shit unless you are being deliberately economic with the truth.
Perhaps if Mr Hamann concentrated on his proper job rather than on fleecing numpties, County might actually play some decent footie and stuff.
Worse still, Soccerbase are linked to the rogue Isle of Man company Sportmarket who encourage punters to deposit tens of thousands of pounds so that such bettors might take advantage of the option of placing up to 25 grand on matches with no winning accounts closed.
Unfortunately, once again only the pathologically altruistic would take advantage of such a scam as Sportmarket not only don't have an office but also don't provide a phone contact.
As we have mentioned previously, we emailed them asking them how we might speak with a representative.
We received no reply.
Crap manager.
Crooked punter.
Corrupt company.
Sack the bastard.
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Why Fixing Footie is Feckin' Flawed
We all understand that agents, and indeed all middle people, are leeches on the sport of football, grabbing their inflated percentages while skirting between the black and grey markets, bribing and threatening people and corrupting the game.
They force players to adhere to certain match data as basic sabermetrics measures the obvious, they enter into third party arrangements and other forms of disguised dual ownership of players to confuse both the footballing authorities and the tax regime, they control aspects of the media sometimes psychopathically so, and many persuade players to underperform so that insider gambles may be achieved on what the fan thinks is an authentic football match.
Nothing to see there then...
The structure is identical to the current spot fixing trial involving Pakistani cricketers - an agent strikes a deal with an underground bookmaker to create a fake reality and then bribes or coerces his player to act accordingly.
But there are two key differences.
Firstly, it is facile to target cricketers from the sub-continent. What about the Australian, English and South African players who undertake the same murkiness?
And, secondly, there is a slight difference between bowling three no-balls and altering the outcome of an allegedly competitive sporting event.
But every time a professional footballer plays poorly so that money may be illicitly made in the betting markets in the immediate term, their strategic value plummets.
Although this is offset by the potential of post-retirement disinformational media work, would a player really prefer to go down in history as a Bobby Charlton or a Robbie ######?
In the past we have frequently blogged about John Colquhoun of Key Sports Management.
This leading agent is not only utterly honest but additionally he is superbly talented as a look at the current season demonstrates.
Taking the achievements from the top...
Closely linked with Scotland manager Craig Levein, JC has been very vocal in person and through his contacts and ghost writing in his support of a manager who has utterly failed in the easiest of the Euro 2012 Qualifying Groups. Only defeating Liechtenstein in a home match in the 7th minute of injury time, playing 4-6-0 away to the Czechs in the game that ultimately destroyed any hopes of qualification, moaning on about refereeing decisions against the Scots while ignoring equally ridiculous decisions in the opposite direction and selecting players who do not have the best interests of the international team at heart.
Little wonder that the man has grown a beard to disguise himself...
Then there was persuading Liverpool to pay 20 million for a sub-standard reserve player, Jordan Henderson. If Henderson is worth 20 mill then Charlie Adam is worth fifty. And he's not. Liverpool owner John Henry already recognises that he has overpaid.
Then there is that talented runner Theo Walcott who is repeatedly eulogised in the sports pages of The Guardian, JC's prime media outlet. 16 million for a player who can't pass, can't shoot and is now behind both Gervinho and Oxlade-Chamberlain in the pecking order.
Then there is his role as club agent at West Brom. Having messed up with Roy Hodgson on the Liverpool post, the pair have taken WBA to the heights of third bottom in the Premier League.
Then there are the close links with Steve Bruce and Sunderland who currently lie fifth from bottom in ScudamoreWorld.
Or how about his protege Steve McClaren who having been sacked by Wolfsburg (and mocked by their fans), was denied the Villa job via a fan revolt before taking Nottingham Forest to 2nd bottom in the Championship before being sacked (or resigning depending on your version of reality).
The only team below Forest are Bristol City whose goalkeeper has a column ghost-written on his behalf by JC in The Guardian newspaper.
But probably worst has been the performance at Celtic where, despite both Dallasgate and Rangers being skint, he has helped to oversee a title loss, a ten point deficit already this season and a futile Europa Cup campaign that is both undeserved and distracting - FC Sion were robbed and better.
And, of course, there is the Secret Footballer ruse, where JC pretends to be a current international so that he might defend his failures in The Guardian paper - the Secret Footballer is a Secret Agent.
And it is The Guardian newspaper that is a the foundation of this nonsense - The Guardian, the paper for the acquiescent who would like to believe that they are alternative.
As John Pilger writes regarding this rag of a paper and Julian Assange: "Books have been published, movie deals struck and media careers launched or kick-started on the assumption that he is fair game and too poor to sue. People have made money, often big money, while WikiLeaks has struggled to survive. On 16 June, the publisher of Canongate Books, Jamie Byng, when asked by Assange for an assurance that the rumoured unauthorised publication of his autobiography was not true, said, “No, absolutely not. That is not the position … Julian, do not worry. My absolute number one desire is to publish a great book which you are happy with.” On 22 September, Canongate released what it called Assange’s “unauthorised autobiography” without the author’s permission or knowledge. It was a first draft of an incomplete, uncorrected manuscript. ““They thought I was going to prison and that would have inconvenienced them,” he told me. “It’s as if I am now a commodity that presents an incentive to any opportunist.”
The editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, has called the WikiLeaks disclosures “one of the greatest journalistic scoops of the last 30 years”: indeed, this is part of his current marketing promotion to justify raising the Guardian’s cover price. But the scoop belongs to Assange not the Guardian. Compare the paper’s attitude towards Assange with its bold support for the reporter threatened with prosecution under the Official Secrets Act for revealing the iniquities of Hackgate. Editorials and front pages have carried stirring messages of solidarity from even Murdoch’s Sunday Times. On 29 September, Carl Bernstein was flown to London to compare all this with his Watergate triumph. Alas, the iconic fellow was not entirely on message. “It’s important not to be unfair to Murdoch,” he said, because “he’s the most far seeing media entrepreneur of our time” who “put The Simpsons on air” and thereby “showed he could understand the information consumer”.
The contrast with the treatment of a genuine pioneer of a revolution in journalism, who dared take on rampant America, providing truth about how great power works, is telling. A drip-feed of hostility runs through the Guardian, making it difficult for readers to interpret the WikiLeaks phenomenon and to assume other than the worst about its founder. David Leigh, the Guardian’s “investigations editor”, told journalism students at City University that Assange was a “Frankenstein monster” who “didn’t use to wash very often” and was “quite deranged”. When a puzzled student asked why he said that, Leigh replied, “Because he doesn’t understand the parameters of conventional journalism. He and his circle have a profound contempt for what they call the mainstream media”. According to Leigh, these “parameters” were exemplified by Bill Keller when, as editor of the New York Times, he co-published the WikiLeaks disclosures with the Guardian. Keller, said Leigh, was “a seriously thoughtful person in journalism” who had to deal with “some sort of dirty, flaky hacker from Melbourne”.
JC makes considerable money from his use of The Guardian to promote and, more usually, to defend his clients.
But what is in this for Rusbridger?
We tweeted to ask him but, quite reasonably, received no response.
Aside from the corruption and the ruination of the best game on earth, the strategy of JC and his ilk is short-termist in the extreme - a total neo-con money grab.
If JC were strategic, people in the game would work with him into the future whereas individuals like Wenger, Dalglish, Henry and Lawell are hardly likely to repeat the past failures again.
And, as an aside, corruption doesn't always pay.
In one Carling Cup match this season, some insiders had absolute control - the referee and the opposing goalkeeper were owned by the manipulators.
And yet they still messed it up and ended up losing their bets and the match.
There is only one thing worse than being corrupt...
...and that is being corrupt and stupid.
They force players to adhere to certain match data as basic sabermetrics measures the obvious, they enter into third party arrangements and other forms of disguised dual ownership of players to confuse both the footballing authorities and the tax regime, they control aspects of the media sometimes psychopathically so, and many persuade players to underperform so that insider gambles may be achieved on what the fan thinks is an authentic football match.
Nothing to see there then...
The structure is identical to the current spot fixing trial involving Pakistani cricketers - an agent strikes a deal with an underground bookmaker to create a fake reality and then bribes or coerces his player to act accordingly.
But there are two key differences.
Firstly, it is facile to target cricketers from the sub-continent. What about the Australian, English and South African players who undertake the same murkiness?
And, secondly, there is a slight difference between bowling three no-balls and altering the outcome of an allegedly competitive sporting event.
But every time a professional footballer plays poorly so that money may be illicitly made in the betting markets in the immediate term, their strategic value plummets.
Although this is offset by the potential of post-retirement disinformational media work, would a player really prefer to go down in history as a Bobby Charlton or a Robbie ######?
In the past we have frequently blogged about John Colquhoun of Key Sports Management.
This leading agent is not only utterly honest but additionally he is superbly talented as a look at the current season demonstrates.
Taking the achievements from the top...
Closely linked with Scotland manager Craig Levein, JC has been very vocal in person and through his contacts and ghost writing in his support of a manager who has utterly failed in the easiest of the Euro 2012 Qualifying Groups. Only defeating Liechtenstein in a home match in the 7th minute of injury time, playing 4-6-0 away to the Czechs in the game that ultimately destroyed any hopes of qualification, moaning on about refereeing decisions against the Scots while ignoring equally ridiculous decisions in the opposite direction and selecting players who do not have the best interests of the international team at heart.
Little wonder that the man has grown a beard to disguise himself...
Then there was persuading Liverpool to pay 20 million for a sub-standard reserve player, Jordan Henderson. If Henderson is worth 20 mill then Charlie Adam is worth fifty. And he's not. Liverpool owner John Henry already recognises that he has overpaid.
Then there is that talented runner Theo Walcott who is repeatedly eulogised in the sports pages of The Guardian, JC's prime media outlet. 16 million for a player who can't pass, can't shoot and is now behind both Gervinho and Oxlade-Chamberlain in the pecking order.
Then there is his role as club agent at West Brom. Having messed up with Roy Hodgson on the Liverpool post, the pair have taken WBA to the heights of third bottom in the Premier League.
Then there are the close links with Steve Bruce and Sunderland who currently lie fifth from bottom in ScudamoreWorld.
Or how about his protege Steve McClaren who having been sacked by Wolfsburg (and mocked by their fans), was denied the Villa job via a fan revolt before taking Nottingham Forest to 2nd bottom in the Championship before being sacked (or resigning depending on your version of reality).
The only team below Forest are Bristol City whose goalkeeper has a column ghost-written on his behalf by JC in The Guardian newspaper.
But probably worst has been the performance at Celtic where, despite both Dallasgate and Rangers being skint, he has helped to oversee a title loss, a ten point deficit already this season and a futile Europa Cup campaign that is both undeserved and distracting - FC Sion were robbed and better.
And, of course, there is the Secret Footballer ruse, where JC pretends to be a current international so that he might defend his failures in The Guardian paper - the Secret Footballer is a Secret Agent.
And it is The Guardian newspaper that is a the foundation of this nonsense - The Guardian, the paper for the acquiescent who would like to believe that they are alternative.
As John Pilger writes regarding this rag of a paper and Julian Assange: "Books have been published, movie deals struck and media careers launched or kick-started on the assumption that he is fair game and too poor to sue. People have made money, often big money, while WikiLeaks has struggled to survive. On 16 June, the publisher of Canongate Books, Jamie Byng, when asked by Assange for an assurance that the rumoured unauthorised publication of his autobiography was not true, said, “No, absolutely not. That is not the position … Julian, do not worry. My absolute number one desire is to publish a great book which you are happy with.” On 22 September, Canongate released what it called Assange’s “unauthorised autobiography” without the author’s permission or knowledge. It was a first draft of an incomplete, uncorrected manuscript. ““They thought I was going to prison and that would have inconvenienced them,” he told me. “It’s as if I am now a commodity that presents an incentive to any opportunist.”
The editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, has called the WikiLeaks disclosures “one of the greatest journalistic scoops of the last 30 years”: indeed, this is part of his current marketing promotion to justify raising the Guardian’s cover price. But the scoop belongs to Assange not the Guardian. Compare the paper’s attitude towards Assange with its bold support for the reporter threatened with prosecution under the Official Secrets Act for revealing the iniquities of Hackgate. Editorials and front pages have carried stirring messages of solidarity from even Murdoch’s Sunday Times. On 29 September, Carl Bernstein was flown to London to compare all this with his Watergate triumph. Alas, the iconic fellow was not entirely on message. “It’s important not to be unfair to Murdoch,” he said, because “he’s the most far seeing media entrepreneur of our time” who “put The Simpsons on air” and thereby “showed he could understand the information consumer”.
The contrast with the treatment of a genuine pioneer of a revolution in journalism, who dared take on rampant America, providing truth about how great power works, is telling. A drip-feed of hostility runs through the Guardian, making it difficult for readers to interpret the WikiLeaks phenomenon and to assume other than the worst about its founder. David Leigh, the Guardian’s “investigations editor”, told journalism students at City University that Assange was a “Frankenstein monster” who “didn’t use to wash very often” and was “quite deranged”. When a puzzled student asked why he said that, Leigh replied, “Because he doesn’t understand the parameters of conventional journalism. He and his circle have a profound contempt for what they call the mainstream media”. According to Leigh, these “parameters” were exemplified by Bill Keller when, as editor of the New York Times, he co-published the WikiLeaks disclosures with the Guardian. Keller, said Leigh, was “a seriously thoughtful person in journalism” who had to deal with “some sort of dirty, flaky hacker from Melbourne”.
JC makes considerable money from his use of The Guardian to promote and, more usually, to defend his clients.
But what is in this for Rusbridger?
We tweeted to ask him but, quite reasonably, received no response.
Aside from the corruption and the ruination of the best game on earth, the strategy of JC and his ilk is short-termist in the extreme - a total neo-con money grab.
If JC were strategic, people in the game would work with him into the future whereas individuals like Wenger, Dalglish, Henry and Lawell are hardly likely to repeat the past failures again.
And, as an aside, corruption doesn't always pay.
In one Carling Cup match this season, some insiders had absolute control - the referee and the opposing goalkeeper were owned by the manipulators.
And yet they still messed it up and ended up losing their bets and the match.
There is only one thing worse than being corrupt...
...and that is being corrupt and stupid.
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Masonic Manipulation
The manipulation of match outcomes in England is generally under the control of the rogue institutions, operations and individuals frequently monitored on these pages historically.
Fascinatingly, our team of traders have discovered an addenda to this format at the lower levels of corruption - freemasonry.
As we are like that, we have always logged masonic handshakes whenever and wherever our mits are massaged.
Applying analytical techniques to both this template and certain criminalised structures within the English game produces degrees of matching that can only mean one thing.
Football Is Fixed.
And some of the fixers are "on the square".
Fascinatingly, our team of traders have discovered an addenda to this format at the lower levels of corruption - freemasonry.
As we are like that, we have always logged masonic handshakes whenever and wherever our mits are massaged.
Applying analytical techniques to both this template and certain criminalised structures within the English game produces degrees of matching that can only mean one thing.
Football Is Fixed.
And some of the fixers are "on the square".
Monday, 28 February 2011
Trading On The Cricket World Cup
If you are trading on the ICC Cricket World Cup (and after England's 'efforts' in their opening 'match' versus the Netherlands, who wouldn't be?), you should be aware that there is a varying delay in time between the action taking place on the Indian sub-continent and the hyperreality being put on your screens by the Murdochracy.
And we are talking significantly longer than a few seconds.
We had already understood that this was the case as one of the trading team had a conversation with an Indian broker during a match but the issue became farcical this morning when the batsman arriving at the crease to replace Kieran Pollard in the West Indies/Netherlands match 'appeared' to have been but a few metres away anticipating the wicket if we are to believe our eyes on the Murdochratic output.
And why does this matter?
Just think of the massive benefit to the bookmakers on the short-term markets (runs in the over etc) if they were to be able to access images that, in our world, have not yet happened.
A latter day advancement of the video taped horse race in the inner city bookies of yesteryear.
Thank goodness that the state stands up to the likes of Julian Assange rather than Rupert Murdoch.
And we are talking significantly longer than a few seconds.
We had already understood that this was the case as one of the trading team had a conversation with an Indian broker during a match but the issue became farcical this morning when the batsman arriving at the crease to replace Kieran Pollard in the West Indies/Netherlands match 'appeared' to have been but a few metres away anticipating the wicket if we are to believe our eyes on the Murdochratic output.
And why does this matter?
Just think of the massive benefit to the bookmakers on the short-term markets (runs in the over etc) if they were to be able to access images that, in our world, have not yet happened.
A latter day advancement of the video taped horse race in the inner city bookies of yesteryear.
Thank goodness that the state stands up to the likes of Julian Assange rather than Rupert Murdoch.
Sunday, 27 February 2011
Bet Not So Fucking Fair After All (A Refrain)
We have only ever utilised Betfair for peripheral staking enhancement and hedging - all Real positions go through our broker.
Last year we decided to undertake a little experiment.
We placed a whole series of winning positions but at very low stakes to see what would be the response of the London company to winning accounts.
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As soon as we understood their attitude to the integrity of the trading experience, we returned to our old historical template of hedging and micro-adjustment of positions taken elsewhere.
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Being an IT bozo, I protect myself with very very talented individuals who know their bits from their bots.
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Mind you.
What should people expect from a company that utilises the incredibly non-corrupt Paul Nicholls for their horseracing marketing and the equally non-sexist Andy "Smash It" Gray for the equivalent in football?
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Last year we decided to undertake a little experiment.
We placed a whole series of winning positions but at very low stakes to see what would be the response of the London company to winning accounts.
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As soon as we understood their attitude to the integrity of the trading experience, we returned to our old historical template of hedging and micro-adjustment of positions taken elsewhere.
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Being an IT bozo, I protect myself with very very talented individuals who know their bits from their bots.
Spyware is one thing but #######################################################
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Mind you.
What should people expect from a company that utilises the incredibly non-corrupt Paul Nicholls for their horseracing marketing and the equally non-sexist Andy "Smash It" Gray for the equivalent in football?
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The Guardian Newspapers' Secret Footballer Is A Secret Agent
Hey Hey Hey...
...well somebody is desperate for cash after fucking up on the Liverpool role.
If only this person had understood the analytical significance of Enhanced Holistic Sabermetrics, it would have been himself rather than Damien Comolli creaming it as the scousers become one of the leading sides on the planet.
World beater or relegation battle?
Strategic thought is an anathema to some.
Read on Dietrological reader.
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...well somebody is desperate for cash after fucking up on the Liverpool role.
If only this person had understood the analytical significance of Enhanced Holistic Sabermetrics, it would have been himself rather than Damien Comolli creaming it as the scousers become one of the leading sides on the planet.
World beater or relegation battle?
Strategic thought is an anathema to some.
Read on Dietrological reader.
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Sunday, 6 February 2011
I've Never Met A Nice (White) South African
The legal travails and sporting bans handed down to Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir (10 years, five of which are suspended; 7 years, 2 of which are suspended; and 5 years respectively) for spot-fixing seems lenient although the ICC has no doubt gone for their standard 'justice being seen to be done' template rather than justice actually being done.
Orchestrator and Croydon Town FC supremo, the cricketing agent Mazhar Majeed, shares the trio's legal issues for fraudulent behaviour and is also being investigated for money laundering.
Before moving onto the part of this post which is for internal Dietrological utilisation alone, there are three public points that we wish to surface here.
Firstly, why always pick on Pakistan?
The sport of cricket is phenomenally racist - things have hardly improved since Basil D'Oliveira.
There is an individual of a South African persuasion involved in the test side of another country who is renowned in the underground South Asian betting markets for deliberately underperforming when the financial inducements are suitably skewed in his favour.
Secondly, why are the bans so short?
The respective ages of the three cricketers are 26, 28 and 18, meaning that all will be able to return to international cricket when/if their five year suspensions have been served.
Life bans would have been more pertinent.
And don't even start thinking about snooker star John Higgins or jockey supremo Kieran Fallon or horserace trainers ###################, ######################, ##############, ######################, ################### etc etc etc.
And, thirdly, and most importantly for a blog that focuses on corruption in the world of football, why is no analogy being made between the practices of the likes of Mazhar Majeed and leading football agents in Britain who behave in an identical manner - persuading their clients-for-life to tilt betting markets for proprietary and illegal gain?
One leading English bookmaker has taken a private (ie not public) stand and is no longer willing to accept bets from these operations with the result that desperate measures have been taken to allow other market makers the route to hedging any exposures due to these manipulated and corrupt trading practices.
If football agents had nothing to hide surely they would be willing to accept real regulation and a public disclosure of their underground activities.
Instead what you get is a variety of different mobile phones, a squad of shared-ownership vehicles, cash inducements being offered without invoice or receipt, conversations about tables and brown envelopes and the inevitable private mansions, dodgy lawyers and offshore bank accounts.
Panorama's exposé was nothing compared to how widespread these illegal practices spread throughout the sport.
Insider trading isn't intelligent or clever.
It is an abuse of the brilliant game of football for those with an addiction to cash.
Now let us examine a few network structures in British football...
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Orchestrator and Croydon Town FC supremo, the cricketing agent Mazhar Majeed, shares the trio's legal issues for fraudulent behaviour and is also being investigated for money laundering.
Before moving onto the part of this post which is for internal Dietrological utilisation alone, there are three public points that we wish to surface here.
Firstly, why always pick on Pakistan?
The sport of cricket is phenomenally racist - things have hardly improved since Basil D'Oliveira.
There is an individual of a South African persuasion involved in the test side of another country who is renowned in the underground South Asian betting markets for deliberately underperforming when the financial inducements are suitably skewed in his favour.
Secondly, why are the bans so short?
The respective ages of the three cricketers are 26, 28 and 18, meaning that all will be able to return to international cricket when/if their five year suspensions have been served.
Life bans would have been more pertinent.
And don't even start thinking about snooker star John Higgins or jockey supremo Kieran Fallon or horserace trainers ###################, ######################, ##############, ######################, ################### etc etc etc.
And, thirdly, and most importantly for a blog that focuses on corruption in the world of football, why is no analogy being made between the practices of the likes of Mazhar Majeed and leading football agents in Britain who behave in an identical manner - persuading their clients-for-life to tilt betting markets for proprietary and illegal gain?
One leading English bookmaker has taken a private (ie not public) stand and is no longer willing to accept bets from these operations with the result that desperate measures have been taken to allow other market makers the route to hedging any exposures due to these manipulated and corrupt trading practices.
If football agents had nothing to hide surely they would be willing to accept real regulation and a public disclosure of their underground activities.
Instead what you get is a variety of different mobile phones, a squad of shared-ownership vehicles, cash inducements being offered without invoice or receipt, conversations about tables and brown envelopes and the inevitable private mansions, dodgy lawyers and offshore bank accounts.
Panorama's exposé was nothing compared to how widespread these illegal practices spread throughout the sport.
Insider trading isn't intelligent or clever.
It is an abuse of the brilliant game of football for those with an addiction to cash.
Now let us examine a few network structures in British football...
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