The Smell Test
Thursday, 05 July 07, 05:52 AM
Am I the only one who thinks this whole Thaksin Shinawatra takeover of Manchester City is going to end in tears? The guy is the worst kind of politician - a disgraced politician. He was the subject of a coup, and is facing corruption charges. Didn't it occur to the City board that their club might just be a pawn in a money laundering scheme? That was certainly the first thing I thought of. In journalism school, they teach you about the "smell test." Well, this whole deal fails the smell test spectacularly.
On the other hand, it will certainly be interesting to see Sven-Goran Eriksson back into management. For those of us who don't really follow Serie A, this will be our first chance to see Svennis involved in day-to-day management, which I think is probably his forte, instead of international football.
Now that Sheffield United has failed in its appeal to be reinstated, the rats have begun to flee the sinking ship. First to go is Phil Jagielka, who has scarpered off to Everton on a £4 million deal. I have sympathy for the Blades, especially now that Neil Warnock is out of the picture. West Ham played matches with two players who, in the rules of the EPL, were illegally registered due to the third-party ownership agreement. Therefore, they broke the rules. Whenever other clubs have been caught playing with illegally-registered players, they had to surrender any points they gained in matches those players participate in. So why didn't West Ham have to do that?
Frankly, the Hammers cheated. And I'll be hoping that they go down this season. Nothing personal, West Ham fans, but deep down, you know your team got away with something this time.
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Jonathan
Perth, AU
An American ex-pat's thoughts on Australian, American and English soccer
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