A Leodensian view of the Loidis Tribe v Boscombe Vegas - Saturday scrimmage.

I would encourage anybody reading my football ramblings to post a few thoughts of their own..... as opinion is the nectar of conversation.

the latest Iraola led Bournemouth squad players tactics and club funding are both attentive curiosity readings......

summary states..... Bournemouth are owned by Black Knight Football Club led by 80 year old American finance expert Bill Foley and they receive funding through player transfer sales and commercial partnerships of Renaissance Asset Finance plus their own club initiative of the Cherries Community Fund..... to which finances nicely flows with their increased revenue from recent heroic performances in the Premier League..... which has now led to further significant investment from its owners Black Knight Football Club..... Foley also has a stake in French Ligue 1 Lorient also.....

..... putting all that aside Iraola has actually lost half of his core players from last seasons team bringing in 200 million quid for the club this summer......

...... so far all been good for Bournemouth this season as they have been scoring first and scoring early...... which accounts for yet another Bournemouth terrific starting campaign......
.....Tavernier scored inside four minutes at home to Wolves with Evanilson netted after five minutes at Spurs..... while it took Scott twenty minutes to bag the opener against Brighton.....

..... sure that Farke will know a trick into stopping this latest Iraola squad who will again be setting out to dominate the early exchanges like in each of their last three matches from the onset.....

..... contrasting coaches in Farke and Iraola in that both possesses a personality of total contrast. ..... the Spaniard appearing calm and relaxed off the pitch but displaying a fiery intensity on the sideline & the German rather reserved with a calm controlled disposition.

..... the Iraola play style and shape have remained unchanged from last season as they targeted their new arrivals with very similar traits and qualities to those they had lost...... out went Luis Sinisterra loaned out to Brazilian side Cruzeiro..... in a deal worth 2 million up front with a permanent 10 million deal at the end of the loan..... and Max Aarons loaned out to Valencia last season and now at Rangers on loan....... remember both thought they were far to good to play for us a while back.....

..... the Bournemouth scouting setup targets players who are usually under the age of 25 and across the last two seasons they have identified developing talent and pounced to sign them very quickly..... far to early to judge the success of their club policy of course but certainly no standout home grown academy prospects.....

....... should be an interesting clash at Elland Road on Sat...... you can already see our possession tally is highlighting strong progress in team bonding and discipline.....
..... also it is nice to see Farkes willingness to allow our attackers to get onto the ball with confidence and showing more willingness to take on defenders by releasing their creativity more often......

...... the experienced right back James Justin we signed from Leicester for circa 10m should be an adequent replacement for Jason Bogle if needed for this game..... his all-round game is proven to be solid in defensive duties with very effective attacking contributions..... with the bonus of being able to play in the left back role with ease as well..... needs to be kept fit as he has missed over 100 games due to injury between 2021/25..... so hope he gets his full match opportunity soon....... as it does not look good news on Bogles ankle.....

...... Bournemouth play football reminiscent of how West Ham once traditionally played and one would think Iraola would be a better match than a pottering Potter for them if they are requiring another good technical coach now that neighbours Spurs have one........

..... my rambled views to ponder on hopefully keeping this fine forum ticking over.....

MOT

James Justin was warming up close to where I was sat at Fulham and he looks like a real athlete.

Be interested to see how he goes once he has a few games under his belt.

Some interesting thoughts/themes from what I have seen this season.

Tippy tappy possession football seems to a bit less popular. Probably inspired by Liverpool and Brentford but also with other teams copying - the high press and packing the centre of the pitch had led to more teams being comfortable with less possession and hitting it long into the opposition half and trying to win it back higher up the pitch. Viva G Taylor!

PSR and the stricter loan rules seem to be causing a little bit of chaos in the transfer market.

Handball rules are still ridiculous.

Offside rules are better but surely should be based on where your feet body is not your arm (VAR disallowed a goal for that recently).

Refs seem quite meek this year - not clamping down on a lot of back chat or ignoring what ref doing. Some are just crazily poor and the standard has not really improved much.

Premier league seems to be getting quicker and more physical would love to see proper height and weight stats for the average starting XI over the last 6 years.

Liverpool look like they will win the PL at a canter as the other teams seem to be tripping up behind them and they haven?t started well in terms of how they are playing.

Promoted teams giving it a real go. Would love it if all three stayed up. Sunderland have been a revelation!

Mrs O,

Definitely see where MT gets the research, analytical and writing ability! The depth and information is refreshing given our sound bite social media world. A lost art in our world where "higher education" consists of little more than conform or be cancelled. However, I also will confess that I really have to concentrate and re-read whereas in my younger days I could keep up with the reading the same as if someone was talking to me in person. Embarrassing to admit. Cognitive ability is an ability that must be cultivated and used regularly.

The Bournemouth model is not that different from what the 49's use here stateside for their American football team. The system takes precedence over the individual talent and they replace players with similar skills and traits. It's much more like a player is a "cog in the machine" than some of the big 6 approach of getting superstars. I think that Leeds will work more and more toward that approach.... especially with as many games as teams are expected to play.

Some other observations that I'd like to parrot from you and HOP.

1) The prem is gettign bigger and more physical. I think it will continue to do so. I also think that the Leeds recruiting was spot on regarding this. I was so tired of seeing teams push us around and manhandle us on restarts and corners. Once we get dialed in on doing this on the offensive side we'll be much better off to survive. I also think that Farke (who I have real problems with his sub patterns) subscribes to this as well. You can't "teach" height and physical presence. Although, not all big players are physical in their approach.

2) The prem continues to get faster. One way around pure physical size. However, over the course of a season I think physical wins out as far as survival.

3) Regarding PSR. The FA is corrupt. Maybe not as much as a third world legal system but really close. PSR is just a cover for them to mask the utter corruption. In the end, the Citehs, Chelseas and Scum skate when charges are filed. However, Economics eventually comes into play. How long is the owner willing to lose money on their toy? It's why investors like the 49's, Bournemouth, etc might win out over time.

4) The officiating is really poor in the prem. In fact, I'll just call it biased and subjective. The worst insult you can give a professional official. Teams ought to have "black ball" authority on some officials for their matches. Frankly, we all know that when we get some refs assigned to us we are going to get abused. with the amount of money involved we ought to have the right to use up some of our strikes on obviously biased officials.

5) The depth of our squad and the solid ownership is showing this year. We have true competition for every spot this year. It's a wonderful problem to have and will likely keep us up this year. Justin will be critical this Saturday. We did not have that last time in the prem.

I think that the Bournemouth game will be very good. I also think it's a true test if we are the real deal this year or a poser. If we win I think we might actually be talking a shot at a top 10 spot. Lose and we are where everyone thought we would be at the lower end of table. They are solid and well coached. They play as a team as do we.

The version of Bournemouth Mrs O talked about is precisely why more and more Americans are buying Premier League clubs, and the league will soon be called The WTF league. It's all business and nothing else. Man U's Rapid downfall didn't happen till the Americans took over, and now they are the laughing stock. No doubt Bournemouth's luck will change like other teams, and then another Bournemouth will replace them. The two ex-players show how overrated they are, and we all fell for them as the next Raphs. Now we have some cheapies, and again we marvel at them when in fact they are just average players.
Newcastle is the richest club by far, worth 620 billion, next best is Man C 280, you ponder wtf is going on, they should be owning this league. Liverpool 13 billion, and Arsenal is 17 billion, are miles in front, so what is going on?
This is the current list of owners and clubs' riches.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...football_clubs
Make no mistake about it the Premier League once made for the fans is non-existent anymore, as fans are just puppets and spin doctors and crooks laugh at us. Like the world is changing, so is sport for the worst.

I suspect Oz that as soon as the promotion to/relegation from rules re the PL are scrapped then PSR will go too as there is no monopoly to protect.

Money definitely has had a massive influence over the last 30 years. Blackburn, Chelsea and City all won titles with big cash injections.

Chelsea and City went from being also rand to truly huge clubs with success fans could have only dreamed of in the 1990s.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MrsORichSenior_

I would encourage anybody reading my football ramblings to post a few thoughts of their own..... as opinion is the nectar of conversation.

..... the Iraola play style and shape have remained unchanged from last season as they targeted their new arrivals with very similar traits and qualities to those they had lost...... out went Luis Sinisterra loaned out to Brazilian side Cruzeiro..... in a deal worth 2 million up front with a permanent 10 million deal at the end of the loan..... and Max Aarons loaned out to Valencia last season and now at Rangers on loan....... remember both thought they were far to good to play for us a while back.....

..... the Bournemouth scouting setup targets players who are usually under the age of 25 and across the last two seasons they have identified developing talent and pounced to sign them very quickly..... far to early to judge the success of their club policy of course but certainly no standout home grown academy prospects.....

....... should be an interesting clash at Elland Road on Sat...... you can already see our possession tally is highlighting strong progress in team bonding and discipline.....
..... also it is nice to see Farkes willingness to allow our attackers to get onto the ball with confidence and showing more willingness to take on defenders by releasing their creativity more often......

...... the experienced right back James Justin we signed from Leicester for circa 10m should be an adequent replacement for Jason Bogle if needed for this game..... his all-round game is proven to be solid in defensive duties with very effective attacking contributions..... with the bonus of being able to play in the left back role with ease as well..... needs to be kept fit as he has missed over 100 games due to injury between 2021/25..... so hope he gets his full match opportunity soon....... as it does not look good news on Bogles ankle.....

...... Bournemouth play football reminiscent of how West Ham once traditionally played and one would think Iraola would be a better match than a pottering Potter for them if they are requiring another good technical coach now that neighbours Spurs have one........

MOT

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Firstly, that must be an almighty long trip for the Geordies to watch their team play in Bournemouth.
I actually watched the game in its entirety. I thought Geordies were tired from their midweek Champions league exploits. Even though their manager put out some fresh starters, I thought the majority were tired.
I like Bournemouth except for Tyler Adams. I think he has an overly high opinion of his playing ability but one cannot argue with his commitment to whichever team for which he plays.
I thought Bournemouth were extremely well organized, but didn't appear to have the required incisiveness in the box. Hopefully that trend will continue. Leeds playing at home hopefully will press high and get Bournemouth out of their rhythm. The Cherries are not a tall team this season, so hopefully we can take advantage of our height advantage. Longstaff, Stach, Calvert-Lewin, Struijk, Rodon are all tall timber. Even Ampadu and Gudmonsson are quite tall.
On a Leicester fan site, they have posted several videos of Justin misreading defensive plays and allowing the opposition to score. He seemed good enough against Wolves but then again, Wolves now are not the Wolves of yore and played a rather old-fashioned 4-4-2, with no conventional wingers. If he plays, and I think he will, he will need to be on his toes, as the Cherries do like to go down the flanks. Should be an interesting game. I wonder if Shearer will pick Leeds to lose again. So far this season he has picked Leeds to lose in all 5 matches. Also picked Leeds to get relegated. Not sure he actually watches too many games. If he did, he would know that Leeds had a good chance of at least a draw at Molineux.

The other trend is for smaller and smaller shin pads and boot protection. It can?t be too many seasons away where the shin pads are the size of a large vitamin C tablet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hopelesslyoptimistic

I suspect Oz that as soon as the promotion to/relegation from rules re the PL are scrapped then PSR will go too as there is no monopoly to protect.

Money definitely has had a massive influence over the last 30 years. Blackburn, Chelsea and City all won titles with big cash injections.

Chelsea and City went from being also rand to truly huge clubs with success fans could have only dreamed of in the 1990s.

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....... Blackburn Chelsea and City all been in lower leagues in my time as have we.......
as for promotion and relegation issues ?

this week....... Preston North End CE Peter Ridsdale former chairman of Leeds United Burnley Barnsley and Cardiff discussed with other Championship cubs presenting the idea of expanding the Championship play offs to six teams ...... the move has subsequently been met with a large seal of approval......

...... under the current format four teams feature in the EFL Championship play-offs, teams finishing third, fourth, fifth and sixth......

.......however under plans for a rehaul the number of teams would expand to six with those finishing seventh and eighth also qualifying........

........ such changes would offer more clubs the opportunity of securing a spot in the Premier League....... as the opinion within the English second tier is that parachute payments have distorted the competition and made it much harder for clubs without those extra payments to compete at the top end of the table.......

.......the EFL acknowledged that the proposed revamp would minimise the number of dead rubber matches towards the end of the season adding more high-profile important games to the calendar throughout its entire season........

.....the Coventry City owner and chairman Doug King recently questioned the competitiveness of the Championship with regard to clubs who receive parachute payments being able to outspend the rest of the Championship......... his Coventry team have finished in the play-off places in two of the last three seasons........

...... if its adopted in the Championship it should also be introduced in League One and League Two as there is resistance from clubs lower down the football pyramid now since the National League is continuing to push for a three-up and three-down promotion system which the EFL has so far rejected until now depending on final decision.........

....... do they indeed have a valid point in extending the Championship format and will it bring in more competition down the leagues system ?

Suspect a lot of supporters don?t fully understand how the PL is run and governed and that the rules are voted upon and adopted by the clubs themselves with various different thresholds for what percentage of clubs need to vote in favour.

It is also hard for clubs to challenge the rules because they all sign up to and agree them. The PL body itself is not really public so hard to challenge it by way of judicial review and hold to proper legal account t.

The amounts of money the owners have to spend to buy stakes or clubs outright is becoming more and more eye watering and the owners then want to protect status and their cash above all else. I can sort of understand that but it doesn?t necessarily make for a well run league.

The EFL at times has seemed shambolic from when I view it but again a lot of self interest often seems to be at work. The 15 point deduction we got being a case in point.

Sports have often struggled to grapple with the change in status from amateur to professional and also a lot of the bodies are owned by the sporting teams themselves or by private interests.

mind blowing accessing club funding today
.....we are lucky that our investments in tangible and intangible assets such as our stadium improvements are not treated the same as immediate operational losses which can be strategically advantageous........

great that the US headquartered private equity firm IDC Network announced that it had made an investment in Leeds United via 49ers Enterprises using a new vehicle, IDC Sports and Entertainment.......... rumours stating 49ers Enterprises have welcomed the new investor to their syndicate who indirectly are connecting with a South American club in the process....... creating more multi club ownership alarm bells for some fans fears.

49ers appear to have clear eyes regarding
owner support and debt financing with ownership guarantees to bridge the gap between the clubs revenue and expenditure essentially covering the operational losses,one might hopefully say.........

in view of footballs move towards more sustainable financing models there are a number of types of debt products that are gaining increasing popularity in the market........ including secured facilities with longer maturity periods......with said facilities are designed to contemplate relegation and promotion rather than being subject to a renewal on an annual basis.......

certainly not easy meeting strategic aims of clubs into alignment with the games stakeholder desire of creating a more sustainable model for running clubs.....which can be a minefield as clubs locations are often at the heart of their local community of towns or city....... causing an array of problems.......

in France it helps that most local and national governments provide significant financial support....... particularly for the construction or renovation of stadiums which helps ensure club viability and builds a cohesive local bond in facilities usage...... this model is common as many clubs lease their stadiums from local authorities rather than owning them outright.

comparing AFC Bournemouth debt with ours currently.......their financial debt was listed at approximately 123 million quid...... a reduction from 136 million quid prior....... this debt is mainly composed of a 90 million quid interest free owners loan from Black Knight Football Club Ltd and a 33 million quid external bank loan to finance the training ground complex development......

i still firmly sit in the camp of safeguarding clubs for future generations....... and still use my voice along with others to remind clubs hierarchy of that fact........ and to be fair the 49ers has progressed that side of fan liason importance and do have a good understanding of the city needs and its culture with its future exciting expansion plans.

really looking forward to the game on saturday after reading their match reports this season....... it will be a test but at least a point.

they appear well organised and are rated strongly in counter attacks by creating plenty of chances through individual skill...... defence wise they are good at defending set pieces and protecting a lead..... but no so hot at aerial duels.......
but they still persist in attacking through the middle which maybe is to our advantage if we remain focused solid and aggressive in all areas as a consistent unit....... low score draw will be fine and dandy for me.

MOT