Premier League 2017/18

[Lineker]

Quote

Danny Rose revealed he has had depression which he believes was triggered by the treatment of a knee injury coupled with family tragedy. In an extraordinary interview days before he flies with England to the World Cup, the Tottenham left-back said he lost track of the number of times he was injected with blood-spinning and painkilling drugs.

The 27-year-old’s mental health deteriorated as he contended with the triple trauma of his uncle killing himself, his mum Angela being racially abused and an assailant shooting at his brother inside the family home.

Speaking for the first time about the illness that he said left him unable to get out of bed and on medication for months, Rose described how his time inside the England set-up became an escape as he grew increasingly miserable and isolated at White Hart Lane.

“It’s no secret that I’ve been through a testing time at Tottenham this season,” said Rose, who is set to start England’s final warm-up match, against Costa Rica, on Thursday. “It led to me seeing a psychologist and I was diagnosed with depression, which nobody knows about. I had to get away from Tottenham.

“I’m lucky that England gave me that opportunity to get away, refresh my mind and I’ll always be grateful to them. I was on medication for a few months – nobody knows about that apart from my agent – but I’m off the medication now, I’m good again and looking forward to how far we can go in Russia.”

Sitting behind a desk at England’s St George’s Park training base, Rose spoke freely and largely unprompted about his illness. “Nobody knows this either, but my uncle [his father’s brother] killed himself in the middle of my rehab, and that triggered the depression as well,” Rose said.

“Off the field there have been other incidents: back home in August my mum was racially abused in Doncaster. She was very angry and upset about it, and then someone came to the house and nearly shot my brother in the face – a gun was fired at my house.

“England has been my salvation and I can’t thank the manager and the medical staff enough. It was really hard, and being referred to a doctor and psychologist by the Spurs club doctor helped me massively to cope. I haven’t told my mum or my dad, and they are probably going to be really angry reading this, but I’ve kept it to myself until now.”

Rose pinpointed the treatment of a knee injury suffered in January 2017 as the beginning of his strife. He was advised he did not require an operation but when he returned to training in May that year he experienced pain and was recommended to have surgery. In total he was sidelined for eight months and it took a toll.

“I was getting very angry, very easily. I didn’t want to go into football, I didn’t want to do my rehab, I was snapping when I got home; friends were asking me to do things and I wouldn’t want to go out, and I would come home and go straight to bed.

“It all stemmed from my injury when I was advised I didn’t need an operation. I don’t know how many tablets I took to try and get fit for Tottenham, how many injections I took trying to get fit for Tottenham. I had cortisone and platelet-rich plasma injections trying to be fit for my club.

“I had to have an operation four months down the line – after all that football I missed, when the team was flying and I was playing really well, the team were playing really well. Seeing the lads beat Arsenal comfortably, seeing them beat Man United comfortably, it was hard. I’m not saying I’ve had worse treatment than anybody else. That’s football. But it was difficult – that was the start of it.”

Rose made only 17 club appearances last season because of injury and then failing to dislodge Ben Davies. “I think it’s fair to say I’m the luckiest player to be in the [England] squad,” he said.

Last summer he was disciplined by Spurs after saying the players were underpaid and the club needed to bring in big-name signings and “not ones you have to Google”. There have been strains since then. “Things were said and things happened behind the scenes at my club, and I don’t want to go into any detail because I’ll end up being fined again,” he said.

Rose had wanted his family to join him at the World Cup but has warned them not to travel over fears for their wellbeing based on Russia’s reputation for racially motivated attacks. “I’ve had to tell the family I don’t want them coming out to Russia because I’m worried about their safety,” he said. “That’s going to affect my preparation for games if I’m worrying about them and that’s such a sad state of affairs.”

He said his father, whose commitment to watching him extends to getting home at 3am from games at Wembley and being up at 7am for work, was “really upset”.

The England squad have held a “group discussion” about how they might react if subjected to racial abuse during a game, Rose added. “If it happened to me at club level, I would walk off the pitch and I’d retaliate. But doing that on the world stage, it could cost us three points or going through to the next round. If it happens I will go to Harry Kane as captain first, and he will deal with it.”

In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.

[TMM]

EDIT: well that went well.

Amazon have bought the final Premier League package 

https://twitter.com/cg_williams/status/1004648260802314240

[Colly]

Yay. Well, this competition has definitely been better for the consumer. 

[Baddar]

Ugh, fuck that. I try to justify having BT because of the CL but I'm not getting another one for West Ham v Bournemouth. 

[Nelson]

I believe this is an extra package Amazon have bought rather than them buying rights once owned by Sky or BT so technically, nobody is losing out.

Plus, if they stick it on Prime, then I'll have a reason to actually use it than just for free next day delivery!

[DavidMarrio]

Suppose there'll be some good alternative streams for any matches on Amazon

[Colly]

16 minutes ago, Nelson said:

I believe this is an extra package Amazon have bought rather than them buying rights once owned by Sky or BT so technically, nobody is losing out.

Plus, if they stick it on Prime, then I'll have a reason to actually use it than just for free next day delivery!

I mean that's easy to say, but if they get a Newcastle away game I'm not going to go "oh well, this wouldn't have been previously available to me so I won't watch it". The whole method of selling off the rights is silly, and while I've never been for a "teams sell off individual TV rights" model, the fact is that football is different to "I need Amazon to watch Clarkson" and needs something to suit rather than me having to pay an increasing number of suppliers more and more money to watch my team. 

[Nelson]

45 minutes ago, Colly said:

I mean that's easy to say, but if they get a Newcastle away game I'm not going to go "oh well, this wouldn't have been previously available to me so I won't watch it". The whole method of selling off the rights is silly, and while I've never been for a "teams sell off individual TV rights" model, the fact is that football is different to "I need Amazon to watch Clarkson" and needs something to suit rather than me having to pay an increasing number of suppliers more and more money to watch my team. 

Very true. I'm of the belief anyway where it should be made law (as the World Cup, FA Cup final etc is) that at least some top flight fixtures should be on free to air TV. One of these extra packages would have been perfect for that.

[Adam]

1 hour ago, Nelson said:

Very true. I'm of the belief anyway where it should be made law (as the World Cup, FA Cup final etc is) that at least some top flight fixtures should be on free to air TV. One of these extra packages would have been perfect for that.

I agree with that.

It doesn't currently bother me as I've not got Sky Sports, so if I want to watch a Premier League game I will either go down the pub (mostly for Sunday games) or stream it (mostly for games like Swansea v Everton on a Wednesday night), but I do fondly remember the days when we had a Sky Sports subscription and that meant any and every game available to watch. If I had my own place now I'd consider getting a BT package for the same reasons Baddar states: PL + Champions League, but I'd not get Amazon when I already have Netflix.

Anyway, i believe Amazon has only bought two full gameweeks of games, i.e. one set of midweek fixtures in December will be entirely broadcast on Amazon and then so will one of the Bank Holiday rounds of games at Christmas.

[Nelson]

12 minutes ago, Adam es Tranquilo said:

I agree with that.

It doesn't currently bother me as I've not got Sky Sports, so if I want to watch a Premier League game I will either go down the pub (mostly for Sunday games) or stream it (mostly for games like Swansea v Everton on a Wednesday night), but I do fondly remember the days when we had a Sky Sports subscription and that meant any and every game available to watch. If I had my own place now I'd consider getting a BT package for the same reasons Baddar states: PL + Champions League, but I'd not get Amazon when I already have Netflix.

Anyway, i believe Amazon has only bought two full gameweeks of games, i.e. one set of midweek fixtures in December will be entirely broadcast on Amazon and then so will one of the Bank Holiday rounds of games at Christmas.

It could actually be something a left-wing government could consider - definitely handy that the leader of the major left-wing party is a big football fan!

I believe they have all 10 boxing day fixtures as part of it and their games will be free to Amazon Prime customers.

[Colly]

Is that right? Seems unlikely that that package of games would exist, outside of the last day of the season there isn't usually more than one game on TV at once is there? Plus they'd only sell like a month of Prime for it... 

Also, lol PM Corbyn. 

[Nelson]

1 hour ago, Colly said:

Is that right? Seems unlikely that that package of games would exist, outside of the last day of the season there isn't usually more than one game on TV at once is there? Plus they'd only sell like a month of Prime for it... 

Also, lol PM Corbyn. 

Yep

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44396151

Better than PM May!

[Colly]

Well yeah, but I'd rather Lineker PM than either of them, and he'd make the word cupset mandatory. 

[MDK]

 

[Lineker]

Quote

The so-called big six Premier League clubs have won their persistent battle to be paid a greater share of the income from its burgeoning international TV rights which have for 26 years been shared equally between all the league’s clubs.

Led by Manchester City and Liverpool, supported by Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs, the six have pressed the case that as they are the prime attractions for global audiences and money paid by international broadcasters, they should receive more of the money.

This is a landmark change to a key element of the rules and which has helped to preserve a measure of financial and on-field competitiveness ever since the First Division clubs broke away from the Football League’s inter-divisional sharing arrangements and formed the Premier League in 1992.

As 14 clubs must approve any change to the Premier League’s rules, the required majority had not been obtained until the summer club meeting on Thursday when the executive chairman, Richard Scudamore, announced the change. Under constant pressure from the six, with Liverpool’s majority owner John Henry having pressed the case publicly recently, Scudamore came up with a compromise which secured the majority.

From 2019-20, the first season of TV deals being concluded now, the current level of revenue from international TV rights sales, £3.3bn, will still be shared equally between all 20 clubs. Any increase on that level, which Scudamore is understood to be confident of securing, will then be distributed according to where a team finish in the league. So the six, confident of finishing in the higher places every season for the foreseeable future, will for the first time be paid more of the international TV rights revenues on that basis.

The UK TV rights money, currently £5.1bn, has always been shared out equally, part according to where a team finish, and part according to how many times they are shown on TV, which also favours the more successful clubs.

Part of the compromise reached is that the difference this makes to the earnings of the top six will be capped. The Premier League pointed out that currently the highest-earning club from TV and sponsorship central distributions, the title-winning Manchester City, were paid £149m, approximately 1.6 times more than the lowest-earning, bottom-finishing West Brom, who made £95m.

The differential now the international money-sharing formula is to be changed will be 1.8, Scudamore said, and any income above that will be shared to maintain that differential. Proponents of the rule change, including the clubs which pushed for it, argue that the entirely equal sharing had become outdated as the rule was established in 1992, when the international rights were negligible.

Scudamore, hailing the change as an unalloyed positive, said in a statement: “This … further incentivises on-pitch achievement and maintains the Premier League’s position as the most equitable in Europe in terms of sharing central revenues. By coming together and agreeing this change, the clubs have provided a platform for the future success of the League for many years ahead.”

However, opponents argue that the richer clubs are already inhabiting a different financial plane, and should not be enabled to stretch even further away. It is also seen by some as a dangerous step to change a foundational rule, allowing the new formula, and the cap, to be challenged again in the future.

The Premier League also announced that its two smaller remaining UK and Ireland live broadcasting deals had been sold, to BT Sport and, for the first time, to the internet platform Amazon Prime Video.

The change has been agreed at a time of more generally advancing financial ambitions of the major European clubs. Andrea Agnelli, the chairman of Juventus and the European Club Association, told the Guardian in a recent interview that he wanted to “reshape” European football by having more lucrative matches played in the Champions League from 2024. The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, also recently proposed a new 24-team format for the Club World Cup which would deliver $3bn for each four-yearly tournament. That proposal has been shelved.

[Lineker]

Quote

Richard Scudamore is stepping down as the Premier League’s executive chairman after 20 years in charge of the organisation, with his resignation being compared to that of Sir Alex Ferguson leaving Manchester United.

Scudamore’s departure remained a closely guarded secret until he made the announcement at a Premier League annual general meeting in a London hotel. It came as a surprise to executives of the 20 clubs in the room.

A qualified lawyer and former sales director, he became chief executive of football’s top flight in 1999 and executive chairman in 2014. The search for his replacement has already begun.

Scudamore, 58, divided opinion during two decades, with a tough negotiating style which some found abrasive, but his influence on the burgeoning wealth of the top tier is undisputed. Players’ wages rocketed from an average £400,000 per year to £2.6m – the latter figure being roughly equivalent to what Scudamore earns in the executive role he will leave before the end of the year.

Scudamore has overseen an enormous rise in Premier League revenue. When he took over the division earned £25m every 12 months. That same figure now stands at £1.1bn per year and is rising. On the day his resignation was made public it was revealed that the online streaming service Amazon had won the rights to show 20 Premier League matches a season for three years from 2019, indicating more growth in diverse areas.

“It’s an absolute privilege to have been allowed to enjoy this role for so long,” Scudamore said. “It is too much fun to be called a job. Football is an intoxicating environment and therefore difficult to give up being so involved, but my passion for what football means to so many and the positive impact it can make will never diminish.”

Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, spoke with Scudamore on Wednesday but had no idea of his intention to walk away from the job. It is understood only the board and the head of the League’s audit and remuneration committee, Bruce Buck, were aware of his plan to resign and that he waited until the any other business part of the meeting to announce it.

Taylor compared Scudamore’s departure to that of other towering figures in the Premier League. “To some extent it’s like a football club,” he said. “Wenger leaving Arsenal and Sir Alex leaving Man United left big shoes to fill and so does Richard Scudamore. It’s certainly a big challenge.”

Buck, also the Chelsea chairman, said work had begun on replacing Scudamore. “We expect to make an appropriate appointment in good time so there can be a seamless transition,” he said. “I speak for all the clubs when I say we are very sorry that Richard will be leaving, but we could not have asked for anything more from him. For 20 years he has led the Premier League with distinction.”

Scudamore’s period in office was not without controversy. He was lucky to keep his job when damning emails emerged between himself and a lawyer. A tribunal was told that the pair used “sexually explicit” and “sexist” terms in 14 that were sent over 18 months. But many within the game stuck by him.

Martin Glenn discounted himself from the list of replacements, insisting he would not be interested. The FA chief executive said: “From a personal point of view, it’s a shame. He’s tough guy to deal with, but he really has the interests of English football in his heart. He has been a consistent supporter of the Football Foundation from the word go, at a time when the FA has blown hot and cold about it. He has been there, every year, pushing the need for the foundation and the need for community football facilities.”

[Adam]

Can you all just hurry up and make your big European Super League, piss off from the domestic game and leave us to it? Put the so-called "big 6" in some league with Real, Barca, Juve, Bayern and PSG and be done with it.

[Lineker]

Quote

The Labour party has decided to give its official backing to the introduction of safe standing at Premier League and Championship stadiums.

The party believes decisions around safe standing should be devolved to clubs, supporters and safety authorities, a stance that the shadow sports minister, Rosena Allin-Khan, will announce officially on Friday and which will act as a further boost to campaigners and backers of safe standing. They received an initial boost this week when it was revealed that the government is to commission a review of the policy that demands all-seat stadiums in England’s top two divisions.

The sports minister, Tracey Crouch, had previously been unmoved by calls to overturn the ban on standing, which was introduced following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster and has been in place for more than 20 years. But following a swell of support for a change, alongside improvements in stadium design, it is understood Crouch has had a change of heart and will address a Westminster debate on the issue this month.

“We want to give the power to fans, clubs and local safety authorities, to allow for a small area inside a stadium to be designated for safe standing,” Allin-Khan will say at the official announcement, which is to take place at Loftus Road, the home of Queens Park Rangers. “Clubs, fans and local authorities know their stadium far better than anybody in Whitehall – the decision should rest with them.”

A survey conducted by the Football League last month indicated 94% of fans want safe standing to be introduced, and that followed a petition, signed by more than 100,000 people, calling for the Premier League and Championship clubs to allow safe standing, which means the issue will be discussed by Parliament.

The issue remains a sensitive one given many families of those who died at Hillsborough remain opposed to stadiums being anything but all-seat. Campaigners for safe standing point out that standing itself was not a cause of the 1989 disaster as well as referring to the success of “rail seating” across Germany and at Celtic Park, by which rows of rails with flip-down seats are closely spaced to guard against overcrowding and crushing.

[Nerf]

40 minutes ago, Lineker said:

Quote

The Labour party has decided to give its official backing to the introduction of safe standing at Premier League and Championship stadiums.

The party believes decisions around safe standing should be devolved to clubs, supporters and safety authorities, a stance that the shadow sports minister, Rosena Allin-Khan, will announce officially on Friday and which will act as a further boost to campaigners and backers of safe standing. They received an initial boost this week when it was revealed that the government is to commission a review of the policy that demands all-seat stadiums in England’s top two divisions.

The sports minister, Tracey Crouch, had previously been unmoved by calls to overturn the ban on standing, which was introduced following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster and has been in place for more than 20 years. But following a swell of support for a change, alongside improvements in stadium design, it is understood Crouch has had a change of heart and will address a Westminster debate on the issue this month.

“We want to give the power to fans, clubs and local safety authorities, to allow for a small area inside a stadium to be designated for safe standing,” Allin-Khan will say at the official announcement, which is to take place at Loftus Road, the home of Queens Park Rangers. “Clubs, fans and local authorities know their stadium far better than anybody in Whitehall – the decision should rest with them.”

A survey conducted by the Football League last month indicated 94% of fans want safe standing to be introduced, and that followed a petition, signed by more than 100,000 people, calling for the Premier League and Championship clubs to allow safe standing, which means the issue will be discussed by Parliament.

The issue remains a sensitive one given many families of those who died at Hillsborough remain opposed to stadiums being anything but all-seat. Campaigners for safe standing point out that standing itself was not a cause of the 1989 disaster as well as referring to the success of “rail seating” across Germany and at Celtic Park, by which rows of rails with flip-down seats are closely spaced to guard against overcrowding and crushing.

I really fucking wish the opportunistic Tory press would stop using Hillsborough families to try and counter the safe standing debate. This is an outright fabrication. In actuality, many of the Hillsborough families attended Celtic Park with Spirit of Shankly and the vast majority have since given their support for rail seating after experiencing it.

[Lineker]

Kenny Dalglish is to receive a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours.