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Articles and reports on financial issues within football – soccer – from The Political Economy of Football.
Expectation levels at Tottenham Hotspur may be out of kilter with the financial realties at the club. The fiscal firepower available at White Hart Lane does not match that of the four English clubs that have qualified for the Champions League knockout phase. Indeed, it is closer to clubs like Aston Villa, Everton, Fulham, Newcastle United and Sunderland.
Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay has Malyasian tanks on his lawn this morning after owner Vincent Tan was reported to be upset by a request for the squad to be strengthened by three players in the January transfer window.
Human behaviour is often imitative and across league football there appears to be a tendency for managerial dismissals to take place in clusters where clubs seem to gain the courage to wield the axe after seeing it happen elsewhere.
In the 23 days from October 28 until November 19 no league managers left their job, yet in the subsequent 27 days a total of ten managers have been removed (and two others have resigned).
Of course, it may be coincidental as much as cause and effect and a statistical analysis could not, of itself, resolve that issue.
With the departure of Andre Villas-Boas at Tottenham Hotspur, more Premiership managers have left their posts before Christmas than any time since 2007 when five managers were also able to spend more times with their families at the festivities.
The 2007-8 season ended with eight dismissals in the Premier League. The last four seasons have produced six in total.
Shareholders will vote at an annual general meeting on Thursday to choose between Rangers’ current board and a requisition group led by Paul Murray and Malcolm Murray.
The current board are thought to be safe. Sandy Easdale, who holds 26.62 per cent of the shares, Laxey Partners (an Isle of Man hedge fund with 11.64 per cent of the shares), Artemis, Mike Ashley and Richard Hughes of Zeus Partners will back the current leadership. Their votes would produce a total of 54.67 per cent.
Chinese football has been beset by match fixing scandals and poor infrastructure for the development of home grown players. However, in November Guagzhou Evengrade became the first Chinese team to win the Asian Champions League by beating FC Seoul.
Previously known as Guangzhou Pharmaceutical, the team was acquired in 2010 by the Evergrande Real Estate Group. Since then it has won the Chinese Super League three times.
Newcastle United FC has told national newspapers that they must pay to interview players or receive official co-operation from the club. The club, which has already banned the local Evening Chronicle and Journal titles from its media facilities, is looking for extra cash from the national press.
The Chronicle said the club has offered three levels of access labelled gold, silver and bronze to the national press. This will allow journalists access to the club’s players between games.
Hedge funds are betting on the possibility that Manchester United’s poor start to the season on the pitch will be replicated by the performance of the club’s shares.
Odey Asset Management, one of the UK’s most prominent funds, has revealed a short position worth about $5m in the Red Devils. The hedge fund has about 310,000 shares, which represents under 1 per cent of the club’s class A shares, out on loan. New York hedge fund Tremblant Capital also has a 0.81 per cent short position in the club.
Financial fair play rules are becoming an increasing challenge and constraint for Derby County – and their experience is not untypical of Championship clubs that are promotion contenders and need to spend on players to stay in the race.
Allowable losses decline from £8m this season to £6m next season and £5m the season after that. The Rams have made losses of just under £8m in the last two years.
American billionaire and sports entrepreneur Josh Harris has withdrawn a takeover bid for Charlton Athletic despite completing due diligence. There appears to have been a disagreement about the overall asking price, although the figure quoted is much lower than in relation to earlier reported bids.