Quote Originally Posted by Loony BoB View Post
Personally, I wouldn't care if they were all crooks. So long as the football was entertaining and there is no matchfixing etc, I'll be happy. The PL is where it all goes wrong, though. It should be run by the FA... although from what I've seen of them they aren't much better.
There's absolutely no transparency - like you say, we'll never know the details of the Tevez deal. I think that they broke PL rules, were slapped on the wrist with a 5m fine, and then continued to break PL rules by playing Tevez. And this was pretty much condoned by the PL. Back in 97 (I think), Boro broke PL rules and were docked three points. I don't see how the situations are different, except one team is a London club and gets preferential treatment. 5m vs. however much relegation was worth in those days and the loss of several key players (Ravanelli, Juninho, Emerson).

And I think there's a lot more to football than entertainment. Heart and passion. I don't think Shinawatra has too much of that. I wouldn't want a crook to own the team I support. "Oh, we won the league, and the money did come from a guy with alleged human rights crimes, but hey!"

Quote Originally Posted by Psychotic View Post
I thought the Tevez deal was like the Mascherano one. Pay a fee to have him on loan for a while, then an option to buy for £(whatever)m at the end of it. Allegedly the Tevez fee is £30m and the Mascherano fee is somewhere around £10m. If it's true, think I know who got the better deal~
So that money will all go to West Ham once the loan period is up?