Things are looking up

The Commission goes for star power.

José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, has often spoken of the need for Europe to launch initiatives to boost innovation. 

Generally, this is taken to mean that Europe should invest in things like ‘green’ technologies and ICT for the elderly. It appears, however, that the EU has been entertaining more far-sighted notions – including building a ‘European Extremely Large Telescope’ (E ELT).

The Commission and member state governments hope that the size of the E ELT will leave the US et al green with envy. Its primary mirror will indeed be extremely large – 42 metres in diameter, making it the largest optical telescope in the world.

Preparations for its construction have been under way in the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), an intergovernmental body made up of 14 member states and Switzerland, since 2005. The project was endorsed by the Commission in 2006 and receives funding from the EU’s framework research programme.

Recently, the telescope has loomed into view because a European argument has erupted over where to locate it.

Chile, where ESO usually bases its telescopes, risks fading into the background as MEPs are zooming in on basing the facility in European territory. The Parliament’s industry committee has called for the telescope to be based in La Palma, one of the Canary Islands. “La Palma perfectly fulfils the conditions as regards clear astral nights, location, time zone, seismic activity, facilities for researchers and reconciliation of work and family life,” a draft of a letter from MEPs to the ESO says.

Homing in on La Palma was the brainchild of Gabriel Moto Adrover, a Spanish centre-right MEP representing (yes, you guessed it) the Canary Islands.

Click Here: pinko shop cheap

Barroso stands by Jeleva

Commission president accepts financial statements of Bulgaria’s would-be commissioner, defends her competence.

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso today defended the nomination of Rumiana Jeleva as Bulgaria’s European commissioner, in the face of criticism of her from the European Parliament.

In response to a letter sent earlier in the day by European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, Barroso stood by Jeleva’s declaration of financial interests and he asserted her competence for the post to which she has been assigned – commissioner for international co-operation, humanitarian aid and crisis response.

Jeleva, who belongs to the centre-right European People’s Party group, has come under fire from centre-left, Liberal and Green MEPs following an unconvincing performance in a hearing in front of the development committee on 12 January.
MEPs accused her of failing to make a clear declaration about her financial affairs and failing to display sufficient grasp of her portfolio. Four political groups, including the centre-left Socialists and Democrats, the Liberals, the Greens and the European Conservatives and Reformists, are refusing to recommend her for the post of commissioner.

In his letter to Buzek, published this evening, Barroso said that “upon my specific request” Jeleva had confirmed that her declaration of financial interests was “fully accurate and complete”. She had also produced documents showing that when she made her declaration of interest as commissioner-designate she no longer held any shares in a company that used to belong to her, the letter says.

Pointing out that Jeleva had twice been elected to the European Parliament and that she is currently Bulgaria’s foreign minister, Barroso said that in terms of her ability to act as commissioner for international co-operation, humanitarian aid and crisis response Jeleva “has the necessary general competence, international experience and shows the necessary levels of European commitment” for the post.

Today, the Bulgarian justice ministry issued a statement that Jeleva was not in breach of any law by owning the company Global Consult while she was an MEP. The ministry refers to the fact that there is no provision “laid down by a law” in Bulgarian legislation that prevents members of parliament running businesses.

The development committee, which carried out Jeleva’s hearing on 12 January, will meet again in Strasbourg on 18 January to discuss its view of Jeleva.

If the committee refuses to recommend her for the post, Barroso may be forced to drop her or ask her to change portfolio. Otherwise he risks a repeat of events in October 2004 when he was forced to drop the Italian and Latvian nominees – Rocco Buttiglione and Ingrida Udre, respectively– and to change the portfolio of Hungary’s László Kovács.

Click Here: kanken kids cheap

ECB keeps rates on hold

ECB urges eurozone countries to be bold in order to reduce deficits, as Greece unveils debt-reduction plan.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to keep interest rates on hold, the eighth month that it has opted to keep its monetary policy unchanges.

Announcing the rate decision, Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB’s president, stressed the need for Greece and other countries in the eurozone to take “bold” and “courageous” measures to cut their budget deficits.

The Greek government today unveiled a multi-annual plan to bring its deficit down to 2.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2012 compared to an estimated 12.7% in 2009. Greece’s economy was plunged into crisis in December because of investor concerns about the country’s ability to pay its debts. The country’s problems have prompted fears about the stability of the eurozone. The Greek plan foresees that the deficit will be slashed through an overhaul of the tax system, spending cuts, a civil service hiring freeze and salary caps for highly paid civil servants.

Trichet said that Greece, and any other eurozone country, should not expect “special treatment” from the ECB. He said that eurozone countries benefited from being part of a “credible” currency.

Trichet quashed speculation that the ECB might delay reintroducing pre-crisis collateral rules in order to ensure that it is able to keep accepting Greek bonds. The rules, which require government bonds to have a credit rating of A- or higher to be used as collateral with the central bank, are supposed to be reintroduced at the end of this year. The credit rating agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor’s both rate Greek bonds below this threshold.

“We will not change our collateral policy for the sake of any particular country,” Trichet said. He said that fiscal consolidation in the eurozone was “essential to improve confidence”.

He said the idea that Greece’s difficulties might force it to leave the eurozone was an “absurd hypothesis”.

Trichet also warned eurozone countries against prioritising tax cuts over budget consolidation. “Tax cuts should only be considered over the medium term, when countries have gained sufficient room for budgetary manoeuvre,” he said.

The German government is trying to resolve internal splits over €24 billion of tax cuts that are supposed to be introduced by the end of 2011. The tax cuts were demanded by the Free Democrats, the junior partner in Germany’s ruling coalition. Leading members of the government, including Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, have raised concerns that the cuts are fiscally irresponsible.

• The Greek debt-reduction plan will be sent to the European Commission tomorrow, before being discussed by finance ministers at a meeting on 18-19 February.

Ministers will next month set a deadline for Greece to bring its deficit to within 3% of GDP, the limit allowed under the EU’s stability and growth pact.

 

Chelsea have blown Barcelona out of the water with their bid for Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez, according to reports in Spain.

Martinez has scored 16 goals in 28 appearances for the Serie A side in all competitions, leading to interest from around Europe.

The Argentine is Barcelona’s top summer target, but recent reports suggest that they face competition from Premier League sides Chelsea and Manchester City.

FEATURE: F365’s Premier League club-by-club season review: Chelsea

Manchester United have also consistently been linked with a move for the San Siro striker, but could be put off by the transfer fee.

And now Spanish publication Sport (via Sport Witness) seem to think that Chelsea are winning the battle for Martinez.

The report claims that Chelsea ‘have presented an offer’ to Inter with Sport suggesting that the Blues were willing to pay his €111m (£97.5m) release clause to secure the deal.

Chelsea’s proposal is ‘much better’ than the package Barcelona were willing to put together with the London club ready to give Martinez wages of €10m (£8.8m) net a year.

Despite the Blues offer apparently trumping that of Barca’s, the report adds: ‘everything is in the hands of the player and the final decision will not take long to arrive.’

 

The F365 Show is on hiatus until the football returns. Subscribe now ready for its glorious comeback. In the meantime, listen to the latest episode of Planet Football’s 2000s podcast, The Broken Metatarsal.

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Keep your mails coming to [email protected]…

 

Henderson’s growth
Not sure I strictly agree with your article on Henderson. It seems to willingly ignore that under Kenny Dalglish he was consistently played out of position on the right for an entire season when he joined. If you actually want to see what Henderson could’ve been from the outset then rewatch Liverpool Vs Chelsea at the end of that season in the league. It was his first game played through the middle and he was pretty glorious actually. We had just lost the FA Cup final to the same team and I think we were all left wondering what could’ve been.

Under Brendan was when he first properly flourished. Brendan Rogers was quoted saying that he knew we couldn’t win the league the moment Henderson got sent off against Man City. That was a game we had just been totally inspired to make a comeback and the manager left it feeling that despite having Suarez, Sturridge, Sterling and Gerrard he needed Henderson to make it all work.

I’d argue that Henderson is the classic +1 player. Every time we have signed a midfield who I imagined replacing him, he finds the room to grow and improve to be just that bit better and ensure he remains. I think if we signed Roy Keane in his prime tomorrow it would be a platform for Henderson to improve even further.

But finally, Henderson is hard as nails. Do you remember Diego Costa trying to agitate him? Henderson is stood there looking genuinely dangerous and Costa backs away realising he’s not the scariest or biggest boy on the pitch.

Finally (really this time) – this season Henderson missed one game before his injury – a win over Newcastle. Then is the three games we just beat West Ham and Bournemouth and got humbled by Watford. Klopp, I think it’s fair to say, knows a great deal more about football than all of us combined and has seen fit to substitute Henderson 9 times in 25 games. In a worse team that would be a criticism; the guy you remove to try and impact the game. In this team, which was unbeaten before his injury, that’s a compliment; he was the midfielder that Klopp was seeking to protect, despite all the adulation for Fabinho/Gini it was Henderson who Klopp must’ve seen as irreplaceable. Obviously you can spin that in different ways but it’s how I am seeing it given that Fabinho has missed more games through injury than Henderson.

Basically, I love Henderson.
Minty, LFC

 

Spurs’ greed
Daniel Levy is a greedy little goblin. There is no excuse for Spurs to be using tax payer funds to be paying their non-playing staff.

Leeds United’s players have deferred their wages to ensure the club staff get paid. These players will be in a fraction of what the Spurs players are.

If I was a player at that club and my family worked there I’d question this decision. It doesnt sit right.

Anyone who agrees with it needs to re-evaluate their moral compass.
Dale (Leeds)

 

…In the UK, the minimum wage for someone over 25 – as of April 2020 – is £8.72. Assuming a worker who earns that much works a 40 hour week, 52 weeks of the year, they will earn £18,137.60 per year, before tax. The national living wage in the UK is £9.30, or £10.75 if living in London, which work out as £19,344 and £22,360 per year (before tax) respectively, using the same assumption math.

Spurs are not one of the four (FOUR!) Premier League clubs that are accredited with paying the living wage to all of their staff. So while I doubt Spurs pay all of their non playing staff – matchday and non-matchday – minimum wage, we know they don’t pay at least the living wage to all, so we have to assume there are some staff who are paid minimum wage. With that in mind, let us look at a few figures;

– Harry Kane (highest paid player) is paid £200,000 per week. That would pay the yearly salary of 11 minimum wage workers, 10 of the national living wage, and about 8.5 of the London living wage.
– If the 800 staff that were cut were all payed the minimum wage, that amounts to £14,510,080 a year. Harry Kane makes £10,400,000 a year.
– The wage bill for the squad, based from the start of the season, was £81,978,000. If you took the £14,510,080 from that, you would be left with £67,467,920.
-If you took 20% off all the total wage bill – thus putting them all on 80% time off, you would be left with £65,582,400.
– Daniel Levy makes £7,000,000 a year, which comes to £5,600,000 after removing 20%. The difference could pay the yearly salary of 77 minimum wage workers.
– 80% of a yearly minimum wage salary for 800 workers is £11,608,064.

While all of the above may look arbitray, the aim is to highlight that a Premier League club should not be availing of a government scheme to use taxpayer money to pay their employees, when they are a multimillion pound company that literally pay tens of millions to some employees. They can afford to pay their low earning staff their full wage, while still handsomely paying their extremely high earning staff with a few cuts. The money that is being paid by the government can and should used better, for companies and causes that really need it.

I must add, that while I do not agree with the amount of money that many footballers make as a whole, I have always agreed with the percentage they make of a multibillion dollar industry. Without them, there is no business, so they should earn their fair share of the pie. However, given the privelaged position that they find themselves in, they should be doing more to help the people who carry so much in order for them to play and earn as much as they do. They should be offering to cover the differences, or taking cuts in order to help finance the wages.

But this goes beyond footballers, and while they can and should help, they alone should not be scapegoated for not putting their hand in their pocket. They are part of a corrupt, money grabbing, souless industry that cares little for the backs of the workers that they need in order to put themselves in their position. It should not come to a situation where footballers have to decide if and how much of their wage to give up. The people in charge should be doing more. The PFA, the FA and the Premier League. The chairmen and billionaire owners. They all should be doing all they can to help those struggling financially within their industry, and not trying to take a handout to save themselves a few sheckles. Sure, they are hurting financially too, but they will survive, and then thrive again. But the clubs further down, the players and staff further down, they won’t and they’re the most vulnurable. If every Premier League player got a 20% wage cut which went into a fund for staff, and every Premier League club paid 5% or 10% of their profit margin – while not insignificant, it’s not enough to damage their long term future or lively hood, but would be much need to those further down the pecking order. They would be helping to keep the smaller parts of their industry alive, while allowing the government to use the money better, to help more people outside of the football bubble, which can afford to take some of the burden for the forseeable future.

This came out longer than I thought, and branches into further arguments that don’t really pertain to football – or more aptly, they do, but I don’t have the time or energy to delve down that particular rabbit hole now. The bottomline is, the Premier League, their memeber clubs and their players can do more financially to help the very structure that helps them to thrive, and they should be doing so. The bill should not fall at the feet of the fans, who already pay so much to be taken for granted, to bail out those too greedy to do it themselves.
Néill, Ireland*

 

…I have visited this site for many years now and since moving halfwau across the world enables me to keep up with more than just the games.

I have not sent in to the Mailbox for years now and so far have never been published however recent topics have got me to a point where I feel I need to add my voice to the conversations.

This letter will address two points so please bear with me.

Full disclosure, I am a Tottenham supporter and have been since 1974 when I was taken to my first ever game of football.

My first point regards the whole to void or not to void question. My take on this is that the Premier League will do what works best for them Financially. Fans, Supporter groups etc will not even enter their thinking it will purely be a monetary decision as they know that to many people their weekly dose of Football is almost like a drink to an alcoholic so we will always come back and spend our cash whatever happens.

Is it easier to void this season and pay back TV revenue for 9 games to the likes of SKY, BT and overseas companies or possibly continue this season and have to not play next which would mean lost revenue for 38 games, I know which choice I could see them making.

Anyway we will all have to wait and see when exactly this pandemic clears to a point that we can actually have a number of people congregate in the same space, and I am only thinking of the teams let alone the fans on matchday.

My second point in this longer than expected mail relates to Mike LFC (London), Andrew (Woodford Green) and others who are showing their shock and Ire at Tottenham and Daniel Levy.

Firstly Newcastle are doing the same thing that has been reported as Tottenham furloughing backroom staff and claiming the government scheme.

Now I am not employed by the Spurs, nor know their inner workings so do not know if the players have been asked to take a pay cut, or even if they have already done so as good news storys very rarely sell papers! Also there is the matter of the PFA and I am sure that should players be made to forfeit anywhere from 20% to 75% of their wages I am sure will make some very loud noises.

Now Mike LFC should be more aware than others of a unions power within its membership and I am sure that Levy and possibly the players have factored in the damage that the PFA could cause when and if we return to normal.

I also know that my club, whilst far from being completely benevolent, have done a lot of work in the community and also at this time turning part of the stadium over to food charity’s and other services. From a player perspective Toby Alderweireld has donated, at his own expense, a large amount of iPads so that people in quarantine in hospital can keep in contact with their loved ones. I am sure there are many other initiatives from all clubs and players that we do not hear about but I would ask one thing. Check the full facts before you decry any club of being the most vile in the world, I would have thought that as a Liverpool supporter being on the end of a number of false stories in the press you would at least do that before throwing stones.

Anyway I have bored you all enough now, and this ended up being much longer than I intended.
David Clarke (Day 12 of self isolation), Sydney

 

Black Cats on the box
So who else is watching the second season of Sunderland Till I Die on Netflix?

I’ve personally just finished episode two and my quick takeaways are director Charlie Methven I do not like him, his personality seems like one of those who could get under the skin of just about anyone, even Mr Nice Guy Juan Mata, second takeaway is Josh Maja was playing in a league he was far to good for, the opportunity of Bordeaux came along, huge opportunity, better contract and a chance to develop into an even better player (which hindsight suggests has happened).

You can’t fault a young guy for taking the risk, opportunity can come and pass us bye, you have to take them when you get the chance.
Mikey, CFC (I do love a good football documentary, any other suggestions?)

 

When football will get back to normal
It will be 2024. Maybe 2025.

This season is already screwed up. Almost certainly so is next season, so season 2021-22 has at best about half a chance of being unaffected by the coronavirus knock-on effects. Then season 2022-23 has a November-December-world-cup-shaped elephant in the middle of the room so it’s either going to have to start early or finish late, or both. It doesn’t look very likely from here to be starting early so the best we can hope for is season 2023-24 starting on time with a truncated pre-season, so by May 2024 the players will be too knackered to know what day it is. And then there’s a European Championships that summer…
Richard (isolated but not isolating) Pike

 

…All the mails trying to figure out how to end the season and even have the time to worry about next season during a global pandemic have a really rosy view of the future.

We might just be in this for the long haul. Normal life may resume soon but the days of packed stadiums and contact support may take a little while longer to come back.

If vaccines are likely to take almost a year, there is a possibility football wont even return till then so just resume it all next season in March from where we left off.

End the 2020 season. 2020/2021 season never happens. We get the Euros and the regular football calendar starts from August.

Neat and clean.
Shehzad Ghias, mufc, karachi (Don’t kill the messenger)

 

…So, amidst all the permutations and combinations being worked out by people on how to finish the season, here is my rather silly take :

Why not play the remaining games behind closed doors?

Now, I know this has been covered before including in the earlier mailbox, but surely the risk of players and a small set of support staff contracting the virus is much, much lesser than the risk of 40,000 fans queuing up inside a stadium.

I mean, any other league would do the sensible thing and play the remaining games behind closed doors even though it’s not the ideal situation to be in since football is supposed to be ‘all about the fans’ and ‘the matchgoing experience’.

Imagine this (admittedly unlikely scenario) :

August/September 2020
Players and staff are quarantined and show no signs of the virus, are fit as a fiddle and are raring to go – This would be the perfect time to just get this season over with and play the remaining matches behind closed doors.
Once done, they can consider starting the new season in the near future.

Now trying doing the same thing WITH fans inside the stadium – It would be an absolute nightmare. The statistics are just too crazy to take the risk of even letting 100 fans inside a stadium for a match.

Regards,
Sridhar (Bangalore, my humble two penneth)

 

No solution in sight
Void the season:

Every team in with a shot to achieve their objectives would be hard done by which would be unfair.

Let the season begin with the fixtures left for this season which will count towards both seasons:

How does relegation work here? If the previous season standings is undecided at the start of the season, how do we *fairly* decide relegation/promotion? How do we generate a fixture list when 3 of them would’ve been relegated? Wouldn’t it be unfair to just tinker with the relegation so that big boys stay happy?
Problems other than at the Big 6 are also valid problems.

Let’s wait it to end and finish the season and let’s start the new one a bit (inevitably) late.

COVID-19 and the aftereffects ain’t going anywhere soon. That would mean a shortage of time in comparison to the fixtures resulting i modified formats, lesser games maybe or whatever they work out. However, wouldn’t it be unfair to newly promoted teams that when they finally got their shot at EPL, the rules were changed? And not just them but others too. There will be similar complaints come at the end of the season about the changed format.

To sum up, there is no solution, let alone a perfect solution to this.

Why not let those in power decide who don’t care about our opinions anyway?

I’m all for hearing opinions and that’s what mailbox is for but some are so vehemently deriding others’ opinions and championing theirs like there is one true solution. There ain’t one.

Have fun writing in different ways to end the season. Just don’t be a dick.

Also, probably write in detailed season reviews or how narratives changed around your team and players across the season so far and what were the key turning points. Now that would be something to read and enjoy. I would do it mysely but mine is so depressing, I’d rather not during these times.
Another Bored Fan

 

This means more
I don’t have a problem with Liverpool being awarded the EPL title. In fact, it makes a lot of sense and anything else would leave me feeling a sense of injustice.
However, all season long, I read Liverpool fans’ mails signing off with not believe till it’s mathematically secure. Guess what, it still isn’t.
Why the tune has been changed to they deserve it now?
Guess my problem isn’t with title to Liverpool, it’s with the pretentious bunch among their fans who irritatingly kept repeating “not believing till it’s in the bag” when no one was really asking.
Another Bored Fan (Not Utd or City or ABL of any form)

 

Economics365
I do appreciate the economics lesson from Kellen as to where and how sovereign governments get their money, it doesn’t really alter the fact that if a government wants to pour bucketloads of money down the gaping maw of sports franchises who are paying – let’s take a random example – Alexis Sanchez 300,000 sovs a week to not play for the club, then someone eventually has to pay for that.

And that someone is – yep, me. And you.

Sure, the UK government can crank up the Royal Mint and print off a tidy stack of billion pound notes, but unless you balance that with clawbacks (read taxes) then you’re asking for rampant inflation and wheeling home your paycheck in a barrow which is worthless by the time you get it to Lidl.

So let’s not confuse tangible wealth with zeroes on a spreadsheet, otherwise every government would award everyone a 100% pay raise, slash taxes to zero, bask in the adulation of public applause and then go all Great Depression on us.

Just a little common sense would be nice. If Spurs (or any club) want to pay a player more in a week than a nurse could earn in 10 years, that’s their prerogative, but don’t come wailing for government bailouts just because their unsustainable business model has just taken a beating.
Steve, Los Angeles

 

Game for a laugh
In response to Mikey CFC, one of the funniest moments in the Premier League has to be the epic slip by Stevie G, giving Demba Ba a clear run at goal and ruining Liverpool’s title hopes. What made it even funnier was hearing Gerrard speaking to his teammates in a group huddle telling them, “..we do not let this slip”. Mega Lolz!!!
Ded Revil

 

…The final two emails in the mailbox yesterday (Alex, London and Mikey, CFC) brought a smile to my face and got me thinking about football moments that have not only tickled me but stuck with me.

For jokers, few can rival Gazza. I’ll never forget him after that FA Cup semi in 1991, interviewing like a four year old on Sunny D and amphetamine cocktails, pulling a face and shouting “EEEHH” into the camera after shouting about getting his suit measured. Or with England, the interviewer asking if he has anything to say to rivals Norway – “Aye, fuck off”. Definitely funnier than his mince pies filled with cat shit. Or his personalised comedy breasts-and-beer-belly combo (or are they so unfunny that they’re funny?)

For pure funny football moments there’s the classic of Micky Phelan, sat next to Fergie, bursting a balloon, Fergie shitting himself and turning around with a point-blank F-bomb before Phelan pisses himself laughing. If you haven’t seen it, check it out here it’s worth 17 seconds of your life.

Difficult of course to beat the legend Kammy commentating for Sky on Portsmouth v Blackburn and not noticing Vanden Borre get sent off. When Stelling asks for an update on the sending off and Kammy just comes out with a high-pitched “Has he? before explaining through collective laughter that he “saw him walk off but thought he was being subbed” – it still creases me every time.

You’ve got to love a good comedy word mangle too and Alan Shearer has always been good for the occasional beauty. My fave was on MotD when Andy Carroll was first playing for West Ham and Shearer was asked “How do you think the defence handled Andy Carroll?” Shearer’s response: “I thought they handled Andle, er, handled Andy Carry, er, handled him well…”. Punditry gold.

After a Charlton game when Alan Curbishley was at the helm there, Big Al finished up with an assertive closing gambit of: “We’ll see what Mr. Curbleshey thinks about that.” Vintage. I’d love to hear more from other mailboxers.

I’ll finish with a reminder of the actual funniest football moment of all time, way back in October 1974 – Jimmy Hill’s timeless MotD closing words and reminder about the switch to GMT later that night:

“Goodnight – and don’t forget to put your cocks back”. Yes, that really happened.
Bennett (tell Matrix I’ll be ready), Val Verde

 

Mistaken identity
Here’s a story with no point other than it’s related to football. My twin brother and I (non identical) played for the same local club from aged 10. He was much, much better than me and I started very few games.

One morning when we were about 17 I did get to start and was actually doing pretty well until I twisted my knee and hobbled off. As the pitch was about 50 yards from my house, I went home and got cleaned up and limped back over to watch the second half.

When I got there, I was walking down the touchline where the opposition subs and a few of their supporters had gathered when a chap who I could kindly describe as rougher than a badger’s arse stopped me and asked me why I wasn’t playing. Surprised that he even knew I had been playing, I told him about my knee and his exact words in reply were “it’s a shame when the game is deprived of a talent such yourself.”

What a compliment, I thought beaming inwardly and out. I thanked him for his kind words and told him to enjoy the game and he said “you too, hope the injury heals up quick, Conor.” My name isn’t Conor. You can guess whose is.
Alan, Córdoba.

 

Brook v Lusardi
Yesterday, I referred to Kelly Brook and Linda Lusardi. Firstly, a shout out to those in the comments section who discussed it. You made me both laugh out loud and a little sheepish over how grim the main body of my mail was! (Still think it’s true though).

What I failed to do was clarify that I meant Miss Lusardi in her prime (although I’m sure she’s still lovely!). If, like me, you were a schoolboy (or maybe girl) in the ‘70s, then the woman repeatedly voted the best page 3 girl of all time will almost certainly have a warm place in your heart.

If not, but your Dad or (gulp) Grandad was, and you’d like to see them squirm, ask them why they would REALLY look forward to their Mam’s new edition of either the Littlewood’s or Freeman’s catalogues landing on the doorstep!

Stay home and stay safe folks. May your God bless you.
Mark (Realised just in time that suggesting a Page 3 XI would be a sexist pig step too far) MCFC.

 

Thin up top
You suggested it, yes I am that bored, and I suspect I won’t be the only one. Here’s my Bald Premier League XI. I’ve tried to go for slapheads as much as possible. It’s four-four-f**king-two of course.

GK: Brad Friedel

LB: Stephen Carr
CB: Jaap Stam
CB: Vincent Kompany
RB: Paulo Zabaleta

RW: Arjen Robben
CM: Gary McAllister
CM: Lee Carsley
LW: Freddie Lunjberg

ST: Ian Wright
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ST: Wayne Rooney

Subs:

Tim Howard
Frank Leboeuf
Temur Ketsbaia
Thomas Gravesen
Dion Dublin
Andros Townsend
Gianluca Vialli

I know Arjen Robben is a bit of a cheat since he still had hair at Chelsea, but can you really picture him any other way? As for Rooney, well he’s the one who cheated baldness.

And although Thomas Gravesen inspired this XI, I’ve benched him for his Everton teammate Lee Carsley, since he was the man Real Madrid reportedly wanted to sign, only their scouts couldn’t tell the difference between the two.
James, Donegal

Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne has hailed Jadon Sancho’s talent amid interest from Manchester United.

The Borussia Dortmund winger came through the academy at City after moving there from Watford when he was just 15.

A CIES study recently rated the England international as the most valuable youngster in world football, calculating his worth to be £184million.

FEATURE: A guide to essential listening in these football-less times…

Sancho has 27 goals and 37 assists in 69 Bundesliga appearances for Borussia Dortmund, including 14 and 16 respectively this season.

He has consistently been linked with a return to the Premier League with Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd all interested.

“He is crazy,” De Bruyne said on a live Q&A on Instagram with international team-mates Axel Witsel and Romelu Lukaku.

“It’s weird, I trained a few times with him and he was gone. Unbelievable. Sometimes it goes like this but it is good for him.

“Now if you want him you have to pay… I don’t want to know!”

 

The F365 Show is on hiatus until the football returns. Subscribe now ready for its glorious comeback. In the meantime, listen to the latest episode of Planet Football’s 2000s podcast, The Broken Metatarsal.

BARCA PROPOSE SWAP PART-EX FOR NEYMAR
With clubs across Europe seeing their transfer kitties gobbled up by the coronavirus, swap deals could be all the rage this summer. Barcelona have had to take extraordinary measures to keep paying their current staff, yet they also want to make some sizeable investments in the transfer market.

The Catalans want to revamp their forward line by signing Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan and bringing back Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain. Inter have have already warned Barca that they want cold, hard cash if they are to let Martinez leave, but PSG could be willing to take a player in exchange for Neymar.

Sky Sports reckons Barca are trying to swap Antoine Griezmann for the Brazilian. Griezmann hasn’t set the Nou Camp on fire after burning his bridges at Atletico Madrid last summer but Barca apparently still value the France star at £88million.

That still leaves Barca around £50million short since PSG apparently want £135million to let Neymar go this summer.

FEATURE: Ranking the 12 £50m+ signings available this summer
RAKITIC UP FOR GRABS
Ivan Rakitic could help to fill some of that hole in Barca’s budget. The midfielder is a year from free agency and the club will drag him to market this summer to avoid him leaving for free next summer.

Marca says Barca will take £19million for the 32-year-old, which is roughly what they paid Sevilla for the 106-cap Croatia star back in 2014.

Indeed, reports have claimed that Sevilla would be willing to give Barca their money back, while other whispers suggest that Juventus are open to a swap deal involving Douglas Costa.

 

WEST HAM EYE BARCA STRIKER
Griezmann may be looking at a potentially-bleak future at the Nou Camp but the outlook still looks brighter for him than it does for Martin Braithwaite.

Barca signed Braithwaite from Leganes for £15million in an emergency deal in February, when for some reason he was given a contract until 2024 which set his buy-out clause at £266million. But now the former Middlesbrough attacker has served his purpose after three appearances, Barca just want their money back.

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The Daily Mail says West Ham are one of the clubs willing to offer that to bring the 29-year-old Denmark striker back to England.

 

MAN UTD BACK FOR MEUNIER
Away from Barcelona and back to PSG. Thomas Meunier will be away from the Parc des Princes this summer as a free agent and clubs are queueing up for the Belgium right-back.

Borussia Dortmund are keen on Meunier and AC Milan have been linked too. But a report in France from Le Quotidied Du Foot (us neither) claims Manchester United are sniffing once again.

United were said to be interested in Meunier last summer when they looked at 804 right-backs. But they opted for Aaron Wan-Bissaka and it turned out to be a smart move. With Diogo Dalot offering back up, we have no idea why United might want to give Meunier the big deal he would expect as a free agent, but it suits his agent to chuck their name around while he hawks his client around Europe.

 

AND THE REST
Everton are eyeing Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez… Paul Pogba’s priority remains to join Real Madrid this summer… Juventus are still being linked with Willian… Gareth Bale is still intent on fighting for his Real future… Bayern Munich are prioritising the signing of Timo Werner over Leroy Sane.

 

The F365 Show is on hiatus until the football returns. Subscribe now ready for its glorious comeback. In the meantime, listen to the latest episode of Planet Football’s 2000s podcast, The Broken Metatarsal.

Oubliés ses ennuis personnels, son rasage de crâne et ses courses-poursuites avec les paparazzi: Britney Spears, qui a surtout nourri les rubriques people ces dernières années, donne trois concerts à Paris-Bercy à partir d’aujourd’hui et jusqu’à à lundi dans le cadre de sa tournée mondiale intitulée The Circus Starring Britney Spears…

Britney Spears is back! La pop star démarre aujourd’hui une série de trois concerts au Palais Omnisport de Paris Bercy, dans le cadre de The Circus Starring Britney Spears, sa première tournée mondiale depuis 2004. Le volet européen de cette tournée, s’est ouvert par huit concerts à Londres début juin, après une série de 39 spectacles en Amérique du Nord. Inspirée, comme son nom l’indique, par l’univers du cirque, cette tournée ne lésine pas sur les moyens.

Selon Nous Productions, la société qui organise les concerts de l’Américaine en France, elle bénéficie d’un budget de plus de 50 millions de dollars (un peu plus de 35 millions d’euros) et nécessite une logistique lourde, avec une équipe technique de 200 personnes, plus de 60 tonnes d’équipement, trente-quatre camions,trois scènes centrales et un écran géant. Une cinquantaine d’artistes monteront sur scène, des danseurs, des magiciens, des clowns et des acrobates. Cette tournée fait suite à la sortie fin 2008 de l’album Circus

Initialement, Britney Spears, 27 ans, ne devait donner que deux concerts au Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, avant qu’un troisième ne soit ajouté à son programme. Brit-Brit fait partie des nombreux artistes dont la musique descend en droite ligne du style créé par Michael Jackson dans les années 80.

Mais sa filiation avec le défunt King Of Pop ne se limite pas au seul champ artistique et empiète également sur celui de la vie personnelle. Pour le troisième concert de Britney Spears à Bercy, lundi, la première partie sera assurée par le jeune Français Sliimy, révélé l’an dernier sur internet grâce à une reprise d’une de ses chansons, Womanizer.Une série de show (après In The Zone, qui avait été le support de sa dernière tournée mondiale, en 2004) qui s’annonce haute en couleurs…

Samedi 04 juillet 2009

Plus marquant qu’un signe de la main du Président sur les Champs, plus vibrant qu’un concert de Johnny Hallyday et Sylvie Vartan: une étoile à cinq rayons doubles émaillés de blanc! Certains ont appris le jour de la Fête Nationale qu’ils allaient recevoir une médaille. Voici les noms qui figurent dans la liste de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’Honneur publiée ce mardi au Journal Officiel.

Le chef de l’Etat n’apprécie pas qu’on plante des aiguilles dans sa poupée vaudoue. Mais en tant que Grand maître de la Légion d’honneur, il prend un plaisir certain à accrocher des insignes sur les boutonnières de ses amis et de ses adjuvants en politique.
Lors de la promotion du 14 juillet 2008, le Président avait décidé de gratifier les artisans de son bonheur conjugal: Jacques Séguéla, magnifique metteur en scène du coup de foudre présidentiel et Nicole Choubrac, magistrate aussi discrète qu’efficace de son divorce avec Cécilia. Pour la nouvelle année, Sarko avait distribué à tour de bras les plus hautes distinctions nationales à tous ses «potes». Pas que ceux du show-biz, non, mais aussi ceux des médias, du Droit, et même les PDG et les banquiers… A Pâques, il avait continué d’accrocher des insignes sur les boutonnières de ses amis et de ses adjuvants en politique.
Toujours aussi fier et amoureux de sa parfaite épouse, Carla Bruni, mais aussi peut-être plus épanoui et apaisé, Nicolas Sarkozy peut se targuer d’une promo juillet 2009, plus neutre que jamais. Enfin, presque…

Albin Chalandon, ministre de la Justice sous la première cohabitation (1986–1988), et considéré comme l’un des mentors de Rachida Dati, est élevé à la dignité de grand’croix, selon la liste publiée mardi au Journal Officiel.

L’actrice Michèle Morgan, l’héroïne de Quai Des Brumes à qui Jean Gabin disait «T’as d’beaux yeux, tu sais», est promue grand officier.

Antoine Rufenacht, ancien ministre et actuel maire UMP du Havre, est élevé au grade de commandeur, de même que le chef d’orchestre Georges Prêtre, premier chef français à diriger le Neujahrskonzer” viennois.

L’inventeur de la carte à puce, Roland Moreno, devient officier aux côtés d’Hélène Duc, devenue Juste parmi les nations pour avoir sauvé avec sa mère des dizaines de juifs.

Du côté des arts et des lettres, l’écrivain Jean-Marie Rouart, de l’Académie française, les metteurs en scène Jérôme Deschamps, directeur de l’Opéra-Comique, et Macha Makeieff, créateurs des Deschiens, sont faits chevaliers.

La pétulante Bernadette Lafont, l’une des stars de la Nouvelle Vague, devient officier. Dans le monde du spectacle, on retrouve également Patrick Chesnais, qui a reçu le Molière 2009 du meilleur comédien, la guadeloupéenne Firmine Richard(qu’on a pu voir dans Romuald et Juliette et Huit femmes), la chanteuse Fabienne Thibeaultet Véronique Kantor-Colucci, la veuve de Coluche qui est administratrice des Restos du Cœur.

Chez les politiques figurent l’ancien secrétaire d’État aux Affaires européennes Jean-Pierre Jouyet, actuel président de l’Autorité des marchés financiers, et Jacques Lafleur, ex-député UMP de Nouvelle-Calédonie, qui fut longtemps chef de file des anti-indépendantistes avant de signer les accords de Matignon.

Jean Puech, ancien ministre de l’Agriculture, est élevé au grade d’officier.

Vincent Lamanda, premier président de la Cour de Cassation, devient commandeur et l’ex-juge d’instruction Laurence Vichnievsky, est nommée chevalier.

Dans le secteur économique, sont promus commandeurs Jean-Louis Dumas, ancien gérant de Hermès, ainsi que Pierre Letzelter, président du conseil d’administration de Go Sport. Jacques Saadé, patron de la CMA-CGM (transport maritime) est élevé au rang d’officier. On trouve également le président du directoire d’Axa Henri de La Croix de Castries, et Olivier Giscard d’Estaing, le frère de l’ancien président de la République.

Deux syndicalistes sont chevaliers: Jaky Dintinger, ancien secrétaire général de la CFTC, et Michel Régereau (CFDT), président de l’Union nationale des caisses d’assurance-maladie.

Chez les sportifs, le cru du 14 juillet distingue Serge Blanco, ancien joueur de rugby international et ex-président de la Ligue nationale de rugby, ainsi que la championne de ski de vitesse 2009 Karine Dubouchet.

En gastronomie figurent les chefs Claude Darroze et Jean-François Girardin (Le Ritz).

Dans la presse, la Légion est décernée aux journalistes Charles Enderlin, correspondant de France Télévisions à Jérusalem, Philippe Tesson, chroniqueur littéraire et de théâtre, Antoine Sfeir, directeur des Cahiers de l’Orient, et Didier Pillet, PDG de La Provence.

L’historien Benjamin Stora, spécialiste de l’Algérie, est fait chevalier.

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Les personnalités nommées chevaliers de la Légion d’Honneur comprennent aussi le sculpteur italien Giuseppe Penone, la romancière Lydie Salvayre, l’architecte Jacques Rougerie, le violoniste de jazz Jean-Luc Ponty, la docteur en médecine Sarah de Babèche (qui a opéré bénévolement plus de 50 enfants victimes de Tchernobyl) et la soeur Agathe Laflèche, supérieure de la communauté religieuse Saint-François-Xavier.

Mercredi 15 juillet 2009

“On était riches mais on ne le savait pas, parce que tout cet argent a été dévalué”, explique YoMaria, devant d’énormes liasses de bolivars. Selon le Fonds monétaire international (FMI), l’inflation a dépassé 1 300 000% en 2018 au Venezuela, en plein naufrage économique et politique.   >>À voir aussi : Au Venezuela, “l’économie est à terre, les gens meurent de faim”À Cucuta, en Colombie, le principal point d’entrée des migrants vénézuéliens qui fuient en masse leur pays, YoMaria ajoute qu’elle ramasse souvent des billets que les gens jettent. “Qu’est-ce qu’on peut acheter avec ça ? Rien”, assure-t-elle devant des paquets d’argent. Cette Vénézuélienne a trouvé une solution pour rentabiliser quelque peu ces papiers sans valeur. Avec ces liasses, elle fabrique des porte-monnaie tissés avec les billets de banque. Quelque 36 billets lui servent à la fabrication d’un porte-monnaie… qu’elle vend l’équivalent d’1,50 euro.