Well that was an absolutely dreadful weekend of transfer news, culminating in the proverbial and yet somehow literal kick in the crotch that was Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s odd loan + buy option for next year at €24M the following term. In its wake, enough e-ink has been spilt over the transfer saga to drown even the most epic of football or FC Barcelona fans. Predictably, much hand-wringing has been made about the financial bath that the Blaugrana took from this mess, and rightly so. This was an unmitigated financial disaster that is going to cause us a fair amount of monetary distress, not to mention the problems if Zlatan is injured during the season and Milan balks at the purchase, but also making everyone involved in the deal look very very bad. Truly this was another of Pep’s phyrric victories, his scorched earth policy that consumes all who get on his bad side and all agents who would deign to deride his managerial style. However, should we, as Barça supporters be so down about this as to become fed up with everything and start laying blame everywhere, even when it may not be so deserved? Maybe we can brave this one with a little humor, a level head, and the man with the knowledge on La Liga at the Guardian Sid Lowe, whose excellent article provides all the quotes below.
Commenter IS summed up the transaction a lot better than I could have, so I’ll reprint it here, so that we can all have a giggle:
Galliani: “How much for the big guy?” Rosell: “70” Galliani: “Last price?” Rosell: “50” Galliani: “I’ll give you 5” Rosell: “No, last price 45, and like that I’m already losing compared to how much he cost me” Galliani: “I can go up to 10, but that’s it” Rosell: ” Ummm …. No? 40?” (Galliani walks away) (Rosell chases him with ‘the big guy’ in his hand and shoves ‘it’ in his hand) Rosell: “Ok, ok, 30 — but just for you!” Galliani: “25” (Galliani waves the cash infront of Rosell) (Rosell’s eyes widen and sparkle as he starts dreaming of all he can do with the monies — but then reverts to a a big frown) Rosell: “Fine, 25, here you go…” (Rosell hands over ‘the big guy’ and takes the money and counts it) Rosell: “Mister, Mister! There’s only 24 here!!” Galliani: “Sorry, that’s all I had on me” Rosell: “Oh, ok… well.. please come again and I make you another great deal. Oh… and tell your friends!!”
I don’t have much to say about this one, yet. At least not any depth. Numbers aren’t available yet, but AC Milan and FC Barcelona have agreed to a one-year loan deal with an obligation to purchase at a number in the neighborhood of 40 million Euros.
I’m a little sad right now, not for the player and his gargantuan potential and never seeing it again in FCB colors, but for the way that this all transpired. In just a season, the man we labeled BANGS went from tens of thousands of fans swooning over him at the Camp Nou, to not good enough, to gone. And it was a mess. A big, fat mess that should have been handled better, irrespective of whose ultimate responsibility it was.
And the reputation of our club is a little …. no, a lot tarnished. At present, it is unknown whether we are going to replace him, or soldier on with what we have. While we’re figuring it all out, here’s a tip-top compilation of all of the goals of BANGS from this past season.
I love this picture. You have three players, all with “Damn!” looks on their faces. Whether it’s from something that they’ve just seen, something they’ve just done or an illusory moment that doesn’t exist in reality but that your humble author has ginned up to make a point, is immaterial. They’re in practice, and it’s hard.
I got to thinking about such things after reading a comment in the SuperCopa clincher match review thread by cliveee, which will follow the jump. But I think that the headline sums up for me why this club is so amazing. I said those very words to two employees, once. Both chose the latter option, though both had the talent to choose the former. That’s life in the big city.
But our club says that very same thing every day, with almost every match. Continue Reading
It’s enough to make you scream, isn’t it? When Sevilla put the wood to us on Saturday in their house, many were talking as if we’d rolled out a lineup of total scrubs against their first-choice unit, which isn’t entirely true.
But, at issue here is that we had 4 canteranos: keeper Mino, center back Sergi Gomez, midfielder Dos Santos and defensive mid Oriol Romeu, in positions that are key to the success of our club. It was a grand experiment that, for about 62 minutes, was working to perfection.
And now comes the debate: Was Guardiola right to trust so much to the kids, how bright is our future, and how in the hell do you integrate future stars into a side, so that the Catalan press doesn’t go nuts as we try to buy back another farm product. Continue Reading
So, here’s the thing. I fully recognize that being the best club in the world (oh, yes we are, and you know it) means that we are a target. People love to love us but of late, love to hate us. It’s the height of transfer season, and it’s worth noting that the traditional newspaper and its attendant journalism has gone the way of the mastodon.
What we have now is the equivalent of a guy dashing about, robes aflame, saying “I’ll tell you anything you want, just douse me with water!” Because it’s now about clicks rather than real journalistic integrity. Made up quotes, ginned-up infatuations with mediocre BritBands (Oasis? Really?), all in the name of a few more clicks, and a few more page views. It doesn’t even matter if you linger. You clicked! Neener, neener! We made our stats for the month. Continue Reading
We’ve seen the joyous news in the English footy press, that we have about a zillion dollars in debt, and will probably have to turn to the Camp Nou travestis for some sort of revenue sharing plan, anything to make the bills, because Barca is busted! Yay!
Um, not so fast.
They won’t be needing to hold tag days for us any time soon, which must frost some people’s bacon.
To recap, for those who have been sleeping through all of this. When Joan Laporta and his administration left office, they said we had an 11m profit. When Sandro Rosell and his administration took office, they said “Not so fast, that’s actually a 400m+ deficit.” Continue Reading
Sergio Busquets, our mercurial midfielder, is a much-maligned figure in the minds of many Barcelona fans. They say he can’t play DM at the Camp Nou because he’s not good enough and he makes too many mistakes. That he’s deficient in the key aspects of the game and is the most expendable man we have. Well, nuts to that. This seems a strange take for a player who started 26 games for the La Liga champions and all 7 games for World Cup champions Spain, of whom manager Vincente del Bosque noted, “if I was a footballer, I would like to be Busquets.” (Lest we forget that the likes of Pep Guardiola and Johan Cruyff has lavished even more praise.) Oh, and lest I mention the 7 pieces of silverware to his name and being named as La Liga’s breakthrough player of 2009. Thus far, Biscuits & Gravy has made quite a name for himself on the world’s best national team and one of, if not the best, club teams around. But why does out fan base doubt the 22-year old star? This article endeavors to deconstruct our newest star, and determine just what to make of his past, and the future. Continue Reading
Hmmm….wonder what these two are talking about? I’d rather imagine that it isn’t the price of xocolata in Barcelona.
For anybody who’s been living under a rock the past few days, it’s international friendly time, and we have been gutted. The list of players who have been called to serve their countries is a big’un: Ibrahimovic, Alves, Xavi, Busquets, Pique, Puyol, Valdes, Pedro!, Messi and Villa. Yes, that’s 9 of our starting XI. But we also have, in a week’s time, leg one of the Spanish Super Copa against a Sevilla side that will be looking to do what it did against us in the Copa del Rey last season.
Just because there’s no news, doesn’t mean we don’t have something to get everyone excited. Those of you who have the new shirts for this year probably have already noticed this. For those of you who haven’t, this is a picture of the rear of the team crest, on the inside of shirt. It’s directly over your fast-beating cule heart, as it should be.
And yes, the Spearmint shirts look much better in person. Trust me.
