Barcelona

[Irishnev]

I don’t see a thread for them - I guess it was always linked to the Messi one. As they are such a basket case they need their own one

Ronnie the Red got the bullet and they drew against Alaves last night...... this is scary though

[ame="https://twitter.com/espnfc/status/1454573245978619906"]https://twitter.com/espnfc/status/1454573245978619906[/ame]

[SB]

Wish him-all the best naturally but that was a strange signing imo

[Irishnev]

Wish him-all the best naturally but that was a strange signing imo

Himself and Messi are best mates - he went there to play with him.....l.worked out well that one

[baitman]

Himself and Messi are best mates - he went there to play with him.....l.worked out well that one

Messi has broken his heart

[SB]

Himself and Messi are best mates - he went there to play with him.....l.worked out well that one

Didn’t Neymar talk Coutinho into joining Barca too & then feck off just before he signed?

[Exiled_red]

Didn’t Neymar talk Coutinho into joining Barca too & then feck off just before he signed?

Team spirit and loyalty to your mates is rife there obviously

[SB]

Team spirit and loyalty to your mates is rife there obviously

Yeah there’s a slight inbred feel about the place

[badpiggy]

I'm finding it hard to dance on Barcelona's grave. Sure they've been mismanaged financially and some players are unpleasant etc but is their ownership model not a bit of a beacon in a sea of slave-owning billionaires? I'd far prefer them to succeed than ****in PSG or Newcastle. Unless I've totally misunderstood their ownership model.

[Doc_Piptorious]

I'm finding it hard to dance on Barcelona's grave. Sure they've been mismanaged financially and some players are unpleasant etc but is their ownership model not a bit of a beacon in a sea of slave-owning billionaires? I'd far prefer them to succeed than ****in PSG or Newcastle. Unless I've totally misunderstood their ownership model.

Their ownership model in principle is laudable but they do have strong ties with those you call the slave owning billionaires, they just have their "fan owned" business model to muddy the waters.

Think they are a case of a club wating to have the higher moral ground regarding ownership but still get the Middle Eastern money at the same time.

[frank the tank]

i agree completely.... covid has screwed them over and their huge attendances has really hit their income......this coupled with terrible purchases in the transfer market has totally shafted them.

They had the perfect model when Pep was there - and just after that too. Their academy was producing most of their first team and they would supplement that with good purchases. But even back then their transfers were really hit and miss then - but when they bought badly back then, it didn't really matter as much as they had some brilliant players coming through their youth system.....so even if high profile signings didn't work out, it didn't matter

Some of the money wasted over the years was unreal though:

Pjanic - 54m
Trincao - 28m
Greizmann - 108m
Neto - 23m
Malcom - 38m
Coutinho - 140m
Dembele - 120m
Paulinho - 36m
Semedo - 32m
Andre Gomes - 33m
Alcacer - 27m
Turan - 30m
Mathieu - 18m
Vermaelen - 10m
Alex Song - 17m
Chygrynskyi - 22.5m
Kerrison - 12.6m
Chygrynskyi - 22.5m

Is approaching 800m they have spent on transfers over the last 10-12 years that they may as well not have bothered spending

[Buzzo]

They used to be gold standard. Fan owned and never sold the shirt, then, fan owned and sold the shirt to UNICEF. Now, fan owned and as mentioned troubling Saudi connections.

[spud_gun]

If i recall they didn't receive any cash for the UNICEF sponsorship. It was merely paving the way for the big money Middle East / Japanese shirt sponsorships that followed.

Not sure what say the members got in the shirt sponsorship deals.

The German clubs have the ideal model for ownership. Well apart from RB. They're a ****ing abomination. A successful version of other abominations like MK Dons and Airdrie United

[Irishnev]

They used to be gold standard. Fan owned and never sold the shirt, then, fan owned and sold the shirt to UNICEF. Now, fan owned and as mentioned troubling Saudi connections.

It all stemmed from Neymar going to PSG - that meant they weren’t the biggest fish in the pond and their vanity clouded their judgement. They got €200m cash for Neymar - normally transfer are paid in installments and the blew it like a drunken sailor.

You could say that their big signings looked good - Dembele, Griezemann and Coutinho being the main ones. Barca were at their best when they used their world class academy and supplement with big names…… they need to get their identity back

[Angryred]

i agree completely.... covid has screwed them over and their huge attendances has really hit their income......this coupled with terrible purchases in the transfer market has totally shafted them.

They had the perfect model when Pep was there - and just after that too. Their academy was producing most of their first team and they would supplement that with good purchases. But even back then their transfers were really hit and miss then - but when they bought badly back then, it didn't really matter as much as they had some brilliant players coming through their youth system.....so even if high profile signings didn't work out, it didn't matter

Some of the money wasted over the years was unreal though:

Pjanic - 54m
Trincao - 28m
Greizmann - 108m
Neto - 23m
Malcom - 38m
Coutinho - 140m
Dembele - 120m
Paulinho - 36m
Semedo - 32m
Andre Gomes - 33m
Alcacer - 27m
Turan - 30m
Mathieu - 18m
Vermaelen - 10m
Alex Song - 17m
Chygrynskyi - 22.5m
Kerrison - 12.6m
Chygrynskyi - 22.5m

Is approaching 800m they have spent on transfers over the last 10-12 years that they may as well not have bothered spending

So good that they signed him twice or was it his twin?

[RedAndWhite]

So good that they signed him twice or was it his twin?

Or given how "well" Barcelona was run the past few years they probably bought him from themselves.......