Bascombe has a pop at new owners?

[Tom]

I think most people have said that!

And the supposed tension was printed by the whole of europe at the same time as Rafa told the journos this on a plane back from Athens! It's just Bascombes opinion that it's all down to a stand off between Parry and Benitez, which in all honesty is probably bollocks.
.

Bascome talked about this at the beginning of this season. I'm not talking post-athens. He was ahead of this story months ago.

[DannyMan2006]

Bascome talked about this at the beginning of this season. I'm not talking post-athens. He was ahead of this story months ago.

Fair enough mate, don't remember that. Was it along the lines of stuff mentioned last month?

[Tom]

I wont argue that Bascombe will come across stuff every now and again, but alot of what he writes will have no foundation to it and will purely be his or others thoughts on certain situations.

Sorry you are so wrong about this. I'm not going to argue any further about this, but the echo's coverage (and Bascombe's in particular) of the club is pretty good and vastly superior to anything you get in the nationals.

[DannyMan2006]

Sorry you are so wrong about this. I'm not going to argue any further about this, but the echo's coverage (and Bascombe's in particular) of the club is pretty good and vastly superior to anything you get in the nationals.

Fair enough.

[Tom]

Fair enough mate, don't remember that. Was it along the lines of stuff mentioned last month?

Along the lines of that Rafa wasn't getting the financial backing that he was promised. I remember it very well because I saw the story before it went to print

I passed this on to a couple of people on here - Shaggy was one of them I think.

[Morph]

Sorry you are so wrong about this. I'm not going to argue any further about this, but the echo's coverage (and Bascombe's in particular) of the club is pretty good and vastly superior to anything you get in the nationals.

Only thing I will say about this is that article came from the pink echo on the page which he just voices his opinion about things, he says plenty of things in that column each week which are purely opinion and often without foundation.

[BrooklynRed]

OK, good to hear from someone who might actually know a thing or two about baseball and ice hockey. Those tables were pulled off the net without any understanding.

I can understand the point you make about the canadiens and pay based on a weak candian dollar. I do not understand your reasoning on baseball. That sounds to me to all be a little to vague. Surely success would bring profitability (as in match attendances and merchandise sold)? If there is no 4th spot then where did the rangers finish in their respective leagues? I really don't know a thing about baseball, but there must be some sort of positional system to gauge success of sorts? What do the above positions show then if not league positions????

I also understand that Rodriguez was sold pretty quickly and that there have been numerous managerial changes meaning that the team has had no stability. Why was Rodriguez sold and how have they faired in the transfer market over the last couple of years compared to those teams that finish 1st, 2nd, and 3rd....I mean...is there a 1st, 2nd.....oh I give up. You know what I mean.

First of all, for the opportunity to talk about this issue. I also get it the same in the USA ('Why doesn't Liverpool just trade for a striker?") as Americans have NO CONCEPT of football (try explaining relegation to an American sports fan!)... so, thanks for this.

Baseball is divided into two 'Leagues', the American and the National League, and each league has 3 divisions, usually with 4-5 teams in the division. The American League primarily plays other American League teams, the National plays the National (there are now several games a year called "inter league" where American teams play National teams during the regular season, but this is new). The two leagues even have different rules; in The National League, pitchers bat. Not in the American (which has a Designated Hitter who bats for the picther). Its all a bit . I know.

So, Texas plays in The American league, in the West Division. There are 4 teams in the American league West and Texas is perpetually 4th or 3rd in their Division. In other words, they stink. The first place team in each division, plus the best second place team from all 3 divisions, make the playoffs; 4 teams from the American league (three division winners plus best second place), 4 teams from the National League (three division winners plus best second place). National plays National, American plays American, until American plays National in The World Series. There is no League title; The winner of the World Series is champion. Its the same in ALL USA sports; We are a 'playoff' country. Even MLS (Major League Soccer) is broken into divisions and has a playoff system and a title game to determine the champion.

In the USA, because all clubs GENERALLY only deal with clubs within their own League (Major League Baseball, for example, or the National Football League), we do not really buy and sell players because clubs all share revenue from the League; Big clubs like the Yankees pay millions of dollars to the league because they are making the most money and little teams like Kansas City or Milwaukee get a big check. So, instead of buying and selling players at profits and losses for individual clubs, the league takes all of the revenue for the entire league (TV rights, merchandise sales, everything is shared) and shares it with all the clubs and teams make trades or they acquire free agents (what you would call Bosmans). This allows the big teams like the Yankees and Red Sox, who make a ton of money with huge markets and high ticket prices, to spend whatever they want on players and still operate at a huge profit. The players own themselves; The team only has them under contract and if they want to get rid, they either trade or release the player. Sometimes cash is used as a make weight in a trade, but it is usually minor league players (aka the reserve players) that make up the difference.

It is a VERY complicated economic system (with taxes, TV revenue, stadium debt, etc) and it all leads to this one point; There is no transfer market. Teams spend money on what they earn from ticket sales and revenue sharing from the league. And only the biggest clubs can afford to pay huge money TO the best players; After that, you have to be creative with the scraps or develop players through your farm system (aka the reserves) or you must make a trade with another team.

So, enter Alex Rodriguez. When he came to Texas for huge money, Hicks wanted to fill his new stadium. He brought in a GREAT player for big money and people came to watch games. But baseball is not a one superstar game; If you can't pitch, you don't win. The Rangers kept losing and A-Rod asked to be traded. So, he was traded to the Yankees for two players and the Rangers continued to be mediocre. I don't see this as Hicks' fault; The team's market just wasn't big enough to make enough money to support him bringing in a lot of high priced players and not lose money. Again, it is all very confusing. Here is a list, though for 2005, of the most profitable teams in baseball;

Click

Anyway. Enough about baseball. The point being, Hicks is NOT building a winner in Texas but, given the way in which money works in baseball, it would be VERY hard for him to do so without losing a ton of money. No one has ever won in Texas and it will take some young players given time, plus some luck of maybe developing a superstar pitcher or two, to do anything with that franchise. That's why the Yankees have so many titles; They can afford them.

ok, back to football. sorry for the long diversion.

[DannyMan2006]

Along the lines of that Rafa wasn't getting the financial backing that he was promised. I remember it very well because I saw the story before it went to print

I passed this on to a couple of people on here - Shaggy was one of them I think.

Cheers for that mate, got to say I would love to have seen what cash Rafa was promised before the takeover! Hardly Parrys fault though, he's not the man who owns the club and has the money, and its the same on this occasion.

[FatTony]

First of all, for the opportunity to talk about this issue. I also get it the same in the USA ('Why doesn't Liverpool just trade for a striker?") as Americans have NO CONCEPT of football (try explaining relegation to an American sports fan!)... so, thanks for this.

Baseball is divided into two 'Leagues', the American and the National League, and each league has 3 divisions, usually with 4-5 teams in the division. The American League primarily plays other American League teams, the National plays the National (there are now several games a year called "inter league" where American teams play National teams during the regular season, but this is new). The two leagues even have different rules; in The National League, pitchers bat. Not in the American (which has a Designated Hitter who bats for the picther). Its all a bit . I know.

So, Texas plays in The American league, in the West Division. There are 4 teams in the American league West and Texas is perpetually 4th or 3rd in their Division. In other words, they stink. The first place team in each division, plus the best second place team from all 3 divisions, make the playoffs; 4 teams from the American league (three division winners plus best second place), 4 teams from the National League (three division winners plus best second place). Nationa plays National, American plays American, until American plays National in The World Series.

In the USA, because all clubs GENERALLY only deal with clubs within their own League (Major League Baseball, for example, or the National Football League), we do not really buy and sell players because clubs all share revenue from the League; Big clubs like the Yankees pay millions of dollars to the league because they are making the most money and little teams l;ike Kansas City or Milwaukee get a big check. So, instead of buying and selling players at profits and losses for individual clubs, the league takes all of the revenue for the entire league (TV rights, merchandise sales, everything is shared) and shares it with all the clubs and teams make trades or they acquire free agents (what you would call Bosmans). This allows the big teams like the Yankees and Red Sox, who make a ton of money with huge markets and high ticket prices, to spend whatever they want on players and still operate at a huge profit. It is a VERY complicated economic system (with taxes, TV revenue, stadium debt, etc) and it all leads to this one point; There is no transfer market. Teams spend money on what they earn from ticket sales and revenue sharing from the league. And only the biggest clubs can afford to pay huge money TO the best players; After that, you have to be creative with the scraps or develop players through your farm system (aka the reserves).

So, enter Alex Rodriguez. When he came to Texas for huge money, Hicks wanted to fill his new stadium. He brought in a GREAT player for big money and people came to watch games. But baseball is not a one superstar game; If you can't pitch, you don't win. The Rangers kept losing and A-Rod asked to be traded. So, he was traded to the Yankees for two players and the Rangers continued to be mediocre. I don't see this as Hicks' fault; The team's market just wasn't big enough to make enough money to support him bringing in a lot of high priced players and not lose money. Again, it is all very confusing. Here is a list, though for 2005, of the most profitable teams in baseball;

Click

Anyway. Enough about baseball. The point being, Hicks is NOT building a winner in Texas but, given the way in which money works in baseball, it would be VERY hard for him to do so without losing a ton of money. No one has ever won in Texas and it will take some young players given time, plus some luck of maybe developing a superstar pitcher or two, to do anything with that franchise. That's why the Yankees have so many titles; They can afford them.

ok, back to football. sorry for the long diversion.

Great thanks for that.

Basically then, the rangers have a very limited scope for support and it would take a minor miracle for them to attract the sort of numbers of fans to buy merchandise and tickets to take them up a level. A bit like a Portsmouth or Reading over here.

I feel a little better now.

[BrooklynRed]

Great thanks for that.

Basically then, the rangers have a very limited scope for support and it would take a minor miracle for them to attract the sort of numbers of fans to buy merchandise and tickets to take them up a level. A bit like a Portsmouth or Reading over here.

I feel a little better now.

Correct. And if they did sell enough merchandise and tickets to the games to make them on the level of one of the big city teams (all of the top 5 most profitable teams are in major US cities), they would have to give a bunch of that cash back to Major League baseball and share it with less profitable, smaller teams. So, there is no real incentive anyway. Thanks for summarizing!

[StevieG08]

First of all, for the opportunity to talk about this issue. I also get it the same in the USA ('Why doesn't Liverpool just trade for a striker?") as Americans have NO CONCEPT of football (try explaining relegation to an American sports fan!)... so, thanks for this.

Baseball is divided into two 'Leagues', the American and the National League, and each league has 3 divisions, usually with 4-5 teams in the division. The American League primarily plays other American League teams, the National plays the National (there are now several games a year called "inter league" where American teams play National teams during the regular season, but this is new). The two leagues even have different rules; in The National League, pitchers bat. Not in the American (which has a Designated Hitter who bats for the picther). Its all a bit . I know.

So, Texas plays in The American league, in the West Division. There are 4 teams in the American league West and Texas is perpetually 4th or 3rd in their Division. In other words, they stink. The first place team in each division, plus the best second place team from all 3 divisions, make the playoffs; 4 teams from the American league (three division winners plus best second place), 4 teams from the National League (three division winners plus best second place). National plays National, American plays American, until American plays National in The World Series. There is no League title; The winner of the World Series is champion. Its the same in ALL USA sports; We are a 'playoff' country. Even MLS (Major League Soccer) is broken into divisions and has a playoff system and a title game to determine the champion.

In the USA, because all clubs GENERALLY only deal with clubs within their own League (Major League Baseball, for example, or the National Football League), we do not really buy and sell players because clubs all share revenue from the League; Big clubs like the Yankees pay millions of dollars to the league because they are making the most money and little teams like Kansas City or Milwaukee get a big check. So, instead of buying and selling players at profits and losses for individual clubs, the league takes all of the revenue for the entire league (TV rights, merchandise sales, everything is shared) and shares it with all the clubs and teams make trades or they acquire free agents (what you would call Bosmans). This allows the big teams like the Yankees and Red Sox, who make a ton of money with huge markets and high ticket prices, to spend whatever they want on players and still operate at a huge profit. The players own themselves; The team only has them under contract and if they want to get rid, they either trade or release the player. Sometimes cash is used as a make weight in a trade, but it is usually minor league players (aka the reserve players) that make up the difference.

It is a VERY complicated economic system (with taxes, TV revenue, stadium debt, etc) and it all leads to this one point; There is no transfer market. Teams spend money on what they earn from ticket sales and revenue sharing from the league. And only the biggest clubs can afford to pay huge money TO the best players; After that, you have to be creative with the scraps or develop players through your farm system (aka the reserves) or you must make a trade with another team.

So, enter Alex Rodriguez. When he came to Texas for huge money, Hicks wanted to fill his new stadium. He brought in a GREAT player for big money and people came to watch games. But baseball is not a one superstar game; If you can't pitch, you don't win. The Rangers kept losing and A-Rod asked to be traded. So, he was traded to the Yankees for two players and the Rangers continued to be mediocre. I don't see this as Hicks' fault; The team's market just wasn't big enough to make enough money to support him bringing in a lot of high priced players and not lose money. Again, it is all very confusing. Here is a list, though for 2005, of the most profitable teams in baseball;

Click

Anyway. Enough about baseball. The point being, Hicks is NOT building a winner in Texas but, given the way in which money works in baseball, it would be VERY hard for him to do so without losing a ton of money. No one has ever won in Texas and it will take some young players given time, plus some luck of maybe developing a superstar pitcher or two, to do anything with that franchise. That's why the Yankees have so many titles; They can afford them.

ok, back to football. sorry for the long diversion.

Thanks again for the insight, it puts a differant spin on things.

[carheex]

I wouldn't pay too much attention to this "bascombe" crank. This is the same knee-jerk buffoon who, after a couple of dodgy results a few months ago, went into a tirade about what a joke LFC are and that we are at least 5 years behind arsenal.

[Rashid]

Surely not the real CARHEEX?

[Neil Young]

I've ljust caught up with this thread after last seeing it on page 1 and I admit I haven't read every word so may have missed it but has anything actually happened yet or are we all still speculating?

[Tom]

rollingAllOverTheFloorSmiley: