All posts by h716a5.icu

West Ham are still a “long way behind” London rivals Chelsea and Tottenham financially, football finance expert Kieran Maguire has warned.

The Hammers had a fantastic 2020/21 season, even managing to finish above Tottenham.

According to Claret and Hugh, the club’s turnover is now set to soar to £210m, with that sixth-placed finish in the Premier League bringing in an extra £30m.

Money gained from participating in the Europa League will also boost the numbers on West Ham’s accounts later down the line. However, according to Maguire, the east London outfit still have some way to go before they are on Chelsea and Spurs’ level.

“When it comes to Chelsea and Spurs, they’re still a long way behind,” The Price of Football author exclusively told FFC.

“Chelsea and Spurs are both making over £400m, so it’s effectively double what West Ham are generating.

“Spurs have got a stadium which makes money for them 365 days a year and Chelsea have got Champions League places, so I think they’ve still got a bit of catch up to do with those two clubs.”

Even so, West Ham can still be pleased, with the club obviously moving in the right direction.

And they should be able to continue progressing even further following David Moyes’ decision to extend his stay at the London Stadium. The Scotsman has been the catalyst behind the Hammers’ recent ascension, excellently orchestrating things from the dugout.

Worcestershire Royals extended their lead at the top of Division One of the Norwich Union League, but only by two points when they could reasonably have expected that their total of 230 for eight from 45 overs might have been enough to give them four

Ralph Dellor07-Aug-2002Worcestershire Royals extended their lead at the top of Division One of the Norwich Union League, but only by two points when they could reasonably have expected that their total of 230 for eight from 45 overs might have been enough to give them four points. Vikram Solanki was again the batsman in form as he took 81 off the Nottinghamshire Outlaws’ attack. The main support came from newcomer to New Road, Shane Lee with 36 from 31 balls with a four and three sixes. However, the rains then came and the match was abandoned before the Outlaws could get to the middle.Meanwhile in Division Two at Hove, Sussex Sharks batted first reaching 194 for seven in their 45 overs. Top scorer was Chris Adams with 60, but there was an enterprising stand of 84 for the eighth wicket between Kevin Innes with 50 and Mark Davis who was on 27 when the innings closed. There were four wickets for Ed Giddins against his old county.After the Surrey Lions had fallen to nine for two when Ali Brown and Ian Ward went to James Kirtley, Mark Ramprakash steadied the innings with 60 and Nadeem Shahid helped him add 131 for the fourth wicket. Shahid went on to 74 not out in company with his captain Adam Hollioake (26 not out) as the Lions won by six wickets with more than five overs to spare.

Canterbury joined Northern Districts as the only New Zealand cricket associations unable to record a surplus over the last year

Lynn McConnell24-Sep-2002Canterbury joined Northern Districts as the only New Zealand cricket associations unable to record a surplus over the last year.Canterbury’s loss was $54,231, an increase of $21,077 on last year.This was achieved with less total operating revenue from last year. This year the amount was $1,947,621, down $143,751 from last year.Administration costs were up by $20,368 to $379,044 while, in line with other associations, coaching and development costs were up by $41,376 to $230,468.Accumulated funds reflected the deficit and stand at $372,981.Canterbury Cricket’s board chairman David Shackleton commented in the annual report, to be presented to tomorrow night’s annual meeting, that the board was very disappointed with the result.”Unfortunately most of the costs of operating Canterbury Cricket are fixed or determined by outside influences, particularly the playing schedules for national competitions.”To improve the financial position of the CCA it will be necessary to significantly increase revenue from all sources. The board and management have developed a strategic plan which focuses on all aspects of cricket in Canterbury, but with a significant focus on revenue improvement.”This will be a key driver for the next and subsequent years,” he said.Canterbury’s new chief executive, Richard Reid said the Association’s strategic plan was now complete and continuous improvement should be seen as a result in all aspects of cricket administration in Canterbury.”The districts have a special and unique place within cricket in Canterbury. I feel we have not taken advantage of this as much as we could have. I have spent considerable time with them since I have been here and I am committed to an inclusive philosophy so that all cricketers in Canterbury feel part of that process,” he said.On the playing side operations manager Trudy Anderson said the season of 2002/03 would be one to look forward as the result of plans put in place during the winter.”The involvement of past players in think tanks in order to produce a unique Canterbury playing philosophy has been just one innovation to make the pathway consistent for players through representative grade.”The women’s high performance plan which resulted from a well-attended forum also highlights the direction for growth in the women’s area. There is an intention to expand the Community Cricket Programme into more areas and the shift to Iversen Terrace will provide a long overdue indoor training facility for all of Canterbury,” he said.Meanwhile, as many sports lose the support of their volunteer core, Reid was impressed with Canterbury’s volunteers.”I have enjoyed meeting with the wide variety of stakeholders that make up the cricket fraternity in Canterbury and I am constantly amazed at the depth of the volunteer base and their willingness and ability to keep a myriad of ‘balls in the air’ at any given time,” he said.

Glasgow Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos was left out of the Colombia squad altogether for their clash against Venezuela in the Copa America.

The Lowdown: Morelos selected for Copa America

Morelos has been selected as part of Colombia’s 28-man squad for the South American championship (fcf.com.co), which is being played in Brazil.

The 24-year-old Gers man has one goal in 10 caps for his country, and will be hoping to add to that this tournament.

The Latest: Morelos not selected

Morelos was an unused substitute in his country’s first match of the tournament, a 1-0 victory over Ecuador.

Against Venezuela, though, he was not even selected as part of the matchday squad.

Colombia could only manage a lacklustre 0-0 draw, so perhaps they could have utilised a bit of extra venom up front.

The Verdict: Plenty of depth

While Rangers fans will no doubt be surprised their man did not play a part against Venezuela, he does have plenty of competition for a spot in the starting line-up.

Both Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel have also been selected, and they managed 37 Serie A goals between them for Atalanta last term (infogol.net).

With just two games played, Morelos still has plenty of time to make an impression at the tournament. If Colombia continue to be so poor, boss Reinaldo Rueda may have no choice but to select the former HJK Helsinki man from the start.

In other news, Rangers fans were livid at this Euro 2020 news.

The national junior selection committee has extended the trials for Under-15 Asia Cup cricket tournament for another two-days without assigning any reason

18-Oct-2002The national junior selection committee has extended the trials for Under-15 Asia Cup cricket tournament for another two-days without assigning any reason.The two-day trials were toconclud Thursday to pick up some 35 probables for the training camp for the finalisation of the Pakistan Under-15 cricket team fore the Asia Cup. The Asian competition is being held in Abu Dhabi from Dec 7 to 22.The national selection committee headed by celebrated former batsman Zaheer Abbas, has not only decided to extend the trials for another two days but also shifted the venue from Lahore to the Country Club, Muridke.In all, 116 probables had been selected from across the country for the final round of trials. But the numbers increased to 140 as some influential persons succeeded in getting their boys entered for trials when it started Wednesday. The selectors reduced the number to 66 Wednesday and further reduced the list to 50 Thursday.It was learnt that when the trials were concluded on Thursday, the reduced list was of 47 probables. But late in the afternoon it had increased to 50, the sources said.Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on the instructions of the selectors did not announce the names of the probables who have been called for the next round of trials at Muridke.A PCB official Javed Munj said that a final list for the training camp would be announced Saturday.

A number of Aston Villa fans have been reacting to John Percy’s post regarding Manchester City’s interest in Aston Villa star Jack Grealish.

Reports on Friday morning from talkSPORT suggested that City were closing in on a £100m move for the 25-year-old. As to be expected, that left a number of Villa supporters worried, but two hours on from Jim White’s post, Percy gave his take on the situation.

The reliable reporter, who writes for The Telegraph, admitted that City have a genuine interest in Grealish. He added [via Twitter] that Villa intend to keep hold of the attacking midfielder and are in talks over a new contract, saying:

“Manchester City have a genuine interest in Jack Grealish and are set to make their move.. but #avfc are intent on keeping him at the club, with talks ongoing over a new contract. Villa’s owners are ambitious and serious about continuing the club’s progress”

Grealish’s current Villa deal is thought to be worth £120,000 per week until 2025, but it seems as if the club’s owners are willing to improve on that in order to keep him in the Midlands. His importance to the team is evident in his status as captain, along with his provision of 16 goal contributions in the league last season, second only to Ollie Watkins (WhoScored).

Villa fans react

Percy’s Twitter post had plenty of Villa fans excited on social media, with one describing his update as ‘class’.

“Yes, this is what I wanted @JPercyTelegraph is the man”Credit: @martyn_03″Beautiful”Credit: @espenstrand”I think I’d marry Percy”Credit: @JonBeeAVFC”Class”Credit: @Grealish10i”Percy making me feel a bit better”Credit: @_JackAvfc”Percy clearing it all up as per”Credit: @NoContextRonav

In other news: Villa willing to break club-record for one man if Grealish leaves, find out more here. 

Wolves are among the top clubs in European football who are eyeing up a move to sign Joao Palhinha in the summer transfer window.

The Lowdown: Palhinha a priority

As reported last month by A Bola (via Sport Witness), Palhinha is a ‘priority target’ for the Midlands club, and they may have an advantage in the long race for his signature.

The news outlet also states that Ruben Vinagre is wanted by Sporting Lisbon, and so a potential swap deal could take place.

The Latest: Another club interested

Now, A Bola (via Sport Witness) are reporting that Atalanta have joined the Molineux faithful in the hunt to sign Palhinha, which also includes Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Napoli.

However, after what the publication describes as ‘good performances’ at Euro 2020, manager Ruben Amorim would now like to keep him in Portugal.

The Lions would have considered a bid in the region of €30m (£25.8m) for their prized asset, but now it is thought that an offer would have to be ‘way over’ that sum to be taken seriously.

The Verdict: Try to negotiate price down

If the Wanderers are serious about beating all of these other teams to signing Palhinha, then they must try and negotiate his price down with Sporting quickly.

Described as a ‘special’ player last season by Amorim, he was key in their domestic title win, winning no fewer than 9.1 duels a game, while also averaging 3.3 tackles, 1.5 interceptions and 1.2 clearances per match (Sofascore).

At just 25 years of age, Palhinha has not his peak yet either, and so WWFC should really push to try to sign him, so long as a reasonable deal can be struck.

In other news, find out what transfer update has left Wanderers fuming here!

England skipper Nasser Hussain cited poor batting on the second morning as a primary cause of England’s defeat in the second Ashes Test at Adelaide

CricInfo24-Nov-2002England skipper Nasser Hussain cited poor batting on the second morning as a primary cause of England’s defeat in the second Ashes Test at Adelaide. The tourists were in an apparently strong position at the start of the second day, but failed to build on a promising start.”We had our chances on the first day,” Hussain said. “We put ourselves in a good position and then tossed it away to be honest. To lose seven for 30-odd on a pretty flat Adelaide wicket second day was pretty poor really.”Hussain singled out Michael Vaughan and Richard Dawson for praise for their performances in the Test.”Spirit is not bad in the camp. We know we are letting ourselves down, but we have some star players in our side, like Vaughan and Dawson. Those things lift us and hopefully there will be a few more of those moments in Perth.””We are really down to the bare minimum with players now. We have got to address the fitness situation of players and make sure that everyone who plays is fit and then just work at our own game.”We are playing against a fantastic side. You can’t take that away from them. We have got to try and win the small battle and not concentrate on the big battle.”In all three disciplines, they have shown if you play positive batting you get runs and if you put the ball in the right areas you get wickets, so I think we can all learn from this Australian side.”Meanwhile a delighted Australia captain Steve Waugh pointed to positive batting as a primary reason for his team’s success.”All round I thought we batted well, we scored quickly and put pressure on England,” Waugh enthused. “With our quality bowlers it does put pressure on their batsman in the second innings.””I was a bit worried with the rain coming and going; if England had hung on it could have been difficult,” Waugh admitted.”The dropped catches were not the best but we made enough chances to win the game. We haven’t really talked about it but in the last five Tests we’ve dropped about 20 chances.”Ricky Ponting was made Man of the Match award for his 154 – a career-best score against England and his fifth century in the last seven Tests.”Things are going really well,” said Ponting. “I’m batting as well as I ever have in my Test career. We were outplayed on the first day but we bounced back well.”

Customs Academy qualified for the quarterfinal of the 17th Karachi Gymkhana Callmate Festival, beating two-time champions Airport Gymkhana by 97 runs Saturday

24-Nov-2002Customs Academy qualified for the quarterfinal of the 17th Karachi Gymkhana Callmate Festival, beating two-time champions Airport Gymkhana by 97 runs Saturday.Airport Gymkhana won the toss and put the Customs into bat but with Afsar Nawaz (68), Azher Shafiq (53), Kashif Saddiq (42) and Aamir Bashir unbeaten with 32, Customs ran up a total of 223 for five wickets in their 25 allotted overs.Left-arm Asif Mujtaba bagged two for 40 for Airport Gymkhana.Chasing 224 for victory Airport Gymkhana lost four wickets for 56. Although Ahmed Zeeshan (29) and Atif Zaidi (21), tried their level best to stem the tide, Airport Gymkhana never really recovered form their early setback and were dismissed for 126 runs in 24.2 overs.Afsar Nawaz three for nine, Nisar Abbas two for 10 and Imran Ali two for 18, bowled a tidy line and length for the winners.With this victory three teams, Airport Gymkhana, Dewan Mushtaq Sugar Mills and Customs finished their group matches with four points apiece. However, Customs lying third till Friday evening with win and one defeat, topped the ladder with a plus 3.36 run rate. Dewan Mushtaq Sugar Mills finished off as runner-up with plus 1.79 run rate while Airport Gymkhana slipped down the ladder to minus 1.18 and were squeezed out from the quarter-finals.Sunday’s fixture: Sui Gas v KESC 9.00 a.m; Al Noor Gymkhana v Baqai Dolphins at 1-30 p.m.Impressive DolphinsBaqai Dolphins moved into the quarterfinals of the Dalpat R. Sonavaria Ramazan Cricket Trophy, beating Asghar Ali Shah CC by 80 runs Saturday. Batting first, Baqai Dolphins recovered after a bad start and with Hassan Raza (44), Mohammad Imran (42), Anwar Saeed (31) and Atiq uz Zaman (27) scoring freely, reached 167 for eight wickets in 20 overs. Ahmed Iqbal bagged three wickets for 16 runs.In reply Asghar Ali Shah CC were restricted to 87 runs for seven wickets at the end of their 20 overs. Nadeem Babar (27) and Omair-ul Haq (23), were the only two batsmen who batted with confidence. Sohaib Hashmi three for 12 and Atif Maqbool two for 23, were the main wicket takers for the winners.Babar grabs hat trickCantt Sports registered a 59- run victory over Khatri Sports in the Seventh Danish Trophy Ramazan tournament played Saturday.Batting first Cantt Sports reached 139 for six in their 20 overs through Khursheed Malik (35) and Zeeshan Khalil (28). Right-arm medium pacer Baber Rehman had figures of three for 26, which included a hat trick.Khatri Sports in reply could not face the bowling of Taleem Shah two for 18, Mohammad Javeed two for 22 and Tariq Mahmood two for 19 and were skittled out for 80 runs in 19 overs.Sunday’s fixture: KGA Gymkhana v Mohammad Hussain CC 1.00 p.m.Afzal Sports in semisAfzal Sports registering their third win in the four matches played, qualified for the semifinals of the Ford & Lord Trophy Ramazan cricket tournament played Saturday after handing out an eight-wicket defeat to Shaheen Colts.Shaheen Colts batting first, scored 127 all out in 20 overs with Irfan Qureshi (28) and Mohsin Sultan (23) getting amongst the runs.Left-arm Jaffer Qureshi bagged three wickets for 24 runs. In reply Afzal Sports reached the winning score of 128 for two wickets in 17.5 overs. Jaffer Qureshi with a quick knock of 68 runs, steered his team to victory. Talha Shabbir picked up both the wickets that fell for only 23 runs.Sunday’s fixture: Sadiq Sports v Khatri Sports 1-30 p.m.Tooba Sports winTooba Sports beat Afzal Sports by four wickets and Jamshed CC beat Young Pak Flag by 28 runs in the Fourth Sundip Trophy tournament played Friday.Afzal Sports batting first scored 160 for four in their 20 overs through Eshan (63) and Zahidulah (33). Nazir Butt captured two wickets for 26 runs.In reply, Tooba Sports reached the winning total of 161, losing six wickets after 19.1 overs.Raja Mushtaq hammered (50) with Shahid Baig and Nasir Sheerazi notching up 35 runs apiece.In the other encounter, Jamshed CC reached 157 for seven in their 20 overs with Arif Akram (66) and M. Kamran (26) batting well. Usman Khan picked up three wickets for 28.Young Pak Flag in reply could only muster up 129 for eight wickets. Imran Shams hit up 50 runs and Saqib Mehmood 20.Aamir Ahmed three for 22 was the most successful bowler for the winners.

Manchester City have been linked with both Ben White and Pau Torres in recent months, but who would be the better addition to Pep Guardiola’s side at the Etihad Stadium this summer?

Ben White

According to journalist Duncan Castles on the Transfer Window Podcast, City have held preliminary talks with White ahead of a potential summer move following an impressive Premier League debut season which saw him earn a call-up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the European Championship.

The 23-year-old centre-back was already on the radar of many top clubs after he played every minute for Leeds United in their Championship title-winning 2019/20 campaign, and he was a mainstay in Graham Potter’s Brighton team last season, making 36 appearances in the top flight.

His performances earned him the glowing praise of Jamie Redknapp, who said: “There’s a centre-back there who is going to go right to the top. He is so comfortable on the ball, you can see why Leeds wanted to keep him.

“He’s destined for an amazing future, that young man, I love him.”

Pau Torres

According to the Daily Express, City are keeping tabs on the Villareal and Spain centre-back, who is also attracting interest from rivals Manchester United after his impressive performances in La Liga in recent seasons.

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Last season saw the 24-year-old make 33 appearances in the Spanish top flight, contributing two goals and two assists, whilst he also helped Unai Emery’s side to win the Europa League.

The Spanish defender is currently valued at £45m by Transfermarkt and certainly wouldn’t come cheap, especially when you consider that he would likely be behind Ruben Dias and John Stones in the pecking order at City considering their superb performances last season.

Who would be better?

Although White would also be very expensive, with Brighton having already reportedly rejected a £40m bid from Arsenal, he has a lot of advantages over Torres in that he is homegrown, younger and has plenty of experience in the Premier League.

He has learned from Marcelo Bielsa and Potter, suggesting that he could comfortably adapt to Guardiola’s playing style at Manchester City, whilst he has also featured as a defensive midfielder at times for Brighton, so his versatility would surely be appreciated by the Spanish manager.

[freshpress-quiz id=“577936″]

Therefore, City’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain should forget about signing Torres this summer and instead focus on bringing White to the Etihad.

In other news… Bye-bye Laporte: Txiki should swoop for £40.5m-rated beast likened to Hummels