While I should be salivating at the thought of the Champions League round of 16 kicking off today with Barcelona traveling to Bayer Leverkusen and the Cinderella APOEL going to Lyon, I can't help but to have my thoughts gravitating more towards the financial plights of Rangers and Portsmouth, both of whom have been entered into administration in recent days.
It could be said that the plights of both Portsmouth and Rangers could be directly traced to the lust for the bright lights of such stages as that of Champions League, and such an indictment wouldn't be too far off base. Former Portsmouth owner Alexandre Gaydamak came in at the beginning of 2006, threw a lot money into a squad which went on to win the FA Cup in 2008 and subsequently qualify for Europe, only to, in the eyes of many, asset strip the plaything he was now tired of before selling the club off to new owners who were rather clueless about what it would take to finance a club in the Premier League. Long story short, Portsmouth entered administration in 2010, were deducted ten points while they were deep in a relegation battle, and ultimately found themselves in the Championship, where they have continued to suffer financially while their fans have been left to wonder if there will even be a club at all left to support in the near future. A relegation battle that now results from yet another ten point deduction will do nothing to ease the fears of what might happen if the club were to drop yet again.
Given that the SPL race has been a two horse race between Celtic and Rangers for well over two decades now, the pressure for both teams to keep pace with one another and even make their respective marks against Europe's best has been immense for ages now. For Rangers, this balloon of chasing trophies at all costs has finally burst, and while Rangers' own ten point deduction kills their championship aspiration and puts their Europeans goals for next season in doubt, the long term prognosis might be even more dire for the club.Administrators will surely mandate that some players will have to be sold to balance the books, significant income would be lost thanks to not qualifying for Europe, and there is still that matter of a potentially £75 million tax bill that could come their way by the end of the month.
Sadly, the situations of Portsmouth and Rangers are nothing new in the modern game. Leeds imploded after mortgaging the future for glory, and in the span of a few seasons they went from going on a fantastic run in the Champions League to being basked in anonymity in League One. Darlington is currently facing threats of extinction as a result of a rogue owner building an unnecessarily large stadium for a club for their stature and running up mountains of debt for the unfulfilled promises of top flight football. Even tiny Gretna in Scotland were liquidated as a result of living beyond their means and chasing the SPL dream. I'd be massively surprised if there weren't another club, maybe even one of a decent stature, to face the harsh realities of life in the financial red before the start of next season.
The moral of the story is that it's sometime just fine for a club to live within its financial means and, heaven forbid, actually only be a fairly competive, middle of the pack team. Sure, the glow of greater glories can be an opiate that is hard to put down, but the beauty of longevity and keeping the doors open for generations of fans is arguably much more endearing. Ask any Portsmouth fan if they would trade that FA Cup win for a safe future as the solid Premier League club they had once been. I think I know what most of them would say.
Brian Ching to return to Houston?
Houston played a game of chicken by leaving Ching unprotected in the expansion draft; they lost the game when Montreal snapped him up. Now there is news that Ching has taken leave from Montreal's training camp, and in tandem with this, Fox 26 of Houston is reporting that there are advanced negotiations between Houston and Montreal for a trade which would send Ching back to his familiar stomping grounds. Should Ching be traded back to Houston, he would be the first Hawaiian to be picked up in the expansion draft and traded before playing a game with his new club.
Bouna Time in Doncaster?
Sky Sports is reporting that former New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul in on trial with Doncaster Rovers. Should he sign with them, he would join Senegal countryman El Hadji Diouf in the team. It must be said that Bouna is by far the more endearing of the two.
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