European Leagues Thread 2012/2013

[Sutekh]

Schalke onto their 2nd permanent manager (3rd manager incl an interim) of the season.

A win last weekend sees them 1 point outside of the relegation zone in the 2nd division

I remember hearing that the Bundesliga and the broadcaster had to have a meeting when Schalke went down from the top division as it was so seismic for the league. They are (were) the 2nd most supported club in the country and have a big history. Seems weird to see them now fighting to avoid dropping into division 3

How have they managed to get in the mess they are in, is it just bad luck, players and management or are there other factors.

Shambolic decision making, but also a couple of hefty slices of very bad luck.

6 years ago they were runners up in the Bundesliga, but it sounds like they had a couple of disastrous years of transfers, both in and out, and immediately after that covid happened which hit their finances really badly too. They went down, came back up with their finances still not in great shape, then Russia invaded Ukraine, the German govt imposed sanctions on Russia and so Schalke had to cut ties with their main sponsor, Gazprom.

If they do get relegated then it's been said their financial situation breaks the rules of the 3rd division so they would drop to the 4th, the highest regional amateur level, and all players, coaches and directors contracts would be cancelled.

https://bulinews.com/the-tragic-downfall-schalke-04

Poor sods, that run of luck is unbelievable, you’d hope that the authorities would give them some leeway if they did get relegated.

[Winston Biscuit]

Listened to a euro football journalist on Lyon, he said the immediate provisional relegation can be avoided as they have enough assets to sell and enough things can be done (in their multi club model) to bring in the money needed to satisfy the authorities short term. But the danger is that long term their agreed transfers in are now being cancelled, they will need to sell their most valuable players next summer, and basically keep an eye on them over the next 2 or 3 years as they will need to work hard under vastly reduced finances to avoid being relegated anyway

[Winston Biscuit]

And to add to the list of financialy messy clubs, Boavista have been under a transfer ban for some time after they stopped paying debts, wages etc and some clubs are currently suing them to try and get transfer money paid

They are 1 point outside the relegation zone currently. Would be big news there if they went down.

[Sutekh]

Listened to a euro football journalist on Lyon, he said the immediate provisional relegation can be avoided as they have enough assets to sell and enough things can be done (in their multi club model) to bring in the money needed to satisfy the authorities short term. But the danger is that long term their agreed transfers in are now being cancelled, they will need to sell their most valuable players next summer, and basically keep an eye on them over the next 2 or 3 years as they will need to work hard under vastly reduced finances to avoid being relegated anyway

Firesale in January of some of their top names perhaps? Cherki is already being linked with a move to Liverpool.

[Winston Biscuit]

Harold Kane with another hat-trick. Fastest player ever to get to 50 bundesliga goals

[Winston Biscuit]

Inter 4-0 up after half an hour. You just know what kind of 2nd half there will be

HT Inter 5-0 up
FT inter win 5-0

Just so predictable

[From Despair To Where?]

And to add to the list of financialy messy clubs, Boavista have been under a transfer ban for some time after they stopped paying debts, wages etc and some clubs are currently suing them to try and get transfer money paid

They are 1 point outside the relegation zone currently. Would be big news there if they went down.

They were in the 3rd tier as recently as 2014. Been a bit of a shambles since they won the league in 2001, what with match fixing and financial problems.

[Pepe the Horseman]

And to add to the list of financialy messy clubs, Boavista have been under a transfer ban for some time after they stopped paying debts, wages etc and some clubs are currently suing them to try and get transfer money paid

They are 1 point outside the relegation zone currently. Would be big news there if they went down.

They were in the 3rd tier as recently as 2014. Been a bit of a shambles since they won the league in 2001, what with match fixing and financial problems.

My Boavista supporting mate reckons it all started going wrong on 16 May, 2007.

[Harrison Delbridge]

And to add to the list of financialy messy clubs, Boavista have been under a transfer ban for some time after they stopped paying debts, wages etc and some clubs are currently suing them to try and get transfer money paid

They are 1 point outside the relegation zone currently. Would be big news there if they went down.

They were in the 3rd tier as recently as 2014. Been a bit of a shambles since they won the league in 2001, what with match fixing and financial problems.

My Boavista supporting mate reckons it all started going wrong on 16 May, 2007.

Why?

[Sutekh]

They were in the 3rd tier as recently as 2014. Been a bit of a shambles since they won the league in 2001, what with match fixing and financial problems.

My Boavista supporting mate reckons it all started going wrong on 16 May, 2007.

Why?

They were done for match fixing and relegated around then weren’t they?

[Winston Biscuit]

Atletico Mineiro into the Copa Libertadores final after beating River Plate 3-0 on agg. They have only made it to the final once before in their history. They will almost certainly play fellow Brazilians Botafogo in the final, who have the 2nd leg of their semi tonight, but won the first leg 5-0

38 year old Hulk playing for Alletico Mineiro last night. looking at his numbers he has actually done pretty well since going back to Brazil 4 years ago

Atletico Mineiro are 10th in the Brazilian league and look to be on a dodgy run of form, whereas Botafogo are 3 points clear at the top with 7 games left to play

Cba to Google it but wasn't there a team last season who were about 20 points ahead and bottled the league?

Botafogo. The nearly men of Brazilian football. often in the chasing pack but rarely ever deliver. 2 league titles in their history.

Were flying high top of the league with 6 weeks left to go, then failed to win any of their last 10 matches, ending up in 5th place.

Upd8 - with 6 weeks to go of this seasons league, Botafogo were 6 points clear. They have drawn the last 3 games and have now dropped to 2nd place on goal diffo to Palmeiras, the same club that won the title last season after Botafogo collapsed at the end.

Wednesday night is Palmeiras Vs Botafogo

[Pepe the Horseman]

They were in the 3rd tier as recently as 2014. Been a bit of a shambles since they won the league in 2001, what with match fixing and financial problems.

My Boavista supporting mate reckons it all started going wrong on 16 May, 2007.

Why?

They sold their best player.

[Winston Biscuit]

Things I spotted while looking around the leagues:

Portugal - Santa Clara, promoted from the 2nd tier, are in Braga's traditional 4th place in the league

Netherlands - Utecht in 2nd place. Top scorer is Sam Steijn, a 22 year old midfielder on 12 goals who also scored 17 last season (one to watch!)

Netherlands 2nd divvy - Vitesse Arnhem who got relegated from the top division last season with a big points deduction, appear to have had another points deduction and are bottom of the league.

Spain - Valencia off the bottom of the table with a win last night but still in the relegation zone.

Spanish Segunda - Racing Santander running away with the league. 6 teams split by 1 point behind them. Less said about the foot of the table the better!

Italy - Fiorentina having a wonderful ol' season, Level on points with league leaders Atalanta. And on Atalanta, Gasperini continues to get minimal acclaim outside of Italy for the staggeringly good work he has done there.

French 2nd divvy - Paris FC were coasting at the top but have drawn 4 in a row and the others have caught up.

French 4th divvy - Bordeaux's climb up the league continues and they are up to 3rd. Unfortunately only 1 team goes up and the team at the top are going well.

German 2nd div - 9th place are only 4 points off the top. Exciting league!

Sweden - league season just finished. Malmo champs.

Norway - 1 game left. Brann were top but lost yesterday meaning Bodo/Glimt have gone top. Goes down to the final day next weekend were Bodo/Glimt play at home to already relegated Lillestrom, and Brann are at home to 3rd place Viking. A win for Viking would see them overtake Brann and claim a Champions League spot.

[Harrison Delbridge]

My Boavista supporting mate reckons it all started going wrong on 16 May, 2007.

Why?

They sold their best player.

Who?

[Royal Rother]

Why?

They sold their best player.

Who?

I get that Google search techniques can be a bit tough for some to master but here's a suggestion - practice, you'll find it's very good at understanding garbled nonsense.

[Sutekh]

Why?

They sold their best player.

Who?

Kalifa Cisse wasn’t it? Can’t for the life of me think who he joined though

[Sanguine]

Italy - Fiorentina having a wonderful ol' season, Level on points with league leaders Atalanta. And on Atalanta, Gasperini continues to get minimal acclaim outside of Italy for the staggeringly good work he has done there.

Napoli, Atalanta, Fiorentina and Lazio all in the top five, excellent stuff. It's all very close though - a point separates them all (and Inter), with Juventus unbeaten and just three further back. Milan and Roma nowhere, at the moment.

Moise Kean, who couldn't buy a goal at Everton, or Juventus after his spell at Goodison, is fuelling Fiorentina's good start, he has nine league goals, already the second best return of his career (13 at PSG in 20-21).

[Winston Biscuit]

Dunkerque up to 2nd in Ligue 2. Pretty small club who have never been in the top division before.

[Winston Biscuit]

Cba to Google it but wasn't there a team last season who were about 20 points ahead and bottled the league?

Botafogo. The nearly men of Brazilian football. often in the chasing pack but rarely ever deliver. 2 league titles in their history.

Were flying high top of the league with 6 weeks left to go, then failed to win any of their last 10 matches, ending up in 5th place.

Upd8 - with 6 weeks to go of this seasons league, Botafogo were 6 points clear. They have drawn the last 3 games and have now dropped to 2nd place on goal diffo to Palmeiras, the same club that won the title last season after Botafogo collapsed at the end.

Wednesday night is Palmeiras Vs Botafogo

Upd8 - Palmeiras 1-3 Botafogo

Botafogo are 3 points clear with 2 games left of the season!

[Winston Biscuit]

BBC3 8pm tomorrow - Copa Libertadores final.