Olympic bosses ordered to reveal West Ham stadium deal

Could be interesting

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-36017396

And this one's a little belter too.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/apr/11/leicester-city-finances-football-league-financial-fair-play-investigation

Me too, especially at Everton. Bielsa who has won absolutely nothing. Bielsa who's flounced out of his last two clubs. It'd be hilarious.

The Everton thread on rawk is brilliant, showing up the delusions of the Bitters in full glory. But the Football Phone-In on Radio Merseyside is the real-life version, and it's comedy gold.

Bielsa certainly wouldn't win anything with the current crop of Everton players. But give him the right players to fit the 3-3-3-1 system and Everton would be there or thereabouts. The physicality of the PL would certainly suit him - as evidenced by how well Pochettino has done.

The question is whether he'd stick around long enough to undertake a project, given his propensity for tantrums.

Well here's a random fact for everyone.

In terms of basic salary, Jonjo Shelvey earns more money than Neymar.

Crazy right? He'll be earning £80k a week in the Championship soon 

On that basis quite a few less talented footballers earn less than Neymar.

It says quite a lot about the insane amounts of money being paid for TV rights in the Premier league and the insane management of football clubs that allows so much of it to be spent on paying players amounts of money that are out of sync with their abilities and contributions.

It's all or nothing for the Premier League these days. Now you get clubs in the Championship splashing £8-10million plus on unproven players (Middlesbrough and Jordan Rhodes springs to mind) almost in desperation.

Given Barca's recent track record for dodgy tax shenanigans, does anyone believe Neymar only gets £77k? I also wonder if £77k is the equivalent of some tax band over in Spain...

Of course not. As I said originally; it's his basic salary.

Here's his contract, which was leaked a couple of days ago.

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/88/spain/2016/04/11/22249712/neymars-contract-at-barcelona-leaked

Is there a smiley for jaw hitting the floor?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36043808

Jesus, wept, who was negotiating for the Olympic Stadium? Mr Bean? That is truly shocking and Messrs Gold & Sullivan must be p*ssing themselves laughing.

Abysmally poor value for the taxpayer, who has mostly funded this.

I'm genuinely flabbergasted. I thought the cost would be 4/5 times that. What West Ham will pay is buttons.

Yep, rogered by the Dildo Twins.

Is the ref in the Leicester-Wet Spam game really Pochettino in a mask?

FFS, ten minutes to hold on but instead the wheels come off. Just hope Stoke can do the Sperms tomorrow.

The perils of getting ahead of oneself when one posts! Referee Moss redeems himself by levelling-up the dodgy-penalty score, allowing Leicester to salvage a point. Pity it couldn't have been 3, but hopes now on Stoke to get at least a draw.

Moss had a good game until that soft penalty at the end. Are they now banning contact from football? Dreadful decision, but probably designed to even up the 'penalty' Huth didn't get - a penalty Huth said wasn't.

Leicester were lucky today. 

All in all, a pretty good afternoon regarding the games that mattered; save for a moment of insanity from Moss.

BTW; god bless Peter Cech

Suddenly just realised the Fenians lost too. So all in all, quite a good afternoon.

It's only a one-match ban for Vardy. Ulloa has proved he is effective in a different way, and I think Okazaki can supply the work-rate up front for the game against Swansea which, on paper, looks straightforward enough for Leicester.

If Stoke get anything against Spurs tomorrow then it won't matter anyway.

Quote from a piece a purported Shiteh fan put on one of the Spurs forums (not the one I use though).

Whether he's a Shiteh fan or not is moot; I think the following bit sums up what is a very good feature in any event.

"The parallels between United in the early 90’s and the current Tottenham team are startling; intense, principled managers who’ve paid their dues and worked their way up the ladder, who’ve weaned the negative influences out of the club and established a young British core of the team who’re developing in sync, ala the class of ’92, alongside some shrewdly acquired foreign talent."

It's a compliment to the current Spurs team to be compared with what proved to be the best English outfit in the modern era.

http://www.thefightingcock.co.uk/2016/04/a-man-city-fans-view-on-spurs

I'm sure there's some valid parallels, but the game is totally different now to the early 90's - not least a hugely increased level of competition.

In the early 90's you had the game's previous superpowers of Liverpool in a state of transition - and getting it repeatedly wrong in terms of manager & playing personnel. Arsenal were similarly in a bit of a flux. The only other teams that really challenged were flash-in-the-pans like Leeds or Blackburn, who did so very briefly.

Look at next season. City have brought in the manager many believe to be the best in the world, and will bankroll yet another splurge on proven top players. Chavski look serious on rebuilding under Conte. Arsenal will likely be up there, but will admittedly flatter to deceive. Man U might even bring in a good manager - and won't flinch at spending another £200m on shiny things.

This current season has been a perfect storm for outsiders to do well. Chavski went into a Maureen-inspired metdown early on and haven't really recovered. Citeh have been in Limbo with Pellegrini & didn't learn the lesson of having a capable central defensive cover for when Kompany inevitably misses half the season. Arsenal continue to persevere with Wenger, despite needing to revamp to rid themselves of the 'top 4 is success' mindset. Man U are unbalanced & uninspiring under a manager who's hated by their own fans. Liverpool are trying to rectify the poor signings & scattergun tactics of Rodgers - and will be trying for some time I fear!

I can't help feeling that if you don't win it this season, you won't get another sniff. The increased challenge of Champions League football next season will be a jolt. Then you've got to keep hold of your top players when the Madrids, Barca's, even Citehs & Chavskis & Man U's) come sniffing. You've been very fortunate with injuries this season, having hardly any key players out for extended periods. Take, say, Alli, Kane & Alderweireld out for a couple of months mid-season, and you'd struggle.

Whilst I don't disagree with much of the thrust of your response, given everyone is likely to improve to some extent, I think the days are receding when the usual suspects can expect to slug it out for the title - in part due to the TV money. In short, everyone can beat everyone else (as seen this season) - a situation I think can become even more prevalent next season.

I don't necessarily buy into the idea Guardiola will work wonders at Shiteh, for example. He could turn out to be another Van Gaal; dining out on a great track record but ultimately being perceived as clueless in an entirely different type of league.

Is Mourinho going to improve United that much? In relative terms (to Van Gaal), possibly. Klopp will certainly improve Liverpool; there are already signs of this, while Everton will likely be a lot better, now that some cash is coming in.

Arsenal is an interesting case. Do they stick with Wenger? Or twist with another manager and temporarily fall further back?

Spurs will continue to improve - they have a conveyor belt of talent coming through. Just in case though, they'll be back in the transfer market this summer, so I see further improvement.

The following piece by the great Ledley King sums it up. He's absolutely spot on. And if anyone should know he should.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2016/04/18/22517872/-

All in all, I see the PL becoming more competitive. And hopefully, more entertaining too.

I've always had a feeling Spurs would sneak the title and to be honest Leicester have not been convincing in recent games. If Spurs win tonight, then panic may set in and without Vardy they will struggle to score.

A shame for all the neutrals but in any other season, Spurs winning the title would be a great story