Comments on: Once in Oranje: Frank “Pico” Berghuis

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:14:56 +0000

@Finn, thanks for the info. re the owneres of West Ham. Explains why the announcers of a recent game were talking about the tension between the current coach and owners over transfers.

By: finnster01

finnster01 — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:36:15 +0000

@Andrew; Regd Icelandic owners, I think Stoke is actually fine but West Ham’s owner is literally bankrupt (he was the largest shareholder of Landesbankki, the largest bank in Iceland which ended up going under and also had another tech firm go belly up on him). Rumours have it that he needs to liquidate his assets over the next 3 months, which include West Ham. Look for several of their decent players to be sold this January.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:04:23 +0000

@Felipe, oops two mistakes, really. The NWCB and Ronaldinho’s origins. I appreciate your correcting me—wouldn’t want to have said that to the wrong Gremio fan—especially one wearing a “Pitbull” jersey. The story about the fans purchasing the Ajax cleanser is hysterical.

By: Felipe

Felipe — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:05:55 +0000

@Andrew: NWCB = Netherlands World Cup Blog.

About Gremio-Inter rivalry: first of all, there’s a mistake. Ronaldinho also came from Gremio. No problem with me – I support Corinthians -, but, if you had said it to a Gremio diehard fan… well, maybe there’d be no problems, as Gremio’s supporters hate Ronaldinho.

And, yes, their rivalry is probably the most intense in Brazil. There are others, like Flamengo-Vasco on Rio de Janeiro or Corinthians-Palmeiras at Sao Paulo, but, in Gremio-Inter case, the supporters are more like Argentinian ones, so the intensity of the passion. I’ll give you an idea of the rivalry: when Gremio lost the 1995 Intercontinental Cup to Ajax, many Internacional fans bought cans and cans of Ajax (the household cleaner). Just to provoke Gremio’s fans!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:48:58 +0000

@Felipe, Good to see that you are back. (What is “NWCB”—a college?) Question about Brazilian futbol. What is the story about the Porto Allegre teams. I know Scolari is from Gremio (they were a hard bunch when he was there) and I know Ronaldinho is from Internacional. Every time I see a match or highlights form there, that huge bowl is packed. Is the support there more intense than other regions?
@Finn, Are the Icelandic owners going to be able to hold on to those teams. I have good friends in NY, husband is Icelandic, and I know they were more than a little concerned about their family in “Island.”
@Jan, keep these articles coming, more great stuff. Many thanks.

By: Felipe

Felipe — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:25:37 +0000

Hey everyone! I’m back! (Now at my first whole year in NWCB…)

I was desperately hoping for these “Once in Oranje” piece. After all, it was an Oranje-Brazil match!

Funny to read Berghuis making compliments to our side. Brazil from 1990 WC is “hailed” as one of our worst ever… and we didn’t played good at that December 20th, 1989. But Careca… wow, what a goalscorer!

Brazilian line-up, by the way, was Taffarel; Jorginho, Aldair (Julio Cesar), Mozer and Ricardo Rocha; Branco, Dunga (Silas), Alemão and Valdo; Romario (Bebeto) and Careca (Muller). Sebastiao Lazaroni was the coach.

By: finnster01

finnster01 — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:00:46 +0000

@Goose. Couldnt agree more. Money is destroying the sport we love. Unfortunately it has already happened. In fact, if we look at the Prem the following are foreign owned (and I probably missed a few):

Liverpool (American)
Chelsea (Russian)
Man Utd (American)
Aston Villa (American)
Arsenal (Still majority controlled in the UK, but Russians are drooling)
Portsmouth (Serbian)
West Ham (Icelandic)
Stoke (Icelandic)
Fulham (Egyptian)
Man City (Very rich Arabs)

By: goose

goose — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:37:06 +0000

@finn ; call me a socialist but i really dont like all this foreign money ; once it starts other team need to follow or fail … i reckon football could do with less money involved

i mean ; Liverpool should always be in english hands … not owned by some crazy dessert idiots

By: finnster01

finnster01 — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:14:32 +0000

@Goose: Thank you for the Cambuur update. I am not up to date on Eredivisie, so never mind the lower divsions. Sounds like there are a lot of teams struggling real bad with finances everywhere, including Eredivisie and even the EPL (Portsmouth, Blackburn, West Ham etc.).

I think there will be quite a few clubs changing ownership in 2009, including Liverpool. Their loan is up with Wachovia soon and needs to be refinanced. Not sure if Wells Fargo (new owners of Wachovia) will let them do that in this climate. Could be some Dubai money coming in to kick-start Stanley Park as well.

It is not a bad investment to buy a solid Prem club if you believe that the new Media deal (which is up 2010) will continue to increase. In fact, it is one of the higher yield investments you can make these days if you have the horsepower to organize the funding. Rates in the US are as low as they will ever get, so I can see a few hedge funds and private equity firms make a gamble. They can’t make a decent return in the current market, and next year they have to outperform to continue to have their investors. Speculating on the EPL seems less risky to me than many other options. The only risk you may have, is getting relegated prior or at the end of 2010…Obviously not a concern for Liverpool, but the other ones carries that risk.

By: goose

goose — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:43:33 +0000

@finn ; thats right, Stam played i think 2 seasons before moving to WillemII and then PSV

Cambuur is in lots of financial trouble (like Eindhoven, Fortuna Sittard and some other 2nd division teams) .. few people watching, few sponsors

its esp. hard for them since Heerenveen has become such a powerhouse in Holland…thats what they really dont like