1.) 19 Oct 2018
19 Oct 2018 08:14:54
The joe hart training ground? Sounds like somewhere they built just to try and make him half decent.

{Ed001's Note - they failed then...}


2.) 19 Oct 2018
19 Oct 2018 08:42:08
Cheers ed, good read. For a split second, having read firmane’s coments before the article, I thought Bielsa had given money to his old club and they had named it the Joe Hart trading ground 😂🙈. Nice touch by him though, it’s good when these guys give back, especially to an area of no doubt quite severe deprivation.

{Ed001's Note - if more people did that then the game would be much more competitive.}


3.) 19 Oct 2018
19 Oct 2018 09:33:15
Thanks very much Ed, have a good one mate.

{Ed001's Note - you too mate.}


4.) 19 Oct 2018
19 Oct 2018 09:37:06
Thanks Ed for update. Nice touch that by Bielsa, so much to like about that guy. I think Everton should buy Bolt. He fits their winger profile. Headless chicken that's quick as fk.

{Ed001's Note - welcome mate. Gotta love Bielsa, mad but great.}


5.) 19 Oct 2018
19 Oct 2018 10:05:30
I wonder how much David Bernstein gives to charity out of the exorbitant salaries he’s earnt over the years. That is effectively what he is asking the Premier League to do. While it would be nice for the Premier League to give money to the lower end of football, and possibly even to its long term benefit in terms of player development, it’s still a business at the end of the day.

Look at Bielsa giving back to his old club. Lovely and a very nice gesture, but how many rich people do this, in general? Just because people have an emotional connection to the product, people think they have a right to decide how it is run. The rich giving to the poor seldom happens enough in real life, why should football be any different?

Cheers Ed, have a good day.

{Ed001's Note - it is not really charity for the Prem to improve facilities for grassroots. It is in their interests to bring kids into the game.}


6.) 19 Oct 2018
19 Oct 2018 10:31:32
Thank you Ed, love the Bielsa story. Good for him. Have a great day.

{Ed001's Note - welcome mate.}


7.) 19 Oct 2018
19 Oct 2018 10:32:51
I agree to a point ed, but when you can go around the world and for your talent then its not so vital to bring British kids through, especially when already making a profit. But also, my main point on that is that if the FA wasn’t so badly run then they wouldn’t have to get miffed about the Premier League hoarding all the dough. They’d be able to utilise their assets better. It’s like the government selling off our transport and utilities networks (and the rest) then complaining when the new companies do the minimum needed to complete their duties while still managing to turn a profit which then leaves the country anyway.

There are so many reasons why it would be good for them to do more, but what do people really expect? There is no obligation for it.

{Ed001's Note - that is not a good comparison. It was the EFL that was in charge of the league before it became the greed is good Premier League. The FA never sold it off. The FA are the governing body and should be taking a %age off the Prem to give to grassroots as a matter of course.}


8.) 19 Oct 2018
19 Oct 2018 11:32:05
Ok, fair enough. The last part is a good point and sort of what I mean by being badly managed by not doing their job properly and using the Premier League for a scapegoat. If they have the power to take a levy then they should do it, for sure. You just can’t expect that any business would voluntarily give money away to what is not obviously or instantaneously beneficial to them. I can’t blame the Premier League in the football greed debate. It should be the people who allow capitalism to have no limits who are at fault and rich people like Bernstein having a go at the capitalist machine is a bit contradictory, in my view.

{Ed001's Note - I don't think the FA can force them, there is already an ongoing power struggle between clubs and UEFA, the governing bodies are sadly having to tread lightly. They should be in complete control for it to work effectively.}


9.) 19 Oct 2018
19 Oct 2018 12:41:29
Cheers Ed001, love a good Bielsa story, would expect nothing else from the great man. I recently read a Benjamin Mendy quote on him about their time at Marseille together that illustrates his obsessive nature but also innate understanding of players mentality (apologies for its length) .

"He made me devour videos like never before. To begin with he put me in front of the videos and I'd fall asleep. But he was happy! I was shocked. After a while I stopped sleeping and told myself go on, I'll watch two minutes of this thing after all. After that he talked to me, I talked to him and we'd go over moves together. He told me, see, that's why I let you sleep. You slept, you slept, you slept but the day you decided to watch you got interested on your own. If I'd pushed you to watch you wouldn't have been interested. Marcelo is just too good. "

Genius.

{Ed001's Note - he is a very clever coach.}


10.) 19 Oct 2018
19 Oct 2018 13:56:23
Shame. In theory, minus the lawsuits etc, would it be legal for the FA to disband the PL or at least ignore its validity in England? Not that they should, just do they actually have any power that they can wield? I just don’t understand how an organisation who can supposedly control and govern football in this country can have such little influence in real terms. Why, for example, should a newly introduced operators license linked to income of a footballing entity not be possible? Surely they have to take their own piece of the pie somehow.

{Ed002's Note - Why would the FA wish to disband the Premier League?}


11.) 19 Oct 2018
19 Oct 2018 15:07:32
I didn't imply they would. I was asking if they could. I was trying to ascertain how much power they actually have.

{Ed002's Note - The question makes no sense and is not a measure of power the FA has.}


12.) 19 Oct 2018
19 Oct 2018 17:44:04
Nice work Ed, great write up as always, pleasure to read them on my break.

I'd love to hear your views on how a Sporting Director/ Director of Football etc, could or should work modern football?

We've seen so many examples of it failing for various reasons and a few notable success stories (Sevilla under Monchi etc) .

Would be great to hear your views. Perhaps one for an article?

Cheers in advance.

{Ed001's Note - I have added it to the to do list for you mate.}


13.) 19 Oct 2018
19 Oct 2018 19:40:26
That'd make a very interesting article actually RD, good suggestion mate.