Owner: Escribbler Football Blog URL:http://escribbler.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Sat, 02 Jun 2007 09:04:02 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Professional Footballer Blog from Andy Hunt, ex Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion and Charlton Athletic Football player. Stories, News, Video and Articles from the World of Football Site statistics:Click here
Premiership Football Clubs strike Gold followed by £200,000 a Week Football player Wages 2007-05-31 20:21:00 It sounds astonishing to think that a Premier League player
can command £200,000 a WEEK, yet this is the figure that is being talked about by the Deloitte Report on the Financial state of the Football
.Television Rights Deals are spiralling upwards, inevitably pushing Players wages upwards and the author of Deloittes report suggests that it will not be long before a player commands a £200,000/week Salary. The mind boggles that an average Premiership
player and Journeymen (players who move from Club to Club) could then earn £50,000/week. Far fetched I hear you cry. Yet the money continues to pour into the game at a breakneck speed as the Premier League Football appeal spread across the world.The English league is dwarfing its Italian, German and Spanish peers, with Match day, Sponsorship and Broadcast revenues reaching £1.4 Billion in the 2005/2006 season. The Serie A Italian League generated £1 Billion, falling well short of the English games financial windfall.European SuccessPerh Read more:Clubs
, strike
, Wages
Improving at Golf by learning from Football - Tips for Young Players 2007-05-31 07:07:00 I have been playing a lot of golf recently and have noticed huge improvements in my game as a result of spending many hours on the driving range and picking up tips from better players.I have bought a few golf magazines to pick up some more tips on how to improve and after flicking through the pages I noticed the amount of advertising for new equipment, something not unusual to see in Football
Magazines and it started me thinking about what you need to excel in a sport. I wondered what you actually need to focus on to make big improvements in your chosen game and what you need to ignore.When I was a boy I played with friends who were more concerned with having the latest equipment, rather than focusing on what you do with the equipment. In fact even as a professional Football player I noticed many players totally absorbed by the latest football boot design. Golfing magazines are awash with adverts for "larger sweet spots", "top performance putters", "titanium cup faces", "fusion techno Read more:Players
1 Less member needed to buy a Football Club 2007-05-30 07:04:00 Sandringham Estate in North NorfolkOk, so I wrote about the novel Football
website set up by Will Brooks, looking to garner 50,000 members who will all stump up £35 to create a fund in order to purchase a football club. I still have a lot of questions about how this could happen but it is such a fantastical idea that even if it doesn't work out I think it's worth the £35 to "enjoy the ride"I registered this morning, which involves giving your name and email address. (the £35 comes later). The biggest decision is too decide which club you wish to purchase, (actually you do not need to decide on any teams yet) ranging from the Premier League all the way down to the Isthmian League.I thought about the Premier League Clubs but the amount of money that would be raised would not be enough to compete with even the strugglers in the top flight. The lower leagues seem like a more attractive proposition, where an estimated £1,375,000 would be a huge amount of cash. I have voted for Kings L
Charlton Football Fans are just a bunch of Bloggers 2007-05-29 06:57:00 Commiserations to West Bromwich Albion after stumbling at the final premier league hurdle at Wembley. Congratulations of course to Derby County who go on to reap the rewards of a fantastic Championship season.Of course after finishing 3rd in the regular season many observers will say justice has been done.I was trying to gauge blogger opinion from West Brom fans before the game but it seems that West Brom Fans do not blog. Charlton
fans on the other hand seem to be old hands at Blogging. A selection of a few Charlton Blogs that have caught my attention : Addicks DiaryAll Quiet in the East StandCharlton Athletic OnlineCharlton BlogCharlton North DownsForever CharltonFrankie ValleyJakartassNew York AddickSouth Londons FinestTalk CAFCValley Floyd RoadI wonder why the addicks are so keen, yet the baggies not so?
Read more:Football
West Bromwich Albion Play Off Finals 2007 v Derby County 2007-05-27 06:41:00 Good luck to my old team West Bromwich Albion tomorrow against Derby County
in the Championship Play Off final against Derby at Wembley.Video of West Broms 2 leg victory against their Black Country Rivals Wolves. http://youtube.com/watch?v=f63CONd-kf8http://youtube.com/watch?v=k4alPAJ3G_Yhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=D9gBAeVd5wYhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=lP2dT42WL5QIt brings a tingle down my spine to see and hear the baggies fans boing boinging at the Hawthorns.2007 Play off Final Review (BBC)2007 Play off Final Review (Guardian)Memories Of Wembley Play Off Final 1993 v Port ValeNext : Golf and Football. Ignoring the "fancy" equipment ads and focusing on what really matters if you aspire to be the best.
Chelsea Football Club Youtube Channel - Global Brand 2007-05-26 20:09:00 Chelsea Football
Club have become the first club to open a Youtube Video Channel
, allowing fans to congregate online, watch clips of commentary on the club's fortunes and post their views on the season's progress.Chelsea are reaching out to a new, fast growing medium on the Internet, although they are not allowed to show Live footage due to contractual rights.Chelsea Chief Executive Peter Kenyon said: "We are delighted to work with YouTube. Chelsea is the first football club to move into what is clearly one of the fastest growing new media platforms."Youtube which was acquired by Google for $1.65 Billion (USD) is reaching out to sports fans all over the world, and Chelsea will be one of the front runners, hoping to grab a small share of the 100 million video downloads every day from the youtube site. With Google experimenting with Video advertising, the Chelsea channel could be a lucrative business for the club.The possibilities of the increased advertising revenues from the internet Read more:Chelsea
, Global
, Brand
Top 7 reason NOT to buy a Football Club 2007-05-26 19:26:00 Crowd AbuseIf you get it wrong you could lose a lot of moneyPlayers really don't care about the owner (see no 3, top 7 Reasons to buy a Football
Club)Fans really don't care about the ownerIt's a lose, lose situation. A thankless task. Win the league and the players and manager get credit. Get relegated or win nothing (see Newcastle United, Aston Villa, West Ham, Leeds United etc etc) and the fans want more money and better players.Unless you own one of the big teams no-one will care what you think in the Premier League meetings. (see no 6, top 7 reason to buy a Football Club)No-one knows who you areTop 7 Reasons to buy a Football ClubWant to buy your own Football Club. Footballs most ambitious project.Why Buy a Football Club?
Professional Footballer's Association - Website for Youngsters, Coaches and football fans 2007-05-25 10:26:00 The PFA is a great website for an insight into the goings on of a Professional Football player and is a great read for anyone interested in Football or pursuing a career in football.The PFAs chairman is my old Charlton Athletic colleague Chris Powell,(Chris's PFA interview) and is packed with information including loads of player interviews.Chris points to the role of the PFA in his interview which is undervalued and underused by its members (Football players) saying : "I think some players still don't recognise what benefits they can get (from the PFA), how can they be helped with their financial planning and looking ahead to the future, and life outside football".The website has some short but insightful interviews with Professional Footballers and does not just concentrate on the star names, but goes through the leagues picking the thoughts of players from all over the country. A refreshing change to hear the opinions of players on the fringe of stardom.It also has a hot seat, cur Read more:Coaches
50,000 members needed to bid for a Football Club 2007-05-24 21:30:00 As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I have found this website that is looking for 50,000 members to join and sign up for £35 each to purchase through a society a Football
Club.The website, which is the brainchild of Fulham fan Will Brooks and 2 years into development has been featured on the BBC. Although it throws up a host of potential problems, the possibilities are tantalizing to say the least. With 50,000 members all having a single vote and the club run by true democracy it has to be worth £35 of anyones money.MyFootballClub is offering to buy out a club that meets the following criteria :51% or more of the football club shares can be bought with the Purchase FundThere is none, or a manageable debtThe club has the potential to reach the PremiershipThe Ultimate Fantasy Football Manager GameOnce the club is purchased here is where the fun starts. Members will be able to :Vote on team selection and formationDecide tactics, by voting for your preferred style of play and substi
Freestyle Football Video Skills 2007-05-24 17:34:00 Freestyle Football
Video to make even Ronaldinho jealous More Freestyle FootballAnd now the masters, Ronaldinho and Cristiano RonaldoResources :Ronaldinho Official WebsiteCristiano Ronaldo Wikipedia
Read more:Freestyle
, Skills
Want to buy your own Football Club? 2007-05-23 17:46:00 Sounds crazy but "Football
s greatest adventure" to put together 50,000 members to bid for an English Football Club is underway.More tomorrow. Or is it an internet scam...
Top 7 reasons to buy a Football Club 2007-05-23 16:26:00 Yet another Premier League takeover is on the cards with Billionaire Mike Ashley buying 41.6% of Newcastle United Football
Club, valuing the Geordies at £133.1 million, not quite as much as Liverpools £178 Million but still a vast sum of money. I wrote about why there has been such an interest in the last few years from Billionaires and consortiums in purchasing notoriously bad businesses (Football Clubs) and have compiled a Top 7 reasons list to buy a Club.Top 7 Reasons to buy a Football Club :Free Ticket to Home Games and go where you like in the stadiumEntrance to away team BoardroomsGet to meet the playersGet to buy the playersBragging RightsSit in on Premier League meetings with the high flying big wigs of footballGreat Pre-season Holidays with the teamIf you have any suggestions leave them in the comments below...and the Top 7 reasons not to buy the club? As for the Champions League final. Liverpool got hit with the classic sucker punch. After playing the better football and wa
Football Training Techniques - Plyometrics at Charlton Athletic 2007-05-21 08:52:00 My last article I wrote about Sam Allardyce taking over at Newcastle United Football
Club and his use of modern techniques to enhance the abilities of his players. I touched on the subject of Plyometrics, a type of exercise that uses explosive movements to develop muscular power.Plyometrics resources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plyometricshttp://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/plymo.htmIn the final few years of my Football career I was introduced to this training technique and found it to be extremely useful. Charlton
Athletics fitness coach Joe Dunbar was responsible for bringing the technique to the club, although obviously Alan Curbishley (former Manager of Charlton Athletic Football Club) must be given credit for his foresight in using this training technique.Through a combination of Weight Training
, Bounding and Jumping mixed with agility training, Plyometrics was used by Charlton to improve the speed and strength of our players. Initially Joe received very funny looks and lots of ridic
Another New Era for Newcastle United Football Club 2007-05-18 13:34:00 Newcastle UnitedFootball
Club have taken a brave step in hiring another manager to lift the so called sleeping giants out of hibernation. It must be such an old cliche for the fans of the club to hear, but with a massive fan base and a huge stadium they are a Football Club that could achieve so much more than their history suggests.In Sam Allardyce they have what seems to be a traditional English manager who builds Football teams that are very hard to beat, yet in the not so traditional sense, Allardyce employs extremely modern techniques at his clubs. With a team of experts around him Allardyce ensures that he has the expertise in areas of a football club that he himself does not have time to run.I played for many clubs who hired Nutritionists, Specialist Coaches (When I played for Newcastle in the early 90s they had a sprinting coach even way back then), motivational experts, Physiotherapists and other such gurus to enhance the performance of the team.At Charlton Athletic we had a f Read more:Newcastle
Congratulations West Brom Football Club 2007-05-18 08:29:00 Well done to West Bromwich Albion Football
Club in making the Championship 2006/2007 Play Off finals.Wembley has had quite an overhaul since I played there for the Baggies in the 1993 play off finals. I wish them luck in the final against Derby, and hopefully I will still see 2 of my former sides lining up in the Premier League next season. Virtual Tour of "Old Wembley"
Read more:Congratulations
Freddies Football Faux Pas 2007-05-13 18:04:00 Newcastle Uniteds Chairman Freddie Shepherd was caught on a mobile video phone by an enterprising bunch of Liverpool fans, with a less than complimentary comment about Michael Owen. This video is now doing the rounds on Youtube (140,000 views in 3 days) and is a Classic F**k up which will hardly endear him to Owen.
Read more:Football
Turning down £15,000 a week! 2007-05-12 20:54:00 I get a lot of Emails from people who are suffering or believe they are suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.I was struck down with this illness in 2000 at the height of my professional Football career. For anyone who is looking for a reference point for CFS I would suggest reading the article about the problems I had, including how it affected the end of my football career.Nearly 6 Years after being diagnosed I am unable to resume even a semi-professional career in football and I am still trying to persuade my insurance company to recognise that this caused the end of my career, and to finally pay me. I wish they were as quick at settling claims as they are at accepting premiums!!! At the time I was in my last year of my contract and negotiations had started to sign a new contract with Charlton that would have been worth in excess of £10,000/week and possibly as much as £15,000/week, an astronomical figure when I look back now, although in the year 2007 this probably isn't even
100 Milliseconds to Save a Football Penalty? 2007-05-09 05:09:00 Pepe Reinas saves in the penalty shoot out against Chelsea in the Semi Finals of the Champions League were impressive especially when you consider that a goalkeeper has 100 milliseconds to make his decision. According to Professor Tom Reilly (Professor of Sports Science at Liverpool John Moore University) the ball takes 600 milliseconds to travel from the penalty spot to the goal line, leaving a goalkeeper a mere 100 milliseconds to choose his direction. Most Penalty
takers would choose their spot before approaching the kick, unless of course you are in the class of Eric Cantona who seemed to have an uncanny knack of sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.Looks like this goalkeeper could do with some hints from Reina....
Read more:Football
Professional Football Players Kit Bag 2006-12-12 20:46:00 I recently had an email asking how professional football players choose their kit sizes. This is not an exact science and although we are a spoiled breed, we certainly do not take a trip to Saville Row to get our chest, leg and ankle sizes measured up.Most players would fit a general size of shirt or shorts, which if you have a good kit man will be pre-determined for you. Life as a professional footballer can be very luxurious at times. A kit mans job is to ensure that all your kit is laid out before you when you arrive at the stadium for a game. This would include Shirt, Shorts, Socks, underwear and boots. All spotlessly clean and ready for action. The only thing you bring in your kit bag is shin pads, little snacks, and any special drinks you personally prefer. For example, a high carbohydrate drink.Shirt sizes were generally always quite accurate. I am sure the occasional player will need a specially made shirt, or some players might request a specific size. But I rarely witnessed t Read more:Football
, Players
Neo Earth - Blog Mapping and Statistics Tool 2006-10-05 17:44:00 Great Blogging Tool for anyone interested. On the Top right hand corner of this blog is a Map and you should be able to see your home town currently flashing in the map. Click on the map and you can see where all your visitors have come from.Grab it here
Read more:Earth
, Mapping
, Statistics
How to Become a Professional Footballer 2006-10-01 23:44:00 Football. The magical game, the escape from the ghetto, or the streets, to seek fame and fortune. Many youngsters idolize their footballing heroes, longing to become the next David Beckham or Michael Owen. But exactly how do you become a professional footballer?“I could have been a professional footballer, if it wasn’t for my dodgy knee, or my flat feet”. If I had a penny for every bloke up the pub that told me this line, I’d have my own private jet to fly back and forth from Belize in.I believe that the way to become a professional footballer, in fact the way to reach the elite in any chosen career is to be passionate about what you do. You do not need to have your arm twisted to go to the training field and play in the freezing winter. You do not need to be scolded and cajoled into running the extra mile. But you do need to run the extra mile.I started playing football when I was a toddler. As I grew up I had a natural love of the game. I couldn’t get enough of it. I would Read more:Become
You Tube Video Sharing. 2006-09-30 14:47:00 Just started messing around with You tube the online Video Upload/Sharing
service. Not really sure what I am going to do with it but here is the newly created Jungle Dome Belize Video ChannelWith some funny video from MTV Wildboyz. Plus Video from us, including the Howler Monkey Riding the Dog and Kayaking
Read more:Video Sharing
Top 7 Premier League Football Players from 2006/2007 2007-06-03 08:26:00 The Fink Tank Predictor provides Forecasts and Ranking systems for Professional Football
Clubs in Europe. It is a statistical model based on more than 5 years of scores. Player rankings are calculated by simulating the season repetitively and removing players from the equation and replacing them with players of an average score. Then they were able to calculate how many points each individual player added to his team.By also factoring a players injury record (after all, what good is a player if he only plays 10 games a season) a computer model of the top players in Europe was made.No prizes for guessing who came top in the English PremierLeague
. The PFA voters were right to give the accolade to Cristiano Ronaldo (voted PFA Player of the year and PFA young Player of the year). Listed belowTop 7 Premier League
FootballersCristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United Football ClubFrank Lampard - Chelsea Football ClubGilberto Silva - Arsenal Football ClubPetr Cech - Chelsea Football ClubJans Lehm Read more:Players
Football News 2007-06-08 06:51:00 Thierry Henry is being linked to AC Milan, which would be a massive blow to Arsenal if they let him go. How do you replace a proven goalscorer like him? I felt they made a big mistake in letting Patrick Vierra leave a few years ago and Henry departing would be another big loss."So the only thing I can tell you is right now I am an Arsenal player but I cannot deny it's nice to hear about Milan." said Henry, leaving the door slightly open. I hope he stays at Arsenal as Wenger has been slowly rebuilding his squad and a fully fit Henry could spearhead a great season for the gunners.More Football
club owners sell their shares. Alan Sugar has cashed in to the tune of £25 million with Freddie Shepherd getting £37.6 Million for his 28% of Newcastle United Football Club. The Premier League Football Gold Rush continues.Xabi Alonso has signed a long term contract at Liverpool joining Gerrard, Carragher and Reina. Liverpool seem to have been a bit slower at making new summer signings but keepin
12 Great Goals from around the world of Football (Video) 2007-06-05 22:28:00 featuring Fernando Torres - Atletico MadridAmantino Mancini - RomaGiuseppe Rossi - ParmaScott Sinclair - PlymouthPeter Crouch - LiverpoolJuan Pablo Arenas - ChileShota Arveladze - AZ AlkmaarThierry Henry - ArsenalZaltan Ibrahimovic - InterWayne Rooney - Manchester UTDDavid Nugent - Preston North ENDPato - Brazil
Read more:Football
, Great
, Goals
Beckhams Major League Soccer Mistake? 2007-06-10 15:31:00 David Beckham is now being courted by Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon who in January snubbed Beckhams
chances of playing for Real Madrid again.Free Kick GeniusGet out clauseReal Madrid have hinted there is a get out clause in Beckhams contract with LA Galaxy. I suggested that after Beckhams fantastic return to form that the top Football clubs of Europe would start to show interest in him and seek a way round his LA Galaxy contract. The Real President is reported as saying "We need to sit down with Beckham, his representatives and with (Real sporting director Predrag) Mijatovic, look at this clause, and decide between us."BBC ArticleTelegraph ArticleBeckham has been inspirational in driving Real Madrid towards another La Liga title and has also proved himself again for England. After showing what he is capable of at the highest level in Football, surely playing MLS Soccer
is going to be a huge come down for him. No matter how many titles he wins at LA Galaxy nothing he will do in t Read more:Major
, League
, Mistake
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