Sky Sports News' fear of reality

[Greavsey]

Quite. When penning my earlier response it briefly occurred to me that we don't exactly know where Tony Bloom's dosh comes from - and I opted to quietly overlook that (ahem). So I suppose I am being a little bit guilty of turning a blind eye to our own situation. But as far as I can tell from the comfort of my own armchair TB's main business activities are largely conducted very discretely and are on the other side of the world. I have faith that he is a highly successful businessman who chooses to invest in the Albion which has been a significant part of his family's sporting interests for 3 generations and is certainly nowhere near on the scale of Abramovich and Chelsea.

Indeed. When asked by supporters of other clubs where did Bloom's seemingly endless wealth come from I tend to just blurt something about being a professional gambler and then sheepishly shrug my shoulders! Whilst it's pretty obvious Abramovich isn't whiter than white, we need to be fairly careful when flinging the flint in the hothouse.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Indeed. When asked by supporters of other clubs where did Bloom's seemingly endless wealth come from I tend to just blurt something about being a professional gambler and then sheepishly shrug my shoulders! Whilst it's pretty obvious Abramovich isn't whiter than white, we need to be fairly careful when flinging the flint in the hothouse.

The Bloom family are wealthy to start off with. Tony Bloom's poker is a hobby, as his main wealth comes from properties all over the world and investments. He isn't a professional gambler.

 

[Kosmonaut]

He may have a point about Roman, but what he said about Qatar et al is pretentious twaddle.

 

[vegster]

He may have a point about Roman, but what he said about Qatar et al is pretentious twaddle.

Can you supply a good reason why a country with a huge amount of cash would invest that money in a football club, bearing in mind that most clubs struggle to even break even ? It is a vanity project as he has suggested.

 

[beorhthelm]

It is a vanity project as he has suggested.

yes it is a vanity project, but thats not whats being suggested. what Sayed is proposing is that its a way to curry favour with the local countries for political and popularist gain, to gain sympathetic groups abroad if they get into trouble for whatever reason. in the case of Abramovich it might hold some water, as he's got alot of enemies, but dont really see it applying to Qataries and Emiratis

 

[GoingUp]

I don't think they where scared so to speak they let him get on with what he wanted to say, they could of cut him off, was a great watch think I saw that live.

 

[METALMICKY]

I like MS in the Times. There is a very good video out there that he made looking at whether champions are born or nurtured to their greatness. Check it out.

And did he consider why by either route he failed to become a world beating table tennis player?

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I usually find Syed a little unbearable but he certainly made an important point very well.

On the other hand I don't mind Cascarino that much (I thought his autobiography was refreshingly honest). He was in a bit of a tight spot there though, as I guess he gets a regular income from Sky.

I suppose it does beg a slightly uncomfortable question about the SAUCE of our own Chairman's stadium fund...

I find Syed highly unbearable, but then I know him as we were colleagues at The Times. Knowing very little about any sport except ping-pong seldom holds him back from pontificating about it when he started out. Apart from the memorable occasion on which Private Eye devoted an entire page to his pseud's-corner look-at-me intros, his finest moment was a eulogy of Harry Redknapp as a misunderstood paragon that came out THE VERY DAY Harry was arrested. Priceless. He had no idea at all about any of the whispers about Redknapp.

Tony Cascarino, however, is a top bloke in many ways, even if, as has been mentioned elsewhere on here, he has double standards about the ghosting of columns.

Still, even a nause like Syed gets it right occasionally. Not that it's exactly a stunningly original revelation ...

 

[BadFish]

His book 'Bounce' is absolutely fascinating, a very interesting idea in this day and age and makes a whole lot of sense.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

One interesting thing about the foreign investors (Milan Mandaric excepted) . . . they have stuck to their guns, bunged in masses of cash, and are still here.

Portsmouth fans might disagree. But then the foreign owners Mandaric sold them to used the club as a money-laundering operation and when their Angolan arms cash was frozen by a court case in Israel, it all went tits-up.

 

[joeinbrighton]

Cascarino and Syed both work for The Times, don't they? Can't imagine they exchange small talk by the water cooler in The Times' office somehow. Syed seems like an intelligent writer, albeit he does not seem particularly popular with his fellow journalists. I remember reading a piece by Martin Samuel last year where he mentioned something Syed had said and he seemed to regard him with the utmost contempt. Still, fair play to Syed for not toeing the party line and saying what he really thought.

 

[BadFish]

Cascarino and Syed both work for The Times, don't they? Can't imagine they exchange small talk by the water cooler in The Times' office somehow. Syed seems like an intelligent writer, albeit he does not seem particularly popular with his fellow journalists. I remember reading a piece by Martin Samuel last year where he mentioned something Syed had said and he seemed to regard him with the utmost contempt. Still, fair play to Syed for not toeing the party line and saying what he really thought.

Agreed ..........like a journalist should do.

 

[Gwylan]

Apart from the memorable occasion on which Private Eye devoted an entire page to his pseud's-corner look-at-me intros, his finest moment was a eulogy of Harry Redknapp as a misunderstood paragon that came out THE VERY DAY Harry was arrested. Priceless. He had no idea at all about any of the whispers about Redknapp.
.

It could be argued though that the fact that 'Arry was cleared of all charges is a vindication of everything that Syed said; misunderstood indeed.

(I'm not defending him BTW, I know nothing of him except for the attacks on him in Private Eye - which are hilarious).

But I do think he's spot on about Abramovitch

 

[8ace]

Tony Cascarino's column in the post is superb - what a tipster!

 

[Pavilionaire]

Kirsty Gallacher: "Chelsea have put British football on the map." Sheesh, it's like Sir Alex Ferguson had never existed.

Makes me yearn for more broadsheet football coverage, imagine a world without Kirsty, Gabby, Jim White, Merse, Kammy et al where football stories on Sky were discussed by Martin Samuel, Gary Neville, Hoddle, Paddy Barclay, Marcotti and Guillem Balague instead.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Asking Syed on to talk about Abramovich - of course Sky knew what they were getting and I thought it was an interesting interview, the article you link to is rather unfair on Sky. As for Casacarino, of course he knows next to nothing about the court cases and why should he, but he did engage and made the important point that Abramovich is hardly the first dodgy owner of a football club and there have been plenty of dodgy British owners too

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

" Sheesh, it's like Sir Alex Ferguson had never existed.

What a wonderful thought!

 

[Questions]

And did he consider why by either route he failed to become a world beating table tennis player?

What the British champion, double Olympian, world ranked 24th Matthew Syed ?
No he never mentioned why he was such a failure.

 

[Mellotron]

That video is brilliant.

Also, the woman on that video said that the Premier League "is one of the most exciting leagues in the world". How is a league in which the top places are always taken up by the same teams each year one of the most exciting leagues in the world?

While I take your point, it's no different to all the other major European leagues in that respect.

 

[Captain Haddock]

Agree with that.

Love watching the Sky presenters squirming - thinking "Shit, he's not supposed to be saying that, but seeing as he's 100 times more intelligent than me I won't interrupt him...."

Haha. This, entirely.