14 February - 28 February 2001

13 FEBRUARY 2001

Transfers


Here is a quick look at the total paid in transfer fees this season by clubs
from the top four European Leagues. Estimated valuations of undisclosed
transfer fees and values of players on loan are not included.

League			Fees £m 2000		Fees £m 1999
Serie A			431.51			365.10
Premiership		312.91			215.93
La Liga			241.15			140.10
Bundesliga		80.05			107.70

Between them clubs from the top four leagues have spent over one billion
pounds in transfer fees this season. It will be interesting to see what effect
the changes on the transfer system and increased TV revenue for Premiership
clubs will have on next season's spending.

A comprehensive breakdown listing the number of imports, exports, foreign
and domestic signings will be on-line at the end of the season, time permitting.
Data from France will also be included.

Whinger Wenger

Aresene Wenger has once again used the impending changes in the transfer
system as an excuse to question his future at Highbury :

"It would be pointless for me to continue if players are given the right to
walk out on their contracts with just three months notice. How can you plan
to build a team when you know suddenly someone might leave?", he said on
Monday.

The real problem for Wenger is that despite building a hugely talented squad
with the exception of the 1997-1998 season, his team have failed to provide a
threat to Man United's dominance of the Premiership and even more so failed
miserably in the European Cup.

No More Crisps For Leicester

Leicester City will end their sponsorship deal with Walkers Crisps (if anyone
from Walkers is reading this I would be happy to shamelessly plug your
products in exchange for cash/crisps!) at the end of the season. Electronics
manufacturers LG have signed a two year sponsorship deal with the club worth
£2.5 million.


11 FEBRUARY 2001

Italian Teenager Killed In Motorbike Accident

17 year old defender Niccolo Galli was killed in a motorbike accident on
Friday, two days before he was due to make his Serie A debut against Roma.
The defender, son of former Milan and Italy goalkeeper Giovanni Galli, was on
loan from Arsenal. 

Aimar - How Much?

New Valencia signing Pablo Aimar is expected to make his debut for the club
against Man United in next weeks Champions League tie. BBC have listed his
transfer fee at £20 million, ITV at £15 million and World Soccer £13.7 million.
World Soccer's figure is accurate give or take what rate they used to convert
US dollars to pounds sterling. I always use $1.5 to £1 and then round-up to
two decimal place. For Aimar I listed £13.6, based on the US dollar figure
given by CNN.


9 FEBRUARY 2001

Ambrosini Out For The Season

Milan midfielder Massimo Ambrosini will miss the rest of the season with a
cruciate knee ligament injury he picked up in the match against Reggina.

Stick Up

Ronaldo was robbed of his car at gun point last week by three men  in Brazil
last week. 

"They pointed guns to my head and told me to get out. They were aggressive,
but one recognized me and they lowered their guns. I sensed a reaction of
shock and surprise but it was too late. They weren't going to waste the
trip."

Ronaldo's BMW was found un-damaged in a residential neighbourhood an hour
later thanks to it's satellite tracking system though his wallet was stolen.

Buffon - School Dunce

Parma goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was fined £2000 for trying to enrol in the
University of Parma to study law with a fake diploma. He claimed to have been
awarded the diploma by the Antonio Manieri Institute in Rome. Buffon
apologised after being sprung, like it matters after being caught.


7 FEBRUARY 2001

Serie A and Premiership transfers and squad lists have again been updated.
More transfers to follow.


5 FEBRUARY 2001

Brazil Round-Up by Tomaz R. Alves

Corinthians Fire Darío Pereyra

After just six matches in charge, Uruguayan coach Darío Pereyra was fired by
the Corinthians board. In six matches, Pereyra got 1 win, 2 draws and 3
defeats. This is one more stupid move by the directors, which expect to find
a magician, not a coach (how in the world can a man fix a downbeat squad,
without reinforcements, in just six matches?). Even worse is the fact that
the reason for the sacking was the poor showings in the insignificant São
Paulo State Championship and in the even more insignificant Rio-São Paulo
Tournament. Former Corinthians coach Oswaldo Oliveira is being tipped to
replace Pereyra.

Astonishing fact : Darío Pereyra was not the first coach to be sacked in the
São Paulo State Championship. Last week, União São João fired their coach.
Remember that the competition started just three weeks ago!

Brazil Fixes The Problem Of The 'Moving Walls'

An inventor from São Paulo seems to have created the definitive solution to
avoid players standing too close to the ball in free kicks. It's a white
foam spray that the referee uses to mark the place where the ball should be
put in the free kick (drawing a circle on the grass) and the place were the
defensive wall should stand (drawing a line on the grass). With those
clearly visible marks, it becomes impossible for the players to approach the
ball. After about 2 minutes, the white foam vanishes without doing any
damage to the pitch. This new invention is in use in the São Paulo State
Championship and has showed 100% efficiency.

Tomaz Alves


2 FEBRUARY 2001

Bloody Transfers!

Just as I finished the Serie A transfers and squad lists there were a lot of
last minute moves! Revised transfers and squad lists will be on-line later
today. There is a rumour that Roma have signed Cassano from Bari but Bari
deny any move taking place.

World Club Championship

The second World Club championship will be held in Spain from the 19th of
July to 12 August 2001. The competitors :

Europe : Deportivo, Galatasaray, Real Madrid
South America : Boca Juniors, Palmeiras
Africa : Accra, Zamalek
Concacaf : LA Galaxy, Olimpia
Oceania : Wolves

Sacchi Quits

Arrigo Sacchi has quit as coach of Parma after 23 days in charge complaining
about stress. Former Bologna and Napoli coach Renzo Ulivieri takes over.
Parma claim stress wasn't the problem.


1 FEBRUARY 2001

France Round-up by Paul Bailey

Monaco to Take the Drop?

Tuesday saw the LNF disciplinary commission reach a conclusion regarding
former Monaco defender Pablo Contreras. Contreras - from Chile but caught
using a fake Italian passport while with Monaco - has been suspended for four
months, with a further two months on deferral. In addition, AS Monaco was
"only" deducted two points, the reasoning behind the decision being that
Contreras had received his passport prior to joining last year's champions.

This development means that Monaco now have only 27 points - only four
above Saint-Etienne and Toulouse, both currently in the relegation zone. It
would certainly be an interesting sight if last year's champions descended
into the D2 while the winner of the second division (Lille) took the top honors.


Mondragon Makes Four

FC Metz officials have stated that Farid Mondragon - currently in the United
States playing a pair of friendly matches for Colombia - will not be returning to
play for them. The Moselle prefecture has ruled that the Colombian is not
eligible to play in France anymore, and will not be allowed to even return to
Metz without re-acquiring a work visa.


Strasbourg and Metz Both Lose

The LNF has decided that both Strasbourg and Metz are responsible for the
premature ending of their Round 22 match at the Stade Meinau. A Strasbourg
supporter was found responsible for injuring Nelly Viennot, and Metz fans had
also caused M. Poulat to stop the match two times previously. As part of their
punishment both sides were ruled to have lost the match on penalties and were
fined 10,000 francs apiece.

Paul