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Soccer Talk Thread


Jules

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Well, we've had some chat in all the threads, but indeed I felt like talking about Real Madrid disappointing in Spain and with Fortuna Sittard playing surprisingly well for a team that looked lost and depleted a few weeks ago.

 

Real Madrid first, man, it looks like Barcelona is having an easy season despite all the injuries for some of their star players. It ain't easy to win it all, but to have two losses already is very early and maybe it's the rumling around Ronaldo looking to leave, but ... Madrid already slipping. That's early.

 

Fortuna Sittard has been a surprise. 7 points in 5 games is decent, the losses weren't blow-outs and against top flight teams and last Friday they beat a favorite for the title at home and the 1-0 win was not even enough to show the number of chances they created. The coach is a likeable local guy who has made a squad of strangers, foreigners and rentals into a bunch of friends within a few weeks. 11 players who work for each other. Loving it right now.

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This morning someone I know tweeted that he had heard that Fortuna Sittard might be bought by an Arabian investment company. Two years ago Wadi Degla Holding was interested and they own Wadi Degla FC in Egypt, Lierse SK in Belgium and are closely related to Arsenals youth academy. This spring a Belgian billionaire was looking to help us out, but that deal fell through as well... now suddenly there are these tweets, a guy I know is close to the management and he made some phone calls and his only comment was "To my complete surprise, there is indeed smoke."

 

Fingers crossed? I can see the value. We have a 12k seater modern stadium that can easily be expanded and with many retail options in the immediate vicinity. There is a world class (!) athletics training center currently being constructed right next door and the stadium is owned by a different invester who is looking to sell for just $3 million dollars.

 

So a club with a good history, a devoted fan base, lots of potential and a cheap stadium with a lot of options and a UEFA pro license for an estimate price tag of around $8 million dollars... yeah, I see the value there.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Well, the bizarre Qatar deal isn't over, but I don't see it happening. The team is (again, it never ends) in huge financial trouble, but they've started the season well with 11 points in 7 games, which is 3-2-2 and unbeaten at home (3-1-0). I'll take it for a squad that's half made up out of youth players and last second rentals.
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  • 2 weeks later...

I still can't believe it. Usually I'd be furious if our arch rival MVV Maastricht was leading our league and was heading straight for a championship, but right now I can't help but smile when I see the rankings after 9 games and Fortuna Sittard is firmly in 4th place, just one point behind the number 2, 5 points ahead of the final playoff spot (which is 9th) and just 6 behind firm leader MVV.

 

You know, for a team with crazy financial trouble as always and a team with 4 starting eleven player who were on last years youth team. Very proud of the team right now. :)

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Good to hear. Always nice to see a team succeed with young players.

 

The average age of the team is like 23. We picked up a 21 year old free agent striker from an Eredivisie team, no one liked the pick up, we all thought he was just a bench warmer... well, 9 games in he has 6 goals. :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

Last season Fortuna Sittard missed the playoffs on the last night of the season, ending the year with 48 points (13 wins, 12 losses, 9 ties).

 

This year after just twelve games the team has an astonishing 23 points. That's 7 wins, 2 ties and just 3 losses so far. They have 18 goals for, just 10 against. Tonight was yet another away win with 1-3 and the lone goal for the opponents was a gaffe by the goalkeeper late in the game.

 

Despite all success on the pitch, it's yet another bad year of the pitch. The team is struggling with a direct debt of about $3 million dollars, of which at least $500k needs to be paid soon. That's worrying, but apparently a new sponsor will pay of that next week and the team is optimistic. It's not easy, but let's just hope for the best. This great season so far is a testament to the teams resilience.

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  • 3 weeks later...
I've read that a dutch Assistant referee was beaten to death by three players during a youth game.

Do you know more about this Jules?

 

Yeah, he was father of one of the opposing players, the teenagers on opposing team - known for starting trouble - attacked him. He collapsed after the game and passed away later in the hospital. Three suspects are in custody and are children of immigrants.

 

Cue a complete national shitshow of racist comments and people blaming everyone but our ailing and failing Dutch society.

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World is getting insane.

 

These days I watch them dismanteling the constitutional rigths for soccer fans here, makes you wonder when they will start to dismantel them for the rest of the populace too.

 

I know. I have a friend who is banned from going to soccer games in any UEFA country (all of Europe) for two years, because an anonimous observer from the Dutch FA claims he saw him call an usher in the stadium "bad names". That usher, however, is a friend of his and despite his friend writing a letter that the claims are false, the FA is sticking to their guns and claiming the report is enough proof to ban him from going to the club.

 

Bizarre. UEFA and FIFA think they're fucking NATO or something.

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