Off the Pitch

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You can always trust London's The Sun newspaper to find an ah… interesting football angle? The English tabloid recently rated the ten greatest 'fat footballers' of all time. Figuring on the list are such luminaries as Ferenc Puskas (Hungary), Neville Southall (Wales), Tomas Brolin (Sweden) and Neill Ruddock (England). Rolling in at number one is Brazil's former three-time World Player of the Year, Ronaldo.

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Meanwhile, fellow compatriot Ronaldhino need not worry about fat taunts in the slightest. His only concern right now is who will present him or rather, his agent brother with the ‘fattest’ pay cheque. While Silvio Berlusconi primes his trusty administrators to finalise a deal at AC Milan, seems Sven-Goran Eriksson is on the waiting list for the injured Brazilian superstar.

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Seems David Beckham just cannot get his name out of the headlines no matter how hard he tries. England’s Daily Mirror revealed that Becks was recently booked by a Los Angeles traffic cop for committing an illegal U-turn at a junction. On top of the $A170 fine, the LA Galaxy midfielder will also have a point deducted from his licence unless he attends traffic school. Kind of adds a whole new meaning to that ever popular phrase ‘Bend it like Beckham’ or rather, how not to… don’t you think?

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Will somebody please tell Liverpool’s CEO Rick Parry and owner Tom Hicks to get over their own self-importance and get on with it? While boardroom politics threaten to deflate club morale at a time when unification is most needed (hey, the Reds are on their way to Moscow), we thought we’d lighten you up at least with this amusing rendition of what it means to be a supporter at Anfield. It might make you understand why American owners will never truly be accepted as part of the Liverpool family.

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Speaking of club loyalty or rather, ex-club loyalty. Seems Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka has publicly stated his desire to return former club Paris Saint-Germain to the forefront of French football. How? By investing his hard earned dollars into it. “I love this club,” he said on Radio Monte Carlo this week. “I am ready to put money because I am confident in the club, but we have to think of a different strategy, changing something in the club for next year” he added. And I’m pretty sure you’d have the full backing of quite a few desperately passionate Parisian supporters if you did darling Nicolas.

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Last year it was Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp who made headlines for all the wrong reasons but this week it was Birmingham City’s co-owner David Gold and managing director Karen Brady, as the saga continues over alleged corruption in the English game. The pair were arrested and then later released by London police after allegations of fraudulent dealings with payments to a football agent and two players dating back to 2002/03. The recent club statement read: “There is absolutely no allegation that any director of the company or the club has benefited financially…” Right then, lets get back to football shall we?

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While many continue to draw comparisons between English and Italian football, seems the recent disappearance of a Serie A club in the UEFA Champions League semi finals has inspired Italian clubs to draw heavily on their chequebooks, according to a recent Reuters report. The report claims that Italian sides aim to invest heavily next season in a bid to compete with the mega-rich Premier League - and according to Soccer Investor they aren’t the only ones.

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Yes the good old, sorry young, MLS in America has its sights set firmly on doing the same. Seems Major League Soccer boss Don Garber and the gang have set their objective of giving the EPL a run for its money within the next decade as well. In the meantime, Garber realises that the only way to attract the calibre of talent necessary, or even hold on to the current crop is by raising current salaries. Well hurry up Gerber, LA Galaxy’s Clint Mathis and New England’s Pat Noonan are just a couple of Americans to have walked away from their homeland in search of greener pastures recently.

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While AC Milan’s Kakha Kaladze may be a little slow off the mark these days in defence, the Georgia national team captain certainly knows how to move it and shake it in business dealings. Seems Kaladze has joined forces with his homeland’s former prime minister in an attempt to put the former Soviet Republic on the financial map. Kaladze and co. recently purchased 78 hectares of land in Tbilisi for the development of a $A1.5 billion dollar master planned community called Arsenal City. The “city within a city’ will include high end residential retail and commercial facilities and is expected to raise the country’s GDP by 1% as well as create 25,000 jobs. But what I want to know is why he’s chosen to call this eternal city Arsenal? Should I suspect some wishful thinking from Georgia’s greatest footballing export?

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And while on the subject of defenders whose passion may sometimes defy logic, take a look at this recent own goal howler in Hungary, between clubs Debrecen VSC and FC Fehervar in the Hungary Cup (Magya Cup). Oh dear. Never mind, maybe Kaladze could give this unfortunate lad some tips on how to swing that passion in the right direction.