Ok so this fucking sucks more than anything I've endured as a sports fan, and that includes Barry Sanders abruptly retiring from my favorite teams when I was 13. That being said, in trying to find a silver lining here, this definitely rips the band aid off for the club in moving on from the old guard.
Downside is that Bartomeu and his goons are still the ones in charge of attempting to move on from the old guard. #DebbieDowner
Pretty brutal even as a Tennessee football fan. Started following Barcelona when Henry when there. Messi is all I’ve ever known in terms of soccer fan hood.
Messi camp has been fairly quiet other than to confirm they are looking at leaving. Would like a response to this.
bechler said that if he resigns, the board would just appoint a new chair with no elections so it kinda seems like it’s too late to salvage
The only way Bartomeu was going to let him leave was through his $700 million release clause. Then, factoring in his actual wages at his new club it’s a $1b transfer. Nobody can afford that.
nice to see that there are shitty owners in soccer too but on the other hand, he is one of the best soccer players of all time and his value off of the field is insane too so I kinda get why they held him at such a high cost
Bartomeu is the worst Barça president in recent member. His corrupt ass has had this coming for years. His incompetence has directly led to Messi leaving. Fuck him.
Also, the release clause shouldn’t be an issue. Clubs negotiate a smaller release clause than what is in the contract all the time. I’m pretty sure Ronaldo had a $1b release clause with Real Madrid. This is just Bartomeu doing what he does beat. Holding hostage the greatest thing this club has ever produced. He doesn’t care though because when Messi leaves for free next year there will be a new president anyways.
i didnt intend for any rudeness, so apologies if it came off that way think of it like the packers setup, although that isnt a 1 to 1 comparison either since you cant buy shares of the team
there was no rudeness so no worries so he is more like a Ted Thompson type if we are going for a Packers comparison
Maybe. He's younger, but has impressed at times. A lot of us were upset that he was loaned out last season when we were clearly in need of defensive depth and he looked like he had a bright future. I want to keep him and give him more minutes but I guess the board has decided otherwise. May I suggest you take Umtiti instead?
Memphis Depay to Barça is gaining momentum. Best part is that we might get rid of Umtiti in the potential deal. Fuck yeah!
If Koeman intends on playing a 4-2-3-1 then having a Frenkie-Pjanic-Thiago rotation would be ideal, but I don’t see it happening. We’re going to end up wasting £15m with fucking Wijnaldum (sp?) It’s hard to believe we’ve gotten to this point with Umtiti. Started out so promising.
Dude refused to properly address his knee issues. Quite frustrating because he was playing at a tremendous level.
Depay is simply not Barcelona quality. Where does he even play? Left wing? Blocks Fati there. Striker? Woof. I say just play Messi there at this point.
Griezmann is practically a midfielder with the way he wants to play. Can’t do that with Messi. AG can’t lead a line.
It is going to take several seasons to un-fuck it. There was little to no upkeep and maintenance done and now everything is overgrown and rotten.
I hate this board as much as anyone, that being said it's pretty widely known we don't have money and clubs know that when approaching for players as well. Getting Vidal, Suarez, Rakitic and Umtiti off the wage bill would be great. Getting Puig more minutes would be great, using players from La Masia and giving them a chance will do well for giving others hope instead of bailing like players like Garcia have been doing recently. It's all a process that wasn't going to be fixed in a couple weeks. Greizmann, Coutinho, etc. all didn't become shit players when they arrived, they just need to be used properly instead of fit into a 4-3-3.
Memphis Depay done deal for 25M. Vidal out to Inter for 500,000 (glad to free up the wages but goddamn wtf?)
More 25M signings and less 100M signings, please. If a 25M guy loses his spot to a Ls Masia player, it's a lot easier to take than when it happens to a 100M guy (Dembele/Fati)
The socis have advanced a motion of censure but need like 14500 or 17500 signatures. If it passes, they force Bartomeu's resignation and advance a new presidential election
Thanks bud. You’d think they could secure that number of signatures pretty easily. Anyone from Barcelona can sign it?
yeah its public, but you dont buy shares of the team or anything I think its around 150,000 members, but theres a few different figures floating around and depending on how they count the total not all of those would be eligible to vote (i.e. they are under 18)
Problem is, they only allow in person voting. An issue for members living outside Barcelona in normal times, seemingly insurmountable in a pandemic.