I wonder whether Ben Roberts had any input into our recent keeper debacle (probably deserves its own thread) and how he sees our No 1 shirt situation developing.
There's only two ways it can go! M.Duchatelet is minted. So he either funds a climb up the league or he doesn't. And we will know the answer to this by kick off time in August. The next three weeks and the summer window will reveal the full intent even if he doesn't wish to communicate this in advance.
To me the writing was on the wall when Luzon was retained on the payroll last year. For sure he left Liege but he took them to the top of their league for most of last season.
Talking of loyalty, am I the only person impressed by Mr Duchatelet's loyalty towards Dudu Duhan?
So yes this is impressive given the crash at Liege was mainly down to M.Duchatelet cashing in five players for €25m over the summer.
You would have to look it up but if I recall correctly, Luzon was granted a 2 year extension when Liege were top of the league last March... before they messed up in their play-offs.
On a different note one would assume that his costs will be charged to Cafc now he's with us. We are way under the restricted FFP limits this season and will actually have headroom of c.£10m for 2015-16 unless we increase budgets on the playing side.
And on realising gains for player sales? It looks fairly clear that the proceeds for Stephens and the other fella came to us. And it's reasonable to assume that if Watt becomes a star and moves on we take the profit, not Liege. We have loaned Piotr to St Truiden so they get him scoring nut we take the rewards if his value increases.
Imagine a staprix sticker album for the 2014/15 season. I reckon I give Pannini a call. They'd basically have to re-print the album every month, the stickers wouldn't match the right numbers in the book otherwise
If @Covered End is right, the implication is clear. Luzon's salary was burning a hole in RD's Staprix budget. There's no way he could put it all on to Jena for any length of time. So when evaluating whether Luzon was the "right" man he'd be looking at the spreadsheet first and last.
The issue for me s less to do with the costs possibly not being shown in the right place than the fact that CAFC pick up the bill for mistakes made at Standard Liege. So if George Tucudean, for example, is on £400k a year at Liege but is no use to them that cost is transferred to us, whereas an independent CAFC would never spend that money on him.
The question then is whether that £400k is over and above the previous budget or comes out of it, thereby reducing the club's options, because Standard Liege messed up. If George turns out to be worth £400k no problem, but the chances of successful recruitment from a much smaller talent pool are obviously limited.
The issue for me s less to do with the costs possibly not being shown in the right place than the fact that CAFC pick up the bill for mistakes made at Standard Liege. So if George Tucudean, for example, is on £400k a year at Liege but is no use to them that cost is transferred to us, whereas an independent CAFC would never spend that money on him.
The question then is whether that £400k is over and above the previous budget or comes out of it, thereby reducing the club's options, because Standard Liege messed up. If George turns out to be worth £400k no problem, but the chances of successful recruitment from a much smaller talent pool are obviously limited.
Ditto head coaches.
And you could bring Nego, Koc and Ajdarevic into it. But also Ben Haim, Watt and Buyens.
It's very clear that since M.Duchatelet bought Liege he's into their academy and buying from countries without big media deals such as France Ligue 2, Denmark or Scotland. There are a number of players acquired for c.€1.5m like Watt and the dreaded Thuram and of course Tucudean.
Until we see Luzon in situ for a while I would hesitate to judge the outcome. He had success with Liege last season.
And this network has also yielded Vetokele and Gudmundsson through scouting. Plus it enables weaker Cafc players to go out on loan without recourse to agents and the open market.
Having said all that there is an elephant in the room and I've just posted on the fans forum thread about the vacuum left in the absence of meaningful communication about strategy and vision.
Our club and we have no idea what the goal is - mid-table obscurity or have a crack at higher up... All the rest is noise!
Avram Grant had work permit issues when he got the Chelsea job. On the face of it Guy Luzon and the club broke the law when he was working Thursday and Friday, but then respect for the law seems to have now kicked in for the Match today. The next dilemma might be whether to wait for the work permit to be issued, or to risk consequences and let Guy work at Sparrows Lane on Monday.
The issue for me s less to do with the costs possibly not being shown in the right place than the fact that CAFC pick up the bill for mistakes made at Standard Liege. So if George Tucudean, for example, is on £400k a year at Liege but is no use to them that cost is transferred to us, whereas an independent CAFC would never spend that money on him.
The question then is whether that £400k is over and above the previous budget or comes out of it, thereby reducing the club's options, because Standard Liege messed up. If George turns out to be worth £400k no problem, but the chances of successful recruitment from a much smaller talent pool are obviously limited.
Ditto head coaches.
And you could bring Nego, Koc and Ajdarevic into it. But also Ben Haim, Watt and Buyens.
It's very clear that since M.Duchatelet bought Liege he's into their academy and buying from countries without big media deals such as France Ligue 2, Denmark or Scotland. There are a number of players acquired for c.€1.5m like Watt and the dreaded Thuram and of course Tucudean.
Until we see Luzon in situ for a while I would hesitate to judge the outcome. He had success with Liege last season.
And this network has also yielded Vetokele and Gudmundsson through scouting. Plus it enables weaker Cafc players to go out on loan without recourse to agents and the open market.
Having said all that there is an elephant in the room and I've just posted on the fans forum thread about the vacuum left in the absence of meaningful communication about strategy and vision.
Our club and we have no idea what the goal is - mid-table obscurity or have a crack at higher up... All the rest is noise!
Avram Grant had work permit issues when he got the Chelsea job. On the face of it Guy Luzon and the club broke the law when he was working Thursday and Friday, but then respect for the law seems to have now kicked in for the Match today. The next dilemma might be whether to wait for the work permit to be issued, or to risk consequences and let Guy work at Sparrows Lane on Monday.
He's already under contract and being paid by Staprix whether he works or not.
The difference is perhaps that Luzon has already been working for RD/Staprix for 18 months and still has a further 18 months to run on his existing contract?
As an existing employee for a Belgian company, and maybe still resident in Belgium - Luzon hasn't been refused access to the UK, here's here right now.
Yes but for some reason he is not working today, there are procedures that have not been followed it seems, I don't think his previous/current contract has been able to bypass those procedures.
Yes but for some reason he is not working today, there are procedures that have not been followed it seems, I don't think his previous/current contract has been able to bypass those procedures.
Fair enough, Seth.
I was just thinking out loud that Avram Grant wasn't already part way through an existing contract with Chelsea, when he was appointed.
The issue for me s less to do with the costs possibly not being shown in the right place than the fact that CAFC pick up the bill for mistakes made at Standard Liege. So if George Tucudean, for example, is on £400k a year at Liege but is no use to them that cost is transferred to us, whereas an independent CAFC would never spend that money on him.
The question then is whether that £400k is over and above the previous budget or comes out of it, thereby reducing the club's options, because Standard Liege messed up. If George turns out to be worth £400k no problem, but the chances of successful recruitment from a much smaller talent pool are obviously limited.
Ditto head coaches.
And you could bring Nego, Koc and Ajdarevic into it. But also Ben Haim, Watt and Buyens.
It's very clear that since M.Duchatelet bought Liege he's into their academy and buying from countries without big media deals such as France Ligue 2, Denmark or Scotland. There are a number of players acquired for c.€1.5m like Watt and the dreaded Thuram and of course Tucudean.
Until we see Luzon in situ for a while I would hesitate to judge the outcome. He had success with Liege last season.
And this network has also yielded Vetokele and Gudmundsson through scouting. Plus it enables weaker Cafc players to go out on loan without recourse to agents and the open market.
Having said all that there is an elephant in the room and I've just posted on the fans forum thread about the vacuum left in the absence of meaningful communication about strategy and vision.
Our club and we have no idea what the goal is - mid-table obscurity or have a crack at higher up... All the rest is noise!
You keep trotting out all these apparently fantastic signings we've made in TBH, Buyens, Igor and JBG but even these apparent stars have not been crash hot really have they?
I'm currently listening to what sounds like a defensive omnishambles at which TBH is at the heart. Yet again the midfield is getting overrun with Yoni 'poor mans Matt Holland' Buyens at the heart of it neither making tackles or spraying passes. Up front we are mishitting passes, having poor touches at key moments or just making poor decisions and JBG and Igor are just as bad for it as anyone else. It has been like this for weeks.
Of the players we signed in the summer, only JBG and Igor were wanted by their previous clubs. TBH and Buyens and are no better than Bulot, Tucs or Reza in that they were not getting in the side at Standard, a team that would, at it's best, be a lower half Premier League team and in a transition phase like now would probably be a decent but unspectacular Championship team. So what we really signed was a bunch of reserves from a Championship standard team and after an initial , and slightly fortuitous, purple patch that is exactly what they are playing like.
Sven Claes @svenclaes 52m52 minutes ago @charltonlive Don't think I can say anything positive Sunday night about the game today or Guy Luzon. A week to forget. #CAFC
Chicago Addick @ChicagoAddick 47m47 minutes ago @svenclaes Does Luzon have the ability to turn it around Sven?
Sven Claes @svenclaes 40m40 minutes ago @ChicagoAddick Not at all. Luzon didn't manage to do so at Standard de Liège. Loves to rotate. No automatisms. #CAFC
The contract is only 18 months, because it is his existing network contract.
Just asking, but do you know that, beyond reasonable doubt? I am not sure what he has been doing since he left Standard. Somebody wrote that he was in some way working with Ujpest - our recent visitor from there @ujpest_lad might know. But Ujpest is not owned by Staprix.
He is registered as an Újpest employee as of taxation reasons. Tax in Hungary is one of the biggest in the European Union, however there is a tax-system named 'EKHO' which was created to make football clubs pay taxes and work white on papers as well. This lets football clubs to pay only little as tax after the benefits of one employee.
He is not the only one registered as an Újpest employee in the network, you can imagine...
Sven Claes @svenclaes 52m52 minutes ago @charltonlive Don't think I can say anything positive Sunday night about the game today or Guy Luzon. A week to forget. #CAFC
Chicago Addick @ChicagoAddick 47m47 minutes ago @svenclaes Does Luzon have the ability to turn it around Sven?
Sven Claes @svenclaes 40m40 minutes ago @ChicagoAddick Not at all. Luzon didn't manage to do so at Standard de Liège. Loves to rotate. No automatisms. #CAFC
Doubt he will have the option to do that considering our only options outside of the first 11 is basically the 'young guns'.
So what we really signed was a bunch of reserves from a Championship standard team and after an initial, and slightly fortuitous, purple patch that is exactly what they are playing like.
Don't forget the "exotic" names. That automatically makes them a little better ;-)
So what we really signed was a bunch of reserves from a Championship standard team and after an initial, and slightly fortuitous, purple patch that is exactly what they are playing like.
Don't forget the "exotic" names. That automatically makes them a little better ;-)
Would Luzon not getting his work permit actually bother Roland? He doesn't even need to be in the country to fulfill the role of picking the team based on RD's instructions... DM and BR continue to take training, Luzon emails "tactics" from Ujpest on Staprix's payroll. Sorted.
Would Luzon not getting his work permit actually bother Roland? He doesn't even need to be in the country to fulfill the role of picking the team based on RD's instructions... DM and BR continue to take training, Luzon emails "tactics" from Ujpest on Staprix's payroll. Sorted.
Plenty of people work form home these days. I'm sure RD could tell GL who to play and GL could then 'facetime' the squad and let them know what RD has said? and the KM could lie about it?
Would Luzon not getting his work permit actually bother Roland? He doesn't even need to be in the country to fulfill the role of picking the team based on RD's instructions... DM and BR continue to take training, Luzon emails "tactics" from Ujpest on Staprix's payroll. Sorted.
Well according to Damien Mathew that's almost what happened for the first half at Watford......
Comments
To me the writing was on the wall when Luzon was retained on the payroll last year. For sure he left Liege but he took them to the top of their league for most of last season. So yes this is impressive given the crash at Liege was mainly down to M.Duchatelet cashing in five players for €25m over the summer.
You would have to look it up but if I recall correctly, Luzon was granted a 2 year extension when Liege were top of the league last March... before they messed up in their play-offs.
On a different note one would assume that his costs will be charged to Cafc now he's with us. We are way under the restricted FFP limits this season and will actually have headroom of c.£10m for 2015-16 unless we increase budgets on the playing side.
And on realising gains for player sales? It looks fairly clear that the proceeds for Stephens and the other fella came to us. And it's reasonable to assume that if Watt becomes a star and moves on we take the profit, not Liege. We have loaned Piotr to St Truiden so they get him scoring nut we take the rewards if his value increases.
The question then is whether that £400k is over and above the previous budget or comes out of it, thereby reducing the club's options, because Standard Liege messed up. If George turns out to be worth £400k no problem, but the chances of successful recruitment from a much smaller talent pool are obviously limited.
Ditto head coaches.
It's very clear that since M.Duchatelet bought Liege he's into their academy and buying from countries without big media deals such as France Ligue 2, Denmark or Scotland. There are a number of players acquired for c.€1.5m like Watt and the dreaded Thuram and of course Tucudean.
Until we see Luzon in situ for a while I would hesitate to judge the outcome. He had success with Liege last season.
And this network has also yielded Vetokele and Gudmundsson through scouting. Plus it enables weaker Cafc players to go out on loan without recourse to agents and the open market.
Having said all that there is an elephant in the room and I've just posted on the fans forum thread about the vacuum left in the absence of meaningful communication about strategy and vision.
Our club and we have no idea what the goal is - mid-table obscurity or have a crack at higher up... All the rest is noise!
The next dilemma might be whether to wait for the work permit to be issued, or to risk consequences and let Guy work at Sparrows Lane on Monday.
The difference is perhaps that Luzon has already been working for RD/Staprix for 18 months and still has a further 18 months to run on his existing contract?
Staprix NV seem to be registered at:
Transportstraat 1
Tessenderlo, Limburg, 3980 Belgium
As an existing employee for a Belgian company, and maybe still resident in Belgium - Luzon hasn't been refused access to the UK, here's here right now.
I was just thinking out loud that Avram Grant wasn't already part way through an existing contract with Chelsea, when he was appointed.
I'm currently listening to what sounds like a defensive omnishambles at which TBH is at the heart. Yet again the midfield is getting overrun with Yoni 'poor mans Matt Holland' Buyens at the heart of it neither making tackles or spraying passes. Up front we are mishitting passes, having poor touches at key moments or just making poor decisions and JBG and Igor are just as bad for it as anyone else. It has been like this for weeks.
Of the players we signed in the summer, only JBG and Igor were wanted by their previous clubs. TBH and Buyens and are no better than Bulot, Tucs or Reza in that they were not getting in the side at Standard, a team that would, at it's best, be a lower half Premier League team and in a transition phase like now would probably be a decent but unspectacular Championship team. So what we really signed was a bunch of reserves from a Championship standard team and after an initial , and slightly fortuitous, purple patch that is exactly what they are playing like.
@charltonlive Don't think I can say anything positive Sunday night about the game today or Guy Luzon. A week to forget. #CAFC
Chicago Addick @ChicagoAddick 47m47 minutes ago
@svenclaes Does Luzon have the ability to turn it around Sven?
Sven Claes @svenclaes 40m40 minutes ago
@ChicagoAddick Not at all. Luzon didn't manage to do so at Standard de Liège. Loves to rotate. No automatisms. #CAFC
He is not the only one registered as an Újpest employee in the network, you can imagine...