Scum in turmoil

[marinermick]

From Newcastle Herald:

Show me the money or I'm out, says Joel
BY ROBERT DILLON
13/08/2008 12:00:00 AM

Griffiths, who joined the Jets on a bargain rate of $170,000 a season, said he thought he deserved an "upgrade" on the strength of his form last season, when he scored the most goals (14) in the A-League and represented the Socceroos.

"You'd think I would be in a good position," he said.

"It's hard to swallow.

"I am quite loyal and I don't have a bad thing to say about the club and the fans. That's probably why it's so hard to swallow, because I could be in a situation where I'm leaving a place where I made a name for myself."

Nogarotto said there was still room for negotiation but pointed out that Griffiths would be Newcastle's highest-paid player if he decided to stay.

"The offer made by the club was a very aggressive offer, and certainly, historically, the best offer we have made to any player in our club," Nogarotto said.

"Whether it was aggressive enough, in the mind of Joel, is the moot point.

"I don't think it's unreasonable for Joel to say he should be paid according to market value.

"Nor is it unfair or unreasonable for Joel to say that there are players out there, of inferior ability, who are being paid as much, if not more, than what we've offered him.

"But our club can't be bound by the recklessness and stupidity of other clubs.

"We've got to put an offer on the table that we believe is fair and reasonable and sustainable under the cap."

Constantine said it was "only early days" in negotiations with Griffiths and the Jets would do everything in their power to retain their most popular player including exploring the possibility of making him their marquee player next season.

"The door is always open for Joel," Constantine said. "I have always made it obvious to Joel that I want him to stay for the long term.

"It's very, very important that we keep him at the club. I think that after he has finished as a player, he would be the ideal person to have working in our junior academy."

Griffiths said he hoped that negotiations would not drag on and become a distraction.

"I just want to focus on playing and get my head straight," he said.

"We've got a big game against the Mariners on Friday to start our season, and I'm trying to concentrate on that.

"The sooner I know my future, whether I'm staying or going, the better it will be for everyone.

"But it's not looking too good at the moment."

After stints abroad with Neucha{aci}tel Xamax (Switzerland), Leeds United (England) and Avispa Fukuoka (Japan), Griffiths said his preference was to continue his career in Australia.

"I'm happy to stay in the A-League," he said. "I think young players should go overseas and chase their dreams, but I'm a little bit older and it would be a big call to go over to Asia or Europe for a little bit more money."

Griffiths is one of four senior Jets players along with his brother Adam, skipper Jade North and goalkeeper Ante Covic off contract at season's end.

North has attracted interest from an unnamed overseas club, but the Jets have not heard from his agent since last Thursday and the proposed deal is in doubt.

Covic has already rejected an offer to re-sign with Newcastle, and the club has not yet kicked off talks with Adam Griffiths.

 

[T]

Karma is a wonderful thing

 

[marinermick]

Karma is a wonderful thing

and bring on more:

QUESTIONS RAISED OVER NEWCASTLE JETS NEW MAJOR SPONSOR

14 August 2008

The Newcastle Jets A-League club has secured NT-based gaming house, Centrebet, as its major sponsor for the 2008/09 season, raising questions about whether the deal complies with restrictions on advertising in New South Wales for gambling companies from interstate.

The sponsorship, which features an option to further extend the deal, will cover the upcoming Hyundai A-League season as well as the 2009 AFC Champions League competition in which the Jets will compete having taken the A-League title last season.

The deal is for one-year but both parties have agreed that halfway through the course of that sponsorship we will sit down, review the situation with a very legitimate and sincere view to extend that into a long-term arrangement," Jets director of football, Remo Nogarotto, said.

The Jets will become the first A-League team to receive sponsorship from a gambling company, mirroring many European football club sponsorships, but raising questions about the legality of the deal.

NSW law stipulates that only gambling operators licensed in NSW are permitted to advertise within the state of NSW. Centrebet is based in the Northern Territory.

Online betting companies, Betfair and Sportingbet, will soon launch a High Court challenge against the legislation, claiming the ban on advertising in NSW is a restriction of trade and is unconstitutional.

"We are licenced in the Northern Territory and we're not allowed to advertise in New South Wales, that is a restriction of trade between states and territories, and we believe it to be unconstitutional," Sportingbet chief operating officer, Michael Sullivan, said.

(c) Copyright Sponsorship News Pty Ltd 2008  http://www.pando.com.au/sponsorshipnews/articles/story/40052.html

 

[Bear]

Covic has already rejected an offer to re-sign with Newcastle, and the club has not yet kicked off talks with Adam Griffiths.

Where dose Covic, at his age, think he will get a better gig?
And if Joel goes, Adam goes.
No matter how they go this year, can you imagine a Newcastle team without Covic, North, and both Griffiths brothers, goodness they will be the new NewZealand Knights lol

 

[FFC Mariner]

And if GVE gets Arnolds job (please, please), they will be utterly f**ked

Hahahahahahaha

 

[Blackadder]

I know Remo is crazy, but surely he is not even that mad.

 

[FFC Mariner]

I know Remo is crazy, but surely he is not even that mad.

Looking at his stellar career performance for the NSW Libs, I would say he is capable of just about any depths of lunacy

 

[Bear]

Lets all LOL at Newcastle, do da, do da ;D

Gazza's Zura Frustration -442

GARY van Egmond's frustration with Edmundo Zura after Newcastle's 5-0 humiliation by Melbourne indicates he may be having a few doubts about his South American import.

The Jets coach carried his team to a Hyundai A-League championship last season effectively without a marquee player as the Brazilian with a big reputation (Mario Jardel)turned out to be a big flop.

Just three matches into the defence of that championship, van Egmond is without a win and has been laboured with another expensive striker from south of the Panama Canal who seems unable to follow his coach's instructions.

Van Egmond said: "Zura's still working towards getting better as far as the team environment is concerned. Language is difficult with him.

"But I expected more from him when he came on as far as the impact was concerned. Multiple times the ball was on the left hand side, he was standing on the right-hand side. He wasn't actually looking to join in the play."

Taken in the context of a game where the Jets were outplayed in nearly every part of the park, and has less than 25 per cent of possession it's a fairly pointed criticism of a player who only came on for the final 35 minutes. As a measure of comparison, van Egmond found plenty of positives about the efforts of Danish debutant Jaspar Hakansson.

"Jasper will definitely fit in well. He's got some good qualities, his work ethic is good. He sees things, it's just a matter of working on the best areas for these players to play," he said.

Van Egmond was put under pressure from the Jets ownership midway through the last campaign to start Jardel despite the 33-year-old's obvious fitness concerns. Common sense and van Egmond's will eventually won out and the once-prolific Jardel had no involvement in the Jets' Grand Final success.

With Zura doing his best impersonation of a merry-go-round in the middle of the pitch on Friday night there may have been more than a sense of deja-vu for van Egmond. At least Zura has youth on his side at 25, but how much patience van Egmond can afford to show a player with his team so out of form is debatable.

With the departure of so many key players in the off-season, the Jets were expected to drop off, but Friday night result against a team the Jets have had such a good record against, ranks as the worst in van Egmond's time at the club.

He could do well examine the persistence of his opposite number, Ernie Merrick, on Friday night when it comes to imports. Carlos Hernandez was far from peak fitness in his first few games at Melbourne last season, and the Costa Rican was under immediate pressure to fill the shoes of Fred.

Twelve months later, Hernandez is in brilliant form, and played a huge role in Melbourne's demolition of the Jets.

Zura is certainly not the only player on van Egmond's radar. He admitted he was disappointed with how his senior players performed, but most of all, his team's inability to stick to a task.

"A few times today, they didn't actually do their job and that's where the discipline comes back in. We have a young team. They are obviously going to learn from it but it looks like it going to be a sharp learning curve if we are going to compete this year.

We have a young team. They are obviously going to learn from it but it looks like it going to be a sharp learning curve if we are going to compete this year." he said.

 

[Bex]

Nice work Bear bumping this thread.

If GVE's plan to solve last nights problems revolves all around Zura then I reckon nobody will have to worry about the scum at all this year.   The whole team was all over the shop, not just Zura. In fact, Zura is probably now wondering what sort of crap deal he has got himself into.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Zura is lazy, unfit and crap

Standard scum marquee really

 

[Razorback]

 

[MattSimon]

14 pages and counting, we all love seeing the scum bastards in turmoil.

 

[Sean]

Need to build your self-esteem? Come to Newcastle!

 

[clarence]

Why the hell doesn't GVE walk out on them? This is the second time they've given him a sh*t player. He does deserve better. Or, did he have a hand in this latest fiasco?

That article also mentions "senior players", and in that I'm reading Mr. I-Ate-All-The Whale-While-I-Was-In-Japan Griffiths. Fat Boy G. for short. :-*

 

[thomas477]

the choice to sign zura was ran by GVE and he agreed to get him.

 

[FFC Mariner]

the choice to sign zura was ran by GVE and he agreed to get him.

That, my good friend, is a f**k up of the highest order. Agreeing, and not arguing with Con are not quite the same thing either. How long can you keep him?

 

[marinersman]

Thomas, not taking the piss by asking this question, but be honest with your answer, how do you see your season going?

 

[thomas477]

well, it depends on whether North can get his head outta his arse and start playing well, and if we start scoring more goals we should make ta finals.

 

[Marinerchick]

hahaha ben kantavoski is  out for 1 match due to his handball apparently

 

[FFC Mariner]

But wasnt it dealt with on the pitch (the usual scum out) by Shields completely ignoring it (usual scum rules) ??