For me, the most influential non-fiction writer of the past decade has been Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers. A big sports fan, last year he wrote a long piece in The New Yorker about basketball and the style certain underdogs have deployed to achieve amazing (albeit relative) success. They rarely win trophies, but they do cause upsets.
Just so that I can be sure that the site is evolving in the correct way, I want some specific feedback from subscribers. It’s only a very quick process of ticking the ‘thumbs up’ button if you agree, although comments and feedback can be added if desired.
It’s the Reds’ debut in the Europa League on Thursday – a good time to look back on our past record in this latest manifestation of the UEFA Cup. As three-times winners of the trophy – in 1972/3, 1975/6 and of course in Dortmund in 2000/1 – we have one of the best records in Europe, just as we have in the big one. Inter and Juventus also have three wins each.
If you ever want to see the perfect example of how media reporting of football has changed in the past 40 years, consider the following.
So, the Europa League: a chance to win a trophy, or a competition to clog up the fixture list and potentially cause injuries and fatigue ahead of Premier League games? Who should Rafa pick? And expectations? Discuss below.
“The Need to Balance the Books”. Having previously looked at Gross spend – which, in effect, deals with the boost of new players irrespective of whether anyone is sold – it’s time to focus on the Net figures, which take into account money raised by sales. This is particularly important for ‘properly run’ clubs, i.e. those that cannot write off expensive flops with a shrug of the shoulders.
This week, just four months into its existence, The Tomkins Times passed 1,000,000 hits. To celebrate this milestone, this is a news bulletin for existing Subscribers, outlining plans for the future of the site, including the introduction of new features and additional content. We want the site to evolve, but never at the expense of quality, and never by chasing cheap hits and enticing the wrong kind of subscriber (i.e. WUMs, trolls, and Tony Cascarino).
The following article was written for the April/Launch edition of Well Red Magazine, a new publication produced by Tomkins Times member and first-rate blogger, Gareth “Robbo Huyton” Roberts.
“The Benefit of New Players” … The notion that individual signings take time to settle (or may never settle) is valid. And this may well be at the heart of why significant investment works so well, and leads, within 24 months, to trophies and higher league positions. The injection of new blood seems fairly essential to boost a team; but additional riches give more licence for a hit-and-miss strategy
Using TPI© to adjust the prices according to ‘football inflation’, the following table lists the price of the 50 most expensive Premier League transfers in “today’s money”: the Current Transfer Purchase Price (CTPP ©).
