Are you from sweden? I have followed this closely. And then I came on here and so many peole were talking about it and also in detail, it was nice to see :-)
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WSL 20/21 | general chat | January signings?
- Thread starter jojojo
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Are you from sweden? I have followed this closely. And then I came on here and so many peole were talking about it and also in detail, it was nice to see :-)
I'm not but I have followed their league for a few years so found this whole situation so strange and out of the blue. Tyreso were the last Swedish team I remember withdrawing but that was on the cards for awhile and they had financial issues.
Fingers crossed the news today is good.
So Goteburg have been saved for now. The cynic in me wonders if this was always the plan, to get more sponsers/support for the team.
Like I predicted elsewhere it seems like BK Häcken will be the team that will take over the club sort of. BK Häcken is the organizer of Gothia Cup, the worlds biggest youth tournament and they make an insane amount of money from it.
BK Häcken has very few fans, they have like 2000-3000 on their home games while Hammarby has like 24 000. But they can compete in highest division because of the Gothia Cup money. And now they will be using that money to fund the womens team as well most likely.
I agree also that it might have been a calculated play to get a club to step in. IFK Göteborg said no to merging the teams two years ago, so they´ve been looking for this solution for years.
Peter Bronsman is kind of wrong also though, regardless if the club is merged with BK Häcken or IFK Göteborg, Göteborg will never be able to compete with the likes of PSG, City, Chelsea because they have unlimited oil money to spend. They wont be able to compete with United, Arsenal, Barcelona, Real Madrid etc either of course.
Yea they got a new lease on life and will defend their League title next season and compete in the Champions League
It's an interesting situation. I'm guessing clubs all over Europe who aren't affiliated to major men's teams are going through the same things.
They're going from a situation where they could compete directly on relatively small budgets, to as position where they're up against full-time squads, with technical backup, training facilities and fewer constraints on mundane things like kit/travel/hotel costs etc.
A different scale to asking a men's team in Sweden to compete for the CL perhaps - but the same basic problems. It must be particularly frustrating when you know that for a club like United the women's team is basically a pocket money project.
On the specifics. This sounds like the owner had been negotiating or discussing a takeover, sale, merger for a while and had decided to force the issue by setting a real deadline. Hopefully it'll all be resolved successfully for the players and the fans.
They're going from a situation where they could compete directly on relatively small budgets, to as position where they're up against full-time squads, with technical backup, training facilities and fewer constraints on mundane things like kit/travel/hotel costs etc.
A different scale to asking a men's team in Sweden to compete for the CL perhaps - but the same basic problems. It must be particularly frustrating when you know that for a club like United the women's team is basically a pocket money project.
On the specifics. This sounds like the owner had been negotiating or discussing a takeover, sale, merger for a while and had decided to force the issue by setting a real deadline. Hopefully it'll all be resolved successfully for the players and the fans.
One for the "well that's not great files". A day after City women announce that four of their players have tested positive for covid, we get a report that they were on a trip to Dubai last week. Attending an awards ceremony apparently - with permission from the club of course.
Unfortunately, if Twitter is right, Katie Zelem was there as well. Looks like some of these Elite Sports bubbles are cracking under the strain.
Unfortunately, if Twitter is right, Katie Zelem was there as well. Looks like some of these Elite Sports bubbles are cracking under the strain.
Continuing the Dubai trip story, apparently there were other WSL players there. Including three Arsenal players, at least one of them has now tested positive. Arsenal have asked for permission to postpone their next match. City are hoping to postpone their match for the same reason (plus a couple of their other players are away with the USWNT.) It'll be annoying if either is allowed to postpone (except to concede)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55562077
The Times is planning a write-up:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55562077
The Times is planning a write-up:
And sure enough, unlike Bristol who were forced to play their juniors when they had players out, the FA postpones City's and Arsenal's matches.
Of course, and City limits the damage of players goin to the USA camp, that corona hit just whent it should. Its a farce if they are treating clubs differently, but I assume money talks per usual. Thanks for keeping us in the loop about the developments btw.
Casey talking about postponements (she opposes them) and her mistake in letting players go away at Christmas:
Slightly different quotes from Casey's press conference. She is taking responsibility for the Dubai fiasco.
Which is more than you can say for some PL managers.
Casey is playing this completely correctly I think. She's been the first person to apologise and she's done it very well. A lot of the ire on Twitter etc since McCabe was spotted before Christmas could have been solved with proper apologies like this. Instead things have been left to fester for days. The club also knew the game was off before this Press Conference but still had it go ahead which also is helpful.
I find Willie Kirks earlier interviews absolutely stupid. He says they've had no cases (notice its in the last round of testing) and gives no indication they can't play. He also says they all did things correctly at Christmas. But then only a couple of hours later it's different and they have 5 recovering from Covid. After the other issues with that clubs statements I just find it dodgy.
The longer the other England players stay silent the more other clubs will get annoyed. We've already seen some Chelsea players commenting online and they're NT teammates with many of those that went. It's been handled extremely badly by Arsenal and City. Once again the smaller teams are paying the price and it looks terrible that Everton can postpone with 13 players but Birmingham (who also have a Covid case) can't postpone even though they have 10 fit players today. Appalling but the FA once again.
I find Willie Kirks earlier interviews absolutely stupid. He says they've had no cases (notice its in the last round of testing) and gives no indication they can't play. He also says they all did things correctly at Christmas. But then only a couple of hours later it's different and they have 5 recovering from Covid. After the other issues with that clubs statements I just find it dodgy.
The longer the other England players stay silent the more other clubs will get annoyed. We've already seen some Chelsea players commenting online and they're NT teammates with many of those that went. It's been handled extremely badly by Arsenal and City. Once again the smaller teams are paying the price and it looks terrible that Everton can postpone with 13 players but Birmingham (who also have a Covid case) can't postpone even though they have 10 fit players today. Appalling but the FA once again.
The Birmingham game is now off but it's not been stated as a postponement and Birmingham's appeal wasn't accepted so it sounds like they might have to forfeit the game. This has been a really bad week for the WSL.
Surely there has to be some ownership here. I understand postponing matches due to unforseen covid outbreaks, but if the cause of infection comes from discarding rules and guidelines for own personal gain, there should be no understanding.
Each case needs examined and dealt with individually and if your missing players due to their selfishness, then that should reflect upon any leeway given to their clubs fixtures, men and women's game.
This is why she is our manager and I hope she stays at the club for years upon years
A maybe transfer on the way:
Being confirmed by United fan accounts as well. A top class defender but one who's had a couple of serious injuries, but recovered now so this could be a really good move for her and us.
Being confirmed by United fan accounts as well. A top class defender but one who's had a couple of serious injuries, but recovered now so this could be a really good move for her and us.
Interesting. Weird that they're selling this window, especially to a top 3 rival.
That would be a fantastic transfer because she is of course pretty good, has so much experience for the age 27 and can play in three different positions.
Random question, how much are Chelsea paying Sam Kerr in wages per month or year? I just remember seeing the figures somewhere, but I cant recall how it was.
The various estimates range from £300K to £350K a year (I've converted some sources from US dollar and Aus dollar)
Pernille Harder is on a similar amount.
I was looking at Swiss Ramble's figures for overall wage bills for the various WSL clubs but they are several years out of date due to the reporting lag. It looks like current Chelsea and Man City salaries are probably £100K+ for most regular starters.
I tried to find what top US internationals make. I think it was $150K to $175K from the national set-up, with the possibility of earning up to $1m in total, if prepared to do a huge (unrealistic) amount of sponsorship work and related travel.
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USWNT players get paid by USSoccer and they also get paid per appearence. When the win a major tournament they also get a victory tour that pays them a bonus (World Cup/Olympics). I remember reading that those players involved in the 2019 win and who played most games that season would get paid between 300-400k, excluding sponsorships/bonuses from those sponsors.
McManus on loan to Spuds
Leaves us pretty light at the back, so the move for Thorisdottir from Chelsea would make sense.
Leaves us pretty light at the back, so the move for Thorisdottir from Chelsea would make sense.
That's a really strange one to me. It's not like she wasn't getting much game time. That must mean we are gonna sign a CB this window, but it still leaves us with only 3 CBs. Let's hope the Turners don't get injured/covid, otherwise we'll be in trouble.
To be fair, think she's only played once since West Ham in October, though not sure how much of that was due to injury. But yeah, not sure if there's anyone well rated in the youth team that could do a job, otherwise Casey might have to register!
https://www.manutd.com/en/news/detail/man-utd-women-complete-the-signing-of-maria-thorisdottir
Contract until the end of the 2022/23 season, with the option of a further year.
Very good signing, experienced international, will hopefully tighten up our defence with a bit more organisation and quality. The current incumbents have done pretty well, but against Chelsea they were caught out a few times. Casey certainly seems a very good manager, with a good eye for what the team needs.
Can't really see us winning the title this year, but qualifying for Europe would be great.
Not the best news for us 
At Casey's press conference today. Mentions:
Tobin Heath - has had a scan and send a specialist today - no further details yet.
Abbie McManus - has gone on loan to Spurs to get more playing time.
Casey herself - will not be chasing the British Olympics team manager job, because she's too busy being a United manager and the summer is an important time for recruitment and planning.
On signings generally - no more players expected to arrive or leave during the January window.
Tobin Heath - has had a scan and send a specialist today - no further details yet.
Abbie McManus - has gone on loan to Spurs to get more playing time.
Casey herself - will not be chasing the British Olympics team manager job, because she's too busy being a United manager and the summer is an important time for recruitment and planning.
On signings generally - no more players expected to arrive or leave during the January window.
So United now 9 ahead of Arsenal with 8 games left , massive opportunity to get a CL spot atleast. Huge game on Friday
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Chelsea | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 42 | 8 | 34 | 35 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 13 | 19 | 32 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 43 | 11 | 32 | 30 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 40 | 14 | 26 | 23 |
| 5 | Everton | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 18 | 4 | 18 |
| 6 | Reading | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 23 | −5 | 18 |
| 7 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 30 | −19 | 15 |
| 8 | Tottenham Hotspur | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 23 | −10 | 12 |
| 9 | Birmingham City | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 16 | −6 | 11 |
| 10 | Aston Villa | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 30 | −19 | 10 |
| 11 | West Ham United | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 14 | 30 | −16 | 8 |
| 12 | Bristol City | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 50 | −40 | 6 |
At least a draw against Manchester City would improve our chances for Champions League football next season so much because Arsenal will likely have the better goal-difference against us.