AlexiLalasMark Abbott told me: “There is no possibility he (Lampard) is not coming at all…he’ll be playing for the @MLS team in 2015.” #Pellegrini
1/5/15, 10:13 AM
Per Alexi Lalas: " Mark Abbott Told Me There Is No Possibility He Doesn't Come At All."
- Thread starter doctorhoosier
- Start date
AlexiLalasMark Abbott told me: “There is no possibility he (Lampard) is not coming at all…he’ll be playing for the @MLS team in 2015.” #Pellegrini
1/5/15, 10:13 AM
Just in case, some context - Abbott is the MLS deputy commissioner.
AlexiLalasAbbott on Lampard not really "signing" w/ @MLS: "It is a distinction w/o difference…he had overall agreement w/ owner, City Football Group."
1/5/15, 10:24 AM
Which is not the case for any other MLS players. So the league bent over, if I was the other owners I'd be pissed.
Sorry to keep making separate posts within this thread, but this is good chatter.
AlexiLalas
Mark Abbott on whether @NYCFC season-ticket holders were duped: "I don’t think anybody was duped."
1/5/15, 10:36 AM
AlexiLalasMark Abbott on whether @NYCFC season-ticket holders were duped: "I don’t think anybody was duped."
1/5/15, 10:36 AM
AlexiLalasMark Abbott on Lampard’s reported “loan” to MC: “There wasn’t a loan and I’m not quite sure why it got characterized as a loan."
1/5/15, 10:50 AM
How about every single statement released by every single party involved? Does he really think supporters and the "media" just made it up? Damn, enjoying MLS was so much easier when I just watched matches and had teams I liked. Now that I've emotionally invested beyond watching my Nats and other compelling players, I've started to understand why supporters hate MLS's executive leadership. It's atrocious from a fan relations perspective.
Makes you appreciate the loud mouths like Peter Vermes, Adrian Hannauer and Bruce Arena so much more. Without guys like them, we'd really be in the dark.
I think "duped" is exactly what happened. MLS and CFG are making it worse by not coming clean. They must have gone to the Groucho Marx's School of PR: "The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made."
Until the truth comes out no one can move on.
I think MLS got duped most of all. My response in the early days of the Frank rumors was that it wouldn't happen because MLS owned all the contracts. The fact that they made an exception here means they were complicit, they fucked up, so of course they have to spin it as if they are not chumps, which they are.
This isn't hard. Claudio Reyna needs to come out of hiding and say "Look, we signed a pre-contract with Lampard and City signed him in order to help comply with FFP. We didn't think it would be a big deal but obviously we were wrong. Because we didn't think it was a big deal, we didn't share the exact details because in our minds, he was with NYCFC. That was wrong. We apologize to the fans. We're a new club, so we're going to make mistakes, and we made a big one here. We'll work in the future to be as transparent with the fans as we can be.
Furthermore, thank everyone who is still a supporter today. We know we haven't made it easy on you, and we appreciate you standing with us. That's the kind of support we'll need to reach our dreams, and frankly it's the support we haven't earned yet. We will do our utmost in the future to earn that support both on and off the field. To show our appreciation, we will do x thing (and thing involves NYCFC spending money on something for the fans). "
If n0t the above, just please shut up. You're making it worse.
Furthermore, thank everyone who is still a supporter today. We know we haven't made it easy on you, and we appreciate you standing with us. That's the kind of support we'll need to reach our dreams, and frankly it's the support we haven't earned yet. We will do our utmost in the future to earn that support both on and off the field. To show our appreciation, we will do x thing (and thing involves NYCFC spending money on something for the fans). "
If n0t the above, just please shut up. You're making it worse.
Hahah wow! MLS is totally making it seem like this isn't a big deal. They're letting CFG shit all over them.
I don't understand why they could just be honest in the beginning and say that they've signed Lampard to a contract that starts AFTER his contract with MCFC instead of making it seem like he was signed and would be there Jan 1. Everyone would have been fine with that, and they still would have sold tickets. It's just ridiculous.
For the millionth time, FFP has nothing to do with this. Lampard was a free transfer and Man City has been paying his wages, so they've gained no FFP advantage.
Here's what I believe happened: nobody on the MLS side thought there was any chance that Man City would want FL past the new year, but someone at CFC was smart enough to structure the contract the way it was structured JUST IN CASE (maybe was one of Lampard's people).
MLS allowed it because they must have assumed (like everyone else) that it didn't matter. Remember Man City basically wanted Lampard to ensure they complied with the UEFA 8 locally trained player requirement.
So no, I don't think there was intentional duping -- they likely allowed the initial structure because they thought it could never bite them in the ass. Now, they're caught with their pants down and that's not much they can do about. The mistake wad allowing the original structure and not publicly talking about.
It seems unlikely there was any way to stop what happened from happening once MCFC decided they wanted to keep him.
He looked like shite playing an hour yesterday, by the way...
Unfortunately you're all just going to have to accept that CFG just don't come out to release statements on stuff like this. It's not that they're trying to hide something, or they're too scared of the reaction - they just have a modus operandi which goes "we will not make club announcements about anything we are not obligated to announce". It's not even just a response to negative things - the club could win a Nobel Peace Prize or find the cure for all world diseases, and they simply would not comment on it. It's just how they operate.
Yes, they did get a FFP advantage by doing signing him as opposed to loaning him. UEFA has made clear they would put fair market price on all inter-CFG dealings. So if Etihad pays more than UEFA thinks its worth, they knock it down.
So if Lampard was loaned to MCFC, there's a strong chance UEFA would say that well MCFC should have paid money to NYCFC for that loan. Doing it this way takes that possibility out of the equation, hence helping MC avoid possible FFP pitfalls.
Well, I think originally they probably intended on loaning Lampard to NYCFC for the start of the MLS season until the "one year MCFC contract" expired, then he'd be with MLS full-time. And yes, this would allow MCFC to claim a credit for the value of Lampard's loan if MCFC was in a pinch FFP wise.
Now, there's nothing for MCFC to sell back. Lampard is a free agent in July unless he signs (or has signed) something otherwise.
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