Real Madrid, Spain dominate European club scene

by Andy SCOTT

Thursday, December 18, 2014    

If, after years of unbridled success, 2014 was brutally disappointing for Spain on the international stage, it was a glorious year for the country at club level.

A thrilling title race in La Liga, home to the world’s best player Cristiano Ronaldo and his great rival Lionel Messi, made it the envy of the rest of the continent, while Spain took a clean sweep of the European trophies and Real Madrid are in line to cap it all by becoming club world champions.

More than anyone else, it was a year to remember for Real, who finally won the European Cup for an unprecedented 10th time, ending a 12-year obsession with ‘La Decima’.

After years of frustration since Zinedine Zidane’s stunning volley in Glasgow secured their ninth European Cup in 2002, and more than a billion euros spent in the transfer market by president Florentino Perez, Carlo Ancelotti’s side beat city rivals Atletico 4-1 after extra time in a pulsating final in Lisbon in May.

It was so nearly a nightmare for Los Blancos, with only a stoppage-time equaliser by Sergio Ramos keeping their hopes alive before they ran away with the game in extra time once Gareth Bale had put them ahead.

“This squad is full of young players, talent and desire. This can be the start of a great cycle,” coach Ancelotti ominously declared later, having matched former Liverpool manager Bob Paisley’s achievement of winning three European Cups.

“When I signed for Madrid the Champions League was the primary objective for this season. Here the history with ‘La Decima’ made it even more important,” added the Italian.

So much so that Casillas, who would later endure a disastrous World Cup as the holders were eliminated in the group stage, said the night in Lisbon felt “like something even bigger than winning the World Cup.”

For Atletico, meanwhile, it was a reminder that they remain the David against their city neighbours’ Goliath and could only continue to upset the odds for so long.

Diego Simeone’s side have been a breath of fresh air across Europe and their Spanish title triumph, secured with a final-day draw away to rivals Barcelona, came against all odds.

After almost a decade in which Real and Barcelona had utterly dominated La Liga, Atletico broke the mould with a side led by the bruising centre-forward Diego Costa.

It seems hard to believe that such a story will be repeated any time soon, however, making their failure in the Champions League final all the more agonising.

An elite few continue to dominate in Europe’s leading leagues. Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich may have been humbled by Real Madrid in last season’s Champions League semi-finals, but they won the Bundesliga in record quick time and conceded just three goals in going unbeaten through their opening 16 games of this season.

Overcoming the blow to their prestige of seeing president Uli Hoeness jailed for tax evasion in the spring, Bayern’s all-conquering team are being taken to new levels by Guardiola, of whom Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said: “I have never seen such diligence in any other coach.”

In France, Paris Saint-Germain won last season’s Ligue 1 title with a record points tally from Monaco and remain favourites to win this season’s crown, despite Marseille’s revival under Marcelo Bielsa.

And in Italy, the country’s richest and most decorated club Juventus won the league with a record tally of 102 points last season, and few would bet against them winning another Scudetto in 2015.

But on the European stage, Spain has outshone the rest, with Sevilla winning the Europa League and then losing to Real in the final of the European Super Cup.

Spain has dominated the transfer market too, with the biggest moves seeing Colombia World Cup star James Rodriguez join Real from Monaco for 80 million euros ($99m) and the controversial Luis Suarez leave Liverpool for Barcelona for a similar amount.

And while Italy was as active as anywhere in terms of coaching changes, with Massimiliano Allegri replacing Antonio Conte at Juventus, Filippo Inzaghi taking over at AC Milan and Roberto Mancini returning to Inter, the highest-profile appointment came at Barcelona, where former player Luis Enrique arrived in the summer.

The Catalans, after a glorious era under Guardiola, are currently playing catch-up with their great rivals Madrid, though, just as Messi has played second fiddle to Ronaldo, at least at club level.

While Messi reached the World Cup final with Argentina, Ronaldo was eliminated at the group stage with Portugal, but he has broken the 60-goal barrier for a fourth calendar year in a row, and his goals have powered Real on an incredible run of 21 straight wins, with a Club World Cup final still to come.

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Real Madrid, Spain dominate European club scene

Dishonest European promoters hurt reggae

Borjan Tisma

After recently slamming several local reggae artistes for their unprofessionalism, Borjan Tisma has now turned his attention to the dishonest promoters applying their trade in Europe.

Just over a month ago Tisma, who is based in Poland, stressed that some of the artistes are killing the reggae music business due to their unethical ways. He also warned them against recording hate music towards homosexuals because Europe has grown to become less tolerant.

Now Tisma, who does bookings for Lady Saw, Anthony B, Konshens, Gyptian, RDX, Iba Mahr and several others, has shifted his focus on to his own counterparts stating that their dishonesty is also contributing to the decline of reggae music.

“Some of the EU reggae promoters are unprofessional because many do not have the budget to keep a high show with high profile reggae artistes, which leads to tour cancellations,” he said.

Whenever this becomes the case, Tisma reveals that the promoters then try to be cunning by relying on presale tickets which may or may not sell quickly.

“Without a proper budget and funding the promoters cannot promote properly and try to promote shows with only Internet promotion,” he added.

Because of this, booking agents such as Tisma feels the burn. “With a limited budget, some promoters try to avoid a booking agent and work directly with the artistes. Whenever they cannot fulfill their obligations they simply disappear and cannot be found,” he said.

Some promoters are also reluctant to meet the demands of the artistes they seek. These range from accommodations, food to backstage requirements.

“Jamaican artistes have special dietary concerns and some European promoters don’t understand this. Also, the unity is not there and so we have dates clashing,” he said.

Tisma is currently working with Contractor Music Marketing, owned by Sean Edwards, to coordinate several tours with some of Jamaica’s biggest reggae artistes.

“Without a proper budget and funding the promoters cannot promote properly and try to promote shows with only Internet promotion,”

View the original article here

Dishonest European promoters hurt reggae

Dishonest European promoters hurt reggae

Borjan Tisma

After recently slamming several local reggae artistes for their unprofessionalism, Borjan Tisma has now turned his attention to the dishonest promoters applying their trade in Europe.

Just over a month ago Tisma, who is based in Poland, stressed that some of the artistes are killing the reggae music business due to their unethical ways. He also warned them against recording hate music towards homosexuals because Europe has grown to become less tolerant.

Now Tisma, who does bookings for Lady Saw, Anthony B, Konshens, Gyptian, RDX, Iba Mahr and several others, has shifted his focus on to his own counterparts stating that their dishonesty is also contributing to the decline of reggae music.

“Some of the EU reggae promoters are unprofessional because many do not have the budget to keep a high show with high profile reggae artistes, which leads to tour cancellations,” he said.

Whenever this becomes the case, Tisma reveals that the promoters then try to be cunning by relying on presale tickets which may or may not sell quickly.

“Without a proper budget and funding the promoters cannot promote properly and try to promote shows with only Internet promotion,” he added.

Because of this, booking agents such as Tisma feels the burn. “With a limited budget, some promoters try to avoid a booking agent and work directly with the artistes. Whenever they cannot fulfill their obligations they simply disappear and cannot be found,” he said.

Some promoters are also reluctant to meet the demands of the artistes they seek. These range from accommodations, food to backstage requirements.

“Jamaican artistes have special dietary concerns and some European promoters don’t understand this. Also, the unity is not there and so we have dates clashing,” he said.

Tisma is currently working with Contractor Music Marketing, owned by Sean Edwards, to coordinate several tours with some of Jamaica’s biggest reggae artistes.

“Without a proper budget and funding the promoters cannot promote properly and try to promote shows with only Internet promotion,”

View the original article here

Dishonest European promoters hurt reggae

European fans show D-Major love

D-Major

Leighton Levy, Star Writer

The first two legs of his nine-show Real Know Real European tour have been eye-openers for singer D-Major.

The singer, who released his first-ever solo album earlier this year, has been finding things much to his liking as his fans in Europe have been showing his songs much love.

“The first two shows have been a major success, pun intended,” said the delighted singer when he spoke with THE STAR. “Amsterdam was a caf?/club vibe so it was more of an intimate thing, but the people came out and everybody was happy. The promoters were surprised because there were people there from England who came to Amsterdam. These are the things I am going to use as fuel.”

What has been especially pleasing is that the songs they have been showing love to are not the ones he expected.

“In Wuppertal (Germany), people were singing songs I don’t even want to perform in Jamaica, because they don’t get heavy rotation and people only like what they are familiar with. But I can just sing my songs. It’s kind of surprising,” he said.

Some of the songs with which the audiences connected include Smooth Sailing that was released in 2010 and which D-Major said he has never performed in Jamaica; Quality Time and Can’t Let Go, which was sung word for word.

They fans were also in love with That’s What Love’s About and Real Know Real, which D-Major said “was the monster. ”

“Tonight (Saturday), they were singing No More Distance, that’s one of the songs from the album. I was surprised they already know that one,” he said. No More Distance is a collaboration between D-Major and Busy Signal.

View the original article here

European fans show D-Major love

European fans show D-Major love

D-Major

Leighton Levy, Star Writer

The first two legs of his nine-show Real Know Real European tour have been eye-openers for singer D-Major.

The singer, who released his first-ever solo album earlier this year, has been finding things much to his liking as his fans in Europe have been showing his songs much love.

“The first two shows have been a major success, pun intended,” said the delighted singer when he spoke with THE STAR. “Amsterdam was a caf?/club vibe so it was more of an intimate thing, but the people came out and everybody was happy. The promoters were surprised because there were people there from England who came to Amsterdam. These are the things I am going to use as fuel.”

What has been especially pleasing is that the songs they have been showing love to are not the ones he expected.

“In Wuppertal (Germany), people were singing songs I don’t even want to perform in Jamaica, because they don’t get heavy rotation and people only like what they are familiar with. But I can just sing my songs. It’s kind of surprising,” he said.

Some of the songs with which the audiences connected include Smooth Sailing that was released in 2010 and which D-Major said he has never performed in Jamaica; Quality Time and Can’t Let Go, which was sung word for word.

They fans were also in love with That’s What Love’s About and Real Know Real, which D-Major said “was the monster. ”

“Tonight (Saturday), they were singing No More Distance, that’s one of the songs from the album. I was surprised they already know that one,” he said. No More Distance is a collaboration between D-Major and Busy Signal.

View the original article here

European fans show D-Major love

Konshens on European tour

Konshens

With a successful start to 2014, dancehall’s poster boy, Konshens, continues to reap success, locally and internationally. He is on a European tour.

The tour has taken him to countries including France, the Indian Ocean isle of Reunion Island, Mayotte and Mauritius, before continuing on to Europe where he will perform in more than 20 cities at venues ranging from clubs to festivals, such as Summer Jam and Rototom Festival.

This tour is one fans will definitely look forward to, as Konshens will be accompanied by his newfound personal band, ‘Di Blueprint’.

Konshens has been working feverishly with Di Blueprint in an effort to enhance his performance and to deliver an entertaining show.

Konshens is excited about the tour.

“Dancehall is what we do daily, and we see the impact and the road so many of the dancehall icons have paved for us, and I can only do my part and work on my craft to bring it to the people,” he said.

His sophomore solo album, The Hotel Room, is scheduled for release this summer, and fans and music lovers across the world will have the opportunity to hear his growth, creativity and passion for music and his fans. The release of the new Konshens App is also set for this summer.

Konshens’ latest single, Don Daddy, is gaining traction on radio and in the streets. The Jukeboxx-produced track is featured on the ‘Greatest Creation’ rhythm.

View the original article here

Konshens on European tour

European clubs spend $2.3B on player transfers

LONDON, England (AP) — The world’s richest football league is getting even richer, although the wealth of English clubs is also benefiting teams overseas.

In less than three months during the European transfer window, more than $2.3 billion was spent by clubs in the continent’s top five leagues — with a third of that shipped by Premier League sides overseas, according to an analysis by accountancy firm Deloitte.Such spending might seem at odds with the economic hardships being experienced by many fans, but the transfer window splurges are not slowing down.Even though there are relatively new Financial Fair Play regulations in European football, the days of the big-money moves are not over.“If a price of a player is high or not high, I think this is the market and we cannot intervene in this market,” FIFA President Sepp Blatter said yesterday. “It is definitely a European market.”In less than three months, £490 million (US$760 million) of the £630 million (US$980 million) paid out by English sides landed in bank accounts abroad — up 60 per cent year-on-year.The record spending spree, though, was in part the result of Tottenham generating 100 million euros (US$132 million) by selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid in a world-record deal.Even though Spaniards have been in recession for much of the past four years, they turned out in their thousands on Monday to laud the arrival of a player reportedly being paid around 350,000 euros (US$461,000) a week.The head of world football can see how incongruous that looks.“You say the country is a poor country or indebted, but in football you always find money,” Blatter said. “If a player is the value of that (100 million euros), I doubt, I doubt, but I cannot stop this. Gareth Bale, he can prove now that he is better than (Cristiano) Ronaldo.”Spanish top-flight clubs, however, did make an overall transfer profit in the summer of 110 million euros (US$145 million) and Italian sides had a 12 million-euro (US$16-million) surplus.Financial planning wasn’t so astute elsewhere.Net spending by Premier League clubs was £400 million (US$622 million), while the figure was 150 million euros (US$198 million) in France, and 60 million euros (US$79 million) in Germany.The spending power of England’s top-flight clubs has been strengthened by new television deals that are generating more than US$8.5 billion over the next three years.“Testament to the impact (the TV revenue) is having is in the scale of Premier League gross spending, as well as the gulf in net spending between the Premier League and other European leagues,” said Alex Thorpe from Deloitte’s sports division.“Whereas many clubs around Europe have been reliant on selling players in order to spend, the financial advantages Premier League clubs enjoy have enabled net spending of £400 million across the league.”Around £140 million (US$218 million) was shelled out by Premier League clubs on the frantic final day on the transfer window, with Arsenal scrambling to break their transfer record to bring Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid for a club record 50 million euros (US$66 million).Deadline-day can create a frenzy, with champion Manchester United managing to squeeze just one notable deal over the line — Marouane Fellaini joined from Everton for £27.5 million (US$43 million) — despite months pursuing talent across Europe.Despite calls to close the transfer window before the season starts, finding an agreeable date across Europe is tough.“I agree it is too long but the whole world is involved and don’t play at the same time as we do,” UEFA President Michel Platini said. “The clubs also want to have transfers finished before the start of their competition.

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European clubs spend $2.3B on player transfers

Bolivia accepts European apologies

24 July 2013 Last updated at 14:02 ET President Evo Morales said he was not fully satisfied but accepted the apologies nevertheless Bolivian President Evo Morales says he accepts the apologies from European countries which barred his jet from flying into their airspace last month.

The Bolivians accused France, Spain, Portugal and Italy of acting on an alleged US tip-off that the fugitive intelligence analyst Edward Snowden was onboard a plane flying from Moscow.

The Europeans apologised and said the decision had been due to mistakes.

Mr Snowden has been in the transit area of a Moscow airport since 23 June.

‘Continue relationships’

Mr Morales said he was not “fully satisfied” with the apologies, but accepted them nevertheless.

“Because we want to continue relationships of respect among our countries – relationships which are complementary and in solidarity with consequence and in co-ordination with our ministries and the presidents – we have agreed to send our ambassadors back,” he told reporters in the Bolivian capital, La Paz.

After his flight diversion, Bolivia had recalled their ambassadors to the involved countries.

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Bolivia accepts European apologies

Readers want a European coach for Reggae Boyz

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaicans, at least those responding to the Jamaica Observer Online poll feel that the Reggae Boyz would be best served by a European coach, if not a local.

Over the week of the poll — from what area of the world should the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) recruit the next Reggae Boyz coach— 41 per cent of respondents said Europe.However, 37 per cent felt that a local coach should be recruited. And despite Jamaica’s affinity to South American football and the fact that the country’s only trip the World Cup was with a Brazilian, only 19 per cent of respondents would want a coach from that part of the world.Meanwhile, a coach from North America had little support polling a mere three per cent.Former Reggae Boyz head coach, local-based Theodore Whitmore tendered his resignation following the Boyz’ 2-0 defeat to Honduras in that country on June 11. That loss culminated of a string of unfavourable results that included home defeats to the Mexico (1-0) on June 4 and the USA (2-1) on June 7. Prior to those games, the Boyz also lost 2-0 away to Costa Rica on March 26.Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jamaicaobserverFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/JamaicaObserver

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Readers want a European coach for Reggae Boyz