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Abu Dhabi-Manchester deal

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The blue side of Manchester could be in for a massive cash injection after a UAE group signed a memorandum of understanding with the soccer club.

According to FourFourTwo.com, the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment aims to make Manchester City the biggest club in the Premiership within four years.

The company is buying the club from the disgraced former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who will remain as an honorary director.

This looks to be another example of how the UAE capital is trying to diversify its investments as well as build its international standing. The likes of Saadiyat Island, which will be home to branches of the Louvre and the Guggenheim museums, will enhance its cultural reputation, while adding Manchester City to its investments, which also include the likes of Citibank, will give it some sporting credibility. The AD company has promised to buy players but only time will tell if it can deliver on its promise to make City a soccer powerhouse.

Robinho in his Real Madrid days
Robinho in his Real Madrid days

Update: Almost as a statement of intent, City have set a British transfer record by signing the Brazilian forward Robinho from Real Madrid for £32.5m (€39.8m, $58m, Dh213m).

Footballing business sense

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If you’ve followed the professional soccer world at all in the last decade, you’ll be fully aware that some of them are on outrageous money. John Nicholson advocates a move away from huge set wages to a performance-related scheme, and the man speaks the truth:

A player’s agent will be quick to ask for more money for his player after one good season – but if he has a bad season will not expect his wages to drop.

The time has come to change this.

We need a large element of their wages to be performance-related and on top of that if you’re injured, your money must be cut radically. Players can easily insure their income to cover themselves for periods of lay-off – it should not be a burden the club has to bear. Players expect win bonuses but not loss reductions. Why not? That’s just having your cake and cramming it in your gob, son.

The X-Files 2

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What a disappointment. It was no secret that it would have nothing to do with the conspiracy plots of the series but that foreknowledge didn’t help. A weak script and really unoriginal plot, along with what seems to be the complete disregard for how the series ended, add up to a very poor movie from Chris Carter. I wanted to like it — had it not been The X-Files I may have happy enough with it as a by-the-numbers serial killer story — and I can’t say I hated it; just that I was let down. The evolution of the Mulder-Scully relationship is pleasant enough but the film captures none of the essence that the TV show had at its peak. Even the “unusual” aspects of the case are humdrum; there were far more original takes on similar things in the early seasons of the show.

My recommendation: wait until it’s broadcast on television. Don’t bother paying to see it.