Romanian still struggling to pay ridiculous £14.6m fine

Adrian Mutu was sacked by Chelsea in 2004 on account of his cocaine abuse, and was given a seven month ban and a £20,000 fine by the FA. When he signed for Juventus (via Livorno) as a free agent during this mandatory exile period, the Blues demanded £9.6m from the player to compensate for the initial transfer fee.

Mutu soon regretted hiring a lawyer he saw running down the street after an ambulance, as the fine was increased to £14.6m after two appeals to the very same Court of Arbitration for Sport who recently banned Chelsea from transfer activity.

Some might say that the transfer ban helped to restore karmic balance following Chelsea’s lack of compassion towards the Romanian, but the point remains that £14.6m is a penalty that only a handful of footballers could realistically afford to pay. In his latest bid to avoid the angry Russian debt collectors, Mutu has written an open letter to FIFA and his former employers. Sky Sport Italia printed the highlights, which Goal.com roughly translated:

“To Chelsea, the FIFA disciplinary committee and FIFA president Josep Blatter

“I write this letter

German fans write analytical open letter of complaint

With two draws and a defeat under their belts in 2009/10, Bayern Munich aren’t going the right way about improving on their second placed finish in the last campaign.

It’s fair to draw a comparison between the historically successful Bavarian side and Liverpool, and it is also fair to say that Liverpool fans could benefit from the analytical nature of their German counterparts.

Instead of windmilling in with pessimistic talk of lost title chances - the type of attitude that the tabloid press has instilled in the typical English fan - Die Roten have written a detailed open letter to their club. It’s a studious analysis of their teams’ plight, compiled with all the unnecessary formality and meticulousness of the minutes of a local council meeting.

Chairman pays homage to Ashley with 2,441-word statement

Daniel Levy has written a lengthy open letter on the club’s website in an attempt to explain to fans the thought process behind his recent decision-making.

Unlike Mike Ashley’s similar statement to Newcastle fans two months ago, Levy stops short of blaming himself for the problems and instead appears to list a number of reasons why everyone else has screwed up.

He explains that he sold Dimitar Berbatov on deadline day because under FIFA regulations they would have lost him for a pittance next summer, although he laughably adds that “he had not been a positive influence on the pitch or in the dressing room”, apparently deciding that his 46 goals and 22 assists had nothing to do with their fifth-placed finish in 2006-07 or their Carling Cup success.

Levy also adds that the “ultimate failure” was that “quite simply, we failed because we were not as decisive or as successful in identifying or replacing the two strikers as early as we should have been,” which appears to have been blamed on Damien Comolli. The letter also vowed that the club are not solely run to make a profit and revealed that new manager Harry Redknapp will have absolute control over transfers and that the sporting director role vacated by Comolli will not be filled.

Read the statement in all its glory after the jump:

‘Marcus’ embraces the blogging spirit, and then some

Aside from a nice cold beer on a hot Christmas morning, nothing makes The Spoiler staff happier than a well thought-out constructive comment on a story. So imagine our delight when we saw this lengthy effort from Villa fan Marcus, expressing his utter dismay over the current Gareth Barry transfer saga. We may or may not agree with you, but you are a credit to the blogosphere, chap:

Dear Gareth & your agent,

Before you confuse your career needs with your emotional and irrational desire to play with your mate Stevie in the odd Champions League game, you might like to consider this.

Hicks and Gillett hate each other. The club has their debt incurred acquiring the club. They have already refinanced and the club pays interest of £30m a year. Accounts of Kop Holdings Ltd (set up to run the club) show a loss of £32.3m in the last year, despite reaching the Champions League final. The duo had to draw £1.5m to cover their ‘personal expenses’, hardly something rich men need to do. The duo have still not obtained finance for the new stadium. If they have not got it now, they will not get it. They have no capital worth talking about, the world is already suffering the ‘credit crunch’ and is about to go into recession.

Villa is totally stable and improving.

If the Reds have to sell to buy, they will have to do it again next season. Does any other Champions League club have to do that? Eventually they will run out of players. Are Man U, Chelsea or Arsenal interested in Milner? How long before