Tuesday 8 July 2008

Laporta could step down on Thursday

Catalan sports paper Sport claims this afternoon that, due to the pressure of several board members, Barcelona president Joan Laporta will step down on Thursday. His successor would be current first vice president Albert Vicens (picture).

Laporta denied this evening to journalists that he will step down and made clear he plans to continue with renewed energy after having survived the vote.

On Thursday there will be a board meeting where measures will be taken as a reaction to the "sweet defeat" last Sunday
and where several board members are expected to resign.


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

so much for stability!

Anonymous said...

What!?! i don't understand... what is going to happend?

Anonymous said...

I hope Giralt and Rosell are happy now! Bastards! They will rue the day they led to Laporta's ouster (if he in fact steps down.) But Giralt will get his as well one day. As the old saying goes, "What goes around, comes around."

I know it will never ever happen. But my wish would be for Laporta to replace Calderon at Madrid in the next elections and exact his revenge unmercilessly on those that betrayed him! That would be poetic justice! I'm sure most Madrid fans would prefer Laporta to Calderon as we speak!

I'm a true Barcelonista, born and bred in Barcelona. But what has just transpired with this vote of no confidence is a travesty! I will be a loyal culé until I die, but I feel ashamed and disgusted to call myself a fan right now!

Anonymous said...

i support you... i think just as you do...

Anonymous said...

As I predicted, more than 40 percent against would mean that Laporta would resign sooner, rather than later. Looks like it's going to happen. Even though Sport is usually full of it, they're probably right this time.

So the club is paralyzed, and we might end up stuck with a piece of crap such as Gudjohnsen, lumbering around and losing balls again.

Nice work, Giralt.

And on the up side, we get to keep an aging, hotheaded striker and a fat Brazilian non-playmaker. Then whoever is running the club will be forced to sell them for cheap next year, then they can face a censure vote from some jackass.

Anonymous said...

Why dont you guys just wait to see what happens...Man o man talk about getting worked up over speculation. Relax and just let the cards fall where they may

Anonymous said...

I agree with the post above....this is just speculation, there is no need to go crazy. Also, even if Laporta does resign it does not actually cause that much instability. It would be a measure aimed at improving stability. Laporta is being targeted personally and a lot of the frustration and anger is aimed at him. The hope would be that by removing him this would alleviate some of that anger. The board and all the other decision makers would remain the same. It would not interfere with transfers or anything like that and all the planned signings and sales would go ahead.

Anonymous said...

I agree! This might just work out fine...But it's never good to have this kind of disruptive elements in a big club like Barca. I am sure madrid vill try and capitalize on this some how, those evil bastards...=)

Anonymous said...

I am not optimistic that it will be business as usual once the VP steps up and the Financial head becomes VP. Too much damage has been done for them to continue with business as usual with the Laporta program.

Yes, the initial move was anti-Laporta, but the numbers who voted against him were such that he has no option but to resign. The residue of the discontent will be palpable, and will alter any decisions made by the semi-interim-sorta-permanent-until 2010 board.

Which presumes that people won't angle for replacement of not just Laporta, but someone who is approved by the dissenting socis. No, the board wouldn't have to, since the censure vote "failed." But it's not difficult to imagine that they would be feeling a lot of pressure to.

Either way, the result, as predicted, is turmoil.

Prima facie, Vicens and Soriano move up, and the Laporta program continues apace. But that's about as likely (politically) as us switching to all-white home strip next season.

Anonymous said...

laporta was one of the best things that happent to barcelona (resent history) that is true.. no one should claim the oposit...
kempe cyprus..

cojonudo said...

I couldn't agree with Kxevin more. To suggest that business will continue as usual at the club with Laporta's imminent departure is being far to naive and shortsighted. You can be sure that de facto president Vicens is going to have 'lame duck' status written across his forehead. There is sure to be dissention among the board members as the status of those who supported Lapora will now come into question. Any decision making policy Vicens attempts to carry out will be done with one eye looking over his shoulder. And don't for one second underestimate the "influence" that Giralt and Rosell will now attempt to wield over the club. Make no mistake, Vicens is a "paper president" walking on egg shells surrounded by sharks who are already sniffing blood.

Custom Search
 
Custom Search