I often get sent the most ridiculous articles about FCB and our players. I usually don’t bother reading, but there are some “authors” with such a fantastic track record that I decided to create a series in my blog: How To Dismantle A Crook.

The first episode will feature Jason Pettigrove, who writes for Bleacher Report (I know, sorry) and apparently is a FCB Penya member!

He wrote this about Lionel Messi on January 18th, 2015: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2324316-why-the-time-is-right-for-lionel-messi-to-leave-barcelona

“Transfer Ban and Team Decline 

We won’t know what the true fallout from the year-long transfer ban will be until we are almost at its end, but for a team that wants to be challenging for the top honours, it’s an absolute disaster.

The evolution of any side depends on the ability to freshen up the squad occasionally and, in Barcelona’s case, purchase a high-quality replacement for any position.

Since Pep Guardiola‘s decision to leave, Barca have slowly but very surely eroded in terms of its talent base, to the point where the signings of Thomas Vermaelen and Douglas are lauded.

For Messi to be happy and assured of the club’s commitment, building a team full of European football’s best exponents around him is a prerequisite.

What must he and his entourage be thinking when the club goes out and buys a player such as Douglas knowing that, for a year at least, this is the quality of player who he is expected to win the Champions League alongside?

For a club of Barcelona’s stature, what message does that send?

And that’s without considering the discussion over which signings they will now miss out on because they can’t sign anyone until 2016.  

I see. So the man who patiently waiting 9 months to get renewed would leave the club of his life because of 4 months we won’t sign players from July-December 2015?
And the fact he’s been asking for a 9 since 2012, and got the best there is on Luis Suarez surely doesn’t count, right? I mean, “Argentina x Uruguay will never work!”, right?!

Chance to Spearhead a New Project Elsewhere

Whether it’s Chelsea, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain or any other club that could afford the package to sign Lionel Messi, the chance to prove himself in another league could be too good to turn down.

Unlike Cristiano Ronaldo, who has proved his worth in both the Premier League and La Liga, Messi’s doubters will always remain unconvinced as to his excellence until he shines in one of the other top European leagues.

Forgetting, of course, that Messi remains atop the all-time scoring chart in the Champions League—the barometer of greatness at this point.

The chance to spearhead a new project alongside the type of player that Barcelona promised him, and then failed to deliver, would be very attractive indeed.

Oh, but of course! The man who has broken every single record in La Liga, is currently building a mansion and just registered his son to study at Barcelona would love to start a “project” funded by oil money teams. Because they have all been so successful, and have such greats, numerous fans supporting him!
And who wouldn’t want to play on such a superb league as Ligue 1, come one!
Messi could have asked for any amount when he renewed last year. He did not.
He asked for a competitive team, and, even though I do not agree with the methods, this team is exactly that.

On October 31st, 2014, he wrote this about Joan Laporta: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2243874-barcelona-should-not-even-consider-going-back-to-the-joan-laporta-way

Joan Laporta is back on the scene in Barcelona and that can only spell bad news for fans of the club.

But of course! The man who was responsible for bringing Cruijff back, who then picked Rijkaard and Guardiola, coaches who won THREE UCL titles in 6 years, who made everything possible to keep Messi happy, and worked to sign the players who achieved perfect, as in, 6 titles in a year, is “ONLY BAD NEWS!”.

Synonymous with the unprecedented success of the PepGuardiola era, this Catalan lawyer is one slippery customer. Perhaps even more so than his much-derided successor Sandro Rosell.

But of course Laporta is worse than Rosell!
Rosell only had the club’s books cooked so he could try to incriminate Laporta on something he didn’t do, and signed Neymar on such a way our club, a 115 year old institution is being sued for TAX FRAUD.
Oh, I forgot! Laporta sleeps with porn stars and drinks cava! Can’t have that!

The trophies that were won during his tenure as president of the club seem to have conveniently glossed over the incredible financial mismanagement during his time at Camp Nou.

He left the club in a SURPLUS, which was proved by A JUDGE!
But hey, you only write stuff you actually RESEARCH, like a proper journalist, right?

Let’s be clear. Rosell himself deserved to fall on his own sword and his “whiter than white” election campaign was a little embarrassing to say the least.

But the concerns that his administration raised were relevant and genuine.

No, they weren’t. Rosell cooked the books, lied, and Laporta left the club in a much better state than he got it in 2003.

Indeed, renowned accounting firm Deloitte, who were instructed to carry out a detailed audit by Rosell upon takeover, uncovered a very different scenario to the picture Laporta was painting at the time.

And that renowned account firm was wrong. Rosell had them cook the books and the Judge noticed. How about that?

Given Laporta‘s legal background, it’s not too difficult to imagine the spin that he and his board wished to put on what was, effectively, a ruinous situation were it allowed to continue for much longer.

Yeah! A spin! I mean, a Judge, someone who actually studied the case instead of only collecting bullshit from the internet like you like to do, say he  left the club in a surplus!
I mean, that is ruinous for real!

A promise to deliver David Beckham to Barcelona was possibly the single most significant statement which began to win the voters round, but it was a promise he failed to deliver. Ronaldinho was a more-than-adequate replacement, but Rosell and others soon saw through the flashy exterior.

He did promise Beckham. But he also had it all planned with Florentino. He used Beckham’s name, but did NOT fail to bring him. He was never gonna.

The incessant arrival of silverware appeared to soothe the Barcelonasocio members brows and arguably were happy to overlook any shortcomings in the Laporta administration.

The “incessant arrival of silverware” happened due to the “shortcomings” of the Laporta administration.
So, thanks for making sense!

Should Laporta find enough support to consider doing just that, then Barcelona fans everywhere need to choose wisely.
Do the signings of Neymar and Luis Suarez, and putting a sponsor on the Blaugrana shirt really override the continued good health of the organisation?
A question of style over substance. You choose…

Thank God 49% of actually voting socis want him back.
Because, if Rosell’s management was “substance” and Laporta was only “style and flair”, then fuck substance.
Oh, I forgot!
Laporta managed to leave the club on the green, while Rosell only has good numbers due to the Qatar sponsorship. Without it, all red, each season.
Funny Laporta managed to do well without ever selling our shirt, huh?

This article will be expanded, with treasures of wisdom such as: