What We're Up Against

Discussion in 'Bulletin Board' started by Stahlrost, Oct 4, 2017.

  1. thetykester

    thetykester Well-Known Member

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    I agree it is sickening but if they do fck off how many fans will join them, it's bad enough now trying to get fans through the gate. To me it's a worrying situation.
     
  2. Met

    Metatarsal Well-Known Member

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    I can only stake a claim to the first paragraph to be fair,the rest is quoted from the book.

    I completely get what you are saying and part of me is realistic about football as a modern business, I perhaps just see the game differently, not a right or wrong way if that makes sense.

    I'm still firmly in the camp that the "product" should be more balanced across the 92 (as it was) Football League clubs rather than an increasingly greedy elite few. The formation of the Premier League has reduced competition, something that is now increasingly distorting the Championship too. My point in referencing the David Conn text was to emphasise the, in my opinion, the authorities in the game capitulated to the greed of the few rather than standing up for the greater good of the game and benefit football clubs.

    At national level, I'm not convinced our game is stronger or more skilful, although in balance we have had varied performances from our national team pre and post Premier League formation, and arguably our embedded culture is perhaps still uncomfortable with such things as a footballing centre half (Stones, Ferdinand etc). But then again, with the amount of money at the PL level, I dont think it's unreasonable for the typical supporter to expect consistent world-class performances, and we don't get them. The consistent quality we see is not from English footballers.

    Relegation from the PL to the Championship, or from Championship to League One arguably threatens the existence of clubs due to the step change in TV income. Whilst it is fair to say that this is recognised by the authorities via the parachute/solidarity payments, I just personally think it's a sad state of afffairs that we have a kind of artificial solution to this financial step change when a broader spread of the money in the game from source would give greater security to clubs whilst maintaining competition.

    I might be a cynical so and so nowadays, but for me, the PL does not care one bit for football generally, and as a purely commercial entity why should it. That's why my view about a further european league breakaway have changed. I honestly wish they would get on with it. I know I perhaps sound like an old romantic, if unrealistic, so and so, but I got hooked on football for what it was in its purest form, sport, competition, passion etc, where the only currency that mattered was 2 or 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw etc.
     
    Last edited: Oct 5, 2017
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  3. Met

    Metatarsal Well-Known Member

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  4. Met

    Metatarsal Well-Known Member

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  5. Met

    Metatarsal Well-Known Member

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  6. Red

    Red Rain Well-Known Member

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    For many of us born in the 1950s, there are many things that have changed during our lifetimes, and many of those are not perceived as being changes for the better. I do not remember everything about the game with rose tinted spectacles. For a start, the decay that pervaded most of the stadiums was obvious to all, even before the Hillsborough tragedy made action unavoidable. The game had to become commercialised in order to put through the changes that were needed. It needed more revenue. The question is, has the game gone too far and in doing so has it become detached from the communities that it serves. There was a time when the players that represented the town on the football field lived amongst us. They were part of the community. They earned sums of money that did not set them apart, and you were likely to meet a player on the bus on his way to or from training. The commercialisation of the game and the increased cash paid to players has set them apart. They are now an elite that does its best to avoid contact with the fans, that does not live in the town they represent and that live a different life to the people who spend their hard earned wages supporting the team that they play for. Other than on a Saturday afternoon, they spend the rest of the week avoiding us. I can see why. I mean, there are some real head cases on the terraces and you probably need to avoid them after a bad result, but the sense of community has disappeared as a result. It is partly about money and therefore about the commercialisation of the game resulting from the Premier League, but it is also about the way that the world has moved on and has become a different place. How our old industries have died and how the honest jobs that they offered, back breaking jobs some of them, have been replaced by jobs in service industries where the toil is replaced by thought. Those of us who are older have fond memories of the old place that we used to inhabit. We were younger then, and everything is better when you are younger. But was it, or are our memories simply biased towards our youth. Was football really better then, or was it just different. I am not the one to answer that question. There are things that I miss, but there are things that are undoubtedly better. We just go along with it, put up with the things we dislike and hope for the best for our team.
     
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  7. churtonred

    churtonred Well-Known Member

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    This is an idealistic comment rather than one based in reality but...
    why do we NEED all this money in the game? Why do we need to pay players thousands of pounds a week. Charge £30 plus for a ticket. I know it won't happen. Top players would clear off to other leagues etc.
    What I'm trying to say is... I don't need to watch Messi quality football to be a football fan. As long as the playing field is fairer than it is now the playing standards could drop a few levels across the board for all I care. As long as there's eleven blokes with a red shirt on their back that will do.
    Wouldn't it be nice if the people who love the game set the scale of rewards for players rather than them and their agents?
    We don't need players to be earning obscene amoints of money to enjoy watching a game of football.
     
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