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Where does football go from here?
I'm a massive footy fan but I'm getting seriously worried about what's happening to the game. All this money has, imo, done far more harm than good.
We've had two clubs in court today facing winding up orders (Pompey & Southend for those who didn't know), Stockport potentially face expulsion from the football league at the end of the season unless they can find a suitable buyer & Chester had their game against Forest Green called off because their players went on strike because they haven't been paid. Of course, no-one is immune to this. Man Utd have seriously massive debts & actually would have made a loss last year had it not been for the transfer of Ronaldo for 80m. This is a club who have a truly worldwide fanbase! And let's not forget Liverpool. They're in SERIOUS trouble if they don't qualify for the Champions league & there's a very real danger of that happening.
I think the bottom has well & truly fallen out of the game. It's no longer about the fans but about the players & agents & the hanger-oners (is that even a word?!) who simply milk the game for every penny they can get there grubby hands on. Something has to happen to the game & it has to happen now otherwise we're gonna see many clubs go to the wall. And I'm not just talking about the lower league clubs either. The writing is on the wall because a big club is gonna fall. I'm not a Pompey fan but I can see them being made an example of to other clubs & that would be a real tragedy. I've always had a soft spot for them. Fratton Park may not be up to premier standards but the fans are right near the top of the league. Truly amazing supporters who don't deserve this.
So what's the solution? Well for a start I for one believe there should be wage caps. For the very top level I would say 50k a week tops (& even that is really quite disgusting if you ask me, but I can understand why they "earn" so much). Are you telling me that you can't live comfortably on 50k a week, even taking into account the highest tax bracket? There's plenty of extra money to be made in the way of sponsorship & endorsements.
Also, get rid of this ridiculous transfer window system. Throughout the ages smaller clubs have kept going through selling their up & coming young players to bigger clubs & this farce of a system stops them from doing that when they might need it the most. Take Crystal Palace as an example. They were forced to sell Victor Moses to Wigan for just 2.5m when in today's market they could've probably sold him for double that. But with time running out in the transfer window & the club needing the money for the administrators other clubs were smelling blood & a cheap deal.
I thought people would've taken notice of the demise of Leeds, but no.
Something has to change in the game & it has to change NOW before we lose football as we know it. Not only in this country, but the biggest leagues the world over.
Comments
They could use it for their own youth academys as the amount of foreign players in the premier league will eventually have an impact on the England team.
Unfornatley nowadays to many ppl support the top 4 instaed of their home teams
I dont have the answer to this . Only fifa can change whats going on, but the lower division clubs should be given more money to build up there youth academys and hopefully get more local people supporting there own teams .
Personally I can't see why so many ppl support Man Utd. Sure they win most games and p[lenty of comps but with every club they have there highs and lows . And you need the lows to appreciate the highs more.
I support Preston and last season beating Blackpool away after coming from 1 down to win 3-1 was a day and night I will remember for the rest of my life. Coming back into Preston , it was like we had won the champions league. The whole of the town , every pub was packed with fans singing and celebrating.
With Man Utd winning almost week in and week a lot of the fans won,t appreciate it as much as other lower clubs as they have never experienced the low times
FIFA and the English FA - sort it out
THE MEDIA SKY SPORTS ARE THE WORST CLOSELY FOLLOWED BY MATCH OF THE DAY HAVE ONE SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM SPEND LOADS OF MONEY OR YOUR IN TROUBLE.
ANYBODY WHO RUNS ANY BUSINESS KNOWS THE FIRST BILL YOU PAY IS THE VAT MAN AND WEVE NOT EVEN PAYED THE PAYE ON THE PLAYERS WAGES.
THE SOLUTION IS CLEAR CLUBS MUST SUBMIT DETAILED FINANCIAL RESULTS AT THE END OF EACH YEAR AND CLUBS NOT BREAKING EVEN SHOULD BE PUNNISHED.
IF PLAYERS DONT LIKE THE AMNOUNT OF MONEY THEIR OFFERED THATS TOUGH THERE ARE FAR TO MANY EARNING FORTUNES FOR NOT EVEN PLAYING.
IF THE BIG FOUR OR FIVE DONT LIKE THAT LET THEM GO OFF AND START THEIR EUROPEAN LEAGUE AND LET THE REST OF US HAVE OUR GAME BACK SO WE CAN TAKE OUR KIDS TO AN AWAY GAME AND NOT HAVE TO SHELL OUT £100 TO DO SO
The transfer windows and players moving under freedom of contract (bosmans) has not helped a great deal, especially for cash-strapped smaller clubs who always relied on saleable assets moving on at any-time.
Sadly the problems are now reaching the top table. I really hope pompey are ok, but I fear that a big club will have to go under before our game is saved.
Irresponsible contracts and wages will be the death of the game if nothing is done by the footballing powers.
Wages need to be Capped and debt kept under control by clubs. Failure to do so should result in sanctions or points deductions.
It would be interesting to know which club is in the most debt in this country. Probably one in the North-West.
City have been in freeroll since the Premiership because of bad financial management..to the point of having to sell our ground to plopingo land to save the club! One year we were all asked to go to the ground and put a pound on the circumference of the pitch to raise money - skint times!!! After going into administration twice and being relegated twice the club is on it's last legs and desperately needs financial assistance and/or divisional caps in wages..
A percentage of final offer that the agent/manager gets for player transferes should be capped also...as should some of the profits from the TV companies should be put into some sort of 'save our football pot' available as a last resort
Also if Central Governments policies include 'Building Communities' and 'Youth Engagement' etc then why are our Local Authorities not dipping in to prevent these clubs going under? Don't even get me started on the local businesses...lol
Football needs help throughout the divisions and I'm not sure that immense foreign investment is the way forward as it creates such divides in wealth that the playing field is no longer level...
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I hate Mike Ashley along with every other Newcastle fan but isn't this what he's done for Newcastle? if going down and getting rid of the big time charlies saves NUFC then i have to give it to then man.
if pompy do vanish from the footballing world (hopefully not!!) i would have been distraught if we'd been sent the same way.
(applogies everyone, this post is rather aimed at emilyegg)
Arguably NUFC has been one of the worst run clubs for years, funded in no small part by the massive turnover that the long suffering support has helped to generate, come rain or shine.
I think NUFC have learnt a lot from Leeds and most of the "Big Time Charlies" were rightly punted at the first chance. Owen, Viduka and Duff would have been costing the club over £200k a week with no return. This was a totally unsustainable situation and a massive stroke of luck was Owen being out of contract....
It makes you think what he would have done if he had a couple of years to run on a reported £120k a week contract....with his stock greatly reduced and no chance of earning anywhere near that wage anywhere else he would have probably sat tight, purely for the love of pound notes....
emilyegg i have to say i'm thoroughly enjoying your contributions in this community.
i'm so glad you found us!
I know this might sound like a daft question, but could you see the fat-man turning from pariah to messiah on Tyneside?....
He hasn`t sold off the best players in the window
He has put in a few quid to strengthen
Will be interesting to see what he does at the end of the season. But whatever he does (i.e sell up or stay) I hope it is done early doors....
Football is a very, very strange thing at times.
yeah for sure. i'd hate to be 'hanging in mid-air' again.
the feelings of hatred are so strong right now, but i have to say football fans are fickle creatures (myself included) a few quid, some decent signings and (semi) success in the premier league and i'm sure opinion could sway somewhat.
my girlfriend knew is PA for a while. she always said he was actually a nice man. not sure what use that is to you but i don't think he's quite the devil everyone made out... just quite [very] naive when it comes to making footballing decisions.
I can see where he is coming from in terms of investment, the development of academy players and the need to run the club as a business, he has just made a few mistakes that have been very costly.
Hopefully the debacle of last season has been a wake up call not only financially but for the club from top to bottom.
You are right that a statement of intent is needed Rich, preferably as soon as the last ball is kicked this season.
If we are back at the top table next season, a mid-table position would be a huge success.
If Ashley does sell-up though, I fear that people would be clambering for the return of Shearer....not sure this would be the way forward unless the new owners were going to invest a massive amount of cash on the playing side though.
and i don't think it has to massive. the singing of Routledge and Williamson - more of this ilk will keep me happy.
Sorry as well to Jay, but he is a football man and a WHUFC fan so he will know where we are coming from.
[sob]
i was at the 2-2 last season with your boys. bit of a cracker that