[Archived] Football - A Bit Crap Really

[rover6]

There is a gloomy inevitablity about the future for clubs like Rovers (and lower league clubs have had it worse for years).

Any player who emerges as a young Premiership star will be snapped up before you can say Damien Duff or Louis Saha or Scott Parker or Shaun Wright-Phillips.

What is the point if the majority of the Premiership clubs are going to be feeder teams to the big-guns who are all but untouchable with their annual Champions' League funds?

[MCMC1875]

the sad fact is that the fans are expected to care about the club anf give everthing for it while clubs feels little for its fans expect as a money machine.

In the past players have stated that its a short time span tp earn mnoey well at between 15,000- 100,000k a week you do not have to work long to be well off for life.

AS for me ( and this is where I will get some stick)  I watch sport on sky and the key word is sport yes its help to pay for big wages. but its the only way I can afford to watch big sporting events

as for blackburn rovers hope there do well we live in hope

340045[/snapback]

No stick here Des.

The more I see the overpaid Johnny Foreigner at Ewood, the less I want to watch Sky. I'll perservere will R5, C4, R4, BBCTV and the press until Mr Murdoch prevents me doing otherwise.

[MCMC1875]

Off topic but...

...anyone remember Slalom Lager or even the 'D Treatment'?

[cletus]

Why do I feel utterly disconnected from every player who wears blue and white?

My thoughts exactly! How many Rovers players actually live in Blackburn?

Nothing wrong with the old Tuborg Bobf but what's this 'Ace' lager - never heard/had of.

Ace lager.....A fictional lager in VIZ comic. If i remember correctly, it is £1.49 for 8 cans of 'Ace' from the local offy. The character in the comic is always torn between doing his best for his wife & kids or spending £1.49 for 8Ace & getting trolleyed.........the latter always being the winner! class!

[MCMC1875]

Back on topic, anyone hope that Mr Murdoch's empire goes the same way as the late Robert Maxwell's?

[Guest Vinjay]

Bob Fleming commented further up the page that the club lack funds and then asked what the trust can do about it. Nobody answered but the reason why they aren't providing funds is down to you know who and I don't mean Voldemort. Like I've said continually this club needs to be sold to someone who can back the club to a decent extent. The Walkers only have a paltry 600 million remember. Hopefully if a new owner came in they might give enough of a damn to actually attend matches as well.

[Ste B]

I don't mean Voldemort.

340184[/snapback]

Ah look, he reads Harry Potter. No wonder it lives in a fantasy world.

[bellamy11]

Vinjay, why don't YOU build up a multi-million pound fortune and buy the club yourself?

[Guest Vinjay]

Well actually I saw it at the cinema but never mind that. What you should be doing is responding to Fleming's comment further up the page. What can the trust do about it? Well sell the club to someone who cares unlike our current owners who care so little they don't even attend matches.

[roverich]

I liked the "competition" element of that article. The sooner Chelsea, ManU, Arsenal etc clear off and have a European Super League the better (why do they want to compete with the likes of Blackburn Rovers?) - then us mere mortals such as BRFC might just have more of a chance of taking part in a meaningful competiton - who knows it may even be interesting and affordable.

339894[/snapback]

Are you having a laugh?! If that happens, the premiership becomes the championship, the championship becomes league one, etc. and the same will happen with every other European league. There will be no more television revenue and large sums of money for positions within the league. A European super league will ONLY benefit the teams that get into the league - EVERYBODY else will suffer.

[den]

Seens to me like you've changed tack there, Vinjay.

I'm sure you were arguing all this while that the walkers should put more money in. Now you say they should sell the club. Totally different argument.

[Guest Vinjay]

I've said in earlier posts that they should sell the club if they won't put money in. They haven't to a decent extent and it not a different view as Ive given argruments both ways. Eiether way all I want is something better for the club and hopefully you realise that. The club was supposed to be in safe hands. Jack said in 1998 he wouldn't be satisfied until the club was recognised as a European force. Battling in the bottom half and worrying about relegation is hardly the safe hands promise the trust made 5 years ago is it.

[broadsword]

AESF not had a rant yet?

Excellent article, really, and sums up the way I feel. The bit about players' perceptions of fans was a bit hard to stomach!

There's nothing wrong with the sport, it's the money that ruins it. I just don't have the same passion any more, it all seems a bit of a waste of time. But if you pumped as much money into any other sport, it would ruin it, too. That's when you start getting people just turning up for teh dough. Idle good-for-nothing wasters like Rio Ferdinand (Gopd, I really hate that guy).

Anyone heard the story about Kieron Dyer? He walked past this lad playing keepy-uppy with a can or something. Lad says: "bet you can't do this"; so Kieron Dyer takes out a £50 note burns it in front of him and say: "bet you can't do that". John terry is another one who likes burning notes, allegedly.

Wnakers.

[FourLaneBlue]

If this isn't true why don't I feel excited about the first home match?

Why is football something I do as part of the routine?

Why has football stopped dominating the week-ends plans?

Why do I go to bed rather than watch MOTD?

Why don't I bother to watch Rovers on Sky anymore?

Why was the only reason I renewed my STs because the kids wanted to go?

Why do I feel utterly disconnected from every player who wears blue and white?

Sky, the players, the agents have destroyed the game and the FA, PL chairmen and clubs were to weak to stop them. Give me Simon Garner over Craig Bellamy any day....I'd sooner watch the youngsters than the overpaid, idle bunch we will put out on Saturday afternoon.

339997[/snapback]

I've no idea how you expect me to respond Paul. You answer my point by telling myself about your personal feelings as a Rovers fan. Fine...but why quote my point then ignore it to just tell me about your own disillusionment? Figures don't back it up. Football is dying on its arse? Tell that to all the new Wigan fans flocking to the JJB, tell that to the United fans who (despite Glazier taking over the club) still number 70,000 strong each home match.

The article in the Guardian is interesting and prescient yet is still ultimately an opportunistic piece which is being penned on the back of the Ashes tour. It's the kind of thing that crops up whenever another sport gets a bit of limelight, similar thinkpiece articles abounded about the time of our Rugby World Cup win.

Using Rovers as an example of why football is dying is a bit like using Wigan (which I did above !) as an example of why it is in robust health. If you look at the bigger picture...the attendances have been sustainedly increasing for years. Football isnt dying on its arse...it probably deserves to I agree fully and I also concur completely with your feelings of apathy towards the sport but it isnt dying. It's not perfect at the moment but then it never has been. Whatever the nostalgic oldies may say.

[bob fleming]

Are you having a laugh?! If that happens, the premiership becomes the championship, the championship becomes league one, etc. and the same will happen with every other European league. There will be no more television revenue and large sums of money for positions within the league. A European super league will ONLY benefit the teams that get into the league - EVERYBODY else will suffer.

340205[/snapback]

Of course I take your point.

You state that the Prem will become the Championship - well to all intents and purposes it already is for more than half the teams, except they get more money from Sky in order to keep them up. There's no chance of actually winning the Premiership though for those clubs, just like the Championship.

You say EVERYBODY will suffer, well I reckon we're suffering already by not getting in the Champions League. Everton may still make the break through this season ("2 Nights In August" ) but I very much doubt it. So it'll be Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool running around Europe and collecting the cash again for a change. And then we're supposed to compete with these teams?

Perhaps we already have a European Super League and the big clubs are happy with the way things are thank you very much. £20m from Europe, £20m from a high finish in the Prem, £XX million from gate receipts, what did we make last year? a fraction of those numbers.

So, really I'm in two minds, no I don't want a ESL as I do want to play the big lads and pinch a result occasionally but unless the Sky money is distributed a little more fairly throughout the PL to make it more competitive (oh yes that's really gonna happen) then really they may as well clear off (or should we clear off?) as we can't compete.

Maybe the Premier League will commision a Trophy or something for the team that finishes 5th? The Best Of The Rest A Bit Skint In Comparison To The Big Lads Trophy? - the way things are going I can't see any other teams than those mentioned above occupying the top 4 places (and I'm well aware of what happened to us - no one saw that coming either - but there's a lot more money swilling around these days).

[colin]

Here are The Guardian readers' responses to the original article linked by Scotty

here

[Billy Castell]

Football is dead. Long live rugby and cricket.

The problems as I see it are:

1. Too much money going to the top teams and naff all for the rest.

2. The media have turned every transfer, game and incident into an overblown, hollow soap opera. Who cares about Essian and his wages ?.

3. The players rarely have a personality. If they do, they're usually arrogant and spoilt.

4. Football's soul has been pumped full of additives (the Premiership, g14 clubs etc.) to make it more 'exciting'. The soul of the game is ill and rotten because of it.

5. The fans of the top teams dominate the airwaves with their constant bitching, whining and sniping at each other.

The Ashes are on now, and they are far more exciting and engaging than a bunch of brats more concerned about their wages than winning trophies.

[Timmy]

Football is dead. Long live rugby and cricket.

The problems as I see it are:

1. Too much money going to the top teams and naff all for the rest.

2. The media have turned every transfer, game and incident into an overblown, hollow soap opera. Who cares about Essian and his wages ?.

3. The players rarely have a personality. If they do, they're usually arrogant and spoilt.

4. Football's soul has been pumped full of additives (the Premiership, g14 clubs etc.) to make it more 'exciting'. The soul of the game is ill and rotten because of it.

5. The fans of the top teams dominate the airwaves with their constant bitching, whining and sniping at each other.

The Ashes are on now, and they are far more exciting and engaging than a bunch of brats more concerned about their wages than winning trophies.

342073[/snapback]

in 100% agrement

[MCMC1875]

in 100% agrement

342099[/snapback]

Add to that agents.

[RevidgeBlue]

The Ashes are on now, and they are far more exciting and engaging than a bunch of brats more concerned about their wages than winning trophies.

342073[/snapback]

Don't disagree that the current test series is good stuff but it just seems to be one of those contests that comes around every 20 years or so that happens to be enthralling viewing like Botham's ashes in 1981 or the series before that in the 70's(can't recall the year) that was hijacked by activists.

This series has combined two of the closest finishes ever with the emergence of Flintoff as a nationally recognisable Bothamesque figure, even to non cricket followers.

Much test cricket is played out to a boring stalemate on a track as flat as a pancake or peters out to a draw as a result of weather interruptions.

Wouldn't be at all surprised if the current cricket mania is a temporary fad and football for all it's many current faults is firmly back as number one by next summer's world cup.

[FourLaneBlue]

Exactly.

This kind of topic comes around every time another sport gets a bit of the limelight, its a bit like the 'declining messageboard standards' topics that come up in the summer only to fall away when the board actually has something to talk about. Yet even now more people are going to watch football games then are watching cricket, yet the popularity must be at a high point for a good twenty years.

That said...in answer to the original question, yes...football is a bit crap at the moment. The last two championship sides, Arsenal and Chelsea, lost one game between them over their two successful campaigns. There is little fun in that as it takes the unpredictability factor completely away. Liverpool and Man U in the eighties and nineties used to usually win but there always the outside chance of an upset. However, I rarely believe there is even a hope of one of the top teams (esp. Arsenal and Chelsea) dropping points, never mind losing a game to a lowly placed team.

Somehow...just a bit more of a level playing field is needed in the Premiership.

[bob fleming]

Much test cricket is played out to a boring stalemate on a track as flat as a pancake or peters out to a draw as a result of weather interruptions.

Wouldn't be at all surprised if the current cricket mania is a temporary fad and football for all it's many current faults is firmly back as number one by next summer's world cup.

342135[/snapback]

Of course your right about Test cricket generally there Rev but at the moment England are playing really positively. Next year England play Pakistan so they'll no doubt be a lot of interest there as well (although I doubt it'll over shadow the World Cup). In addition there's Twenty20 which has really taken off.

This Series along with everything discussed in this thread means that (I'm going to have to borrow a Dingleism here) "the gap is closing". Although for me personally, football will always be number one, it just needs to take a look at itself and get it's house in order.

[OscarRaven]

Must agree here. I firmly believe football has started its decline. Any other sport that gets people excited will ultimatley take market share unfortunatley the same 'infenction' will hit those sports then.

No tests on free TV from next year? Its already started.

[LeChuck]

Football's fooked - an Evertonian's view on the modern game.

Even fans of a club who enjoying their most successful spell for decades are becoming fed up of football. It's a good read.

[colin]

Add this

link

Add me to the list too. If Bolton think I'm paying £32 they can close the till. I've got other & more important things to spend £32 on. I've been to the Breezeblock for the past few years, but there comes a time when I really don't want to contribute to Sam's wage bill for Spit The Dog.

It will be a good day for football when (for example) Everton say to (for example) Tim Cahill "OK, we cannot meet your wage demands, go and find another club that can keep you happy. We've got a player in the youth team who we think can do your job for a tenth of the price, and he's happy to do it."