[Archived] Is The Premiership Becoming Boring?

[PL Project]

Hi, I am a student and I'm doing a project on the Premier League. As part of the project I'm trying to put together how fans feel about the game. So my question to you is:

Do you think the Premiership is becoming boring? Are you put off watching league games because of its perceived lack of competition, with the same top 4 every year?

[ihtd]

In a word no!!!

[Cocker]

Not a chance is it boring. I am chomping at the bit waiting for Saturday I just cant wait. If there isnt any competition then how come we beat Man U and Chelski last year? Its not like its the Scottish Prem is it.

Watching an international game - thats boring.

Try telling the teams and fans trying to get into the prem that its boring. Try telling the teams and fans that are already here thats its boring.

I hate the summer when we arnt playing.

BRING ON THE WEEKEND AND LETS HAVE IT YET AGAIN

Edited August 15, 2006 by Cocker

[frosty]

There is two parts of the league that is boring IMO, the top 4 and 12th-16th places.

[ihtd]

The first day of the Premiership season, the xmas fixtures and the last few games of the season are what make the Premiership so interesting simply because of the hopes and expectations in each and every fan at those points either come true or all hope is quashed by another team. On any given day most sides in the Premiership can beat each other minus the top 4 who when on an off day are easily playable and beatable.

[Presty On Tour]

Not a chance is it boring. I am chomping at the bit waiting for Saturday I just cant wait. If there isnt any competition then how come we beat Man U and Chelski last year? Its not like its the Scottish Prem is it.

Watching an international game - thats boring.

Try telling the teams and fans trying to get into the prem that its boring. Try telling the teams and fans that are already here thats its boring.

I hate the summer when we arnt playing.

BRING ON THE WEEKEND AND LETS HAVE IT YET AGAIN

94 hours and 10 minutes until kick off

[3rdpillar]

English football may be describled as many things. Boring is NOT one of them.

[Fife Rover]

Hi, I am a student and I'm doing a project on the Premier League. As part of the project I'm trying to put together how fans feel about the game. So my question to you is:

Do you think the Premiership is becoming boring? Are you put off watching league games because of its perceived lack of competition, with the same top 4 every year?

From the narrow perspective that there are only 3 or 4 likely championship contenders. Yes! Otherwiswe a resounding NO WAY!!!

[PL Project]

thanks for your replies, really appreciate your help.

my project is analysing the Premier League busines model. One question I'm trying to answer is can the competitive balance be improved.

Before that I need to answer is whether it needs changing, hence my post below, i.e. to find out if fans in general want more balanced competition.

The second question is what could be changed, and I'm looking at the NFL for ideas. Currently the main ideas I'm debating are:

- limit salary to 60% of revenue. Astoundingly only Chelsea and fulham have more than 60%

- give TV money equally. Let the bottom team get as much as Chelsea for TV rights. Currently the top team gets the most money, the bottomn team the least.

- Away end revenue. Right now the home team keeps all the money, so if Blackburn have 8000 people in Old Trafford, all the money goes to United

[ihtd]

I don't mind the home team keeping all the money when we play away and as for t.v. rights i don't mind them as they are, the best teams should get the money as in reality to be the top side you kind of have to play entertaining football of some sort if you get what i'm on about . Watford will probably finish bottom this season, play very crap football and be shown on t.v very few times whereas Chelski will be on at least 10+ times in the league, play soem attractive football with great players like Ballack and Shevchenkjo on display and as such they should get more than a side like Watford

IMO the league should be left as it, if its not broke why fix it?

If your on about ideas though Pl project how about a league draft, were everyteam every 5 seasons has to put all of its players in a draft and they have to sign for the team there drawn as playing for.Very similar to a Fantasy draft as in NBA/NFL/NHL video games, some people will know what i'm on about. For one second i am not suggestung that this should be implemented or even thought of a serious idea for the future, but he did ask for ideas of how it could be made more competitive. Could you just imagine Shevchenko being drafted to Reading or Rooney to Rovers lol.

Edited August 15, 2006 by ihatethedingles

[CAPT KAYOS]

I don't mind the home team keeping all the money when we play away and as for t.v. rights i don't mind them as they are, the best teams should get the money as in reality to be the top side you kind of have to play entertaining football of some sort if you get what i'm on about . Watford will probably finish bottom this season, play very crap football and be shown on t.v very few times whereas Chelski will be on at least 10+ times in the league, play soem attractive football with great players like Ballack and Shevchenkjo on display and as such they should get more than a side like Watford

IMO the league should be left as it, if its not broke why fix it?

On that principle are you saying Chelsea play better football than Arsenal? If so I have to disagree. Also one of the best games of last season on Sky was us and Spurs - who would have thought it?

Obviously nobody can generalise on which games are going to be entertaining , and so have to select games, however I get fed up of seeing the media loved Utd/Chelsea/Liverpool etc being on every other week and I'm sure their fans are fed up of it also with the varying kick off times (the ones that go anyway not the armchair fans)

The league is broke into 4 and 16 - so does need fixing and imo the balance can be improved

It may not be boring in one sense but it is in another and has become stagnant (too much on TV) - but thats football in general rather than just the Premier.

[Fife Rover]

thanks for your replies, really appreciate your help.

my project is analysing the Premier League busines model. One question I'm trying to answer is can the competitive balance be improved.

Before that I need to answer is whether it needs changing, hence my post below, i.e. to find out if fans in general want more balanced competition.

The second question is what could be changed, and I'm looking at the NFL for ideas. Currently the main ideas I'm debating are:

- limit salary to 60% of revenue. Astoundingly only Chelsea and fulham have more than 60%

- give TV money equally. Let the bottom team get as much as Chelsea for TV rights. Currently the top team gets the most money, the bottomn team the least.

- Away end revenue. Right now the home team keeps all the money, so if Blackburn have 8000 people in Old Trafford, all the money goes to United

Here are a number of changes you might want to consider:

1) All signing-on fees should be banned (both to players and their agents)

2) All agents fees should be paid by their clients i.e. the player, and never the club.

3) All players at every club in the EPL should get exactly the same BASIC salary with a contractually agreed bonus and other performance related rewards scheme on top.

4) No severance payments to any player who requests a transfer. Only payable when there is mutual agreement or the club wants to get rid.

5) Any club found guilty of "tapping-up" another club's player should suffer automatic points deduction, and in repeated cases relegation.

6) Any agent found guilty of "tapping-up" or unsettling any club's player should be struck-off and banned from practicing as an agent for an agreed period.

There is a nice little list of things that would IMO hugely improve our beloved game. Good luck with your project.

Edited August 15, 2006 by Fife Rover

[Scotty]

thanks for your replies, really appreciate your help.

my project is analysing the Premier League busines model. One question I'm trying to answer is can the competitive balance be improved.

Before that I need to answer is whether it needs changing, hence my post below, i.e. to find out if fans in general want more balanced competition.

The second question is what could be changed, and I'm looking at the NFL for ideas. Currently the main ideas I'm debating are:

- limit salary to 60% of revenue. Astoundingly only Chelsea and fulham have more than 60%

- give TV money equally. Let the bottom team get as much as Chelsea for TV rights. Currently the top team gets the most money, the bottomn team the least.

- Away end revenue. Right now the home team keeps all the money, so if Blackburn have 8000 people in Old Trafford, all the money goes to United

I'm sure you're aware of this already but, just in case you're not, this site will be useful to you:

Football Governance Research Centre

If you look in the Research and Publications section you'll find a few reports regarding competitive imbalance that may help your project.

[rover6]

Something must be done about the competitive deficit in the Premiership. As long as fans from smaller clubs accept the status quo, the more Rovers and the rest will become feeder clubs for the big.

[Drakefyre]

1) Salary Cap

2) Revenue Sharing

3) Player contracts can be waived by clubs at any time

[Ozz]

It's only boring when it's Rovers v Bolton or Rovers v Everton.

[broadsword]

It's too boring - there needs to be some naked women in the mix.

[Exiled_Rover]

It's too boring - there needs to be some naked women in the mix.

You might want to establish some guidelines before you put that one infront of the F.A. Dawn French, for example, parading around in the buff wouldn't be my cup of tea.

[philipl]

Fife's suggestions are all excellent.

I am sceptical that there is any formula for a salary cap that would work practically that wouldn't harm the Rovers. More than 50% of the salary cap proposals I've seen would cripple our club's ability to compete in the PL.

The most likely and most sensible suggestion will be to use the increase in TV monies next summer to shift the financial balance significantly towards the non-CL clubs in the EPL. Most other ideas are only cosmetic in comparison.

The top English division has survived periods of domination by one club before. The emergence of a clique of four that depends for its financial survival on coming in the top 4 is new and I think far more damaging to the EPL as a spectacle.

Three or four seasons ago, Alan Green said in a commentary for something like Charlton v Boro in late November; "This is a cracking match and I haven't seen a bad Premiership game yet this season."

That level of entertainment has fallen away terribly in the intervening period.

Yes, I am very excited about the start of the new season but there are far too many Prem games you won't get me any where near a TV to watch unless there is a massive change in attitude by several clubs' management.

Thankfully after playing the most unwatchable football Rovers heve ever played in my life time during the last two years of Souness, Rovers have reverted to being very good to watch again.

I agree that Spurs v Rovers was the best pure football spectacle of any game in the Prem last season and for sheer unbridled enjoyment, Rovers v Mancs at Ewood was unbeatable.

[neekoy]

Seeing that everyone except Chelsea, Manc, Pool and Arsenal dreams are to make the top 6 I think that says everything

It is not boring to watch but the end result is predictable

As part of your project I would compare to other leagues in Europe, especially the Premiera Liga which IMO is the best league to watch in the world

[Presty On Tour]

It's too boring - there needs to be some naked women in the mix.

i think it is the hammers who have a well fit cheerleader squad, full of sexy babes, who preform before the game and at half time for entertainment, not naked i know but it floats my boat

[Rovermatt]

Is the Premiership boring? The answer is both yes and no.

Any boring aspects of it spring from the lack of competition at the top. Chelsea are clearly the dominant force right now, with financial backing that dwarfs anything Manchester United had at their disposal over the last decade. Abramovich will fund as many blockbuster signings as needs be. Yet these signings are anything but whimsical. Mourinho captures the best team players in the world; footballers who are able to suit the system absolutely.

Arsenal have some truly excellent players and a brilliant coach. These elements, along with the increased financial muscle borne of a new stadium, may well ensure their top two status. Livepool have an excellent team (and the world's best midfielder in Steven Gerrard) which should push Chelsea all the way this season. United, once so powerful, look the least healthy. Aside from the outrageously gifted Rooney and Ronaldo, they lack real cutting edge. The fading powers of Giggs, Scholes and Solskjaer and the loss of Van Nistelrooy will be difficult to overcome.

Yet the above clubs are existing on a different plane to the rest of the league. The real competition is for 5th and 6th place with a host of teams all fighting for the scraps from the top four's table. Avoiding relegation is also an achievement in itself. In this respect the league is dull, the final standings are roughly predictable.

Then again, what league isn't? Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Scotland, Portugal and Holland all have leagues in which the big teams always win the top prizes.

As a spectacle, the Premiership is anything but boring. At its very best, the pace, power and excitment of the English game is completely unrivalled. There will always be bland, forgettable encounters. Yet how can a league containg the likes of Henry, Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Robben and Fabregas be anything but pulsating. The arrival of yet more class in the shapes of Ballack, Shevchenko, Rosicky, Berbatov and McCarthy will allow for an even higher level of play.

I can't wait.

Edited August 16, 2006 by Rovermatt

[PL Project]

there's an interesting article in the Guardian today about sharing money more equally if you're interested:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/sto...1850873,00.html

good timing for my project

[Spansterkid]

The Premiership is definately becoming boring. Whereas once the majority of teams considered themselves in with a chance of a trophy at the start of the seasons this is now the preserve of only the top four clubs.

I no longer look forward to the season as a whole but only to individual games. It is still exciting to face the 'big' teams such as Chelsea, Man U and er Birmingham City in that particular game but over a whole season 90 percent of clubs no that they cannot compete.

To bring back the excitement of yesteryear I suggest the following Europe wide regulations for top flight clubs be introduced by UEFA.

1) Only one non-European player to be allowed in any club's squad.

2) A maximum first team squad of 24 players.

3) Five players in the first team squad to be under 23 years of age and, of these, two to have played at youth level for the club.

4) Ten percent of gate receipts given to the away club.

5) Clubs can only add to squad in transfer window if a player is also leaving the club.

6) A salary cap to be introduced at 25% above the current average wage of the big four leagues in Europe (England, Germany, Italy, Spain). Only increasing with inflation. Clubs with existing wages above this level continue without increase until under this level.

7) None of the above to apply Birmingham City who will be automatically promoted to the Premiership and be protected from relegation, in recognition of their status as a 'massive' club.

[cletus]

I think most people could predict 4 of the final top 6 quite easily, along with 2 of the 3 relegation spots. There`s always some-one who gets 'lucky' & has a decent/unexpectedly good season...ie...Everton a few years back & Rovers & Wigan last term.....

Boring....no

predictable....yes