Post by pantherinmanc on Feb 26, 2010 15:50:06 GMT
Was going to raise this in the Notts thread but have the feeling it may grow legs so have raised a new thread. Just wondering what peoples thoughts are, in the light of Notts' recent issues (and wider afield those faced by Pompey, Chester City and Bournemouth to name but three) about the way forward for football in this country.
I've been going to Forest since I was 6, in those days it was just about affordable for me and my Dad to go, even though I had to badger him to take me down there. As I've grown up (it's now 20 odd years since my first game) football has become richer beyond recognition to the game I was introduced to, and hooked on all those years ago. I remember playing football because it was a game I loved, I played to a decent level and with several players who play professionally today, I remember looking at some of them and wondering why they wanted to play the game, at 16/17 it was apparent that as good as some of them were their interest was much more in the fame, the limelight and not least the money. How much does it really matter to Ashley Cole that he's injured? How much do defeats hurt players when they are returning home to another couple of hundred grand for trotting round on some grass for 2 hours a day. The game is so far from the grass roots supporter and it is a real sad predicament to be in. I've always felt that the sport in this country was underpinned by its strength in depth; 92 professional league clubs, several more pro clubs in the 'non league' system but that strength is being compromised as clubs chase dreams and get carried away in footballs overspending culture.
We need to get back to a situation where clubs live within their means, where players are paid within that constraint and where the people who make the game what it is are at the core of the way it's taken forward and those people are the supporters. I cannot fathom how clubs are allowed to get into such a state as seen with Pompey, the FA and Premier League should hang their heads in shame. Surely the clubs should be subjected to stringent rules around what they can and cannot spend, even going as far as imposing the sort of liquidity controls which most financial organisations are subjected to, factoring in how they would cope in times of stress (eg if they got relegated) and demanding they hold reserves to cope with, or at least mitigate against, that stress. Contracts need to be more aligned to the modern world, players can't be allowed to demand premiership wages if the club gets relegated but they are still under contract - at least while the massive gulf that exists now continues they cant.
Where did it all go wrong? Sky? I'm not sure, I think it's too easy to blame Sky, they have acted in their best interests, it is not their job to do what's best for football. The FA, the Premier League and the Football League have simply allowed things to spiral from those initial boom days without regulation and it's got massively out of control. Football in this country should be about as financially healthy as any industry if not more so. It has global appeal, is sold across the globe unlike any other sport or league within any sport yet it is financially on it's knees, I think I read the other day that in true business terms (factoring in assets, liabilities, debts, creditors etc) the richest club in the country is Crewe Alexandra. That's ludicrous.
Just to finish off what sparked me to raise this was an article on BBC where John Utaka hit back at tabloid claims he was on 80k a week at Pompey, his anger emanated from the fact he was 'only' on a third of that amount. Only a third of 80k? Oh that's ok then, all is forgiven. The real thing that takes the mick is that the quality of football in the Premiership, whilst undoubtedly an exciting league, is not technically that great and certainly outside the top 10 clubs it's pretty poor. I had the misfortune of being at the Reebok stadium the other week - Jesus it was bad. It's certainly not good enough to justify a fringe player like John Utaka getting more than the average UK yearly wage in a single week. Nothing against John, just using as an example, there are many others, can't blame the players for taking what is on offer.
Where does the game go from here? When will the authorities take control back from the players who seemingly call all the shots?
I've been going to Forest since I was 6, in those days it was just about affordable for me and my Dad to go, even though I had to badger him to take me down there. As I've grown up (it's now 20 odd years since my first game) football has become richer beyond recognition to the game I was introduced to, and hooked on all those years ago. I remember playing football because it was a game I loved, I played to a decent level and with several players who play professionally today, I remember looking at some of them and wondering why they wanted to play the game, at 16/17 it was apparent that as good as some of them were their interest was much more in the fame, the limelight and not least the money. How much does it really matter to Ashley Cole that he's injured? How much do defeats hurt players when they are returning home to another couple of hundred grand for trotting round on some grass for 2 hours a day. The game is so far from the grass roots supporter and it is a real sad predicament to be in. I've always felt that the sport in this country was underpinned by its strength in depth; 92 professional league clubs, several more pro clubs in the 'non league' system but that strength is being compromised as clubs chase dreams and get carried away in footballs overspending culture.
We need to get back to a situation where clubs live within their means, where players are paid within that constraint and where the people who make the game what it is are at the core of the way it's taken forward and those people are the supporters. I cannot fathom how clubs are allowed to get into such a state as seen with Pompey, the FA and Premier League should hang their heads in shame. Surely the clubs should be subjected to stringent rules around what they can and cannot spend, even going as far as imposing the sort of liquidity controls which most financial organisations are subjected to, factoring in how they would cope in times of stress (eg if they got relegated) and demanding they hold reserves to cope with, or at least mitigate against, that stress. Contracts need to be more aligned to the modern world, players can't be allowed to demand premiership wages if the club gets relegated but they are still under contract - at least while the massive gulf that exists now continues they cant.
Where did it all go wrong? Sky? I'm not sure, I think it's too easy to blame Sky, they have acted in their best interests, it is not their job to do what's best for football. The FA, the Premier League and the Football League have simply allowed things to spiral from those initial boom days without regulation and it's got massively out of control. Football in this country should be about as financially healthy as any industry if not more so. It has global appeal, is sold across the globe unlike any other sport or league within any sport yet it is financially on it's knees, I think I read the other day that in true business terms (factoring in assets, liabilities, debts, creditors etc) the richest club in the country is Crewe Alexandra. That's ludicrous.
Just to finish off what sparked me to raise this was an article on BBC where John Utaka hit back at tabloid claims he was on 80k a week at Pompey, his anger emanated from the fact he was 'only' on a third of that amount. Only a third of 80k? Oh that's ok then, all is forgiven. The real thing that takes the mick is that the quality of football in the Premiership, whilst undoubtedly an exciting league, is not technically that great and certainly outside the top 10 clubs it's pretty poor. I had the misfortune of being at the Reebok stadium the other week - Jesus it was bad. It's certainly not good enough to justify a fringe player like John Utaka getting more than the average UK yearly wage in a single week. Nothing against John, just using as an example, there are many others, can't blame the players for taking what is on offer.
Where does the game go from here? When will the authorities take control back from the players who seemingly call all the shots?
