Shev signs for Chelsea!

[Adam]

Here!

May as well give them the League title now!

So let me get this right.. A midfield of Makalele, Lampard, Ballack and Essien probably even fit Cole in there somewhere! And a possible strike force of Drogba and Shev!!

OUCH!!

[Toto']

Linfield Beat them easy

[Rio]

Keep dreamin

[andyd]

Bad news for English football I'm afraid, the Premiership title race just ended 2 months before the season starts.

Obviously Chelsea fans will love it and I don't blame them, nor do I blame Chelsea BUT they could quite easily ruin English football for good...how long before fans find something better to do than watch the yearly Chelsea show?!

If Premisership football loses the public we'll quickly be saying goodbye to the beautiful game. Scotland is a laughing stock but at least they have TWO team on a similar level and not just one!

[P.G.F.I.]

andyd said:

Bad news for English football I'm afraid, the Premiership title race just ended 2 months before the season starts.

Obviously Chelsea fans will love it and I don't blame them, nor do I blame Chelsea BUT they could quite easily ruin English football for good...how long before fans find something better to do than watch the yearly Chelsea show?!

If Premisership football loses the public we'll quickly be saying goodbye to the beautiful game. Scotland is a laughing stock but at least they have TWO team on a similar level and not just one!

Totally agree with you, it seems the Premiership is "THE CHELSEA SHOW".

[Toto']

great news for us though, all the one trip per season, replica shirt buy prawn sandwich premiership fans who only see "their team" on tv will maybe realise that "their local team" play on a saturday, and come back to it, and help us raise our league standard over here with mo money!

wishful thinking

[Ian]

demon said:

great news for us though, all the one trip per season, replica shirt buy prawn sandwich premiership fans who only see "their team" on tv will maybe realise that "their local team" play on a saturday, and come back to it, and help us raise our league standard over here with mo money!

wishful thinking

From your signature, it appears that your team won every title on offer last season. Is that not the same as Chelsea, just on a smaller scale? In fact Chelsea only won one of the domestic honours in England. Not having a dig, just interested in your opinion as I know next to nothing about Northern Ireland's domestic football and it seemed a bit strange someone commenting on smaller clubs when his team appears to be the dominant force in its own league.

[DaveE]

andyd said:

Bad news for English football I'm afraid, the Premiership title race just ended 2 months before the season starts.

Obviously Chelsea fans will love it and I don't blame them, nor do I blame Chelsea BUT they could quite easily ruin English football for good...how long before fans find something better to do than watch the yearly Chelsea show?!

If Premisership football loses the public we'll quickly be saying goodbye to the beautiful game. Scotland is a laughing stock but at least they have TWO team on a similar level and not just one!

Good post.

There used to be a time when I would refuse to go out on family nights out, alas no longer. I just find it boring. The most exciting thing in the premiership is the relegation battle that is had at the end of the year. In fact (although it isn't a good thing) but I enjoy the end of season Premiership relegation battle. Normally goes down to the wire. A good example would be the season before last with Norwich, Southampton, Palace and West Brom all competing to stay up.

Unfortunately, the Premiership title race is more becoming a slaughter. There once was a time when Scottish football was a complete joke. To some extent it still is a joke, but as Andy pointed out, they have a close contest between TWO teams from the off. On the odd occasion you will get another team that will give Celtic and Rangers a run for their money. But now, the Premiership has already been conceded a couple of months before the first ball is kicked.

[jaycourtney]

This is so so wrong on so many different levels. its nuts.
its so wrong a team like Notts County who need what about £4m per year to keep them going, and they struggle like hell, if Roman cares so much about football feel free to help struggling teams to stop them going bust or is the plan to dry up more money out of football and sell for a profit? my guess is a profit. also is p**s' me right off that theirs so much hunger, and dehydration in third world country's and he goes and spends £280m in three years on his 'team' to me Chelsea have ruined football, its become so reactive instead of proactive.

[sunbeam]

jaycourtney said:

This is so so wrong on so many different levels. its nuts.
its so wrong a team like Notts County who need what about £4m per year to keep them going, and they struggle like hell, if Roman cares so much about football feel free to help struggling teams to stop them going bust or is the plan to dry up more money out of football and sell for a profit? my guess is a profit. also is p**s' me right off that theirs so much hunger, and dehydration in third world country's and he goes and spends £280m in three years on his 'team' to me Chelsea have ruined football, its become so reactive instead of proactive.

Absolute nonesense. Why should he bail out Notts? That Notts problem, not his. It is his money and he can spend it how trhe hell he likes. Just like the rest of us.

Oh and he helped stop Notts going bust 2 years ago but don't let the facts get in the way of your rant.



And here's more nonesense!

[Adam]

jaycourtney said:

This is so so wrong on so many different levels. its nuts.
its so wrong a team like Notts County who need what about £4m per year to keep them going, and they struggle like hell, if Roman cares so much about football feel free to help struggling teams to stop them going bust or is the plan to dry up more money out of football and sell for a profit? my guess is a profit. also is p**s' me right off that theirs so much hunger, and dehydration in third world country's and he goes and spends £280m in three years on his 'team' to me Chelsea have ruined football, its become so reactive instead of proactive.

I dont know if your a Notts fan Jay but this is one of the reasons i hate Notts County they want everybody to feel sorry for them cause they were about to go bankrupt.. At the end of the day they got themselves in the mess they should get themselves out of it not go begging to every other football club!

[Toto']

ian said:

From your signature, it appears that your team won every title on offer last season. Is that not the same as Chelsea, just on a smaller scale? In fact Chelsea only won one of the domestic honours in England. Not having a dig, just interested in your opinion as I know next to nothing about Northern Ireland's domestic football and it seemed a bit strange someone commenting on smaller clubs when his team appears to be the dominant force in its own league.

no mate its a good question,

we would be on a par with 2 other clubs in our league, Glentoran and portadown, as far as honours have gone in the last few years,

financially we would be in less debt than the others mentioned but not by much, both the said rival teams are going through hard times with players and off the pitch which started at the start of this season which made it "easier" for us to win the 4 domestic trophies, that said this team we have is one of the best weve had, and is the best ive ever seen.

still have work to do though as we were knocked out in the all ireland trophy at the semi stage! so no grandslam

[Alf Garnett]

Utter garbage Shea.

Where does Jay say that Notts are begging for Chelski's money?

I am a Notts fan of many years and my sympathy is in short supply. Too many player have departed under the current regime by 'mutual consent' and not even a fee received.I am no businessman but I wouldm have thought they could negotiate a nominal fee for an under contract player.

As Sunbeam says Roman Abramovich has earned his Roubles and has 'carte blanche' to spend it where he wants.

[belak]

andyblath said:

...Roman Abramovich has earned his Roubles and has 'carte blanche' to spend it where he wants.

Well perhaps not, according to the rumours...



;D

I was having this discussion with a Canadian Liverpool fan, who absolutely detests Chelsea, always moaning and whinning about them spending milions.

I have to say as a fan of a Division Three club, good luck to Chelsea, I'm certainly not jealous of them (which I think a lot of ManUre, Arse & Pool fans are.)

The Premiership has always been a playground for the rich and the poor teams who try to keep up, ie Forest & Sheff Weds. ManUre & Co got richer, while the gap between them and the rest got wider.

Now Chelsea have got richer and no one likes it, best of all Liverpool & Co.

Tough poo

[sunbeam]

belak said:

andyblath said:

...Roman Abramovich has earned his Roubles and has 'carte blanche' to spend it where he wants.

Well perhaps not, according to the rumours...



;D

I was having this discussion with a Canadian Liverpool fan, who absolutely detests Chelsea, always moaning and whinning about them spending milions.

I have to say as a fan of a Division Three club, good luck to Chelsea, I'm certainly not jealous of them (which I think a lot of ManUre, Arse & Pool fans are.)

The Premiership has always been a playground for the rich and the poor teams who try to keep up, ie Forest & Sheff Weds. ManUre & Co got richer, while the gap between them and the rest got wider.

Now Chelsea have got richer and no one likes it, best of all Liverpool & Co.

Tough poo

It always amuses me when fans complain that Chelsea have bought the league. As if this is a new occurence.

The biggest spenders tend to win the league. When Man U got out-spent by Blackburn we saw what happened.


The only real exception has been Arsenal.

[newham]

andyd said:

Bad news for English football I'm afraid, the Premiership title race just ended 2 months before the season starts.

Obviously Chelsea fans will love it and I don't blame them, nor do I blame Chelsea BUT they could quite easily ruin English football for good...how long before fans find something better to do than watch the yearly Chelsea show?!

If Premisership football loses the public we'll quickly be saying goodbye to the beautiful game. Scotland is a laughing stock but at least they have TWO team on a similar level and not just one!

I can see your sentiments but i completely disagree. Why will English football become a laughing stock for having the best team in the world in it? Sure, they're head and shoulders ahead of the rest but this will just mean Man Utd have to flex their considerable financial shoulders too. They can't keep up with Chelsea, but they can compete with them.

Personally, i can't wait to see a team with a midfield of Ballack, Cole, Lampard and AN Other link up with Shevchenko. I'm interested to see who Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool can bring in to keep up.

Football has never been so popular. Don't worry about losing the public.

[belak]

Andy, Chelsea wont "ruin" football in this country, that was done with the advent of the Premiership

[newham]

Funny that Shin, did i imagine the highest ever football league attendances last year? Furthermore, football has become more and more popular each year since the advent of the Premiership.

[belak]

newham said:

Funny that Shin, did i imagine the highest ever football league attendances last year? Furthermore, football has become more and more popular each year since the advent of the Premiership.

I would agree that football has become more popular, but the rich have got richer and the poor have got poorer. Football clubs being shackled to the stock market & the money men of London?

No thanks

Sky have done a great job in promoting their product that is the Premiership, but I remember a time when I could walk into a sporting goods shop in Nottinghamand buy a Forest shirt no problem, but is that the case now? No, not at all. I can buy a Liverpool one, or an Arsenal on or the new Man U shirt no problem.

I'll rephrase my earlier remark that the Premiership ruined football, it put football into a million homes and helped spawn the arm chair fan, it also killed genuine competition in domestic football

[sunbeam]

belak said:

newham said:

Funny that Shin, did i imagine the highest ever football league attendances last year? Furthermore, football has become more and more popular each year since the advent of the Premiership.

I would agree that football has become more popular, but the rich have got richer and the poor have got poorer. Football clubs being shackled to the stock market & the money men of London?

No thanks

Sky have done a great job in promoting their product that is the Premiership, but I remember a time when I could walk into a sporting goods shop in Nottinghamand buy a Forest shirt no problem, but is that the case now? No, not at all. I can buy a Liverpool one, or an Arsenal on or the new Man U shirt no problem.

I'll rephrase my earlier remark that the Premiership ruined football, it put football into a million homes and helped spawn the arm chair fan, it also killed genuine competition in domestic football

It was always going to be that way.

The EPL may have prevented it from being worse. We may have ended up with the Spanish, Italian and French system where the clubs negotiate their own tv money. The EPL prevented that. For now.

[newham]

belak said:

newham said:

Funny that Shin, did i imagine the highest ever football league attendances last year? Furthermore, football has become more and more popular each year since the advent of the Premiership.

I would agree that football has become more popular, but the rich have got richer and the poor have got poorer. Football clubs being shackled to the stock market & the money men of London?

No thanks

I wouldn't blame the Premiership for that solely. Before the days of the Prem, big players went from small teams to big teams. It's just that the money has increased and with the advent of television, that was always going to happen, Prem or otherwise.

belak said:

Sky have done a great job in promoting their product that is the Premiership, but I remember a time when I could walk into a sporting goods shop in Nottinghamand buy a Forest shirt no problem, but is that the case now? No, not at all. I can buy a Liverpool one, or an Arsenal on or the new Man U shirt no problem.[/qupte]

I don't know what your problem is here, i can go into JJB, Sports World, JD or other tacky sports shops and pick up a reds shirt with no problem. Sure, you can get Man Utd or Arsenal fans but you've always been able to.

belak said:

I'll rephrase my earlier remark that the Premiership ruined football, it put football into a million homes and helped spawn the arm chair fan, it also killed genuine competition in domestic football

Again, i disagree. In the last ten years, there have been 3 winners of the Premiership, Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea. Before that, there was Liverpool in the mix, with no Chelsea. Sure, there are 3 teams that are most likely to win it every year but it's the same in any non-draft sport in any country. The statement that competition is dead is nonsense, tell an Everton fan that when they qualified for the Champs League. Tell a Wham fan that when they got to the FA Cup Final. Tell a Bradford fan that when they stayed up against all odds. I could go on.

I can see your point Shin, but i don't think its that bad.

[belak]

newham said:

belak said:

I would agree that football has become more popular, but the rich have got richer and the poor have got poorer. Football clubs being shackled to the stock market & the money men of London?

No thanks

I wouldn't blame the Premiership for that solely. Before the days of the Prem, big players went from small teams to big teams. It's just that the money has increased and with the advent of television, that was always going to happen, Prem or otherwise.

belak said:

Sky have done a great job in promoting their product that is the Premiership, but I remember a time when I could walk into a sporting goods shop in Nottinghamand buy a Forest shirt no problem, but is that the case now? No, not at all. I can buy a Liverpool one, or an Arsenal on or the new Man U shirt no problem.[/qupte]

I don't know what your problem is here, i can go into JJB, Sports World, JD or other tacky sports shops and pick up a reds shirt with no problem. Sure, you can get Man Utd or Arsenal fans but you've always been able to.

belak said:

I'll rephrase my earlier remark that the Premiership ruined football, it put football into a million homes and helped spawn the arm chair fan, it also killed genuine competition in domestic football

Again, i disagree. In the last ten years, there have been 3 winners of the Premiership, Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea. Before that, there was Liverpool in the mix, with no Chelsea. Sure, there are 3 teams that are most likely to win it every year but it's the same in any non-draft sport in any country. The statement that competition is dead is nonsense, tell an Everton fan that when they qualified for the Champs League. Tell a Wham fan that when they got to the FA Cup Final. Tell a Bradford fan that when they stayed up against all odds. I could go on.

I can see your point Shin, but i don't think its that bad.

Yeah maybe, but with reference to Bradford staying up, looked what happened to them financially, and where are they now due to the ramifications of it.

West Ham ultimately lost the FA cup final, and the it'll always go down in the history books that the bigger club won.

Perhaps I exagerated the point competion is dead, but I do feel it's getting to the point that the bigger teams have such a strangle hold on positions 1-4



This arguement would be best argued over beer

[newham]

Most certainly, and has been a lot. Football is very much alive and thriving.