The Football.....

[Ashtrayhead]

Just thought I would chip in here but what riches do you refer too? As far as I can see the EPL is a 3 possibly 4 team league where anyone of those teams could win the league the rest are hanging onto their coat tails more or less sitting in mid table mediocrity. Do you think for one minute that the EPL is immune to a club going into admin?? It will happen and it might just be a big club at that! Up here the two Glasgow clubs of more or less starved the rest with the greed from TV money, SKY will never invest huge sums of money like they do down south but does that necessarily mean a bad thing? Rangers and Celtic have through the years destroyed through their own greed the league set-up, up here along with those other clubs pandering to their needs just for a wee slice of the cake. Just don`t think for a moment that its all great in the EPL there are some clubs down their for whom it could all go pete tong very easily!!

It's already happened to Pompey who are about to go into administration again!! How that can happen, I don't know, because they already have CVA's or whatever they are, and the Football League and the Premier league have passed their last few owners as 'fit and proper', one of which probably doesn't even exist! But this time the taxman will come for them hard and will want to make an example of them.

As you say, there are a few clubs who would go under very quickly if the owners decided to pull out sharpish.

Personally, I think it's all bent. Where there's so much money at stake you're bound to get the dodgy deals. Italian football has been caught out a few years back, and Redknapp and Mandaric are now fortunate to be back in their lovely plush homes. The percentage that Redknapp has made on his buying and selling of Crouch and Defoe could have paid Pompey's tax bill!

 

[Doseone]

Crikey, Arsenal got a shoeing tonight.

British clubs not doing so well in Europe this year.

 

[LarryDuff]

Great to see the Gooners get a hammering last night! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[ianrauk]

Great to see the Gooners get a hammering last night! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I had a little giggle....

 

[172traindriver]

Crikey, Arsenal got a shoeing tonight.

British clubs not doing so well in Europe this year.

Personally I think it is time to stop believing the hype that is Sky and other media sources telling us how wonderful the Premier League is.
I don't want to upset too many of my fellow fans but believe Man Utd to be at their poorest for several years and if they were as good as they were a few years ago I think Man City would be trailing well behind in 2nd place.
Chelsea have also slipped and a lot of that stems from the power happy owner getting rid of probably one of the greatest managers ever because it appeared their egos clashed.
Arsenal have really slipped and appear to be a selling club, it doesn't help that Man City can throw any virtually any sum of money about and can pay unbelievable wages.
The most improved team are probably Spurs who will most likey lose their manager so who will replace him and how will he do?
Realistically as refreshing as it is to see a team like Norwich for example they haven't got the resources to buy the Premier League, but them and others are good to watch.
I think our clubs are light years behind the 2 big Spanish clubs and the Italians seem to be getting back now, you only have to look at Arsenal last night.
Harry will take the England job in a blaze of glory and as a Englishman I would really love to see us do well, but I am also a realist and see it all ending in tears over the next few years.

 

[cookiemonster]

I had a little giggle....

 

[accountantpete]

Arsenal could have done with someone like Tomas Brolin in their side - hang on they had three!

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/15022012/58/championship-worst-signing-speaks.html

 

[yello]

I don't want to upset too many of my fellow fans but believe Man Utd to be at their poorest for several years

Inclined to agree with that. Certainly, the consistency's gone. What surprises me is that there is no mad panic (or seemingly) to buy their way back to form. Ferguson seems content to work with what he's got (even bringing back Scholes seems to have been more of a success that I thought it was going to be).

Personally, I reckon he's got too many whispy, tricky players in the side but I'm prepared to believe that we're actually looking at the basis of an all conquering side in the making, give them a season or two. Ferguson seems able to think longer term than most managers - though undoubtedly the structure at Man U allows for that.

 

[Doseone]

172 and Yello - I agree with you both. I think the lack of recent achievement by our national side has been softened by the success that our club sides have enjoyed. However, we now have to face up to the fact that our club sides are not the force that they were. We are fed a constant line that the EPL is "the best league in the world". Is it really? I gather the Bundesliga is pretty healthy these days, and the Italians don't look too shabby either. Yello you would be know more, but there is supposed to be good strength in depth in Ligue 1 too.

 

[yello]

It's very difficult for me to be objective about the French game in the lower leagues, because it's, well, different to the British game.

I've watched my local team (Châteauroux) at home twice now and was, quite honestly, bored! The skill levels are generally higher but the game itself is slower, almost as if watching a training ground exercise. Players get more time on the ball but equally it seems as if there is no urgency... but of course one can see that as being simply tactical and patient! The UK game is generally speaking 'kick and rush' in comparison.

It's a different game at the top level in France as you probably know. OM, Lyon, Bordeaux all play a faster game without a loss of skill but it's still a different game to that played in the Prem.

 

[dellzeqq]

Personally I think it is time to stop believing the hype that is Sky and other media sources telling us how wonderful the Premier League is.
I don't want to upset too many of my fellow fans but believe Man Utd to be at their poorest for several years and if they were as good as they were a few years ago I think Man City would be trailing well behind in 2nd place.
Chelsea have also slipped and a lot of that stems from the power happy owner getting rid of probably one of the greatest managers ever because it appeared their egos clashed.
Arsenal have really slipped and appear to be a selling club, it doesn't help that Man City can throw any virtually any sum of money about and can pay unbelievable wages.
The most improved team are probably Spurs who will most likey lose their manager so who will replace him and how will he do?
Realistically as refreshing as it is to see a team like Norwich for example they haven't got the resources to buy the Premier League, but them and others are good to watch.
I think our clubs are light years behind the 2 big Spanish clubs and the Italians seem to be getting back now, you only have to look at Arsenal last night.
Harry will take the England job in a blaze of glory and as a Englishman I would really love to see us do well, but I am also a realist and see it all ending in tears over the next few years.

all true. AC Milan looked awesome last night.

 

[ianrauk]

all true. AC Milan looked awesome last night.

And for once in his life the Voyeur actually did say and admitted that his team was rubbish. And told it like it is. The idiot has gone up a few millimeters in my estimation for that.

 

[Christopher]

I'd thought Italian football was second-rate. Not the case is it!

FIFA got at least one thing right: back passes to the keeper. Remember the goal kick out to the defender, pass it around, back to the keeper who picks it up then boots it down the field. Yawn... and there was the Italian national team getting a 1-0 lead then defending as a 10-0-0 formation. Might have got them the World Cup in 1982 but it wasn't very exciting, especially after the mesmerising '78 final. The new back pass rule also makes defending more tricky as the easy way out is no longer there.

I don't support any team but find football fascinating, especially the relegation battles at season's close. They are argulably more gripping than winning silverware as teams struggle desperately to avoid going down. Because if they do they lose TV revenue and often the manager getsfired and lots of players leave, so the new manager often has to build a team from scratch - guess that's why teams sometimes drop two divisions in sucessive years. Feel sorry for the fans though as their team destroys their dreams...

 

[yello]

 

[Smokin Joe]

How long has Arsene got left? The look on his face when he walked off the pitch I reckon he may jump before he's pushed.

A bad result against Spurs next week and the pressure from the fans will become unbearable.