Pompey appeal knocked back Whats everyones thoughts on this? Personally i think its for the good of the game and wouldn't be bothered if they went bust... it might take a high profile casualty for the FA/PL to do something about the state of the game and make clubs realise that they cant punch above their weight financially and operate year on year by going deeper and deeper into debt. The money in the game nowadays on wages etc is shocking, theres nothing worse for me than being sat at Sunderland paying money to watch a gutless performance and thinking that some of the cunts not bothering to put any effort in on the pitch are on about 3 times a week what i earn in a year. There needs to be some legislation brought in by the league or FA to manage how the clubs operate, though up until now they have been only too happy to flog the league for all its worth and milk in the profits from selling the TV rights to every country on the globe for the supposed 'best league in the world'. Due to the lack of regulating, and the joke of a 'fit and proper person test' which has allowed people wanted for arrest in their own countries come and buy a football club in the prem its now became a billionaires playground and any clubs without a billionaire owner are starting to be left behind... and Pompey's plight is hopefully the wake up call needed to sort it out.
The Premiership has got shades of the Banking System written all over it. Clubs are making less and less every season while the stakes to be to be serious top 4 contenders are creeping out of reach for anyone unable to pump an absolute fortune into a squad, times this with the fact that players transfer fees & wages continue to slowly but surely leave reality and your potentially looking at a few more Clubs heading down the shit pan. It's crazy when you look at the Pompy situation, 2 seasons ago they were lifting the FA Cup ?
It's a catch 22 situation. If you heavily regulate it and cap wages etc.. you'll soon see how faithful the top players are to their clubs when they fuck off abroad for lower taxes and the money they once earned. "I play because I love football, not for the money...." Bollocks. Just wait and see how many players who have pledged to stay and finish their careers at the clubs they "love" actually fuck off in the blink of an eye for the £££££ if this happened. The best thing to happen to Newcastle was being knocked down into the Championship. Has always been a blessing in disguise and potentially saved us from being in a position that Pompey are in now, or Leeds were a few seasons ago. Regulation would be the right way to go but ultimitely it would be a step back for the game in England because, sadly, money is one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) draws to the PL.
Would it be too controversial to suggest that Ashley took us down for business reasons? We're now one of the more financially sound big clubs in the country, manageable wage bill, a group of players who are comitted for the right reasons. We could easily be in Portsmouth's position now (albeit without a recent FA Cup win!).
Id love to think his business acumen stretched that far! I just think we've been terribly lucky in the scheme of things. We offloaded all of our (apparent) star players & were left with a skeleton squad, the players that decided to stay dug deep & have somehow managed to turn round a predicament that could have potentially set the Club back 10/20 years, looking favorites to go straight back up as Champions without the freeloaders we once had on the massive wages we were paying them. Hindsight's a great thing eh!
Interesting article in the Guardian today on the reasons for the Portsmouth situation, reckons that the bonus structure the club had meant that the players were so well rewarded for winning the cup and getting into europe that it has put them on the road to where they are now? http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/feb/21/bonuses-chaotic-portsmouth-brink-collapse On Newcastle's relegation, it is definitely a chance to rebuild and start again going down though the only worry is if you dont go straight back up and the parachute payments end after 2/3 seasons leaving clubs who are geared up for Premiership football (and income) up shit creek. The interesting thing will be what happens in the Summer for me, if Ashley tries again to sell the club and the level of investment made in the squad for life back in the Prem. Granty - agree with you about players fucking off if a wage cap was brought in. I think the type of regulations that should be looked at is that clubs can only operate within set financial boundaries and only spend the money that they have coming in, and need to produce quarterly budget reports to the league and lose points for any irregularities or mis-management. You look at Arsenal as the example, they can still attract the likes of Arshavin etc though are being ran properly and not putting the long term future of the club in jeopardy by paying wages/transfer fees that they cant afford.
If it's to be regulated then FIFA should be involved and all Leagues/clubs throughout Europe, or even the world, should be made to adhere to the rules. It's the only way it would be beneficial for the PL.
