Is the league going to get a whole lot better?

[Andy @ Allerton]

People have been moaning for years that the league is a one or two horse race most seasons. They've complained that there is no real competition and that it's all a bit predictable.

 

With the sale of Manchester City to (Apparant) moneybags and DIC waiting on the wings to snaffle up a club - plus others being involved in clubs like Villa, West Ham and Liverpool - is the 'top four' going to become a 'top seven or eight' - or even 'top ten'?

 

It's possible that other buyers might popup out of the woodwork and it might actually lead to a better league.

 

There are certain teams that can basically just turn up and watch sides roll over and die - and that forms a basis of their good league positions - others have to fight a bit more - but generally achieve a similar kind of result (Above the chasing pack)

 

But what would happen when there is only half the league considered as 'minnows' - what if every other game might be a huge uncertainty - surely a good thing for the league in general? More competitive. More riding on every game. More interesting results and more teams getting put into that hat at the end of the season.

 

Personally I think clubs like Manchester City being bought by billionaires has to be good - the league is supposed to be a support about competition and endevour. It's not been that for quite a while and it's about time there was a bit of uncertainty up there at the top.

 

For the good of football and the good of the league.

 

Not that I think football is going to survive another 10 years - I think it's probably unsustainable and a crash of incredible proportions is coming and it's coming soon.

 

But! Should be entertaining til then. Hopefully.

[Guest Raisbeck]

where is the endevour in bidding 120 million quid for a player? bascially saying we want the title of champions of europe so we will basically pay whatever it takes to get it.

 

great.

Edited September 2, 2008 by Raisbeck

[anfield]

Yes its fine as long as we are the ones at the top with all the money. As soon as someone else gets cash we start whining about how football is going to hell.

[Des]

The League will get a whole lot better when we win it.

[takanohana]

Yes its fine as long as we are the ones at the top with all the money. As soon as someone else gets cash we start whining about how football is going to hell.

Not about whining when someone else gets money, it's not good for the game whether its Man City or Liverpool being bankrolled to ridiculous levels (not that we currently are but if DIC come in who knows)

What exactly does winning the league or anything mean if it becomes so determined by the whims of random rich people?

[adeel]

If we become top 7 or top 10 leauge, then i wager the teams missing out on Champions league spot in Premier League will be much stronger than the likes of Ac Milan, Inter Milan, Bayern etc.

[Guest GrandpaSimpson]

Who'll end up paying for all these £30m players? The fans of course.

[Andy @ Allerton]

Football is utterly unsustainable in its current incarnation.

 

Not enough money is being spent on the lower leagues, clubs are dropping further into debt - and don't even care - the Mancs are around £1B in debt now, Chelsea (And us, and probably others) would go bankrupt if our backers pulled out overnight.

 

Average players like Frank Lampard getting £150,000 a week, crocks like Michael Owen getting £120,000 a week?

 

The bubble is going to burst and it's going to burst sooner rather than later.

 

Which is almost certainly a very good think long term.

 

Short term - it'll be a bit bad - but it'll recover and it will have to be remodelled.

 

If real businesses ran themselves like this - then there would be uproar!

[Runehammer]

It is unsustainable and a crash will come as you say, I think there will end up be a European, or even World, superleague with franchises owned exclusively by billionaire tycoons or cartels. This may sound crazy but I think it is a real possibility that something like that rises from the ashes, should clubs like ourselves and the Mancs go out of business when the money runs out; quite possibly when the next TV rights come around.

 

When I was a nipper I always fancied the idea of a European Superleague but the scenario I had in mind was nothing like what I fear could nowadays.

[Guest Raisbeck]

Who'll end up paying for all these £30m players? The fans of course.

 

hardly!

[cymrococh]

Football isn't dead, is not going to die, calm down you great big tarts.

 

Anyone who thinks an entity with the following Liverpool Fc has got would disappear is at best deluded, at worst very thick.

[Stevie H]

depends on what you mean by 'crash' really. think there's a very real chance of more premier league clubs doing a leeds over the next couple of years and leaving a handful of well-backed clubs on top of the pile, making for less competition than ever.

[cymrococh]

depends on what you mean by 'crash' really. think there's a very real chance of more premier league clubs doing a leeds over the next couple of years and leaving a handful of well-backed clubs on top of the pile, making for less competition than ever.

But that's always happened, Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday, QPR, Nottingham Forest all big clubs who have gone t*ts up due to one thing or another.

 

You can go even further back to Wolves, Blackpool and the like.

[Stevie H]

true, but in those days the league championship was at least contested my more and different clubs. and there was nothing like the same amounts of money flying about.

[cymrococh]

true, but in those days the league championship was at least contested my more and different clubs. and there was nothing like the same amounts of money flying about.

True, English football was a much more 'closed' game as well. Your chairman was more likely to be the wayward son of a moneyed family who loved the game, now it's someone with no idea about the club or even the sport who wants to leverage your franchise.

Edited September 4, 2008 by Paul Caruso

[Stevie H]

it was more closed yeah because there was one real focus each season, to win the league title. secondarily i guess to have a good cup run and who knows, maybe a day out at wembley. now that the top four enter into the champions league gravy train and everyone else just jockeys for position in avoiding relegation, the goalposts have been shifted.

 

when serie a and la liga were the top leagues in europe, they were at least still owned by italian and spanish nationals respectively. the ongoing english sell out to wealthy foreigners can only continue to strip away the game's integrity.

[cymrococh]

I don't really understand why so many are getting involved, it's a hell of a risky business and is an easy way to lose a f*ckload of money.

 

In how many other businesses would you basically have to write-off an asset with the value of Shevchenko?

 

I know they're billionaires and some just want a plaything, but for most it just seems like a massive waste of money.

[Stevie H]

dunno, football clubs as the new racehorses? own one and it's a mark of prestige maybe, buy an english one since the game was invented there and the league is the best marketed in the world, particularly to the middle eastern states where the insane money is.

 

shevchenko should feel grateful, they shoot horses.

[cymrococh]

We could send Torres out to stud.

[Tyler]

when tv on demand over internet takes off and clubs can sell games themselves then the big clubs can in theory at least bring in large amounts of revenue

 

£10 a game sold across the world to 10,000,000 people

100,000,000 per game

[Earl Hafler]

We could send Torres out to stud.

 

Better wait until after the derby...

[Hassony]

when tv on demand over internet takes off and clubs can sell games themselves then the big clubs can in theory at least bring in large amounts of revenue

 

£10 a game sold across the world to 10,000,000 people

100,000,000 per game

 

there is no way you will get 10,000,000 in the world to pay £10 for a league game, maybe a world cup final, but not a league game

[Eskimo]

there is no way you will get 10,000,000 in the world to pay £10 for a league game, maybe a world cup final, but not a league game

 

Not sure if Tyler meant 10m for a particular game or 10m spread across all the PL teams on any given Saturday. If its the latter I'd say its more than possible.