Football 2020/2021

[lost]

41 minutes ago, jyoung said:

Chelsea were in the final three times in six seasons before they won the lottery. Four times in nine seasons if you go back further.

My favourite Ken Bates moment was when he tried to install an electric fence around the pitch 😆

Edited March 22, 2021 by lost

[eFestivals]

2 hours ago, Hugh Jass said:

Nobody is doing much to dispute my "humourless" claim...

Asty does with every post.

[TheGayTent]

42 minutes ago, jyoung said:

Chelsea were in the final three times in six seasons before they won the lottery. Four times in nine seasons if you go back further.

Ha that might be technically correct with those results being pre Abramovich... but that’s discounting Harding investing £30m into the club back when £30m went a long way. Less that half of that bought Vialli, Le boeuf, Di Matteo and Zola...let’s not airbrush history and pretend Chelsea were successful as a self funding business. 

42 minutes ago, jyoung said:

Anyway the beauty of the cup is definitely that the likes of Cardiff, Portsmouth, Hull, Stoke, Wigan etc can make the final (even though some people think it has lost its credibility in recent seasons, I personally think it's absolutely worth winning).

That we can agree on. 

[Hugh Jass]

2 hours ago, TheGayTent said:

10 years ago I’d agree. 5 years ago I’d probably agree. Now...? Hmm neither agree nor disagree. Another 5-10 years of success and you’ll be no different to any of the others. 
 

It’s inevitable sadly. I want my club to win the FA Cup. I really do not want my club to win the lottery like Chelsea, Man City etc. In fact, I’d sooner get relegated to the conference. 

City are no less crooked than the rest of them (FFP fiddles anyone?). All they have demonstrated over the last decade is what can happen when you splurge almost infinite sums of money on a mid-table Premier League side. It could just as easily have been Villa/Newcastle/West Ham/Southampton where they are now.

Only difference is that the elite clubs hate them more as they are new money.

 

[eFestivals]

5 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

City are no less crooked than the rest of them (FFP fiddles anyone?). All they have demonstrated over the last decade is what can happen when you splurge almost infinite sums of money on a mid-table Premier League side. It could just as easily have been Villa/Newcastle/West Ham/Southampton where they are now.

Only difference is that the elite clubs hate them more as they are new money.

 

All that money to fail in their aim.

[thetime]

3 hours ago, jyoung said:

 

Anyway the beauty of the cup is definitely that the likes of Cardiff, Portsmouth, Hull, Stoke, Wigan etc can make the final (even though some people think it has lost its credibility in recent seasons, I personally think it's absolutely worth winning).

Fa Cup is certainly not the trophy it was in the 70s, 80s, 90s. Why is that though is a more interesting debate. You can not blame the money men of the big clubs, when you think only twice as a team out of the big clubs won it(portsmouth and wigan). It is hard to pinpoint apart from the emphasis on the premier league.

United pulling out of 99/00, foreign managers having little interest, mid table sides playing weaker teams, fa messing around with schedules. They all are a reason for the fa cup not being seen as a major trophy for many.

[thetime]

1 hour ago, eFestivals said:

All that money to fail in their aim.

You do not like city. 😀

[lost]

Anyone else actually quite happy to have a few nights off from the footy?  Its felt pretty relentless since Christmas and internationals vs San Marino and Albania don't really appeal.

[TheGayTent]

2 hours ago, Hugh Jass said:

City are no less crooked than the rest of them (FFP fiddles anyone?). All they have demonstrated over the last decade is what can happen when you splurge almost infinite sums of money on a mid-table Premier League side.
 

Sorry, I thought the original comparison was based on the attitude of the respective clubs’ supporters. Talking at cross wires - ignore me! 

[thetime]

21 minutes ago, lost said:

Anyone else actually quite happy to have a few nights off from the footy?  Its felt pretty relentless since Christmas and internationals vs San Marino and Albania don't really appeal.

The wife is...

[TheGayTent]

37 minutes ago, thetime said:

Fa Cup is certainly not the trophy it was in the 70s, 80s, 90s. Why is that though is a more interesting debate. You can not blame the money men of the big clubs, when you think only twice as a team out of the big clubs won it(portsmouth and wigan). It is hard to pinpoint apart from the emphasis on the premier league.

United pulling out of 99/00, foreign managers having little interest, mid table sides playing weaker teams, fa messing around with schedules. They all are a reason for the fa cup not being seen as a major trophy for many.

Plenty of managers have little interest including British managers. Why is the question, and the answer as usual is money. 
 

Any club outside the top six has a realistic chance of being relegated. Given the prize money for finishing 17th in the premier league is more than four times as much as it is to win the FA Cup it’s no surprise chairmen (and therefore managers) prioritise league games over FA Cup matches. In fact, every league place a club finishes higher, the difference in prize money is approx the value of prize money for winning the FA Cup. 
 

The problem goes back to the formation of the premier league (like many other problem issues...)

[jyoung]

51 minutes ago, lost said:

Anyone else actually quite happy to have a few nights off from the footy?  Its felt pretty relentless since Christmas and internationals vs San Marino and Albania don't really appeal.

Yep. It's been relentless. I hope in a post vaccine world we are able to go back to routine 3 o'clocks on a Saturday though it is probably unlikely tbh. If it's me - bin off the Fri night completely and go back to 1x Sat midday, 5x Sat 3pm, 1x Sat 5:30pm, 2x Sun games and 1x Mon. I'd bin off Monday too tbh but won't happen with TV rights.

[Hugh Jass]

44 minutes ago, TheGayTent said:

Sorry, I thought the original comparison was based on the attitude of the respective clubs’ supporters. Talking at cross wires - ignore me! 

No, I agree with your point that City fans will turn into entitled c**ts in time too...

[Gnomicide]

1 hour ago, Hugh Jass said:

No, I agree with your point that City fans will turn into entitled c**ts in time too...

In time? That ship has sailed.

[TheGayTent]

6 hours ago, Gnomicide said:

In time? That ship has sailed.

Not in my experience. The older generation are still unassuming, down to earth, knowledgable supporters who even today keep pinching themselves at their success and assume it will at some point come crashing down on them. 
 

I agree the whinging self entitlement more common in Liverpool, Man Utd, west London etc is creeping into their younger support, and will only get worse the longer Man City are successful. 
 

I’ve seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears the older generation moaning about their own support and even own offspring in this regard. 

[TheGayTent]

13 hours ago, eFestivals said:

All that money to fail in their aim.

If and when Man City do win the European Cup you’re going to need a lot of therapy. 

[eFestivals]

29 minutes ago, TheGayTent said:

If and when Man City do win the European Cup you’re going to need a lot of therapy. 

Less therapy than they'll have needed money.

[TheGayTent]

41 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

Less therapy than they'll have needed money.

1. It’s good to see you recognise you have an issue.

2. No different to any other club in the 21st century? 

[eFestivals]

26 minutes ago, TheGayTent said:

1. It’s good to see you recognise you have an issue.

2. No different to any other club in the 21st century? 

Leicester didn't buy the title

[TheGayTent]

2 hours ago, eFestivals said:

Leicester didn't buy the title

1. We were talking about buying the European Cup.
2. How much money was invested in Leicester City FC pre and post the involvement of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha? 
3. The correct response was FC Porto - the only exception to prove the rule in the 21st century. 

[Guest]

6 hours ago, eFestivals said:

Leicester didn't buy the title

You are absolutely clueless.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/feb/21/leicester-settlement-football-league-ffp

[Hugh Jass]

Yeah Leicester were hardly squeaky clean.

Makes me laugh to think that their “fairytale” actually began with Nigel Pearson’s son racially abusing a hooker in a Thai brothel. That’s the event that started it all...

[kaosmark2]

3 hours ago, eastynh said:

You are absolutely clueless.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/feb/21/leicester-settlement-football-league-ffp

That wasn't even the first thing. Back in the 00's (I forget which season), Leicester misused and abused the administration system to the extent that the football league introduced the points-docking to stop anyone doing the same again. They've got 20 years of playing financial tricks to spend more of other people's money for an edge in the football pyramid.

That's not say it wasn't great to see them win it, it was far more entertaining than the usual suspects getting it, and Spurs failing spectacularly is always funny, but they're not a "complete underdog" success story.

[TheGayTent]

True. They avoided paying inland revenue millions, not to mention local St John’s ambulance bills etc etc 

[eFestivals]

7 hours ago, TheGayTent said:

True. They avoided paying inland revenue millions, not to mention local St John’s ambulance bills etc etc 

Didn't they get the stadium for free by not paying the builder.