Other Transfer News

[Kowalski]

 

For me that's bordering on disgusting.  It's now a billion miles away from being a working man's game.

[rocket_scientist]

For me that's bordering on disgusting.  It's now a billion miles away from being a working man's game.

 

Agree. I went to the Emirates once - we got tickets 5 minutes before kick off from a couple of guys outside the ground - and in the "Platinum Club", there were all these guys in ties and pink shirts etc. Having been to the old Highbury, it had a great feel about it, pints could be bought at the back of the North Stand, proper football men but these Emirates cunts paying £6.5k for their season tickets (free booze at HT - I managed 3 pints for the record) knew FUCK ALL about the game.

[RicoS321]

For me that's bordering on disgusting.  It's now a billion miles away from being a working man's game.

 

To be fair, we don't really have a working class anymore.

 

Anyway, the spending in England made the BBC Scotland news ahead of the dons new signing (as did Utd signing Andreu for some reason). I would have thought that listing all the Scottish deadline day transfers would have been quite easy, and relegate this EPL pish to the bottom of the website somewhere. It's like we're supposed to be impressed by big numbers. I see the EPL like a spoiled child that should just be ignored. I've grown quite ambivalent toward it these days, it used to annoy me, but now I just feel sorry for it and will happily watch the occasional highlight here and there.

[rocket_scientist]

To be fair, we don't really have a working class anymore.

 

Rather than get into social anthropology, surely you get his point?

 

It's become elitist where you need dough to be a every-game fan.

 

Not everybody can afford this.

 

This is bad for the game.

[RicoS321]

Rather than get into social anthropology, surely you get his point?

 

It's become elitist where you need dough to be a every-game fan.

 

Not everybody can afford this.

 

This is bad for the game.

 

Aye, I get what he was saying. All I meant was that there was no longer the working class fan to sell the game to, it doesn't have to be their target market. How else can people not be horrified by someone getting paid £300K a week to play football? Rather, it's seen as something admirable. If we aspire to these idols, then surely it makes entire sense that we have no problem paying the top dollar to watch them? They need the high prices to give the game in England its status. Fuck knows how that seems to have migrated to Scottish football like, but it has.

[rocket_scientist]

Aye, I get what he was saying. All I meant was that there was no longer the working class fan to sell the game to, it doesn't have to be their target market. How else can people not be horrified by someone getting paid £300K a week to play football? Rather, it's seen as something admirable. If we aspire to these idols, then surely it makes entire sense that we have no problem paying the top dollar to watch them? They need the high prices to give the game in England its status. Fuck knows how that seems to have migrated to Scottish football like, but it has.

 

For me it's all about the critical mass. Football used to be accessible by everyone. Now, particularly in Engerlund, you need to be earning good dough to be able to afford a season ticket. If we make it so that the game is only accessed by a certain demographic, we cut deeply and adversely into the grass roots potential. Sure the fat thick cunt could save money by quitting fags and stop buying tabloids and go easy on the takeaway junk food and cutting back on his horrendous alcohol intake to be able to afford to get him and his sons a ST, but that's just who he is.

 

Agree that their target market is money. My point is that in doing so - and particularly when the football administrators are absolutely inept quango types* - they alienate the total potential market and total potential players to come through.

 

* A boss of mine once gave me a directive before advertising for a management position. "If he's ever worked in the public sector, or has a wife or parents that works in the public sector, or even if he's just walked past a public sector building, don't interview the cunt".

[RicoS321]

For me it's all about the critical mass. Football used to be accessible by everyone. Now, particularly in Engerlund, you need to be earning good dough to be able to afford a season ticket. If we make it so that the game is only accessed by a certain demographic, we cut deeply and adversely into the grass roots potential. Sure the fat thick cunt could save money by quitting fags and stop buying tabloids and go easy on the takeaway junk food and cutting back on his horrendous alcohol intake to be able to afford to get him and his sons a ST, but that's just who he is.

 

Agree that their target market is money. My point is that in doing so - and particularly when the football administrators are absolutely inept quango types* - they alienate the total potential market and total potential players to come through.

 

* A boss of mine once gave me a directive before advertising for a management position. "If he's ever worked in the public sector, or has a wife or parents that works in the public sector, or even if he's just walked past a public sector building, don't interview the cunt".

 

Do you think the price of tickets has a negative effect on youngsters playing the sport like? I don't know, I would have thought it might, although I've nae idea of the correlation. I think the fat cunt smoking and eating junk food probably stunts his child's growth, thus making him a shite fitba'r! Also, the lack of places to play for free and the devotion required to be successful are inhibitors. Fuck knows, yer right about the public sectorians though, my mate just picked up a job at the cooncil - he seems unaware of the environment, so should be funny.

[rocket_scientist]

Do you think the price of tickets has a negative effect on youngsters playing the sport like? I don't know, I would have thought it might, although I've nae idea of the correlation. I think the fat cunt smoking and eating junk food probably stunts his child's growth, thus making him a shite fitba'r! Also, the lack of places to play for free and the devotion required to be successful are inhibitors. Fuck knows, yer right about the public sectorians though, my mate just picked up a job at the cooncil - he seems unaware of the environment, so should be funny.

 

The reason I said "particularly in England" was that if the ST demographic has changed then the less affluent will be lesser represented. Historically, footballers were generally from the lower half of the socio-economic scale. Exactly 50% of the population is in the "lower half" of course but an examination of the "classes" (when there were such things) from where footballers came from was vast majority "working", some "middle" and very few if any "upper". Let's not get into pedantic counters about the working class being more than 50% of the population at one time, before gradual, and then dramatic increases in the middle class aspiring wannabe proportion. Let's stick to the line of argument and see the picture without having to spell it all out.

 

On an aside, interesting that Jock Stein hated the dentist Lisbon Lion, the only one who wasn't "real working class", the only one who he couldn't bully, the only one who wasn't intimidated by him, the one who was more intelligent than him. It was said that Stein "never trusted him" but the truth was that Stein knew his own limitations and didn't want to get found out. Parallels in certain respects can be drawn from his protege and mentee, Sir Alex Ferguson.

 

There are many other contributory reasons why football is suffering, all of which should have been tracked, monitored and known about over the decades by the administrators but in Ernie Walker, Jim Farrell etc. and the current balloons, you're never going to get anything but self-interest and gravy-training. Innovative thinking and even seeing what's going on are functions well beyond them.

 

I don't think that Scottish Football price admissions are generally prohibitive. I do think that they are in England. There will be a bigger socio-economic divide in the EPL stadia tan in this country at the expense of the less affluent.

 

We're facing difficult times simply because the grass roots has been neglected. That programme I saw the other day about the football club that opened 30 years ago and has bred Woodgate, Downing and many other inc. current Middlesboro players was heart-warming. That was a private initiative, fuck all to do with the FA or owt.

 

The biggest problem is that the clubs, indeed the whole game isn't thinking long term and part of that will undoubtedly be related to what it costs to be a fan.

 

[Jute]

Hibs sign Kris Commons on a 28 day emergency loan as they have 3 players injured. How 3 players injured justifies an emergency loan is beyond me.

[manc_don]

Hibs sign Kris Commons on a 28 day emergency loan as they have 3 players injured. How 3 players injured justifies an emergency loan is beyond me.

 

Saw that, how the hell does that work They not linked with Samaras too?

[manc_don]

I see Barton is set to re - sign for burnley. I'd be very intrigued to see if his form the hunnery was temporary

[manc_don]

Chinese really aren't messing about in their quest to rival the EPL, some serious money being spent already.  Tevez signed on a reported 660K a week  :o

 

Joins Oscar who was signed from Chelski for £60m earlier in December.

[Jute]

Chinese really aren't messing about in their quest to rival the EPL, some serious money being spent already.  Tevez signed on a reported 660K a week  :o

 

Joins Oscar who was signed from Chelski for £60m earlier in December.

 

Ronaldo's agent claiming he has turned down offer of £85m a year to go to China.

[manc_don]

Ronaldo's agent claiming he has turned down offer of £85m a year to go to China.

 

Wouldn't surprise me.in the slightest.

[manc_don]

Andy mcneil,  the morton keeper, has joined the European exodus and joined some Chinese mob.

[tom_widdows]

Think it was either Tom English or Stuart Cosgrove who highlighted the failed 1970s yank experiment where they brought in lots of famous players in a bid to kick start 'soccer' in the USA.

 

Would have thought China would be better suited poaching the best coaches from around the world if they have ambitions to be a major football nation.

 

1.3billion people to chose from and yet thee have only qualified for 1 world cup and I doubt it's a coincidence that was one where the two strongest Asian nations automatically qualified as hosts.

Never won the AFC Asian cup either

[BigAl]

Andy mcneil,  the morton keeper, has joined the European exodus and joined some Chinese mob.

 

Without wishing to be racist, he will be like a giant alongside your average China man

[Jute]

Former Dons loanee Josh Walker has signed for Edinburgh City following a spell in India. Thought he looked a cracking player when he was with us and would go on to have a great career but not been the case for whatever reason.

[BigAl]

Former Dons loanee Josh Walker has signed for Edinburgh City following a spell in India. Thought he looked a cracking player when he was with us and would go on to have a great career but not been the case for whatever reason.

 

Too many injuries.

[BigAl]

Jack Harper, Brighton to Malaga

[manc_don]

Too many injuries.

 

Never worked out for him injury wise down south, shame

[BigAl]

Allegedly West Ham have tabled an offer of £20 million for Dembele

[manc_don]

Allegedly West Ham have tabled an offer of £20 million for Dembele

 

Problem is, he is some talent. Worth that yet? Doubt it but he will be sold for a healthy sum 

[RicoS321]

Shite against us in the final. Never a £20M player, whatever the fuck that is.

[manc_don]

Tianjin Quanjian's billionaire owner on Benzema, Costa and Cavani...

 

"We continue to wait and suffer, but at the end of the day we'll get someone. We have targeted a lot of strikers, and made an offer for Benzema, but with this policy change, we are very helpless."

 

My heart bleeds for you.