No I’d rather that level of money wasn’t in the game at all, or at best, given the market forces argument, that a real financial structure existed to feed the grass roots from companies willing to give Messi a $675m 4yr contract. That’s just obscene. No one, absolutely no one needs that sort of money.
Thats straight up capitalism right there. Market forces dictate the price. The people who own the football clubs live in apartments perhaps like this one -the most expensive in the world at $2Billion https://starsunfolded.com/mukesh-ambani-house-antilia/ The Emirati Royals own Man City, The Glazers own Man Utd, Abramovich owns Chelsea -they don't need to save on players wages. Though I'm sure they wouldn't object to a salary cap and keep even more for themselves.
As somebody who used to go to every West Ham home game at Upton Park and paid with my pocket money, I think..... ....wait for it (!)........ the problem is essentially done to money and the FA They always resisted showing any live games on terrestrial TV - we only had the FA Cup final and non-live MOTD. Then they took Sky's money for live TV games and the cash from Sky just rolled in and so it went mad. Getting on Sky meant big bucks that filtered down to the players, paying very young, and some not very bright people, big bucks made the whole thing go pansy. Everyone got in on it - even the BBC who pay Lineker massive bucks for MOTD. The clubs looked at what people were willing to pay for Sky TV and thought, "we'll have some of that!" and so ticket prices hit the roof and all the "official" kit from the club shop is inflated like mad. Obviously, I am in a minority because it made me walk away. The bubble will burst sooner or later, but I no longer give a feck when!
Imagine how much Murdoch is making if Sky can pay that kind of money for the rights? Should we press for the clubs & players to get less, so Murdoch & co get even more? If so why?
The UK public are receiving a good income from the premier league and its players. https://www.ii.co.uk/analysis-comme...footballers-pay-more-ps1-billion-tax-ii512772
I’m not sure why you keep trying to make this point Jez? Surely no one would think that is a good idea? If this level of money is in the game (& again, I understand capitalism & get why it is), why can’t the various major leagues get together & come up with a wealth sharing plan that benefits those that need it & supports the future of the game? No one needs to earn £400,000 per day. If they won’t do it voluntarily, legislation is difficult for sure, but that’s a better question than would you rather News Corp pocketed the cash. Of course not!
In my view football is fast becoming a zero contact sport with infringements decided by endless slow-mo replays and the game constantly interrupted by decisions taken remotely. Part of the problem IMHO is so many ex-players, now commentating, who are all guilty of having cheated their way through games and are now on TV employing the language of cheating - "He won himself a free kick" "He played for that foul" "He knew the contact was coming" etc... It used to be that there had to be some intent to foul someone - that was the referee's job - to judge! Now there doesn't have to be any intent, simply that a player feels a breeze from a passing shirt and is therefore entitled to throw himself on the floor shrieking like a wounded tart, to 'win' a free kick, or get an opponent booked. Used to be that the only thing to 'win' was the game at the final whistle! Handball was another where you had to be judged to have deliberately moved the ball with your hand, not have the ball booted at it, or it accidentally glances part of the arm, even if not deflected. Commentators give far too much credence to the play acting too, some cretin rolling about holding some part of his body and the pundit sounding alarmed at the 'pain' on display.. when in fact it is simply a sad display by a grown man with no self respect, behaving like an attention-seeking toddler. The pundits were also the prime movers for VAR, now they are its most vociferous critics. They are hugely responsible for colouring how the game is viewed by the public and the responsibility for the game rapidly becoming a joke lies, in very large measure, with them.
Why doesn't Repsol Honda have to reduce MM's wages and pay for kids to race mopeds? No one is telling Merceedes Petronas F1 to pay Hamilton less so that kids can race go karts? So why is football any different?
It’s not but we are discussing football at the moment. There is an argument for all of those I would suggest, but like you I have to live in the real world. Change like this could happen if the will was there, which is the point that I was trying to make on a philosophical level, not the point that we should pay the fat cats more instead which is what you kept coming back to. Will it happen? Probably not, but it could & in the meantime Messi earning almost half a mill a day IS shall we say “unpleasant”, to me at least.
I saw an article today about the guy who sold "bebo" (some UK version of Facebook that I've never heard of) for £850million. He has sold it twice and now is reactivating it in a new guise. He sells the company so that others get the client data, and bombard millions of us with disinformation on everything from socks to sports and world politics https://news.yahoo.com/bebo-chief-r...afSuV6-ULHo5z4ZNmm8Ha-pq1RlMnOMeswNbJvQJeXipE Its a disgrace and to me really unpleasant, far more so than footballers. But each to their own.
The public have to accept some blame here. If nobody paid stupid money, then football would be put back in its box. A few months ago, I was listening to some West Ham game on radio and thought that I would watch as it was getting interesting (as West Ham were not losing for a change) and so I went on the web. I subscribe to West Ham TV and that is where I looked. I was not expecting to see it for free and would pay West Ham TV to watch a West Ham game. But no, they sent me to Sky and I should subscribe to Sky. The next West Ham game was not on Sky but BT TV, so subscribe to that as well! Feck 'em! I thought. I subscribed to nobody. Not that desperate.
Vaguely on topic, been told recently about "Signal" which apparently is rising up the ranks as an arguably better messenger system than Whatsapp.
I for one love soccer ball and all who play it These brave young men are worth every taxable penny in their weekly wage packet. God bless them all , they do a great job.
All hail the dark lord D Farke and our band of merry Yellows ! Its as you imply . Its those up above that have changed the game and players and teams have reacted. Anything that can gain an advantage is desperately taken as it can lead to another 3 points which could be another place up the table which adds another £10 m to the final income via Sky . Of course no one is worth £50 million but if that player scores enough goals to get you into Europe then he has paid for himself. Its money that has screwed it up and one that means I enjoy watching Norwich in the Championship more than the Prem.
Didn't he marry Jerry Hall ? Have a heart man ..... imagine what his Viagra bills must be like ! Also only vaguely on topic ..... There are strong forces at work in both the EU and USA to make it illegal for the average Joe to use encryption , and if they succeed it will kill excellent apps like those two stone dead . The implications are terrifying .....
It’s certainly more enjoyable watching our team win most games than get humped every week, but that will mean promotion again & we have to try & compete instead of rolling over & yo-yoing again imo. The joys of football! OTBC
