One phrase that sums up what is wrong with modern football..

[clsyorkshire]

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[Wullie]

Shoveling shit would be better than working in a factory , it would drive me bonkers. But i get your drift. I don't really understand the English mentality that making tons of money as a sportsman some how makes them better than Joe public.

I refer to baseball player Ben Zobrist of the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs just won the World Series for the first time in 108 years . 5 million people turned up for the victory parade. FIVE MILLION PEOPLE. Ben Zobrist was voted most valuable player of the series , man of the match to you and me.
The guy has a multi million pound contract, far better than most Premiership footballers .

And what does he do ? Stands outside the front gate of his house happily chatting for hours to a large crowd who turned up . He had time for every single one of them. You can not beat that. Utter class.

[clsyorkshire]

I can understand why Moyes took his players to a factory, to show them the "common man". I just think his quote above is somewhat crass and very unfortunate.

Football has its origins in working class people after all.

I must admit I am a bit of a sucker for a rags to riches story. I was reading an article the other day about Newcastle's Dwight Gayle. It was only one article but he came across as someone who fought his way from non-league beginnings to the top and should hopefully be back in the Premiership next season.
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[andrewesq]

and one advert that sums up what is wrong with modern football !

[Footyfan]

The phrase which most annoys me these days is using "world class" when really describing journeymen footballers.

I ask myself just how many Preniership players would make the final 22 of a "world squad"?

The fawning media allow these overpaid prima donnas to believe they are a "legend in their own lunchtime"!

In my eyes world class means Pele, Maradonna, Cruyff, Best, Messi...... ......... players who could turn a game.

[goonerboy]

Sadly there are too many phrases:

- the ludicrous wages and that footballers believe they deserve it.

- that TV now dictates when matches are played.

- agents who consider themselves more important that the players

- stadiums that won't even let you take your own bottle of water into the ground

- crap facilities for away fans at most grounds

- journalists who fawn over certain managers as if they are superstars

etc etc

[silkman1]

There is another phrase ' You have to come to places like this'. It usually appears for the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Manager suggesting that an away tie at a non league club is a 'place like this'. What exactly is a place like this?

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

"Obviously we're pleased with the 3 points."

Any post-match player interview.............

[Five and In]

Football has its origins in working class people after all.


What?? I thought football was invented in 1992 by the Fat Cats!!

[sharrowblade]

Manchester City Academy recruitment
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[pafcprogs]

Our favourite was always "the likes of Plymouth" quite often uttered by managers who then found their services no longer required after the likes Of Plymouth beat them...

Especially funny in the all to brief Championship years....

But the phrase that sums up what is wrong with English football...

"I think it is time Jack Wilshere came back into he squad"

OH!
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Currently disposing of my collection so please email any wants lists to [email protected].
Most Plymouth post 1959 but plenty of others including reserves, friendlies, Cup Finals Internationals and Club issues, handbooks and other sports.

[Wullie]

Hate it when they say make the long trip up north. They never talk about a long trip south

[pafcprogs]

1) presumably they have to do both...unless they get marooned

2) I reckon it's fair enough for us....we only do long trips and they only go North


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Currently disposing of my collection so please email any wants lists to [email protected].
Most Plymouth post 1959 but plenty of others including reserves, friendlies, Cup Finals Internationals and Club issues, handbooks and other sports.

[CNSOBU]

When Alan Ball was manager at Stoke he did a similar thing - as recalled by George Berry:

"Oh, let me tell you - Bally loved a trip to Jersey. We had pre-season AND post-season tours down there."

"One night, he kept us in this fisherman's pub right near the sea. He wouldn't let us leave, so we were there drinking all night.

"I'll never forget this – we were drinking Calvados – trust me it's a hot taste. We were hammered and shattered but we couldn't escape – he virtually locked us in!

"Eventually, when it reached about 5am, we found out why. He made us wait until the last of the night fishermen returned home, packing up their gear after a long night at sea.

"Then he said, 'Right lads – look at them – look at what they are having to do to earn a living. Never, ever will you lot have to work as hard as they do. Just you remember that!'

"So we waited all that time to watch them sort their boats out and for him to say that! He wanted us to remember how lucky we were. It worked to be fair. It was quality from Bally."

[PompeyPhil]

Great story....Bally is fondly remembered at Pompey for his "This is Portsmouth, people went to war from this City" battle cry that is now immortalised in the tunnel at Fratton Park. He "got" Pompey as a City and a football club and somehow managed to galvanise a pretty crap football team into avoiding what seemed to be a certain relegation in the 1997-98 season.

[TartanTyneArmy]

I work for a company that has a factory employing 50+ factory floor technicians. Most of these folk or on minimum wage or slightly higher if time served. I really feel for them that sort of wage doesn't go far. They are all Utd fans but none ever go to St James except on early cup rounds when tickets are £10 or there abouts. I would like to see domestic football games capped at £13.40. This is equivalent to 2 hours of min wage. Football is the working man's game after all...
Probably a controversial statement but top teams can afford it given recent TV deals and lower league teams would see fuller stadiums at that price.
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[Tynie Topics]

TartanTyneArmy wrote:

I work for a company that has a factory employing 50+ factory floor technicians. Most of these folk or on minimum wage or slightly higher if time served. I really feel for them that sort of wage doesn't go far. They are all Utd fans but none ever go to St James except on early cup rounds when tickets are £10 or there abouts. I would like to see domestic football games capped at £13.40. This is equivalent to 2 hours of min wage. Football is the working man's game after all... Probably a controversial statement but top teams can afford it given recent TV deals and lower league teams would see fuller stadiums at that price.

Good point. Let's face it, EPL clubs do not need gate money to survive, they could let everyone in for free and still lord it with the TV money.

Perhaps clubs could start by agreeing to say 5% of capacity limited to £15 a ticket and take it from there. I recall when I first started going to Tynecastle in the early 1980's, they had an unemployed gate where if you took your UB40 card you got in for 50p or something like that.
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[pafcprogs]

Ah but you are mistaking what you think as a spectator sport with what is in fact an "entertainment product"...

There is a part of me as an Argyle fan that wants to have a sniff of the big time like Bournemouth and Swindon have...and another part of me that thinks it would be awful

the only clubs that manage to make the supporter work alongside ambition are the German clubs and Barcelona in my mind

The EPL is a marketeers wet dream....loyal punters queuing to fund mediocre players to ridiculous lifestyles by sprinkling some fairy dust bone fide geniuses in amongst the dross

Still They will argue that the money filters down...just very slowly

Alan Sugar had it right ...prune juice money...in at the top and straight out the bottom barely touching the sides
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Currently disposing of my collection so please email any wants lists to [email protected].
Most Plymouth post 1959 but plenty of others including reserves, friendlies, Cup Finals Internationals and Club issues, handbooks and other sports.

[CodeXIII]

Stopped going when the cost for a ticket went from £13.50 (1994) to £22.50 plus 'booking fee' in 1995. Same team, same squad, same bloody stand!

TV deals these days mean no club in the top two leagues need to charge a penny and they're still making more than last season. They'd rather play in front of half full stadia than give tickets away. Or they could follow City's approach and bring in Coldplay to fill the ground

Sadly you guys, the fans are being shafted. Why not go and support a local non-league team once a month?
The media, the pundits, the players themselves are all a total joke. Look at the England squad - we are going backwards yet if England beat Scotland 5-0 they'll be World cup third favourites!!!

Football is boring, the players are mercenaries and fall over far too easily, the agents are leeches and everyone has their snout in the trough so won't say anything to upset the gravy train.

Ive been lucky enough to work on some major football tournaments and it is just England / the FA who are the problem. Every other country's players, managers and officials are a joy to work with. Our lot mill around, above the rules (Lost to Iceland no interviews!!) and have a bizarre and unfounded arrogance.

The sooner the fans get a say or start to do FC United's the better. If it's good enough for Barcelona then I'm sure any English team could follow suit.
wont happen, too much cash involved hence the ridiculous number of foreign 'investors' (ie owners removing millions each year).

slightly off topic but that's my take on modern football!

[Davee59]

TartanTyneArmy wrote:

I work for a company that has a factory employing 50+ factory floor technicians. Most of these folk or on minimum wage or slightly higher if time served. I really feel for them that sort of wage doesn't go far. They are all Utd fans but none ever go to St James except on early cup rounds when tickets are £10 or there abouts. I would like to see domestic football games capped at £13.40. This is equivalent to 2 hours of min wage. Football is the working man's game after all... Probably a controversial statement but top teams can afford it given recent TV deals and lower league teams would see fuller stadiums at that price.

Whilst I understand and sympathise with the contents of your post, do you really believe that the fat cats give a monkey's about the working man? When arsenal can sell out every week 60,000 crowds (they declare this but choose to ignore those who don't even bother to attend, sometimes this can be 10,000 or more!) when their cheapest season ticket is just over £1,000, why would they charge any less? I like the idea that we should all go to non league games but I think that even many of them may charge more than £13.40!