Rival watch

It's also telling that when they dismantled the fabled boot room their success pretty much stopped. Well that and the advent of the lottery meaning they didn't have so much Pools money to get their grubby little hands on. One can only imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth from Merseyside if someone like Spurs got taken over by Camelot and they introduced a game based on the outcome of English football matches - conflict of interest maybe?

 

Richard Scudamore says that Man Utd having a bad season harms the Premier League brand.

Bullshit.

Anyone with eyes can see that plastic fans in this country just switch allegiance from one club to another, so the money spent on tickets and replica shirts just goes from one Premier League club to another (for example, for the last few years in and around Croydon it's more likely you'll see people in Chelsea shirts than Man Utd shirts), so why does he think some plastic in Malaysia is suddenly going to stop watching the Premier League altogether because Man Utd are having a bad season? They're just going to switch affiliation, and it;s going to be to Chelsea or Man City, and most certainly not to Selangor.

 

Plus, so what if United's failure does harm the EPL?

Is this hack suggesting that United be given some dispensation against failure?

 

It says a lot when the bloke who's been Chief Executive of the Premier League for the past fifteen years has Man United-branded blinkers on when it comes to his product.

 

Firstly, he's clearly looking at the EPL as a brand and considering its financial interests only. That is not a viewpoint most of us here share. But from his perspective if your flagship marque is doing poorly, then the fickle fans you mention in Malaysia and places, who have no real affiliation to any club, are more likely to be turned off by the EPL altogether. They are unlikely to start following another team which is not as recognisable or which doesn't have the same kudos.

In the UK, however, loyalty to a team is far deeper ingrained. Whilst Utd's appeal reaches beyond Manchester (as does the appeal of other clubs - Spurs included), most fans are from the city and surrounding areas and those who aren't have often followed Utd for years or do so because their family has done so etc. Utd's support was comfortably the biggest even when Sexton and Atkinson were failing to challenge Liverpool for titles. That was down to the sympathy the club got after Munich. Whilst SAF's success has undoubtedly attracted more fans, the idea that there are huge numbers of people who would jump ship to follow whichever club is winning the league is ridiculous. And it's only been one bad season! SAF went more than one season without winning the league. Many clubs have maintained a strong fan base when dropping down the divisions- as Utd did in '73/'74. Fans of all clubs tend to be very loyal in this country.

 

Indeed, Little Luke. However, I suspect that it's the billions of United plastics around the Globe that Scidamark is worried about, and the fat lolly that they pump into his coffers.

 

He had the compensation that, for a large chunk of that time, they'd still qualify for the Champions League even if they didn't win the Premier League. This season they don't even have that - and it's possible they won't have European football at all next season.

As for clubs maintaining a strong fanbase despite relegation, that may have been the case forty years ago but that certainly isn't these days. Leeds' average attendance was 36,666 the season they went down ten years ago, last season it was 21,572 - a drop of 15,000 over ten years, and that drop occurred within two seasons of them dropping out of the Premier League.

 

Every Chief Exec in the Premiership apart from United's should be on the phone to Scudamore ripping him a new one!. It's his job to actually sell the product that he has. He's not lost any revenue as all of the sponsorship and tv rights have been sold on term contracts and therefore the income is still guaranteed. This season the clubs have produced the most competitive and exciting season that he's had for years. Quality games and goals galore. It's his ****ing job to go out and sell that to the world. He's therefore useless if he can't sell it. Despite United he's got the best quality product in the world!!

 

.

 

There is also the compensation that his other largest brand 'Liverpool' is doing well this season.

 

He should be working with all of the clubs to help them build their brand images worldwide. Then he has even more to sell and not be so reliant upon the fortunes of a few clubs - as he has identified for himself.

 

It seems that overseas fans of EPL tend to associate themselves with successful teams. In China, The Goons have taken over from Man Utd as the most popular team. Note also that both teams play in red - as do Liverpool.

 

If we were to change our name to Spurs Tigers, not only would we attract a billion new fans, but we'd also probably pique the interest of an Asian billionaire.

 

they see red as a good omen,so we would also have to play in red

 

The amount of TV coverage teams get is obviously a factor - Man Utd have been front and centre of Sky's coverage of the Premier League since the beginning (which had nothing to do with Rupert Murdoch owning a 9.9% stake in the club until 2003...) making them the most visible team by a wide margin. As it's usually Sky's coverage that gets shown in other countries, that puts Man Utd at the forefront of Premier League coverage, and given the way the coverage has been structured as Man Utd +1 from the outset (Liverpool in 1992, Arsenal from 1998-2002, Chelsea from 2004-8, Man City since 2010) so they have been the one constant wile the rivals change. But there has been an obvious lean towards Mourinho from Sky, and it's likely that next season their coverage will be structured as Chelsea vs City instead.

 

Villa 1 up V United

 

1-1,rooney

 

So, by how many do we reckon Arsenal will get humiliated by, against Liam Gallagher's £ity, today?

 

"There were definite boos when the plane went overhead - fans in the Stretford End were then applauding in unison and to me that is a signal of support for the manager. It seems to have triggered support for David Moyes."
(BBC commentary, on the BBC Live website, when the "Wrong One - Moyes Out!" banner was flown over OT, today)



"Support for David Moyes"!

What? From a few inside OT? That's assuming, of course, that they were applauding Moyes and not the banner!

What about the billions of plastics around the Globe who couldn't give a flying **** about Moyes, and who merely want success? They are the ones who are making the most noise.

Jesus H! These hacks are so desperate to save the "United brand" that they are prepared to openly distort the truth!

 

I'd like to see at least 8