No, it isn't and I'm sure that they aren't basing our club's future on some random bloke plonking a large pot of cash into our coffers, there'll be more to it than that. Even so, we need that money, if only to bring in a better quality of player and push on up the league.
Do you think Pompey fans enjoyed the days in High Court and having to sell their entire squad after their sugar-daddy turned out to be a moron, who then sold them to the first in a series of other morons? Speculate to accumulate is a fair motto to live by, but within reason. Nobody buys a football club like Hull City to spunk their own money up the wall, and the Allams are no exception. They loan money to the club at an interest rate of their own choosing. You, as a fan, should also not be advocating us risking future financial meltdown and trading in 109-years of history just for a fleeting shot at glory. If our fanbase is incapable of sustaining top-flight football, then that's tough. Clubs always find their natural level eventually. Ours is probably around mid-table in the Championship, so we are currently overachieving. If we were in League Two and playing in front of 9,000 fans, and you were talking about spending £250k on a player, I'd agree that we needed to get back to 'our level' and should go for it. You aren't though.
Like I said - the media, MOTD etc all feed the current generation of kids with glamorising the big teams on a constant basis, they don't really know any better to go against the grain of what they're portraying as the 'cool' teams/players to like/watch. It's not a case of a using gimmicks, it's more a case of giving them a memento and their own personal little piece of HCAFC that will stay with them, making them feel a part of something. It's just gentle influence, give them a free scarf or something, they're then Hull City for the game and beyond. ...obviously there are plenty of kids who now want to see City due to our current on-field success, but there will be many more we can attract as supporters, hence many saying we need to do more locally, rather than internationally.
Our level what aload of tosh , it amuses me how some people are happy competing for nothing is there is any truth in this and is as rich as the rumours are saying it can only be a good thing.
I'm well aware that some small kids will be starstruck (like their dads) by the MUFC top larkers, but hopefully many more will develop a taste for local accessible football. Many young kids have two teams - top 4 one and City, in fact many adults do too. For whatever reason, for over a century the kids of this city have got used to sporting mediocrity, a live rugby or football game every saturday and in the last 15 years or so, televised football of a much higher level than they can see in the flesh. Factor in this city's lack of wealth, its pessimistic and negative mindset, and you see that City as a club have to strive harder to attract young fans. This will need imagination, time and effort.
I would much rather Hull City AFC in Hull played in the Championship living from within our own means, paying what we can afford for players than have a Chinese investor move us to Melton and call us Hull Tigers. This is my club, i am a supporter, the owners are custodians, yes its their money and i respect that but why is football about money? Surely Hull City is about us putting 11 men out on the field who are proud to wear that shirt, who are proud to be part of this great, who are proud to have that badge on the shirt, who fill fight for that shirt. It is about us as fans supporting our club through thick and thin. I want my club to be a success but i don't want to lose our history and heritage to do that. I don't want us to become a corporate football club with tourists as fans. I want us to be successful but why does it have to be at expense of our great club? West Brom and Swansea have built well, very well, and have two very good squads have they changed their name? Have they got a wealthy backer? No. You can live off your income. Every football club could give tickets away for £15 cheaper this season and have the same money they had last year. So surely we can live off that as a club? Football can't continue the way it is, the money will run out eventually, you can't just keep running up debts. The only way we will be a success consistently is learning to live within our means. Last time we through money at it we went down and nearly went bust, you can't do that, it might work, what if it doesn't? We go bust simple as. Football is about far more than money and success, unfortunately its a business and a toy to some owners, something i don't agree with.
Loads of teams have had millionaires pump money into them, then they've won something, and they've got bored and done one, like Pompey & Birmingham. Which has left that club either ****ed or trying to recover. Or they've done sod all like Reading's Russian Millionaire. Would you like either scenario to happen to City? I really don't want to hand over the club to be somebody's play thing. This includes changing the name. I don't like how our fans have suddenly had their heads turned by these false words spoken by the Allams, and now have even bigger illusions of grandeur.
Desperate! Which club has spent more time in the top flight? Which has more honours? Which Club has competed in Europe more? THINK man, THINK!
Some of these comments beggar belief. So back to May when news of the Watford result came through and that we had gained automatic promotion, some of you were sat there shaking your heads and sighing that our heritage will be ruined because a club like ours can't sustain top flight football. ****ing ****.
So on the one hand.... you demand that Allam shows you a business plan because there's no way that a name change can influence foreign investment, and then when a rumour that has yet to be substantiated from any reliable source about foreign investment pending, you start moaning about that as well. You weren't kidding were you Namechange? Get to fvck when you talked about the city's pessimistic and negative mindset, demonstrated fully in this thread by all to see.
Being in the PL and winning as well as increasing our serotonin levels is good for our waistlines see this article in the NYT http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/16/when-teams-lose-fans-tackle-fatty-food/?_r=0 So investment and more wins should lead to a healthier fan base, they stick around longer-bigger crowds-Ole! Wonder if there is also a correlation between a player not scoring goals and their waistlines expanding. In all seriousness I suspect there is. Team wins-happy healthy fans-contentment. Striker scores, contentment leads to ripped body, striker misses does not score forever-non existent six pack.
I want my club to be as successful as it can be , within the budget it can sustain using the club identity, which defines who it is; what the **** is wrong with that? When is this greed for instant gratification going to come to an end, as it will end in tears. Craig, it may be useful to point out that some folk will be stood back looking at the gullible who grab the rising balloon and saying something like: 'some knob's going to keep hold in blind faith and . . , see I told you so.' Welcome to the road to Perdition! What gets me is that everyone for the change (remember there is no qualification level) seems to be accepting that AA has the nous to plot our way forward with skill and vision. He has made a number of mistakes in communicating his intent to his fee paying customers (which another member of his team had to apologise for) and I recall, if they don't, the statements of amazement at just how bad our finances, on takeover were, and that they were finding new debts by the day. So maybe not the all-seeing Oracle then.
People are speaking as though an investment would end in tears; it could equally work out for the best. The people who own Sunderland are wealthy and they've had a reasonable run in the top flight. The examples of Pompey and Brum are fair, but they're extreme examples. There's no guarantee either way that investment would be beneficial or detrimental, but with success comes money, which means we won't have to rely on investors anymore. That's what I want, a club that runs itself without the need for others sticking their noses in. We just need to get to that stage first. And for that to happen somebody is going to have to fork out.
Most people would accept a buyer, as long as it's under the HCAFC moniker. If we had to change our name as a stipulation that someone (foreign or otherwise) would invest, it's hardly a good sign that they know anything about us, or respect us. As a football fan, i want someone whose also a football fan to put money into our club. Not just a sugar daddy with other interests. We're not actually hitting out at the Allam's, or saying they should do one.
I'd quite like them to. Assem's a mad old arsehole and Ehab, whilst he appears quite sane and reasonable, hasn't got the balls to stand up to his father.
This is exactly what I'd want; no name change and a bit of cash to help us push on. I wouldn't want it at the expense of changing our image or heritage, but at the same time I wouldn't want to back to the League 1 days. Football is massive in Asia, it's not impossible that the investor knows something about football. It'd be better if the Healey's were the investors, at least they'd be local and have an interest in football. Wait, do they have an interest in football?
