Just picked this up on twitter, what is SC going on about and why would we bid £8million or £9million for players if we have problems? I hope somebody can tell us what's going on and if this is the reason we have not had many signings. Just asking.. Ben Fisher @benfisherJ 57 mins57 minutes ago Steve Cotterill has just spoken to the press for 29 minutes. Talks of 'massive financial hole' between #BristolCity and other clubs.
Maybe we're about to sign Kevin Nolan and his wage demands are burning a hole in Lansdown's pockets...
We cannot, and never will be able to, compete in the transfer market with clubs like QPR who are perennial players in the up again down again division. You might say, and rightly so, that there is no such division and you would be correct, but it is starting to be obvious to me that certain clubs are allowed to get away with things in regards to financial matters whereas other less important clubs far from the madding crowds (if you get my drift) are hung out to dry merely because they are who they are or because they don't spend silly money and essentially throw it away. My enjoyment of football has been on the decline for some years now and it's totally down to the financial stupidity in the game that has taken it's inevitable toll on the smaller clubs who can no longer compete when it comes to attracting players. That's where the real footballing heart lies and the top clubs are ignoring it at their peril but the cold hard facts tell me that they don't give a rat's arse anyway. The comments from both SL and SC are starting to bother me because I thought this concern about high transfer fees had been discussed, addressed and had become less of an issue. Due to the lack of activity combined with failure to land either of the 2 high priced transfers gives me a feeling that the financial reins have been reeled back in, only to be substituted by former dictates of a lesser nature. There are of course many aspects as to why we did not proceed with the more expensive signings (player's personal wishes and wages are high on that list) so how on earth can we proceed in a forward direction when we seem to have cut off an lot of avenues that could have taken us there. I'm confused by the signals coming from Ashton Gate but I remain eternally optimistic.
Quite agree Mike The essence of the sport disappeared in a trail of dirty tenners, and excessive TV monies, transfer fees and wages many years ago. In his day, good old Jimmy Hill fought hard for players to get a fair whack, but I bet he never envisaged this sort of thing in his worst nightmare. The likes of Swindon, Portsmouth, Leeds and QPR should all have been expelled into the wilderness for their financial double dealings, tax evasion, and general skirting of the rules. A maximum wage and transfer fee ceiling would solve some issues, but I fear it's way too late. The chances of the really big clubs being relegated dwindles even more every year. They just have too much financial clout and say in how the game is run, and how the TV rights are distributed. When I was a kid in the 70's the likes of Chelsea, Man U, Spurs all got relegated from the old Division 1. In the 80's the likes of Man City went down to the 3rd tier and Wolves down to the 4th. That wont happen any more, at least not to the really big clubs. It actually needs one of them to have a financial meltdown maybe. Chelsea would be nice...
Have you also noticed that the communications from the top have gone very quiet and we only seem to get weekly information about fringe issues such as comments from players that really have little influence on the things that should matter most. What's going on, other than saying we can't compete in the new player stakes at the prices and wages demanded. If that is indeed what we can read between the lines then we may struggle, and I can't see how anyone at the club can believe that the situation is going to ever change. Bristol City need to make a crucial decision whether we are prepared to do what is necessary to challenge in the Championship, and hope we survive, or do we throw in the towel and set up our permanent stall in League One? A bit brutal I know but the realities of wanting to provide better football for all concerned is, by admission, a bridge too far. We shall see.
Thanks angelic, and I will use this as an opportunity to highlight another modern problem that I have with today's world. I see all the issues surrounding football including way too many overseas players and their daylight robbery of the English system without putting in a single penny, whilst taking as much as possible from the purse that opens up in front of them. The footballing community bows to them like they are gods and apologises for the merest slip in the way things are said and in return the public get no respect. Meanwhile they can come and go at the mere drop of a hat saying, as they exit, that they needed more time to adapt to the system and their human rights must at some point been violated. Sound like any national issues you know of anybody. I won't say it here because I might get pulled in front of some joke of a Human Rights Commission before I get banned from the shores of my birth country for life. Ouch !
Football is yet to reach its ceiling, but we're soon to reach a point where football becomes a franchised system. Prices will increase to American Football standards, where players are on close to £1m a week contracts, and when only a handful of clubs can attract the best players with those wages a cap will be introduced, and those that meet that cap will join a European franchise. In many ways, the prospects of the Premier League playing a game abroad is already a glaring sign of one of the biggest leagues in the world wanting to become a franchise. Ultimately, once attendance money becomes a minor income for clubs, clubs are no longer tied to geographical roots. The likes of Man Utd, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and co can play against each other without fear of relegation and fans disowning them. The elite of Europe's flirtation with the USA tours show that any of these teams can play outside of Europe and 50-100k will go and watch them. Football will become franchised in the next couple of decades. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the lower leagues.
Of course we can compete with the likes of the clubs mentioned including QPR, SL has more money than Tony Ferandes, a lot more. It is a question of a). how do we negate the FFP rules and b). if he wants to spend it I suspect he does, to a reasonable degree but you have to be 100% about the players you spend the big bucks on. This is probably the main concern.
Is it just another sign that the country that for centuries was a world leader in so many things has now finally thrown out the baby with the bath water? Be careful what you wish for should be your guide and if you get your fingers burned don't go running to Brussels for help. Back to the thread - There's a lot of truth in what SC has said and let's hope that it is not a sign that the purse strings have been tightly closed, which will restrict the boss from perhaps recruiting some of his targets. A sad but true state of affairs, and the thought of repercussions hanging over our head just because we want to improve is fast becoming a sick joke and reflects only on the broken system that is football and no reflection on our club who just want to succeed. Ender's comments hit the mark spot on. Let's sell off anything left that kept our self respect intact and let the world run us over again.
The country has literally gone to the dogs due to :- Decades of stupid liberal ideas and allowing any Tom Dick or Harry to 'object' to anything they don't like or want - Ashton Vale anyone ? A no blame culture and no one taking responsibility A perverted media Opening our borders to all and sundry, and now we're trying to stop it....sorry it's too late my friends, too late ! Fail to deport (or shoot) undesirables (Abu Hamza anyone?) Making the true citizens of the UK the second class citizens while pandering to the rest of the worlds castoffs Bad parenting Allowing schools in areas of some of our major cities not use English as their first language - Come on !!!!!! For once we should follow the Australian example and get tough, but we wont. Personally I would lay on a fleet of liners at Southampton and invite any IS sympathisers to have a free voyage of a lifetime to Syria. On the understanding that they hand their passports to authorities on the way up the gangplank, and that they can never return here. That might make way for some of the other non IS sympathising Asylum seekers waiting in Calais. Rant over
Love all your ideas angelic but the politicians appear to be afraid of saying what the populous wants. My chats with my friends in the Canary Island echo evrthing you said but when will they stand up and counted? Answer: Never, because the European Human Rights Court would eat them for breakfast whilst conveniently forgetting that the British people also have rights, but then who cares? Only us apparently.
This is about the income gap between those who have played in Prem and the six or seven who haven't. A level playing field it is not! But nothing new there and I'm sure it is not a chip about SL.
Angelic - I have said the exact thing about salary caps on this board since it stared. The NFL model over here is successful as it dictates that teams cannot outspend others otherwise they get severe penalties, not the bull$hit penalties that we see in football. The league is wildly popular as even the small market teams can compete with the big market teams. English football sold its soul when the EPL was started and the gulf between the EPL and everyone else is astonishing. Personally I don't give a crap about the EPL and the ridiculous signings of foreign players. The FA should just tell them to do whatever they want, exclude them from the FA & League Cups and make it a rule that the national team can only be selected from the FA leagues - hell, there's hardly any English players in the EPL these days anyway. I'd love to see Chelsea, Man City, Man United & Arsenal get relegated but it will NEVER happen again. NEVER. It's just wrong.
The parachute payments make it an uneven contest in the Championship - will be even worse after this season - bottom placed team in the 2016/17 Premier League will earn £99m in prize money alone
Money for failure sounds like a great idea to me, but in football it just creates an elitist group of clubs that are prepared to absorb the shock of relegation whilst on the way to the bank to cash the cheque. Wrong in my mind but clearly they don't give a rat's arse about the heritage of the game.
What it needs is for Sky to walk away.... But they wont. And even if they did then BT or someone else would step in
I think people forget the scenario at the latter half of the eighties in English football. There were very few foreigners and fewer stars in the first division. Even though the top club sides had done well in Europe, the national teams were at a disgraceful low, some charlie or other was running the national youth academy and teaching our young footballers how to play percentages (which gave us Dennis Wise), and Wimbledon were the 'great entertainers' of the national game. The rest of the world had moved on and left us embarrassed by our ineptitude In came Sky with shed loads of cash, and our top clubs bought in Cantona, Berkamp, Henri, et al, who shone like beacons to our kids and showed them how the rest of the world played football. I for one believe we should be grateful. However no system invented by man is perfect, and there should be an overview which exists, run by established professionals. At the moment all we have is Lineker on Match of the Day, giving us his cryptic comments. Give Laurie a proper job….
The whole financial aspect of the game at the top level needs overhauling to ensure the viability of clubs struggling to survive and to prosper. What are the chances of the over zealous teams who spend silly money virtually every single day wanting to share the wealth and bring it back in line with common sense - absolutely none I reckon. Today's game is all about the me in life and rarely about us which says everything about where football has failed in the eye of the paying public. Oh, did I mention greed?
