Or we could become like Rovers, playing in a dated stadium still and just about surviving. Because as much as I think Darryl Clark is a bellend without him they would still be a conference team. As much as it pains me Luton had more success than us and they stayed down there for years. All the ifs and buts whether Lansdown's fortune was worth it without a crystal ball we could of become a Luton none of us know. But at least we know with Lansdown we have a tidy stadium and still a championship club.
I heard an interesting statistic while watching the Leicester/Man City match yesterday. It said that 9 of the starting players for Man City were individually more expensive (transfer fees) than the entire Leicester squad. When I hear those kinds of facts it makes me cringe at the state of football and how some of the wealthy overseas owners have ruined the game from a cost perspective. Makes our situation going into the transfer window look a little pathetic when we are strapped in our financial dealing for new players and salaries. When I read about Emmanuel Adebayor, being essentially unemployed but getting 100K/week from Tottenham, showing off his extremely expensive watch collection whilst bragging about it I tend to ask if these overpaid players really do have an "up theirs" attitude. Another extremely young player was recently reported as showing up for training with a very expensive car and was told to cool it by his boss as he felt he was rubbing it in to the supporters faces, or something like that. I watched our players arriving at Ashton Gate once and was shocked at average players arriving in Bentleys and refusing to sign autographs for the youngsters. His name I believe was Patrick Agyemang and I hope we don't even consider bring crap like that to Ashton Gate in January. End of rant.
Just more examples of how the money in football has ruined the game. These guys at EPL and at most Championship level clubs are rich young men, doing something that the rest of us can only dream about, and in most cases are hugely rewarded for what is basically a part time job. That's without the bonuses, club provided houses, cars, sponsorship and personal endorsements etc. When that job is over, all of them will, or really should be set up for life financially, with no mortgage to pay, and will be free to explore whatever past times, challenges, or charitable causes take their fancy in their early to mid 30's should any of that float their boat. Some of them will stay in football and become pundits or journalists, whilst others will go into management or coaching because they want to. I can't blame any of the players for buying Bentley's or Lamborghinis, or their mock Tudor mansions. Surely we all would given the opportunity ? The issue I have is with those players who are seen taking drugs (legal or otherwise) in public, having scraps, or being pissed out of their minds on holiday. Do it if you must, but keep it behind closed doors. You are supposed to be role models. The other issue I have is why none of the players want to become referees at the end of their careers ? The FA should be pushing this initiative for all they are worth. An ex professional footballer as a match official would have a lot more gravitas than some of the idiots in black we've seen over the years who have never even played the game in anger.
