U.E.F.A. Financial Fair Play

That's the point though.

If Ashley was to sell-up to a Russian multi-billionaire who actually spends his money, why should we get massive fines if we wanted to expand SJP or sign Messi & Ronaldo

 

The rules aren't fair but firstly it's a step in the right direction and secondly something had to be done for the sake of the footballing communities.

Man City may now be planning to spend what they earn but they haven't even tried in the years since the Sheiks took over. Silly money is spent at the top and it filters down in two ways.

1. It inflates transfer fees and wages at the top level making other "big" clubs have to spend more in both transfer fees and wages to compete for the same players.

2. It drags the rest of the "market" up proportionately meaning the "smaller" clubs at the various lower levels eg West Brom say in the premier league, Leicester City say in the Championship etc to have to pay more to get players but from money they don't have but are hoping to get if successful a la Leeds and Portsmouth.

The sad thing is it is the football communities that suffer when it all goes belly up. Speak to all the "smaller" clubs fans about the worries and problems about "your" club possibly going out of existence.

I don't blame the players for the salaries as just about everyone asks for as much as you think you can get when going for a job especially where you are the one being headhunted but the salaries do not help and are a big part of the problem. In that respect Ashley has got it right when he builds in to his calculations a players salary over the contract term when deciding whether to buy or not. His problem is that he has taken it to the other extreme.

The best thing in the long term for football, not just the premier league would be if one or two big clubs do go completely belly up and/or Sky find another play thing.

In the meantime footballing authorities have to do something to try and save football from itself and whilst not perfect the FFP rules are at least a start. Anyone care to suggest the next step 'cos it's not easy to suggest what should be next and would be legal and enforceable.

 

I don't really see how it can be a bad thing if the Arabs want to throw millions of pounds into football.

In the same way that the property market is completely over-priced for what you actually get, people tolerate and accept the prices as 'the going rate'.

Top footballers, however over-paid and nowhere near worth what they recieve (Ronaldo, Messi, Bale, Rooney, Yaya Toure) are always going to be desired by top clubs because of the massive attraction value they hold. Millions of fans all over the world want to see these players in action and the obscene amounts of money in TV deals is a direct reflection of that.

Sure, you can argue that all other deals for 'lesser' players could be somewhat distorted, but again I refer to the property analogy. Are all properties in London worth what you pay for them, or is the value utterly mutated because of the prices in exclusive areas?

 

Am I correct in thinking that the fine for Man City finally came down to £49m of which £32m is suspended....
They also agreed to a £49m Nett Cap on transfers this summer.

UEFA really sorted them out, they must be quaking in Manchester wondering which part of the anatomy, UEFA will tickle next.

Scrap FFP and give every club the chance to dream.

Maybe if the greedy b******* in the PL filtered some of the TV money down to the lower leagues it would benefit football as a whole. Create more of a level playing field perhaps, so clubs didn't have to worry about balancing the books.

Sod that they cry in the GIG PL, that money is ours and you're getting f*** all of it.