??% Villa - how bad are Citeh for football?

[oldtimernow]

Money and how it is affecting the game is the problem. It doesnt really matter who has it.

100% spot on there Maz,  bring on the football crunch!

[Mazrim]

I'll put the kettle on.

[JJ-AV]

I don't get what they didn't just do it the proper way either.

They'd be much more likable, people would still talk about them and surely that would benefit them in terms of marketing...

They'd still have the billions and have spent a fair whack, and I bet they'd be a lot closer to the top 4 than they are currently.

[LeeS]

I can put my hand on my heart and say for definite that I DO NOT WISH IT WAS US.

Just like I wouldnt swap my actual life for that of Mikey Carroll, the chav bin man who won the lottery and spunked it all on cocaine and gold necklaces.

Yeah, I'd take the millions, just as I'd take the multi-billionaire owner, but I'd live my life with a lot more class and dignity and I'd want my football club to act the same way.

Mate from my hill of moral highground i totally agree with you but in reality they will eventually win everything and in football being morally correct means jack shit to players - its money and trophies that count

100% agree with you about building a standium and subsidising the entrance fees

Maybe a better example is if I won the lottery and suddenly found myself with a bevvy of attractive young women wanting to be with me. Would I leave my girlfriend and marry a bimbo blonde who, deep down I knew was only with me because of money, or would I understand what was really important in life and tell the clunge to do one?

If trophies are literally the only things that matter then I'm out. And, for that matter so are 88 of the 92 league clubs in this country. What's the point?

[Lee]

They are a symptom, not the cause of what's bad. Football sold it's soul a long time ago.

[Dr Butler]

they are a club which is playing a real life computer football manager game with the cheats code for unlimited funds.

no matter how many trophies they may win, they will always still be Manchester City.

[Monty]

Agreed Lee, and it's the same argument about defensive football being ok because it "gets results". If you're not going to win the league, the least you could do for your fans is provide them with a bit of excitement, otherwise what's the point of you? That's what really pisses me off about Allardyce.

[darren woolley]

I just think the whole buying process is a making a mockery of orther clubs the way they identify someone and they get him at all cost's if it was not for that people would have respect for them.

[pauliewalnuts]

The recklessness with which they're going about it is stunning. Even Chelsea, at the height of their big spending, showed more restraint and at least a modicum of common sense.

To see Man City binning players like Bellamy, Ireland, RSC (and in his case, what, a year after they bought him) is unbelievable.

I wonder how long Lescott is going to get a game for, all of a year after they paid 24 million pounds for him. Not to mention Barry.

[damon loves JT]

Gareth Barry will have a lot of time to sit on his arse and eat custard creams

[garyshawsknee]

They are a symptom, not the cause of what's bad. Football sold it's soul a long time ago.

Yeah you're right mate,1992 wasn't it?!

[tim]

Maybe a break-away league would be a good idea. Based on spending as well as league position. For the consistently good teams - Arse, Man Ure, Barcelona etc, they can have a league that they 'belong in', one where they are tested week in /out, but also those that spend obscene ammounts in order to be part of the top teams - if they want to be the best then they should expect to be put up against them.
This would also limit the spending of those that don't want to be part of it - Villa have a huge wealth behind them but choose to be sensible with it.
I don't want to be part of that throw-away approach to a game that people have invested things far more important than money into - time, passion, pride and in many cases, a large part of thier life. The game is more enjoyable when you treat every game as important as the last, and don't go out for the best new youngster solely for the purpose depriving the competition of them. 

[PeterWithesShin]

Yes it's vulgar, yes it's bad for football and the odds are high it will work and Man City will win more trophies in the next 5 years than we've won in the last 25.

As is often mentioned on here (especially when 4th place is talked about), winning trophies is all that matters, so bollocks to the small time mentality of at least our club has class etc. That is no different to Albion banging on about how loud their fans are as the 6th goal is twatted past them.

I'm 40 and would like to see us win a few things, actually i'd like to see us winning fuggin loads and tbh I wouldn't care how we did it. Obviously i'd prefer we do it with class and honour, but in modern football, it's unlikely.

[TimTheVillain]

Then just think what it must be like to be ( say) a Bolton fan ( pick one from 14 clubs to be fair).

You could argue that Man Citeh have put money into the game, but at what cost ?

The cost I reckon is the removal of the heart and soul of the game and made it a bit of a laughing stock.

If you take Rugby for instance, I was at Worcester Warriors for a game last season - they have a cap of £2 million in wages across the whole squad.

Something like this ought to be implemented in football and sooner rather than later before it gets even worse.

[The Situation]

Money bags Man City are the most loathed team in the Premier League by far. I find there constant waste of money disgusting... spending £28 million on Ballotelli... who is what, age 20?! He's only come through Inter's system recently and has looked like a good player, but still, they have paid  £28 MILLION who spent more than half his time coming off from the bench. He hasn't proved anything yet, all he's proved is that he's young and has talent, coming off the bench and scoring a few goals does not justify that sort of hype he is getting right now, let alone his absurd transfer fee.

Why do they need to buy all these players they won't use... it just seems they'll buy anyone 'good' who is available and wants to double his wages. Atleast with Chelsea they actually had a very good team (and still do) rather than a bunch of overpaid clueless individuals all bunched up into a team.

Man City have never been a significance to the football world, the only reason anyone bothers to notice them now is that we're forced to hear they're the richest club and spending ridiculous amounts of money on un-needed players.